Who was first with CBD?

15 July 2020

We’re been prodding around the internet for a while trying to find out who first separated CBD from cannabis and understood its potential value.

The answer to the first question seemed to be scientists in Israel in 1960, but in fact, two organic chemists in the USA discovered CBD, quite independently of each other.

Roger Adams found it in plant material samples acquired from Mexico, while Alexander Todd obtained it from ‘charas’ resin manufactured in India. The two scientists managed to isolate CBD and to determine how many atoms of each element – 21 carbon, two oxygen, and 30 hydrogen – were in it.

This discovery was of interest to organic chemists at the time, but wasn’t thought to be of any practical use. Once the true nature of CBD was discovered, researchers the world over (and in particular those in Israel) were able to assess its medical uses and begin carrying out trials and tests.

So now we know!

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