What is CBD ? A cannabis compound that won't get you high.

What is CBD ? article content

Federal court

In early May, a federal court refused to protect cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical produced by the cannabis plant, from federal law enforcement, despite widespread belief in its medicinal value.

This decision was contrary to the existing evidence which suggests that the chemical is safe and could have multiple medical uses. Many cannabis advocates regard it as a miracle drug that can relieve conditions as diverse as depression, arthritis and diabetes.

The perception of its extensive therapeutic effects has made this chemical the rallying cry of legalization advocates.

What to know about cbd?

The first thing to know about CBD is that it is not psychoactive; it doesn’t get people high. The main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, THC is only one of dozens of chemicals – known as cannabinoids – produced by the cannabis plant.

What is CBD - Chemical structure diagram

CBD is by far the most promising compound from both a marketing and medical perspective. Many users believe it helps them relax even though it is not psychoactive, and some believe regular doses help ward off Alzheimer‘s and heart disease.

While studies have shown that CBD has anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving and antipsychotic effects, it has only been minimally tested in human clinical trials, where scientists determine how the drug works, how much patients should take, what side effects it has, etc.

Buying?

Despite the government’s decision, CBD is widely available in dispensaries in states where cannabis is legal and on many Internet sites

CBD and public awareness

CBD first came to public attention in a 2013 CNN documentary called Weed. Filmed by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, it featured a little girl named Charlotte from Colorado who suffered from a rare, life-threatening form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome.

https://youtu.be/ceJQl-56Uuk

By the age of five, Charlotte was suffering 300 grand mal seizures a week and was constantly on the verge of a medical emergency. Charlotte’s desperate parents learned about treating Dravet’s disease with CBD through online research. It was controversial to look into medical cannabis for such a young patient, but when Charlotte was given cannabis-derived oil with high CBD content, her seizures almost completely stopped. In honor of her progress, high-CBD cannabis is sometimes called Charlotte’s Web.

After Charlotte’s story became public, hundreds of families moved to Colorado where they were able to get CBD for their children, although not everyone’s life was changed. Other families sourced CBD oil through illegal distribution networks instead of moving.

In late June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was able to approve Epidiolex, a medicinal form of CBD for several serious childhood seizure disorders. According to data recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the drug can reduce the number of seizures by more than 40%. If Epidiolex wins approval, it will be the first time the agency has approved a drug derived from the marijuana plant. (The FDA has approved synthetic THC to treat chemotherapy-related nausea.)

While parents treating their children with CBD have had to follow a trial-and-error approach as with folk medicine, they have also had to be concerned about whether the CBD purchased from the pharmacy is professionally produced and contains what is stated on the packaging. GW has brought scientific knowledge and pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing to this promising compound.