Abstinence from cannabis increased with cannabidiol 400-mg, 800-mg doses compared with placebo
MONDAY, Aug. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Abstinence from cannabis is increased with daily oral doses of cannabidiol 400 mg and 800 mg versus placebo, according to a dose-finding study published online July 28 in The Lancet Psychiatry.
Tom P. Freeman, Ph.D., from University of Bath in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a phase 2a randomized trial to identify efficacious doses of pharmacological treatment of cannabis use disorders. Participants meeting cannabis use disorder criteria were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to four-week treatment with three different doses of oral cannabidiol (200 mg, 400 mg, or 800 mg) or placebo (12 participants in each group) in the first phase, with an additional 34 participants randomly assigned (1:1:1) to cannabidiol 400 mg (12 participants), cannabidiol 800 mg (11 participants), and placebo (11 participants) in the second phase.
The researchers report that at the interim analysis, cannabidiol 200 mg was eliminated from the trial as an ineffective dose. Cannabidiol 400 mg and 800 mg exceeded primary end-point criteria in the final analysis for both primary outcomes (lower urinary 11-nor-9-carboxy-δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC-COOH]:creatinine ratio and increased days per week with abstinence from cannabis during treatment). Cannabidiol 400 mg decreased the THC-COOH:creatinine ratio by 94.21 ng/mL and increased abstinence from cannabis by 0.48 days per week compared with placebo, while cannabidiol 800 mg decreased the THC-COOH:creatinine ratio by 72.02 ng/mL and increased abstinence from cannabis by 0.27 days per week.
“Cannabidiol at daily oral doses of 400 mg and 800 mg has potential to address the substantial and currently unmet clinical need for a pharmacological treatment of cannabis use disorders,” the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to Spectrum Therapeutics.
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