Amazon “Hemp” Oil vs. Real Cannabis CBD Oil

It isn’t surprising that Amazon is now involved in the hemp oil market. However, is the oil sold on the site similar to what you’d find in a medical cannabis dispensary or reputable CBD store?

The recent increase in CBD oil use has given rise to dozens of new Amazon vendors. As a consumer, you must make sure you understand how to identify and select a high-quality CBD oil. This means finding something that is safe, laboratory tested, and works for your unique needs.

This article discusses Amazon hemp oils and whether they’re therapeutically effective and contain any CBD. First, let’s look at an important issue surrounding hemp oils.

What’s the Difference Between Hemp Seed Oil and Hemp Oil?

Technically speaking, hemp oil could be CBD oil. After all, CBD oil is extracted from hemp plants‘ flowers, leaves, stems, and stalks. Therefore, a hemp extract could contain a significant amount of CBD.

In contrast, hemp seed oil contains practically no CBD, although it has plenty of health benefits on its own. For example, it is rich in healthy fats and essential fatty acids, including omega-3 and omega-6 acids. It can also be a good source of protein. It contains high amounts of various vitamins and minerals, including:

• Vitamin E
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Sodium
• Magnesium
• Sulfur
• Calcium
• Iron
• Zinc

For the record, most CBD brands sell hemp-derived cannabidiol containing a maximum of 0.3% THC. While hemp is federally legal, CBD is not. However, most states permit the sale and use of CBD that comes from industrial hemp cultivated in accordance with the 2018 Farm Bill.

In contrast, marijuana-derived CBD is only permitted in states where marijuana is recreationally legal or if you have an MMJ card in a state with a medical marijuana program.

You’re incredibly unlikely to find high-THC oil on Amazon, but what about CBD products?

What Is in the Hemp Oil You Find on Amazon?

If you go to the Amazon website and search for ‘CBD oil,’ you’ll get thousands of results. Many of these products are advertised as “hemp oil supplements.” However, upon further investigation, you’ll notice none of them mention anything about CBD. Instead, most of these oils are extracts of hemp seed.

While hemp seeds are nutritious and helpful in their own right, they are not the same as CBD oil. This is why many of the product descriptions on Amazon don’t mention CBD content.

Amazon is also strict with its policy regarding CBD oil or anything cannabis-related. The company won’t sell CBD for fear of breaking federal laws. The market is poorly regulated, and officially allowing CBD sellers on the site could cause big trouble for Amazon. Remember, CBD isn’t federally legal, whereas hemp is.

Many of the hemp oils found on Amazon don’t contain any CBD at all.

Ultimately, the hemp oil you’ll find on Amazon is almost certain to be hemp seed oil. In some cases, you can tell whether it is potentially real CBD oil due to the price. For instance, paying $100+ for 1,000mg of cannabidiol is realistic, whereas you can’t expect to get 25,000mg of CBD oil for $30! On other occasions, the retailer describes their product as ‘full-spectrum hemp extract.’

Buying hemp oil on Amazon is an unnecessary risk when finding a reputable online CBD seller is easy. On Amazon, you could spend hundreds of dollars on a product available for a few bucks from a local store!

How Sellers List CBD Oil on Amazon

Amazon has historically banned people from selling any products containing CBD on their website. However, as of 2021, they have created some exceptions to the rules, inviting certain companies to sell CBD oil and other CBD products on Amazon UK as part of a pilot program.

Therefore, if you google search “CBD oil Amazon” or “hemp oil CBD Amazon,” you will only see a limited number of products from those companies participating in the pilot program.

Aside from those select few UK sellers, companies looking to sell hemp products on Amazon, therefore, need to ensure their products don’t contain any CBD or other cannabinoids. These rules are clearly stated on the Amazon Listing Guidelines webpage:

“The only ingestible hemp products that are permitted for sale on Amazon.co.uk are those products that contain cold-pressed hemp seed oil from the Cannabis sativa plant, and that do not contain CBD, THC, or other cannabinoids.”

Amazon also has clear rules on what information people can include in their product descriptions. These include:

• Products need to clearly state in the ingredients that they contain only hemp seed oil
• Hemp products, such as gummies, containing only hemp seed oil are prohibited
• Products can’t contain any prohibited health claims – such as claiming a product can treat a certain condition or misleading information about environmental-friendliness
• Excluding the pilot study, products can’t state they contain any parts of the hemp plant that aren’t the seeds

Amazon uses advanced algorithms to determine whether their listing contains any banned words to ensure sellers are in line with these rules. If they overstep their boundaries, their product is removed.

Can You Buy Real CBD Oil on Amazon?

Thanks to the introduction of the pilot program in the UK in February 2021, the answer is ‘yes,’ but only from a limited number of suppliers.

Therefore, if you’re based in the UK, you can buy CBD oil on Amazon, as well as CBD-containing lozenges, capsules, and skin creams and serums, from brands that are part of this program. These brands include:

• Naturopathica
• Four Five CBD
• Tower Health
• Skin Republic
• Healthspan

For the rest of the globe, CBD products are strictly prohibited on Amazon. However, certain companies have gotten away with selling CBD-containing items. They don’t mention cannabidiol in their product listing but let consumers know about the CBD content through product reviews and social media.

In an article published by the Washington Post, with the headline, Amazon prohibits CBD sales, but it’s still easy to buy on the site, they claimed to have found CBD, and even THC, in 11 out of 13 products they’d bought on Amazon from sellers using this loophole.

Buying CBD Oil with THC on Amazon

CBD, THC, and other cannabinoids interact to enhance one another’s effect, known as the entourage effect. Because of the synergy between these molecules, there’s a big interest in full-spectrum CBD oil, which contains CBD, THC, and several different cannabinoids.

As Amazon’s guidance pages clearly state that full-spectrum CBD oils and products with THC aren’t allowed on their website, legally, it’s not possible to buy CBD oil with THC on Amazon. Even products on the UK CBD pilot program clearly state they have 0% THC content.

It’s typically much safer to get CBD from a trusted retailer or through a legal medical cannabis prescription.

It may be possible to get CBD oil with THC or full-spectrum products on Amazon through the loophole mentioned in the Washington Post story.

However, it’s typically much safer to get your products from a trusted CBD retailer or through a legal medical cannabis prescription. When you buy CBD oil on Amazon, there’s always a high risk that you won’t get what you pay for.

In contrast, with CBD brands such as Premium Jane, Elixinol, and Green Roads, you know that you’re getting the best of what the industry has to offer.

Final Thoughts on “Real” CBD Oil vs. Amazon Hemp Oil

There are very few “real” CBD oils for sale on Amazon, besides a few in the UK pilot program. Most products seem to be hemp seed oils that come from the seeds of the cannabis plant, thus containing virtually no cannabinoids.

The products are also very careful about not using other cannabis-related words like ‘THC,’ ‘cannabinoids,’ ‘medicine,’ ‘therapy,’ and so on.

To get high-quality, genuine CBD oil, you’ll have to either get a medical marijuana card and buy from a dispensary or order online from a reputable manufacturer that offers lab-verified CBD content. Please see the table below to learn more about highly regarded brands in the niche.