Is a Drug to Treat Cannabis Addiction Finally Within Reach?

[gargamon]

All this concern about getting addicted to cannabis, there's hope on the horizon...

 

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BORDEAUX, France — Could AEF0117, a drug that has a novel mechanism of action in the brain, be the drug to fight cannabis addiction? Results from a phase 2a clinical trial that examined the efficacy of AEF0117 in patients with cannabis use disorder have created quite a stir. The study was published in Nature Medicine. Not only did AEF0117 weaken the effects of cannabis, but it also decreased a person's desire to use it, all without causing withdrawal symptoms. These findings have generated a significant buzz in the scientific and medical community.

"In the past, 8% of cannabis users would develop an addiction — today, this figure is 15%. Addiction to cannabis has become the main reason for seeking treatment at specialist drug clinics," said Pier Vincenzo Piazza, MD, PhD, psychiatrist, neurobiologist, and general director of Aelis Farma, the biopharmaceutical company that developed AEF0117.

This rise in cases can be explained by the increase in THC content in cannabis over the years. THC content increased from 5% in the 1970s to 30% today. Although cannabis is still less addictive than tobacco (33% of users become addicted), cocaine, heroin, or alcohol (25% of users become addicted), the number of cannabis users is increasing. Currently, 14.2 million in the United States and more than half a million in France use cannabis.

 

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/993613

[save the frogs]

I thought it wasnt even established unanimously on this forum that there is even such a thing as cannabis addiction. 

 

It's not clear what addiction means. And number of cannabis users increasing doesn't mean addiction is increasing. 

[nglodnig]

I've smoked weed every day, all day for the last fifty years and I'm STILL not addicted.

[save the frogs]

1 hour ago, nglodnig said:

I've smoked weed every day, all day for the last fifty years and I'm STILL not addicted.

researchers should study people like you 

[pomchop]

You want additiction?  Smoke couple of packs of cigs for few decades and see how easy it is to quit?

 

I should know as i quit at least a few dozen times but always went back...finally finally got off them for good about 15 years ago.....i can't even imagine what it would be like to be addicted to worse....

 

Weed?  off and on all my adult life but not one time did i ever wake up in middle of the night when a blizzard was raging, get dressed, drive through blizzard til i found a place to get cigs and feed the addiction.  Every one in a while i might thing gee maybe i will smoke a joint but sure would never ever go to the lengths that nicotine took me.

[Trippy]

Cannabis addiction is a myth.

[bamnutsak]

There seems to be a trend to first define a diagnosis, and that has coalesced around Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD).

 

https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/addiction.html

 

The following are signs of marijuana use disorder:
Using more marijuana than intended
Trying but failing to quit using marijuana
Spending a lot of time using marijuana
Craving marijuana
Using marijuana even though it causes problems at home, school, or work
Continuing to use marijuana despite social or relationship problems.
Giving up important activities with friends and family in favor of using marijuana.
Using marijuana in high-risk situations, such as while driving a car.
Continuing to use marijuana despite physical or psychological problems.
Needing to use more marijuana to get the same high.
Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when stopping marijuana use.

 

 

Then for people who suffer from CUD and seek treatment, mostly from private clinics, there might be medications which can be used.

 

Seems quite preliminary, both the "disease" and the "treatment"?

 

 

 

 

[Trippy]

20 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

There seems to be a trend to first define a diagnosis, and that has coalesced around Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD).

 

https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/addiction.html

 

The following are signs of marijuana use disorder:
Using more marijuana than intended
Trying but failing to quit using marijuana
Spending a lot of time using marijuana
Craving marijuana
Using marijuana even though it causes problems at home, school, or work
Continuing to use marijuana despite social or relationship problems.
Giving up important activities with friends and family in favor of using marijuana.
Using marijuana in high-risk situations, such as while driving a car.
Continuing to use marijuana despite physical or psychological problems.
Needing to use more marijuana to get the same high.
Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when stopping marijuana use.

 

 

Then for people who suffer from CUD and seek treatment, mostly from private clinics, there might be medications which can be used.

 

Seems quite preliminary, both the "disease" and the "treatment"?

 

 

 

 

What are the withdrawal symptoms exactly, for this mythical addiction?

[bamnutsak]

1 hour ago, Trippy said:

What are the withdrawal symptoms exactly, for this mythical addiction?

I don't know.

 

In my opinion, Cannabis is not physically addictive. I also do not think it is psychologically addictive.

 

I was just summarizing what the anti-cannabis activists here trot out re: "addiction".

 

They'll probably search for and link this article...

 

The most common features of cannabis withdrawal are anxiety, irritability, anger or aggression, disturbed sleep/dreaming, depressed mood and loss of appetite. Less common physical symptoms include chills, headaches, physical tension, sweating and stomach pain. 

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9110555/

[Plern]

I knew a guy who was addicted. He spent all his money on weed. When he scored a big bag he'd sick out from work and smoke the whole thing. Didn't do other drugs.

[Tazmo]

Addiction is a disease and you won’t recognize it unless you worked in the field or had someone close to you who suffered or died!

Use, abuse and misuse of substances including alcohol is as old as the hills.

Many people indulge without any harm. It doesn’t mean to say that another person can do the same without harmful effects.

 I have known people who smoked all their life and never had lung cancer or drank alcohol all their life but never had cirrhosis. Sadly they are in a minority. Several factors contribute to becoming addicted to not only alcohol and substances but internet ; sex; love ; food . The addictive behavior takes over and controls your life, you become a ‘Slave’ to it!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, you doubting Thomases! lol 

[JBChiangRai]

Most users live in their little bubble of normality, i.e. I'm not addicted so there is no addiction, I'm not violent so there is no violence.

 

Some of us in the judiciary or medical field see what happens when it all goes wrong, and I can tell you that your bubble of normality is well and truly burst for us.

[ThaiFelix]

On 7/10/2023 at 2:13 AM, nglodnig said:

I've smoked weed every day, all day for the last fifty years and I'm STILL not addicted.

Youre not trying hard enough!

 

[ThaiFelix]

56 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Most users live in their little bubble of normality, i.e. I'm not addicted so there is no addiction, I'm not violent so there is no violence.

 

Some of us in the judiciary or medical field see what happens when it all goes wrong, and I can tell you that your bubble of normality is well and truly burst for us.

I think you explained it so eloquently at the bottom of your post:

 

"All pigs fed & ready to fly."

[ThaiFelix]

On 7/10/2023 at 5:10 AM, pomchop said:

Weed?  off and on all my adult life but not one time did i ever wake up in middle of the night when a blizzard was raging, get dressed, drive through blizzard til i found a place to get cigs and feed the addiction.  Every one in a while i might thing gee maybe i will smoke a joint but sure would never ever go to the lengths that nicotine took me.

Know exactly what you mean, been there, done that!  I was the car in front lol!

[Kwaibill]

Just my observational opinion, but based on my observations of many friends and some relatives this “addiction” is primarily psychological. That said I do know of two tragic instances where it could honestly have been a gateway to heroin use. Again, a “decision” to try something “more”, but the more is defo addicting.

[ignore it]

False premise.

Just another Pharma study to create a need for their cure. (For a non problem.)

Daily use required.

 

Anybody need more Covid booster shots?

[novacova]

If one is not addicted then there is no need for dependency of it for anything, won’t need it to cope, relax no urge for it, same with alcohol. There are many levels of dependency and addiction. My addiction is coffee and a clear head. 

[novacova]

On 7/10/2023 at 2:13 AM, nglodnig said:

I've smoked weed every day, all day for the last fifty years and I'm STILL not addicted.

…is why they call it dope

[bradiston]

2 hours ago, Tazmo said:

Addiction is a disease and you won’t recognize it unless you worked in the field or had someone close to you who suffered or died!

Use, abuse and misuse of substances including alcohol is as old as the hills.

Many people indulge without any harm. It doesn’t mean to say that another person can do the same without harmful effects.

 I have known people who smoked all their life and never had lung cancer or drank alcohol all their life but never had cirrhosis. Sadly they are in a minority. Several factors contribute to becoming addicted to not only alcohol and substances but internet ; sex; love ; food . The addictive behavior takes over and controls your life, you become a ‘Slave’ to it!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, you doubting Thomases! lol 

I've never really "got" the classification of addiction as a disease. I was addicted to nicotine, still am to some extent, but I quit. Used to drink but quit. Switched to low carb diet - you may laugh, but giving up sugar, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta etc is not easy after 70 years. To me it's simply STOP. Now how many other "diseases" can I cure like that? And regarding weed addiction. At university, the worst that could be described as an effect of smoking it, which we middle class white undergraduates did daily for months at a time, was the reluctance to get off the floor and go to lectures and seminars. No psychosis, no CUD, MAD, SUD nor any other depiction of addiction. Really, cannabis abuse, if it exists, is surely most likely to be caused by poverty, deprivation, and social situation, not the supposedly addictive properties of THC. Compared to crack/opioids synthetic or otherwise.... Well, I don't think there IS a comparison. It's just guilt by association.

[Tazmo]

From your experience and the way you managed has worked well for you and I have no doubt that you worked hard to achieve the results you got.

But by addiction I am referring to the over indulgence/ excessive use to a point where the individual is unable to function or recognize there is a problem until he/ she hits rock bottom.
You really need to see it to understand or believe. I am not going to try to convince or argue with you.

Some are able to deal with it while others struggle big time.

[Chongalulu]

9 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

Some of us in the judiciary or medical field see what happens when it all goes wrong, and I can tell you that your bubble of normality is well and truly burst for us.

By definition,in that field you're ONLY going to come across those where it has gone wrong. You'll be completely oblivious to the orders of magnitude more instances where there aren't harmful effects. 

Therein lies the problem with slanted anecdotal evidence.

[MrMuddle]

On 7/10/2023 at 10:43 AM, Trippy said:

Cannabis addiction is a myth.

In these woke times, it may identify as a mythter....

[Felton Jarvis]

Cannabis is not addictive.  Why would you need such a drug?

[Troy Tempest]

Is a Drug to Treat Cannabis Addiction Finally Within Reach?

 

Yes...It is called Cannabis!

Every time I smoke Weed it is a TREAT!

Edited July 13, 2023 by Troy Tempest

[Wuvu2]

This is a trick question right? I can confirm that daily doses of cannabis prevent Cannabis Addiction altogether ???? 

[nglodnig]

Actually coming up (true this) it IS fifty years since I first smoked da demon weed.

 

Went through a period in my "yoof" where I smoked it frequently (for a while, yes every day all day) then got on with my life got married and had children, spliffs became more and more infrequent - sometimes years between tokes.

 

NOW with the easy availabilty - every couple of days I'll have a mild spliff. Bored with it - the buzz is OK but not something I want to do all the time.

 

There are addictive personalities that will get addicted to ANYTHING - it's not the fault of the chemical, it is with the person.

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by nglodnig

[drmal]

Funny to read all those who smoke "weed" everyday or every other day and boasting that they are not addicted.

 

There's no reason to start smoking "weed" at all. All the so-called treatment from cannabis is actually the "myth". People just want to feel good by it.

 

If you can't stop smoking cannabis forever, you ARE addicted.

Edited July 19, 2023 by drmal

[JBChiangRai]

18 minutes ago, drmal said:

Funny to read all those who smoke "weed" everyday or every other day and boasting that they are not addicted.

 

There's no reason to start smoking "weed" at all. All the so-called treatment from cannabis is actually the "myth". People just want to feel good by it.

 

If you can't stop smoking cannabis forever, you ARE addicted.

Yes, that was my take too.

[connda]

Cannabis is not addictive.