Ben & Jerry's wants to hop on the CBD bandwagon
Ben & Jerry's, known for creating gloriously chunky ice cream flavors and rarely backing down from taking a stance on social justice issues, wants to start selling CBD-infused ice cream.
The brand announced the upcoming flavor in an Instagram post on Thursday. Although it seems like a dumb marketing ploy following the recent influx of CBD products in recent months, the campaign seems to be more of a political move.
"Currently, the FDA prohibits adding CBD to food and beverages," Ben & Jerry's said in a statement. "But change is on the horizon: They've set a public hearing on the legalization of CBD-infused foods and beverages for May 31, and we've submitted a comment to them in support of legalization."
So you won't see CBD ice cream lining the shelves of grocery stores yet — the brand wants to bring them to freezers "as soon as it’s legalized at the federal level."
Unless this hypothetical ice cream contains obscene amounts of CBD, it's unlikely that consuming it will yield any noticeable effects. CBD is the non-psychoactive compound in cannabis and hemp products. While users have claimed that the compound is effective for treating health issues such as anxiety and inflammation, dosing varies case to case. Additionally, orally consuming CBD is less efficient than inhaling it, so you'd need to consume a lot of CBD-infused ice cream to feel any different.
The lowest clinically effective dose of CBD to treat anxiety, for example, is 300 mg. The suggested dose for treating sleep disorders ranges from 40 mg to 150 mg. So unless Ben & Jerry's CBD ice cream is pumped with tincture, it's unlikely binging a pint will cure your woes. (Any more than eating a whole pint of ice cream already does, at least.)
This isn't the first time that a big brand has tried to hop on the CBD bandwagon — in April, Carl's Jr. released a cheesy 420-inspired burger that had a whopping 5 mg of CBD per serving. That probably won't do much for your body, aside from give you the indigestion that naturally comes along with eating a Carl's Jr. burger.
But Ben & Jerry's campaign is unique because unlike many of the brands scrambling to incorporate CBD in their products for the trend, they're using their platform to push for legalization of cannabis consumption. The Instagram post leads to a statement that urges Ben & Jerry's fans to submit comments to the FDA in support of legalization.
That being said, don't get your hopes up too high — there are plenty of ways to use CBD to treat a range of health issues that don't involve eating spoonfuls of ice cream straight out of the carton.
