OKAY WE’RE TALKING CANNABIS, YOU HEARD OF IT?
Kidding! We all know what marijuana is, but do we know what it actually IS. As legalization ripples through the States, it has become apparent that cannabusiness is here to stay. In any emerging market, there is a critical need for education – education of the producers and sellers of the product of course, but equally as important is the education of consumers. We’re here to help!
I sat down with CEO of Protis Global, Bert Miller to debunk some of the myths associated with cannabis and get his opinion on the future potential and functional vitality of the plant.
First let’s tackle some simple background information. Hemp and Marijuana are both in the cannabis family; however they are NOT the same thing. Though both are legally considered cannabis, many bills and acts have been passed in order to designate hemp as a functional material that can be used in over 25,000 industrial applications from automobiles to lotion. Marijuana is, as we all know, typically consumed for medicinal and/or recreational use only. Hemp doesn’t even contain a high enough quantity of THC to be psychoactive.
Second, there are more than 113 different cannabinoids isolated from the Cannabis plant but in general we only speak about a few. Often, the two we hear about over the others are CBD (cannabidiol)) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).
And now to further dive into cannabis, we have Bert Miller.
“THC and CBD are 2 very different compounds that can be isolated in a cannabis plant. They’re very different.”
So what is the difference in the effect of each?
“Simply put, THC is psychoactive and CBD in its purest form is not.”
So CBD doesn’t make a person “high?”
“No, not necessarily. You may or may not even feel it though some people do. CBD comes into our system to restore homeostasis. It basically makes you feel like you just got out of yoga – very zen. I don’t feel it outright. I like to say that for me personally its what i don’t feel that makes me know its working. My mind turns off before bed. I get to relax and go to sleep. It chills me out during the day but doesn’t take away my energy or effectiveness. I’m not getting high.“
Is hemp CBD oil the same as CBD oil derived from cannabis?
“Hemp is not the same plant as the marijuana plant. Marijuana and Hemp are both in the cannabis plant family but they are not the same. The misconception is that hemp is marijuana. Its not. Industrial hemp generally has much less than 0.3% of THC in it whereas CBD extracted from a true marijuana plant may have more traces of THC than hemp. Actually some types of industrial hemp may have 0 traces of THC.”
Obviously the market for cannabis is booming right now and clearly THC and CBD would have different applications and reasons for use. Do you think one will gain momentum be larger than the other?
“Yeah, at the end of the day CBD is going to win. For the long term, the CBD industry will have an easier time sustaining mainstream consumers i think. Ultimately CBD can be given to an 8 year old and an 80 year old. Even the most conservative, right wing soccer mom would likely be using CBD 10 years down the road but may not want to touch THC.
Another factor to consider is that people sometimes don’t react well with THC. The market for CBD has a higher potential of creating a true consumer product that spans many categories. I think snacks, waters – any ready to drink beverage really – topical treatments, etc will facilitate for big players to make big moves in this arena. Yeah, i think when it comes to a mainstream consumer product, it will be CBD.”]]>