Is It Safe To Drive After Taking CBD? Does CBD Affect Driving?

Why Would You Use CBD While Driving?

People use CBD for all sorts of reasons. In many cases, they will use it before driving for reasons that have nothing to do with their ability to drive.

Pain patients, for example, often use CBD throughout the day. If they’re using CBD consistently and need to go for a drive, it will remain active in their system.

Some people may also use CBD to quell their anxiety. If driving provokes anxiety in an individual, they may want to use CBD to help manage it.

People may also use CBD to manage anxiety before a social gathering or a business meeting. In this situation, they may take it before driving to the said gathering, or even use it in their car, so that it takes effect by the time they arrive.

CBD also tends to cancel out some of the effects of THC.

CBD can also reduce these negative emotional states on its own. Whether or not it’s safe to drive while anxious and stressed out is debatable.

It’s also debatable whether it would be more or less risky to use CBD to fight these issues before driving.

What Is CBD?

Cannabidiol, or CBD, is one of the many cannabinoids found in the hemp and marijuana plants.

To be sold legally in the United States, CBD must be derived from hemp. Hemp is classified as any strain of cannabis containing less than 0.3% THC.

As a cannabinoid, CBD is non-intoxicating.

CBD is often described as non-psychoactive, but this isn’t really true. It’s non-intoxicating, yes, but it’s definitely psychoactive. A psychoactive compound is anything that produces changes in mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings.

So, by definition, CBD is indeed psychoactive. Many of its benefits are psychological in nature. These include reduced anxiety, stress, and depression.

However, the substance is far milder than THC. CBD can be used throughout the day without causing significant impairment.

Benefits of CBD

If you want to know how CBD might affect your driving, you should first take a look at its benefits and effects.

Here are some of the most common benefits associated with CBD:

1. Anxiety Relief

One of the main benefits of CBD is anxiety relief. CBD has been shown to help fight the anxiety of all types, including panic disorder and social anxiety.

2. Pain Relief

CBD excels as a pain reliever, and many people find that it has helped them stop using addictive pain-killing drugs like opioids. CBD can also reduce inflammation in a comparable way to NSAIDs like Tylenol.

3. Mood Regulation

CBD has been used for helping people manage stress and depression. It can help to decrease both the physical and mental symptoms of stress by managing blood pressure and relaxing the muscles.

For depression, CBD works a bit differently than conventional antidepressants. Rather than simply quashing your unhappiness,  CBD can help produce some that changes in perception that may encourage you to reach out and take further steps.

4. Relaxation & Insomnia Relief

Another one of the main reasons that people use CBD is to help them relax after a long day. People who struggle with stress often experience insomnia. CBD can help to reduce any physical or mental symptoms preventing you from getting to sleep.

CBD can also help to reduce insomnia caused by PTSD and related emotional challenges.

CBD Side Effects

CBD doesn’t generally have any side effects, at least not according to how people typically define ‘side effects.’

The term itself is a bit of a misnomer, suggesting that certain substances cause certain effects, whereas other effects are not related to the substance at all.

The reality is that all effects of a substance are the direct result of its actions, whether they are desirable or not. Both benefits and side effects are the same, biologically speaking.

Most people use the term ‘side effect’ to describe an unwanted effect of a drug or substance. So in that sense, some of the benefits of CBD may actually be perceived as an unwanted side effect if you’re driving.

Relaxation and sleepiness, for example, are two common benefits of CBD. However, when driving, these effects are not beneficial and might be considered side effects.

CBD Interactions With Other Drugs

The other main precaution that you’ll want to take is important if you use drugs or take supplements.

CBD is an inhibitor of a set of enzymes known as the cytochrome (CYP) enzymes. These enzymes are important for processing about half of the drugs that people take. There are different CYP enzymes, and each one metabolizes a different set of drugs.

CBD inhibits the same set of enzymes that are inhibited by grapefruits and grapefruit juice. If you’ve ever seen a bottle of prescription medication that recommends you not to take the medication while drinking grapefruit juice, this is why.

When the CYP enzymes are inhibited, drugs become much stronger and/or longer-lasting. The enzymes that pass them out of the body are no longer being produced. This can increase the risk of side effects and dangers.

These risks are especially dangerous if you’re taking drugs known to cause dizziness, sleepiness, fogginess, or confusion.

To be safe, avoid taking CBD alongside any medication that warns against drinking grapefruit juice within two hours of taking your dose.

The cytochrome enzymes also metabolize illegal drugs that carry no such warnings. It can increase the potency of drugs like opioids and thus increase the risk of over-sedation. You should be cautious when combining CBD with other substances regardless of whether or not you’re driving.

So, Is It OK to Use CBD While Driving?

Knowing the risks of CBD and driving, it’s easy to simply say that you shouldn’t take it while you’re on the road. However, because CBD is fairly benign, sometimes that’s easy to forget.

It’s not like drinking and driving. When you’ve had a few drinks, you know you’re intoxicated. However, since CBD is so much more subtle, you might end up forgetting that you’re using it before getting behind the wheel.

On the one hand, this is sort of a good thing. CBD is mild enough that you’re unlikely ever to be so impaired as to create a serious risk. On the other hand, though, this is a risk in itself. You should be as clear-headed and straight as possible whenever you’re driving.

Most people won’t find CBD to be dangerous when they’re driving.

We don’t recommend driving under the influence of anything. However, we won’t pretend that there aren’t people who do.