Are Hemp Products THC-Free?
3 min readAs the popularity of hemp products continues to soar, people that aren’t familiar with the truth about hemp are starting to ask questions. Is it safe? Will it cause a high? Are there THC-free hemp products? These are all legitimate questions, and depending on who you ask, there might be different answers. However, when it comes to the content of THC in hemp products, the law in the United States is that there can be no more than 3% THC content in industrial hemp plants. Still, 3% is more than 0%, so that means that there is a small amount of THC in hemp plants. But, how much is in the products that you use? It all depends on the product.
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CBD and THC
If you are not already aware, it is important to understand that there is a huge difference between CBD and THC. Many hemp flower products that are available in the market contain the highly coveted cannabinoid, CBD. CBD and THC are both cannabinoids, however, they interact with the brain and the body in different ways. CBD does not cause the psychoactive effects that THC does, yet people believe that it helps to relieve stress and discomfort. There is also anecdotal evidence that suggests when CBD and THC along with the rest of the cannabinoids in the hemp plant work together in the body they create a more potent effect by way of the entourage effect.
Full-Spectrum Hemp Products
There are different spectrums of hemp products. Each spectrum determines which of the key cannabinoids are available in the product. A full-spectrum hemp product contains the full spectrum of the hemp plant. What this means is that all of the cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids that are present in the hemp plant are still present in the extract. Since a small amount of THC is in the hemp plant, a full-spectrum extract will contain some THC. However, 3% THC content is extremely low, compared to the upwards of 20% THC content in marijuana plants.
Broad-Spectrum Hemp Products
Another spectrum of hemp extract is broad-spectrum hemp extract. When the hemp oil is extracted from the plant for a broad-spectrum product, all of the cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavinoids that you would find in the hemp plant are carried over to the extract, except for the THC. The full-spectrum extract will be the product that has the least amount of processing. Broad-spectrum products will have extra steps involved in the production of the extract in order to remove all traces of THC from the batch. Broad-spectrum hemp extracts are THC-free.
CBD Isolate Hemp Products
Another form of hemp extracts is when everything but CBD is left out of the extract. In an isolate extract, the CBD is isolated from the rest of the compounds in the hemp plant so that all that remains is pure CBD without any other cannabinoids or terpenes. Some argue that CBD loses its potency if it does not have the rest of the compounds to accompany it. Others believe that CBD by itself is the purest form it can be and that it brings full effects without being inhibited by other compounds. It all depends on the way that one looks at it, however, in a CBD isolate extract there is no THC.
THC Free Hemp Products
So, the answer to the question of whether or not hemp products are THC-free depends on the type of product that you buy. In a full-spectrum extract, there will be a tiny amount of THC. However, a broad-spectrum extract or a CBD isolate extract will not contain any THC at all. Regardless of the way that you prefer your hemp products, make sure that you purchase them from a trusted and reliable source like High Falls Hemp NY. The higher the quality of your hemp products, the more use they will be to you.