The Growth of a Multibillion-Dollar CBD Oil Industry

person Oksana Ostrovsky
calendar_today Aug 11, 2020

Have you noticed more and more CBD products available around you? The popularity of CBD has grown substantially over the last few years. In fact, the CBD industry is now a multibillion-dollar industry.

How did it get this big?

In the following article, you’ll learn all about how this industry grew to the massive size it is now. We’ll also take a stab at guessing where it may be going in the coming years. By the end, you’ll know all about how CBD became the multibillion-dollar industry it is today.

1. The CBD Industry
1.1 What is Industrial Hemp?
1.2 The Turbulent History of Hemp and CBD
2. The Growth of the Hemp Industry
3. From Industrial Hemp to CBD
4. The Growth of an Industry
5. Why Is CBD so Popular?
6. What Does the Science Say?
7. Who Uses CBD?
8. Final Thoughts on the CBD Industry

LISTEN TO THE BLOG POST HERE:

1. The CBD Industry

The CBD industry is booming.

It is now worth around one billion dollars per year in the USA alone. CBD is also now perfectly legal after very recent changes in federal regulations.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the compounds created by the cannabis plant, along with THC, minor cannabinoids, terpenes, and more. CBD is a lipid compound that is pharmacologically active in the human body while being reported as generally safe. [1] (Click to tweet)

The CBD industry is now worth around one billion dollars per year in the USA alone.

RELATED: What Is CBD?

The cannabinoids, including CBD, are known to interact with the human endocannabinoid system in fascinating ways. While there is much to learn, we have discovered that this system has widespread effects throughout the body.

THC is known to be impairing and the major cause of getting high on weed. On the other hand, CBD is non-impairing and does not cause a high. That said, it is known to have numerous effects on human health, including sleep, stress, anxiety, addiction, and more.

CBD is known to have numerous effects on human health, including sleep, stress, anxiety, addiction, and more.

1.1 What is Industrial Hemp?

We are mainly discussing the industry that involves growing industrial hemp, classified as possessing under 0.3% THC by weight. This industry has a long and storied history, going back to when hemp was used to create the rope and sails for the largest naval fleets in the world. [2]

Hemp is synonymous with industrial hemp for all intents and purposes, legally and practically. Hemp is considered the fiber-type variety, which grows tall and produces plenty of agriculturally valuable compounds, including CBD.

Hemp is considered the fiber-type variety, which grows tall and produces plenty of CBD.

RELATED: Does Hemp Have CBD?

This differs from the drug-type cannabis grown for the recreational and medicinal marijuana markets. These strains are smaller but produce much larger flowers and higher cannabinoid/terpene content. Usually, these strains focus on getting THC levels as high as possible.

When it comes to industrial hemp, the goal is to produce as much CBD as possible while keeping THC content under 0.3% of the total weight. While hemp is still used for its fiber, what we are focusing on here is the extraction of the incredible compound that is CBD. [2]

When it comes to industrial hemp, the goal is to produce as much CBD as possible while keeping THC content under 0.3% of the total weight.

1.2 The Turbulent History of Hemp and CBD

CBD has had a turbulent history, going from a booming industry one year to an illicit drug the next. It switched back and forth a few times. There was a point in history when North America was pushing for as much hemp cultivation as possible in order to avoid reliance on other countries.

CBD has had a turbulent history, going from a booming industry one year to an illicit drug the next.

This is crazy but amazing:

The UK wanted hemp for their ships, but you may be surprised to hear that 80% of clothing in the UK was made from hemp in the 1920s. Back in the USA, hemp saw a decline in the 1930s due to propaganda from other industries, among other reasons. [3]

But when WW2 hit and the US lost access to hemp from the Philippines, they attempted to promote local cultivation. In fact, the US Department of Agriculture even released a film called “Hemp for Victory.” Unfortunately, hemp saw another long decline after WW2 that lasted until just recently. [3]

In an attempt to promote local cultivation of hemp, the US Department of Agriculture even released a film called “Hemp for Victory.”

2. The Growth of the Hemp Industry

The hemp industry has seen massive growth in recent years. Starting around the 1990s, there has been a sustained resurgence of interest in the commercial cultivation of hemp in the US. The interest and resulting action were taken at a state level, with little federal involvement. [3]

The federal government finally progressed legislation behind industrial hemp by passing the 2014 Farm Bill, although many suggest it didn’t go nearly far enough. As far as the commercial use of hemp fibers, US farmers could finally cultivate this plant legally and openly. [2]

Hemp legislation progressed with the 2014 Farm Bill.

So why do farmers love hemp? There are many reasons, so we’ll mention just a few. Industrial hemp has been shown to reduce weeds and raise yields for subsequently grown crops when grown in rotation. Furthermore, hemp can improve soil ventilation and water balance. [2]

But enough of the growing side, as you’ve been patiently waiting for us to get to CBD products. You’ve done great so far; keep reading to get the rest of this historical picture.

WATCH: SOL*CBD Liposomal

3. From Industrial Hemp to CBD

The situation changed dramatically as the science around hemp evolved, including our understanding of the effects of CBD. Extraction technologies have progressed rapidly, such as supercritical CO2 extraction, providing farmers the ability to draw out and isolate CBD.

As the science around hemp evolved, newer extraction technologies led to the creation of the CBD industry as we know it.

This shift led to the creation of the CBD industry as we know it. What started out as mostly tinctures or CBD oils has now grown to a massive assortment of infused products. This list includes edibles, topicals, pet products, supplements and shots, and so much more.

With hemp cultivation spreading in popularity and the increasing ability to perform cost-effective extraction, the CBD industry has spread like wildfire. (Click to tweet)

WATCH: SOL*CBD Whole Body Activation CBD Tinctures

4. The Growth of an Industry

The hemp-derived CBD market has been growing rapidly. In fact, it was valued at $170 million in 2016, growing at an estimated rate of 55% per year in the five years since. More broadly, the cannabis-derived CBD market is even larger. For example, this industry was valued at USD 3.9 billion in 2019. [4] [5]

CBD sales have grown and are expected to continue growing. In fact, CBD product sales in dispensaries since 2014 are growing at a faster rate than overall sales in dispensaries. The entire CBD market in the US will surpass $20 billion by 2024. [6] (Click to tweet)

The Growth of the CBD Industry

5. Why is CBD So Popular?

Regarding CBD products, you’ll find oils, tinctures, concentrates, capsules, baked goods, drinks, and topicals. You can now find hemp-derived CBD in various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, personal care, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and food and beverages. Consumers are using the CBD cosmetic products for the potential anti-inflammatory, antiaging, and antioxidant properties of CBD. [4] (Click to tweet)

There are many reasons CBD has become so popular. As we’ll discover in the next section, consumers have specific medical and therapeutic reasons for using CBD products. This leads us to deduce that high rates of these symptoms, syndromes, or conditions may lead to the high use of CBD to combat them.

CBD consumers have specific medical and therapeutic reasons for using CBD products.

RELATED: How CBD Works

As consumers have applauded the beneficial effects of CBD, the related research has taken time to catch up. This race got a big boost while the drug Epidiolex went through rigorous studies and was approved by the FDA to treat rare forms of epilepsy. [7]

The FDA even recognized that:

“…CBD does not cause intoxication or euphoria (the “high”) that comes from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).” [7] (Click to tweet)

The FDA recognized that CBD does not cause intoxication or euphoria that comes from THC.

6. What Does the Science Say?

Broadly speaking, CBD is well-tolerated in humans and has a good safety profile. Evidence suggests neither abuse nor dependence potential from its use. The list of potential therapeutic benefits of CBD includes a diverse list of medical conditions. Some of these include seizure disorders, psychotic symptoms, anxiety, depression, inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegeneration, symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and chronic pain. [1]

The list of potential therapeutic benefits of CBD includes a diverse list of medical conditions.

Consumers report using CBD for these conditions more often: pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. There are plenty of good reasons for further research to assess where consumers are ahead of the science. [1] (Click to tweet)

Epidiolex was mentioned earlier, and we will turn to it again. You should know that Epidiolex is basically a CBD pharmaceutical made from cannabis plants. We have learned of some potential negative side effects of CBD from studies into this drug. [7]

One should be careful to assume that CBD oils may cause the same, but if one gets symptoms like these, then your dosage may need to be decreased. These side effects include sleepiness, sedation, decreased appetite, diarrhea, insomnia, and a few others. [7]

Consumers report using CBD for these conditions more often: pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders.

WATCH: Advanced Sleep Formula with CBD

7. Who Uses CBD?

CBD appears to be popular with people of all ages, with an average age of 40. Of the CBD consumers, 66% of them want full federal legalization of cannabis. Also, 90% of them believe that marijuana has medical benefits. [6] (Click to tweet)

One of the reasons for the widespread popularity of the CBD industry is that people of all ages have reasons to use it—from grandmothers using topical CBD for arthritis pain to adults with young children using it to help them sleep. Young adults may find a reduction in anxious feelings reason enough to consume CBD regularly.

One of the reasons for the widespread popularity of the CBD industry is that people of all ages have reasons to use it.

8. Final Thoughts on the CBD Industry

What’s the bottom line?

Whatever the reason you use CBD, you are not alone! The CBD industry has become a billion-dollar industry in the US. And this is only expected to grow in the coming years.

The growth of this industry is great for consumers, who have more choices than ever. However you like to consume your CBD, you can find a product for you. There are also more companies than ever cultivating large amounts of CBD, helping to drop prices for you!