CHICAGO – Report results published yesterday by researchers from the University of California, San Diego, said public interest in CBD, or cannabidiol, has swelled to record levels in 2019, and should keep climbing.
The report was published on medical peer review Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Network Open website.
Researchers looked at data from searches that contained the term “CBD” or “cannabidiol,” from January 1, 2004, through April 23, 2019, In the United States, state-by-state.
“Searches for CBD during April 2019 eclipsed those for ‘acupuncture’ by a factor of 7.49 [percent], ‘apple cider vinegar’ by 5.17, ‘meditation’ by 3.38, ‘vaccination’ by 1.63, ‘exercise’ by 1.59, ‘marijuana’ by 1.13, and ‘veganism’ by 1.12… Searches for CBD are now rivaling searches for ‘yoga’ and ‘electronic cigarettes,’ with 0.96 and 0.85 of their respective search volumes, and are searched for more than half as much as ‘dieting’ (0.51),” results said.
“There were 6.4 million CBD Google searches during April 2019, the last month data were collected,” researchers added. According to their data, many internet users searched for “CBD” in relation to pain relief.
Report results indicated that due to public interest in CBD, health agencies should prioritize research focused on CBD. Researchers recommended a four-pronged plan for health agencies and research institutions to bring current scientific information on CBD products up-to-speed, for the benefit and safety of consumers.
Their recommendations said, first, research should be undertaken to determine which consumers are using CBD products and why. Effects and impacts of possible drug interactions should also be examined in depth.
Researchers also advised the development of standardized regulations for product labeling, and also that marketing practices should be standardized, in order to ensure consumer safeguards.