CBD, Pain and Opioids: Research That Matters with Maria T Rivera-Garcia PhD

In this behind-the-scenes interview we talk with Dr. Maria T Rivera-Garcia about her research investigating the effects of CBD-rich whole plant extract vapor on pain and opioid reward seeking behavior in female rats in a study titled, “High-CBD Cannabis Vapor Attenuates Opioid Reward and Partially Modulates Nociception in Female Rats”. While on the surface this may seem like a simple study about how CBD influences opioid use – there is actually a lot more going on here.

First of all this study utilized female rodents, which is very uncommon. The vast majority of preclinical rodent research uses male rodents almost exclusively due to reasons we unpack during the episode. This has led to a gross under-representation of sex differences in biomedical research.

Second, Maria and colleagues decided to utilize the vapor of whole plant CBD-rich Cannabis extract rather than using CBD isolate that is often diluted and injected, ultimately leading to results that do not accurately reflect real-world situations. Together, these two decisions point to a common theme that is woven into this research study – scientists need to focus on doing research that better represents the real world. The results from this study are fascinating, so get your notebook ready and let’s dive in!

Link to the study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science…