New Study Finds CBD to Be Effective Against Cannabis Use Disorder

A newly-published research found that cannabidiol can be an effective therapeutic path for curing cannabis use disorder.

The trial took place at the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit (University College London, London, UK). They used an adaptive dose-finding design to identify efficacious or inefficacious doses before starting, at half-way through the experiment, and final analysis phase. Participants meeting cannabis use disorder criteria were randomly assigned in the first stage of the trial to 4-week treatment with three different doses of oral cannabidiol (200 mg, 400 mg, or 800 mg) or with a placebo, during an attempt to stop consuming. All participants received a brief motivational interviewing. For the second stage of the trial, new participants were randomly assigned to placebo or doses deemed efficacious in the interim analysis. The primary objective was to identify the most efficacious dose of cannabidiol for reducing cannabis use, and the results were measured by analyzing urine samples from patients.

The 200 mg dose was eliminated in the intermediate assessment phase of the experiment, because it had been deemed ineffective. The 400 mg and 800 mg proved effective both in reducing THC trace amounts in the patients’ urine samples, and in raising the amount of week-days they went without cannabis by 0.5.

Even though the scientists strongly suggest not to turn to the CBD products available on the market, because of them often being highly contaminated and very low in cannabidiol-concentration, the study concluded that CBD is indeed effective in treating cannabis use disorder.