New Study Examines Cannabidiol for Nicotine Use Reduction

Published earlier this month in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, the study called “Cannabidiol Reduces Nicotine Withdrawal Severity and State Anxiety During an Acute E-cigarette Abstinence Period: A Novel, Open-Label Study,” tested the addition of cannabidiol (CBD) in nicotine withdrawal efforts (1). Noting the lack of prior research on nicotine use intervention strategies, the study tested the addition of 320mg of CBD administered to 20 daily nicotine users to test the hypothesis that CBD could reduce the intensity of withdrawal symptoms and anxiety (1).

“After controlling for participants' positive CBD expectancies, results were consistent with hypotheses, suggesting CBD reduced both nicotine withdrawal symptom severity and state anxiety during e-cigarette abstinence,” read the results section (1). “Cannabidiol (CBD) has potential to facilitate e-cigarette quit attempts by decreasing withdrawal symptom intensity and anxiety during nicotine e-cigarette abstinence.”

“These preliminary findings suggest testing the impact of CBD on e-cigarette cessation attempts is warranted,” the authors concluded, noting that 8.1 million adults in the US use e-cigarettes (1).

Reference

1. Gournay, L. R.; Petry, J.; Bilsky, S.; Hill, M. A.; Feldner, M.; Peters, E.; Bonn-Miller, M.; Leen-Feldner, E. Cannabidiol reduces nicotine withdrawal severity and state anxiety during an acute e-cigarette abstinence period: A novel, open-label study. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research 2023 DOI: 10.1089/can.2022.0317.