Abstract
Background—Cannabis is the most popular illicit drug in the Western world. Repeated cannabis use has been associated with short and long-term range of adverse effects. Recently, new types of designer-drugs containing synthetic cannabinoids have been widespread. These synthetic cannabinoid drugs are associated with undesired adverse effects similar to those seen with cannabis use, yet, in more severe and long-lasting forms. Method—A literature search was conducted using electronic bibliographic databases up to 31 December 2017. Specific search strategies were employed using multiple keywords (e.g., “synthetic cannabinoids AND cognition,” “cannabis AND cognition” and “cannabinoids AND cognition”). Results—The search has yielded 160 eligible studies including 37 preclinical studies (5 attention, 25 short-term memory, 7 cognitive flexibility) and 44 human studies (16 attention, 15 working memory, 13 cognitive flexibility). Both pre-clinical and clinical studies demonstrated an association between synthetic cannabinoids and executive-function impairment either after acute or repeated consumptions. These deficits differ in severity depending on several factors including the type of drug, dose of use, quantity, age of onset and duration of use. Conclusions—Understanding the nature of the impaired executive function following consumption of synthetic cannabinoids is crucial in view of the increasing use of these drugs.
Highlights
The most popular illicit drug of the 21st century is cannabis, in its many forms and shapes [1,2,3,4,5].According to the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), approximately 181 million adults have used cannabis across the globe [2]
The purpose of the current review is to present and describe the acute and long-term effects of Synthetic Cannabinoids (SC) drugs in comparison with organic cannabis on executive function (EF) based on current literature from both human and animal research
While the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis is the CB1 receptor partial-agonist ∆9-THC [13,51,52,53], SC drugs contain varied types of cannabinoid-agonists which are more potent than organic cannabinoids [65,149]
Summary
The most popular illicit drug of the 21st century is cannabis, in its many forms and shapes [1,2,3,4,5].According to the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), approximately 181 million adults have used cannabis across the globe [2]. SC drugs are associated with severe adverse effects (Table 1), have greater harm potential and they are more addictive than the traditional organic cannabis drugs [4,6,7,8,9]. One of the most notorious adverse effects that is associated with cannabinoids consumption is impairment of cognitive function [4]. Cannabis is the most popular illicit drug in the Western world. New types of designer-drugs containing synthetic cannabinoids have been widespread. These synthetic cannabinoid drugs are associated with undesired adverse effects similar to those seen with cannabis use, yet, in more severe and long-lasting forms. Specific search strategies were employed using multiple keywords
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