A company widely popular for its iced tea is entering into the cannabinoid space. The maker of Arizona Iced Tea is associating with Dixie Brands, a cannabis company to create a line of pot items sold under the Arizona brand name.
The first products to be launched are cannabis-infused gummies and vape pens. It is also expected that the company will roll out cannabis-infused beverages soon.
The CEO of Arizona acknowledged that dealing with cannabis is a risky task, but he said that diving into a market with immense growth potential could pay off.
Heineken, another brand has already created a cannabis-infused sparkling water beverage, which is currently being sold only in California.
Many companies have introduced an array of products that are CBD based since the federal government legalized hemp-derived cannabinoid last year. The government legalized cannabinoid with a maximum of 0.3% of THC under the Farm Bill Act in December 2018.
Several states have aligned their policies and reformed the status of hemp-derived cannabinoid as a legal product. CBD is well-known for its healing capabilities, it has several health benefits associated with it.
Cannabinoid can treat stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and epilepsy as well. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there is only one legal CBD based drug, known as Epidiolex. It is used to treat two rare forms of severe epilepsy in children.
Many epileptic patients, especially under the age of 16 have been relying on Epidiolex to reduce their seizures. However, the FDA does not approve of other CBD based products or drugs. The agency organized a public meeting on May 31 which was attended by many participants including stakeholders, retailers, consumers, business leaders, manufacturers, scientists, researchers and law enforcement officials.
The agency has not declared its results based on the meeting yet, however, a spokesperson recently said that FDA will roll out some information regarding the legal use of CBD in food supplements sometime later this year.
CBD is an anti-inflammatory and non-psychoactive compound. This means that it does not cause any mind-altering effects like THC, tetrahydro cannabinoid, another compound found in marijuana which is responsible for causing the “high” that people get while smoking pot or weed.
THC often causes hallucinations, and leads to permanent mental disorders, if used for a longer period of time with high potency. Therefore, the U.S. federal government has restricted the upper limit for THC concentration to 0.3% per unit.
There is a lot of research going on to discover the potential of CBD and its products. While many people have already shifted to CBD from regular prescription based drugs for their ailments, some still hold on to the long-standing stigma attached to cannabis use.
Anyhow, businesses are leveraging the legality of CBD to produce a gamut of products that can help consumers to live a healthy and better life. From skincare and wellness, beauty and lifestyle to medical products, CBD has been sprawling across different industries.