Workshop: Diagnosis and Management of Cannabis Use Disorder and Other Cannabis-Related Problems

Abstract

Perceptions of the potential harmful effects of cannabis has dramatically decreased especially among adolescents and young adults. In parallel, cannabis use and the prevalence of cannabis use disorder continue to rise in the United States. This increased use was likely attributable to social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened excitement around potential psychomedical uses of cannabis, social media, and increased legalization. However, many clinicians feel ill-equipped to discuss cannabis with their patients. Clinicians may feel that they lack the knowledge or experience with managing cannabis use or have concerns that broaching the topic may compromise their relationship with the patient. However, it remains vital for clinicians to discuss patients’ cannabis use in a non-judgmental manner in order to understand their patients’ use and provide education and evidence-based treatments to address the potential harms.

In this workshop, presenters will review how to identify and diagnose cannabis use disorder and other cannabis-related problems such as cannabis-induced psychosis, cannabis withdrawal, and cannabis hyperemesis syndrome. Presenters will discuss various cannabinoids such as delta-8 and delta-9 THC, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids, as well as delivery mechanisms. Potential hazards and psychomedical contraindications to recreational cannabis use will be discussed. Potential psychopharmacologic interventions for cannabis use disorder such as gabapentin, n-acetylcysteine (NAC), dronabinol, and CBD as well as psychotherapeutic interventions such as contingency management, CBT, and motivational interviewing will be reviewed.

Learning Objectives

To identify common cannabis-related problems such as cannabis use disorder, cannabis withdrawal, cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, and cannabis-induced psychosis
To discuss cases of cannabis use disorder in order to practice MI-consistent techniques and evidence-based interventions
To learn how to apply psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatments for cannabis use disorder

Keywords / Topics

Cannabis
Marijuana
Cannabis Use Disorder

Presenters

Michael Hsu, MD, Chairperson

Dr. Hsu is an addiction psychiatry fellow at Emory University and completed his psychiatry residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is the trainee lead of the AAAP Cannabis Performance in Practice (PIP) and has given talks and written on the topic of cannabis through various academic venues.

Kevin Hill, MD, Presenter

Dr. Kevin Hill is Director of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He earned a Master’s in Health Science at the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the Yale School of Medicine. He teaches medical students and physicians how to treat patients with addictions. He consults to the NFL and is the Co-Chair of the NFL/NFL Players’ Association Pain Management Committee. The author of Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth about the World’s Most Popular Weed (Hazelden 2015) and co-author of Medical Cannabis: An Evidence-Based Guide (Wolters-Kluwer 2020), Dr. Hill’s research interests include the development of medications to treat cannabis use disorder as well as cannabis policy, and he has published widely on these topics in such journals as JAMA, The American Journal of Psychiatry, JAMA Internal Medicine, and Lancet Psychiatry. He serves on the editorial boards of Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research and the American Journal on Addictions.

Dr. Hill has become an internationally-recognized speaker on addiction topics due to his ability to connect with audiences and make complex concepts understandable. He gives balanced, evidence-based talks on cannabis, opioids, and alcohol to a wide variety of audiences.

Smita Das, MD, PhD, MPH, Presenter

Smita Das, MD, PhD, MPH is Board Certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr. Das studied Chemistry and Statistics at Stanford, completed her Masters in Public Health at Dartmouth College, and then completed her MD/PhD in Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She completed psychiatry residency and was chief resident at Stanford followed by an addiction psychiatry fellowship at UCSF. She has over 2 decades of experience in research in healthcare quality and addiction. Dr. Das is chair of the APA Council on Addiction Psychiatry and is a past president of the Northern California Psychiatric Society, an APA District Branch. Prior to her position as Medical Director of Psychiatry at Lyra Health, Dr. Das was Director of Addiction Treatment Services at the Palo Alto VA. In addition to her work at Lyra, Dr. Das practices in addictions at Stanford School of Medicine where she is a Clinical Associate Professor.

Arthur Robin Williams, MD, MBE, Presenter

Arthur Robin Williams, MD, MBE, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division on Substance Use Disorders, at Columbia University and a research scientist II at New York State Psychiatric Institute. He serves on the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Quality and Performance Measurement, as the director of the New York region of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and as the chief medical officer of Ophelia Health, Inc., a telehealth company for the treatment of opioid use disorder (from which he receives consulting fees and equity). He is also paid as an expert consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to the National Quality Forum for efforts regarding the opioid crisis by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He also serves as the Director of AAAP Area II (New York).

Summary


Availability:	On-Demand


Cost:	FREE


Credit Offered:	No Credit Offered

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