Graduate student Emily Kenyor, Professor Sarah Feldstein Ewing published in ScienceDirect
A Psychology graduate student’s and professor’s study into the use of cannabinoids to treat cannabis use disorder (CUD) has been published in one of the top neuroscience journals in the country. Graduate student Emily Kenyon and Professor Sarah Feldstein Ewing have found some cannabinoids, including CBD, are effective in treating CUD in adults. Their study was recently published in the journal ScienceDirect. They now plan to apply the study to adolescents, who tend to be at a higher risk of CUD.
“Cannabis use peaks during adolescence and emerging adulthood, and cannabis use disorder (CUD) is associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes,” the study abstract reads. “This is particularly pertinent in youth, because the developing brain may be more vulnerable to adverse effects of frequent cannabis use. Combining evidence-based psychosocial interventions with safe and effective pharmacotherapy is a potential avenue to improve youth outcomes, but we lack approved CUD pharmacotherapies. Here, we review new potential avenues for helping youth with CUD, with a particular focus on cannabinoid-based treatments.” Highlights of the study include:
- THC based cannabinoid treatments reduce withdrawal, but not use, in adult samples.
- Non-THC based cannabinoid treatments show promising reductions in use in adults.
- Next step is to examine the impact of cannabinoids on youth cannabis use disorder.