With cannabis now legal in many places in North America, there’s an emerging market for cannabis-based products. CBD is one of those exciting new products.
You can get a lot of benefits from consuming CBD oil. For example, many people take it for managing depression and anxiety.
Unfortunately, a lot of CBD vendors are taking advantage of consumers. Here is what to look for when buying CBD oil.
A New Market
CBD is now legal to buy in many places, but this doesn’t mean you don’t need to be cautious when ordering some. Since the CBD industry is fairly new, there’s still a lot to be done in terms of rules and regulations.
Many companies are unscrupulously misselling CBD and CBD products. In some cases, you might just get an inferior product. But sometimes, buying bad CBD oil could have bigger consequences.
For example, good quality CBD shouldn’t make you fail a drug test. Unfortunately, there are some companies that put too much THC in their CBD oil. CBD oil with an excessive amount of THC could easily make you fail a drug test and lose your job.
What to Look for When Buying CBD Oil
So how do you make sure you’re getting a high-quality product that contains only what’s advertised? Here are a few measures you can take to ensure you don’t get ripped off when you buy CBD oil.
Has the Product Been Lab Tested?
You should be very wary of any company selling CBD oil that hasn’t posted lab test results anywhere on their website. Pretty much any good CBD oil company will have their product tested by an independent third-party laboratory.
You should always verify that the company isn’t trying to pass off results from their own lab. These results can’t be relied on because the company could easily change them to make them look better.
How Is It Manufactured?
The process of extracting CBD is fairly complicated and there’s no single process to do it. Some extraction processes are much more desirable than others.
If a vendor is using an unfavorable extraction technique, they might try and keep it secret. You should always be wary of any vendor that doesn’t describe their extraction process.
So what kind of extraction processes could be used?
Sometimes, dangerous solvents like propane, hexane, pentane, and butane are used. Often, if you see a deal on CBD oil that seems to good to be true, it’s because they used this kind of extraction method. It’s undesirable because these solvents can be toxic to your health.
What Are Good Manufacturing Processes?
Ideally, you’re looking for CBD oil that’s been extracted using one of two ways.
Firstly, there is extraction via pharmaceutical grade ethanol. This is widely regarded to be the safest method of making CBD for human consumption.
Another good way to extract CBD is to use supercritical CO2 extraction. This process involves extracting the CBD using carbon dioxide under high pressure in an extremely cold environment. This extraction process is a bit less common because of the complexity and expense involved in pulling it off.
If a company isn’t telling you which method they use for extraction, they’re probably using a harmful solvent. You should also watch out for companies claiming they use a certain extraction method without 3rd party verification.
Where Is the Hemp Sourced?
Not only is the method of extraction important, but where the raw materials are sourced is also very important.
Hemp is a hyperaccumulator. This means it’ll absorb things from the ground and from the air.
This has some implications when it comes to quality. If there are any contaminants present, these will probably find their way into the hemp.
Unfortunately, many CBD manufacturers want to make as much money as possible. This leads to them buying inferior quality hemp that’s been contaminated. This could have detrimental effects on your health.
So what should you be looking for?
If you can find CBD oil made from hemp grown in the USA, it should be OK. US farmers are required to get certified by the State Department of Agriculture.
There are also a few countries in the EU that produce high-quality contaminant-free hemp. As with extraction methods, you should be careful about any vendor that isn’t completely transparent about what they’re selling.
Check the THC Amount
THC is the psychoactive element found in cannabis. In some cases, this can be present in CBD oil to the point that you’ll experience psychoactive effects.
If you don’t want this, always make sure you check the advertised THC percentage. If you want to avoid psychoactive effects, you should look for CBD oil containing 0.3% THC or less. If you take CBD oil with this percentage of THC, you’ll be able to use it and still pass a drug test.
If you use CBD oil with a higher percentage of THC present, you could fail. Note that just because you don’t feel any psychoactive effects doesn’t mean you won’t still fail a drug test.
Look for “Whole Plant” and “Full Spectrum”
Good quality CBD oil is made using the whole plant. When you use the whole thing, you’re not just getting CBD oil, but also a wider range of cannabinoids.
These work in conjunction with the CBD and increases the overall effect. Click for more information about good quality CBD oil.
Don’t Get Ripped Off
So now you know what to look for when buying CBD oil. One of the key things to remember is you need to buy with caution. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Also, if a vendor is not being transparent about their product, they’re probably hiding something. As the rules and regulations surrounding CBD become more established, scam vendors will become less of a problem. But for now, make sure you buy with caution.
Want to read about other ways of improving your health? Then read more on our blog!
