How Does Cannabidiol Curb Drug and Alcohol Addiction?

Before we talk how CBD can curb drug and alcohol addiction, we need to know the rate at which the alcohol and drug users are going up in the nation. Here is the list of few studies, showing alcohol and drug addiction rate in the nation:

• Alcohol and Drug addiction rates and deaths due to these addictions have increased greatly since the mid-90s, and people in Americans are combating to overcome these additions. Statistics include:
• According to the study by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2016, approx. 20.1 million people (12 years and above) are suffering from substance abuse disorder related to alcohol and drugs.
• In another study in 2016 itself, SAMHSA claimed that around 1 million people battled with opioid addiction.
• According to the research done by National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), roughly 63,000 people died of drug overdose in 2016.
• The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIADA) estimated that around 115 people die of opioid overdoses every day.

So on and so forth…. There are so many such studies and researches which clearly shows how people especially kids ages 12 and older are getting indulged into drug and alcohol addiction and spoiling their future completely. This is high-time for that matter.

Well, research are still on to find alternative therapies to combat addiction to synthetic opioids, drugs like tobacco and cocaine, and alcohol. There are so many pharmaceutical drugs available, and are effective in treating addiction to some extent. So far, Cannabidiol (CBD) a natural and non-psychoactive extract from the cannabis plant has a strong healing potential.

How does CBD curb drug and alcohol addiction?

CBD basically interacts with the pain, behavior, and addiction related receptors in the brain. It also interacts with the brain’s neurotransmitters.

CBD has analgesic and anxiolytic properties, which means it is able to reduce pain, anxiety, and other symptoms associated with drug addiction. CBD can reduce or mitigate the brain’s response to addiction triggers such as anxiety, pain, and stress that too without creating the artificial high associated with opioids. CBD’s analgesic properties synergize with opioids and “act as opioid sparing agents,” which ultimately reduce the pain and pain symptoms, and also helps to reduce opioid doses.

Treating Addiction with CBD

Smoke –free CBD has healing properties along with the potential to intervene addictive disorders. Addictive behaviors can be classified in three distinct phases:

• Intoxication, the state of being high on drugs.
• Withdrawal, state where the user experiences acute physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms.
• Relapse, state in which the user experiences cravings for drugs after abstention.

CBD treatments during all three stages include:

Intoxication

Research shows that CBD reduces the positive “rewarding effects” which comes due to opioid addiction during the intoxication phase.

Withdrawal

CBD treatment for cannabis can completely mitigate significant withdrawal, anxiety and dissociative symptoms during the treatment. Additionally, using cannabinoids synergistically and harmoniously with opioids act as opioid sparing agents.

Relapse

According to a study, CBD is effective in treating opioid relapse phase. It effectively reduces relapse provoked by anxiety, stress, and drug cues. Treatment with CBD not only reduces anxiety and improves impulsiveness, but also provides long-lasting effects alongwith benefitting the addict across several vulnerability states.