Often touted for its therapeutic virtues and its many benefits, cannabidiol (CBD) is sometimes referred to as “mild cannabis”, as opposed to THC and its psychoactive properties. Indeed, numerous studies and testimonies show the anxiolytic, neuroleptic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of this substance.
But there are voices that want to point out the potential dangers of the CBD, and the signals sent by the authorities are vague, even contradictory. So, is there a health risk from consuming CBD products?
The virtues and dangers of CBD
Some consider it a miraculous solution to their health problems, others a simple medicine that has no place in the pharmacopoeia. But there is cannabis and… cannabis. The hemp plant is made up of over a hundred active substances (called “cannabinoids”) of which THC, which “makes you high”, is just one of the two most abundant.
The other is cannabidiol or CBD. A chemical compound that has been at the center of a heated debate for several years between those who praise its therapeutic duties and those who only talk about the dangers of CBD.
However, cannabidiol is now available in Romania, as in many other countries – as long as you respect a given concentration, from which THC must be absent (less than 0.2% in the original hemp plant). This makes it possible to buy and legally consume CBD or cannabidiol oil in other forms, such as those found in the CBD Funhouse store.
But what about the potential risks?
The debate over the harmfulness of CBD
At the end of 2017, the World Health Organization gave its opinion on the possible health hazards of CBD. Its finding, published on this page, was as follows: “(…) The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Addiction concluded that, in its pure form, cannabidiol (CBD) does not appear to have any potential for abuse or be harmful to health ”.
However, the findings of the organization are not shared by all health authorities. In January 2019, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) published on its website a document highlighting the following excerpt: toxic to the liver and may increase the levels in the body of certain medicines, including antiepileptics, with the risk of increasing their toxicity. “
The note was written in the context of the global interest in cannabidiol as a treatment adjunct for patients with epilepsy who are not relieved by conventional medications. So what to think about the CBD dangers revealed by ANSM? Does this view contradict the WHO’s view?
No, cannabidiol is not dangerous!
In other words, the dangers of CBD are non-existent. To demonstrate this, we must analyze point by point what is being criticized.
Psychoactive
Cannabidiol is not a psychotropic drug. It lacks psychoactive effects, unlike its cousin THC, which acts on the central nervous system and changes perception. Consuming CBD in any form does not make you “get up” or change your consciousness. In the worst case, the user may experience drowsiness.
However, sometimes CBD turns into THC and thus develops psychoactive effects. This is what a study published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research in 2016 shows: When CBD is ingested, the acidity of gastric juices in the stomach can promote such a transformation.
However, this effect is not very pronounced and manifests itself mainly as drowsiness – difficult, under these conditions, to talk about the “dangers of CBD ingestion”. In addition, this risk is eliminated when cannabidiol is consumed sublingually and does not pass through the digestive system, especially when used as an oil.
Toxicity
WHO said: CBD does not appear to be harmful as such. On the other hand, what the ANSM rating reveals is that it can have a negative effect in some very specific cases. A study published in the journal Molecules in April 2019 does show that a high dose of CBD can have unfortunate consequences on the liver of mice…
But while the maximum recommended daily dose for humans is 20 mg per kilogram per day, rodents tested daily doses of up to 615 mg per kilogram per day were administered!
If there is a risk of overdose, it is important to clarify that this risk is non-existent in humans within reasonable CBD consumption. And that, in any case, no clinical study (on humans) confirmed or denied the results of this study.
In addition, cannabidiol may interact with certain drugs and undermine the desired therapeutic effects without inducing toxic effects. Therefore, it is essential that a person in treatment seek medical advice before trying cannabidiol.
As for the dangers of CBD to the lungs, the risk exists only if it is inhaled in the form of flowers (hence in a ‘joint’). In fact, it is the act of smoking that poses a risk, not the substance itself.
Addiction
Questions about the dangers of CBD sometimes revolve around the notion of addiction. Here, the kinship of CBD with THC works against it: it is believed that if the risk exists for the latter, it must also exist for the former.
However, cannabidiol is not a psychotropic drug and does not act on the nervous system. It interacts with certain receptors in the body to release serotonin (the famous “happy hormone”), producing an effect very different from the euphoria experienced when consuming THC.
Since there is no “high” feeling and abuse of the substance tends to reduce its action (the receptors “saturate” and block the sending of messages), the user does not feel the need to increase their dose.
Side effects
Strictly speaking, these are not the dangers of CBD, but it is essential to consider the side effects of cannabidiol administration. A review of several studies on the use of CBD to treat epilepsy and mental disorders found that participants sometimes reported nausea, drowsiness, irritability and altered appetite (these side effects were included in the WHO report cited above).
But the same report also states that “compared to other drugs used to treat the same conditions, CBD has a better profile in terms of side effects.” In short, the side effects of CBD administration are rare and, when they exist, are less of a problem than those on medications prescribed to treat the same conditions.
The bottom line is that CBD hazards are non-existent. When highlighted by some studies, they involve such high daily doses that the real risks with normal consumption are irrelevant. On the contrary, it has been found that cannabidiol has no toxic or side effects and is not addictive.
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