CBG is the precursor to all other significant cannabinoids. Hemp plants convert CBG into CBD, THC, and other less notable cannabinoids. By the time hemp flower is harvested to produce full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oil, there is usually less than one percent CBG in the final product, as the rest has been processed into other cannabinoids. CBG is normally only found in significant quantities early in a hemp plant’s life cycle. As a result, it was historically cost-prohibitive to incorporate meaningful quantities of CBG into cannabinoid products. CBD products that claim to contain CBG without specifying the exact amount must be viewed with suspicion. In recent years, some farmers have started breeding and cultivating CBG-rich strains, increasing the availability of the cannabinoid and making CBG products commercially viable. However, CBG currently still costs three to four times more per milligram than CBD.

In addition to these three primary cannabinoids, over one hundred identified cannabinoids exist. Full-spectrum CBD and broad-spectrum CBD products contain most of these cannabinoids. The stability of many of these cannabinoids remains unclear, and there is little research on how most of them affect the human body.

Another major challenge in formulating products with full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oil is the dramatic variance in the cannabinoid profile of the oil being produced. Profile variation occurs from one season to the next and from plant to plant in the same hemp field. Simply put, the composition of the oil is not the same every time. This issue is well-known to any scientist who has been involved in the planting, harvesting, and extraction of hemp for CBD. Therefore, it is unrealistic to assume that consumers get the same product each time they buy a product made with full-spectrum or broad-spectrum oil. To oversimplify a complex issue, it would be like going to a vineyard and sampling the wine, then returning a few years later and expecting the wine made from a new harvest to taste the same as the wine sampled on the previous visit. This is an unlikely prospect, if not outright impossible.

It makes sense that those who enjoy cannabis appreciate a craft experience, just as wine enthusiasts appreciate the idiosyncrasies of different vintages. It is important to acknowledge and appreciate growers like those of the Emerald Triangle in Humboldt County, California for pioneering and refining the art of craft cannabis. Even in the case of craft cannabis, there is great care given to nurturing and protecting “mother plants” to prevent genetic mutations from occurring so that a consumer’s experience of a particular strain is preserved from one harvest to the next.

A hemp grower or CBD product manufacturer using full-spectrum or broad-spectrum CBD is limited in their ability to ensure that each batch will be able to meet the standards of the discerning consumer, who is expecting a consistent product experience. On the other hand, CBG-isolates and CBD-isolates that are independently lab tested as +99.9% pure, will reliably produce specific, measurable, and consistently repeatable results. It is understandable that purists and early participants in CBD would object to this reasoning claiming the absence of the “entourage effect.” The entourage effect is a theory that the more than one hundred different cannabinoids and terpenes found in full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oil work together to provide the consumer greater benefits. While the complementary effects of CBD and THC can be dramatic, there is currently limited evidence to suggest that secondary cannabinoids or terpenes contribute meaningfully to these results.

Cannabinoid terpenes are known to be unstable. Additionally, the unknown stability of secondary compounds over prolonged periods means that it is impossible to say how long they remain safe for use. Full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD products will face hurdles in serving the broader US population if the consumer experience is inconsistent.