CARS: Cannabis and Alcohol Reduction Study
Cannabis UseAlcohol Use3 moreThe study will test a computerized treatment with subjects ages 13-17 years who are seeking treatment for alcohol and/or cannabis use. Youth will be recruited from the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs (CDAP) Clinic in the Department of Psychiatry at MUSC. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at one- and three-months following treatment.
Varenicline for the Treatment of Cannabis and Tobacco Use Disorders in Veterans
Tobacco Use DisorderCannabis Use DisorderAfter initial eligibility screening, Veterans who use both cannabis and tobacco will be randomly assigned to receive either varenicline (Chantix) or placebo for 12 weeks. Participants will attend weekly visits to provide breath and urine samples for testing, fill out questionnaires, and meet with study staff about medication compliance.
Substance Use Interventions for Truant Adolescents
Adolescent Problem BehaviorTruancy; Unsocialized4 moreThis study evaluates a brief motivation-building intervention for parents and teens to reduce truancy and substance use. It is hypothesized that the motivational intervention will result in better outcomes compared to an education-only intervention.
Evaluation of Medical Cannabis and Prescription Opioid Taper Support for Reduction of Pain and Opioid...
Opioid UsePain1 moreThis study will use a randomized controlled design to test whether medical marijuana use by adults on high-dose chronic opioid therapy (COT) for chronic non-cancer pain is associated with reduced opioid dose and improved pain intensity and interference when added to a 24-week behavioral intervention (POTS).
Do Discounted Vouchers for Medical Cannabis Reduce Opioid Use in Adults With Pain
Opioid UseMarijuana1 moreThis study will examine how discounted vouchers for medical cannabis use affects opioid analgesic use in adults with chronic pain. Our study findings will have critically important implications to shape clinical care and medical cannabis policies.
An Electronic Intervention to Reduce Cannabis Among Young Adults in Psychiatric Care
Cannabis UsePsychiatric DisorderCannabis use disorders are common among young adults in psychiatric treatment. Unfortunately, cannabis use can result in deleterious consequences for those in treatment, including developing more severe psychopathology and poorer treatment outcomes. Brief, electronic interventions for cannabis use have been developed for young adults. An example of a frequently used brief electronic intervention for cannabis users is e-Toke. e-Toke can be completed on a computer, tablet or phone, and has been shown to improve motivation to engage in substance use treatment among college students. However, e-Toke is less useful in decreasing the actual frequency of cannabis use. Additionally, e-toke is not tailored to young adults in psychiatric treatment. In this study, the investigators will develop and test a text messaging intervention that can be easily added to the popular computerized intervention e-Toke. The research staff hope the intervention will improve motivation to decrease cannabis use, and decrease the frequency of cannabis use, among young adults in psychiatric outpatient treatment. The text messages will be developed by, and tailored to, young adults in psychiatric treatment and texts will address motivations and barriers to reducing cannabis use in the context of psychiatric disorders. If the text message intervention is found to be an effective addition to e-Toke, this approach can be tested in a larger study, and then disseminated to other young adults in psychiatric treatment.
Alerta Cannabis: Evaluation of Web-based Tailored Intervention
Cannabis UseAdolescent Behavior1 moreThis study consists in the the design, implementation, and evaluation of the first web-based computer tailored intervention program aimed at the prevention of cannabis use in Spanish adolescents (ALERTA CANNABIS). A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial is conducted to test the effectiveness of ALERTA CANNABIS in students aged 14 to 18 years across 34 high schools from Andalusia (southern Spain), which are randomized either to the experimental or the control condition (EC and CC).
The Neural Underpinnings of Depression and Cannabis Use in Young People Living With HIV
HivDepression1 moreTo elucidate mechanisms of substance use disorders (SUD) and comorbid mental illnesses in people living with HIV (PLWH), the investigators propose to investigate reward and pain circuitry in cannabis use and depression comorbidity, two highly prevalent conditions in PLWH. The study will take place in our health system in The Bronx-a persistent epicenter of the HIV epidemic due to profound poverty and health disparities. The focus is on young adults (ages 18-34) to minimize HIV chronicity effects and due to the high rates of SUD and reduced adherence to HIV treatments in this age group; among >31,000 diagnosed young PLWH in The Bronx in 2019, less than 70% had suppressed (<200 copies/mL) viral load (VL).
Project e-PBI+ - Parent Intervention to Reduce College Student Drinking and Cannabis Use
Underage DrinkingCannabis Use6 moreCollege students' risky drinking and cannabis use are major public health problems. The harms associated with risky drinking have been well-documented (such as deaths, blackouts, injuries, assaults, arrests, sexual consequences, academic consequences). Both college health administrators and parents have requested electronic parent-based interventions (e-PBIs) with additional content on cannabis. Parents have demonstrated ample motivation to communicate with their teens. The proposed research will attempt to enhance an existing effective e-PBI, curb the alarming trends noted in the literature, and move the field forward by conducting a randomized controlled trial testing a modified version of the e-PBI that includes updated content including the most up-to-date scientific information from cannabis studies (e-PBI+).
Genetic Counselling in the Prevention of Mental Health Consequences of Cannabis Use
Mental IllnessSchizophrenia4 moreSevere mental illness (SMI) refers to the most burdensome psychiatric conditions. The need to pre-empt the onset of SMI is pressing because once SMI develops, quality of life is poor and available treatments have limited efficacy. Most risk factors for SMI are either unchangeable (e.g., genetics) or difficult to alter (e.g., low socio-economic status). In contrast, cannabis use is one specific risk factor that could be avoided. Certain individuals are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of cannabis. Genetic factors can help us identify these high-risk individuals. One in three individuals are carriers of a higher-risk genetic variant, and cannabis users with this genotype are at up to 7-fold increased risk of developing schizophrenia. In our study, genetic counselling will be provided to participants by a board-certified genetic counsellor. During the genetic counselling session, participants will have the option to receive their genotype. Participants will be counselled regarding their individualized risk of developing and of not developing SMI based on family history, whether or not they choose to use cannabis, and genotype (if the participants accept the genetic test results). The investigators hypothesize that this intervention will reduce exposure to cannabis compared to the youth who are not offered the intervention.