Safe CBD Sources

Posted September 6th, 2019

By Op-Ed Blogger Quinton Charles 

Where do you get your CBD?

The CBD market is colossal, and is just growing larger every day. With this growth, there are more and more vendors to choose from. So how do you know what is safe? Hopefully, by the end of this blog you’ll be able to make more informed decisions about where you buy your safe CBD and what to look for when you go to purchase your Safe CBD online!

Amazon shopping?

I get it. I love Amazon, too. Cheap books, clothing, random household items, and two day delivery is pretty ideal. It seems that just about everything you could want or need is sold on Amazon these days, and is covered with a nifty return guarantee. So why wouldn’t you want to purchase your CBD on Amazon? If you buy everything else there (or just a lot), what could be the harm of purchasing your supplements there, too?

Unfortunately, Amazon is not the ideal site on which to purchase your safe CBD. But why is this? I did a quick search on Amazon for “CBD Oil,” and found that most of the tinctures that were the result of my search were not “CBD,” but rather “Hemp Seed Oil,” and “Hemp Oil Extract.” Not exactly what I was looking for. What’s worse is that many of the companies selling the “Hemp Oil Extract” were unable to provide details as to from where their supposed “CBD” or “Hemp” was derived. No, thank you.

But I wasn’t ready to just dismiss Amazon without researching exactly why the company doesn’t seem to offer any veritable CBD products. After all, this is a growing market; why wouldn’t a large company invest in order to see large returns later? I found out that it is against Amazon’s company policy to sell anything labeled “CBD.” I wasn’t sure if this was true, so I checked the official policies of Amazon on their website and found this:

“Drug listings must not be for controlled substances or products containing controlled substances, such as:
Products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a Schedule I Controlled Substance, including but not limited to:
Rich Hemp Oil containing cannabidiol (CBD)
Full spectrum hemp oil containing cannabidiol (CBD)
Products that have been identified as containing CBD by LegitScript
Hemp products containing Resin or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
Hemp (or any cannabis Sativa spp. strain) seeds capable of germination [1]”

So if Amazon specifically prohibits the sale of CBD on their website, I think that it is a fair conclusion to draw that one should not purchase their “CBD” from any seller on the site. I could find no way of ensuring that what you get is actually what is claimed.

Where do I go from here?

Okay, so Amazon is out; where should you go now? One of the best places to purchase CBD is manufacturers websites. You’ll have no problem finding out where they get their CBD, and how it is processed.

Great! So all you have to do is buy directly from the company site, right? Not exactly. While these companies do have stores that you can shop, it’s much like searching for airline tickets. Don’t follow? When you go to shop for airline tickets, you can look directly on the airline’s website for prices and deals, but you can’t see any other airline’s prices. For this, you need what is known as an aggregator (fancy word for a site that puts it all in one place for you).

So what are the aggregators in the CBD world? People like us at Green Wellness Life! Unlike on the company sites, you can see a wide variety of products from different companies and make informed decisions based on these offerings. Want something more affordable? Something in pill form? Something minty? We can offer that in such a way that the manufacturer can’t. After all, why would they show you the products of their competition (especially if said competitor’s goods are cheaper)?

Does this apply to CBD for my pets?

Of course it does! Just like you, your pet has an Endocannabinoid system, and this system has the same needs as yours. When you’re shopping for your pet, you should treat it as if you’re shopping for yourself. Generally, the same rules that I discussed apply to this process. Steer away from Amazon and towards manufacturer sites or other trusted merchants (like us!). In addition to offering you safe and real CBD, these merchants can also help you to better understand what your pet needs. Many people are not sure how much CBD a pet should have, or how it works in a pet’s body, which are both questions that Amazon cannot answer, but merchants can.

What strategies should I use?

Even with rockstar sites like Green Wellness Life bringing all these products to one site for your convenience, you should still be aware of some general strategies that you can use when researching on other sites.

First, always look to see if the product has been tested by a third-party lab. You want to be able to confirm that the product was tested by an accredited third-party lab and that the report was returned showing no contaminants, was approved for sale, and that the Cannabinoid content is consistent with what is marketed.

Second, you want to make sure that the product has less than 0.3% THC content. This will make sure that whatever product you are purchasing is legal federally, and that you’re not going to be consuming THC (which can prove problematic on drug tests if too much is present in the body).

Third, just like buying anything else that you put into your body, you want to know the ingredients. Make sure that you understand everything listed. If there is a word or ingredient listed that you don’t recognize, don’t be afraid to do your homework! A quick google will usually let you know what is in your product. Oh, and here’s a hint: steer away from anything that has negative side effects listed by multiple websites, especially if they corroborate one another.

Fourth, find out where the CBD came from. Many brands will have that information clearly (and often proudly) displayed on their websites. You want to find products that source their CBD or Hemp from the United States or the European Union due to stringent laws dictating how Hemp cultivation is to be undertaken. Avoid Chinese Hemp at all costs. Low standards of cultivation and the potential for chemical pollution (Hemp absorbs a lot of whatever is in the soil) renders Chinese Hemp potentially hazardous.

Finally, you want to know how the CBD was extracted. There are two common methods of extracting CBD: CO2 and Solvent. CO2 cannabis extraction uses pressurized carbon dioxide (CO2) to pull CBD (and other phytochemicals) from the plant. This is regarded as a safe way of extracting the CBD. The Solvent method uses ethanol, low-grade alcohol, or butane; Although ethanol extracts the full range of cannabinoids and terpenes from the plant which makes the end product safe for consumption, it also extracts chlorophyll which may lead to some unpleasant side effects.

Let us know what you think!

I hope that this has been both informative and helpful. I know that I worried about the safety of CBD at first and how I would find safe CBD. Now with these strategies, you’re ready to get out there and shop for CBD that can help you in whatever way you need it to! And, as always, feel free to contact us through email or message us on social media if you have any questions. Good luck!

Reasources

1. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/200164490