We Had a Successful AMA on Reddit Covering CBD. AMA

It may be helpful for sleep (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28349316)(https://www.nc.... However, it is not a sedative, like Ambian, so it won't make you tired during the day. The main way we think CBD is helping people sleep is either by reducing their chronic pain or by reducing their anxiety. Pain can keep people awake and so can an overactive and anxious mind.

As with a lot of drugs, it depends. What do you want it to work for? CBD could potentially help with pain, anxiety, and more, but correct dosing can be an issue and we think that CBD works better with other cannabinoids than by itself. So a CBD isolate based gummy might not be as effective as a full-spectrum gummy.

I think the biggest challenges arise from a lack of oversight. A 2017 study published in JAMA suggests only about 30% of CBD products are labeled correctly. The failing products either had inaccurate CBD concentrations or contained things they shouldn't, like THC in a THC-free products or mycotoxins from poor quality control.

The FDA has said they are trying to fast track regulations for hemp and CBD, but it has been much too slow for the industry. Once there are clear (and hopefully sane) rules and regulations, I think you will see a drop off in the number of companies and a rise in the quality of products. We also need to work on getting the price down for consumers.

The passing of the 2018 Farm bill effectively legalized hemp-based products defined as Cannabis containing less than 0.3% THC, which includes CBD products.

There is a little gray area on some fronts though. Certain states (Nebraska, Idaho, and South Dakota) still can go by their own state laws and no comply with the bill. But rules are constantly changing.

We are also waiting on the FDA to make a final statement regarding how we can use CBD. They may say you cannot put CBD in ingestible products (e.g. CBD gummies), but we don't know when they will actually have a statement or how they will rule on CBD regulations in ingestable products.

An anecdote: TSA searched my bag in late 2019 (for reasons unrelated to CBD or cannabis - the Xray just looked weird). I had some full-spectrum CBD products and TSA couldn't care less.

I have not seen any evidence to suggest CBD as a nootropic in healthy individuals. It may help with anxiety and stress, which can impede your cognitive performance, but at this time I do not believe CBD is boosting a fully healthy person's cognitive function. But I think a lot of people have to deal with stress and anxiety at work, so CBD could help to boost performance here.

I think it would be interesting to see studies in people like professional gamers. Stress can be good for performance, but too much can be detrimental. Is being super amped up on your favorite energy drink good for your K/D ratio or would being calmer with CBD actually be better?

There is a drug approved in other countries than the US called Sativex. This drug is essentially just a 1:1 ratio of CBD to THC, which is prescribed for MS to help with spasticity and pain. There are some clinical trials using CBD for MS, but it seems CBD will probably help more when combined with other cannabinoids.

CBD/MS clinical trials: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=&term=cannabidio...

Sativex: https://www.gwpharm.com/healthcare-professionals/sativex#

Many states are just now having the ability to actually grow hemp, so I think that having a more mature farming community and better plant genetics is one step. Essentially just the ability to make more CBD easier with more experienced farmers.

I think another barrier is just the overall hype behind CBD. Everyone at least wants to try it This allows companies to jack up the price arbitrarily, because, "why not? people will still buy it." And even if legitimate companies did want to have cheaper prices, being too cheap can actually look bad form a market standpoint ("Oh this products is so cheap it must be bad or poor quality"). This along with the huge number of CBD companies has really ballooned the retail price for everyone.

I think as supply and demand start changing, we will hopefully see more reasonable prices for consumers.

It really depends on the dispensary and state. If they have actual third-party testing data from an accredited lab, then it is most likely legitimate. But many dispensaries don't have to check the CBD products for label accuracy. They also do not have to worry about high THC levels, so you could be getting much higher THC than you wanted.

Potentially. CBD is being looked at for stress and is thought to even be beneficial for public speaking for those who are phobic (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28553229). If you are looking for the quickest action, then smoking or vaping will be the way to go. If you are trying to avoid inhalation, taking a tincture sublingually will probably be the next quickest method.

There have been little studies with animals, but there is one study out of Cornell looking at CBD for osteoarthritic dogs (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2018.0016...). Here they found 2 mg/kg twice a day seemed to work well.

40 lbs are about 18 kg. So 2 mg per kilogram would be 36 mg twice a day. You may also start at lower amounts and work your way up and you might see a difference lower than 36mg twice a day.

THC can be harmful to pets at high concentrations, but a full-spectrum CBD oil should not have a high enough amount to cause any issues.