Painter Buster or a placebo? CBD oil hits southern Illinois | Local news

Are they safe? Are they legal? Which government entities regulate these over-the-counter products, if any?

The proliferation of CBD products began with Congress adopting the 2018 Farm Bill in December. When the bill became law, industrial hemp was redefined as an agricultural product rather than a controlled substance.

Hemp is a type of cannabis plant that contains high concentrations of CBD, as well as very small amounts of THC, the component that causes a great deal of it. With the adoption of the bill, more and more traditional businesses have started to offer hemp derived products. some specialty stores were already selling it.

Despite the changes made by the new law, the US Food and Drug Administration has retained authority over hemp-infused consumer products under the Federal Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Health Services Act public.

"In doing so, Congress has recognized the important role the agency plays in public health for all regulated products," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement on adoption. of the bill (Gottlieb resigned earlier this month).

In the same statement, Gottlieb warned that it was illegal to add CBD or THC to food products sold to all states, or to market products containing CBD or THC as dietary supplements. This is true even if the added substances come from hemp, which means that its THC level is low and, therefore, it does not change its mental state.

Indeed, CBD and THC are active ingredients of FDA-approved drugs and have been thoroughly investigated prior to commercialization as dietary supplements or foods. Under the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, it is illegal to introduce such ingredients into food products or market them as food supplements, he said. "This is a requirement that we routinely apply to food products containing substances that are active ingredients of any drug."

"Thank you for calling Carbondale Family Video, where we now offer CBD products," explains how employees answer the phone these days. The messages are similar when we call the video store to Marion.

The video stores offer sprays, oil droppers, gummy bears, body and lip balm, water and pet products. The cheapest product infused with CBD is the lip balm; it costs $ 3. A bottle of water infused with CBD costs $ 5. But then, the prices of large products increase considerably. A spray bottle of 300 mg CBD costs $ 60. A pack of 50 mg of gummy bears costs $ 75. A 1500 mg CBD oil dropper costs $ 150, which represents about a month of supply.

"The reason we're selling it is that the president of our company, Keith Hoogland, has been using it for a long time to relieve his pain and he's getting such an advantage that he wants to bring it to the level of the community, "said Emilie Dierks, from the store. manager at Family Video in Carbondale.

The products are offered as part of a partnership with Natural Native, based in Oklahoma. Hoogland "really liked their range of organic products and all the rigorous tests they are subjected to," she said.

The products are advertised as all organic, without the addition of chemicals or GMOs. At the store, Dierks gave a Southern journalist a three-ring binder including a price chart, CBD information and individual products, various hemp test reports, and a food manufacturer's license. the state of Oklahoma. Department of Health for Aboriginal Distribution.

Each product includes a batch number that customers can use to view the results of their lab tests online, she noted.

Dierks does not just sell the product. She is so religious that she uses it herself. "My lower back and leg hurt, and I'm always standing up with this job. I never sit down. I use it after a long period of work and it relieves pain. Dierks said his fiance also used it. He works a second time and Dierks says it helps him relax after a stressful day of work.

Family Video at Carbondale started selling products containing CBD at the end of last year.

"We were one of the first Family Video stores in the company to have it," said Dierks. And that has generated a steady stream of traffic since then, she said. New customers arrive every week to learn about the advertised product on large outdoor brands, she said. Some have never heard of CBD oil before.

She encourages them to start with a small sample of CBD spray that lasts about a week. Many then return in a few days to buy a normal size product, as they quickly turn into CBD followers and loyal customers, she said. "We are consistently one of the best sellers in the company. We are doing very well. … He quickly became a huge source of income for us. "

How are Southern Illinois stores able to sell consumer products like gelatin cubs and water containing CBD? Certainly, a complex mosaic of federal and regional laws governing marijuana, hemp and their use in consumer products makes it difficult to unravel the legal labyrinth.

"The rules are not clear," said Aldwin Anterola, an associate professor of phytochemistry and secondary plant metabolism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is also responsible for the industrial hemp research program at the UES.

Beyond that, he said, there are so many CBD products that are invading the market at a time that many companies may think of selling CBD-based petroleum products while the market is hot is a risk to take. "Will the FDA pursue you? If you are a traffic officer and so many of them speed up, it's hard to catch everyone, "Anterola said.

But the lack of regulatory clarity also means that no entity verifies whether these over-the-counter products contain the ingredients that are advertised there, or whether they offer the suggested curative benefits, he said. .

"We do not know which are legitimate and which are not," he said. "And it's a cautious buyer, I suppose."

Earlier this month, just before leaving the FDA, Gottlieb issued additional guidance on the steps taken by the agency to assess potential regulatory changes that could allow the legal sale of these types of products. Among them, the agency accepts public comment and a public hearing is scheduled for May 31 to hear from consumers, businesses and other stakeholders interested in sharing their experiences with these products.

The way the products are marketed seems to be the main concern of the FDA. The agency has continued to issue multiple warnings to companies that make "blatant and unfounded claims against vulnerable populations," he said. In March, for example, the FDA had warned a company that it was violating federal law because of its publicity. that its CBD oil products were intended to be used in "cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of diseases".

State-approved marijuana dispensaries also sell products based on CBD oil. However, these products must come from cannabis plants grown in a licensed Illinois culture center and sold at an approved clinic. As such, they are regulated by the Agriculture Department of Illinois, according to Morgan Booth, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture.

The state does not currently play any role in regulating over-the-counter products, she said. "It seems a bit more complicated," Booth said. "As far as I know, nobody regulates it." The state expects additional information from the federal government on the question of whether it should play a role and what role it could play. "There are so many things in the air."

Sydney Waters, specialist in guidance and patient awareness within Thrive Anna, a state-approved medical cannabis distribution organization, said she believed in the healing power of cannabidiol. However, she warns people against buying the over-the-county variety. "It's not well regulated. Some companies put horrible things on it, "she said. "And we know that it does not work as expected.

"I would really recommend people to do their research before accepting that. Even a clean and sustainable source may not be what you are looking for. "

Waters said it's because it read studies showing that CBD-based products with THC levels so low that they can be legally sold over-the-counter are not as effective as those containing levels. THC higher. Without a higher percentage of THC in the product, it does not activate the healing power of CBD, she said.

This does not mean that all these CBD products generate a high feeling, she said. In fact, many do not, like bath salt balms to soak joints and sore muscles. "You do not feel high at all. But all the products we sell here contain enough THC for you to have a medical card to get it. "

Thrive Anna is one of 55 state-licensed Illinois clinics as part of its medical cannabis pilot program.

A doctor must certify that a patient is suffering from one of the 40 qualifying conditions or is terminally ill to be able to access a medical cannabis registry card allowing him to shop at an accredited clinic. The new opioid alternatives pilot program also allows people to access a card that allows them to test marijuana for medical purposes as an alternative to pain medications. They would otherwise have prescribed.

Sorting out differing opinions on CBD oil is a tedious and confusing process because there are many. For example, despite the warning from Thrive Anna, Jason Griffith said he saw first-hand the real changes that CBD oils can make in real life to people and their families.

A decade ago, his wife, Karen, broke it. She took Vicodin for years after trying to alleviate persistent chronic pain. "She started taking CBD oil about a year and a half ago and stopped taking all the pain medications, and I saw her coming in front of my eyes, so I did not get any pain. opened a store. " He is the owner of the CBD store located on Division Street in Carterville, just across the street from City Hall. Griffith sought approval from the city and the chamber of commerce prior to its opening and said that almost all of his patients were 50 to 60-year-olds looking for alternatives to pharmaceuticals to manage their pain.

Griffith stated that its products, like those of Family Video, include a batch number that allows customers to view lab results themselves. The fact that the products do not contain THC is an important factor for people who have to undergo routine drug testing, as even minimal traces could cause them trouble at work, he said. .

Dr. Jeffrey Ripperda, Shawnee Health Services' family physician, said patients sometimes asked him questions about the benefits of CBD oil. He tells them that he is skeptical about its benefits because there are so few independent studies on its effectiveness in reducing symptoms associated with specific medical conditions. The FDA-approved drug, Epidiolex, is an exception because it has been shown to reduce epileptic seizures in some children with epilepsy, he said.

Some early scientific tests have indicated that this could cause liver problems, so he recommends anyone with a liver disease to avoid it or talk to a doctor beforehand. Otherwise, Ripperda said that he considered CBD oil as most supplements or the latest "miracle drug" put on the market. Most do not cause significant damage, nor do they do much to improve a person's health.

Of the people who swear it's the miracle drug they're looking for, Ripperda said it might help them. This may be because the product has health benefits, or the placebo effect, which is an improvement based on the patient's belief in a treatment, rather than the treatment itself. "It's a very, very powerful thing that often does not get enough credit," he said.

Ripperda noted that studies have been conducted showing that CBD oil has various benefits. "But the problem is that most of them are faked, which means that junk food science is paid for by people who want to put something on the bottle saying it works."

"That does not mean it does not work," he added. "It could. But we do not have those answers.