Episode 97 - The Dangers of CBD

“The FDA and CBD have a tripolar relationship. Hemp CBD is not scheduled. CBD from cannabis is Schedule 1--dangerous. Epidolex is Schedule 5--safe.”  

In 10 years CBD (cannabidiol) has gone from being a relatively unknown substance to a ubiquitous health and wellness balm sold in gas stations, corner grocers' and thousands of websites. Because it is still unregulated in the US, manufacturers make all sorts of breathless claims about what it can do. It stops epileptic seizures! Eases your dog’s arthritis! Erases your frown lines! And while some of these claims may be true it’s no surprise that a CBD backlash has started. Perhaps you’ve read reports about the “toxicity” of CBD or its potential to “damage our livers in the same ways as alcohol and other drugs” or that it is dangerous to take with Tylenol. Or maybe you've read FDA iwarnings that it can cause suicidal thoughts or increase tendency toward depression, aggression or panic attacks. To set the record straight, I called Adrian Devitt Lee, Project CBD’s chief science writer and a PhD candidate in applied math at the University College in London. Adrian is the co-author of several articles in peer-reviewed journals (check out Is CBD Toxic to the Liver and CBD and Drug Interactions) and has been involved in cannabinoid research since 2011 at California Pacific Medical Center, Medicinal Genomics, and CannaCraft. What you’ll hear in this interview might shock you but likely won’t surprise you. 

PS. As listeners to this podcast know, old myths about cannabis (and new myths about CBD) take on a life of their own. For context on how some myths die hard I’m including this article by the always brilliant Dr. Peter Attia on monosodium glutamate (MSG). Even though MSG has been proven safe for 60 years, it’s still falsely accused of causing “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.” Attia traces the origin of the myth and how it continues to trump scientific evidence. Cannabis has been used for over 5,000 years with no serious harms ever reported yet the myths keep coming. 

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