CBD Products a " Waste of Money" Says New Report
CBD products such as gummies and oils are a waste of peoples money and may even have the potential to be dangerous to health, say scientists in a new study published in "The Journal of Pain".
Investigators examined 16 clinical trials and found that in the case of 15 of them, CBD was no more useful than a placebo at relieving pain.
CBD is widely sold in supplement form as an oil or as vapes, weed gummies, and drinks.
A scathing meta-analysis of already existing studies by experts from Bath, Oxford, and Alberta universities found “no evidence” that the supplement had an effect. This was found to be true regardless of the dose, how frequently it was taken or how it was administered.
“For people living with pain, the evidence for CBD or hemp extract shows it is expensive, does not work, and is possibly harmful.” Says the Report.
The report discovered varying levels of CBD in products than what they advertised. In some cases, there was found to be no CBD present.
Other chemicals were found to be present in some products, however, including THC. Professionals also connected the use of CBD to inflated rates of serious harm to users, including hepatitis and liver toxicity.
CBD products are not regulated by a medical body. They are freely available in the UK where they promote health benefits including pain relief. Roughly 20 per cent of Britons suffer from chronic pain and experts have said that the products made false promises for those frantic to find a treatment.
Unfortunately, there can be no consumer protections in the CBD market without regulation of the sellers and products.
It is only medical cannabis that has regulatory approval and is prescribed for people with certain health conditions including severe forms of epilepsy, people with multiple sclerosis and adults with chemotherapy-related nausea.
Non-medical CBD items are regulated as “novel foods” and only need to adhere to safety, labelling and advertising rules. They are therefore only mandated to be uniform in their content or quality.
last year, the Food Standards Agency updated its advice on CBD and lowered its suggested limit of CBD from 70mg to 10mg per day
“CBD presents consumers with a big problem. It’s touted as a cure for all pain but there’s a complete lack of quality evidence that it has any positive effects".- Prof Chris Eccleston, Research lead from the Centre for Pain Research at Bath.
Researchers have implied that there is a lack of readiness from health authorities to interfere in a “booming market”.
“There should be no excuses for misleading the public, and yet it is likely that the public is being misled and possibly placed in harm’s way," said the study.
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Liz Filmer
