1. The validity of diagnoses for clients with primary cannabis related problems in out-patient treatment Roland Simon IFT, Munich Lisbon, TDI Annual Expert Meeting, 22.-24. September 2004

2. Methodology The study took place in 52 out-patient facilities all over Germany. It included clients with a primary cannabis related problem (ICD-10; F12.1, F12.2) as diagnosed within the standard treatment documentation system).: Survey 1 (questionnaire), clients of the year 2001 were retrospectively interviewed on their problem situation at the beginning of and during therapy as well as on their therapy assessment (N=223) Survey 2 (computerized clinical interviews) clients currently undergoing therapy (N=51) Survey 3 (questionnaire) the therapeutic staff of the participating facilities was interviewed (MaS)

3. Standard diagnoses validated through questionnaire information

4. Standard diagnoses validated through clinical interviews

5. Further diagnoses related to psychotropic substances

6. Other mental disorders and cannabis related diagnoses

7. Clusters of cannabis clients

8. Conclusions By far the majority of cases with cannabis diagnoses in the standard documentation (F12.1,F12.2x) were confirmed For clients with an addiction diagnosis in the standard documentation, harmful use or addiction was found for 85% (questionnaire) and 78% (clinical interviews) The scale of problems did not reach the threshold of clinical relevance in terms of the definitions of the classification systems (ICD-10, DSM- IV) for 14% (criterion: questionnaire) or 25% respectively (criterion: clinical interview) A number of psychological disorders were diagnosed in addition to the cannabis associated disorder Cannabis clients can be clustered in groups which differ considerably with regard to problems, characteristics of us and treatment needed, but not socio-economic situation. 21/21