Why Is CBD Oil Expensive? [Explained]

CBD oil began sweeping the world at least a decade ago, and its drive towards global dominance as a popular supplement doesn’t seem to be slowing down. All of this newfound attention inevitably leads to more people than ever trying CBD oils than ever before.

However, one of the first things that newcomers to the world of CBD discover is that CBD oil seems to be almost prohibitively expensive. But why is this? What is it that makes CBD oil so expensive?

What CBD Oil Is

To understand what makes CBD oil so expensive, you have to understand what it is. CBD oil is, essentially, oil that contains extracted CBD, or cannabidiol, from a hemp plant. 

The carrier oil differs between brands, but it tends to be either coconut oil or hemp seed oil. The only real factor that this affects is the taste, but there is also some discussion as to whether or not MCT oils, like coconut oil, can help to increase the body’s absorption of the CBD.

Regardless of which one you end up getting, it will taste mostly like the oil itself, with a touch of slightly bitter hemp as well. 

It’s the extraction process that makes CBD oil so expensive. Hemp needs to be processed using expensive, large machinery to remove the CBD so that it is ready for consumption.

It is this extraction process that creates the high price tags associated with CBD products, but there are also a few other factors to consider as well.

The Price of Breeding CBD-Rich Hemp

CBD might appear to you as though it has always been in a state of purity, but now that we know more about the extraction process, we can understand that it originally comes from hemp plants. But these hemp plants aren’t just regular ones.

The hemp plants chosen require years of special breeding programs to devise the precise cannabinoid combination necessary to make them worthwhile as a CBD crop. When you buy CBD oil, you aren’t just paying for the manufacturing cost of the CBD oil itself, but also for the years of careful breeding programs that went into the creation of the hemp strain in the first place.

Endless experimentation and years of developing the perfect strain are very taxing on business, so it makes sense for breeders to recoup those previous losses now that they can actually sell their product.

There is one final issue that makes CBD oil so expensive, one that most people don’t consider when buying CBD oil: Its legal status.

The Cost of Legal Issues 

CBD oil is not intoxicating, meaning that it cannot get you high, no matter how much you take. THC, the other main cannabinoid in cannabis and hemp plants, is intoxicating. There is always going to be an inherent negative association with CBD, along with the assumption that it is somehow dangerous.

This manifests itself through a myriad of legal issues surrounding CBD production and use. While the production and consumption of CBD oil are themselves legal, there are all sorts of legal hoops that CBD oil manufacturers must jump through to make and sell their products.

A big part of this is requiring independent lab reports that detail the specific cannabinoid contents of their products. This is not only necessary for the consumer to know what they are taking, but also for the government to check there isn’t a disallowed quantity of THC within the CBD oil.

All of this adds up to the extra cost for the manufacturers of these CBD products, which in turn makes the final products more expensive.

Over time, this issue will improve as governments gradually relax their restrictions on users of cannabis and hemp products. Until then, the price is always going to be a bit high.

Final Thoughts on Why CBD Oil Is Expensive

CBD oil is expensive because its ingredients are pricey, but it’s also costly to sell and maintain it legally. Manufacturers have to struggle every day with changing legislation, shifting public opinions, and frequent police raids for no good reason.

To help support them, buy your products from reputable CBD retailers that focus on providing great quality products for their customers, like the folks at Premium Jane.

Wherever you end up shopping, don’t let the price put you off – while it might be expensive, it is likely to be absolutely worth it.