Safety and interactions
Side effects, medicine interactions, and who should be careful.
Side effects
The side effects of CBD seen in clinical trials, how often each one happened, at what dose, and which ones need a call to your doctor.
Drug interactions
Which medicines CBD interacts with, what happens, how strong the evidence is, and what prescribers usually do about it, in one plain-English table.
CBD and the liver
CBD can raise liver enzymes on blood tests. What trials found at each dose, who is most at risk, and how prescribers monitor for it.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Regulators advise against CBD in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. What is known, what is not, and what to do if you have already used it.
Children and teenagers
The only use of CBD in children backed by strong trials is specialist treatment for rare severe epilepsies. The evidence, risks and Australian rules.
Older adults
What is known about CBD safety in people over 65, including sleepiness, falls, liver effects and interactions with the medicines older people commonly take.
CBD and alcohol
Alcohol adds to the sleepiness CBD can cause and raises CBD blood levels. What studies show about mixing the two, and what is still unknown.
Is CBD addictive?
Studies have found no sign that pure CBD is addictive. What the WHO concluded, what the studies tested, and why THC in a product changes things.
CBD overdose
No fatal overdose from CBD alone appears in the sources we reviewed, but too much can cause sleepiness and diarrhoea. What to do, and when to call 13 11 26.
Who should not take CBD
The groups regulators say should avoid CBD or use it only under close medical supervision, with the reason and the source for each.