Cannabidiol (CBD) is an illegal drug with no redeeming value. It is also a useful prescription medicine for epilepsy, with considerable potential for treating numerous other conditions. And it is a natural dietary supplement or ‘nutraceutical’ with countless evangelists in the health and wellness community. Although contradictory, all three statements are true from different perspectives, and clinical researchers are frustrated.
“In New York City, you can go to a latte shop and get a CBD product, but if I want to do a clinical trial, I’ve got to get a 2,000-pound safe and go through six months of paperwork and licensing,” says Orrin Devinsky, director of the NYU Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center in New York City. Like the cannabis plant from which it is derived, CBD, a type of cannabinoid, is classified by the US Drug Enforcement Administration in the same way as are heroin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) — schedule 1 substances with “high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use”.