Is it safe? No!

We have been asked this time and time again, and although the answer isn't simple, in short the answer is no, but also yes? 

Disclaimer

*First and foremost we need to be clear, the content of this article is for those who either hold a medical cannabis prescription or for those who live somewhere where it is legal to possess. We are not condoning any lawbreaking, but feel like it is an important topic to cover and help raise awareness and education around due to the potential safety issues.*

Can you or should you start adding CBD oil to weed?

Well, many of you have probably heard of people using a 1:1 ratio of CBD and THC or have heard that higher potency CBD strains of medical cannabis help more with certain issues than others. So naturally, you’ve thought, well can I just start adding CBD oil to weed?

In short, the answer is NO! But in a more lengthy response, the answer can be yes…

So we’ve had this question before in our shops and we can see the logic however it's difficult for us to answer due to the legality of weed here in the UK. However much like CBD, we feel like education is vital, especially when around a subject that could be dangerous if misunderstood. 

"If you know what you’re doing and have some accurate scales then you can add CBD to your weed..."

So the logic being if many Cannabis strains contain CBD, why can’t you just start adding CBD Oil to weed?

Well, the reason is that most ‘CBD Oil’ is CBD mixed with a carrier oil. Although the raw CBD ingredient would be found in the plant and therefore would be no higher risk if added, the carrier oils should not in any circumstance be vaped or smoked. Most CBD Oil drops use MCT, Hempseed, or Olive Oil as the carrier. Not only are these things you shouldn’t smoke or vape but it would actually make the whole experience unpleasant and ruin anything you added it to.

So in short, the answer is, no you can’t add CBD oil to weed…

However, if you know what you’re doing and have some accurate scales then you can add CBD to your weed if it’s a lab-verified CBD Isolate or Distillate/ other extract.

But you’re going to want to ensure that you have sourced these raw materials from a reputable supplier, that you can trust their lab reports.

You’re not just looking for potency in these lab reports, you want to make sure it’s been tested for contamination from heavy metals/ pesticides as well. 

"You’re going to have to have a good understanding of potency to weight ratios and be able to accurately measure them. "

We would only recommend this be tried by more advanced users for two reasons.

You’re going to have to have a good understanding of potency to weight ratios and be able to accurately measure them.

With such minuscule weights for standard doses, it’s very easy to overestimate it and suddenly multiply your dose significantly.

Secondly, so you know your tolerance and if you do over estimate the amount needed you'll recognise it early on and slow down. 

I want to get a 1:1 ratio when smoking my CBD/ Weed how do I achieve this?

Well assuming you don’t have the ability to lab test your starting ingredients, it will be done off of estimates on the weed side. You can work out roughly estimated THC contents with a little bit of research. These estimates will always tend to be on the high side unless you’re buying from a premium dispensary that is providing lab reports with your purchase. Potency varies considerably even with plants grown together so without lab reports you'll never get an accurate figure. So keep this in mind when working out how much CBD to add.

As an example, let’s say you have a strain that averages 15% THC and you want to roll a 1 gram joint. That would suggest that once rolled it will contain roughly 150mg of THC. So you would be looking to add roughly 150mg worth of CBD. If you were introducing CBD Isolate to the mix, then you would need to add roughly 0.15 grams and mix it in thoroughly. Now you can see why accurate scales are important!

A slight difference of 0.05gs can make a 50mg difference. Without scales that measure to 2 decimal points, you’d be blind guessing and that will lead to substantially unbalanced and overpowering dosages.

"However, with distillate, it’s easier said than done when mixing it with raw materials as it is incredibly sticky..."

If you’re using a distillate or another extract then you will need to reference the lab reports and work out how many mgs it contains per gram and work backward from there.

For example, if you had a 60% distillate, that would make every gram 600mg. So to achieve a 150mg dose to match the THC levels mentioned above, you would need to add 0.25gs to 1g of weed.

However, with distillate, it’s easier said than done when mixing it with raw materials as it is incredibly sticky, and you’ll inevitably end up with ‘hot spots’ where it’s got stuck in one area.

So if using distillate or other full-spectrum extracts, I’d recommend weighing out your desired dose in a small container and warm it in a warm water bath. Then apply it to the papers you're going to use to roll by painting the inside before or outside once you’ve finished rolling. As I mentioned, this stuff is incredibly sticky so you’ve been warned!

So although adding CBD Oil to weed isn't a good idea, there are ways to boost your medicinal cannabis with CBD if you know how!

What About Making 1:1 CBD to THC Oil Drops?

Ok well this is a different kettle of fish so to speak as you're not combusting and inhaling anything.

CBD Oil drops and THC Oil drops are essentially the same formulation. Yes it is an involved process if your THC is starting out in flower form so we won't go into detail about that here, however we may add an article focusing on just that at some point.

Assuming you have access to either THC Drops, Rick Simpson Oil or another form of THC extract then it's actually very easy to add it to CBD Oil to make a 1:1 ratio!

*Before proceeding I have to disclaimer this again, this advice is purely for those of you in the UK who have a prescription and can legally possess ingredients containing more than 0.2% THC or for those who live in countries where it is legal to posses. We do NOT condone breaking the law and this is purely intended to help inform and educate those who have legal access but don't know how to make this!*

So working out the MGs of your THC component is much the same as above, except you're more likely to be able to make an accurate (ish if no lab reports) assessment of it's potency to formulate a 1:1 ratio as best as possible. Lets say you have a prescription bottle of THC Oil that is 5% strength in a 10ml bottle. That would work out to 500mg in the whole bottle. Making that into a 1:1 THC to CBD oil is as easy as mixing it directly with a 5% 500mg 10ml bottle of CBD Oil. You'll end up with 20ml of oil with 500mg of CBD and 500mg of THC in.

It's worth noting it will have halved the potency of both products, making it a 2.5% solution. So to achieve the same THC or CBD dose as you previously would have, you'd need to take double the amount of drops. However, due to how CBD and THC work together we would still recommend starting off smaller and building up!!

If you have an extract, such as some form of Rick Simpson oil or Distillate then it is a bit more complicated. You will need to work out your MG count in the THC Raw material as best as you can and then introduce is to a CBD Oil that matches it. Chances are you wont find one that is precisely the same. So let me provide an example to try and help. Let's say you have 1 gram of an extract that is 60% THC. That will be roughly 600mg of THC in total. So you would need to add it to 600mg of CBD to make a 1:1 CBD to THC Oil. The closest typical match for that would be the 10% 1,000mg CBD Oil Drops in a 10ml bottle. If you have used some of it or remove roughly 4ml and leave just over half, the bottle will contain 6ml of oil which is = to 600mg of CBD.

So now you have 600mg of THC in an extract and 600mg of CBD in a carrier oil. Combining these isn't as simple as mixing them together as the extract won't fully absorb naturally off the bat. You will need some gentle heat such as a warm water bath to heat the CBD oil through before you add the extract.

Do not over heat it! If you over heat the oil when mixing these 3 things can happen:

1. You can lose the potency of either extract if heated too hot.

2. At 60c+ you will also start decarboxylating any THCA or CBDA in your bottle. That's not necessarily a bad thing as it makes it more bioavailable, but it could mess with your mg counts and you may want to keep them in their forms.

3. Lastly you will evaporate off some of the more volatile terpenes found in your extract. If you're trying to maintain the terpene profile of an extract then you want to keep the temp low and slow.

Once its heated you can introduce your extract and mix it thoroughly. It may not combine immediately so take your time and keep topping up the water bath until it has all blended evenly. Once it has, you're good to go!

Remember start off low and slow, THC isn't the same as CBD so you don't want to over do it.

If you're unsure on the end potency, take your first dose at night and build up until you're comfortable!

So adding CBD oil to weed is possible, but without the right information it can be dangerous. So always buy from a reputable supplier and know what CBD products are suitable for different uses!