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Poster presentation
The cannabis conundrum: smoking cessation work
with cannabis users
Alan Matthews
Abstract
Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in Britain,
with over half of 16 to 29 year-olds having admitted trying
it at some time. In the face of high levels of use and
reclassification under the law, smoking cessation workers
are increasingly coming across cannabis users who either
want to stop smoking altogether or want to stop using
tobacco but continue to smoke cannabis. This will describe
the development and delivery of a one-day training course
and supporting materials designed to help raise awareness
of cannabis-related issues and instill confidence to enable
smoking cessation workers to engage successfully with
this client group.
HIT designed a one-day training course to provide smoking
cessation workers with comprehensive information about
cannabis, its history, effects, risks and harms, as well
as its cultural significance in today's society. The course
addresses important questions, such as: What problems
do cannabis users face? How can we educate young people
about smoking cessation techniques, when the substance
itself is illegal? What interventions are likely to be
effective with cannabis smokers?
To date, nearly 200 smoking cessation workers have attended
the course, in both the north west and north east of England.
Evaluations of each course has shown this to be an effective
way of providing information on a little known topic to
smoking cessation workers and raise their confidence in
the skills they currently possess.
Alan Matthews
HIT, Hanover House, Hanover Street, Liverpool L1 3DZ
Tel: 0870 990 9704
alan.matthews@hit.org.uk
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