It can be anticipated that there will be much to mine from research when its emphasis and funding shift from drug abuse to evidence-based medical use. Structurally, this book is flawed by its dependence on annoyingly brief contributions by so many of the authorities who participated in the two-day conference. Figures that were projected as slides and embellished by the conference's speakers often lack legends to assist the reader. Instead of critical editing, there are summary reports of previous conferences and reprinted articles, which add mostly outmoded data or opinions. Unbridled redundancy abounds, whether it concerns the history of marijuana use and regulation or the receptor story.
Acronyms go unexplained, the index is incomplete, and there are scores of typographic errors.
Organized progression through the chapters is frequently interrupted, too often by material unrelated to the medical use of marijuana. Some parts of the book are valuable. Though scattered and repetitious, the historical information is interesting. The reference lists after each chapter are extraordinarily complete, with many citations from the 1970s. The new chapters begin with helpful abstracts.