A Poor Gal’s Guide to CBD Oil — The Lexington Line

What the hell even is CBD? I mean unless you are some cannabis science guru, its pretty likely you don’t actually know what it is. Yea, you put it in drinks, cupcakes, and dog treats, but what is it made of? How does it work? Is it really that effective? And no, CBD is NOT marijuana (shouts for all the grandmas in the back). Stick with me while I give you the poor gal's version of a CBD oil crash course—not sponsored by John Green.

What is it?

CBD is short for cannabidiol. A cannabidiol is one of the loads of cannabinoids that is found in a cannabis or a hemp plant. CBD is kinda like the opposite of THC—tetrahydrocannabinol—another cannabinoid. Think of CBD as the calming agent and THC as the creative, oh-god-my-hands-look-so-weird agent. This is because unlike THC, CBD has no psychoactive components to it, meaning you won't get a mental high, and you won’t think about how we will never really know how far outer space is because the majority of the population has never been there so basically the government could just be lying. CBD is said to, according to Medical News Today, help relieve pain, reduce anxiety, and minimize the number of seizures epilepsy patients have. More on that later.

How is it derived?

Now, don’t get confused: there is such thing as CBD hemp oil and cannabis CBD oil. The main difference is the amount of THC that is in both. Hemp has a very large CBD to THC level. In hemp there is more CBD than there is THC and vice-versa with cannabis CBD oil. So you receive more of a body high with CBD oil derived from cannabis than you do with hemp CBD oil. In order to get CBD oil, you want to look to the hemp plant. There are three many ways to extract CBD oil: oil, CO2, or ethanol (alcohol). I won’t get into the details because I’m no scientist, so here’s a link for ya.

What do you use it for and how?

Like I said earlier, there are a lot of benefits that come from using CBD oil. In addition to the reasons I stated previously, CBD oil can help lessen the side effects of chemotherapy, prevents Alzheimer's, and even help fight acne. CBD oil can be consumed and used in many forms. You can eat it in the form of edibles, take pills containing CBD oil, inhale it from a vaporizer, rub it on your body or hair, or just grab yourself a bottle of plain ole CBD oil and do with it what you please.

Does it work?

It honestly depends on what you use it for and how pure it is. CBD is really beneficial for those who experience chronic pain. But if you are grabbing a sketchy bottle from Amazon and are just looking to try it out, who knows how pure it is and if it will really do anything. Besides, CBD oil is relatively new, especially to the masses, so there is very little research on how much actually works for recreational or medical purposes. So if you are really looking to try it out, it might not be as useful unless you have some serious back pain. In that case, consult your doctor, and they will be able to provide you with the proper information to inform your decision about incorporating this into your treatment plan.

CBD oil is suuuper new. We are still learning more and more about it, especially with the increasing number of states that are legalizing medicinal and recreational usage of marijuana. So don’t take this information at face value. For all we know, in years, even months, all of this information could change because of new discoveries and greater regulation. So do your research, be careful, and try at your own discretion. PS: For a super in depth version of all this mumbo-jumbo, check out Project CBD’s article on CBD. They lay out the lands and deep dive into the rules and regulations around THC and CBD.