Lawrence, KS: Many consumers of CBD products report that they use them as substitutes for prescription medications, according to survey data published in the journal Mental Health Clinician.
Researchers with the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy conducted a nationwide survey of Americans’ use of CBD products. Among those respondents who acknowledged using CBD, nearly one-third reported doing so to mitigate symptoms of anxiety. One-quarter of respondents said they used CBD products for depression and 22 percent said that they used them for pain management.
More than 70 percent of CBD consumers said that it helped alleviate their symptoms and 39 percent acknowledged having “discontinued a prescription medication in favor of CBD.”
Forty-five percent of respondents failed to inform their healthcare providers about their use of CBD products. Prior surveys of healthcare providers report that most providers are either “hesitant” or “uncomfortable” talking about CBD with their patients.
The study’s authors concluded: “[C]onsumers perceived CBD to be safe, effective, and adequately studied for medical purposes. … With the wide availability of CBD, HCPs [health care providers] should be knowledgeable and prepared to provide patients with evidence-based information about CBD.”
Survey data compiled by the National Consumers League reports that more than eight in ten voters desire federal regulatory oversight over the production and marketing of commercially available CBD products, which often contain inaccurate labeling and may contain impurities.
Full text of the study, “Consumer perception, knowledge, and uses of cannabidiol,” appears in Mental Health Clinician.