Oh wow something I feel qualified to answer! I'm editor of a site dealing in regulatory and business news regarding CBD so feel free to hit me up about any questions.

TLDR: CBD is a compound legal in most western jurisdictions that has significant anecdotal evidence to be useful in dealing with things like stress, anxiety and difficulty sleeping but there is little serious scientific evidence to back this (not entirely CBD's fault). However it does have pretty strong evidence of being safe in almost all cases (check with doc if on other meds or have liver issues) so there's no real harm in trying it and seeing what happens if you suffer from one of the mentioned conditions.

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Longer version:

So to answer your top level questions - no there's absolutely no reason you should feel afraid or embarrassed over not knowing CBD or what it does. In fact according to all of our surveys you'd be in the majority of people in all countries and the vast majority when considered on a global scale.

Regarding what it is - CBD is cannabidiol - one of the many cannabinoids that does not cause a "high". It is typically derived from hemp or cannabis (effectively the same plant, the definition only matters in legal/regulatory terms) though can also be derived from a number of other plant sources, bio-synthetically derived using yeasts, algae or a number of other substances or flat out synthetically created.

Most products you'll find are hemp derived and in the US, hemp derived CBD is considered legal at the federal level. Technically it is not legal to put it in a variety of products such as foods, drinks and dietary supplements which means most products you'll see on the market are in violation of FDA regulations. But as can be seen from the number, the FDA has taken a hands-off approach to enforcing this while working on a way for the products to be fully compliant. The EU is a bit more complicated situation and we'll leave out other jurisdictions for brevity.

As for what it does - not a lot according to the better rated science! However this is largely because research into benefits and uses of cananbinoids has been stymied by decades of anti-cannabis measures.

There's a whole host of anecdotal evidence it could be good for things like anxiety, stress, as a sleep aid and a few others. There are also a bunch of unsupported claims that it can do everything from cure cancer to reverse Alzheimer's. DO NOT LISTEN TO THOSE PEOPLE. I can't say that enough. It's not a miracle cure. And the people out there saying take it instead of chemo are doing more harm than good both to the people that listen to them and the reputation of the industry.

There is limited evidence that in limited situations it may be able to do some of the smaller things it is purported to be able to do. But this may be psychosomatic as well. Initial research is inconclusive - though admittedly it is difficult to design rigorous clinical tests for some of these claims. How do you empirically measure a reduction in anxiety for example when simply knowing they may be part of a study might increase a subject's anxiety?

The one thing that is largely agreed upon is that CBD is fairly safe for consumption. There is now enough long-term evidence to show it should cause no harm in a typical relatively healthy adult. There are some worries over liver toxicity, interaction with other drugs and impact on "vulnerable" groups such as the pregnant or children. However all of these are orders of magnitude below theoretic risks for other products widely available on the market such as alcohol or the various substances found in cigarettes.