Charlotte's Web | |
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Genus | Cannabis |
Species | Cannabis sativa |
Breeder | Stanley Brothers |
Origin | Colorado, United States |
Part of a series on |
Cannabis |
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Charlotte's Web is a brand of high-cannabidiol (CBD), low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products derived from industrial hemp and marketed as dietary supplements and cosmetics under federal law of the United States. [1] [2] [3] It is produced by Charlotte's Web, Inc. in Colorado. Hemp-derived products do not induce the psychoactive "high" typically associated with recreational marijuana strains that are high in THC. [4] Charlotte's Web hemp-derived products contain less than 0.3% THC. [5]
Charlotte's Web is named after Charlotte Figi whose story had led to her being described as "the girl who is changing medical marijuana laws across America." [6] Her parents and physicians say she experienced a reduction of her epileptic seizures brought on by Dravet syndrome after her first dose of medical marijuana at five years of age. Her usage of Charlotte's Web was first featured in the 2013 CNN documentary "Weed".
Media coverage increased demand for products high in CBD, which have been used to treat epilepsy in toddlers and children. One of the initial strains developed by the Stanley Brothers was originally called "Hippie's Disappointment" as it was a strain that had high CBD and could not induce a "high". [7] [8]
While initially anecdotal reports sparked interest in treatment with cannabinoids, [9] there was not enough evidence to draw conclusions with certainty about their safety or efficacy. [9] [10] In 2018, Epidiolex (cannabidiol as the therapeutic ingredient) oral solution was approved by the FDA for two types of epilepsy. [11]
Charlotte's Web was a strain developed by the Stanley brothers (Joel, Jesse, Jon, Jordan, Jared and Josh [12] ) through crossbreeding a strain of marijuana with industrial hemp. [13] This process created a variety with less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and more cannabidiol (CBD) than typical varieties of marijuana. [14] The Stanley brothers grow the plants at their farm and greenhouses. A CBD rich oil is extracted from the harvested plants and concentrated through rotary evaporation. [15] As it is so low in THC, the variety was originally called "Hippie's Disappointment". [8] It is a less profitable plant [16] with "close to no value to traditional marijuana consumers." [17]
In 2014, there was little evidence about the safety or efficacy of cannabinoids in the treatment of epilepsy. [9] [18] A 2014 Cochrane review did not find enough evidence to draw conclusions about its use. [10] A 2014 review by the American Academy of Neurology similarly concluded that "data are insufficient to support or refute the efficacy of cannabinoids for reducing seizure frequency." [19]
The Cochrane review suggests cannabinoids be reserved for people with symptoms that are not controllable by other means, who have been evaluated by EEG-video monitoring to confirm diagnosis, and are not eligible for better-established treatments such as surgery and neurostimulation. [20] A second review described four placebo-controlled trials of cannabidiol including 48 people with a disease that was not manageable by other means. Three out of four trials reported some reduction in seizures, but no comparison with placebo was possible due to the small number of people in the trials. The drugs were well tolerated. [21] A third review found that no reliable conclusions about the effect of cannabis on epilepsy could be drawn due to the poor quality of available data, but further research may be warranted because of the good safety profile observed in small clinical trials. [22]
Due to the anecdotal nature of the health claims being made, medical bodies have published statements of concern.
A 2014 position statement by the American Epilepsy Society stated:
The recent anecdotal reports of positive effects of the marijuana derivative cannabidiol for some individuals with treatment-resistant epilepsy give reason for hope. However, we must remember that these are only anecdotal reports, and robust scientific evidence for the use of marijuana is lacking... at present, the epilepsy community does not know if marijuana is a safe and effective treatment, nor do they know the long-term effects that marijuana will have on learning, memory, and behavior, especially in infants and young children. [23]
Cannabis-derived products were not mentioned in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence epilepsy treatment guidelines in 2012. [24]
With the main ingredient being classified as "industrial hemp" in the United States, (Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018) Charlotte's Web Oil and other CBD products are legal in all 50 states, as long as the THC content is less than 0.3%. [25]
The publicity associated with Charlotte's Web has inspired a number of legislative bills, some of which are in the planning stages, and others that have been proposed or actually passed. [9] Children, as "uniquely powerful advocates for medicinal pot across the country," [26] [9] have inspired "the movement to legalize medicinal marijuana," a movement which "has a face like Charlotte's –and it's a young one that's hard to ignore. Lawmakers across the country are pushing legislation to legalize marijuana oil as a treatment for children with epilepsy." [27]
On March 20, 2014, the Florida House of Representatives Budget Committee passed the "so-called Charlotte's Web measure (CS/HB 843)" [28] designed to limit prosecutors' ability to prosecute those in possession of low THC/high CBD marijuana ("0.5 percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol and more than 15 percent of cannabidiol") used for treating seizures. The law took effect July 1, 2014. [29] [30] Since then, Florida legislators have passed a bill with bipartisan support legalizing the use of Charlotte's Web, [31] and Governor Rick Scott signed the "Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014" (SB 1030) [32] [33] into law on June 6, 2014. The law is also referred to as the "Charlotte's Web" law. [34] [35] The law specifies the number of distribution centers, which types of nurseries can grow the plants, requires various other controls, [36] and provides funding for research. [32]
On October 31, 2017, the FDA sent warning letters to four CBD marketers, including Stanley Brothers Social Enterprises, LLC (d/b/a CW Hemp), the producer of Charlotte's Web. They were warned "against making medical claims about cannabidiol (CBD). The agency also took issue with the businesses marketing CBD products as dietary supplements". [43]
Charlotte's Web is named after an American girl, Charlotte Figi, who developed Dravet syndrome (also known as severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy or SMEI) as a baby. By age three, Figi was severely disabled and having 300 grand mal seizures a week despite treatment. [14] [44] Her parents learned about another child with Dravet Syndrome, who had been using a different type of medical marijuana since June 2011, and decided to try marijuana. [45] Her parents and physicians said that she improved immediately. She followed a regular regimen that used a solution of the high-CBD marijuana extract in olive oil. She was given the oil under her tongue or in her food. [14] [46] Her parents said in 2013 that her epilepsy had improved so that she had only about four seizures per month, and she was able to engage in normal childhood activities. [14] [47]
The type now named after Figi was not the first type her parents tried. As their original supply, a type called R4 that is also high in CBD and low in THC, was running out, they contacted the Stanley brothers. From the Stanleys' stock, they chose the high-CBD variety that has since been renamed to Charlotte's Web. [14]
Charlotte's story has been featured on two CNN documentaries, [48] [16] The Doctors TV show, [49] 60 Minutes Australia, [50] and Dateline NBC , [51] among many other sources. An article in the National Journal detailing the role of several children as "uniquely powerful advocates for medicinal pot across the country" described Charlotte as the "first poster child for the issue...." [26] Her story has led to her being described as "the girl who is changing medical marijuana laws across America," [6] as well as the "most famous example of medicinal hemp use". [52] On November 13, 2019, Charlotte was the first child featured on the cover of High Times magazine in her "Namesake" role as a "High Times Female 50" award nominee. [53] [54] Charlotte Figi died on April 7, 2020. [55] [56]
When Charlotte was five years old, her story was featured in the August 11, 2013, CNN documentary "Weed", hosted by Sanjay Gupta. [48] On November 24, 2013, Paige Figi was a guest on The Doctors TV show, where Charlotte's story was told. [49] She was also featured in Gupta's March 11, 2014, CNN documentary "Weed 2: Cannabis Madness". [16] The extract received more publicity on October 6, 2014, when The Doctors TV show again featured a story about usage of Charlotte's Web. The physicians called for a change of the Federal classification. [57] Sanjay Gupta has also expressed his support for Charlotte's Web on The Doctors TV show. [58] On the October 17, 2014, episode of the ABC TV series The View , Paige Figi and Joel Stanley were interviewed by Whoopi Goldberg and Nicolle Wallace. [44]
The CNN documentaries received widespread publicity and popularized Charlotte's Web as a possible treatment for epilepsy and other conditions. [14] Colorado has legalized both the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana, and many parents have flocked there with their suffering children in search of Charlotte's Web and other forms of medical marijuana. [59] In November 2013, CBS Denver reported that "[t]here is now a growing community of 93 families with epileptic children using marijuana daily. Hundreds are on a waiting list and thousands are calling." [8] In October 2014, Time noted the Stanley brothers had a waiting list of "more than 12,000 families." [60] They have been termed "marijuana refugees", [8] "part of a migration of families uprooting their lives and moving to Colorado, where the medicinal use of marijuana is permitted...forced to flee states where cannabis is off limits." [61] [62] In November 2014, David Nutt mentioned Charlotte's Web in the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Pharmaceutical Journal , where he appealed for "the UK government [to] acts on evidence, allowing the use of medicinal cannabis and reducing barriers to its research." [63]
Families who say they have run out of pharmaceutical options have moved to Colorado to access Charlotte's Web. The demand has spurred calls for more research to determine whether these products actually do what is claimed. Amy Brooks-Kayal, vice president of the American Epilepsy Society, stated that epileptic seizures may come and go without any obvious explanation, and that Charlotte's web could cause developmental harm. She recommended that parents relocate so that their affected children could have access to one of the nation's top pediatric epilepsy centers rather than move to Colorado. [64]
The product has been described as the "country's most famous brand of CBD oil", [65] the "largest selling CBD oil in the country", [66] and the "number one brand", with 7% of the market. [67]
In October 2022, Charlotte's Web became the official CBD supplier for Major League Baseball with a multi-year contract. [68]
In November 2013, Josh Stanley said that Charlotte's web was 0.5% THC and 17% CBD, [12] and that it "is as legal as other hemp products already sold in stores across Utah, including other oils, clothing, and hand creams, but is illegal, federally, to take across state lines." [69] The legalities of selling the product to people who transport it across state lines are complicated, with difficulties for both the sellers and transporters. [70] [71]
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: Cannabis sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis. Alternatively, C. ruderalis may be included within C. sativa, or all three may be treated as subspecies of C. sativa, or C. sativa may be accepted as a single undivided species. The genus is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from Asia.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a cannabinoid found in cannabis. It is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis and one of at least 113 total cannabinoids identified on the plant. Although the chemical formula for THC (C21H30O2) describes multiple isomers, the term THC usually refers to the delta-9-THC isomer with chemical name (−)-trans-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol. It is a colorless oil.
A cannabis edible, also known as a cannabis-infused food or simply an edible, is a food item that contains decarboxylated cannabinoids from cannabis extract as an active ingredient. Although edible may refer to either a food or a drink, a cannabis-infused drink may be referred to more specifically as a liquid edible or drinkable. Edibles are a way to consume cannabis. Unlike smoking, in which cannabinoids are inhaled into the lungs and pass rapidly into the bloodstream, peaking in about ten minutes and wearing off in a couple of hours, cannabis edibles may take hours to digest, and their effects may peak two to three hours after consumption and persist for around six hours. The food or drink used may affect both the timing and potency of the dose ingested.
Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not been as rigorously tested as other medicinal plants due to legal and governmental restrictions, resulting in limited clinical research to define the safety and efficacy of using cannabis to treat diseases.
Cannabinoids are several structural classes of compounds found in the cannabis plant primarily and most animal organisms or as synthetic compounds. The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (delta-9-THC), the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis. Cannabidiol (CBD) is also a major constituent of temperate cannabis plants and a minor constituent in tropical varieties. At least 100 distinct phytocannabinoids have been isolated from cannabis, although only four have been demonstrated to have a biogenetic origin. It was reported in 2020 that phytocannabinoids can be found in other plants such as rhododendron, licorice and liverwort, and earlier in Echinacea.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid, one of 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants, along with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and accounts for up to 40% of the plant's extract. Medically, it is an anticonvulsant used to treat multiple forms of epilepsy. It was discovered in 1940 and, as of 2022, clinical research on CBD included studies related to the treatment of anxiety, addiction, psychosis, movement disorders, and pain, but there is insufficient high-quality evidence that CBD is effective for these conditions. CBD is sold as an herbal dietary supplement and promoted with yet unproven claims of particular therapeutic effects.
Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, weed, and pot, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.
Cannabis tea is a cannabis-infused drink prepared by steeping various parts of the cannabis plant in hot or cold water. Cannabis tea is commonly recognized as an alternative form of preparation and consumption of the cannabis plant, more popularly known as marijuana, pot, or weed. This plant has long been recognized as an herbal medicine employed by health professionals worldwide to ease symptoms of disease, as well as a psychoactive drug used recreationally and in spiritual traditions. Though less commonly practiced than popular methods like smoking or consuming edibles, drinking cannabis tea can produce comparable physical and mental therapeutic effects. Such effects are largely attributed to the THC and CBD content of the tea, levels of which are drastically dependent on individual preparation techniques involving volume, amount of cannabis, and boiling time. Also in common with these administration forms of cannabis is the heating component performed before usage. Due to the rather uncommon nature of this particular practice of cannabis consumption in modern times as well as the legality of cannabis throughout the world, the research available on the composition of cannabis tea is limited and based broadly around what is known of cannabis as it exists botanically.
Cannabis strains is a popular name to refer to plant varieties of the monospecific genus Cannabis sativa L.. They are either pure or hybrid varieties of the plant, which encompasses various sub-species C. sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis.
In the United States, the use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 38 states, four out of five permanently inhabited U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia, as of March 2023. Ten other states have more restrictive laws limiting THC content, for the purpose of allowing access to products that are rich in cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of cannabis. There is significant variation in medical cannabis laws from state to state, including how it is produced and distributed, how it can be consumed, and what medical conditions it can be used for.
GW Pharmaceuticals Limited is a British pharmaceutics company known for its multiple sclerosis treatment product nabiximols which was the first natural cannabis plant derivative to gain market approval in any country. Another cannabis-based product, Epidiolex, was approved for treatment of epilepsy by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2018. It is a subsidiary of Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Charlotte Figi was an American girl with Dravet syndrome, who took cannabidiol (CBD) oil to prevent seizures, and inspired the name of the medical cannabis strain Charlotte's Web.
The entourage effect is a hypothesis that cannabis compounds other than tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) act synergistically with it to modulate the overall psychoactive effects of the plant.
Cannabis in Iowa is illegal for recreational use if classified as marijuana but consumable hemp products including CBD products are legal for consumers to possess and registered retailers to sell. Possession of even small amounts of marijuana is a misdemeanor crime. The state has a medical program for patients with qualifying debilitating medical conditions that allows for the legal sale and possession of no more than 4.5g of THC per patient every 90-day period. Allowed modes of consumption are oral and topical forms including, but not limited to; tablets and tinctures, nebulizable inhalable forms, suppositories, and vaporization.
Cannabis in Idaho is fully illegal for any use, whether recreational or medical. The laws on cannabis prohibition in Idaho are among the most severe in the United States, with possession of even small amounts of it a misdemeanor crime, and no legality of medical marijuana. As of 2018, support for the legalization of medical cannabis is broadly popular in the state, while legalization of the drug recreationally remains a wedge issue. Both the state's legislature as a whole and its governor, Brad Little, remain staunchly opposed to its legalization for medicinal or recreational purposes.
Terms related to cannabis include:
Medical cannabis research includes any medical research on using cannabis. The earliest systematic studies of physiological effects of cannabis-derived chemical were conducted in the 1920's. The level or research activity in this area remained relatively low and constant until 1966, when a 10-fold increase in publication activity occurred within 10 years. After the adoption of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances in 1971 there was a drop in research publishing, which continued till ca. 1987. Since then, cannabis research has been continuously on the rise. There is no apparent inflection point is 2013, when Uruguay "became the first country in the world to fully regulate its marijuana market, from production to consumption and distribution." Since then a large number of countries enacted policies on medical cannabis research, and there are substantial differences between such policies in different countries.
8,9-Dihydrocannabidiol is a synthetic cannabinoid that is closely related to cannabidiol (CBD) itself. that was first synthesized by Alexander R. Todd in 1940 derived from the catalytic hydrogenation of cannabidiol.
Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol is a psychoactive cannabinoid found in the Cannabis plant. It is an isomer of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound commonly known as THC, with which it co-occurs in hemp; natural quantities of ∆8-THC found in hemp are low. Psychoactive effects are similar to that of Δ9-THC, with central effects occurring by binding to cannabinoid receptors found in various regions of the brain.
Cannabinoids are compounds found in the cannabis plant or synthetic compounds that can interact with the endocannabinoid system. The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (Delta-9-THC), the primary intoxicating compound in cannabis. Cannabidiol (CBD) is another major constituent of some cannabis plants. Conversion of CBD to THC can occur when CBD is heated to temperatures between 250–300 °C, potentially leading to its partial transformation into THC.
'Charlotte's Web is high in CBD and low in THC,' ... Similar varieties of CBD-rich marijuana available in California include ACDC, Harlequin, and Cannatonic. To many in the medical community, these parents are relying, at best, on shaky science. A 2013 Cochrane review of studies examining CBD as a treatment for epilepsy concluded that, due to the dearth of large, high-quality studies, 'the safety of long-term cannabidiol treatment cannot be reliably assessed.'