Do you know your blood type? No matter whether you’ve got O, A, AB and have the positive marker or not, donating blood is an incredible thing you can do to help those around you. On average, approximately 36,000 units of blood are needed in the U.S. each day. So, if you’re someone who has incorporated CBD into your daily wellness routine, it may beg the question - can you give blood while taking CBD?

Short answer: Y-E-S! Taking CBD, or any cannabis product for that matter, does not preclude you from being eligible to give blood. Just make sure you’re clear-headed when you go into to submit your donation. Thankfully, with CBD, you’re always clear-headed (you can read more about that here). 

Why Give Blood?

Did you know you can save up to three lives with a single donation, or about a pint, of blood? And eligible donors can safely donate blood up to 6 times per year, or every eight weeks. 

And, according to Bloodworks Northwest, consuming CBD does not impact your blood donor eligibility:

“Cannabis use does not affect a person's ability to be a blood donor unless they are assessed to be under the influence as determined during the donor screening process. We cannot accept blood from anyone who is intoxicated with alcohol, cannabis, or prescription drugs because of the possibility of an unreliable history and the inability to give consent for the draw. The FDA does not require testing for THC either at registration or during testing for bloodborne pathogens which all donated/collected blood receives. – Bloodworks Northwest

While taking CBD has been given the free and clear for those who want to give blood, the following criteria, unfortunately, can make you ineligible for donating:

• Being positive for AIDs or hepatitis.
• Having had a piercing without a sterile needle during the last 12 months.
• Being imprisoned.
• Being in the U.S military and serving in Iraq or Afghanistan in the last 12 months.
• Weighing fewer than 110 pounds.
• Those who are currently ill with the flu.
• Those who are currently pregnant or have recently given birth.
• Those who have levels of iron that are too low.
• Those who have had cancer or chemotherapy in the last five years.
• Those who currently have blood cancer.
• Those who have had malaria in the last 12 months.
• Those who are currently on antibiotics.

Did you know?

Here are some extra fast facts about donating blood:

1. 4.5 million Americans will need a blood transfusion each year.
2. 43,000 pints: the amount of donated blood used each day in the U.S. and Canada.
3. Someone needs blood every two seconds.
4. Only 37 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood - less than 10 percent do annually.**
5. About one in seven people entering a hospital need blood.
6. One pint of blood can save up to three lives.