NDARC Technical Report No. 200 (2004)
The Adolescent Cannabis Check-up was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aging.
The project was a collaboration between the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre and a number of organisations and individuals in Australia and the United States. It arose from earlier work conducted by the investigators on brief cognitive behavioural and motivational interventions for cannabis use among adults, and from a recognition of increased community concern about cannabis use among youth and the paucity of age-appropriate interventions available. The project involved the development of an evidence-based brief intervention specifically designed for young cannabis users, and a study of the feasibility and efficacy of that intervention.
The aims of the study were to increase the range of options available to young people who use cannabis, to contribute to the evidence base for the effectiveness of brief interventions for this group, and to inform policy development in terms of best practice for early and brief intervention for young cannabis users. Through the explicit inclusion of non-treatment seekers in the trial the project broadened the potential catchment for participants in an intervention, which may be particularly relevant for this age group who are rarely active treatment seekers. The trial’s focus on early and brief intervention for young cannabis users (irrespective of treatment seeking) is consistent with the goal of providing access to effective, low cost, low intensity intervention at a population level to any young people who may benefit from it.
This technical report presents the results of the Adolescent Cannabis Check-up feasibility study, and includes the treatment manual and assessment instruments which were developed for the study. The treatment manual provides clinicians with a detailed clinical protocol to implement a Cannabis Check-up intervention.
Citation: Martin, G., Swift, W. and Copeland, J. (2004), The adolescent cannabis check-up: A brief intervention for young cannabis users. Findings and treatment manual. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.