"We see really great interest amongst seniors," says Martin Lee, director of the Northern California nonprofit Project CBD, which promotes the use of the compound as a natural alternative to traditional forms of drug therapy. Mikhail Kogan, M.D., medical director of the George Washington University Center for Integrative Medicine, has prescribed CBD for his patients since the compound was legalized for medical use in the District of Columbia in 2011. Kogan says cannabinoids are "safer than Tylenol or caffeine by tenfold. If you compare them to opiates, they're about 10,000 times safer." He recommends placing a few drops of the oil under the tongue. All cannabis is illegal on the federal level. But cannabis-based CBD products with THC are widely available in states where it is legal. These products have varying ratios of CBD to THC, and because there are no official medical guidelines on dosage, patients are left to determine for themselves how much to take or how to modify their ratio. For those in states where it is not legal, however, the CBD available is derived from industrial hemp, which is cannabis with a negligible amount of THC. This makes it impossible to modify the ratio as there is no THC present, which means there are fewer products to choose from. And since there is no FDA approval of these products, it can be hard to trust that what you're buying actually is what's advertised. CBD’s cost is not uniform either. Depending on the dosage, strain and dispensary, it can cost from $100 to $1,000 a month. In California, for example, there is a 15 percent excise tax, plus an additional cultivation tax, which means a $50 bottle of CBD oil can cost about $65.

CBD (cannabidiol) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) are the two major compounds found in the cannabis plant. Each has unique properties, potential health benefits, and side effects. The following article covers CBD and THC, their effects, their legal status, and their safety considerations. CBD and THC are known as cannabinoids. They have very similar chemical structures and activate the same receptors within the body’s endocannabinoid system. Despite their similarity in structure, CBD and THC exert entirely different effects. The most significant difference between these two compounds is that THC is psychoactive. This means it can affect how the brain works. THC activates the body’s "reward" pathways to produce the "high" that’s associated with marijuana use. It does this by activating a cannabinoid receptor called CB1. When THC activates this type of receptor, things like movement, body temperature, and brain function are affected. In contrast, CBD is not considered psychoactive. It does not cause euphoria or a "high," even at large doses.

Much of the research on CBD and THC is preclinical, meaning it’s been studied in animal models. Large-scale human trials are necessary to determine if CBD or THC can help treat most of these conditions. Though it does acn 10 military personnel with PTSD. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Smoking THC was found to improve symptoms of IBS, but benefits may be only short-lived. People who used THC long-term were more likely to ultimately require surgery for IBS.

Notably, most of the research into THC’s effects has used standardized THC prescription medications. Other THC-containing products available at dispensaries may or may not be beneficial for any of these conditions. More research is undoubtedly necessary. Understanding how CBD and THC are regulated in the United States is a bit tricky. Basically, it comes down to the source of the product, whether it comes from the marijuana plant or hemp plant. In 2018, the U.S. CBD that contains less than 0.3% THC. Plants that contain this low concentration of THC are known as hemp. Historically, hemp has been used to make things like fiber and paper. Notably, marijuana (which comes from a cannabis plant with more than 0.3% THC) remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance. This means that the FDA considers it to have a high risk of abuse and no accepted medical use. Accordingly, CBD and THC that come from a marijuana plant are also Schedule 1 controlled substances.