Brief intervention experiences of young high-frequency cannabis users in a Canadian setting.

Worldwide, cannabis is consistently reported to be the most commonly used illicit drug in the general population (Room, Fischer, Hall, Lenton, & Reuter, 2010; United Nations Office on Drugs and [...]
High-frequency cannabis use is prevalent among young adults and has been linked to negative health consequences, yet effective therapeutic interventions are currently limited. Brief Interventions (BIs) for problematic substance use have shown promise, but are typically limited to quantitative outcome measures. This study aims to document the qualitative experiences of young, high-frequency cannabis users with BIs. Sixty-two high-frequency cannabis users, recruited from university student populations, participated in one of two newly developed cannabis BIs and were surveyed qualitatively at the 3-month post-intervention follow-up. Results show that 69.4% of the respondents believed they had undergone changes in actions/thinking/attitudes regarding their cannabis use, with diversion to potentially less harmful cannabis use patterns--including reductions in the frequency/quantity of use and declines in deep-inhalation/breath-holding techniques--being reported. Findings suggest that a personalized, interactive, culturally appropriate format may be a promising BI template for this population. Future qualitative research on BI experiences is urgently needed. KEY WORDS: Brief Interventions (BIs), cannabis use, high-frequency use, young adults, qualitative research.