CBD has become one of the most popular natural products that you can find on the market today. This unique plant-based compound has allowed millions of people to make hemp a daily part of their lifestyle thanks to the way in which CBD interacts with the body.** In fact, they’re even giving CBD to their beloved pets!
If you’re interested in adding CBD to your daily routine, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to help you understand this unique industry.
What is CBD?
CBD is a cannabinoid that’s found in the cannabis plant. Typically, commercial CBD comes from the hemp plant, a cousin to the marijuana plant. While marijuana has psychoactive properties that make a person feel high, hemp does not. Therefore, taking hemp-based CBD will not make you impaired or intoxicated.
What makes CBD unique from a biological standpoint is the way in which it interfaces with the body. Your body has an endocannabinoid system that consists of cannabinoid receptors which exist along the nervous system, brain and other parts of the body. When we take CBD, this cannabinoid bonds with these receptors, allowing CBD to take effect.** CBD is currently being researched for its potential positive effects, but the FDA has not yet approved its use to specifically treat any symptoms.
It’s important to note that CBD is widely considered safe and non-toxic. As of now, researchers believe that it’s nonaddictive and safe to take in high doses daily.
How is CBD Made?
The process of turning hemp into CBD oil involves isolating CBD from the many other compounds that are found in the hemp plant. Once the hemp plant has matured, the CBD is isolated and extracted. The best process of extraction involves using CO2 and gentle heat. It’s believed that the CO2 extraction process best preserves the pure properties of the cannabinoid. Additionally, when less discerning brands extract their CBD oil, they use harsh solvents like butane, which can make their way into the body of the end user. That’s why people always prefer brands that use clean CO2 extraction if possible.
After the CBD has been extracted, it becomes an oil that’s tested for purity and quality. From there, it’s combined with other ingredients in order to become a product that people can use by vaping, topical application, or ingestion.
What is CBD Used for?
CBD has many uses, and is a hugely popular lifestyle addition that people swear by for a number of anecdotal reasons.
What is a CBD Marketplace?
A CBD marketplace is any place where people come together to buy and sell cannabidiol products. Just as there are many forms of CBD products, there are also many ways to buy CBD, and a CBD marketplace can be anything from a local meetup to an online cannabidiol superstore.
Most consumers have recognized the benefits of shopping for CBD online. Instead of being an alternative to in-person retail sales, online shopping is now the norm, and the same factors that have spurred this widespread consumer transition are also behind the increase in online CBD sales.
When you decide to do your shopping online, you’re enticed by benefits like increased product selection, better prices, and in-depth product information. Most importantly, you can shop online from anywhere in the world with your mobile phone, which makes purchasing CBD on the internet the savviest decision a consumer can make.
How to Use CBD Oil?
There’s no “best” way to use CBD oil. Rather, it’s best to learn more about the attributes of this natural substance and determine for yourself which administration method is best for your particular circumstances.
CBD oil, or CBD-rich hemp oil, is an extract of the Cannabis sativa plant that contains high levels of cannabidiol (CBD) and low levels of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). While THC is intoxicating and classified as a Schedule I drug in the United States, CBD is an unscheduled component of the cannabis plant that has not yet received full FDA regulation. While one prescription form of CBD (Epidiolex) is available to children with certain forms of intractable epilepsy, CBD has not been approved to treat specific symptoms or conditions in other contexts.
Hemp oil that’s rich in CBD is viscous and sticky after it is extracted. Therefore, this substance must usually be mixed with other ingredients to become a viable product. Before formulating CBD oil into products, however, it’s also possible to remove the THC to create broad spectrum CBD oil or isolate the CBD molecule to make crystalline CBD isolate. Otherwise, the hemp oil remains in its full spectrum form as it is made into tinctures, vape juices, lotions, or all manner of other product types.
Generally, you can ingest CBD orally, apply it topically, or inhale it. While other administration forms exist, most CBD product types fall into these three categories.
What is CBD Oil Good For?
As sellers of cannabidiol products, we are prohibited from speculating on the potential benefits of CBD at this time. We can, however, comment on trends that we observe in the purchasing behaviors of our customers… and we notice that once people establish a CBD lifestyle, they tend to continue ordering regularly. That’s a great sign!
How Much CBD to Take?
Since CBD has not been classified as a supplement, OTC drug, or prescription drug, there are no established guidelines regarding effective dosing for this cannabinoid.
Information pertaining to pharmaceutical drugs does not necessarily also apply to substances that are similar to or even the same as an existing prescription drug. That’s why the FDA has to go through such a laborious process when regulating a matter as complex and convoluted as the CBD industry.
The FDA has indicated that the CBD industry is getting top-priority treatment, but it’s unlikely that anything substantive will change in the regulatory status of this cannabinoid until mid-2020 at the earliest. Until that point, we can provide you with basic guidelines for establishing a good amount of CBD to use.
Start with a low dose, and carefully note how the CBD affected your body. If you didn’t notice an effect at all, you might want to use more. If the effect was just right or even a little bit overwhelming, you might have found the perfect amount to use.
How Long Does It Take For CBD Oil To Work?
CBD behaves differently depending on how you take it. Any substance that you inhale into your lungs enters your bloodstream almost immediately, and placing a substance under your tongue also provides rapid absorption and deployment throughout the body.
When you ingest a substance orally, however, it has to jump over quite a few hurdles before it can fully enter your bloodstream. Not only does the ingested substance have to break down in your stomach and pass through your gut lining, but then it’s also filtered through the liver. This organ is very conservative in its judgments, which means that the bioavailability of the CBD you ingest orally is generally reduced to a significant degree.
At the same time, however, CBD that you ingest orally releases into your bloodstream for the entire time that it passes through your digestive tract, which provides further chances for absorption. These effects generally begin around 30-60 minutes after you swallow your CBD product, and they then often persist for about 4-6 hours.
How Long Does CBD Stay In the System?
That depends on how you consume this substance. As a lipid, cannabidiol is stored in your fatty tissues, and it may remain in your system for up to 30 days. However, there are no known labs test for CBD in drug tests, and this substance’s semi-legal status means that having trace amounts of CBD in your system shouldn’t be of any concern.
Oral ingestion is the CBD administration route that results in the longest effects and greatest storage duration in the body. If you want large amounts of CBD to stay in your system for as long as possible, oral ingestion might be the right route. Otherwise, CBD that you ingest via inhalation or topical administration generally leaves your body relatively rapidly.
Keep in mind that the increasing popularity of CBD is blurring the lines when it comes to determining THC use. With federal legalization of cannabis (most likely) on the horizon, the time may soon come when cannabis-related drug testing for work becomes a thing of the past.
What Does CBD Feel Like?
The effect of cannabidiol is generally described as “non-intoxicating.” In some scientific literature and CBD copy, you might see CBD referred to as “non-psychoactive,” but this term can be somewhat misleading. Non-psychoactive means that a substance does not have a psychological effect whatsoever, but this can’t be said for CBD. While we can’t get into details about how CBD affects your mind, remember that the perceived psychological effects of CBD are not intoxicating, and research has indicated that cannabidiol does not have any significant side effects.
The subjective experience of a substance is always different for each person. You might want to record the effects that you experience when you try CBD and share them with others.
What’s The Difference Between Hemp Oil and CBD Oil?
All the terminology in the CBD world can get confusing. Here’s a breakdown of relevant terms:
- CBD – Cannabidiol, a naturally occurring constituent of the Cannabis sativa plant. Cannabis can be bred to yield high amounts of CBD and low amounts of THC.
- CBD oil – The cannabidiol-rich extract of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa.
- CBD-rich hemp oil – Another term for CBD oil that specifies the origin of this substance.
- Full spectrum CBD oil – CBD oil that has all its cannabinoids, terpenes, and other natural compounds intact. Sometimes also known as “raw” hemp/CBD oil.
- Broad spectrum CBD oil – CBD oil containing all its natural terpenes and cannabinoids except THC, which has been removed until untraceable quantities remain.
- Isolate CBD powder/crystals – Cannabidiol molecules that have been extracted from CBD-rich hemp oil. Takes on a white, crystalline form that is easily crushed into powder.
- Hemp seed oil – An extract of the seeds of the Cannabis sativa plant, which do not have high concentrations of any cannabinoids. Instead, hemp seeds contain lots of omega acids and other substances with nutritional benefits.
As you can see, hemp seed oil, which is sometimes called simply “hemp oil,” is only related to CBD oil in that both products come from the same plant. In some cases, the term “hemp oil” may be used as a euphemism for “CBD oil” in an attempt to hide the fact that a product contains CBD. In most cases, however, you can assume that hemp oil and CBD oil are very different things that each provide unique contributions to the human experience.
How Many Drops of CBD Oil to Take?
Start by taking a look at the specifications of the product. In particular, take a look at the total volume of the CBD tincture and the number of milligrams of CBD the product contains. A 1oz CBD tincture that contains 1,000mg of CBD, for instance, contains approximately 35mg of CBD per gram. Keep these calculations in mind as you try taking CBD oil for the first time.
Depending on the tincture, the manufacturer may have even provided information regarding how much CBD is contained per drop or dropperful of tincture. If this information isn’t readily available, please contact the place where you purchased the tincture.
To make things easier, some manufacturers put milligram markers on the sides of their tincture droppers. You can use these markers as a guide as you determine the ideal dose of CBD for your particular needs.
How To Extract CBD
CBD can be extracted in a variety of different ways. Cannabis expresses its oils in tiny globules, and as long as you remove these globules and get them to coalesce together, you’ve succeeded in extracting CBD. Easier said than done, however.
While there are tons of different ways to extract CBD, only one of them has been consistently proven to be safe and reliable. In the past, extracting CBD from hemp with butane or even nail polish remover was seen as routine, but these days, it’s universally recognized that CO2 extraction is the only way to go.
Unlike butane, alcohol, and other extraction methods, CO2 extraction doesn’t leave behind any solvents or other dangerous substances. The only drawback of CO2-extracting CBD is the cost of this enterprise; if a company extracts CBD with CO2, it’s a clear sign that it’s succeeding and providing real value to its customers.
We don’t recommend that you try extracting CBD at home. The CBD oil extraction process is more complicated than it looks, and you need professional heavy equipment to get the job done right. Messing around with butane, ethanol, or other extraction mediums without the proper facilities is extremely dangerous.
Where is CBD Oil Legal?
Since we sell CBD, we are prohibited from providing legal advice regarding this cannabinoid. We also can’t make definitive statements regarding the legal status of CBD. While it might be readily apparent that a particular state just legalized CBD, the true definition of “legal” is so weighty that it’s important to choose your words wisely when dealing with this topic.
Currently, CBD is classified as a “new drug” at the federal level, and it is no longer considered to be an illegal drug or related to the Schedule I drug marijuana. While it’s highly likely that the federal government will move to reform existing cannabis law in the near future, no concrete steps have been taken yet.
In the interim, some states have taken it upon themselves to provide CBD users and producers within their borders with more legal protections. States like Florida, Texas, and Kansas have all recently passed laws that alter the way that low-THC cannabis products are regulated. The continually blurring line between THC-rich cannabis and CBD-rich cannabis is leading to difficulties enforcing marijuana laws, which is one of the factors pushing us toward imminent federal cannabis legalization.
We can’t say much beyond that. Statements like “CBD is legal in all 50 states” could get us in trouble, and we’ll have to wait until the federal government rules on CBD before we can say more.
What is CBD Oil Made From?
CBD oil is a natural extract of the Cannabis sativa plant. It is not synthetic, and it is not marijuana. In fact, the federal government has ruled that CBD and THC are different substances with different governing legal structures, and many analysts suspect that the golden age of CBD commerce is upon us.
While both CBD and THC are made from cannabis, it’s likely that THC-rich and CBD-rich cannabis will be regulated very differently in the coming years. The federal government often uses the states as “laboratories of democracy,” and it’s, therefore, likely that federal high-THC cannabis reform will bear many similarities to the steps that certain states have already taken to legalize recreational cannabis.
For the sake of going with the flow of consumer dollars as much as possible, it’s likely that the FDA will take the easy route and regulate CBD as an OTC drug. This is all speculation, however; we’ll need to wait and see how things turn out.
