1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,639 Speaker 1: Lauren bog Obam here. If you're at all plugged into 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: trendy health and wellness culture, you've probably heard of c 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: b D oil, the cannabis extract that doesn't get you 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: high but has been touted as a potential remedy for 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 1: everything from anxiety, to aches and pains and insomnia. At 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: your local health food store or on the internet, you 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: can find it in the form of drops, capsules, and 9 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: edible gummies. Some baristas are using it as an ingredient 10 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 1: in latte's, and hip bars are mixing it with alcohol 11 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: to serve up cb D cocktails. There's even CBD toast 12 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: and CBD facial masks and spas. But there's more to 13 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: CBD than hipster hype. P d X, a drug containing CBD, 14 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration 15 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: for treatment of seizures related to too rare forms of epilepsy, 16 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: and a growing number of studies suggests that it may 17 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: be useful in treating other disorders as well. And remarkably, 18 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: that's all happening even though cb D remains technically illegal 19 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: at the FED oral level, with the exception of the 20 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 1: epilepsy medication mentioned above. However, that prohibition, at least for now, 21 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: is not being aggressively enforced, and at the state level, 22 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: CBDs legality varies. But underneath all of the hype, what 23 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: is CBD oil anyway? Cannaby e all or cb D 24 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: is a chemical compound that can be extracted from the 25 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: cannabis plant. Unlike delta nine tetrahydrocannabinal or th HC, which 26 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: is the chemical ingredient that may lead a pot smoker 27 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: to get the giggles or play in terminable air guitar solos, 28 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: CBD does not get a user stoned. Th HC and 29 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 1: cb D have vastly different effects, according to cannabis researcher 30 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 1: Joshua Kaplan, an assistant professor in the Behavioral Neuroscience program 31 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: at Western Washington University. Unlike t HC, which gets its 32 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: effect from acting upon certain cannabinoid receptors in the nervous system, 33 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: cb D has sixty five known targets in the brain 34 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: and body. Kaplan says, for example, CBD activates the same 35 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: serotonin receptors that are acted upon by selective so tonein 36 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: reuptake inhibitors, or s sr eyes, which are a frequently 37 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: prescribed class of antidepressant medications. The CBD does not interact 38 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: with those receptors in exactly the same way, but the 39 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: serotonin system does seem key in treating anxiety. CBDs effect 40 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: on multiple systems in the brain and body make it 41 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: a potentially useful treatment for a wide range of different conditions, 42 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: from inflammation and migraines to spasms caused by multiple sclerosis. 43 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: Kaplan says, but that doesn't necessarily mean that CBD is 44 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: a panacea. While there have been large, well designed studies 45 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,119 Speaker 1: on CBD as a treatment for different types of epilepsy, 46 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: much of the information about other possible uses comes from 47 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: anecdotal reports, case reports, case series, and small studies. That's 48 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: according to Timothy Welty, a professor of pharmacy practice and 49 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: chairman of the Department of Clinical Sciences at Drake University 50 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: in Des Moines, Iowa. While sources like those small reports 51 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: and studies can provide interesting information, they're also prone to 52 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: placebo effects. Well to explained via email, he said, they 53 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: are often not reproducible. The situations that are described are 54 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: usually not well controlled to demonstrate the effect of CBD 55 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: and eliminate potential confounding factors. For this reason, they are 56 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: not considered as strong evidence for the efficiency of a drug. Additionally, 57 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: the limited scale of that CBD research makes it difficult 58 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: to detect side effects, drug interactions, and other potential problems 59 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: because there are too few patients involved. Wealthy says, but 60 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: many people out there aren't content to wait for more 61 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: scientific studies or f D approval of medications containing CBD. Instead, 62 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: they're experimenting with CBD on their own to see if 63 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: it works for whatever ails them. But CBD may not 64 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,119 Speaker 1: work for everything that people want to use it for, 65 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: though some are using it as an insomnia remedy, for example, 66 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: there's little evidence that CBD helps people whose sleeplessness isn't 67 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: caused by an impairing symptoms such as anxiety or chronic pain, 68 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: Caplan says, and unscientific self experimentation is also a concern 69 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: to researchers such as Kaplan, who explains that different conditions 70 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: might call for very different dosages of CBD. He said 71 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: that the dose range can be quite narrow. For example, 72 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: in a Brazilian study published in eighteen on CBDs effect 73 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: in relieving anxiety associated with public speaking. Researchers gave different 74 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: doses of CBD to fifty seven male subjects. They found 75 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: that the dose of three hundred milligrams significantly reduced anxiety 76 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: for subjects, but those who took a hundred and fifty 77 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: milligrams or six hundred milligrams showed no significant difference. Furthermore, 78 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: dosing can be tricky because CBD products of the sort 79 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: sold in health food stores or online are not regulated 80 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: by the f d A. A study published in the 81 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly sevent 82 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: of CBD products from those sources either had lower or 83 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: higher doses than the labels indicated. And for something that's 84 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: so widely available in stores and on the internet, CBDs 85 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: legal status is murky. Even though it doesn't get anyone stoned. 86 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: The US Drug Enforcement Administration that's the d e A, 87 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: classifies it as a Schedule one controlled inbstance, just like cannabis. 88 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,040 Speaker 1: According to d e A spokesperson Katherine Faff, the agency 89 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: doesn't distinguish between c b D extracted from a high 90 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: th HC cannabis plant of the sort grown to produce marijuana, 91 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: and cb D that comes from hemp, a form of 92 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: cannabis that contains only a tiny amount of th HC. 93 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: The CBD that's available in health food stores is of 94 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: the hemp variety. In April, the d e a's position 95 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: on cb D that it should be a Schedule one 96 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: substance because it is extracted from cannabis was upheld by 97 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: a federal appeals court, but the judges also noted that 98 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: farm legislation passed by Congress in two which allows states 99 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: to experiment with hemp production, could give CBD marketers a 100 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 1: legal out, providing they can verify that CBD was produced 101 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: from hemp grown in states that have legal hemp programs, 102 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: and in September, the d e A did announce that 103 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: exception for a p d Alex, the FDA approved seizure 104 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: medication containing cb D, which it classified as Schedule five, 105 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: the category four medications with a low Potential or abuse. 106 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: FAFT says that the d e A would do the 107 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: same thing for other CBD drugs that come up through 108 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: the FDA pipeline that didn't change CBDs overall classification, though, 109 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: although CBD technically remains a controlled substance, the d e 110 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: A is not going out of its way to enforce 111 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: that prohibition, and it's not targeting CBD users. Fath explained, quote, 112 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: We're more focused on major drug traffickers and the opioid crisis. 113 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: That leaves CBD up to individual states whose laws vary. 114 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: According to Justin Struggle, political director and federal lobbyist for 115 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws, CBD 116 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: is definitely in the clear in the nine states plus 117 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: the District of Columbia that have legalized cannabis used for adults, 118 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: and in the thirty one states that have legalized medical cannabis, 119 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: CBD is legal if a person has an authorization form 120 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: from a physician. To other states, Indiana and Kansas have 121 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: passed laws legalizing CBD from hemp, even though they don't 122 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,840 Speaker 1: allow medical or recreational use of cannabis. Streuckle says there 123 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: have been very few instances of consumers actually facing criminal 124 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: charges for purchasing CBD derived from hemp. And meanwhile, the 125 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: right Field Group, a market research firm, predicts that CBD 126 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: will be a twenty two billion dollar industry by the 127 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: year two. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. Kaiger 128 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and 129 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: lots of other topics, visit our home planet, how stuff 130 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: Works dot com.