As it dominates headlines, sparks controversies, and finds its way onto menus in coffee shops across the country, you could even say that CBD is on track to becoming as well-known as its cousin, THC.

With all the focus on CBD, it’s easy to forget that there’s over 100 other cannabinoids out there, of which CBD and THC are only two. And among all of these naturally occurring cannabis-derived compounds, many have their own powerful therapeutic benefits that are on par with CBD. So with that in mind, which cannabinoid is next in line for its time in the spotlight?

Our nominee: CBN, short for cannabinol. In this article, we’ll dive into what CBN is, what its benefits are, and how it compares with CBD.

A QUICK PRIMER ON CBD AND CBN

Just in case you’re new to the world of cannabinoids, CBD is one of the primary compounds found in the cannabis plant (which includes both hemp and marijuana). CBD can make up anywhere from 1 percent to 25 percent of the plant, and in most strains, it’s the second most dominant cannabinoid next to THC. While THC is best known for its psychoactive properties, CBD won’t get you high; rather, its skyrocketing popularity is based entirely on its wide range of therapeutic benefits. Many consumers are touting the benefits of using CBD gummies and edibles for daily stress and anxiety, while others use the oils, balms and capsules for ailments like muscle pain, insomnia, and depression.

CBN is a bit different from CBD for a few reasons. The content in cannabis tends to be pretty low – 1 percent or even less — but external factors such as exposure to oxygen or heat can change it over time. Specifically, as cannabis ages, its THC content breaks down into CBN. Additionally, while CBD has zero psychoactive properties, the same can’t be said for CBN; that said, its psychoactive properties are very, very mild, so you’d likely need to take a massive dose of CBN to feel any sort of high.

CBN, although it may be new to you, researchers identified it as one of the very first cannabinoids ever and successfully isolated it for the first time in the 1930s. In fact, before discovering THC, researchers considered CBN to be the cause of the psychoactive effects of marijuana.

BENEFITS OF CBN AND CBD

Scientists have had CBN on their radar for a long time, but they have conducted very limited research on its use, especially when comparing it to the wealth of information available for both CBD and THC. That said, what we know so far about this cannabinoid is promising.

One of CBN’s biggest benefits is that it’s a strong sedative, making it effective as a sleep aid and anti-anxiety drug. According to Steep Hill Labs, CBN’s relaxing effects are comparable to the pharmaceutical diazepam, while a 1995 study on mice found that CBN can increase sleep time as well. Furthermore, taking CBD alongside CBN enhances its effectiveness for sleep. CBD has received praise for its ability to increase REM sleep, reduce nightmares, and treat sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea.

Aside from sleep benefits, both CBN and CBD are potent anti-inflammatories with powerful pain relieving properties. Again, taking both cannabinoids together appears to make these benefits even more effective. Both CBN and CBD can also relieve pressure related to glaucoma, and both have antibacterial properties, including against antibiotic-resistant MRSA. Among other benefits, CBD is a powerful treatment for epilepsy and anxiety disorders, and CBN shows promise as an appetite stimulant as well.

WHAT TYPE OF CBD OIL CONTAINS CBN?

If you’re looking to get the most out of CBD and CBN, you’ll want to pick up some full spectrum or broad spectrum CBD oil, as these types of CBD oil contain both compounds. Full spectrum and broad spectrum CBD oils are similar, with one crucial difference: THC.

Full spectrum CBD oil contains all the cannabinoids and terpenes that were extracted from the cannabis plant, including CBD, THC, CBN, and a variety of other compounds that vary depending on the strain. Broad spectrum CBD oil, on the other hand, goes through additional processing to remove all traces of THC, while keeping all other cannabinoids intact.

The “entourage effect” makes full spectrum CBD oil a popular choice. Taking each cannabinoid together enhances the benefits. This includes THC and CBD, CBD and CBN, and so on. Meanwhile, broad spectrum CBD oil is ideal for those who desire the benefits of full spectrum CBD oil, but who can’t have any traces of THC.

CLOSING THOUGHTS ON CBD VS CBN

As you can see, CBN shows a lot of promise for a wide spectrum of issues.

We believe, that just like CBD, it can be quite powerful for pain relief, sleep troubles, and anxiety. When you take CBN with CBD, you often experience even more potent benefits.. Researchers are likely to conduct much more research into the benefits of CBN and other cannabinoids in the near future, considering all the attention CBD has received lately.

And who knows – maybe CBN will start showing up in coffee shops next, right alongside CBD. We’ll be keeping an eye out for it!

The post CBD vs CBN: Differences, Benefits, And Uses For Two Potent Cannabinoids appeared first on Ministry of Hemp.

Lots of people struggle with getting to sleep, or staying asleep. While insomnia was already sadly commonplace, some reports suggest that worry over the COVID-19 pandemic is making it much harder to sleep. 

CBD is becoming one of the most popular over-the-counter, natural solutions to this problem, for lots of people. Finding the best CBD products for sleep is easier said than done, however, with so many options to choose from. We picked from some of our favorite CBD brands to create this guide to getting a better night’s sleep with CBD. 

Scroll down and we’ll show you 10 of the best CBD products for sleep. But first, we wanted to talk briefly about CBD and sleep and how we picked our favorites.

There’s more than just CBD and melatonin

For our guide to the best CBD products for sleep, we wanted to look a little deeper than you might expect.

Melatonin is probably the most common over-the-counter sleep aid available. As a result, it’s no surprise that there are dozens of products which combine CBD and melatonin. However, an optimal melatonin dosage varies a lot from person to person, so many people may find it easier to take CBD and melatonin separately, and others may want to avoid melatonin altogether.  We’ve included just one product below with both melatonin and CBD. Many other CBD companies, including several of our Top CBD Brands, also offer this combination.

Natural sleep aids like CBD, melatonin, and the cannabinoid CBN can benefit each other

CBN, another cannabinoid found in hemp and cannabis, is also an up and coming sleep aid. As we explained in our guide to CBN, there’s no research which proves that cannabinol helps people sleep better. Even so, consumer reports suggest that many people find it helpful. We’ve included some products with CBN in our Best CBD for Sleep roundup, so you can try for yourself.

In addition to tinctures and edibles that will help you fall asleep, or sleep deeper, we also selected products that can help you relax and calm down before bed. Creating a restful atmosphere, and soothing away the stresses of the day, is so important.

Of course, we only picked CBD products which met our exacting standards of quality and transparency. Complete ingredient lists, as well as third-party lab results that prove their purity and potency, can be found on each brand’s website.

The 10 Best CBD Products For A Better Night’s Sleep

Below, you’ll find the 10 best CBD products to promote a better night’s sleep. They are listed in no particular order. 

• Receptra Serious Rest + Chamomile Tincture
• Mission Farms Rest CBD Bath Soak
• Winged Sleepy CBD Gummies
• Slumber Sleep Aid CBN Sample Pack
• Neurogan CBD + Chamomile Tea
• Blue Forest Farms Dream CBN Advanced Formula 
• Extract Labs PM Formula CBN Softgels
• Kush Queen Sleep CBD Bath Bomb
• Secret Nature Secret OG Hemp Flower Pre-Rolls
• Smilyn Odisea CBD Coconut Face Mask

Ministry of Hemp received free products in return for writing this review. If you buy products using the links below or use our discount coupons, we may receive a percentage of the sales. We only selected the best CBD for sleep to include in this top product roundup. We always promise to give you our honest opinion.

Choose from the list, or read on to see all the products we selected.

Receptra Serious Rest + Chamomile Tincture

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• Product: Receptra Serious Rest + Chamomile Tincture is a carefully crafted blend of full-spectrum CBD with chamomile, valerian, and terpenes like linalool.
• Strength: 25mg full-spectrum CBD per 1ml dropper in a 30ml (1 ounce) bottle 
• Price: $79.99
• Why we love it: Receptra really went above and beyond to create this blend, with so many natural and organic ingredients designed to promote better sleep. See our full product review for more reasons we love this tincture. Also available in delicious gummy form.

Mission Farms Rest CBD Bath Soak

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• Product: Rest CBD Bath Soak from Mission Farms is a luxury goats milk soak, infused with the relaxing power of cannabidiol and added lavender.
• Strength: 175mg of CBD per 3.5oz bag of bath soak, also available in 7oz size 
• Price: $20 – $39
• Why we love it: The combination of CBD and goats milk soothes your mind while nourishing your skin. Not only is goats milk good for your skin all by itself, it contains a lot of MCT (medium-chain triglycerides), a compound that binds to CBD and helps your skin absorb more.

Winged Sleepy CBD Gummies

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• Product: Winged Sleepy CBD Gummies includes 10mg of full-spectrum CBD … plus 5-HTP, melatonin, GABA, evening primrose oil, and other carefully formulated ingredients. 
• Strength: 10mg full-spectrum CBD per gummy, 21 gummies per bottle
• Price: $35.00
• Coupon code: Use code MOH20 for 20% off your order! 
• Why we love it: This gummy contains just 2mg of melatonin, a very low dose. You’ll probably find this unique cocktail of “sleepy” supplements gets you dozing off quickly. Winged CBD products are formulated for women but our whole team loves them. We’ve also reviewed Winged’s great-tasting Relaxation Gummies.

Slumber Sleep Aid CBN Sample Pack

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• Product: This CBN Sample Pack from Slumber lets you experiment with the benefits of CBN alone, or try adding it to your existing CBD regimen, before you buy a full bottle. 
• Strength: 3 vials containing 10mg of CBN isolate each, and 6 softgels containing 5mg of CBN isolate each  
• Price: $30.00
• Why we love it: Slumber CBN lets you try just cannabinol by itself to see how if helps you rest and unwind. We love products like this which don’t require much upfront investment, but give you a chance to experiment with something new. Slumber’s Ethan Carr recently discussed the benefits of CBN on our podcast.

Neurogan CBD + Chamomile Tea

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• Product: Neurogan CBD + Chamomile Tea combines the renowned sleep aid chamomile with raw hemp leaves for a caffeine-free, relaxing end-of-day drink. 
• Strength: 20mg CBD per tea bag, 20 teabags per box 
• Price: $19.95
• Why we love it: Hemp tea tastes really great, with a nutty earthy flavor … even before you get into its relaxing effects. And, of course, our grandmothers were right that chamomile really can help you relax!

Blue Forest Farms Dream CBN Dream Formula

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• Product: Blue Forest Farm’s “Advanced” CBN Dream Formula tincture combines farm-grown hemp cannabinoids CBD & CBN with a unique bananas foster flavor.
• Strength: Broad spectrum tincture with 10mg CBD and 5mg CBN per 1ml dropper in a 30ml (1 ounce) bottle 
• Price: $64.99 
• Coupon code: Use code MOH20 for 20% off your order! 
• Why we love it: This is a perfect combination of potent cannabinoids, making it one of the best CBD products for light sleepers or people who can’t sleep due to anxiety, pain and other troubling issues. Blue Forest Farms also makes one of our favorite CBD gummies.

Extract Labs PM Formula CBN Softgels

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• Product: Extract Labs PM Formula Softgels offer make it easy to get a potent, reliable dose of both CBD and CBN every night.
• Strength: Full spectrum formula with 30mg CBD and 10mg CBN per softgel, 30 softgels per bottle 
• Price: $99 
• Why we love it: This 3:1 formula offers a strong dose of two major cannabinoids that may help people sleep better, plus the full host of trace cannabinoids and hemp compounds that can work together so well to create the “entourage effect.”

Kush Queen Sleep CBD Bath Bomb

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• Product: This Sleep CBD Bath Bomb from Kush Queen induces intense calm and relaxation as you soak your troubles away.
• Strength: Available in doses of 25mg, 100mg or 200mg of CBD isolate per bath bomb
• Price: $12.99 – $20 
• Why we love it: Everything about this bath bomb made our reviewer feel relaxed, from the amazingly soothing scent to the all-over relaxation that comes from soaking in CBD. 

Secret Nature Secret OG Hemp Flower Pre-Rolls

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• Product: Secret Nature Secret OG CBD Pre-Rolls are a perfect unwind and get to bed blend if you’re looking for a relaxing night time toke without the high.
• Strength: About 117mg CBG per .6gram full-spectrum hemp flower pre-roll, 7 pre-rolls per box
• Price: $40
• Why we love it: Secret Nature makes some of our favorite hemp flower pre-rolls, and this is one of their most popular “indica”-style sleepytime stress-relieving strains. Rolled in organic hemp papers, these tasty pre-rolls come in a sturdy, reusable box.

Smylin Odisea CBD Coconut Face Mask

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• Product: The Odisea CBD Coconut Face Mask from Smilyn Wellness hydrates and soothes your skin through this disposable, fully biodegradable face mask.
• Strength: 10mg CBD isolate per face mask, available in packs of 1, 3, 5 and 10 masks 
• Price: $7 – $50 
• Why we love it: We love face masks but a lot of them are full of hard to pronounce chemical ingredients. This biodegradable face mask from Smilyn Wellness combines CBD with skin-healing botanical ingredients like rosemary, black licorice, and coconut water. 

Drew De Los Santos contributed to these reviews.

The post Best CBD For Sleep: Better Sleep Through CBD & CBN Products in 2022 appeared first on Ministry of Hemp.

Despite the low levels of CBN found in hemp and psychoactive cannabis (“marijuana”), popularity in this cannabinoid is booming.

More and more information seems to be coming out on the positive effects of cannabinoids. Today, we’re going to look at CBN (cannabinol) and why some companies that sell CBN are calling it the next big thing for those suffering from insomnia, glaucoma, and arthritis.

While you know we’re big fans of hemp and everything made from it, we’re also believers in science, and the science of CBN is very new. As we’ll explain below, there’s still not a lot of evidence to back up brands’ claims when it comes to the benefits of CBN. At the same time, what is there is promising, suggesting CBN can help people feel better like the other compounds found in hemp such as CBD or Cannabigerol (CBG).

Table of Contents

• What is CBN?
• Does CBN help with insomnia?
• Other potential benefits of CBN
• How to take CBN
• Can CBN interact with pharmaceutical drugs?

What is CBN?

Cannabinol is one of the many cannabinoids found in the cannabis or hemp plant. What’s unique about this cannabinoid is that it doesn’t synthesize from Cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) like most cannabinoids. Instead, this cannabinoid is formed from aged tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). But unlike THC, CBN is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid. It won’t make you feel high.

CBN is found in high amounts in older cannabis but is still less than 1% total in the plant. 

Is CBN a sleep aid? Can CBN help with insomnia?

By far, the most popular, and most controversial property of CBN is its use as a sleep aid. It’s controversial because while some users (and hemp brands) swear by its sleep aid properties, the research is much less conclusive. 

In one CBN controversy, a lab retracted a study suggesting it worked favorably when compared with diazepam.

One study, conducted in 1975, looked favorably at the effects of CBN on sleep. However, it involved CBN used in combination with THC, the main active ingredient in psychoactive cannabis. The results seemed to show that subjects felt more drowsy when taking THC with CBN, but didn’t feel much difference from cannabinol alone.

Other than this single study, there’s not a lot of evidence to scientifically prove whether cannabinol helps you sleep better.

In a CBN sleep aid controversy, Steep Hill, a cannabis science and technology company, published a study comparing the effects of CBN to the powerful prescription sleep drug diazepam. Recently, however, they changed the text to read “Initially, it was reported that CBN was a promising adjunct in the treatment of insomnia, but with the advent of a few small trials, sedative qualities have not been observed. Further study is required.”

Right now, it seems like CBN may or may not act as a sleep aid. It might work better when combined with other cannabinoids, especially THC, because of the “entourage effect.” Until more research is done, our readers should try it for themselves and see how it works. Everyone is different and what does work for one doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for another. 

Other benefits of CBN

In other early research, CBN is showing many medicinal properties. Of the different websites we explored, Leafly offered the most comprehensive list of this compound’s benefits.

One thing you’ll notice about this research is it’s very preliminary. Just because something works in a lab or on rats, doesn’t mean it will work the same for humans. With that in mind, let’s take a look.

Potent antibacterial agent

A 2008 study looked at the effectiveness of cannabinoids on antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Cannabinol showed promise in the lab as an antibacterial agent. It’s important to note, we still don’t understand the mechanism of action — in other words, scientists don’t understand how hemp compounds fight bacteria.

Possible neuroprotectant

In a 2005 study of cannabinol in rodents, researchers used the compound as a treatment for ALS. They found it was able to delay the onset of the condition.

The authors note, “Further research is necessary to determine whether non-psychotropic cannabinoids might be useful in ameliorating symptoms in ALS.”

Appetite stimulant

In yet another study on rodents, CBN was shown to increase the amount of food that rats ate. It’s interesting that THC, the cannabinoid known for giving users the “munchies,” is the precursor for CBN.

Mild benefits for glaucoma

CBN might help those suffering from glaucoma. In a 2007 study on rabbits, CBN (as well as THC) reduced intraocular pressure – the biggest risk factor for glaucoma.

Before you get too excited, it’s important to note that CBN did not prove to be more helpful than traditional glaucoma medications. 

Cannabinol as anti-inflammatory agent

As with other cannabinoids, CBN acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and helps those with rheumatoid arthritis. In one study on rodents, it was shown to reduce symptoms of arthritis.

How to take CBN

The most popular way to take CBN is under the tongue (sublingually) via tincture. You should hold the tincture under your tongue for at least 30 seconds and swish it around your mouth a bit before swallowing. This ensures maximum absorption.

Most CBN tinctures contain between 50 – 300mg of CBN per 30ml (1 ounce) bottle. Many of the tinctures available offer a combination of CBN and CBD, most commonly in a ratio of 1 part CBN to 3 parts CBD.  It is also sold in combination with CBD and other cannabinoids as a full-spectrum oil.

‘Start low and go slow’ — begin with half a dropper or less before bed, and try that for a while to see how it affects you.

Although CBD and CBN do work synergistically, especially as a sleep aid and for pain management and inflammation, there is one word of caution when combining these two cannabinoids. While it is perfectly safe to combine them, they do have contrasting benefits. For example, CBD can act as a mild appetite suppressant while CBN works as an appetite stimulant. So, depending on what ails you, it may be more beneficial not to combine them.

You can also find this compound in capsule form, especially intended as a sleep aid. You can also sometimes find cannabinol as an isolate (an odorless, flavorless powder or crystal) or smoke the compound in hemp and cannabis flower.

Dosage advice: As always with cannabinoids, we recommend that you “start low and go slow.” That means you should take begin by taking a very small dose of CBN, and wait to see how it affects you before increasing.

For example, you might start with a half dropper of tincture before bed, and try that for days or weeks, adjusting up or down as needed, to find your optimal dose. Be careful when mixing CBN with other substances that might make you drowsy or dizzy.

Can CBN interact with pharmaceutical drugs?

Presently, there are no known interactions when combining CBN with medications. However, this doesn’t mean things won’t change as this compound becomes more mainstream and is studied more.

Though there are no proven interactions, check with your doctor before starting any new cannabinoid supplement.

In our article on CBD side effects, we talked about the possibility that CBD could interact with drugs that have a “grapefruit warning.” Right now, we don’t know if cannabinol has similar effects or not.

As noted by Project CBD in 2020, a study published in Drug Metabolism and Distribution looked at the risks of interactions between plant cannabinoids and a drug-metabolizing enzyme called carboxylesterase (CES1). CES1 Is important for activating and inactivating drugs that regulate blood pressure, as well as the drug Ritalin.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Florida showed that the cannabinoids THC, CBD, and CBN all inhibit CES1. However, this is probably not a cause for alarm because of the large amounts needed to cause harm.  For example, they said it would take hundreds of thousands of milligrams of CBD to do any damage. Though CBN is more potent, the dosage needed to interfere with these drugs still far exceeds the dosages used by consumers.

As always, it’s best to check with your doctor before taking this or any other cannabinoid supplement.

A promising natural compound

We hope this article on cannabinol provided some useful information, even though there’s still so much we don’t know.

As mentioned briefly, cannabinoid use affects everyone differently. There is no exact science to this yet. So, while it’s important to do your research, it’s also as important to be patient and try different cannabinoid combinations and dosages until you find what works for you.

Kit O’Connell contributed to this guide.

The post CBN: What Is Cannabinol (CBN) & Why Is It Getting So Much Attention? appeared first on Ministry of Hemp.

With more than 70% of U.S. citizens suffering from sleep deprivation, new hemp-based solutions have stepped up to replace pharmaceutical grade sleep aids. Just like CBD, some people report CBN can offer better sleep without the side-effects seen in prescription sleep aid medications.

To understand how CBN is helping everday people, Matt talked with Ethan Carr, director of operations at Slumber CBN in Denver, Colorado. Slumber is one of a number of companies that have entered the hemp health market recently focusing on CBN, rather than CBD.

We’ve already covered some of the differences between CBN and CBD, but we plan on publishing our own detailed introduction to CBN soon.

Brought to you by Ott Coffee

The Ministry of Hemp is proud to partner with Ott Coffee.

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Ott Coffee combines their artisan coffee with CBD for a whole new experience in your cup. Ott Coffee provides you with an alert, focused, and mellow state of mind minus the annoying jitters, anxiety, and crashes. They handcraft their products, made with high-quality ingredients that leave you with a relaxed and focused state of mind.

Use the code ott15 to get 15% off your first purchase at Ott Coffee.

Be sure to check out episode 43 of our podcast for Matt’s interview with Alwan Mortada, CEO of Ott Coffee, too. Thanks Ott Coffee, for making today’s episode possible!

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Send us your hemp questions and you might hear them answered on one of our Hemp Q&A episodes. Send your written questions to us on Twitter, Facebook, matt@ministryofhemp.com, or call us and leave a message at 402-819-6417. Keep in mind, this phone number is for hemp questions only and any other inquiries for the Ministry of Hemp should be sent to info@ministryofhemp.com

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CBN for better sleep: Complete episode transcript

Below you’ll find the complete transcript of episode 56 of the Ministry of Hemp podcast, “Can CBN be used for better sleep?”:

Matt Baum:
I’m Matt Baum. This is the Ministry of Hemp Podcast, brought to you by ministryofhemp.com, America’s leading advocate for hemp and hemp education.

Matt Baum:
Today on the show, we’re going to talk about CBN (cannabinol). It’s a new cannabinoid that helps you fall asleep. There is a lot of different companies out there that are starting to specialize in CBN all by itself. It’s ironic, because the show today is brought to you by our partners Ott Coffee, who combine CBD with coffee, which makes your cup of coffee so much more. I’m super happy to be partnering with these guys.

Matt Baum:
You may remember back in episode 43, I talked to their founder, Alwan Mortada. I’ll have a link to that show in these show notes, so you can go hear more about it. Later in the show, I will tell you how you can get a free sample for just $5.00 shipping, or 15% off your first order from Ott Coffee. I am a big fan, and I’ve been begging him for more. Alwan even got me drinking decaf, which is a first for this old man, let me tell you. But, we’ll talk more about coffee later. Right now, let’s talk about sleep.

Matt Baum:
I’m sure at some point in your life you’ve heard that we’re supposed to get seven to eight uninterrupted hours of sleep a night. Now, if you’re a light sleeper like me that probably rarely happens. In fact, according to sleephealth.org, “In America, 70% of adults report that they obtain insufficient sleep at least one night a month, and 11% report insufficient sleep every night.” Count me amongst that 11%, for sure. They estimate that sleep-related problems affect 50 to 70 million Americans of all ages.

Matt Baum:
Sleep deprivation has all kinds of terrible effects too, from just wearing down your immune system to permanent psychosis if it lasts too long. Now, a lot of people, and me included, have turned to different sleep aids like some of the major ones you see from commercials on TV where a cartoon butterfly flies in the window and lands on someone’s face and they drift off to sleep. Those are fine. They do their job, but they can also result in some groggy mornings and odd behavior like sleep eating and sleepwalking. A lot of over-the-counter sleep aids are nothing more but knockout drugs.

Focusing on CBN

Matt Baum:
The good news is, there is more and more scientific evidence that’s showing that CBN or cannabinol is excellent for helping you fall asleep. Today on the show, I am talking with Ethan Carr. He’s the director of operations at Slumber Sleep CBN in Denver, Colorado. Ethan and I are going to talk about what is CBN and why it works, how it works, and how to get it working for you. Here is my conversation with Ethan Carr. You’re talking to me from the lab right now, right?

Ethan Carr:
Yes, sir. Yeah, I’m speaking right out of the lab, right where the magic happens.

Matt Baum:
So, if we hear anything, it’s science stuff. Don’t worry, Ethan’s okay.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. If you hear any big bangs, as long as they’re not explosions, I’ll stay right here.

Matt Baum:
So, you guys only deal in CBN and we’re going to get into that real soon here, what CBN is and how it works. But, tell me about the choice to start a company that only works with CBN. Where does that come from?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, totally. When our founders had the brainchild to create Slumber, I believe their goal was to establish an awesome sleep aid product that did not focus on pharmaceuticals. Their focus was with CBN. CBN worked really well as a sleep aid for a lot of their friends and family. That’s when they decided to dive in and try to create an awesome new product.

Matt Baum:
Sleep aids are really gnarly. I don’t think a lot of people realize it. You wake up with a hangover. They knock you out, or they get you so stoned that you can drive your car in your sleep sometimes, or end up eating butter out of the refrigerator like an animal.

Ethan Carr:
Right, right.

Matt Baum:
It’s crazy.

Ethan Carr:
Right, yeah.

Matt Baum:
I will say, I’ve starting using CBN to sleep at night and I really like it. Now, here is the thing, I don’t know what CBN is. I know that it’s a cannabinoid.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah.

Getting to know Ethan Carr

Matt Baum:
I’m hoping you can help us out today. Before you do though, tell me a little bit about you. Why are you the guy? How come I can trust you to tell me this?

Ethan Carr:
Of course, yes. I was born and raised on the East Coast. I went to college in New Hampshire. I found my way out to Colorado with an interest in nature. I went to school for environmental studies. So, I was really focused on finding a new home and getting something new. I found myself working in a CBD lab in Boulder. Within a few weeks, I became very passionate about it. I found it as a very interesting avenue for myself. I liked the work. Through a few various positions over the past couple of years, I was lucky enough to land with Slumber. And as a relatively new company, they relied on me to put forward some nice science and figure out their operation side, and so that’s what I’m doing. I’d like to think that I am a reasonably trustworthy person when it comes to this topic. But, [crosstalk 00:05:31].

Matt Baum:
You don’t seem you’re shady. I’ll tell you that.

Ethan Carr:
Well, thank you. Yeah. Yeah, I’d like to keep up that persona.

Matt Baum:
Did you come from any type of science background, or is this like, you just dove right in?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. Environmental science, I took those few scientific courses throughout school and I found it very, very interesting. I thought it was an awesome way to begin to treat odd diagnosed illnesses.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
We don’t get too, too deep into the wrongful diagnoses and treatment of illness, but there is a lot of science that pushes that there is a lot of therapeutic benefits for cannabinoids. So, I found that really, really interesting and I wanted to learn more myself. So, I did some digging and through the boom of CBD everybody became acquainted. There is so much more to the space than just CBD.

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
CBN is one of those.

CBN is CBD’s ‘sleepy relative’

Matt Baum:
So, let’s start there. Real quick, give us a working definition of CBN. And then we’ll talk about how it differs from CBD.

Ethan Carr:
Of course. CBN, cannabinol. If I was to put this into a simple definition, I’d like to call it CBD’s sleepy relative. Right?

Matt Baum:
Yeah, absolutely.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. It works really well as a sleep aid and as a relaxant, so just like a lot of your other minor cannabinoids there are those internal benefits. We were able to lock in there that, CBN at the proper dosage can help you feel a bit sleepy and help you get a nice night’s rest.

Matt Baum:
Right. So, unlike sleep aids, this is not going to knock you out. That’s not the purpose.

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
The purpose is to relax you and get you ready for sleep.

Ethan Carr:
Correct. That’s a great thing to bring up. Unlike your pharmaceutical sleep aids, your Ambien and such, this is not going to make you, like you said earlier, wake up and stand in front of your fridge at 2:00 AM saying, “How did I get here?”

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
It’s not going to knock you out.

Matt Baum:
Birthday cake all over your face.

Ethan Carr:
Right, right, Waking up on the couch and you’re doing something silly in the middle of the night, and you say, “Oh man, this happened again.” Yeah, CBN is not going to do that to you. It’s more of a way to help ease you into that feeling.

Matt Baum:
What is the actual cannabinoid itself, like CBN? We know that CBD is the most popular one, obviously. But CBN, lay that out for me.

Ethan Carr:
CBN, cannabinol.

Matt Baum:
It’s literally, [crosstalk 00:08:02] cannabinol is the N.

Ethan Carr:
Cannabinol.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. C-A-N-N-A-B-I-N-O-L.

Matt Baum:
Not bad.

Ethan Carr:
Cannabinol.

Matt Baum:
I’m not going to spell that right in the notes, don’t worry.

Ethan Carr:
No.

Matt Baum:
I have an editor though.

Ethan Carr:
[inaudible 00:08:14].

Matt Baum:
Kit’s really good at making me look better at this stuff in the posts.

Ethan Carr:
[inaudible 00:08:17]. Yeah, it’s an incredibly unique and interesting cannabinoid, just like the rest of them.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

CBN, CBD & getting better sleep

Ethan Carr:
As science progresses, I believe we’ll learn that there is a lot of potential benefits for all of the other minor cannabinoids. But, CBN specifically, we’ve learned to be therapeutic and beneficial for sleep assistance.

Matt Baum:
How does it differ from CBD, for instance? Because I know CBD is also good for anxiety. It relaxes you and whatnot. But, I will also say, I have never taken CBD and said, “I’m ready to go to bed now.”

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
I take CBD at work to help with anxiety, or to help stay focused.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. I think right down to the basic use for us is, you’re able to lock in a beneficial dosage in a smaller dose. So, in those, a lot of your CBD tinctures you’ll find a rather high potency, or a let’s say just for example, 1,000 milligram CBD tincture in a 30 millimeter bottle.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
It breaks down to about 33 milligrams per milliliter, so about 33 milligrams per dropper-

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
… that you’re ingesting. That’s really beneficial. Our CBN product, our household signature brand that we call Slumber, our signature tincture is a 300 milligram CBN-specific tincture, and that gives you about 10 milligrams of CBN per dropper per milliliter.

Ethan Carr:
Now, how does that differ? Like I said, I think that the best separation would be that it is a sleepy relative. CBD carries many beneficial effects such as those anti-inflammatory properties and anxiety relieving.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
I think that CBN also carries a minor amount of those properties, but really drills home the, I’m beginning to feel sleepy effect.

Matt Baum:
Sure. So, the anti-anxiety and the anti-inflammation is there, but not in the same amount that it is in CBD. Now, you said, your guy’s dosage is lower. Is that because CBN is more powerful, or we just accept it into our systems differently?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. CBN generally binds with the CB2 receptor in the endocannabinoid system. CBN flip flops between the two and can do a little bit of everything.

Matt Baum:
Okay, back up real quick. You had a big word there. Let’s spell that out. Hit me with that. You said, it binds to the?

Ethan Carr:
CB2 receptor.

Matt Baum:
CB2 receptor. What is the CB2 receptor? Of course, I know. I just want to hear you say it.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, yeah. So, within your endocannaboid system, you have those two receptors that are most beneficial for ingesting these cannabinoids. The CB2 is, it’s what we believe is helping induce that sleepy state.

Matt Baum:
Okay, so the cannabinol specifically targets that CB2, or the CB2 specifically looks for that, one of the two?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. The CBN it is a… It primarily binds with the CB2. It has a better relationship, I guess you could say.

Matt Baum:
Just the nature of either the CB2 or the way that they bind, you don’t need as much, period?

Ethan Carr:
That’s a really good question. I think that our dosage really came down to eliminating that groggy feeling.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Better sleep without feeling groggy

Ethan Carr:
I think that was our real goal. So, I’ll give you a good example. My father, he’s an older man, relatively uneducated when it came to the cannabinoids. Right?

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
He took a CBD tincture that I made for him once. He said that, it helped him fall asleep, but he had a hard time getting up the next morning. He felt really groggy. And that wasn’t because it was a high dosage. It was just because he’s not an avid cannabinoid user. Right? He’s not a smoker. He’s not an ingestor.

Matt Baum:
His system wasn’t ready.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, his body was new to it.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
So, he felt rather groggy that next morning. That was a bit of a turn off for him because he had to get up and get ready for work and he wanted to be sharp.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
We’re getting a lot of positive responses that this CBN is able to help you feel that sleepy effect, get you comfortable and doze off. And in the next morning, you wake up feeling rested and not groggy.

Matt Baum:
Right. I can’t say I’ve had that same experience. But, again, I do take CBD daily. I also take THC as well, so my system is used to cannabinoids and whatnot.

Ethan Carr:
Right, right, right.

Matt Baum:
So, just like anything else, you start slow. “Start low and go slow,” is what we always say. Right?

Ethan Carr:
Of course.

Matt Baum:
I wasn’t aware that it could make you feel groggy in higher dosages. But, I guess that makes sense to an extent.

Ethan Carr:
Like you said, it has to do with the individual.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
Everybody’s system is totally different. The same way that if we wanted to associate it similar to consuming alcohol.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
Someone has a real high tolerance and someone doesn’t. Right?

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
So, depending on your body type, your metabolism, and how your endocannabinoid system works, it’ll affect you differently.

Matt Baum:
Sure. A party weirdo will be hungover and average, normal guy who doesn’t party like that is not. He’s going to be ruined for the rest of his life.

Ethan Carr:
Right, right.

Making CBN from CBD

Matt Baum:
It makes sense. How do you guys separate and say, okay, we just want CBN? Is it something where you do something to CBD and it becomes CBN, or is it completely separate and you have to go in and there is some type of different process to extract just that?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. So, just like all hemp derived products, it all starts with a nice quality grown hemp flower.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
The extraction process is almost identical to CBD because CBN is not an extremely high concentration of the hemp flower. If we were doing strictly the extraction, basically we’d need a whole lot of hemp flower and it would make CBN pretty pricey. Right?

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
With a bit of proprietary process, we are able to do some conversion to bring CBD to CBN.

Matt Baum:
So, it literally transforms into CBN?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, through some conversion processes and making sure we’re within our legal boundaries.

Matt Baum:
Of course. Of course.

Ethan Carr:
We’re able to create a quality CBN product that is CBN-specific.

Matt Baum:
Yeah, because there is concern out there right now about changing molecules and whatnot, and are we doing anything illegal? Even though you’re not, and there is nothing illegal going on, you could still be treated like you’re a meth dealer is you’re not careful.

Ethan Carr:
Correct. Correct. Yeah, we’re being as careful as possible and we’re trying to have a nice quality product on the other end.

Try our sponsors, Ott Coffee, for free!

Matt Baum:
Let’s take a quick time out to talk about our partner today, Ott Coffee. That’s O-T-T Coffee. You can find them at ottcoffee.com. They’ve got a newly designed super sexy looking website where you can order your own. Right now, for a limited time, you can get a free sample just by paying $5.00 in shipping.

Matt Baum:
Now, if you listened to episode 43 of this show, you heard me talk to Ott founder, Alwan Mortada all about their coffee. Quite simply, it is coffee plus CBD that leaves you in an alert, focused, but mellow state-of-mind minus the annoying jitters, anxiety and of course, caffeine crashes. They handcraft their own products made with high quality ingredients that leave you with a very relaxed and focused state-of-mind. They would love for you to try out a new way of drinking their coffee.

Matt Baum:
I’m a bit of a coffee snob and I know what I like. I have to say, this is very good coffee. Unlike the other expensive coffees that I buy, this one doesn’t give me jitters. It balances me out, gets me awake, ready for my day, but I also don’t feel like I’m going to vibrate through the floor because I’ve had too much caffeine.

Matt Baum:
Currently, Ott offers two different brews. They’ve got the Productivity series, which is a medium roast coffee blend with smooth notes of caramel, chocolate and vanilla flavors. This is the one he sent me and I love it. Their other brew is a decaf called, the Relaxation series formula. This is a medium roast coffee blend with smooth notes of caramel, chocolate and fruity flavors. It’s also great because I love coffee and I want to drink it all day long. Drinking coffee all day long can probably lead to a heart attack, so it’s not a bad idea to look into something like a decaf. A decaf with CBD also keeps me focused. It keeps me working. There is probably a little bit of placebo there too where my body, who equates coffee to being awake, feels like its drinking coffee, so it is staying awake. I really enjoy both of these and you will too. Whether you’re a coffee snob or not, mixing coffee and CBD works way better than I ever thought it would.

Matt Baum:
Head over to ottcoffee.com right now and support these guys for supporting us. We’re scratching each other’s backs here, and they really do have a great product. Like I said, you can get a free sample just for paying the $5.00 shipping, or you can use the code OTT15. That’s O-T-T15 to get 15% off your first purchase from ottcoffee.com. When you do that, you’re letting them know that the Ministry of Hemp sent you and you are thankful for them sponsoring us. Head to ottcoffee.com, tell them we sent you, and try a little CBD with your coffee. Now, back to my conversation with Ethan Carr.

Learninig more about making CBN from hemp

Matt Baum:
So, let me ask you, you said, it starts with a quality plant, of course. Are you guys growing a certain strain of hemp that is known for having more CBN in it, or less CBD, or something like that?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. So, right now, we actually are not growing specifically. We’ve been able to work with a great third party processor whose been able to hook us up with the tools necessary to create a great CBN product.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
We’ve been working on some new in-house methods. But with the current demand, we’ve been focusing on just working through the kinks right now.

Matt Baum:
So, it makes more sense to transform that CBD into CBN than it does maybe to work on a strain of a plant that’s going to give you more CBN.

Ethan Carr:
To grow it, right. To grow a CBN, a high CBN percentage flower is a…

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
It may be out there right now, but it is not common knowledge.

Matt Baum:
Sure. CBG is something else we’ve talked about the show and on the site.

Ethan Carr:
Right, right.

Matt Baum:
I know that there are strains of that, of hemp, that are showing more CBG. We’re slowly figuring out how to do that. So maybe, CBN is next in that process. I don’t know.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, no, I think that’s a good guess. I think as science progresses and as the stigma around cannabinoid products begins to dissipate, we will hopefully see some more quality strains come out that may be easier to extract and process.

Matt Baum:
Sure. So, tell me about the extraction process. You said, it’s no differ than a CO2 type process, or what do you guys use there?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, very similar to your basic CBD extraction. It’s almost identical. It’s everything right down to a CBD isolate and from there the proprietary conversions kick in.

Matt Baum:
That’s where the magic happens.

Ethan Carr:
That’s where the secrets lie.

Matt Baum:
Wave the wand over it and say the words, whatever, and boom, CBN is born.

Ethan Carr:
Wave the fingers, the abracadabra, and poof.

Matt Baum:
So, what about the science of actually bioavailability? We discussed how you guys dialed back the amount a little bit because you don’t want people feeling groggy. I don’t want to feel groggy either, of course. But, is it a matter of bioavailability where because of the nature of the CBN and the nature of that CB2 receptor you were talking about that we just accept it better, perhaps better than CBD, or is a matter of the oil that you guys are using as far as the carrier, if you will?

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, no, it’s no different. The carrier oil is probably identical to many of your CBD tinctures. The bioavailability is really no different except for when you were to maybe take a soft gel capsule.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
Which is something that we’re also able to offer, which we’re really happy with. The lowest bioavailable delivery form is through a tincture.

Matt Baum:
Of course, yeah.

Ethan Carr:
When ingested and absorbed, it has a much better effect, I believe, personally with me.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
It’s all individual.

Matt Baum:
Is there smokeable, or vapeable CBN out there that you know of?

Ethan Carr:
You can make it, similar to a CBD shatter or a CBD crumble.

Matt Baum:
Okay. You’re not going to get in a pre-roll, obviously, because for the most part you do something to the plant to extract CBD and then turn it into CBN.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, you’re right. It wouldn’t exactly be a smokeable CBN flower.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
But, maybe a caviar joint, if you will…

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
… of a CBN distillate on top.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
Well, that could be done.

Matt Baum:
With an isolate, distillate, or whatever on top. Somebody, I can’t remember who it was, but they sent me some of those. That it was like a CBD pre-roll and it did have CBG on the outside that they had made. They called it a honeycomb or something like that. It was really cool.

Ethan Carr:
Nice.

Matt Baum:
Really cool. But, I also don’t want to smoke before I go to bed.

Ethan Carr:
Right, right. Totally, totally.

All about Slumber CBN

Matt Baum:
I don’t want to stink. My wife is not going to put up with that. [crosstalk 00:22:20]. So, tell me about Slumber. You guys are in Colorado.

Ethan Carr:
Yes, sir.

Matt Baum:
How long have you guys been around? How long have we been doing this?

Ethan Carr:
Slumber, actually is a relatively new company. We like to say, we’ve been around for 2020. It’s been a brainchild of our CEO and co-founders for quite some time.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
As they wanted to help their friends who had some reliance on sleep, pharmaceutical sleep products.

Matt Baum:
Sure, sure.

Ethan Carr:
I’d like to say that, we’ll give ourselves just under a year we’ve been around [crosstalk 00:22:53].

Matt Baum:
Oh, brand new. Brand new.

Ethan Carr:
Relatively new, yes, sir.

Matt Baum:
All right.

Ethan Carr:
With the current situation around the world, we feel as though we’ve been able to accomplish a reasonable amount given the circumstances.

Matt Baum:
Are you telling me that people are having trouble sleeping these days? I wonder why. I haven’t noticed anything stressful going on.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, well, what a surprise. Right? You’d never know.

Matt Baum:
It’s funny. Yeah, it’s funny like that.

Ethan Carr:
It is.

Matt Baum:
So, did the owners, did they come out of the CBD realm and make the conscious decision that we’re going to switch to CBN? And if so, was it the kind of thing where they just saw a market share and said, this is where we want to be, because there is a million CBD companies out there now?

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
But, CBN seems to be very new and seems to be catching on.

Ethan Carr:
Right, yeah. I think the goal when Slumber was created was to have a breath of fresh air.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
As you just stated, CBD became a bit of a over-saturated market. There are a lot of products out there and it made it a little bit harder as a new company to gain that traction.

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
So, with a CBN-specific product, we were able to focus on what we believed was a crucial issue in the cannabinoid space, which was addressing sleep assistance. I think they just really wanted to build a brand that really focused on health and wellness.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
Not as much putting out as many SKUs as possible.

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
We have just a handful of products that we offer as of right now. We’re trying to keep it rather simple for the consumer.

Matt Baum:
There is something to be said [crosstalk 00:24:39] for that though, definitely. I mean, I think one of the things you should look out for, and we tell people to look out for when they’re looking into brands is, how many products are they offering? Is this a place that’s offering a couple things and doing it well, or is this a place that has pages and pages and pages of items, including CBD infused clothes and CBD infused soap and CBD dog stink spray? You got to watch for that.

Ethan Carr:
Yes, you do.

Matt Baum:
I think there is something to be said for doing it right.

Ethan Carr:
Right. There are plenty of companies out there in the CBD space that have a whole lot of SKUs and they’re all great products.

Matt Baum:
Yeah, and they’ve been around for a while doing it, yeah.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. Then they’re reputable brands and they really do believe in health and wellness. With that being said, like all industries, there is a lot of people who are in it for the quick dollar.

Matt Baum:
Of course.

Ethan Carr:
So, we focused on trying to be as helpful as possible for a specific issue.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Getting to sleep on CBN

Ethan Carr:
I think that’s why we stayed CBN-specific in our products. We wanted to focus on sleep assistance and sleep aid, people with sleep issues. If they’re able to take our CBN-specific product and get positive results-

Matt Baum:
Fantastic.

Ethan Carr:
… The answer is there. CBN was what you needed. Now, that’s not to say that everybody takes this product is going to receive a big old… They will not give us the gold star, right.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
There is many people who have taken it and said, “Hey, you know, that just didn’t quite work for me,” and that’s okay.

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
The goal for us is, all right, the people that take our CBN-specific tincture, does it work, yes or no?

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
If it doesn’t work, how can we help them reach their goal?

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
That’s where we’re at right now. We’re trying to find the alternatives, whether that be… Maybe that is a CBD, CBN ratio product. Maybe that’s beneficial.

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
I personally believe that taking a CBN-specific product and [inaudible 00:26:40] working is great. If it doesn’t work, we’ll readdress that at the end.

Matt Baum:
Sure. There is companies that they have things like valerian or add things like melatonin-

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
… and whatnot as well, which I don’t know about the full bioavailability science on that once you put it in oil. But, some people are doing it and it’s working for them. Let me ask you, I’m new, I know nothing about this and I come to… What’s the site? Slumber?

Ethan Carr:
Slumbercbn.com.

Matt Baum:
I come to slumbercbn.com and I’m tired, man. I just want to sleep. I’m going insane here. How do I start? What do I start with? Give me a regime. How long is going to take? Walk me through just how I get started and what I should look for to know that it’s working?

Ethan Carr:
Of course. So, if you were new to this, the cannabinoid space, and you wanted to be sure that you were getting a product that would work for you-

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
… I think the best place to start on our site would be either with our three day sleep kit vials, or our three day sleep kit soft gels. For the vials, that is three one millimeter vials of our signature solution. That is sort of an introductory product.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
If it works for you, perfect. [crosstalk 00:27:54].

Matt Baum:
How many milligrams am I getting in one millimeter when you say three one milliliter. How many milligrams of CBN?

Ethan Carr:
10 milligrams.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
10 milligrams per milliliter in our signature blends, yeah. I’d like to start people off with a sleep kit. Maybe that’s one sleep kit, maybe that’s two sleep kits, or start with 150 milligram tincture, which is half of our signature.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
That’s a step down, the more affordable option to get your feet wet in the space.

Matt Baum:
I’m getting ready to go to bed. How long before I’m going to bed am I going to take this? How long before it starts to… because I don’t want to like, “Well, it’s 5:00. I should take it now so by 10:00, I’m getting tired,” or is it so fast that 20 minutes later, I’m starting to feel it come in?

Ethan Carr:
That really breaks down to metabolism, I think. Personally, when I’m getting ready to go to bed and I feel my body, whether that’s fresh off of a run, right. Let’s say I went outside.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
I got my exercise in. Pretty rare that I did that, but let’s say that I did do that. I got my exercise in.

Matt Baum:
Guys like you and me, look at us though. I mean, we’re in the gym every day.

Ethan Carr:
That’s true.

Matt Baum:
Come on. You guys can’t see us, but we’re ripped. Don’t worry about it, anyway.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. We’re actually flexing right now, if you couldn’t see us. Yeah, I’d like to take it an hour to 45 minutes before my desired time to crawl into my bed.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
So, personally, I will get comfy, maybe on the couch reading a book, sitting outside, whatever my comfortable wind down time is. I’ll take my Slumber. Maybe on the first yawn, I’ll say, “I’m starting to feel a bit sleepy.” The feeling, it’s really no different to when you begin to feel tired.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
As you begin to feel that sleepy sensations like, hey, it’s time for me to crawl into the bed.

Matt Baum:
Right. You’re typical [crosstalk 00:29:45] wind down time is when you would say, all right, this is the end of the day, maybe I sit on the couch and watch TV or read for a little bit. But, that’s when you would say, time to take the sleep aid?

Ethan Carr:
Yes.

Matt Baum:
You’re not going to pass out on the couch? It’s not going to leave me there drooling?

Ethan Carr:
Correct, yeah. We’re not talking about an instant sleep. If we were able to make something like that with CBN, that would be a different ball game.

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
That’d be it. But, yeah, we’re happy with just working you into starting to feel the sleepy sensations and help ease you into a more comfortable night’s sleep. With the growing technology and everybody being either hooked up to an iPhone, or an Apple watch, and fitness and Fitbits, they’re able to track your sleep. Right?

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
So, your Apple watch could tell you how much sleep you’ve got that night.

Matt Baum:
I’ve been tracking mine.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. So, we have a few customers who were able to say, “Hey, I took your product and on paper, I got a better night’s rest.”

Matt Baum:
Yeah. I will say, [crosstalk 00:30:47], I’ve been taking it. You guys sent me the 300 milligram we talked about, I want to say about two and a half weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago and I’ve been taking it nightly. I sleep with my iwatch on and yeah, I’m moving less. I’m rolling around less, which is something… I’m a very light sleeper and I find that I wake up, turn over, wake up, turn over. When I’m taking this, I’m not going to say it’s 100% gone.

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
But, my watch is saying, “Matt, you’re not moving around as much,” and that helps me stay more comfortable and sleep. I’ve got a great mattress. I’ve spent a bunch of money on it. I was a little upset that it didn’t just knock me out, but there are no easy answers to some of this. Right?

Ethan Carr:
Right. Oh, yeah. That’s really what we’re leaning in. I don’t have an Apple watch yet. I think I’m working on maybe getting a WHOOP, an Apple watch, something that I can really gauge my sleep schedule with and sleep patterns. Once I have some good evidence on there, I want to start to track the use of Slumber. [crosstalk 00:31:47].

Matt Baum:
I literally had no use to do it until I started doing this show and then people started sending me sleep aids and I was like, “Well, I want to see.”

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
I can wake up and be like, “I feel like I slept better.” But, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Maybe you slept really well and you just woke up tired, or you didn’t sleep at all and you woke up feeling great. You don’t know.

Ethan Carr:
Right, right. Yeah. Who knows which one is working best for you until you have some good concrete evidence.

Matt Baum:
Totally. Totally.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, that’s what I like about some of that emerging technology that would help us solidify the efficiency of our products.

The future of Slumber CBN

Matt Baum:
Right. What’s the future for Slumber? What’s coming next?

Ethan Carr:
Ooh, the future for Slumber, without giving too, too many details away because-

Matt Baum:
Oh, come on. Come on.

Ethan Carr:
I think I might be telling you before I told anybody else on the Slumber team.

Matt Baum:
Yeah, right.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. I think the next product that’s going to come out of this facility will be a sleep gummy.

Matt Baum:
Okay.

Ethan Carr:
A sleep gummy product.

Matt Baum:
Cool.

Ethan Carr:
I think we’re also going to begin to offer more alternatives. So, if the CBN-specific [inaudible 00:32:51] product isn’t working for you, hey, maybe let’s try a CBN, CBD ratio product.

Matt Baum:
Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

Ethan Carr:
Let’s create a twice as strong CBN product. Right?

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
For those people that weren’t able to get positive results the first time, let’s see if we up your dose and up your potency, and let’s see if that works. If that doesn’t work, however much we may not all love it, a low dose of melatonin maybe that’s beneficial for you as well on this.

Matt Baum:
Sure. Sure.

Ethan Carr:
But, I think something that I’m really proud of that we’re working on will be a bit of a wellness platform. We’d like to be able to give you, not only the product, but also maybe the steps to help you find a nice night’s rest.

Matt Baum:
That’s very cool, because I think that’s something a lot of people don’t understand. You think you just take a sleep aid and then I go lay down and I just go to bed, right. I’m not sleeping. I took a sleep aid. What is the problem?

Ethan Carr:
Totally, yeah.

Matt Baum:
There might be some anxiety there, friend. Maybe we need to not stare at a blue screen, or something for a while, or turn the lights down. I think that’s a fantastic idea.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah. Similar to your morning routine, I wake up every morning at… and go downstairs and make my breakfast, get dressed, head out the door. There is some real concrete evidence that says having a nighttime routine really helps you out as well.

Matt Baum:
Absolutely.

Ethan Carr:
So, I’ve been trying to ease myself, like you said, cut off screen time at least 45 minutes beforehand-

Matt Baum:
Absolutely.

Ethan Carr:
… and get some fresh air, maybe do some stretching, maybe do some yoga, maybe do some breathing, right.

Matt Baum:
I don’t think everybody realizes that your TV is screen time too. You’re looking at the same-

Ethan Carr:
Totally.

Matt Baum:
… type of screen. It’s still LED lit up, blue background. That’s really bad for you. Your eyes equate that to sunlight, basically, and it messes with your eternal clock.

Ethan Carr:
Totally. Creating a nighttime routine also helps you trick yourself into feeling a little bit sleepy once you get that down to something that’s just part of your day-to-day every night. Let’s say that I start my routine around 8:00 PM. All of a sudden, I start to feel a little bit more sleepy at that time.

Matt Baum:
Totally.

Ethan Carr:
I could take my Slumber. I believe I will have an even better night’s sleep than I would have if I only took Slumber. I wish that I could shut my mind off, but I’m one of those people that always has the cartoon monkey with the symbols banging in your head.

Matt Baum:
Oh, same here. Absolutely.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, it’s pretty consistent.

Matt Baum:
The bear in the go-kart.

Ethan Carr:
Oh, yeah.

Matt Baum:
The chimp with the cigar.

Ethan Carr:
Yes, you name it.

Matt Baum:
The whole zoo.

Ethan Carr:
Exactly.

Matt Baum:
They’re all there freaking out.

Ethan Carr:
Exactly. So, what’s the best way to treat that, right? It more than just a supplement. It’s taking the proper steps. Right?

Matt Baum:
Absolutely.

Ethan Carr:
We think that in conjunction with the Slumber product, taking those proper steps, that’ll help you get a better night’s rest. That’s what we want to do. More than just produce sleep aid products, we want to help you reach your goal of falling asleep. Since we just had that nice conversation about what’s next for Slumber, maybe something that I’ve been messing around with in here, I just got to tune it in just right, a Slumber topical product.

Matt Baum:
Cool.

Ethan Carr:
Something that has a nice aroma.

Matt Baum:
Yeah.

Ethan Carr:
Because when you lay in bed, and you just got back from, let’s say, doing some exercising and you’re a bit sore…

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
… You’d take up on that when you lay down?

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
So, if we’re able to, not only address maybe some soreness and some aches and pains due to over exertion, let’s hit those with a nice topical product.

Matt Baum:
That’d be very cool, definitely.

Ethan Carr:
Let’s take some Slumber to help and let’s see if we can really get it all going.

Matt Baum:
Yeah, I love this idea. It’s nothing that anyone who doesn’t have children doesn’t already know. You have to have a routine.

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
As hard as it can be to get your kids to get ready to go to bed, once you get them in bed, they’re out cold, for the most part. I was a monster, but that’s my fault.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, I was as well. Right, [inaudible 00:36:46].

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
I wasn’t a huge fan of bedtime. I wanted to keep playing around.

Matt Baum:
Sure.

Ethan Carr:
I wanted to watch that late night TV show I never got to watch it. I wanted to watch it.

Matt Baum:
Right.

Ethan Carr:
Even as an adult, actually, I like to call myself an adult sometimes, who knows if I really am, but I like to… I think that establishing that is a huge step for your wellness.

Matt Baum:
Most definitely.

Ethan Carr:
To being able to say, “Ah, 8:30, time for me to start getting ready for sleep.”

Matt Baum:
Yeah, without a doubt.

Ethan Carr:
[inaudible 00:37:16]. Maybe 8:30 is a little early. Maybe that’s just me being an old fart.

Matt Baum:
I mean, that’s adorable if you’re going to be at 8:30. I don’t know, maybe you get up at 3:00 in the morning like you’re Amish. You got to churn the butter or something. I don’t know.

Ethan Carr:
That truly would be incredible. Now that I say it, I guess it’s more of an internal goal as much as the reality.

Matt Baum:
You do not need to be awake until 2:00 in the morning, damn it.

Ethan Carr:
Yeah, right. Yeah, and then yeah, exactly. I think that there is a lot of hope for not only Slumber Sleep Aid products, but a majority of the CBN products on the market. I think that as people become more acquainted with what it is and it’s similar to CBD and CBG. Like you said earlier, we’re starting to CBG as a more popular product on store shelves. It all comes with the spreading of information. And if we can spread information about not only our brand, but also just how to help you fall asleep, perfect.

Matt Baum:
I think it’s really interesting because a lot of CBD companies that have branched into CBG or CBN, or Slumber, for example, who just decided, we’re going to go straight CBN, they have been able to break out and discover exactly what that does, how well it works, how it works. And then you can look at gently reincorporating other things to create an entourage effect, if you will.

Ethan Carr:
Right.

Matt Baum:
Like, it’s okay, we’ll add back in CBD. We’ll add a little CBG and now you have something that helps with anxiety, and gets you ready for bed, and helps with pain and whatnot. So, it’s amazing what we’re learning. It sounds like you guys are doing it right.

Final thoughts from Matt

Matt Baum:
Here is thanks again to Ethan for joining on the show today. And as always, I will have links to Slumber CBN and a fantastic guide that we have on ministryofhemp.com about CBD versus CBN, the differences, the benefits and the uses for the two in the show notes for this episode.

Matt Baum:
That was a fun and serendipitous episode, if you will. Ott Coffee is sponsoring the show. A huge thanks to them again. They brought us a way to wake up with CBD, and then we talked to Ethan Carr who told us how CBN can help us fall asleep.

Matt Baum:
Next week on the show, I’m going to talk to Evan Nison. He’s the youngest member of the board of directors of Norml. It’s spelled N-O-R-M-L. They have been fighting for cannabis legalization in the United States since the ’70s. So, it’s going to be a really cool conversation about our friends that are fighting for marijuana rights and what it means for hemp legislation as well. Be sure to check that episode out next week.

Matt Baum:
And if you need some more Ministry of Hemp in your life right now, head over to ministryofhemp.com and check out our new guest post about sustainable CBD packaging. It pairs really well with the episode we did last time where I spoke with Jordan [Henishaw 00:40:08], the CEO of Green Tech Packaging about replacing plastics with bioplastics made from hemp, very cool stuff.

Matt Baum:
We’ve also got a new post about broad spectrum CBD, comparing broad spectrums and full spectrums CBD. We get a lot of questions on that one. So, if you’re curious, it’s a great article to check out.

Matt Baum:
If you dig this show and you dig the information we are kicking out at Ministry of Hemp, there is ways you can help us. First, head over to wherever you’re downloading your podcasts and write us a short review, or give us a star rating, or whatever they do there, because it really helps when people search for this stuff to bump us up in their search algorithms.

Matt Baum:
You can head to patreon.com/ministryofhemp and become a Ministry of Hemp insider. Any amount you donate, not only helps us to continue bringing you quality hemp advocacy and education pieces, but it makes you a Ministry of Hemp insider and gets you access to early articles, podcast extras and all kinds of cool stuff. Thank you so much to everyone that’s already become a Ministry of Hemp insider.

Matt Baum:
Here at Ministry of Hemp, we believe that an accessible world is better for everyone, so we have a full written transcript for this episode in the show notes as well.

Matt Baum:
That is it for this week and I’m going to get out of here now. I like to do it the same way every time. I like to say, remember to take care of yourself, take care of others and make good decisions, will ya? This is Matt Baum with the Ministry of Hemp signing off.

The post Can CBN Be Used For Better Sleep? With Ethan Carr, Slumber CBN appeared first on Ministry of Hemp.

On episode 21 of the Ministry of Hemp Podcast, Matt talks about a new pharmaceutical drug that uses synthetic CBD and nicotine to help people quit smoking. After that Matt has a conversation with Pure American Hemp Oil Co-Founder Spencer Schelp about their new CBN tincture for sleep, and why some consumers want to include the cannabinoid CBN in their healthcare routine.

Here’s some links from Leafly on CBN’s sedating effects and some more information from High Times and PopSugar.

More on CBD and addiction

Here’s some more links explaining how some people have used CBD to quit smoking or ease the effects of other addictions:

• Can CBD help overcome opiate addiction?
• Why are people using CBD to help quit smoking?

Send us your feedback

We want to hear from you too. Send us your questions and you might hear them answered on future shows like this one! Send us your written questions to us on Twitter, Facebook, email matt@ministryofhemp.com, or call us and leave a message at 402-819-6417. Keep in mind, this phone number is for hemp questions only and any other inquiries for the Ministry of Hemp should be sent to info@ministryofhemp.com.

Thanks again for listening! Contact sales@ministryofhemp.com if you’re interested in sponsoring our podcast or other content on our website.

Can CBD Help You Quit Smoking? Complete episode transcript

Below you’ll find the complete written transcript for this episode:

Matt Baum: 00:02 Welcome to another episode of the Ministry of Hemp Podcast. I’m your host, Matt, and this show is of course brought to you by ministryofhemp.com, America’s leading advocate for hemp education where you can find information about all things hemp all the time.

Matt Baum: 00:18 Today on the show we are going to talk about a specific cannabinoid called CBN. We’re going to talk about how it’s different than CBD, what it does, and why people want to incorporate CBN into their health regimen. So today on the show I’m going to sit down for a conversation with Spencer Schelp. He is one of the owners and cofounders of Pure American Hemp Oil. You might remember just a few episodes ago when Ian Erickson, the other founder from Pure American Hemp Oil, came on and talked about their mission. Well, today he’s going to talk about their new CBN tincture and why you might be interested in CBN. But before we get into that, let’s talk a little bit about hemp in the news.

CV Sciences develops new CBD-based drug to help people quit smoking

Matt Baum: 01:10 If you’ve been listening to the show, you’ve probably heard me mention the drug Epidiolex, which is the first FDA-approved drug using CBD as an ingredient to treat seizures in children. Now, Epidiolex was a huge story but it is not the only drug that is now seeking FDA approval using CBD as its main ingredient. CV Sciences out of San Diego is probably best known for their PlusCBD Oil. If you’ve spent some time over at ministryofhemp.com, you may have seen their name.

Matt Baum: 01:44 CV Sciences also has a pharmaceutical division and currently they’re working on a medication known for now as CVSI-007 to treat nicotine addiction and help people stop using smokeless tobacco products. Now, a lot of nicotine addiction is treated by supplementing a different type of nicotine for the nicotine that was in cigarettes. Think vaping, think Nicorette Gum or NicoDerm patches. All of which give the body the nicotine that you are craving without a cigarette.

Matt Baum: 02:18 The theory here is if you’re trying to kick nicotine, let’s kick nicotine. So they’ve developed a drug that is still pending FDA approval, but the idea is to make CBD with nicotine because according to Joseph Dowling, CEO of CV Sciences, the two compounds can have similar effects on the body, not necessarily the addictive effects, but physiological effects. The CBD that they’re using for this drug is completely synthetic, so it’s not coming from a hemp plant, which the FDA probably likes, and will probably help them get approved faster.

Matt Baum: 02:55 I’ve been very plain about my feelings about synthetic hemp on this show, and I’m not going to go into the argument here. According to Dowling though, there are mechanisms of action of CBD that mimic what nicotine does in the body, except CBD is potentially stronger with a much greater half-life. Half-life meaning it stays in the body longer. So they believe that the therapeutic range of a combination drug could be very effective for the treatment of nicotine addiction.

Matt Baum: 03:22 Currently, CVSI-007 is in preclinical development, which means it’s undergoing extensive safety toxicological analysis, which basically means they need to make sure it’s safe and it doesn’t poison anybody first. If the clinical results are successful and they do get FDA approval, that could mean that CBD could be used in the future to treat all manner of addiction. One thing that is for certain, swapping nicotine for a different kind of nicotine is not an effective way to kick a nicotine habit, and that is essentially what smoking is, a nicotine habit. While it hasn’t been approved yet and there is no real timeline, this stuff can take quite a while, CV Sciences was hoping to have FDA approval by the end of the year, so watch the news. Perhaps early next year, there’ll be a whole new way for you to quit smoking.

Talking CBN with Spencer Schelp of Pure American Hemp Oil

Matt Baum: 04:24 We talk about CBD a lot on this show and it is just one of several cannabinoids that scientific tests are showing have real benefits to the human body. One of the newest, most exciting cannabinoids out there is CBN. My next guest on the show is not a chemist, and he’ll remind you of that later on, but he’s a pretty smart guy and he’s got a very cool company that’s putting out a new CBN tincture. This is my conversation with Spencer Schelp from Pure American Hemp Oil about CBN, what it does and why you might want to include it in your regimen if you’re having trouble sleeping.

Matt Baum: 05:07 Now, Spencer, we recently talked to Ian not too long ago about Pure American Hemp Oil’s mission and how that the company came about. Today however, Ian has volunteered you to talk about CBN. Do you feel qualified for this?

Spencer Schelp: 05:23 Oh, as qualified as I’ll be at this point. Yeah.

Matt Baum: 05:25 Fair enough. Now I know there’s different isolates that we look for in products, but can you tell me why do I want to look for CBN? What is it and what does it do?

Spencer Schelp: 05:36 Well, CBN is, it’s one of a hundred or so cannabinoids from the hemp plant, from the cannabis plant. It’s recently, I’d say recently, but yeah, it’s fairly recently been identified and isolated I guess to a commercial level to where we can get it out and use it as an isolate, as an extract, as a distillate and start formulating product with it. It’s got numerous properties, benefits if you will, but obviously I can’t make any claims, but as a sedative, right? You know, it’s been lauded as a sedative. I think it’s the Smithfield Laboratory says-

Matt Baum: 06:15 Spencer says Smithfield Lab. It’s actually Steep Hill Labs and I’ll have a link to that study in the show notes.

Spencer Schelp: 06:21 They’ve got a study out there that says that about two and a half milligrams of CBN is the equivalent of a five milligram diazepam.

Matt Baum: 06:28 Really?

Spencer Schelp: 06:29 So that for our target audience, that was something we took note of.

Matt Baum: 06:34 That’s kind of amazing. I had not heard that.

Spencer Schelp: 06:37 Yeah, yeah.

Matt Baum: 06:38 Wow.

Spencer Schelp: 06:38 That’s what perked our ears up because again, we’re a… You know, Ian’s a veteran. We’re a veteran owned company, made in the US and everything, and we give veterans, first responders, educators, they get 25% off and free shipping all the time, all day, every day. So we always look at that niche.

Matt Baum: 06:53 Yeah. We have actually links to you guys on ministryofhemp.com as one of the companies that works with people that need financial aid. That is awesome. Thank you guys for doing that.

Spencer Schelp: 07:04 Well, we appreciate you guys. We’ve been having a pretty longstanding relationship at this point. I think we won the best gummy back probably three years ago with you guys. That was cool. You know what I mean? We’re proud to still be in business and proud to see how you guys have grown and been keeping everybody honest in the industry. So…

Matt Baum: 07:22 Right on.

Spencer Schelp: 07:22 Outside of that, yeah, it’s good stuff. We’re always looking for our core market, right? You know, when we first started this thing back three, four years ago and kind of was like, “Well we got to get CBD brand,” boom, you know, “pay me.” And that’s not really how it shook out, right?

Matt Baum: 07:41 Right.

Spencer Schelp: 07:41 You got to have a market, you got to have a value prop, and you’ve got to have buyers. We really found our niche with that veteran community and with that being zero THC in the beginning is quite an expensive thing because we had to find oils and distillates and everything that were zero THC and that was hard to do earlier on. It was more expensive. But at the same time, with our core audience, they can’t piss dirty. I mean, there’s zero tolerance to that.

Matt Baum: 08:08 Exactly.

Spencer Schelp: 08:10 So we spend a lot of money keeping consistent product and testing, right? We got to make sure that our tests are right. We just picked up another sponsored athlete, Pat Downey. He’s one of the best grapplers in the world and with any luck he’s going to represent us. He’ll be on the Olympic team with any luck coming up here in 2020.

Matt Baum: 08:27 That’s very cool.

Spencer Schelp: 08:29 Yeah. It’s cool. I mean, we’re we’re pleased. That’s another great niche for us. Grappling, sports, martial arts, jujitsu, things like that. Those are people that have pain, that have symptoms and that need a daily use product. Right? With that, we’re not trying to-

Matt Baum: 08:46 Yeah. Same pain, different injuries. That’s all it is. Right?

Spencer Schelp: 08:49 Yeah. We’ve found through testimonials and just talking through ourselves as well and talking with our client base that we’re not trying to stack another thing, another cost onto you every month. Right?

Matt Baum: 09:02 Right.

Spencer Schelp: 09:02 I mean, if we found that if you can take our product and it’s going to eliminate maybe a pharmaceutical or maybe a couple of things that you’re already taking and it does a better job and it’s less expensive, that’s a huge win for us, right?

Matt Baum: 09:14 Of course.

Spencer Schelp: 09:14 And people they’re just fine that amount of money to go around. So we’re very sensitive to that and our price points have tried to reflect that. Right? We didn’t get out there in the beginning and jack stuff up and then bring it down, and we’re really trying to do the same thing with the CBN. Right? I mean it might be the hot thing right now, and in a year from now, it’s not going to be so hot. I mean, it’s going to be a little more mainstream I’d imagine, but we don’t want to be spiking the price and bringing it back down.

Creating PAHO’s CBN tincture for sleep

Spencer Schelp: 09:40 When we launched it, we launched it at a modest level at a 150 milligrams of CBN. Now there’s still CBD in there and we also put melatonin in there because sleep was the other component. It’s researched and there aren’t a lot of claims about that but it does work well for sleep at least for me. Those are the big ones. A pain reliever, as an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. We’re also seeing as far as glaucoma, relieves the pressure on your eyes, essentially it lowers that and winds your-

Matt Baum: 10:12 Inflammation, right? You treat inflammation with this stuff and it helps.

Spencer Schelp: 10:12 Yeah, inflammation. Those have been the big ones. Then I think we’ll see a little bit further down the road for bone healing. STEM cells, right? So those do a variety of things as your body needs them. Kind of like cannabinoids, right? I mean wherever your body is going to take those and make the best use of those as your body chemistry dictates. So those are all things that we’re pretty excited about.

Spencer Schelp: 10:36 And then one thing we found as well, actually Ian reported it to me. We’ve trade notes on this stuff as we’re testing this stuff, and he’s like, “You know, I don’t know what it does for my sleep, but it sure makes me hungry. And then I eat and then I don’t sleep.”

Matt Baum: 10:53 It could be different for different people basically. I mean just like anything else, right?

Spencer Schelp: 10:57 Yeah, exactly. Everybody’s got different body chemistry, right? So you’re going to take that and use that. Your body is going to use that as needed. So if you look at the cross section of all that for sleep, for bone growth, glaucoma, pain relief, inflammation, all those things, I mean not entirely different than CBD but it all works together with your body-

Matt Baum: 11:17 So there’s more of a sedative property to CBN than there is to CBD.

Spencer Schelp: 11:20 Correct.

Matt Baum: 11:21 Okay.

Spencer Schelp: 11:25 It’s THC that’s been oxidized. It’s not psychoactive, but that’s the nuts and bolts of it. It’s like THC that’s been oxidized and it’s just a little more mature if you will. So for appetite, bone growth, things like that, and then you stack the sedative and then some sleep properties, it’s a pretty exciting piece for us. We’ve had really good feedback and we’re pretty pleased with it. It’s difficult to source it. And that’s what took us a while because it’s essentially derived from CBG through chromatography.

Matt Baum: 11:56 Okay. Let’s talk about that for a second. I’m curious. You were saying like sourcing CBN. Is that a whole different plant? I mean, when I say plant, like a different version of hemp that you would get CBD from?

Spencer Schelp: 12:11 No, it’s not. It’s just going to be a different strain essentially. You want a high CBG strain with good CBG properties because you’re going to convert that CBG over to CBN, and we found that the people were using… do that through chromatography. A lot of times that would be… Well, you could do that by stripping a high THC out as well. But then again, you’re going to have to go to a state or a lab that works with cannabis, with marijuana and stuff, so it was a little-

Matt Baum: 12:40 Which can be really difficult.

Spencer Schelp: 12:42 Yeah, exactly. So you narrow your options there and then you got to make sure that it’s going to be consistent and those strains are going to be consistent. You’re not going to be putting the same thing in the bottle today that I am next month and next year. So that’s a big thing is making sure that the legs are going to be there for it.

Matt Baum: 12:58 Let me ask you about your guys’ process and you don’t have to reveal any secrets or anything, but is the process to extract CBN, is it any different than CBD?

Spencer Schelp: 13:11 No. No, it’s not. Not really. It’s just you’re going to go about it through different cannabinoids. So again, CBG is like the mother cannabinoid and you can convert that over to CBN, right? So instead of just going in there and finding like, okay, this cherry wine has got 16% CBD, okay, boom, let’s extract that out which are crude and then break that down to a distillate or whatever. You know, you’re just looking for different strains. Right?

Spencer Schelp: 13:39 CBG, fortunately has come on the last year or two. So we’ve got some more of that on the market. There’s more options there. So you’re going from CBD, which there’s not a lot of. I guess I know who you talk to. Then you’re going to CBG and then you’re taking that [inaudible 00:13:55] into CBN. So you’re really going through a couple of filters there to end up with your end product.

Matt Baum: 13:59 Okay.

Spencer Schelp: 13:59 So again, like consistency and you’re seeing anywhere from 45 to $65,000 a kilo, a gross kilo.

Matt Baum: 14:06 Wow.

Spencer Schelp: 14:06 So yeah, it’s dear, but at the same time it’s going to follow the same trend I think that CBD did two, three years ago. You know what I mean? It’s going to-

Matt Baum: 14:14 Sure. I mean as it begins more popular, there’ll be more of it, more processors, and the price comes down.

Spencer Schelp: 14:19 Exactly.

Matt Baum: 14:19 Right.

Spencer Schelp: 14:20 We’re seeing a lot more in the market. Even in the last month or two, we’ve seen a lot more out there. You know, I saw one yesterday and maybe this is a marketing piece we could have taken a trick from, but it was a thousand milligrams but it sells like 60 milligrams of CBN and the rest of it was CBG or CBD. Right? So we just went straight 150 because that’s what the active is on the CBN. But then we spiked it with a little melatonin for the sleep property.

Matt Baum: 14:49 That’s important though. You guys are telling the truth. This other company is like yeah, they’re representing some of what’s in there, but you got to read the fine print brother, you know? I mean come on.

Spencer Schelp: 14:56 Well, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matt Baum: 14:59 That’s not so great.

Spencer Schelp: 15:00 It’s not like going to Amazon but at the same time… No, it was great brand, beautiful brand, beautiful bottle, and everything. But I was like, “Man, we just missed the boat here.” And I was like, “Ah, there we go. That’s what it is.”

Matt Baum: 15:10 I don’t know.

Spencer Schelp: 15:10 So yeah, you got to flip that over and-

Matt Baum: 15:12 Yeah. I think in my opinion, you guys are doing it a little more straightforward and I appreciate that. I think that’s better for everybody.

Spencer Schelp: 15:18 Yeah, no, thank you. I mean, we’ve been spending a lot of time on boxes and labels and labs lately and kind of just getting up to the point where we feel like we’re a step or two ahead of where things will be in a year or so so we can focus on product as opposed to just getting product out there. We can kind of innovate a little bit more. But yeah, it’s been a good run so far. I’ve been staying busy, that’s for sure.

Extracting CBN from hemp

Matt Baum: 15:43 So where are you guys sourcing the hemp that you’re getting CBN from? Is it from a completely different farm than the CBG hemp? Pardon me. I mean than the CBD hemp. Sorry.

Spencer Schelp: 15:51 You know what that is? Yeah, it is. Actually, most everything where we get is… All of our other products come out of Tennessee out of our farm partner over there. It’s Wilson’s farm. And then that’s extracted out into the just splitting the crude and then formulate that out as needed. Then the labs and the manufacturing out there also had some of the isolate on a contract. Right? So consistency is huge. Having those same strains, having the same stuff in the bottle right not just who’s got what for the least amount of dollars out there.

Matt Baum: 16:27 Like you said, maintaining zero THC so that people like veterans and people that are police officers that are tested aren’t failing tests basically.

Spencer Schelp: 16:38 Exactly. The consistency is huge. That’s the big thing. That’s the big thing and that’s what we… We really had to lay that baseline down. Early on, you know that you’ve got our feet knocked out from us a couple of times just with different groups raising prices, holding product back, this, that, and the other, but that it’s kind of back in there. Everybody’s got their stories.

Spencer Schelp: 16:58 Anyway, yeah, we’re very pleased to have consistent farm partners and people that are really up on the bottling, the formulation, everything that we work with, and take it just as seriously as we do. But yeah, so we’ve been sourcing the CBN from a different group and that’s been pretty strong with the CBG and then they got into the CBN and stuff. That’s what took us to kind of get up to speed on and make sure that we’re on the same page quality wise and consistency and everything. That was also our step to… Go ahead.

Matt Baum: 17:33 Just for my sake and for our listeners’ sake, we’re throwing out a lot of letters here. Correct me if I’m wrong. CBG becomes CBN, correct?

Spencer Schelp: 17:43 It can, yeah. In this case, it does, yeah, through the essentially another extraction process. Yes.

Matt Baum: 17:49 Gotcha. Is it more work than just making… I mean, obviously you’re taking two products and putting them into one bottle, but is it more work to distill the CBN than it is the CBD or is it just same plant, same process, different final result?

Spencer Schelp: 18:07 Kind of both, right? You’re going to have a different strain, a different raw materials going in. Right? So it’s going to be a CBD and a CBG rich strain and then you’re going to extract out and you’re going to convert that CBG into CBN.

Matt Baum: 18:21 Okay. That’s done with what you called chromatography. Is that right?

Spencer Schelp: 18:25 Correct.

Matt Baum: 18:26 Tell me a little bit about that. I don’t know what that is.

Spencer Schelp: 18:29 Well, it’s similar process to ripping out the THC from a CBD distillate for us to sell.

Matt Baum: 18:38 Okay.

Spencer Schelp: 18:39 So there is more that goes into it. There’s just more time.

Matt Baum: 18:43 Earlier in the interview, Spencer had mentioned that he’s not a chemist, so it wasn’t really fair for me to ask him to define chromatography, but huge thanks to Wikipedia who I just donated to and you should too because they’re doing a good thing.

Matt Baum: 18:56 Wikipedia defines chromatography as a laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture. Picture your favorite sci-fi movie where you see the scientist pouring a liquid into a flask and placing it into a machine that spins it around really fast. In this case, they would be separating CBN from the rest of the cannabinoids.

Matt Baum: 19:16 Now, I’m sure that explanation is impossibly oversimplified, but in a nutshell, that is chromatography.

Spencer Schelp: 19:22 That’s why it’s a little more expensive and not as prevalent because most everybody is turning stuff into CBD in some shape or fashion.

Matt Baum: 19:28 Right. But the basic idea is you’re putting it through a similar process where you are isolating that thing that you want, taking that thing out, and then putting it back into a bottle with the other thing that you want more or less.

Spencer Schelp: 19:43 Essentially, yeah. You can think of CBG as the mother cannabinoid. I’m not a chemist, so I don’t really have any secrets to share, but going through and talking with the people that we’ve interviewed and everything on this, you’re taking that CBG rich strain and then you’re converting that out and you’re getting your CBN out of that.

Matt Baum: 20:07 Okay.

Spencer Schelp: 20:07 So it’s like if you look at a full panel lab, right, of a distillate, you’ll see the minor cannabinoids are going to be those CBGs, the CBNs, CBCs. You know, they’re prevalent in almost every strain except for you want to find a strain that’s going to be more rich in like a CBG. So you’ll have more yield from that. Right?

Matt Baum: 20:28 Okay. So CBD and CBG are separate things, correct.

Spencer Schelp: 20:32 Yeah. It’s just another cannabinoid.

Matt Baum: 20:34 Gotcha. And CBD is technically the… Well, I guess THC is probably the most prevalent, but CBD, we have grown plants that make that the most prevalent. So you are looking beyond that to one that also has a very high level of CBG, and that is what turns into CBN.

From THC to CBD and beyond …

Spencer Schelp: 20:52 Yeah, in this case. So you’ve got cannabis, right? Then you’ve got the-

Matt Baum: 20:54 Okay. I feel like I’m finally wrapping my head around this. Sorry.

Spencer Schelp: 20:57 Yeah. Right? It’s almost like a back in the day, everybody wanted super high THC, so you’ve got cannabis and you’ve got marijuana, which they’re breeding up for super high THC. And then a few years back, you found that CBD had its own benefits. So we started breeding cannabis and industrial hemp now into high CBD strains.

Spencer Schelp: 21:22 So guys are out there, breeders and crossbreeding stuff and everything and identifying and isolating these other minor cannabinoids. That’s where all this is going. I mean this opened up obviously with the farm bill and everything, but now that CBD again is just one cannabinoid of up hundreds. So as these are all identified and then God forbid we get some clinical trials down or something that we can really stand behind this stuff and point to it.

Matt Baum: 21:47 Who knows? You’ve really your fingers, you know?

Spencer Schelp: 21:49 Yeah, right. Yeah. But the more those were identified, the more incentive, the market is going to move that. The market is going to say this is something that we demand and this is something that we’re going to pay for, and then people move in that direction just like CBD. So we kind of set out the CBG for no other reason. Not mad at it, just kind of cleaning house and getting our brand up to a level essentially. And then the timing was right to kind of jump on this and especially, like I say, for the properties that our users are really… That they value. I mean this makes a lot of sense for us.

Matt Baum: 22:26 Of course.

Spencer Schelp: 22:26 It’s not an end all cure all or anything obviously, but it’s a new product that we can add to the line and we’ve had really good feedback like I say, and it’s been fun researching it and digging into it and really enjoys staying on top of this stuff and seeing who’s doing what and how they’re doing it and things like that. Ian has been crushing it over on the marketing side. We just got up on Drug Report last week. I think we might be the first CBD company.

Matt Baum: 22:54 Oh, really?

Spencer Schelp: 22:54 Yeah. So that was super [crosstalk 00:22:54].

Matt Baum: 22:55 They’re not demonizing it and saying like, “You guys are trying to kill children or anything” or,…?

Spencer Schelp: 22:58 Right. And they took our money, they took our money straightaway.

Matt Baum: 23:02 I mean I suppose at the end of the day, they’ll take anybody’s money.

Spencer Schelp: 23:04 Yeah. That might have been one of the things that kind of saved our butter early on is that people wouldn’t take our money. You know what I mean? We didn’t have that much to spend and we couldn’t be on Google, Facebook. You couldn’t advertise in any of those places.

Matt Baum: 23:17 Yeah, that’s true.

Spencer Schelp: 23:17 So now these things have come around and we’ve got a little more refined focus. But yeah, they’re so real super proud, super excited for us and right now really excited for Ian to get that done. That was a pretty good deal for us.

Matt Baum: 23:29 So tell me about your-

Spencer Schelp: 23:31 [crosstalk 00:23:31] pretty well over the weekend, too.

About PAHO’s CBN tincture

Matt Baum: 23:32 Tell me about the Pure American Hemp Oil, your product itself. It’s a tincture, correct? The CBN.

Spencer Schelp: 23:38 Yeah, it’s a tincture. It’s 30 milliliter or one ounce tincture standard bottle. 150 milligrams of CBN plus melatonin.

Matt Baum: 23:48 Okay.

Spencer Schelp: 23:48 Right. We’re around three milligrams of melatonin in there.

Matt Baum: 23:52 How much CBD is in there?

Spencer Schelp: 23:54 I was just looking at that. We’re probably going to be close to about another 150 or so at the labs out. I was trying to do the math before we got on here, but yeah. I didn’t put that on there, but that should be on the panel actually. You know, everything is in an organic MCT oil and then we get a [crosstalk 00:24:15] flavor in there.

Matt Baum: 24:14 That’s cool. That’s very cool. That was my next question. That’s awesome.

Spencer Schelp: 24:17 Yeah, yeah. That’s a big one, too. You got to have that organics. I mean, all these things are… You know, they leach toxins, right?

Matt Baum: 24:24 Right.

Spencer Schelp: 24:25 Your Palm trees, your hemp. I mean, all that stuff, it sucks all the nastiness out of the ground. Another beauty of the plant but we’re big on that, and it’s about double. Right? But that’s again not telling you guys anything you don’t know. It’s always organic, vegan, vegetarian, all that good stuff.

Matt Baum: 24:43 That’s awesome.

Spencer Schelp: 24:43 It’s got lots of bugs on there, a lot of little stickers and stamps.

Matt Baum: 24:47 That’s totally awesome. Of course, we’ll have links in the show notes for this to check out the new product and stuff. I would love to actually scoop that I have trouble sleeping. So this would be great.

Spencer Schelp: 24:58 Go get your bottle.

Matt Baum: 24:58 Yeah, that’d be fantastic. I used to take sleep aids and whatnot and I found CBD. Taking it during the day actually helped me sleep later on. You know, I would take it in the morning and I would take it at night. And then Ian sent me some of the melatonin capsules that you have that are CBD and melatonin, and those are great.

Spencer Schelp: 25:18 Yep.

Matt Baum: 25:18 Those were totally great. I got all tricky with it and thought like, “Well, if I only take one then I’ll just get four good hours of sleep.” No, it knocked me out. It was great. You know?

Spencer Schelp: 25:30 That’s awesome. I love those caps. I mean it’s just a consistent dose every time. You can travel with them pretty easy, pretty slick deal, and that’s organic MCT powder that that’s mixed with. So…

Matt Baum: 25:42 And non-addictive and you don’t wake up feeling hangover. You’re not all fuzzy like you took a sleep aid, you know. That’s what I really like about this stuff.

Spencer Schelp: 25:50 Proof is in the pudding for us. Right?

Matt Baum: 25:51 Right.

Spencer Schelp: 25:51 If it works for our client base, then it works for us, right? We’re our best clients, our moms or parents and stuff like that. But if it works for us, we’re competent rolling it out and we’ve had really good feedback. We’re already looking at the next incarnation of it, and it’s actually helped us separate ourselves a little bit. It’s such a crowded field right now out there.

Matt Baum: 26:12 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Spencer Schelp: 26:13 I mean that’s one thing we don’t really worry too much about is what everybody else is doing. But when you’re trying to fight for shelf space, I mean, who doesn’t have a 600 tincture, right? You know what I mean? So if you can kind of pair this up, and our pet stuff has always been good to us in our price points. You know what I mean? We’re super proud of where we are with pricing and stuff.

Matt Baum: 26:35 Yeah. I use the Bane’s Bites for my puppy and he loves it. It’s great. When at the end of the day, he can’t settle down, Bane’s bites. He chills out and I’m like, “All right.” You know?

Spencer Schelp: 26:43 Everybody wins.

Matt Baum: 26:44 Yeah, exactly.

Spencer Schelp: 26:44 That’s something, too. It’s people spend more money on their pets than they do themselves. Right?

Matt Baum: 26:49 It’s true. Yeah. It’s true.

Spencer Schelp: 26:49 So happy to have that. It’s kind of an impulse buy for people. The other thing is pets don’t know placebos, right? If your dog is limping around or it’s all spun out, right? And you give him one of those, he’s not going to be like, “Oh, I just got CBD. I better be chill.” You know he’s going to be-

Matt Baum: 27:06 Right. Well, I read about it and it told me that I should have pets.

Spencer Schelp: 27:11 Yeah, right. Yeah. My favorite celebrity uses this, so I better be [crosstalk 00:27:14] today.

Matt Baum: 27:14 So it’s got to be good, right? I mean-

Spencer Schelp: 27:16 Yeah.

Matt Baum: 27:16 Megan Rapinoe wouldn’t tell me it kicks ass if it didn’t. So, you know.

Spencer Schelp: 27:20 Yeah. Maybe that’s what we need. We need a celebrity puppy influencer or something like that out there.

Matt Baum: 27:25 There you go. Yeah.

Spencer Schelp: 27:26 Then can influence everybody out.

Matt Baum: 27:28 A talking dog. That’s what you need right there.

Spencer Schelp: 27:33 Yeah, that’s right. Triumph, right? Triumph the Comic Dog?

Matt Baum: 27:35 There you go. Yeah. Although we might make fun of you guys, but if you’re into that, that’s cool. You know?

Spencer Schelp: 27:41 Little abuse. It’s all right. [inaudible 00:27:43].

Matt Baum: 27:43 Spencer, thanks so much for coming in and talking about this, and we’ve talked about CBN. We’ve touched on it before, but I feel like when we first started talking about it, everybody was still trying to feel out what it actually does. Can I ask you? You said so it has sedative properties. Do you know when those studies came out that started to show that CBN does have sedative properties?

Spencer Schelp: 28:04 I found them this year, and I’d have to check when that came out, but yeah, I found them last couple of months, and I want to say-

Matt Baum: 28:10 This is all very new info though, right?

Spencer Schelp: 28:12 It is. It is.

Matt Baum: 28:15 Okay.

Spencer Schelp: 28:15 I got them on about everybody’s mailing lists, so I’ve been seeing stuff coming out of people touting it by the kilo, by the leaf and then the finished product, and that tells me that it’s fairly new, but I’m sure if you searched one in your DuckDuckGo or wherever you search with, you come up with that. But yeah, that’s-

Matt Baum: 28:33 I’m a big man myself. Let me tell you.

Spencer Schelp: 28:35 There you go.

Matt Baum: 28:37 Big bang guy.

Spencer Schelp: 28:38 See?

Matt Baum: 28:38 Yeah. Again, I want to send out a huge thanks to Spencer from Pure American Hemp Oil coming on and talking CBN with us. Like I said, there will be links in the show notes to pureamericanhempoil.com. If you want to try out their new CBN tincture and links to all the studies we talked about, including the hyper-technical definition of chromatography on Wikipedia if you would like to take a deep dive there.

Final thoughts from Matt

Matt Baum: 29:13 And as always, you can find a complete written transcript of the show for accessibility for everyone. As always, I want to send out a huge thank you to everybody that has been downloading, listening to this show, commenting on it, and giving us reviews. Your reviews really, really help more than you know to get this information in front of other people. So please, if you have a chance, go to iTunes, give us a star rating or go to your podcast aggregator app and give us a thumbs up or a star or whatever they do there. It’s such a huge help. I can’t stress it enough.

Matt Baum: 29:47 If you listened to today’s episode and you have questions, then call us (402) 819-6417 and leave us a message with your hemp-related questions and you could hear them answered by myself and editor in chief of ministryofhemp.com Kit O’Connell. We love to hear from you guys and we would love to answer your questions on the show. So please become a part of this show. Call us or tweet at us @MinistryofHemp. Hit us up on Facebook/ministryofhemp, and you can be a part of this show. Over at ministryofhemp.com, we have got some huge Black Friday and cyber Monday sale information coming out this Thursday. That’ll be both on the site and in our mailing list. So watch for that.

Matt Baum: 30:39 Until next time, this is Matt Baum wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving and saying, remember to take care of yourself, take care of others, and make good decisions. Will you? This is the Ministry of Hemp signing off.

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