CBD products are everywhere these days. You could find them at vitamin shops, at gas stations
at smoke shops, major retailers. I even bought these at the newsstand downstairs from Stats
headquarters. CBD or cannabidiol is a component derived from cannabis and its proponents claim
that it can treat everything from joint aches to opioid dependence. There's traditional CBD
capsules, there's CBD gels, there's CBD gummies, there's CBD oil, there's CBD bath bombs, there's
CBD tampons, there's even CBD beauty serum, whatever that means. But skeptics of CBD say
there's not enough research to demonstrate why we should put it in our food supply. As former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said, people are just doing it. Now CBD makers
like all supplement makers, don't actually have to prove to the FDA that their products are
effective before they market them. That doesn't stop Americans from taking them. A recent survey
found that 75% of Americans take dietary supplements. So what are the risks with CBD
Well, first, we need a lot more research before we know. But some researchers worry that it could
cause potential liver damage. But even if the CBD itself is relatively benign, there could be any
number of potential additives in these largely unregulated products. Until recently, all types
of cannabis were illegal to farm or possess. That all changed with the 2018 Farm Bill
The new law legalized hemp, a strain of cannabis known for its industrial uses that often used to make CBD products But hemp won get you high Unlike its cousin marijuana hemp only has trace amounts of THC the component in marijuana that gets you high
So hemp is legal. So that must mean CBD is legal, right? Well, not quite
Those CBD gummies you love are actually technically illegal under FDA's rules
FDA's rules say that if a product is being studied as a drug
then it can't also be a dietary supplement. And FDA has already approved one drug containing CBD
That drug is called Epidiolex, and it's used to treat seizures in children
So the FDA has a hard choice to make. They can either enforce their current law
crack down on the thousands of companies that are currently making CBD, pull all their products off the market
or they can ignore their current laws. But increasingly, it looks like they're figuring out a third way
whereby they can let pharmaceutical CBD products and dietary supplements coexist. One way they're considering that is potentially setting a threshold where if a product has a certain amount of CBD, it's considered a pharmaceutical, and below that, it's considered a dietary supplement
But we're likely years away from a resolution on this question. For right now, it's safe to say the FDA is probably not going to go after the shop in Stats headquarters for selling CBD gummies
Instead, they've gone after the worst actors, those that claim that their CBD products can cure cancer, for example
And until the FDA figures this regulatory mess out, the CBD market just keeps on growing
By 2024, consumers are expected to spend $20 billion annually on CBD products