My mom just started using cannabis.

Don’t tell my mom I told you, but she’s 74. She has lived a great life where she has gotten the chance to do a ton of thing, but recently she has been complaining more and more about aches and pains. She has been taking more and more medications to deal with her various aliments which has caused a bit of concern for both of us. Recently I brought up the possibility of getting her some CBD cream to see if it might help limit the medications she is taking and her answer shocked me.

See in high school I told my mom I had smoked pot and she freaked out. It was illegal where I lived and she was staunchly against anything illegal, especially something as illegal as marijuana. So when my dad’s health deteriorated I had made the suggestion of using CBD to help with his pain. Both of my parents objected because they thought of it in the same way that the think of marijuana and where they live marijuana was still illegal. There was no distinction between the two. So when I brought up the subject again with my mom recently, it shocked me when she actually agreed to try it.

You may have noticed that CBD is showing up in a bunch of different places. From coffee shops to golf shops; from national chain stores to pet stores; CBD is everywhere. In 2018, the Farm Bill made cultivating and selling CBD products legal as long as there is less than .3 percent THC.

With this new classification my mom was now willing to listen to what I had to say. I told her about the science that was out and gave her several links to interviews with people who have found relief from their ailments because of CBD. She mentioned that she had a couple friends who had tried it with some success and soon agreed to try it. We went out and found some in a local pharmacy and were soon headed home. She tried it that night and while she didn’t feel completely “healed” she did mention that she did feel better. So I took that as a win.

With the legalization of marijuana in more and more states and a wider acceptance of CBD, the sky seems to be the limit. By 2024, Forbes thinks the industry could exceed $20 billion in sales and the people buying the CBD aren’t what you might expect. The typical CBD customer is in their 40’s and educated which is a far cry from Otto and Spicoli. So is CBD be the magic elixir?

Resources

• https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cbd-product-boom-science-research-hemp-marijuana
• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/is-cbd-legal-heres-what-you-need-to-know-according-to-science
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/irisdorbian/2019/05/20/cbd-market-could-reach-20-billion-by-2024-says-new-study/#5826a7e849d0