Vaping CBD oil has become one of the most popular ways to use it. And with the diverse range of products available, it’s important to know which ones are suitable for vaping, and how you can verify their quality. This guide covers the essential things to know about shopping for CBD vape oils and how to use them properly. One caution: if you use prescription medications, you may want to consult your doctor before incorporating CBD into your regimen.
What is CBD?
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is a naturally-occurring cannabinoid found in hemp, a type of cannabis plant. Cannabidiol is known for its therapeutic properties and has been growing in popularity in recent years. CBD oil has a range of benefits used to relieve symptoms associated with inflammation, anxiety, depression, pain and epilepsy. CBD can be infused into a variety of products including vape juice, edibles, CBD oil tinctures, capsules and creams.
What is CBD oil?
CBD oil is also referred to as hemp oil and has been traditionally used as an oral tincture. It usually contains MCT oil (derived from coconuts) and is not suitable for inhalation! Studies have shown that inhaling oil like that can pose serious health risks like lipoid pneumonia.
Unlike CBD vape juice, CBD tinctures are strictly for ingestion. Unfortunately many of them do not have proper warning labels and are sold in e-juice style dropper bottles.
There’s an important distinction to make between CBD oil tinctures and CBD oil made for inhalation. CBD oral tinctures are oil-based whereas CBD vape oil is not. Now let’s take a look at the types of CBD oil that are suitable for vaping.
- CBD vape juice – CBD made for vaping is sometimes referred to as “CBD vape oil”, but it doesn’t contain any actual oil. A more appropriate name for it is CBD vape juice or CBD distillate. They’re generally made with food grade ingredients, so they can also be taken orally, but are very different from oil-based tinctures. Look carefully at the ingredients. If it contains anything other than PG, VG, CBD extract, terpenes and cannabinoids, then it’s most likely unsuitable for inhalation. Don’t take the risk. It should say something about vaping, vape juice, e-liquid or e-juice on the label and should not contain any actual oil.
- CBD cartridges – Similar to THC oil cartridges, these are slim disposable e-cig tanks filled with CBD e-juice. (Some contain pure CBD distillate, made using a CO2 or a solvent-based extraction method.) They connect to a standard 510 battery and provide an easy entry into vaping CBD. There are also cartridges, known as pods, that are compatible with popular devices like the JUUL.
Can you overdose on it?
The Americans for Safe Access stated at a 2016 medical cannabis conference, “To date, there has never been a single well documented case of human fatality attributable to an overdose of cannabis or its components, and no experimental or non-extrapolated LD50 can be attributed to a toxic or lethal overdose.”
Research has shown that CBD is very low in toxicity. A study from 1981 determined the LD50 for CBD to be 212 mg per kg of body weight when given to monkeys intravenously. This suggests that humans must consume hundreds of times the average daily dose of CBD (30 mg) in a relatively short period of time to be at risk for overdosing. It is highly unlikely that anybody will ever take enough cannabidiol to induce lethal consequences.