CBD is a popular topic of discussion today, as cannabis products are legalized and accepted more and more by the day. But many people don't understand the history of CDB and how it became popularized in Canada and the United States. Many still want to know where CBD pre rolls are legal and how they can be purchased from reputable suppliers. Here is a closer look at the fight to make CBD pre rolls legal and where you can purchase them today.
What is a CBD Pre Roll?
Before diving into whether or not a CBD pre roll is legal, it helps to understand what CBD is and how it benefits users. CBD stands for Cannabidiol, a chemical compound found in marijuana. It's derived from the hemp plant and offers a wide variety of benefits to users, including non-habit-forming treatment for a wide variety of common ailments, including anxiety, depression, inflammation, pain, insomnia, and so much more.
Although it's found in the marijuana plant, it doesn't contain tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the chemical compound that provides the euphoric "high" often associated with smoking marijuana. As a result, CBD provides many of the same benefits - including relaxation, pain relief, etc. - without the psychoactive properties.
CBD can be consumed in many ways, including through drops, creams, and edibles. But one of the most popular ways to ingest CBD is smoking it, similar to marijuana. CBD pre rolls allow consumers to smoke the plant without rolling it themselves. Thus a CBD Pre roll is similar to a cigarette but without all the harmful additives and using cannabis instead of tobacco. Users thus benefit from a convenient and relaxing way to ingest their favorite strain, but are CBD pre rolls legal, and how long have they been around?
The History of CBD Pre Rolls
Recorded uses of the cannabis plant go back to 2737 BC when Chinese Emperor Cheng Neng first brewed a cup of CBD tea. Tales of the plant's healing properties and therapeutic abilities began to pop up throughout history, although actual research into the science behind it was minimal.
In the 19th Century, an Irish physician named Willaim B. O'Shaughnessy did extensive research on the therapeutic use of cannabis and saw the massive potential for CDB in modern medicine. However, his research was largely ignored at the time and would not be taken seriously until nearly a century later.
CBD was first identified in 1940 by a chemist named Roger Adams who was doing research on the chemistry of marijuana. He was the first person to identify and isolate CBD from the hemp plant and was instrumental in discovering THC.
Around the same time, another chemist named Raphael Mecholuem was able to identify the structure of both CBD and THC, which helped give researchers a better understanding of their properties.
His research helped identify that the psychoactive effects of marijuana primarily came from THC, while CBD was closely linked to many of the therapeutic effects. This discovery identified CBD as a safe compound that could be used for medical purposes, contributing to making CBD pre rolls legal.
But at first, CBD's effects on the body weren't fully understood. It wasn't until the discovery of the CBD1 receptor in 1985 and the CBD receptor in 1993 that the benefits of CBD on the human body were fully understood. These receptors were known as the endocannabinoid system, which was found to control processes like the sleep/wake cycle, pain, and reproduction.
CBD and THC are known to act to impact these receptors, causing the effects for which CBD is known. This discovery proved the theory that CBD positively impacted human health and would present a compelling case for making CBD pre rolls legal.
How Did CBD Pre Rolls Become Legal?
But that still doesn't answer the question: are CBD pre rolls legal? Once the potential medical benefits of CBD were made apparent, more research was done on the effects. The first clinical trial on CBD products was conducted in Brazil following Mecholeum's research on the compound in 1940.
The researchers treated epileptic patients with CBD and found that 40% of the group given the compound saw a reduction in seizures over the following month. Another 40% experienced no seizures at all, while 20% saw no change.
This early study proved that there could be medical benefits to CBD and that it, at the very least, posed little harm to those who ingested it. This discovery would be instrumental in later efforts to make CBD pre rolls legal. However, it would still take time for the compound to gain popularity in the West.
Over the years, there have been many debates within the medical community over whether to make CBD pre rolls legal for medicinal purposes. In 1978, the state of New Mexico passed the Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act, which legalized the study of CBD and other cannabis products for research purposes. This made CBD legal, but only to study the plant and learn more about its properties.
In 1973, Oregon decriminalized cannabis, which began to change attitudes about cannabis products, but it would still be many years before CBD pre rolls became legal.
The first state in the US to legalize medical marijuana was California in 1996, followed soon after by Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. By 2000, Maine, Colorado, Hawaii, and Nevada followed suit. Canada also legalized medical marijuana in 2001 after it had been prohibited since 1923. This made CBD pre rolls legal along with other cannabis products. But only for medical purposes under the recommendation of a doctor.
How Did the CBD Movement Start?
At that time, CBD and how it differed from THC was still very misunderstood. But attitudes toward CBD began to shift in the 2010s with the story of Charlotte Figi. Charlotte Figi was a young girl from Colorado who suffered from severe epilepsy. Her condition was so bad that she would suffer from as many as 300 seizures per week.
Her mother began giving her a particular strain of CBD oil that helped significantly reduce her seizures. Charlotte's story quickly went viral on social media, and other epileptics began flocking to Colorado to try the strain. This helped gain widespread attention to the benefits of cannabis and later helped make CBD pre rolls legal. Charlotte’s story helped spark global interest in CBD and spread awareness of its therapeutic qualities.
The Passing of the Farm Bill
Although medical marijuana has been legal in some states and countries for many years, the illegality of hemp cultivation on a federal level was a major impediment to the industry. Although, in certain circumstances, CBD pre rolls were legal, growing or distributing it on a mass scale was still illegal, limiting the access many had to cannabis.
But that all changed with the passing of the Farm Bill in 2018. The Farm Bill passed by the USDA in December 2018 legalized the production of hemp, which gave a lot more leeway to CBD producers to grow and market their products.
The same year, Canada legalized the recreational use of marijuana, which opened the floodgates for all kinds of innovation in the space. This effectively made CBD pre rolls legal in the US and Canada, and an explosion in CBD-related businesses began to pop up across North America.
In 2018, the FDA also approved the first CBD-based drug for epilepsy treatment called Epidiolex. This helped lend legitimacy to the CBD industry and proved that the plant had immense potential for helping patients who suffered from serious ailments.
Are CBD Pre Rolls Legal Today?
So are CBD pre rolls legal today? Yes, CBD pre rolls are legal in all 50 states and Canada to some degree. Today, cannabis is completely legal in Canada, so you can buy CBD or marijuana recreationally. 21 states in the US have legalized cannabis for recreational purposes (including Washington DC and Guam), and 37 states have some form of legalized medical marijuana.
However, according to the FDA, you can have CBD pre rolls legally shipped to you in all 50 states from a place where it is legal as long as the product contains less than 0.3% THC. That means CBD pre rolls are basically legal everywhere in the US as long as you order online.
In recent years CBD has become a massive industry, and analysts believe that by 2028, the market will have a value of $47.22 billion. Just five years ago, most of the public was still in the dark about the life-changing benefits of CBD. Fast forward to today, where you can find a CBD shop in nearly every major commercial area where it's legal.
The exciting thing about CBD is that modern science has only scratched the surface of its potential. Although scientists understand the compound's effects on the endocannabinoid system, this relationship is still a recent discovery, and there is still so much that is not yet understood about why CBD works the way it does.
At the Cones Factory, we make it easier for cannabis companies to distribute their products with high-quality pre roll cones and packing solutions. If you are a cannabis brand looking to get in on the green rush, we can help you take your business to the next level with quality branded products that your customers will love. Visit our website to see the products we have in stock and feel free to contact us with any questions.
