As a complement to research evaluating botanical marijuana as a medical therapy for various somatic and psychiatric conditions, there is a growing body of research assessing marijuana users' self-reports of the symptoms and conditions for which they use marijuana without a physician's recommendation. As part of two larger web-based surveys and one in-situ survey at an outdoor marijuana festival, we asked regular marijuana users if they consumed the drug without a physician's recommendation and, if so, to describe (or select from a checklist) the conditions for which they used marijuana as a medication. Participants reported using marijuana to self-medicate a wide variety of both somatic conditions (such as pain, diabetes, and irritable bowel syndrome) and psychiatric conditions (such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia). Because fewer than half of the American states, and only a few countries, allow physicians to recommend medicinal marijuana, these findings may be of interest to clinicians as they treat patients, to lawmakers and policymakers as they consider legislation allowing physicians to recommend botanical marijuana for somatic and psychiatric conditions, and to researchers evaluating conditions that individuals elect to self-medicate using botanical marijuana.

Given the variety and potential toxicity of synthetic cathinones, clinicians and educators would benefit from information about patterns of and motivations for use, frequency of psychosocial consequences, and experience of acute subjective effects. We administered a comprehensive, web-based survey to 104 recreational users of synthetic cathinones. Sixty percent of respondents consumed synthetic cathinones once or more per month, usually snorting or swallowing these drugs, typically at home, usually with others, customarily during the evening and nighttime hours, and often in combination with another drug such as alcohol or marijuana. Acute subjective effects attributed to synthetic cathinones were similar to those of other psychostimulants, including increased energy, rapid heartbeat, racing thoughts, difficulty sleeping, euphoria, decreased appetite, open-mindedness, and increased sex drive. Reported reasons for using synthetic cathinones included its stimulating effects, curiosity, substitution for another drug, and being at a party/music event. Respondents had experienced an average of six negative consequences of using synthetic cathinones during the previous year (e.g., tolerance, neglecting responsibilities, personality change). In combination with previously published investigations, these findings increase our understanding of the reported rationales and outcomes of recreational use of synthetic cathinones.

Given growing public acceptance of recreational and medical marijuana, coupled with negative perceptions and increasing regulation of synthetic cannabinoid compounds, botanical marijuana is likely to remain more available and more popular than synthetic cannabinoids.

Compared with previous research examining the acceptability of non-abstinence, these results suggest that students enrolled in addiction studies training programs may be more accepting of clients who decide to pursue non-abstinence either as an intermediate step on the way to abstinence or as a final goal.

Individuals seeking substance use treatment who have one or more co-occurring mental health problems tend to have lower treatment engagement, higher rates of attrition, and poorer treatment outcomes. Readiness to change (RTC) is an integral construct in the recovery process, with higher RTC associated with improved treatment outcomes. However, the impact of psychiatric symptoms on RTC is not fully understood, especially among specialty subpopulations, such as military Veterans. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the associations of mental health problems with RTC in a sample of Veterans initiating outpatient substance use treatment. The present sample was comprised of 278 Veterans (12% women, M = 48.22, SD = 14.06) who completed self-report intake measures assessing past month substance use frequency, substance-related consequences, symptoms of insomnia, depression, and anxiety, and importance and confidence to change one's substance use. Four separate canonical correlation analyses focusing on RTC alcohol, opioid, cannabis, and nicotine use were conducted. Veterans' inclusion in each analysis was not mutually exclusive. Results indicated that greater depression, anxiety, consequences, and frequency of alcohol use corresponded with greater importance to change alcohol use. Likewise, greater depression, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms along with frequency of use and consequences related to greater importance and confidence to change one's opioid use. In contrast, greater anxiety, depression, insomnia, and frequency of use were associated with less confidence in one's ability to change cannabis use. None of these variables were related to one's RTC nicotine use. Findings highlight the importance of assessing mental health problems at outset of substance use treatment, as they may be an indication of RTC and could be used as a catalyst to advance Veterans forward in the process of behavior change.