Exercise Helps Reduce Marijuana Use and Cravings
Many studies have shown that exercise can help those in recovery by decreasing drug cravings and preventing relapse, and a new study adds to this growing body of evidence. Researchers from Vanderbilt are studying heavy marijuana abusers to examine the effects of exercise on relapse prevention and addiction treatment.
Participants in the study saw a significant decrease in drug cravings and drug use after a few sessions of running on a treadmill. This is the first study to demonstrate that exercise can reduce cannabis use in people who don’t want to stop using.
The study involved 12 participants (8 female and 4 male) who were considered to be dependent on marijuana and did not want to be treated for their addiction. During the study, their craving for marijuana and marijuana use was cut by more than 50 percent after exercising on a treadmill for ten 30-minute sessions over two weeks.
Study co-author Peter Martin, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Addiction Center, said that although the study involved 10 sessions, the participants’ drug cravings and use started to decline after five sessions, and the maximum reduction was present within the first week. He added that there is currently no medical treatment for marijuana dependence, so using exercise as a form of treatment could be very important considering the prevalence of marijuana dependence in the U.S.
In 2009, about 16.7 million Americans age 12 or older reported marijuana use in the last month and 6.1 million used marijuana on 20 or more days per month. In 2009, treatment admissions increased to 16 percent of total admissions, compared to 7 percent in 1998.
Study co-author Mac Buchowski, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Energy Balance Laboratory, said this study adds to the growing body of evidence that physical activity has a positive effect on health. He added that he believes the results are the beginning of an important area of research to better understand the importance of exercise in addiction treatment.
The participants reported smoking an average of almost 6 joints per day, and went to Vanderbilt five times a week for two weeks to run on a treadmill. The researchers measured the amount of exercise needed to achieve 60-70 percent of maximum heart rate for each participant.
The participants were shown pictures of marijuana-related stimuli before and after each exercise session, and were then asked to rank their cravings according to a craving scale. The participants also recorded their marijuana use, which was reduced to an average of 2.8 joints per day after exercise started.
Martin said it’s important to duplicate the findings in a larger, randomized study, and that the results should lead to further research to better understand what exercise can do for the brain.
Source: Science Daily, Exercise Can Curb Marijuana Use and Cravings, Study Finds, March 5, 2011
