Why should pharmacies stock CBD products?

I am writing this article from the position of somebody that has worked in community pharmacy, admittedly not for a few years, circa the year 2000 to be exact. When I graduated from Bradford School of Pharmacy in 2000 I went to work in the pharmaceutical industry, this followed 7 years as a pharmaceutical technician working on the front line of community pharmacy.

As a respected healthcare provider and the first line of medical defence in the community, the burden is put upon Pharmacy to only stock products that they can stand behind, that is ethical, effective and of good providence, on topof that, you have to earn a living directly from the goods that you sell. It can often be a difficult path to navigate. However, I strongly believe, and I hope that after reading this so will you, that CBD meets this criterion, if you purchase sensibly.

So what is CBD and is it legal?

CBD or cannabidiol is all over the popularpress and all over the retail market these days,but what exactly is it? And if it's frommarijuana or cannabis how can it be legal?Well for a start it does not come frommarijuana or cannabis, it comes fromindustrial hemp. Hemp is the plant that can begrown legally in most countries in the world,including the UK. It’s a licensed activity as wehave to keep low levels of THC and CBN (theseare the psychoactive components of cannabisand are illegal), CBD is on the samemetabolicpathway as THC so plants that are high in CBDare conversely low in THC. Now CBD is thepsycho-protective component and interactswith cannabinoid receptors in the Central andperipheral nervous system and in the immunesystem, via which it delivers its beneficialeffects. So when we are selecting products tosell you need to be provided with thedocumentation and test certificates that showthere is less than 1mg of THC or CBN in thefinal product. (more on this below)

As pharmacists you will be aware of theregulations, a product such as CBD is clearlymedical by function, and you would expectthat it needs a medical licence to be sold,however the MHRA have publicly stated thatas long as companies don’t make medicalclaims for the products they can be sold asfood supplements (more on this is a littlewhile).

Sowhilst thebeneficialeffectsofCBDare wellpublicised we have to be careful not to makemedical claims.

What does CBD do?

Well, this is a strange thing, everybody whousesCBDgets averypersonalresponseto it,however, it's fair to say that it brings balanceto the central nervous and the immunesystems. Let me clarify, for people who have

stress and anxiety CBD has been shown tolessen the symptoms of these two importantconditions and help with the sleep disturbancethat is well known to be associated withthem. For those with painful conditions insome patients it’s beenshownto reduce painand inflammation.As for the immune system, it’s been demonstratedto help with overactive immuneresponses such as eczema and allergy it hasbeenshownto calmdowntheseconditions,and also help boost the immune system tofight of other conditions, and has been shownto reduce the side effects from Chemotherapy(I can vouch for this from personal experience).

These are the common uses for CBD:

Pain, insomnia, better focus, muscle recovery, skin clarification, anti-inflammatory effects, etc etc