Cannabidiol, or more commonly known as CBD, is a chemical compound that is extracted from the cannabis plant. There are over a hundred different strains of cannabinoids known to mankind and CBD is just one of them. Apart from the common recreational uses, CBD has essential medicinal usages like for reducing anxiety, treating schizophrenic disorders and chronic pain. CBD is also successfully used to treat PTSD symptoms in war veterans. And more recently it is being used to treat pain in our canine pets.
Current Legality of CBD in the US
The present legal standing of CBD in the US is a bit complicated. The main question that needs to be asked in this regard is whether the CBD is derived from hemp or marijuana plants. The passage of the US Farm Bill, 2018 legalized the growing of hemp plants and hence CBD derived from hemp is legal as of 2019.
However, since the Federal Laws consider marijuana as Schedule 1 drug, CBD derived from it is considered illegal at a federal level. But here, things get interesting. Individual states have passed their own laws legalizing the use of marijuana to various degrees for both medicinal and recreational purposes.
Currently, medicinal marijuana is legal in 33 states and recreational marijuana in 11 states in the US.
Why Legalizing CBD is important?
Over the years, through whatever limited study that is permitted under the current legal scenarios, CBD usage for medicinal purposes has shown promising results. One of the major benefits of CBD is seen in the treatment of epilepsy. There are recorded cases of patients where it has been found that CBD oil is the only intervention that works.
Another case where CBD has shown promise is in treated post-traumatic syndrome. In these cases, use of CBD products helps the patients to significantly calm down after panic attacks.
A third area where CBD is used extensively is for our pets, especially when they are in the pain from terminal diseases like cancer.
With important and life-changing usages of CBD such as these, the logical step is to legalize its use, especially for medicinal purposes. Though CBD from hemp is currently available across the country, their THC content is fixed at below 0.3% and that does not prove effective in many cases (especially for chronic pain). I
n fact, World Health Organization (WHO) in a report in 2017 said that pure CBD is well received by both humans and animals and is not shown to cause any dependence or abuse.
As it stands now, demand for legalizing of CBD is one of the major movements in the present American society.
