Smoking weed helps patients give up opiates such as heroin, a new study has found.

Researchers at Columbia University monitored patients undergoing treatment for opiate addiction – and found that patients who smoked weed were more able to sleep, less anxious, and more likely to complete their course.

The researchers also found that dosing patients with dronabinol – a drug consisting of the ‘active’ ingredient in cannabis, THC – helped with withdrawal symptoms.

The study authors said, ‘One of the interesting study findings was the observed beneficial effect of marijuana smoking on treatment retention.


‘Participants who smoked marijuana had less difficulty with sleep and anxiety and were more likely to remain in treatment as compared to those who were not using marijuana, regardless of whether they were taking dronabinol or placebo.’



High Times also points out that opiate-related deaths have dropped in American states which have legalised the recreational use of marijuana.

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