The benefits of CBD are well known to those who have tried the cannabis compound and loved it.
Still, scientific backing to match the amount of high quality testimonials that flood CBD and hemp purveyors have sometimes been lacking. This is because until the end of 2018, hemp was illegal in the U.S., but now researchers are working overtime to meet the medical and scientific gap in the cannabis market.
Recently, reports surfaced that Canadian cannabis company, Tilray, has been transporting CBD to scientists at New York University. [1]
The NYU team of researchers will analyze CBD’s effects as a treatment for alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Both are prevalent among America’s veterans, and make up large-scale public health concerns more generally. [1]
According to CNBC, over 8 million Americans face PTSD and more than 15 million have alcoholism.
“I’ve looked at everything in PTSD, and this is the most interesting thing I’ve seen,” said Dr. Charles Marmar, head of one of the NYU research teams, told CNBC about the possibilities of CBD. [1]
The study is a pioneering one, with 40 human patients in one study and 48 in another. Common claims about CBD’s benefits are based in scientific research, but so far this has been centered largely on animal subjects. [1]
The Canadian CBD company had to get special Drug Enforcement Agency approval before importing the cannabis compound, which is related to marijuana but doesn’t get users high.
“We’re proud to support these two clinical trials led by NYU School of Medicine,” Philippe Lucas, Tilray’s VP of Global Patient Research and Access, told the Financial Post. “Tilray is committed to supporting research that can provide further evidence for the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis and, ultimately, data to support the treatment of more patients in need around the world.” [2]
Both studies are recruiting human participants over the rest of the summer and will conduct the studies during the fall semester at NYU’s school of medicine, the Financial Post reports. [2]
One study on CBD and alcoholism will take eight weeks, while another that tests both alcohol use and PTSD will last for six weeks.
The studies will be structured as double-blind experiments that use Tilray capsules, provided specially by the company to offer a range of CBD potencies at a high purity level. [1]
The first trial features capsules with up to 1,000 mg of CBD for daily doses, while doses in the second study range as high as 600 mg. [1]
Sources
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/08/pot-company-tilray-to-import-cbd-for-nyu-clinical-trials.html
