National CBD Awareness Day August 8th 2023
National CBD Awareness Day August 8th 2023.
Tom Bourlet who writes the CBD Sloth blog ( an avid tryer of many types of CBD) writes that as the name might suggest, this is a huge shout-out to everything around this glorious cannabinoid. Over time, this day will also involve the other cannabinoids and terpenes as one combined day, in recognition of the amazing results people have seen.
The day has largely been spent with sufferers of epilepsy talking about their life changing moments involving their transition from their traditional medication towards CBD oil. It should however be highlighted that these cases are around medical CBD rather than the products you can buy in the UK, with the levels of THC normally much higher than you can legally purchase here.
The day has now been adopted by a huge number of brands who will discuss their new product launches in 2023, as well as any amazing schemes they’re working on and upcoming events.
CBD isn’t new, people have been using cannabis for 2,700 years or potentially longer, utilising all the great cannabinoids and terpenes. Cannabis was made illegal in the UK in 1928, while it is currently still recognised as a Class B drug, despite a five year period where it changed to Class C from 2005-2009.
In the USA it was a bit more mixed based on what state you were based in, with some starting as early as 1906, many making it illegal in the 1920’s and then it formally being regulated as a drug in each state from the 1930’s.
Having said this, medical cannabis was made acceptable in 2012 in the USA in many states, while this didn’t occur in the UK until 2018. However, despite the laws changing in the UK in 2018, it is still virtually impossible to get any even if you are epileptic, as doctors are either not qualified to prescribe it or don’t feel comfortable doing so.
While marijuana is high in THC, hence its illegal status, most hemp strains were bred to be high in CBD and low in THC, making it ideal to be extracted from. CBD oil is legal in the UK, however it cannot have medical claims, it must be labelled as a food supplement and they cannot claim any health benefits. Also, CBD brands in the UK must now file a form with the Food Standards Agency by March 2021, or they risk having their products removed from the shelves. While this may seem bad, this is a move towards greater regulation, ensuring CBD brands provide the stated quantity of cannabinoids stated on the bottle.
In the USA, the big change was the Farm Bill, occurring in 2018, where industrial hemp cultivation was made legal in order for brands to create CBD oil. It means hemp is no longer listed under the Controlled Substances Act.
This awareness day started when a CBD manufacturer worked to set out the first ever National CBD Day put in the calendar for the 8th August, or 8/8 (which many people say looks like the infinity sign if turned sideways). The day was planned out in 2017, however it didn’t go live until 2018.
As it stands, it seems to be more around special offers and discounts rather than on the educational side.
The most commonly used hashtag on the day is #NationalCBDDay, however you will also see the year based version – #NationalCBDDay2023.
How Do I Celebrate The Day?
To celebrate the day you could introduce a number of friends to CBD, invite them over for some CBD tea, make a CBD smoothie and set out some CBD gummies on a plate. Teach them the steps of sublingual consumption and being patient (so many people swallow within 10 seconds rather than holding out for 1-2 minutes). There is even CBD alcohol to get the night a bit more wild!
Despite being called a ‘National Day’, it is actually celebrated by CBD brands and CBD enthusiasts around the world, so it is more of an international event. It was started in the USA as a national event, but now it is being recognised far and wide.
For lots more information on CBD head over to Tony Bourlet's Blog CBD Sloth.
A brilliant book on the subject is CBD for Dummies from Amazon at £13.35
This book covers topics that people new to CBD have questions about. Highlights include:
- What CBD oil is and how it works in the body
- How to buy CBD from a reputable source and understanding a product's potency
- Knowing what conditions can be eased with CBD, including muscle pain, inflammation, autoimmune conditions, eating disorders, mental health disorders, and neurological conditions
- Preparing your own CBD edibles
Perfect for anyone interested in understanding the therapeutic potential of CBD, CBD For Dummies introduces you to everything you need to know about this cool compound.
