Is CBD Oil Legal?

Now that cannabidiol or CBD is making its way into the public dialogue, people are a little confused on the status of its legality across the world. In certain geographical areas, cannabis has been legalized both for medical and adult/recreational use, yet CBDs remain a bit of a grey area worldwide.

CBDs are a specific compound found among the many cannabinoids that occur within the cannabis plant. They have found a secure place in medicine and within medical marijuana circles due to their anti-inflammatory, anti-seizure, and anti-anxiety properties.

A Non-Psychoactive Substance

Since it extracted from cannabis, CBD has always been misunderstood to be a psycho-active substance, which has always led to a sense of confusion for legal representatives and the public alike.

Creating Confusion Across the World

On the heels of a successful year for cannabis legalization in the United States, the cannabis industry was shocked as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reclassified cannabidiols as a Schedule 1 drug.
This caused worldwide confusion about CBD and a strong response from the medical marijuana community. People in many areas have been able to purchase Hemp-Based CBD for quite some time now, despite whether cannabis is legal in their country or state or not. Why the re-classification now?

The statements were supported by the belief that CBDs had a “high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence”.

The DEA later clarified that the reclassification pertained to marijuana extracts only, and did not include CBDs derived from the hemp plant, allowing CBDs from hemp to remain legal.

So, Are CBDs Illegal?

This is where CBDs get a bit confusing, and it’s important to understand the differences between hemp and marijuana, both derivatives of the cannabis plant.

CBD Oil can be extracted from marijuana, which is associated with the marijuana you smoke, or hemp, which is the part of the cannabis plant that has more practical uses.

CBD Hemp Oil uses a careful extraction process to retrieve the CBDs, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and other compounds that are beneficial to your health in the form of an ingestible oil.

CBD Hemp Oil has been widely promoted for its uses including the treatment of hormone regulation, pain, and sleep disorders. It’s been used in mental health treatment, widely believed to be a helpful supplement for the treatment of mental disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and anxiety. Despite this, CBD Hemp Oil is NOT classified as a medicinal product.


CBD Hemp Oil can be found in many health stores across the world, as CBD Hemp Oil is a legal substance and is seen as a dietary supplement. There are only a few very conservative areas within the United States and the world that do not carry CBD Hemp Oil.

Cannabis oil, on the other hand, is illegal in most areas that have not legalized medical marijuana or adult or recreational use marijuana. CBD-rich cannabis strains are put through extraction processes that use either heat, pressure, or chemical compounds (i.e. butane) to extract only the CBD from the plant.

CBD Cannabis Oil contains enough levels of CBD to be classified as having medicinal properties for their anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, anti-seizure, and anti-tumour properties.

Some cannabis oils can contain levels of THC along with the CBD when it is extracted from the cannabis plant, making cannabis oil illegal in areas where medicinal or recreational marijuana have not been legalized.

Is Hemp CBD Oil Good Enough?
If you’re looking for a dietary supplement that will act as an internal regulator of your body’s health, Hemp Oil is a good product. However, you won’t get nearly the amount of CBDs in Hemp Oil than you do cannabis oil or CBD oil.
At the same time, when you find a CBD Hemp Oil in a Health Food store, you don’t really know what you are getting, whereas, in legalized states and areas that are selling CBD Oil, the manufacturing of the product is highly regulated. What you get is what is on the label.

CBD Hemp Oil manufacturers, however, have sometimes tried to pull a fast one on consumers, marketing Hemp Oil as a medicinal product. There is simply not enough CBD in Hemp Oil to be classified a medicinal product like CBD Cannabis Oil is.

More Education Needed
The confusion around the classification of CBD and the differences between CBD Hemp Oil and CBD Cannabis oil have caused a bit of confusion around CBDs.

More education is needed for legislators, medical professionals, and patients alike about CBD and where they are best sourced for their maximum medicinal effects.