Cannabis is a plant where people use its leaves, seed oil and other parts for medicinal and recreational purposes. It is believed that cannabis may help with a number of conditions such as anxiety, chronic pain and sleep. Cannabis can be taken various different ways by smoking or vaping, eating it in edibles, drinking it in drinks, putting it on in creams or taking it as a supplement in a capsule or pill. But, it is widely known that the most effective way to take cannabis is through the lungs given its large surface area allows for it to absorb much more quickly into the bloodstream. However, as with mainstream nicotine smoking, many people are transitioning over to vaping as a healthier alternative. This is why we are now seeing so many more options for cannabis vaping products.
Cannabis vape liquid, as the name suggests is a vape liquid that contains some form of cannabis. Now, this is where it is important to go into a little more detail. Cannabis contains over one hundred cannabinoids (its active ingredients) – the most well known and talked about these days are CBD (cannabidiol) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). THC is the psychoactive compound that is associated with the feelings that make you feel “high” whereas CBD is believed to deliver many health benefits such as helping to reduce anxiety, but without making you feel “high.”
Different plants within the cannabis family differ in their chemical composition, particularly in their THC and CBD content. The two main types of cannabis plants are hemp and marijuana. Hemp contains less than 0.3% THC and greater amounts of CBD (and other minor cannabinoids) whereas marijuana contains much more THC (around 10-20%). This means people who are looking to get “high” will want to be smoking or vaping marijuana rather than hemp. Of course, this will also be determined by what is legal in your state or country. For example, in the UK, all cannabis products have to contain less than 0.2% of THC and so are derived from hemp plants whereas in the US, states where THC products are legal, many products are derived from marijuana depending on the THC to CBD ratio you want.
This means a cannabis vape liquid (and when I am referring to vape liquid I mean a traditional e liquid rather than an oil) could also be called a marijuana e liquid, a weed e liquid or a CBD e liquid (this usually instead of hemp e liquid). It will all depend on where you live as to what is legally available to you, but irrespective there are a few things to check when you are buying a cannabis vape liquid.
- It could be that the cannabis vape liquid is just cannabis flavoured. This means that the e liquid will only have terpenes mixed in for flavouring rather than the e liquid containing any marijuana or hemp extract. Terpenes are responsible for giving plants their taste and aromas so, in the case of cannabis, will be natural terpenes derived from various cannabis strains. Be sure to check whether your marijuana e liquid or CBD e liquid contains marijuana or hemp extract or whether it should more accurately labelled marijuana flavoured e liquid
- If it is labelled a cannabis vape liquid look to see whether this is derived from hemp or marijuana and so what the THC to CBD ratio is. If you are looking for something that doesn’t make you “high” you will want a cannabis vape liquid derived from hemp so a CBD e liquid where there is zero to trace amounts of THC present. In many places this will be decided for you based on that jurisdiction’s laws!
Finally, I thought I would leave you with my most recent recommendation. I live in the UK so I only have the choice of hemp derived cannabis vape liquid (CBD e liquid), but my favourite new brand is Paso who have a classic selection of CBD e liquids (in 5 or 10% CBD) from my most favourite cannabis strains – Amnesia Haze, Sour Diesel and Mango Kush. I like them so much as they aren’t too sweet and have an authentic taste.
