People smoke marijuana to get high — everyone knows that. But while cannabidiol, better known as CBD, is made from cannabis, it’s not going to get you high. However, it can seemingly do a lot of other things.
The CBD market is expected to reach more than $2 billion in consumer sales by 2020. So chances are that you’re hearing a lot about it even if you aren’t sure why people are so fond of it. It has a lot of uses, even if getting you stoned isn’t one of them. Here’s what you need to know about the CBD trend.
CBD as a wellness product
First, you should know what CBD does not have: it lacks THC, the psychoactive part of marijuana that gets you high. When you smoke a joint, you’re doing it for the THC. But since that doesn’t exist in CBD, people use it to do things like relieve anxiety and inflammation.
Experts say that CBD has gotten so big, so quickly that scientists haven’t had quite enough time to study it the way they would like. That said, there are results that indicate it can be helpful for relieving anxiety. So it affects the brain, but not by getting you high. Instead, it helps you relax. Yes, for most people, pot also helps them relax, but the effects aren’t the same.
If you’re feeling more anxious, you’ve got plenty of equally anxious company. A 2018 poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association found that 39 percent of Americans reported higher anxiety levels in 2018 than they did in 2017. Another 39 percent reported their anxiety levels had stayed the same from 2017 to 2018.
We’re nervous about things like our health and our financial situation, so it makes sense that people would turn to a product like CBD to see if it can relieve anxiety. It’s not as pricey as some other options, and it’s also rather easy to obtain.
The world of CBD products
If CBD interests you, you should know that there’s more than one way to consume it. Drops are a popular method if you don’t mind using a dropper and sticking it underneath your tongue. But drops are far from your only option.
CBD is also marketed as a way to relieve pain. That means you can also get it as a topical salve and apply it a bit like lotion. If you prefer pills, then you should know that you can pop a CBD softgel and get the same effect as you would with a tincture.
But how do you know if you’re getting an authentic CBD product? After all, the market is booming right now, so there are no doubt less-than-scrupulous merchants who will happily take your money without giving you an effective product. You can reduce the odds of getting scammed by looking for something like CBDistillery lab results. A company that stands by its products should have no issue including lab results with your package.
And those lab results shouldn’t be from an in-house lab, as those results are easier to fabricate. No, the results should be from a neutral third-party lab instead.
How widely accepted is CBD?
Right now, there are some doctors who will happily recommend CBD products, while there are also plenty who remain wary of it. If more evidence comes in that supports CBD’s usefulness, then it’s likely that additional doctors will come onboard. Right now, you probably shouldn’t expect to get a prescription for CBD from most doctors, but that’s the nice thing about CBD: you don’t need a prescription for it.
It’s possible we’re not too far removed from a future where CBD treatments are considered mainstream. Your health information exchange organization may start keeping track of uses for CBD the same way it keeps track of more conventional treatments.
Have you or your loved ones used CBD?
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