New Study Reveals The Potential Of CBD As Treatment For Crack Use Disorders

CBD (cannabidiol) has been demonstrated to be effective at treating a wide range of mental and physical health disorders, from chronic pain to inflammation, anxiety, insomnia, and much more. A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Brasília, the Brazilian Federal District’s Secretary of Health and Forensic Institute, and the Federal University of São Paulo has discovered that CBD may help with something else, too: crack use disorder. The report was published this month in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

Their results were promising, as they found that CBD resulted in better treatment outcomes and fewer side effects than traditional medications.

“The main implications of this study point to CBD as a powerful and promising therapeutic tool for people with CUD [crack use disorder],” the authors wrote. “CBD seems to mitigate the primary symptoms reported by the participants, such as lack of appetite, difficulty in reducing crack use, and the feeling of poor health. In addition, CBD stands out primarily for presenting mild adverse events, the main complaints associated with the use of usual psychotropic drugs.”

The double-blind study was completed by 25 people between the ages of 18 to 65 in Brazil. 90 people started the trial, but not everyone finished it. However, the CBD group had more people complete treatment than the control group. Everyone involved had used crack at least 20 times in the past month, citing it as their primary drug of abuse.

Researchers wrote, “The main implications of this study point to CBD as a powerful and promising therapeutic tool for people with CUD. CBD seems to mitigate the primary symptoms reported by the participants, such as lack of appetite, difficulty in reducing crack use, and the feeling of poor health. In addition, CBD stands out primarily for presenting mild adverse events, the main complaints associated with the use of usual psychotropic drugs.”

The study, a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, compared CBD to three drugs commonly used in crack use disorder treatment: fluoxetine, valproic acid, and clonazepam. The researchers revealed that people using CBD had far fewer side effects than those traditional treatments, including a reduction in diarrhea, constipation, nausea, dizziness, and more. The authors concluded that people who experience fewer side effects are more likely to stay in treatment.