Consumption

Government Buys Kids PDAs to Help Kick Weed Smoking Habit, Source: http://www.cafedebok.nl/weblog/images/20050225_01_pipi_relax.jpgThe federal government has decided to channel funds into purchasing PDAs for ganja crazed youth. Okay, maybe they wouldn’t put it that way, but that basically sums up what is happening.

The government has developed a program to help kids who excessively use cannabis quit their smoking habit using PDAs and has spent $772,472 on the project in total so far since starting in 2013. The project recently received a new grant of $242,381.

The project seeks to help youth who smoke cannabis by sending them encouraging messages throughout the day on the PDAs. The report emphasizes the need for new approaches to treating the “epidemic of marijuana use disorders among young people.”

The report states, “Effective interventions are desperately needed for youth with marijuana use disorders, who are at peak risk for adverse consequences, but have been underrepresented in treatment research. The proposed intervention, efficient yet reinforced in real time and in real life contexts, has the potential for tremendous impact on the large population of youth seen in primary care who frequently use marijuana.”

The participants of the study, aged 15-24 and who use cannabis at least three times a week, will use the PDAs to combat their cannabis “disorder.” The PDAs send encouraging messages to the participants during the day. In turn, participants are required to log their cannabis use and record what triggers their desire to use weed.

“Emotional states and social contexts are associated with desire to use marijuana, suggesting that interventions may be more effective if administered in real life, as triggers for use are being experienced,” states the report’s abstract.