This project will assess the utility of buprenorphine in the presence of naltrexone as a potential medication useful in reducing cocaine use, commencing a research direction of great importance to both theoretical and practical addiction medicine. Buprenorphine will be provided as sublingual buprenorphine+naloxone tablets (Suboxone®, BUP). Naltrexone will be provided as extended-release (XR) naltrexone by injection (Vivitrol®, XR-NTX).~In this multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, participants will randomly assigned to one of three medication conditions: 4mg buprenorphine plus naltrexone (BUP4+XR-NTX), 16mg buprenorphine plus naltrexone (BUP16+XR-NTX), or placebo plus naltrexone (PLB+XR-NTX) for 8 weeks of treatment. Participants will be scheduled for clinic visits three times weekly (for a total of 24 visits across the 8-week treatment period) for observed medication administration, provision of take-home medication, collection of safety, medical, drug use, psychological, and compliance measures. In addition, all participants will be scheduled for once-weekly individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) sessions.~This protocol will explore the effects of these three medication conditions to test buprenorphine as a possible treatment for cocaine dependence. This study will advance the science, provide dosing information, and characterize the effects of the combination of the two medications in this population.
The aim of this study is to investigate the safety and effectiveness of buprenorphine in the presence of naltrexone for the treatment of cocaine dependence.