Functional Outcomes of Cannabis Use (FOCUS) in Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Key facts
- Who runs it
- VA Office of Research and Development
- Where
- Durham, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Status
- Completed
- People taking part
- 65 people enrolled
- Started
- 26 Jan 2022
- Ended
- 12 Jun 2026
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- Contingency Management (CM)
- Record updated
- 18 June 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 12 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- 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)
Who cannot take part
- Are receiving non-study CUD treatment
- 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
- 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 hospitalized for psychiatric reasons
- Meet current criteria for a substance use disorder other than cannabis use disorder or tobacco
- Participants will be excluded if they:
- Become imprisoned
- Report imminent risk for suicide or homicide
Where in United States
- Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NCDurham, United States
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
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.
The group in the trial
- Contingency Management (CM)Treatment being tested
Mobile contingency management (CM) will be used to promote reductions in cannabis use among Veterans with PTSD who are heavy cannabis users. CM is an intensive behavioral therapy in which participants are paid to reduce substance use.
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Record updated
- 18 June 2026