In this second part of "Your Essential Guide to Cannabis Wellness" we explore why you should know where your CBD comes from. And what to look for.
There was a time when you could only get CBD from a ‘someone who knows a guy’. Access to CBD was limited to what seemed like an inner circle of people who somehow knew someone that got ‘really good stuff’. And that’s pretty much all it took – word-of-mouth and thumbs-up.
As the CBD market expands and becomes ever more crowded with products, promotion and promises, the source of the CBD and how it got from seed to shelf is becoming increasingly more important.
Where does it come from? Where was it grown and extracted?
As we discovered in the first part of Your Essential Guide To CBD, What Is CBD?, this miracle compound is extracted from the cannabis plant. However, not all plants are created equal...
Whether its a local or global brand, grown in Lesotho or California, traceability is a concept that’s gaining momentum in all cannabis-derived products. And not just for ethical reasons, but for ensuring the industry is held to consistent health and safety standards to build trust with consumers globally.
The other, more obvious point is to ensure it is THC-free.
Quite simply, the more you know where a product comes from – whether it’s a coffee bean or an apple – the more you’ll inherently trust a brand and a supplier. With a natural product like cannabis, transparency, honesty and trust are arguably more important than slick marketing campaigns and fancy packaging.
Key questions to ask your CBD supplier (if it’s not clear from the packaging or website.):
1. Where was the Hemp grown (continent, country, state, local area?)
2. Where was the product processed? Was is lab-tested by an independent third party?
3. How was the CBD extracted?
4. What is the amount of CBD in each dosage? Do they fall under the legal threshold? (Your recommended daily dose is 20mg of CBD)
5. Is it 100% THC free? (ie, does it contact 0.3% THC or less?
6. What other ingredients are listed? There shouldn’t be a long list of other stuff.
Read Next: Will I Get High On CBD?