“It’s exciting.”
So says one of my many pals who’s doing real, hard-core scientific research into CBD oil. I sought this scientist out because I’ve been swamped in recent weeks by social media and conventional advertising pokes and nudges and, hell, downright demands that I gulp the stuff down for whatever bedevils me.
As a rule, whenever I hear about some new panacea that’ll cure anything and everything from cancer to the blues, the skeptic’s corner of my brain immediately shuts my eyes and ears down so I won’t drown in the sea of hype.
Frankly, I was hoping my scientist pal would tell me CBD oil was a load of bullshit.
It ain’t.
This researcher pointed out that CBD oil, in fact, was approved this past summer by the FDA for treatment of a couple of types of childhood epilepsy. The oil, sez this person, also apparently has been shown to an almost proven degree that it’s an fairly good pain reliever. Indiana University researchers in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences are poking their noses into the stuff just about every day of the week now. They do, however proffer a few caveats.
- CBD oil is unregulated. The bottles you cop from a dispensary or the 21st Century version of the Avon Lady or Fuller Brush Man are less regulated than even vitamin supplements, which are notoriously free of oversight from reputable labs and approval authorities. This means the stuff you’re getting may not really even be CBD oil. In fact, this researcher tells me, another scientist colleague has tested hundreds of bottles of CBD oil from various sources and found the different samples to to contain a bewildering number of ingredients and an even more wide-ranging percentage of the actual thing that you thought you were buying.
- Nobody knows precisely what compounds or molecules are doing the things you want CBD oil to do. This is important because once scientists determine what’s doing what to what , the purity and dependability of CBD oil can be more confidently assured. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about charlatans and snake-oil peddlers trying to sell you a bottle of sewing machine oil with a CBD oil label.
- CBD oil increases ocular pressure, meaning people who suffer from glaucoma should avoid it.
I’m still skeptical of the claims that this thing will bring about world peace and the cessation of all human discomfort. But I’m eager to hear more results based on the research by people who don’t have skin in the game and whose methods are above reproach.
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One Of A Kind
Speaking of science, researchers have discovered what they’re calling one of the rarest forms of life on this planet: A Bloomington Republican.
Guenther
That rara avis will appear on this afternoon’s Big Talk. My guest at 5:00pm today on WFHB, 91.3 FM, will be Andrew Guenther, the only person running for office in this year’s local Republican primary. Guenther’s hoping to unseat incumbent District 2 city council member Dorothy Granger, who herself is looking to fend off a couple of challengers in the Democratic primary. The primaries are May 7th and the general election November 5th.
Guenther just graduated from college just last year. He grew up in farm country in the north part of the state and moved down this way to attend IU. He loved Bloomington so much he decided to stay here and already has made his mark in our little civics universe by serving on several boards and commissions.
I’m featuring selected, non-incumbent challengers for Bloomington’s elective offices from now through May 2nd, the week before the primaries. Thus far mayoral challenger Amanda Barge (twice) and city council aspirants Vauhxx Booker, Kate Rosenbarger, and Miah Michaelsen have graced the Big Talk mics.
As usual, I’ll post a link to the Guenther podcast here tomorrow AM.
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