Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Oil’s well that ends well
Kimberton Whole Foods customers learn the basics of hemp oil and the wellness benefits
Kimberton Whole Foods customers learn all about the benefits of hemp oil and its benefits at a workshop.
People researching the wellness benefits of the plant often referred to as hemp or marijuana usually have one main question come to mind. That question being is there a difference between hemp and marijuana, and if so, then what is it?
Kimberton Whole Foods of Collegeville hosted a Hemp Oil Basics Workshop last month to help customers answer just that and learn about the different uses of the hemp plant.
The supermarket chain sells a line of hemp oil extract products called Charlotte’s Web and two representatives of the company presented at the workshop. They explained the background behind Charlotte’s Web products and also educated attendees on the major differences between the FDA regulated hemp and the recreationally-used marijuana.
Rebecca Lawson, Charlotte’s Web sale associate, explained that in 2014 the U.S. Farm Bill was passed and had a major effect on hemp production in the U.S.
“This allowed United States farmers to finally be able to grow hemp again,” she said. “Hemp must contain less than 0.3% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Anything more than that is considered … marijuana.”
Both hemp and marijuana come from the Cannabis sativa plant but are two different varieties of the plant, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens.
Marijuana which is grown to be used as a drug is bred to have lots of THC which is a psychoactive compound meaning it leads users to feel “high.”
Varieties of the plant known as industrial hemp have less than 0.3% of THC so it won’t lead to the same mind-altering effects of marijuana. Industrial hemp is used to make a variety of products such as rope, cloth, shampoo, soap and creams.
THC is a type of cannabinoid contained in the cannabis plant while the other main type is known as CBD. The National Institute on Drug Abuse stated CBD isn’t used recreationally but may be useful when it comes to reducing pain and inflammation, cancer treatments or controlling epileptic seizures.
Lawson explained how the CBD oil company Charlotte’s Web got its name. The family-owned company was founded by seven brothers referred to as the Stanley Brothers on the cwhemp.com website.
In 2012, the parents of then 5-year-old Charlotte Figi contacted the Stanley Brothers in hopes they could help the young girl who was suffering from 300 seizures a week. She had been diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. After using the hemp oil extract created by the brothers, Charlotte went from 300 seizures a week to just one or two a month.
“It turned her whole life around,” Lawson said.
There have been mixed reviews over the years on studies that have shown cannabis-based products and the CBD compound can help with epileptic seizures mostly due to environments not being controlled.
A recent study published in the December 2017 edition of the Journal of Epilepsy Research found that CBD as opposed to THC did have qualities that could be used to lessen the occurrence of seizures. The article of the study stated that since CBD is without the mind-altering effects then it therefore lacked the abuse liability that is often associated with marijuana.
“In the last decade, this has led to an increasing use of CBD enriched extracts as a potential treatment for epilepsy, particularly children,” stated the article’s conclusion of the study.
Since the success story of Charlotte Figi, Charlotte’s Web has launched several hemp oil extract products from oils and capsules to creams and balms. There is even a pet line called Charlotte’s Web Paws. The website and company markets the products as ones that support everyday stresses, healthy recovery from exercise and that support a sense of calm for focus.
Katheryn Jenson, of Collegeville, was one of about 30 people that attended the Hemp Oil Basics Workshop.
“I wanted more information about hemp and CBD. I’m a threetime cancer survivor and I just wanted to maintain balance and good health,” Jenson said.
Before the workshop, Jensen had never used any of the Charlotte’s Web products but said she heard great things about the company. She liked learning how the company grows their hemp products and said she was surprised to learn if not monitored, hemp crops can suck up the toxins from the ground and air.
“If you have a low-grade product, you don’t know what you’re putting in your body. So if you’re going to take something like this then you want to make sure it’s quality,” Jenson said.
Cynthia Winner, another Charlotte’s Web representative and sales associate, said the brothers who cofounded the company are very passionate about how their crops are grown.
“In the hemp world and in the cannabis world, it’s very rare for a company to do everything themselves. The Stanley Brothers do everything. They grow the crop. They harvest the crop … They break down the different compounds so we know what’s in the products. They bottle it. They test it,” Winner said.
Winner went on to explain that hemp is a remediation crop meaning it can suck up the toxins from the ground and air when growing.
“If you don’t know where your hemp is grown, you could be ingesting all of those toxins,” she said.
According to the Charlotte’s Web website, all products are produced in a FDA registered facility and undergo three rounds of quality control testing.
Winner said another way that Charlotte’s Web provides quality products is by using cannabinoids found in the whole hemp plant. Lawson added that there are companies that use just mainly the hemp seeds in products but Charlotte’s Web uses other parts of the plant known to have healthy compounds.
For more information about Charlotte’s Web and its product line, visit the website at www. cwhemp.com