A lively exchange of holistic and alternative knowledge and products between professionals and customers provided the foundation of the Ventura Holistic Chamber of Commerce Small Business Expo attended by 101 CBD this week.  The Aloha themed event was organized by Julie Ridenour, President of the Holistic Chamber of Commerce and supported by a variety of local holistic practitioners and vendors from Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, and Ojai.

101 CBD was proud to represent their raw, whole plant, hemp CBDa in its many forms.  Their sublingual oils in a variety of strengths, flavors, and focuses were the stars of the product line-up.  Crowd favorites were the Chill-X chosen by people feeling stressed and restless at night and the Alleviate-X for those with differing levels of discomfort.

101 CBD topicals were also popular including the new high strength Raw Relief 1250mg Roll-on, the Raw Relief 500mg cream, and the ladies’ favorite – Raw Renew Skin Treatment for the perfect morning and evening skincare routine and for areas of skin discomfort. Ingredients like rose hip seed, argon, and jojoba oils added to its appeal.

The Small Business Expo was made more exciting with the enthusiastic announcements of the many excellent door prizes donated by the participating businesses. It was a bonus for customers and vendor winners alike to enjoy experiencing a range of new products directly.

As holistic professionals, learning and sharing with the large variety of businesses represented is always a big benefit of the Small Business Expo. It is so important for small businesses to support each other and to be supported by their communities. Small business profits are returned to the owners’ families and employees, then to local businesses and community services. Shopping online or in the big chain stores just sends your money to support wealthy large business owners and the economy of other communities.

101 CBD looks forward to the next Small Business Expo and the monthly networking and sharing at the Ventura Holistic Chamber of Commerce.

Mieko Hester-Perez, International Autism & Cannabis Healthcare Advocate, interviews 101 CBD founder, Justin Benton, as a part of Hopegrown.com’s continuing series this month highlighting National Autism Awareness Month. Hopegrown.com is a wellness and healthcare company that has been catering to medical marijuana patients since 2015. Their mission is to aide people in becoming a medical marijuana patient in compliant states, finding physicians who recommend medicinal marijuana and learning about the health benefits of cannabis.

Justin shares his inspiring story of his son’s rebound from a severe Autism diagnosis with the help of Raw CBDa. He touches on the misconception people have regarding treating children with THC. Due to the fact that the brain is essentially still developing until the age of 25, the effects of THC on developing brains (especially on individuals with neurological conditions like Autism) can be very detrimental. During National Autism Awareness Month, at 101 CBD we hope to bring light to the challenges parents are facing in trying to help their Autistic children succeed. Most parents have tried everything and are desperate to find anything that will work. Some “treatments”, like THC, can actually do more damage than good and it is our mission to help parents navigate this challenging journey.

Mieko also asks Justin’s opinion on what is lacking in cannabis research for people on the Autism spectrum. Justin mentions the severe lack in “published medical research on the benefits of hemp-extracted CBD, and cold-extracted CBDA products for persons on the autism spectrum.” He suggests “using treatment evaluation instruments like the ATEC (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist) [that are] available online to parents and staff” as one way to document progress in research efforts.

Click on the link below to read the full interview. If you have further questions, click here to sign up for a free 101 CBD consultation with our very own Janet Benton-Gaillard, EdS, Director of Research and Development. During National Autism Awareness Month, we want to honor each and every individual affected by Autism. Every experience is vastly different and in sharing our story we hope to give others hope for those whose Autism experience has been a difficult one.

Welcome to the first episode of Miracles from the Miracle Plant Podcast with a goal of sharing the true life stories of the miraculous successes of hemp- the miracle plant. The perfect guest for the first podcast is Kristin Selby Gonzales, the president of the Autism Hope Alliance. The Autism Hope Alliance or AHA is a support and educational group for families and individuals with autism.

Kristin vividly describes the ongoing feelings related to the search for answers for her child with autism, and the feelings of terror parents experience when their child with autism starts exhibiting dangerous aggression.  She shares the feelings of hopelessness when nothing all the professionals in the field are recommending is helping. Her son had also dropped in skill levels from a fifth grade to a first grade level.  Kristin honestly uses such phrases as…

“It was so scary for us. It felt like for two straight years I was running basically for my life.”

“Here is my little boy and I love him so much, yet I am afraid of him.”

“I have access to some of the top experts in the world and nobody knew how to help me.”

Even after listening to Justin discuss the unique benefits of raw, whole hemp plant CBDa on a video call and receiving a free bottle,  Kristin shares she was reluctant to try something new as she had been using a CBD product that cost a lot and was showing little benefit.  It was hard to risk another failure and disappointment.  She shares she took a leap of faith and began using 101 CBD’s Miracle Plant sublingual oil with her son, stopping the current CBD product. She was putting the oil under his tongue several times a day.

Kristin tells how amazed she was by her son’s therapist calling at the end of the first day of use to report positive changes in his behavior! In her own words,

“Fast forward within the same month, I mean, the aggression was basically gone and I kept having a hard time believing it.” 

And even more significantly,

“And now fast forward 11 months. Oh my gosh. I have my son back!”

She further shares that he is constantly climbing back up the ladder of developmental delays. His life skills are coming back, he’s learning how to cook his own food and he is reading with his comprehension coming back. She was able to take him on a mini vacation and he is learning to paddleboard. She reports none of this would have been possible without the switch to 101 CBD’s raw, whole plant CBDa.

“And the only thing, and I swear, the only thing that we have changed is we took away the other CBD that we were giving him and we have replaced it with 101 CBD’s and I am just huge, huge believer.”

Kristin explains if you have a kid with autism, you hear stories of that person recovering, no longer having a diagnosis, or going to mainstream school. But for a severely affected child like hers, she focuses on the other R word- Relationship.

She now gets to have a relationship with her son.

“And to me, that is the biggest victory and the biggest miracle of all.”

Kristin emphasizes that for our children with autism, parents are their biggest advocates and cheerleaders. Never accept that they are too old to continue to make gains or just remain in your comfort zone. Take the leap of faith and keep trying new things to give them the chance for optimal growth.

Justin explains the unique benefits of raw, whole plant hemp extracts high in CBDa. After being raised holistically, he didn’t trust a single molecule approach. The miracle of his son’s recovery from autism happened after his son started using cold-processed, whole plant, hemp CBDa oil. This raw CBDa oil still contains a range of cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenes, and fatty acids like Omega 3, 6, and 9. The synergy of all these compounds working together creates an exponentially better result than using a single isolated cannabinoid or even a group of a few cannabinoids.

He wonders why anyone would you want to heat this beautiful plant with over 500 constituents in a three dimensional molecules and turn it into two dimensional molecules with the acidic precursors like CBDa and CBGa burned away.  The focus of 101 CBD’s products is to just consume them the way it grows, the way it was intended for millions of years with our body communicating perfectly with it via our built in receptors.

At 101 CBD we basically created a fresh squeezed orange juice, not a processed juice box or powdered drink. As Justin says,

“So that was how we got lucky. It was a wing and a prayer. And when our prayers were answered, we literally took it on as our mission to pay it forward by sharing these stories, and by sharing our story.”

As president of the Autism Hope Alliance, one of the first nonprofit companies supporting autism, Kristin explains their range of services including free access to their ever-expanding educational materials, podcasts, and videos. Their sample program is a quarterly shipment of free natural products from their business partners like 101 CBD to families of children with autism.

Go to the Autism Hope Alliance Website to access all their materials and support services. An email is sent out each quarter to have you check products you are interested in. You can also sign up for your free library card for access to all their helpful materials. The Autism Hope Alliance is here to be your trusted resource.

Justin and 101 CBD also want to support you.  For families affected by autism, reach out to info@101CBD.orgcreate new email for a free bottle of the raw, whole plant CBDa oil that was such a miracle for Justin and Kristin’s families.  They can also send you a few free hemp seeds and the link to a podcast on how to grow them for fresh greens in your morning juice or shake.

We also provide individual Zoom conferences to answer any of your questions about CBDa or your child’s individual needs from our specialist at 101 CBD. Click here to sign up.

In conclusion, Justin stated,

“I want to thank you, Kristin, for sharing your incredible story, and being a partner with me over these years. And for helping us educate and help these families.  I could think of no one else I’d rather have to share such a beautiful journey than you for our first episode of The Miracle Plant Podcast.”

Kristin responded with a heartfelt thanks,

“Thank you for all you do for families. I mean, you are just a huge champion and a huge hero in our community, so there’s nobody else I’d rather partner with, as well. So, thank you for again for having me. I’m so happy that I took that leap of faith.”