The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has put three CBD companies on alert that "it is illegal to advertise that a product can prevent, treat, or cure human disease without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support such claims."
The three companies, unnamed by the FTC, "sell oils, tinctures, capsules, 'gummies,' and creams" containing CBD. The federal commission urged the companies (and, by association, all CBD companies) to carefully review all health claims made with respect to their products and "to ensure they are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence."
The move echoes a crackdown from the Food and Drug Administration, specifically its actions against Curaleaf's "unsubstantiated" CBD health claims.
From the FTC's Sept. 10 advisory:
Each company has advertised that its CBD products treat or cure serious diseases and health conditions. One company’s website claims CBD “works like magic” to relieve “even the most agonizing pain” better than prescription opioid painkillers. To bolster its claims that CBD has been “clinically proven” to treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), fibromyalgia, cigarette addiction, and colitis, the company states it has participated in “thousands of hours of research” with Harvard researchers.
Another company’s website claims that CBD products are proven to treat autism, anorexia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), stroke, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, traumatic brain injuries, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, MS, fibromyalgia, cancer, and AIDS. The company also advertises CBD as a “miracle pain remedy” for both acute and chronic pain, including pain from cancer treatment and arthritis.
The third company’s website promotes CBD gummies as highly effective at treating “the root cause of most major degenerative diseases, including arthritis, heart disease, fibromyalgia, cancer, asthma, and a wide spectrum of autoimmune disorders.” The company also claims its CBD cream relieves arthritis pain and that its CBD oil may effectively treat depression, PTSD, epilepsy, heart disease, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and asthma.
