THC, Inc - How the Shift from Cannabis Prohibition to Legalization is Impacting Youth

Chairperson: Karen Drexler, MD, Associate Professor, Emory University School of Medicine

Presenters: Kevin Gray, MD, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina; Carol Weiss, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York-Presbyterian Hospital; Yilang Tang, MD, Director of the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program, Emory University School of Medicine; Kevin Sabet, PhD, President & CEO, Smart Approaches to Marijuana; and Elizabeth McCord, MD, Psychiatrist, Emory University School of Medicine

THC INC examines how the shift from cannabis prohibition to legalization is impacting youth. Through a public health lens, the film explores increased youth exposure, marketing concerns, and the need for policies that protect children while moving beyond criminalization. The film reveals how incremental public policy changes have facilitated a commercial cannabis industry focused on profits over public health. The filmmakers interview cannabis entrepreneurs and advocates, addiction experts, students at a recovery high school in Colorado, and a Washington state legislator, among others. The film also follows one family’s tragic journey as their son develops cannabis use disorder (CUD), psychosis, and ultimately dies by suicide. The film focuses on several aspects at the heart of AAAP’s mission to educate healthcare providers on evidence-based prevention and treatment for addiction and co-occurring mental illness, as well as how public policy shaped by commercial interests can contribute to an epidemic of drug use, addiction, and co-occurring mental illness. This workshop will challenge participants to think about how they can educate their patients, families, and communities about the risks of high-THC cannabis and to consider how addiction psychiatrists can advocate for science and public health in public policy. The presenters, including the film maker, Dr. Kevin Sabet, will use film clips to highlight several aspects such as the use of film as storytelling to educate, the depiction of cannabis mental health risks, and how addiction psychiatrists can use film to help educate our patients, their families, and policy makers.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to discuss the mental health risks of high-THC cannabis products especially to youth.
• Participants will be able to identify three factors contributing to risks of commercial cannabis products.
• Participants will be able to describe how to use storytelling to effectively educate patients, their families, and policy makers about benefits and risks of cannabis.