Can CBD Oil help you quit smoking nicotine?
AN EDITED ARTICLE ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY KL & LG
Millions of people around the world still smoke nicotine, with millions trying to quit every year. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
Which is a testament to how addictive and difficult it is to quit.
BEFORE YOUR READ FURTHER – This is NOT an anti-smoking piece. As always – you do you. We just thought that if you’re looking for an alternative to cut down on or quit smoking altogether…this article might help you.
cbd oil as an option
A recent study found that smokers who used a CBD-based inhaler for one week had reduced the number of cigarettes smoked by 40 percent compared to those who used a placebo inhaler [1].
That’s a pretty significant reduction, and it’s especially promising given that CBD has few side effects with a favorable safety profile.
Of course, more research is needed to confirm these findings, but early evidence suggests that CBD oil could be a helpful tool for smokers trying to quit.
If you’re thinking about giving it a try, be sure to talk to your doctor first—and remember, quitting smoking is always going to be a challenge, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results right away.
So, let’s discuss nicotine, behaviors associated with nicotine addiction, and how CBD may help with cravings.
How Does Nicotine Addiction Work?
It’s no secret that cigarettes are addictive. What many smokers don’t know is how exactly nicotine addiction works and how it affects the brain.
Nicotine addiction is one of the hardest habits to break, because of the subtle changes that it makes to the brain. When nicotine enters the brain, it sets off a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately lead to feelings of pleasure and relaxation.
These feelings are short-lived, and tolerance is quickly developed – leading to smoking more to get the same level of satisfaction.
This is the typical addiction scenario.
Over time, these lasting changes in the brain, make it even harder to quit.
For example, chronic exposure increases levels of dopamine, which reinforces behavior by providing a sense of pleasure and reward.
On the opposite end, with the same intensity of the pleasure and reward, are the withdrawal symptoms many people experience.
Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms: What Is It?
Nicotine withdrawal is the term used to describe the physical and psychological symptoms that occur when a person quit smoking cigarettes. The severity of the symptoms can depend on how long and how much a person has been smoking.
Generally, withdrawal symptoms begin within the first 24 hours after quitting and peak by day three. However, some people may experience withdrawal symptoms for weeks or even months.
Common symptoms include:
- Cravings for nicotine
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Depression
- Weight gain
- Headaches
While nicotine withdrawal can be difficult, it is important to remember that the symptoms are temporary; eventually, go away.
There are many resources available to help you through this process, so don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you need it.
Can You Use CBD To Quit Smoking Cigarettes?
For smokers looking to kick the nicotine habit, cannabis products have become a popular option because it’s naturally derived, non-addictive, and have very few side effects.
While more research is needed to investigate the efficacy of CBD products, preliminary findings show that the endocannabinoid system (ECS) may play an important role in supporting physical withdrawal symptoms and the circuit reward system that’s hijacked in addiction [1].
Your ECS is a vast network of receptors located throughout your body that helps to regulate many important functions – such as mood and appetite.
One of the key ways that it does this is by helping to regulate the release of neurotransmitters, like dopamine, which is involved in the brain’s reward system.
This is why the ECS is thought to play a role in addictive behaviors, like smoking cigarettes.
Let’s have a look at some of the preliminary research surrounding CBD and tobacco addiction.
CBD May Reduce Nicotine Cravings
A new study has found that CBD may be a promising treatment for smoking cessation for its anxiolytic properties and has been shown to modulate drug cue salience.
The study looked at a group of smokers who were given either CBD or a placebo. The participants were then exposed to smoking cues, and the researchers found that the CBD group was less likely to smoke in response to the cues than those who had received the place [2].
This suggests that CBD may help to reduce the urge to smoke in people who are trying to quit. The researchers say that further studies are needed to confirm these findings, but the results are promising.
CBD May Alleviate Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms
Cigarette smoking is notoriously difficult to quit. In fact, according to some estimates, only 5% of smokers are able to quit successfully without assistance [3]. There are many factors that contribute to this low success rate, but one of the primary addictive drivers of cigarette smoking is nicotine withdrawal.
Not only is there the physical addiction to nicotine, but there are also the mental and emotional dependencies that make quitting so difficult. According to the study, CBD may provide some relief from the worst of the withdrawal symptoms, making it easier for smokers to give up cigarettes.
Is CBD Addictive?
No, CBD is not physically addictive. This means that you don’t have to worry about the possibility of developing a new dependence while trying to get rid of another one.
With very few minor side effects to worry about, there is a lot of interest, in the medical community, in CBD’s potential on supporting opioid, cocaine, and psychostimulant addictions [4].
How Do Nicotine Patches Work?
Nicotine patches and nicotine gum are supposed to help you quit smoking, but they’re actually just as addictive as cigarettes.
Nicotine patches work by delivering a slow and steady amount of nicotine to your brain—this way, your body is still getting the nicotine it craves but without the other nasty chemicals found in cigarettes and smoke that damage the lungs.
Over time, the brain becomes accustomed to having a steady stream of high levels of dopamine. It starts to adjust its own chemistry to compensate. As a result, people’s brains are no longer producing enough dopamine on their own. Thus becoming addicted to the patch.
This makes CBD oils a much more desirable option for many.
How People Are Using CBD to Stop Smoking
Most people who use CBD to stop smoking start by buying a CBD vape pen. Since this plays on smoking cues for people, we recommend using CBD oil sublingually. This is a great option because it easily gives you the control to set your own potency level and dosage that works best for you.
Shop For High-Quality CBD Products
The CBD industry is still fairly new and unregulated. There are a lot of great CBD products out there. Please be careful, because there are just as many scams, and even potentially harmful CBD products out there.
As a reputable source, Bobby Rapscallion always provides full manufacturing transparency about our CBD products. Always making our third-party lab reports available, for each product batch, to ensure you that each product is hemp-derived.
These reports will contain a listing of the amount(s) of cannabinoids, other ingredients (like melatonin), levels of THC, and show that they are free from contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, and solvents.
Full- or Broad-spectrum?
There’s a lot of debate over which is better—full-spectrum or broad-spectrum CBD oil.
CBD is just one of many active compounds found in the hemp plant. Minor cannabinoids and terpenes can help to amplify the effects of CBD towards better ECS support than just using CBD alone in a concept called the entourage effect.
Full-spectrum CBD oils may contain up to 0.3% of THC. This isn’t enough to produce intoxicating effects, and some people (for various reasons) may want to avoid THC altogether. This is where broad-spectrum CBD may be useful.
Broad-spectrum CBD oils contain 0% of THC. It still contains supportive terpenes and cannabinoids but undergoes an extra processing step to remove THC. Bobby Rapscallion’s CBD oils and gummies are all broad-spectrum to eliminate the concern for THC.
You can find out more about this on our FAQ!
How Frequently Should You Use CBD Oil?
To start noticing the benefits of your CBD oil, you should take it every day for at least 14 days before deciding whether you need to switch doses or products.
You can find our Beginners Dosage per Body Weight here!
While some people report the effects of CBD immediately after taking it, it can take several weeks for your body to adjust to the supplemented cannabinoids before you notice the effects.
Some people find that they need to take CBD as frequently as three times a day to support muscle and joint discomfort. However, if you are on any medication or have an underlying health condition, we recommend you speak with your doctor for guidance.
To sum it all up
If you’re a smoker, you’ve probably tried to quit at least a few times. Maybe you’ve even succeeded for a while, only to find yourself back at it a few months (or weeks, or days) later. It’s tough to kick the habit, but there’s one tool that you might not have considered: CBD.
The role of the ECS in nicotine addiction is being increasingly acknowledged. Research suggests that CBD may help to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking. So, if you’re looking for a natural way to kick the nicotine habit, CBD may be worth a try.
While more definitive research is needed, CBD shows promise as a tool for helping people to quit smoking cigarettes. If you’re interested in trying CBD to quit smoking, talk to your doctor first to see if it’s right for you.
Bobby Rapscallion’s CBD Products
At Bobby Rapscallion, honesty and integrity are values put into everything. Our hemp is farmed on American soil using organic practices. Our extracts are meticulously tested by our team and a third-party lab to ensure the highest quality standards. Since we stand firmly behind the profound effects of the entourage effect, you won’t find CBD isolate products in our catalog—but we understand that full-spectrum products aren’t ideal for everyone, which is why our products are THC-free broad-spectrum.
Our high-potency oils start at a Potency Level 1 for those that are wanting to ease into CBD but need a higher dose. Keeping to this focus, we’ll be releasing Potency Levels 2 & 3 in the future. This is to make sure that all of our customers have the option to get high-quality CBD at a potency level that works best for them.
Our CBD Oil
CBD oils are a product staple for a CBD brand. We’ve carefully crafted our CBD oils to keep our high-quality hemp crops the star of the show. CBD oil also provides a wide range of versatility as you can take them sublingual (under the tongue) for fast-acting effects, or mix our flavored options into your favorite foods and drinks for wellness with a unique twist. CBD oils are a favorite for beginners and experts alike for their versatility and because you can customize your doses drop by drop.
our CBD Gummies
For those who don’t enjoy the natural bitter terpene flavor in hemp oils, but still want the whole plant benefits, CBD gummies might be a better solution for you.
We create selectively-crafted gummies at a cGMP facility and make them fresh to order. These also come in assorted flavors to mask the hempy taste and potencies start at 45MG per gummy.
Always remember that the ingestion process is different between oils and edibles like gummies. So we provide products that allow you to decide what works best for you and how you want to experience CBD.
Resources:
- Morgan, C. J., Das, R. K., Joye, A., Curran, H. V., & Kamboj, S. K. (2013). Cannabidiol reduces cigarette consumption in tobacco smokers: preliminary findings. Addictive behaviors, 38(9), 2433-2436.
- Hindocha, C., Freeman, T. P., Grabski, M., Stroud, J. B., Crudgington, H., Davies, A. C., … & Curran, H. V. (2018). Cannabidiol reverses attentional bias to cigarette cues in a human experimental model of tobacco withdrawal. Addiction, 113(9), 1696-1705.
- Gilpin, E. A., Pierce, J. P., Farkas, A. J., & Farkas, A. J. (1997). Duration of smoking abstinence and success in quitting. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 89(8), 572.
- Prud’homme, M., Cata, R., & Jutras-Aswad, D. (2015). Cannabidiol as an intervention for addictive behaviors: a systematic review of the evidence. Substance abuse: research and treatment, 9, SART-S25081.Chicago
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