The Real Difference Between CBD and THC

By Khara Cartagena of Breakthrough Brands LLC and OleoResin Solutions LLC,

If you live in a state where cannabis is recreational or medicinal and have walked into any gas station or convenience store as of late, I’m sure you may have spotted cannabidiol (CBD) products behind the counter. If you are like most of the population, this sight may have caught you by surprise. “Is that even legal??” may have been your first thought. In fact, it is in most of the United States. As most people know, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive agent in cannabis. However, the typical consumer isn’t quite sure what CBD is and how it plays into this new age of cannabis legalization.

As aforementioned, THC is the main psychoactive reactant of cannabis; the stuff that gets you high. However, CBD is what could be considered the baby sister of THC. It has a much more calming effect. Let’s scratch that baby sister analogy. Any of you with siblings could agree that little sisters are nowhere close to calming. For argument’s sake, let’s call CBD is the grandmother of THC. It has none of the psychoactive effects that get you high, but everything to keep you calm. We can think of CBD as the wise elder. You would go to it when you need help with your aches and pains both mental and physical, but you probably wouldn’t take it with you for a night out on the town. That’s what your cool sibling, THC is typically for.

While you need a license to distribute THC, CBD is perfectly legal to sell in most states because it contains only trace amounts of THC in it (.3% is the allowed limit). CBD is typically sold as an isolate or a distillate. A CBD isolate is a crystalline solid or powder that contains upwards of 99% pure CBD, whereas a distillate is around 80% pure CBD and is a liquid. Isolates are easily ingested by placement under the tongue or creation of oils to be used as topicals (lotions). Some other popular methods of consuming CBD isolate include putting it in your morning coffee/tea or any sweeteners you may use in your daily life and in other forms of ingestibles, such as gummies and tinctures. A distillate is very similar to an isolite but it is not as refined. The best ways to ingest distillates are through vaping, dabbing, edibles, and also topicals.

What are the main differences between THC and CBD?

THC causes changes in personality such as happiness, euphoria, creativeness, energetic, gigglyness, focus, so on and so forth. Notice how all of these are positive? Unfortunately, THC is also what may make people extremely paranoid and/or anxious. This is what is commonly referred to as being “too high.” While most stores can’t sell you THC, they can sell you the solution to your THC provoked anxiety. CBD is an anti inflammatory agent that relaxes your mind and body. In turn, it doesn’t have all of the positive effects of THC but it comes in handy when you need to mellow out.

Consumption

If you want to maximize your cannabis use experience, you may want to consider a 2:1 ratio of CBD to THC. This way you maximize relief, productivity, and overall effectiveness. This ratio allows you to consume enough CBD and THC to where your pain has subsided and your head is still clear so that you can go about your day without someone asking you, “Are you high?” I call this master ratio: incognito mode. No one needs to know how good you feel. You are left free to just… be. To enjoy every moment of being pain and anxiety free. Let’s not forget the boost in appetite.

In short, CBD and THC both help with pain, anxiety, and Nausea. However, CBD has been exclusively attributed to helping with inflammation, seizures, migraines, depression, psychosis or mental disorders, and inflammatory bowel disease. THC’s exclusive attributions are muscle spasticity, glaucoma, insomnia, and low appetite.

There are many popular ways to ingest cannabis. Dabbing or vaping cannabis concentrates, smoking leaf out of a glass pipe, bongs, joints, blunts, edibles, oil rigs, hookahs, topicals, etc. The most effective way to consume cannabis is by far through oral injection or what is commonly known as “edibles.” It is the most bang for your buck and it wins as far as longevity of your “high” but can have some unpredictable effects. Getting your edibles to become fast reacting has been the focus of the cannabis industry as of late which is another discussion that our company focuses on. Nobody wants to wait a dubious hour to an hour and a half for their medicine to kick in. While smoking has a more immediate effect, putting anything in your lungs inevitably causes irritation to your respiratory system. Although cannabis is nowhere near as harmful as cigarettes, there is no denying that there is a slight amount of harm done by putting anything but oxygen in your body and exhaling anything other than co2.

Speaking of CO2, this is one of the best methods to extract THC when it comes to vaporizing. Vape oils and concentrates are made via an extraction process. There are various bases you can use to help you extract the best parts of the cannabis plant. A lot of vape oils/concentrates on the market use butane and other chemicals in the extraction process that increase the risk of combusting plant material and overheating your solvent. This is why you sometimes get a taste similar to gasoline when you inhale your cartridge. When you overheat your solvent, you kill a lot of the properties that entice you to vape in the first place and your vape becomes less effective. Steer far away from bases that may compromise your oil and concentrate. In other words, if you want to be safe, only use extracts that have a clean base of Co2 or even ethanol solvents. It’s like buying top shelf liquor because you know it will get the job done. You deserve nothing but the best.

In sum, the main difference between THC and CBD is that THC has psychoactive properties that cause changes in attitude whereas CBD has anti inflammatory properties that cause relief of physical and mental strain. Combining the two gives you the most effective use of a cannabinoid. In medicinal states, THC can only be bought with a license but CBD can be bought over the counter at your local store. In order to use your products most effectively, I would suggest oral injection and last but not least: if you are going to invest in an increasingly popular vaporizer, make sure you get the best stuff on the market which is extracted using CO2 or ethanol.