What is CBD, and is it Millennialish?

It’s hard to say the precise moment when CBD, the voguish cannabis derivative, went from being a fidget spinner alternative for stoners to a mainstream panacea.

Maybe it was in January, when Mandy Moore, hours before the Golden Globes, told Coveteur that she was experimenting with CBD oil to relieve the pain from wearing high heels. “It could be a really exciting evening,” she said. “I could be floating this year.”

Maybe it was in July, when Willie Nelson introduced a line of CBD-infused coffee beans called Willie’s Remedy. “It’s two of my favorites, together in the perfect combination,” he said in a statement.

Or maybe it was earlier this month, when Dr. Sanjay Gupta gave a qualified endorsement of CBD on “The Dr. Oz Show.” “I think there is a legitimate medicine here,” he said. “We’re talking about something that could really help people.”

So the question now becomes: Is this the dawning of a new miracle elixir, or does all the hype mean we have already reached Peak CBD?

Either way, it would be hard to script a more of-the-moment salve for a nation on edge. With its proponents claiming that CBD treats ailments as diverse as inflammation, pain, acne, anxiety, insomnia, depression, post-traumatic stress and even cancer, it’s easy to wonder if this all natural, non-psychotropic and widely available cousin of marijuana represents a cure for the 21st century itself.

The ice caps are melting, the Dow teeters, and a divided country seems headed for divorce court. Is it any wonder, then, that everyone seems to be reaching for the tincture?

“Right now, CBD is the chemical equivalent to Bitcoin in 2016,” said Jason DeLand, a New York advertising executive and a board member of Dosist, a cannabis company in Santa Monica, Calif., that makes disposable vape pens with CBD. “It’s hot, everywhere and yet almost nobody understands it.”

Cannabis for Non-Stoners

With CBD popping up in nearly everything — bath bombs, ice cream, dog treats — it is hard to overstate the speed at which CBD has moved from the Burning Man margins to the cultural center.

A year ago, it was easy to be blissfully unaware of CBD. Now, to measure the hype, it’s as if everyone suddenly discovered yoga. Or penicillin. Or maybe oxygen.

Even so, you ask, what is CBD? Plenty of people still have no idea. CBD is short for cannabidiol, an abundant chemical in the cannabis plant. Unlike its more famous cannabinoid cousin, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD does not make you stoned.

Which is not to say that you feel utterly normal when you take it.

Lord Foul wrote:I have psoriatic arthropathy and am often in severe pain
my "Drs" solution is kapake ..30mg codeine /500mg paracetamol (acetaminophen) 2 of as required not more than 8 in 25 hours

that kind of dose lays me out, in fact two of those and i spend 4hrs with the fairies
So I tried using CBD and as a vape oil its very very effective.....

and it doesnt knock me senseless or send me floating away like a helium ballon either....

if there is any noticeable effect it is that it makes me just a little tired so I dont drive with it....but otherwise it works and works without interfering with things I want to do...

Lord Foul wrote:umm..the jury is still out on that one Ragga, personal experience would suggest that it causes little damage to the actual joint as such, the inflamation is around and in the "capsule" that surrounds each joint, causing pain and reduced mobility......However there is some evidence of actual joint surface involvement in some cases, whether or not these are misdiagnosed as PsA is another matter.

Lord Foul wrote:hmm...I'd rather have to sort out the pain than the side effects of those DMARDS