What Is CBD?: A Brief History Of CBD, An Introduction To This Healing Plant Compound

“There were never so many able, active minds at work on the problems of disease as now, and all their discoveries are tending toward the simple truth that you can’t improve on nature.” -Thomas Edison

The more we learn about CBD, the more evident it becomes that this plant compound has the power to revolutionize health and healthcare as we know it.

Here is a little background information and an introduction to CBD!

CBD NON-PSYCHOACTIVE

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a plant compound that has a vast amount of health benefits, without any psychoactive effects.

CBD oil can be extracted from any variety of the cannabis plant.

Our CBD comes from the hemp plant. The hemp plant is a specific strain of the species Cannabis Sativa.

THC is another plant compound that is found in different strains of the species Cannabis Sativa. THC is the compound that makes you feel high.

The hemp plant contains only trace amounts of THC, and those amounts are always isolated and never included in the extraction of CBD.

The CBD compound is always extracted independently and isolated.

CBD does not make you feel high.

CBD has therapeutic properties. This makes CBD ideal for people who want to relax and soften into their minds, not get out of their minds.

BRIEF HEMP PLANT HISTORY / BRIEF CBD HISTORY

The use of hemp extends back thousands of years.

Queen Victoria even used CBD for menstrual cramps in the 19th century!

Hemp was widely cultivated in England. When the colonists left England for America, they brought hemp with them. They not only extracted CBD from the hemp plant for medicinal use, but the hemp plant was also a staple and was used for many purposes. The colonists came to America on ships that used hemp ropes. The United States Constitution was drafted on hemp paper.

When the United States was established, cannabis was being widely cultivated. The fibers were used for a wide range of purposes, and the extracts were used for medicinal purposes. George Washington grew hemp at Mount Vernon and the cannabis plant was on the $10 bill as late as 1900.

Cannabis extracts of all kinds had widespread use in the United States until the early 1900s when marijuana (strains of the cannabis plant with high amounts of THC in it) was slowly being banned by states.

In 1960, Israeli organic chemist, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, isolated the CBD compound and described its chemical structure. In doing this, he was able to confirm that CBD is a non-psychoactive constituent of cannabis.

Regardless, in the United States, Cannabis of all kinds, including non-psychoactive CBD, was officially outlawed for ANY use in 1970, with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act.

The legal battle began in the United States. The War on Drugs (and more politics that we are not going to get into here) was at a national high, and there was a stigma surrounding anything regarding the cannabis plant.

Meanwhile, many scientists and advocates were fighting to educate people about the truth about CBD: that it is not only safe, but it also has a vast amount of therapeutic benefits.

In 1980, Dr. Mechoulam made another breakthrough in CBD history when he conducted a study further showing CBD’s health benefits.

Advocates have been fighting to legalize CBD ever since it was outlawed. Until recently, that is.

TODAY: CBD LEGAL AND RECOGNIZED FOR CBD HEALING PROPERTIES

Today, the stigma surrounding CBD has markedly died down. It is legal in all 50 States.

The science behind CBD is getting stronger every year, and more people have been experiencing the benefits of CBD and sharing their stories.

We now know that CBD helps to holistically balance out many systems in the body and promotes equilibrium. Spoiler alert: more on this next week. 😉