Thinking about using hemp CBD oil as a substitute for marijuana CBD?
Before making your purchase, it’s important to know that not all CBD varieties are created equal. The key difference lies in the sources of the medicine. While marijuana – or more clearly the THC and resin content – is still banned in many places, many companies found ways around using a legal loop hole. Industrialized Hemp.
The Difference Between Marijuana & Hemp
Often times, people assume that these two are exactly the same, but that the terms refer to different aspects or uses of the plant. This is true to a certain extent. However, it is more the way the plant is grown that drives the ultimate difference.
Hemp
A low-resin, low-THC (almost non-existent) Cannabis Sativa plant – the same as marijuana, grown for its fibers and seeds. Growers typically leave little space between the plants leaving the harvest to appear more like bamboo with tall skinny stalks. It can tower up to 10 or 15 feet and is considered an agricultural crop.
Hemp plants before harvest.
Marijuana
A high-resin, high-THC, high-CBD Cannabis Sativa plant grown for its psychotropic and medicinal qualities most often found the flower of female plants. Plants are grown with more room, allowing them to spread out as opposed to spread up, and creating a fuller plant over all. It is considered a horticulture crop and is typically hand-harvested, trimmed, dried and cured.
Don’t get us wrong. Hemp is an extremely useful plant, but it’s low levels of cannabinoids don’t favor medicinal qualities.
The Difference between Hemp CBD & Marijuana Hemp
Hemp CBD
According Medical Marijuana Inc., who was the ousted by Project CBD for what they considered misleading information, good CBD help oil comes from high-CBD, low-THC hemp. “Using these uniquely potent plants, it is possible to extract cannabis oils that contains a significant level of cannabidiol, as well as essential vitamins, mineral, fatty acids, terpenes, flavonoids, and other non-psychoactive cannabinoids,” their website also claims.
However, while hemp can be grown to elicit higher CBD levels through cross-pollination, the chances of this happening are slim if the plant is pollinated within it’s own crop. Hemp just doesn’t contain enough CBD to have a medicinal effect on the user. Some have even claimed that hemp CBD has lead to them feeling sick from it’s use.
Marijuana CBD
Cannabis Sativa plants grown outdoors.
Marijuana CBD is what the medicinal cannabis industry is referring to when they discuss the benefits of the oil. Products like Charlotte’s Web are high-CBD, low-THC (nearly nonexistent) oils proven to help treat certain conditions. CBD oil repeatedly continues to demonstrate medicinal qualities for debilitating conditions. The difference being that the cannabis plant use is grown and harvested for medicinal use. The plant’s CBD levels line up with current research.
CBD isn’t the only cannabinoid necessary to elicit the medicinal qualities of marijuana. CBD needs to perform biological process with THC and other cannabinoids.
Related: What is the Difference Between THC and CBD?
How Hemp CBD found it’s way on the market.
So if Hemp CBD doesn’t have the same medicinal outcome, why are some selling it as such? There’s a long history of hemp and this is where hemp CBD comes into play. In brief, the legality of marijuana stems from the plant’s THC or the amount of resin produced by the plant.
This loop hole in the Controlled Substances Act allows hemp farmers in some states to grow the plant and produce CBD. However, since hemp contains such low levels, concerns have been raised about the amount of “fillers” that could be present in the product. Perhaps this is what leads to those who have used hemp CBD as a substitute for marijuana CBD to feel ill after it’s use.
For those living in a state where CBD oil is not available, hemp CBD seems like a viable option for medical treatment. But the proof just isn’t there. Calling your state congressmen and women and asking them to support medicinal cannabis legislation is you best bet for receiving the treatment you need.
For more information on marijuana CBD oil, we recommend checking out Project CBD.