Cannabis Cohort Research Consortium (CCRC)

NDARC Staff

Coordinating investigators: Delyse Hutchinson, Richard Mattick
Other investigators: Jan Copeland (National Cannabis Prevention And Information Centre); Louisa Degenhardt; Elizabeth Maloney; Marian Shanahan (Drug Policy Modeling Program); Edmund Silins; Wendy Swift; Maree Teesson; Laura Vogl.

Other Investigators

Steve Allsop, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology; Tanya Caldwell, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University; David Fergusson, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago; Wayne Hall, School of Population Health, University of Queensland; Jake Najman, Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education, University Of Queensland; George Patton, Centre for Adolescent Health, University of Melbourne; Richie Poulton, Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, University of Otago; Bryan Rodgers, Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, Australian National University; Diana Smart, Australian Institute of Family Studies; John Toumbourou, School of Psychology; Deakin University.

Aims

The Consortium aims to foster relations among partners; identify limitations in knowledge on patterns and causes of cannabis use, potential harms and adverse outcomes; examine priority issues in an efficient and timely way through secondary data analysis of existing national and international cohorts; and, provide health and policy feedback to the commonwealth, health professionals and the public.

Design and Method

The consortium is a newly developing collaboration which stemmed from the need to better address pressing questions about the relationship between cannabis, other drug use, life-course outcomes (e.g., early school drop-out) and mental health in children and young adults. Longitudinal cohort research provides the best available methodology for assessing these relationships. The Consortium aims to achieve its goals by involving partners in capacity building activities, and by providing capacity to allow collaborative work to proceed to high-level grant application stage. Collaboration between researchers involved in existing cohorts allows for better assessments of relationships to be made, uses existing data more efficiently and increases opportunities for knowledge translation.

Progress

A pilot study has been completed which aimed to determine the feasibility of combining data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS), the Mater University Cohort Study (MUSP) and the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (2000 Stories), to potentially strengthen associations between early cannabis use and educational outcomes. Findings are currently being prepared for publication. Additionally, a framework for measuring cannabis use is in the initial stages of development and a review which asseses the link between cannabis and psychosis is being prepared for publication. Several aspects of the Consortium’s work will be presented at the ARACY Conference, Melbourne.

Funding

The Consortium is supported by funding from the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY).