When researching the benefits of CBD oil, it doesn’t take long to run into the hemp CBD vs cannabis CBD debate. This can be a frustrating sidetrack for people seeking information, especially since CBD oil has been getting some much-deserved attention recently from the medical community.
It all began with some extremely promising studies on children who are suffering from epilepsy. Doctors discovered that when treated with the cannabinoid CBD, children were finally granted relief from intractable seizures—without feeling “high.”
As you can understand, a revelation like this was huge and sparked a lot of interest among both medical professionals and the public. Everyone wanted to know, “What else can CBD do?”
As it turns out… quite a bit!
Reports are pouring in all the time of people successfully managing everything from chronic pain, to headaches, to anxiety by using this non-psychoactive cannabinoid. While that is undoubtedly a wonderful thing to hear, it also opened the floodgates for some massive confusion.
Why? Because CBD can come from two very different sources, and it’s extremely important that you understand where yours is coming from. Let’s take a look at 3 crucial differences between CBD derived from marijuana and CBD derived from hemp.
A Tale of Two Plants: Hemp CBD vs Cannabis CBD
A lot of the confusion surrounding this issue stems back to the fact that many people don’t realize hemp and cannabis are two different plants from the same family (cannabis sativa). Marijuana is the plant which includes THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid that gives the user a high.
Hemp is a similar plant, but it contains almost no psychoactive properties whatsoever. More on that in a minute…
Hemp is also a plant mostly used in an industrial capacity, producing goods such as fiber and paper. As you can probably guess, one of these plants is perfectly legal nearly everywhere, while the other is not.
Quick lesson in plant biology: both hemp and marijuana plants contain CBD, but the concentration of this cannabinoid in each plant is extremely different. A hemp plant will be made up of approximately 3% to 5% CBD, but a cannabis plant will have 18% to 20% CBD.
So, right away, you can already tell that in order to extract the same amount of CBD from the hemp plant as you would from a cannabis plant, you are going to need more plants to do it. In some cases, a lot more.
Why is that a problem? Well, in some cases, the growing of hemp is not federally regulated. This means that if there were to be contaminants in the soil, they would make their way into each plant. When you need five times the hemp plants to extract an appreciable amount of CBD, you might be exposing yourself to that many more contaminants.
As an educated consumer, it’s worth being aware of.
Hemp CBD Can Be Purchased Nearly Anywhere
This is where hemp’s lack of psychoactive properties really comes into play. Because this plant does not produce a high, it is not regarded the same way that cannabis is and is not nearly as tightly regulated.
Overall, this can be a good thing, as hemp is a beneficial plant in many ways and there is no reason to restrict the public’s access to it. However, in the continuing debate of hemp CBD vs cannabis CBD, this may be the most important fact to remember.
You can walk down a store aisle right now – even in a state where cannabis remains illegal – and find CBD oil products available over-the-counter.
How is that possible?
It’s because those CBD oil products are derived from hemp, not from marijuana. As far as law enforcement is concerned, hemp CBD never was and never can be a drug, so there’s no need to regulate it
Which brings us precisely to our next issue…
Hemp CBD vs Cannabis CBD: Hemp Isn’t Regulated
When you are considering CBD oil for medicinal use, it is vitally important that you get pharmaceutical grade CBD
This means all the marketing you might see on store shelves declaring something to be “all-natural,” “organically farmed,” or even “locally sourced,” doesn’t change anything about the product inside the bottle. It’s still CBD derived from hemp, and it’s still not medicinal.
It’s probably best to think of it this way: CBD derived from cannabis is carefully regulated, has strict oversight, and can be given out in precise and appropriate doses. CBD derived from hemp is closer to a vitamin supplement than anything else (hemp can actually be a good source of vitamin E).
Perhaps you have even tried to CBD oil which you got over-the-counter and have decided that it was ineffective. This may be due to the source of the CBD. If it was hemp-based, it may indeed be an unhelpful supplement.
So, the next time you’re shopping, be sure to read labels and ask questions. Research products online, and call dispensaries in your area. Make sure you’re getting the right kind of CBD at the right dose.
Need help deciding between hemp CBD vs cannabis CBD? Stop by your local Have a Heart dispensary and one of our trained budtenders will guide you through selecting CBD products that aim to give you the effects you want.
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