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Active, not recruitingNCT05396638Updated May 1, 2026

Characterization of Endocannabinoid and Endogenous Opioid Levels in Adolescents With Cannabis Use Disorder

An interventional study of Contingency Management in Cannabis Use, sponsored by University of Colorado, Denver. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 14 Years to 25 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-01.

Sponsored by University of Colorado, Denver · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
14 Years to 25 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This project seeks to learn more about the effects of cannabis use on the endocannabinoid system and endogenous opioid systems in adolescents to address a fundamental gap in knowledge and identify biomarkers that may help distinguish youth who relapse from youth who remain sober.

Read the detailed description

Learning the effects of cannabis use on the endocannabinoid system and endogenous opioid systems in adolescents addresses a fundamental gap in knowledge and may identify biomarkers that help distinguish youth who relapse from youth who remain sober.

The specific aims of the project are to:

  1. Measure endocannabinoid (eCB) and endogenous opioid (endorphin) levels in the blood of adolescents who use cannabis regularly and adolescents who never use cannabis. We expect eCB and endorphin levels to differ significantly in adolescents who use cannabis regularly compared to adolescents who do not.
  2. Characterize circulating eCB and endorphin levels at baseline, during abstinence, and after natural resumption of cannabis use.
  3. Collect data to evaluate cannabis craving and to test for association of craving with eCB and endorphin levels in adolescents who use cannabis regularly. We expect that larger changes in eCB and endorphin levels will be associated with higher craving scores.
02

Conditions studied

  • Cannabis Use
03

In context

Lead sponsor

University of Colorado, Denver is the lead sponsor of 1,499 studies on the registry; 315 are open to participants now.

Of its 139 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 89 (64%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
14 Years to 25 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. 14 to 25 years of age.
  2. Use cannabis at least twice a week for the past month.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Refusal of valid written consent,
  2. Current psychosis,
  3. Obvious intoxication,
  4. Current risk of suicide,
  5. Violence sufficiently great to interfere with evaluation or to endanger evaluators,
  6. Obvious intellectual deficiency as noted during the informed consent process, or inability of patient or family to comply with the study protocol.
  7. Use of other illicit drugs in the past 90 days by self-report or detected by urine drug test.
  8. Use of opioid medications for medical or recreational purposes currently or within the past 90 days.
  9. Does not have access to an Internet connected devise or cannot use Zoom.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Contingency Management

    Abstinence will be rewarded following a contingency management (CM) payment scale.

    Behavioral: Contingency Management

Interventions

  • BehavioralContingency Management

    Participants will be paid for abstinence at each study visit.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Cannabinoid levels in blood

    Cannabinoid levels in blood: Our primary measure will be 11-nor-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) concentrations in whole blood, which have been demonstrated to be a reliable quantitative measure of cannabis use over the past few weeks35. We will measure an additional 10 cannabinoids \[THC, 11-hydroxy-THC, THC-glucuronide, cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichromene (CBC), cannabidivarin (CBDV), tetrahydro-cannabivarin (THCV), and THCV-COOH\]34, which will be visually inspected to identify potential secondary outcomes.

    Time frame: Collected at Baseline

  2. Cannabinoid levels in blood

    Cannabinoid levels in blood: Our primary measure will be 11-nor-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) concentrations in whole blood, which have been demonstrated to be a reliable quantitative measure of cannabis use over the past few weeks35. We will measure an additional 10 cannabinoids \[THC, 11-hydroxy-THC, THC-glucuronide, cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichromene (CBC), cannabidivarin (CBDV), tetrahydro-cannabivarin (THCV), and THCV-COOH\]34, which will be visually inspected to identify potential secondary outcomes.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 2

  3. Cannabinoid levels in blood

    Cannabinoid levels in blood: Our primary measure will be 11-nor-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) concentrations in whole blood, which have been demonstrated to be a reliable quantitative measure of cannabis use over the past few weeks35. We will measure an additional 10 cannabinoids \[THC, 11-hydroxy-THC, THC-glucuronide, cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichromene (CBC), cannabidivarin (CBDV), tetrahydro-cannabivarin (THCV), and THCV-COOH\]34, which will be visually inspected to identify potential secondary outcomes.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 4

  4. Cannabinoid levels in blood

    Cannabinoid levels in blood: Our primary measure will be 11-nor-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) concentrations in whole blood, which have been demonstrated to be a reliable quantitative measure of cannabis use over the past few weeks35. We will measure an additional 10 cannabinoids \[THC, 11-hydroxy-THC, THC-glucuronide, cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichromene (CBC), cannabidivarin (CBDV), tetrahydro-cannabivarin (THCV), and THCV-COOH\]34, which will be visually inspected to identify potential secondary outcomes.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 8

  5. Endocannabinoid levels in blood

    We will measure endocannabinoid (eCB) levels AEA and 2-AG, the primary eCBs, in whole blood.

    Time frame: Collected at Baseline

  6. Endocannabinoid levels in blood

    We will measure endocannabinoid (eCB) levels AEA and 2-AG, the primary eCBs, in whole blood.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 2

  7. Endocannabinoid levels in blood

    We will measure endocannabinoid (eCB) levels AEA and 2-AG, the primary eCBs, in whole blood.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 4

  8. Endocannabinoid levels in blood

    We will measure endocannabinoid (eCB) levels AEA and 2-AG, the primary eCBs, in whole blood.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 8

Secondary outcomes

  1. Endorphin levels in blood

    Endorphin levels in blood: Circulating beta Endorphin (b-EP) levels will be quantified using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.

    Time frame: Collected at Baseline

  2. Endorphin levels in blood

    Endorphin levels in blood: Circulating beta Endorphin (b-EP) levels will be quantified using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 2

  3. Endorphin levels in blood

    Endorphin levels in blood: Circulating beta Endorphin (b-EP) levels will be quantified using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 4

  4. Endorphin levels in blood

    Endorphin levels in blood: Circulating beta Endorphin (b-EP) levels will be quantified using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 8

  5. Cannabis Craving

    Cannabis craving: The Marijuana Craving Questionnaire (MCQ) will be used to assess cannabis craving.

    Time frame: Collected at Baseline

  6. Cannabis Craving

    Cannabis craving: The Marijuana Craving Questionnaire (MCQ) will be used to assess cannabis craving.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 2

  7. Cannabis Craving

    Cannabis craving: The Marijuana Craving Questionnaire (MCQ) will be used to assess cannabis craving.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 4

  8. Cannabis Craving

    Cannabis craving: The Marijuana Craving Questionnaire (MCQ) will be used to assess cannabis craving.

    Time frame: Collected at Week 8

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
    Aurora, Colorado 80045, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 1, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05396638
Lead sponsor
University of Colorado, Denver
Collaborators
Colorado Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 31, 2022
Start date
Oct 13, 2022
Primary completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Last update
May 1, 2026

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Apr 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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