Pharmacotherapies to reduce stimulant use

Pharmacotherapies were found in a systematic review of reviews (Ronsley et al., 2020, 29 systematic reviews examining eleven intervention modalities) to have no effect in:

• reducing stimulant use
• improving abstinence

The pharmacotherapies evaluated are:

1. antidepressants
2. disulfiram
3. dopamine agonists
4. antipsychotics
5. anticonvulsants - with a focus on Topimarate
6. opioid agonists
7. N-acetylcysteine

Treatment with psychostimulants was found to have promising results and warrants further investigation (see separate entry).

Population characteristics of the included reviews showed a higher proportion of males in most studies, and predominantly cocaine users, with few studies focusing on methamphetamine use or stimulant use more broadly.