Hemp vs Marijuana : What’s the Difference?
There’s often some confusion between hemp CBD oil vs marijuana CBD oil. Both come from the cannabis sativa plant, but the biology of the two are decidedly different. While both plants contain compounds known as cannabinoids, marijuana contains the most well-known cannabinoid, THC (responsible for the “high” most people associate with cannabis in general) while hemp contains large amounts of CBD (also known as cannabidiol, which contains no psychoactive effects).
Industrial Hemp Supplements
Since hemp is naturally rich in CBD and has been bred to have only trace amounts of THC, many people today are turning to hemp products as an alternative to medical marijuana. Medical marijuana is not legal in all states in the US and many countries worldwide, while products made from hemp can be a safe and legal alternative. You can get many of the same beneficial effects of medical marijuana from hemp products without getting “high.”
When made into an oil (whether it’s hemp or marijuana oil), the compounds stay intact. And it’s the compounds contained in the plant that mark the only difference between marijuana and hemp at all. The single most distinguishing feature between marijuana and hemp oil is the amount of THC contained in each.
Marijuana oil generally contains 5-20% THC and has a higher ratio of THC than CBD. Hemp oil contains very little THC. For an oil to be considered hemp, it must contain less than 0.3% THC. Marijuana oil, on the other hand, contains higher doses of THC oil and causes the high most people associate with marijuana.
Interestingly enough, the high amounts of CBD contained in hemp oil have been shown to counteract the psychoactive effects of THC. For instance, if someone’s consumed “too much” high-THC marijuana oil, a hemp oil could reduce the effects.
Industrial hemp is produced by strains of Cannabis sativa that have been specifically bred to produce the lowest concentrations of THC possible and are instead selected and bred to grow taller and sturdier. Industrial hemp is exclusively made from Cannabis sativa.
Here’s the main concept to understand, Cannabidiol is Still Cannabidiol in regard to its chemical composition, CBD remains unchanged regardless of which plant produces it.
However, the main question people have is not just about the CBD compound, which is constant from plant to plant, but the actual difference in CBD oil from various plants. Naturally occurring CBD is the same CBD regardless of the plant it came from, however, CBD and CBD oil are not in fact the same thing. As we’ve seen above, CBD is a chemical compound, while CBD oil is a mixture of various natural substances as they are derived from the plant of cannabis.
The production of hemp oil involves extracting the fatty acids from the stalks of the cannabis plant. Within these fatty acids fat-soluble substances can be found, and as cannabinoids are fat-soluble, they come out of the plant, dissolved in the oil.
Let’s use an example here. A high-CBD hemp oil product made from hemp. It has a concentration of CBD between 18% and 24%. This means that it has 18%–24% parts CBD dissolved in the actual oil, which is composed by other substances. So 18%–24% is pure CBD, and the rest are hemp oil extracts and other fatty acid substances.
The main point here is that CBD is always CBD, but CBD oil from hemp is not the same as the oil that is extracted from medical marijuana.
The main difference between the two remains that CBD oil from medical marijuana can contain any varying amount of THC. As a result, this type of CBD oil is considered a Schedule 1 drug and is not legal in many states in the US and countries worldwide.
Besides the difference in THC concentration, the CBD oils will also have differing amounts of other cannabinoids. But those make up a much smaller percentage of the overall volume and are not as pronounced in their effects as CBD or THC are. So, if you are looking for a safe and legal CBD oil product, Blue Botanical’s CBD oil produced from hemp is a great choice, because it’s naturally rich in CBD and has 0% THC.
