Does CBD get you high? No. CBD has no psychoactive effects.
Are cannabis, marijuana, and hemp the same thing? No. This is a common misconception.
Cannabis (or Cannabis Sativa) is a family of plants, of which marijuana and hemp are members. Although they’re relatives, marijuana and hemp have distinct differences in biology, appearance, and cultivation methods. The two were grouped together and banned during Nixon’s “War on Drugs” when his administration signed into law the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Since then, cannabis has suffered from decades of toxic misinformation and social stigmas.
So, to recap…
1. CBD does not get you high.
2. Cannabis is a family of plants.
3. Marijuana and hemp are members of the cannabis family.
Are cannabis, marijuana, and hemp the same thing? No. This is a common misconception.
Cannabis (or Cannabis Sativa) is a family of plants, of which marijuana and hemp are members. Although they’re relatives, marijuana and hemp have distinct differences in biology, appearance, and cultivation methods. The two were grouped together and banned during Nixon’s “War on Drugs” when his administration signed into law the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Since then, cannabis has suffered from decades of toxic misinformation and social stigmas.
So, to recap…
1. CBD does not get you high.
2. Cannabis is a family of plants.
3. Marijuana and hemp are members of the cannabis family.
The most important difference between marijuana and hemp is the cannabinoids that each plant produces. Cannabinoids are the chemical compounds secreted by cannabis plants that offer a wide range of therapeutic benefits. When you consume cannabis, cannabinoids bind to different receptors throughout the body. There are at least 113 different known cannabinoids today. Two of the most common cannabinoids are THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, strongly psychoactive, the one that gets you high) and CBD (cannabidiol, non-psychoactive, calming).
Cannabinoids interact with a biological pathway inside your body called the endocannabinoid system. This system is involved in regulating a variety of cognitive and psychological processes including mood, memory, appetite, and pain.
Two primary endocannabinoid receptors have been identified as CB1 (1990) and CB2 (1993). CB1 receptors are found primarily in the brain and are influenced by anandamide, a neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure, motivation, and hunger. This same neurotransmitter is released during exercise and causes “runner’s high.” THC, having an extremely similar molecular structure to anandamide, fits perfectly into CB1 receptors. This is why THC influences pleasure, motivation, hunger, and makes you feel hiiiigh. CBD does not directly bind to CB1 receptors, but indirectly inhibits them. This is why CBD can be used to reduce how high you feel and has been proven to reduce psychological and mental stressors in the brain.
CBD also indirectly influences CB2 receptors, which exist primarily outside of the brain on your white blood cells, in your tonsils, in your spleen, and throughout the rest of your body. The unbalanced functioning of CB2 receptors have been linked to virtually every type of human disease from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurodegenerative, autoimmune, skin, bone, cancer, and even pain-related disorders. As CBD enters your bloodstream, the cannabinoid acts on CB2 receptors throughout your body to promote homeostasis, or stable equilibrium, of the endocannabinoid system. Research and clinic studies have found that acting on CB2 receptors produces anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.
What have we learned?
THC targets cannabinoid receptors in the brain, while CBD targets cannabinoid receptors throughout the body. This is why THC and CBD affect your mental, physical, and psychological states in different ways.
As an example, think of a bell pepper and a jalapeño pepper. Both are peppers, but one is sweet and one is spicy. This is a good way to think about THC and CBD — both are cannabinoids, but they have drastically different effects.
Two primary endocannabinoid receptors have been identified as CB1 (1990) and CB2 (1993). CB1 receptors are found primarily in the brain and are influenced by anandamide, a neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure, motivation, and hunger. This same neurotransmitter is released during exercise and causes “runner’s high.” THC, having an extremely similar molecular structure to anandamide, fits perfectly into CB1 receptors. This is why THC influences pleasure, motivation, hunger, and makes you feel hiiiigh. CBD does not directly bind to CB1 receptors, but indirectly inhibits them. This is why CBD can be used to reduce how high you feel and has been proven to reduce psychological and mental stressors in the brain.
CBD also indirectly influences CB2 receptors, which exist primarily outside of the brain on your white blood cells, in your tonsils, in your spleen, and throughout the rest of your body. The unbalanced functioning of CB2 receptors have been linked to virtually every type of human disease from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurodegenerative, autoimmune, skin, bone, cancer, and even pain-related disorders. As CBD enters your bloodstream, the cannabinoid acts on CB2 receptors throughout your body to promote homeostasis, or stable equilibrium, of the endocannabinoid system. Research and clinic studies have found that acting on CB2 receptors produces anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.
What have we learned?
THC targets cannabinoid receptors in the brain, while CBD targets cannabinoid receptors throughout the body. This is why THC and CBD affect your mental, physical, and psychological states in different ways.
As an example, think of a bell pepper and a jalapeño pepper. Both are peppers, but one is sweet and one is spicy. This is a good way to think about THC and CBD — both are cannabinoids, but they have drastically different effects.
CBD is short for cannabidiol (can-na-bi-di-ol), a cannabinoid found most prominently in hemp, that has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-anxiety properties without any psychoactive effects.
Clinical and anecdotal evidence suggests that CBD may help with seizure disorders, pain, inflammation, PTSD, anxiety, Crohn’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, and opioid withdrawal to name a few. Charlotte’s story is one of the first recorded cases of CBD saving a child’s life from debilitating seizures. Medical reviews published in 2017 and 2018 incorporating numerous clinical trials concluded that cannabidiol (CBD) is an effective treatment for childhood epilepsy. An orally administered cannabidiol solution (brand name Epidiolex) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2018 as a treatment for two rare forms of childhood epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.
While there is no official categorization for types of CBD on the market, industry experts have adopted three terms to describe what’s out there today: isolate, broad spectrum, and full spectrum.
The full extent of CBD’s therapeutic and health effects are still unknown, but as CBD gains momentum, more research is being funded to discover what exactly this healing cannabinoid is capable of.
Until the time that CBD is proven to be the greatest medicine humanity has ever known, we’ll have to rely on the anecdotes and personal experiences of thousands of humans whose lives have been changed for the better thanks to CBD. That’s more than enough for us here at Dazey.
Clinical and anecdotal evidence suggests that CBD may help with seizure disorders, pain, inflammation, PTSD, anxiety, Crohn’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, and opioid withdrawal to name a few. Charlotte’s story is one of the first recorded cases of CBD saving a child’s life from debilitating seizures. Medical reviews published in 2017 and 2018 incorporating numerous clinical trials concluded that cannabidiol (CBD) is an effective treatment for childhood epilepsy. An orally administered cannabidiol solution (brand name Epidiolex) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2018 as a treatment for two rare forms of childhood epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.
While there is no official categorization for types of CBD on the market, industry experts have adopted three terms to describe what’s out there today: isolate, broad spectrum, and full spectrum.
- Isolate CBD is stripped-down cannabidiol containing no other residual cannabinoids—zero percent THC and zero percent any other plant compound.
- Broad-spectrum CBD means that a select number of compounds have been extracted from the plant. Every broad-spectrum product may contain different compounds, so read the contents on the label carefully and thoroughly.
- Full-spectrum (or “whole plant”) CBD utilizes all the therapeutic compounds found in hemp, including essential, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids; all naturally occurring hemp cannabinoids; terpenes; plant sterols; natural vitamin E; and chlorophyll. The interactive synergy of these compounds is known as the “entourage effect,” a confluence of hemp goodness that increases the product’s therapeutic power and medical benefits. In the United States, this type of CBD contains less than 0.3 percent THC.
The full extent of CBD’s therapeutic and health effects are still unknown, but as CBD gains momentum, more research is being funded to discover what exactly this healing cannabinoid is capable of.
Until the time that CBD is proven to be the greatest medicine humanity has ever known, we’ll have to rely on the anecdotes and personal experiences of thousands of humans whose lives have been changed for the better thanks to CBD. That’s more than enough for us here at Dazey.