Natural CBD from cannabis lowers nicotine cravings

Study: Cannabis compound reduces cigarette consumption in tobacco smokers

By Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

A natural plant compound found in cannabis reduces nicotine cravings. Inhaling  the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD (cannabidiol) significantly mitigates tobacco smokers’ desire for cigarettes, according to clinical trial data published online in July 2013 in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

Investigators at University College London conducted a double blind pilot study to assess the impact of the ad-hoc consumption of organic CBD versus placebo in 24 tobacco-smoking subjects seeking to quit their habit. Participants were randomized to receive an inhaler containing CBD (n=12) or placebo (n=12) for one week. Trial investigators instructed subjects to use the inhaler when they felt the urge to smoke.

Researchers reported that, “Over the treatment week, placebo treated smokers showed no differences in number of cigarettes smoked. In contrast, those treated with CBD significantly reduced the number of cigarettes smoked by

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July 7th, 2013 | Category: Business, COMMUNITY, Medical Marijuana, NEWS SERVICE, Research | Comments are closed

Cannabinoids may halt diabetes

By Paul Armentano, norml.org

A naturally occurring analogue of THC — tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) — has positive metabolic effects in animal models of obesity, according to preclinical study data published online in June in the scientific journal Nutrition & Diabetes.

British researchers assessed the effects of THCV administration on dietary-induced and genetically modified obese mice. Authors reported that although its administration did not significantly affect food intake or body weight gain in any of the models, it did produce several metabolically beneficial effects, including reduced glucose intolerance, improved glucose tolerance, improved liver triglyceride levels, and increased insulin sensitivity.

Researchers concluded: “Based on these data, it can be suggested that THCV may be useful for the treatment of the metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes (adult onset diabetes), either alone or in combination with existing treatments. Given the reported benefits of another non-THC cannabinoid, CBD in type 1 diabetes, a CBD/THCV combination

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June 25th, 2013 | Category: FRONT PAGE, Medical Marijuana, NEWS SERVICE, Research | Comments are closed

Study: Legal medical use has no measurable effect on teen use rates

By Paul Armentano, norml.org

Once again a new study has affirmed that the enactment of statewide medical marijuana laws is not associated with increased rates of adolescent use.

According to a report published online in June, 2013 by the American Journal of Public Health, the passage of medical use laws has had no “statistically significant … effect on the prevalence of either lifetime or 30-day marijuana use” by adolescents in those states.

Researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine studied data from the years 2003 and 2011 and “found no evidence of intermediate-term effects of passage of state MMLs (medical marijuana laws) on the prevalence or frequency of adolescent nonmedical marijuana use in the states evaluated.” Authors concluded, “Our results suggest that, in the states assessed here, MMLs have not measurably affected adolescent marijuana use.”

The study’s findings rebut the myth that passage of medical cannabis adversely impacts

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June 25th, 2013 | Category: COMMUNITY, Medical Marijuana, National, NEWS SERVICE, Research | Comments are closed