What is a hemp flower? Why are hemp flowers so important to the CBD industry? CBD oil may be getting all the attention today, but have you heard of hemp flowers? Hemp flowers are just one of the many parts of the hemp plant that help provide useful cannabinoids, like CBD, when consumed.
In this article, we’ll cover everything there is to know about hemp flowers, and whether or not you should give them a try.
TL;DR – Hemp flowers (also known as CBD hemp flower, or hemp buds) are part of the industrial hemp plant that contain extremely high amounts of CBD, CBG, CBN, and many other beneficial cannabinoids. You can extract these cannabinoids from the flower and create CBD products, or smoke the flower after it has been properly cured.
What is a Hemp Flower?
CBD oils, tinctures, topical creams, edibles, and other products comes (largely) from the flowers of industrial hemp. It can also be found in the leaves, stalk, and stems of the plant, but the concentration of CBD, or cannabidiol, is very high within the buds, or flowers.
Hemp flowers come from female industrial hemp plants, and when they reach full bloom, produce CBD. These plants can be high in other cannabinoids too, but it depends on the strain, and which cannabinoids that strain is bred to produce. Hemp flowers that haven’t been pollinated contain even more CBD.
Related: CBD Vaping
There is a very low THC content (less than 0.3% – by law) in hemp, making its flowers different than marijuana. With more cannabinoids and compounds, researchers believe that hemp flowers have more health benefits, and are more potent.
Marijuana Flowers vs Hemp Buds
What most people are familiar with are marijuana flowers, or buds. Hemp flowers look just the same. They’re also small, spike-like, and feature green, dense flowers. Just like marijuana flowers, hemp flowers can also be smoked when dried, but unlike the former, hemp does not cause any psychoactive effects.
We should talk about the difference between marijuana and hemp. Traditionally, hemp is taller and slimmer while marijuana is bushier, and has more lush foliage. However, these days you cannot tell the difference between a hemp plant, or a marijuana plant. From a genetic standpoint, they are identical. The only real difference is man made, and that is THC content.
Marijuana can contain as much THC as the strain allows, while hemp cannot contain more than 0.3% THC, according to the Farm Bill.
Legal CBD products you see in the market come from the hemp plant – not marijuana. This is because marijuana, or cannabis plant, is still illegal in many states (due to the high THC content). Hemp, on the other hand, is legal, because hemp plants contain less than 0.3% THC.
With the passage of the Farm Bill in 2018, US production and sale of hemp became legal, thus, explaining the ‘boom’ of CBD products all across the country.
CBD that comes from the hemp plant is much more user friendly to consume, because of the very low THC content. Users can enjoy the many health benefits of CBD without experiencing altered states of consciousness, or the feeling of being “high.”
Terpenes Within Cannabis
The terpenes in hemp flowers are responsible for the plant’s fragrance.. When smoking unprocessed hemp flowers, users can smell a range of fragrances that make it more pleasing or enjoyable.
Some of these fragrances include floral or fruity scents, while other hemp plants smell like cheese, gasoline, or like a skunk, depending on the strain.
Did you know certain insects also have terpenes? Plants and insects use terpenes as defense mechanisms from herbivores.
CBD Hemp Flower – How to Use Them
Now that you know what hemp flowers are, it’s time we talk about why you should give them a try. With thousands of CBD products, why is the need to produce other products that come from the hemp plant? If the CBD extracted from the hemp stalk and stem are good enough, why is there a need to use the flower?
Aside from using hemp flowers as a source of extraction of CBD, you can smoke them, or vape them.
To smoke hemp flowers, you simply grind them up, and smoke them like you would anything else. Some vape pens allow you to smoke dry hemp flower. These would be best, and are preferred over the harsh, concentrated oils.
It is important to note that due to some of the health concerns with vaping and smoking, New Phase Blends chooses not to sell any smokable hemp or CBD products. There are a wide variety of hemp-derived CBD goods available. Consider choosing one of these instead of smoking.
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CBD Starter Kit Bundle$180.00 -
CBD Gummies for Sleep$18.00 – $70.00 — or from $15.30 – $59.50 / month -
Pure CBD Capsules$12.00 – $65.00 — or from $10.20 – $55.25 / month
Advantages of Hemp Flowers
Hemp flower studies have revealed the following advantages of using hemp flowers over CBD products that are extracted from the stems and stalks:
1. Fast Delivery of CBD
Studies have shown that hemp flowers provide fast delivery of CBD in the bloodstream. This is especially true when smoking dried hemp flowers, or buds. If you are using CBD for pain management, this is especially significant since you get to experience faster pain relief when smoking dried hemp flowers.
2. Does Not Get You High
Since smoking hemp flowers go directly into the lungs and not in your digestive system, you can enjoy faster and stronger effects of CBD.
3. Enjoyable Experience
As mentioned earlier, hemp flowers contain terpenes responsible for their fragrance. Hemp flowers can create an overwhelming sense of calmness, too, which many users enjoy.
4. Experience the “Entourage Effect”
The entourage effect of using CBD states that the health benefits of the compound are more potent if you use the full spectrum extract rather than the isolates. This means that you get to experience not just CBD from the hemp plant, but also the flavonoids, terpenes, and other cannabinoids. The theory states that the effects of the plant are improved and better experienced when taken together, rather than isolating CBD alone.
5. More Potent Health Benefits
The benefits of CBD, such as anti-inflammation, pain relief, and anxiety management, are loved by many people. These benefits are all available, without having to get high like you would with marijuana.
Does Hemp Smell Like Weed?
Yes, it actually smells identical to weed – because it is the same plant.
The terpene profile is what gives a plant its’ smell. Since cannabis accounts for both hemp and marijuana, the plants will smell the same.
After processed, CBD items should have most of, if not all of, that particular smell removed.
Summary
Hemp flowers are considered to be a very important part of the plant. They are rich in CBD, and other cannabinoids that many people enjoy using. Hemp also has very low percentages of THC, which means you won’t get high from consuming them, and also means they are considered legal in all states of the US.
This flower has been known to contain not just CBD but other compounds that offer the “entourage effect,” which offers more potent health benefits to the human body.
Since research and clinical trials on CBD are still in their early stages, studies have recently popped up about the benefits of hemp flowers, and the plant chemicals they contain within them. Cannabis plants have long been used for their medicinal and psychoactive properties for thousands of years but modern science has only recently taken an interest in implementing clinical trials.
Though there have been many studies, they have been limited to animal subjects and small human trials, which means more research still needs to be done. Now that this plant is legal, research is much easier to conduct.
References
Free Radical Biological Medicine: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21238581/
