Functional Outcomes of Cannabis Use (FOCUS) in Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: PTSD, Cannabis-Related Disorder

In brief

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling psychiatric disorder that affects 20%-30% of U.S. Veterans. PTSD is strongly associated with increased risk for substance abuse comorbidity, including cannabis use disorder. Multiple states now include PTSD as a condition for which patients can be legally prescribed medical marijuana, despite the fact that there has not been a single large-scale randomized clinical trial demonstrating the efficacy of cannabis to treat PTSD to date. The overall objective of the current proposal is to study the impact of reduced cannabis use on functioning among Veterans with PTSD. The investigators will evaluate the relationship between cannabis use and daily functioning among cannabis users and heavy cannabis users. The central hypothesis is that reductions in cannabis use will lead to positive changes in the functional outcomes of Veterans. The rationale for this research is that it will provide the first and only real-time data concerning the impact of reduced cannabis use on daily functioning among Veterans with PTSD.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04565028

Run by

VA Office of Research and Development

People needed

65

Starts

2022-01-26

Expected to finish

2026-06-12

Last updated by the study team

2026-06-18

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Veteran status
• Ability to speak and write fluent English
• Current PTSD diagnosis
• Use of cannabis on 13+ days in the past month (i.e., use on 3+ days per week)

You may not qualify if…

• Participants will be excluded if they:
• Have experienced a change in their psychiatric medication regimen during the past month (e.g., a new medication has been prescribed or the dose of an existing medication has been changed), or expect to experience a such a change during the course of the study
• Are receiving non-study CUD treatment
• Meet diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia (note that the SCID-5 (First et al., 2015) will be used to diagnoses these and other disorders)
• Become imprisoned
• Become hospitalized for psychiatric reasons
• Report imminent risk for suicide or homicide
• Meet current criteria for a substance use disorder other than cannabis use disorder or tobacco

Where it is running

• Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC — Durham, North Carolina, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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