Its kind of like inverse reefer madness right now, says Timothy Caulfield, research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta and author of The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness. Marijuana (and even hemp, to a certain extent, and the products derived from both), went from being an evil substance that was destroying families to a wonder drug and wellness elixir, he says. And a predicted $22 billion market by 2022. Some CVS stores are selling products containing CBD, and Walgreens announced it will carry CBD products, too. Whats behind this popularity surge, according to Caulfield:

Its part of this huge wellness industry , and its being very aggressively positioned in that manner, he says. Its being pushed as an all-natural, not-Big Pharma way to deal with a whole host of ailments. Add a little outsider rebel veneer from marijuanas illegal history, and another segment of the market has been enticed to give it a try.

There really isnt a lot of evidence to support almost any of the claims were seeing in popular culture, says Caulfield. You hear athletes talk about it . You hear celebrities talk about it. Those kind of personal anecdotes overwhelm the data, he says. And it becomes part of pop culture, its hard to remove it, regardless of what the evidence is saying.

CBD is touted for scores of different issues right now, and hope (and spurious claims) grows in the vacuum of evidence. That isnt to say CBD doesnt work, but right now, is there evidence to support the claims that are being made? I think the answer is no. Without all that evidence, a huge health halo can continue to shine. Fast forward 20 years, and if history can tell us anything, I suspect CBD will be found to work in some ways, and wont work for others. But its not going to be this magical wellness product the way its being represented now.