Unless you live on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific, you would have heard that coconut oil has reigned as the resident cure-all for about two years now. We must be due for the new wonder non-drug soon. Enter hemp oil.
There is hemp seed oil and there is hemp oil. Before you confuse either one with that stuff the hippies did in college, let’s clarify. Hemp oil has traditionally been known as the oil obtained from marijuana’s less intoxicating cousin, industrial hemp. It is made by shelling hemp seeds and then cold pressing them and extracting the oil—similar to how olive oil is made—which is bottled and sold in your store. It is also called, and some now say should only be called, hemp seed oil. Why?
Unlike regular hemp oil, which is derived from seeds, CBD oil comes from the flowers, leaves and stalks of hemp. Proponents of CBD oil, which is currently undergoing numerous research studies for its medicinal properties, praise it for the reported benefits commonly attributed to the cannabinol (medical constituent of marijuana) it contains. Cannabinol (CBN) and CBD are growing as prescribed treatments for glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epileptic/cerebral disorders, nausea, and digestive upsets, pain and inflammation. It is also being investigated for supposed anti-cancer activity.
Most importantly, CBD oil does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the hallucinogenic component of hemp/marijuana. CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is just one of 60 compounds found in cannabis, with it and THC being in the highest concentrations and most studied. Currently, licensed medical marijuana growers and researchers are focusing more on plants that bear more CBD and almost zero THC, the hallucinogenic.
