On a recent cool, autumn afternoon at the bird tree cafe in downtown Colorado Springs, patrons chat on a small patio along Tejon Street. Inside the bustling cafe is a large sign offering salads, sandwiches, coffee, and even liquor. Despite the absence of any signs for CBD products, the bird tree cafe, like many businesses in the city, offers CBD products to their customers.
I asked Allie Johnstone, the manager of the bird tree cafe, about the hemp oils and the CBD balms lined on shelves near the cash register. She mentioned, between taking orders from customers and making sandwiches, the cafe’s owners also own a CBD business and that’s why CBD muscle pain reliever balm is sold along with iced green teas and chicken sandwiches.
I asked Johnstone if she’d ever heard of CBD-infused bras and if they’re a real thing. (They are.) She laughed and, “No, I did not know that!” Most of the customers who buy the CBD oils and balms at the cafe are “middle-aged people with chronic pain issues,” she said.
What are CBDs and Do They Work?
CBD is short for cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound, and is the second most active ingredient, behind THC, the ingredient which gives people the “high” associated with the cannabis plant.
Hemp, marijuana’s cousin plant, typically contains less than 0.3 of THC and is the primary plant utilized for CBD production. Hemp is legal in the United States though heavily restricted by federal laws. CBD manufacturing is legal due to the federal Farm Bill, passed in 2018.
Since the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t define CBDs as medicinal, CBDs are considered supplements, as with vitamins, herbal teas, and more. Research into known benefits of CBDs is new and questions still remain regarding the proper dosages of CBDs that produce the desired benefit(s).
Some commonly claimed ailments that CBDs aid and benefits of CBDs include:
- anti-inflammatory
- pain relief
- appetite stimulator
- reduces seizures
- epilepsy
- anti-nausea
- anxiety
- depression
- PTSD
You can read a detailed technical analysis of how CBDs may work to provide relief for various aches, pains, and other medical issues here.
Soaring Unregulated, Self-Policing Industry
The CBD industry is expected to reach upwards of $16 billion in sales nationally by 2025. As popular as CBDs are, they’re still a largely unregulated industry, aside from the occasional outlandish claims of “cures” that can generate unwanted attention from the Federal Trade Commission, as well as the Food and Drug Administration.
Unfortunately, questions remain about the legitimacy of many CBD products, especially the claimed ingredients and chemicals used during the manufacturing of CBD-infused products. Researchers, analyzing CBD vape products claimed to be “100% CBD” were found to contain ingredients commonly used in cough syrups as well as synthetic CBDs which “has been linked to deadly overdoses.”
In Denver, the Cannabinoid Industry Association, which bills itself as “a trade association” offers both businesses and consumers advice and information about CBD-related issues including regulations. As the CBD industry and markets mature following legalization of hemp and CBDs, groups and associations will likely continue efforts at self-policing and regulation.
Should You Try CBDs?
The question of whether CBD products work seems to remain despite of the ubiquitous CBD products in existence. For Johnstone, she says CBDs work and help her relax.
She enjoys CBD bath bombs, or small balls of compacted dissolvable salt loaded with CBDs, because they’re “awesome!” While questions remain about how CBD bath bombs work differently from other commercial bath bombs, the possibility of the placebo effect remains for most CBD products especially since known, proven benefits of CBDs are still trickling out.
Back to the CBD-infused bra: Why would anyone want to buy such a thing? She laughed again. “I think it’s a good idea for ladies with chest pain,” she said, especially for those well-endowed. She didn’t offer a scientific analysis and I didn’t ask for one, mainly because the cafe was filling with hungry customers.
I asked Johnstone if people confused CBDs with marijuana or THC. “Not as much as I think it would happen” after cannabis was legalized in Colorado in 2012. She added people seem to generally know what CBDs are, suggesting consumers are becoming more aware of both CBD products and their supposed benefits.
In the end, CBDs are safe for consumption. The best thing consumers can do is check the ingredients list of CBD products. Curious about the owners of the bird tree cafe’s CBD business, I checked the label of one of their products.
Good news: it only contains “Industrial Hemp Extract.”
