CBD flower looks like weed. It smells like cannabis. But unlike your mate’s stash, it won’t get you high, no matter how much you smoke!
Some people prefer these flower because it gives you a more relaxing, calming sensation that makes you feel good but doesn’t interfere with your cognitive abilities.
CBD is popular in the form of tinctures, edibles and creams, but long before CBD skincare was even a thing, health-savvy advocates were buying CBD flower.
CBD flower is the pre-extracted form of CBD oil. Vaping or smoking flower offers several advantages over other methods but, more importantly, is it legal?
Is CBD Flower Legal in the UK?
CBD is legal in the UK as long as it comes from a hemp strain that contains less than 0.2% THC. This has allowed the CBD industry to flourish in the UK with CBD oil now available in pharmacies, Holland and Barrett, health, and hemp stores.
Although CBD oil is widely available throughout the UK, CBD flower seems to have been put into a grey area of sorts which is why most retailers now sell CBD flower labelled as incense, tea flower or as a souvenir. Confused? You're not the only one.
CBD Flower vs CBD Oil
CBD oil:
CBD oil is extracted from cannabis. During the extraction process, THC is removed. Often, the oil's effect depends on the way it's extracted from the plant.
There are a few occasions where CBD oil shows its distinctness to CBD flowers. For instance, dosing is easier with CBD oil. The dosage, main ingredients, instructions are all evident on the package.
CBD flower:
High CBD flowers are those that contain a little THC, unlike CBD oils. They are usually known for their therapeutic and non-psychoactive effects.
They differentiate themselves from CBD oils by working faster than the latter.
CBD flowers are also known for their “Entourage effect”. These flowers contain a lot of cannabinoids. Though the individual significance of these cannabinoids isn't researched enough, these compounds synergise to produce the therapeutic effect associated with CBD.
With oils, this effect isn't as emphasised as smoking these flowers. Oils undergo an intensive refining process where they lose many of these compounds. Often, the calming effect is affected when ingredients are separately added to the oil.
How is CBD Flower Used?
Well, apart from being used as incense for meditation or as a souvenir for your aunt, people generally just smoke or vape it.
In particular, the 1.4 million UK patients who use THC-rich cannabis often combine it with CBD flower to reduce the less-desirable effects of weed and increase relaxation.
These flowers can be smoked in a traditional joint/pipe/bong etc or better still it can be vaped as oil using an electronic device known as a vaporiser. These easy to use devices heat the flower precisely activating different compounds and best of all there is no toxic smoke.
So How Does it Feel Like?
Since there are various strains of CBD flowers, smoking or vaping one, is different from the other. Regardless of which strain you smoke, the relaxing effect is produced by all.
As you smoke or vape CBD flower, you feel a soothing benefit on a psychological level. However, your mind does not undergo any high that is commonly associated with marijuana.
Regular users describe the experience to be soothing on a physical level. They also say the mind is unperturbed. This allows them to focus their attention on whatever task is on hand.
It is recommended to start with a low dosage, as you wouldn't want to bear any adverse effects. The ideal dosage depends on the individual, their diet and metabolism. Also, you could try different strains before deciding which flower works best for you.
Bioavailability of CBD Flowers
So you love CBD and the warm blanket of calmness it covers you with. But have you wondered how much of the CBD you take is actually absorbed by your body? Ever thought why tinctures work faster but edibles take 2 hours to weave their magic?
It's because of bioavailability.
Bioavailability is the rate and extent to which a particular substance is absorbed into the bloodstream. For instance, say the bioavailability of CBD edibles is 10%. It means that for every 50 grams of CBD gummy you take, only 5 grams enter into the blood.
The bioavailability of CBD flowers is more than 50%. While smoking CBD flowers, the vapours bypass the digestive tract. The stomach dilutes the CBD when it enters into your blood.
Here instead, the CBD vapours are absorbed by the lungs.
The process culminates with vapours directly entering the bloodstream releasing maximum CBD, only next to the intravenous consumption.
Benefits of CBD flowers
As CBD can be taken across all ages, it comes in various shapes, sizes and dosages. CBD edibles, oils, vapes are a few. So what makes CBD flowers different from their counterparts?
Agent of Anti-Inflammation
CBD's benefits extend beyond providing the much-needed head massage after work. Its anti-inflammatory properties are much sought after as well. It is clinically proved that CBD reduces the power of pro-inflammation cytokines.
Moreover, there is a lot of scientific and anecdotal evidence piling up to root for CBD's pain-relieving properties. There are studies to show that CBD can wipe away headaches and acne. It also lowers blood pressure by improving your circulatory system resulting in a healthy heart.
High Bioavailability
High bioavailability not only means faster effect but also greater value for money. Your body absorbs 50% of the CBD you pay for when compared to the puny edible and tincture counterparts. You begin to feel benefits within 10 minutes of consumption
Anxiety, Depression and Addiction
Deadlines sending a chill down your spines? Frowns forming on your forehead as family pressures devour you?
CBD flowers can offer a much deserving relief.
Thanks to their higher bioavailability, CBD flowers take far less time to unpack their pain-relieving benefits. Moreover, since its non-addictive, the wonder drug does not affect your lifestyle as well.
Most antidepressants err by endowing heavy side-effects. This leads patients to rendezvous with substance abuse. Thanks to the aforementioned dispositions, CBD is reported to be a suitable mellower alternative for antidepressants.
Comparatively Affordable
When choosing CBD products, people make a compromise on quality, its bioavailability and affordability.
Manufacturing CBD products is intensive, thus expensive. One of the reasons people don't buy CBD vapes, tinctures is the cost.
However, CBD flower is cheaper. It is available in dry weight and is easier to buy in bulk as well.
It's Legal and You Will Not Fail a Drug Test
There is no excuse for using the psychoactive, marijuana-based counterpart of CBD flowers. They are still banned and illegal.
However, CBD flowers are declared safe and completely legal to use. This is because they contain low levels of THC (<0.3%). THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol is the compound present in hemp that causes the high associated with marijuana.
CBD is known for this very aspect– to bless relief without causing any intoxicating high that disallows you from getting up. Any CBD product is legal to consume as long as they contain THC within permissive limits.
Secondly, you cannot fail a drug test due to CBD flower. Drug tests check for THC in your body and not CBD. CBD is declared completely safe by the WHO classifying it as medicine.
Top 10 CBD Flowers
We happily searched for the best CBD flower available in the UK and we’re confident you’ll find something to suit your taste. Rest assured too that each flower has been independently lab tested with certificates of analysis available showing CBD content.
10. Pre-rolled 1g Strawberry Kush CBD Flower 13%
An earthy, sweet-smelling, berry flavoured flower pre-rolled using thin organic papers stored in airtight cones to keep them fresh. This delightful hybrid was created using OG Kush and Strawberry Cough strains and contains 130 mg of CBD.
9. Gorilla Glue CBD Flower 20%
This unusual name was given to the original strain because it left people stuck to their seats – CBD flowers, on the other hand, contains only negligible, legal amounts of THC so you can instead look forward to a relaxing uplifting experience.
Gorilla Glue is a delicious tasting flower with mouth-watering aromas and a whopping 200 mg of CBD!
8. Endo Kush CBD Flower 15%
Endo Kush is a beautifully dense flower with bright orange and green buds that have an earthy/woody sweet taste you are guaranteed to love.
This popular flower is rich in cannabinoids containing 150 mg of CBD and well known for its mellow, calming effects.
7. Adriatic Haze CBD Flower 17%
A smooth tasting CBD flower that immerses you in a tempestuous foray of spicy flavours, citrus notes and an earthy sweetness.
Adriatic Haze is a really nice and enjoyable hybrid strain that has 170 mg of CBD along with other cannabinoids such as CBDA and THCA.
6. Amber Kush 5%
This terpene-rich strain boasts an abundance of fruity flavours like fresh lemons and lime and just a hint of orange to round it off perfectly.
An aesthetically stunning flower from Switzerland that contains 50 mg of certified CBD.
5. Gelato 41 CBD Flower 13%
This award-winning CBD flower is absolutely bursting with flavour – the deliciously sweet and creamy strawberry flavour is infused with rippling raspberry terpenes guaranteed to tickle those tastebuds.
Dive right into the heart of the CBD world with 130 mg of premium CBD.
4. Super Sour Diesel 14.5%
This world-renowned mouth-watering flower combines super silver haze and sour diesel strains to give you a delicious tasting, pungent aroma of citrus fruits, pepper and an odd fuel-like scent.
Enjoy the super calming effects of 145 mg of CBD flower which is light in colour with a slight hint of yellow around the base of these super thick buds.
3. Pistachio CBD Flower 20% CBD
Your favourite nut is now available in flower form, well almost! This deliciously sweet CBD flower has a bold nutty flavour that really comes out when vaped.
Perfectly formed knuckleheads are capped with icy cannabinoid crystals which feature 200 mg of potent CBD.
2. OG Kush CBD 11%
Probably the most well known of the Kush strain, OG Kush is packed full of aromatic terpenes which explode into life, hitting your palate with hints of lavender, linalool, and an earthy scent.
A classic favourite amongst CBD connoisseurs with 110 mg of CBD in each bud.
1. Tangie CBD Flowers 19%
The perfect mix of generously packed buds with an abundance of terpenes that provide a scintillating citrus aroma, incredible taste, smooth draw, and 190 mg of pure potent CBD.
