Trial reportDrug and alcohol dependence2013
The dose effects of short-term dronabinol (oral THC) maintenance in daily cannabis users.
Trial report in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00893074 (The Effect of Prescription Medications in Marijuana Users), which is not on this map. Cited by 59 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effect of Prescription Medications in Marijuana Users
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 108 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the pharmacological management of substance dependence: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Guideline
- Objective and subjective measurement of sleep in people who use substances: Emerging evidence and recommendations from a systematic review.Journal of sleep research · 2025Pooled it
- Pharmacotherapies for cannabis dependence.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Efficacy of Cannabinoid Agonist Replacement Therapy for Cannabis Withdrawal Symptoms.CNS drugs · 2018Pooled it
- Pharmacotherapies for cannabis dependence.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Trial
- Effects of zolpidem alone and in combination with nabilone on cannabis withdrawal and a laboratory model of relapse in cannabis users.Psychopharmacology · 2016Trial
- Effects of fixed or self-titrated dosages of Sativex on cannabis withdrawal and cravings.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2016Trial
- Naltrexone Maintenance Decreases Cannabis Self-Administration and Subjective Effects in Daily Cannabis Smokers.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2015Trial
- Oral fluid cannabinoids in chronic frequent cannabis smokers during ad libitum cannabis smoking.Drug testing and analysis · 2015Trial
- Can oral fluid cannabinoid testing monitor medication compliance and/or cannabis smoking during oral THC and oromucosal Sativex administration?Drug and alcohol dependence · 2013Trial
- Pharmacotherapy for Cannabis Use Disorder: Preclinical and Clinical Models.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2026Review
- Parasympathetic decreases immediately following self-reported cannabis smoking among adults living with cannabis use disorder.International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology · 2025Article
- Quantity of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol consumption and cannabis use disorder among daily cannabis consumers.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Daily associations with cannabis use and sleep quality in anxious cannabis users.Behavioral sleep medicine · 2024Article
- The relationship between cannabis and anorexia nervosa: a scoping review.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
- Evidence from Human Studies for Utilising Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Substance-Use Disorders: A Scoping Review with a Systematic Approach.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Helpful or Harmful? The Therapeutic Potential of Medications with Varying Degrees of Abuse Liability in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders.Current addiction reports · 2022Review
- Cannabinoids for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: New avenues for reaching and helping youth?Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Personal and Social Consequences of Psychotropic Substance Use: A Population-Based Internet Survey.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrior studies have separately examined the effects of dronabinol (oral THC) on cannabis withdrawal, cognitive performance, and the acute effects of smoked cannabis. A single study examining these clinically relevant domains would benefit the continued evaluation of dronabinol as a potential medication for the treatment of cannabis use disorders.
methodsThirteen daily cannabis smokers completed a within-subject crossover study and received 0, 30, 60 and 120mg dronabinol per day for 5 consecutive days. Vital signs and subjective ratings of cannabis withdrawal, craving and sleep were obtained daily; outcomes under active dose conditions were compared to those obtained under placebo dosing. On the 5th day of medication maintenance, participants completed a comprehensive cognitive performance battery and then smoked five puffs of cannabis for subjective effects evaluation. Each dronabinol maintenance period occurred in a counterbalanced order and was separated by 9 days of ad libitum cannabis use.
resultsDronabinol dose-dependently attenuated cannabis withdrawal and resulted in few adverse side effects or decrements in cognitive performance. Surprisingly, dronabinol did not alter the subjective effects of smoked cannabis, but cannabis-induced increases in heart rate were attenuated by the 60 and 120mg doses.
conclusionsDronabinol's ability to dose-dependently suppress cannabis withdrawal may be therapeutically beneficial to individuals trying to stop cannabis use. The absence of gross cognitive impairment or side effects in this study supports safety of doses up to 120mg/day. Continued evaluation of dronabinol in targeted clinical studies of cannabis treatment, using an expanded range of doses, is warranted.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.