The short answer – No. CBD bud does not have a psychoactive effect like marijuana (weed) does.
The longer answer, however, is that while you won’t feel the euphoria of a ‘high’ you will (most likely) feel the effects of Smoking Hemp. Studies have shown that CBD has many positive results for pain relief, anxiety, depression, and a host of other ailments.
Some of those benefits are similar to what is noted for medical marijuana use. The difference is, when you smoke CBD bud, you are getting the benefits of cannabis without the negative of a high.
CBD bud, or CBD hemp flower, is harvested from the hemp plant. Not marijuana.
This can be confusing because hemp and marijuana are the same species – Cannabis sativa (and sometimes Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis, or a hybrid mix of all three). Biologically speaking, hemp and marijuana are the same plants.
But, the devil is in the details. Or, in this case, the 2018 Farm Bill. Which declared cannabis varietals that had less than .3 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as federally legal and defined them as “hemp.” THC is the ‘intoxicating” cannabinoid (there are more than 100 different compounds found in the cannabis plant) in marijuana.
As a comparison, most marijuana sold today (even in legal states) boasts of at least 10 to 15 percent, even 20 percent plus THC. So, the amount of THC in a hemp plant is minuscule at best. At the same time, the 2018 Farm Bill defined “hemp” as cannabis with less than .3 percent THC, the feds also removed CBD from the Controlled Substances Act.
The result, CBD is now a federally legal cannabinoid. Cannabis plants that have less than .3 percent THC are considered “hemp” (even though they may look just like marijuana) and are also legal. A little confusing? Yes. Luckily, the cannabis plant is incredibly amazing and versatile and up to the challenges of federal laws!
Enter the fantastic hemp plant! (Aka cannabis!).
So, hemp was traditionally grown for all those other things that had nothing to do with smoking—fiber, rope, grain. Hemp is one of the most versatile and useful plants on Earth, with literally thousands of potential uses (we’re still figuring them all out today!).
At some point in history, humans realized they could smoke the Hemp Flower (and even leaf), with positive effects. Eventually, hemp plants with more intoxicating effects were noted and selectively bred to produce even more of it until we came up with the potent, high-THC marijuana strains commonly found today. In many cases, the push to grow high THC cannabis meant varietals were selected for JUST that, and CBD (and the other cannabinoids) were left by the wayside.
When the cannabis plant was declared federally illegal in the 1930s, it was a blanket prohibition that included ‘hemp’ (aka non-intoxicating cannabis more traditionally grown for fiber). So, there was no longer any reason to be growing or selecting hemp (aka low THC) cannabis plants. But, when the farm bill was passed in 2018, it opened the flood gates for cannabis breeders to begin enthusiastically selecting and breeding for low THC (under .3 percent!) and high CBD cannabis varietals.
And because the cannabis plant is amazing indeed, knowledgeable cannabis breeders, like Colorado Breeders Depot, were soon producing notable hemp varietals. This puts us where we are today, with a large selection of federally legal, high CDB buds available for consumers to smoke and enjoy.
If CBD bud doesn’t make you high, what’s the point? For some cannabis users, that is the end of the story. But, for many others, including people who have never smoked cannabis in the past, smoking CBD bud means you get all the benefits WITHOUT the high. There are many benefits that studies have revealed (with many more in the works).
Keep in mind, because cannabis was prohibited for more than 80 years, scientists were also prevented from studying it. Now that prohibition has lifted, a flood gate of new information is coming out cataloging the positive effects of CBD. Positive effects that had been primarily anecdotal in the past are now starting to be scientifically proven.
Many studies have linked CBD use with the relief of pain and arthritis. A study of rats treated with CBD showed the CBD helped alleviate pain from surgical incisions. Another study showed it could reduce chronic and sciatic pain in rats. This 2016 study showed CBD could help ease arthritis pain.
Another well-documented effect of using CBD is the relief of depression and anxiety. This means a potential replacement of currently legal anti-depressants that come with a host of other problems (including addiction). This study showed that participants given CBD were much more relaxed when asked to give a public speech. CBD has been successfully used to treat anxiety and insomnia in children. And CBD has been shown to have anti-depressant effects in mice.
There are many other documented benefits of CBD, including relieving epileptic seizures (there is even an FDA-approved, CBD-derived medicine for epilepsy), treating acne, helping with heart-health, anti-inflammatory, and many other benefits. The longer we go ‘past prohibition,’ the more time scientists will have to put anecdotal reports under scrutiny and document all the amazing benefits of CBD and the cannabis plant.
So, we know there are a lot of positives from using CBD, and no risk of getting ‘high. But are there other potential side-effects? Well, every human is different, and yes, some do report relatively mild ‘negative’ effects of CBD use.
They include:
The best way to avoid potential adverse side effects is to start with small quantities before going all in. Also, speak with knowledgeable cannabis staff, or ‘budtenders’ that can recommend one strain over others and help with dosing levels.
We hope this article will help you enjoy the amazing benefits of the hemp plant and smokable CBD bud. If you are interested in trying out some premium quality hemp CBD bud for your smoking pleasure, reach out to us at Colorado Breeders Depot for our latest, home-grown smokable hemp flower.
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