title: Dedicated 'cannabis only' treatment clinics in New South Wales, Australia: client and treatment characteristics and associations with first-time treatment seeking.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Over the past decade, there has been significant investment in dedicated cannabis-only treatment clinics in New South Wales. This study aims to describe the characteristics of clients and compares first-time treatment seeking history and treatment completion rates between dedicated and non-dedicated clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  An observational study of administrative information from 209,012 drug and alcohol treatment episodes from services reporting to the New South Wales Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services Minimum Dataset, July 2003-June 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Across all episodes, cannabis was the second most prevalent primary drug of concern (17.8%, n = 37,242). The majority of clients primarily seeking treatment for cannabis were male (69.4%, 26,088), with a mean age of 29 years. Counselling was the most common cannabis treatment (34.1%, n = 12,713), with 11.6% (n = 1476) of those receiving counselling having done so at a cannabis clinic. Those treated in cannabis clinics were older (30.12 years vs. 27.95 years; P < 0.0001); had shorter episode durations (10.95 weeks vs. 12.71 weeks; P < 0.0001); and were more likely to be naïve to treatment (53.7% vs. 47.7%; P < 0.0001). Indigenous Australian treatment seekers were more likely to complete cannabis treatment in a dedicated cannabis clinic (49.6%) than in a non-dedicated clinic (40.5%; P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cannabis clinics have attracted groups traditionally difficult to attract and retain in treatment. As the cohort of daily cannabis users age, it is important that service models are attractive to older clients, new to treatment. Rigorous, prospective research examining client treatment outcomes are now warranted.
authors.affiliation: National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Copeland
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Allsop
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: age; counselling; indigenous; marijuana; treatment initiation