Dronabinol Treatment for Marijuana Addiction (MARINOL)

April 22, 2019 updated by: Frances R Levin, New York State Psychiatric Institute

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Dronabinol in the Treatment of Marijuana Addiction

The purpose of this study is to determine if dronabinol decreases the symptoms of marijuana addiction and withdrawal.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Marijuana addiction is associated with significant withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, irritability, bodily discomfort, and insomnia. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of dronabinol in reducing withdrawal symptoms.

During this twelve-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, study visits will occur twice each week. During study visits, participants will receive either placebo or medication. Throughout the study, all participants will receive individualized psychotherapy sessions. At each study visit, vital signs, self-report ratings, and urine samples will be collected. Participants will have a follow-up evaluation at month 6.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

156

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10032
        • Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • men and women between the ages of 18-60
  • Meets DSM-IV criteria for current marijuana dependence and reports marijuana as primary drug of abuse
  • Individuals must report using marijuana at least 5 days a week and have a marijuana positive urine drug screen on the day of study entry
  • Individuals must be capable of giving informed consent and capable of complying with study procedures.
  • Women of child-bearing age will be included in the study provided that they are not pregnant, based on the results of a blood pregnancy test drawn at the time of screening. They must also agree to use a method of contraception with proven efficacy and agree not to become pregnant during the study. To confirm this, blood pregnancy tests will be repeated monthly. Women will be provided a full explanation of the potential dangers of pregnancy while on the study medication. If a woman becomes pregnant, the study medication will be discontinued.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Meets criteria for current psychiatric disorder requiring psychiatric intervention. Disorders that are stable on psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy will not be exclusionary. Individuals will be permitted to take prescribed zolpidem and zaleplon if there is no evidence of dependence on these substances.
  • History of seizures
  • Known sensitivity to dronabinol
  • Unstable medical conditions
  • Physical dependence on any other drugs (excluding nicotine) that would require medical detoxification
  • Currently taking psychotropic medication with benefit for any other illness than treatment of insomnia
  • Pregnant or breast-feeding
  • Individuals who have exhibited suicidal or homicidal behavior within the past two years or who have current active suicidal ideation.
  • Individuals with coronary vascular disease as indicated by history of abnormal ECG or history of cardiac symptoms.
  • Unstable physical disorder which might make participation hazardous such as uncontrolled hypertension (SBP > 150, DBP> 90, or HR > 100 when sitting quietly), acute hepatitis (patients with chronic mildly elevated transaminases < 2-3X upper limit of normal are acceptable), or medically unstable diabetes.
  • Subjects in professions in which even mild intoxication would be hazardous (e.g., police officer, bus driver, firefighter).
  • Individuals who are court-mandated to treatment.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Dronabinol
Dronabinol: 20mg bid for a daily maximum dose of 40mg.
Drug: Dronabinol
Dronabinol
Other Names:
  • Marinol
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
placebo
Drug: Placebo
placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of Patients Abstinent From Marijuana During Weeks 7 and 8 of the Trial
Time Frame: weeks 7 and 8
Timeline Followback self report data was collected. This daily report was used to assess the proportion of patients abstinent during weeks 7 and 8 of the clinical trial.
weeks 7 and 8

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

New York State Psychiatric Institute

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: frances r levin, md, New York State Psychiatric Institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 16, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 16, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 22, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 24, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2019

Last Verified

April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • #4886-NIDA-09236-11
  • DPMC (Other Identifier: NIDA)
  • P50DA009236 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • P50DA009236-11 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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