A report found on the web page of Northwestern Medicine addressed a recent study that has promising information about CBD helping those who are addicted to opioids. The article quotes Dr. Melinda R. Ring, executive director of Northwestern Medicine Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, speaking about how CBD may help manage triggers for cravings and anxiety in people who use heroin due to its inhibitory effect. She said, “From a research perspective, there’s interesting data that needs to be confirmed.”
THE STUDY’S FINDINGS
In a short-term study, 42 patients taking CBD reported reduced cravings for up to one week after their dose of CBD. Dr. Ring suggests the findings are significant, suggesting that CBD could be a powerful tool in helping individuals seeking help for addiction
The study concluded, “CBD’s potential to reduce cue-induced craving and anxiety provides a strong basis for further investigation of this phytocannabinoid as a treatment option for opioid use disorder.”
A DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY
This study’s results were, “Acute CBD administration, in contrast to placebo, significantly reduced both craving and anxiety induced by the presentation of salient drug cues compared with neutral cues. CBD also showed significant protracted effects on these measures 7 days after the final short-term (3-day) CBD exposure. In addition, CBD reduced the drug cue–induced physiological measures of heart rate and salivary cortisol levels. There were no significant effects on cognition, and there were no serious adverse effects.”
CONCLUSION
CBD, after more research, will be one of the major treatments for those with opioid addiction. This is due to the success of helping people addicted to opioids stop the craving and the fact that there is little or no side effects from the CBD.