Treatment of Marijuana Withdrawal Syndrome Using Escitalopram and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

Treatment of Marijuana Withdrawal Syndrome Using Escitalopram and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy- a Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00598052

Enrollment

Registered

2008-01-18

Start date

2007-12-31

Completion date

2008-10-31

Last updated

2008-04-01

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Marijuana Dependence

Keywords

Marijuana dependence withdrawal Escitalopram

Brief summary

Recent studies have established the reliability, validity and time course of the cannabis withdrawal syndrome. This study will investigate the effects of combined treatment of Escitalopram with cognitive-behavior therapy in alleviating the symptoms of the marijuana withdrawal syndrome in regular chronic users of marijuana. We predict that combined pharmacological treatment and cognitive-behavior therapy will help patients to abstain from using using marijuana and it will alleviate their marijuana withdrawal symptoms.

Detailed description

Recent studies have established the reliability, validity and time course of the cannabis withdrawal syndrome characterized by symptoms of anxiety, irritability, negative mood, physical symptoms and decreased appetite. This study will investigate the effects of combined treatment of Escitalopram with cognitive-behavior therapy in alleviating the symptoms of the marijuana withdrawal syndrome in regular chronic users of marijuana. 40 patients will be blindly randomized to either active or placebo escitalopram 10mg/day, for 12 weeks followed bt 12 weeks of follow-up. Inclusion criteria include: * Men and women age 20-45 * DSM-IV diagnosis of THC dependence. Exclusion criteria include: * Dependence on other drugs or alcohol * Bipolar Disorder or Schizophrenia, Major depression, suicidal ideation psychotic symptoms or violent thoughts * Current treatment with anti-depressant medication * Neurological disease * Physical illness (hypothyroidism, severe anemia, renal failure) * Past severe effects of SSRIs. Outcome measures include: * urine THC analysis every two weeks * questionnaires assessing addiction severity index * depression and anxiety.

Interventions

DRUGEscitalopram

10mg/day

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE (Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

20 Years to 45 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Men and women aged 20-45 * DSM IV criteria of marijuana dependence.

Exclusion criteria

* Other drug or alcohol dependence * Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms or violent thoughts * Physical illness including hypothyroidism, neurological disease, severe anemia, and renal failure * Past severe side effects of SSRIs.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Clean urine THC samples	Every 2 weeks

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Questionnaire ratings of anxiety and depression and withdrawal symptoms	Every week of treatment

Countries

Israel

Contacts

Primary ContactAviv M Weinstein, Ph.D

avivmw@tasmc.health.gov.il97236973685

Backup ContactEti Tal, B.A

etital10@walla.com97236973685

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026