Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39910268›Full record

Trial reportNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2025

N-acetylcysteine for youth cannabis use disorder: randomized controlled trial main findings.

Kevin M Gray, Rachel L Tomko, Nathaniel L Baker, Erin A McClure, Aimee L McRae-Clark, Lindsay M Squeglia

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Guideline
  2. A Randomized Controlled Trial of N-acetylcysteine for Adolescent and Young Adult Alcohol Use Disorder.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026
    Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Cannabis Use in Adolescents.Delaware journal of public health · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Kevin M GrayDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA. graykm@musc.edu.
Rachel L TomkoDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
Nathaniel L BakerDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3313-1579
Erin A McClureDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9744-7818
Aimee L McRae-ClarkDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
Lindsay M SquegliaDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5994-6894

Funding

South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute (SCTR)UL1TR001450 · NCATS · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · PI BRADY, KATHLEEN T., FLUME, PATRICK A · 2015 to 2024
$41.1M
N-Acetylcysteine and Contingency Management for Youth Cannabis Use DisorderR01DA042114 · NIDA · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · PI GRAY, KEVIN M · 2017 to 2021
$3.1M
MID-CAREER AWARD IN PATIENT-ORIENTED DRUG ABUSE RESEARCHK24DA038240 · NIDA · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · PI MCRAE-CLARK, AIMEE L · 2014 to 2023
$1.9M
Mentoring Clinical Investigators in Patient-Oriented Adolescent Alcohol ResearchK24AA031052 · NIAAA · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · PI Lindsay Squeglia · 2024 to 2026
$644k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001450NIAAA NIH HHS K24 AA031052NIDA NIH HHS K24 DA038240NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA042114U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) K24AA031052U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) K24DA038240U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01DA042114U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) UL1TR001450
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cannabis use disorder is particularly prevalent and impairing among young people, and evidence-based treatments are limited. Prior trials of N-acetylcysteine, added to contingency management as a platform behavioral intervention, yielded positive findings in youth but not in adults. This trial sought to rigorously evaluate whether N-acetylcysteine is efficacious in youth when not paired with a robust behavioral treatment platform. Treatment-seeking youth with cannabis use disorder (N = 192, ages 14-21) were randomized to receive a double-blind 12-week course of oral N-acetylcysteine 1200 mg or placebo twice daily; all received weekly medical management and brief behavioral counseling. The primary efficacy outcome was the proportion of negative urine cannabinoid tests during treatment, compared between groups. An array of self-report and urine testing measures were examined secondarily to assess cannabis use reduction and cessation outcomes. The N-acetylcysteine and placebo groups did not differ in proportion of negative urine cannabinoid tests (RR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.53, 1.64; p = 0.80) or self-reported cannabis abstinence (RR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.63, 1.65; p = 0.93) during treatment. The mean percentage of cannabis use days and grams of cannabis used per using day decreased over time during treatment but did not differ between groups. More N-acetylcysteine than placebo treated participants reported gastrointestinal adverse events (63/98 versus 37/94, χ

Indexed as

AcetylcysteineMarijuana AbuseAdolescentDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMaleTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultAcetylcysteine

Identifiers

PMID39910268
PMCPMC11914066

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.