Study finds CBD effective in treating heroin addiction

Nearly 400,000 Americans have died of opioid-related causes since 2000
CNN (US)
Tuesday, May 21, 2019

opioidsCannabidiol, the non-psychoactive ingredient in hemp and marijuana, could treat opioid addiction, a new study says. Given to patients with heroin addiction, cannabidiol, also known as CBD, reduced their cravings for the illicit drug as well as their levels of anxiety. "The intense craving is what drives the drug use," said Yasmin Hurd, the lead researcher on the study and director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai. "If we can have the medications that can dampen that [craving], that can greatly reduce the chance of relapse and overdose risk." The available medications for opioid addiction, such as buprenorphine and methadone, act in a similar way, curbing cravings.