This highly important study could change how we confront drug dependence and the opioid epidemic.
Overcoming dependence is extremely difficult. A new study suggests CBD could make it easier. Research in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicates cannabidiol may reduce cravings and manage withdrawal symptoms in opioid-dependent people. Cravings and anxiety are two critical features of dependence, and triggering them often leads to renewed drug use.
A preliminary study explores CBD's role in overcoming dependence
The ongoing US opioid epidemic, involving drugs derived from poppies, has staggering consequences. Yet little effort has gone toward developing non-opioid treatment options beyond approaches such as buprenorphine and methadone.
In New York, for example, patients prescribed an opioid automatically became eligible for medical cannabis under the rules discussed at publication. Many studies demonstrate CBD's anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing properties.
But beyond a safer alternative to opioid painkillers, CBD might offer a safer, more effective way to overcome opioid dependence.
In “Cannabidiol for the Reduction of Cue-Induced Craving and Anxiety in Drug-Abstinent Individuals With Heroin Use Disorder”, researchers used a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate acute, short-term and longer-term CBD effects on cue-induced cravings and anxiety in people recovering from heroin use.
Results: CBD significantly reduced anxiety and cravings
Participants received 400 mg or 800 mg Epidiolex, the first FDA-approved cannabis-based medicine, once daily for three consecutive days. Researchers then used physiological tests designed to trigger drug-related responses and evaluated outcomes at different stages.
They found acute CBD administration significantly reduced both craving and anxiety caused by drug cues, compared with placebo and neutral cues.
The effects did not stop there. The report found significant, lasting effects seven days after the final dose. CBD reduced opioid cravings and continued working. The trial was also completed without serious adverse effects. Results described no significant cognitive effects and no serious adverse effects.
Compared with placebo, both 400 mg and 800 mg CBD reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol in people recovering from heroin dependence.
Researchers concluded that CBD's potential to reduce cue-induced craving and anxiety provided a strong foundation for further investigating this phytocannabinoid as an opioid use disorder treatment.
This important completed study adds to the research supporting CBD's potentially life-saving benefits.
