The story of how CBD was discovered

CBD may have been in favour for only a few years, but its story goes back much further. In this article we look at how CBD came to be identified and at the therapeutic properties researchers have attributed to it.

A word on where CBD comes from

CBD, properly called cannabidiol, comes straight from the cannabis plant. It is one of the cannabinoids of hemp, no more and no less. The substance was isolated for the first time in the United States in 1940, from a hemp sample. Early on, scientists declared it toxic.

Some twenty years later, in Jerusalem, Raphael Mechoulam, a chemistry researcher at the Hebrew University, studied CBD and worked out its structure: 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms. After several years of work, he succeeded in synthesising CBD, opening the way to research into its pharmacological activity.

Scientific progress on CBD and the effects reported for it

In 1973, Brazilian scientists made a key observation: they reported that CBD could reduce epileptic seizures. Intrigued, other scientists took up the question and reported that CBD also acted as an anxiolytic. It was not until 1988 that CBD was taken seriously in medical circles, after the discovery of the human endocannabinoid system.

Since then, research has moved quickly. Around the world, researchers and scientists have studied CBD to understand what it does and where its limits lie. On that basis they conclude that the substance has no psychoactive or addictive effect.

For some years now it has been possible to buy CBD legally in France. Consumption and sale are lawful as long as the source plant contains no more than 0.2% THC. In other words, the CBD offered for sale has no psychoactive effect. It can be used by people and by animals.