A new study funded by the government has revealed that CBD may be a useful tool in helping smokers quit. According to the report from Marijuana Moment, researchers at Washington State University (WSU) looked into how the non-intoxicating cannabinoid affected the way nicotine, which is considered to be the most addictive part of tobacco, was broken down.
The findings, published last month in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, suggested that even small doses of CBD could prevent an enzyme in our body from processing nicotine and thus reduce cravings. While human studies are still needed to confirm this hypothesis, results from experiments conducted with liver tissue and microsomes derived from specialized cell lines showed that cannabidiol had blocked several important enzymes – including CYP2A6, the main enzyme responsible for metabolizing nicotine.
In August 2020, Gallup released a separate data analysis that for the first time found more Americans openly admitted to smoking marijuana or eating edibles with cannabis than said they had used cigarettes.
Initial research suggests that psilocybin – the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms” – can help people quit smoking too. Johns Hopkins University, New York University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham are utilizing a grant from NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) to investigate how psilocybin can assist individuals who want to stop smoking.
