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CBD oil: what it is and how it is used

CBD oil is cannabidiol dissolved in a carrier oil and taken by mouth. What is in it, how strength is measured, how much is absorbed and its legal status.

Facts checked 13 November 20267 min readHow we research

CBD oil is cannabidiol (CBD) dissolved in an edible oil and taken by mouth. It is the most familiar form of CBD, and in Australia it is a prescription medicine. This page explains what is in the bottle, how the strength is written, how much of a dose the body absorbs and where the oil sits in Australian law.

What is in a bottle of CBD oil?

Three things, usually.

CBD. Cannabidiol is one of the natural compounds (cannabinoids) made by the cannabis plant. In its pure form it is a crystalline solid.1 It does not dissolve well in water but dissolves readily in fats and oils, which is why it is most often supplied as an oil.2

A carrier oil. This is the edible oil the CBD is dissolved in. The registered Australian CBD medicine, Epidyolex, uses sesame oil. Each millilitre holds 100 mg of CBD, 736 mg of sesame oil and 79 mg of ethanol (alcohol), plus a sweetener and a strawberry flavour.3 Other products use other vegetable oils. The carrier matters if you have a food allergy: Epidyolex must not be used by people who are allergic to sesame.3

Sometimes, other plant compounds. An oil made from a whole-plant extract also carries small amounts of other cannabinoids, which can include THC, the compound that causes a high. An oil made from purified CBD does not. The difference affects how the product is classed in law and whether it can show up on a drug test. See full spectrum vs broad spectrum vs isolate.

“CBD oil” and “hemp oil” are sometimes used as if they mean the same thing. They do not. Hemp seed oil is pressed from the seeds and sold as a food. To stay outside the medicine rules it may contain no more than 75 mg of CBD and 10 mg of THC per kilogram.4 Australia’s Office of Drug Control puts it this way: only the seeds of the hemp plant can be used for human consumption, and extracts from the rest of the plant are considered a drug.5 See CBD oil vs hemp seed oil.

How is the strength of CBD oil written?

Strength is the amount of CBD in each millilitre of oil, written as mg/mL. Epidyolex is 100 mg/mL in a 100 mL bottle.3 Some labels give the total CBD in the bottle instead. To turn a total into a strength, divide the milligrams by the millilitres: a 30 mL bottle holding 3,000 mg is also 100 mg/mL.

A prescribed dose is written in milligrams of CBD. The volume you measure out depends on the strength. See how to read a CBD label for a worked example, and the dose calculator for the arithmetic.

Oil is measured with a dropper or an oral syringe. Epidyolex comes with 1 mL syringes marked every 0.05 mL (5 mg of CBD) and 5 mL syringes marked every 0.1 mL (10 mg).3 “Drops” are a rough measure by comparison, because the size of a drop varies.

This site does not recommend a dose. Your prescriber sets it. The doses that clinical trials used are in the CBD dosage guide.

How is CBD oil taken?

By mouth. The registered oil is swallowed.3 Many other oils are directed to be held under the tongue (sublingual use) before swallowing.

Holding oil under the tongue is often claimed to get far more CBD into the blood. The evidence for that is thin. No study has properly measured the share of an under-the-tongue dose that reaches the bloodstream, estimates vary widely, and researchers have found that much of a dose given in the mouth ends up being swallowed.62 See ways to take CBD compared.

How much of the CBD does your body absorb?

Not much, when the oil is swallowed without food. On an empty stomach about 6% of swallowed CBD reaches the bloodstream. The rest is broken down by the gut and liver first. Absorption is also erratic and varies a lot between people.1

Food makes a large difference. In healthy volunteers, taking Epidyolex with a high-fat, high-calorie meal raised the peak blood level about five times and total exposure about four times, compared with fasting.3 For that reason the product information says the medicine should be taken the same way each time in relation to food.3 See taking CBD with food and CBD bioavailability.

After a swallowed dose, blood levels peak roughly 2.5 to 5 hours later once a person is taking it regularly.7 See how long CBD takes to work.

It is legal with a prescription. As of November 2026:

  • CBD for therapeutic use is a Schedule 4 (prescription only) medicine when CBD makes up 98% or more of the cannabinoids in the product.4
  • Only two cannabis medicines are registered in Australia: Epidyolex (cannabidiol oral solution) and Sativex (nabiximols, a mouth spray that contains THC).8 Epidyolex is approved as an add-on treatment for seizures in two rare, severe epilepsies, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, from age two.9
  • Every other CBD oil is an “unapproved” medicine. The TGA says such products “have not been assessed by us for safety, quality or effectiveness”. They can be supplied only when a doctor or nurse practitioner uses one of the TGA’s access pathways.10
  • A pharmacist-only (Schedule 3) category exists in law for low-dose oral CBD, but it only applies to a product on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. The TGA has said no product has been registered through that route.411

CBD-only oral liquids are a small part of the prescribed cannabis market. The TGA recorded 29,165 Special Access Scheme approvals for them in 2024.12

For the full picture see is CBD legal in Australia?, over-the-counter CBD and how legal access to CBD works.

How do you know the oil is what it says?

Prescription products supplied in Australia must meet a quality standard called TGO 93. For an oil, the measured amount of each active ingredient must be within 90% to 110% of the amount stated on the label.13 When the TGA’s laboratory tested prescription cannabis products, results were mostly close to the label.14

Unregulated products sold online overseas are a different story. In a United States study of 84 CBD products bought online, only 26 (31%) were accurately labelled, and THC was found in 18.15 See is what is on the label in the bottle?

What are the safety points for CBD oil?

  • Side effects. In the epilepsy trials the common ones were sleepiness, reduced appetite, diarrhoea and raised liver enzymes.7 See CBD side effects.
  • Other medicines. CBD changes how the liver handles several medicines, including clobazam, warfarin and tacrolimus.7 See CBD drug interactions.
  • The liver. Liver enzyme rises are dose-related and more likely with valproate.7 See CBD and the liver.
  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding. The TGA’s patient guidance says medicinal cannabis is not appropriate for women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.16 See CBD in pregnancy and breastfeeding.
  • Driving. An oil that contains any THC can lead to a positive roadside test. See CBD and driving.
  • Storage. Keep the oil in its original child-resistant container, out of reach of children and pets. See storing CBD.

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

  2. Millar SA, Maguire RF, Yates AS, O’Sullivan SE. Towards better delivery of cannabidiol (CBD). Pharmaceuticals, 2020. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7558665/ ↩ ↩2

  3. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Epidyolex (cannabidiol) Australian Product Information, version published with the AusPAR, January 2021 (may have been superseded). https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/auspar-cannabidiol-210115-pi.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  4. Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard, October 2026) Instrument 2026, Schedule 3 and Schedule 4 cannabidiol entries and Schedule 9 cannabis entry. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01327/asmade/2026-09-30/text/original/pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Office of Drug Control. Hemp products. https://www.odc.gov.au/node/1372 ↩

  6. Millar SA, et al. Systematic review of the pharmacokinetics of cannabidiol in humans, 2018. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30534073/ ↩

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

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

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

  10. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Access pathways for medicinal cannabis. https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/medicinal-cannabis/access-pathways ↩

  11. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Consultation: Reviewing the safety and regulatory oversight of unapproved medicinal cannabis products, version 1.0, August 2025. https://consultations.tga.gov.au/medicines-regulation-division/test-soms/user_uploads/final---consultation-paper---medicinal-cannabis-review---august-2025.pdf ↩

  12. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Freedom of information release FOI 25-0200, 2025. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-06/FOI%2025-0200.pdf ↩

  13. Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Standard for Medicinal Cannabis) (TGO 93) Order 2017, compilation of 6 December 2022, section 12. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2017L00286/latest/text ↩

  14. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Testing of medicinal cannabis products being supplied through the SAS in Australia. https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/publication/tga-laboratory-testing-reports/testing-medicinal-cannabis-products-being-supplied-sas-australia ↩

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

  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 ↩

Common questions

What is CBD oil?

CBD oil is cannabidiol, a compound from the cannabis plant, dissolved in an edible oil so it can be measured and taken by mouth. In Australia it is a prescription medicine. It does not cause a high, but it can cause side effects and interact with other medicines.

Is CBD oil the same as hemp seed oil?

No. Hemp seed oil is pressed from the seeds and sold as a food. Under Australian rules it can contain no more than 75 mg of CBD per kilogram, which is a trace. CBD oil is made from an extract of the rest of the plant and is regulated as a medicine.

Do you swallow CBD oil or hold it under your tongue?

Both are used. The registered CBD oil is swallowed. Holding oil under the tongue is often said to improve absorption, but no study has properly measured how much CBD is absorbed that way, and much of the dose is swallowed anyway. Follow the directions from your prescriber and pharmacist.

Can I buy CBD oil without a prescription in Australia?

Not lawfully, as of November 2026. A pharmacist-only category for low-dose CBD has existed in law since 2021, but no product has been approved for it, so every CBD oil legally supplied in Australia needs a prescription.

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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