The program aims to develop and study a smartphone app promoting exercise as an alternative to marijuana use.
The project includes intervention for young marijuana users between the ages of 18 and 25 that consists of four intervention sessions, “as well as a smartphone application (app) that promotes exercise/physical activity (EA) as an alternative to MJ (marijuana) use,” according to the project grant description.
“The EA, which will be designed to specifically appeal to young adults, will provide a readily-accessible, flexible, and convenient platform for personalized information and reminders that promote exercise/PA as a positive alternative to MJ use in ongoing daily life.”
Attempts by CNSNews.com to discuss the study with the project leader, Dr. Lorraine Collins of the University of New York/Buffalo, were unsuccessful.
“The use of an app will help us to provide young adults with easy access to helpful information, in real-time, as they go about their day-to-day lives,” Collins said in a university press release last year.
According to the project description, “This research will make significant contributions to the limited knowledge of exercise/PA as a strategy for reducing MJ use and related problems among emerging and young adults.”
Funding for the project began in July of 2013 and is slated to continue through the end of June of 2015.