Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Article 1: Seamon, M. J. (2006). The legal status of medical marijuana. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 40, 2211-5.

Summary: The article describes a comprehensive review of federal and state marijuana laws, and the author suggests that until the Supreme Court rules on the issue, conflicts between state and federal regulations will continue.

Questions to Consider: [Critical thinking questions based on the article to gauge student comprehension and analysis]

1. What are the medical uses for marijuana described in the paper?
2. Why is there tension between state and federal laws regarding marijuana?
3. What allowances are made for seriously ill people who may benefit from the use of medical marijuana?
    

Article 2: Durrant, R., Adamson, S., Todd, F., & Sellman, D. (2009). Drug use and addiction: Evolutionary perspective. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 43, 1049-56.

Summary: This article uses evolutionary arguments to explain drug addiction as well as other problematic patterns of behavior.

Questions to Consider:

1. How do drugs take advantage of systems that evolved to ensure survival and reproduction?
2. What are the functional properties of systems that underlie motivated behavior?
3. How does the evolutionary perspective account for individual differences in vulnerability to becoming addicted to a drug?
    

Article 3: Hoffman, E. H., Blackburn, C., & Cullari, S. (2001). Brief residential treatment for nicotine addiction: A fiver-year follow-up study. Psychological Reports, 89, 99-105.

Summary: This article describes a study aimed at determining the long-term abstinence rates and effectiveness of a brief residential treatment program for nicotine users.

Questions to Consider:

1. Are there any problems with relying on self-report in determining abstinence rates among individuals that had been a part of this treatment program?
2. How did emotionality change before and after the treatment program?
3. Why might collecting information about “readiness to change” be an important part of future research?