CBD is showing up on store shelves coast to coast, and people want to know: does hemp get you high? It’s an understandable concern. After all, up until recent years, it was a class 1 controlled substance, illegal to possess, purchase, or use. There are plenty of health and wellness benefits attributed to CBD products by enthusiastic users, and limited research continues to paint a positive picture of industrial hemp, but will you be risking your reputation or job if you partake?
Why People Think It Gets You High
For years, industrial hemp has been listed alongside marijuana as an illicit substance thanks to their close genetic ties. While both are members of the Cannabis sativa family, leading some to think hemp does get you high, they have some key differences. Largely, hemp was lumped into the same category as cannabis as part of a smear campaign in the early 1900s, allegedly orchestrated by those with heavy holdings in timber, paper, and synthetic fibers due to the threat industrial hemp posed to their investments.
Some people also mistake the calming effects of CBD, an active compound found both in marijuana and hemp, and believe that hemp does get you high. This confusion is partly due to the inaccurate and subjective term “high” as it is based on user experience. The “heady” or “dopey” feeling most users refer to as being high is not the calm caused by the CBD, but the action of another compound, THC. Industrial hemp will not induce those sensations.
What Qualifies As Industrial Hemp
The legality of industrial hemp and derivative products was established and then clarified at the federal level by the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills. They established a maximum THC concentration for industrial hemp and its products at 0.3% THC. From 0.3% THC to 1.0% THC, it is still considered industrial hemp, but is unusable and must be destroyed. Cannabis plants with higher THC content are regulated as marijuana, illegal federally, but often governed by state laws within state boundaries. The very low THC concentration–42 times less than common marijuana potencies–is the reason hemp does not get you high.
THC: The Reason For That High Feeling
Like CBD, THC is an active compound in cannabis plants along with over a hundred other cannabinoids. While marijuana often shows high concentrations of THC and lower concentrations of CBD, industrial hemp is the opposite. Industrial hemp is rich in CBD and other cannabinoids like terpenes, but extremely low in THC, so hemp does not get you high.
THC tends to be concentrated in the flowers or buds of marijuana plants. These trichome-heavy structures contain the resin glands and are extremely THC-rich. While trichomes may appear along leaves and stems of some variants, the higher ratio in the flowers makes them the sought after and most used part of the plant by marijuana users.
While some industrial hemp does use the flowers of the plant, they are much lower in THC concentration. The raw plant material is further diluted by the addition of leaves and stems, which are CBD-rich yet have almost no THC content. The final product will have less than 0.3% THC by dry weight. During further processing, other means may be used to process THC out of the finished oil, giving customers a quality CBD oil.
THC acts on certain cannabinoid receptors in the body, decreasing the concentration of some messenger compounds. This creates a profound psychoactive response, the strength of which is determined by the amount of THC ingested. The extremely high concentrations of THC in marijuana is why it does get you high, but hemp avoids leaving you with that “spaced out” feeling.
Will It Show Up On A Drug Test
This question is more complicated than it seems, and the answer is no…maybe. Quality CBD manufacturers ensure their products are THC-free, but not all manufacturers uphold this standard. Some THC tests measure the presence or absence of THC metabolites, usually once they are found over a certain threshold. Should you use a substandard product and the test you’re checked with has a low or no threshold, it may detect the presence of small amounts of THC. So while hemp does not get you high, low-quality CBD products may be enough to get you fired.
If you want to avoid flagged drug tests and that THC head-feel, you want to use premium industrial hemp-derived CBD products. The surest way to stay safe is purchasing quality CBD from a reputable manufacturer. While this sounds complicated, there are a few things to look for to know if you’re getting good CBD.
How Can I Make Sure I Get Quality CBD Products
Make sure you’re getting CBD products with lab-verified results showing an absence of THC. You also want to make sure your products are from naturally grown industrial hemp. This helps ensure they won’t be contaminated by pesticides or chemical fertilizers that can have a bad taste and harmful effects on your body. You also want to make sure they’re being processed in a pharmaceutical-grade facility to the highest possible quality standards.
Taken together, these steps will help you find products that are safer to use, more effective, and are made with hemp that does not get you high or cause false positives on a drug screen. Core CBD stays at the forefront of hemp research and exceeds industry standards for the materials used and the production processes involved. Our medical-grade facility and state-of-the-art processing machines help us deliver consistently potent CBD you’ll love with zero THC.
Find out how beneficial quality CBD products can be for your health and wellness. Order your CBD from Core CBD today.
5 thoughts on “Why Doesn’t Hemp Get You High”