Could CBD help opioid users overcome addiction?

Yasmin Hurd Oct 2020

CBD scientist

Could CBD, a chemical compound found in the cannabis plant, help treat opioid addiction? Neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd discusses why current treatment strategies, such as methadone, aren't enough to end the opioid epidemic -- and shares how CBD could help reduce the cravings and anxiety associated with drug use and relapse, potentially providing a new, safe and nonaddictive therapy.

Neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd researches nonaddictive, efficacious treatments that use cannabidiol (CDB) to address the opioid epidemic.

This video was produced by TEDMED.

Why you should listen

Internationally renowned neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd's groundbreaking cannabidiol (CBD) studies are leading the development of potential treatment for opioid addiction and other disorders. Her work studying the human brain and complementary translational animal models flourishes at the intersection of molecular biology, behavioral neuropharmacology, neuroimaging and genetics. Her multidisciplinary research highlights the complex neurobiological mechanisms that underlie addiction. She studies epigenetic disturbances as key contributions to the long-term impact of drugs on both the brain and behavior enhancing psychiatric vulnerability.

Hurd is a professor of psychiatry, neuroscience and pharmacological sciences and the Ward-Coleman Chair in translational neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. She directs the Addiction Institute in the Mount Sinai Behavioral Health System, covering one of the largest addiction populations in the United States. She is also a National Academy of Medicine inductee.