Can you trust your CBD Company?
In September 2018, the first ever Texas based retail location for Florida-based SunFlora selling CBD (Cannabidiol) product under the SunMed brand was opened in Keller by Chrissy Crowell, a Texan native and one of the original store founders and Ralph Paul, the Platinum Director for the company’s Texas stores. “Since opening in Texas last year, we have served over 6000+ customers,” Crowell says. “I can’t even put into words what we’ve seen as far as results from our customers. Our very first month, I can remember seeing customers come in – 3, 5, 7 people at a time - with various issues, seeking information and a place to tell their story and what they are facing. We are humbled that so many trust us and allow us to become part of their journey.”
Today the company boasts 37 Texas locations including Southlake, Fort Worth, Decatur, Frisco and San Antonio among others. Most were launched with the help of Crowell and Paul by Your CBD Store customers turned owners who believed in the product so much that they decided to open their own store.
“We’re now the largest brick and mortar CBD outlet in the world,” Crowell states, “with 600 locations in the U.S. and stores overseas.”
In a marketplace exploding with CBD products, where everything from bath bombs to gummy bears is available online, at health food stores and even gas stations, what is a consumer to do?
Crowell tackles some of the myths about CBD, which is even beginning to gain a modicum of credibility within the scientific and medical communities. Back in 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures associated with some forms of epilepsy. According to the FDA website, “This is the first FDA-approved drug that contains a purified drug substance derived from marijuana…CBD is a chemical component of the Cannabis sativa plant, more commonly known as marijuana.” And the website for the National Cancer Institute, an affiliate of the National Institute of Health, says ‘Cannabinoids may help treat the symptoms of cancer or the side effects of cancer treatment.”
Myth 1: CBD only comes from the marijuana plant and it will make me high.
Crowell: “You can get CBD from a marijuana plant but it’s going to be low in concentration.
The highest concentration of CBD and the other Cannabinoids comes from industrial hemp. The marijuana plant is high in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and very low in CBD. CBD is not mind-altering. You cannot get addicted to it. CBD interacts with the body very differently from THC. It does not produce a “high.” We don’t carry THC in any of our SunFlora/SunMed organic broad spectrum products (which include tinctures, water solubles, topical creams, capsules, edibles, oil vapes, skin care and other beauty products and products for family pets).”
Myth 2: All CBD is the same.
Crowell: “The fact is, industrial hemp is the correct plant to extract CBD from. Where in the plant it is extracted, and the process used, effects the quality. Using a triple pass distillate, provides the cleanest and highest profile of Cannabinoids. Many companies use a one pass distillate called Crude, which is an easier and cheaper process. This is a darker color with more plant particles left behind in the oil. We regulate everything from the soil to the oil.
Our product comes from a Colorado farm certified by that state’s Department of Agriculture.”
Myth 3: All CBD is safe to consume.
Crowell: “Because the sale of CBD is unregulated by the FDA there are a few good companies out in the market, but you have to be careful where you get it from. The process we use is called critical CO2 extraction, which extracts the healthiest portion of the plant matter out without taking chemical solvents in with the product. We also use third-party testing. We bounce all of our products off of the harshest critics. Many companies do not show that transparency with third-party testing. When we have tested other company’s products we find trace amounts of chemical solvents in the plant matter. We’ve seen this in many products out there today. We have one of the safest, cleanest products on the market.”
In a recent UCONN study, of 100 CBD products pulled off of shelves at health food stores, gas stations, vape shops and online, less than 67 percent tested out properly.
“Our approach is simple at Your CBD Store,” said Crowell. “Education is first and foremost. When our customers have been educated on CBD properly, they will then feel comfortable enough to shop.”
“It goes without saying that not all CBD products are the same,” Crowell said. “Our policy is transparency and excellence. Consumers deserve to get exactly what they pay for, and we want to teach our customers what to look for so that they can feel confident and get consistent results when they find their way with CBD. Triple lab testing, proper extraction in an FDA registered lab, hemp sourced from a USDA regulated farm, and even passing the grueling test of becoming one of the first USDA organic and Kosher Certified products on the market are just some of the ways we have stayed true to our customers. Although the industry hasn’t called us to stand up to such rigorous standards, we feel it’s a necessary standard and future benchmark that all CBD companies should have to stand up to.”