We would like to cordially invite you to the guest lectures by Dr. Alan Budney, Professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (Web) and Dr. Michael Schaub, scientific director of the Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (Web) on IT-based Treatments for Cannabis Use Disorder.

The lectures will take place in the Freudenbergsaal of the City Hall St.Gallen, next to the main station, Poststrasse 28, 9001 St.Gallen, on Monday, August 27, 4:00pm to 5:30pm.

Registration is not necessary.

About the lecture of Alan Budney
A Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) is more similar than dissimilar to other Substance Use Disorders. Dr. Budney’s presentation will briefly review the prevalence of CUD, it’s consequences and severity, and its response to treatment. In doing so, he will review some of his own intervention research conducted with both adults and adolescents. He will conclude with thoughts about how new cannabis products and cannabis laws my impact the development of CUD, and how proactive public health strategies are needed to mitigate harm.

About Alan Budney
Alan Budney is a Professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, where he directs a NIDA-funded training program on the Science of Co-Occurring Disorders and is Director of the Treatment Development and Evaluation Core of Dartmouth’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health. He has conducted extensive research on innovative behavioral treatments for Cannabis Use Disorders in adults and adolescents. This applied research has focused on integrating contingency management interventions with more traditional behavioral therapies and using computer-assisted therapies to enhance access to and the cost effectiveness of these approaches. He has also conducted human laboratory and survey studies characterizing cannabis use and withdrawal and has recently been interested in using social media platforms to assess the impact of the changing legal landscape of cannabis. Dr. Budney is a Past-President of Division 28 and Division 50 of the American Psychological Association and of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. He was a member of the DSM-5 Substance Use Disorders working group, and consults and serves on many scientific advisory organizations related to cannabis consequences and therapeutics.

About the lecture of Michael Schaub
Offering a web-based self-help tool for cannabis misusers could potentially reach those who would not seek traditional help otherwise. However, it seems to be difficult for cannabis users to maintain their adherence to web-based interventions rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy – an approach that has been shown to be very effective in treating some other mental health disorders. Thus, the aim of the lecture is to provide an overview of different forms of involvements of therapists to increase the adherence of cannabis misusers and therewith also the effectiveness of web-based cognitive behavioral treatments for this group. Underlying theories of the different approaches will be presented as well. Moreover, the most recent results and experiences of two randomized-controlled studies with different modes of therapeutic guidance in addition to web-based self-help will be discussed.

About Michael Schaub
Michael P Schaub is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Zurich and the scientific director of the Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction ISGF, a WHO Collaborating Centre, associated with the University of Zurich. He is a trained psychotherapist with a strong clinical and scientific background in the area of substance use disorders. Dr. Schaub is scientific expert concerning addiction research for the World Health Organization WHO and the United Nations UNODC. Since his PhD research on the association between cannabis use and psychoses, he was PI of two web-based RCTs targeting cannabis misusers and was involved in face-to-face RCTs that were conceptualized for the same target group.

You are invited to join this guest lecture by

• Prof. Dr. Elgar Fleisch, ETH Zurich & University of St.Gallen
• Prof. Dr. Florian von Wangenheim, ETH Zurich
• Dr. Tobias Kowatsch, University of St.Gallen
• PD Dr. Michael Schaub, Swiss Research Institute of Public Health and Addiction (ISGF), University of Zurich
• Prof. Dr. med. Markus Weber, Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen
• Dr. med. Alexander Ott, Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen
• Dr. med. Suzie Diener, Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen