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Cannabinoids
What Is COD and Does
It Work?
Products
with the hemp derivative are widely available, but health benefits are unproven
by Sari Harrar, AARP
Twice a day, Joe Tanko puts a drop of CBD
tincture under his tongue — and waits for the active ingredient to be absorbed.
“Golfing makes my back sore,” says Tanko, 62, of Pelham, Alabama.
“It's pretty miserable waking up through the
night with the pain.”
But he says that since he started using CBD
this year, his back feels fine and his sleep is undisturbed.
“It also helps me to concentrate better,” he notes, which he says has helped improve
his golf game.
CBD (cannabidiol) is the trendy cannabis
compound with a supersized health halo and market presence.
While some states still restrict or ban CBD
products, and their legal status remains murky and confusing, they are
increasingly available at retailers and online.
Conventional CBD products include oils to take
internally or vape, as well as topical creams, balms and lotions.
But CBD is also turning up in bottled water,
pet treats, breath mints, as well as jelly beans and lollipops, coffee and
cupcakes, pizza and beer — even hair pomade.
Whoopi Goldberg and Montel Williams hawk their
own CBD products.
You can pick up CBD at a CBD store, order it
online or grab some at gas stations, supermarkets and — in some states — at
CVS, Rite-Aid and even the cosmetics counter of the high-end department store
Neiman Marcus.
Thanks to all that hoopla and some
eye-watering prices — like $179 for a one-ounce bottle of CBD oil — cannabis
industry watchers predict the CBD market could hit $22 billion by 2022.
At least 64 million Americans have tried CBD —
including more than 1 in 6 boomers.
The top reasons: pain, anxiety, depression and
insomnia; in one recent study, two-thirds said it helped their health issue all
by itself, and 30 percent said CBD helped when combined with conventional
medications.
Here's what you need to know.
CBD alone won't get you high
CBD products generally have no more than a
minute amount of tetrahydrocannabinol — better known as THC, the main
psychoactive chemical in marijuana — and it's not enough to make you feel
euphoric.
It's hard to know what's in the bottle
CBD is a largely unregulated product, warn
Utah Department of Health researchers, who say synthetic cannabinoids marketed
as CBD likely caused 52 poisonings in Utah in late 2017 and early 2018.
A recent Virginia Commonwealth University
study found a dangerous synthetic, as well as the cough suppressant
dextromethorphan, in one manufacturer's CBD vaping products.
And a 2017 study of 84 CBD oils, tinctures and
vape products found that just 31 percent contained the amount of CBD specified
on the label. About 1 in 4 had less, and 43 percent had more.
"Currently, the FDA [Food and Drug
Administration] doesn't regulate the safety of dietary supplements. And most
CBD is marketed as a supplement or added to foods and drinks,” notes Peter Grinspoon, a medical marijuana
researcher, primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and
Harvard Medical School instructor.
“You cannot know for sure that the product you
buy has active ingredients at the dose on the label."
CBD seems to work for some conditions, but not
for others
Anecdotally, CBD appears to work for pain.
Neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon, a professor at the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says his patients with joint and back
pain get relief with over-the-counter CBD.
“Any time there's inflammation, CBD may help,” he says.
“There's some data it helps with peripheral
neuropathy, a growing problem for people with diabetes — especially as they
age. I recommend it along with other natural anti-inflammatories like fish oil,
curcumin and boswellia.”
But there are strong indications that “having
some THC in a CBD product” works best, says Bryan.
For instance, a 2019 German study of a drug
with equal parts THC and CBD eased severe chronic pain.
Even a little may make a difference — though
that calls into question the effectiveness of over-the-counter, CBD-only
products, which lack what are considered therapeutic amounts of THC.
Scientists suspect CBD works by latching onto
receptors in the body's endocannabinoid system, an internal regulating system
that plays a role in pain, sleep, mood, inflammation, stress and more.
Still, it is not even close to being a
cure-all.
“People think it helps nearly everything, but
that cannot be true,” notes
Kent Hutchison, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of
Colorado Boulder.
“It will likely be good for some things; we
just have to find out what they are. We need good human studies.”
CBD has been researched most for seizure
disorders. In one recent study, CBD reduced seizures in kids and adults, ages 2
to 55.
In 2018, the FDA approved Epidiolex — the
nation's first drug derived from CBD — for rare, severe forms of epilepsy that
don't respond to other treatments.
CBD is not a treatment for serious medical
conditions like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
Since 2015, the FDA has sent dozens of warning
letters to CBD companies that made “egregious” or “unsubstantiated” claims,
including, in July, to Curaleaf for online CBD health claims the FDA says
amounted to selling unapproved drugs.
(The company says it has removed the claims
and supports the FDA's enforcement efforts.)
Before trying CBD
1. Consult your doctor.
Talk to your primary care physician and any specialists you may have, as there
may be drug interactions with blood thinners, chemotherapy drugs and other
medications.
2. Find a quality
product. “Don't just grab a bottle off the shelf at the convenience store,”
says Maroon. Go to the product's website and look for information about
third-party testing for purity, safety and CBD and THC levels.
3. Start small. Try a low
daily dose of CBD for several days before making any decisions about increasing
the amount you use.
Sari Harrar
health, medicine and science writer
I am an award-winning freelance writer with more
than 20 years of experience covering health, medicine, and science — for
national magazines, books, custom-content publications, websites and
newspapers.
Sari-Harrar-2012-400Journalism I write for many
of the most widely-read magazines and newspapers in the U.S. My work
appears in Dr. Oz’s The Good Life magazine, Good Housekeeping, Prevention, O,
The Oprah Magazine, Reader’s Digest, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Consumer
Reports on Health, Organic Gardening and other leading publications.
Books I’ve written and collaborated on more than
15 health-related books for major publishers including Rodale and Reader’s
Digest.
Custom Content I produce custom content —
including ghost-written books and newspaper columns, magazine and newsletter
articles and web content –for leading doctors, major health systems,
organizations, universities and corporations.
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
that empowers people to choose how they live as they age.
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