Medical cannabis is partially or fully legal in several countries. Substance use professionals are experts on the prevention and treatment of problematic use of cannabis but, like most health professionals, often lack updated knowledge about medicinal use of cannabis, raising questions as to how substance use professionals can differentiate between recreational, medicinal, and problem cannabis use, and how medical cannabis use should be addressed in substance use treatment settings. In this 1-hour webinar, attendees will be provided with a brief overview of disorders treated by medical cannabis and positions and guidelines of various professional associations.  Attendees will also be provided with an overview and electronic copy of a decision matrix published in several counselling publications that can be used when clients using medical cannabis present for substance use treatment.

Learning outcomes:

• Identify disorders that may be treated by medical marijuana.
• Describe positions of various associations on medical cannabis.
• Use a decision matrix to formulate a course of action when clients using medical cannabis are admitted for substance use treatment.  

Presenter: Dr. Aaron Norton is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with certifications in addictions, alcohol and drug counselling, rehabilitation counselling, clinical mental health counselling, trauma treatment, forensic mental health evaluation, forensic behavioral analysis, and forensic psychometry. He serves as Executive Director of the National Board of Forensic Evaluators, a national not-for-profit board officially endorsed by the American Mental Health Counselors Association that provides training, certification, and professional advocacy for licensed mental health professionals specializing in forensic mental health evaluation. He is a Visiting Instructor at the University of South Dept. of Mental Health Law & Policy.  He serves as Southern Regional Director and Ethics Committee Liaison for the American Mental Health Counselors Association and Chair of Government Relations Committee for the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association. He is the Consulting Editor for AMHCA’s The Advocate Magazine.  He has 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor specializing in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues, cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and depressive disorders, and substance use treatment. He was awarded Mental Health Counselor of the Year by the American Mental Health Counselors Association in 2016, Counselor Educator of the Year by the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association in 2016, Researcher of the Year by the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association in 2019, and he was awarded AMHCA’s Public and Community Service Award in 2020.  An experienced writer, presenter, and trainer, he has been published in several academic journals and professional magazines in the counselling profession.