Some Auburn citizens may be wary of using products containing CBD, or cannabidiol, because it’s produced from industrial hemp, which is often associated with marijuana. However, CBD products don’t elicit psychoactive effects and are completely legal to buy and use in Alabama.
Pamala Connor, owner of Your CBD Store in Auburn, said her products can help the body heal. She said CBD products can be sold and used if there is no THC present, which is the component of the hemp plant that elicits psychoactive effects. Her store features only CBD products that don’t contain THC.
“The stereotype is that you’re getting marijuana,” Connor said. “[Marijuana] is the THC portion of the hemp plant. Our products do not carry THC. It is legal in the state of Alabama to have 0.03 percent THC in a product, but ours are at zero to coincide with the standards for Lee County.”
She said people often assume there is marijuana in her business’s products.
“If you’re drug tested with our CBD product, you will have a clean test,” Connor said. “There is no THC in our products. We will give you the healing without the high.”
Connor said CBD products are beneficial for the body. They are used to help medical conditions such as arthritis, inflammation, chronic pain, ADHD, stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and some skin conditions.
“It’s a natural healing process,” Connor said. “Without any THC and without getting high. It’s an alternative to regular prescription medication.”
Connor’s husband is a Vietnam War veteran and suffered from insomnia, heart conditions and other health problems.
“He had an amazing turnaround,” Connor said.
She was in a severe car accident and suffered from aches and pains.
“I was, I’ll call myself, an Advil junkie,” Connor said.
She said CBD products have helped her with severe pain, sleeping and irritation and inflammation in her body.
“I’d go through a large Advil bottle a month.,” Conner said. “Now I take Advil maybe once a week.”
There is some medical evidence for the benefits of CBD, according to Harvard University. Cannabidiol seems to help with seizures. There is limited evidence that it may help with anxiety, insomnia and chronic pain. But there is still a need for further study, according to the university.
Your CBD Store employee and regular CBD user Ana Schiripo said CBD helps her fight inflammation and helps people become focused and calm.
“It’s very healing for the body,” Schiripo said. “We have cannabinoid receptors in our body and when we take it, our body knows exactly what to do with it.”
She said she believes everyone should take CBD products.
“If not for a condition or a disorder in their body, just for their well-being because, again, it’s going to support your body,” Schiripo said. “In some way, shape or form people should be taking CBD because it’s amazing.”
Tess Massey, a regular user of CBD products, said CBD has tremendously improved her life. She has fibromyalgia, a condition that causes nerve pain, and said she researched natural remedies because there isn’t a specific prescription for fibromyalgia.
“[CBD] allowed me to control those issues that are everyday struggles and are a roadblock for getting through my day,” Massey said. “If I take the CBD oil, I’m able to function daily without the pain and all the symptoms that come along with having fibromyalgia.”
Massey believes there’s a stigma surrounding CBD products in Auburn because people aren’t as educated about it in the city. She said people often think CBD products will “get you hooked on weed,” and that’s not the case.
“I’ve even had to explain it to friends who are pretty open-minded, and they just didn’t know what it was,” she said. “I just don’t think that people in Auburn and people in Alabama have been exposed to it because of the state that we live in. I err on the side of caution to say this, but we are not the most progressive state in the United States.”
CBD products include edible gummies, water solubles, vape cartridges, oil tinctures, skin creams and dog treats. To purchase vape products, someone must be 19 or older, and if a customer is under 19, parent permission is required for all other CBD products.
“What I like about going to Your CBD Store is there’s someone to talk to you one-on-one about which product would be best for what you’re trying to get relief from,” Massey said. “They will tell [me], ‘I don’t think you need edible (gummies) for X, Y and Z, but the tincture would work well for that.’”
Massey said she’s an advocate of using natural remedies and not prescription drugs.
“I do think that if people would educate themselves and research a little bit more, they would learn that [CBD] is not a bad thing, but a very good thing,” Massey said.
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