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Observational Study
. 2017 Sep:72:138-143.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.04.006. Epub 2017 Apr 4.

Intentional cannabis use to reduce crack cocaine use in a Canadian setting: A longitudinal analysis

M Eugenia Socías  1 , Thomas Kerr  1 , Evan Wood  1 , Huiru Dong  2 , Stephanie Lake  2 , Kanna Hayashi  1 , Kora DeBeck  3 , Didier Jutras-Aswad  4 , Julio Montaner  1 , M-J Milloy  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Intentional cannabis use to reduce crack cocaine use in a Canadian setting: A longitudinal analysis

M Eugenia Socías et al. Addict Behav. 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Background: No effective pharmacotherapies exist for the treatment of crack cocaine use disorders. Emerging data suggests that cannabinoids may play a role in reducing cocaine-related craving symptoms. This study investigated the intentional use of cannabis to reduce crack use among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD).

Methods: Data were drawn from three prospective cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada. Using data from participants reporting intentional cannabis use to control crack use, we used generalized linear mixed-effects modeling to estimate the independent effect of three pre-defined intentional cannabis use periods (i.e., before, during and after first reported intentional use to reduce crack use) on frequency of crack use.

Results: Between 2012 and 2015, 122 participants reported using cannabis to reduce crack use, contributing a total of 620 observations. In adjusted analyses, compared to before periods, after periods were associated with reduced frequency of crack use (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]=1.89, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.02-3.45), but not the intentional use periods (AOR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.51-1.41). Frequency of cannabis use in after periods was higher than in before periods (AOR=4.72, 95% CI: 2.47-8.99), and showed a tendency to lower frequency than in intentional cannabis use periods (AOR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.32-1.01).

Conclusions: A period of intentional cannabis use to reduce crack use was associated with decreased frequency of crack use in subsequent periods among PWUD. Further clinical research to assess the potential of cannabinoids for the treatment of crack use disorders is warranted.

Keywords: Cannabidiol; Cannabinoids; Cannabis; Crack cocaine; People who use drugs; Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The University of British Columbia has received unrestricted funding from NG Biomed, Ltd., an applicant to the Canadian federal government for a licence to produce medical cannabis, to support M-JM’s research. JM has received limited unrestricted funding, paid to his institution, from Abbvie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Merck and ViiV Healthcare. All other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequencies of crack cocaine (Panel A) and cannabis use (Panel B) in each of the cannabis use periods.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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