Galantamine Effects on Cognitive Function in Marijuana Users

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2011-07-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

To evaluate galantamine's effects on cognitive performance in marijuana users. Galantamine, an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor, is approved for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Current marijuana users show impaired cognitive functioning, which predicts poor treatment response to behavioral treatments in this population. Whether cognitive impairment in marijuana users will improve with medication treatment has not been evaluated. We hypothesize that galantamine, compared to placebo, will improve cognitive performance in marijuana users.Galantamine, compared to placebo, will improve working memory, verbal learning/memory and response inhibition functions in marijuana users.

• Phase: Phase 1
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Yale University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); US Department of Veterans Affairs; VA Office of Research and Development
• Treatments: Galantamine

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Men and women between the ages of 18 and 55 who are dependent on or abuse marijuana, according to DSM-IV criteria;

• History of marijuana use on the average of at least twice a week over a one-month period;

• Current marijuana use, indicated by positive urine toxicology for marijuana;

• No current medical problems and normal ECG;

• For women, neither pregnant as determined by pregnancy screening nor breast feeding, and using acceptable birth control methods.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current major psychiatric illnesses including mood, psychotic, or anxiety disorders;

• Current dependence to other drugs of abuse or alcohol (except nicotine or marijuana dependence);

• History of major medical illnesses including asthma or chronic obstructive lung disease, history or current gastrointestinal ulcer, hepatic or renal impairment and cardiac rhythm disturbances or other medical conditions that the study physician deems contraindicated for the subject to be in the study;

• Use of other medications including a) drugs that slow heart rate (eg, beta-blockers),which may increase the risk of bradycardia and AV block and b) NSAIDs; increased potential for developing ulcers/active or occult gastrointestinal bleeding;

• Known allergy to galantamine