Cannabidiol (CBD) products have become increasingly popular in recent years. However, scientific research on CBD has not been able to keep up with the growing demand for data that accompanies the growing demand for consumer CBD products.
In an effort to gather some of this much-needed data, a pair of researchers conducted a survey of people who currently use or formerly used CBD products. The results of this study were published in the Journal of Cannabis Research last month.
Searching for patterns of CBD use
According to the published report, the researchers conducted an online survey to better understand patterns of use among CBD consumers. They also intended to use the survey to gather information regarding the doses people took and the self-perceived effects of consuming CBD.
“Public and medical interest in [CBD] has been rising, and CBD is now available from various sources,” the report states. “Research into the effects of low-dose CBD on outcomes like stress, anxiety, and sleep problems have been scarce, so we conducted an online survey of CBD users to better understand patterns of use, dose, and self-perceived effects of CBD.”
There were 387 people who took the 20-question online survey. Most of them were residents of the United Kingdom between ages 25 and 54.
These participants reported information about their demographics, CBD use patterns and reasons for use. The survey participants also reported the effects CBD had specifically on their anxiety, sleep and stress.
Four common reasons for CBD consumption
The results indicated that the four most common reasons for using CBD include:
Anxiety
Sleep problems
Stress
General health and wellbeing
All of these conditions were self-perceived, and were not necessarily medically diagnosed conditions. However, these represent only a few of the many reasons for CBD use that participants listed.
Some of the other reasons people took CBD include easing pain, relieving depression, increasing focus, soothing headaches, correcting skin conditions, managing post traumatic stress disorder symptoms, reducing nausea, improving Autism symptoms, and more.
Other trends the survey data revealed
Of the survey participants, 54% used less than 50 mg of CBD each day. Sublingual administration was by far the most common method of consumption, with 72% of the participants taking it that way. This method typically involves using a dropper to place CBD oil or CBD tincture under the tongue where some of it will absorb into the bloodstream before the consumer ingests the remaining liquid.
The researchers did note that there were some differences in CBD use based on gender. They reported that the females in the study were less likely than the males to use CBD for general health and wellbeing or for post-workout muscle-soreness. However, the researchers also noted that the women were more likely than the men to use CBD to help ease anxiety or insomnia.
The results also showed some age-related trends. According to the report, older participants were more likely to use CBD to help relieve pain than younger participants were. This seems logical because older adults are more likely to have a condition that causes them pain. However, the survey results also showed that older adults were also less likely to use CBD for nearly any reason other than pain.
The researchers also wanted to gather data regarding the perceived effects of CBD. According to the report, participants who used CBD to ease stress, help with sleep problems or reduce anxiety reported that the CBD worked effectively for those issues.
Overall, this survey seems to have provided a relatively quick way to gather some much-needed data on CBD use. However, it represents only a fraction of the research that needs to be conducted on CBD. The report itself calls out the importance of ongoing research, especially as a potential mental health treatment.
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