Since the adoption of cannabis and its cannabinoid into the medicinal field, there has been a need for laws to regulate the use of these cannabinoids. The cannabinoid CBN is not an exception to this. The Legality of CBN alongside the other cannabinoids are in question by consumers and producers out there. This article focuses on the Legality of CBN and what it entails.
What is CBN?
In more ways than one, CBN is something of a “sleeper” cannabinoid. It’s far less popular than THC or CBD, and at the moment, it certainly lessens vogue than terpenes. To those aware of its existence, however, CBN is “the sleepy cannabinoid in old weed.”
Given its sedative effects and dominant presence in cannabis, CBN’s reputation — both as a sleepy cannabinoid and one less desirable than THC or CBD — is warranted, although it lands just shy of the big picture. CBN’s distinct sedative quality is the thing that sets it apart from other cannabinoids, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have much to learn from the CBN cannabinoid or much to gain from becoming more familiar with its chemical makeup and effects.
Much of the research around cannabinol effects, notable sedation, has been done in rodents. A 1975 study showed CBN enhances the sedating effects of THC in rats and mice. Sedation is commonly associated with CBN because aged flowers have much more CBN than fresh flowers. The sedation is not necessarily a product of CBN; rather, aged cannabis with CBN cannabinoids will be sedating because it has also lost lower molecular weight monoterpenoids in favor of more sedating sesquiterpenoids. The sedation factor is one of several primary differences when comparing CBN vs. CBD, as the latter cannabinoid does not cause sleepiness.
How CBN Works?
One of the most valuable aspects of cannabis is the way its cannabinoids offer multiple mechanisms of action or pathways through which they produce an effect. CBD and THC produce beneficial effects, in part, because they can activate multiple biological pathways at once. They may also produce a wider variety of effects through channels separate from the CB1 and CB2 receptors.
The research on CBN cannabinoids is not nearly as rigorously as CBD, THC, or even some terpenes. But as researchers begin to mine cannabis for every possible benefit, the demand for more information will likely reveal the full profile of CBN’s effects.
Is CBN Legal?
Like CBD and THC, CBN is among the 100+ molecules in the cannabis plant. CBN comes from the oxidation and decomposition of THC. This means that when you heat and expose THC to CO2 (oxygen), it converts to CBN. The compound has a mild psychoactive effect, slightly more so than CBD but much less than THC.
From a regulatory perspective, the legal status of hemp CBN products (like CBG products) may be less problematic than CBD products. The FDA likes to point out that the 2018 Farm Bill explicitly preserved FDA’s authority to regulate products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds under the Food Drug & Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and section 351 of the Public Health Service Act. But the marketing of CBN as a dietary supplement may be viable nonetheless. This is because one verifies health claims before making them.
Unlike CBD, CBN has not been approved as a drug, and FDA itself has acknowledged that “parts of the cannabis plant that do not contain THC or CBD might fall outside the scope of the [drug exclusion rule].” As with CBG, if CBN is approved as a drug at some point down the line, it also seems likely that the drug exclusion rule would not apply: this is because the rule contains an exception for substances marketed as foods or dietary supplements before any FDA clinical investigation. People are already marketing CBN products as foods and dietary supplements.
This domestic legal framework, alongside the fact that you can lawfully produce and extract CBN from hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill, seemingly gives CBN a viable legal runway. Everything boils down to manufacturers and sellers steering clear of health claims that are not legal, of course.
International Legality of CBN.
The international legal framework seems promising as well. CBN is not on the list of the schedules set out in the U.N. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and does not appear to be controlled by any other international treaty. This means that countries do not need to control CBN. This makes it both legal under international law and potentially ripe for export.
Before CBN takes off in a major way, two things probably have to happen. The first is that consumers need to take an interest. It’s hard to know exactly how that will play out. CBN received a smattering of press in 2019, although it has been covered sporadically in industry media for several years. As with CBG, cannabis companies may now feel incentivized to promote CBN given its potential. And also, the possibility of avoiding FDA entanglements. It is also easier to produce CBN under the 2018 Farm Bill than ever before.
The second development needed is for technology to demonstrate that CBN can be produced at scale. CBN does not present hemp growers with the “Sophie’s choice” of CBG. This requires harvest before the natural conversion of CBG into other cannabinoids. However, because CBN-rich strains of cannabis do not exist, CBN must be mechanically converted from other cannabinoids–namely, THC. Note that hemp cannot contain more than 0.3% THC by law. This makes CBN more difficult to produce at scale than CBD or even CBG. That said, recent claims have surfaced of CBN distillation from “full-spectrum hemp extracts.”
