BATH, United Kingdom Does CBD really help people with chronic pain? According to a new study, the answer is no. In addition, UK researchers warn that CBD products can be harmful to patients who take them.
A team from the University of Bath went so far as to call CBD products marketed to treat chronic pain “a waste of money”. CBD, short for cannabidiol, is one of the many natural chemical compounds in the cannabis plant. Unlike other cannabis compounds, CBD is not psychoactive, meaning it does not contribute to marijuana’s trademark “high” feeling.
While previous studies have suggested that CBD can benefit human health in a number of different ways, the new review found no strong evidence to support claims that the cannabis compound reduces pain.
“CBD presents a huge problem for consumers,” says Professor Chris Eccleston, who led the research at the Center for Pain Research in Bath, in a university statement. “It’s touted as a cure-all for pain, but there’s a complete lack of high-quality evidence that it has any positive effects.”
“It’s almost as if chronic pain patients don’t matter, and we’re happy that people are trading in hope and despair,” adds Eccleston.
During the study, researchers from the universities of Bath, Oxford and Alberta in Canada reviewed several scientific journal articles examining the use of CBD for pain relief. The results, published in The Journal of Pain, reveal some troubling points about CBD products available to the public.
Main findings:
- CBD products sold directly to consumers contain varying amounts of CBD, some with much more than advertised.
- These products may contain chemicals other than CBD, some of which may be harmful and some of which may be illegal in some jurisdictions. These chemicals include THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive component of the cannabis plant, which gets users high.
- Of the 16 randomized trials that explored the link between pain and medical CBD, 15 showed no positive results, and CBD was no better than placebo for pain relief.
- The meta-analysis linked CBD to increased rates of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity.
The Bath team notes that medical marijuana is the only CBD product that requires regulatory approval in the UK. People often take these drugs to help relieve symptoms related to epilepsy, the side effects of chemotherapy, and the pain of multiple sclerosis.
Non-medical CBD products in the US, UK and other European countries are widely available as long as they contain little or no THC. However, the researchers explain that retail CBD products are not covered by commercial standards, so manufacturers do not have to meet requirements to manage their consistency or quality. Also, popular CBD products that the public can buy online may end up containing less CBD than they say.
“For too many people with chronic pain, there is no medication to control their pain. Chronic pain can be horrible, so people are highly motivated to find pain relief by any means. This makes them vulnerable to wild promises made about CBD,” says Dr Andrew Moore, study co-author and former senior pain researcher at Oxford University’s Nuffield Division of Anesthesia.
The study’s authors say health regulators seem reluctant to clamp down on the claims made by many CBD products on the market today. The reason? Moore suspects they are unwilling to interfere with the booming cannabis market, which the team estimates will bring in $3 billion worldwide by 2021.
“What this means is that there are no protections for the consumer,” concludes Dr Moore. “And without a compensatory body to keep CBD sellers in check, the false promises made about CBD’s pain-relieving effects are unlikely to slow down in the coming years.”