Many manufacturers of CBD Oil (cannabidiol) products claim CBD is effective at relieving anxiety, depression, pain, inflammation, improving sleep, or has other health benefits. A CBD product (Epidolex) has been FDA approved to treat epilepsy.

Over 200 different substances (called cannabinoids) can be extracted from the Cannabis plant; CBD and THC are just two of these substances. Unlike THC, CBD has no psychoactive properties and will not give you a “high”. There is no evidence it has any abuse or dependence potential and to date there is no evidence that it is associated with any serious side effects, according to the World Health Organization.

CBD oil is believed by some to treat pain, reduce anxiety, and stimulate appetite in the same way that marijuana does.

CBD’s exact mechanism of action is unclear. Unlike THC, CBD has a relatively low affinity for cannabinoid receptors in the brain. These are the molecules to which THC binds to elicit its psychoactive effects.

Instead, CBD is thought to influence other receptors, including opioid receptors that regulate pain and glycine receptors involved in the regulation of the “feel-good” hormone serotonin.

CBD shows promise in the treatment of anxiety disorders, suggests a 2015 review of studies in the journal Neurotherapeutics. According to the investigators, CBD demonstrated potent anxiolytic (anxiety-relieving) effects in animal research, albeit with counterintuitive results.

In all but a few studies, lower doses of CBD (10 milligrams per kilogram or less) were better able to treat symptoms of anxiety. Higher doses (100 milligrams per kilogram or more) exhibited virtually no effect.