CBD is an increasingly popular supplement that people add to their daily routines for a variety of reasons. One of the key factors when using CBD (such as CBD Patches) is consistency, as this helps users reach their desired results. This can lead some people to believe that CBD is addictive, especially due to its relationship with the cannabis plant. In this article, we look at whether CBD is addictive, the difference between the plants in the cannabis family, and the reasons why people use CBD based on our customer survey.
Can people become addicted to CBD?
The short answer to the common question ‘is CBD addictive’ is a resounding ‘no’. While many people enjoy the effects of CBD products, CBD is not an addictive substance. CBD has no psychoactive or intoxicating effects. This means it cannot cause the ‘high’ feeling that THC creates, which is what some marijuana users find addictive.
THC is a well-known cannabinoid that causes mind-altering, euphoric effects. It binds to endocannabinoid receptors in the brain in areas that are related to pleasure. This is completely different from CBD’s interactions with the endocannabinoid system, but people often merge the two concepts because of their shared relationship with the cannabis plant.
The way that CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system in the body does not lead to addiction. The endocannabinoid system has receptors all over the body, including within the central nervous system. While CBD does interact with these receptors in some capacity, it doesn’t directly bind to them. In fact, CBD is thought to reduce the breakdown of the endocannabinoids that the body naturally produces.
While legal CBD products can include trace amounts of THC up to the legal limit of 0.2% (this is covered in our article on where you can buy CBD), this will never be enough to cause any intoxicating or addictive effects. In fact, there’s no evidence to suggest that any legal CBD products are addictive in any way.
What causes the common misconceptions about CBD?
There are many common misconceptions about CBD, such as ‘CBD gets you high’, ‘CBD is addictive’, and ‘CBD is illegal’. All of these misconceptions stem from CBD’s relationship with the cannabis plant family. What many people who believe these misconceptions fail to understand is the differences between cannabis, hemp, and marijuana.
Cannabis is the parent plant, meaning that marijuana and hemp fall under the cannabis plant family. The distinction between the two is that while marijuana is typically high in THC content and low in CBD, hemp has a naturally high concentration of CBD and very low levels of THC. While CBD can be extracted from both plants and is the same cannabinoid regardless of its origin, legal CBD products in the UK must be extracted from industrial hemp plants.
This distinction means that the marijuana or ‘weed’ that people use to achieve a ‘high’ sensation is actually a different plant than what is used to extract CBD for the products on the UK market. Many people believe that cannabis, hemp, and marijuana are interchangeable terms, but understanding their differences helps demonstrate the large degree of separation between CBD products and street marijuana. It's also important to understand the differences between Natural and Synthetic CBD which is covered in one of our articles.
Why do people use CBD products?
Simply CBD conducted a survey to better understand why our customers use CBD products and what their experience has been like since they began introducing CBD into their daily lives. This survey includes data from 550 respondents.
When looking into why customers use CBD products, the results showed:
- 3 in 4 use CBD to assist with pain-related issues
- 1 in 3 use CBD to help with mental health issues
- 1 in 4 use CBD for condition related issues such as M.S. or Menopause
- 1 in 5 use CBD for general proactive well-being
When asked about the level of benefit they felt from using CBD products, 87% of the respondents stated that they felt benefits of CBD products, with 1 in 2 stating that they felt the full benefits, meaning they have achieved their desired results.
Key takeaways
Here are the key points to remember:
- CBD is not addictive.
- CBD is thought to prevent the breakdown of endocannabinoids rather than binding to receptors.
- CBD does not cause a ‘high’.
- Legal CBD products in the UK are derived from hemp, which is a different plant than the street marijuana people use to achieve a ‘high’.
- Cannabis is the parent plant of hemp and marijuana.
- Hemp is high in CBD content, while marijuana is high in THC content.
- Survey results show that people use CBD products for wellness support in various areas, including pain, mental health, medical conditions, and overall well being.
