CBD oil is a beloved wellness tool. It’s slowly making its way into many things we use daily. You can even find CBD in things like shampoo and toothpaste.
CBD oil is commonly used as a daily supplement by people who want to promote a little more relief and relaxation in their daily lives.
CBD is a cannabinoid, and cannabinoids come from Cannabis sativa plants. Cannabis plants are also the source of THC, a psychoactive cannabinoid many would prefer to avoid.
When you use CBD oil, how much THC are you ingesting? Here’s what you need to know.
What Is the Difference Between Hemp and Cannabis?
CBD oil comes from hemp plants, which are cannabis plants. The word “hemp” is a special designation by the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture that allows American farmers to grow industrial cannabis plants legally.
Hemp is an important, versatile, and sustainable crop, and thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, we can use more hemp products in our daily lives.
Any cannabis plant that produces 0.3 percent THC or less by its dry weight is considered a hemp plant. That makes the plant legal for farmers to grow so they can produce things like hemp protein, hemp seed oil, rope, textiles, and CBD oil.
CBD products include edibles, tinctures, topicals (like creams and balms), and vapes. These products will have varying levels of CBD and THC content (more on that later).
What Is the Difference Between CBD and THC?
CBD and THC come from the same place but differ incredibly. They inspire different effects from within the body, and they interact with it in two completely different ways.
How Cannabinoids Work With Your Body
Your body is absolutely packed with cannabinoid receptors — they’re everywhere. They’re in your brain, nervous system, skin, immune system, and digestive system. In addition to cannabinoid receptors, your body is full of other receptors that cannabinoids can interact with. This massive network of receptors is the endocannabinoid system.
Your body can make cannabinoids to interact with this system. It can also receive cannabinoids from other sources, like hemp plants. Hemp plants contain well over 100 cannabinoids, some in greater amounts than others. Each cannabinoid will interact with your endocannabinoid system differently.
What Does CBD Do?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is a very friendly cannabinoid. It wants to meet every cannabinoid receptor within your endocannabinoid system. It floats by and interacts with these receptors, encouraging them to perform their natural functions.
CBD doesn’t bind to cannabinoid receptors or change the way your body works. In a way, it serves as a source of inspiration. It doesn’t modify what your body can do; it merely encourages your body to do what it already knows to do.
CBD won’t make you feel high or groggy. Many people report that the effects of CBD support feelings of calmness or mental clarity, which is essentially the opposite of feeling high.
What Does THC Do?
THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is a psychoactive cannabinoid. It binds itself to the cannabinoid receptors in your brain and body.
While locked on, it changes how signals are sent throughout your body. THC can change how you perceive sensations and alter how you physically and mentally feel. That’s what’s going on when you get high.
For medical cannabis patients, the mind-altering properties of THC are a benefit. They can change how people perceive pain sensations — recreational cannabis users just like how it makes them feel.
Is CBD Legal?
CBD is legal in most states. A few states only allow hemp-derived CBD with no detectable traces of THC, and some states have chosen just to ban all cannabis completely (including hemp). No federal law prohibits CBD because CBD is a product of legal agricultural hemp.
Is THC Legal?
THC is legal in states where recreational cannabis use is legal. It’s also legal for qualified medical cannabis patients in states with medical cannabis programs. Although some state laws allow it, you can’t cross state lines with non-hemp THC products; THC is still illegal on a federal level.
This legality may change with time. Many Americans have a growing interest in changing the laws surrounding cannabis. State and federal governments have slowly been shifting toward decriminalizing or legalizing all sorts of cannabis.
Each state has its own laws and limits regarding cannabis. Laws vary significantly from state to state. Be sure you follow your state’s specific guidelines for cannabis products containing more than 0.3 percent THC.
How Much THC Is in CBD Oil?
Although some CBD products use traditional cannabis instead of hemp, those aren’t the products that most people use. You can only get cannabis-derived CBD products from legal cannabis dispensaries in states that allow it.
Most CBD-infused products you can buy in health food stores or online come from hemp. Hemp plants are allowed to contain up to 0.3 percent THC by their dry weight, which is a very small percentage of the plant’s total cannabinoid content.
The only way to know how much THC is in your CBD oil is to read the batch's certificate of analysis.
What Is a Certificate of Analysis?
Reputable CBD companies are willing to back up their claims with real data — they send a sample of each batch of their CBD products to an independent third-party lab. That lab uses special equipment to test the cannabinoid content of each batch.
They can also check for things like pesticides, contaminants, and heavy metals to assure the purity of the batch.
The lab creates a report called a certificate of analysis. The CBD company will post the certificate of analysis for each batch on its website. The certificate will show how much CBD was detected in the sample and how much THC.
The CBD percentage should be the highest. You want to see a ton of CBD in your CBD oil. The THC percentage should be very low, usually coming in at less than a tenth of a percentage. Depending on the CBD product, the lab may not find any detectable levels of THC.
Can CBD Oil Get You High?
CBD oil won’t get you high. It doesn’t contain nearly enough THC to produce psychoactive effects. If you’re nervous about using CBD because you’re worried that it will make you feel funny, you have nothing to fear.
CBD’s effects are subtle, and they’re not mind-altering. Certain CBD products are more or less likely to produce the effects of THC, and we will go over those shortly.
What Is the Difference Between Full-Spectrum CBD and Broad-Spectrum CBD?
There are a few distinct types of CBD. Full-spectrum CBD oil is whole hemp extract. It comes from the plant and goes directly into full-spectrum CBD products. Full-spectrum CBD will contain small amounts of THC by nature.
Broad-spectrum CBD is a hemp extract that undergoes an additional process to remove all trace amounts of THC. Check the certificate of analysis for a batch of broad-spectrum CBD. Next to THC, the results should read “ND” for non-detect. That means all detectable levels of THC have been successfully removed from the batch.
CBD isolate is pure CBD and THC-free. While this is a safe option if you are concerned about THC, it also loses the beneficial plant parts of other CBD products and may not offer the entourage effect. This effect is the belief that cannabinoids work well together rather than separated.
If you’re concerned about the THC in CBD products, go with broad-spectrum CBD — choose products you’re comfortable using.
Can CBD Oil Show Up on a Drug Test?
Drug tests don’t usually look for CBD. CBD isn’t a controlled substance, so there’s no point in adding it to a multi-panel drug test. However, the small amount of THC that some CBD oil products contain could pose a problem.
Although the amount of THC in CBD oil isn’t enough to produce effects, your body can store it in fat cells. If you use high-quality CBD products daily, tiny amounts of THC can accumulate within your body.
It’s theoretically possible that these THC metabolites may be detected by a very sensitive drug test, causing a false positive. If you’re in a position where you cannot risk a false positive for cannabis use on a drug test, you can use a different form of THC.
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Sources:
Hemp Production and the 2018 Farm Bill - 07/25/2019 | FDA
An introduction to the endogenous cannabinoid system | National Library of Medicine