Last Updated on February 1, 2023 by Guest
CBD has been here for a long while now. However, its popularity in the health and wellness sector started increasing recently. The CBD industry is booming, and analysts predict that the CBD industry may expect to grow around $20 billion in revenue by 2025. The two factors responsible are the U.S Farm Bill legalizing the growth and sale of hemp and technology.
That said, the primary reason is the compound’s ability to offer various health benefits, physical and psychological. CBD may help users overcome many health conditions, from relieving stress to treating seizures, with little to no side effects.
Technology impacts every aspect of life. For instance, ordering food, electronics, and even weed online has become easy and prevalent due to technological advancement. Let’s see what technology has in store for the CBD industry in the future and the way it influences it.
1. New Extraction Methods
CBD (cannabidiol) is present in cannabis plants – marijuana and hemp. However, CBD manufacturers use CBD extracted from hemp plants in the making of CBD products. Technology has paved the way for new, safe, and efficient extraction methods. Initially, companies were extracting CBD using hydrocarbons like butane, ethanol, and acetone. These chemicals may infuse carcinogenic compounds into the CBD extract when in crude form. However, manufacturers can now extract CBD from hemp without involving harmful hydrocarbons, using the CO2 extraction method. This extraction method helps in achieving safe and better quality CBD products.
2. Improves Growth and Cultivation
Growing cannabis plants is not an easy task. Growers and breeders must consider a variety of factors to ensure the quality and health of hemp plants. Availability of equipment for affordable prices changes everything for growers and hemp farmers. For instance, cannabis plants require a certain amount of light and heat to grow better.
Growers in hot and tropical climates need not worry about this, but growing cannabis plants in cold temperatures and indoors can be challenging. A simple LED bulb setup may provide the plants with enough heat and light to grow better indoors.
3. Nanotechnology
The efficiency of CBD products depends on their absorption levels in the bloodstream. That refers to the scientific term – bioavailability. Better bioavailability increases the efficiency of the compound to treat health conditions. Naturally, the focus of CBD manufacturers shifted to increasing the bioavailability of their products. Thus, to achieve better bioavailability, CBD manufacturers started creating “water-soluble” CBD oils instead of the conventional ones.
Though the products are not entirely water-soluble, research suggests that these CBD oils contain molecules shrunk to tiny sizes using nanotechnology. These little shrunk molecules of CBD are more efficient in entering the bloodstream since they exist closely packed with one another. So, advancement in technology will further help in increasing the bioavailability of CBD products.
4. Better Quality Control
The increase in CBD’s popularity has led to a rise in companies creating CBD products. With a wide range of CBD products available, their quality may be in question. Some companies may follow cheap extraction methods or other cost-cutting measures compromising the quality. In some cases, novice manufacturers may unknowingly hamper the quality of products as well.
Thanks to technology, there are many advanced software programs available to track the quality of CBD products. Such programs allow the companies to document and monitor CBD quality at every step. That increases the transparency between consumers and manufacturers.
5. Alternative Banking Options
Despite the Federal Government’s legalization of the growth and distribution of hemp plants, there is a lot of stigma surrounding cannabis. Financial institutions and banks are still hesitating to support CBD companies. That hinders the business, especially to budding CBD entrepreneurs trying to rise in the CBD and startup ecosystem. However, cryptocurrency and blockchain ledgers help CBD entrepreneurs to operate effectively without the support of financial institutes.
Almost all CBD and cannabis companies operating online use cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as a payment mode.
6. More CBD Levels
CBD products contain both THC and CBD. However, the levels of both compounds are not equal. THC can cause psychoactive effects when consumed in huge quantities. That is why most CBD users prefer products with higher CBD levels with minimal THC traces. Technological advancement has allowed growers to achieve new strains with higher CBD levels using cross-breeding techniques. We can expect several new CBD-rich strains with better quality and efficiency as technology and research expand.
7. CBD and Genetics
CBD is one compound that affects every individual differently. For instance, one person may achieve better results using smaller quantities, and the other may not even experience any effects even after large doses. That is because of the differences in the biochemistry of people.
With further research about the compound, creating personalized CBD products according to people’s genetics can also be possible in the near future. Scientists have already been studying the effects of CBD on DNA and genetics. It would be fascinating to see CBD products that offer different results to different people, according to their needs and genetics.
Final Thoughts
Technology changes and influences every facet of life, and CBD is no exception. With further technological advancements, the CBD industry will undergo many positive changes and thrive. It is a win-win situation for both CBD manufacturing companies and consumers since the process of purchasing, ordering, and delivering products becomes easy. Overall, we can expect many noticeable changes in the CBD industry since it goes hand in hand with technology.