Estimating risk of cannabis use disorder using standard THC units with Rachel Lees Thorne and Tom Freeman

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Rachel Lees Thorne, a postdoctoral research associate and Professor Tom Freeman, a professor of psychology, both from the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath, UK. The interview covers Rachel and Tom’s research article estimating thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder using standard delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) units

• What are standard THC units [01:25]
• The importance of using THC units to estimate thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder [02:59]
• How people who use cannabis can use standard THC units [03:46]
• The CannTeen study [04:51]
• Why the authors focused on adolescents and adults rather than young adults [06:02]
• The key findings of the study [07:00]
• Translating THC units to harm reduction messaging [09:38]
• How the THC levels of cannabis were obtained [11:04]
• The implications of the findings for policy and harm reduction messaging [12:17]
• The take home messages [13:09]
• Can the findings be translated out of a UK market? [14:15]
• The next steps with standard THC units [15:25]

About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health.

About Rachel Lees Thorne: Rachel is a research associate and associate director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath. She completed her PhD in the same group in 2023, investigating risk factors and treatment for cannabis use disorder. Her current research examines the standard THC unit and its application for harm reduction and public health policy.

About Tom Freeman: Tom is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Bath, and Director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group. His research includes characterising changes in cannabis products and their association with health, novel harm reduction strategies such as the standard THC unit, and clinical trials for the treatment of cannabis use disorder. He is funded by a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship, as well as the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Addictions, and the NIHR Bath Mental Health Research Group.

Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Original article: Estimating thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder using standard delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) units https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70263

The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.

The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.