This is a sponsored guest article by Lance Lira, co-owner of Nature’s Presence, Boerne’s locally owned and operated natural grocery and supplement store.

There has been a lot of media coverage about hemp lately, specifically in the Texas legislature and the attempts to ban many products, including any with THC. We’ve seen many folks reaching out on both sides of the issue, but also have seen a lack of information about what hemp really is and what products are legally available in Texas.

As such, we wanted to create a sort of “Hemp 101” article to answer some questions about hemp and hopefully shed some light on the potential benefits, as well as what to watch out for.

What is Hemp?

Hemp is classified as a cannabis plant (usually either the sativa or indica strain) that has less than 0.3% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) by weight; any plants with THC levels above this are classified as marijuana. THC is the psychoactive component of hemp and can offer therapeutic effects for some users.

The natural form of THC is also called Delta 9. You may see products that contain Delta 8, or Delta 10, but these are not the naturally occurring forms of THC and often require harsh chemicals to create these compounds. For this reason, we would recommend only using Delta 9 if you are going to use THC.

One of the best-known therapeutic components of the hemp plant is CBD (cannabidiol) and is widely used to help with pain, inflammation, and anxiety. This is only one of many cannabinoids found in the hemp plant, but is also the most common, which makes it a great talking point for this article. CBD alone does not have any psychoactive effects.

CBD can also lessen some of the psychoactive effects of THC when used in the proper ratios. It is critical that you know exactly what is in the products you are taking! (More on this later in the article).

What many folks don’t know is that the body actually has an endocannabinoid system (ECS) with receptors for CBD and other components of the hemp plant. The discovery of the ECS is relatively new and much research is being done on it.

Current findings show that it controls many critical functions throughout the body, including learning/memory, temperature regulation, pain and inflammatory responses, sleep, and even emotional processing.

What to Know When Purchasing

There are countless products on the market, and many can even be found in a location such as your local convenience store. With the extreme proliferation of CBD/THC/hemp products out there, it can feel overwhelming to figure out where to start.

It is rather ironic that one could be overwhelmed trying to figure out a product to help with that very condition!

It is important to know that not all CBD is created equal, and that some companies put a lot more time/care into their research as well as the products they make. You will see quality CBD products labeled in one of two ways, either by the milligrams of CBD/THC in an individual dose, or the total milligrams contained in the entire container.

It’s important to understand how the product is labeled… we’ve had customers come in and ask for a gummy that has 1000 mg of CBD, not understanding that the “1000 mg gummy” they have taken previously, actually only had 25 mg in each gummy, but there were 40 gummies in the bottle which gave a total of 1000 mg (40 gummies x 25 mg per gummy = 1000 mg).

We have seen some CBD products that list 1,000,000 “units” of CBD on the label. This is not a product we would ever recommend, as there is no definition of a “unit,” and therefore you cannot know exactly what you are getting in that product.

Many products on the market now offer a combination of CBD and THC. These can either be a specific amount of these two components or may be “full spectrum” which means they are going to have THC naturally occurring in the product. These products may not be as potent as other products where THC has been concentrated, but many find the full-spectrum products to give great relief, as that is a more natural balance of ingredients.

There are many folks that find having more CBD in a product can actually lessen the psychoactive effects of THC. No matter what product you take, if there is any THC present, you should not drive or do anything you would do after consuming alcohol as the psychoactive effects can impair judgement.

Look for Third-Party Tested Products

A very important thing to look for when selecting any CBD/THC product is to ensure the product has been third-party tested and that there is a Certificate of Analysis (CoA) available. Having a product tested by an independent laboratory will allow for a good CoA. The CoA will show everything the product has in it as well as what it does not have.

This will give you confidence that you know exactly what you are putting into your body and ensure a reproducible, therapeutic dose. Any product that does not have a CoA available should be treated as suspect, since there is no way to know how much CBD/THC (if any) is actually in the product.

About Nature’s Presence

Hopefully this article has helped shed light on the topics of CBD and THC. If you would like additional information, please stop in and see us at Nature’s Presence, 807 N. Main in Boerne. Our staff is very knowledgeable and can help guide you to help you find the relief you are seeking.