If you’ve been prowling the web on a quest to expand your hemp knowledge, you’ve probably noticed how terminology tends to vary from resource to resource. A common variance you might notice is how some people call hemp flower ‘CBD flower’, and vice versa.
But are these two actually the same? Although some websites might assert that CBD flower and hemp flower aren’t one and the same, we’ve got the dirty details to prove that these two names refer to exactly the same thing.
Before we get right into it, it’s important we discuss a little bit about hemp. Way back in the day (when lawmakers didn’t know any better) hemp was unceremoniously lumped together with marijuana as a controlled substance.
As we all know, marijuana (or cannabis) causes a feeling of being ‘high’, which ultimately qualified the commodity as an illegal substance. However since both marijuana and hemp come from exactly the same plant, lawmakers thought they were two names for the same thing.
But, boy, were they wrong. As it turned it, hemp lacked one major organic compound found in marijuana — tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. One of the hundreds of cannabinoids in the Cannabis sativa L. plant, THC is responsible for the marijuana high.
What researchers discovered however is that hemp contains negligible concentrations of THC, which means it couldn’t cause the same effects as marijuana. So this ultimately pushed lawmakers to federally legalize hemp.
But the story doesn’t end there. Further studies discovered that hemp contains copious amounts of other cannabinoids — like cannabidiol or CBD — which may benefit human health and wellness without causing mind-altering effects.
That’s why today, people flock to hemp vendors to supply their daily needs for CBD and all of the other powerful cannabinoids contained in the hemp plant.
The 2018 Farm Bill legalized every part of the hemp plant. By definition, ‘hemp’ is any part of the Cannabis sativa L. plant containing 0.3% THC or less. Samples containing even just a hair above that 0.3% threshold would be considered marijuana.
But that doesn’t really matter, since hemp consumers are most interested in CBD, and several other identified cannabinoids that give hemp its wellness properties. According to studies, the whole plant (even the seeds) contains some CBD, but the flower contains the highest concentrations.
The hemp flower basically refers to the buds of the hemp plant. These are harvested, cut, dried, packaged, and sold as is to users who want a no-frills smoking experience. With time, however, terms like ‘CBD flower’ have caused a stir among customers who pay close attention to terminology.
Don’t be confused though. CBD flower and hemp flower are exactly the same things. With the emergence of marketing tools and strategies like search engine optimization, vendors had to come up with ways to make sure their websites would show up when buyers performed a search on the web.
Using terms like ‘CBD hemp flower’ and ‘CBD flower’ just makes it possible for vendors to stay relevant, especially in this digital age where competitors saturate the internet. All together though, they refer to exactly the same thing.
There’s a reason why vendors provide lab reports with their products. By reading through the lab tests, you can identify just how much CBD you’re getting with every dose of hemp flower.
On average, hemp flower contains 15% CBD. However, there are some varieties that are cultivated to develop a more pronounced CBD expression. That’s how we get hemp flower products that contain 18% CBD or more.
To put that into perspective, hemp flower with a CBD content of 15% would give you a weighted dose of 75mg of CBD for 0.5g of plant matter smoked. Again, concentrations change, so it matters to read the lab reports to determine how much CBD you’re actually getting.
Remember that it also matters how you take your CBD dosage. Edibles and tinctures are always fun and convenient, but passing through the gut means that you probably lose some of the doses through the process of digestion.
For the record — hemp flower and CBD flower are exactly the same. So don’t be fooled by resources claiming some fancy distinction between the two names. It’s all about marketing and maintaining an online presence in this competitive day and age for hemp vendors.
So whether you’re buying hemp flower or CBD flower, all that really matters are the lab reports. Make sure you look into CBD content to make sure you’re getting enough of the coveted cannabinoid with every dose of your new product.
