What we are experiencing as a human race is unprecedented. The COVID-19 crisis gives us lots of different challenges in how we face stress and anxieties. But before that, some might argue that their lives were more stressful being part of the daily grind. Some of us have turned to Zoom yoga classes, cooking healthy food, making sourdough bread –– and others –– according to what I am seeing online, are looking to natural aids from herbs like CBD.
Cannabis science over in Israel with the work of Raphael Mechoulam in the 60s started putting together a lot of anecdotal evidence about the healing properties of medical marijuana. In the beginning, research trickled in that cannabis could help with problems like epilepsy, or help people negotiate the evil pain that comes along with progressive cancers. For some it has been the only way to deal with pain, after the opiates have become too much.
With so much in limbo over Federal laws and where it stands from state to state and business between states, a lot of young companies have thrown their hats to the wind and have understood that starting companies and making products for CBD, the non-psychotropic molecule in hemp and marijuana, is a safe and legal alternative that any American can turn to when in some medical distress. It’s even being safely used for pets.
While the clinical or medical studies are not yet up to the speed of what consumers want, Americans are happily testing CBD (cannabidiol) on their own. Find people from one state to the next rubbing it into aching bones, putting strange drops under their tongues, chewing on gummies, or even taking a puff from a CBD-filled vaporizer. Does CBD or CBD hemp oil work? Does it chill them out without the high and munchies?
According to Quartz, a growing number of people are turning to CBD. And the reasons they are using it? Quartz reports that more than half of the CBD-users they surveyed about 55% say that CBD helps them relax. Another half of those asked say it helps them calm down from stress and anxiety –– the unknowns about tomorrow, unemployment, the kids at home? Spouse in another country? And less than half said that CBD helps them with chronic pain, like joint pain, muscle pain and it helps them sleep.
So smoke a joint and call me in the morning? Not necessary, probably. Smoking cannabis sometimes gives you too much of an experience, where CBD seems to be giving some of the benefits of the whole plant, without the high or groggy hangover. And street problems.
Over in Canada where I am from, licensed companies sell CBD drops inside an oil carrier, but the market is well developed in the United States, in chewable gummies and even in health drinks or raw water. You can find low dose THC and high dose CBD strains on the market to grow your own, but when you are in a pinch, turning to local retailers is pretty much the best way to shop local. When you shop local, and not from the street – you support the growers, the scientists, the marketers, the shopkeepers.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist and publisher that founded Green Prophet to unite a prosperous Middle East. She shows through her work that positive, inspiring dialogue creates action that impacts people, business and planet. She has published in thought-leading newspapers and magazines globally, owns an IoT tech chip patent, and is part of teams that build world-changing products to make agriculture and our planet more sustainable. Reach out directly to [email protected]
One thought on “CBD, the echinacea of 2020”
Comments are closed.