The pharmacy company is the latest to get involved with cannabis
CVS Pharmacies recently announced that it would start selling products containing cannabidiol (CBD) in 800 stores across eight states. It is certainly a huge step forward for CBD’s acceptance and a CVS competitor wasn’t going to let the company get all of the action. Walgreens has now announced that it, too, will begin to offer CBD products.
Walgreens announced this past Wednesday that it will offer CBD sprays, patches and creams at 1,500 stores across the country. It didn’t mention the brands that would be involved, only stating that the products would be coming to stores in Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vermont, South Carolina, Illinois and Indiana.
In an email to CNBC, Walgreens spokesman Brian Faith stated, “This product offering is in line with our efforts to provide a wider range of accessible health and wellbeing products and services to best meet the needs and preferences of our customers.”
CBD use is on the rise, despite the Food & Drug Administration’s lack of ability to decide on its status. Last year, the number of CBD users rose to twice the amount from the previous year and this number is expected to increase even more this year.
CBD is non-psychoactive, but provides many of the same benefits found in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This gives it the ability to be administered for a range of ailments, including chronic pain, arthritis, inflammation and many more, without leaving the consumer feeling “high.” There have already been a number of studies verifying the legitimacy of the cannabis compound and this will lead to more, safer drugs to fight diseases similar to the CBD-infused epilepsy drug Epidiolex.