Taylor Wilson
CBD is a new trend that has made its way to Lakeland in the past few years and is making sizable headway for the medical marijuana industry.
CBD stands for cannabidiol and is found in the hemp plant and marijuana. Prior to this last year, the hemp plant, including CBD was on the illegal plants list by the federal government. In 2018, this was changed.
Some students at Florida Southern use CBD for their own anxiety or other issues. Carolyn Hannigan, a sophomore Communications major discussed why she uses it.
“I use CBD to help with my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, as well as a sleep aid.” Hannigan said. “Some days I get anxiety so bad I can barely bring myself to leave my room, and the CBD helps me relax, calm down, and stay down. It also helps put me to sleep, as I have really bad insomnia.”
The Farm Bill, or Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, legalized CBD, as long as it contains no more than 0.3 percent THC. THC is the psychoactive part of cannabis and can cause a “high” for users. This part of the plant remains illegal in some states, but is legal medically and recreationally in some states.
In Florida, medical cannabis was made legal as of this year. It was officially voted on in 2016 and carried the favorable votes, but was banned by Governor Rick Scott in 2017. This was overturned earlier this year by current Governor, Ron Desantis.
“Over 70 percent of Florida voters approved medical marijuana in 2016,” DeSantis said. “I thank my colleagues in the Legislature for working with me to ensure the will of the voters is upheld. Now that we have honored our duty to find a legislative solution, I have honored my commitment and filed a joint motion to dismiss the state’s appeal and to vacate the lower court decision which had held the prior law to be unconstitutional.”
CBD and medical marijuana are getting a lot of publicity as of late, due to the speculation that they offer healing/medical properties and uses. CBD is known to have been used for ailments including childhood epilepsy, anxiety and chronic pain.
CBD is able to be taken in numerous ways. This includes as oils, lotions, pills, edibles and through vaping products. What the substance is being used for can determine which method is the most ideal.
One shop in Lakeland is in support of CBD and medical marijuana uses. Cheyenne Wood of Lakeland CBD Wellness discussed the topic of CBD a little in an interview. The store has been open for almost a year and is located in Downtown Lakeland.
“I think the community is a lot more open than people would have expected [to the opening of a CBD store],” Wood said. “This is something, too, that doctors are starting to recommend to patients.”
Lakeland CBD Wellness does just that, focuses on wellness. With this,they partner with other organizations in the Lakeland community. They have a personal trainer that is educated on the benefits of CBD and works with athletes to utilize this hemp-based product.
Wood touched on CBD being a good alternative to medical marijuana for those who need something with less of the hypertrophic effects that THC has.
“CBD can be beneficial for your health. CBD and the other cannabinoids work on your endocannabinoid system,” Wood said. “I was going to school at some point to become a nurse – they don’t teach you about the endocannabinoid system. The knowledge about the cannabinoids, their receptors, is fairly new. There is not a ton of research done on it.”
She continued on the role of Lakeland CBD Wellness in the community.
“I think it’s important for us to educate our community because first of all, you can buy CBD just about anywhere,” Wood said. “But if you ask them about it they don’t really know that much about the products themselves or how the products work. It’s important to know how the products work and the ethics behind how these cannabinoids are working with your body. I think that education is important and knowing what you are putting in your body.”