Table of Contents
- What is CBD?
- Approved Uses and Studies
- Risks & Important Things to Remember
- Benefits of CBD
- Choosing Your CBD Vape
- Why Choose Full-Spectrum CBD?
- Why Trust Kootenay Botanicals with Your CBD Vaping Needs?
With the recreational marijuana market booming, it comes as no surprise that there’s been a massive influx of novel products hitting the market. Products containing CBD have skyrocketed in popularity over the last few years.
While this is great news for those who are aware of the wondrous benefits of cannabis and CBD, it may be unsheathing a double-edged sword. This increased competition between companies has inevitably brought the arrival of many rushed products onto the market.
One of the largest sections of this surging CBD renaissance is the vape pen. Many people are opting to use CBD oil in their vape pens or e-cigs, an extremely discreet and convenient way to get your cannabinoid hit. But with the increased number of manufacturers and available products, the important question must be asked – Is vaping CBD oil safe?
What is CBD?
Cannabidiol, more commonly referred to as CBD, is the second most prevalent cannabinoid found within marijuana. Unlike its brother, THC, cannabidiol possesses no psychoactive properties or mind-altering effects. This makes CBD a fantastic alternative for those who require the benefits of medicinal marijuana but don’t want to be constantly high.
CBD is most commonly found in its oil form, created by extracting the cannabinoid and diluting it with a separate carrier oil, such as hemp seed or coconut oil. This can then be ingested in a variety of methods as CBD oils and tinctures, CBD capsules, CBD edibles, CBD lotions, and CBD vapour.
Approved Uses and Studies
Currently, there is only one FDA approved CBD-derived drug on the market, Epidiolex – used for the treatment of seizures triggered by Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome, which are two rare epileptic disorders.
However, with medicinal and recreational marijuana laws changing across the globe, it is only a matter of time before government organisations realise the true power behind cannabis. The FDA remains committed to supporting the expansion of cannabis-derived drugs, including CBD.
Canadian Regulations About CBD & Vaping
Thanks to the Cannabis Act in 2018, CBD is completely legal in Canada for both medicinal and recreational use.
However, products containing CBD can only be sold by certified retailers or federally licensed medical corporations. The Canadian government has since declared that products containing CBD “are subject to all of the rules and requirements that apply to cannabis under the Cannabis Act and its regulations.”
Canadians have embraced the green medicine so much that they’re even providing grants towards Cannabis entrepreneurs.
Risks & Important Things to Remember
Can vaping CBD hurt you?
When we break it down, vaping (CBD or nicotine) is an extremely novel trend. Vape pens were invented in 2003 but did not become widely popular until around 2014 when sales went through the roof. As it is such a new product, there has been very little research conducted around e-cigarettes, so it is difficult to examine the safety of vaping. However, initial research indicates that vaping can pose a health risk.
Smoking and Vaping Both Carry Risks
As vaping includes the inhaling of a foreign substance into your lungs it is clear that this may cause adverse long-term effects. Let’s not forget that it took nearly 30 years before we realised how much harm smoking caused!
A 2018 study found evidence that pointed towards vape pens having a harmful impact on the respiratory system but concluded that more research should be conducted to uncover the full extent of the damage.
The main issue does not lie with CBD (which is completely safe in its pure form), but with the unknown flavouring agents and carcinogenic additives that can be added to the products.
So why not just vape pure CBD? Well, you could, but it would likely break your pen after a few uses. Pure CBD is an incredibly viscous substance. What’s more, it is not readily available on the market as the vast majority of companies choose to use thinners and carrier oils.
Even our CBD vape products at Kootenay Botanicals mix CBD with plant-based and essential oils to create wellness experiences that enhance your quality of life. All of our products contain natural ingredients to provide the healthiest form of relief available.
How to Make CBD Vaping Safer?
There are two main ways that will undoubtedly make vaping CBD a much safer way to consume cannabis:
- Remove any harmful additives
- Better regulation of the market
Firstly, vape liquids commonly contain additives that are used for both flavouring and thinning. Preliminary research into these agents have found they have the potential to cause some serious health hazards when heated to a high temperature inside a vaporizer.
There are two thinning agents that are commonly used in many types of “vape juice” – Propylene Glycol and Polyethylene Glycol. They are totally safe until they are heated, where they have been known to produce cancer-causing carcinogens.
These thinning agents can be easily replaced by natural plant-based oils such as hemp seed or coconut oil which pose no known risks to health, even when heated.
There are also a multitude of flavouring additives that many companies use which have little to no evidence surrounding their safety when vaped.
With better regulation on the CBD vaporizer market, it would be a lot harder for companies to include these additives in their products. All CBD retailers would be forced to follow a similar path as Kootenay Botanicals, providing more natural plant-based thinners and flavourings.
Additionally, the vape pens themselves have the potential to cause harm. Low-quality pens may contain toxic plastic and metals that could leach into the vapour they produce and they are very sensitive too, so don’t open them up and tinker with their parts!
What Dosage Should I Take?
It can be a daunting task figuring out how much CBD to actually take to reap its benefits, as there are no official recommended doses.
Why is this? A large amount of research has found that every person is unique, and there is no such thing as one universal dosage. A 2017 study concluded that different people responded to a differing dosage of CBD, anywhere between 20 and 1,500 milligrams. That’s a huge range!
So how should you figure out your CBD dosage? This depends on a few factors:
- The medical condition you are experiencing.
- Your height and weight.
- The potency of your CBD product.
- Personal tolerance levels.
The best way for any individual to determine their dosage is to start with a very small daily amount and steadily increase this until you achieve the desired effect. Only you can see how your body reacts!
It is important to note that tolerance is something you must factor in. As any avid weed smoker knows, after months of blazing every day your body becomes much more tolerant of the drug and will require more to achieve the desired effect. The same goes for CBD, meaning a dosage increase will be required over time.
Benefits of CBD
Marijuana has been used for thousands of years within hundreds of different cultures as an alternative form of medicine. CBD is believed to have incredible health benefits that can provide relief for people suffering from a wide variety of medical conditions.
- Pain relief and soothing inflammation
- Reduce anxiety and depression
- Treatment of seizures
- Improved sleeping patterns
- Improved heart and brain health
CBD for Pain
Many people that suffer from chronic pain, for example, arthritis, inflammation, or any other medical condition, swear by CBD as their saviour. The research into CBD products for pain relief has been extremely promising, and in the coming years we are sure to witness an influx of CBD-derived pain medications exploding onto the market.
Soothing CBD products will hopefully take the place of addictive opium-derived medications to combat conditions with chronic pain symptoms.
A 2018 review concluded that CBD was effective at managing pain levels and showed zero negative side effects. This shows that CBD is a really big deal and has the potential to change the entire pharmaceutical industry in a big way.
CBD for Anxiety & Depression
Another common use of CBD products is to treat anxiety and depression. While the research on this topic is still in its early stages, the results so far have been encouraging. Studies are beginning to conclude that CBD has the potential to reduce stress and anxiety, with the possibility to replace drugs such as Prozac and Zoloft in the future.
There has also been research into the use of CBD to treat social anxiety and PTSD. These studies have indicated that CBD can help reduce levels of anxiety and reduce the symptoms of PTSD, but still more human-based research must be conducted in order to lean on that suggestion harder.
Choosing Your CBD Vape
So, how should you go about choosing which CBD vape liquid is for you? Luckily, you are spoilt for choice as they come in many forms from a wide variety of our manufacturers.
It’s important to know that not all CBD oils are vape-pen friendly. Make sure you reference instructions or parts of our product descriptions about whether a particular CBD product is vapeable (is that even a word?) For the most part, just stick to the pre-loaded vape pens and you should be good to go!
It is also important to remember that due to limited regulations, CBD products do not have to abide by strict manufacturing laws. This allows many manufacturers to cut corners and use cheaper methods of extraction which drastically effect the quality of the product. Always try and opt for CBD products that use CO2 extraction – this is deemed the safest and most effective way to extract CBD from marijuana and will produce the highest quality product.
Here are a few that use CO2 extraction.
Why Choose Full-Spectrum CBD?
Full-spectrum CBD, also known as whole-plant cannabidiol, is high-quality cannabis oil that contains not only high concentrations of CBD but also other cannabinoids, terpenes, and a small amount of THC.
Research has found that full-spectrum CBD causes what is known as the “entourage effect.” This refers to the enhanced effect achieved due to all the different cannabinoids working in tandem, or synergistically.
There is a lot of science behind the comparison between full-spectrum and CBD isolate that we won’t bore you with. But trust us, full-spectrum CBD is much, much more effective.
Kootenay Botanicals offers extremely high-quality full-spectrum CBD oils in our ‘FeelCBD’ disposable vape pen.
Why Trust Kootenay Botanicals with Your CBD Vaping Needs?
In this article, we have summarised the extraordinary benefits that CBD oils can offer as well as the risks associated with vaping these products.
But back to the burning question, is vaping CBD oil safe? It might be.
Currently, there is limited data to evaluate any long-term effects of vaping. Within the next few decades, we will uncover the undeniable truth surrounding e-cigarettes and vape pens.
But as for CBD itself, it is unquestionably one of the safest medications available on the market. As the wave of legalization engulfs the globe, we are bound to see CBD, and cannabis as a whole, step into the light. We have been blinded by years of criticism of marijuana, where prejudice has overpowered science and reason.
As we invest more into cannabis research and marijuana companies, we will see an increase in the quality and variety of products on the market which will uncover more evidence concerning the benefits and safety of CBD products.
Currently, we offer a wide range of high-quality oils and vapes that are all derived from natural, plant-based ingredients
Please browse our full range of CBD products available today.
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