Vanderbilt researchers are studying heavy users of marijuana to help understand what exercise does for the brain, contributing to a field of research that uses exercise as a modality for prevention and treatment.
A new study has indicated heavy users of marijuana show a significant decrease in their cravings and daily use after just a few sessions of running on the treadmill.
Vanderbilt researchers are studying heavy users of marijuana to help understand what exercise does for the brain, contributing to a field of research that uses exercise as a modality for prevention and treatment.
It is the first study to demonstrate that exercise can reduce cannabis use in persons who don't want to stop.
Twelve study participants — eight female and four male — were selected because they met the criteria for being 'cannabis-dependent' and did not want treatment to help them stop smoking pot.
During the study their craving for and use of cannabis was cut by more than 50% after exercising on a treadmill for 10 30-minute sessions over a two-week period.
“This is 10 sessions but it actually went down after the first five. The maximum reduction was already there within the first week,” said co-author Peter Martin, director of the Vanderbilt Addiction Centre.
“There is no way currently to treat cannabis dependence with medication, so this is big considering the magnitude of the cannabis problem in the US. And this is the first time it has ever been demonstrated that exercise can reduce cannabis use in people who don't want to stop.”
Martin sees the study results as the beginning of an important area of research to better understand brain mechanisms of exercise in addiction.
“It shows that exercise can really change the way the brain works and the way the brain responds to the world around us,” he added.
The study has been published in the journal PLoS ONE.
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