CBD for Addictive Cravings

CBD FOR ADDICTIVE CRAVINGS

Addiction is a dreadful, life-threatening affliction. Addicts have a crushing attraction to substances that, ultimately, promise only to make matters worse. Borne out of this struggle, Exact Nature Botanicals LLC is run by recovering alcoholic Thomas White and his son Daniel, also in recovery.

Exact Nature’s singular mission to provide healthy, CBD-based products to help recovering addicts and alcoholics face the addictive cravings and changes in mood and sleep patterns that can come in sobriety.

While there are thousands of CBD products on the market, Exact Nature’s are the only products for the specific needs of people who want to reduce their use of alcohol, drugs, and harmful substances.

The focus of Detox products is curbing addictive cravings – from alcohol to drugs to nicotine. Again, it is the only reason Exact Nature exists.

Choose from softgels or oil. Or combine them – more is better. Your body will thank you. Remember, with CBD, consistent use over time is key.

What’s in a Name?

The name of this company – Exact Nature – is derived from Step Five of AA’s Twelve Steps. Step Five says we, “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”

Step Five is called the forgiveness step and working it can be gut wrenching. It’s commonly accepted, however, that in recovery unloading one’s burdens with unflinching honesty is necessary before we can move on from the detritus of our past destructive behaviors. And because unflinching honesty is, after all, not something we alcoholics and addicts come to naturally, you may need to the it may take doing Step Five more than once to feel fully cleansed.

Doing the hard work of the Fifth Step is often rejuvenating. Many people report that after unloading their baggage they experience a peace, calm, and a freedom that’s been missing for years. The Fifth Step is a key step in recovery, and one of the hardest, but is often the harbinger to a new, unencumbered, and sober life and one with which Exact Nature associates with great pride.
Be it a loved one or a friend’s struggle with alcohol, or opiates, or tobacco, finding someone in America not directly affected by addiction is rare. And addiction doesn’t discriminate – we addicts come from every walk of life.

Almost 21 million Americans have at least one addiction and less than ten percent ever receive treatment. Drug overdose deaths in the US have more than tripled since 1990. In 2020 alone, according to the CDC, overdose deaths were at an all-time high of 93,331. Between 1999 and 2017, more than 700,000 American have overdosed and died. Imagine the heartache associated with each of these deaths.

The Big Four types of addiction are, in order, tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and painkillers. And they affect our way of life and potential significantly. Per HMS.gov, substance misuse in the US adversely affects the economy to the tune of $442 billion annually. If these numbers don’t mean much in the aggregate, think about it this way: #JobsLost, #FamiliesBroken, #FamilyDysfuntion, #RelationshipsLost. Or even more granularly, think of a toddler playing with her dada who, rather than enjoying the moment, is thinking about his next high.

Tobacco Addiction

A growing number of studies have found that CBD could be an effective, even revolutionary, aid for quitting smoking. One study, in particular, found CBD to be helpful with smoking cessation in two fundamental ways:

• CBD Made Cigarettes Less Rewarding. A randomized, double-blind study revealed that cannabidiol administered after overnight tobacco abstinence reduced the pleasure that smoking stimulates; specifically, the participants showed less interest in cigarettes once they observed other people smoking. In the end, they smoked 40 percent less often than the placebo group.
• CBD Reduced Nicotine Withdrawal Side Effects. CBD is a potent anxiolytic, meaning it calms the nervous system and helps with a variety of anxiety disorders. It was also found to help alleviate anxiety-induced sleep deprivation and withdrawal symptoms that include headaches, anxiety, and irritation.

Multiple Substance Addiction

In a study reported in the magazine Neuropsychiatry, a 16-year-old patient with multiple substance use disorder (e.g., cannabis, MDMA, cocaine, ecstasy), severe depression, social phobia, and narcissistic personality disorder was administered cannabidiol (CBD) capsules after unsuccessful treatment with antidepressants. CBD was a safe and well tolerated medication for this patient.

Upon treatment with CBD and cessation of the antidepressant medication, the patient improved regarding depressive as well as anxiety symptoms including simple phobias and symptoms of paranoia and dissociation. Furthermore, the patient quit abusing illegal drugs, including THC, without showing withdrawal symptoms. This is one of the first reports of CBD being used in a patient with multiple substance use disorder and, while much more research is called for, it shows that CBD holds promise as a therapeutic option in substance use disorder.

Opioid Addiction

Opioids and opiates are a class of drugs which block pain and produce a euphoria. Both represent very high risks for addiction and overdose. By way of example, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose and, as of January 2022, per the CDC, more than 850,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses since 1999, roughly the same number who have died from COVID-19.

The opioid crisis has been called the most consequential preventable public health problem in the U.S. With the rise in awareness of opioid addiction and misuse, the tide is turning, and alternative treatments, including CBD, for chronic pain highlight the need for a consistent, safe and effective treatment for opioid addiction. CBD offers an option with a positive safety profile.

CBD is believed to interact with receptors in the brain to control and lesson the pain and related symptoms. Further research is needed, but early signs show that CBD can have a stabilizing impact for people with opioid use disorders. This emerging real-world evidence shows CBD's potential to reduce cue-induced craving and anxiety provides a strong basis for further investigation of this phytocannabinoid as a treatment option for opioid use disorder.

Notably, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in January 2022 an investigational new drug application for a clinical trial to evaluate CBD as an adjunctive (i.e., supplemental) method to treat opioid use disorder.

Cocaine Addiction

Cannabidiol (CBD), the major non-psychoactive constituent of cannabis sativa, has been shown to be a promising tool in the management of some neuropsychiatric disorders, including cocaine abuse.

Recent studies suggest that CBD can prevent the development of cocaine addiction, and, when administered during cocaine abstinence, may help in avoiding relapse to drug-seeking by disrupting the memories provoked by chronic consumption of cocaine.

Heroin Addiction

Recent studies suggest that CBD may be a potential treatment for heroin craving and relapse. One such study appeared in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The lead author of this study, Ms. Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai, observed, “Our findings indicate that CBD holds significant promise for treating individuals with heroin use disorder.”

This study investigated the potential of CBD to reduce cue-induced craving and anxiety, two critical features of addiction that often contribute to relapse and continued drug use, in drug-abstinent individuals with heroin use disorder. As with much of CBD research, more needs to be done but the results to date are promising.

Gambling Addiction

Compulsive gambling is a complex addiction that doesn’t follow the same neurological pathways as most drug addictions. Unlike other addictions, neuroscientists know relatively little about the physical pathology, and the drug treatments have been all but nonexistent. Ironically, drugs that have been used to treat compulsive gamblers have not necessarily been found to help with the gambling disorder, but may help with other addictions. Unretractable

A bright spot is offered by recent research in the US and Canada which showed CBD improved “choice performance” for sufferers of gambling disorders. This research shined light on the addiction’s underlying pathology and for CBD as a potential treatment for this disorder. Despite being in its initial stages of discovery, research shows that CBD may help those suffering from this financially crippling mental affliction.