Journal of substance abuse treatment
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J Subst Abuse Treat · Jun 2007
Clinical TrialA stepped care approach for reducing cannabis use in opioid-dependent outpatients.
This study evaluated rates of cannabis use and the effectiveness of an adaptive stepped care intervention for reducing cannabis use in methadone maintenance patients. Patients testing cannabis positive during a 6-month baseline were advanced to more weekly counseling (up to 9 hours per week) until producing four consecutive weeks of cannabis- and other drug-negative urine samples. Patients were followed up for 1 year. ⋯ Ten of these patients (67%) discontinued cannabis use prior to the intervention and remained at reduced care. Four of the five patients who were advanced to higher steps of care ultimately discontinued cannabis use; one left treatment against medical advice. The results suggest that motivated stepped care is an effective intervention for reducing cannabis use.