It's been more than a year since marijuana was legalized in New York State, and Saturday, April 20th is an unofficial holiday to celebrate it. He has more than 100 dispensaries in the state and there is currently a debate about the safe and responsible use of cannabis. A new CBD dispensary hopes to take this discussion further.
“I've always been a very strong person, and that's helped me,” said Barbara Vaughn, founder and chairman of Cannabicity. “I have very strong mental strength and can ignore some pain.”
Fourteen years ago, Vaughn was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease.
“This is called transverse myelitis,” Vaughn said. “It's a numbness in my body. It started in my legs and went to my abdomen within a few days.”
Initially, Vaughan was prescribed powerful medications, but she did not want to become dependent on them. She was worried about the drug's various side effects, she says.
“I was really looking for an alternative to taking things like nerve medications for pain,” Vaughn said. “That's why I started wanting to explore things like CBD. And I found that it had a calming effect on things.”
Years into treatment, Vaughn has found a good balance between CBD, THC, and prescription drugs. That led to the opening of Cannabicity, a dispensary that now offers cannabis-derived products with CBD.
“I think if you're going to use it, make sure it's legal and controlled, and consider the type of product you're using,” Vaughan said. “I think it's a better way to go because you know you're going to get something of high quality. It's going to be safer than what people have on the street.”
Vaughan said her mission here is to break down the stigma around cannabis in general and make sure that it helps women and seniors like her.
In 2019, a Gallup poll by the NIH found that Americans age 65 and older use CBD to treat pain (40%), anxiety (20%), insomnia (11%), and arthritis (8%). It turns out that. Last year, a study by the University of Michigan found that one in eight older adults uses cannabis products.
Vaughn hopes others who are struggling with their physical or mental health can experience the peace she feels with CBD. She is also looking forward to adding recreational adult use cannabis to her Cannabicity.
“We have applied for a license and are ready to bring in cannabis products as soon as we receive the license,” she said. “But you can't really control what New York does. So all we could control was what we were doing here.”
