N-acetylcysteine for smoking cessation among dual users of tobacco and cannabis: Protocol and rationale for a randomized controlled trial
Creators
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1.
California Institute of Technology
Abstract
Tobacco and cannabis co-use is a growing public health problem. The synergistic effects of cannabis and nicotine on neurobiological systems that mediate reward and shared environmental cues reinforcing use may make tobacco smoking cessation more difficult. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an FDA-approved medication and over-the-counter supplement, has shown promise in animal studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in reducing tobacco and cannabis craving and use. NAC's potential efficacy in treating addiction may be attributable to its central nervous system effects in reducing excessive glutamatergic activity, oxidative stress, and inflammation. To date, no RCT has examined NAC for smoking cessation among dual users of tobacco and cannabis.
Funding
The research is supported by California Tobacco Related Diseases Research Program T31IP1349 (Herbst, Principal Investigator (PI)). Training awards that support this project include VA Clinical Science Research & Development IK2CX001510 (David Pennington, PI) and R25MH060482 (Eric Alcid, Trainee Award; Susan Voglmaier, PI).
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to disclose. No authors declared competing interests associated with this publication.
Data Availability
No data was used for the research described in the article.
Additional details
Funding
- National Institutes of Health
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs
- University of California System
Dates
- Accepted
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2023-05-23Accepted paper
- Available
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2023-06-02Available online
- Available
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2023-07-10Version of record