Evidence-based Therapist Guided Introduction to Online Heavy Cannabis Use Treatment in Canadian Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

This item covers developments relevant to cannabis medicine and clinical practice. Clinicians monitoring evidence in this area should review the source material.

Many people who engage in heavy cannabis use do not seek treatment, and those who do are often met with long treatment wait times or high cost of services. Online treatment programs reduce barriers to accessing treatment in a timely manner. Online cannabis use treatment programs are effective, showing moderate effect sizes, particularly with text-based therapist support. Literature suggests brief therapist-guided introductions (i.e., self-completed interventions offered with the support of a therapist) informed by Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) may help to bolster and maintain program gains. The current evaluation of MET-informed therapist-guided introduction was conducted with a sample of Canadians who report heavy cannabis use, using a new Canadian version of CANreduce, an online treatment program for heavy cannabis use. The intervention was pre-registered on clinicaltrials.gov for traceability (ID: NCT04965012). Participants (N = 152) were randomized into one of three condit

“This is a development worth tracking. The clinical implications will become clearer as more evidence accumulates.”

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