Considering the Associations Between Substance Use and Suicide

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. For this month’s Monthly Media Series webinar, the Pacific Southwest PTTC would like to raise awareness on this preventable issue and highlight the important intersection between substance use and suicide.

In this webinar, we will consider alcohol-related risk factors for suicide, including ways in which alcohol use can impact decision making when a person is experiencing distress. We will also review the recent literature on cannabis, focusing on mental health concerns associated with the use of high-potency cannabis, as well as associations between cannabis use disorder and suicide risk. Implications for prevention, intervention, and public health will be discussed.

Webinar Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Define “alcohol myopia” and how this relates to suicide risk.
• Identify a screening measure for cannabis use disorder.
• Describe at least one potential unwanted outcome associated with the use of high-potency cannabis.
• Discuss at least one implication for prevention, intervention, and public health.