Study: Marijuana compound helps mitigate cocaine addiction in mice

Source: Raw Story
By Stephen C. Webster

Researchers in Maryland and Beijing have learned that a component marijuana helps mitigate cocaine addiction in mice, leading some to hope that marijuana may one day become the next big anti-addiction therapy.

The discovery was announced in the July 2011 edition of Nature Neuroscience.

The study found that cannabidiol, an active component of marijuana that does not produce an inebriating effect, effectively turns down a receptor in the brain that is stimulated by cocaine.

Scientists used a synthetic version of cannabidiol, called JWH-133, to see how mice given regular doses of cocaine would respond. They found that mice given JWH-133 dramatically reduced their cocaine intake by up to 60 percent.

More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/26/study-marijuana-compound-helps-mitigate-cocaine-addiction-in-mice/

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O'Boy! Another good use for pot....

Like....moving! unpacking! helping kid with homework! So many!

commonly prescribed by Dr's for Alcohol and Opium addictions. It is the "Gateway" Out of addiction, not a gateway to stronger dugs.

Clicking their little jaws, stealing my money for another gram. It's infuriating!

.

The cops came and discovered that the mice had the tunes cranked full blast. :P

BTW, I've had to start taking valium for anxiety because I can't smoke pot any more (I no longer live in a legal state).

Valium does work for anxiety, but I know it can become a big problem down the road. I'd much rather just smoke a bowl before bed and not worry about future withdrawals. I had been doing that for years with no problems and zero pharmaceutical assistance.

It's not working as well with the cigarettes :(

Is because there are already medications that can help addictions to opiates and alcohol (and cannabis helps some people with those, too) but, according to Scientific American magazine, medications that deal with cocaine are not part of the pharmacopoeia.

They wrote about this in relation to Amy Winehouse's addictions and her death and about the way in which people can use a mix of counseling/rehab/treatment and medication to help deal with addiction w/o a need to "hit bottom," i.e. treating addiction as a medical problem (and, additionally, recognizing that addictions are sometimes masking other underlying health issues - in Winehouse's case, she was dx'd as bipolar.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=does-rehab-work

Thanks for the thread, Playinghardball.

I've heard enough accounts of people using weed to help them stay off harder drugs, and I've had enough experience with the phenomenon myself, to believe in it wholeheartedly.

When the cat's away, the mice will play--and get high in the process! ;)