How Long After Taking CBD Oil Can I Drink Alcohol?
Three UK CBD retailers give three waiting times, from minutes to eight hours, and none sources its number. What the FSA and the Epidyolex SmPC say.
By Staff, CBD Wire
No official UK waiting time appears in the documents this desk read. Three UK retailer pages give three answers to how long after taking CBD oil you can drink alcohol: at least 1-2 hours, at least four to eight hours, two or three minutes, none sourced. The FSA advises healthy adults to keep CBD from food to 10mg a day.
This is an evergreen explainer. This desk read each page below on 23 October 2026.
How long after taking CBD oil can I drink alcohol, per the retailers?
| Page | Waiting time stated | Source given for it | Also says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Rick | At least 1-2 hours, for oil not drinks | None | Effects can peak within 60 minutes |
| Nordic Oil (updated 2 June 2023) | At least four to eight hours, “the general consensus” | None | Mixing is not recommended |
| CBD One | Two or three minutes | None | The combination “poses no risk at all” |
| Provacan (9 February 2024) | No hour figure in the text read | Not applicable | Ask a healthcare professional |
The spread is hours wide, and two of the four numbers are not answers to the same question.
CBD One’s two or three minutes is how long it says to hold oil under the tongue before swallowing or taking “a drink”, any drink. It is an absorption time, not an alcohol gap, though it ranks for the alcohol query.
Little Rick does cite research elsewhere on its page, including a 2019 trial it says found CBD did not significantly alter blood alcohol but increased sedation. It does not tie its 1-2 hours to that study. Nordic Oil calls its four to eight hours a consensus without saying whose.
What does the FSA say about CBD and alcohol?
The FSA’s consumer advice on CBD sets no waiting time in the text this desk read. What it does set is an intake limit: since October 2023 it has recommended that healthy adults limit CBD from food to 10mg a day, which it puts at about 4-5 drops of 5% CBD oil.
It also lists groups it does not recommend CBD for, among them children, people taking any medication, and those who are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive. The agency compares CBD’s dose-related long-term risk to that of alcoholic drinks. Our Trip side effects explainer covers the liver and thyroid warning, and why Britain says 10mg covers where the number came from.
Does the Epidyolex SmPC set a gap?
The emc carries the UK summary of product characteristics for Epidyolex, a 100 mg/ml cannabidiol oral solution for seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex, started under physicians experienced in epilepsy. Each ml contains 79 mg of anhydrous ethanol as an excipient.
That ethanol is part of a medicine’s formulation, not guidance for food CBD oils. The SmPC’s interaction section was not in the text this desk read, so this post makes no claim from it.
What should you do instead of picking a number?
Keep your CBD from food within the FSA’s 10mg a day, read the strength on your bottle, and if you take any medication, ask a pharmacist before either CBD or the drink. Our 10mg maths shows how quickly servings add up.
Frequently asked questions
Can you drink alcohol after taking CBD oil? Nothing in the FSA’s consumer advice, as this desk read it, forbids it or sets a gap. The retailer pages disagree: Little Rick says wait at least 1-2 hours, Nordic Oil four to eight, and neither gives a source for its figure. If you take any medication, the FSA does not recommend CBD unless under medical direction, so the question goes to your pharmacist first.
Can you mix CBD and alcohol? Retailers answer both ways. Nordic Oil says mixing CBD oil and alcohol is not recommended and that there is little to no clinical evidence on taking them together. CBD One says the combination poses no risk at all. Both are company statements, not official advice, and neither page cites a regulator in the text this desk read.
Is it safe to drink alcohol with CBD? This site does not make safety rulings. The FSA says the risk of long-term effects such as liver damage or thyroid issues rises with how much CBD you take over a lifetime, and compares that dose-related risk to alcoholic drinks. Its advice for healthy adults is no more than 10mg of CBD from food a day.
CBD oils sold as food are food supplements, not medicines, and this explainer is not medical advice. A retailer’s waiting time is the company’s view, not the regulator’s; your pharmacist or GP is the person to ask about your own medicines. For adults.