Cannabis 101: A guide to CBD oil, what it is, how it works, who can use it

Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a non-intoxicating chemical compound that comes from the cannabis sativa plant. CBD is one of over 100 such compounds, known as cannabinoids, that are found in the plant. Unlike THC — or tetrahydrocannabinol, another cannabinoid — CBD doesn’t get users stoned. In recent years, CBD has grown increasingly popular, with patients and experts reporting that it can be used to treat a range of health conditions, including epilepsy, Crohn’s disease and even anxiety in dogs.

Here’s everything you need to know about the trendy drug treatment:

CBD was first discovered in the 1940s by Roger Adams, the former head of the chemistry department at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. In his research, Adams isolated CBD from hemp but couldn’t determine what exactly he’d found. In addition to CBD, Adams also synthesized analogs of THC and another cannabinoid, showing their relationship to CBD.

In the 1960s, Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam and his team took the research further, eventually synthesizing cannabinoids — including CBD, THC and others — and describing their chemical structures for future research. Mechoulam, a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, still studies cannabis to this day.

Much of the confusion over CBD stems from its murky legal status.

Because the DEA still lists hemp and marijuana as dangerous Schedule I drugs, along with heroin and ecstasy, CBD remains illegal under federal law. Congress is now is considering the 2018 Farm Bill, which would legalize industrial hemp across the country.

Despite some confusion, the Agriculture Act of 2014 didn’t legalize hemp-based CBD products nationwide, but only allowed for states and universities to grow hemp. Nevertheless, hemp-based CBD is already widely and freely available throughout most of the country.

Illinois is among 37 states that have legalized marijuana-based CBD for medical use, while nine other states have fully legalized pot and its derivatives. Four other states — Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota — still prohibit the medical use of pot-based CBD.

Last month, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed off on a bill that legalized industrial hemp cultivation in Illinois and established rules to test crops’ THC levels. Like the bill being considered by federal lawmakers, the legislation in Illinois bars hemp-based CBD from containing more than 0.3 percent THC.