Parents are flocking to pediatricians to seek guidance to use CBD for pediatric illnesses. Especially after CBD’s legalization in many parts of the world, and subsequent accessibility from E-commerce websites, pharmacy chains, and local shops, these queries have significantly increased.
As more and more people are using CBD to treat epilepsy, ADHD, and a variety of other disorders prevalent in children, it’s essential to discuss CBD’s role in pediatrics. While preliminary research suggests that CBD is a safe and effective medicine for various illnesses, further digging is needed to reach concrete conclusions.
Is Cannabis or CBD safe for your children? Is current science conclusive enough to deem CBD as an effective alternative treatment? How can you administer CBD to your ailing kid?
In this article, we’ll explore these and many other questions surrounding cannabis use in children in a bid to provide reliable medical advice.
Will CBD Make My Child High?
This is one of the most important things parents are concerned about when using CBD for their children.
To make things clear, CBD doesn’t have any psychoactive properties. It won’t cause your child to get high in any circumstance.
However, some CBD products might contain more than the recommended amount of THC (.3%), causing problems. However, there are ways to identify the right CBD product to ensure your child’s safety (more on this, later).
Is CBD Legal for Children?
It’s illegal to use recreational CBD for your children. Any CBD product that has more than .3% of THC will cause children to have psychoactive episodes. Therefore, authorities have imposed strict regulations to ensure parents are cautious before choosing a CBD product to treat their children.
“Pure CBD” doesn’t intoxicate. It’s considered a natural nutritional supplement in public spaces. Moreover, modern extraction techniques are progressive enough to help CBD producers keep THC amounts to a bare minimum. That said, you should consult with your holistic or conventional doctor, or both in the best-case scenario, to be on the safe side.
CBD Oil for Anxiety
Social anxiety disorders are common in children. These cause children to undergo negative psychological and behavioral changes, such as loss of appetite, weight loss, and a propensity for social isolation.
CBD has emerged as a viable and promising treatment for anxiety
In 2015, researchers carried out an intensive review to study CBD’s anti-anxiety effects. The resulting data yielded from 49 studies threw a positive light on CBD and suggested the need for further research. Although the resulting evidence was labeled “preclinical,” it demonstrated CBD’s powerful ability to curb various anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder, OCD, and PTSD.
Later, further studies also cemented CBD’s promising sedative properties and safety profile.
Even though these studies weren’t preclinical, they were conducted in fabricated environments (anxiety-inducing situations). Therefore, they indicated the need for further evidence to understand CBD’s ability to treat anxiety in children comprehensively.
CBD for Autism
Israeli researchers were the first to study CBD’s ability to combat autism spectrum disorder in children. They conducted a study of 60 children that showed CBD’s impacting potential to reduce behavioral changes, such as stress and “angry outbursts.” This research ran for three months and provided ample evidence to dig further into CBD’s ability to treat autism in children.
Another study spanning 188 children demonstrated how administering CBD oil orally thrice a day can significantly improve rage attacks and exhaustion, among other autistic symptoms.
However, researchers reported some side effects. These included acid reflux, lack of appetite, and drowsiness.
Further research on CBD’s ability to treat autism is ongoing and will provide more answers to gauge whether CBD is an effective treatment for autism spectrum disorders.
CBD for Epilepsy
The first and only FDA-approved CBD-based drug for two severe forms of epilepsy is Epidiolex. Children suffering from Dravet and Lennox-Gaut syndrome had no effective treatment to rely on before Epidiolex’s introduction. This is why healthcare professionals touted it as a breakthrough.
Epidiolex’s efficacy was studied in three placebo-controlled trials and included 516 participants. The results showed that Epidiolex improved patients’ symptoms, a significant reduction in seizure frequencies being the main highlight.
Keep in mind, though, that even though Epidiolex is a highly regulated product, it does have side effects. These include:
- feeling lethargic and sleepy
- elevated liver enzymes
- diminished appetite
- rash
- diarrhea
- feeling weakness in the body
- issues with sleep, such as insomnia and poor sleep quality
- infections
- Serious risks are less likely, but they may include:
- suicidal thoughts or actions
- agitation
- depression
- aggressive behavior
- panic attacks
- injury to the liver
Concerns About CBD Use In Children
While anecdotal evidence on CBD’s potential benefits for children is vast and sundry, you should know some associated concerns and risks.
- CBD products are not always reliable. Some contain varying amounts of CBD. You can’t always depend upon the packaging, especially when it comes to unregulated and illegal black market CBD products.
- Little is known about how much CBD is absorbed in the human body. Various delivery systems have varying absorption fasts. Vaping is among the fastest; however, it’s not the safest and is ill-advised for pediatric use.
- Some products may contain potentially harmful chemicals besides CBD. This is because third-party lab testing isn’t the law in every state, and that often leads to an inconsistent and harmful end product.
- CBD is safe in itself. However, if your child is on other meds, it might cross-react and cause adverse reactions. Ensure you consult with a reputable pediatrician before jumping the gun, and prescribing CBD is any form whatsoever.
Final Thoughts
CBD promises to treat a wide variety of illnesses in children. A CBD-based oral solution named Epidiolex has already shown how this is a huge possibility. To get the eBay out of CBD’s medical potential, authorities need to rethink laws regarding cannabis legalization. This step is essential to ensure that researchers get the grants and funds they need to carry out CBD research on a large scale.
The global movement for cannabis legalization has stalled for many years. It’s the need of the hour to expedite things and give CBD research the importance it’s due.
