Quit Smoking for the Last Time with Help from CBD

Quitting cigarettes has practically become a pastime with very few products offering the kind of help that really…helps.

The newest remedy today for quitting cigarettes comes in the form of CBD (cannabidiol) products, however unlike other options, there has been a lot of traction recently in the medical and anecdotal communities regarding its ability to help.

There are a lot of cigarette smokers out there. If you’re not one, you know one. Or two. Or more. Chances are either you or one of them (or all of you) have tried quitting at some point, but found yourself being pulled back in. The smell of the smoke, the feeling of a cigarette between the fingers, the coffee that goes with it, and of course, those cravings like an itch inside that only a cigarette can scratch.

The two factors that make quitting cigarettes the hardest are the itch inside that comes from the physical nicotine addiction, and the behavioral aspect of smoking that encapsulates the rest: the smell, the feel, the coffee association…

So, the goal of effectively quitting cigarettes is to ease the discomfort that comes from both sides. The nicotine itch inside that results from the physical addiction, and the behavioral cues that remind a person that they want to smoke, and all the positive feelings that go along with smoking. Most methods for quitting on the market right now can barely do one of these, let alone both.

Quit Smoking Cigarettes With CBD

In one of the first of its kind, research coming out of the University College London shows that in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study, those given CBD oil (versus a placebo) ended up smoking approximately 40% less in just one week!

Let me make that clearer: a bunch of smokers were chosen for two groups randomly. For a one week period, they were all given an inhaler with half the inhalers containing CBD, and half containing nothing. They were told to inhale when they felt the desire to smoke. After only 1 week – which is a very short period of time – the CBD group dropped their desire to smoke by 40%.

Though the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of this are still being investigated, researchers are doing their best to tie it all together. Dr Morgan, one of the researchers on the study said that perhaps CBD allowed smokers to gradually erase their positive smoking memories. What this could mean is that while CBD helps alleviate the itch inside that drives the physical addiction, it might also help with erasing all those cues like the smell of the smoke, the feel of the cigarette, and the association of the coffee that goes with it.

CBD is already being looked at heavily as an intervention for addictive behavior regarding several different drugs because of its ability to influence how a person feels at different points in the addiction cycle. While it may not help with addictions for every drug, or every part of the cycle, it may very well be that when it comes to cigarettes, CBD is the 360° cure needed for helping a person quit and quit for good.