All You Need to Know About CBD and Vaping

If Vaping has saved and will save millions of former smoker’s lives then the use of CBD oil within vaping will go a long way to save millions of people from the damaging side-effects of prescription drugs.

I’ll explain my thinking on that soon but until then let’s take a look at exactly what CBD oil is and how it could be beneficial to you as a vaper.

But first and as always when I’ve discussed CBD on here – a disclaimer.

Despite the NHS currently ‘trialling’ CBD as a pain and stress management tool there is still no formal recognition from the wider scientific community that it is therapeutic in any way.

Note I said ‘wider scientific community’.

By that I mean the mainstream – that faceless collective mass of men and women in white coats that Governments tell us are to believed.

Their word is God.

They are ‘experts’.

Sure to get there these folks have to jump through a ton of hoops – study for letters after their names – get articles and studies published in peer approved journals and the like.

So I get it – they are ‘experts’.

However they are on the whole funded by Big Pharma – you know those enormous companies that cosy up to politicians whilst promoting many approved medicines that have significantly dangerous side-effects.

Just look at my piece on Suicide or Vaping where the FDA and doctors are happy to prescribe a drug to ‘help’ quit smoking that could also increase your desire to commit suicide.

I could list tons and tons more examples of where the ‘experts’ say and make us believe that the cure is worth the risk of the kill.

But CBD is perhaps an option you might be thinking about.

So let’s take a closer look at exactly what vaping CBD is all about.

What Exactly is CBD?

In a nutshell Cannabidiol [CBD] is taken from the cannabis plant however through process the active ingredient that makes a user ‘high’ – Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC – is removed.

In other words you get the known medicinal effects of the cannabis plant but without becoming stoned out of your mind.

And because users are vaping rather than smoking there’s less of those nasties you get from the burning process – yeah even with cannabis man.

CBD is pretty much legal in most countries [research to find out if your country is included] and comes in various forms including Tinctures – Concentrates – Capsules – Creams – Sprays and of course vaping products.

And given this is a vaping website [well spotted me] it’s the vaping side of CBD we’ll be looking at.

But first:

CBD a Brief History

Many cultures have used the marijuana plant for various effects over centuries.

However CBD enriched medical marijuana plants came to prominence it is believed in the 19th century with Queen Victoria no less using it to combat sever menstrual cramps.

How she used it is unclear – but that set a belief that CBD was an effective pain suppressant however no research or studies – that I can find anyway – shows this to be true until the 1980s – but even then it was muted to say the least.

It was only in the late 90’s and a doctor called Geoffrey Guy who convinced the British government that CBD in medicinal form had its uses.

Indeed still to this day his company GW Pharmaceuticalsis still around and indeed leads the way in the use of CBD as a treatment for epilepsy and produces the “world’s first prescription medicine derived from the cannabis plant, Sativex.”

It was the company’s initial research for instance that showed when treated with Cannabidiol animals lessened anxiety and reduced induced seizures.

This spawned more research and the cultivation of plants with less THC [the stuff that gets you high] and more CBD.

The wider public became aware of the apparent benefits of using CBD for pain relief and other conditions thanks to the spotlight being shone on a number of stories such as:

3-year-old Charlotte Figi – who suffered hundreds of severe epileptic fits each day was treated with CBD oil seeing an incredible 99% reduction in the seizures.

Scientific American covered this and other examples here.

There’s a ton of anecdotal evidence out there – but those are the two picked up at the time by the mainstream media.

So where are we today?

The First CBD Vaping Pen

According to their website Kanavape was the first company to produce a CBD vaporizer – no other companies make the claim.

Kanavape has been around for 10 years and says it’s CBD oil contains the legal limit of 0.02% of THC.

As to ‘getting you high’ Kanavape says:

CBD is not psychoactive, meaning it will not make you “high”. Once ingested, it takes different pathways than THC.

THC binds with the brain’s highly abundant CB1 receptors, which deliver the psychoactive effects of THC.

CBD is legal throughout most of the world because it doesn’t make you “high”.

So for users of so called medicinal marijuana vaping it was a natural progression – particularly when evidence of the burning process can create similar nastier by-products as smoking tobacco.

As we keep saying – vaping is heating whilst tobacco is burning – there’s a massive difference.

The CBD oil is suspended in vapable e-liquid – some flavoured others completely natural.

In the Kanavape mix it’s 5% CBD suspended in PG [propylene glycol] and this is about as pure as you get as the only flavouring is the natural taste of the plant.

Kanavape says:

We perform multiple extraction methods, including super-critical CO2, wiped film evaporation and steam distillation.

Quality and safety are the only factors at this stage of the process, we use the most advanced standards to obtain the cleanest form of Cbd Hemp Extract.

The Liquid is obtained by incorporating the CBD hemp extract in an « E-Liquid-like » solution, so that it can be vaporized easily.

We perform more than 20 tests and analysis to certify the potency and quality of all our ingredients.

As to the various levels of CBD the superb website Leafley explains the levels thus:

Recently, research has shown CBD to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-anxiety properties without the psychoactive effects (the “high” or “stoned” feeling) that THC provides.

While high THC strains often tout levels of over 20%, generally, CBD levels of over 4% are considered to be high.

So with Kanavape at 5% it is – as far as CBD goes – a high concentrate.

Other CBD e-liquids contain additives such as nicotine or flavourings – if these detract from the overall effect of the CBD is unclear.

I have reviewed many flavoured and un-flavoured e-liquids and to be honest found little if any difference in the effect – more on the effects later.

As to where we are today as far as an acceptance that CBD can help in reducing pain – anxiety and tackling diseases the experts at Leafley say:

It was initially thought that cannabidiol’s main function was to counter the psychoactive effects of THC, but more evidence seems to show that medically, CBD packs quite a punch on its own.

It looks to be especially promising for conditions that are difficult to treat such as Crohn’s disease, PTSD, and multiple sclerosis.

Lately, it is one of the rarest of these conditions, Dravet’s Syndrome, that is getting a lot of attention from both the medical community and the public.

Dravet’s Syndrome is an especially debilitating form of epilepsy that affects children and is notoriously resistant to current approved treatment methods.

Sufferers are plagued by seizures, often up to hundreds a day, that worsen as they age and can be life-threatening. Currently, treatment methods include having the child wear an eyepatch, specialized diets, and brain surgery, but all have mixed success rates.

So we’re seeing a rise in the understanding and acceptance of the benefits of CBD and given it almost marries perfectly with the rise of vaping – the two are literally a match made in heaven.

How to Vape CBD

There’s a couple of ways you can see if vaping CBD works for you.

First up there’s bottles of CBD oil that you can either vape on their own – or higher concentrates that you can drip a little into your usual e-liquid.

Depending where you shop this can be the cheapest method to see if it works for you.

Sounds daft but you do need to make sure your CBD oil is vapable!

CBD is pricey – mainly due to taxes and the cost of the extraction process – however it doesn’t have to break the bank and given you don’t need much a 30ml bottle will last you a long long time.

As to the extraction process Kanavape for instance says:

We perform multiple extraction methods, including supercritical CO2, wiped film evaporation and steam distillation.

Quality and safety are the only factors at this stage of the process, we use the most advanced standards to obtain the cleanest form of CBD hemp extract.

The Liquid is obtained by incorporating the CBD hemp extract in an « E-Liquid-like » solution, so that it can be vaporized easily. We perform more than 20 tests and analysis to certify the potency and quality of all our ingredients.

Kanavape offers both a kit with cartridges and separate oils and I personally found these worked extremely well for me anyway – remember like most things we’re all different.

My recent review of the VSAVI CBD e-liquid and vaping kit shows that whilst still on the pricey side – the cost is slowly coming down.

My review on the Harmony CBD e-liquid range is a good place to start particularly as these are not only flavoured but you can opt for added nicotine.

Harmony – who are extremely active in the science and and regulation of CBD production has a real vision for the future of CBD have a statement of intent to say the least:

We strive to provide affordable access to cannabinoids and improve personal well-being in harmony with nature.

We see a world where billions of people could benefit from cannabinoids, but most of them don’t have a safe or legal way of using them.

We at Harmony use science, nature and business as tools to improve the quality and accessibility of cannabinoids.

Our goal is to support the development of a world where access to affordable cannabinoids is no longer a challenge, but a means of life improvement.

As to Medipen (which I reviewed here) and possibility of it becoming available on the NHS I have contacted the company but at the time of writing they unfortunately haven’t got back to me on how that’s going.

CBD and Vaping a Personal Story

I first became aware of the medicinal properties of cannabis through my mother.

She suffered from a variety of illness including osteoporosis and learned through others [before the internet] that cannabis was the best way to get much needed pain relief.

For her it worked but yeah she was more than a little giggly and spacey at times.

I suffer from a number of prolapsed discs in my back and neck and have for many years treated the sometimes excruciating pain with heavy hitting prescription pain killers and muscle relaxants.

Whilst there’s obvious relief – the side effects are literally soul destroying.

Add to that more than a few mental health issues – complex trauma – PTSD – severe anxiety – depression etc etc – I was like Jonny joked recently ‘rattling when I walked’.

I had my first joint before all these things occurred and have been an on and off user of cannabis in various forms ever since.

A couple of years ago during a particularly painful episode I managed to get my hands on some ‘herb’ and the pain relief was almost immediate – but so was the high.

Not good when you need to function

I stumbled across CBD purely by chance whilst looking for that elusive all day vape [still looking lol] and luckily [given the price] we were able to arrange a sample to review.

That was the Medipen.

I have to say that for me – and a disclaimer here: this is purely personal experience and I am NOT a medical practitioner – what works for me may not for you.

Not only does it dull the pain significantly – there’s no high and certainly no side effects.

However as pain relief goes for me anyway it is not the ultimate magic bullet – though I feel a whole lot better not putting junk into my system.

However.

When it comes to my mental health issues though – it really is the magic bullet.

As you can imagine given my conditions – especially severe anxiety – the pills I’ve been on have been heavy hitters over the years – which in turn dull the symptoms but turn me into a zombie.

This past 3 weeks has been among the worst for anxiety I can ever remember.

I have had the full gamut of reactions including that horrible all intrusive total and utter sense of apprehension [a palpable deep seated fear that something awful is about to happen] that has manifested with physical symptoms.

It’s exhausting.

I was able to get a few days’ worth of diazepam but as you might expect here comes the zombie again.

So in order to keep working I turned to the last bits of CBD e-liquid I have left.

Being a big bloke it took a day of regular puffs on my pens to get the full effect.

Can You Overdose on CBD?

You cannot overdose on CBD – but too much can lessen the effects.

Here’s proof of that from a patent in the US:

No signs of toxicity or serious side effects have been observed following chronic administration of cannabidiol to healthy volunteers (Cunha et al., Pharmacology 21:175-185, 1980), even in large acute doses of 700 mg/day (Consroe et al., Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 40:701-708, 1991)

But I can tell you now and even though today I’ve probably vaped around 10mls of 100mg strength whilst the knot in my stomach is there – the shaking – the dark thoughts – the fear are dimmed considerably.

It’s there on my periphery – but not completely overwhelming my body and mind as it has the past 2 almost 3 weeks.

It can take time to have an effect – but trust me once you find the right strength and amount for you – the results might please you.

And the side effect of CBD?

None – and for me that is life changing – no more zombie and no more days feeling like the worst hangover ever without the fun beforehand.

For me vaping CBD oil is the perfect way to manage my anxieties and to some extent pain management – it works for me.

I’m an ex heavy smoker and as we know at times of stress the need for a cigarette was overpowering.

Now I can puff away on my CBD vape and it works as well as acting as a kind of muscle memory it’s as simple as that.

In Conclusion

I said at the start that I believe the premise of ‘kill or cure’ with all the negative side effects many prescribed drugs can and do have is dangerous.

If you are suffering regular mild pain and keep chucking aspirins into your body your gut is going to bleed.

If you’re depressed – anxious or have any other life changing mental illnesses chances are the prescribed approved drugs you are going to be given are going to have serious side effects.

Vaping on CBD has none.

I’m not saying let’s all throw away our pills and suck on a CBD infused e-liquid that would be silly.

What I am saying is there’s more than enough evidence now to suggest CBD helps in very many cases and can be used as part of your pain or mental health management.

Vaping CBD as a way of introducing yourself to the possible positive effects as I said earlier is twofold.

CBD gets into your system quickly and cleanly and particularly at times of anxiety and stress it mimics that old habit or crutch we had of smoking a cigarette.

It might not work for you – but if it does then welcome to a more natural way of tackling your pain and mental health.

Useful Contacts

• European Industrial Hemp Association
• Kanavape
• Medipen
• Harmony
• Project CBD