I began noticing a new beverage in Los Angeles. The first thing you notice is the cheap wrapping, as if directly printed at home and pasted onto the bottle. The sparse print leaves room for plenty of white space. The first six ingredients of one particular flavor are all juice or sugar: blackberry, ginger, blueberry, and lemon juices, along with erythritol (sugar alcohol) and agave. Stevia is featured later on. The final ingredient is the selling point: Hemp CBD.<\/p>\n

Each bottle retails for $8.99. Effectively, glorified vitamin water.<\/p>\n

Or CBD water, which makes it this year’s additive du jour. I’ve seen this drink sold in the same case as a sugar-rich CBD-infused coffee drink that sells for a dollar less and six fewer ounces. CBD is as trendy as its forebears, antioxidants, keto supplements, and a\u00e7a\u00ed rolled into one, the superfood of superfoods. And you will pay a premium for it.<\/p>\n

I’ve been a marijuana smoker for 25 years, well before I knew about the endocannabinoid system. I was clueless that our central and peripheral nervous systems\u2014and by “our,” I mean mammals\u2014were tailor-made to accept cannabinoids (including the most famous, cannabidiol, aka CBD).<\/p>\n

Marijuana helped keep me off Xanax and opioids. Despite that fact that I was among those who nodded and winked when getting my California medical license, I’m skeptical of the hype. The collapsing dominoes that led to legalization have brought with them a gold rush of CBD-infused products and all the ridiculous claims that come along with it.<\/p>\n