Not all CBD is Created Equal

​A three part series on Sanjay Gupta, 
CBD product transparency, 
and how to navigate through it all.

Last week, Dr. Sanjay Gupta released his latest addition to "Weed," a documentary about cannabis's potential as medicine from the perspective of medical professionals, patients, and first hand accounts. The newest episode, "Weed 5: The CBD craze," breaks down everything you need to know about the new and booming industry of CBD. Gupta, in his trademark resolute style, looks at the story in its entirety- we see the miracles as well as the downfalls. 

I want to offer a three part series, inspired by Sanjay Gupta’s latest documentary, about the wild world of CBD; the advantages and drawbacks of a rapidly booming industry, the necessity of transparency, and how to navigate through it all. 

And yep, it's a little complicated. But have no fear! Companies like Allay are here to walk you through the process. This isn't about plugging a certain product. This about informing people, keeping people safe, and demonstrating the immense potential of cannabis as medicine when done correctly.  

You can look forward to two follow-up blogs, 'Transparency' and ‘How to buy CBD,' on Wednesday 9th and Friday 11th respectively. 

So, Who is Sanjay Gupta?

Sanjay Gupta is chief medical correspondent for CNN, and an avid supporter of the medical potential of cannabis. But it hasn’t always been that way- before airing the first installment of ‘Weed,’ Sanjay ​was skeptical. It was his steadfast commitment to science, regardless of personal or political leanings, regardless of faith or belief, which lead him to see its potential. In ‘Weed 5’ Sanjay pushes back against the term ‘advocate.’ This is because, for Sanjay, CBD is more than its accompanying political narrative. It is more than something to rally behind so long as it adheres to your personal philosophy. The fact that CBD and Cannabis have immense medical potential is a scientific truth. 

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“Make no mistake” Sanjay states in an Op-ed accompanying the series, “Cannabis is a medicine.” 

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The Wild West of CBD 

Since 2013, when the first episode of ‘Weed’ aired, we have seen a massive growth in popularity concerning medical marijuana and CBD products. CBD will soon be a $22 billion dollar industry, with CBD products being sold in coffee shops, grocery stores, bars, and more (Dorbian 2019). 

                                       This stuff is everywhere. But is this really a good thing? 

Thanks to the rising popularity of cannabis as medicine, there have been countless success stories.

In “Weed: 5,” Gupta got an exclusive look at GW pharmaceuticals’ own cannabis greenhouses, where they are extracting and selling CBDV (another non-psychoactive cannabidiol found in cannabis plants) as a treatment for epilepsy, and potentially autism. In an earlier op-ed, titled “Why I Changed My Mind on Weed,” Gupta tells the story of  Charlotte Figi- a young girl whose seizures were reduced significantly after consuming a high-CBD cannabis oil (Rashidian 2019). Individual accounts of CBD helping with anything from seizures, to anxiety, to muscle pain are innumerable. 

                                     But the stories aren’t always so bright. 

Gupta also interviewed a young man named Jay Jenkins. Within seconds of consuming what he thought was CBD oil Jenkins started severely hallucinating, eventually losing consciousness. At the hospital Jenkins scored a 3 on the Glasgow Coma Scale- he was in critical condition. 

It turns out that what Jenkins had tried was not CBD at all, but an entirely synthetic product marketed and sold as CBD. 


​This is where the problem lies. Without adequate regulation in most states, there is nothing requiring these products to be tested, safe, and authentic. One study found that out of 84 CBD products from 31 different companies,  69% were mislabeled (Bonn-Miller, et al. 2017). Although this study was conducted in 2017, recent studies show that not much has changed (Grubb 2019). Other studies found that some CBD products contain dangerous synthetics. 

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“CBD has been hijacked by unscrupulous actors peddling crooked, corrupt, and
contaminated products” 
- Dr. Sanjay Gupta

​Consumers are lost in a wild, unregulated world. Finding a trustworthy product- knowing what goes in to it, feeling confident that you are making a healthy choice, knowing what to look for when buying CBD, has become increasingly difficult. It is, as Gupta says, 

“a bold promise, hijacked.”
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Stayed tuned for more blogs about the importance of transparency in an age of confusion and misinformation. Allay is dedicated to providing clients sustainably sourced, full spectrum cbd that is guaranteed to work. 

No empty promises, 

no snake-juice cure-alls, 

just pure, consciously derived, effective cbd products. 


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Citations

Bonn-Miller, Marcel O, et al. “Labeling Accuracy of Cannabidiol Extracts Sold Online.” JAMA, American Medical Association, 7 Nov. 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5818782/.
Dorbian, Iris. “CBD Market Could Reach $20 Billion By 2024, Says New Study.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 20 May 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/irisdorbian/2019/05/20/cbd-market-could-reach-20-billion-by-2024-says-new-study/#7a6b09cc49d0.

Grubb, Bill. “Noramco Cannabidiol FDA Presentation.” US Food and Drug Administration , 31 May 2019, pp. 4–10 . Noramco.

Gupta, Sanjay. “CNN Health.” CNN Health, WarnerMedia, 27 Sept. 2019, https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/27/health/weed-5-cbd-craze-gupta/index.html.
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Rashidian, Nushin. “Q&A: Three Questions for Sanjay Gupta on CBD.” Cannabis Wire, 27 Sept. 2019, https://cannabiswire.com/2019/09/27/qa-three-questions-for-sanjay-gupta-on-cbd/.





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