‘Not just semantics’: Addiction experts want prescription cannabis use disorder recognised as new condition
Professor Nick Lintzeris says withdrawal and tolerance should not be criteria for cannabis use disorder in patients using medicinal cannabis as prescribed.
Patients who use medicinal cannabis as prescribed should not be classified as having cannabis use disorder if the diagnosis hinges on withdrawal and tolerance symptoms, addiction experts say.
Their analysis of anonymous self-reports from 2054 patients found that about a third met the DSM-5’s definition of cannabis use disorder (CUD).
Of the 986 participants using medicinal cannabis as prescribed, only 20% were classified as having any CUD.
And this percentage fell to 9% if tolerance and withdrawal were removed from the criteria.
