What Is Synthetic CBD?

What if you were told you that your morning vitamin C tablet does not come from an apple or orange, or any other fruit? What if you were told that your vitamin was made synthetically, like most other supplements on today’s market?

Many consumers do not know that “natural” supplements are often not natural at all, but instead are produced in a laboratory to be chemically identical to their natural counterparts.

In many cases, these products can be created more efficiently and at a lower price point than organic products on the market and are also absorbed by the body in the very same way as naturally occurring nutrients.

It’s no surprise, then, that CBD is the next industry set to be overtaken by this synthetic revolution.

What is CBD?

In the past few decades, no naturally occurring compounds have generated as much interest, or shown as much therapeutic promise, as CBD. The compound is part of a class of chemicals found in the cannabis plant known as cannabinoids. These chemicals interact with a system within the human body known as the endocannabinoid system.

More than six million people in the UK are already using CBD products to help ease problems such as anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain. Yet the quality and content of many of the cannabis-based products are unknown and may even be illegal and dangerous.

One of the key reasons for this is because the majority of products are impure (due to soil absorption) and infiltrated with unwanted cannabinoids such as THC, the main psychoactive compound found in cannabis. Hemp crops also vary drastically in quality, so there’s no way of knowing that your next bottle of CBD cream will work as well as your last.

It is also important to note that cannabinoids such as CBD do not only occur in the cannabis plant. In fact, our body produces its own internal cannabinoids, known as endocannabinoids.

What is synthetic CBD?

As quality and safety regulations for the CBD industry are designed and implemented, synthetic CBD is starting to be an appealing alternative for the market.

Synthesized bio-identical CBD is considered to be chemically identical in every way to naturally occurring CBD that is itself synthesized by the cannabis sativa plant. Indeed, a study by the US's National Institute on Drug Abuse found that synthetic CBD and naturally-derived CBD both had identical chemical structures.

How does this differ from synthetic cannabinoid analogues?

Most high-quality synthetic CBD is bio-identical to CBD and not an analogue (acting on the same receptor). These kind of synthetic analogues, such as spice, can have more alarming effects on the body and are illegal.

Cannabidiol (CBD), be it synthesized from citrus terpenes grown from yeast, or gas-extracted from cannabis, is identical to plant CBD. The only difference is that CBD from the cannabis plant contains residual cannabinoids. It is for is this reason that the EU mandates that all cosmetic products use synthesized CBD and not hemp-derived CBD.

How is synthetic CBD produced?

Synthetic CBD is created from base materials using chemistry, rather than being extracted from the cannabis plant. In the case of the biotechnology company PureForm Global, for instance, the base material is a citrus (orange) terpene.

The manufacturing of chemically synthesized CBD occurs in regulatory-approved API facilities much like other pharmaceutical drugs, and the products produced are stable, soluble, and consistent.

What are the benefits?

While the word “synthesized” may sound less desirable than a plant extraction, the process actually uses less chemicals than solvent and gas extraction. There is no risk of residual fertilizers and herbicides used to grow the plant and no risk of mycotoxins – potentially deadly toxins produced by fungi that often colonize cannabis crops. This means each batch is identical, traceable, free from pesticides and impurities.

As such, synthetic CBD, including that provided by Biosportart, is produced with purity of over 99.5 percent and does not contain any THC, CBN, or any cannabinoids other than CBD. Suppliers can add a far greater amount of CBD per container without any risk of violating UK law on the 0.2 percent THC limit.

Why does plant-based CBD have so many regulatory issues?

Many of the products containing cannabis plant derived CBD, especially those stated to be broad spectrum, are highly likely to contain THC in trace or greater amounts. This can be particularly dangerous for individuals such as professional athletes, where any exposure to THC over time creates a substantial risk of failing a THC test.

The prevailing legal opinion is that products containing less than 1 milligram of THC are likely to be considered legal in the UK.

What does the future look like for synthetic CBD?

Cannabis sativa is an amazing plant that has a whole suite of interacting chemicals we are only beginning to understand. We are only just emerging from what could be described as the dark age for the cannabis plant, where a negative social and legal environment prevented the plant’s incredible benefits from being either researched or applied.

And yet, growing cannabis at scale is ultimately an agricultural, rather than scientific undertaking. Very small environmental variations can lead to very large differences in plant quality, purity, and cannabinoid yield.

And, of course, CBD from grown cannabis must be isolated from other cannabinoids and terpenes. While this process is relatively efficient, it is not 100 percent effective; some cannabinoid isolates can contain hemp or cannabis residues, such as THC. This is largely why many jurisdictions permit some level of THC in CBD products.

Deriving CBD from non-cannabis sources solves all of these challenges, providing the purity, consistency, and yields to allow for CBD to be adopted in a greater variety of both consumer and medical applications.

Right now, it is the only solution for meeting strict European requirements on cosmetics ingredients (that do not permit an origin material that is illegal in any member state) and to meet specific institutional requirements, such as those from World Anti-Doping Agency, which prohibit all cannabinoids except CBD in any amount.

Richard O’Halloran is the CEO of Biosportart, a UK producer of synthetic CBD formulations for professional and amateur athletes.