Healthcare Committee: March 2020 Connections Article

Edward Salzman 
Smooth Roots

Have you ever wished you had something to almost magically mitigate any anxiety, stress or pain and still be able to function 100% throughout your day? Welcome to the world of CBD. Unfortunately, due to an incredible amount of carefully orchestrated misinformation, CBD has been demonized because it’s derived from either hemp or cannabis which produces a mild to severe psychoactive effect due to another component called THC. THC and CBD are just 2 of about 150 compounds called cannabinoids produced by these plants. 

​
However, there are major differences between both plants and the cannabinoids they produce. While CBD and THC both provide a wide variety of significant medical benefits, it is only THC which produces the “high” or psychoactive effect. CBD does not produce any mind altering or psychoactive effects. This is exactly why it has become so popular. It has shown to be extremely powerful in providing relief to many types of ailments ranging from mild to severe pain and inflammation, anxiety and stress as well as sleep issues and many more. The difference between hemp and cannabis is that hemp produces only a fraction of the amount of THC as cannabis, but in some cases has significantly more CBD and other potential cannabinoids. 


The industry stands against a big problem. The lack of oversight. Where we come from, the medical marijuana is extremely regulated. From seed to sale tracking, to rigorous testing requirements ensuring product efficacy, to how the products are marketed, packaged and sold. The wide open “hemp CBD” market has literally no regulations. As long as the product contains not more than 0.3% delta 9 THC, it is considered “hemp” not “cannabis” and is not subject to ANY further evaluations like we see with cannabis, which is ludacris. This is the root of the problems with CBD and the entire reason why we left Oregon to form Smooth Roots. CBD is not the problem, the people in the industry are.

​