Your CBD Store opens new location in Morris

When Jackie Cook opened the doors at Your CBD Store on Friday morning, it was the culmination of months of prep work to bring the new specialty shop to Morris.

Cook’s husband, Michael Cook, and her brother Dustin Delpivo are the owners of three Your CBD Stores, independently owned franchises of the Your CBD Store chain. The family owns stores in Peru and Sterling, and saw a need for a location in Morris.

“We have a lot of people who travel from this way out to the Peru store, so we figured we’d make it easier for them,” Cook said.

The company aims to help those looking for relief from a variety of issues using CBD, which stands for cannabidiol, while busting myths that people may have about what exactly CBD is and how it works.

“There’s plenty of stigma behind what we do, but this is all hemp derived products. So it’s not marijuana. There is no psychoactive when using CBD,” Cook said. “CBD is used to benefit so many different things. Anywhere from depression and anxiety to aches and pains and inflammation. It’s not about getting high when you use CBD, it’s about getting some natural relief.”

CBD is a naturally occurring cannabinoid found in cannabis plants, although it can also be produced synthetically.

For those who might be skeptical, recent studies support the positive effects of CBD.

According to a 2017 report from the World Health Organization, "CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential" in humans. According to the report, "there is also preliminary evidence that CBD may be a useful treatment for a number of other medical conditions."

The WHO report noted that CBD is used to treat multiple ailments, and is generally well tolerated with a good safety profile.

“Reported adverse effects may be as a result of drug-drug interactions between CBD and patients’ existing medications,” according to the report. “Several countries have modified their national controls to accommodate CBD as a medicinal product.”

According to that report, to date, there is no evidence of any public health-related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.

“When you do the research and discover that we have an endocannabinoid system and we actually produce CBD, just not at high enough levels to do what happens like when we use CBD, it’s pretty incredible,” Cook said. “We don’t have a codeine receptor, but we do have a CBD receptor.”

Cook said the products sold at the store – including creams, lotions, candies, coffee, gummies, water solubles, bath bombs and even dog treats – can help provide relief for those suffering from certain ailments but also looking for natural solutions.

“That makes a lot of sense to me, when you think about the opioid crisis that face today,” she said. “I was doing some research, and since 1999, the amount of people who come to the doctor and complain of pain has not increased, but the amount of prescription drugs that we prescribe for pain has increased over 400%. That’s scary.”

Your CBD Store sells products from SunMed, a Florida-based company that uses hemp grown in Colorado. Cook said the products each have a certificate of analysis – meaning each product can be tracked from its harvest.

“You can track it all the way to the soil,” she added. “Our products are the only USDA certified CBD on the market today.”

The Morris Your CBD Store is located at 811 Liberty St.