Almost All CBD Retailers in This Study Displayed Ads with Unapproved Health Claims

All 13 CBD retailers displayed advertisements containing either misleading product descriptors or unapproved health claims. Nearly all (92.3%) made unapproved health claims. Over 40% of advertisements promoted CBD for specific health conditions: stress/anxiety (29.8%), arthritis/inflammation (28.7%), and pain (26.6%). Common descriptors included "full-spectrum" (10.6%), "natural" (6.4%), and "pure" (4.3%).

Pilot study in which two trained data collectors assessed CBD advertisements in 13 brick-and-mortar retailers in North Carolina in November 2020. Advertisements were photographed and content analyzed for product descriptors and health claims.

CBD products are widely available but loosely regulated. This study documents that nearly all retailers make health claims that have not been approved by the FDA, potentially misleading consumers into replacing evidence-based treatments with CBD.

The gap between CBD marketing and the actual evidence base is well-documented, but this is among the first studies to systematically document what consumers actually encounter in physical retail environments. The prevalence of unapproved health claims highlights the regulatory void in which CBD products are sold.

Very small pilot study (13 retailers) in urban North Carolina, limiting generalizability. Data collected in November 2020, and the CBD retail landscape may have changed. Did not assess whether consumers were influenced by the claims.