Hemp is characterized as any cannibis that contains 0.3 percent or less THC. In 2018 the FDA legalized hemp under federal law. This also preserved the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of products derived from cannabis. 

“It’s the monster that has taken over the room,” Dr. Brad Ingram, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said about all the wild uses for CBD now. He is leading a clinical trial into administering CBD to children and teenagers with drug-resistant epilepsy. 

“It’s promising in a lot of different therapeutic avenues because it’s relatively safe,” said James MacKillop, co-director of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research in Hamilton, Ontario.

In 2018 the FDA approved Epidiolex. It is a purified CBD extract. It’s approval is for the treatment of specific seizure disorders. While there are other products out there, Epidiolex is the only one approved by the FDA so far. One of the most effective methods of studying CBD is with a double blind, randomized placebo controlled clinical trails. Neither the subject nor the investigator knows who gets the placebo or the medication. 

Many people believe that the popularity behind CBD has surpassed the science we are aware of. 

“We don’t have the 101 course on CBD quite figured out yet,” said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Social anxiety among students is very real and debilitating. I can speak on this from experience. A small experiment a journal called Neuropsychopharmacology found that levels of nervousness and cognitive impairment were reduced among patients that used CBD. 

However, another study with “healthy” volunteers showed little to no change in comparison to the placebo group. The department of veteran affairs is funding it’s first study to help former vets battling PTSD.

“If you take pure CBD, it’s pretty safe,” said Marcel Bonn-Miller, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Some side effects were diarrhea, sleepiness, fatigue, weakness, decreased appetite. It’s also undetermined whether or not CBD is safe during pregnancy. 

Some people have failed drug tests when the CBD that they were taking had more than the 0.3 percent THC levels. Psychiatrists are weary that it may deter people from seeking much needed mental help. There are reports of unwanted results when dealing with interactions with other medications. 

Many medical experts believe that much of the hype with CBD is due to the “placebo effect.” The Placebo Effect is when symptoms improve simply from the patients belief that the medicine is working. 

Other experts, including Yasmin Hurd of the Addiciton Institute of Mount Sinai in New York City, says that it’s benefits are real. However, she feels that, in her opinion, putting it into certain products, such as makeup, can be a scam.