Cannabis Use Disorder is Increasing Among Veterans With Psychiatric Disorders

The prevalence of cannabis use disorder is on the rise among veterans who have been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, according to a study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

“Recent changes in cannabis laws, increasing cannabis availability, and higher-potency cannabis may have placed people with cannabis use and psychiatric disorders at disproportionately increasing risk for cannabis use disorder,” wrote Ofir Livne, MD, MPH, New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, and Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University in New York, and coauthors.

From 2005 to 2019, researchers analyzed data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to determine whether the prevalence of cannabis use disorder varied among VHA patients based on the presence of psychiatric disorders. The study revealed that patients with psychiatric disorders experienced greater increases in the prevalence of cannabis use disorder diagnoses than those without. The difference in prevalence changes between 2005 and 2014 was 1.91% (95% CI, 1.87-1.96), and in 2016 to 2019 was 0.34% (95% CI, 0.29-0.38). The disproportionate increases in cannabis use disorder prevalence among patients with psychiatric disorders were most significant among those under age 35 between 2005 and 2014 and among those age 65 or older between 2016 and 2019. The study also found that patients with bipolar and psychotic spectrum disorders experienced the greatest increases in cannabis use disorder prevalence.

“The findings highlight disproportionately increasing disparities in risk of cannabis use disorder among VHA patients with common psychiatric disorders,” concluded the study authors.

More efforts are needed to prevent and treat cannabis use disorder among veterans with psychiatric disorders.

Reference

Livne O, Malte CA, Olfson M, et al. Trends in prevalence of cannabis use disorder among U.S. veterans with and without psychiatric disorders between 2005 and 2019. Am J Psychiatry. Published online November 29, 2023. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.20230168