There has been a shift in the Berkshires over the past several years, and we see it every week in our work.
Since recreational cannabis became legal in Massachusetts in 2018, dispensaries have multiplied across Berkshire County. At last count, Great Barrington itself hosts seven cannabis dispensaries. Berkshire County pulls in roughly $200 million a year in cannabis sales (1), and the product has never been more accessible, more varied, or more normalized. For many people, that's fine. Cannabis is part of their life, and it isn't a problem.
For others, the shift has been more complicated. We're seeing more and more people come to us not because they've hit a crisis, but because they're starting to wonder. They're asking questions about their relationship to cannabis: how much they use, why they use it, what it's doing for them, what it might be taking from them. That curiosity is worth taking seriously.
The data reflects what we're seeing clinically. Rates of substance use disorder involving cannabis were 3.7 times higher in 2024 than in 2015 (2), tracking closely with legalization and expanded access. According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 19.2 million Americans met criteria for cannabis use disorder in the past year, with the highest prevalence among adults aged 18 to 25. (3) And daily and near-daily use has increased steadily since 2015, reflecting the expansion of legalization and rising product potency (4); today's cannabis is significantly stronger than what was available even a decade ago.
We're not here to tell you whether cannabis is a problem for you.
That's not our job. Our job is to help you explore your own relationship to substances, mental health, your relationships, and your life, and to support you in building something intentional and examined.
Some people come to us having already decided they want to stop using cannabis entirely. Others come wanting to understand their patterns better, reduce their use, or simply talk through what's going on. All of those are valid starting points. We meet you where you are.
What we do know is that cannabis use can interact in meaningful ways with anxiety, depression, motivation, sleep, and relationships, and that those effects aren't always obvious in the middle of them. If something feels off, or if you've found yourself curious about your own relationship to cannabis, that's worth exploring. With someone who won't judge you for it.
Who this looks like:
People who feel like cannabis has become more of a habit than a choice. People stepping back from daily use and wanting support through that process. People whose families or partners have expressed concern. People who use cannabis to manage anxiety, sleep, or emotional pain and want to understand that pattern better. People who are simply curious about what their life might look like with a different relationship to it.
How we can help:
At Common Collab, cannabis is one of many things we talk about and work through. Our groups address the underlying patterns: emotional regulation, stress, relationships, meaning, that often drive use. Individual therapy is available for those who want to go deeper. And we approach all of it without a predetermined outcome in mind for you.
If you're somewhere in that landscape, we'd be glad to talk.
Call us at 413-591-7200 or reach out online. Someone will get back to you the same day.