The long-term goal of the project is to determine whether cannabidiol (CBD) can reduce craving and relapse in individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). The first phase of this project was an open cross-over design study in healthy individuals to confirm the safety and pharmacokinetic (PK) effects of CBD (BSPG CBD; Brains Bioceutical). The second phase was a double-blinded randomized controlled trial to determine whether CBD reduces craving and anxiety in individuals with OUD maintained on opioid agonist therapy. This phase 3 trial will determine whether CBD can serve as a potential adjunct treatment to reduce illicit opioid use in individuals with OUD maintained on opioid agonist therapy.

Responding to the urgent calls for developing non-opioid therapeutics to address the opioid addiction epidemic, we have been investigating the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating cannabinoid as a possible strategy. Our preclinical animal studies demonstrated that CBD decreases cue-induced heroin seeking behavior during drug abstinence, associated with the incubation of craving. Moreover, the effects of CBD to reduce heroin-seeking behavior was still evident even in animals that were maintained on methadone. We also showed in randomized, double-blind placebo- controlled design human clinical trials that acute CBD (Epidiolex) administration (400 mg and 800mg) decreased craving and anxiety associated with heroin cues in abstinent individuals with heroin use disorder, an effect that persisted even a week after the last CBD dose (given daily for 3 days). Moreover, another of our human studies showed that CBD was safe even in combination with a potent opioid agonist (fentanyl) to address a potential relapse condition suggesting negligible negative interaction with opioids. Building on those studies, we next set out to investigate the potential for CBD as an adjunctive treatment to methadone or buprenorphine in opioid use disorder (OUD). To that end, we first conducted Phase 1 pharmacokinetic studies with a CBD formulation in oral capsules (BSPG CBD; Brains Bioceutical) in healthy participants that showed that oral administration of BSPG CBD (400 mg) led to comparable pharmacokinetic parameters of the CBD plasma levels and its active metabolite as Epidiolex (400 mg), an FDA-approved comparator CBD product that previously reduced craving. In the Phase 2 clinical trial, we evaluated the effect of 200mg CBD (vs placebo) twice daily for 4 weeks and an additional 4 weeks of 400 mg CBD, twice daily, on cue-induced craving and anxiety in individuals with OUD who are maintained on methadone or buprenorphine. In the next phase of this IND application, we will extend the Phase 2 study to evaluate the effects of 200mg CBD, 400 mg CBD and placebo, taken twice daily, over a 24-week period in the OUD individuals maintained on methadone or buprenorphine. Our goals in this double-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) are to investigate the potential of CBD to 1) decrease illicit opioid use and 2) reduce craving.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Individuals between 18 and 65 years old.

• Ability to understand and give informed consent.

• Current opioid use disorder (OUD) or OUD in remission while on maintenance therapy with OAT, as determined by DSM-5 with the M.I.N.I. interview (Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview).

• Current opioid agonist maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine for at least 14 days prior to consent. With the following more specific criteria for each of these two medications:

  • Current methadone maintenance treatment with a dose of ≥ 10mg/day, (maximum: 250mg/day), AND urinary toxicology positive for methadone and 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP).
  • Current buprenorphine maintenance treatment with a dose of ≥ 2mg/day (maximum: 32mg/day), AND urinary toxicology positive for buprenorphine.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants who are non-English speaking.
• Psychiatric conditions under DSM-5 (examined with the MINI) that would make study participation unsafe, or which would prevent adherence to study procedure; examples include: suicidal (i.e. high risk for suicide on the Columbia suicide severity rating scale (C-SSRS) screen version) or homicidal ideation requiring immediate attention, inadequately-treated mental health disorder (e.g., active psychosis, uncontrolled bipolar disorder).
• Current diagnosis of a severe substance use disorder (except for opioid and nicotine/tobacco) in the past 3 months, based on the MINI interview, that would preclude safe participation in the study as determined by the study medical clinician.
• Signs of acute drug intoxication when arriving at the study site as determined by clinician assessment.
• Medical or psychiatric contraindications for CBD administration (e.g., history of hypersensitivity to cannabinoids); or any of the ingredients in the product (gelatin or sesame oil).
• Showing signs of acute opioid withdrawal symptoms (as determined by the result of the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS). A Score of ≥ 5 or as interpreted by the investigator will be considered a positive result for withdrawal symptoms).
• Have a medical condition that would make study participation unsafe, which would make treatment compliance difficult, or would prevent adherence to study procedure. This includes but is not limited to the following criteria: • < 30mL/min/1.73m2 eGFR. •QTc Fridericia > 500ms at screening. •Elevated liver enzymes at screening. The exclusionary lab values are: >4x the upper limit of normal (ULN) per laboratory criteria for AST or ALT or >1.5x ULN for bilirubin.
• Participating in another pharmacotherapeutic trial in the past 3 months.
• Participants who have used (within 14 days prior to consent) or plan to use (during the 24-week treatment period) any medications, dietary supplements (and/or grapefruit juice), or combination of medications and supplements known to alter the metabolism of, or interact with CBD (buproprion, rifampin, barbiturates, phenothiazines, cimetidine, anticoagulants, antiplatelets, etc.).
• For women: being pregnant (positive urine test for pregnancy) or breastfeeding.
• Not using an appropriate method of contraception such as hormonal contraception (oral hormonal contraceptives, Depo-Provera, Nuva-Ring), intrauterine device (IUD), sterilization, or double barrier method (combination of any two barrier methods used simultaneously, i.e. condom, spermicide, diaphragm).
• Participants who have been court mandated to attend treatment centers

All of the individual participant data collected during the trial, after deidentification.

Data will be shared no later than 6 months after study completion or as soon as any necessary cleaning and validation procedures are performed.

There are no major factors affecting the access, distribution or reuse of the scientific data to be generated. All research participants will be consented for broad data sharing. All data will be made publicly available once the study is completed, following the timeline outlined in Element 4. The data will be de-identified to ensure study participant confidentiality. Access to the scientific data will not be controlled other than the requirements imposed by the NDA and IRB as mentioned above. Data will be distributed via publicly accessible platforms, including the HEAL Data Commons and ClinicalTrials.gov. These repositories ensure that the data is accessible to the broader scientific community. Data reuse will be encouraged as long as it adheres to the HEAL Data Commons' data use and citation policies as well as any requirements imposed by the IRB. Data users must acknowledge the original study and its investigators in any publications or other outputs based on the shared data.

Investigators and participants will be blinded to treatment assignment. The staff involved in primary outcome assessment and laboratory tests in local laboratories will also be blinded to treatment assignment. Randomization will be generated centrally and performed through a Web-based data collection system that automates the delivery of the randomization codes. The treatment assignment will be sent to the unblinded pharmacist or unblinded study team electronically, in a secure fashion, and electronic verification of the treatment assignment will be required before proceeding with the treatment intervention. Active drug and placebo will be identical to maintain study blinding.