Brief mindfulness intervention for adults with cannabis use disorder: A randomised clinical trial

Valentina Lorenzetti; Eugene McTavish; Hannah Thomson; Adam Clemente; Peter Rendell; Gill Terrett; Lisa Marie Greenwood; Tom P. Freeman; Sunjeev K. Kamboj; Victoria Manning

doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112909

Brief mindfulness intervention for adults with cannabis use disorder: A randomised clinical trial

Valentina Lorenzetti, Eugene McTavish, Hannah Thomson, Adam Clemente, Peter Rendell, Gill Terrett, Lisa Marie Greenwood, Tom P. Freeman, Sunjeev K. Kamboj, Victoria Manning

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Background: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is characterised by strong cravings and an inability to reduce cannabis use despite experiencing adverse psychosocial outcomes. Brief, accessible, scalable, and low-cost interventions are needed to support people with a CUD. We investigated if a brief mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) reduces cannabis frequency, quantity and craving, compared to both an active and passive control conditions. Methods: A pre-registered, double-blind randomised control trial was run in in 66 adults (19 female) aged 18–56 with CUD reporting attempts to cut down or quit in the past 2 years, recruited from the general community (October 2019-July 2022). Participants were 1:1:1 allocated, to one of 3 interventions; MBI (n = 23), Relaxation (n = 21) or Control (n = 22) with a mean duration of 16 days, stratified by age and sex. All conditions included daily monitoring of usage. Baseline and follow-up in person testing occurred in Melbourne, Australia. The intervention occurred online. The primary outcome was change in cannabis use days (Δ follow-up minus baseline). Secondary outcomes were changes (Δ follow-up minus baseline) in: cannabis grams and craving (visual analogue scale; VAS), mindfulness (Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire) and relaxation (VAS). We carried out intention-to-treat analysis. Results: There were no significant intervention-by-time effects on the primary outcome — cannabis frequency (F = 0.26, FDRp = .86)—nor on secondary outcomes: quantity, cravings, relaxation or mindfulness. Conclusion: Based on these findings a brief MBI does not appear to help people with CUD reduce their cannabis use. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry Identifier: ISRCTN76056942 (Mapping short-term brain changes in cannabis users). Submission date: 28/04/2020. Registration date: 12/05/2020. The interventions are described below and here: ISRCTN76056942 https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76056942 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN76056942). The pre-registered hypotheses and analysis plan can be found here: https://osf.io/sfjwk.

Original language	English
Article number	112909
Number of pages	12
Journal	Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Volume	277
Early online date	3 Oct 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112909
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2025

Acknowledgements

We thank all participants for contributing to the project with their data and time. We acknowledge Dr Hannah Sehl, Ms Natalie DeBono, Dr Leonie Duehlmeyer and Dr Penny Hartman for contributing to the management of the setting up of the project. We acknowledge Dr Hannah Sehl, Ms Marianna Quinones-Valera, Ms Emillie Beyer, Stephanie Antopolous, Ms Emillie Beyer, Ms Claire Chua, Dr Leonie Duehlmeyer, Dr Alexandra Gaillard, Mr Lachlan Grant, Ms Kirsty Kearney, Dr Magdalena Kowalczyk, Ms Emily Robinson, Ms Elizabeth Sharp, Ms Diny Thomson and Ms Danielle Tichelaar, for their contribution to data collection and flyer distribution in the general community. We acknowledge Mr Arush Honnedevasthana Arun, for his contribution to behavioral data storage; as well as Dr Chao Suo, Dr Govinda Poudel and Dr Iselle Labuschagne for their contribution to management of the project and students’ supervision. We acknowledge Professor Shanlin Fu and the team at the Drugs and Toxicology Group, Centre for Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney, for conducting urine toxicology analyses.

Funding

Valentina Lorenzetti was supported by an Al and Val Rosenstrauss Research Fellowship (2022–2026), and by a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant (2023-2027, ID 2016833) and an Australian Catholic University competitive scheme. The work within the Neuroscience of Addition and Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre was supported via an ACU competitive scheme. Hannah Thomson was funded by Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend scholarship. Tom P Freeman was supported by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/Y017560/1). Victoria Manning has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), VicHealth, Department of Health Victoria, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (NCCRED), Hospitals Contribution Fund Foundation, and philanthropic organisations. This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship doi.org/10.82133/C42F-K220. The authors acknowledge the facilities and scientific and technical assistance of the National Imaging Facility, a National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) capability, at the Monash Biomedical Imaging facility, Monash University.

Funders	Funder number
Australian Catholic University
Department of Health, State Government of Victoria
Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
Hospitals Contribution Fund Foundation
Monash University
Association of Commonwealth Universities
VicHealth
National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs
Al and Val Rosenstrauss	2022–2026
National Health and Medical Research Council	2023-2027, 2016833
UK Research and Innovation	MR/Y017560/1

Keywords

Cannabis
Cannabis use disorder
Craving
Mindfulness
Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Toxicology
Pharmacology
Psychiatry and Mental health
Pharmacology (medical)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112909Licence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{d8f4c357215f476a8c60d469527a1dae,

title = "Brief mindfulness intervention for adults with cannabis use disorder: A randomised clinical trial",

abstract = "Background: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is characterised by strong cravings and an inability to reduce cannabis use despite experiencing adverse psychosocial outcomes. Brief, accessible, scalable, and low-cost interventions are needed to support people with a CUD. We investigated if a brief mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) reduces cannabis frequency, quantity and craving, compared to both an active and passive control conditions. Methods: A pre-registered, double-blind randomised control trial was run in in 66 adults (19 female) aged 18–56 with CUD reporting attempts to cut down or quit in the past 2 years, recruited from the general community (October 2019-July 2022). Participants were 1:1:1 allocated, to one of 3 interventions; MBI (n = 23), Relaxation (n = 21) or Control (n = 22) with a mean duration of 16 days, stratified by age and sex. All conditions included daily monitoring of usage. Baseline and follow-up in person testing occurred in Melbourne, Australia. The intervention occurred online. The primary outcome was change in cannabis use days (Δ follow-up minus baseline). Secondary outcomes were changes (Δ follow-up minus baseline) in: cannabis grams and craving (visual analogue scale; VAS), mindfulness (Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire) and relaxation (VAS). We carried out intention-to-treat analysis. Results: There were no significant intervention-by-time effects on the primary outcome — cannabis frequency (F = 0.26, FDRp = .86)—nor on secondary outcomes: quantity, cravings, relaxation or mindfulness. Conclusion: Based on these findings a brief MBI does not appear to help people with CUD reduce their cannabis use. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry Identifier: ISRCTN76056942 (Mapping short-term brain changes in cannabis users). Submission date: 28/04/2020. Registration date: 12/05/2020. The interventions are described below and here: ISRCTN76056942 https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76056942 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN76056942). The pre-registered hypotheses and analysis plan can be found here: https://osf.io/sfjwk.",

keywords = "Cannabis, Cannabis use disorder, Craving, Mindfulness, Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)",

author = "Valentina Lorenzetti and Eugene McTavish and Hannah Thomson and Adam Clemente and Peter Rendell and Gill Terrett and Greenwood, \{Lisa Marie\} and Freeman, \{Tom P.\} and Kamboj, \{Sunjeev K.\} and Victoria Manning",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112909",

language = "English",

volume = "277",

journal = "Drug and Alcohol Dependence",

issn = "0376-8716",

publisher = "Elsevier Ireland Ltd",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Brief mindfulness intervention for adults with cannabis use disorder

T2 - A randomised clinical trial

AU - Lorenzetti, Valentina

AU - McTavish, Eugene

AU - Thomson, Hannah

AU - Clemente, Adam

AU - Rendell, Peter

AU - Terrett, Gill

AU - Greenwood, Lisa Marie

AU - Freeman, Tom P.

AU - Kamboj, Sunjeev K.

AU - Manning, Victoria

PY - 2025/12/1

Y1 - 2025/12/1

N2 - Background: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is characterised by strong cravings and an inability to reduce cannabis use despite experiencing adverse psychosocial outcomes. Brief, accessible, scalable, and low-cost interventions are needed to support people with a CUD. We investigated if a brief mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) reduces cannabis frequency, quantity and craving, compared to both an active and passive control conditions. Methods: A pre-registered, double-blind randomised control trial was run in in 66 adults (19 female) aged 18–56 with CUD reporting attempts to cut down or quit in the past 2 years, recruited from the general community (October 2019-July 2022). Participants were 1:1:1 allocated, to one of 3 interventions; MBI (n = 23), Relaxation (n = 21) or Control (n = 22) with a mean duration of 16 days, stratified by age and sex. All conditions included daily monitoring of usage. Baseline and follow-up in person testing occurred in Melbourne, Australia. The intervention occurred online. The primary outcome was change in cannabis use days (Δ follow-up minus baseline). Secondary outcomes were changes (Δ follow-up minus baseline) in: cannabis grams and craving (visual analogue scale; VAS), mindfulness (Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire) and relaxation (VAS). We carried out intention-to-treat analysis. Results: There were no significant intervention-by-time effects on the primary outcome — cannabis frequency (F = 0.26, FDRp = .86)—nor on secondary outcomes: quantity, cravings, relaxation or mindfulness. Conclusion: Based on these findings a brief MBI does not appear to help people with CUD reduce their cannabis use. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry Identifier: ISRCTN76056942 (Mapping short-term brain changes in cannabis users). Submission date: 28/04/2020. Registration date: 12/05/2020. The interventions are described below and here: ISRCTN76056942 https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76056942 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN76056942). The pre-registered hypotheses and analysis plan can be found here: https://osf.io/sfjwk.

AB - Background: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is characterised by strong cravings and an inability to reduce cannabis use despite experiencing adverse psychosocial outcomes. Brief, accessible, scalable, and low-cost interventions are needed to support people with a CUD. We investigated if a brief mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) reduces cannabis frequency, quantity and craving, compared to both an active and passive control conditions. Methods: A pre-registered, double-blind randomised control trial was run in in 66 adults (19 female) aged 18–56 with CUD reporting attempts to cut down or quit in the past 2 years, recruited from the general community (October 2019-July 2022). Participants were 1:1:1 allocated, to one of 3 interventions; MBI (n = 23), Relaxation (n = 21) or Control (n = 22) with a mean duration of 16 days, stratified by age and sex. All conditions included daily monitoring of usage. Baseline and follow-up in person testing occurred in Melbourne, Australia. The intervention occurred online. The primary outcome was change in cannabis use days (Δ follow-up minus baseline). Secondary outcomes were changes (Δ follow-up minus baseline) in: cannabis grams and craving (visual analogue scale; VAS), mindfulness (Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire) and relaxation (VAS). We carried out intention-to-treat analysis. Results: There were no significant intervention-by-time effects on the primary outcome — cannabis frequency (F = 0.26, FDRp = .86)—nor on secondary outcomes: quantity, cravings, relaxation or mindfulness. Conclusion: Based on these findings a brief MBI does not appear to help people with CUD reduce their cannabis use. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry Identifier: ISRCTN76056942 (Mapping short-term brain changes in cannabis users). Submission date: 28/04/2020. Registration date: 12/05/2020. The interventions are described below and here: ISRCTN76056942 https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76056942 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN76056942). The pre-registered hypotheses and analysis plan can be found here: https://osf.io/sfjwk.

KW - Cannabis

KW - Cannabis use disorder

KW - Craving

KW - Mindfulness

KW - Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI)

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105020705539&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112909

DO - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112909

M3 - Article

C2 - 41187669

SN - 0376-8716

VL - 277

JO - Drug and Alcohol Dependence

JF - Drug and Alcohol Dependence

M1 - 112909

ER -

Brief mindfulness intervention for adults with cannabis use disorder: A randomised clinical trial

Abstract

Acknowledgements

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this