Treatment
August 24, 2026 - Interventions for cannabis use disorder. How to treat adults and adolescents with a Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) is a burgeoning research area. This article (Winters et al., 2021) reviews the empirical literature pertaining to treating CUD with psychosocial approaches (cognitive-behavior therapy, motivational enhancement, and contingency management), and it describes research on the use of emerging approaches.
The review concludes that CUD is treatable with evidence-based approaches, but most people with CUD never receive treatment. Other conclusions from the review:
· Psychosocial treatments have the strongest evidence. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET), and contingency management (CM) have demonstrated favorable outcomes for both adults and adolescents.
· These approaches can also be useful when CUD occurs alongside other substance use disorders.
· Pharmacotherapy is an emerging area. Although no medication is established as a definitive treatment for CUD, medications may help reduce cannabis withdrawal symptoms and some core features of CUD.
· Brief interventions offer a relatively accessible approach that can be delivered by a broad range of helping professionals, potentially reaching people who would not enter specialized substance-use treatment.
· Technology-delivered interventions—such as web- or mobile-based programs—may expand access to evidence-based treatment at relatively low cost.
Bottom line summary: The evidence base supports several effective behavioral treatments for CUD, particularly CBT, MET, and CM. The major challenge is not simply identifying effective treatments, but getting those treatments to the large proportion of people with CUD who never seek or receive care. Emerging medication, brief-intervention, and technology-based approaches may help close that treatment gap.
How to treat adults and adolescents with a Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) is a burgeoning research area. This article (Winters et al., 2021) reviews the empirical literature pertaining to treating CUD with psychosocial approaches (cognitive-behavior therapy, motivational enhancement, and contingency management), and it describes research on the use of emerging approaches.
The review concludes that CUD is treatable with evidence-based approaches, but most people with CUD never receive treatment. Other conclusions from the review:
· Psychosocial treatments have the strongest evidence. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET), and contingency management (CM) have demonstrated favorable outcomes for both adults and adolescents.
· These approaches can also be useful when CUD occurs alongside other substance use disorders.
· Pharmacotherapy is an emerging area. Although no medication is established as a definitive treatment for CUD, medications may help reduce cannabis withdrawal symptoms and some core features of CUD.
· Brief interventions offer a relatively accessible approach that can be delivered by a broad range of helping professionals, potentially reaching people who would not enter specialized substance-use treatment.
· Technology-delivered interventions—such as web- or mobile-based programs—may expand access to evidence-based treatment at relatively low cost.
Bottom line summary: The evidence base supports several effective behavioral treatments for CUD, particularly CBT, MET, and CM. The major challenge is not simply identifying effective treatments, but getting those treatments to the large proportion of people with CUD who never seek or receive care. Emerging medication, brief-intervention, and technology-based approaches may help close that treatment gap.
August 24, 2026 - Admission delays in receiving treatment for cannabis use disorder among U.S. adolescents. This study (Kitsantas et al., 2026) examined delays in accessing publicly funded treatment among 124,501 U.S. adolescents ages 12–17 with cannabis use disorder (CUD) from 2012–2022.
About 31% experienced a treatment delay of more than one day after requesting services. Delays declined substantially from 2012–2013 through 2018, but then increased again, reaching 33.8% in 2022. Longer delays became more concerning in 2021–2022; in 2022, 5.4% waited at least 30 days.
Delays were more common among younger adolescents (12–14) than older teens. Males and White non-Hispanic youth had higher odds of experiencing delays. Youth referred by healthcare providers were more likely to experience delays than those who self-referred. Delays were particularly common in outpatient and residential/rehabilitation settings, compared with detoxification services.
A bottom line summary is that a substantial proportion of adolescents with CUD face delays in obtaining treatment, and the problem appears to have worsened since 2019. The findings highlight an important access-to-care problem, particularly for younger adolescents.