By: Adam L.
CBD is easily one of the most popular supplements sold today.
People claim it does everything, from curing cancer, to helping relieve joint pain.
Sadly, the federal government just gave the CBD market the worst news possible.
If you’ve ever considered using CBD to help treat health conditions, or you’re currently using it, then you need to see what the government said about CBD.
In a recent letter to a leading CBD manufacturer, the FDA warned that if marketers of CBD continued to make claims about their products, they could be shut down.
If they move forward with putting the company out of business, it means the entire CBD market will be placed in the FDA’s legislative crosshairs.
Which is both a good thing and a bad thing for people wishing to use CBD to help treat a variety of medical conditions.
Does the FDA Even Have the Power to Shut Down CBD Makers?
While the FDA doesn’t do much with supplements (in terms of regulation) they do have stringent guidelines on what supplement manufacturers can, and cannot say about their products.
Essentially, supplement makers can only show their supplements help a person maintain a state of normal health. They cannot make claims about their products reversing poor health, nor can they say they’ll make an otherwise healthy person “even healthier.”
Additionally, supplement makers are legally allowed to show how their supplements affect the human body. This is known as the mechanistic-use application.
However, companies can’t make direct claims about the outcomes of those effects.
I.e., if CBD has been shown to affect the growth of cancer cells, the CBD maker can’t go on to say that CBD has the power to stop cancer cells from growing in their tracks.
And that’s why the FDA recently sent a letter to a company called Curaleaf and told them they had 15 days to comply with their concerns about Curaleaf making illegal and unsubstantiated health claims about their CBD oil.
In their letter, they cited the following claims Curaleaf made about CBD to violate current supplement guidelines:
- “CBD has been demonstrated to have properties that counteract the growth of [and/or] spread of cancer.”
- “CBD has been linked to the effective treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.”
- “CBD has also been shown to be effective in treating Parkinson’s disease.”
- “What are the benefits of CBD oil? […] Some of the most researched and well supported hemp oil uses include […] anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, and even schizophrenia, […] chronic pain from fibromyalgia, slipped spinal disks, […] eating disorders, and addiction.”
FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless said the following about their warning to Curaleaf and other CBD manufacturers:
“Selling unapproved products with unsubstantiated therapeutic claims — such as claims that CBD products can treat serious diseases and conditions — can put patients and consumers at risk by leading them to put off important medical care.”
“Additionally, there are many unanswered questions about the science, safety, effectiveness, and quality of unapproved products containing CBD.”
At the conclusion of their letter, the FDA indicated that if CuraLeaf didn’t alter their website and current sales literature about CBD, they would pursue legal action against the company.
What You Should Know about CBD, Big Pharma, and the FDA
The truth of the matter is even though CBD is still new in the realm of supplements, there’s evidence showing it can help people with a variety of conditions.
Some of that evidence is proven through clinical research.
And yet, because of the small sample size, the government and the medical establishment denies the effectiveness of CBD to help with many common health problems.
Another thing to consider is the FDA is beholden to large pharmaceutical companies who pay billions of dollars to the FDA to get their drugs pushed through clinical trials.
The significant financial investments these companies invest in trials means they don’t want competing products cutting into their profits.
CBD threatens some of the largest pharmaceutical companies’ most lucrative product lines.
Thus, the FDA is coming down on CBD with greater severity.
Which makes the sale of CBD products, and the claims manufacturers make about their products, that much more controversial.
But consider this too.
Predatory companies have injected themselves in the CBD market and have made inaccurate and dangerous claims about their products.
Worse yet, is a considerable number of companies are selling low-quality CBD to consumers so they can make a quick buck off consumers desperate to harness the power of CBD.
It is consumer beware in the wild-west of CBD.
And while the FDA is no friend to consumers, in part because of their connectedness with Big-Pharma, they’re not wrong to say that some CBD makers are putting consumers at risk.
