Are CBD and THC topicals safe?

I can’t give you a medical doctor’s opinion – just my own personal experiences and anecdotal information.

The short answer is yes, it’s ok, but due diligence is required, so that’s the information I’m going to outline for you.

Neither CBD nor THC is bad for you. They’re natural cannabinoids for which your body has natural receptors.

Both CBD and THC are actually categories of drugs, and the chemical makeup of a single marijuana plant is a blend of CBD’s and THC’s. Here’s a basic chart of the different CBD’s and THC’s:

When you see CBD or THC levels on any product made from cannabis or hemp, the CBD and THC levels are a little deceptive, and until federal decriminalization (or at the very least rescheduling) the market for any cannabis products is essentially the wild west.

Some companies follow strict quality and testing standards, ensuring a quality, organic product. Others are what are affectionately known as green-rushers. Green-rushers are sourcing the cheapest possible parts and commodities to maximize profits at the expense of the general consumer.

I attend cannabis conferences occasionally, and, as it so happens, you caught me at a time when I’m sitting on a pile of all the promotional crap from one last week at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Here’s a pile of cannabis brochures (only a fraction of the whole):

Here’s a closeup of a brochure from CannaVest, one of many many companies selling the bulk CBD used in many CBD-infused products. It explains the different levels of CBD they’re offering. Please don’t take this as a knock on CannaVest because every company is the same (and I mean every company in every industry in every country in every time period ever in history, not just companies whose product is cannabis).

There’s raw, decarbed, and filtered CBD – all of which look on the surface like just plain ol’ CBD, but when you read further down you see they are all different pieces in the above pie chart, providing a different benefit.

On top of these production type issues, there’s a matter of how the CBD was harvested. Most is harvested from industrial hemp, which, if there were a plant quality ladder, would be at the bottom rung, along with corn grown for oil. Next would be corn grown for livestock or decoration. Then there’s the corn for processed foods and the corn sold whole. All are different qualities.

Industrial hemp is used because before medical marijuana, there was a hemp movement. Cannabis legalization didn’t just happen – it’s been a century-long struggle.

There is now a movement spurred by the legal cannabis industry toward producing cannabis plants with high levels of both THC and CBD, which spawned the genetics of a strain called Charlotte’s Web (named after a little girl with seizures, whose parents cared enough about her to stand up and fight for her.

These type of plants are being grown in the forced indoor grow operations across North America and geneticists are already looking into how to breed more.

Keep in mind that once cannabis is federally rescheduled, the patents will start being filed from the tens of millions of corporate money that has already gone into keeping teams of patent lawyers working around the clock to lay claim to every single one of the 800+ strains listed in on Leafly and held by other cannabis seed banks.

Growing your own cannabis is the best possible option to future-proof your medication.

Now…with all that being said, when I was in L.A. at the Cannabis World Congress last week, the press room was sponsored by Dixie, and I got to try out quite a few products I don’t typically look at. One of these was topicals.

Below is a 50/50 (or 1/1 ratio) of THC/CBD on a relief balm I picked up from Dixie, called Synergy. Being the journalist I am, I decided to really see if I could get high off a topical (and keep in mind, by this point in the day, I already ingested 200mg of THC through a combination of edibles, vaping, and smoking. Yes I tracked it).

And before I finish that story, here’s how to get a 10% discount on an order of any of Dixie’s products (there are quite a few, including bulk CBD).

So I went back to my van in the parking lot of the LACC on Emmy weekend, and I took off all my clothes (don’t worry, it’s blacked out in the back – I live in it) and lathered myself from head to toe in Synergy relief balm. Then I sat and meditated for 30 mins to center myself after a long day of business in downtown LA.

By 6pm it was time to meet up with a client in the vaping industry, so I put my sunglasses on, and prepared to drive into the sun to the center of Koreatown during the rushiest of rush hours (yes I’m aware it’s always rush hour in LA). 

About half a mile in, this tourist suddenly discovered you actually can get high off a topical, as the Synergy kicked in and I jumped into a high while driving next to the city bus.

I not only survived the journey, but found a close parking spot on the street right across the street from the restaurant and parallel parked perfectly on the first shot for the first time in my entire life (you have no idea how hard it is to find parking in Miami Beach or San Francisco that’s not parallel parking).

Fun times…and the high was from the THC, by the way – not the CBD…

Anyway, check the labels on your CBD products and make sure you know what you’re getting. Here’s a few other CBD-infused product brochures for topicals, bulk, edibles, and even dog treats: