These days, CBD products are everywhere. You can’t walk more than a few miles in a major city without finding a shop advertising CBD oil and related products, and if you know where to look online, you can find a variety of CBD products to suit your needs. New studies about CBD are consistently emerging, and there might be significant discussion about the compound within your group of friends.

But what exactly is CBD, and why is the CBD market exploding like this?

What Is CBD?

We’ll start with the basics. CBD is an acronym that stands for cannabidiol, which is a cannabinoid. Cannabinoids are compounds that are found in the cannabis plant. Cannabis itself contains a variety of different cannabinoids, many of which carry different psychological and physiological effects. THC, for example, is known for its hallucinogenic effects, and it’s responsible for the “high” you feel when consuming cannabis products.

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CBD, on the other hand, doesn’t produce a psychoactive high. Instead, it’s responsible for a calming effect, reducing your anxiety and mellowing you out. With the right techniques, a producer can selectively remove CBD from cannabis, and use that CBD to make specific products. Oftentimes, CBD is made into an oil, which can then be consumed directly or incorporated into a consumable product. There are also more interesting CBD-related products, like the sour “space candy” CBD hemp flower, which is high in CBD.

Factors for CBD Popularity

So why is CBD suddenly becoming popular in the United States?

There are several different explanations, each of which likely plays some role in producing this effect:

•         Regulatory leniency. First, we’ve recently seen a wave of regulatory leniency. For many years, almost every type of product derived from cannabis was banned, due to the nature of cannabis as a Schedule I drug. But thanks to recent laws, it’s now legal for manufacturers to create and sell derivative products—including CBD oil.
•         Research and newfound effects. In part due to lax regulations, we’re also seeing a wave of new research about the positive effects of CBD oil, and we’re discovering how useful it is in treating a variety of medical conditions. Millions of people can benefit from using CBD, and the more we understand about this substance, the safer and more beneficial it seems. Public excitement motivates more research, and new research motivates public excitement, resulting in a positive feedback loop.
•         Trends and fashion. There’s no denying that CBD is also a trendy product. It’s something major influencers are talking about, and millions of people are claiming to experience the benefits firsthand. This type of popularity is self-sustaining; the more popular something becomes, the more people talk about it, and the more people talk about it, the more popular it becomes.
•         Product innovation. All these effects are inspiring entrepreneurs, inventors, culinary artists, and manufacturers to get creative and experiment with CBD in new ways. In the past several years, we’ve seen the emergence of dozens of new types of CBD products, including foods, oils, and methods of consumption and application.
•         Profitability and new market potential. CBD Is also a profitable product to sell, if you know how to market it. In some ways, this is an entirely new industry, and entrepreneurs are eager to take advantage of it. Public demand, inexpensive development, and limited competition are the perfect formula for attracting new business creation.

The Benefits of CBD

It’s worth noting that much of CBD’s popularity is contingent upon its physical and mental health benefits. But what exactly are these benefits?

•         Anxiety and depression management. One of the most common uses of CBD is the management of mental health afflictions like anxiety and depression. CBD has a calming effect that can relieve worried minds, and a relieving effect that can improve some symptoms of mild depression.
•         Sleep habit improvement. Because CBD produces feelings of relaxation and helps to ease racing thoughts, it’s used regularly as a way to induce sleep or improve sleep habits. For people who struggle with insomnia or other parasomnias, it’s a natural and ideal solution.
•         Relief of pain. Some people also use CBD as a way to relieve pain. Ingesting CBD oil can relieve some kinds of chronic physical pain, and applying it topically can relieve pain associated with the skin.
•         Treatment for various conditions and disorders. Though research is still limited, there’s promise for the use of CBD in treating many different conditions and disorders, including muscle spasms and seizures.

We’re still in the early stages of understanding CBD as a medicinal and therapeutic product, but the more we learn about it, the better the outlook seems. In some ways, the CBD craze can be described as a fad, but the future of the CBD market for both consumers and business owners looks bright.

This article originally appeared on Green Market Report and was reposted with permission.

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