How Can I Use CBD to Quit Smoking? 

CBD is quickly becoming a prominent subject in medicine as its many health benefits become more apparent. 

CBD is becoming a staple part of at-home healthcare routines and homeopathic preferences and is often used as a sleep aid, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, and form of pain relief. 

What’s more, CBD studies are expanding to include potential effects on more severe conditions such as cancer and epilepsy.

And now people are using CBD for another purpose- to help them quit smoking. 

Smoking has been on the decline since 2005 but is still the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States.

Currently, 34.1 million U.S. adults smoke cigarettes, and over 16 million suffer from a smoking-related disease. 

Cigarette smoking is responsible for about 1 in 5 deaths, resulting in approximately 480,000 deaths annually. 

As more people continue to try and quit, CBD is becoming a popular alternative to more traditional nicotine replacement methods. 

CBD and Addiction

CBD (cannabidiol) is extracted from the hemp plant, a relative of the marijuana plant, and a derivative of cannabis Sativa. 

Though both are variants of the cannabis plant, hemp plants contain only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and abundantly higher levels of CBD than do marijuana plants. 

CBD and THC are both cannabinoids, but THC is the chemical compound responsible for the psychoactive effects produced by marijuana. 

In other words, CBD will not get you high, an important factor for those looking to use CBD to target nicotine addiction.

Research on CBD and addiction is relatively new, but scientific studies are beginning to look into CBD’s effects on substance use and abuse. 

Most prominently, experts examine the relationship between CBD and nicotine withdrawal symptoms, cravings, and the emotional states often affiliated with breaking the habit. 

CBD has been found to hold promising potential for promoting drug repressing behavior and thwarting drug-seeking tendencies. CBD use itself also shows an extremely low threat of addiction and abuse. 

This data and support for its ability to assist with many other symptoms produced by drug abuse make CBD a prime candidate for both opioid and nicotine addictions and dependencies.

Curbing Cigarette Craving

One controlled study observed that participants who were given CBD smoked fewer cigarettes and refrained from craving nicotine than those given a placebo. 

Total cigarette consumption for CBD prescribed participants decreased by approximately 40 percent during the one-week long experimental timeframe. 

The same study recognized the neurocognitive conditions CBD addresses regarding cigarette consumption, finding that the way CBD interacts with your body’s endocannabinoid system can affect motivation and reward. 

The use of CBD may repress cigarette smoking and help treat the otherwise prominent cues triggered by nicotine use by mitigating the effects of the buzz or amplified feelings of pleasantness and changing nicotine conditioning within your brain’s pleasure center. 

Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms and CBD

Feelings of irritation, irritability, restlessness, sadness, anxiety, depression, and overall shifts in mood are reasons many users seek out CBD. 

These are also common examples of cigarette withdrawal symptoms. 

Because of its remedying abilities, CBD is being used to help alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms, including the many emotional effects, sleeplessness, and the inability to focus.

For those that use nicotine for pain relief, CBD can offer a nonaddictive alternative while mitigating discomfort.

As your body adjusts to no longer receiving nicotine, CBD can help ease the transition. 

Can I Use CBD Gummies to Quit Smoking?

A commonly sought out alternative to smoking is CBD edibles gummies. However, gummies are not the best option for those looking to quit smoking.

Because of the way CBD interacts with your body through the endocannabinoid system, using CBD via vaping, sublingual ingestion, or transdermal patches prove to be superior options for giving up cigarettes. 

Here’s why gummies aren’t an effective smoking repressor or alternative and why other forms of CBD consumption may be a better habit to take up.      

Vaping 

Vaping CBD is a prime choice for cigarette replacement because it’s the fastest way to feel CBD’s effects, and it most closely mimics the act of smoking. 

As the CBD travels through your lungs, it is directly sent into your bloodstream, where it immediately begins to circulate throughout your body. 

There are a wide variety of CBD vape products, and this might be the easiest way for your brain to switch substances without also breaking the act of inhaling. 

Subduing the act of giving up nicotine in contrast to quitting cigarettes cold turkey could also help facilitate a more permanent change as it helps train your brain more deliberately. 

Sublingual Ingestion 

CBD is most effective sublingually because of the way it is absorbed into your bloodstream. 

Sublingual ingestion is the act of applying a few drops of CBD oil under your tongue and holding it there for 30 seconds before swallowing. 

This generates a primary effect induced by capillaries in your mouth and a secondary set of effects felt after the CBD consumed by your digestive tract is processed. 

Because the initial onset is felt fairly instantly and followed by another wave of effects, sublingual ingestion of CBD is the most effective and second quickest way CBD can enter your bloodstream and begin interacting with your body. 

Sublingual consumption may be a better option for those who have already begun to wean themselves off of nicotine or be used in addition to vaping CBD. 

Even though it is slower to start than vaping, sublingual ingestion allows for more specific and intense dosing and can be reapplied or ingested throughout the day. 

More constant CBD doses can help ensure the adverse effects of withdrawal or the temptations of cravings are kept at bay. 

Transdermal Patches to Quit Smoking

CBD can be applied topically through the wearing of transdermal patches. 

Like nicotine patches in style, transdermal CBD patches are worn externally and absorb CBD through your skin through endocannabinoid receptors.  

Transdermal patches offer the slowest onset by far but can provide more potent and consistent dosing over extended periods. 

CBD Gummies to Quit Smoking

In contrast to the above methods of ingestion, CBD gummies and edibles are relatively ineffective as the body cannot properly absorb plant medicine when processed through the digestive tract.  

When CBD is directly swallowed rather than sublingually absorbed, it cannot be diverted straight into circulation. 

Instead, the CBD is sent through your digestive system to the liver and from your liver to your bloodstream. 

By the time CBD has reached its final destination, the materials have been broken down to the point that the CBD’s effects have been primarily weakened. 

Because CBD ingestion by way of the digestive tract must undergo lengthy travel, it takes up to two hours to take effect, and the results are weaker. Therefore, CBD gummies and edibles are not a practical approach to nicotine addiction management. 

Scientific exploration is continually discovering increased evidence that CBD can inhibit nicotine addiction and help people quit smoking. 

If you’re looking to quit smoking, talk with your doctor or healthcare provider about options for incorporating CBD into your health and wellness routine and finding the right product to use today. 

It’s never too late to feel healed, not high.