When people want to lose weight, they have an outstanding tendency to want to lose it as fast as possible. There are diets for those who have some degree of patience, but for those that don't feel like they have the discipline, rapid weight loss by medication is preferred. There's also liposuction for those who don't even want to wait for weight loss medication to kick in, but that's often seen as both a luxury and a drastic measure. Rapid weight loss caused by using medication made for that purpose appears to be the most popular option for those seeking a quick fix, which makes it unsurprising that some pharmaceutical companies are attempting to develop pills that make people lose weight faster than ever before.

Just recently, reports of an experimental rapid weight loss drug were made available. According to the report, the drug was capable of causing people to lose weight after 12 weeks on very low doses. Logically speaking, higher doses would equate to faster weight loss, though this was considered strictly theoretical when the report was published. The drug, which works by blocking cannabinoid receptors present in the human brain, has also shown signs that it might cause people to consume less calories and make the body burn them faster. Cannabinoid receptors are the areas of the brain responsible for the psychological effects of smoking marijuana and are part of the body's mechanisms for regulating energy levels and balance.

According to the research team, marijuana has been known to affect appetite levels by triggering cannabinoid receptors in the brain. So when a chemical is introduced that blocks those signals, the appetite-related effects decreased, with some tests showing that it disappeared entirely. The new drug being put to the test, taranabant, was designed to block out the cannabinoid receptors, theoretically reducing a person's appetite and improving the way the body burns through calories from food intake. However, the study also revealed that while the effect has shown a good chance of being even more effective in higher doses, it has also shown side effects. Effects revealed through study include mild gastrointestinal effects and some minor psychological disturbances. This was reportedly an expected development, since marijuana was known to produce opposite effects when being used by patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The study found that even by just blocking 30% of the receptors, the team was able to induce rapid weight loss in the test subjects. Human testing was conducted, which showed even more stunning results. While the calculated dose required to block out 30% of the cannabinoid receptors without causing harmful side effects was around 4 to 6 milligrams, the researchers found that even smaller doses could induce weight loss. The higher the dose given to the test subjects, the more calories were burned while asleep and during periods of physical activity. The data, however, is still considered incomplete. The study was conducted only over a 12-week period, which some team members believe is not an adequate amount of time for accurate long-term results to be drawn.