There are many misconceptions around CBD products – consumers are often led to believe CBD foods, beverages, candies, and more are all harmless. In fact, these products are often marketed as “healthy, safe, pure,” etc. and claim to ease anxiety, relieve stress, and treat (even cure) medical conditions and ailments.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case. These products have evaded FDA testing for safety and efficacy, which means we don’t know whether they actually do what their marketing claims. And – even worse – taking some of them has caused harm for consumers froma cross the country who were unaware of the true contents of their CBD products.
In 2018, 52 people in Utah were poisoned from CBD products that contained a synthetic cannabinoid. Just last spring, an 8-year-old boy was hospitalized in Oregon after having 14 seizures in a 24-hour period due to a contaminated CBD product.
The possibility of physical harm is enough to make consumers nervous, but there are additional consequences that can occur when consuming CBD, particularly due to unknown levels of THC. CBD and THC are both prominent cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. THC is the psychoactive compound which produces a “high,” and since CBD is extracted from the cannabis flower, it is difficult to completely isolate CBD from THC.
Many products claim to contain absolutely no THC, though this is often not true. But even low THC levels in products may be enough to cause impairment or produce a positive result on a drug test. This can place unsuspecting consumers in highly compromising positions…
An Illinois bus driver was fired from her job after a drug test came back positive for THC due to a higher-than-advertised content level in a CBD capsule that she was using to treat back pain. A former federal agent in North Texas experienced a very similar fate. A father in Colorado risked losing a custody battle when his 8-year-old son tested positive for THC after ingesting CBD-infused honey. And a North Carolina grandmother was unexpectedly arrested at Disney World for taking CBD oil to help with her arthritis.
Consumers deserve to know what they are ingesting and should not have to risk hospitalization, arrest, getting fired, or losing custody of their child when they consume non-FDA approved CBD products.
We need the FDA to act now - consumers should be confident that any products they purchase in each and every state have been tested, proven safe, and accurately labeled.
We want to hear from you – share your CBD story here.