M.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing) / In local communities, young people use different substances for reasons known to them alone. This research study is about young people who are aged between 18 and 30 years, who smoke cannabis and are mentally ill. Mostly the parents of these young people, as well as other members of the family, the neighbours and the community at large experience many challenges resulting from cannabis smoking. The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the experiences of parents living with mental health care users smoking cannabis and to issue guidelines for the advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner to facilitate the mental health of parents living with mental health care users smoking cannabis in the context under study. A qualitative research design that was exploratory, descriptive and contextual was followed to achieve the aim and objectives of the study. Purposive sampling was used for sample selection based on inclusion criteria. The number of participants selected for this study was guided by data saturation. The total number of participants selected for this study was seven. The data collection methods used were phenomenological interviews, observation and field notes. In the phenomenological interview, the participant was asked: “How is it for you living with a mental health care user smoking cannabis?” The phenomenological interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. The researcher and an independent coder analysed the transcribed phenomenological interviews and field notes. The researcher used Tesch’s method of data analysis (Creswell, 2007:157) in analysing the data. The measures to ensure trustworthiness in this study include credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability and authenticity. The seven ethical principles of competence of the researcher, right to self-determination, right to privacy, right to autonomy and confidentiality, right to protection from exploitation and obtaining informed consent guided this study ...

Orientador: Raul Aragão Martins / Banca: Rita Mellissa Lepre / Banca: Maria de Lourdes Morales Horiguela / Resumo: O uso de substâncias psicoativas ilícitas ou lícitas, entre os jovens, é um assunto que vem sendo muito discutido pela sociedade. Uma droga bastante comum em nossa sociedade é a maconha (cannabis sativa) e o consumo desta substância, assim como o de outras drogas, pode ter conseqüências legais, sociais e físicas. O entendimento desta conduta passa pelo conhecimento de dois pontos. O primeiro ponto diz respeito à autonomia moral; descrevemos o conceito de autonomia para a Filosofia e para a Psicologia. O segundo ponto se concentra na maconha; sua história; a conduta do usuário; e dados epidemiológicos do mundo, do Brasil, de São Paulo e do Ensino Superior; e por fim a investigação do uso em um campus universitário. Dentro da Psicologia estudamos o desenvolvimento da autonomia baseados no trabalho de Piaget e planejamos uma avaliação da mesma baseados na moral judgment interview - MJI, desenvolvida por Kohlberg. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas etapas. Primeiro foi feito um levantamento do uso de diversas drogas entre 155 formandos; em seguida selecionamos usuários e não-usuários e aplicamos a MJI para avaliar seu julgamento sociomoral. Essa segunda etapa também contava com questões sobre uso abusivo de maconha que só foram respondidas por usuários. Os dados demonstraram que 23,3 % dos participantes fazem ou já fizeram uso de maconha; a maioria dos usuários (71,0%) faz uso de álcool; a religião funciona como fator de proteção ao uso de maconha; nem idade, nem sexo, nem classe social são relevantes na conduta de uso. A entrevista demonstrou que a maioria dos alunos se encontram no Nível Convencional, mais especificamente no estágio 4 e que, dos usuários de maconha, a maior parte não faz uso abusivo. / Abstract: The use of licit or illicit psychoactive substances, among young people, is a subject which has been discussed by society. A very common drug in our society is marijuana (cannabis sativa), and the consumption of this substance, as well as the use of other legal or illegal drugs, may have legal, social and physical consequences. To understand this behavior it is necessary to consider two points. The first point is about the moral autonomy; we describe the concept of autonomy to Philosophy and Psychology. The second point is centered in marijuana; its history; the user behavior; and epidemiological data from the world, from Brazil, from São Paulo and from College; and at last the research about the use in a college campus. In Psychology, we studied the development of autonomy using the work of Jean Piaget and we planned an evaluation on the same subject based on the Moral judgment interview - MJI, developed by Kohlberg. The research was organized in two stages. In the first stage we did a survey of several drugs with 155 under graduation students; then, we selected users and non-users and applied the MJI to evaluate their socio-moral judgment. This second stage also had questions about the abusive use of marijuana, which were answered only by users. Data showed that 23, 3% of the participants do or at least once did use marijuana; the majority of users (71, 0%) consume alcohol; religion works as a protection factor against the use of marijuana; nor age, gender or social group are relevant for the use behavior. The interview showed that students are at the Conventional level, most of them in the stage four, in which most of the marijuana users don't make abusive use. / Mestre

No presente trabalho, foram desenvolvidos e validados dois métodos com o objetivo de determinar os herbicidas paraquat e glifosato, bem como o AMPA, principal metabólito do glifosato, em amostras de maconha apreendidas pela polícia de Campinas, São Paulo. A detecção e quantificação de herbicidas na maconha são necessárias e importantes para alertar o real risco que a droga pode oferecer aos usuários. Existem várias razões que explicam a presença de herbicidas na maconha em vários países, incluindo o Brasil. A eletroforese capilar foi utilizada para determinação dos herbicidas. Um método de detecção direta foi usado para determinar o paraquat e outro, com detecção indireta, para determinar o glifosato e AMPA. Os métodos desenvolvidos mostraram boa linearidade, precisão, exatidão e recuperação. Os dados da validação atestam que os métodos podem ser utilizados em laboratórios Forense no Brasil. Cento e trinta amostras foram analisadas, sendo que em doze amostras foram detectadas a presença de paraquat em várias concentrações e ainda três amostras forneceram resultados positivos apenas para o glifosato sendo uma delas, detectado a presença concomitante do AMPA. Os valores dos contaminantes encontrados podem representar um risco ao usuário, fazendo-se necessário novos estudos para delineamento sobre os reais efeitos que esses contaminantes podem apresentar aos usuários de Cannabis. / In the present work, two methods were developed and validate, aiming to determinate the herbicides paraquat and glyphosate and his major metabolite AMPA in seizured marijuana samples by the police in Campinas, São Paulo. The determination of herbicides in confiscated samples is necessary and important to alert the real risk of marijuana can offer to the users. There are many reasons that explain the presence of herbicides in marijuana in several countries, including Brazil. Capillary electrophoresis was used to determinate the studied herbicides. A method with direct detection was used to determinate paraquat and indirect detection to determinate glyphosate and AMPA. The developed methods showed good linearity, precision, accuracy, and recovery. Therefore, it can be applied in Forensics labs in Brazil. One hundred and thirty samples were analyzed, and twelve of them result positive for paraquat in several concentrations and three samples showed positive to glyphosate and one of them, detected the presence of AMPA. The values of the contaminants found, can offer a risk to the users, making it necessary new studies to know the real effects that such contaminants can offer to the Cannabis users.

No presente trabalho, foram desenvolvidos e validados dois métodos com o objetivo de determinar os herbicidas paraquat e glifosato, bem como o AMPA, principal metabólito do glifosato, em amostras de maconha apreendidas pela polícia de Campinas, São Paulo. A detecção e quantificação de herbicidas na maconha são necessárias e importantes para alertar o real risco que a droga pode oferecer aos usuários. Existem várias razões que explicam a presença de herbicidas na maconha em vários países, incluindo o Brasil. A eletroforese capilar foi utilizada para determinação dos herbicidas. Um método de detecção direta foi usado para determinar o paraquat e outro, com detecção indireta, para determinar o glifosato e AMPA. Os métodos desenvolvidos mostraram boa linearidade, precisão, exatidão e recuperação. Os dados da validação atestam que os métodos podem ser utilizados em laboratórios Forense no Brasil. Cento e trinta amostras foram analisadas, sendo que em doze amostras foram detectadas a presença de paraquat em várias concentrações e ainda três amostras forneceram resultados positivos apenas para o glifosato sendo uma delas, detectado a presença concomitante do AMPA. Os valores dos contaminantes encontrados podem representar um risco ao usuário, fazendo-se necessário novos estudos para delineamento sobre os reais efeitos que esses contaminantes podem apresentar aos usuários de Cannabis. / In the present work, two methods were developed and validate, aiming to determinate the herbicides paraquat and glyphosate and his major metabolite AMPA in seizured marijuana samples by the police in Campinas, São Paulo. The determination of herbicides in confiscated samples is necessary and important to alert the real risk of marijuana can offer to the users. There are many reasons that explain the presence of herbicides in marijuana in several countries, including Brazil. Capillary electrophoresis was used to determinate the studied herbicides. A method with direct detection was used to determinate paraquat and indirect detection to determinate glyphosate and AMPA. The developed methods showed good linearity, precision, accuracy, and recovery. Therefore, it can be applied in Forensics labs in Brazil. One hundred and thirty samples were analyzed, and twelve of them result positive for paraquat in several concentrations and three samples showed positive to glyphosate and one of them, detected the presence of AMPA. The values of the contaminants found, can offer a risk to the users, making it necessary new studies to know the real effects that such contaminants can offer to the Cannabis users.

Introduction. Among U.S. adolescents (12-17 years), tobacco, alcohol and marijuana are commonly used substances. Recent data suggests that although trends in tobacco use have declined, marijuana and alcohol use rates are steadily increasing, especially among younger adolescents. The main purpose of this study was to characterize differences in tobacco, alcohol and marijuana onset among Appalachian and nonAppalachian middle school students in Tennessee. At present, there is limited research on tobacco and drug use among younger adolescents in Tennessee and Appalachia as a whole. Therefore, these findings have important implications for the assessment and prevention of risk behaviors among adolescents regionally and may help to establish priorities for policy and preventive measures. Methods. This is a secondary data analysis of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), consisting of data collected in 2010 from a representative sample (n=65,182) of middle schoolers in Tennessee. All analyses were performed on weighted data so that results represent all middle school students in Tennessee. Primary outcome variables included early age of onset (age) of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use. The primary exposure variable was region (Appalachia versus non-Appalachia). Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the association between early age of onset of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use, and region controlling for personal characteristics, other substance use, suicidal behaviors, body mass index, weight misperception and extreme weight control behaviors. Odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. Results. Early initiators of cigarette, alcohol or marijuana had a two to four fold increase risk for experimentation with other substances compared to late age of onset, with cigarette use posing the highest risk [OR: 4.73, C.I. (4.47, 5.01)]. Middle schoolers in Appalachia were at greater risk for early age of onset of cigarette [OR: 1.502, C.I. (1.421, 1.587)] and marijuana use [OR: 1.268, C.I. (1.169, 1,375)] compared to non-Appalachia middle schoolers, and 80.9% less likely to use alcohol prior to age 12 [OR: 0.809, C.I. (0.777, 0.843). Other differences were observed for risk of early onset of use and gender, race/ethnicity, age, other substance use and EWCB. Conclusion. Differences in the pattern of substance use were observed for middle schoolers in Appalachia and non-Appalachia Tennessee. Better understanding of these differences will help inform public health policy and practice targeting cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use in the region.

In the early 1990s, a series of seminal research studies were published on substance use disorders among Latino adolescent males in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Expanding upon these studies, the aims of the present dissertation project were to (1) Determine whether the following adolescents’ and parents’ characteristics/cultural values are associated with current (past 30 days) or lifetime (ever) alcohol or marijuana use among Latino adolescents: sex, age, country of birth, GPA, family’s socio-economic status, living with both parents, mother’s highest level of education, father’s highest level of education, Familism Support, Familism Obligations, Familism Referents, Respect, Religion, Traditional Gender Roles, Independence and Self-Reliance; (2) Assess if recreational activities (sports participation, after-school activities and volunteering) moderate the association between Latino adolescents’ friends’ age, sex, and ethnicity and Latino adolescents’ current alcohol or marijuana use and; (3) Assess if recreational activities moderate the association between Latino adolescents’ perceptions of their friends’ alcohol or marijuana use and Latino adolescents’ current alcohol or marijuana use. This cross-sectional dissertation study used survey data from 193 Latino adolescent males and females (15.7 ± 1.6 years old; 55.4% females, 44.6% males) in Miami-Dade County collected in 2016-2017. Analyses included t-tests, chi-square tests and logistic regressions. Being born in the U.S. increased the risk of current alcohol use. Identifying more strongly with the cultural value religion decreased risk of current alcohol use and current marijuana use. Participants who reported having no close friends who use alcohol were less likely to currently (within past 30 days) use alcohol themselves when compared to participants who reported having at least one close friend who uses alcohol. The interaction between participation in sports activities and reporting having friends who use alcohol on outcome currently using alcohol was significant. Participants who reported having no close friends who use marijuana were less likely to currently use marijuana themselves. Findings from this study suggest that factors contributing to substance use among Latino adolescents throughout the United States may be different than those which play a role among the unique Latino adolescent population in Miami-Dade County. This study further validated what has been shown in the general U.S. population: adolescents who perceive their friends to be using alcohol or marijuana are more likely to use alcohol or marijuana, respectively, themselves. Further research is suggested to determine the role of recreational activities in alcohol and marijuana use among Latino adolescents.

College students and emerging adults have been found to be at risk for smoking cigarettes, drinking to excess, using illicit drugs, driving dangerously, and engaging in risky sexual and delinquent behaviour. Psychosocial correlates (Sensation Seeking, peer behaviour, parent behaviour, and peer and parent anti-substance use messages) from three domains of influence (personality, parent, and peer) were examined together to provide a greater context for the occurrence of such health-risk behaviours. The strongest predictor(s) of each behaviour were identified to better inform intervention practices. Three groups were compared— 1) those who never tried substances, 2) those who tried substances in the past, and 3) those who continue to use substances at present, in a population of emerging adults. Self-report data was gathered from 203 Collèges d'Enseignement Général Et Professionnel (CEGEP) students in the Montreal region. Measures included: Reckless Behaviour Questionnaire, Reckless Driving Measure, Health Behaviour Survey, Sensation Seeking Scale—Form V, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Results revealed that peer behaviour was the most significant predictor of substance use in emerging adults, whereas parent behaviour was only a significant predictor of reckless driving. Sensation Seeking, specifically Disinhibition, was found to predict more global reckless behaviours, including illegal activities, such as stealing or using marijuana (p < .01). Neither peer nor parent anti-substance messages were significantly related to any of the health-risk behaviours measured in this study. It would appear that health-risk behaviours tend to be related to the same underlying factors but to varying degrees. Intervention implications are discussed.

The legalization of medical marijuana has been a complicated and confusing process. The drug is used for medical purposes yet is only semi-legal and not approved by the federal government. This piece will observe the legal medical history of this drug in the United States. It will analyze the growth of the medical marijuana movement up to the present with a special emphasis to the importance of federal, state and local supremacy. It will observe important court cases that have been decisive in defining the reach of federal power under the Commerce Clause and the 1970 Controlled Substance Act. This analysis will look at the current legal standing of medical marijuana as well as the legal hurdles to achieve full legal status and medical recognition from state federal and local levels of government. A special focus will be given to the state of California because it has the largest medical marijuana market and has taken center stage in the movement to legalize marijuana as a medicine. This paper will also cover the growth of the state condoned medical marijuana black market and the complications that arise from taxing, and licensing semi-legal businesses. This paper will assess the monetary and personal costs of this movement and the political elements of resisting the medical development and scientific understanding of this drug. It will seek to suggest a solution to the current impasse and explain why medical marijuana in this instance has been bad medicine and dangerous policy.

College students and emerging adults have been found to be at risk for smoking cigarettes, drinking to excess, using illicit drugs, driving dangerously, and engaging in risky sexual and delinquent behaviour. Psychosocial correlates (Sensation Seeking, peer behaviour, parent behaviour, and peer and parent anti-substance use messages) from three domains of influence (personality, parent, and peer) were examined together to provide a greater context for the occurrence of such health-risk behaviours. The strongest predictor(s) of each behaviour were identified to better inform intervention practices. Three groups were compared— 1) those who never tried substances, 2) those who tried substances in the past, and 3) those who continue to use substances at present, in a population of emerging adults. Self-report data was gathered from 203 Collèges d'Enseignement Général Et Professionnel (CEGEP) students in the Montreal region. Measures included: Reckless Behaviour Questionnaire, Reckless Driving Measure, Health Behaviour Survey, Sensation Seeking Scale—Form V, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Results revealed that peer behaviour was the most significant predictor of substance use in emerging adults, whereas parent behaviour was only a significant predictor of reckless driving. Sensation Seeking, specifically Disinhibition, was found to predict more global reckless behaviours, including illegal activities, such as stealing or using marijuana (p < .01). Neither peer nor parent anti-substance messages were significantly related to any of the health-risk behaviours measured in this study. It would appear that health-risk behaviours tend to be related to the same underlying factors but to varying degrees. Intervention implications are discussed.

College students and emerging adults have been found to be at risk for smoking cigarettes, drinking to excess, using illicit drugs, driving dangerously, and engaging in risky sexual and delinquent behaviour. Psychosocial correlates (Sensation Seeking, peer behaviour, parent behaviour, and peer and parent anti-substance use messages) from three domains of influence (personality, parent, and peer) were examined together to provide a greater context for the occurrence of such health-risk behaviours. The strongest predictor(s) of each behaviour were identified to better inform intervention practices. Three groups were compared— 1) those who never tried substances, 2) those who tried substances in the past, and 3) those who continue to use substances at present, in a population of emerging adults. Self-report data was gathered from 203 Collèges d'Enseignement Général Et Professionnel (CEGEP) students in the Montreal region. Measures included: Reckless Behaviour Questionnaire, Reckless Driving Measure, Health Behaviour Survey, Sensation Seeking Scale—Form V, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Results revealed that peer behaviour was the most significant predictor of substance use in emerging adults, whereas parent behaviour was only a significant predictor of reckless driving. Sensation Seeking, specifically Disinhibition, was found to predict more global reckless behaviours, including illegal activities, such as stealing or using marijuana (p < .01). Neither peer nor parent anti-substance messages were significantly related to any of the health-risk behaviours measured in this study. It would appear that health-risk behaviours tend to be related to the same underlying factors but to varying degrees. Intervention implications are discussed.