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2008/9 Catalogue
Library Recommendation
Summary
March 2008, Vol. 8, No. 3, Pages 479-491 , DOI 10.1586/14737175.8.3.479
(doi:10.1586/14737175.8.3.479)

Review
Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in cannabis withdrawal and dependence
Amine Benyamina, Marie Lecacheux, Lisa Blecha, Michel Reynaud and Michael Lukasiewcz
Author for correspondence



Cannabis has long been perceived as a drug causing questionable dependence. Only recently has a clinically recognized withdrawal syndrome been described, thus laying the foundations for specific treatment evaluations. Six different pharmacotherapies have been studied in cannabis withdrawal. Of these, only oral tetrahydrocannabinol, and perhaps mirtazapine, have shown some promise in the specific treatment of withdrawal symptoms. In cannabis dependence, rimonabant, and perhaps buspiron, have shown promising results. Clinical trials of oral tetrahydrocannabinol were less convincing. Cognitive and behavioral therapies and motivational enhancement therapies have proven their efficacy in several randomized controlled trials. Brief therapies have also been associated with good compliance and efficacy. Combinations with voucher incentives in certain populations have been associated with improved treatment compliance and reduced cannabis use. Only two studies have analyzed the cost–efficacy of psychotherapies. It would seem that brief combined cognitive and behavioral therapies, and motivational enhancement therapies are the most cost effective. For the moment, it is uncertain whether the additional treatment costs associated with voucher incentives are proportional to the accrued abstinence duration.

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Cited by

Arpana Agrawal, Leah Wetherill, Danielle M. Dick, Xiaoling Xuei, Anthony Hinrichs, Victor Hesselbrock, John Kramer, John I. Nurnberger, Marc Schuckit, Laura J. Bierut, Howard J. Edenberg, Tatiana Foroud. (2009) Evidence for association between polymorphisms in the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene and cannabis dependence. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics 150B:5, 736-740
Online publication date: 5-Aug-2009.
CrossRef
Ryan Vandrey, Margaret Haney. (2009) Pharmacotherapy for Cannabis Dependence. CNS Drugs 23:7, 543-553
Online publication date: 1-Aug-2009.
CrossRef
Shailendra Kapoor. (2009) Rimonabant: a rapidly expanding role in the management of metabolic and systemic disorders besides polycystic ovarian syndrome. Clinical Endocrinology 70:2, 339-339
Online publication date: 1-Mar-2009.
CrossRef
Iván D. Montoya, Frank Vocci. (2008) Novel medications to treat addictive disorders. Current Psychiatry Reports 10:5, 392-398
Online publication date: 1-Nov-2008.
CrossRef
Christian Giroud, Marc Bollmann, Aurélien Thomas, Patrice Mangin, Bernard Favrat. (2008) Consommation de cannabis: quels sont les risques ?. Annales de Toxicologie Analytique 20:4, 183-205
Online publication date: 1-Feb-2008.
CrossRef

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Authors:
Amine Benyamina
Marie Lecacheux
Lisa Blecha
Michel Reynaud
Michael Lukasiewcz
Keywords:
cannabis dependence
cannabis withdrawal
cognitive–behavioral therapy
motivational enhancement therapy
oral THC


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