Vapouround magazine ISSUE 17 | Page 28

NEWS COULD CBD HELP QUASH SOCIAL SMOKING? MORE EVIDENCE OF THE COMPOUND’S POTENTIAL AS AN ALLY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST SMOKING By Gordon Stribling A new study published in the journal Addiction has shown that CBD could play a supporting role in helping smokers quit cigarettes. Researchers at University College London [UCL] found that a single oral dose of the cannabinoid eliminated many of the social triggers that cause former smokers to relapse. Thirty dependent smokers were recruited into the study, with some given an 800mg oral dose of CBD and the others given a placebo. The CBD group experienced reduced attraction to cigarette images and pleasure from exposure to cigarette cues. Dr Tom Freeman, Senior Academic Fellow at King’s College London, who assisted in the study, said: “These findings suggest that cannabidiol has promise as a novel treatment for tobacco addiction. It might be particularly effective when abstinent smokers are exposed to cues that trigger relapse, such as when they are with a friend who lights a cigarette, or in a particular place they associate with smoking.” This is not the first study to investigate CBD as a potential aid in helping smokers quit. A 2013 study, also by UCL, found that participants who used a CBD inhaler whenever they felt the urge to smoke reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked for the duration of the study by 40 percent. Several experts expressed their support for further research in this area. Among them, Professor Yasmin Hurd, Ward- 28 | VM17 Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience and the Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai in New York. After waiting years for DEA approval, Professor Hurd has been looking into the potential application of CBD in treating addiction to certain drugs. In