Cannabis use disorder needs to be taken seriously

Yes, you read the headline right: “cannabis use disorder.” We, at Rio Grande ATP, Inc. deal with substance use disorder in Taos County on a daily basis. Substance being any mind-altering product that is available, legally or illegally, to the public. These substances include alcohol, heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine and cannabis.

With the legalization of cannabis for recreational use by the New Mexico State Legislature, it has become more widely available and, therefore, more likely to be misused. Those in the field of treatment and prevention of Substance Use Disorder were not taken by surprise by the increase in diagnoses of Cannabis Use Disorder.

According to a VeryWellMind article by Elizabeth Hartney, PhD: “One of the key things to remember with cannabis use disorder is that it involves cannabis use that creates issues or problems for the user. With that in mind, at least two of the following official criteria or symptoms occurring within a 12-month period indicate cannabis use disorder:

• Continuing to use cannabis despite physical or psychological problems

• Continuing to use cannabis despite social or relationship problems

• Craving cannabis

• Difficulty controlling or cutting down cannabis use

• Giving up or reducing other activities in favor of cannabis use

• Problems at work, school, and home as a result of cannabis use

• Spending a lot of time on cannabis use

• Taking cannabis in high-risk situations

• Taking more cannabis than was intended

• Tolerance to cannabis

• Withdrawal when discontinuing cannabis

• Cannabis induced psychosis

Just because the name has changed and the term ‘cannabis use’ has replaced ‘cannabis abuse’ or ‘cannabis dependence’ doesn’t mean that cannabis is not addictive. In fact, research shows conclusively that cannabis is addictive,” Hartney writes.

The challenge we are facing in New Mexico is the lack of funded resources to address this growing problem. Taos County ranks near the bottom of New Mexico counties in most categories associated with substance use disorders, including first in alcohol related deaths. New Mexico ranks at the bottom of U.S. states in these categories. This is unacceptable.

The tax allocation on recreational cannabis is also not clear on how it’s going to fund prevention, treatment and education of the consequences of cannabis use disorder. Some of the funds are distributed to municipalities and counties with no clear direction for utilization. The remaining funds go to the General Fund where their use is at the discretion of the New Mexico State Legislature.

We urge our elected officials to take cannabis use disorder and, of course, substance use disorders into account as they revise the statutes regarding recreational cannabis. The stigma associated with all these disorders can be alleviated by the realization that the chronic use of any substance is a disease, not a matter of willpower. They need to be addressed as a disease through prevention and treatment — and funded accordingly.

Recognition of substance use disorders and now the increase in cannabis use disorder can be the first step in easing the epidemic that we are now experiencing. I have not talked with anyone in our community that has not experienced the ripples of this disease, either through the suffering of a family member or a loved one. There are many paths to recovery. Help us create these pathways for those we love.

Lawrence Medina, MBA, is the executive director of Rio Grande Alcoholism Treatment Program, a 501(c)3 intensive outpatient treatment center serving Northern New Mexico since 1978.