In 1975, the year I began smoking weed – was the same year my favorite Aunt Gloria started taking me into Los Angeles – to Melrose Avenue and the Zephyr Theater, a 90-seat playhouse that opened my eyes to the beauty and amazement of avant-garde in the city.
Soon thereafter I’d have my own car and would make the trek to the trendy shops on Melrose – with Aardvark’s Odd Ark a favorite for second hand clothes. From the late 70s into the 80s, Melrose Avenue became a hotspot for shopping. After the popular TV show, Melrose Place, aired, it became a little too hip for this local.
Imagine me now, some 40 years later, walking down the avenue and up to a beautiful storefront, with absolutely nothing but CBD products lining its glass display cases.
In my lifetime is a phrase I’ve probably overused since coming into the cannabis space, but I never tire of every new business that normalizes the conversation, while helping to break the stigma of cannabis use. What better way to educate than putting a CBD shop in the heart of a hipsters hood?
One Compound
Isolating the highly beneficial Cannabidiol, or CBD compound, without the high, has been the legacy of Lawrence Ringo, a mild-mannered Southern Humboldt farmer, we lost a few years ago to cancer.
Ringo, as he was called, took years to hybridize cannabis plants low in THC, the psychoactive compound of the plant, while unknowingly raising the percentage of CBD to new heights.
This process cannot be confused with any trace CBD found in Industrial Hemp or the isolates made from it. The difference between percentages is huge – two to four percent CBD from Industrial Hemp, if that; and upwards of 12 to 14 percent from cannabis hybridized for lower or trace THC – specifically lower than three percent.
Important to note, California disallowed any CBD products where the compound is derived from Industrial hemp for this reason. Meaning, all the products at Avenue CBD are sourced from cannabis with a low THC count, labeled Hemp for this reason – not Industrial Hemp, which is a different plant altogether.
The option of having a cannabis remedy without psychoactive properties has helped raise awareness of the medicinal properties of the plant, while helping to quell the negative stigma.
While this writer remains firmly a whole plant kind of gal, I do see the advantages of this one compound that treats epilepsy, fights inflammation, infection, anxiety, and more; while creating homeostasis within the body, preventing illness.
CBD Forever
Avenue CBD on Melrose Avenue in the heart of the city is confirmation the compound isn’t going anywhere soon, and is fully accepted in this high profile neighborhood.
Once entering the stylish shop, you are hit with a sea of CBD products the likes you’ll never see anywhere else in one place. Tinctures, topicals, medibles and more line the shelves, adorned in beautiful packaging professionally designed.
Being a licensed shop, all products have been tested and are clearly labeled for potency and safety, per California State regulations.
One product that stood out was celebrity and Multiple Sclerosis patient, Montel Williams’ line of Hemp Extract Capsules – with an image of the man on the box, simply branded, Montel. While he also has a line of THC activated products, Avenue CBD only carries his CBD products.
As is the welcomed trend of cannabis formulations, Williams’ brand adds other plant-based concentrates to the mix, giving assorted results, depending on the ailment, disorder or need at hand.
As the world eases into the knowledge of cannabis as remedy, isolating the non-psychoactive compound, CBD, and offering it up to the masses as an option to whole plant with activated THC, is a first step to educating on what cannabis can do.
For more information on Avenue CBD visit, https://avecbd.com/
Published by Sharon Letts in Weed World Magazine Issue 145
- The Weed Traveler – Barney’s of New York, The High End – By Sharon Letts
- The Weed Traveler, Glowing Goddess Getaway – By Sharon Letts
- The Weed Traveler, Copa Cannabica, Baja California, Mexico, By Sharon letts
- The Weed Traveler, Cannabica South of the Border – Tijuana Mexico
- The Weed Traveler: The Emerald Triangle – Historic and multi-generational farmers struggling in a legal market – By Sharon Letts
- The Weed Traveler series by Sharon Letts
- Weed Traveler: Avenue CBD, Los Angeles – By Sharon Letts
- Weed Traveler: Los Angeles, California: West Hollywood – Metamorphizes into the Emerald Village, By Sharon Letts
- Weed Traveler: 420 Friendly in The Emerald Triangle, Tourism in Northern California’s weed country, By Sharon Letts
- The Weed Traveler, Max’s Wake & Bake Tours, By Sharon Letts
- The Weed Traveler: Southern Oregon, Belushi’s Farm, By Sharon Letts
- The Weed Traveler: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – A little green at the tip of Baja California Sur, By Sharon Letts
- Weed Traveler: California’s Heartland, Touring California’s Central Valley, in search of safe access, By Sharon Letts
