Your CBD Stores’ is a Bio/Plant Science Company offering SunMed CBD-Rich Hemp oil extracts. The boutique-style educational centers offer the highest-quality, award-winning CBD (Cannabidiol). In June 2018, the first ever Connecticut location for Florida-based Sunflora selling CBD under the SunMed brand was opened in Milford. A year and a half later, Connecticut now boasts 22 locations. The 465th location in Manchester owned by Kevin and Brittany O’Connor is managed by Rebekah Fernandez.
“Since our grand opening for Your CBD Store Manchester this past fall we are over the moon with the overwhelming response from our customers. Our first few days adults from diverse backgrounds and ages with various issues sought us out, seeking information and a place to tell the story of what they were going through. We often have customers waiting in our parking lot for us to open and many times we stay open past closing time to accommodate everyone,” says Fernandez.
Your CBD Stores is now the largest brick and mortar CBD outlet in the world 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 gas stations, what’s a consumer to do?
Let’s tackle some of the myths about CBD, which is even beginning to gain credibility within the scientific and medical communities. A year ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures associated with some forms of epilepsy. According to FDA’s 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.” According to the website for the National Cancer Institute, an affiliate of the National Institute of Health, “Cannabinoids may help treat the symptoms of cancer or side effects of cancer treatment.”
Myth 1: CBD only comes from the marijuana plant and will make you high.
Fact: 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 (THC) and very low in CBD. CBD is not mind-altering and you cannot get addicted to it. CBD interacts with the body very differently from THC. It does not produce a “high.”
There is no THC in any of the SunFlora/SunMed organic hemp products (which include Hemp oil sublingual, water soluble, topical creams, capsules, edibles, oil vaporizer, skin care, other beauty products, and options for pets).
Myth 2: All CBD is the same.
Fact: 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. Extracting it from the flower provides the highest concentration of CBD. Many companies extract it from the seed or the stem, which is an easier and cheaper process. SunFlora/SunMed regulates everything from the soil to the oil and products come from a Colorado farm certified by Colorado’s Department of Agriculture.
Myth 3: All CBD is safe to consume.
Fact: Because CBD is unregulated by the FDA there are only a few good companies in the market. You must be careful where you get it from. The process SunFlora/SunMed uses is called critical CO2 extraction, which extracts the healthiest portion of the plant matter out without taking chemical solvents in with the product.
“We use third-party testing labs that have been recognized for setting the standards in this industry. Many companies do not show that same transparency with third-party testing. When testing other company’s products, we found trace amounts of chemical solvents in the plant matter. We’ve seen this in many products on the market. We have one of the safest, cleanest products out on the market,” Fernandez says. A recent study conducted by UCONN showed that less than 67 out of 100 CBD products tested properly. These were pulled from shelves of health food stores, gas stations, vape shops and online.
Due to these results, it is obvious that not all CBD products are the same. The SunFlora/SunMed policy is transparency and excellence. Double lab testing, proper extraction in an FDA registered lab, hemp sourced from a USDA regulated farm, 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 SunFlora/SunMed have stayed true to customers. Although the industry hasn’t called for such rigorous standards, the company feels it’s a necessary standard and future benchmark that all CBD companies should stand up to.
Your CBD Stores approach is simple. Empower others through education! Being properly educated is very powerful as it allows others power of choice in the matter of their life and the quality they seek.
Rebekah Fernandez is also one of over 3,000 Endocannabinoid System (ECS) Educators for SunFlora’s Your CBD Stores. Your CBD Store Manchester offers informative events. Inquiries can be sent via email to: manchester465@cbdrx4u.com. More information on events can be found on Facebook: @yourcbdstoremanchesterct, by calling 860-791-8368 or visiting their location of #59 Tolland Turnpike, Manchester. Open Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm, Sundays 11am-5pm.