CBD and other cannabinoids

The hemp plant contains more than a hundred cannabinoids. Two of them are well known: THC, which is intoxicating, and CBD, which is not. For some years others have been on the shelf — CBG, CBN, THCV, delta-8-THC — and each comes with its own promise. Peter Grinspoon, a physician and author at Harvard Health Publishing, has gathered what has been investigated about these substances. The overview below reports what he names.

• CBG

  What it is advertised for

  For anxiety, pain, infections, inflammation and nausea; in part also against cancer.

  What has been investigated

  Practically all of the research is in animals. Experiments in mice on inflammatory bowel disease, cell experiments on brain tumours, indications of an effect against bacteria. There is nothing robust in humans.

• THCV

  What it is advertised for

  For obesity and for diabetes.

  What has been investigated

  The best evidence of the four. Extensive animal data on fasting insulin, weight and blood sugar, plus one study in humans (Diabetes Care, 2016) that found better glucose and pancreatic values.

• CBN

  What it is advertised for

  As a sleep aid, appetite stimulant and anti-inflammatory.

  What has been investigated

  For sleep — the most heavily advertised property — the article names next to nothing beyond a study in rats. On appetite and inflammation there are animal data, plus an Israeli study on ADHD.

• Delta-8-THC

  What it is advertised for

  As THC with less intoxication and less anxiety.

  What has been investigated

  One small study in ten children on vomiting after chemotherapy. The author states explicitly that good studies in humans exist neither on efficacy nor on safety.

Research into these cannabinoids is at an early stage. As soon as robust investigations appear, we will add them to the overview.

CBD studies