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Rick Sotil jokes that, as someone who’s “never even smoked a joint,” he may seem the unlikely leader of a CBD business. “My kids were laughing,” he recalls, when he first began exploring the venture about two years ago.  Indeed, it seems a far cry from the Cuba native’s past as a professional world champion jai alai player; and from his other business, Sotil Tree Service, which he’s run for more than 20 years. But these days he’s bringing the same passion he brought to jai alai and woodworking to Lasa Extract, the Suffield-based business he runs on what used…

Rick Sotil jokes that, as someone who’s “never even smoked a joint,” he may seem the unlikely leader of a CBD business. “My kids were laughing,” he recalls, when he first began exploring the venture about two years ago.  Indeed, it seems a far cry from the Cuba native’s past as a professional world champion jai alai player; and from his other business, Sotil Tree Service, which he’s run for more than 20 years. But these days he’s bringing the same passion he brought to jai alai and woodworking to Lasa Extract, the Suffield-based business he runs on what used…

“Now it’ll be a little bit more because I have to do everything through a federally certified lab, and our closest one I believe is in Massachusetts,” Vega said. “There’s things that make it a little bit more troublesome, but it’s not a problem usually for the bigger guys, because they have all that extra money and they can push it. But as a small business, it makes the waters a little bit more murky to navigate.”

LITCHFIELD — In the first few minutes listening to George Manzone, owner of the Litchfield County CBD Co., one might take him for a scientist or medical doctor, as he easily rolls out words like “endocannabinoid system,” “cerebellum” and “terpene enhanced glycerides.” With further conversation, it becomes apparent that he is a bit of both. He is also a man on a mission: “To provide customer service as quality crafted as our product,” he said. The abbreviation CBD has become more widely known, mostly for pain management. Their website explains that CBD is actually cannabidiol, which is one of more…

NEW CANAAN — Oversized balloons, a large grand opening banner, and a sandwich sign announced the opening of Your CBD Store over the weekend at 48 Elm Street — an unusual sight during the coronavirus pandemic. The store sells herbal products made from hemp, not marijuana as many assume. The (grand) opening went very well,” starting Friday, July 10, 2020, owner Anthony Pisano said. “People were really receptive,” and often said “this is great.” The grand opening went through Sunday, July 12, 2020. Pisano, a Hearst Connecticut Media Group advertising employee, was concerned that the weather may impact his opening,…

WESTPORT, CT — A new CBD store is opening in Westport’s downtown shopping district. Franny’s Farmacy is scheduled to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its Church Lane location on Thursday, owner/operator Griff Conti announced. The store specializes in “a full line of CBD and hemp oils, CBD topicals, hemp edibles, women’s, baby, and pet lines of hemp and CBD products, hemp flower, CBD-infused coffee and tea, and more.” Conti has a background in the cannabis business, and said he hopes area residents enjoy the health benefits of CBD, which is short for cannabidiol. CBD is a chemical compound from hemp…

C. Michael White, professor of pharmacy. The claims for CBD’s alleged healing powers have been so exaggerated that it’s no surprise that a CBD maker was recently warned by the New York attorney general for claiming that the molecule can fight COVID-19. There are no credible animal or human studies showing CBD has any effect on SARS-CoV-2 or the course of COVID-19 infection. As professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Connecticut, I’ve investigated many claims of vitamin cures for various illnesses over the decades, including CBD. Antioxidant vitamin cocktails were once believed the new stars of…

Connecticut farmers growing industrial-hemp to meet industry demand for cannabidiol, or CBD, could earn a profit of up to $12,000 per acre, a new study shows. Hemp-derived CBD has become a mainstream phenomenon since the passage of the U.S. Farm Bill in Dec. 2018, which legalized hemp with some conditions. Advocates have promoted hemp’s health benefits — treating insomnia, depression or anxiety — but there’s little clinical research that proves CBD’s effectiveness.  Still, CBD hemp, a non-intoxicating substance, could reap farmers in-state an estimated profit of between $5,086 and $11,11,656, depending on fixed costs, local prices, CBD content and total…