Cannabidiol, better known as CBD, is rapidly gaining popularity as a potion to treat almost every kind of medical concern you can think of, but scientific evidence is scant outside of a few clinically proven indications. A new study from a team of Canadian researchers is reporting on the results of a unique clinical trial testing the efficacy of CBD helping cocaine addicts kick the habit.
One of the more interesting clinical uses for CBD currently being explored is the role it can play in treating addiction. Recent studies have suggested CBD can help reduce heroin cravings and even counter-intuitively be used to reduce problematic cannabis use.
An intriguing study, published last year in the journal Neurotherapeutics, explored the mechanisms by which CBD could influence the effects of cocaine withdrawal. The research, conducted in mouse models, found CBD essentially alleviates some of the behavioral and gene expression alterations induced by cocaine. In other words, the study suggested CBD can hypothetically counteract many of cocaine’s negative withdrawal symptoms.
This new study, published in the journal Addiction, presents the results of a blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial testing whether CBD can help cocaine addicts. The trial recruited 78 with moderate to severe cocaine use disorder.