This week President Trump stirred up a small firestorm when he posted a video on his Truth Social account that sang the praises of CBD as a cure-all for all sorts of ailments—especially for seniors. You can read the post and watch the video here.
To be clear, the claims of the video are simply not backed up. The evidence we have does not suggest that CBD does much, if anything, in terms of health—and brings with it a whole bunch of risks.
But what is CBD? Is it the same thing as marijuana? What does it do and why would the president promote it?
What is CBD?
CBD is short for cannabidiol, one of more than eighty active chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant. It is one of the two most prevalent compounds, the other being delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (i.e., what most people mean when they say “THC”).
One big difference: CBD doesn’t get you high. It doesn’t bind to two of the key chemical receptors that THC does. CBD, like other cannabis-derived chemicals, became legal to sell thanks to a legislative error in the 2018 Farm Bill. That’s the same error that let addiction profiteers sell Delta-8 products.
So . . . why was Trump talking about it?
Industry advocates claim that CBD is a sort of wonder drug. That’s very much the theme of the video Trump posted.
As for why the president posted it: That’s less clear. The addiction industry was eager to jump in and say it’s proof that Trump is soon going to unveil some policy that will be beneficial to them. That is a real stretch.
As SAM CEO Kevin Sabet put it in a recent WaPo article, they’re just “grasping at straws”: “If the past is any indication, usually these posts have very little to nothing to do with formal policy positions.”
Remember: We have no idea if the president even watched the video! So reading the policy tea leaves from it simply makes no sense.
Is there ANY truth to the medical claims around CBD?
Here’s what we know.
Preclinical studies indicate that CBD may have some beneficial effects. However, the therapeutic benefits for common conditions like pain, sleep disturbances, and mood disorders are not yet established, and more research is needed. So: not a wonder drug.
The video also implies that because we have chemical receptors in our bodies that can bind to THC, we therefore somehow need it. First of all, CBD doesn’t even hit two of those key receptors. And second, that’s like arguing that because we have opioid receptors in our bodies, we therefore need heroin.
Don’t forget that the FDA has approved only one CBD product, a prescription drug called Epidiolex. This drug contains a highly purified CBD extract used to treat seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis complex in patients one year of age and older.
Are there risks associated with CBD?
Oh, yes.
Off the top, there is a substantial discrepancy between the CBD potency claimed on product labels and the amount measured in samples: In a 2022 study, across all tested products (edibles and topicals), only 42% fell within ±10% of the CBD amount claimed on the label. A high percentage of products were mislabeled: 40% contained less than 90% of the CBD indicated, and 18% contained more than 110%. Measured CBD content has been found to range from 0% detected to 339% more than the labeled value.
Also, low-level contamination of edible CBD products with heavy metals and phthalates is pervasive. In that same 2022 study, lead was detected in 42% of edible products tested, mercury in 37%, arsenic in 28%, and cadmium in 8%. Four edible products exceeded the California Proposition 65 threshold for daily lead consumption in two servings.
Going on down the list, CBD can cause liver injury. This risk was identified during the drug review process for Epidiolex. CBD can affect how other drugs are metabolized, potentially increasing or decreasing the effects of other medications (e.g., alcohol, caffeine, opiates, clobazam, and warfarin). Studies in laboratory animals have shown potential for male reproductive toxicity (e.g., decreased testicular size and inhibited sperm growth).
And below is a list of questions we simply don’t have good answers for:
- What happens if people take CBD daily for sustained periods of time?
- What level of intake triggers known risks?
- How do different methods of consumption affect intake (e.g., oral consumption, topical, smoking, or vaping)?
- What is this drug’s effect on the developing brain?
- What are its effects on the developing fetus or breastfed newborn?
In short: We don’t know a lot and what we do know does not suggest that CBD lives up to the claims of its promoters.
What’s the takeaway?
Don’t take the Trump Truth post as a policy weathervane. Don’t buy the CBD hype. And keep on trusting good science and strong evidence when it comes to drugs, the policy around them, and public health.