A new study authored by University of Colorado Boulder scientists found that CBD, the non-intoxicating compound found in marijuana, can have help reduce anxiety in subjects.
The study appears to be the first randomized trial of its kind to assess the impact of legally available cannabis on anxiety symptoms.
In the study, researchers recruited 300 individuals with anxiety: 42 non-cannabis users acted as the control group while 258 were assigned to smoke cannabis dominant in either THC, the intoxicating compound found in marijuana, CBD or both in equal parts.
All groups reported less anxiety at the end of the study; however, CBD-dominant cannabis users experienced greater improvements than other groups. Study authors suggested the tension reduction following CBD use could lead to a longer-term reduction of anxiety symptoms.
“Our study suggests that CBD products may be able to relieve anxiety in the moment for adults who use them, and possibly longer-term, in a way that is meaningful and doesn’t necessarily produce the same risks or harms of THC or prescription medications,” Cinnamon Bidwell, senior author and associate professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science and Clinical Psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a statement.
The study emerged from CUChange, a lab at CU Boulder co-directed by Bidwell, with a specific research focus on health and risk behaviors.
Researchers drove to subjects’ homes and tested them before and after smoking. The CBD-dominant group did not report any symptoms of impairment following smoking but felt less tense and experienced less paranoia than those in the other two cannabis groups.
Additionally, according to the study’s authors, the THC-dominant users did not experience increased anxiety from their cannabis use either.
“Our findings suggest that THC did not increase anxiety long-term and that CBD-dominant forms of cannabis were associated with acute tension reduction that may translate to longer-term reductions in anxiety symptoms,” said Gregory Giordano, a professional research assistant at CU Boulder, in a statement.
Bidwell cautioned that more research was necessary to understand the long-term benefits of CBD use but that the immediate effects on anxiety reduction were clear throughout the process.
“We need more data before we can make conclusive recommendations, but this is promising news,” Bidwell said in a statement.
