New Study Shows Marijuana Derivative CBD Effective In Opioid Addiction Recovery

If this is the start of a trend, it’s big.
 
Cannabidiol (known now simply as “CBD”), one of the over 100 active cannabinoids found in marijuana and in hemp, is making major headlines today.
 
This time it’s not for the nationwide shortages of the marijuana and hemp-derived CBD created by the recent total legalization at the federal level.
 
Instead, the news is because researchers found another potential use for CBD as a natural treatment for chronic conditions.
 
New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital released the details of its recent study using CBD as a treatment for opioid addicts.
 
The study, titled Acute and Short-term Effects of Cannabidiol Admin on Cue-induced Craving in Drug-abstinent Heroin Dependent Humans, used CBD as part of the treatment for opioid addicts.
 
The study was a true medical quality study with both a user group and a control group which means it had a group that was given CBD and a group that was given a placebo.
 
The study found that CBD was effective in reducing “cue-induced drug cravings.”
 
Although we like to point out this is just one study, covering a small group of 48 patients, and is naturally highly subjective because its based on partly on participant surveys, there is some hard science to it as well.
 
The study reviewed the heart rate, respiration rate, and salivary cortisol levels during sessions with the participants.
 
Overall, this is a good start and, based on this study alone, CBD will likely be included in heroin and opioid addict treatments in the future.
 
That’s big business too. DrugAbuse.gov reports the total cost of prescription opioid abuse was $78 billion in 2013.
 
As a result, this discovery could add significantly to the legal CBD market which is already worth billions of dollars and is set to grow to tens of billions of dollars in the next five years.
 
In the bigger picture, this study will be helpful in further changing attitudes to legalization and help keep the legalization wave sweeping the world pushing forward.
 
Since marijuana and hemp were outlawed for so long, very little research was conducted on if, how, and why certain cannabinoids like CBD are effective in treating different conditions.
 
Marijuana’s healing powers have been used for hundreds of years. Now that the legalization genie is out of the bottle, expect a lot more CBD studies in the USA and marijuana studies out of Canada in the next few years to really nail down how to use it most effectively.