Why You Shouldn’t Use Just Any Medical Marijuana

We’re hearing a lot about medical marijuana these days. It’s become a very big political issue. Many states are passing laws that allow its use.

But what about cannabidiol? It’s the primary medical ingredient in marijuana, and it’s legal in all 50 states. But should you use it?

As I’ve mentioned in the past, when I first heard about cannabidiol, or CBD, I was skeptical. Then Barry called me. CBD saved Barry’s life from cancer. After I verified his story, my skepticism turned to hope. I combed the medical and scientific literature and was surprised to find hundreds of articles detailing how CBD worked in the body and how effective it is for a number of disorders, including cancer. I knew it could help my patients.

So I started a quest to learn more about where it came from, how it was made, who was making it, and which CBD products are the best. My research has shown me that buying a good, high-quality CBD product isn't nearly as easy as you might think. It’s definitely a case of buyer beware. So let me tell you what I’ve learned.

First of all, unlike nutritional products, the production of CBD products is completely unregulated. Anyone with the right extraction equipment can buy bulk hemp oil and make a CBD product from it. Hemp oil is a very nasty-tasting, thick oil extract of the hemp plant. Once a manufacturer gets the bulk oil, it has to process the oil into a final product with a high CBD content. The manufacturer also has to make sure that it’s well absorbed, safe, and palatable enough for people to take. Now it sounds like that should be a pretty easy thing to do. But actually, it isn’t. Here’s why.

The first issue is contamination. The best hemp oil comes from two European suppliers. This is because the Europeans regulate the integrity of the product. But the Chinese are also getting into the business. And no one wants to buy Chinese hemp oil because of possible contamination issues. So Chinese producers found a way around this.

Instead of directly shipping their hemp oil to the United States, they first send it to Europe. Then they ship it from Europe to the U.S., disguising it as a European product. So while many manufacturers of CBD products in the U.S. think they’re getting regulated, contaminant-free European hemp oil, they may not be. Instead, they may be getting Chinese oil without knowing it. Of course, if they could analyze the product for toxins after buying it, they could detect the problem. Unfortunately, that kind of technical equipment is expensive, and many don’t have it. But this is not the only source of possible chemical contamination in CBD products.

Another issue is how U.S. manufacturers process the bulk oil into the final product. No regulations govern how this is done. And different manufacturers use different methods. Some of them keep their methods secret for proprietary reasons. The problem is that many manufacturers use toxic chemicals in their processing.

The other potential problem is the final quality of the product. Unless the manufacturer tests each batch of the final CBD oil on an HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) analyzer, it has no idea how much CBD is actually in the product it’s selling. And guess what? Many manufacturers, perhaps most, don’t own or use an HPLC. I know. I’ve called them and asked for their specs. So while they maintain that they’re selling a product that has such-and-such an amount of CBD in it, they actually don’t know for sure. And the oil's CBD content isn't the only thing to consider. Two other factors matter. One is terpenes, and the other is absorption.

Terpenes are biologically active molecules found in all plants. In hemp and marijuana, it’s the terpenes that give it a very special aroma. While CBD is the primary molecule in hemp, the terpenes are also important. They are important because CBD is more effective when taken with the various terpenes found in the plant. This is what is called the “Entourage Effect.” That's why it’s important not to upset the balance in plant-based products by stripping them of other constituents. If the final CBD product doesn't preserve the terpenes, it will not be nearly as effective. Depending on how the bulk oil is processed, many or most terpenes may be lost. Unless the manufacturer is regularly checking each batch of CBD product with HPLC to determine the final terpene content, you can’t be sure you’re getting an effective product.

The last problem is absorption. Only about 5-8% of the CBD in the average product gets absorbed. So you could easily be buying an oil that has a high content of CBD, but very little of it is actually getting into your body. And, obviously, that limits the effectiveness.

So with all of these issues in mind, here’s what I had to ask myself. How can I be sure that the CBD product my patients are taking is properly sourced, safely produced, consistently high in CBD and all the associated terpenes, and effectively absorbed? It took me six months of investigating to answer this question. But I finally found a production facility that does it right. They are located on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I traveled there several years ago, toured the facility, and met with their chief scientist, Dr. Mewa Singh. They have the HPLC capacity to quality-check each batch of their product for CBD and terpene levels as well as for any possible contamination. But that’s not all.

In addition, they have solved the absorption problem. Dr. Singh is an expert in nanotechnology. In his former life, he worked for Big Pharma to develop enhanced drug-delivery systems using this technology. Now he uses the same technology to produce a unique, water-soluble CBD that is 10-15 times more absorbable than standard CBD products. This makes the product less expensive, more potent, and easier to take. Here's how nanotechnology works.

Imagine you have a rock the size of your hand and you lay it on the ground. It covers only a very small amount of ground. But then imagine you crush it into sand and then spread that sand evenly over the ground. The result is that it covers much more ground. Now imagine that you can crush it into a powder so fine that it will cover 10 times more ground than the sand. This is what nanotechnology does. By breaking the molecules into such a fine film, they become water-soluble even though they are an oil. This means your body absorbs them much more effectively when taken orally. Because absorption is so much better, you don’t need as much as you would with regular CBD oil. That means a nano-tech product will cost significantly less.

If you’re going to take a CBD product, I recommend nano-tech gel products not only because they're a superior form of CBD, but also because they'll save you money. Because of the enhanced absorption, you will get the same effect from 10 mg of nano CBD that would require 80 mg of regular CBD. Start with ½ ml (5 mg CBD) to 1 ml of the gel daily, then increase the dose as needed. For my cancer patients, I typically start with 1 ml, four times daily. You will often see effects in less than two weeks. You can find nano nutraceutical CBD gel online.

As for Barry, if you would like to hear all the details of his story, you can hear it from Barry himself at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL98TN93t4Q. You’ll quickly see that CBD is clearly a medical miracle. What you won’t hear is the final result of Barry’s story. He called me just before this report went to press and told me that his most recent MRI scan now shows that his tumor is completely gone! No evidence at all that he ever had cancer.

By the way, legislators and the DEA are trying to criminalize these CBD supplements. Please contact your legislators, including your congressional leaders and senators, and tell them to protect these supplements. They truly are a medical miracle.

Yours for better health,

Frank Shallenberger, MD