Marijuana Component May Help Treat Heroin Addiction
The Journal of Neuroscience just published a new study that is particularly interesting in light of recent reports that marijuana may effectively substitute for abuse of more dangerous drugs.
In the new study, rats were taught to self-administer heroin and conditioned to associate that behavior with a light that flashed on above the lever that dispensed the heroin. At various stages in the procedure, some of the rats were treated with cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid that doesn’t make you high, but which has a number of really interesting properties.
CBD didn’t have any effect when given to the rats who were actively dosing themselves with heroin, but it had a marked effect on rats who had been abstinent from heroin for two weeks. These rats-in-recovery were again shown the cue light, and those who hadn’t been given CBD immediately resumed pushing the heroin lever, seeking a dose of the drug. But in the CBD rats, this heroin-seeking behavior was markedly reduced – and the effect continued for a full two weeks after the last CBD treatment.
The researchers conclude, “CBD may be a potential treatment for heroin craving and relapse.” It might also imply that high-CBD strains of marijuana could be preferable for those who are trying to stay off of other drugs.
Ah, but how do you know if the marijuana you’re buying is high in CBD (which is probably not the case most of the time)? Well, if it were a legal, regulated product, marijuana could be labeled for cannabinoid content – just like that bottle of wine now tells you, “alcohol 13.8%” or whatever. What a concept.
Tagged with: addiction and cannabidiol and cannabinoids and CBD and heroin by the author
24 comments
Drug abuse in our society needs to be recognized as a public health problem and not a criminal issue. Abusers need to be treated by the medical-health community and not the criminal justice system.
If we can come up with better treatments for drug adiction then we need to. If CBD is an effective treatment than we sure as hell should use it. If someone is trying to shake a hardcore addiction to pain pills or heroin or any other drugs and they need to use marijuana (a safer drug) to cushion the fall of withdrawls than by all means, I say toke up.
Good day my fellow protestors..
I have been following the reform process for about 2 years now via MPP and Norml’s websites. It always makes me incredibly frustrated to see all the good news associated with cannabis use.
How the government has managed to keep the whole world from the overwhelming truth is beyond me. Luckily the information age is on our side and people’s attitudes toward cannibis are not only shaped by what they read or hear from government run media anymore.
I am always shocked when I see advertisements on tv that are directed at the cannibis consuming market. For instance: The ESPN ad where some NBA player opens the top of a golden trophy to expose what looks like a pile of marijuana buds. And also, advertised products that have the number 420 in the price somewhere eg. The New Scion Xt ad.
It is complete hipocrasy, the whole drug war is supposedly to keep drugs away from kids but they are continuously exposed to it in the entertainment industry.
We have been struggling for a right that humans had for more than 6000 years. How can we allow a drop of humans in an ocean of our existence to change the way we spend our time on earth.
I really appreciate all the hard work you folks are doing. We are making progress but at this rate we will not see the fruits of our labor in this lifetime.
We will not achieve our goals democratically.
We are opressed by tyranny.
We are the modern day peasents of today’s hierarchy.
We are the opressed blacks in the modern day Apartheid.
But,
We are becoming enlightened.
We are on the verge of the revolution.
Apartheid is coming to an end
for the opressed of the world has had enough.
We strive for change peacefully, but with no avail.
If it does not come soon, we will be forced to destroy the very tools of our opression.
Sorry for the rant but I feel that a revolution would not come from solely pushing papers. But I am all for solving it democratically, instead of destroying government property. I have a suggestion.
Have the MPP and Norml considered constructing a hypothetical national health care bill with medical marijuana included? I am presuming that it would save hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare costs.
Just a suggestion. I want to help with this struggle in anyway possible.
Regards,
BlueFarmer
I apologize for the unrevised, typo-ridden post.
Very interesting. It almost sounds like the CBD-treated rats have an easier time “forgetting” their addiction. This reminds me of some of the other research done on cannabinoids relating to disorders such as PTSD, which has suggested that cannabinoids (and CBD in particular) encourage users to let go of their vivid memories of traumatic events. In “The Botany of Desire”, Michael Pollan had an interesting discussion about the interplay between cannabinoids and memory, and the “importance of forgetting”.
Also, for what it’s worth, the Medical MJ program in the Netherlands has exactly the sort of cannabinoid content labeling discussed in the last paragraph above. They offer different standardized strains with varying CBD:THC ratios for different ailments. That’s what sensible regulation does.
Rhayader, Sensible regulation is great but , first we need a sensible governemnt. The only common sense I have seen lately is in reginal or local governements. Are we witnessing a trick up effect? I hope so.
Great! Now we’re going to have heroin/pothead rats infesting our communities. Society is going to hell in a handbasket!
it’s not that marijuna changes the brains chemestry to get rid of pain I think it’s more like mind over matter if you don’t mind it dosent matter
first we need a sensible governemnt
Well yeah, no kidding.
Are we witnessing a trick up effect?
Oh yeah, this thing is going to happen (actually, is happening) bottom-up; the feds will be the last ones to fall. That’s the way it should work in this great country of ours.
it’s not that marijuna changes the brains chemestry to get rid of pain
Well no, it doesn’t actually extinguish pain like opioids, but cannabinoids are certainly important aspects of brain chemistry. And without marijuana, we would still not even be aware of the endocannabinoid system.
This is no secret here . any regular cannabis users who have had experiance trying to detox or refrain from using after getting clean from opiate’s will tell you how much of a benifit that quality cannabis can be to them while trying to remain opiate free.especially in the very first days of completing a detox when you are still at a high risk of relapse . It help’s with sleep and apatite and can also help with a lot of the aches and pain’s many experiance. There is a lot about drugs that could easily be learned from those who have used them for many yrs if they would ask.
As a long time activist of marijuana reform, my ambitions for decriminalization and legalization were initially narrow minded and self serving.
As time passed and I have done hours upon hours of research on marijuana, my viewpoints have expanded and a true knowledge of the whole picture has plagued my mind.
It’s really a shame that we are stuck so far in the past and as much as we try to advance ourselves in many areas of life, it seems our government is hovering above our shoulders to add friction to any positive movement for the betterment of our global society.
It is really sad that they tip toe across this line of corruption, greed, special interest, etc. just enough to cause restlessness in the American people, but also just too little to cause uprising.
We are being played by a plague of power that really does not care about the topic at hand, but rather the proceeds of self serving interest.
They are so slow to act on topics of prohibition, energy reform, and education, yet with every presidency comes some new miracle stimulus to reinvigorate the depleted funds of failed policy once again. These stimulus plans that may be labeled necessary for a festered war on terror or a dire and urgent need of universal health care are no more than the manipulations of our plagued power.
We need to free ourselves and except nothing less than freedom and equal political value when we vote on something. Our representatives, military, policing, and any other government branch and or employee need to recognize who is paying their paycheck, who they are intended to serve, and we are the American people with demands that must be met.
Life has more value than is being served and I’m ready for more helpings!
The only thing that has me concerned about these animal studies is the cannabis plant is being taken apart and researched, THC, CBD and whatever else the chemists are coming up with.
Why in the world isn’t the whole entire plant being utilized? So Big Pharma and it’s bed partner the FDA can continue to profit?
Until researchers start using the whole plant in their research I’m beginning to believe that something “stinks in Denmark”.
Holy Smokes. Another medical study regarding the medicinal benefits of a plant that is misunderstood by 51.973% of the US population. It is becoming clearer that the end is near for the DEA and all the other profiteers who have benefited with continued prohibition of a plant material. Time to start updating your resume.
Rev.sLeezy
The Universal Life Church of the Holy Smokes
Potland, OR
try tinctures, no joke, secret key to medical marijuana…also helps the concept of “smoking” change to “medication”
Anyone serious enough to actually be a movement instead of talking about it, feel free to contact via my email address and/or via my website link.
I live in New Mexico and I am actively seeking people interested in real drug policy reform, especially marijuana law reform.
Emory #11;
I’m right there with ya. I started with a narrowminded idealology about legalization. I cant believe the big picture that has come to veiw! My whole world has changed, for good or bad ,I cant tell yet. I guess it depends on the outcome of this beast we are fightin and if our goverenment changes for the good.
Yo! NM Cannbism #15 ! I clicked on your name and a Trojan tried to download into my comp! WTF is with that man! Anyone else have this happen?
Thank goodness for virus protection #17 Just me. When I read #17’s comment above the very thought you just posted popped into my head.
The Prohibitionists are out to get us, whether on the highway, byways, sidewalks or internet. Be careful.
Yeah NM is a troll, ignore him.
Why in the world isn’t the whole entire plant being utilized?
I think there is genuine scientific value in isolating these compounds and studying them independently of one another. Eliminating sources of variation is critical to the advancement of scientific knowledge.
Of course, you’re right when you say the whole plant should not be ignored or dismissed. In fact, I think the isolation and study of different cannabinoids like CBD might actually help convince people that the whole plant has advantages over pure THC (marinol).
I see no evidence that the study’s authors worked in conjunction with any government agency in their experiment design or implementation.
Is the miracle of the marijuana plant all of the independent compounds that it can produce and what each is capable of doing?… OR is it how all of these unique compounds work together?
what i have read so far of the comments and the article for that matter is that no one has commented or suggested that just by this article alone it is basically telling me that drug use is a health issue and not a criminal issue as the rats were “addicted” to heroin and they had a 2 week break (say it was jail time) and when they got released went right back to that same old heroin addiction before the 2 week (jail time) break. this proves to me that drug use is in fact a health issue and should not be treated as a criminal issue, even for the harder drugs like heroin, cocaine, lsd… you get the picture.
The real reason Obama does not talk about marijuana is that he is afraid for his political career. That is the reason that most politicians will not address the issues of legislation.
[...] Marijuana Component May Help Treat Heroin Addiction [...]
I know it also is great for beating alcoholism as well.
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