A recent study found that cannabidiol (CBD) may be an effective treatment for cannabis use disorder (CUD). The findings were initially published in Lancet Psychiatry online July 28 and the study was conducted at the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit at University College London (U.K.). As there are currently no accepted pharmacotherapeutic treatment strategies for the disorder (which affects as estimated 22 million people worldwide), this has the potential to be a major breakthrough.
The results come following a phase 2a trial involving 82 adults who met DSM-5 criteria for CUD that measured the efficacy of placebo compared to CBD in doses of 400 mg or 800 mg. Those involved also needed to have expressed a desire to quit using cannabis and must have unsuccessfully tried to quit at least once.
Both doses of CBD fared better than the placebo. Compared with placebo, the 400 mg dose increased abstinence from cannabis use by 0.48 days per week, while the 800 mg dose increased abstinence by 0.27 days per week.
The full study can be found at Lancet Psychiatry.