I think we are just scratching the surface on this plant. CBD is getting the most attention at the moment because it has no psychoactive properties, unlike THC, which is the part of the cannabis plant that gives the "high." Therefore, people who were raised on the thought of the marijuana as the "evil weed" can take CBD and feel like they aren't partaking in anything elicit or, more absurdly, dangerous or addictive (even though these same people will throw down a bottle of wine or several drinks without a second thought). There are many other elements/molecules in the plant that we are only beginning to understand (including effects that may turn out to be negative -- too early to tell).
My wife has been taking CBD for the last couple of months for anxiety. She is amazed by the results and I see it in her. It's not like she lives a carefree, worry-free life now, but she is much better able to cope with things. The effects my mom is seeing is on a different level. She has been fighting multiple myeloma for a long time now (she was given 6 months to 2 years when diagnosed, and doctors told her that it would be probably closer to 6 months -- that was about 18 years ago now). The benefits she is seeing are amazing (particularly to her, since she certainly came out of the era where Reefer Madness shaped attitudes.
Mom first RELUCTANTLY tried CBD/THC when she was getting neuropathic pain from chemo. She was getting no relief from the drugs she was given and her doctor even apologized, telling her that they really didn't have a good option to give her. The CBD/THC took most of her pain away in less than a day. More recently, as the disease (and age) has progressed, she has started suffering a lot of pain and mobility issues. The doctors put her on an opioid, but told her that it would only be a few weeks because of the dependency issues. She really wasn't getting much relief from it anyways, and she was disoriented and muddled on it. She "found" a bottle of CBD oil that I had given her, and started taking a .5 mg in the morning and the same at night. She is AMAZED, to say the least. She is getting more pain reduction than she was with the opioid and without the cognitive issues. She says that she also finds that her energy levels are way up and that she is moving and bending like she hasn't in years.
A couple things to note:
1) All Cannabis strains have all the different elements of the plant, including THC. I believe to produce a CBD oil, the percent of THC has to be lower than 2%, but I may be wrong on that. CBD counteracts the "high" THC produces, so the higher the CBD content, the less cerebral effect you get from vaping/smoking/eating it. There are strains that have 1:1 CBD/THC, which is a high CBD strain, but some get as high as 2: and 3:1 (I think -- don't quote me).
2) CBD can also be produced from hemp. As I understand it, this oil is completely legal everywhere because hemp doesn't have THC (or extremely low levels). From what I understand, though, the CBD it produces is not as effective as that produced from cannabis because of the other medicinal elements in the cannabis plant. My point here, though, is that while the CBD from cannabis may be more effective in some respects, the CBD from hemp will help you sidestep the legal issues. ALSO, if you take CBD produced from cannabis, you WILL fail a drug test. You won't with CBD from hemp.
3) If you try CBD, start with a relatively low dose (say .5 mg a day), then raise this slowly until you start seeing better results. Keep raising to see if the effects get even better. When you see no increase in benefit from the additional dose, stop and back off to the last, most effective dose. Always remember, you can't overdose on this stuff -- you could drink a gallon of it (well, I think you could, but...). You also probably couldn't take enough to get high, even though there is the small THC element to it.
4) The challenge with using CBD/THC medicinally (or for recreational) is that it effects different people differently. For example, and this goes to your strategy of splitting your dose, CBD helps some people sleep, so an evening dose can be good. However, for a lot of people, CBD gives an energetic uptick, which can inhibit sleep. So, if you are finding it hurts your sleep, don't take your last dose after 5PM.
One of the challenges for medicinal marijuana is cost. It is because of that, I have some seedling started in my front room right now and plan to grow my own (I'm in Canada). I will grow mainly high CBD strains and then make my own CBD oil. I will however, grow two "fun" plants -- one sativa and one indica just for the hahahas.
Hope that helps