Cannabis can be used to fight meth addiction

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Cannabidiol helps to fight the urge to consume methamphetamines

Several studies have already shown that cannabis can deter opioid use. That advantage is now been assigned to cannabis in fighting addiction to methamphetamines, as well. A new study shows that cannabidiol (CBD) can suppress the desire to consume meth, one of the most commonly abused drugs in the world.

According to a study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, researchers have tested their theory on laboratory mice. The mice were injected with different levels of CBD and certain doses were able to kill the urge to consume meth. Curiously, the tests showed that the urge to consume sucrose was not inhibited by CBD, meaning the effects are specifically targeted.

Only larger doses of CBD were proven to be effective. The mice that were administered 80 mg/kg of CBD showed better results than those that had been administered just 20 or 40 mg/kg.

Jennifer Cornish of Macquarie University, the study’s author, asserts, “I think it is important for our society to understand that ‘medicinal cannabis’ covers a broad range of chemicals that are found in the cannabis (marijuana) plant, many of these are not psychoactive (unlike delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of marijuana), and each may have a medical application — yet to be discovered.”

She adds, “This study has shown that in a preclinical setting, high doses of CBD can act to reduce methamphetamine consumption and also relapse to taking methamphetamine. Many other studies need to be done in this space prior to the use of CBD in [the] human population of methamphetamine addicts – but this study is a first step for understanding the potential use of CBD treatment in methamphetamine addiction.”