SFollett posted:I have a 55 year old male patient who has been smoking cannabis, roughly 2 grams per day, for essentially the past 40 years. He is now pretty motivated to stop for health reasons, mostly being more short of breath, and is wondering if there are any medical treatments to help him wean off. My understanding is that there isn't, but maybe some things have been tried off label? He has a fairly complex health history including probable bipolar disorder, active but less frequent (about weekly) crack use, diabetes, htn, asthma and chronic pain. I would love for him to take cannabis out of the picture but I don't want to destabilize his other issues.
If medications are not useful, any recommendations on resources or strategies would be greatly appreciated.
There are not any medical treatments that I am aware of. Motivational Interviewing to support his change plan may be helpful. If his main concern is shortness of breath, perhaps recommending he switch to edibles or vaporizing for now will address some of his concerns.