What is CBD Flower?

To us, hemp provides a more functional, calming experience than smoking marijuana. It can be mixed with more potent marijuana to mellow out highs, used for tolerance breaks, or simply as a natural way to relax. We started Paz Packs because the high-THC marijuana we’d get from dispensaries was starting to be too much. Like many people, we didn’t yet know hemp flower existed. After personally experiencing its benefits, we knew we had to share it with as many people as possible. 

SO WHAT IS HEMP FLOWER? 

Hemp flower is Cannabis Sativa-L bred to have low levels of THC and high levels of CBD, CBDv, or CBG. This is why many refer to it as CBD, CBDv, or CBG flower. Under the law, hemp flower is federally legal so long as it tests below 0.3% Delta-9 THC. Similar to marijuana, hemp can be consumed in pre-roll form, ground up and smoked in glass such as pipes and bongs, or even vaped with a dry-flower vaporizer. 

HOW IS HEMP FLOWER GROWN? 

Hemp and marijuana are grown in almost the exact same ways. It can be grown indoors, outdoors, and in greenhouses. Indoor grown hemp flower is usually the most expensive, sometimes prices as high as recreational marijuana. This is because it requires complete climate control and a lot of electricity and artificial light. This can yield some of the highest quality bud on the market, but some believe starving cannabis of natural light can have negative effects on its overall quality. Outdoor-grown hemp is generally the cheapest, but often suffers from quality control because it is grown in such large quantities. Greenhouse-grown hemp is the best of both worlds: it is reasonably priced and usually grown in smaller quantities with more oversight. 

All of our flower is grown locally, in a greenhouse in Oxnard, California. We grow in all natural coconut husk substrate (our “soil,”) and plant in pots. We use no pesticides or unnatural chemicals. The reason we avoid soil is because most soils have heavy metals and other impurities that can taint the final product. After about four months of meticulously feeding and watering our babies, we harvest, dry, and cure them in the same facility. Curing refers to the process of storing flower in an air-tight container to prevent it from losing moisture and preserve it’s flavor and aromas. Our flower is then hand-trimmed and packaged, or made into pre-rolls, leaving us with a final product that is grown, processed, and packaged in the same facility. It doesn’t get much fresher than that! 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SMOKING HEMP? 

There are two main types of hemp flower, CBG flower and CBD flower. Everyone’s experience is different, but most people experience a mild, relaxing effect from both of these, especially compared to their potent THC counterparts.

Given that hemp has only recently been legalized, there is still a lot of research to be done on its potential benefits before any medical claims can be validated, but there are some promising studies. 

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF CBD FLOWER 

One overview and analysis of multiple studies done on CBD’s benefits throughout the years from the National Library of Medicine noted that: 

 “From the controlled trials, we identified anxiolytic effects with acute CBD administration, and therapeutic effects for social anxiety disorder . .  and substance use disorders.” 

This being said, they also emphasized that they are suspicious of bias in many of these studies, so these conclusions are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Other research asserts that CBD may have anti-inflammatory properties. 

Potential Benefits of CBG flower

A 2013 Italian study conducted on mice suggests CBG may reduce inflammation. particularly associated with inflammatory bowel syndrome.

A 2008 study showed that CBG may be effective in reducing intraocular pressure, which could help treat glaucoma. 

A 2015 study showed that CBG may help with conditions related to controlling the bladder. 

A 2016 study done on mice showed that CBG may help increase appetite. 

DOES HEMP FLOWER GET YOU HIGH? 

Although CBD and CBG are non-psychoactive and don’t produce a “high,” hemp flower always has a small amount of THC in it. Hemp must contain less than 0.3% THC to be legal and for most people, this isn’t enough to produce a high. This being said, if you were to smoke one gram of hemp that had 0.3% THC in it, you would be consuming 3 milligrams of THC. If you were to smoke 2 grams, this would be equivalent to a 5-6 mg dose of THC. 

To put this in perspective, 2.5 - 5 mg is considered to be the lowest effective dose of THC for someone with no tolerance. The average marijuana edible contains around 10-15 mg of THC. For this reason, if you are highly sensitive to THC, we recommend holding yourself to around a half gram to 0.7 g of hemp per smoke session to be safe.