WHY IT MATTERS: Patients who use cannabis heavily should know that research is actively examining how cannabis use disorder compares to other substance use disorders in terms of real-world psychiatric risks, which may affect how clinicians screen and counsel them going forward. CLINICAL OVERVIEW: Research comparing cannabis use disorder to other substance use disorders is an important area of inquiry because it helps clinicians understand the relative psychiatric burden associated with problematic cannabis use in the context of a rapidly changing legal and cultural landscape. Propensity-score-matched study designs are valuable here because they attempt to control for the many confounding variables that make substance use populations inherently difficult to compare fairly.