What’s the Best CBD on Amazon? It Doesn’t Exist…

If you go to Amazon’s website with the intent of buying CBD products, a quick search will present you with approximately 3,000 results.

Typically, having this number of options is good. It means that you get to choose the product that meets the majority of the specifications you want. Yet, in the case of CBD oil and other CBD products, it really doesn’t matter how many results show up in your search on Amazon. Why?

Because if you’re intent on finding the best CBD options in this particular category of products, it simply doesn’t exist on Amazon’s site since this eCommerce giant doesn’t allow the sale of CBD.

Amazon has specific seller policies in place, a few of which address products that this site restricts from sale.

For instance, under its Gambling & Lottery policy, Amazon explains that, while this site agrees to sell “non-functional slot machines created solely for display or as toys,” actual coin-operated slot machines are out of the question. [1] Therefore, if that’s what you have to offer, you’ll have to place them for sale somewhere else.

CBD products specifically are addressed on this eCommerce site’s ‘Drugs & drug paraphernalia’ page, where Amazon explicitly states: “Listings for products containing cannabidiol (CBD) are prohibited.” [2] It goes on to explain that listings offering full-spectrum hemp oil, rich hemp oil, or any CBD products which LegitScript has named as containing CBD are off-limits as well.

If this is the case, why does Amazon have so many results when you do a CBD search? If you look closely, you’ll notice that none of the product labels actually say that they contain CBD.

For example, if you do a search for CBD oil or any other type of CBD products, you’ll see a lot of options that say things like “1000 MG.” However, if you look at their true ingredient lists, they don’t mention anything about CBD content. Here’s an example:

So, what is the “1000 MG” on the label referring to? In this example, the label is simply stating that the product contains 1000mg of hemp oil, not 1000mg of actual CBD.

This can make it particularly confusing to those who go to Amazon in search of the best CBD oil because, while it appears that there are many options from which to choose between, none of them contain the one compound you want most: CBD.

This also means that, if you’ve already purchased one of these products under the assumption that it contains CBD, you’re not likely to experience the positive effects you’d like to receive.

An easy way to quickly recognize a product that has a high level of CBD versus one that only gives that appearance is to look for labels with excessively high milligram counts. Take this product for example:

Upon quick glance, you’re likely to think that it supplies 140,000mg of CBD. However, in reality, if you look more closely, you’ll see that the 140,000mg is referencing how much hemp extract this particular product contains. Not its amount of CBD.

Unfortunately, creams are no better. Here are two prime examples:

 

Both 15,000mg and 30,000mg are outrageous claims in the CBD world. In fact, there are limits to the maximum potency possible in the bottle size listed for both of these creams, which is 2400mg of pure CBD. That’s why that is the highest concentration you’ll find offered by Spruce. You simply cannot exceed this amount.

Additionally, a real full spectrum CBD topical will contain 2,000mg of lab-grade CBD at most.  These are extremely expensive to produce, which is yet another reason the products on Amazon are so cheap. It costs less to fill a jar with plain hemp oil that offers no benefit than to fill it with high-quality CBD oil.

Again, before deciding which product to purchase, it’s important to look closely at the label. This is true whether you’re shopping on Amazon or buying directly from a hemp product manufacturer. Do your due diligence and notice whether it specifically says CBD in the milligrams, or if it referring to hemp oil or some other ingredient.

As CBD oil becomes more understood and more accepted—which will likely take more research not only on CBD itself but also on other healthy extracts within the cannabis plant, such as terpenes and flavonoids—it is possible that Amazon will change its policy to allow the sale of these products.

Plus, though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not currently regulate CBD, it has released a statement that suggests that it may do so in the future, once it knows more about this industrial hemp extract’s safety risks. [4]

This too may increase Amazon’s comfortability with selling this category of products, encouraging it to change its current seller policy.

 

In the meantime, even though Amazon’s policies have yet to recognize the CBD industry for the value these cannabinoids provide, you can still buy CBD oil that actually works by buying it from other sites or directly from the manufacturer. But what should you look for?

Now that you have a better understanding of how some labels are misleading, if your goal is to find the best CBD oil products available, your first priority is to look for ones that actually say CBD on the label. If the brands or product lines you’re looking at have no mention of CBD, you won’t obtain the benefits associated with this particular hemp plant extract.

Also, pay attention to what the milligram dosage on the label is referencing. Is it simply telling you how much hemp seed oil the product has? Or maybe it’s referencing its olive oil content? Either way, though it may appear that “more is better,” if the product doesn’t actually contain CBD, it really doesn’t matter how much of these other oils it has because you won’t be able to experience its positive effects.

Additionally, quality products made with CBD oil extracts will be tested by a third-party lab. Therefore, if your CBD hemp oil mentions nothing about being tested in this way, choose another brand. The reason that third-party testing is important is because, not only does this type of lab confirm that the amount of CBD listed on the label is, in fact, included in the product, but it also means that it doesn’t also contain ingredients that can potentially harm you. Things that may fall into this category include heavy metals and fillers that could do more harm than good.

Maybe the product you want doesn’t explicitly say that it has been tested. In this case, you can always ask the manufacturer for lab reports. These will tell you what type of testing the company has done on the product, which will also tell you whether it is likely safe to use and whether it will offer minimal, if any, negative side effects.

Though there are many different product types available—ranging from CBD vapes to CBD capsules and more—the best CBD oil products are tinctures with droppers. These options enable you to place the cannabis plant extract directly under your tongue where it can more easily enter your bloodstream, providing the full benefits of the CBD.

On a side note, if you do consider vaping, it is still unknown whether this type of CBD product is safe to consume. That’s why Spruce recommends, at least for now, staying away from CBD vapes and going with tinctures instead.

 

Sources:

[1] “Gambling & Lottery.” Amazon Seller Central. Accessed Nov 21, 2019. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/help.html?itemID=200685250&language=en_US&ref=efph_200685250_cont_200164330

[2] “Drugs & Drug Paraphernalia.” Amazon Seller Central. Accessed Nov 21, 2019. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/200164490

[3] “7 Benefits and Uses of CBD Oil (Plus Side Effects).” Healthline. Feb 26, 2018. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cbd-oil-benefits

[4] “FDA Regulation of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Products, Including Cannabidiol (CBD).” FDA.gov. Accessed Nov 21, 2019. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-regulation-cannabis-and-cannabis-derived-products-including-cannabidiol-cbd