Neurobehavioral Impacts of Medical Cannabis on Chronic Pain

Purpose

About 50 million adults have chronic pain, making it one of the most common medical conditions in the US. Chronic pain can seriously limit quality of life. Medical cannabis is an increasingly common form of treatment for chronic pain, and further research is needed to understand its effects on the brain and the body. 

What will this study involve?

The study will take place over 4 months.

  • First, you will come into our laboratory at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis for a 6 hour assessment. You will fill out questionnaires, complete cognitive tasks on an iPad, undergo a blood draw, and have a brain scan.
  • Following this visit, you will start taking your medical cannabis. We will call you once each month for three months to ask how your medical cannabis treatments are going.
  • Then, at the end of four months, you will come back for another in-person visit where we will repeat the questionnaires, iPad tasks, blood draw, and brain scan.

Who can participate?

arrow

This study is no longer accepting new participants

Adults ages 30-75 who:

  • Are newly prescribed medical cannabis for a chronic pain condition
  • Have not begun taking their medical cannabis
  • Do not currently use nicotine more than 5 times a week
  • Do not currently use recreational cannabis (marijuana)
  • Have not used recreational cannabis (marijuana) more than 15 times in their life
  • Have not used any recreational cannabis (marijuana) within the past 6 months
  • Are native English speakers

There may be other reasons you are not eligible to participate. For example, you cannot participate if you have a neurodegenerative condition like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. 

To confirm your eligibility, please contact the study team. 

How am I compensated?

You will be given $125 at the end of your first visit. You'll also receive a coupon code that you can use to get your medical cannabis prescriptions at a 50% discount through GreenGoods.

If you complete your monthly phone calls on time, this coupon code will be valid for four months. If we cannot get a hold of you, your code will expire and you will be removed from the study.

You will be given an additional $125 for completing your follow-up visit.

Will I get to see my results?

We will notify you if your data indicates a health issue that you should pursue, but otherwise we are not approved to release the data to you. This is because the research study is not a medical visit. There is no information placed in medical records, and your physicians are not involved in the protocol. 

Read about the differences between clinical care and research

Study Team

  • Principle Investigator: Monica Luciana, PhD and Angela Birnbaum, PhD
  • Study coordinator: Peter M. Grund, BS

Contact

For questions about this study or to verify your eligibility, please email or call us:

Resources

 

Last Updated: 5/23/2023