Types of Cannabis Oil: Hemp Seed Oil vs. Hemp Oil vs. Marijuana Oil

There are three main types of cannabis oil: hemp seed oil (cold-pressed from the seeds, a food and skincare oil with no meaningful cannabinoids), hemp oil (extracted from CBD-rich hemp, full or broad spectrum, with only trace THC) and marijuana oil, the catch-all term for oils made from cannabis flower, including high-THC ones. Humans have used the Cannabis sativa plant for thousands of years, with some of the earliest written records coming from China and India around 2000 BCE, for medicine, recreation, ritual and textiles.

Today people use cannabis in all kinds of ways, depending on what they like, how they feel and what they're looking for. Whether it's for recreational or medical reasons, and especially for medical use, cannabis oil has become one of the most popular options out there.

What is cannabis oil?

Around the world, cannabis oil has become one of the most widespread ways to take cannabinoids for medical purposes, in country after country.

What is cannabis oil used for?

There's a growing body of research, but there's still a lot we don't know, especially when it comes to the medicinal properties of CBD. So far, studies, many of them in the lab, have looked at these potential properties:

• pain-relieving (analgesic);
• anti-inflammatory;
• anti-anxiety (anxiolytic);
• anti-tumor (mostly in lab studies);
• anticonvulsant;
• antipsychotic; and
• neuroprotective.

Researchers are also studying its therapeutic potential for the conditions below. Most of that work is still preclinical (lab and animal studies) or early human research, so read this as a list of what's being investigated, not of established uses:

• Chronic pain.
• Fibromyalgia.
• Autoimmune inflammatory diseases, like arthritis.
• Cancer: lab research has looked at brain tumors (gliomas), skin cancers (melanoma and carcinoma), and breast, pancreatic, liver and prostate cancer, among others; in palliative care, patients report relief from chemo side effects like pain, nausea, vomiting and insomnia.
• Anxiety, stress and depression.
• Neurological disorders: Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, treatment-resistant epilepsy and stroke.
• Neuropsychiatric conditions: schizophrenia, autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder.
• Metabolic syndrome: obesity and diabetes.
• Cardiovascular disorders.
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
• Chronic inflammatory skin conditions: dermatitis, psoriasis and acne.

Types of cannabis oil, explained

Hemp seed oil

People have used hemp seeds for nutrition and wellness since ancient times, and they're more popular than ever. So what are the benefits of oil made from hemp seeds? Traditional Chinese medicine has long used hemp seeds to ease constipation, but that's not all. They're packed with healthy fats like linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids), which are linked to heart health. They're also a great source of protein, vitamin E and minerals.

How is hemp seed oil made? No mystery there: it's made by cold-pressing hemp seeds. The cool thing about hemp seed oil is that you can use it in the kitchen and even in beauty products. Adding it to your wellness routine might do you good, but it's not medical cannabis oil.

Hemp oil

The question people ask most: is hemp oil the same as CBD oil? No, but they're related.

Put simply, hemp is cannabis that's rich in CBD. The one real difference is that the amount of THC in hemp is capped by law (in the US, at the federal level).

Hemp oil, then, comes from hemp plants and contains CBD and other compounds, plus traces of THC. What's great about this kind of oil is that it can be made several different ways.

Just like CBD oil, hemp oil can be broad spectrum or full spectrum. "Full spectrum" means all the compounds in the hemp plant (cannabinoids, terpenes and more) are kept in the final product. Broad-spectrum products generally contain all the plant's cannabinoids except THC.

What is hemp-based cannabis oil used for?

Full-spectrum oils are often recommended for patients because they're thought to offer the strongest benefits. That's thanks to the famous "entourage effect," the theory that the full range of compounds in the cannabis plant works better together than an extract with a single isolated cannabinoid.

Does hemp-based cannabis oil count as medicine?

Heads up: in most cases, extracts made from hemp flower are not considered medical cannabis. That often comes down to how they're produced and to the quality standards that apply in the medical cannabis industry but don't exist in the CBD industry.

Cannabis or marijuana oil

Keep in mind that "marijuana oil" is an incredibly broad term. Without context, it can mean any oil made from whatever part of the cannabis plant you like. So when someone asks what cannabis oil is, they could be talking about anything from hemp seed oil to hemp oil to CBD-based oils. It's also used loosely for high-THC oils.

The interesting thing about cannabis oils is that they absorb at different rates depending on how you take them. That's why most patients end up going sublingual (drops under the tongue). Of course, you can also add marijuana oil to food and make an edible.

Some cannabis oils are even made from less-used parts of the plant, like the stems. People can also blend cannabis oil with other oils, such as hemp seed oil mixed with another carrier oil. Common carrier oils include coconut/MCT oil, sunflower oil and olive oil.