Study: CBD Shows Potential To Help Reduce Cigarette Smoking

Can cannabis help quit smoking? According to a recent study, published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, cannabidiol or CBD has the potential to help. This research was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant.

Washington State University (WSU) researchers discovered that CBD has the power to inhibit the metabolism of nicotine, lowering smokers' urge to light up the next cigarette, writes WSU Insider. By slowing the metabolism of the drug, individuals addicted to nicotine could experience longer intervals between feeling the need to smoke.

Every year, more than eight million people die from tobacco, more than seven million from direct usage and the rest from second-hand smoke. 

Decreasing Harms From Smoking

“The whole mission is to decrease harm from smoking, which is not from the nicotine per se, but all the carcinogens and other chemicals that are in tobacco smoke,” said Philip Lazarus, senior author of the study and pharmaceutical sciences prof at WSU. “If we can minimize that harm, it would be a great thing for human health.”

In the U.S., cigarette smoking is still the leading cause of preventable disease, killing more than 480,000 Americans per year, according to CDC data.

The WSU study only tested the effects of CBD and its major metabolite on human liver tissue and cell samples. As such, the authors noted that more research is needed to confirm the findings in humans and determine dosage levels.

Study Highlights

The study showed that the effect of CBD on this specific enzyme is powerful, inhibiting its activity by 50% at relatively low CBD concentrations. “In other words, it appears that you don’t need much CBD to see the effect,” Lazarus said, whose team is also working on designing a clinical study to research the effects of CBD on nicotine levels in smokers. After that, their plan is to conduct a larger study on CBD and nicotine addiction.

Co-authors on the study include first author Shamema Nasrin, Shelby Coates, Keti Bardhi, and Christy Watson of WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as Joshua Muscat of Penn State Cancer Institute.

Meanwhile, another study warns about the dangers of vaping CBD. Recent research out of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center found that vaping CBD can cause more severe lung damage than vaping nicotine.

The new study on CBD and nicotine is in line with previous research that supports CBD’s effectiveness in mitigating nicotine withdrawals.

Photo: Courtesy of Reza Mehrad on Unsplash