New store in south Montgomery County set to sell cannabidiol products

A new store is set to open Saturday, Dec. 1, on Rayford Road in Spring that will sell responsibly-sourced hemp-based products. The shop - called Ojas CBD - was founded by a native of The Woodlands, Billy Franklin, who said he wants to create a place where those who believe in the as-yet-to-be proven medical aspects of CBD can buy the product and know it is sourced from reputable hemp farmers. less A new store is set to open Saturday, Dec. 1, on Rayford Road in Spring that will sell responsibly-sourced hemp-based products. The shop - called Ojas CBD - was founded by a native of The Woodlands, Billy ... more Photo: Photographs Courtesy Ojas CBD/Billy Franklin / Photographs Courtesy Ojas CBD/Billy Franklin Photo: Photographs Courtesy Ojas CBD/Billy Franklin / Photographs Courtesy Ojas CBD/Billy Franklin Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close New store in south Montgomery County set to sell cannabidiol products 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

As the legalization of both medical and recreational cannabis is approved in a growing number of states across the country, patients in the states where the use of those products has not been approved have routinely turned to a lesser-known chemical associated with cannabis and hemp called cannabidiol, also known as CBD.

Beginning Saturday, Dec. 8, those in Montgomery County who believe hemp-based cannabidiol can help with whatever medical ailments they suffer from will have a new store where they can buy the products, which have a limited — and complicated — legality both federally as well as in Texas.

Billy Franklin, a resident of Willis who is a native of The Woodlands, announced that he is opening his new business — Ojas CBD — on Saturday at 1902 Rayford Road in Spring. Franklin said the new business is selling what he believes are legal products which contain CBD.

The products Franklin said he intends to sell are different that those allowed under the state’s Compassionate Use Program. He also stressed that there is no proof CBD can cure any medical condition, but from his experience, it believes it can help with various medical issues.

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“We’re going to start off (selling) CBD tinctures, but we will also have various mouth sprays, bath bombs and eventually we’ll be carrying (CBD) lotions and edibles,” Franklin said. “We are getting (hemp-based) CBD mainly from Colorado and Washington. It is all hemp-based with zero THC.”

Franklin said his introduction to CBD oils and treatments came in 2014 when he was residing in California and a friend who was a military veteran that suffered from PTSD recommended he use CBD for relaxation and meditation purposes. Franklin began using CBD and said that by 2017, a tumor doctors had found during an exam that year had apparently partially disappeared.

“There is no proof the CBD made (the tumor) go away,” Franklin admitted, “but I believe it did help.”

CBD sales, use complicated by federal, state regulations

Cannabidiol is one of many chemical compounds found in cannabis, also called marijuana, and can be derived from either a traditional cannabis plant, or the hemp plant. Cannabidiol does not give a user the typical “high” effect that the flowers of cannabis do, which are also referred to as “buds.” Many medicinal marijuana proponents believe CBD has more medical benefits than traditional cannabis with THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol.

Cannabis is currently considered a Schedule 1 drug by the Food and Drug Administration, which means there is no proven medical benefits or value to its use and its use is illegal on the federal level. However, as states across the nation legalize both medical and recreational use of cannabis, both scientists and politicians have called for the rescheduling of cannabis so it can be used for medicinal purposes.

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Cannabidiol that is found in legally-grown hemp is of much lower levels of CBD potency than what is found in a normal cannabis plant.

Lyndsay Meyer, a spokesperson for the FDA, which regulates medications, including CBD, said the FDA recently approved a CBD-based medication called Epidiolex — which is specifically designed to treat seizures from a childhood epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. However, she added, CBD has not been approved for use as a dietary supplement or an additive to food products.

She would not comment on other applications for CBD such as oils or soaps.

“What we have said about (CBD) is that we’re talking about interstate commerce,” Meyer said of any FDA guidelines that have been issued on CBD products. “We’ve also issued warning letters to companies about CBD. Some companies try to market their products as (CBD-infused) food supplements — that is illegal.”

Meyer also said that trying to compare the drug Epidiolex to CBD oils and soaps sold in stores across the nation was not possible, because the drug was made by a worldwide pharmaceutical company with complex chemical engineering to treat a specific type of medical condition.

“It is confusing, I know,” she said.

In Texas, which has one of the most restrictive medical cannabis programs in the nation — called the Compassionate Use Program — patients who have been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy can be prescribed CBD oil, which is sold at one of three state-licensed dispensaries. The CBD oil regulated in the CUP program is derived from cannabis and contains extremely low levels of THC along with more elevated levels of CBD than what are found in products sold at stores like Franklin’s new business.

Doctors across the state can register with the program and then become able to legally prescribe low-THC CBD oil. The only known doctors in Montgomery County with authority from the state to prescribe CBD oils to patients are neurologists Dr. Benny Wang and Dr. Shaun Varghese.

The types of CBD products Franklin will be selling do not fall under the authority of the state CUP program, which is administered by the state Department of Public Safety. Franklin said he will sell specific products that do not require a prescription.

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Lara Anton, a press officer with the Texas Department of of State Health Services, said because the CBD products like the ones Franklin intends to sell are not regulated under CUP, they fall under the guidelines of the state DSHS, which inspects food product manufacturing, cosmetics and other industries.

Anton said the question of whether or not CBD oils are legal to sell in Texas technically is not known at this time.

“We do not have any protocols (on CBD) at this time,” Anton admitted. “There are so many ways it could be regulated … the department does not have a protocol in place. It depends on how it is labelled and what its intended use is for.”

The issue of CBD’s legality has been a question for states across the country, including Texas, because of the lack of research on the CBD’s effects as well as FDA limitations on research. There is also the issue of fake CBD products, which have been found in several states and led to numerous warning letters sent to manufacturers from the FDA.

Anton said state officials in Texas became more aware of CBD when the department proposed new regulations on the inspections of food product manufacturing, during which a period of public comment on the proposed regulations was conducted, leading to dozens of comments sent to state officials about the prevalence of CBD in scores of products.

“There was a lot of comments from people about how people benefitted from (CBD) and that it was used in a wide range of products,” Anton said. “We sought the advice of the FDA, the DEA and the Texas (Compassionate Use Program). That’s where there is a lot of gray area.”

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The FDA’s approval of the drug Epidiolex, Anton said, changed the way state officials viewed CBD.

“The approval of Epidiolex changed a lot, that puts (CBD) in a different category,” she added. “We realized we needed to step back and take a wider look at (CBD).”

The issue of CBD is also a complex one for law enforcement officials, said Montgomery County sheriff’s Lt. Scott Spencer.

“I would say that there are some (CBD) oils, depending upon the manufacturer, may be found to be legal or illegal,” Spencer explained. “While THC’s legal status tends to be cut and dry, CBD’s legal status is more complex and can be confusing and products still may be subject to seizure with the possibility of arrests.”

Spencer also said that sheriff’s office narcotics officials are “continuing to do investigations on CBD shops under the presumption that it may be illegal.”

“We will do a search warrant, seize the product and send for testing prior to any possible arrests. We never know what may be in the product so these shops sell them or advertise them as a “legal” substance,” Spencer added. “Keep in mind that there is no real oversight in the manufacture of this oils, so anyone purchasing is assuming that the product may be legal and non-harmful. We believe otherwise.”

Shop an effort to normalize CBD

Despite the confusion and litany of regulations, Franklin said his store will be fully legal and sell non-THC products. And, he added that he has worked in conjuction with officials in Montgomery County as well as Texas to ensure proper tax forms are filed out and his business is licensed and registered through the Montgomery County Clerk.

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A veteran of the solar power industry, Franklin said he decided to open a CBD business after using the products himself and experiencing the wave of medical cannabis legalization across the country. He also said one important aspect of his business is that there will be both transparency and accountability, something he claims is largely absent in current iterations of CBD oil being sold elsewhere.

“There is nobody around (Houston) really doing CBD except a few places. You can go into almost any vape shop and find “CBD” products, but it is usually a junk product,” he said, noting that law enforcement agencies around Texas and nation have recently raided stores selling illegal products, some with THC or others with synthetic CBD.

“It is like playing Russian roulette,” Franklin said of buying what he said are suspect CBD products. “I am able to produce a product that you can trace all the way back to the source, legitimate growers in Colorado and Washington. We will ensure all product labels will comply with (FDA) regulations. All we can do is recommend from our experience, not tell them about medical uses.”

jeff.forward@chron.com