What’s the future of CBD? Everyday more and more people are becoming more aware of the potential benefits of CBD and are deciding to invest in their wellness. Today we’re investigating how CBD might be perceived in the future and we’re doing that by chatting to two CBD converts and discussing how CBD has changed their lives. By having these talks and listening to how CBD has become a part of their lives, these women featured today might be able to indicate to us how perceptions are changing for the better.
Hebe
Before working with us at Voyager, Hebe hadn’t tried CBD outside of a CBD coffee or two. Thinking about why she hadn’t introduced CBD into her daily routine, she explains, ‘I did think it was really interesting and had heard all sorts about its benefits, I had just never thought to try it.’ She went on to mention, ‘It seemed almost a bit intimidating, not knowing where to start!’
After starting to work closely with CBD, Hebe says that all the intimidation went away. This calls attention to a big factor that could influence the future of CBD: education. If people could understand how CBD works and what all the different products are then CBD may become a lot more accessible for everyone: ‘There are so many accessible ways to use CBD – like the bath blocks, or soaps’.
These super accessible bath products were the perfect place to start: ‘I chose the CBD Bergamot and Charcoal Soap because I had some spots on my back and wanted a way to clear them and both CBD and Charcoal are meant to be great for that.’ Hebe describes how this introduction to CBD products led her to try more: ‘I also started to try the oil and got the Peppermint 500mg CBD Oil. ’
Once we start to demystify CBD for people, we may find that they will more readily try a range of different products to find out what suits their needs. Talking more about what drew her to try the CBD oil, Hebe explains, ‘I chose that product for its potential to help with muscle pain, especially post workout. I like to run and normally workout 3-4 times a week, so I was keen to get something to help with my achy muscles!’
Aching muscles is a popular reason to try CBD. Could CBD become a mainstay for sportspeople? Things are certainly looking more positive for CBD and sport than they were just a few years ago with the Olympics finally allowing their athletes to use CBD isolate products while competing.
But what about the results? ‘I really love the soap, I really think it’s helped with that ‘bacne’ as it’s now virtually non-existent, so I’m really happy about that.’ As for the oil Hebe explains that though the results aren’t as easy for her to track she did notice its absence when she stopped using it.
Paula
Unlike Hebe, Paula didn’t buy CBD for herself. Instead she gave it to a loved one who she thought could benefit from trying CBD. Paula was attracted to CBD for its potential for improving mental health, especially its potential to ease anxiety: ‘For months, a loved one experienced symptoms of anxiety with not much help out there.’ She goes on to highlight that before she gave CBD a try, she looked to a number of other solutions including self help apps. Even though these methods are well accepted as useful to anxiety sufferers, for Paula’s loved one they just didn’t help and ‘daily life was a struggle.’
Paula went on to be introduced to CBD gummies and said that she is ‘so grateful’ to have found them. With such positive results in this case, we have to wonder if many more people could find that CBD would change their lives but there just isn’t enough information out there for them to commit to trying it.
For Paula the results have been really positive. The loved one that she purchased the gummies for has felt that taking CBD gummies has improved day to day life and so they are now taken as part of their daily routine.
Paula’s only regret? ‘I wish we’d found these months ago!’ Like Hebe, Paula might have tried CBD earlier but simply lacked the awareness of it that might have prompted her to try it. While there are some that have reservations about CBD, with these two case studies it seems that for the everyday person, CBD just isn’t that well known to them.
So what’s the future of CBD?
That depends on a few things. First, as we’ve said before, education is key. There are loads of questions that have simple answers when it comes to CBD. Unfortunately those answers just aren’t being put out there enough right now, and unless the public is presented with them more frequently, they won’t start circulating any time soon.
We’re trying to change that by becoming not just a provider of top-quality CBD isolate, but by becoming an educator for all of our customers and potential customers. We do this in these blogs, on our social media platforms, and in our St Andrews shop (new shop locations coming very soon…). But there’s always more to learn and more to teach.
Second, the CBD industry needs to exclude unreputable sellers so that potential CBD converts aren’t put off by murky standards and inaccurate labels. New UK regulations are presently coming into force, so thankfully this is happening, but the reputation that has been left by dodgy CBD sellers will undoubtedly alter the future of CBD.
Finally, media coverage will surely play a part. How CBD is represented to us in our entertainment is going to make an impact on what the public perception of CBD becomes. US drag queen Katya Zamo has publicly said that she’s sceptical about the effects of CBD, while Irish comedian Aisling Bea has tweeted about being a fan of CBD oil. Clearly, opinions in the media are as divided as they are in the public sphere.
With all this, predicting the future is tricky. So far though things look bright. Our spectacular run on Seedrs in February indicates that investors are willing to trust and invest in this growing industry. We’re loving being part of people’s wellness journey and don’t plan to stop any time soon. Voyager was built to build up customer trust in CBD and as CBD enters the mainstream more and more the future looks green!
