CBD in gout, herbal tea, in eraserIn a lollipop or gum. Goat cheese, chocolate, cookies or CBD wine. But also soaps, body oil, lubricant, dismailing, vapeo and spray products … CBD products have become essential in the “well -being” department: one in ten French has already tried it, according to a study conducted in 2022. And 5% of the population consume it at least once a week.
“It has become a product like others,” said Ludovic Rachou, president of the Industrial Union for the assessment of hemp extracts (UIVEC).
The market, estimated between 400 and 800 million euros per year, is “growing”, abounds with BFMTV.com Paul Maclean, president of the CBD Professional Union (UPCBD). Seven out of ten pharmacies sell it, according to an interactive study by Harris for the UIVEC published in 2023. Ludovic Rachou has 1,400 points of sale, in addition to tobacco that remains the largest distribution network.
Officially legal from a decree of December 2021, the CBD (or Cannabidiol) is one of the substances naturally present in the hemp plant. Unlike THC, the main active cannabis molecule, classified as surprising and prohibited, is not a psychotropic and does not lead to dependence.
A “relaxing”, “relaxing” effect?
But cannabidiol is not exempt from effect. “The substance interacts with the receptors of the central nervous system,” explains Inserm. “It is a weakly psychoactive molecule, but it has an effect on the functioning of the brain,”
This would justify the “relaxing” or “relaxing” effect presented by some. Because CBD products are often promoted by their supposed properties against stress. “Relaxation, serenity and emotional balance”, promises a seller of food supplements in CBD. “A natural solution to find a Zen state.” Others praise the skin by the skin, muscles, joints, but also anxiety, sleep disorders and present it as analgesics.
These accusations of health or therapy, when manufacturers or vendors show it, are illegal. The products containing CBD “cannot, under penalty of criminal sanctions, claim therapeutic accusations”, arbitrate the inter -ministerial mission to combat drugs and addictive behaviors (slight).
However, a hemp producer ensures BFMTV.com that the CBD presents “several properties”, especially in stress, anxiety or muscle recovery. “It is not a medicine, but it improves the comfort of life,” he considers for BFMTV.com Jouany Chataux, spokesman for the French Cannabinoid Association (AFPC).
“It’s well -being, not medicine,” said Ludovic Rachou, the president of the UIVEC. “Some consumers find efficiency there. The market would not be so important if it did not work.”
“Shortcuts” in the CBD
But for insertm, these accusations have not yet been demonstrated. “Clinical trials are missing to confirm possible therapeutic effects of the CBD on anxiety, sleep or other, or just care about too small cohorts of patients to be representative,” says the institute.
If a study in the mouse seems to indicate that cannabidiol would induce a decrease in alcohol consumption, it remains to be demonstrated that it is effective in humans. Another study suggests that CBD could also reduce cannabis consumption, it must still be demonstrated on a larger scale.
“We cannot extrapolate in humans the results obtained according to a study on the mouse or in vitro (that is, note in a test tube),” he warns Nicolas Authier, also a professor of medical pharmacology at the University of Clermont Auvergne. “You need a clinical trial to prove it.”
“The people who consume CBD say that they perceive the sedative, analgesic or anxiolytic effects of the CBD. But these effects are specific to the molecule or a placebo effect?”
Indeed, it is the conclusion of an analysis of the American Association for Pain Study (USASP) in the analgesic properties of the CBD. According to her, the molecule would not show any higher results than those of a placebo. “It is not because the CBD acts on the brain that necessarily has a therapeutic effect,” Barre Nicolas Authier.
The researcher denounces the “shortcuts” and “simplifications” maintained by some about the CBD. A seller announces, for example, that the CBD molecule “directly activates serotonin receptors” (a neurotransmitter often called “happiness hormone”, editor’s note). What Nicolas Authier corrects. “It is not because the CBD clings to serotonin receptors that have a therapeutic effect,” mate.
The only legal therapeutic indication of CBD: Epidyolex, a medication indicated in the treatment of epilepsy, details the health insurance site.
A non -trivial THC presence
At the same time, health authorities are concerned about the undesirable effects of CBD products. The National Medicines Security Agency (ANSM) called on Tuesday, March 11 for surveillance. Between 2017 and 2023, he identified 58 cases of interactions with drugs and four serious cases, a “undoubtedly undervalued” number, estimates the ANSM. Therefore, interactions were observed with 17 families of drugs, including analgesics, anticoagulants, anti -diabetics, antibiotics, antifungals, antidepressants, antiepileptics, antipsychotics, hypnotics, benzodiazepines and metadeonne.
CBD products also contain THC, the active substance of cannabis, in variable quantities. Legally, they can contain traces – French law authorizes up to 0.3% THC. But in fact, it is more complicated.
“Last year, we were below this threshold,” says a hemp producer. “But two years ago, due to climatic conditions, the harvest was well above.” Or we use chemicals to reduce this rate “, an option to which this producer is not favorable,” or we run the risk of selling flowers that exceed the rate of 0.3% THC “, which is illegal.”
“It is not the percentage that matters,” warns Nicolas Authier. “It is the amount ingested or smoked.” Consuming in quantity of CBD products, even with 0.3% THC, “can still make a series of MG” cumulative THC, warns.
What is not trivial: this compound is responsible for euphoric effects, for a form of disinhibition and a sense of well -being generated by cannabis consumption. But it also has many side effects: decreased capacity for concentration, drowsiness, memory alteration or increased blood pressure and heart rate, lists the drug information service.
Given these warnings, Ludovic Rachou, the president of UIVEC, replies that the CBD is “a natural ingredient.”
“To say that it is not dangerous because it is natural is false,” Nicolas Authier replies. “The naturalness of a substance does not predispose its non -toxicity.”
“There are dozens of other substances in CBD products and what they do is not known” (the plant contains other natural substances, not to mention the possible presence of solvents and chemicals, in particular to reduce the THC rate, an editor’s note), warns the researcher.
“Do they have an effect? What is happening when associating them? Do they have earnings or have risks? We don’t know.” A study carried out between 2022 and 2023 by three addict -up -and -basic centers showed that eight out of ten products had a different composition from that indicated in the labeling, it points to Mileca.
Source: BFM TV
