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A short history of CBD

CBD was isolated in 1940, its structure was found in 1963, and it was first approved as an epilepsy medicine (in the US) in 2018. Key dates, with sources.

Facts checked 13 November 20268 min readHow we research

CBD was first isolated from cannabis in 1940, and its chemical structure was worked out in 1963.1 For decades it was regarded as the inactive part of the plant. It became a registered medicine only in 2018, after large trials in rare forms of childhood epilepsy.2 By then CBD oils and supplements were already being sold online for many ailments, well ahead of the evidence.3

The key dates

Year What happened
About 12,000 years ago Cannabis is first domesticated, in East Asia, according to a 2021 genetic study4
1839 William O’Shaughnessy publishes his observations on cannabis as a medicine in Calcutta5
1940 CBD is isolated from cannabis extract by Adams and colleagues1
1963 Mechoulam and Shvo work out CBD’s exact structure1
1964 The structure of THC is determined by Mechoulam and Gaoni5
1973 A Brazilian group reports that CBD reduces convulsions in animals1
1978 to 1980 First small placebo-controlled trials of CBD in people with epilepsy3
1988 The first cannabinoid receptor (CB1) is identified5
1992 Anandamide, the first of the body’s own cannabinoids, is isolated5
2016 Australia legalises access to medicinal cannabis on prescription6
2017 First large randomised trial of CBD, in Dravet syndrome, is published7
2018 World Health Organization review of CBD. First purified CBD medicine approved in the United States32
2019 The same medicine is authorised in the European Union8
2020 Epidyolex is registered in Australia. The TGA decides to create a pharmacist-only category for low-dose CBD, which takes effect in 202191011

Before CBD had a name

People have grown cannabis for a very long time. A 2021 genetic study concluded it was first domesticated in East Asia around 12,000 years ago, and that varieties bred for fibre and varieties bred as a drug separated about 4,000 years ago.4 Medicinal uses of the plant are recorded in ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek and Roman sources.5

In 1839 William O’Shaughnessy published his observations on cannabis preparations in Calcutta.5 None of this early use was about CBD specifically. The compounds in the plant had not yet been identified.

1940 to 1964: finding the molecule

In 1940 Adams and colleagues isolated CBD from a cannabis extract.1 Its exact chemical structure was not worked out until 1963, by Mechoulam and Shvo.1 The next year Mechoulam and Gaoni, working in Israel, determined the structure of THC, the main psychoactive compound in the plant.5

That second discovery shaped the next few decades. Early tests showed CBD was “unable to mimic the effects of Cannabis”, so it was labelled inactive.1 Because it was not psychoactive in the way THC was, CBD was “neglected and eclipsed by THC”, as one history of the field puts it.5

The 1970s and 1980s: first signs of activity

Much of the early work on CBD came from researchers in Brazil. In 1973 a Brazilian group reported that CBD reduced or blocked convulsions in animals, a finding confirmed by another group the following year.1

The first trials in people followed. In a very early study, four patients took 200 mg of CBD a day and five took placebo for three months. Two of the four on CBD had no seizures in that time.3 In a trial reported in 1980, fewer than 20 patients whose seizures were not controlled by existing medicines took 200 to 300 mg of CBD a day or a placebo for up to four and a half months. Most of those given CBD improved.13 Both studies were far too small to be reliable.

The result was not consistently repeated. A trial reported in 1986 found no significant difference between CBD and placebo, and another six-month study found no change in seizure frequency.3 As late as 2008, a review by one of the Brazilian researchers judged CBD’s effectiveness in epilepsy “still uncertain”.1

The same group produced the first hints of other effects. In 1982 they reported that CBD given with THC reduced the anxiety THC caused in volunteers.1 That small study is the root of the modern claims about CBD and anxiety. See CBD for anxiety.

1988 to 1992: the body’s own system

A different line of research explained why cannabis affects people at all. The first cannabinoid receptor, CB1, was identified in rat and human brains in 1988. Four years later the same researcher isolated anandamide, the first cannabinoid found to be made by the body itself.5

These discoveries revealed what is now called the endocannabinoid system. They also showed that CBD does not act on it the way THC does. See how CBD works.

2017 and 2018: proof in epilepsy

Research on CBD was limited until the early 2000s, then grew quickly.1 The turning point was a set of large, properly controlled trials in severe childhood epilepsies.

In 2017 the New England Journal of Medicine published a trial of 120 children and young adults with Dravet syndrome. With CBD added to their usual medicines, the median number of convulsive seizures fell from 12.4 to 5.9 a month. With placebo it went from 14.9 to 14.1.7 A trial in 171 patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome followed, with drop seizures falling by 43.9% on CBD against 21.8% on placebo.3

In 2018 the United States approved the first purified CBD medicine, for seizures in these two syndromes.2 The European Union authorised it in September 2019.8 See CBD for epilepsy.

2018 to 2020: the rules change

Three regulatory events in this period shaped the CBD market worldwide.

The World Health Organization review. In June 2018 a WHO expert committee completed a critical review of CBD. It found that CBD “exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential” and that there was no evidence of recreational use or public health problems linked to pure CBD.3 WHO recommended that pure CBD not be placed under international drug control.12

The United States Farm Bill. In December 2018 the United States removed hemp, defined as cannabis with no more than 0.3% THC, from its list of controlled substances.13 The US Food and Drug Administration has maintained that it is still unlawful there to add CBD to food or sell it as a dietary supplement.13

The United Nations vote. On 2 December 2020 the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted 27 to 25, with one abstention, to remove cannabis from the most restrictive category of the 1961 drug convention. In the same session it rejected a WHO recommendation that CBD preparations with a low THC content be exempt from international control.14

Australia’s part of the story

Australia legalised access to medicinal cannabis in 2016, on prescription.6 In September 2020 the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) registered Epidyolex for seizures in Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes from age two.9

On 15 December 2020 the TGA announced that low-dose CBD (up to 150 mg a day, for adults) would move to Schedule 3, the pharmacist-only category, for products it had approved.10 The change took effect in 2021.11 The TGA said in August 2025 that no complete application for such a product had been submitted or evaluated.15 In March 2026 it said only two medicinal cannabis medicines had ever been registered, and neither is a pharmacist-only product.11 We found no pharmacist-only CBD product registered as of November 2026.

The full legal sequence is on the timeline of CBD and cannabis law in Australia. See also the registered cannabis medicines and Can you buy CBD over the counter?

Since 2020: testing the claims

The period since has been about checking whether CBD does the other things claimed for it. The results have been sobering.

  • A 2024 review found that in 15 of 16 randomised trials, CBD was no better than placebo for pain.16
  • An Australian trial of 150 mg nightly found CBD similar to placebo on most measures of insomnia.17
  • A 2025 study by the US Food and Drug Administration found raised liver enzymes in 5.6% of healthy adults taking about 350 to 400 mg a day for four weeks, and in none of those on placebo.18

The history of CBD is unusual. Most medicines are tested first and marketed afterwards. CBD became a household name in many countries first, and the testing is still catching up. Where each claim stands today is set out in the conditions section and on CBD myths and misleading claims.

Footnotes

  1. Zuardi AW. Cannabidiol: from an inactive cannabinoid to a drug with wide spectrum of action. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-44462008000300015 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  2. Epidiolex (cannabidiol) oral solution, United States prescribing information (initial US approval 2018). DailyMed, National Library of Medicine. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=8bf27097-4870-43fb-94f0-f3d0871d1eec ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. World Health Organization, Expert Committee on Drug Dependence. Cannabidiol (CBD) critical review report, 2018. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/controlled-substances/whocbdreportmay2018-2.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. Ren G, et al. Large-scale whole-genome resequencing unravels the domestication history of Cannabis sativa. Science Advances, 2021. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8284894/ ↩ ↩2

  5. Crocq MA. History of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 2020. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7605027/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  6. healthdirect Australia. Medicinal cannabis, last reviewed February 2026. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/medicinal-cannabis ↩ ↩2

  7. Devinsky O, et al. Trial of cannabidiol for drug-resistant seizures in the Dravet syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1611618 ↩ ↩2

  8. European Medicines Agency. Epidyolex (cannabidiol), European public assessment report. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/epidyolex ↩ ↩2

  9. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Epidyolex (cannabidiol), Australian prescription medicine decision summary, 2020. https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/auspmd/epidyolex ↩ ↩2

  10. Retail Pharmacy magazine. TGA announces OTC access for low-dose CBD, 16 December 2020 (report of the TGA final decision). https://retailpharmacymagazine.com.au/tga-announces-otc-access-for-low-dose-cbd/ ↩ ↩2

  11. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Briefing on medicinal cannabis regulation and scheduling history (FOI 26-2886), March 2026. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-06/FOI%2026-2886.PDF ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. World Health Organization. 40th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence news briefing, 13 September 2018. https://www.who.int/news/item/13-09-2018-40th-ecdd-news-briefing ↩

  13. US Food and Drug Administration. FDA regulation of cannabis and cannabis-derived products, including cannabidiol (CBD). https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-regulation-cannabis-and-cannabis-derived-products-including-cannabidiol-cbd ↩ ↩2

  14. UN News. Report on the Commission on Narcotic Drugs vote on cannabis, 2 December 2020. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1079132 ↩

  15. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Consultation paper: reviewing the safety and regulatory oversight of unapproved medicinal cannabis products, August 2025. https://consultations.tga.gov.au/medicines-regulation-division/test-soms/user_uploads/final---consultation-paper---medicinal-cannabis-review---august-2025.pdf ↩

  16. Moore A, Straube S, Fisher E, Eccleston C. Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Journal of Pain, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2023.10.009 ↩

  17. Narayan AJ, et al. Cannabidiol for moderate-severe insomnia: a randomized controlled pilot trial of 150 mg of nightly dosing. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38174873/ ↩

  18. Florian J, et al. Study of cannabidiol and liver enzymes in healthy adults, JAMA Internal Medicine, 2025 (news release). https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1089832 ↩

Common questions

Who discovered CBD?

CBD was first isolated from a cannabis extract in 1940 by Adams and colleagues. Its exact chemical structure was worked out in 1963 by Mechoulam and Shvo.

When was CBD first used as a medicine?

Small trials in epilepsy were reported from the late 1970s. The first purified CBD medicine, sold as Epidiolex in the United States and Epidyolex elsewhere, was approved in the United States in 2018 after large trials in two rare childhood epilepsies.

When did CBD become legal in Australia?

The Australian Government legalised access to medicinal cannabis, including CBD, in 2016, on prescription. The purified CBD medicine Epidyolex was registered in September 2020. In December 2020 the TGA decided to create a pharmacist-only category for low-dose CBD, which took effect in 2021, but as of November 2026 no product has been approved for it.

Why was CBD ignored for so long?

Early tests showed that CBD could not reproduce the effects of cannabis, so it was regarded as inactive. Research attention went to THC, the compound responsible for the high, once its structure was identified in 1964.

This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

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