Cannabis Use Disorder: Thresholds Of THC Risk Studied

UK researchers have attempted to estimate risk thresholds for cannabis use disorder (CUD) based on delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) consumption, using standard THC units.

A cannabis use disorder occurs when a user continues to smoke the drug despite negative effects on their lives.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA reports that approximately one third of cannabis consumers have CUD. This condition is not limited to recreational cannabis users. Researchers in Australia found that 25% of people who used cannabis for medicinal purposes had CUD.

Researchers from UK’s University of Bath King’s College, and UCL used data from CannTeen, an observational longitudinal study consisting of five assessments conducted over a period of 12 months.

Researchers assigned 5 mg THC to one unit. The United States National Institutes of Health requires that THC units be used/reported in the research institutes’ funds.

Of 177 CannTeen participants who used cannabis over the previous 12 months, DSM-5 CUD diagnosis was completed for 162 participants at the final follow-up. DSM-5, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition is the guide that mental health professionals like psychiatrists and psychology use to diagnose and categorize mental illnesses.

The diagnosis found is:

• No CUD (adult n = 30; adolescent n = 29)
• Any CUD (adult n = 35; adolescent n = 56)
• Moderate/severe CUD (adult n = 22; adolescent n = 44).

Study findings state the optimal cut-offs for risk of any CUD (versus no CUD) were 8.26 units (41.3 mg) of THC per week for adults and 6.04 units (30.2 mg) per week for adolescents. For risk of moderate/severe CUD (versus no CUD) optimal cut-offs were 13.44 units (67.2) per week for adults and 6.45 units (32.25 mg) per week for adolescents.

Researchers say the following in their analysis of the study:

To reduce the burden on health, harm reduction strategies could include determining risk thresholds of CUD using quantity of THC. This is, to our knowledge the first study that estimates risk thresholds for CUD using standard THC units.

Then..

These findings could help in the creation of guidelines that reduce the risk associated with cannabis consumption. This would be helpful to those who wish to lower their risks of harm and use cannabis, but choose to consume less THC per week than these thresholds.

This study was conducted to find out more about the effects of smoking on health. has been published Addiction, the Journal of Addiction.