Cannabis, also known as weed, pot, and marijuana, is composed of plants with psychoactive properties. These plants are the Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis, ruderalis. Know more about indica strains by clicking to read a good article. The components of cannabis are called cannabinoids, including tetrahydrocannabinol or THC and cannabidiol or CBD.
And Indica is the strain that has the highest amount of CBD, therefore, people use this type of strain to produce CBD. Let discover what is CBD and how it is manufactured.
What is CBD?
The CBD is non-psychoactive, which, unlike THC, does not cause a person to get hallucinations or being “high.” It is known to alleviate anxiety and discomfort for some people. People use CBD for pain relief, relaxation, and treat insomnia. Detailed studies are still needed to determine its actual benefits accurately.
CBD had gotten the interests of more people and scientists, especially when the Cannabis Act was passed into law in 2018. Subsequently, there have been many developments in the processing of cannabis within the past few years. Safer consumption methods have also been discovered, which can benefit patients and consumers. Due to the efforts of legalization, more trials are conducted to test CBD as a possible treatment of different health conditions. These include alcoholism, schizophrenia, alcoholism, and autism.
What You Should Know About the Cannabis Act
The Cannabis Act was passed into law in Canada to:
- Protect the health of Canadians
- Keep the people safe
- Prevent the youth from freely getting CBD
- Preclude organized criminals to profit from CBD sales and distribution
Under the Cannabis Act, the possession, production, distribution, and selling of CBD are still strictly controlled. Below are some of the provisions under the Act:
CBD regulation in Canada
CBD is a controlled substance Canada, just like in other countries and under the United Nations drug control conventions. All products containing CBD are subject to the rules and regulations under the Cannabis Act in Canada. Before its passage, production, selling, importing, and exporting of CBD were illegal unless authorized for scientific or medical purposes.
Now, CBD products are still strictly regulated and can be legally sold if it complies with the regulations of the Act. The production, distribution, and selling of cannabis products are supervised and managed by Health Canada.
Growing cannabis plants
Under the Cannabis Act, a federal license is necessary to grow cannabis plants intended for selling. There are two types of permits which need to be acquired:
- Cultivation License
This license is under the Cannabis Regulations, which authorizes the cultivation of cannabis plants with various amounts of CBD and THC.
- Industrial Hemp License
It is a license under the Industrial Hemp Regulations, which authorizes the cultivation of cannabis plants with only 0.3% or less of THC content.
Producing and selling
All products containing CBD are subjected to the rules and regulations of the Cannabis Act. A processing license is necessary to be able to manufacture CBD-containing products intended for selling. It applies to all products no matter what the CBD source is.
There are only two authorized sellers of CBD oil and all other products containing CBD in Canada, as follows:
- Provincially or territorially-authorized retailer
- Federally-licensed seller for medical purposes
Importing and exporting
There are certain conditions for the import and export of CBD products. One must meet the following three criteria before any CBD product can be imported or exported:
- To be done by a license holder, issued under the Cannabis Regulations
- The license holder has an issued import or export permit from Health Canada specifically for the shipment of CBD product
- The product is for a legitimate medical or scientific or medical purpose, per existing international agreements
Other provisions and guidelines
Allowable age
Only persons of legal age can buy CBD cannabis products. Strict penalties await those who will sell these products below 18 or 19 (depending on the province or territory).
Possession and storage
Any person can only possess up to 30 grams of legal dried cannabis in public. It must be appropriately stored since there are products that can be mistaken as regular food or drink by others. Keep away cannabis products from kids and pets.
Legal cannabis products
The package of all legal cannabis products has an excise stamp. The mark comes in different colors, depending on the province and territory. However, products with less than 0.3% or no THC do not require an excise stamp. Edible cannabis, cannabis extracts, and topicals were made available for legal purchases in the latter part of 2019. These are in addition to already available products like cannabis oil and dried cannabis.
Further, never carry cannabis products across the Canadian border, regardless of what country you are coming from or going to.
Be aware of the effects
Cannabis for medical purposes and authorized by a healthcare practitioner is still allowed under the Cannabis Act. But just like alcohol, CBD may have adverse effects on consumers, especially young adults. When ingested, it usually takes two to four hours before the effects of cannabis are felt. On the other hand, it only takes a few minutes to feel its impact when vaped or smoked. Driving when one has taken-in cannabis is a criminal offense.
Remember that cannabis may have different effects on different people. You must be aware of the effects of cannabis products for your safety.
