CBD Cannabinoids: Pharma hijacks nature?
When you hear that something is a schedule 1 or schedule 2 drug, you would be pardoned for assuming that it is a strong pharmaceutical with potentially dangerous effects, rather than something people have been consuming as a food for thousands of years. But this is the case with CBD. CBD cannabinoids are found in the hemp plant that, unlike its sister, THC, has absolutely no ability to make one ‘stoned’.
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Safe and sober
In fact, CBD reduces the side effects of THC, the cannabinoid that produces a high. In addition, no negative effects directly related to CBD have ever been recorded. So: it’s safe to use, and it doesn’t make you high; why then the high drug schedule? Apart from the fact that CBD cannabinoids have long been lumped into the same category as THC because it is a cannabinoid, there is absolutely no scientific basis for this high level of control.
Hemp in recent history
Back in the days before Aspirin hit the market, cannabinoids and opiates were the leading painkillers. We have certainly herd of the adverse effects and addictive properties of opiates, but there is no history of adverse effects or addiction to CBD. Even THC is classed as psychologically addictive rather than physically addictive.
Then ‘yellow journalism’ began touting the myth of ‘reefer madness’ and hemp cultivation was banned along with marijuana. The reasons for this have been blamed by various authors on the nylon industry, the pharma industry (they wanted to sell Aspirin), racism against Mexicans, and the need for drug-enforcement agencies to obtain more funding. Whatever the reasons, a medicinal plant with no ill effects was banned, only to hit the news as the potential of THC and CBD cannabinoids began to be uncovered in more recent research.
CBD cannabinoids and research funding
Research is an extremely lengthy and costly process, and whether we like it or not, there has to be an economic incentive for the companies that undertake it. This is achieved through patents, but it is absolutely impossible to patent a whole plant extract, even though many experts say that whole plant extracts are actually more effective in many instances.
Because CBD cannabinoids are not psychoactive, it is easier for researchers to gain ethical and legal approval to research this plant based ingredient than it is to gain approval for THC research. CBD is currently being tested as a potential treatment for a wide range of ailments, and patented drugs based on CBD have already been released into the market.
… but CBD is still a natural ingredient in hemp
Costly medications containing synthetic CBD are currently being prescribed and sold, but the fact remains: it is still an ingredient found in abundance in nature. Hemp plants from Scandinavia are particularly high in CBD, as are the oils that are extracted from them.
Hemp products are accepted as foods. You can use hemp as a food or nutritional supplement, but have to avoid using the word ‘CBD’, particularly in connection with any purported medicinal properties.
A huge underground industry
Where there is ambiguity and public demand, the door is left open to those who will sell just about anything to consumers eager to try CBD cannabinoids without any scientific proof as to what their product contains. Be extremely cautious of CBD companies in the United States. While some of them may have some grounds for their CBD-related claims and good intentions, many are simply profiteers.
Endoca, a Denmark-based company can give you quality assurance and certifications. And although Endoca is excited by the progress of CBD research, it acknowledges that CBD cannabinoid’s uses are still being researched.
Author: Andrea Durrheim
