Caroline Watson, a 22-year-old Ithaca College student, loves to workout, go out with friends, and paint at home when she has some spare time. Watson also suffers from school-related stress and anxiety. To cope with the symptoms, she takes a CBD oil multi-vitamin supplement that was recommended by her doctor.
“Even if you’re just in a stressful situation, I think anyone could benefit from CBD oil because makes you more calm and collected,” said Watson.
Like an increasing number of Americans, Watson turns to stores that now can legally sell CBD, a plant-based non-psychoactive cannabinoid supplement becoming more mainstream as a natural way to help with a variety of problems such as anxiety and PTSD. In Ithaca, Your CBD Store, which opened 7 months ago, sells CBD products to those 18 and older.
“I suffer from anxiety every single day. It doesn’t let me sleep very well so if I get that in check, then I sleep better with it,” said Chelsea Newton, the General Manager of Your CBD Store who started using CBD when the store opened.
“The biggest thing I see people come in for is anxiety, arthritis, and chronic pain,” said Newton. “We determine where they should start and then go from there.”
The store sells a variety of CBD products from gummies and tinctures (liquid extract taken from the hemp plant) to body creams and dog treats.
“There’s definitely a sort of generational gap in older people still thinking it’s weed,” explained Newton. CBD is distinct from its counterpart THC, which is found in marijuana and provides a psychoactive effect. U.S. Congress voted to legalize the commercial production of hemp in December 2018 as part of the farm bill.
In addition to anxiety relief, according to Harvard Medical School, CBD has improved conditions for children suffering from a number of epilepsy syndromes, such as Dravet syndrome, which are usually resistant to other antiseizure methods of treatment.
However, the Mayo Clinic advises that CBD can cause side effects such as diarrhea, drowsiness, and fatigue, and can also interact with other medications.
As Watson did, it is recommended you consult a doctor before using a CBD product.
“When I first started taking it, I’d take two pills a day, but then I started taking it once a day because it’s expensive and I wanted it to last longer,” said Watson. “Sometimes I even skip it I’m having a particularly stress-free day.”
CBD oil when bought purchased pure runs from about $0.05 – $0.40 per milligram depending on the quality and how the CBD was extracted. Dividing the cost of the product by the milligrams of CBD will allow users to see how much per milligram you’re paying for.
“They hit different parts of the body – the CB1 and CB2 receptors – so that determines how you use it and what you use it for,” explained Newton.
Both the amount and length of relief is dependent on which method is used to consume CBD. A tincture can provide 8-10 hours of relief, but the water-soluble form only lasts 4-6 hours.
