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Introduction and aims There is increasing interest and evidence for the use of cannabinoid medications in the treatment of cannabis use disorder, but little examination of the correlates of successful treatment. This paper is a secondary analysis of a randomised placebo-controlled trial of nabiximols for the treatment of cannabis use disorder (CUD), aiming to identify which client and treatment characteristics impact treatment engagement and outcomes. Method Bayesian multiple regression models were used to examine the impact of age, gender, duration of regular cannabis use, daily quantity of cannabis, cannabis use problems, self-efficacy for quitting, sleep, mental health, pain measures, and treatment group upon treatment engagement (retention, medication dose, and counselling participation) and treatment outcomes (achieving end-of-study abstinence, and a 50% or greater reduction in cannabis use days) among the 128 clients participating in the 12-week trial. Results Among the treatment factors, greater counselling attendance was associated with greater odds of abstinence and ≥ 50% reduction in cannabis use; nabiximols with greater odds of ≥ 50% reduction and attending counselling, and reduced hazard of treatment dropout; and higher dose with lower odds of ≥ 50% reduction. Among the client factors, longer duration of regular use was associated with higher odds of abstinence and 50% reduction, and lower hazard of treatment dropout; greater quantity of cannabis use with reduced hazard of dropout, greater odds of attending counselling, and higher average dose; greater pain at baseline with greater odds of ≥ 50% reduction and higher average dose; and more severe sleep issues with lower odds of ≥ 50% reduction. Males had lower odds of attending counselling. Discussions and conclusions These findings suggest that counselling combined with agonist pharmacotherapy may provide the optimal treatment for cannabis use disorder. Younger clients, male clients, and clients with sleep issues could benefit from extra support from treatment services to improve engagement and outcomes. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12616000103460) https://www.anzctr.org.au

This study sought to test the effect of genetic information and information about the caffeine content of a beverage on caffeine withdrawal, specifically if: (1) being informed that one has tested positive for a gene related to caffeine withdrawal can produce an exaggerated caffeine withdrawal response during abstinence; (2) belief that one has consumed caffeine leads to a reduction in withdrawal symptoms when no caffeine is consumed. Regular coffee drinkers were given a bogus genetic test and were told either that they had tested positive or negative for a gene related to withdrawal. After 24-hour caffeine abstinence withdrawal symptoms were measured using a self-report caffeine withdrawal scale, and then again after a cup of decaffeinated coffee. Half the participants were told their coffee was caffeinated and half were told truthfully that it was decaffeinated. Participants told the coffee was caffeinated reported a greater reduction in withdrawal symptoms than those told it was decaffeinated. Differing genetic test result information produced no difference in reported withdrawal symptoms. These results indicate that information about the dose of caffeine administered can influence withdrawal symptoms, but that genetic information does not have a universal ability to produce nocebo effects across all sensory and cognitive domains.