What Exactly ARE you buying when you buy CBD? and what NOT to buy.
There are lots and lots of CBD products out there, so how do you decide which to buy?
There are a lot of good products out there, some so-so products, and sadly, some that are just scams. How do you tell the difference? How do you tell the difference when there are no standards or legally enforced definitions and marketing rules?
It is very much “Buyer Beware!”
Made more difficult by the fact that only a few states and only some advertising sites will allow you to even say “CBD” and most won’t. Which simply creates the chaos that allows scammers to take advantage of the confusion.
As an example, I recently went online at a well-known, famous online retailer that does not allow the term “CBD”, forcing
suppliers to use the euphemistic term “Hemp”, and I searched for “CBD Pain Cream”. Of the 100 + items on the first page, maybe only 1 contained any CBD. Maybe. And most were cheap. Too cheap to be true.
So how can you tell?
First of all, always remember, Hemp Seed Oil has zero CBD in it. So If they blast out on their label that their product is look on the ingredients list and if it says hemp seed oil or hemp oil, it has no CBD. Worthless at any price.
Unless it says how many mg of CBD ( if they are even allowed to say “CBD”) , or mg of “hemp extract”, or mg of “hemp full spectrum extract”, or mg of “hemp isolate”, or has a Certificate of Analysis showing how much CBD, THC, and total cannabinoids it contains, they are trying to trick you into buying a pig in a poke.
Hemp oil is no more effective than canola oil, and at the $12 – 24 per oz they are charging you, it is over 120 times more expensive. Coating yourself in olive oil would work just as well and be much less expensive. Even Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
And if it says “GAZILLIONS” on its label, or words to that effect, give it a pass. One that I saw said 8,500,000,000. That’s eight billion, 500 million of something – didn’t say what – mg?, grams?, kilograms?, pounds?, tons???
They seem to believe that by NOT saying what the 8 billion actually is, that means technically, they are not lying. But since most CBD products prominently feature how many mg of CBD is in their product, they imply “mg CBD”, counting on you to fill in the blank. Technically, not lying. At least, not lying by COMMISSION.
Well, 8,500,000,000 mg of anything is 8,500,000 grams which is 8,500 kg. Which is 18,700 lbs. which is 300,000 times an oz. Quite a lot to cram into a 1 or even a 2 oz jar when you think on it.
So, better to just fill in another blank; THEY ARE LYING. Technically, by OMISSION.
CBD products should be clear, stating exactly what they contain. If they do not, if you have to scratch your head to figure it out, just ignore it like you would a Nigerian email. Send it into spam. It is not safe to open.
So, HOW DO you tell? We’ll have to dig a little deeper. Which we’ll do in our next chapter.
Sincerely,
Dr. Steve Monroe PHD
