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Dedicated ‘cannabis only’ treatment clinics in N ew S outh W ales, A ustralia: Client and treatment characteristics and associations with first‐time treatment seeking
Author(s) -
Copeland Jan,
Allsop David
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/dar.12166
Subject(s) - cannabis , medicine , observational study , psychiatry , family medicine
and Aims Over the past decade, there has been significant investment in dedicated cannabis‐only treatment clinics in N ew S outh W ales. This study aims to describe the characteristics of clients and compares first‐time treatment seeking history and treatment completion rates between dedicated and non‐dedicated clinics. Design and Methods An observational study of administrative information from 209 012 drug and alcohol treatment episodes from services reporting to the N ew S outh W ales A lcohol and O ther D rug T reatment S ervices M inimum D ataset, J uly 2003– J une 2008. Results Across all episodes, cannabis was the second most prevalent primary drug of concern (17.8%, n = 37 242). The majority of clients primarily seeking treatment for cannabis were male (69.4%, 26 088), with a mean age of 29 years. Counselling was the most common cannabis treatment (34.1%, n = 12 713), with 11.6% ( n = 1476) of those receiving counselling having done so at a cannabis clinic. Those treated in cannabis clinics were older (30.12 years vs. 27.95 years; P < 0.0001); had shorter episode durations (10.95 weeks vs. 12.71 weeks; P < 0.0001); and were more likely to be naïve to treatment (53.7% vs. 47.7%; P < 0.0001). Indigenous Australian treatment seekers were more likely to complete cannabis treatment in a dedicated cannabis clinic (49.6%) than in a non‐dedicated clinic (40.5%; P < 0.05). Discussion and Conclusion Cannabis clinics have attracted groups traditionally difficult to attract and retain in treatment. As the cohort of daily cannabis users age, it is important that service models are attractive to older clients, new to treatment. Rigorous, prospective research examining client treatment outcomes are now warranted. [Copeland J, Allsop D. Dedicated ‘cannabis only’ treatment clinics in New South Wales, Australia: Client and treatment characteristics and associations with first‐time treatment seeking. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:565–71]