A US analysis of CBD products has confirmed some customer’s fears: They don’t always do what they say on the tin.
Experts from Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School examined the toxicology of medical cannabis products and discovered contents labels misrepresented what was actually in the treatments.
The study concluded levels of THC – the intoxicating and usually illegal compound in cannabis – found in products marketed as CBD-only was of particular concern.
Researchers at the prestigious institution analysed urine samples from nearly 100 patients enrolled in a clinical trial looking at the effect of medical cannabis for anxiety, depression, pain or insomnia.
The results showed no CBD in about a third of the urine samples from patients who said they were using cannabis products that were CBD-dominant or had roughly equal parts CBD and THC.
THC was detected in almost 80% of those samples, including among patients who thought they were only receiving CBD.
Jodi M. Gilman, the paper’s lead author and an investigator in the Center for Addiction Medicine in MGH’s Department of Psychiatry, said: “People are buying products they think are THC-free but in fact contain a significant amount of THC.
“One patient reported that she took a product she thought only contained CBD, and then when driving home that day she felt intoxicated, disoriented and very scared.”
How CBD products are regulated is a major challenge to the industry globally but experts believe the UK Government’s decision to categorise them as ‘novel foods’ and impose strict quality checks will force misleading products out of the market.
From April onward, customers purchasing CBD products in the UK can have a degree of confidence that the product they are ingesting is as described on the label and throughly lab tested.
Companies are awaiting validation from the Food Standards Agency and those who failed to submit suitable safety and analytic data will see their products pulled from shelves.
The US study underpins why consumer confidence in some products can be low as people look for CBD products they can be certain don’t contain other compounds.
But America has unique regulatory challenges due to the fact cannabis products are still outlawed federally despite more than a dozen states moving to legalise medical and recreational usage.
The paper’s author’s say this has led to a ‘patchwork of laws that have varied impact on guaranteeing that consumers get what they expect’.
