TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethanol and pentobarbital
T2 - Comparison of behavioral and subjective effects in sedative drug abusers
AU - Mintzer, Miriam Z.
AU - Guarino, John
AU - Kirk, Timothy
AU - Roache, John D.
AU - Griffiths, Roland R.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - The behavioral and subjective effects of acute oral doses of placebo, ethanol (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g/kg), and pentobarbital (150, 300, 600, and 750 mg/70 kg) were compared in 8 male volunteers with histories of sedative drug abuse using a double-blind, double-dummy, cross-over design. Ethanol and pentobarbital produced similar dose-related decrements in psychomotor and cognitive performance and exhibited a similar profile of effects on staff- and participant-rated measures. There was some evidence indicating that, at the highest dose, pentobarbital was perceived by participants as being more sedating than ethanol and that pentobarbital has a greater abuse liability than ethanol. In conjunction with the results of previous human laboratory studies comparing the effects of different types of sedative-hypnotic drugs, these results support a mostly barbiturate-like rather than benzodiazepine-like profile of effects for ethanol.
AB - The behavioral and subjective effects of acute oral doses of placebo, ethanol (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g/kg), and pentobarbital (150, 300, 600, and 750 mg/70 kg) were compared in 8 male volunteers with histories of sedative drug abuse using a double-blind, double-dummy, cross-over design. Ethanol and pentobarbital produced similar dose-related decrements in psychomotor and cognitive performance and exhibited a similar profile of effects on staff- and participant-rated measures. There was some evidence indicating that, at the highest dose, pentobarbital was perceived by participants as being more sedating than ethanol and that pentobarbital has a greater abuse liability than ethanol. In conjunction with the results of previous human laboratory studies comparing the effects of different types of sedative-hypnotic drugs, these results support a mostly barbiturate-like rather than benzodiazepine-like profile of effects for ethanol.
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U2 - 10.1037/1064-1297.5.3.203
DO - 10.1037/1064-1297.5.3.203
M3 - Article
C2 - 9260068
AN - SCOPUS:0030844683
SN - 1064-1297
VL - 5
SP - 203
EP - 215
JO - Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology
JF - Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology
IS - 3
ER -