High Potential: Legal and Scientific Perspectives on Unlocking CBD's Medicinal Value

The cannabis plant has been used by humans across the globe for thousands of years. Although the plant is known by many names, humans have found a wide variety of ritualistic, recreational, and medicinal uses for cannabis throughout history. Despite this, various legal and scientific developments over the course of the past century have heavily shifted societal perspectives on cannabis. Cannabis has become an illicit substance in many nations, including the United States, while an incomplete understanding of cannabis’ effects on the human brain has constrained its medicinal utility. The result of these developments is that government regulations and a lack of thorough pharmacological research limit safe cannabis use and access, even in spite of rising use rates across the country. Clearly, our perspective on cannabis must change. Cannabis policy must evolve to align with our scientific knowledge, which itself must be strengthened through further research, in order to provide legal and safety assurances to users. One particular compound in the cannabis plant, known as cannabidiol or CBD, has largely been underrepresented in cannabis research despite lacking the intoxicating effects of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. This review will outline the steps necessary for CBD, and cannabis as a whole, to be utilized more effectively in therapeutic settings while acknowledging the work that has been done towards this goal so far.