It is just within a few years that CBD or cannabidiol has become enormously popular all over the world. Most people say that it has a lot of health benefits and is a useful and effective alternative to several prescribed and over the counter drugs. However, in order to ensure that you gain the maximum benefits while using the CBD products available in the market in different forms, it is important for you to identify the real risks to your health before you use it.

You can do some research yourself on the internet but it is always wise and effective if you talk to your treating physician regarding this matter beforehand. Having a proper knowledge about the CBD products will help you to use it will full confidence and expect the best from it. Both this approach will tell you about a lot of things such as:

• About the history
• About the product
• About its working process
• About the legal aspects and
• All other technicalities.

But most importantly the real health risks in using a CBD product whether it is in the form of CBD oil or cbdvape pods.

The basic facts

The basic facts about CBD are very interesting. Here are a few that will keep you highly intrigued about this useful product which is a derivative of the cannabis plant:

• CBD was initially discovered as active self-medication for Dravet syndrome in children.
• Over the years, this has proved to be helpful in several other health and medical conditions and therefore CBD is now sold and used by several patients.
• It is also recommended by several doctors to treat a wide range of medical conditions.
• It is also proved to be very helpful in curing several lifestyle diseases.
• The cannabinoid CBD is actually a non-psychoactive isomer of the more commonly known as THC.
• CBD is now available in a large number of administration modes but the most commonly found product is the CBD oil.

Currently, there are currently dozens, if not hundreds, of manufacturers and sellers of CBD oils and other products that are active in the market. This number, however, is increasing rapidly with each passing day. People who are involved in CBD production and sales include:

• Individuals that make homemade products on a small scale for friends and family
• Compounding pharmacies
• Pharmaceutical companies and
• Licensed cannabis producers.

Therefore, availability of and accessibility to a CBD product is not an issue anymore but in spite of the growing availability of it, there are several uncertainties that remain about the product as well as its usage. These uncertainties include:

• It's legality
• It's quality and
• Its safety to be considered as a new and true “miracle cure.”

It is for this reason that the CBD products more often go under the scrutiny on many levels that includes several national health organizations as well as the agricultural lobbyists along with the World Health Organization and Food and Drug Administration and several other federal agencies of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

About the health risks

The dominant question regarding the health risks and whether or not CBD is safe to use revolves around the fact as to whether it should be considered simply as a food supplement or as an investigational new medicine even as a narcotic.

• To find the right answer, it is required to look into the issues and known risks that are related to the composition of the CBD products. This will help the regulators to decide whether or not there is any requirement for a more stringent recommendation for proper regulatory control based on the accuracy in labeling of the products or whether there is any need for more scientific proofs that will support its health claims.
• It will enable the consumers to have a better understanding of the product, its health benefits versus the inherent risks of it given the current way in which these CBD products are produced, advertised, sold, and used.
• Since cannabis oils may contain different concentrations of CBD, THC, and minor cannabinoids, it is important to know about the cannabis variety first that is used for extraction of the ingredients and production of the final product. Since this product claims to be a natural alternative to OTC drugs, such knowledge becomes highly important and useful.

Considering the most popular CBD oil, the primary concerns regarding this are:

• Whether or not the oil is cannabigerol CBG-rich
• Whether or not it contains THC-rich type of cannabis
• Whether or not the essential oil Terpenes is present in these products
• The method of preparation used.

Since the oil and its chemicals are highly volatile, there may be a significant loss of the terpene components when it is exposed to high temperatures for drying of plant material or during the evaporation of the solvents.

To prevent such a loss, the evaporated terpenes may be captured back by condensation and reintroduce back into the oil. The producers may also add a few extra ingredients such as color, taste, viscosity, shelf-life stability and others to adjust its properties further. However, an improper and inaccurate measure of such elements introduced or following the wrong process may reduce the safety aspect of the final product.

Medicine or a natural food supplement

All these concerns about health bring up one question: whether to consider CBD as a natural food supplement or as medicine which will, in turn, affect its legal status as well.

All medicinal drugs are considered to be unsafe until these are proven safe through several rigorous clinical tests. On the other hand, food supplements are considered to be safe until it is proven otherwise. This is the primary difference between the two and as a result, it raises the question of whether or not the CBD products are safe for children, elderly and the patients especially in large or unregulated quantities.

The good news is the recent World Health Organization review that concluded that till date there is no recorded evidence of public health issues related to the use of pure CBD.