A properly implemented agonist treatment regimen should improve retention and reduce illicit drug use. Cocaine-dependent subjects (N = 128) were enrolled in a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. In the multistage dosing design, subjects initially received placebo (PBO) or 15 to 30 mg of dextroamphetamine sulfate, sustained-release capsules. At week 5, the dose doubled to 30 mg or 60 mg for active groups. Subjects attended the clinic twice a week, provided urine samples, obtained medication, and had one behavioral therapy session a week. Retention was best for the 15- to 30-mg group, whereas the proportion of benzoylecgonine-positive urine screens was, from lowest to highest, 30 to 60 mg, 15 to 30 mg, and PBO at study end. Dosing must be refined. The results provide support for additional examination of the agonist model in psychostimulant-dependence treatment.

Concurrent abuse of cocaine and heroin is a common problem. Methadone is effective for opioid dependence. The question arises as to whether combining agonist-like or antagonist-like medication for cocaine with methadone for opioid dependence might be efficacious. Two parallel studies were conducted. One examined sustained release d-amphetamine and the other risperidone for cocaine dependence, each in combination with methadone. In total, 240 subjects (120/study) were recruited, who were both cocaine and heroin dependent and not currently receiving medication. All provided consent. Both studies were carried out for 26 weeks, randomized, double-blind and placebo controlled. Study I compared sustained release d-amphetamine (escalating 15-30 or 30-60 mg) and placebo. Study II examined risperidone (2 or 4 mg) and placebo. All subjects underwent methadone induction and were stabilized at 1.1 mg/kg. Subjects attended clinic twice/week, provided urine samples, obtained medication take-home doses for intervening days, and completed self-report measures. Each had one behavioral therapy session/week. In Study I, reduction in cocaine use was significant for the 30/60 mg dose compared to the 15/30 mg and placebo. Opioid use was reduced in all groups with a trend toward greater reduction in the 30/ 60 mg d-amphetamine group. In Study II, methadone reduced illicit opioid use but cocaine use did not change in the risperidone or placebo groups. There were no adverse medication interactions in either study. The results provide support for the agonist-like (damphetamine) model in cocaine dependence treatment but not for antagonist-like (risperidone) treatment. They coincide with our previous reports of amphetamine or risperidone administered singly in cocaine-dependent individuals.

The development of effective treatments for opioid dependence is of great importance given the devastating consequences of the disease. Pharmacotherapies for opioid addiction include opioid agonists, partial agonists, opioid antagonists, and alpha-2-adrenergic agonists, which are targeted toward either detoxification or long-term agonist maintenance. Agonist maintenance therapy is currently the recommended treatment for opioid dependence due to its superior outcomes relative to detoxification. Detoxification protocols have limited long term efficacy and patient discomfort remains a significant therapy challenge. Buprenorphine’s effectiveness relative to methadone remains a controversy and may be most appropriate for patients in need of low doses of agonist treatment. Buprenorphine appears superior to alpha-2 agonists, however, and office-based treatment with buprenorphine in the US is gaining support. Studies of sustained-release formulations of naltrexone suggest improved effectiveness for retention and sustained abstinence, however, randomized clinical trials are needed.

Objective-The objective of this study was to evaluate a depression-focused treatment for smoking cessation in pregnant women, versus a time and contact health education control. We hypothesized that the depression-focused treatment would lead to improved abstinence and reduced depressive symptoms among women with high levels of depressive symptomatology. No significant main effects of treatment were hypothesized.Method-Pregnant smokers (N=257) were randomly assigned to a 10-week intensive depressionfocused intervention (Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy-CBASP) or to a time and contact control focused on health and wellness (HW); both included equivalent amounts of behavioral and motivational smoking cessation counseling. Fifty-four percent of the sample was African American; 37% met DSM-IV criteria for major depression; mean age (SD) was 25 (5.9) and women averaged 19.5 (8.5) weeks gestation at study entry. Ongoing symptoms of depression were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D).Results-The results showed that at 6-months posttreatment, women with higher levels of baseline depressive symptoms treated with CBASP had a higher probability of prolonged abstinence (F(1,253) =5.61, p=.02) and more improved depression (F(1,2620)=10.49, p=.001) than those treated with HW, whereas those with low baseline depression fared better in HW. The differences in abstinence were not retained at 6-months postpartum. Conclusions-The results suggest that pregnant women with high levels of depressive symptoms may benefit from a depression-focused treatment in terms of improved abstinence and depressive symptoms, both of which could have a combined positive effect on maternal and child health.Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/pubs/journals/ccp NIH Public Access Pritchard, 1994;Solomon et al., 2006;Zhu & Valbo, 2002) as well as post-partum relapse . There is evidence that depression clusters with SES and other risk factors for persistent smoking during pregnancy, and that the clustering of such factors predicts smoking in a gradient fashion (Kahn, Certain, & Whitaker, 2002). That depression cooccurs with low SES is not surprising. Children who grow up with low SES parents are at two to three times greater risk for developing major depressive disorder (MDD) than those who grow up with parents of higher SES, even when parental MDD status is controlled (Ritsher, Warner, Johnson, & Dohrenwend, 2001;Gilman, Kawachi, Fitzmaurice, & Buka, 2002). Because persistent smoking du...