German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, Berlin, 10589, Germany.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Nov 23;23(1):2318. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-17142-0.
Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating substance of Cannabis sativa L., is gaining consumer attention. Yet, legal regulations in the EU are complex and questions of potential health risks remain partly unanswered. In Germany, little is known about people who use CBD products. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to gain insight into the user group of CBD, reasons for consumption and risk perception towards CBD-containing products.
The study consisted of two parts: In the first part of the study, the prevalence of CBD awareness and usage in Germany was estimated using a telephone survey and a population-representative sample of n = 1,011 respondents. Based on these results, n = 2,000 participants being aware of CBD were surveyed with an online questionnaire in the second part of the study to examine usage and perception of CBD in users and non-users.
When the study was conducted at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, 40.2% of the German participants had already heard of products containing CBD, and 11.4% had actually used them. 42.1% of the users consumed such products regularly, at least once a week, primarily orally via oils or tinctures, and purchased them mainly online. Besides curiosity - addressed especially in young adults - anticipated health benefits including pain and stress relief were main reasons for use. More than half of the study participants perceived the health benefits of CBD use as high or very high. In contrast, the health risks were rated as low or very low by most respondents. Assumptions about official testing for safety as well as physical effects of CBD-containing products varied between users and non-users.
About one in nine people in Germany uses CBD-containing products. Given reasons for consumption and perception of potential health risks and benefits suggest that people are insufficiently informed about CBD-containing products. The results of the study indicate that risk communication is needed to raise awareness for the topic and to inform (potential) users.
大麻二酚（CBD）是大麻属植物中的一种非成瘾物质，正受到消费者的关注。然而，欧盟的法律规定复杂，关于潜在健康风险的问题仍部分未得到解答。在德国，人们对使用 CBD 产品的人群知之甚少。本横断面研究旨在深入了解 CBD 用户群体、消费原因以及对含 CBD 产品的风险认知。
本研究由两部分组成：在研究的第一部分中，使用电话调查和具有代表性的 n=1011 名受访者的人口样本，估计了 CBD 在德国的认知度和使用率。基于这些结果，在研究的第二部分中，对 n=2000 名知晓 CBD 的参与者进行了在线问卷调查，以调查使用者和非使用者对 CBD 的使用和认知。
在 2020 年底和 2021 年初进行研究时，40.2%的德国参与者已经听说过含有 CBD 的产品，11.4%的参与者实际使用过这些产品。42.1%的使用者定期消费此类产品，至少每周一次，主要通过油或酊剂口服，主要在网上购买。除了好奇心——尤其是在年轻人中——预期的健康益处，包括缓解疼痛和压力，也是使用的主要原因。超过一半的研究参与者认为 CBD 使用的健康益处是高或非常高的。相比之下，大多数受访者认为 CBD 产品的健康风险较低或非常低。关于安全的官方测试以及 CBD 产品的物理影响的假设在使用者和非使用者之间存在差异。
在德国，大约每九个人中就有一个人使用含有 CBD 的产品。鉴于消费原因和对潜在健康风险和益处的认知，表明人们对含有 CBD 的产品了解不足。研究结果表明，需要进行风险沟通，以提高对该主题的认识，并为（潜在）使用者提供信息。
