CBD Flower Shops In the Year of the Pandemic
The cannabidiol (CBD) boom that has so visibly dominated the cannabis industry in recent years is still going strong thanks to a variety of factors, but an interesting new trend has surfaced as well: marijuana consumers gravitating toward the CBD flower high offered by indoor hemp flower. While CBD tinctures and oil are still surging in demand – with many dispensaries and CBD flower shops reporting socially distanced lines that extend out into the parking lot – more and more consumers have learned the benefits of indoor hemp flower.
The rapid rise of the CBD market is nothing less than stunning and the numbers are expected to continue growing into the foreseeable future. Market analysts predict that by 2024 the U.S. cannabidiol market will reach $13.39 billion.
There are multiple factors playing into this growth.
Certainly, state and federal decriminalization and legalization efforts are the most obvious. Cannabis sales have transformed from a black market underground counterculture into a booming corporate industry in scarcely a decade. However, other social and medical trends are involved, too. For example, the nature of modern healthcare and overall healthcare costs must be considered. Industry journalists cite the rise of Alzheimer’s disease, depression, sports injuries, arthritis and other chronic disorders as contributing to the growth of CBD sales.
Additionally, the rise in the geriatric population, increasing shifts toward eCommerce, and continued urbanization have all been isolated as playing a role in this rapidly expanding market.
To further drill into the granular details of this economic phenomenon, we must assess both the specifics of the CBD flower high and the harvesting/growing pipeline of indoor hemp flower.
CBD flower health effects
Of the 113 known cannabinoids in cannabis/hemp plants, CBD is one, along with CBG (cannabigerol), CBT (cannabicitran), CBN (cannabinol), CBL (cannabicyclol), CBC (cannabichromene), and CBDV (cannabidivarin). CBD flowers originate from the Cannabis sativa plant (distinct from Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis), which constitute the hemp plants harvested for a variety of industrial products.
The distinction of hemp and marijuana (cannabis) plants represent the core difference in cannabinoid compounds. Cannabis sativa is a hemp plant, which produces everything from clothing and paper to CBD products themselves. Cannabis indica plants is a marijuana plant that contains high levels of THC and is used primarily for the purpose of extracting that psychoactive compound. Cannabis ruderalis is also a cannabis plant but has lower levels of THC. In the new commercially regulated word of hemp and cannabis plants, percentages of THC are closely monitored. To classify as a hemp (CBD) product, THC levels must be less than 0.3%
The CBD flower high produced by strains like Charlotte’s Web, Harlequin, Sour Tsunami and others produce medicinal effects without a psychoactive high. For this reason, CBD has been used as an anti-inflammatory aid to reduce symptoms associated with chronic pain from arthritis and a variety of other conditions, including mental health troubles.
In fact, researchers and scientists are just now starting to explore the full realm of possibilities related to CBD and other cannabinoids. Its past illegality made medical research extremely difficult. Since the 2018 Farm Bill legalizing hemp sales, extensive clinical studies can finally be conducted.
We already know based on existing research that CBD interacts with the body’s natural endocannabinoid neurotransmitters in the nervous system. As a result, scientists believe that CBD could help relieving the symptoms of a wide variety of conditions, including:
~Sciatic nerve pain and inflammation
~Multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis
~Muscle spasms
~Mood disorders, anxiety, depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
~Cancer related symptoms, including nausea and vomiting
~Acne
~Neurological disorders like epilepsy and related convulsions, fever and fatigue
~High blood pressure, heart disease, and circulatory system health
~Psychotic symptoms, including those associated with schizophrenia and severe mental illness
~Diabetes
~Substance abuse and addiction
~Abatement of tumor growth
As you can see, the potential here is mind-boggling. If CBD could help with even one of these conditions, much less all, it would be a healthcare windfall of epic proportions. More research is still needed to make any conclusive health claims though.
CBD flower high
The CBD flower high is far more subtle than the psychoactive effect associated with THC. While a large dosage of CBD can create an “uplifting” effect, this is generally not considered a “high” in the same way as THC or usual psychoactive agents. Growers combining and cross-fertilizing different strains are able to achieve discrete levels of the various cannabinoids, often involving small percentages of THC and other compounds but sometimes being just pure CBD. The CBD flower high is often described as a body high that acts similarly to a painkiller due to its possible anti-inflammatory properties.
CBD flowers are composed of three parts: pistils, sugar leaves, and trichomes. Pistils are essentially just the decorative orange hairs. The sugar leaves and trichomes release the most cannabinoids with the trichomes being the most CBD-rich.
Indoor hemp flower
In the old days, virtually all marijuana and hemp plants were grown and harvested outdoors. That dynamic has changed dramatically in the last couple decades. Indoor grow labs are now ubiquitous, featuring sophisticated configurations of artificial light, ventilation, and controlled atmospheres.
Cultivating indoor hemp flower requires the grower to control CO2 levels, humidity/moisture, temperature, light cycles, and nutrient absorption. Properly optimized, such efforts will produce dense, high-resin flowers that are highly aromatic and strong. Growing indoor hemp flower takes place in small-scale operations as well as large warehouses.
The ability to do this was codified in the aforementioned 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized the harvesting of hemp across the country and made it possible for large-scale indoor hemp growing. This in turn led to a significant extension of harvest timetables, as growers were no longer relegated to natural seasons that limited planting to the spring and culling to the fall.
Indoor growing maximized hemp plant production and also allowed for greater control over pests and crop contamination.
Most popular strains at CBD flower shops
The proliferation of indoor hemp flower growing and the rising popularity of the CBD flower high has led to several strains being highly regarded and in demand. Here are several of the most popular indoor CBD flower options:
Lemon drop – A fruity hybrid strain with 15% average CBD.
Rainbow Sherbet – A powerful indoor strain with sativa effects and 16% average CBD.
Sour Tsunami – A good strain for pain and anxiety relief with 12% average CBD.
At Higher Hemp CBD, as one of San Diego’s premiere CBD flower shops, we have every possible CBD strain and indoor hemp flower you can imagine in addition to joints, blunts, tinctures, oils, edibles, cartridges, concentrates, topicals, and even CBD for pets.
Our CBD flower shipping also includes free two-day shipping on all orders over $60.
CBD flower shipping
Another reason hemp sales have increased is because it carries more federal legality than cannabis. Yes, dozens of states have legalized both hemp and marijuana, but at the federal level, you can still be arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated for owning or selling marijuana.
The feds are not shy about issuing reminders about this either. They still leverage the Drug War for strategic draconian purposes and are fighting tooth and claw to retain the ability to do so despite the considerable decriminalization successes on the state level. While an individual is far less likely these days to get a serious prison sentence for marijuana than in decades past, the pursuit of marijuana is still fraught with more legal peril than the pursuit of hemp. This is yet another reason why CBD sales have skyrocketed. CBD, unlike its psychoactive THC counterpart, comes from hemp and because of the 2018 Farm bill, it is no longer subject to the same laws as marijuana.
The total federal decriminalization of hemp also opened the gates to unfettered delivery of CBD products through the mail. CBD flower shipping is now entirely legal. In this year of pandemic fear, the industry is actually booming. Overall cannabis sales grew by 159 percent since 2019 and are up by 30 percent across all markets.
Higher Hemp CBD is one of the only San Diego CBD flower shops to offer not only free shipping for $60+ orders but a detailed certificate of analysis breaking down the percentages of all cannabinoids. We also offer sustainable, hemp-derived packaging. Why wait in line at a dispensary with a mask on when you can have premium indoor hemp flower buds and CBD oil mailed to your home free of charge?
