According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CBD could cause liver damage. During its review of cannabidiol (Epidiolex), a drug that contains CBD to help treat seizures, the FDA noted that higher doses of CBD that a person takes without medical supervision could cause liver damage. The Food and Drug Administration has expressed its disapproval of almost all CBD products, except for an oral prescription drug called Epidiolex, which is used to treat seizures in children, which according to the FDA is a “highly purified form of CBD.” The FDA has several concerns about the possibility of CBD being incorporated into other drugs, foods and beverages. One of the major side effects that the agency is concerned about is possible liver damage.
Thinh Vo, director of quality and compliance at Koi CBD, a supplier of lab-certified CBD products, says that CBD users should remember that mice and people are very different. A third of those who replaced a medication with CBD said that it was a prescription anti-anxiety medication. In laboratory animal models, it has been shown that CBD can reduce the onset of type 2 diabetes, which is associated with liver disease. Nearly one in four respondents said that they used CBD to relieve joint pain: 38% rated it as “extremely or very effective” and 27% said it was little or not at all effective.
The Mayo Clinic states that “although some research seems to indicate that CBD could be beneficial for treating anxiety-related disorders, more studies are needed. And doctor Peter Grinspoon, who writes on the Harvard health blog, noted that an animal study had shown that applying CBD to the skin could help reduce pain and inflammation related to arthritis. The warning comes when millions of users have joined the non-psychoactive compound in cannabis for reasons related to health, well-being and leisure, and CBD has appeared on restaurant menus, in post-workout ointments and in bath bombs. Major food and beverage companies, such as Mondelez, Molson and Alkaline88, have expressed interest in marketing foods and beverages with CBD.
Even so, Warne called the FDA's warnings “prudent” and agreed that more research should be done on the benefits and risks of CBD. More than a third of those responding to the Consumer Reports survey said they used CBD to reduce stress or anxiety or promote relaxation; 63% of those people said that the compound was “extremely or very effective at doing so”, while 16% said it wasn't at all or was only mildly effective. If you buy CBD, you must purchase it from a reputable source that shares certificates of analysis to confirm that the product is not contaminated. However, CBD products that contain more than 0.3% THC still fall under the legal definition of marijuana, making them illegal at the federal level, but legal under some state laws.
Interestingly, in small doses, CBD could have some beneficial effects on the liver, Kaufmann says. According to the FDA, scientists still don't know what happens if a person consumes CBD daily for extended periods; the effect of the compound on children who take CBD, on growing fetuses, or on breastfed newborns; its interactions with herbs and botanicals; and if it causes the same male reproductive problems in men as those seen in animals.
