Why Shouldn't You Buy CBD Oil on Amazon?

Anyone looking into a new product these days always does one thing — check Amazon. Why’s that? Well, you can usually get whatever you want cheaper, they might offer free shipping and you can check out what people are saying in the reviews.

However, it’s not so easy to accomplish all these feats when you are looking to buy CBD products. While Amazon boasts an impressive inventory of over 600 million items, you will not find quality CBD oil among the list … at first. Let’s talk about why you shouldn't shop for CBD oil on Amazon and what to watch out for if you try.

Why Doesn’t Amazon Allow CBD Oil?

When you’re a company selling $177 billion of stuff each year and shipping these items to all corners of the world, you can bet your sweet bottom that you are being watched and may face legal scrutiny. With CBD products still falling into a legal gray area, and with much of the formulas available on the market being widely untested, Amazon has decided it isn't worth the risk. That is why Amazon doesn't allow CBD oil to be marketed or sold on its site. The company has a lot to lose if potentially illegal or dangerous substances are being shipped under its watch.

Amazon has a strict policy on what can be sold through its online retail platform. Unfortunately, this information is not privy to the general public. To see the exact list of what’s allowed to be sold on Amazon, you must have an approved Seller’s Account.

Since the average Jane or Joe doesn’t sell items through Amazon, they have a standard Buyer’s Account. Those looking to buy CBD products on Amazon may unknowingly be buying products devoid of cannabinoids.

Under Amazon’s list of items not allowed on Amazon, the company describes, “Products offered for sale on Amazon must comply with all laws and regulations.” They further explain, “Supplements must not contain controlled substances.”

Amazon goes into expanded detail, outlining what they mean by controlled substances: “Controlled substances are drugs that are illegal, such as cocaine or heroin. Products used with controlled substances may be considered drug paraphernalia…Drug listings must not be for controlled substances or products containing controlled substances, such as products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a Schedule I Controlled Substance.”

Can CBD Oil Get You High?

No. CBD oil will almost certainly not get you high, and as long as it is hemp derived, it is not technically a controlled substance under the 2018 Farm Bill. 

The reason Amazon is so strict on CBD oil is that the product is sometimes derived from the cannabis plant. This is the genus of the federally illegal schedule 1 controlled substance known as marijuana. However, it’s also the same genus of its non-psychoactive sibling, hemp.

Marijuana is the version that has spearheaded the prohibition of the cannabis plant all the way back with the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Much in thanks to its most abundant cannabinoid, THC, consuming marijuana can give you a euphoric high. This definitive characteristic is what led to the government creating decades worth of stigma around the cannabis plant.

Meanwhile, hemp suffered the consequences. Hemp is a different variety of the cannabis plant. Most hemp-derived products won't get you high because they usually only has trace amounts of the cannabinoid THC. However, hemp does contain cannabinoids that may promote overall wellness, such as CBD.

If CBD Oil Doesn’t Get You High, Why Won’t Amazon Sell it?

For a product to legally be considered hemp oil, there must be less than 0.3% THC in the CBD products. That’s probably not enough to get you high, and some companies remove even those trace amounts of CBD from their oil.

With that being said, the Food and Drug Administration has only approved one CBD product for mass production. Therefore, the rest of the CBD products on the market aren’t well regulated and they fall into a legal gray area. 

With millions of products being sold under the Amazon umbrella, the Seattle-based company can’t run the risk of breaking federal laws. After all, it quotes the Food and Drug Administration in its Seller’s Market Regulations. In order to save itself from breaking any federal (or global) laws, Amazon has added cannabis-derived products to its list of banned items.

What About Hemp Oil on Amazon? Is That Just CBD Oil in Disguise?

If you are chomping at the bit to get CBD oil on Amazon, there is a workaround. However, it’s a grab bag of quality because the company can’t divulge all of the necessary information in its listing.

If you were to type in the following phrases, you will get a list of products that actually might carry some cannabinoids in them.

These phrases are:

• Hemp Extract
• Hemp Oil
• Hemp Oil Extract

Under the guise of hemp, CBD oil can be bought on Amazon just below the radar. That’s because CBD oil is extracted from hemp. Companies that produce CBD products are selling them on Amazon under the hemp “oil” and “extract” moniker — technically, they are selling what they are promoting. The problem is that these may not be best CBD products out there, and they likely contain very low amounts of, if any, CBD.

Problems With Buying CBD Oil on Amazon

While buying hemp oil extract may seem like a brilliant workaround, it also opens the door for fraud. With no one regulating the product, how do you really know you are getting an item rich with cannabinoids? 

Because companies can't make claims about cannabinoid content (for example, sharing the milligrams of CBD per serving), they're not incentivized to create effective and strong formulas. And because those "secretly" selling CBD can't publish lab results, they may not even perform lab tests in the first place, which could mean consumers are not only sacrificing potency, but also purity by shopping for CBD products on Amazon. In any case, you are taking a gamble — and at the prices some of these oils are being listed at on Amazon, it’s a pricey gamble to take.

One thing to keep in mind when buying hemp extracts and hoping for the best on Amazon is that you don’t want to purchase “hemp seed oil.” Hemp seed oil contains a litany of healthy fatty acids, proteins and micronutrients. However, it doesn’t contain CBD.

Hemp oil, CBD oil, hemp extract, hemp oil extract — whatever on earth you call it — is extracted by using additional parts of the plant. When oil is extracted from the seed, there are no cannabinoids.

Curious About How to Purchase CBD if You Can’t Buy It on Amazon? Joy Organics!

When you are purchasing CBD products, go through a company that has its own store. Purchasing CBD oil through Amazon leaves too many questions unanswered and might cause you to waste your hard-earned money.

Your best option is to choose a reputable company like Joy Organics. We use only premium hemp to create high-potency CBD oil. Our phytocannabinoid-rich hemp oil is chock full of not only CBD but also other compounds that strengthen the overall potency and bioavailability.

At Joy Organics, we have third-party labs test each and every batch to guarantee 0.0% THC in our broad spectrum products and less than 0.3% THC in our full spectrum products.

You can trust Joy Organics!