Anyone who has ever suffered from seemingly mysterious back pains or headaches has likely heard of using a range of CBD products to help reduce those pains. But with those answers come more questions: What is CBD, exactly? Is it like smoking marijuana? Will you get high?
The short answer is no. According to Estrella Venegas, CBD coach at Naia CBD Boutique—a retail store specializing in everything CBD—THC is the psychoactive compound from the cannabis plant. That’s what makes you high.
But, Venegas explained, “CBD has more of a medicinal value, without it being psychoactive.”
Actually, CBD and THC are two separate phytocannabinoids. While tiny amounts of THC might be found in a CBC product, it’s not enough to affect its medicinal value. They may be contained within the same plant or the same cannabis or hemp extract, in fact, but the two substances themselves are distinct.
That being said, trace amounts of THC may be found in hemp products. Hemp contains 0.3% or less THC, and these levels are present when cannabinoids are extracted to make hemp products.
As Venegas notes, the main common things that CBD helps relieve are inflammation, stress, and anxiety.
“A lot of people take it for back pain,” she said recently. “So if you suffer from sciatica or even arthritis, you could use CBD tincture with the topical. If you suffer from anxiety, you could benefit from a CBD gummy or CBD oil drops”
Venegas also pointed out that more and more people are utilizing CBD to help with their sleep.
The best method for that would be CBD oil, she said, and the best method of intake of CBD oil is to place the drops underneath the tongue and hold it there anywhere between one to three minutes for better absorption.
And, as she emphasized, “It’s just medicinal. There’s no high to it. No side effects.”
Owner David Kasbarian also explained that, for many potential patients, CBD may still have a stigma attached to it.
“We specifically opened up the store for education of CBD,” he said recently “A lot of people didn’t really have access to CBD, it was only online or they would have to go to some sketchy, underground marijuana store dispensary, which they didn’t really know too much about.
“So we kind of opened this for people that were curious about it,” he continued, “They can walk in and get educated about it. Kasbarian added, reassuringly, “It’s a clean store. You don’t have to go through an armed security guy, and feel like you’re doing something illegal. That’s the reason why we opened a couple of years ago.”
According to Venegas, an increasing number of people are becoming more open to CBD, “especially because there’s a lot more studies and research available by people that are in college, like athletes. Lately more and more older patients are seeking our CBD products as an alternative treatment to things like arthritis and other pains.”
Kasbarian also explained that most of the customers at the shop are curious about CBD.
“They don’t know what it is and they want to learn about it. And, we specialize in CBD products,” he said. “So, when people come here, they can get educated on CBD and figure out what’s right for them instead of blindly buying from, online or going to a Rite Aid or somewhere like that, where they don’t really know much about the product they’re selling.”
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Kasbarian noted that “There are a lot more physicians, especially locally, that are open to it when possible, staying away from prescription medicine.”
The store features a wide variety of products, as well as curbside pickup and delivery online.
Naia CBD Boutique is at 128 S Rosemead Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107. (626) 765-6510. www.naiacbd.com.
