Archive | 2019
Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment and Reimbursement
Abstract
Cannabis use disorders (CUD) are associated with medical and psychosocial complications. Some psychosocial interventions have shown modest efficacy to treat this disorder. They include cognitive-behavioral, motivational interviewing, contingency management, and relapse prevention approaches. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials demonstrated a moderate overall effect size for these treatments—patients receiving an evidence-based psychotherapy fared better than 66% of individuals in the control conditions. There are no medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of CUD. There is a dearth of evidence on the type of treatments offered/available to treatment-seeking individuals with CUD. Consequently, it remains unclear whether these evidence-based therapies are being accessed by patients. It has been reported that most patients with CUD do not participate in any treatment, let alone an evidence-based one. The purpose of the current chapter is to review available literature on access to and reimbursement of treatments for CUDs. The chapter includes the opinion of treatment payers about treatments for CUD and insights for researchers and medication development sponsors.