Exhale Wellness draws recreational cannabis potency out of legal hemp in an all-natural, super-tasty gummy.
It turns out that you can get THC shipped right to your front door, and we don’t mean alternate cannabinoids like delta-8. Exhale Wellness, a Los Angeles-based team of cannabis cultivators, researchers, and enthusiasts, has crafted shippable gummies that combine the best that hemp has to offer: full-spectrum extract with beneficial minor cannabinoids, terpenes, CBD, and delta-9, the original THC we know and love.
Already a purveyor of other fine hemp-based CBD, delta-8, and HHC goodies, Exhale Wellness is an obvious choice to deliver the full cannabis experience to people nationwide. Delta-9 THC Drops and CBD/THC gummy fruits—both with real ingredients you can pronounce and farm-fresh, full-spectrum extracts—are exciting new additions to their lineup.
The Leafly headquarters is based in a state where recreational cannabis is legal, so our writers have long and ongoing relationships with traditional herb. Do these extremely tasty, all-natural treats live up to the THC hype?
What is delta-9 THC?
Delta-9 THC isn’t another emerging cannabinoid you haven’t heard of. In fact, it’s what most people know as just THC, the main psychoactive compound in traditional cannabis. It’s the one that gets you high.
CBD tends to dominate over-the-counter products, but while it’s a significant part of traditional cannabis, it typically takes a backseat to THC. It’s non-psychoactive, along with minor cannabinoids like CBC, CBG, and CBN.
Delta-8 and delta-10 THC typically appear in negligible amounts in standard cannabis, but have risen to prominence as alternatives to delta-9 THC. Both have psychoactive effects that are similar to delta-9, but all else being equal, are milder. Some consumers have found that they prefer them—delta-8 is great for calming down and chilling out, while delta-10 offers a nice boost without the same brain fog—but for the most part, they’re a relatively recent phenomenon.
How can these hemp gummies legally include delta-9 THC?
Remember how a few years ago, CBD products started popping up everywhere on the internet and lining the shelves of every drug store? The meteoric rise of hemp-based products came on the heels of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the 2018 Farm Bill. Among its many provisions was a green light to cultivate industrial hemp—a giant step above the hemp-farming pilot research program introduced in the 2014 Farm Bill.
While “industrial hemp” traditionally referred to the hemp found in fabric or rope, which typically doesn’t contain a lot of cannabinoids, the 2018 Farm Bill gave a lot of leeway for growers: any hemp that contains 0.3% or less delta-9 THC by dry weight is fair game.
Cannabis entrepreneurs got right to work producing products with everything but delta-9 THC. CBD-heavy products came to prominence first, sometimes containing non-psychoactive minor cannabinoids like CBN and CBG. Then things got more creative, and alternate THC molecules like delta-8 and delta-10, along with lesser-known psychoactive compounds like HHC, started dominating the market.
Many producers avoid delta-9 THC altogether. But the Farm Bill’s language goes two ways: in setting a limit on delta-9 THC, it also opens a door. Only a few producers use every provision of the Farm Bill to their advantage, crafting products that contain modest, legally allowable amounts of traditional delta-9 THC.
How to find all-natural THC
Hemp is already a major cash crop in the United States, and unfortunately, some brands are only in it for a quick buck. This is why high-quality ingredients and total transparency are must-haves.
What sets Exhale apart is its commitment to all-natural ingredients, from their high-grade Colorado-grown hemp right down to the unbleached paper on their pre-rolls.
You’ll find that same commitment to using only natural and organic ingredients in Exhale’s gummies. Sweetened with organic rice syrup and cane sugar, they get their bright colors from the superfood spirulina, along with organic fruit and vegetable concentrates. Plus, they’re 100% vegan.
Exhale Wellness, along with most reputable cannabis creators, provide third-party lab tests demonstrating the potency and purity of their products. Whether you’re buying delta-8 shatter or HHC oil, you can feel confident you’re getting the cannabinoids you’re looking for—and that your products are safe from harmful microbes.
Full spectrum FTW
Exhale Wellness uses only full-spectrum extracts in its hemp products. Here’s why that matters: The entourage effect is a phenomenon where multiple elements of the cannabis plant boost one another to create results stronger than the sum of their parts. Full-spectrum extracts capture the whole plant, including cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and everything else that makes a strain tick—leading to balanced, well-rounded effects, just like nature intended.
This makes all the difference in Exhale’s Delta-9 THC Gummy Drops. Each gummy contains 7.5mg THC, just under the maximum allowable by law based on dry weight, along with 1mg each of CBC, CBG, and CBN. These three minor, non-psychoactive cannabinoids have distinct therapeutic effects that aren’t especially noticeable on their own. When paired with THC, they unlock some magical benefits.
Because academic study is limited, it’s too early to confirm all of these cannabinoids’ effects—but early research on all three shows potential neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects. CBN is created when THC ages, and could increase euphoric effects. CBC could promote healthy skin and, especially when paired with THC and CBD, may elevate mood. There’s early research showing that CBG, which is harder to produce than some other cannabinoids, may have antibacterial effects.
Because Exhale only makes products rich in cannabinoids and terpenes, you’ll find this kind of teamwork in not just gummies, but extracts, oils, and smokeables. Presenting the plant in its full glory goes hand-in-hand with their all-natural ethos.
Experiencing real cannabis
Exhale kindly provided us with a bottle of their CBD+THC Gummy Fruits. They contain 25mg of CBD and 1mg of delta-9 THC each, and we promise: it’s the real deal. In smaller doses, THC gives CBD the boost it needs to be its best self, adding a multiplier to its effects on healthy sleep and pain relief and doing far more than just a 25mg CBD gummy would do on its own. In higher doses, you do start to get that familiar feeling, leading to deep relaxation. They are also ridiculously tasty, with real fruit flavors, a silky texture, a light sprinkling of sugar, and the faintest cannabis taste behind it all. These gummies did boost our appetite a bit, and it was hard to not keep eating them.
For a more THC-centered experience, Exhale’s Delta-9 THC Gummy Drops have the same real-fruit flavor but with a much higher, 7.5mg dose of THC that still manages to stay just inside the legal limit. It’s enough to pack a punch, though, especially if you have a lower tolerance—10mg of THC is considered one dose in many states that allow recreational or medical cannabis, so the compromise on dosing is extremely slight.
Visit Exhale Wellness online to see their full lineup of hemp-based offerings.
