Skip to content

Single and multiple doses of rimonabant antagonize acute effects of smoked cannabis in male cannabis users.

Marilyn A. Huestis, Susan J Boyd, Stephen J Heishman, Kenzie L Preston, Denis Bonnet, Gerard Le Fur, David A. Gorelick

Psychopharmacology November 2007 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-007-0861-5 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized, double blind, parallel group study Double-blind Peer reviewed
Sample size 42
Population Male volunteers
Interventions Rimonabant smoked cannabis
Dose 40 mg daily for 15 days; 90 mg single dose on day 15
Duration 15 days
Measures visual analog scales, marijuana-scale of the Addiction Research Center Inventory
Topics Cannabis
Key points Repeated daily 40 mg rimonabant attenuated cannabis-induced tachycardia similarly to a single 90 mg dose, and reduced subjective effects after 8 but not 15 days. Neither dose significantly reduced peak subjective effects on day 15, and rimonabant did not significantly affect THC pharmacokinetics.

Abstract

A single 90-mg dose of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant attenuates effects of smoked cannabis in humans. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether repeated daily 40-mg doses of rimonabant can attenuate effects of smoked cannabis to the same extent as a single higher (90 mg) dose. Forty-two male volunteers received one of three oral drug regimens in a randomized, double blind, parallel group design: (1) 40 mg rimonabant daily for 15 days, (2) placebo for 14 days, then 90 mg rimonabant on day 15, or (3) placebo for 15 days. All participants smoked an active or placebo cannabis cigarette 2 h after medication on days 8 and 15. Subjective effects were measured with visual analog scales and the marijuana-scale of the Addiction Research Center Inventory. Cannabis-induced tachycardia was significantly lower for the 40-mg group on day 8 and for the 40 and 90 mg rimonabant groups on day 15 as compared to placebo. The 40-mg dose significantly decreased peak subjective effects on day 8. Neither the 90-mg nor 40-mg doses significantly decreased peak subjective effects on day 15. Rimonabant treatment did not significantly affect Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinnol pharmacokinetics. Repeated lower daily rimonabant doses (40 mg) attenuated the acute physiological effects of smoked cannabis to a similar degree as a single 90-mg dose; repeated 40-mg doses attenuated subjective effects after 8 but not 15 days.

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on cannabis, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Cannabidiol inhibits THC-elicited paranoid symptoms and hippocampal-dependent memory impairment Healthy participants 2012 Randomized controlled trial n = 48
Distinct Effects of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol on Neural Activation During Emotional Processing Healthy, English-native, right-handed men who had used cannabis 15 times or less in... 2009 Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial n = 15
Acute Effects of a Single, Oral dose of d9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) Administration in Healthy Volunteers Healthy male subjects 2012 Randomized controlled trial n = 16
Modulation of Mediotemporal and Ventrostriatal Function in Humans by Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Healthy, native English-speaking, right-handed men of white race/ethnicity who had used... 2009 Randomized controlled trial n = 15
Cannabidiol (CBD) content in vaporized cannabis does not prevent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-induced impairment of driving and cognition Healthy volunteers with a history of light cannabis use 2019 Randomized, double-blind, within-subjects crossover n = 14

Citations in the library

Cited by 21

and 16 more in the library

Cites 1

Related reading

Explore topics

Cannabis Addiction