Currently Available Cannabis Products

Topics: Cannabis | cannabis products | dispensary

Cannabis use in the US is at an all-time high, serviced by a booming retail industry and supported by evolving state legalization. As society’s stance on cannabis develops, so too have the forms and modes of cannabis consumption. Today, people walking into a cannabis dispensary have an enormous array of products to choose from. As providers, it’s im

Cannabis Use Disorder and Withdrawal

Topics: Behavioral therapy | Cannabis | cannabis use disorder | cannabis withdrawal

CATR: Please tell us about your work. Dr. Walker: I’m a research professor at the University of Washington in the School of Social Work. I’m a clinical psychologist by training, and a large portion of my research focuses on cannabis use disorder (CUD) treatment. CATR: Let’s start by clarifying the term “cannabis.” Dr. Walker: The term

Medicinal Cannabis

Topics: Cannabis | Legal issues | medicinal cannabis

CATR: Can you tell us a little bit about your work in the field of cannabis? Dr. D’Souza: For the past 25 years, I’ve been interested in the pharmacology of cannabis and cannabinoids. At first my interest was in relation to psychosis, but then it expanded to include the pathophysiology and treatment of cannabis use disorder (CUD). I have also bee

Can Smoking Marijuana Reduce PTSD Symptoms?

Topics: Cannabis | Double blind trial | PTSD

REVIEW OF: Bonn-Miller MO et al, PLoS ONE 2021;16(3):e0246990 STUDY TYPE: Randomized controlled trial More and more veterans are using cannabis to treat their PTSD symptoms, despite the lack of high-quality safety and efficacy data and the high comorbidity between PTSD and cannabis use disorder (Bryan JL et al, J Subst Abuse Treat 2021;122:108254)

Outpatient Management of Opioid Addiction

Topics: Cannabis | Depression | Existing marijuana | Potency | Substance Use Disorder | Weed | Withdrawal

CCPR: Tell us about your position and what you do. Dr. Gomez-Luna: I directed a short-term adolescent residential program, where I saw a need for identifying and treating kids’ co-occurring conditions. I did another fellowship in addiction psychiatry, then joined studies at Yale on tobacco use and electronic nicotine devices in adolescents. Now I’m

Assessing and Treating Cannabis Use Disorder

Topics: Cannabis | Depression | Marijuana | Potency | Substance Use Disorder | Weed | Withdrawal

CCPR: Tell us a little bit about your background. Dr. Gobbi: I trained in medicine, psychiatry, and psychotherapy in Rome, Italy, then received a PhD in neuroscience, working in preclinical psychopharmacology. I now work in our mood disorder clinic and ER, and I direct our basic psychopharmacology lab (neurobiological psychiatry unit), including resear

Motivational Interviewing With Teens About Weed

Topics: Cannabis | Marijuana | Motivational Interviewing | Outpatient | Primary care | Substance use disorders | teens | Weed

With motivational interviewing (MI), people are more likely to accept and act when they feel ownership; MI is specifically helpful for teens, who are at an age where they do not want suggestions from others. We spoke with Dr. Elizabeth D’Amico, nationally recognized for her work developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions for adolescents, a

Nicotine Patch for Cannabis Withdrawal?

Topics: Cannabis | nicotine | Withdrawal

REVIEW OF: Gilbert DG et al, Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2020;237(5):1507–1519 As more and more states legalize marijuana and the prevalence of cannabis use increases, more people will be experiencing cannabis withdrawal symptoms, which are difficult to treat. The authors of this study hypothesized that the degree of negative affect experienced in ca

N-acetylcysteine Not Effective for Cannabis Use Disorder in Adults

Topics: Addiction | Addiction Treatment | Cannabis | Marijuana | Substance Use Disorder

Review of: Gray KM et al, Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2017;177:249–257 N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an over-the-counter supplement related to the amino acid cysteine. In addition to its use as an antidote for acetaminophen poisoning, it has shown evidence of efficacy in some psychiatric disorders. For substance use disorders, its primary mechanism of

An Off-Label Guide to Gabapentin

Topics: Alcohol use disorder | Anxiety | Anxiety Disorder | Cannabis | Free Articles | gabapentin | Pregabalin

Gabapentin (Neurontin) is not a medication that would make the FDA proud. Less than 1% of its outpatient use is for an FDA indication, and a good portion of the off-label use takes place in psychiatry. These trends sparked a backlash in the 2000s, when Pfizer paid a $1.3 billion fine for misleading marketing practices. Recent reports of misuse of gabape

Is There a Case for Cannabis in the Treatment of Pain?

Topics: Cannabidiol | Cannabis | Marijuana | Opioids | Pain | Research | Research Update

Review of: Da Vita et al, JAMA Psychiatry 2018;75(11):1118-1127 Study Type: Meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials In the midst of the opioid epidemic, researchers are looking for new ways to treat chronic pain. Interestingly, states that have legalized medical marijuana have fewer opioid prescriptions but no clear reduction in mortality over