Can CBD Help With Alcohol Use Disorder? New Scientific Review Finds There's Something To It

Whether it's labeled as alcoholism or binge drinking, unhealthy alcohol use poses a health and safety risk. Alarming 2022 data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism show that nearly 30 million people ages 12 and older (10.5% in this age group) had alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the past year.

Treatment for alcohol use disorder is widespread and often includes oral or injected medications as well as psychological counseling. But now, there's an unorthodox approach to treating this addiction – CBD.

A new systematic review of studies around whether cannabidiol is relevant as a treatment for alcohol use disorder was made public this week.

The latest scientific effort to confirm the many uses of cannabis joins a push from industry stakeholders who are tirelessly working on destigmatizing the plant.

This hot topic is just one of many top industry CEOs, executives and experts will discuss at the upcoming Benzinga event in Florida next month. The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is returning to Florida, in a new venue in Hollywood, on April 16 and 17.

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Experts from the University of Sydney and local health districts in the Australian city authored the review in which they theorized "the potential neurobiological mechanisms by which CBD may ameliorate various symptoms of AUD."

See also: Is CBD Oil Addictive? Here’s What You Really Need To Know

Published on Thursday in the Journal of Cannabis Research, the review found that "CBD appears to modulate neurotransmitter systems and functional connections in brain regions implicated in AUD, suggesting CBD may be used to manage AUD symptomatology.

"Previous research suggests that CBD may affect salience, reward, emotion generation and regulation and executive control (including inhibition control, working memory and self-monitoring) processes," the report continues. "These processes are highly relevant to alcohol-seeking behaviors, suggesting that CBD may have potential in the management of alcohol use disorder."

To conduct the review, the researchers took into account 16 out of 767 studies identified by a search strategy. The neuroimaging literature in question investigated the effects of CBD on the brain in healthy participants.

 "The results suggest that CBD modulates γ-Aminobutyric acid and glutamate signaling in the basal ganglia and dorso-medial prefrontal cortex," the findings suggest. "Furthermore, CBD regulates activity in regions associated with mesocorticolimbic reward pathways; salience, limbic and fronto-striatal networks which are implicated in reward anticipation; emotion regulation; salience processing; and executive functioning."

Now read: Cannabis Increasingly Used As Substitute For Alcohol, Especially Among Gen Z

The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is returning to Florida, in a new venue in Hollywood, on April 16 and 17, 2024. The two-day event at The Diplomat Beach Resort will be a chance for entrepreneurs, both large and small, to network, learn and grow. Renowned for its trendsetting abilities and influence on the future of cannabis, mark your calendars – this conference is the go-to event of the year for the cannabis world.

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