Cannabidiol, popularly known as CBD, is fast becoming a household name and a common sight on store shelves across the country.
Since the FDA approved using a CBD-based drug, Epidiolex, to treat certain types of epilepsy in children, this wonder plant has gained more popularity worldwide. And hemp plant use restrictions are gradually being eased/lifted as more benefits of CBD come to light.
With the myriad of hemp-based products out there (including CBD oils, tinctures and edibles), there are several ways one can use CBD and smoking is not left out. This brings us to the million-dollar question, one that is probably running through your mind at the moment:
So, What Does Smoking CBD Feel Like?
To help you understand how smoking CBD makes you feel, you must first understand what cannabinoids are and how they affect you.
Not to bore you with technical jargon, cannabinoids are chemical compounds found in the hemp plant, and the most popular ones are Cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Contrary to popular misconceptions, not all forms of cannabis products have psychoactive properties. THC is the psychoactive compound in the cannabis or hemp plant. As such, it’s responsible for the “high” people experience when they use certain hemp plant products.
On the other hand, Cannabidiol (CBD) has been reported to offer several health benefits, including improving your overall well-being. For instance, CBD has been said to improve mood, treat chronic pain, and reduce anxiety.
Smoking CBD: Why Consumption Method Matters
The method of consuming CBD plays an essential role in determining how taking CBD will make you feel. Inhaling/smoking CBD is considered the most effective method of using CBD because of its high bioavailability, or how well it gets absorbed into the body.
When one smokes CBD, the cannabinoids make their way directly to the lungs and get delivered to the bloodstream from there, where they get circulated throughout your body.
While other CBD users opt for either oral or topical use of CBD, many CBD users have found that CBD inhalation is more effective, and there could be a scientific explanation for that.
It may interest you to know that the bioavailability of CBD is much greater through the lungs compared to the gut. What does that mean?
When you smoke CBD, at least 50% of the cannabinoid makes it into your bloodstream, while only 5% of ingested CBD gets to your bloodstream. In 2017, a chemistry and biodiversity study showed that smoking is a rapid and efficient method of drug delivery, sighting how fast drugs travel from the lungs to the brain.
In addition to its efficiency and rapid delivery, smoking CBD delivers an almost instant effect. To dial in the right dosage, let us help you figure out how much CBD to smoke.
If you’ve got your dosage defined, then you’ll want to know how to calculate CBD content so that you know how much hemp flower to smoke.
Does Smoking CBD Get You High?
Smoking CBD can offer a truckload of benefits but getting you high is not one of them. As we mentioned earlier, the psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant is THC — the not too distant relative of CBD.
Since we are discussing the possibility of getting high from smoking CBD, it’s worth mentioning that CBD can exist as an isolate (a pure form of CBD) and full-spectrum CBD; CBD that contains other cannabinoids like trace amounts of THC. However, by law full-spectrum CBD must not contain more the 0.3% THC.
Related Reading: CBD Isolate vs. Full-Spectrum CBD
So, before using, you should take a second to check the THC level. That way, you will be confident of not sitting across the table from regulatory authorities. Having mentioned that, you should bear in mind that the effect of CBD is dependent on the product and whoever is using it — the individual.
Regarding the product, the effect of smoking an isolate will hit differently compared to using CBD that contains THC. Rounding off on this subject, and in straightforward terms, smoking CBD cigarettes won’t make you feel high or intoxicated. Instead, what you will get is best described as “runners high” — that feeling of being pumped with endorphins (your happy hormones) that elevates your mood and make you become more aware and focused.
What Is The Entourage Effect? What Does It Do?
CBD and THC are the popular chemical compounds most people think about whenever discussions about cannabinoids are mentioned. However, they’re not the only ones present. Over one hundred chemical compounds are contained in the cannabis plant, and they all serve distinct purposes. When these compounds come together, they deliver benefits, and their combined effect is known as the entourage effect.
How Does The Entourage Effect Work?
As we mentioned earlier, CBD and THC are not the only chemical compounds in the cannabis plant. There are hundreds more cannabinoids and terpenes contained in it, and they all work together to give hemp plant users a unique experience.
The basic idea of the entourage effect is that the various compounds and terpenes found within a hemp plant work together and interact with one another to deliver an experience in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Because of this, full-spectrum products are generally considered to be more potent and overall more effective than isolates or broad-spectrum products.
FAQ
Does Smoking CBD Make Your Eyes Red?
One popular misconception about smoking CBD is that it makes your eyes red. Before now, people thought that the eye redness CBD smokers experience is caused primarily by irritation. However, research has shown that vasodilation plays a significant role.
When you smoke cannabis with high THC, the cannabinoids interact with your cannabinoid receptors (which are found throughout the body, including the eyes, and induce dilation or widening of the blood vessels. When this happens, it increases blood flow to certain areas of the body, including the blood vessels behind your eyes, causing your eyes to be red, puffy, and watery.
Of course, other factors such as allergies, eye fatigue, eye infections, and illnesses like glaucoma can make your eyes red. These factors could explain why certain CBD smokers also experience eye redness, even though it has less vasodilatory properties than THC.
So, while smoking CBD is unlikely to make your eyes red, smoking THC can and likely will give you the signature red eyes we’ve come to associate with smoking good ol’ weed.
Related Reading: Does CBD Smell Like Weed?
Does Smoking CBD Make You Hungry?
It’s a known fact that CBD can boost appetite, and that THC can increase ghrelin (hunger hormone) and trigger a sense of hunger even if you just had a big meal.
In addition to stimulating hunger hormones, THC can also boost dopamine, a chemical in the brain that makes you feel good. As such, making you derive pleasure from eating.
CBD, on the other hand, doesn’t heighten cravings but can boost your appetite if added to foods and beverages. It can also calm your nervous system and digestive tract while relieving pain. All of these together can have a stimulating effect on appetite.
Does Smoking CBD Make You Paranoid?
No, smoking CBD won’t make you paranoid or anxious. If anything, CBD has been found to make users feel relaxed, happy and focused.
However, smoking THC can certainly cause these feelings. Higher THC levels can trigger intense feelings of paranoia and anxiety for certain users. This is known as a biphasic response.
When you take small amounts of THC, you begin to feel its therapeutic benefits. However, as you increase the amount, you may tip the scales over into a mindset that is much less comfortable.
In a recent study, researchers from the University of Chicago reported that pot users who were given 7.5 milligrams of THC felt less stress than those who took 12.5 milligrams. This means that lighting up cannabis with high THC has a higher likelihood of sending you into the stress zone and triggering paranoia.
Does Smoking CBD Give You Cottonmouth?
If there is any side effect of CBD that seems quite common among CBD users, it’s cottonmouth. While it seems like many CBD users have experienced cottonmouth at one time or the other, the big question is what causes it?
While there may not be a comprehensive answer to what causes cottonmouth, reports (from a 2006 study) show that the endocannabinoid, Anandamide (AEA), is responsible for the reduced saliva secretion associated with cottonmouth.
It’s not smoking CBD that causes cottonmouth, but the interaction between anandamide and THC and the submandibular gland (SMG). You don’t have to lose sleep over that medical jargon. The take-home is that we get cottonmouth due to how certain cannabinoids interact with our endocannabinoid system.
Ready To Give It A Try?
Hopefully, we’ve helped you get more insight into smoking CBD and its numerous reported benefits. However, if you are looking to get the full benefits of CBD, you should try the best CBD cigarettes and pre-rolls for yourself. That way, you’ll be sure you’re getting the best CBD smokable experience.
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