SCAMS in the Industrial Hemp industry
Though there are hundreds of quality products & ingredients available, the CBD market is flooded with scams, frauds, misleading products and just plain bad ideas.
Currently, the CBD market is nearly unregulated. Almost anyone with some capital and a garage can get into the CBD business and there’s been an excessive supply of raw materials (mostly untraceable CBD & CBG Isolates from the USA) available at falling prices over the past year, especially if you’re not too picky about the quality and traceability. The result? Consumers and manufacturers struggle to know whether the CBD products and ingredients they’re buying are legitimate or effective. Between completely fake products and those that are misleadingly advertised, lots of people get turned off of CBD entirely, even if they might benefit from it. That’s unfortunate because, while there are a lot of overinflated claims out there, there’s ample evidence that CBD helps a lot of people.
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CBD RELATED SCAMS?
CBD and other cannabinoids have gone completely mainstream over the last years. Unfortunately, when you combine unprecedented popularity with a lack of regulations, it leaves the market open for grifters, scammers and a lot of people just looking for a quick buck. We frequently hear from customers and users that have purchased or considered purchasing scammy products from fly-by-night CBD brands or self-proclaimed-producers. Beyond that, greedy brands are forever looking for loopholes that let them continue to exploit undereducated CBD buyers. Authorities in different countries or the EU Commission simply do not have the resources, the knowledge or the power to shut down every problematic or misleading product on the market.
SCAM 1: UNREALISTIC CLAIMS
Some CBD companies operate scams by selling products online using nefarious or false claims for the quality, potency, or benefits of their products. While some may dispute whether this is a true scam or not — we consider this a scam because it uses dishonest methods to sell a product.
The most common form of this marketing tactic is to use unrealistic health claims for its products or claims that the product is organic has 100% availability or uses some special undisclosed process for extraction that’s somehow better than what everybody else is doing.
Any claims that sound unrealistic or too good to be true probably are. You should never trust a company that says its product has 100% absorption or has the ability to cure diseases like cancer or diabetes. This simply isn’t true. In fact, these claims are actually illegal in most countries.
RED-FLAG MARKETING TERMS TO AVOID
There are a few terms you should steer far, far away from unless the company has the means to back them up:
“Our CBD Oil has a 100% Absorption Rate” — This is simply not possible, no CBD product has 100% absorption.
“Made From Organic Hemp” — Although there are some companies selling organic hemp, most CBD brands are lying, when it comes to organic certification. If a company is truly organic, they will have the certificates from a Certifying Authority/Company or other officials to prove it. However, using an organic carrier oil or organic biomass does not make the finished product organic!
“CBD Can Cure Cancer, Diabetes and Heart Disease” — CBD cannot cure any of these conditions. It’s merely supportive when combined with other lifestyle changes and medications. It’s illegal to suggest otherwise.
“Our CBD is 100% Natural” — Natural is not a regulated word. You can literally add this to anything. Many of the products using this language are not what you might consider “natural” — some even use harmful synthetic ingredients.
“The Purest CBD In the World” — What does this even mean? Pure CBD is very common (see Isolates). Stating that the company’s CBD is somehow purer than everybody else’s is a lie.
“Full Spectrum CBD Oil - No THC” – Wait a minute? How is that possible? Didn’t we learn that a Full Spectrum Oil contains below 0.2% THC and is superior to Isolate based products?
SCAM 2: CBD-INFUSED PILLOWS, MATTRESSES AND CLOTHING
A CBD-infused mattress is something that would have seemed like a joke a few years ago, that someone might have used to make fun of the tendency to stick CBD in everything. Now it’s a reality. A very expensive reality! In a way it’s almost ingenious: mattress brands struggle to differentiate themselves from one another since most use almost identical technology. The same is true for CBD oil. So why not combine the two?
Except it’s completely ridiculous. In the case of a mattress, consumers are meant to believe that CBD inside it can not just penetrate your skin but any bedsheets, mattress covers and pillowcases you might use. Even if the products did work as advertised, they’re costly and short-lived. There are brands charging 50€ for a CBD-infused pillow and 800€ (or more) for a twin mattress. For that price, you could buy a regular mattress online and still have money left over for multiple bottles of high strength certified CBD Oil.
Speaking of which, you can simply look at a bottle of tincture to see how much you have left. How would you know when the product has become “depleted” and what are you to do with them then? Throw the whole mattress away?
CBD-infused clothing or plastic CBD bracelets are a similar scam, with many of the same problems. Even if these products did work, they seem to encourage a culture of disposability and conspicuous consumption that we can hardly afford during our climate emergency.
SCAM 3: A FLOOD OF FAKE CBD PRODUCTS ON AMAZON & BEYOND
Brands that spam people by Email to buy questionable products. Some don’t even have a stable website. They just put up a crude storefront, make a quick profit, and disappear. The problem is widespread. Even Amazon.com is full of fake CBD products. Most of them are simply hemp seed oil, a substance that is nutritious but lacks the concentrated cannabinoids found in a hemp extract supplement. Many of these fake CBD products claim to contain literally impossible amounts of CBD, like 50.000 milligrams inside one bottle.
HEMPSEED OIL IS NOT CBD OIL
Some scammers deceive customers in a very benign manner. However, you still end up paying through your nose for something that is NOT CBD. In case you don’t know the difference, hemp oil or CBD oil is a hemp-derived product from its aerial parts, whereas hemp seed oil is derived only from the seeds (and not the aerial parts) of the plant. The seeds contain almost no cannabinoids. They do, however, have some nutritious value, like minerals and vitamins, that have mild anti-inflammatory and moisturizing properties. It is often used as a carrier base for CBD oils, besides making cooking oils, natural paint, and skincare products.
Look for terms, like CBD, cannabidiol, full-spectrum CBD oil, hemp extracts on the label. Additionally, CBD-rich hemp oil content will be marked in milligrams (mg) and not litres like in the case of hemp seed oil. You also see these kinds of CBD products in gas stations, however, you should leave selling CBD to the experts: experienced, reputable brands that prioritize transparency & traceability.
SCAM 4: FAKE PRODUCERS AND “EU ORIGIN”
The international Industrial Hemp import/export business is booming. At the present date, importation of Hemp products consists mostly of CBD Isolate for two important reasons. The first reason is - CBD Isolate is a price dense product. When considering the shipping and handling costs of moving a product, something of substantial size like biomass, premixed tinctures or cosmetic product come with logistical challenges. Second, it bares almost no risk for having high THC levels, or any THC at all, making it an easy to move product within many different countries and legal frameworks. Third, Chinese or US made ingredients are usually extremely cheap if compared to proper traceable and certified EU made ingredients.
Apparently it becomes more and more common that some shady companies take advantage of these facts and present Chinese or US made CBD ingredients as “EU made” or “Swiss made”. Of course it sounds much more appealing to buy an EU made product or even Swiss made – but be careful CBD Isolate made in Switzerland or EU can not cost 350€ or 400€ per kg, it simply is a scam when these self-proclaimed manufacturers flip US or Chinese Isolate.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are so many scams for CBD products these days, it’s no wonder so many people are sceptical about buying a bottle for themselves. CBD supplements are expensive, so it’s easy for companies to prey on people not well-versed in the CBD industry with unrealistic claims. Always remain sceptical about a CBD product or company. Demand to see a Full Analysis, company-related certificates and certificates for claims made.