Motivational interviewing in primary care revealed why teens use cannabis: mainly emotional coping

Most youth reported their main reason for cannabis use was emotional coping. Negative feelings were a top-3 trigger. Distraction was the most common alternative strategy. Education/career was the most common one-year goal. Over half identified family as a very important value. Top pros of using less: achieving goals, self-improvement, saving money.

Content analysis of two Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) sessions with 56 primary care patients aged 15-24 using cannabis 3+ times/week, comparing youth in pre-contemplation versus contemplation stages of change.

This shows that frequent young cannabis users are not apathetic. They have goals, values, and ambivalence about their use. Meeting them with motivational therapy in primary care can elicit this information and create leverage for change.

The fact that emotional coping is the primary driver of frequent teen cannabis use suggests that teaching better coping skills, not just warning about cannabis, should be central to prevention. Primary care is an underutilized setting for these conversations.

Pilot study without a control group measuring outcomes. Small sample. Self-reported information in a therapeutic context may be subject to social desirability. Brief 2-session intervention.