Glasgow Warriors teammates Grayson Hart and Adam Ashe have become the co-founders of Pure Sport CBD, selling a range of CBD products which are BSCG (banned substance controlled group) after discovering the benefits of this ingredient but no way to safely take it.
The journey towards this business began for Hart right when his international rugby career was kicking off, aged 25, after going to the doctor about chronic knee pain and being told he had a degenerative joint disease which was causing the cartilage in his knee to waste away.
„I was told it’s only going to get worse and there’s nothing that can be done – they said you will need a knee replacement by the time you get to 40 and said I should retire from rugby. This was impossible in my mind. Rugby was my life.”
Hart started down a spiralling journey of managing his pain through anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids as he tried to keep up with rigorous training.
“My body was building up such a threshold to the pain killers that I was having to take more and more and I was starting to notice all the side effects – my mood and motivation were plummeting, I felt lethargic and stressed and my sleep was suffering.
“I was trying every natural alternative I could find – turmeric, ginger, ashwagandha, fish oil, collagen – some were good, others didn’t work for me at all. Then
I read about a UFC fighter who was singing the praises of CBD.
“I was confused how a pro-athlete could be openly taking a product that came from cannabis until I read that CBD had recently been removed from the world anti-doping list.”