CBD News Roundup: University of Arkansas Survey Gauges CBD Benefits for Anxiety

Here’s the latest CBD news:

• A survey created by the University of Arkansas seeks to understand the public perception and use of CBD for anxiety.
• Massachusetts-based CBD company Curaleaf was cleared of securities fraud by a federal judge in New York. 
• An NFL and NFL Players Association committee is asking for information on CBD as an opioid alternative for players.

University of Arkansas Survey Gauges CBD Benefits for Anxiety

The University of Arkansas announced on Wednesday, 2/17 that they were collecting data from a survey they had already launched entitled “Have You Used CBD in the Past 30 Days for Anxiety?”

The survey was created by Arkansas graduate student Riley Gournay, B.A., and Department of Psychological Science Professor Elleen Leen-Feldner, Ph.D.

According to the university’s online news portal, the survey aims to measure the public’s “perceptions of CBD as they relate to mental health.”

After a five-minute screening process, eligible participants are ushered through the (roughly) hour-long survey, which asks about their experience with CBD as well as their mental health history.

Upon completion of the survey, participants will receive a free bottle of GMP-compliant CBD as well as “literature about what to consider when thinking about using cannabis-based products like CBD.”

Online promotions for the survey also state that one aim of the researchers will be to interpret the data to better understand how people perceive CBD (not just how it is used for anxiety).

Curaleaf Found Not Guilty of Misleading Shareholders

A federal district court judge in New York ruled on Tuesday (2/16) that CBD (and high-THC cannabis) company Curaleaf did not willingly deceive its shareholders about the legal standing of its CBD products. 

Not long after the FDA’s warning letter to Curaleaf in July of 2019, which was accompanied by a sizable dip in Curaleaf stock price, investors filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that they were led to believe that this would never happen.

District Judge Brian M. Cogan defended his dismissal of the lawsuit by pointing out multiple instances in which the company clearly disclosed this exact risk in their listing statement.

“Starting on its first day in existence,” Cogan stated, “the company publicly and repeatedly acknowledged the very information that plaintiffs contend it concealed: its cannabis-based products are not approved by the FDA and thus the FDA may regard their promotion as violating established law.”

Curaleaf is one of dozens of companies across the nation and the world who have come under fire by regulatory bodies for making health-related claims about their products.

While they weren’t guilty of misleading shareholders, Curaleaf did tread into health claim territory, promoting the product as a treatment for people with specific conditions instead of focusing on safer terms like “wellness” and “calming.” 

The company has removed several products and adjusted their language to reflect this heightened awareness of penalization by the FDA, but as the judge said, shareholders had every opportunity to make an informed risk assessment based on the listing statement. 

NFL Committee Requests More Information on CBD for Pain

A committee within the National Football League and the National Football League Players Association (NFL-NFLPA Pain Management Committee) released an official request on Tuesday (2/16) asking for information about  “pain management alternatives to opioids,” specifically calling out CBD in the process. 

The league intends to use the information to establish standards around alternatives to opioids for improved player safety.

According to the NFL’s official statement, they also want a more accurate gauge of “The impact of cannabis or cannabinoids on athletic performance in NFL players” and the “potential therapeutic role of medications and non-pharmacological interventions that are considered adjunctive to routine post-surgical orthopedic pain management.”

In other words, the NFL and NFLPA want to further their understanding of how effective CBD is as an opioid alternative, how much it affects athletic performance, and how/if it can be worked into a post-op recovery regimen for the purpose of earlier cessation of opioids.

Last year, this same committee held two forums on CBD, and though they explicitly stated this request for information is not an offer to fund research, they will use eligible findings to enhance their understanding of non-addictive, safe pain management methods for players.

The league holds a gradually softening, but still staunch stance against high-THC cannabis use (testing and punishing/counseling players for it), but if CBD is successfully adopted as a standard supplement for NFL players, pro-cannabis players may see more empathy and forgiveness in the near future.