Applicable to: United Kingdom

There are no specific facilities and treatment centres for cannabis users. There is evidence that in their absence, those with cannabis-related problems have been approaching generic services such as GPs and smoking cessation clinics. For example, a study of a sample of 20 GPs in a single inner-London borough found that a quarter of them had seen a patient in the previous four weeks for problems associated with cannabis (McCambridge et al. 2003). A study of patients attending a London smoking cessation clinic found that 24 per cent of 107 new patients attending the clinic had used a drug, predominantly cannabis in the month prior to attending the clinic (Efstratiadis 2001). Analysis of treatment outcomes for this group found that those smoking cannabis were 50 per cent less likely to achieve abstinence than non-smokers (Stapleton et al. in press).

References
Efstratiadis, A. (2001). The prevalence of problem drinking and illicit drug use among patients attending a smoking cessation clinic. Unpublished MSc dissertation.

McCambridge, J., Strang, J., Platts, S. and Witton, J. (2003). Cannabis use and the GP: brief motivational intervention increases clinical enquiry by GPs in a pilot study. British Journal of General Practice. 53, 637-639.

Stapleton, J., Keaney, F., Sutherland, G. et al. (In Press). Relation between illicit drug use and persistence of tobacco smoking. Lancet.