CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — You have seen ads all over the Internet for a trendy new way to deal with various kinds of pain and discomfort. It's called CBD oil.
It's derived from the hemp plant -- of course, marijuana comes from the same family of plants -- but CBD oil is perfectly legal and many retailers are now selling it based on its reported healing powers.
"The CBD oil is something that's extracted from cannabis," CommuniTea Owner Christina O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell is among the dozens of retailers in the Coastal Bend selling CBD oil.
"The people that want it, they come in and they just ask for it right away," O'Donnell said.
The folks who buy the CBD products have a wide variety to select from -- from gummies to teas, balms, oils and drinks -- all claiming to help pretty much any ailment.
However, there are no outright declarations of healing -- only testimonials.
"Do your research," said Mark Garcia. "I urge people to do their research."
Garcia works for a company called Alepreneurs out of Plano, Texas. They produce a CBD product that is water soluble. He said the way the product was introduced after the Farm Bill of 2018 came into effect in January, allowing for the manufacture, production and sale of CBD products.
So now people want it.
"There's a wave coming through. People are being more informed about the products and you know about the plants and whatnot, and the biggest difference is that hemp has less than .3-percent THC in it," Garcia said.
That THC content is very important, especially if people are concerned about the legality of the CBD or are drug tested.
"The law does not distinguish cannabis and hemp," Attorney Kyle Hoelscher said.
Hoelscher represents NORML, a pro-marijuana organization, and notes the differences between the legal hemp and the illegal one.
"Hemp is the industrial application of the plant, the stalks, the seeds, the oils, all of those things, whereas cannabis is what people use typically to get high for recreational use for medicinal use," Hoelscher said.
Hoelscher said one way to determine whether the CBD you are buying will help you or get you arrested is to get a test kit. He even produced a YouTube video showing how to test it.
However, Hoelscher said the legislature needs to act on the proposed bills to help make the sale of the products possible. He said the current prohibition isn't working.
"And it's a failure of not regulating these substances, if we could regulate it just like any food you buy, you look on the other side just like any ingredient list you can look at the percentages, you know whats in it and you can trust that," Hoelscher said.
For now, if you're looking for the right CBD product for you, do your research.