CBD is a natural compound found in cannabis and has been used for decades by people in the medical industry to minimise the pain associated with various ailments.
In this article, we’ll go over 5 facts about CBD that you need to know before you get started. We’ll discuss everything from what CBD is exactly, how it works at a molecular level and what it can be used for outside of just life-altering pain relief.
Here are our 5 things to know about CBD:
- CBD is completely legal in the some countries
Just because CBD was once a Schedule 1 drug (meaning that it was illegal under federal law and considered dangerous) doesn’t mean it still is. The list of Schedule 1 drugs were put together way back in 1970 and listed many substances like heroin, mescaline (a hallucinogenic plant) and even some breakfast cereals like Cap’n Crunch — giggle. If a substance is considered to be a Schedule 1 drug, then we take that to mean that it has no medical value and has a high potential for abuse as well as being harmful to the person using it.
- You may have heard that CBD is illegal in Canada right now, but you might be wrong about that statement.
There are some laws that define what levels of THC and CBD products (as well as other cannabinoids) are considered legal in different countries. For example, if you live in Canada, then it’s a federal offence to sell any product with more than 0.3 percent of THC to the public. However, if you live in the country of Brazil, then it is legal for any company to sell products with up to 1 percent THC without the need for a prescription.
- CBD is an alkaloid and belongs to a class of compounds called cannabinoids — just like THC, but they work differently.
So, what is CBD? Well, CBD stands for cannabidiol and is the second most abundant cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. In fact, recent studies have shown that THC and CBD are actually made from the same precursor molecule. If you’re interested to know more about the history of CBD or how it was discovered, then head on over to our article: history of cbd oil — we’ll tell you all about it!
- The compound responsible for a large amount of CBD’s benefits — especially pain relief — is called cannabidiolic acid (CBDA).
Scientists still aren’t completely sure why some cannabinoids like CBDA work better than others. That said, we do know that they are the key components of the chemical makeup of many of the cannabinoids found in cannabis.
CBD is not the only cannabinoid in cannabis with health benefits, however. Other cannabinoids that have been shown to work similarly to CBD include THC and CBC (found in Cannabigerol). For example, like CBD, CBC is thought to act on receptors throughout your body and help with various symptoms and conditions such as pain, inflammation, anxiety and — of course — muscle spasms!
- Hemp oil can be extracted from three different parts of the cannabis plant:
So far we’ve talked about one of these components: CBDA. The other two components of CBD oil are extracted from other parts of the same plant. One of these is extracted from the stalk of the cannabis plant and another is extracted from specific strains of marijuana plants, like those used to make Sativa or Indica strains.
In fact, CBD oil can be made using all three types of cannabinoids including CBDA, CBCA and THC. However, THC-based CBD oils have been banned in places like Canada and Germany due to the psychoactive properties they cause in users.