It is hard to miss the vast amount of CBD information that has flooded the internet recently. Since CBD’s legalization in 2018, eager consumers can’t seem to get enough of this wondrous substance. But high demand has led more and more retailers to enter the marketplace with cheap imitations. Why? Because it costs money to manufacture a high-quality product, which means that quality products tend to cost more. Unethical manufacturers then step into the marketplace. They cut corners, use inferior crops, inferior equipment, and inferior extraction methods. The resultant product is cheap, typically contains very little CBD, but contains an abundance of contaminants that can jeopardize your health. So if you are in a store, gas station, or online shop that seems to have a wide variety of very inexpensive products, you might want to think twice before making a purchase.

 

What Causes Price Variances?

Even when products claim to contain identical amounts of CBD, you may notice that prices can vary widely. This can cause some confusion for consumers. Why do the prices differ so much? Two of the main reasons for price variations are the cost of growing and processing hemp to create the CBD oil used in the final product. Understandably, these are also two factors that also determine the quality of the final product.

Growing Hemp

Hemp grown in the United States must follow strict guidelines set forth by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is important because hemp plants absorb toxins and heavy metals from the soil. In fact, the plant is so good at removing toxins that hemp was planted around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor after the 1988 meltdown to assist in detoxifying the soil. Because of this remarkable ability to absorb toxins, the USDA issued strict guidelines for growing hemp in America. The purpose of these rules was to ensure that pesticides and other harmful toxins did not find their way into healthy consumers’ bodies.

 

 

Other countries may not have these same guidelines. For instance, China has no such mandates, and 70% of the hemp used to make inferior CBD products in the US is imported from China. Partially because of US regulations, it is less expensive for a discount manufacturer to import hemp from China than to grow it in the US. Again, this is unfortunate because that inexpensive hemp typically contains pesticides and heavy metals that can build up in your system and cause damage time.

Processing Hemp

There are many ways to process hemp to extract CBD.

The most inexpensive processing method uses harsh chemicals and hydrocarbon solvents such as butane, petroleum, naphtha, and propane. This raises the concern that the end product may contain these toxic solvents. Inferior CBD products are likely to use these cheap processing methods.

Another processing method is called steam distillation. While this method assures that harsh solvent does not end up in the final product, the steam may overheat and damage the plant matter. This damage can lead to a less potent and less beneficial final product.

The third method of processing hemp is CO2 extraction. This superior, scientifically advanced method – also known as Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) – is much more expensive to execute. However, this extraction method produces a much higher quality product than either the solvent or steam distillation methods. High-quality extraction methods like this also ensure that no residual molds, pesticides, or heavy metals remain in the product.

 

 

CBD Is Unregulated

The cost of growing hemp and the extraction method are factors that drive any CBD product price. Cheaper farming and processing methods create a more affordable product. However, cheap products are inferior. At best, defective products result in no benefit to the user. At worst, low-quality items can be harmful to your health. And because the FDA does not regulate the CBD industry, there is no oversight on the final products. This allows two primary things to happen.

1. Contaminants. CBD made from hemp imported from countries without strict farming regulations may contain impurities. Besides, inferior processing techniques may not remove those contaminants or may add harmful substances during the processing. Without FDA oversight, these products are widely available on the market. In fact, Ellipse Analytics‘ recent testing showed that 70 percent of the CBD products tested were found to be “highly contaminated.”
2. No Truth in Labeling. Food and drugs that are overseen by the FDA are checked for label accuracy. Without this oversight, the label on a CBD product may be completely inaccurate. Recent studies have shown that the amount of CBD and THC in most products tested did not match what was on the label. In fact, some CBD products contained no detectable CBD at all!

You Can Count on The Hemp Doctor!

At The Hemp Doctor, America’s Premier Hemp & CBD Dispensary, you can count on purchasing a quality product at a reasonable price. We don’t cut corners to produce a cheap product that may harm our clients. We use only organically grown hemp that is cultivated right here in the United States, so we know it’s of premium quality. Then we process that hemp using scientifically advanced methods to produce items that have everything you want in a CBD product without the contaminants you do not wish to.

We even take our dedication to our products’ quality and their labeling accuracy one step further. Every single one of our products is independently tested by a third-party laboratory. We make those results available to our clients to compare the laboratory reports to the products’ labels. We make this information available to empower our clients to check the label’s accuracy and verify that no contaminants are present.

Do not risk your health or the chance of being ripped off by a cheaper, inferior CBD product! Count on The Hemp Doctor to supply all of your CBD needs. Shop our extensive inventory or contact us online today!