Can Psilocybin Help Treat Cannabis Use Disorder? Johns Hopkins Is Studying It

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have been quietly studying a question that is going to get the attention of both the cannabis and psychedelic communities:

Could psilocybin-assisted therapy help people who are struggling to control their cannabis use?

The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research is conducting a small pilot study examining psilocybin—the psychedelic compound found naturally in certain mushrooms—as a potential treatment for people diagnosed with Cannabis Use Disorder, or CUD. Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Center

And before anybody turns this into “Johns Hopkins says mushrooms cure weed addiction”…

That is NOT what has happened.

No results from this trial have been publicly released yet, the study includes only 12 participants, and researchers are specifically testing whether the approach deserves further investigation.

But the study itself is extremely interesting.

What Is Johns Hopkins Actually Testing?

The official trial is titled:

“Pilot Study of Psilocybin-assisted Treatment for Cannabis Use Disorder.”

Researchers are studying 12 adults who meet diagnostic criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder and are seeking treatment.

This is an open-label proof-of-concept study, meaning participants and researchers know psilocybin is being administered rather than comparing it against a blinded placebo group. Johns Hopkins Medicine

The goal is straightforward:

Researchers want to see whether psilocybin-assisted treatment can significantly reduce cannabis use compared with participants’ behavior before treatment.

But participants are NOT simply being given psilocybin and sent home.

The psychedelic sessions are only one part of a much larger treatment program.

The Treatment Lasts 12 Weeks

Participants complete a 12-week course of treatment involving psychological support and targeted therapy.

According to the study listing, the program begins with four weekly preparation meetings that include cognitive behavioral therapy specifically focused on Cannabis Use Disorder.

Then comes the first supervised psilocybin session.

During week five, participants receive 25 milligrams of psilocybin.

Approximately two weeks later, during week seven, participants receive a second dose of either 25mg or 35mg. CenterWatch

After each psychedelic session, participants return for an integration meeting within roughly three days and continue attending weekly meetings through the end of the 12-week treatment period.

Researchers then continue following them months later.

So this is VERY different from somebody deciding:

“I’m smoking too much weed… maybe I should take mushrooms.”

That is not what Johns Hopkins is testing.

This is structured psychedelic-assisted treatment involving screening, therapy, supervised dosing, integration and months of follow-up.

Researchers Are Measuring More Than Whether Someone Says They Quit

The study is looking at several outcomes.

Researchers are tracking participants’ cannabis use through interviews while also using biological markers of recent cannabis use.

They are additionally interested in changes involving:

• Cannabis cravings
• Mood
• Sleep
• Psychological functioning
• Patterns of cannabis consumption

Participants are assessed throughout treatment and again approximately three and six months after their first psilocybin session. CenterWatch

That longer follow-up matters.

A treatment that reduces cannabis consumption for a few days would be far less interesting than one associated with sustained behavioral changes months later.

So What Exactly Is Cannabis Use Disorder?

This study is NOT based on the idea that everyone who regularly uses cannabis has an addiction.

Participants must actually meet DSM-5 criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder. Johns Hopkins Medicine

CUD generally involves a pattern of cannabis use that creates meaningful problems in someone’s life or becomes difficult for that person to control.

That distinction is important.

Millions of people use cannabis without meeting the criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder.

This study is focused specifically on people who already recognize their cannabis use as problematic and are actively seeking treatment.

Why Psilocybin?

This research did not come completely out of nowhere.

Johns Hopkins has spent years studying psychedelics in connection with mental health and substance-use disorders.

The university’s psychedelic research center has investigated psilocybin in areas including tobacco dependence, alcohol-related problems, opioid use disorder, depression and other psychiatric conditions. Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Center

Johns Hopkins previously conducted a small smoking-cessation pilot in which researchers reported unusually high abstinence rates after psilocybin-assisted treatment, helping fuel interest in whether psychedelics could affect addictive behavior more broadly. Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Center

That does NOT mean success in one substance-use disorder automatically translates to cannabis.

But it helps explain why researchers are asking the question.

Could an intense psychedelic experience, combined with therapy and behavioral treatment, help someone change a deeply established relationship with another substance?

That is what researchers are trying to find out.

One Psychoactive Substance Being Studied to Treat Problems With Another

This is probably the part of the story that will create the most conversation.

Cannabis and psilocybin are both psychoactive substances.

Yet researchers are investigating whether carefully supervised use of one could potentially help people reduce problematic use of the other.

At first that might sound contradictory.

But medicine has never been as simple as categorizing every psychoactive substance as either universally “good” or universally “bad.”

The dose matters.

The setting matters.

The person matters.

The reason it is being administered matters.

And perhaps most importantly here, clinical treatment is very different from recreational self-administration.

Psilocybin in this study is being used in a carefully controlled research environment alongside psychotherapy.

The Study Is Tiny—And That Matters

This deserves emphasis.

There are only 12 participants.

That is nowhere near enough people to establish that psilocybin is an effective treatment for Cannabis Use Disorder.

Small pilot studies like this are generally designed to answer earlier questions:

Is the treatment feasible?

Can participants safely complete the protocol?

Is there enough evidence of a potential benefit to justify a much larger controlled trial?

Even if all 12 participants significantly reduced their cannabis use, researchers would still need larger studies, stronger controls and replication before drawing broad conclusions.

So for now, the scientifically responsible position is:

This is promising enough to study—not proven enough to recommend.

Interestingly, the Public Study Pages Don’t Completely Agree on Recruitment Status

There is one detail RollersDaily noticed while reviewing the study records.

Johns Hopkins’ dedicated Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research page currently says:

“Enrollment is closed for this study — results coming soon.” Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Center

However, Johns Hopkins Medicine’s clinical-trial directory and several registry-linked listings still show the trial as recruiting. Those records were last formally updated around March 2026 and list an estimated completion date near the end of 2026. Johns Hopkins Medicine

The most likely explanation is that some registry pages have not yet caught up with the research center’s current recruitment status.

For anyone following the study rather than trying to enroll, the more interesting part is what Hopkins itself is now saying:

Results are coming soon.

What Happens If the Results Are Positive?

That is where this could become much bigger.

If researchers observe a meaningful reduction in cannabis use, this study could provide justification for a larger randomized clinical trial involving far more participants.

Researchers could then compare psilocybin-assisted treatment against placebo, therapy alone or existing approaches.

They could also begin answering harder questions:

How much of the improvement comes from psilocybin?

How much comes from CBT?

Does dose matter?

Which patients respond best?

How long do the effects last?

Are there people for whom the treatment creates more risk than benefit?

Those questions cannot be answered by a 12-person pilot.

But every larger clinical program has to start somewhere.

This Also Creates an Interesting Conversation for Cannabis Culture

Cannabis discussions often become extremely polarized.

One side sometimes talks about cannabis as though it is inherently dangerous.

The other can sometimes act as though cannabis could never cause problems for anyone.

Reality is more complicated.

Cannabis can have legitimate medical uses and can be used responsibly by adults while Cannabis Use Disorder can also exist.

Both statements can be true at the same time.

Researching treatments for people who WANT help reducing their cannabis use is not an attack on cannabis.

If anything, taking Cannabis Use Disorder seriously helps create a more mature conversation around responsible legalization.

People should be able to acknowledge benefits without pretending risks do not exist.

Johns Hopkins Is Not Telling People to Self-Treat With Psychedelics

This point deserves its own section because social media can turn an early research study into medical advice VERY quickly.

Johns Hopkins is not recommending that people with Cannabis Use Disorder obtain psychedelic mushrooms and attempt this treatment themselves.

Participants in psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins undergo medical and psychological screening, preparation and supervised sessions with trained personnel. The university has also studied risks associated with psychedelic use outside controlled clinical environments. Johns Hopkins Medicine

Psilocybin remains legally restricted in many jurisdictions and can produce intense psychological effects.

Anyone concerned about their cannabis use should speak with a qualified healthcare professional rather than trying to recreate an experimental clinical trial.

Now We Wait for the Results

This may be one of the more unusual cannabis research stories we have come across at RollersDaily.

A leading psychedelic research institution is testing whether psilocybin-assisted therapy could help people reduce problematic cannabis use.

Twelve participants.

Two supervised psychedelic sessions.

Twelve weeks of treatment.

Months of follow-up.

And according to Johns Hopkins’ research center…

Enrollment is finished and results are on the way. Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Center

Whether those results show something significant is another question entirely.

But if they do?

This little 12-person study could become the beginning of a MUCH larger conversation between the cannabis, addiction-treatment and psychedelic-research communities.

What Do You Think?

Would you support more research into psychedelic-assisted treatment for Cannabis Use Disorder?

Or do you think researchers need considerably more evidence before this approach deserves serious attention?

Let us know what you think and follow RollersDaily as we continue tracking the study and its eventual results.

Disclaimer

This article is provided for news and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or encourage unsupervised psychedelic use, illegal drug use or self-treatment of Cannabis Use Disorder.

Primary sources: Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research; Johns Hopkins Medicine; ClinicalTrials.gov-linked study data; CenterWatch.