CBD A Practical Explanation
“I see CBD everywhere and I’m hearing about it all the time. But I don’t know what it is or what it does.”
I hear that a lot. The goal of this post is to provide a practical explanation of CBD. More detailed explanations will follow, once the basics are, hopefully, cleared up a little.
Simply put, CBD is an abbreviation for cannabidiol. Cannabidiol is a cannabinoid found in hemp. On its own, CBD doesn’t do much. Interacting with certain systems in our bodies, research shows that CBD does a variety of things.
That’s the simplest explanation I can come up with. If you’re thinking it’s too simple to be very useful or practical, I agree. So let’s dig a little deeper.
Part 1 – Hemp v. Marijuana
Hemp and marijuana are different plants. Really. One’s not just the weak, low-THC, poor cousin of the other. They’re actually different plants. The confusion comes from the fact that they’re both cannabis sativa plants, scientifically speaking. (Some people take the view that marijuana is cannabis indica. It’s more properly thought of as a subspecies of sativa.) They’re different species of the same thing.
That’s not as strange as it might sound. The Rottweiler and the Chihuahua are both canis familiaris. The giant steer Knickers over in Australia and a small dairy cow in a field in Wisconsin? Both bos taurus.
Rottweilers and Chihuahuas have some things in common: four legs, two ears, barking. Not much else.
Hemp and marijuana have some things in common also but they’re defined by their differences. Hemp is generally tall and thin. Marijuana is usually short and bushy. Hemp has thin leaves. Marijuana has broad leaves. Hemp has long, strong fibrous strands. Marijuana does not.
Because of these differences, the plants are cultivated for dramatically different purposes. Hemp has many commercial uses which derive from its long fibers and abundance of seeds. Cloth, paper, oil, building materials and literally thousands of final products are made from hemp. Hemp is possibly the most versatile, useful, profitable and sustainable plant cultivated.
Marijuana doesn’t have so many different uses, so it’s cultivated primarily for the psychoactive effects present in THC which are not present in CBD.
Part 2 - CBD v. THC
The most important difference for our purposes is that hemp is high in a compound called cannabidiol, aka CBD, while marijuana is high in a compound called tetrahydrocannabinol, aka THC. These words are clearly part of what generates confusion. They’re long, unfamiliar and similar sounding.
This difference is important because THC creates the “high” feeling you get from marijuana, while CBD does not create that feeling. THC is considered “psychoactive”, CBD is not. This fact is critically important in understanding the source of the confusion between hemp and marijuana. Back in the 20s and 30s hemp got swept up in the drive to demonize and outlaw marijuana.
The marijuana people smoked in the 60s had maybe 5% THC by weight. Some of today’s “wheelchair weed” strains can be as high as 35%. That happened due to selective breeding which was pursued in order to create more valuable strains of marijuana.
Again, this really shouldn’t be so surprising. Modern wheat is different from the wheat that was grown just a hundred years ago because it has been bred to increase yield per acre. Intense focus on one characteristic resulted in a different plant.
Industrial or legal hemp (the variety our products use) has only trace amounts of THC. Less than .3% by weight. You would have to smoke staggering amounts of hemp to get high.
Part 3 – Where Does CBD Come From
Legal Hemp!
All of our CBD comes strictly and exclusively from industrial or “legal” hemp grown in the US. In Kentucky to be exact. The word legal is in quotes because it refers to the definition of hemp contained in the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized certain hemp.
Why Kentucky you might ask? Kentucky used to be one of the largest producers of tobacco. In 1998 there was a Tobacco Settlement between the the cigarette industry and various governments throughout the country. One of the results of that settlement was thousands of acres which had previously been used for growing tobacco went fallow.
Tobacco and hemp can both grow pretty much anywhere and in soil which might not be conducive to growing other crops. Much of the acreage previously used for growing tobacco is now used for growing hemp. Because of this, Kentucky is one of the largest producers of hemp and CBD. That’s definitely a step in the right direction I think!
CBD is gotten from the hemp plant through the process of extraction. There are a number of methods of extraction and each has its pros and cons. Our CBD is obtained using the CO2 (carbon dioxide) method. This method is highly efficient, safe and and results in a clean product.
While the details of the process are much more complex, essentially what happens is CO2 is passed through the hemp under very specific and controlled conditions. The temperature and pressure of the CO2 are maintained at levels designed to maximize the yield achieved. As the CO2 passes through the hemp, it extracts the oils from the plant.
Now you have a liquid with CBD and other elements taken from the plant itself. In addition to the cannabinoids, this liquid will contain terpenes, oils, waxes, lipids, proteins and other plant material. This liquid will be further refined to produce the various products the manufacturer wants to make.
Part 4 - Cannabinoids
CBD and THC are both cannabinoids. Understanding cannabinoids is essential to understanding CBD.
Definition
To expand on the broad definition provided earlier, cannabinoids are chemical compounds that act on the cannabinoid receptors in our bodies to alter the release of certain neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters, in turn, regulate many physical and psychological functions such as heart rate, sleep, appetite, concentration, heartbeat and breathing. The neurotransmitters released through the activity of our cannabinoid receptors are just some of those present in our bodies; but by no means all of them.
Types
There are three types of cannabinoids: endocannabinoids; those occurring naturally in our bodies, phytocannabinoids; those occurring in plants and synthetic cannabinoids which are made in the lab.
The part of our bodies where cannabinoids do their thing is called the endocannabinoid system or ECS. A fairly recently discovered and increasingly understood system, the ECS has different types of receptors which work with different cannabinoids. CBD and THC have primary attractions to different cannabinoid receptors.
The different chemical structure of each cannabinoid means they will each have a different effect on our bodies. A good example is the high produced by THC. Go smoke a joint or talk to someone who just has. Then ask yourself if cannabinoids affect our bodies. Whatever else is going on, the cannabinoid THC definitely has the effect of making us high. Precisely how this works is well beyond the scope of this article.
The cannabinoid CBD, thankfully, has different effects on our bodies. As I mentioned above, the ECS is relatively newly “discovered” and less well understood than other bodily systems. The fact that research involving marijuana has been severely limited by our anti-drug laws means that this is an emerging field of study.
Research
The body of research into hemp and various cannabinoids is growing rapidly.
Before considering this topic broadly, it’s essential to remember that none of the following statements have been reviewed or approved by the FDA. Further, no CBD products are intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The sole exception to the latter statement is Epidiolex.
Existing research has suggested potential benefits from hemp for people in the following areas, to list some of the more common ones:
Anxiety
Pain
Epilepsy/Seizure
Psychotic Disorders
Stroke Rehabilitation
PTSD
Colitis
High Blood Pressure
Liver Injury
Part 4 - The CBD Marketplace
It’s safe to say that there is now a substantial market for CBD. It’s also safe to say that it can still be somewhat confusing, due to our unfamiliarity with the product as well as the nomenclature used to describe the different products.
Here’s a list of some common products and terms and what they mean.
CBD oil – This is CBD in an oil sometimes called a “carrier” oil because it carries the CBD. You’ll also see the term MCT oil. That stands for medium-chain-triglyceride and is often simply coconut oil.
Hemp oil – This is oil made from hemp seeds. It’s usually even called “hemp seed oil.” Think of it as you would olive oil.
CBD hemp oil – Aaah, now it gets interesting. This could be an abundance of caution on the manufacturer’s part wanting to make it perfectly clear that their CBD is made from hemp. Or, it could be CBD using hemp oil as the carrier. Read the label closely.
Cannabis oil – I’ve seen this used to describe almost everything. This could be hemp oil, CBD oil, the un-processed liquid derived from extraction, THC oil or a mix of a number of things. Read the label closely.
500 mg – CBD products from reputable companies nearly always list the amount of CBD contained in the product in milligrams.
Full spectrum oil – An oil which has other cannabinoids in addition to CBD. Again, read the label to make sure you’re getting what you think you are.
Broad Spectrum Oil – Same as Full Spectrum Oil, only with the THC removed. Caution: if you are on a zero tolerance policy for CBD, don’t use this. There could be trace amounts remaining.
Isolate – This is pure, 100% CBD obtained through further processing. It is isolated from all other items derived through the extraction process, hence the name. WORD OF CAUTION: Even CBD Isolate may contain trace amounts of other cannabinoids.
Part 5 - Summary
This article is not intended to provide exhaustive coverage of the topics addressed. The goal is to provide enough information for you to make sense of CBD as it exists in the world we live in. There are more than enough links for you to do deeper research on your own; something we encourage.
