CBD LoveThe independent Australian guideSearch

What is CBD?

CBD (cannabidiol) is a cannabis compound that does not cause a high. What it is and is not, its legal status in Australia and what the evidence shows.

Facts checked 13 November 20267 min readHow we research

CBD is short for cannabidiol, a compound made naturally by the cannabis plant.1 It does not cause a high. In Australia it is a prescription medicine, and the only use with strong evidence behind it is the treatment of a few rare, severe forms of epilepsy.23

Almost everything else you may have heard about CBD sits somewhere between “not properly tested” and “tested and found not to work”. This page gives the short version of each part of the story and links to the detail.

What exactly is CBD?

Cannabis plants make a family of compounds called cannabinoids. More than 90 have been reported.4 The two best known are THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which causes the cannabis high, and CBD, which does not.

A few plain facts about the molecule:

  • Where it is made. Cannabinoids build up in tiny resin glands called trichomes, which sit mostly on the female flowers of the plant.4
  • Its raw form. The living plant makes an acid version called CBDA. Heat, light or ageing turns CBDA into CBD.1
  • Natural or synthetic. CBD can be extracted from plants or made in a laboratory.1
  • What pure CBD looks like. It is a white to pale yellow crystalline solid that does not dissolve in water.5 This is why it is usually dissolved in an oil.1

So “CBD oil” is not an oil pressed from the plant. It is CBD, or a CBD-rich plant extract, mixed into a carrier oil. See CBD oil: what it is and how it is used and how CBD is made.

Does CBD get you high?

No. In a controlled study, healthy volunteers who swallowed 600 mg of CBD scored the same as those given placebo on measures of intoxication. In the same study 10 mg of THC caused intoxication and euphoria and raised heart rate.1 The World Health Organization’s expert review concluded that CBD “exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential”.1

CBD is often called “non-psychoactive”. That is not quite right, because it can cause sleepiness and it changes seizure activity in the brain. “Non-intoxicating” is the accurate word.5 More detail: Does CBD get you high?

What CBD is not

CBD is not THC. They come from the same plant and are made from the same parent compound, but they act differently in the body.1 See CBD vs THC.

CBD is not “medicinal cannabis” in general. Medicinal cannabis is a broad label. It covers CBD-only products, THC-only products and mixtures. Many headline studies of medicinal cannabis used products that contain THC, so their results do not tell you what CBD does on its own.

CBD is not hemp seed oil. Hemp seed oil is a food oil pressed from the seeds. The seed kernel contains only trace amounts of CBD or THC.4 Australian food rules cap how much CBD hemp seed foods may contain, and in a Food Standards Australia New Zealand survey every product tested was within the CBD limit.6 A bottle of supermarket hemp oil is not a CBD product. See CBD oil vs hemp seed oil.

CBD is not a dietary supplement in Australia. Here it is a medicine that needs a prescription.7 Websites that describe it as an everyday wellness supplement are usually written for other countries, where the rules differ.

CBD THC Hemp seed oil
What it is A cannabinoid A cannabinoid A food oil from the seeds
Causes a high No1 Yes7 No
Main source in the plant Flower resin4 Flower resin4 Seeds (trace cannabinoids only)4
Status in Australia Prescription medicine7 Prescription medicine7 Food6

Yes, with a prescription. The Australian Government legalised access to medicinal cannabis in 2016, and you need a prescription (or a place in a clinical trial) to use it.7 Only two cannabis medicines are fully registered: Epidyolex (purified CBD) and Sativex (nabiximols, which contains THC). Every other CBD product is an “unapproved” medicine that a prescriber must obtain through special pathways.8

In December 2020 the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) also decided to create a pharmacist-only category for low-dose CBD (up to 150 mg a day, adults only), but only for products the TGA has approved.9 The TGA said in August 2025 that no complete application for such a product had been submitted or evaluated,10 and we found none registered as of November 2026. In practice that means CBD is lawfully supplied in Australia only on prescription.

The full picture, including penalties and state differences, is on Is CBD legal in Australia? and Can you buy CBD over the counter?

What does the evidence support?

Strong evidence: three rare epilepsies. In a trial of 120 children and young adults with Dravet syndrome, adding CBD at 20 mg per kilogram of body weight per day cut the median number of convulsive seizures from 12.4 to 5.9 a month. On placebo the change was 14.9 to 14.1.3 Similar trials exist for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex. Epidyolex is registered in Australia for seizures in Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes from age two.2 See CBD for epilepsy.

Tested and not better than placebo: chronic pain. A 2024 review found 16 randomised trials of pharmaceutical-grade CBD for pain. In 15 of them CBD did no better than placebo.11

Weak or mixed: anxiety and sleep. A 2025 analysis of 21 placebo-controlled trials found the effect of CBD on anxiety disorders was not statistically significant.12 An Australian trial of 150 mg of CBD nightly for insomnia found it was similar to placebo on most sleep measures.13

No clinical trial evidence: cancer treatment. Claims that CBD treats cancer rest on cell and animal studies.14

Dose is a large part of the story. The epilepsy trials used roughly 700 to 1,400 mg a day for a 70 kg adult. A review by Australian researchers of oral doses up to 400 mg a day found that benefits “became more clearly evident” at 300 mg a day or more.15 Evidence at those doses is not evidence for a few drops.

Every condition we cover has its own graded page in the conditions section, and what Australian medical bodies say summarises the official positions.

Is CBD safe?

The World Health Organization describes CBD as “generally well tolerated with a good safety profile”, and notes that some reported side effects may come from interactions with other medicines.1 That is not the same as harmless.

  • Side effects. In the epilepsy trials, sleepiness or sedation affected 32% of people on CBD against 11% on placebo. Decreased appetite and diarrhoea were also more common.5 See CBD side effects.
  • Liver. In those trials 13% of people on CBD had a liver enzyme (ALT) rise to more than three times the normal limit, against 1% on placebo.5 See CBD and the liver.
  • Medicine interactions. CBD changes how the liver handles several other medicines. For example, it roughly triples blood levels of the active breakdown product of the epilepsy medicine clobazam.5 See CBD drug interactions.
  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding. The TGA says medicinal cannabis is not appropriate for women who are pregnant, planning pregnancy or breastfeeding.16 See CBD in pregnancy and breastfeeding.
  • Product quality. In a United States study of 84 CBD products bought online, only 31% contained the amount of CBD stated on the label.17 Products bought outside the prescription system may also contain THC, which matters for driving and drug tests.

Where to go next

Footnotes

  1. 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 ↩9

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

  3. 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

  4. Andre CM, Hausman JF, Guerriero G. Cannabis sativa: the plant of the thousand and one molecules. Frontiers in Plant Science, 2016. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.00019/full ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. Epidiolex (cannabidiol) oral solution, United States prescribing information. DailyMed, National Library of Medicine. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=8bf27097-4870-43fb-94f0-f3d0871d1eec ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Survey of low-THC hemp seed foods. https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science-data/monitoring-safety/survey-of-low-THC-hemp-seed-foods ↩ ↩2

  7. healthdirect Australia. Medicinal cannabis, last reviewed February 2026. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/medicinal-cannabis ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  8. NPS MedicineWise. Medicinal cannabis: what you need to know. https://www.nps.org.au/professionals/medicinal-cannabis-what-you-need-to-know ↩

  9. 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/ ↩

  10. 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 ↩

  11. 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 ↩

  12. Meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials of cannabidiol for anxiety. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40956670/ ↩

  13. 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/ ↩

  14. Review of clinical data and case reports on cannabinoids as anticancer agents, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34370591/ ↩

  15. Arnold JC, McCartney D, Suraev A, McGregor IS. The safety and efficacy of low oral doses of cannabidiol: an evaluation of the evidence. Clinical and Translational Science, 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36259271/ ↩

  16. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Guidance for the use of medicinal cannabis in Australia: patient information. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/guidance-use-medicinal-cannabis-australia-patient-information.pdf ↩

  17. Bonn-Miller MO, et al. Labeling accuracy of cannabidiol extracts sold online. JAMA, 2017. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2661569 ↩

Common questions

What does CBD stand for?

CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is one of the cannabinoids, a family of compounds made by the cannabis plant. THC is another member of the same family.

Is CBD a drug?

Yes. CBD is a pharmacologically active substance and in Australia it is regulated as a medicine that generally needs a prescription. One purified CBD medicine, Epidyolex, is registered here for two rare epilepsy syndromes.

Is CBD oil the same as medicinal cannabis?

CBD oil is one type of medicinal cannabis product. "Medicinal cannabis" is a broad label that also covers products containing THC, which causes a high and has different effects, risks and rules. A study of a THC product tells you little about CBD.

Is CBD natural or synthetic?

It can be either. Most CBD is extracted from cannabis plants, but the same molecule can also be made in a laboratory. Chemically, the molecule is the same either way.

What does CBD feel like?

In controlled studies, healthy volunteers given CBD could not tell it apart from placebo on measures of intoxication. Some people feel sleepy, especially at high doses or when they take sedating medicines as well.

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.

Didn't find what you needed? Ask us a question.

Keep reading