Opioid Withdrawal Research Paper

People suffering from opioid addiction are often desperate to quit, but can't get past the difficulties of withdrawal. While maintenance medicines such as methadone are an effective way to treat these symptoms, a new method has started to make an impact in the world of drug rehabilitation: cannabis use. With an increasing number of people turning to marijuana as an opiate withdrawal aide, it's important to examine whether this method is effective or safe.

The Alleged Effects of Marijuana on Opioid Withdrawal Over the years, there has been plenty of testimonial evidence suggesting that marijuana use is a beneficial way of getting through opiate withdrawal. For example, Kevin, a person who suffered from opiate addiction, claims to have used

The intense back pain, lack of sleep, and severe sickness he'd felt before was nowhere near as problematic. Yes, it was still there, but he claims it was more “tolerable” than without cannabis. Another story focuses on writer Tony O'Neill and his struggle to beat heroin addiction. He claims that marijuana helped eliminate his cravings. With those cravings more or less gone, he could carefully consider the way his life had gone and reflect on ways to change. Pointedly, he states that marijuana was more effective than methadone in curbing his cravings and helping with his withdrawal symptoms. These are just two of the many testimonial stories trumpeting marijuana as an effective opioid addiction treatment. But is there any scientific evidence to back up these claims?

Studies That Seem to Back Up the Claim Surprisingly, there actually does seem to be evidence to suggest that marijuana is an effective way to treat opioid addiction. In a study titled “Impact of cannabis use during stabilization on methadone maintenance treatment,” Thomas Jefferson University scientists studied how well marijuana helped reduce the symptoms of opiate