CBD Blog

How CBD Works Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of the marijuana plant, has generated significant interest among scientists and physicians in recent years—but how CBD exerts its therapeutic impact on a molecular level is still being sorted out by scientists. Cannabidiol is a pleiotropic drug in that it produces many effects through multiple molecular pathways. Although CBD has little binding affinity for either of the two cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2), cannabidiol activates several non-cannabinoid receptors and ion channels. CBD also acts through various receptor-independent channels—for example, by delaying the “reuptake” of endogenous neurotransmitters (such as anandamide and adenosine) and by...