Both hemp oil and CBD oil contain CBD. Hemp oil can be produced simply by extracting CBD oil from harvested hemp plants and once it is extracted it is often called CBD oil. But oil which contains CBD can also be produced from low THC cannabis cultivars. For this reason, hemp oil and CBD oil are two terms which are often used loosely and interchangeably. But they can mean slightly different forms of the same material.
What is the difference between hemp and CBD?
Hemp does contain CBD, but the CBD first has to be extracted from the plant tissues of the hemp plant. Often this is done with a tech such as supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. This dissolves the CBD and removes it from the tissue of the hemp plant. Usually the resulting CBD is in the form of a brown coloured oil, which can be further refined to produce crystalline CBD powder if required.
What is the difference between hemp oil and CBD oil?
Hemp is a convenient way to produce CBD oil. Often you need a license to grow hemp and you will need to follow careful rules to be allowed to cultivate large quantities of it. One downside of producing CBD oil from hemp is that CBD is usually present at very low levels, often just 2-3% CBD. That’s why many people now prefer to grow low THC cultivars of cannabis. These can produce around 15% CBD with blooms much larger and more productive than hemp flowers. The CBD oil extracted from low-THC cannabis cultivars is much the same as that produced from hemp, but it’s easier and more efficient to grow the plants.
Some useful low THC cannabis varieties can be found here on the Dutch Passion website.