Though it's debatable whether or not one can become physically addicted to marijuana, scientists confirm that users can become physically dependent on the drug, and researchers from the University of Maryland have discovered a potential treatment for those that abuse it, LiveScience reports.
Maryland researchers concluded that by boosting naturally occurring compounds in the brain, addicts could have an easier time quitting and not falling back into old habits. The scientists used drug-addicted rats and monkeys as test subjects and found that kynurenic acid diminishes the "rewarding effects of THC," the active ingredient in marijuana. The report has been published online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
"Any drug of abuse has to do with dopamine," study researcher Robert Schwarcz, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland, in College Park, told LiveScience. "We found out few years ago that kynurenic acid controls dopamine. All we had to do was put those things together."
THC activates dopamine neurons in the brain, which in turn produces feel-good chemicals. While previous attempts to treat marijuana addiction have involved blocking receptors in the ventral tegmental area of the brain, where dopamine neurons exist, such methods have caused side effects. In contrast, the newest method naturally controls the levels of dopamine in the brain and may help reduce unpleasant reactions while going off of the drug.
Researchers gave the test rats and monkeys a drug that boosted their levels of kynurenic acid. The animals pushed a lever to either administer THC or a similar synthetic drug, and were less likely to do so when their levels of kynurenic acid were higher. Another experiment took the THC-addicted animals off of it completely before increasing their kynurenic acid levels with a small dose of THC. This method prevented the animals from returning to their old drug habits.
"We found that you can reduce dopamine levels and the animals behave differently - they don't have relapse, and don't abuse marijuana," Schwarcz said.
No medications exist for treating marijuana dependency and addiction, though more people in the U.S. seek treatment for the drug than cocaine and heroin.
Tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal psychoactive constituent (or cannabinoid) of the cannabis plant.
