What’s the difference between CBD and Delta 8?

The short answer for the purpose of this article is that CBD does not have psychoactive effects and Delta 8 does have psychoactive effects.

This question is patronizing for experienced cannabis users, however, it is quite useful for those who are less familiar with cannabinoids. From the chemistry standpoint, CBD and Delta 8 are completely different compounds. From a biological standpoint, CBD is a precursor to Delta 8. From a use effect standpoint, CBD and Delta 8 are completely different.

Today, we’re going to discuss the effectual differences between cannabidiol (CBD) and Delta 8 Tetrahydrocannabinol (D8).

CBD has been marketed as a ‘wonder-drug’ for the last 5 or 6 years. The medical claims about CBD range from honest and innocuous, like anti-inflammation, to downright irresponsible and illegal, like curing cancer. I cannot and will not make any medical claims on BetterThanNine.com. As CBD’s popularity exploded and selling it became profitable, it attracted every ‘get rich quick’ grifter and snake oil salesmen to the industry.

Unscrupulous and uninformed industry players combined with very little regulatory oversight has created a wild west CBD industry. Opinions about CBD range from it being a ‘miracle cure’ to a farce. Like most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but I believe that such a wide spectrum of opinion about CBD exists is due to people’s expectations of it. The expectation of a CBD product is created by the company marketing it. As previously mentioned, because of the many shady CBD sellers, many shady expectations exist.

There are two main types of deceptive marketing messages surrounding CBD.

1. CBD cures everything. Gout, psoriasis, AIDS, cancer, leprosy, obesity, ingrown hairs, herpes, allergies, bad driving, and anything else you want to make up is no match for CBD. Just take 10mg a day and you will live forever.
2. CBD is a ‘legal weed’ substitute that will get you high.

Both of the above statements are empirically false. If you buy a CBD product expecting either of the above, you are going to be absolutely disappointed. You’re probably going to end up with a bad opinion of CBD as overpriced, overhyped garbage.

This is unfortunate because CBD definitely has a place in a healthy, balanced diet; it just isn’t the panacea that some people claim.

Now we’re going to talk about Delta 8.

The commercial availability of D8 is fairly new. Delta 8 products have only been available to the public for about a year and many consumers are still unaware of it. Although commercially available D8 is derived from CBD, the physical effects of the two cannabinoids couldn’t be any more different.

CBD has virtually no psychoactive effects. Delta 8, on the other hand, has psychoactive effects very similar to delta 9 THC.

I’m going to throw in some free advice to anyone who has tried CBD, but not yet tried Delta 8.

DO NOT TAKE THE SAME NUMBER OF MILLIGRAMS OF D8 THAT YOU DO FOR CBD!

If you’re used to taking 50mg of CBD and then you take 50mg of Delta 8…get ready because you may go on a pretty wild ride. While I was developing Better Than Nine’s products, my first iteration of gummy was a 50mg dose. After taking a 50mg D8 gummy to see if it worked, I decided to back the dose off to 40mg because 50mg worked too good. “Working too good” means that it absolutely obliterated me for 3 or 4 hours. Okay, here’s what happened (to the best of my memory).

I ate a 50mg gummy at around 530pm one day and started the movie Casino. About 45 minutes into the movie, I noticed the hairs on the back of my neck started tingling. As an experienced cannabis user, I knew feeling that sensation so quickly after consuming an edible was a sign that things were going to get ‘loose.’ Fast forward another 45 minutes and the movie started to look 2D. I wasn’t watching the movie in 3D, so when I saw it looked 2D, I mean that the sets and characters looked like they were flat pictures cut and pasted on one another like an episode of South Park. This is where my recollection of things start to get fuzzy. At this point, I remember that everything in my body felt heavy and it felt like I was forgetting to breath – not a good feeling.

I passed out on the couch around 2 hours after eating the 50mg gummy. I woke up on the couch around 10pm still wearing my shoes with some world-class cotton mouth.

I knew that it would be irresponsible to unleash a product that powerful to the general public, so I reformulated the ‘strong’ gummies to 40mg and repeated the experiment. 40mg of Delta 8 was still a pretty wild ride, however, it was easier to navigate and hold it together.

I still advise people who are new to delta 8 to start with 10-20mg their first time because this stuff is the real deal.

I gave samples of the 50mg gummies to my stoner friends to get their feedback and many of their experiences were similar to mine and definitely are worthy entries into The Loco Ocho Diary. Some feedback I got included the following stories:

1. One friend ate a gummy while taking his boat out on Lake Lanier. He said that he had to anchor in a cove to take a nap and woke up when the sun was down. While driving his boat back to the dock, he noticed that the engine was struggling, but he powered through. It wasn’t until the next day that he realized that he forgot to lift the anchor and had driven across the lake with the anchor dragging along. It was so gnarled up that he had to cut it off and get a new anchor.
2. Another friend that didn’t heed my advice about the power of D8 ate a gummy towards the end of his work day. He realized that it was too strong when his wife called him at 7:30pm to see why he wasn’t home from work when he had left at 4pm. It turns out that he made a detour to Publix on the way home from work and sat in the parking lot eating pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for 3 hours.

Stories like these are not uncommon when people take too much Delta 8. I know that these stories are going to get some people to order some products right now. While others may think twice about even trying D8. These stories aren’t intended to scare or deter anyone from trying our products, they are intended to educate people to the power of Delta 8. The last thing that I want is for someone to have something bad happen to them. Our goal at Better Than Nine is to improve people’s lives, not ruin them.

In conclusion, CBD and D8 are similar in the fact that they are both cannabinoids, however, their effects are very different. The main difference is psychoactivity. CBD doesn’t change your reality or mental state. Delta 8 does. Delta 8 has similar effects as its infamous cousin delta 9.

The takeaway I want yall to get is that Delta 8 is a powerful compound that MUST BE RESPECTED. Treating it like CBD with a cavalier attitude is a recipe for you to end up sitting in a restaurant with your family and forgetting how to order your food. You will be sitting there confused and sweating while the server and your entire family stares at you asking if you need to go to the hospital – not cool.

It is imperative that everyone follow all dosing instructions on Better Than Nine and all other Delta 8 products. Start with a dose of 10-20mg and wait 1.5 hours before deciding if you need more. Having people getting all f’ed up and having problems is the stuff that gets cool things like Delta 8 banned. We need to all be responsible and avoid giving this amazing, legal compound the bad press that it’s a$$hole opponents so desperately seek.

If you do start feeling uncomfortable, anxious, or like you can’t breath after taking Delta 8, don’t worry. You can’t die from it. Do not drive or do anything that can put you or others at risk. Drink a bunch of water, tell yourself that everything is gonna be okay, put on a funny movie, and go to sleep. You will wake up feeling fine – maybe a little groggy or thirsty.

Remember that you can always take more. Once you’ve had too much, the next few hours could be an adventure. If you have questions about Delta 8, please contact us or an other company that sells delta 8 products. You could also call one of your ‘stoner’ friends and they will talk you down while they laugh at you.

Be careful and Enjoy!

Daniel