CBD, a substance derived from cannabis, has been dubbed "the wonder drug of our age" because it may have health benefits without the high. From juices and coffee to truffles and ice cream, CBD products have flooded the market for co But with CBD products in the UK and EU falling under “novel foods” regulations rather than pharmaceutical standards, they aren’t subjected to the same rigorous safety and quality controls as drugs.

The UK’s Committee on Toxicology has even flagged potential health risks, such as liver injury, leading the Food Standards Agency to issue safety guidance. Today's regulatory lapses and health concerns are analogous to those of the 19th century, when the food industry began selling cannabis products. consumers looking for an answer to health problems from anxiet In the 1830s, William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, an Irish doctor, discovered that cannabis was effective in treating muscle spasms and stomach cramps. French psychiatrist Jacques-Joseph Moreau later explored its potential for mental illness. This led many 19th-century doctors to champion cannabis as a cure-all to insomnia.

It wasn’t long before patent medicine manufacturers began using cannabis as a common ingredient in their formulas. But soon, cannabis wasn’t just in pharmacies – it was in food. As part of efforts to combat tuberculosis, which was the leading cause of death across all social classes in Sweden at the time, this shift was surprisingly sparked not by the food industry but rather by the free church environment there. [caption id="attachment_2648347" align="alignnone" width="2560"] An employee drops Greek CBD oil produced of medical cannabis during 'Cannabisexpo 2020' exhibition of medical cannabis in Athens, Greece, 12 January 2020. Greece was among the first countries to allow medical cannabis cultivation in Europe in 2017.

[caption] EPA-EFE/KOSTAS TSIRONIS The Swedish Mission Covenant's leader, Paul Petter Waldenström, wrote to Svenska Morgonbladet about a woman who was said to have been cured of tuberculosis thanks to a home-brewed gruel made with hempseed, rye flour, and milk. His endorsement helped popularise the remedy and many started making their own “Waldenström gruel”, as it became known. Entrepreneur J. saw a business opportunity. Barthelson came up with the elegant French name Extrait Cannabis for a powdered version that was sold in stores. He advertised it as a dietary remedy for low energy, chest diseases, and tuberculosis. Competitors jumped on the bandwagon as soon as demand increased, using scare tactics to convince customers that they were putting their lives at risk without it.

The rise and fall of cannabis and maltose The Red Cross Technical Factory produced the most striking cannabis-infused product of its time. Their “health drink”, Maltos-Cannabis, was a maltose and cannabis blend marketed as both nutritious and delicious, especially when mixed with cocoa. With an aggressive advertising campaign, the company raked in nearly SEK 290,000 a year (around £775,000 in modern money), opening factories in Chicago, Helsinki, Brussels and Utrecht. The Grim Reaper running away from the light of science in a particularly dramatic advertisement featured a lighthouse. In the meantime, a mother and daughter raised their arms in triumph, a sign of Maltos-Cannabis' victory over death. The bold claim that the product had "a big future" was made in the tagline.

[caption id="attachment_2649018" align="alignnone" width="740"] An advertisement for Maltos-Cannabis appeared on February 1, 1894, in Hälsovännen. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons However, its legitimacy was up for debate. Newspapers debated whether the product was a groundbreaking remedy or “a pure scam product”. While some critics referred to the fad as an "epidemic," others argued that coffee had more negative effects, which was a hot topic in Sweden's parliament at the time. Red Cross responded by publishing a half-page response that defended the product's credibility and was signed by executives. Maltos-Cannabis sales began to decline as a result of a number of lawsuits and growing concerns about its safety and effectiveness. The product had completely disappeared by the 1930s.

Does history repeat itself? The absence of food and pharmaceutical product marketing regulations allowed the commercial cannabis market of the 19th century to flourish. Pseudoscientific claims and buzzword-heavy marketing were used by manufacturers to freely promote their products, strategies that are still prevalent in the thriving CBD industry today. https://youtu.be/3GjszgF5cvk This is due to the fact that CBD is a "borderline" product that falls within a regulatory gray area that lets marketing strategies flourish without strict regulation. Much like in the past, brands tap into consumers’ health anxieties with promises of a wellness revolution. Most alarmingly, CBD is being promoted by social media influencers, who make it particularly appealing to younger audiences.

Looking back on the wider, problematic history of commercial cannabis ought to serve as a cautionary tale, as the global CBD market is estimated to be worth US$19 billion in 2023 and to grow by 16% annually until 2030.