What is cannabis use disorder?

Cannabis is a drug that comes from the cannabis plant. Different forms of cannabis include marijuana, hashish, and hash oil. Some people who use cannabis develop cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use disorder means that a person uses cannabis even though it causes harm to themselves or others. The disorder can range from mild to severe.

What are the symptoms?

You may have cannabis use disorder if two or more of the following are true. The more symptoms of this disorder you have, the more severe it may be.

• You use larger amounts of cannabis than you ever meant to. Or you've been using it for a longer period of time than you ever meant to.
• You can't cut down or control your use. Or you constantly wish you could cut down.
• You spend a lot of time getting or using cannabis or recovering from the effects.
• You have strong cravings for cannabis.
• You can no longer do your main jobs at work, school, or home.
• You keep using even though your cannabis use is hurting your relationships.
• You have stopped doing important activities because of your cannabis use.
• You use cannabis in situations where doing so is dangerous.
• You keep using cannabis even though you know it's causing physical or psychological health problems.
• You need more and more cannabis to get the same effect, or you get less effect from the same amount over time. This is called tolerance.
• You have uncomfortable symptoms when you stop using cannabis or use less. This is called withdrawal.

How is cannabis use disorder treated?

Treatment may include group therapy, one or more types of counselling, and drug education. Sometimes medicines are used to help manage symptoms.

Treatment focuses on more than drug use. It helps you cope with the anger, frustration, sadness, and disappointment that often happen when a person tries to stop using drugs.

Treatment also looks at other parts of your life. For example, how are your relationships with friends and family? What's going on at school and work? Do you have health problems? What is your living situation? Treatment helps you find and manage problems.

A drug problem affects the whole family. Family counselling often is part of treatment.