The University of Vanderbilt Medical Centre selected a group of men and women who were “cannabis-dependent” and did not want to stop using it. In the study that only lasted two weeks, the participants (8 female, 4 male) took part in ten thirty minute treadmill sessions which helped curve their cravings for the drug by more than 50%. The maximum reduction in the cravings happened after the first five treadmill sessions.

Peter Martin, Director of the Vanderbilt Addiction Centre said, “There is no way currently to treat cannabis dependence with medication, so this is big considering the magnitude of the cannabis problem in the US”. In 2009, 16.7 million American citizens over the age of 12 said they had used cannabis at some point the month before the survey, and 6.1 million said they used the at least 20 days of the month.

Co-author of the study Dr. Mac Buchowski of the Vanderbilt Energy Balance Laboratory said the information gathered from this study would only lead to even further research into helping patients who are addicted to cannabis use. He said that even though smoking marijuana may seem like a harmless habit has actually developed into a disease that needs treatment.