Are CBD Gummies Illegal? Do They Work?

Whether CBD gummies are legal or illegal depends on where you live.

In nations like Lithuania and Slovakia, Singapore and Vietnam, and Guatemala and Venezuela, CBD products are illegal. In some others, CBD is legal for medical use but not for general use, or the laws are hazy. In the US, CBD gummies and products are legal under federal law but some states have their own restrictions; Nebraska, for example, considers CBD illegal.

In the United Kingdom and most European countries, all forms of CBD, including gummies, are legal for sale and use. In Britain, though, they can contain no more than about 0.2% of psychoactive THC. The maximum THC content varies in most other EU nations.

Do CBD gummies “work?” It depends on who you ask. An enormous number of users say they’re helpful for an enormous range of medical conditions, but regulatory officials and medical experts say there’s not enough evidence yet to declare CBD gummies and other products effective for most health and wellness uses.

Want to know more? Read on.

What Are CBD Gummies?

You’re probably familiar with gummies. They’ve been around for more than 100 years, and the tasty candies have been extremely popular since their widespread distribution began in the 1980s. In more recent years they became a common method for delivering vitamins and supplements, then for delivering THC, and now as a delicious “distribution system” for CBD.

CBD requires a lengthier explanation, which will help clarify why CBD gummies are banned in some countries.

We’ll start in the plant world with the species Cannabis sativa, and the two important plants belonging to that family, hemp and cannabis. The plants are very similar but have one key difference: cannabis has high levels of psychoactive THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and low levels of non-intoxicating CBD (cannabidiol). Hemp is high in CBD and very low in THC.

That’s why marijuana is taken from the cannabis plant; its THC content works with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) to get users high. By contrast, the cannabidiol used to produce CBD products is sourced from hemp. The plant’s THC levels are so low that users won’t experience any of marijuana’s trademark effects.

That lack of psychoactive effects is crucial because it allows CBD to deliver its many apparent health and wellness benefits without affecting users’ daily function. THC also appears to provide a number of medical benefits, but users have to “endure” marijuana’s trademark cerebral effects in order to enjoy them. (For some cannabis users, of course, enjoying weed is not an ordeal.)

Cannabidiol’s apparent medical uses haven’t been widely understood for very long, though, which is why the laws governing CBD’s use vary considerably and can be quite confusing.

CBD and the Law

For many years, countries (and states) have strictly regulated cannabis and its high THC levels, calling it a “controlled substance” just like drugs such as heroin and LSD. And when CBD products like CBD oil, topicals — and CBD gummies — burst onto the scene and became widely popular in recent years, governments weren’t quite sure how to deal with them.

In most jurisdictions, including the UK, cannabidiol was regulated under the same laws as marijuana, since CBD and THC were both considered to be “cannabis products.” In short, CBD was illegal. However, the influx of CBD products and a greater understanding of their non-intoxicating effects forced Britain and other nations to rethink their stances in the late 2010s.

In the US, the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill took hemp off the country’s controlled substances list, allowing the legal creation and sale of CBD gummies and many other products derived from hemp-sourced cannabidiol. The legal maximum THC content was set at 0.3%.

Around the same time in the UK, the UK Foods Standards Agency reclassified CBD as a “novel food” instead of a controlled substance, allowing companies to submit applications for the production and sale of products made from hemp-derived cannabidiol. The government set the maximum THC content lower, though, at about 0.2%.

(One interesting note: there’s no law prohibiting parents from giving CBD to their children.)

It’s important to understand, however, that legalisation does not mean that CBD products are carefully inspected and approved by British agencies. There are general standards to be met once a Novel Foods authorisation has been issued, but no agency ensures compliance by producers or the safety of the CBD products sold in retail outlets or online.

In two words, caveat emptor. (That’s Latin for “buyer beware.”) Only purchase CBD gummies produced and sold by reputable companies, and be sure to check the gummies’ third-party COA (Certificate of Analysis) which details the product’s cannabinoid and terpene profile, as well as any hazardous substances that might have been found in the cannabidiol.

In that way, you can be sure that the CBD gummies you purchase have the promised potency and are safe to use.

Potential Benefits of CBD Gummies

CBD is only prescribed for one medical condition. The cannabidiol medication Epidiolex is used to help patients suffering from a few rare forms of childhood epilepsy because it eases their seizures.

Research that’s been done so far, though, shows CBD may help those with a large number of common medical issues. The evidence hasn’t been strong enough to convince governments and the medical community that cannabidiol should be prescribed widely, but the ready availability of CBD gummies and other products has made them popular for users dealing with:

• Chronic muscle and joint pain
• Arthritis, asthma, and diabetes
• Stress and anxiety
• Serious mental health conditions
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• High cholesterol and high blood pressure
• Insomnia and poor sleep quality
• Some types of cancer

That’s only a partial list, and there are indications that cannabidiol may boost heart and brain health as well. You should always check with your doctor or another healthcare professional before using CBD or any other over-the-counter supplement to treat a medical condition, but It’s not hard to see why CBD gummies, edibles, oil, topicals, and vapes are such big sellers.

Are There Drawbacks to Using CBD Gummies?

There can be.

While research studies (and the World Health Organization) say that CBD is well-tolerated by users and there are no serious side effects associated with cannabidiol, a small number of people have reported experiencing dry mouth, fatigue, decreased appetite, or diarrhoea. Those rare side effects are generally associated with extremely high doses.

CBD can also interact negatively with some medications, including the blood thinner warfarin, the thyroid drug levothyroxine, the heart medication amiodarone, antihistamines like Benadryl, opioids, and several mental health meds. That’s not a complete list, so check with your doctor if you’re taking drugs or OTC medications before starting to use CBD gummies.

Most people don’t have to worry about those issues, but there is another type of drawback to understand before using any form of CBD edibles: it takes a while for them to kick in.

Dropping CBD oil under the tongue, or vaping CBD juice, usually works within a few minutes. That’s because those two administration methods allow the cannabidiol to be absorbed by the body’s tissues and moved right into the bloodstream.

By contrast, gummies and other edibles must first be digested before the CBD is released from the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream. That can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on individual factors like the user’s weight, metabolism, and experience with CBD, and the amount of cannabidiol that’s in the gummy.

You should also know that some CBD is lost in the digestive process, so an equivalent dose of cannabidiol can seem less effective when used in gummy or edible form than it is when dropped under the tongue or vaped.

Here’s a pro tip, though. Research shows that CBD gummies will apparently be most effective when used after eating a meal, preferably one high in fat.

How to Use CBD Gummies

No instructions are needed for the gummies themselves, of course. Everyone knows how to chew and enjoy delicious gummy candies. The real question involves dosages, and they’re not the easiest thing to understand.

It would seem simple. CBD gummies come in bottles clearly labeled with the amount of cannabidiol in each candy. There will probably be “suggested doses” on the label, too.

However, even in the industry, there are no accepted guidelines for how much CBD should taken for various health and wellness purposes. The UK’s Food Standards Agency says no one should take more than 10mg per day, and you’ll often hear experts recommending a starting dose of 5mg taken twice a day.

That isn’t much help when you’re staring at a shelf full of gummies containing 25mg, 50mg, or even 100mg of cannabidiol. It’s even less helpful if you see research summaries reporting that the minimum effective doses of CBD were 25mg for insomnia, 30mg for pain issues, and 300mg for anxiety and stress.

Once again, the best idea is to speak with your doctor and get a recommendation for how much CBD you should. Just remember that the old maxim for drugs and medications also applies to CBD gummies: start low and increase slow.

Here’s one final pro tip that can help you maximize the effectiveness of the gummies you choose: buy full-spectrum CBD gummies.

Producers use three types of CBD in their products:

• Full-spectrum CBD: This is the CBD extracted directly from hemp, complete with the terpenes, small amount of THC, and other cannabinoids contained in the plant. All of the compounds work together in what’s called the “entourage effect” to maximize the effectiveness of cannabidiol.
• Broad-spectrum CBD: This is full-spectrum cannabidiol with the THC removed, so there’s less of an entourage effect. There may still be traces of THC left behind.
• CBD Isolate: This is pure CBD, with all of the cannabinoids and terpenes removed; there’s no THC at all but no entourage effect, either.

Broad-spectrum and isolate products are created for users whose bodies react badly to THC and those who don’t want to run any risk of failing a drug test for marijuana use. However, they’re less effective than full-spectrum products (because of the lack of a complete entourage effect).

Choosing the full-spectrum option allows you to maximize the benefits you may receive from your CBD gummies.

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