The World Anti-Doping Agency recently removed cannabidiol (CBD) from its list of banned substances, after numerous calls from athletes for new treatment options for pain, so they can avoid addictive opioid-based painkillers and the side effects that they bring. Memorably, following his defeat to Conor McGregor in the main event at UFC 202, Nate Diaz was using a CBD vape pen at the post-fight press conference – an incident which may have caused controversy, but also garnered media attention for CBD.

CBD is at the forefront of the medical cannabis revolution currently taking place in the United States. The cannabinoid has a myriad of important therapeutic uses, not least helping to reduce seizures in children with otherwise untreatable epilepsy, and these effects can be administered without causing a psychoactive “high” – that effect, which has made cannabis such a popular recreational drug, comes from another cannabinoid in the plant, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Medical cannabis advocates are quick to point out that THC has unique therapeutic value, but its psychoactive status, and potential adverse mental health effects, have held back its progress as a medicine. CBD products, however, have enjoyed a much swifter passage into mainstream society, as they are neither psychoactive nor addictive. Indeed, specific medical cannabis legislation is not required in the United States for CBD products, providing the extract used is from hemp and contains no more than 0.3 percent THC. [Read more…]