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Cannabis Legalization and the Decline of Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) Treatment Utilization in the US

  • Cannabis (b Sherman and R Tomko, Section Editors)
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Abstract

Purposeof Review

Cannabis legalization and greater social acceptance of cannabis, as well as increasing adult cannabis use, put growing numbers of people at risk for cannabis use disorder (CUD). This paper reviews recent evidence on trends in CUD prevalence and treatment utilization in the US in the context of recent changes in cannabis legalization and attitudes towards cannabis.

Recent Findings

Evidence from national survey and administrative data indicate that CUD treatment utilization among the general population has declined markedly across all age groups since the middle 2000s. Expanding cannabis legalization and more tolerant attitudes towards cannabis may act to reduce the perception of frequent cannabis use as problematic, while also suppressing treatment utilization among those with CUD, thus producing the potentially counterintuitive observed decline in CUD treatment utilization during a period of increasing cannabis use. Cannabis legalization and greater social acceptance of cannabis use may also engender changes in the population groups that use cannabis, as well as the number of criminal justice referrals to CUD treatment, which may in turn also affect CUD treatment utilization trends.

Summary

Understanding how changes in cannabis legalization and attitudes towards cannabis may influence and alter associations among cannabis use, CUD, and CUD treatment utilization is a key to developing appropriate public health policies and responses. Intervention in the early or “preaddiction” stages of CUD using mHealth strategies represents a promising approach for addressing potential growth in unmet CUD treatment need, particularly for adolescents and young adults, age groups particularly vulnerable to CUD.

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Funding

This research was supported in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (#R01 DA044206-01A1) and by the Temple University College of Liberal Arts Public Policy Lab.

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  1. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Jeremy Mennis & Gerald J. Stahler

  2. College of Social Work, Center for Behavioral Health Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Michael J. Mason

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All authors contributed to the conceptualization of the article. JM performed the literature search and wrote the first draft. All authors contributed to editing and revising the article.

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Mennis, J., Stahler, G.J. & Mason, M.J. Cannabis Legalization and the Decline of Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) Treatment Utilization in the US. Curr Addict Rep 10, 38–51 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-022-00461-4

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