Cannabis Use Disorder: Introduction (Nursing)

00:00 Cannabis is another substance that might be misused. And any substance that can be misused can end up being abused and cause a disorder. So cannabis use disorder is the next disorder we're going to look at. It is legal in many states and it is also legal for medicinal use in many states. But although it is legal in the States, it's important to remember it is still federally illegal. And therefore especially for nurses no matter whether or not your state has legality for use of cannabis, if you are found using cannabis you are breaking federal laws and are risking your license. Cannabis is a psychoactive drug and the ingredient in cannabis that is the psychoactive piece is the delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinoid also known as THC. So the effects for cannabis are similar to other analgesics and CNS depressants in that you see relaxation, you see decreases in inhibitions, you also see that euphoria. 1 in 10 users are going to become dependent on cannabis, but if the use begins before 18 we see that number jump to 1 and 6. The younger a person begins to use cannabis, the more affects physiologically it has on the brain and we are seeing that users who start in their tweens and teens actually have higher incidences of psychological problems afterwards. So, cannabis use disorder follows that DSM-5 indicators for disorder. Do you remember what those symptoms are with the increased use over time, development of tolerance for the drug where more drug is needed to attain the same feelings? Then dependence on that drug so that when you're not using it you don't feel well. Spending a lot of time trying to get the drug, trying to use the drug, get high from it, and of course spending time in the recovery phase recovering from having used it. Having the person take risks despite knowing that there are risks in procuring it and using it and having cannabis having a real impact on the activities of daily living where it starts taking priority over other relationships, the relationship with cannabis takes priority over other relationships. And with any of these substances, I want you to think of it as a relationship because the person who develops the disorder doesn't have a choice. Suddenly this substance is the priority relationship in their life.

03:40 Now the National Institutes of Health are now saying that cannabis use is the new gateway drug and the reason they're saying this is that there is a positive correlation, meaning that the more a person is using cannabis, the more they are using another substance. And what are those other substances? It's cannabis with alcohol, tobacco, amphetamines, and also an increase towards having heroin use and becoming addicted to heroin.