Cannabis matters?
Posted on 7 December 2015
Department of Health Sciences’ mental health lecturer Ian Hamilton and senior lecturer Charlie Lloyd joined colleagues from the University of Leeds to published their research into the increasing number of people going to drug treatment services with problems due to the use of cannabis.
Ian said: “Over the last 10 years, increasing numbers of people have been presenting to drug treatment services with problems due to the use of cannabis. Our research explored why this might be and how services are responding.”
Five themes emerged:
1. There were now numerous different routes into these services for cannabis users
2. Some groups found it difficult to access treatment
3. The type of treatment offered varied considerably within and across services
4. Cannabis use was not viewed as a problem by many staff and clients
5. Clients tended to have greater knowledge about cannabis than the treatment staff.
As a result, the research suggests there appears to be a gap between treatment demand and evidence-based treatment for cannabis-related problems. While the trend in treatment demand continues to rise the translation of the evidence base into practise for effective treatment strategies has not kept pace with this demand.”
To view the article http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09687637.2015.1090398.