CBD has entered the marketplace and is likely to continue expanding into mainstream america. This has moved well past the era of Cheech and Chong just for the purpose of getting high. We have health food stores that report to us that over 10% of their sales is now composed of CBD-related products.
As of this date, 11 States have legalized recreational cannabis, and an additional 11 States plus the U.S. Virgin Islands have decriminalized it. Until mid-2018, CBD was Federally treated as a Schedule I drug. However, as of mid September 2018, the DEA changed the classification of CBD to Schedule 5 as long as the THC content falls below 0.1%. So for most of us who are new to this game, an explanation of the components would help this all make sense:
The cannibis plant (also known as marijuana) contains over 100 different chemical compounds:
CBD which is the abbreviation for Cannabidiol, is one of these 100 compounds which are all cannabinoids. CBD is the non-hallucinogenic chemical found in marijuana that has a variety of medical benefits. CBD in higher concentrations (with low THC) can be found in hemp and in certain strains of cannibis known as medical marijuana plants.
THC which is the abbreviation for Tetrahydrocannabinol is the main psychoactive cannabinoid compound, the chemical that causes an active “high” for several hours.
CBD has been claimed to help reduce pain, reduce anxiety, help with sleep, control seizures (epilepsy), Parkinson disease, Crohn’s disease … just to name a few. However, it is still considered by FDA to be an unregulated drug. They do not currently allow it to be included in foods or dietary supplements, nor do they allow companies that market it to make health or therapeutic claims.
If you are considering trying it for any of the above conditions, just be aware of the following:
– Long-term use has no known reported negative side-effects. However, the pharmaceutical industry and their friends at FDA would love to discover such problems because this simple natural medication could have long-term consequences for companies producing prescription drugs which do have many different dangerous side-effects and whose sales would be adversely affected by a natural product like CBD.
– According to WebMD, some reported side effects of cannabidiol include dry mouth, low blood pressure, light headedness, and drowsiness. Signs of liver injury have also been reported in some patients, but this is less common.
– There have not been any conclusive scientific studies about its effect on children or pregnant women (though anything would appear to be far better than the side-effects of most prescription drugs).
– There is no information regarding drug interactions with CBD … though the purpose of taking it would be to be able to reduce or eliminate prescription drug use, which would make the drug interaction question entirely disappear.
– CBD derived from commercial growers may contain pesticides and fungicides. This is still a very unregulated industry. Since a lot of the cultivation has been done indoors, it is very difficult to control the excess moisture build-up on leaves that causes such fungal growth. Because the finished product is so valuable, it would be very easy for unscrupulous producers to use harmful chemicals … and very difficult for the average consumer to be able to know what is in the product they are taking.
Today’s article is just a quick summary of some pluses and minuses. This story will continue on this Seagate blog site. Whenever an article is contributed by Richard, he likes to place an underwater photo to break up the monotony. Although the center of attention in the photo below is the fan coral, if you look closely on the top right, you will see part of a diver who is not in great control of his position/attitude (sideways and almost upside down) and the mooring chain for dive boats in the background. Most divers that we find on these trips are beginners, even if they are over 40 years old. So it is very entertaining to observe them navigating, sometimes even more interesting than watching the fish.
