CBD Stores Across The United States Are Enjoying An Uptick In CBN Sales

The passing of the 2018 Farm Bill has turned hemp and CBD into household words for just about all Americans. While surveys show as much as 25 percent of U.S. adults still aren’t entirely sure of the myriad benefits the popular cannabinoid can provide its users, just about all have at least heard about and know of hemp and CBD.

One compound that less people know about, but that is gaining momentum among CBD aficionados looking for a slight yet still legal psychedelic enhancement, is cannabinol — also known as CBN. And according to Seattle-based data analytics firm Headset, the CBN industry could be worth some $200 million this year.

“Customers are starting to become familiar with CBN and realize all that it can do for them,” said Ramon Galan, general manager of CBD Center in Fresno, California whose store has seen a 75 percent increase in CBN purchases since early 2021. “It offers many of the same benefits of CBD and a lot of our customers find it even more soothing than CBD.”

At its core, CBN is a broken down version of THC. When THC components found in the cannabis plant age, they disintegrate to form the less-potent CBN.

CBN produces about a quarter of the high that THC does. But unlike THC, CBN is legally sold in CBD and hemp stores across the United States. While Delta-8 THC has become a go-to compound for hemp users looking for a legal high, the industry is instead marketing CBN as a powerful and holistic sleep aid.

Helena Ocampo, manager at Las Vegas-based CBD store BuyLegalMeds, estimates that some 40 percent of her customers looking for help with insomnia now choose products with CBN.

“I recommend it because it’s really effective,” Ocampo said. “Especially in a weed-legal state where people can also get (Delta-9) THC at dispensaries, THC and CBN go really well together.”

Ocampo said most of BuyLegalMeds’ CBN products are edibles, but the store also sells tinctures containing the compound.

In addition to helping with sleep, CBN is thought to assist some people suffering from chronic pain and soreness. In a 2012 study of rats, CBN use showed relief in muscle and joint pain conditions like fibromyalgia. The study also noted that pain relief was better when CBD and CBN were used together.

Another study found that CBN could possibly delay the onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that affects cells people’s brains and spinal cords.