Conni Womack residing in her Joplin home experienced a tragedy several residents of the city know all too well.
“My husband and I were in the tornado, and there was a little PTSD going on,” explained CBD oil user Connie Womack.
Surviving the tornado brought a whirlwind of new problems for womack.
“Everybody was going like Zoloft and, and all these other drugs that just made you feel weird. I didn’t want to do anything like that,” Womack said.
“People are starting to think ‘I like this medication, but with it comes this ton of side effects. What if there was a more natural approach that would be similar to the benefits that I would get from the medication, but that wouldn’t have all of these side effects?'” said Mindy Miller, a clinical social worker.
So, Womack elected to go the more natural route–she started using CBD oil.
“The cbd oil is something that is going to help calm you, help relax you, and also energize you,” said Womack.
“It’s combined with glycerin, so it tastes relatively good,” said Suzanna Nelson of Suzanne’s Natural Foods.
Suzanne Nelson owns and runs a local health food store in Joplin. She’s been selling CBD oil at her location for about a year now.
“A lot of customers use it for pain, for anxiety, and PTSD,” Nelson explained.
The natural oil is derived from the cannabis plant but it won’t give you the euphoric feeling synonymous with smoking a joint. That’s because THC–the component in marijuana that gets you high–is removed from CBD oil. A medical professional in the Four State area says he understands the drug can be beneficial.
“It’s a pain killer. A very good painkiller,” said chiropractor Joe Schneller.
Dr. Schneller is a chiropractor in Joplin that’s been studying the effects of CBD oil. He says that while the substance can be effective in treating certain ailments, it can have drawbacks, like possible addiction.
“The dangerous part of it is sometimes, it gets too good and you drive past the point of recognition that you’re in trouble,” Schneller explained.
Dr. Schneller also is concerned with how conventional medical experts view CBD oil.
“The enigma of it being a marijuana derivative. A lot of doctors, a lot of people, a lot of professionals out there that say, ‘why you can’t take that THC stuff out of there because you’re still going to have that in there or it wouldn’t work?’ That’s really not true,” said Schneller.
He says in order to feel the same high as smoking, one would have to consume a massive amount.
“Is it going to get all of it out of there? No. You’re going to have two or three percent left over. But to get a high from that little ingredient, you’d have to smoke a gallon of it,” said Schneller.
But, users like Womack aren’t concerned with such scenarios.
“I don’t take it all the time. At first I took it for a couple or three months, and then when you listen to your body, it’ll tell you, ‘I’m done with this particular thing,'” Womack said.
It’s a solution that appears to work for her.
“It helped with the anxieties, and it helped with certain other issues. It also helped clear my head and helped with the energy, and that was a bonus,” Womack explained.
Womack has since told Action 12’s Ike Ejiochi that she hasn’t used her prescription medicine since she’s started using CBD oil. Although it’s made from the cannabis plant, the product is still considered legal.
