Fluoxetine versus placebo for the marijuana use of depressed alcoholics

The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of the SSRI antidepre ssant fluoxetine versus placebo for the marijuana use of depressed alcoholi cs. There are no previous reports involving and SSRI antidepressant for mar ijuana abuse. This analysis involved a subsample of 22 depressed alcoholic marijuana users out of a total of 51 depressed alcoholics. The entire sampl e was involved in a 12-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluati ng the efficacy of fluoxetine versus placebo in depressed alcoholics. Durin g the course of the trial, the cumulative number of marijuana cigarettes us ed was almost 20 times as high in the placebo group as in the fluoxetine gr oup. Also, the number of days of marijuana use during the study was five ti mes higher in the placebo group than in the fluoxetine group. These data su ggest efficacy for fluoxetine in decreasing marijuana use of depressed alco holics. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.