It is only recently that we’ve heard about cannabis and medicine in the same statement. However, the ancient roots of CBD date back to 2737 BC when Chinese Emperor Sheng Peng used cannabis in his tea to address ailments like memory, rheumatism, malaria etc.
Another royal, Queen Victoria is reported to have used CBD for her menstrual cramps way before 1901 when her reign ended. All of this signifies that CBD has been used for its medicinal benefits even before people knew that CBD was the main benefactor. The lack of recognition from the medical community did not stop people to consume cannabis infused products under the name of herbal medicines.
Discovery of CBD as a therapeutic medicine
Only when modern allopathic medicine gained popularity, CBD was discovered. It was the year 1839 when William B. O’Shaughnessy, an Irish Physicist and medical researcher sowed the seeds for the growth of CBD and its potential in the medicinal sector. His studies proved CBD a promising field. Despite much controversy, his studies strongly claimed CBD as a beneficial plant especially as an anesthetic.
Roughly a century later, actual breakthroughs were made in this field. In 1963 Dr. Raphael Mechoulam had started understanding the benefits of individual cannabinoids and predicted the stereochemistry of CBD. The very next year he identified the psychoactive component THC and confirmed its role in the euphoric effect of marijuana.
It was no secret that cannabis had therapeutic effects and pain-relieving properties so when New Mexico recognized cannabis for its medicinal properties in the 1978 Controlled Substances Therapeutic Reseach Act, the studies in CBD got much popularity. For most part of the following decade, Mechoulam and his team presented many substantial studies in favor of CBD.
One of his studies conducted on 8 subjects were daily administered with 300 mg doses of CBD. Results were astoundingly positive with half of the patients showing a decrease in the frequency of seizures. This was good news for many epileptic patients at that time.
But the stigmas surrounding cannabis did not let CBD claim a strong standing and the discovery did not get much attention.
However the potency of CBD would be too great a loss to neglect. Dr. Mechoulam continued his dedication in the field and not a decade later many ground-breaking discoveries made CBD worth the spotlight. The discovery of the endocannabinoid system in our body was the first benchmark to the rise of CBD. The fact that our body has natural receptors for the cannabinoid family made CBD a much promising treatment amongst other medicines.
The rise of CBD in the United States
There was still much hesitance when it came to accepting cannabis in the USA. California was the first state to legalize medicinal marijuana in 1996 by passing the Proposition 215. This encouraged 7 other states Oregon, Alaska, Washington, Maine, Hawaii, Nevada and Colorado to follow suit.
This meant cannabis was legally accessible broadening the horizon for scientists to study CBD and its effects on our body. However, cannabis had its history and the stigmas surrounding were still pretty strongly rooted.
These breakthroughs were only limited to the medical world, but the public still resented its legalization in a few states. It was almost like two thirds of the population opposed cannabis use. This was a great hindrance in the progress of CBD and its products.
However, the little legalization that had occurred brought some miraculous incidents to light that completely transformed the views about CBD. The astounding case of Rick Simpson who recovered from an extremely rare form of skin cancer was one of the first. Not later, CBD-users came up with their stories of relief from anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, arthritis, insomnia and others thanks to CBD.
The authenticity and vulnerability of these personal recounts eventually shed the layers of negative views from CBD and awareness spiked all over USA. This was until another miraculous case of Charlotte Figi came forth.
It was a totally hopeless situation when Charlotte’s parents turned to CBD as their last resort to save their daughter from a rare kind of epilepsy, Dravet Syndrome. Dravet syndrome was as rare as 1 in every 16,000 to 21,000 infants. Charlotte would face an average of 300 seizures per week with a loss of the ability to eat, talk, or walk and her days were counted.
But after the use of CBD, she was on the path to recovery. With the continuous use of CBD, Charlotte had a drastic turn of her life and is now living a normal life with 2-3 seizures per month. This story touched hearts and soon enough USA citizens started to see the silver lining.
CBD in the US today
Now radical steps are being taken to promote CBD and its usage. The compliance of the public has made research even easier and rapid. The benchmark reforms for CBD that occurred in USA:
- An impressive magnitude of awareness and surge in revenue from CBD sales with analysts predicting and estimated value of $22 billion by 2022 in the CBD market.
- 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp-driven CBD.
- Various application and therapeutic properties of CBD are discovered.
- The CBD-based oral solution, Epidolex has been approved by the FDA.
- Major stores like 711, Sephora and others sell CBD products online all over the country.
The Future of CBD
Despite all the advancement in the CBD industry there are a lot of lucrative prospects that researchers and scientists are working on. Palliative care is one of the tops on the list. Continuous care to prevent and cure diseases over a lifetime can generally improve the quality of life. Palliative care is also becoming a popular field of interest in medical sciences. With the collaboration of CBD, it could be a success story.
Another aspect of CBD that shows much potential is treating addiction. It’s ironic how another cannabinoid of the same plant causes addiction which can be nullified by CBD. Addiction is a leading problem in many youths which can waste years without any return. CBD’s soothing and relaxing properties may help address some of these issues.
Conclusively, CBD proved its stance in the industry. It multi-faceted course of mechanism can replace handful of pills that patients have to swallow mechanically. And which the creative ways of CBD consumption, CBD might just be here to stay.