Why Is CBD So Expensive: What Lies Behind the Price

The word is out that CBD is an amazing attribute to your health and overall wellness. It has many attractive and promising benefits. Naturally, many people wish to try out the CBD oils or other products themselves. But before ordering them online you might be guessing, why is CBD so expensive?

I admit the prices of most CBD oils aren’t that low. Some other health supplements may cost a little less but may not promise as many health benefits. So, let’s find out what is behind the CBD oil cost and see why is CBD oil so expensive.

What is CBD?

Before you try to understand why is CBD so expensive, it will be beneficial to know what CBD actually is. So, let’s learn more about CBD.

CBD is one of the many cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. Unlike THC, which CBD is often confused with, CBD is not psychoactive and has no known side effects. It is well-known for its healthy properties and used for alleviating many ailments such as nausea, insomnia, anxiety, and many more.

CBD works by targeting your endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system is a biological system composed of endocannabinoids. This system is responsible for lots of bodily functions such as sleep, moods, pain, digestion, and some more. 

Why Is CBD So Expensive?

We’ve covered the basic facts of what CBD is, so now let’s learn why is CBD so expensive. Getting the final nicely-packed product, we don’t often consider how it got to us. This applies to a variety of products, not only limited to CBD and the CBD oil prices. 

But when it comes to CBD oil or any other CBD products, we don’t realize how much manufacturers have to go through in order to supply us with a ready-made product. So, let’s analyze all the steps hemp or cannabis have to go through before being made into CBD products.

Finding the Right Place to Grow

First things first, when learning why is CBD oil so expensive, you have to think about the soil that the plant grows in. Agriculture is science for many reasons, as you can’t just plant any kind of sprout and expect great immediate results.

Cannabis is a rather needy plant. It requires a lot of sunshine and water in order for it to grow well. So, winter months in a colder climate won’t do for growing hemp or cannabis. Also, it takes at least four months to grow a hemp plant, so it’s definitely not an instant harvesting.

Agriculture also requires lots of technology. The processes are extremely extensive, the soil has to be adapted to the cannabis plant’s needs, has to be raised a little, fertilized and overall ready for planting. All these require tools and also labor. 

Due to those reasons, many hemp farmers grow hemp inside. Although growing it inside requires lots of equipment as well as space too. The equipment includes lamps which can come off as quite price especially since many of them are needed if you’re growing more than a few plants. 

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The High Cost of Harvesting

When, or even if, your plant fully grows, it’s time to harvest it. And harvesting isn’t that easy to do. We’re mostly past the manual work in agriculture, so usually, machines do all the work for us. But these machines are quite costly. 

Furthermore, after the plant is harvested, it has to go through a process of parts separation. Not all parts of hemp are used for extracting CBD, so this is needed in order to be able to work with the plant during CBD extraction. The various components of the plant are separated using a machine called decorticator. These can cost up to $2 million. 

All that adds up and answers the question of why is CBD so expensive.

CBD Extraction Costs

One more thing that answers the question of why is CBD so expensive and adds up to the cost of it is the CBD extraction. It’s not that easy to do, and it requires both skills and advanced technology. Although what you have to do first is decarboxylate it.

Decarboxylation in simple words is baking the weed until the needed chemicals are produced.

Not only does the decarboxylation cost a lot but also the extraction. There are two most common ways to extract CBD. One of them is using ethanol. Ethanol is used by a few companies to extract CBD from hemp or cannabis although some say it’s not the best way to do it, as it is believed that ethanol can contaminate the plant.

Another way, which is probably the most popular is the extraction using carbon dioxide that provides you with a solvent-free product. The added benefit of using this method is that the temperature can be controlled during the extraction process and this way only certain cannabinoids are targeted, resulting in a higher CBD content in the final product.

Also, hemp plants are often contaminated with heavy metals and other contaminants. Using the CO2 extraction you can be sure that they’re removed during the process. It creates no waste, so it’s also eco-friendly. 

Either way it’s done, the extraction definitely isn’t free. These methods require both a qualified workforce to do it, as well as technology. The CO2 extraction machine can cost up to $150,000 so it’s definitely not a DIY-friendly purchase. The cost of production might be one of the answers to the question of why is CBD so expensive. 

Legality

While as you’ve learned CBD is different from the psychoactive THC that is the cannabinoid that is in many places regulated by law, it still is derived from the same plant. And this may cause some legal issues.

CBD oil or other CBD products manufacturers have to get their products through a lot of testing for THC contents, as well as other tests to prove the quality and low or no contents of THC in their products. This testing may cost a lot of money and add to the answer to the question of “why is CBD so expensive?”

Demand

Having talked about the costs of manufacturing, let’s now talk about the basics of economy, supply and demand. As you might have noticed, the world is currently going through a frenzy of CBD products. Everyone wants to try them and everyone’s talking about the benefits of CBD oil. 

This huge demand and good publicity let the producers raise the costs of their CBD products. Even with the prices not being extremely budget-friendly, the products still sell extremely well. So, to make it more profitable the CBD manufacturers raise the prices of CBD and that also helps us to learn why is CBD so expensive. 

Not Too Broad Market

One more aspect that has to do with the question of why is CBD so expensive, is the supply of the products. While the CBD market is booming, it’s still relatively new and not that well-spread. There aren't so many well-established providers, but some of them include Charlotte’s Web, or cbdMD and a few others.

Simply because it’s a product that hasn’t been used widely for a long time, there aren’t that many providers that try to offer their product for cheaper simply to attract customers. And that makes CBD oil cost a bit more.

Various Usages

Now, let’s talk about the main reason why is CBD so expensive. CBD is known for being a good aid for various health issues. Many people buy and use CBD oil to treat all kinds of ailments. CBD works by targeting your endocannabinoid system. 

The endocannabinoid system is a biological system in your body that’s made out of many cannabinoid receptors. It’s responsible for various functions such as controlling your moods, sleep, pain, digestion, and many more. Sometimes the system becomes imbalanced and this way various health disturbances occur.

That’s when cannabinoids come in handy.

Having learned that, let’s see what ailments CBD oil can ease and further the answering of the question of why is CBD so expensive.

Insomnia

Most of the people have to deal with insomnia at least once in their lives. In fact, the chronic form of it affects as much as 33% of the population.^[1]

That makes it the most often reported sleeping disorder. The inability to fall or stay asleep can be extremely annoying and in many cases even dangerous to your health. 

That’s why it has to be treated. One of the ways to do it is said to be using CBD products. Surely, there are many drugs that are made to target these issues, but they may come with unwanted side effects and harm to some of your organs.

So, if you, like many others, are looking for CBD oil, you might better understand that because of this big demand CBD oil cost raises.

Pain

One more desirable effect of CBD that might be one of the reasons why is CBD so expensive is that it is said to help with pain and inflammation. Those who experience chronic pain are constantly searching for all kinds of pain-alleviating substances and CBD oil isn’t an exception. 

CBD, targeting your endocannabinoid system, is said to provide relief from pain and inflammation^[2] and that makes it one of the reasons why is CBD oil so expensive. 

Nausea

One more ailment that CBD is said to alleviate is nausea. Nausea can be one of the symptoms for various illnesses ranging from severe ones such as cancer to some milder ones such as prolonged stressful periods in your life. It can definitely get really unpleasant. 

Fortunately, CBD might be able to help you in this case. Interacting with your endocannabinoid system, it could provide relief from this ailment. The demand for relieving this kind of ailments naturally is rather big, and that might raise the CBD oil prices. 

Anxiety

Anxiety is an extremely common mental health disorder in this age. As many as 1 out of 5 people suffer from it. The symptoms of it include but aren’t limited to extensive worrying, anxious thoughts, mild paranoia and it often affects your overall well-being too, causing nausea, various aches, fatigue, and other unpleasant symptoms.

Naturally, no one wants to be dealing with that. Because of this, people are looking for ways to treat it. Many resort to prescription drugs but some remain searching for more natural ways to deal with it. And many stumble upon CBD products during their search.

CBD, among other cannabinoids,  is a well-known product for easing anxiety. That raises the CBD oil prices answering the question of why is CBD so expensive. 

Conclusions

Looking up some CBD products, and seeing the CBD oil prices you might start wondering, why is CBD oil so expensive. And we answered that in this article. The cost of the product depends on many factors.

Before you get the final product, CBD goes through a lot of processes, first, it has to be grown,  harvested and only then is CBD oil extracted. Then the manufacturers have to go through legal troubles due to CBD not being clearly defined by law. Then come the high demand and lower supply, raising CBD oil cost even more.

Furthermore, what adds to the price of CBD oil are the extensive benefits that CBD can provide. These include easing insomnia, anxiety, pain, and nausea. That is highly desirable by many people who suffer from these health issues. 

Even though the CBD oil costs might not be extremely low, it’s usually worth to pay the higher price for a certified product instead of getting a sketchy cheaper one. Buying from well-known brands you’re sure you’re getting potent products without the possible harmful additives. 

If you’re looking to buy CBD oil or other CBD products, you have to make sure you’re buying high-quality goods. If you’re looking for the best providers out there, check out our guide on the best CBD oils to choose the one that won’t disappoint you.

Scientific References

Contributed by Katherine Merryfield, Founder of Kat's Naturals

1. Bhaskar S., Hemavathy D., Prasad S. 'Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities'

2. Bruni N., Pepa C., Oliaro-Bosso S., et al. 'Cannabinoid Delivery Systems for Pain and Inflammation Treatment'