Professional Perspectives on Addiction Medicine

This book is a collection of essays that offer the reader a comprehensive review of how neuroscience research has cast new light on the function of the human endogenous cannabinoid (EC) system and how cannabinoid-based medicines will be of significant therapeutic value in the not-so-distant future. Just as nicotine is not tobacco, or taxol is not yew tree bark, and digoxin is not foxglove, cannabinoids are not marijuana. By using powerful new research tools, the varied functions of the EC system are being elucidated and the potential for the development of novel new medications is now being described. And, as the reader will discover in the chapters ahead, we are clearly moving beyond the limitations and problems associated with medical marijuana and moving more toward cannabinoid-based medicines.