States of Intoxication: Risks and Adverse Effects Focus on Non-Medical Cannabis and Synthetic Cannabinoids

In the context of the ongoing debate about the legalization of cannabis this article is focused in its general part on some common characteristics of intoxication itself and in its special part on the risks and adverse effects of the non-medical use of cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids. It is summarized that i) cannabis use is particularly prevalent among young adults, ii) the regular use of cannabis is decreasing among German teenagers (2011: 0.8 %), iii) 0.5 % of German adults are currently dependent on cannabis (DSM-IV), iv) the greatest health risks and psychosocial disabilities are expected to occur in regularly consuming young people and adult cannabis-dependents, v) both, the rate of the general disability and the health risks related to the use of cannabis are lower than those related to the use of alcohol, vi) most psychic and physical sequelae of regular cannabis use are reversible in adults in the course of their abstinence; if the regular use had started in the adolescence or later; an earlier regular use is associated with sustaining impairments of executive functioning in adulthood vii) the risk of schizophrenia in regular cannabis users is doubled at least, viii) in modern cannabis strains the content of THC as well as cannabidiol had markedly increased and decreased, respectively, ix) the health risk subsequent to the consumption of synthetic cannabinoids is much higher than the health risk subsequent to the use of cannabis and is increasingly unpredictable, x) the number of emergency department visits involving the use of cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids are increasing and xi) children and young people are to be protected to prevent that substance use impedes their brain maturation and socialization/individual development by continuous consumption. In US-states, where cannabis had been legalized there exists a trend to increasing cannabis-related fatal traffic accidents, cyclic hyperemesis, emergency department visits and requests to Poison and Drug Centres. On the other hand, a decrease of deaths by overdose with opioide painkillers was observed.