2025 Consortium Grant Awardees and their Project Narratives and Anticipated Impacts

This project will determine whether cannabis smoke with varying levels of THC and CBD affects fentanyl intake, withdrawal symptoms, and relapse risk in a validated rodent model of opioid addiction. We will integrate functional connectivity analyses with machine learning to predict how cannabis alters brain networks during fentanyl withdrawal. 

The anticipated impact of this research is to generate rigorous preclinical evidence on whether specific cannabis formulations, particularly high-CBD cannabis, can serve as harm reduction strategies for fentanyl use disorder. These findings may guide future evidence-based policy decisions on the medical use of marijuana to improve treatment effectiveness and reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths.

Recent surging incidence of cannabinoid-associated coagulopathy (CAC) underscores the urgent need for personalized assessment tools to evaluate coagulation risks in patients exposed to cannabinoids, particularly those on anticoagulant therapy. This project aims to develop a miniaturized, point-of-care (POC) coagulation assay capable of rapidly measuring personalized coagulation capacity and detecting cannabinoid-induced alterations in anticoagulant efficacy. 

The POC coagulation assay will enable rapid clinical assessment of the risks of CAC. The findings will contribute to evidence-based guidance on marijuana use in patients on anticoagulants during medication complications, improving patient safety and therapeutic outcomes.

This project will evaluate whether medical marijuana initiation reduces opioid use among Florida Medicaid enrollees with type 2 diabetes, a population at elevated risk for chronic pain and long-term opioid therapy by leveraging the MEMORY database. 

The findings will provide robust evidence on how medical marijuana affects opioid dosing, discontinuation, and prescription use in a high-risk population.

The glymphatic system (GS), a waste clearance system for the removal of toxic waste products from the brain, plays a role in neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). GS activity is regulated by sleep and presents a potential mechanistic bidirectional pathway linking sleep disruption with MS progression. This study proposes to evaluate the effect of cannabis on GS function and sleep in people with MS (pwMS).

This proof-of-concept study is the first of its kind to investigate the effect of cannabis on glymphatic clearance in relation to sleep in general, and in pwMS in particular. The findings are expected to further shed light on the therapeutic benefits of cannabis and its ability to modulate sleep and GS clearance in pwMS.

This project addresses a key evidence gap on real-world outcomes of medical cannabis (MC) use in cancer care by using the Florida Medical Marijuana Use Registry linked with Medicare and Medicaid administrative healthcare claims data. This study will characterize trends and clinical/sociodemographic correlates with MC use patterns among patients with common cancers. By analyzing these patterns, evaluating their relationship with opioid dosing in cancer patients and adherence to endocrine therapy in breast cancer patients, the study will provide important insights on the effect of medical cannabis in patients with cancer.

These findings will help clinicians and policymakers interpret potential benefits and risks associated with MC use in patients with cancer, as well as guide counseling, coverage, and research priorities in this area.

Approximately 90% of individuals engaging in harmful drinking fall into a preclinical category, where their behaviors are associated with significant health risks but do not meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD). This double blinded randomized controlled trial will evaluate the preliminary efficacy of water-soluble CBD [Broad Spectrum (THC-free, 150 mg) vs. Full Spectrum (<0.3% THC, 150 mg) vs. placebo] in reducing alcohol use and cravings in individuals at risk for AUD.

By targeting risky drinkers before the onset of AUD, this approach offers a promising alternative for reducing alcohol consumption and cravings, potentially mitigating progression to more severe alcohol-related problems.  

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a prevalent and debilitating complication of diabetes mellitus, marked by the progressive loss of sensory function in the lower extremities. Existing treatments for DPN provide only partial symptomatic relief and do not prevent disease progression. This project hypothesizes that cannabidiol (CBD), either as a standalone treatment or within a full-spectrum CBD formulation, can alleviate DPN symptoms—such as pain, numbness, and tingling—thereby improving sleep quality, mood, and overall quality of life in diabetic patients. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of these treatments, monitor patient responses to cannabinoid supplements versus placebo. 

By comparing CBD isolate to full-spectrum CBD in DPN patients, this study aims to determine whether differences in compliance, clinical response, and patient-reported QOL outcomes can guide future therapeutic strategies.

No studies to date have examined the acute effects of oral CBD/CBD-A on neuropathic pain intensity and unpleasantness, and electroencephalogram (EEG) resting state power in people with spinal cord injuries. The proposed research will determine if a single CBD/CBD-A dose produces analgesic effects and if these changes can be verified by neuroelectric correlates. We will gain improved understanding of the effects and underlying mechanisms of cannabis and cannabinoids on SCI-related neuropathic pain.

If successful, the outcomes of this study will facilitate the development of larger, high-quality clinical trials to evaluate the long-term effects of cannabinoid treatments on neuropathic pain and quality of life in people with spinal cord injuries.