By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

CBD (cannabidiol) is being touted as a treatment for nearly everything these days, from pain and anxiety to insomnia and high blood pressure. There’s even talk about CBD as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

But how much do we really know about the CBD edibles, beverages, oils and other products being sold over-the-counter without a prescription? Are the labels accurate? Are they really free of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient, as some manufacturers claim?

A new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy should give pause to consumers who put their faith in labels and a cannabis industry that is largely unregulated. The researchers bought 39 CBD products from retail stores in southwest Wisconsin and analyzed them in a laboratory.

Their findings, recently published in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior, found that the vast majority of CBD product labels are inaccurate, containing either too much CBD, too little or none at all. And some products that claimed to be “THC Free” contained enough to give you a good buzz, whether you wanted it or not.

“Our data demonstrate that despite warning letters issued by FDA over the past few years a substantial number of readily available CBD formulations continue to be mislabeled,” researchers reported. “In some cases, products labeled as having CBD contained virtually no active ingredient. This was particularly true for the aqueous (beverage) products.”

Of the 21 CBD-infused beverages that were tested, only one was accurately labeled. The vast majority (78%) were “over-labeled” – meaning they contained less than 90% of the CBD they were supposed to have. The rest (14%) were “under-labeled” – meaning they had 110% or more CBD than the label indicated.

Other products tested, such as edibles, oils and transdermal patches, weren’t much better. Only about a third of the oils (36%) were appropriately labeled with the right amount of CBD, and one oil made by HempLucid contained enough THC to cause intoxication if someone consumed less than half a bottle.

“We found that over half of the studied oil-based products contained measurable THC. This may be of concern not only for the potential of adverse, or at least unexpected, CNS effects, but THC contamination may also create difficulty for patients who are subject to testing for illicit drugs by their employers, parole officers, and even by their own providers in some states as a prerequisite for continued prescribing of controlled substances,” researchers warned.

The concern about THC showing up in drug tests isn’t an idle one. A recent study at Massachusetts General Hospital found THC in nearly 80% of the urine samples from patients who reported using CBD products, including some who thought they were only consuming CBD.

A recent study by Leafreport had findings that were similar to the University of Wisconsin study. Out of 221 CBD products tested, 60% didn’t match their label claims. On average, the CBD content was off from the label by nearly 25 percent.

Although the 2018 Farm Bill legalized the use of hemp-based products that contain less than 0.3% of THC, the FDA has yet to adopt new rules to regulate the cannabis industry. The FDA says it cannot issue regulations until more is known about the safety of CBD products, so for now the agency is “monitoring the marketplace” and only rarely taking enforcement action.

The FDA is well aware of the discrepancies in CBD labeling. A 2021 study by the agency of 147 cannabis products found that less than half contained CBD within 20% of their label declarations. But as long as a company doesn’t make therapeutic claims about their CBD products or call them food supplements, the FDA will probably leave them alone, even if their labels are inaccurate.