The Alcohol and Other Drugs Knowledge Centre has released the recording of our recent webinar titled: Synthetic cannabis and new psychoactive substances (NPS): information for healthcare professionals presented by Dr. Stephen Bright from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia (WA).
Information provided in the webinar includes:
- an overview of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and synthetic cannabis
- a timeline of state and federal legislation in Australia for synthetic cannabis
- the epidemiology of synthetic cannabis use in Australia
- clinical considerations
- synthetic cannabis intoxication and withdrawal symptoms
- assessment of clients using NPS or synthetic cannabis
- information about psychoeducation.
Dr. Stephen Bright is a clinically trained psychologist who has worked in the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) and Mental Health field for the past 20 years, and is Senior Lecturer of Addiction at ECU and an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) at Curtin University, WA. Dr. Bright is a leading Australian voice on emerging drug trends and has appeared on the 7:30 Report, SBS News, Ten Nightly News, Today Tonight, and The Project and has published research on novel psychoactive substances in the Medical Journal of Australia, Drug Testing and Analysis, and the International Journal of Drug Policy.
The webinar runs for approximately 36 minutes
- 1:37 Outline
- 2:14 What is in a name? Identification of synthetic cannabis and new psychoactive substances (NPS)
- 6:36 A brief history of synthetic cannabis
- 7:05 First Australian legislative action, Western Australian (WA) government response
- 7:53 Google searches to buy Kronic and news reference volumes
- 9:29 New chemicals and local Kronic developed to work around WA state laws
- 11:45 Synthetic cannabis in Victoria
- 12:48 History of further legislative action at federal and state levels
- 15:14 Epidemiology of synthetic cannabis in Australia and other NPS, the impact of legislation, harms and use
- 18:08 Interviews with key stakeholders
- 19:38 Clinical considerations of synthetic cannabis and the reasons for use
- 20:38 Specific and marginalised populations, access to synthetic cannabis
- 23:20 Synthetic cannabis Withdrawal more complex than natural cannabis
- 26:32 Intoxication and withdrawal symptoms from synthetic cannabis
- 26:50 Epidemiology of other NPS in Australia
- 27:35 Wastewater analysis and forensic toxicology to identify NPS
- 27:48 Unintentional use and impact on assessments
- 28:51 Importance of raising psychoeducation information and the use of PEPE model
- 29:47 Useful websites and resources
- 30:47 References
- 31:16 Questions
