CBD shatter is a category that is growing within the CBD industry. This could be due to THC-based shatter having its moment of popularity, and naturally, brands see the success and decide to incorporate it into their business model.
Whatever the case may be, the consumer is seeing more and more brands offering CBD strains that are made into CBD shatter for the end user to enjoy, and for that we at CBD School are thankful.
While CBD shatter falls under the umbrella of controversy because the user needs to inhale it into their lungs, which we all know has risks involved, the once very niche market is gaining steam, and quickly.
What is CBD Shatter?
CBD shatter is a bi-product of CBD isolates. It contains 99.9% CBD with only very minute traces of any other cannabinoid or any other part of the hemp plant.
Due to shatter needing a solvent to be extracted, usually butane, it is dangerous to make without the necessary equipment or knowledge and you shouldn’t attempt to make it at home.
Shatter gets its name because it resembles a windowpane, only that it has a brownish-yellow hue, and it is relatively hard to the touch. The hardness of CBD shatter can vary, depending on the surrounding temperature, however.
Imagine taking a spoonful of raw honey from the jar and placing it on parchment paper until it solidifies. That is pretty close to what shatter would look like.
What is CBD Isolate?
DISCOVER: How to Use CBD Isolate… Plus Best CBD Isolate Reviews!
CBD isolates are little white flakes that are pure (99.9%) CBD. When someone is in search of a CBD product that doesn’t contain any THC, due to possibly needing to take a drug test or just because they aren’t interested in consuming THC, they purchase CBD that is made with CBD isolate.
CBD isolate doesn’t contain any THC (as mentioned above), no terpenes, and no other cannabinoid, just pure CBD.
The process to make CBD isolate is to remove all of the hemp plants’ parts, including chemicals, waxes, chlorophyll, and any other part of the plant to distill it down to its purest form.
Benefits of CBD Shatter
If you are ignoring the health risk that inhaling anything into your lungs may have on your well-being long-term, then CBD shatter is a great way to receive a highly concentrated dose of CBD.
If you’re familiar with the benefits of vaporizing or smoking your CBD, ie. the bioavailability of inhaling CBD vs consuming in a CBD tincture or CBD gummy, then CBD shatter shares a similar bioavailability.
Bioavailability refers to the actual percentage of CBD that enters your bloodstream. Inhaling has the highest percentage of bioavailability than any other way of consuming CBD.
If you smoke CBD shatter the CBD will also skip going through your liver to enter the bloodstream, which most forms of consuming CBD do. The smoke reaches your bloodstream via your lung tissue which will result in you feeling the effects very quickly.
Other benefits include being able to take a higher dose of CBD in one sitting. CBD shatter comes in small jars, so all you would need to do is add as much of the shatter to your dab rig (see below) to receive the amount of CBD you’re looking to consume.
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How to Use CBD Shatter
While many people use CBD isolates when making their own CBD topicals like lotions or salves or CBD edibles, many times these processes include heating the CBD isolate, and adding it to a mix to create your own CBD DIY product.
CBD shatter should not be melted and added to make a CBD product, however. Not only could heating the shatter in this way harm the CBD, but it could also make them not as effective.
The best way to use CBD shatter is either to purchase a vaporizer that is meant for you to add a concentrate to it or to purchase a “dab rig”. Both of these apparatuses are designed to smoke concentrates, which CBD shatter is.
Either of these tools will allow you to regulate how much shatter is added (remember start with a small amount and add as you like), and once you have to amount you’d like to consume, you will then heat the concentrate. Most vaporizers or dab rigs will allow you to adjust the heat setting.
How is CBD Shatter Made?
As mentioned above, CBD shatter is a solvent extract, meaning that you will need a solvent to isolate the pure CBD from the other material. In most cases, butane is the solvent used to make CBD shatter which is why it is not recommended that you perform this task at home as it could be dangerous, like an explosion type of dangerous.
Shatter is made by soaking the hemp buds in butane and then trimming the trichomes, which are glass-like crystals that are filled with resin, from the buds to isolate the CBD. The isolated parts are then heated at high temperatures to burn off the butane.
The remaining parts that have had the butane heated off are then left to solidify into a thin layer of an extract known as shatter.
Is CBD Shatter Legal?
READ: CBD Laws by State
If the CBD shatter has less than 0.3% THC and is from a hemp-derived plant then it is legal in all 50 states. Some states may have brands that sell CBD shatter that contains more than the federally legal limit of 0.3%, and if that’s the case then this CBD shatter may only be legal in the state that it is available.
You may need a medical marijuana card to purchase and consume shatter that is above the federally legal limit of 0.3%, however, so it is best to read the fine print on the product.
Conclusion
CBD shatter is a great way to consume CBD. Being that it is a concentrate it has a very high percentage of CBD, has a high bioavailability rate, and quickly is absorbed by your body.
As mentioned above, one of the reasons shatter is controversial is due to the fact that you need to inhale it to enjoy it.
If you are able to get over this fact and you enjoy trying new types of products, then you’re in luck because brands that are offering CBD shatter in the product lineup are becoming more and more plentiful as the CBD industry continues to expand.