Just as it has proven to provide positive benefits for a wide range of other kinds of diseases and health conditions, the chemical THC that is contained in marijuana has also shown that it may be just as effective when used for the treatment of opioid dependence as well.
According to information that was published in the Neuropsychopharmacology, by researchers of the Laboratory for Physiopathology of Diseases of the Central Nervous System, symptoms of opiate dependence were greatly improved in rats that THC was administered to. Before the THC treatment was given to the opiate dependent rats they showed the classic signs for the dependency. However, after the THC found in cannabis was given to the rats, they no longer displayed the symptoms of a dependence on the drug.
Rats that had formed an addiction to opiates show to have a decreased production of endogenous enkephalins that is generally found in the brain’s region that is called the striatum, which is associated with drug dependency. However, after the THC of weed was given to the rats, it caused a restoration to occur of the endogenous enkephalins.
It is clear that weed can provide the world of medicine with numerous benefits, and is likely why the growing of cannabis has been legalized in several countries.
