Marijuana's Impact on Alcohol Motivation and Consumption

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2021-07-21
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

This laboratory study will employ a repeated measures experimental design to examine the effect of high (7.2% THC) and moderate (3% THC) dose of marijuana, relative to placebo, on alcohol craving and on behavioral economic measure of alcohol demand after exposure to alcohol cues, and on subsequent drinking in an alcohol choice task in which participants choose either to drink or receive monetary reinforcement for drinks not consume. The study will recruit 173 non-treatment seeking heavy episodic alcohol drinkers who smoke marijuana at least twice weekly.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Brown University
• Collaborator: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
• Treatments: Dronabinol

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 21 to 44

• English-speaking

• marijuana smoking in past month

• report of current heavy episodic (binge) drinking

• in good physical health and weighing < 250 lbs

• zero breath alcohol at each visit

Exclusion Criteria:

• history of seizures

• smoking >20 tobacco cigarettes per day

• positive pregnancy test

• nursing

• positive urine toxicology screen for drugs other than cannabis

• interest to quit or receive treatment for marijuana or alcohol use

• meeting criteria for a current affective disorder (depression, or mania, panic disorder, and having psychotic symptoms as assessed by the SCID)