Findings from a study by the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University concluded that marijuana with relatively high levels of CBD may be less risky to smoke over the long term, because the cannabidiol ingredient may counteract some of the drug’s harmful effects.
The study was conducted on mice, and those exposed to THC alone showed signs of impaired memory and increased obsessive-compulsive behavior immediately after treatment. By contrast, adult and adolescent mice exposed to CBD alone showed no behavioral changes. However, mice that received CBD with THC exhibited no short- or long-term behavioral changes. These results suggest that long-term use of cannabis strains containing similar amounts of CBD and THC may be less harmful than long-term use of high-THC strains.
“This is the first study in a rigorously controlled animal model to find that CBD appears to protect the brain against the negative effects of chronic THC,” researchers noted.
