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Medical marijuana could help solve the opioid epidemic, Dr. Sanjay G... https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/24/health/medical-marijuana-opioid-ep. <br /> Health + Live TV U.S. Edition + <br /> Hurd told me that when an individual's brain is "fundamentally changed" and diseased in this manner, they <br /> lose the ability to regulate opioid consumption, unable to quit despite their best efforts -- unable to "just say <br /> no." <br /> It is no surprise, then, that abstinence-only programs have pitiful results when it comes to opioid addiction. <br /> Even the current gold standard of medication-assisted treatment, which is far more effective, still relies on <br /> less-addictive opioids such as methadone and buprenorphine. That continued opioid use, Hurd worries, can <br /> cause ongoing disruption to the glutamatergic system, never allowing the brain to fully heal. It may help <br /> explain the tragic tales of those who succeed in stopping opioids for a short time, only to relapse again and <br /> again. <br /> This is precisely why Hurd started to look to other <br /> p: . ,1 substances to help and settled on non psychoactive <br /> m a�� u a n cannabidiol or CBD, one of the primary components in <br /> '-7- - , ..the cannabis. Hurd and her team discovered that CBD <br /> ,� actually helped "restructure and normalize" the brain at <br /> rare <br /> '` • <br /> �.�-w .z..„:,: the "cellular level, at the molecular level." It was CBD <br /> r r ::;•."-*'::---~— that healed the glutamatergic system and improved <br /> A:" i' p,. the workings of the brain's frontal lobes. <br /> i'{` _ ,G. i r• <br /> N ":„ �. This new science sheds lights on stories like the oneI <br /> `. heard from Doug Campbell of Yarmouth, Maine. He told <br /> me he had been in and out of drug rehab 32 times <br /> over 25 years, with no success. But soon after starting <br /> Related Video: Your brain on marijuana cannabis, he no longer has "craving, desire and has <br /> 01:39 not thought about (opioids)at all, period." <br /> For the past 40 years, we have been told that cannabis <br /> turns the brain into a fried egg, and now there is <br /> scientific evidence that it can do just the opposite, as it did for Campbell. It can heal the brain when nothing <br /> else does. <br /> I know it sounds too good to be true. I initially thought so, as well. Make no mistake, though: Marc Schechter <br /> and Doug Campbell are emblematic of thousands of patients who have successfully traded their pills for a <br /> plant. <br /> These patients often live in the shadows, afraid to come forward to share their stories. They fear stigma. <br /> They fear prosecution. They fear that someone will take away what they believe is a lifesaving medication. <br /> Where do we go from here? <br /> Mr. Sessions, Dr. Mark Wallace has invited you to spend a day seeing these patients in his San Diego clinic <br /> and witness their outcomes for yourself. Dr. Dustin Sulak could do the same for you in Portland, Maine, as <br /> could Dr. Sue Sisley in Phoenix. Staci Gruber in Boston could show you the brain scans of those who tried <br /> cannabis for the first time and were then able to quit opioids. Dr. Julie Holland in New York City could walk <br /> you through the latest research. All over the country, you will find the scientists who write the books and <br /> f 5 5/1/2018. 12:49 PM <br />