# Has any genuine research been done on CBD oil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985 "2019-09-10T15:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/1 "2019-09-10T15:03:06Z")
I suffer from arthritis, and the pain of the arthritis is nearly equaled by the pain of hearing all the recommendations for pseudoscience “cures.” The latest is CBD oil. Has anyone actually done any peer-reviewed, double blind research on this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/2 "2019-09-10T15:21:45Z")
Sure. > **[cbd oil pain - Search Results - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=cbd%2Boil%2Bpain)** > > cbd oil pain - Search Results - PubMed Not sure how much of that you’ll actually be able to read, but research exists. Notice how recent most of those articles are; most of them are from within the last 2 years. This is because the FDA rules prohibited trials on CBD until 2015. It would be safe to say that dedicated research is still in the very early stages. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/3 "2019-09-10T15:52:00Z")
I found reports of beneficial results treating children with severe seizure disorders showing previous histories of intractability to drug therapy. Patient numbers were fairly small, but two indicated the studies were ongoing. There were also two studies showing high percentages of available CBD preparations were dubiously labeled, and in some cases obviously mislabeled for contents. Nothing else I found recently met statistically reliable levels of benefits, and all were limited to patient reported improvements. I saw nothing convincing about impartiality of the testing agencies. Tris * * * New and improved. Limited time offer. After that, it won’t be new. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/4 "2019-09-10T18:08:28Z")
There are studies now starting, from what I understand. Part of the issue is that someone needs to fund the study, and since CBD is not a pharmaceutical that can be patented and sold, it can be a bit of an issue getting money to study it. I heard that the Stanley Brothers from Colorado have started funding some? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/5 "2019-09-10T18:12:53Z")
Cool, thanks for that. I slipped and fell getting on to the boat on a music cruise, and some of the insisted that I had to try his CBD liniment, and it was basically like rubbing bong water on my knee. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/6 "2019-09-10T19:25:27Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Cool, thanks for that. I slipped and fell getting on to the boat on a music cruise, and some of the insisted that I had to try his CBD liniment, and it was basically like rubbing bong water on my knee. He probably just wanted an excuse to feel up your legs! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/7 "2019-09-10T19:30:59Z")
As per an NPR interview, one issue is that Federal Law makes it near impossible to do any research on the CBD-making plant and its derivatives. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/8 "2019-09-10T19:55:24Z")
I too have friends and acquaintances telling me to get some CBT oil/cream/whatever for my old-age ailments. It still sounds like a lot of woo to me. I would love to see some peer-reviewed papers on the subject instead of word-of-mouth evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/9 "2019-09-10T23:12:08Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Cool, thanks for that. I slipped and fell getting on to the boat on a music cruise, and some of the insisted that I had to try his CBD liniment, and it was basically like rubbing bong water on my knee. I tincture 2x daily with a half-dropperful of 1500mg CBD. I am well aware on days when I’ve been so busy that I skip that step in the morning. I hope I’m not just using Placebocet™, because it does seem to work. Also- what **gaffa** said: I get my CBD from a few sources who are quite open regarding their filtering, testing, etc. The one time I bought a bottle of CBD in a Vaping store in NYC? Yeah. It was thick as shit and reeked of bong water. I would guess it was simply hemp oil. Utter crap. And gave zero pain relief. Just one anecdotal bit to throw into the mix. And to be very clear, this is 100% THC-free CBD oil. I don’t use THC in any form, never will. This stuff does the trick. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/10 "2019-09-10T23:32:43Z")
Here is [a current list](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=cbd%5BAll%20Fields%5D%20AND%20Review%5Bptyp%5D&cmd=DetailsSearch) of all ‘scientific’ reviews of CBD (or some aspect of it). Most of them are linked to their abstracts and many to their free full text. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/11 "2019-09-11T06:53:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > As per an NPR interview, one issue is that Federal Law makes it near impossible to do any research on the CBD-making plant and its derivatives. This is changing thanks to states and countries that have legalized marijuana. There are ongoing studies right now. Some early results objectively say that it isn’t that great with chronic pain. Subjectively patients love it. [Here is a 2016 Aussie study story.](https://www.healthline.com/health-news/latest-research-says-marijuana-may-not-ease-your-chronic-pain#4) Most of the actual published studies are behind paywalls. The trend so far seems to be that it may be largely a placebo _like_ effect. Patients pretty much use if for everything and think it helps with everything. Sometimes measurable outcomes show otherwise.[Medpagetoday](https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/aps/71570) on another study. Personally I have no objection to marijuana use for any reason whatsoever, from purely recreational to curing syphilis (another thing it isn’t effective for that I have had a patient tell me was his strategy). I do think that CBD is going to turn out to be the snake oil of the early 21st century. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/12 "2019-09-11T07:57:34Z")
Here is a survey of the literature on CBD research from 2017 commissioned by the European Industrial Hemp Association. [An Update on Safety and Side Effects of Cannabidiol: A Review of Clinical Data and Relevant Animal Studies - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569602/) They come to the same conclusion as many posters above > [@](#): > > First, more studies researching CBD side effects after real chronic administration need to be conducted. Many so-called chronic administration studies, cited here were only a couple of weeks long. > > Second, many trials were conducted with a small number of individuals only. To perform a throrough general safety evaluation, more individuals have to be recruited into future clinical trials. > > Third, several aspects of a toxicological evaluation of a compound such as genotoxicity studies and research evaluating CBD effect on hormones are still scarce. Especially, chronic studies on CBD effect on, for example, genotoxicity and the immune system are still missing. > > Last, studies that evaluate whether CBD-drug interactions occur in clinical trials have to be performed. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/13 "2019-09-11T14:05:57Z")
Whenever some new “miracle” appears, it’s best to be skeptical rather than to join all the other suckers: see acai berries, vitamin C and vitamin E, among others. We have a friend who makes a balm with CBD. A couple of years ago she gave me some to use on the arthritis in my thumb joints. Her husband swore by it, so I gave it a shot. Greasy mess on my hands: 100%. Pain reduction after a week’s use: zero. Until there are reliable studies on the efficacy of this stuff, and some controls in place as to how it is dosed, I’ll stick with aspirin. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/14 "2019-09-12T17:46:53Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Whenever some new “miracle” appears, it’s best to be skeptical rather than to join all the other suckers: see acai berries, vitamin C and vitamin E, among others. We have a friend who makes a balm with CBD. A couple of years ago she gave me some to use on the arthritis in my thumb joints. Her husband swore by it, so I gave it a shot. Greasy mess on my hands: 100%. Pain reduction after a week’s use: zero. > > Until there are reliable studies on the efficacy of this stuff, and some controls in place as to how it is dosed, I’ll stick with aspirin. We seem to be living in a new golden age of snake-oil peddlers and quacks. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/15 "2019-09-12T18:36:00Z")
Every age is a golden age of snake-oil peddlers and quacks. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/16 "2019-09-12T19:22:01Z")
I think the original Snake peddled his oil to Adam. And has never stopped. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/17 "2019-09-12T21:14:27Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Whenever some new “miracle” appears, it’s best to be skeptical rather than to join all the other suckers: see acai berries, vitamin C and vitamin E, among others. We have a friend who makes a balm with CBD. A couple of years ago she gave me some to use on the arthritis in my thumb joints. Her husband swore by it, so I gave it a shot. Greasy mess on my hands: 100%. Pain reduction after a week’s use: zero. > > Until there are reliable studies on the efficacy of this stuff, and some controls in place as to how it is dosed, I’ll stick with aspirin. And it could be exactly like other meds - aleve = blue M&Ms, M&Ms at least have chocolate going for them. I swear by diclofenac gel for topical NSAID relief, my roomie gets about as much relief as rubbing crisco oil on her knee. Frequently meds work for some people, and not for others - it isn’t that diclofenac or aleve is snake oil, the med simply doesn’t work for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/18 "2019-09-12T21:15:34Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Every age is a golden age of snake-oil peddlers and quacks. Truer words never spoken. There’s a sucker born every minute and two to take him. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/19 "2019-09-12T21:44:31Z")
My wife has been having shoulder pain for a few months - I was thinking rotator cuff damage/inflammation, and she thinks it may be due to a pinched nerve at her spine. But a couple of months ago she was visiting Colorado and went in a store with CBD oil. The lady working in the store had her rub some cream on the shoulder, and my wife said the pain _instantly_ went away. This convinced my wife that the stuff is a miracle product. But it strongly suggested to me that it’s just the placebo effect. How could rubbing a cream on the skin of her shoulder _instantly_ have any effect on what presents as pain in the internals of her shoulder? What possible physical mechanism could cause that? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985/20 "2019-09-12T22:16:58Z")
A CBD cream with no THC is the only thing that decreases the pain where my chemo port was installed enough for me to sleep. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-genuine-research-been-done-on-cbd-oil/839985.md?page=2)