Pot helps quitters: smoke up, smoke less.

• Author: Bailey, Ronald
• Position: Citings - Effect of marijuana-derived substance cannabidiol on the urge to cigarette smoking - Brief article

Is THE secret to cutting back on smoking found in pot? A study by a team of researchers at the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit in London's University College, published in the April issue of Addictive Behaviors, finds that inhaling the marijuana-derived substance cannabidiol significantly reduces the number of cigarettes a smoker lights up.

Cannabidiol derives from cannabis plants, but unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in pot, it does not have psychoactive properties. It does, however, seem to reduce the urge to smoke.

The researchers randomly assigned half of 24 smokers an inhaler dosed with cannabidiol and half with placebo inhalers, and instructed them...