Dr. Rasean Hodge wants to educate others on CBD. The Atlanta doctor now focuses heavily on growth in this cottage industry.
He recently spoke to rolling out about the pros and cons of using the cannabis ingredient.
What are some of the positives of using CBD?
CBD is very common. It’s the non-psychoactive component cannabinoid of cannabis. If you’re new to cannabis, cannabis has two main carbonoids. Cannabis sativa, that’s the genus species. THC causes high psychoactivity. CBD is great for pain, great for mood, great for digestion, inflammation, antiviral and antiplasmodial. There’s a CBD pharmaceutical drug called epidiolex [that] we use that for two severe childhood epilepsy syndromes and epilepsy.
That’s what CBD can do. The full name is cannabinol. This is all evidence-based medicine. I don’t go by popular opinion, I go by evidence-based medicine. Clinical trials are showing great efficacy in using CBD with tobacco cessation with opioid-use disorder and benzo-use disorder.
CBD is going to be a drug in the future that’s really going to target addiction.
What are your thoughts on pastor Jamal Bryant being open to the idea of using some of his land at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church to grow CBD?
I think that’s a beautiful idea. The church is a nonprofit with lots of land. In 2,018 Georgia passed the farm bill which legalized hemp farming. Hemp and cannabis are genetically the same. But one has THC — less than 0.3 [percent] — and the other one, TC is above .3 [percent]. It’s considered cannabis. One has been bred for textile manufacturer’s use, the other one has been bred for more medicinal recreational. Having a farm, pastor Bryant could apply for a hemp license here in Georgia right now.
Black and Brown communities have been decimated with this failed drug war. It’s a great lane. CBD is not just for ingesting for Parkinson’s, pain, sleep, or possible mood [swings]. You have CBD hemp concrete. There’s hemp steel. Hemp is a great biofuel.
The beauty industry is a $1 billion industry. You can use CBD as a great molten. It’s going to replace lotion, Vaseline, CBD bath bombs, CBD lotion and CBD deodorant.
What is the misconception about CBD?
A lot of people think it’s one size fits all. We’re all going to need the same dose. If I digest cannabis or inhale cannabis, then you’re going to get the same reaction. That’s just false. That’s the biggest misconception. Some people are going to get more paranoid, so we can’t say cannabis is good for sleep.
People say, “Well, hey, I’m depressed. I’m going to smoke one.” No, some people are going to get more depressed, more anxious, experience more suicidal ideation and have more suicidal thoughts. Some people say, “Hey. CBD is great for coronavirus. I didn’t even take the vaccine, I’ve been smoking and I’m good.” Well, I’m a smoker and I caught COVID, so that’s a lie. “CBD is going to stop HIV,” that’s a lie.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
