With the taboo around cannabis-related healthcare minimizing, numerous businesses are not only creating beneficial products but also creating programs that educate the public on how to revert to plant-based wellness. Cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive component of cannabis, is being recognized as a medicinal alternative to traditional wellness. CBD, which naturally produces nutrients in breast milk, aids numerous ailments including pain, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and epileptic seizures. CBD can be applied topically via lotion and skin creams, as well as ingested as a food and beverage additive. In the aftermath of CBD’s previous Schedule 1 drug classification, legislation currently varies from state to state.
Cannabis businesses, including local Austin company MINERAL, focus on both selling and the education of plant-based wellness practices. Founder Matthew Miller, an Austin native, decided to create the business after being healed using CBD products. In conjunction with maintaining a healthy diet, Miller used CBD products to combat his illness after consuming bad alpaca stew. Based on his discovery of CBD’s benefits to help with physical ailments, he became an advocate of alternative medicine and opened MINERAL with cofounder Harris Fazlani.
MINERAL offers a line of self-grown hemp and CBD products for both physical and mental ailments. MAISON, a topical cream, is a muscle tissue pain reliever. This product is great for inflammation, abrasions, and skin irritations. MAISON blends hemp oil, sage, sandalwood, and peppermint, infused into a coconut and vitamin E base. BALANCE, another MINERAL product made of white jasmine, citrus, and raspberry, creates a calming effect. Taken under the tongue, BALANCE improves mood and inflammation and positively impacts the body and mind. BALANCE is a CBD alternative to antidepressants that helps with anxiety.
SLEEP, a CBD sleep product, relieves both inflammation and anxiety to guarantee a good night’s rest. With ingredients including cedarwood and California pine, this product induces sedation using caryophyllene and linalool. Caryophyllene is used for healing inflammation, is analgesic (pain-relieving), and aids sleep. Linalool is a calming agent that works great for relieving anxiety and helps with epileptic seizures. SLEEP’s main sedative ingredient is CBN, which occurs when THC gets a large amount of sun exposure and oxidizes into CBN. THC levels decrease to create concentrated CBN. Another MINERAL product is RECOVERY, a dietary supplement used for people susceptible to inflammation and both physical and emotional stress. RECOVERY is a 40-day supply used for mental and physical wellness containing lavender, a known calming agent.
In addition to MINERAL’s wellness products, this local business is dedicated to education surrounding plant-based healthcare. Feeling strongly about the education of cannabis and cannabinoid use, Miller uses his physical location as one of Austin’s industry community centers. MINERAL also hosts wellness events, helping people transition back into alternative medical practices.
Since its removal from the Schedule 1 drug classification, CBD is changing the healthcare industry and even becoming transcendent in certain niche wellness scenes. Because of the fading cannabinoid stigma, patients, both animals, and humans alike are being treated holistically in the face of growing opioid and prescription drug epidemics. Using CBD products is an innovative way to induce appetite, without the psychoactive effects of high THC levels. While none of the MINERAL products are completely THC free, these concentrates will create a calming effect without the “high.”
Expanding plant-based medicine education is important for society, whether topically or when ingested, as it is a naturally-occurring healthcare option. By teaching communities about CBD and its benefits, local businesses like MINERAL are even helping find alternatives to emotional and mental dependencies like alcohol addiction.
