Cutting Through the Haze
Is CBD oil a promising antidote or another supplement landmine?
For nearly a decade, Danielle Brand-LeMond, 39, dealt with persistent anxiety and trouble falling asleep. “There were nights I barely slept,” she says. As someone who prefers natural antidotes to pharmaceuticals, Brand-LeMond began taking herbal remedies and hormones like melatonin, but nothing worked. Then, last year, Brand-LeMond’s father, who owns a health food store, suggested she try CBD oil.
Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a nonpsychoactive compound from cannabis touted as a promising therapeutic for a variety of health conditions, including anxiety, insomnia, pain, and epilepsy-related seizures. The market for CBD could surpass $1 billion by 2020, according to one estimate.
These days, Brand-LeMond swallows a dropper of CBD oil once a day, four times a week. She says she’s less agitated. “I feel like it’s effective,” she says.
There’s a trend of taking charge of your own health and relying less on medical professionals.
“Depending on where you look and what you read, CBD will cure all that ails you,” says Robert Carson, an assistant professor of pediatric neurology at Vanderbilt University who has studied CBD. There’s plenty of solid…
