Cannabis Phrog opens selling legal hemp and hemp-oil products
By KENNY JAMES
Special to the Nelson County Gazette
Saturday, May 27, 2017 — So I was driving down the street last week with my wife and we see a new sign in the window of the old tattoo shop on Bloomfield Road. I couldn’t believe what we were reading: “Cannabis” it said in the window. Did Kentucky legalize something overnight that slipped under my radar? We had to check this out.
As we pulled into the parking lot at 700 Bloomfield Road, the sign again confirmed our sighting — the new store IS called the Cannabis Phrog. As we entered we were met by the owner, Rhonda, and we learned the story behind the origins of the Cannabis Phrog.
The Cannabis Phrog was officially born in November 2016, she said, though its origins go back further — to 1998. At the time hemp was not legal, and she had never heard of CBD and had no idea about the benefits of medical marijuana except that it was beneficial to cancer patients taking chemotherapy.
She went on to say she had gone on to learn a great deal about autism. Her son, Ben, was four-years-old and did not speak. He had a hot temper and was easily frustrated. He could sometimes throw tantrums that could last hours, she explained.
Doctors initially believed her son was deaf, though tests later ruled that out. The eventual diagnosis was autism, and her son was placed on numerous medications and in therapy. As he grew into his teenage years, his outbursts of rage were sometimes uncontrollable, requiring stronger doses of medication, some with awful side effects.
Rhonda tried a variety of “natural” supplements from health-type stores as well as a number of diets to help. Her search was to find better alternatives for her son than his prescribed medications, but nothing she had tried really helped.
That changed in August 2016 when she met the owners of a company called Green Remedy at the Kentucky State Fair. Her first question — like that of many of her first-time customers — was “Is it legal?”
The Green Remedy staff answered her questions and told her about the stories they heard from customers regarding their use of Cannabidiol (CBD).
Cannabidiol is a compound in hemp that does not contain any psychoactive compounds; it will not get you “high” or affect your ability to maintain your normal daily activities.
CBD is one of the most prevalent chemical compounds in the cannabis plant. Unlike the more famous molecule, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD is completely non-psychoactive.
CBD is often used by patients in the form of an oil, and Rhonda’s customers have found it useful in many applications, from use as an anti-inflammatory to an antioxidant, analgesic and more. No medical claims have been made about CBD and the FDA does not regulate products with CBD.
Stories of people using it to treat severe pain and epileptics who became seizure-free from the use of CBD made Rhonda skeptical. She decided to try CBD products with her autistic son.
After learning more about the benefits of CBD oil, hemp, medical marijuana and evaluating other CBD product brands, Rhonda decided to open a store focusing on the best CBD products available on the market. Her first store opened last November in a booth at The Most Awesome Flea Market just off Interstate 65 in Shepherdsville. After hearing hundreds of positive stories from her customers, she decided to open her Bardstown store in April.
Rhonda is confident in the top-notch quality of her CBD products that uses primarily non-GMO Kentucky-grown and pesticide-free cannabis.
The hemp oil is extracted using a process known as supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, a method of using CO2 under pressure where it becomes a liquid that is used as a solvent to extract biological compounds from the hemp plant. The process insures a high-quality product that is safe, clean and pure.
The Cannabis Phrog is located at 700B Bloomfield Road. For more information call (270) 723-4147 or visit www.cannabisphrog.com on the web.
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