Sao Paulo, Brazil: The oral ingestion of cannabidiol does not convert to THC following metabolization, according to clinical trial data published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.
A team of Brazilian researchers assessed plasma levels in 120 subjects following the oral ingestion of 300mg of CBD. They reported, “The results showed that THC was not detected in plasma after the administration of CBD, and those study participants did not present psychotomimetic effects.”
They concluded: “The findings presented here are consonant with previous evidence suggesting that the oral administration of CBD in a corn oil formulation is a safe route for the administration of the active substance without bioconversion to THC in humans under different conditions (fasting and normal feeding). The results also add to the knowledge built over 40 years of research that CBD-based therapies are safe and well tolerated in humans.”
Numerous studies have identified the presence of THC in commercially-marketed CBD products, including those advertised as being THC-free. Most recently, German researchers similarly rejected the notion that CBD can be metabolized to THC. They concluded, “[T]he … potential causative factors for side effects of CBD products … can be explained most probably by the presence of native THC as contaminant in the products rather than by direct action of CBD or its chemical transformation.”
Full text of the study, “Oral cannabidiol does not convert to delta-8-THC or delta-9-THC in humans: A pharmacokinetic study in healthy subjects,” appears in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Additional information is available in the NORML fact-sheet, ‘FAQs About Cannabidiol.’