Study Details

Cannabis program content implemented as a supplement to a sexual risk reduction intervention that also included alcohol program content, was evaluated using a cluster randomized control trial involving young men and women living at a detention facility in the Southwest United States at the time of study recruitment. Participants were randomly assigned in same-sex groups to one of three interventions: (1) a sexual risk reduction intervention (SRRI); (2) a sexual risk reduction intervention supplemented with an alcohol content component (SRRI + ETOH); or (3) a sexual risk reduction intervention supplemented with an alcohol and cannabis content component (SRRI + ETOH + THC). Surveys were administered immediately before the intervention (baseline) and three, six, nine, and 12 months after the end of the intervention. Urine tests were administered at baseline and 12 months after the end of the intervention to diagnose Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

At the 12-month follow-up, the authors found that youth who received the cannabis content component (THC), in addition to the SRRI and ETOH components, did not significantly differ in terms of testing positive for STIs from the group that only received the SRRI and ETOH components. The authors reported an odds ratio of 0.36, with a 95 percent confidence interval ranging from .12-1.05; however, because this confidence interval crossed 1, the impact was deemed to be non-significant.

The study also examined the cannabis component impacts on frequency of unprotected sex at the three-, six-, nine-, and 12-month follow-ups. Findings for this outcome were not considered for the review because they did not meet the review evidence standards. Specifically, the findings for the frequency of unprotected sex outcome received a low rating.