Current Research on CBD and Anxiety

It's nothing new to some of us that CBD is more than just a source of cannabinoids, chemicals that may bind to cannabinoid receptors in our brains. Cannabidiol and cannabis are particularly rich sources of compounds that we have only begun to explore. In order to harness the full potential of the compounds in this plant, research needs to be done. So as we hear new reports from the forefront of science we work to create posts like this to inform our audience. Today we discuss the newest research on anxiety. 

​Since the new wave of CBD in the United States, the FDA has already made some moves in this direction by approving prescription drugs that come from marijuana including dronabinol, nabilone, nabiximols, and cannabidiol. This could be a good sign. Many of these drugs are working to combat ailments that plague the country. 

For instance, Dronabinol and nabilone are cannabinoids that are used for nausea. Nabiximols – which contain THC, the compound most responsible for marijuana’s high and cannabidiol, which does not induce a high – are used to treat multiple sclerosis. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is also used to treat some types of epilepsy.

In fact, patients authorized to legally use medical cannabis frequently substitute it in place of benzodiazepines, according to a pair of new studies published this week. Benzodiazepines are a class of drugs primarily used for treating anxiety. According to data compiled by the US Centers for Disease Control, the drug was attributed to over 11,500 overdose deaths in 2017.

Back to cannabidiol. Although CBD companies are unable to make claims about which sorts of issues they treat, research is being done to see what the effects actually are. For this, we are thankful. 

Now on to the research. 

In the first study, Canadian researchers assessed the relationship between cannabis and benzodiazepines in 146 patients enrolled in the nation’s medical marijuana access program. 

The findings show that 30 percent of participants discontinued their use of anti-anxiety medications within two-months of initiating cannabis therapy and this group did so within six months. “Patients initiated on medical cannabis therapy showed significant benzodiazepine discontinuation rates after their first follow-up visit to their medical cannabis prescriber, and continued to show significant discontinuation rates thereafter,” authors concluded.

In the second study, investigators at the University of Michigan surveyed over 1,300 state-registered medical cannabis patients with regard to their use of opioids and benzodiazepines. They reported that 53 percent of respondents acknowledged substituting marijuana for opioids, and 22 percent did so for benzodiazepines.

So what about CBD?

There's still much research to be done but one such study did find some interesting results. 

A 2015 analysis of previous studies showed some promising result that CBD oil could be considered for a promising treatment for numerous forms of anxiety, including social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Overall, we still need more research and that's one thing we can all be activists for. Theses substances show great promise but until we know more all we can do is try to educate ourselves and others. 

Thanks for reading and please let s know what you think in the comments!