If you look closely at most CBD advertisements you will find most of them will make no direct claims to what their products can do. Words like “may”, “could”, and “might” will be behind almost every claim of benefit most CBD products have to offer. This is not necessarily a scam or subterfuge. In fact, the scammers could be the ones making direct claims that their products do one thing or another. This is due to several factors that explain why you can’t make claims about CBD.
Inadequate Research
To date, research on CBD & its interaction with the Endocannabinoid System is lacking. This is due to the short amount of time that has passed since the discovery of both CBD and ECS, the very short amount of time that CBD has been considered legal in the US. It is also worth noting that the government agencies responsible for publishing this data do not appear to be in a rush. It has been approximately 80 years since the discovery of CBD, 24 years since the discovery of the ECS, and only 2 years since the 2018 Farm Bill made CBD federally legal. During this time span, the studies that have been conducted and published have mostly comprised of animal testing.
These tests have shown great promise for inflammation, pain relief, and seizure reduction in animals. This shows promise for ongoing & future human trials since the ECS is believed to function similarly in all animals. These tests are neutral on what impact CBD can have on mood and other neurological & psychological effects on humans.
Human studies to date have seen the most success in the treatment of seizures. This has resulted in the only FDA approved cannabidiol Epidiloex. This is a great first step but much more research is needed. The untold secrets of all the benefits CBD can offer are waiting to be unlocked.
FDA Recognition
Currently, the FDA has refused to recognize CBD as approved for human consumption. The primary reason given for this is the lack of statistical data produced by human trials. It is worth mentioning that many of the claims regarding what CBD “could” do would be devastating to the bottom line of many large pharmaceutical companies, aka Big Pharma. There have also been allegations and suspicions of corrupt business relationships between Big Pharma and the FDA. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that one of the reasons that the FDA has stalled out on the recognition of these claims “could” be due to this corrupt relationship. Regardless of the cause, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has gone as far as to issue fines to several CBD companies for making claims regarding medical benefits to their products.
What Can Be Said
The FDA can refuse to recognize CBD for now but as studies continue they will be unable to do this forever. The FTC can issue fines for what it deems as false advertising but it cannot overturn the First Amendment. We at 502 Hemp can’t make medical claims about what our products can and can’t do. But we can offer reviews and testimonials from our customers. If it works, it works and in the United States, the opinions of the majority always prevail.
