If you are still with me, you are probably starting to notice that public awareness of CBD is growing. Rapidly! Good news travels fast! Because the demand is increasing expeditiously, companies are scrambling to provide that money making product! As you will see on Amazon, it is possible to buy cbd! Weird, huh? How do they get to mail marijuana products all over the country?? Let me try to explain…….. Hemp and Cannabis are basically the same plant, the difference lies in the total THC content of the final product. Legally, hemp is “ANY cannabis plant that produces .3% THC and less” for the US. The whole concept of hemp was created by Dr. Ernest Small who said that, “there is no real point in which marijuana and hemp differ”, so .3% THC is the line he drew. People generally feel the psychoactive effects of THC at 1% and obviously there are growers that cultivate for much higher levels. Carlotte’s Web (developed for treating seizures) is a good example of a strain that specifically grows for high levels of CBD. It would be ideal for hemp companies to be transparent about their product because CBD is so great for so many things. ONE little blind spot I see is that there are conditions that require a slightly higher percentage of THC (cancer, chrons), so the customer may not truly understand what they are buying. It is also extremely important to understand that if you are putting products from this plant into your body, it must be grown in organic conditions!! The cannabis plant really absorbs minerals AND contaminants from the soil, so if you buy CBD that was extracted from a sativa plant grown in China for fiber (not for human consumption) you may be ingesting something full of heavy metals. You are here because you actually care about your body right? Please buy from a good source that has third party testing.
While I am babbling – please don’t be afraid of the THC. I have been hearing many tales of ‘when I was in college, I smoked this joint’…….. I have a huge respect for you wanting to protect your body. I am with you! The treatments I refer to in this website are not aimed to get you high. We are learning, however that THC is often necessary to treat many conditions. CBD and THC are the most well understood of all of the cannabinoids and they clearly are synergistic to one another. It is believed that CBD is much more ‘bioavailable’ with some THC left behind. We love picking and choosing what parts of the plant we want, but at some point you may wonder what nature had in mind in the first place! There are quite a few conditions that benefit greatly from a higher CBD:THC ratio, but hopefully that patient is working closely with a cannabis practitioner that can help them choose the lesser of the many harmful medications we already subject our bodies to. If higher levels of THC are needed (cancer, severe pain, spasticity), the CBD will often balance out any psychoactive effects of the THC, often times resulting in a feeling of calmness or sleepiness. Of course, THC is also a great appetite stimulant and anti-emetic. Yay!!!! Thanks for keeping your minds open! Until next time……
Exploring Medical Cannabis 