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Study breakdown

What Do Cannabis Users Want from Addiction Treatment? A Pilot Survey

evidence
The takeaway

A pilot survey of current cannabis users willing to reduce or quit found specific treatment preferences that could inform more effective and patient-centered CUD interventions.

Addiction treatment developers, CUD researchers, clinicians offering cannabis cessation support, and cannabis users considering reducing use.

Patient preferences

Cannabis users willing to quit expressed specific treatment preferences often not addressed by current options

What the researchers found

Current cannabis users expressed preferences for specific treatment approaches, modalities, and settings, highlighting a gap between what patients want and what is typically offered for cannabis use disorder.

Why it matters

No highly effective CUD treatments exist, and patient preferences have been largely ignored in treatment development. Understanding what users actually want could improve treatment engagement and outcomes.

The numbers in context

Exploratory crowdsourced survey of individuals reporting current cannabis use who expressed willingness to cut down or quit.

How the study worked

Crowdsourced pilot survey of current cannabis users willing to reduce or quit, assessing treatment preferences.

Who was studied

Current cannabis users who reported willingness to cut down or quit their use.

What this study cannot tell us

Crowdsourced sample may not represent all cannabis users; willingness to reduce/quit may not translate to action; pilot survey with potentially limited sample size.

How to read the evidence

Pilot survey provides exploratory preference data; small scale limits generalizability but identifies important themes.

When this study was published

Recent study addressing a gap in patient-centered CUD treatment development.

The bigger picture

Patient-centered treatment design is increasingly recognized as essential for addiction treatment success, and this study applies that principle to the underserved area of CUD treatment development.

Replication

Pilot study; larger and more diverse samples needed to validate preference patterns.

Funding

Not specified

Conflicts of interest

Not specified

Questions still open

  • Do users prefer pharmacological or behavioral treatments?
  • What settings are most acceptable for CUD treatment?
  • How do preferences vary by severity of use?

Read the original research

Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment Preferences: A Pilot Survey in Current Users of Cannabis.

Journal of addiction medicine, 17(2), e87-e93

Citation

Lile, Joshua A; Turner, Brian W; Cox, David H; Bonn-Miller, Marcel O; Katz, Ned R; Shellenberg, Thomas P; Stoops, William W; Strickland, Justin C. (2023). Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment Preferences: A Pilot Survey in Current Users of Cannabis.. Journal of addiction medicine, 17(2), e87-e93. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000001059