First of all, Is CBD A Drug?
Cannabidiol is used in medicine, but it is not an intoxicant. THC is the component that is used as an intoxicant, and is generally not going to be found in significant quantities in CBD-based products. (It all depends on how CBD oil is made.) According to this NPR story, CBD may actually have an opposite effect, calming one’s anxiety or helping to provide focus.
Is CBD Marijuana?
If referring to the types or marijuana used as an intoxicant, CBD is found in very low quantities in these strains. CBD is typically extracted from hemp. Industrial hemp comes from the same species of plant as herbal cannabis, but it contains more CBD than THC, where the inverse is true of herbal marijuana. It would take pounds and pounds of hemp to extract the THC found in a few ounces of medicinal marijuana, and it would take a lot of medicinal marijuana to extract enough CBD to fill a single prescription order.
What Is CBD Used For?
CBD has a number of proven medical benefits, with many others still in the early research stages. The primary proven effects include treatment of multiple sclerosis pain, and epilepsy. As of 2005, Canadian authorities approved Nabiximols, or Sativex, for use in the treatment of pain relating to multiple sclerosis, and in 2017 and 2018, a number of medical reviews were published showing the benefits of CBD as a means of treating childhood epilepsy.
Research is still pending on other uses before CBD can be applied in a broader range of clinical products, but it is not difficult to find anecdotal reports of CBD being used to treat joint pain, anxiety, issues relating to appetite, insomnia and so on.
Are There Any Side Effects To Using CBD?
A number of side effects have been linked to CBD, and as with any medicinal application, these side effects will vary from person to person. Some users might experience no adverse side effects whatsoever, while others might experience several. Side effects include decrease in appetite, diarrhea, exhaustion, and assorted sleeping issues.
Generally, the side effects have proven to be minor, and most users, pending medical instruction from their physician, will be safe to try CBD in small amounts and make a note of any adverse effects they experience before using it in larger quantities.
What Is CBD Oil?
CBD oil is an oil heavy with CBD. CBD oil can refer to the naturally occurring oil found on the plant itself, or to oils derived or infused with CBD oils.
How Is CBD Oil Extracted?
There are a number of CBD oil extraction methods available. Essentially, any manner by which one might create an oil from a plant is applicable to cannabis. Professional pharmacists and dispensary providers may use a sophisticated CO2 extraction method, dry ice, or an alcohol solvent.
Those inclined to try the DIY approach to CBD, may use the olive oil method, heating the cannabis in olive oil for thirty minutes to extract CBD. This oil perishes more quickly than oils extracted by other methods, and the method produces a relatively low volume of usable oil, but is safe and cheap to do at home with limited equipment. A stove, a pan and some olive oil are the only requirements, where CO2, dry ice and alcohol solvents introduce a lot of dangerous and expensive components to the process, and should not be attempted by people without a strong background in chemistry or pharmaceuticals.
The alcohol process is relatively straightforward for a first-timer, but creates a major fire risk, and can produce low quality oil loaded with dangerous components, like chlorophyll. A safer option is to find a reliable CBD source with documentation to back up their making process.
What Products are CBD Oil Used in?
CBD oil is easy to create and easy to use in a variety of ways, making it the most popular means of use for CBD. There are as many uses for CBD oil as there are uses for corn, coconut or olive oil. Assuming no known allergies or sensitivities to side effects, CBD oil is one hundred percent safe to ingest, making it a popular ingredient in edibles. It can be mixed with other oils, fats or butters as required by the recipe and applied to almost any food item.
CBD oil can be rubbed directly onto the skin for treatment of joint pain, or put in capsules to be swallowed. CBD oils have also been used in mouth sprays and skin creams. We know this, that pretty much anything topical or edible can be infused with CBD oil. If you can cook it, eat it, or put it on your skin, there’s no reason you can’t put some CBD oil in it.
Why Isn’t CBD Used In Everything, Then?
So what does CBD stand for? For thousands of people, CBD stands for relief; CBD stands for well- being; CBD stands for health.
There are political and legal obstacles faced by CBD that would take too long to get into here, but of late, public opinion on CBD, hemp and marijuana has softened. However, CBD research is still a relatively new field. There is quite a bit that is suspected, but not proven. To put it another way, clinical studies are still needed in order to establish what users have known for decades.
CBD is generally associated with marijuana culture and certainly its use has taken strong hold in those circles, but it is also catching on well beyond the boundaries of head shops and dispensaries. It is not at all hard to find users who have never touched marijuana in their lives, but swear by the effects of CBD for their arthritis or acne.
Within a few years, CBD may be regarded as just another component of medicine, but for the time being, a number of studies have still to be conducted before it is fully embraced by American industry and medical culture at large. This is not to say that many of the benefits of CBD have not been proven, only that they have yet to be proven in a rigorous, scientific context so as to win the full approval of organizations like the FDA.
