Preliminary study suggests CBD reverses overdoses | GreenState – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

Addiction plagues Americans, and many are seeking alternatives to pharmaceuticals like cannabis medicine. In addition, researchers continue researching how cannabinoids could impact addiction recovery, leading to preliminary findings that CBD reverses overdoses.

Opioids include fast-acting fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and new street iterations. The CDC reported that 81.9% of fatal overdose deaths in 2021 were due to opioids. Additionally, a 2021 report in StatPearls states that over 2.1 million people in the United States are affected by opioid use disorder, and worldwide, there are over 120,000 deaths attributed to the substance.

Naloxone is a prescription nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose. The opioid antagonist attaches to opioid receptors and reverses the effects of the opioids. However, it is not as effective for a fentanyl overdose. Synthetic opioids bind more tightly to receptors than heroin and morphine, making it more difficult for naloxone to reverse the effects of the substances.

Research presented by graduate student Jessica Gudorf at the American Chemical Society Spring 2023 event shows that naloxone can have a heightened effect when paired with CBD, according to a press release obtained by GreenState. The Indiana University Bloomington research team is led by co-principal investigators Alex Straiker, Ph.D. and Michael VanNieuwenhze, Ph.D.

“Given that naloxone is the only drug available to reverse overdoses,…