CBD is «safe» for retail, says Health Canada

CBD is «safe and tolerable» in healthy adults and should be available without a prescription, a Health Canada advisory committee recommended Thursday.

This recommendation comes three years after Health Canada first appointed a team of experts to examine whether the CBD could be sold by mainstream stores, and not limited to adult-use cannabis stores or by doctor's prescription as is currently the case.

The experts concluded that cannabidiol is «safe and tolerable for short-term use (a maximum of 30 days) at doses ranging from 20 milligrams per day to a maximum dose of 200 mg/day».

The panel noted «the desire of Canadians to have access to health products containing cannabis without the supervision of a practitioner (such as a physician or nurse practitioner)», but also called for CBD products to carry warning labels.

«If a person were to take up to the maximum dose of 200 mg/day, the maximum amount of THC absorbed into the bloodstream and reaching the brain would be potentially too low to cause appreciable psychotropic effects in most people,» they concluded.

Health Canada will make the final decision on whether CBD can be sold in retail outlets. However, there is no deadline by which Health Canada must respond.

The recommendation could open up a huge new market for CBD. Authorized Canadian growers today have focused in the vast majority of cases on the production of THC varieties for incumbent consumers, but without any real offers for those who prefer more balanced, less potent cannabis varieties or the full range of CBD «wellness» products.

Some brands like From the Farm and Après la pluie have already preempted this niche in Quebec, offering products with low THC content via SQDC.