If you’re someone who keeps up with the news on a daily basis, then chances are you’ve already heard of cannabidiol (CBD), the “miracle” compound found in cannabis that’s known for its wide array of medicinal properties.
Whenever people think of marijuana or cannabis, the feeling of “getting high” is what usually comes to mind. But there’s nothing wrong with this. These psychoactive effects are due to a compound in the plant called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and due to cannabis being historically used for recreation, breeders commonly planted strains with high percentages of THC.
However, various researches discovered another compound in the plant called CBD, which has a lot of medicinal and therapeutic properties without any of the psychoactive effects. And this CBD is what’s currently taking over the world by storm, and all for good reasons.
Through the years, research has proven CBD’s many uses, from curing back pain to helping ease sleep apnea and even helping with anxiety attacks. In addition, the recent years also saw companies making CBD more accessible to the masses. You can now buy CBD candies and also eat at small restaurants with CBD mixed in their menu.
Agreenalternative, the largest manufacturer of CBD products in the United States, has also expanded its product line to more than just vape oils, gummies, and edibles, etc. Recently, the company also released two new sublines, MediPets, a CBD-for-pets line, and Meds Biotech. The latter focuses on supplements that combine the benefits of “CBD & Tumeric” in one product.
BIG3, a 3-on-3 basketball league founded by musical icon Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz recently announced the legalization of CBD for its 2018 season. Following the recent removal of CBD from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) banned substances list, BIG3 made history as being the first U.S. professional sports league that allows CBD to be used in pain management and recovery. After this, Co-Founder and Co-CEO Jeff Kwatinetz said that BIG3 is a player-powered league that looks at its players as “partners and not property.” The co-CEO then said that as a testament to this, the league listened to players as well as CBD professionals’ feedback, and decided to push forward with this step to “support their health.”
In addition, more and more states and countries are continuously pushing efforts to grant full legalization to cannabis, meaning that the time where professional athletes and simple, everyday folk alike can have easy access to it for medicinal and recreational use is coming very soon.
In fact, in a recent CNN report, NFL player Mike James openly talked about how he overcame his opioid painkiller addiction by turning to medical marijuana after getting seriously injured in a game back in 2013. What’s more, for elite athletes who play extreme sports and whose bodies are pushed to suffer from repeated trauma, it’s not surprising that these athletes turn to dangerous substances for help. The cannabis industry is here to disrupt that, giving athletes a safe alternative that poses no harmful side-effects.
For Diamond CBD, this is really positive news. Its parent company, PotNetwork Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS:POTN), is no stranger to the sports industry itself. The company recently announced a partnership with NGO crowdfunding platform Exponential, Inc. (XPO2) to financially sponsor and provide product sponsorship to The Bully Rehab Awareness Gym (BRAG). POTN will also support up-and-coming Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Tyler Yogi Hinton.
A full-contact physical sport, MMA has been known as the “pain game,” and Diamond CBD’s pain relief product line will certainly do a lot to help alleviate these problems. Furthermore, the company also hopes to help promote youth empowerment as well as help raise awareness on the benefits of CBD through this sponsorship.
Operating as a holding company for its subsidiaries, POTN is a Colorado-based publicly traded company that focuses on the innovative development of the cannabis industry, specifically on CBD-based products. The company is also a top player in the industry, managing to consistently top previous sales records in recent months.
As more and more professional athletes are coming forward and publicly praising the benefits of CBD and marijuana, in general, when it comes to improving their overall performance, the market for cannabis products is sure to spike, whether it’s specifically made for the sports industry or not. Once in clandestine, the relationship between cannabis and the sports industry has significantly improved over the years, a clear indicator of a brighter (and greener) future ahead.