{
    "abstract": "We measured the effects of public health-oriented cannabis access compared with the illegal market on cannabis use and related mental health outcomes in adult cannabis users.\nThis was a two-arm, parallel group, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Follow-up outcome measurement took place after 6\u00a0months.\nThe study was conducted in Basel-Stadt, Switzerland.\nA total of 378 adult (aged \u226518\u2009years) cannabis users were enrolled and randomized between August 2022 and March 2023, although only 374 users who completed baseline measures could be included.\nParticipants were randomly assigned to the intervention group with public health-oriented recreational cannabis access in pharmacies (regulated cannabis products, safer use information, voluntary counseling, no advertisement; 189/188) or the illegal market control group (continued illicit cannabis sourcing; 189/186).\nThe primary outcome was self-reported severity of cannabis misuse after 6\u00a0months, as measured by the Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test - Revised (range 0-32). Secondary outcomes involved depressive, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms, cannabis consumption amount, alcohol, and drug use.\nTen participants were not followed (2.7%). Primary analysis included those with complete data (182 vs. 182). There was some evidence of a difference in cannabis misuse between the legal cannabis intervention group (mean [M]\u2009=\u200910.1) and the illegal market control group (M\u2009=\u200910.9; \u03b2\u2009=\u2009-0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]\u2009=\u2009-1.4 to 0.0, P\u2009=\u20090.052). These results were supported by an intention-to-treat multiple imputation analysis (n\u2009=\u2009374). Additional sub-group analysis by whether the participant used other drugs or not suggested that any reduction in cannabis misuse was confined to those in the legal cannabis intervention group who used other drugs (P\nPublic health-oriented recreational cannabis access may decrease cannabis use and cannabis-related harms, especially among those using other drugs.",
    "authors": [
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Clinic, Psychiatric Services Aargau, Windisch, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Lavinia",
            "initials": "L",
            "lastname": "Baltes-Flueckiger"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Health Department, Basel, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Regine",
            "initials": "R",
            "lastname": "Steinauer"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Maximilian",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Meyer"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Adrian",
            "initials": "A",
            "lastname": "Guessoum"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Oliver",
            "initials": "O",
            "lastname": "Herrmann"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Christoph Felix",
            "initials": "CF",
            "lastname": "Mosandl"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Clinic, Psychiatric Services Aargau, Windisch, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Jens",
            "initials": "J",
            "lastname": "Kronschnabel"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Clinic, Psychiatric Services Aargau, Windisch, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Eva-Maria",
            "initials": "EM",
            "lastname": "Pichler"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric University Clinics Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Marc",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Vogel"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Clinic, Psychiatric Services Aargau, Windisch, Switzerland.\nFaculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.",
            "firstname": "Marc",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Walter"
        }
    ],
    "conclusions": null,
    "copyrights": "\u00a9 2025 The Author(s). Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.",
    "doi": "10.1111/add.70080",
    "journal": "Addiction (Abingdon, England)",
    "keywords": [
        "cannabis legalization",
        "cannabis misuse",
        "cannabis use",
        "mental health",
        "randomized controlled trial",
        "recreational cannabis"
    ],
    "methods": null,
    "publication_date": "2025-04-28",
    "pubmed_id": "40289676",
    "results": null,
    "title": "Effects of legal access versus illegal market cannabis on use and mental health: A randomized controlled trial.",
    "xml": "<Element 'PubmedArticle' at 0x788505c65c60>"
}