Linalool

Linalool is one of the main constituents of lavender essential oil, of which it makes up nearly a third, and of coriander oil. Hemp makes it too. It is a terpene, not a cannabinoid: laboratory studies disagree on its action at THC's receptors, one finding none, the other a weak effect at very high concentration. On contact with air, it oxidises into compounds that can cause a skin allergy.

• CB1No measured activity

  No hyperpolarisation of its own and no change in the response to CP55,940 (1 µM) or to Δ9-THC (Santiago 2019)

  Santiago et al. 2019, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · membrane potential (FLIPR), AtT20 cells expressing human CB1; racemic linalool from 1 nM to 100 µM

• CB2No measured activity

  No hyperpolarisation of its own and no change in the response to CP55,940 (1 µM) or to Δ9-THC (Santiago 2019)

  Santiago et al. 2019, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · membrane potential (FLIPR), AtT20 cells expressing human CB2; racemic linalool from 1 nM to 100 µM

• CB1Agonist

  Low-potency activation, at high micromolar concentrations (500 µM in the rimonabant assay), with no fittable curve; no measurable [3H]CP55,940 displacement and no β-arrestin 2 recruitment (LaVigne 2021)

  LaVigne et al. 2021, Sci Rep (new tab) · ERK phosphorylation blocked by rimonabant and partial inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP, CHO cells expressing human CB1

• CB2Not established

  ERK phosphorylation reported in a supplementary figure, with no antagonist test and no pharmacological characterisation (LaVigne 2021)

  LaVigne et al. 2021, Sci Rep (new tab) · ERK phosphorylation, CHO cells expressing human CB2

• GABA-APositive allosteric modulator

  Current raised to 160 ± 14% of control by 2 mM linalool (Milanos 2017)

  Milanos et al. 2017, Front Chem (new tab) · chloride current induced by 10 µM GABA, α1β2γ2 receptor expressed in HEK293 cells (whole-cell)

• GABA-ANo measured activity

  No effect on [3H]muscimol binding (Brum 2001)

  Brum, Elisabetsky & Souza 2001, Phytother Res (new tab) · [3H]muscimol binding (GABA site), cortical membranes

• NMDABinding (function not established)

  IC50 = 2970 µM · mouse

  Brum, Elisabetsky & Souza 2001, Phytother Res (new tab) · non-competitive inhibition of [3H]MK801 binding, cortical membranes

Sources: Myrcene, PubChem (HSDB), Limonene, NIST Chemistry WebBook, β-Caryophyllene, PubChem (JECFA), Linalool, PubChem (CRC Handbook), α-Pinene, PubChem (HSDB).

Linalool is a terpene, not a cannabinoid: an acyclic ten-carbon monoterpene alcohol, it has neither the skeleton of phytocannabinoids nor an established affinity for their receptors. It exists as two enantiomers, (R)-(−)-linalool, isolated from lavender oil, and (S)-(+)-linalool, isolated from coriander oil (Sugawara 2000); in 20 authentic lavender oils, the (R) form made up 93.8 % of the linalool (Capetti 2021). Its action at cannabinoid receptors remains disputed. In cells expressing human CB1 or CB2, it produced no effect up to 100 µM, alone or combined with Δ9-THC (Santiago 2019); the study by Finlay et al. (2020), often cited alongside it, did not test linalool. LaVigne et al. (2021), by contrast, described rimonabant-sensitive CB1 activation, at concentrations above 10 µM and up to 500 µM depending on the terpene, with no measurable binding at the orthosteric site; in mice, 200 mg/kg given intraperitoneally produced hypothermia, catalepsy and hypolocomotion, as well as weak antinociception blocked by rimonabant. Other targets appear only at millimolar concentrations: potentiation of GABA-A receptors (Milanos 2017), non-competitive inhibition of binding to the NMDA receptor (Brum 2001). In mice, linalool odour produced an anxiolytic-like effect without motor impairment, absent in animals made anosmic and abolished by flumazenil (Harada 2018); inhaled for one hour at 1 or 3 %, it prolonged pentobarbital-induced sleep without impairing motor coordination (Linck 2009). In humans, pharmacokinetic data are limited to a few measurements, including a peak plasma level of 121 ng/ml 19 minutes after a massage with lavender oil in one volunteer (EMA 2012). In air, linalool oxidises into allergenic hydroperoxides: tested at 6.0 % in 2 900 patients from six countries, oxidised linalool gave 6.9 % positive reactions (Bråred Christensson 2012). In the United States, it is listed among synthetic flavouring substances generally recognised as safe (21 CFR 182.60).

European Union

Linalool appears in no schedule of the 1961 and 1971 United Nations conventions. In the European Union, it is listed without restriction of use on the list of authorised flavouring substances (Implementing Regulation (EU) No 872/2012, FL 02.013). Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products requires it to be named in the list of ingredients above 0.001 % in leave-on products and 0.01 % in rinse-off products (Annex III, entry 84). Since 1 December 2018, the CLP Regulation has given it, and its two enantiomers, a harmonised classification as a category 1B skin sensitiser, H317 (Regulation (EU) 2017/776).

France

Not classified as a narcotic in France: linalool is named in no annex of the consolidated list of narcotics published by the ANSM (update of 26/06/2026), which compiles the arrêté of 22 February 1990 and the ANSM decisions. As a flavouring and perfumery ingredient, it falls under food law and cosmetics law.

Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.

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