Kush Life • The basics • 4 min read
Does a CBD vape get you high?
Why CBD is not intoxicating, what a CBD vape feels like in the studies, where THC can hide, and how to check a pod on its lab report.
No. CBD does not get you high: it is not intoxicating, and the high in cannabis comes from THC. A CBD vape can still be noticeable, a light and settled feeling, but in clinical studies vaporized CBD did not impair thinking, coordination or driving.
Whether a particular vape is free of THC depends on what is inside it, so the pouch and the lab report matter as much as the word CBD. Here is what the research says, and how to check a pod.
Why doesn't CBD get you high?
The high comes from THC, which switches on CB1, the cannabinoid receptor in the brain behind intoxication. CBD does not switch CB1 on. In lab work it changed how the receptor responds and dampened its signal rather than adding to it (Laprairie et al., British Journal of Pharmacology).
The World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Drug Dependence reviewed CBD in 2018. It found no psychoactive properties and no potential for abuse or dependence, and advised that pure CBD should not be placed under international drug control (WHO). More on the compound itself is in What is CBD?
What does a CBD vape feel like?
The clearest answer comes from a double-blind study at Johns Hopkins. Eighteen adults who rarely use cannabis took 100mg of vaporized CBD, 100mg of CBD by mouth, a vaporized CBD-dominant cannabis with 3.7mg THC, and a placebo, at least a week apart, without knowing which was which. Vaporized CBD was noticeable: people rated it above placebo on items such as liking the effect. It did not raise the ratings tied to THC, such as paranoia, and neither form of CBD impaired thinking or coordination (Spindle et al., Drug and Alcohol Dependence).
So not high does not mean nothing. Most people describe a CBD vape as quiet and settled. The words on our effects page describe the character of each strain's terpene profile, not a promise of what a pod will do for you. The terpenes themselves are explained in Terpenes in a CBD vape.
Does vaping CBD affect driving?
In a trial at Maastricht University, run with the University of Sydney, 26 adults vaporized 13.75mg of CBD, the same amount of THC, the two together, and a placebo, then drove 100 km on a highway. With CBD alone, their driving did not differ from placebo, either 40 minutes or four hours later. THC, alone or with CBD, caused mild impairment at 40 minutes. The authors note that the doses may not match everyday use (Arkell et al., JAMA).
Can a CBD vape contain THC?
Yes, and that is the real catch. When researchers bought 84 CBD products online and tested them, 18 contained THC, and vape liquids were the products most often mislabeled (Bonn-Miller et al., JAMA). A vape sold as CBD is only free of THC if its extract is.
Kush pods are broad spectrum: hemp extract with CBD, CBC and CBG, natural cannabis terpenes and zero THC. King Kush pods are full spectrum legal hemp, under 0.2% THC. That trace is far below an intoxicating amount, but it is not zero. The Delta-9-THC page explains the limit.
Will a CBD vape show up on a drug test?
Drug tests look for THC, not CBD. In a second Johns Hopkins study, pure CBD, vaporized or swallowed, did not produce a positive urine test at US workplace cut-offs. The vaporized CBD-dominant cannabis with 3.7mg THC did, in some samples (Spindle et al., Journal of Analytical Toxicology). The study was small, six people, but the lesson holds: a product with any THC in it can show up.
If you are tested at work or on the road, stay with a product that has zero THC, such as the Kush line, and keep the pouch so you can show its lab report.
How do you check a pod for THC?
Look at three things. The spectrum: broad spectrum means the THC has been removed, full spectrum keeps a trace. The THC line on the pouch: zero THC on Kush, under 0.2% on King Kush. And the batch number: type it on the lab results page to open the certificate of analysis for that batch, where the lab reports THC for a Kush batch as not detected.
Every pod in both lines is 1 mL with 950mg CBD and natural cannabis-derived terpenes, nothing synthetic. Browse them on the strains page.