Cannabis, Hemp, Marijuana, CBD, THC? What are the differences, and where does stigma restrict many from trying CBD, an increasingly researched supplemental resource for the body and mind? Losing the stigma around CBD could be your first step to considering this progressive ingredient being used in many products in the health and wellness industry today.
For some, the very mention of CBD can cause confusion and misunderstanding, and that is unsurprising. Many people may have grown up feeling like they would be rebelling the moral system of “right living” just by thinking about the cannabis plant, especially if they grew up in a faith community or were around in the 1950s when many advertising campaigns warned against its use. So, where did this stigma originate? And what insight might the history of this plant give to those still wrestling with its use in CBD form?
The history and story of the cannabis plant in the USA has a long and winding trajectory. Before 1910 cannabis was used in medicinal remedies for “common household ailments.” Going deeper into history, we find a law that was passed in 1619 in the state of Virginia which insisted on hemp (part of the cannabis plant family) being grown on every farm in the colony due to its fibers being a resource for making rope, cloth and paper.
The cannabis plant family has been used throughout the ages for many different purposes, and History.com1 writes a fascinating overview of how the plant was integrated into US culture. Leafly.com,2 also writes about the origin and history of the names that emerged for the plant as uses and culture influenced its use;
“Before 1910 “marijuana” didn’t exist as a word in American culture. Rather, “cannabis” was used, most often in reference to medicines and remedies for common household ailments. In the early 1900s, what have now become pharmaceutical giants, Bristol-Meyer’s Squib and Eli Lilly – Used to include cannabis and cannabis extracts in their medicines”
We believe that understanding the history of the cannabis plant will better inform people on where we find ourselves in the growing CBD market. This extraordinary plant is hugely diverse, steeped in our history as a country, and is ready to be redeemed and understood again in new ways.
So, what do you need to know about CBD oil that will result in it losing the stigma it may have because of its history and the plant it is from?
CBD is the acronym for cannabidiol and was discovered by Minnesota scientists who were working to extract the various compounds found in Minnesota hemp. In an article published in 1940, we read the process by which CBD was extracted. To learn more from this article.3 This piece of work was an important discovery as it showed that CBD, as a compound, had zero THC, the mind-altering psychoactive part of the cannabis plant. It’s structure and stereochemistry went on to be determined in 1963.4
CBD is one of 113 compounds found in the cannabis plant and is said to make up 40% of the plant extract. You can read more about its suggested healing properties and researched holistic uses by reading our ‘CBD – What is it exactly?’ blog found here.5
Finally, as we conclude what losing the stigma around CBD might mean, we can’t help but highlight the many drugs already in the lifestyle, pharmaceutical, and botanical health market whose origins derive from plants. The English Garden6 reports that there are at least 120 drugs extracted from plants being used in one or more countries around the world. From caffeine (coffee beans, tea leaves) to morphine (opium poppy), aspirin (Salix found in willow bark) to digitalis (derived from the foxglove plant) the garden is abundant. At this point we also want to highlight CBA (Copaiba) oil which comes from the Copaifera tree, another amazing resource found in the garden and an oil that X5 Naturals uses as an alternative to CBD.
We hope that in time stigmas around CBD, a compound extract from the cannabis plant, will lose its negative connotation, and people will enjoy discovering more about its holistic and medicinal qualities.
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1. https://www.theenglishgarden.co.uk/plants/5-drugs-derived-from-plants/
2. https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/where-did-the-word-marijuana-come-from-anyway-01fb
3. https://www.history.com/news/marijuana-criminalization-reefer-madness-history-flashback
4. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja01858a058
5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/004040206385022X?via%3Dihub
6. https://x5naturals.com/cbd/cbd-what-is-it-exactly/
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