The Important Role Cannabis Has to Play in Opioid Addiction
Recently released researched from Mississippi University has uncovered that CBD, otherwise known as cannabidiol, can be used as a way to ween people off addictive opioids. Cannabis helps with pain reduction, and this could be used to replace opioid usage. The CBD in cannabis is thought to block the “reward” that is triggered when a person uses opioids and blocks the effect that the opioids exert.
It is thought a dose of 10 mg per kg of CBD (which is non-psychoactive in nature, unlike THC), produced the effect of blocking the opioid rewards in opioid addicts. The research conducted made use of mice in the experiment and separated these mice into different groups. Each of these groups of mice were given access to saline solution, or morphine, which was combined with 4 different dosages of CBD.
Cannabis is an Exit Drug…Don’t Believe the Stereotypes
A common myth often played out in the media is that cannabis acts as a gateway drug to heavier drugs in the future. This is proven not to be the case. In fact, it is now generally agreed that cannabis can be used as an exit drug to stop people using opioids. For example, a treatment center in Los Angeles has begun treating patients with an opioid addiction with cannabis and finding tremendous success from doing so. There are also other benefits of using cannabis. For example, it can reduce insomnia and pain, as well as lessening anxiety.
In the results of the study conducted by the team in Mississippi, it was found that 97% of opioid addicts reduced their opioid usage. In fact, 80% of these patients also believed that they suffered reduced pain as a result of using cannabis compared to opioids. A very encouraging statistic!
The Long Term…
With these benefits, cannabis can be seen as a long-term solution to an expensive and troublesome problem, both in terms of finance and health. If more studies into the area can be completed, it will add weight to the findings of this study to ensure that cannabis is provided to opioid addicts to help reduce their reliance on these powerful and damaging drugs.
If you would like to find out more about what strains of cannabis to use, we would recommend that visit your local dispensary, and they will advise you what to strain to use to reduce your reliance on opioids. You can use this link here – https://cannabis.net/find/dispensary.