After years of constantly pushing the extremes, CBD expert, advocate, and author David Schroeder now refers to the injuries he’s incurred as “pain events” that have defined his life. But how did this lifestyle come about? It all started when Schroeder was first diagnosed as hyperactive at the age of five — something that still affects him today, at 57.
Despite his young age, Schroeder fought against Big Pharma and constantly found ways to avoid taking the Ritalin he was prescribed. Although he felt a certain liberation in avoiding heavy-duty medication, he still had to battle the pain that resulted from bike wrecks, skateboarding slaloms gone wrong, and a car accident.
From chiropractic care to acupuncture, Schroeder had tried just about everything to ease the pain. But it wasn’t until five years ago, when his friend shared a homemade CBD pain roll-on with him, that he finally saw the trajectory of his pain management transform.
Since then, Schroeder has devoted his time to educating himself and others on the power of CBD. Always looking for the next person he can share the magic of CBD with, Schroeder wrote the insightful book, 7 Ways to Manage Pain With CBD, and has connected with brands and individuals in the United States, South Africa, the UK, and beyond.
We’re honored to have caught up with David Schroeder to learn more about his firsthand experience with CBD, what the research on CBD is continuously revealing, and where he believes the cannabinoid is going next. Continue reading for a full Q&A breakdown or visit our YouTube Channel to watch the live interview!
HEMPZILLA (HZ): David, if you can tell us about yourself, specifically reading about you when you were five years old, something that seems common with a lot of boys is when you first show that you’re hyperactive you’re put on these heavy-duty drugs, if you can talk about that and how that led you on to cannabis and CBD.
DAVID SCHROEDER (DS): First of all, let me say, I hate Ritalin. It is a horrible drug. I was diagnosed at five as being hyperactive and for me, life is bouncing off the walls. And dig this, I’m 57 right now and still hyperactive. Not quite as much as in my youth, but I’m still hyperactive. So, when they put you on Ritalin, basically what the hope is, is that it makes you more chill. It’s a speed that slows you down, is how it was explained to me. That doesn’t make sense. That’s like an oxymoron to me.
So, the thing about being hyperactive is you need a lot of activities. Now, I do have the ability to concentrate, or I am able to have periods of concentration. But the thing about being on that medication is I remember as a boy sitting on the couch, sitting, and I wanted to move. Not catatonic, but kind of catatonic, if that makes sense. You have this feeling of wanting to get out of your body.
I ended up growing up in foster care from about six-and-a-half to 18. For the most part, the state wanted to keep me on Ritalin. And I did everything to always reject it and didn’t take it. When I was about 12, I was turned onto cannabis. Back then, it was “don’t do drugs, drugs are bad, cannabis is bad, marijuana is bad for you. Well, you see marijuana is a derogatory slang word, so I don’t use that word very often.
HZ: I believe that started with the Nixon administration? The war on drugs, right?
DS: Yes, I think the term comes back from the term marijuana in the 20s and 30s from the Mexicans coming in over the border. I remember the first time someone offered it to me, I said, “no.” Because I was afraid. The second time I was offered it, I was like “oh my gosh, life was different.” There was an opposite reaction to the Ritalin. And I didn’t realize this until much later that when I was using cannabis to have fun and to get “high,” it was actually turning me into a person where I could sit and talk to you and not be coming out of my skin. I recognize now that at that time I was introducing my body to cannabinoids that have been deficient from my body and from the human race for the last 70 years. On top of that, I was medicating myself, which was actually bringing me to a place of peace. Not that I didn’t have issues with life and school, but cannabis kind of made me chill. But it was bad, it was taboo, so you weren’t allowed to have it. So, that was my first introduction. It was an escape, but it was also a chill.
So, before cannabis, my first injury was when I was going down a small hill, and further up the road, I saw a rock. Well, now that I’m this little rocket ship, I’ve gotta hit that rock. So, I’m not thinking I’m gonna fall, I’m thinking this gonna be awesome. I hit this little rock in the road, lost control of the bike, and crashed. And I injured my shoulder, but they said it wasn’t fractured. I completely forgot about that, but over the years my shoulder and neck have plagued me. I didn’t realize until about 3-4 years ago that these issues started back then from that injury.
I always have to push the extremes because that’s how it is when you’re hyperactive. I don’t have anything to prove to anybody but I still have to go do it. So, I’ve been fraught with injuries. I remember once being in a Volkswagen with an ex-friend of mine. She was driving and a car ran a red light, hit us. And then it was probably only 10 or 15 feet to a telephone pole.
And I remember that injury must have lasted probably four years, five years. So, what I tell people is you have catastrophic events. You have economic events. I have pain events. So, I try to compartmentalize it that way and I tried to treat my event, you know, with whatever. Back in the day, I mean, I have done everything legal and illegal, pretty much everything over the counter. Maybe not every single thing have I tried, you know, but in the last 30 years, I’ve tried a lot.
And some of the stuff, it works a little bit, you know, I mean, you get a tiny bit of relief, but you have to keep after it. And that’s kind of a pain and it doesn’t bring the healing. It just kind of stops the hurting for a little while.
HZ: Right, right.
DS: That’s always an issue. So, one of the big things I’ve always tried to go after was ice, chiropractic, and what is it when they stick the needles in you?
HZ: Acupuncture?
DS: Acupuncture. Yes, thank you. Between those three is what I’ve tried to use to maintain some semblance of control over life when you’re having a pain event. Because I discovered that life doesn’t give vacations. Your job might. But life doesn’t give a vacation. And if you’re the only one who prices income, you could be bedridden. You still have to get up. You have to go to work. You still have to earn your income. And those are things I’ve dealt with my whole life.
“Life doesn’t give you vacations. Your job might. But life doesn’t.”
HZ: Right. Branching off that, do you remember the first time you were introduced to CBD and how that came about?
DS: Yes. I was pretty well connected to a lot of people in the cannabis industry. Just by virtue of living in Los Angeles. By virtue of all of the people that I know, who knew people, who knew people, and by attending events. Plus, some of the stuff that I’ve done working with the book. I would get a lot of stuff, a lot of free stuff. People would give me stuff and I would try and “oh, yeah, this is nice.” But I wasn’t trying to take CBD and apply it to a pain. Right? I knew about cannabis, off and on, using it throughout my life, but CBD wasn’t a thing.
I had heard of it but hadn’t tried it. People had given me gummies. People gave me samples of this, that, and the other, and I would try them. “Oh, yeah. This is cool. This is nice.” But I wasn’t trying to make a connection until an acquaintance gave me a pain stick and he said, “so this is for pain, specifically.” Explained a little bit about it. And I’m going to tell you upfront — I laughed. I thought it was a joke.
Now, he made it in his home. It was like a roll-on, so I’m supposed to take this thing and rub it all over where I’m having my event. And so, I did that. I was like, okay, I’m gonna try it. With this pain event, my shoulder, my neck are locked up. You know, you’re frozen. So, I lather up the back of my neck, shoulder, everything. This is about five years ago. Put it on and I’m just like, what a joke.
Now, I do remember it. It smelled like a menthol or maybe eucalyptus. Right? I remember that because I’ve tried so many things and everything has a scent. You know, no matter what you put on — BENGAY®, Dragon Balm — everything has a scent. About 30, 40, 45 minutes, I’m probably at a pain scale of maybe eight or nine, and I recognize that I can…wait a minute. I have a little bit of movement in my neck. This is just in under an hour. I had a noticeable, just something that I noticed, that I have a little movement and the pain has dropped to maybe a seven.
I recognized that there was something directly applied to all the inflamed muscles and a reduction in the pain. I mean, it was small. And then, over the next few hours, I probably went down to about a five, maybe four-and-a-half, five. And let me tell you, I used that whole stick. I thought it was a joke. The joke was on me. And it was a great joke because I was never more happy to be wrong about something because here we are, five years later, after that moment and my life, it’s different.
“I was never more happy to be wrong about something because here we are, five years later, after that moment and my life, it’s different.”
I’m in a pain event right now with my shoulder. I have been for probably four or five months. But, you see this? I can move and do stuff. I can go to the gym and exercise because I’m on a daily regimen of using a medicinal version of CBD.
HZ: Do you think the first time you used the stick was the first time that pain had been brought down for a really long time?
DS: Absolutely. Here’s the thing, I’m always struggling with something. My knees, my ankle, my toe. I drove for 30 plus years in the Los Angeles basin. I have a repetitive driving issue. So, the prior times of taking some of the gummies and some of the other CBD products and even the edibles that people share with me, because I wasn’t making a connection, I wasn’t paying attention to what was going on with my body. But because I applied that with an intent to deal with pain is when I first noticed the difference. And I used up that stick. I think I used that thing up in probably four weeks, I think, five weeks. Liberally.
Here’s the beautiful thing about CBD — a little tidbit for those of you that are listening. CBD needs about a week to build up in your system. It was about a week when I really started getting some serious CBD into the muscle. I still wasn’t taking it internally. And so that’s important that you take it. A lot of people will tell me, they’ll say, “you know, I tried CBD for a day or two days and I didn’t feel anything. Nothing happened.”
And when I start asking them questions — well, what did you take? How long did you take it? How long did you use it for? How much did you use? You know, to try and find out where they are, so I can give them some pointers because CBD is not a one-size-fits-all. When I talk to people, I find out almost unanimously that they didn’t take enough, they didn’t use it long enough, and that they were expecting it to be a magic pill immediately.
“CBD is not a one size fits all…they were expecting it to be a magic pill immediately.”
The way I get people to get the A-HA moment of how long to take the CBD for is I want you to see the picture of a general. He’s sitting over his battlefield and he sees that the enemy has penetrated his west flank. Being the wise general that he is, he grabs a regimen of soldiers, sends them over to the weakened area.
Now, during the battle, some are killed, some are wounded, some run out of ammunition, and some run away. Now, the next day, the general looking over the battlefield notices that at the left flank, there are more men there today than he had yesterday. In his wisdom, he grabs another regimen of soldiers, sends them over to the west flank. During that battle, some are killed, some are wounded, some run out of ammunition, and some run out of the way.
After about a week of sending over and reinforcing that area, the enemy is now on the run, and he has fortified that area. Every day you’re taking CBD, what you’re doing is you’re sending fresh troops onto your battlefield. You’re the general and you’re looking over your battlefield.
Now, CBD is not a one-size-fits-all. You have to know all your dosage. You have to know how many times per day do you need it. Some people might need to take a certain dosage three times a day or four times a day because CBD wears off during the battle. Some are killed, some are wounded, some run away, and some run out of ammunition.
So, you have to work with it. And once you find it, then you’ve got your battlefield under control.
HZ: Do you think there’s been a shift in thinking about dealing with pain, especially since the opioid crisis, since it seemed like, maybe starting in the 1990s, that a lot of Big Pharma was pushing “well if you have pain, then you have to take our pills. Specifically, oxy.” And that seemed to create a lot of problems. And now it seems like the mindset has really shifted towards “let’s look at maybe not taking pills. Let’s see if there’s some organic things out there.” Have you kind of seen that shift?
DS: I am seeing that shift happening. There’s even a study out there that shows that CBD and cannabis help people reduce and, in a lot of cases, stop using opioids. And that’s just one of the pieces of the foundation that’s being used now for a lot of the athletic clubs like the NFL. The NFL just did a thing where they asked researchers and scientists and doctors, anybody who wanted to apply, to submit papers to them so that they could look at the research and use some of the research. And they specifically pointed out CBD as a way to possibly do some studies and working with the NFL teams and using non-opioid drugs to help deal with pain.
The UFC has done the same thing. They’ve actually inked a deal with a CBD company in the UK that will now give them CBD for them to use. Cannabis is now legal in those two organizations. You’re not going to get kicked out or suspended if you’ve got THC in your system.
That’s a good thing. Here’s why. Look at CBD as a Molotov cocktail. You light it, you throw it, it lands — poof. It makes a big flame, burns, leaves a little soot. Think of THC as a stick of dynamite. You take a stick of dynamite, you add it to that Molotov cocktail, and you throw it. Now, you’ve got a crater in the ground. The same thing when you mix THC with CBD. You get a synergistic effect called the entourage effect that has a completely different impact on the body, and it can be in various amounts.
People might say, how do I know how much? You have these variations like a three to one, or a 10 to one, or a one to one. What that means is, if it’s a product with THC, for every 30 drops of CBD, there is a drop of THC. For 20 drops, it might be 20 drops to two drops of THC. Or it might be one drop of THC to one drop of CBD, depending on the illness, depending on what you’re fighting.
And that Molotov cocktail with that stick of Dynamite has a different impact on the body than just having CBD alone. So, yes, there is a huge shift. And now they’re recognizing that THC is not necessarily a bad thing and it’s going to spread to other athletic organizations. Will it go into college? I don’t know. I haven’t heard that yet. But there is a shift moving away from opioids.
Now, the bad thing is doctors still get rewarded for pushing drugs. Big pharma rewards them with stipends, with dinners, with travel, with a variety of things. So, in my introduction of my book, I talk about that and kind of give them the smackdown because the whole thing about medicine is first do no harm. Right? What is pharma doing? Can they say they’re fitting that bill of first do no harm? Or, is it first let’s pay our pocketbooks, and then we’ll worry about the rest?
HZ: So, I think that’s a fascinating take. I was going to ask you, why do you think healthcare professionals have been so reticent to really prescribe CBD or other organic things out there?
DS: Two reasons, well, no it still boils down to one reason: lack of education, lack of knowledge, lack of understanding. I used to tell people if you’re going to take CBD, you know if you got prescriptions, go talk to your doctor. No, no, no. Don’t talk to your doctor. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean talk to a cannabis doctor who understands about the differences between taking cannabis and mixing with prescriptions.
And CBD, it’s such an important chemical molecule for the human because it has such a dramatic impact. And so does THC. Healthcare professionals don’t share or can’t share because they don’t understand. It’s lack of understanding. And so, when I tell somebody now to go talk to cannabis doctor, the cannabis doctor will say, okay, so you’ve got knee pain. Let’s try 25 milligrams of CBD and let’s try a topical and let’s see if we can do a multifront war on your pain.
But most of the medical professionals, they don’t know. Really. They don’t know. They’re not taught anything about cannabis, so they don’t have anything to share. They have no literature, no foundation for anything. I think that’s the biggest reason why they’re afraid to share. And then maybe there is a second reason that a lot of them might be worried about losing licensure. When they prescribe something and they don’t know what they’re allowed to do or not to do.
But most of the medical professionals, they don’t know. Really. They don’t know. They’re not taught anything about cannabis, so they don’t have anything to share. They have no literature, no foundation for anything. I think that’s the biggest reason why they’re afraid to share.
HZ: It’s an interesting point. I guess that kind of goes to my next question. You obviously spent many years as an advocate, speaking, and you have your own marketing firm. Why do you think it’s important to educate people on CBD and the other things out there?
DS: I love that question because, as I mentioned a moment ago, CBD is such an important molecule and it has such an impact on the body. I’ll explain it like this.
Up until the 1920s, there’s about 6,000 years of recorded human history. During that whole period of time, the cannabis plant, the hemp plant, has been used for medicine, for spiritual purposes, for brick and mortar, for clothing, for a variety of applications. And in the 1920s, there were three big pharma companies and they each had a cannabis compound meant to treat approximately 100 to 112 different ailments — from coughing to not sleeping or not being able to eat.
So, cannabinoids from those two plants were a part of our ecosystem. It was a part of our bodies. Our body has this endocannabinoid system and that system is responsible for managing everything in our body. I think from the time we started prohibition, back in the 30s up until now, and the war on drugs, that deficiency of cannabinoids in our ecosystems and in our bodies has had such a negative impact that we’ve lost all of that and we lost all of the education and the understanding that came with that because prohibition brought that to a stop.
Now, mother did not pass that on to daughter who did not then pass that on to son who did not pass that on to the children. That’s how education was passed on throughout all of history. Even to this day, we transfer our understanding to our children. So, there are 70 years of all of that knowledge that came to a halt and we have to start all over again.
“CBD is such an important molecule and it has such an impact on the body.”
So, education is so important because there are like 115 chemical compounds found in just those two plants. What’s amazing is, you and I have the endocannabinoid system. We have a science lab in the back of our head. We’ve got the best scientists on the face of the Earth and their job is to sit and watch you every minute of every day and pay attention to what’s going on. When it’s time to go to bed, what does it do? It says, “Oh, okay. Serotonin.” There are chemical compounds that are similar to the chemical compounds in two plants that grow naturally.
And so, those chemical compounds that are entered into the body make a significant impact. Look what it does for children who have seizures. Look what it does to people that have anxiety. Look at what it does for people who have PTSD. Look what it does for people who have pain. Look what it does for people who have cancer.
Today, because we have the science to break down all of those cannabinoid compounds, those chemical compounds in those two plants. We lost those 70 years and it’s time to pick up that mantle and start learning and figuring out, understanding, what all of those things do and their impacts on the body.
The big thing about CBD, it’s anti-inflammatory. It reduces inflammation. It makes swollen muscles shrink. So, those scientists back there, when they’re monitoring you and they’re releasing chemical compounds and then you introduce those chemical compounds into your body, those scientists and that endocannabinoid system, they operate in a different realm and bring a different type of healing that opioids can’t do. That manmade medicines can’t do. It’s something that only plant medicine can do. And that’s the bad thing for big pharma. They can’t patent it.
“…you introduce those chemical compounds (CBD) into your body, those scientists and that endocannabinoid system, they operate in a different realm and bring a different type of healing that opioids can’t do.”
HZ: I’d really love to hear more about how you’re educating people in terms of speaking and, of course, we’ll touch on your book. But you’ve been going around for a few years now, right?
DS: Yes. My mission is always to educate the next person, so it’s always who’s in front of me. If an issue pops up, I’m always picking and prodding and poking just. You ask these kind of ‘round the corner questions that bring up answers that you’re trying to get from people, without them understanding what you’re doing. To try and get them to talk about something, to bring something up. And so, I’m always trying to bring up cannabis medicine.
When people talk about ailments, then I have an open door. And it probably started about two and a half to three years ago, after about two years of digging in and understanding. The problem was, that I found on the Internet, when I started trying to understand CBD and what it was and why it was doing what it was doing, I had to get past the layer of all of the people trying to sell me stuff. And that’s not an easy layer to get past, because the whole Internet is like a layer of people coming to sell stuff.
So, once you start getting down underneath that and finding some sites, you start finding some medical sites and research sites and stuff in other countries like Israel, where they’ve done 50 years of research. Digging in and learning, for me, I’m still learning. But everything that I learn, I try to spend every moment I can putting something into somebody. Like I said, my mission is always the next person in front of me.
I speak at events, like this last event that I just spoke at was the USA CBD Expo and that was phenomenal. A lot of people showed up with pain issues and had questions and wanted to know. There’s another CBD Expo company out there that saw my book and asked me to come and speak. And I’ve worked to educate some people in South Africa, which is really cool. Actually, there’s a couple of ladies in the UK as well.
So, everything for me, I just always look for an open door. It doesn’t matter if I’m on the stage or if I’m on the bus. I was in the airport at Atlanta and I’m listening to people, talking to people, and I’m looking for open doors just to share the gospel of CBD.
“My mission is always to educate the next person…If an issue pops up, I’m always picking and prodding and poking…you ask these kind of ‘round the corner questions that bring up answers that you’re trying to get from people…to try and get them to talk about something, to bring something up. And so, I’m always trying to bring up cannabis medicine.”
HZ: You know, I think if there is any reticence of people using CBD, it might be people who are thinking, well, is it addictive? Will it show up in a drug test? If you can maybe speak to those people out there.
DS: The answer is, yes. There is a high possibility for THC to show up in your bloodstream. Here’s why. A recent study, well two studies, one study came to show that two-thirds of the products on the market today were poorly labeled. It was either Leafly or Weedmaps. One of the two, they did a study and they found that about 50-50 were still incorrectly labeled. What that means is you could buy something on Route 66, at the gas station, and it could say it’s zero THC. And in a couple of days, you go and take a drug test, and voila, you just failed your drug test.
Well, here’s why. One, you didn’t look to see if they had a certificate of analysis (COA). You didn’t look to see what kind of testing they had, which is a hard thing to do in that circumstance. But then, you need to know what you’re buying and you need to have a little education and understanding about CBD. And I believe that two-thirds of the products on the shelf today are still incorrect. I think it’s two-thirds. I don’t think it’s 50-50.
So, the CBD, where you get it is important. Why or how you acquire it is important. No, you don’t have to worry about it being addictive. It’s not addictive. If you have an illness, you want to acquire the habit or a routine of using it. That’s important. That becomes kind of a habit, but not an addictive habit. But there is a probability that if you’re using a full-spectrum CBD oil that, yes, you could fail a drug test. So, it’s important that you understand what you’re buying when it comes to the type of CBD.
HZ: What do you think consumers should look for in a CBD brand?
DS: If you’re going to look at a brand, there’s a few things that you really want. You don’t want a label that’s so small that you can’t read it because if the label is fuzzy, that’s a problem. That’s a red flag. You want a solid, clear label on that product for that brand.
The higher quality brands are now adding batch numbers to their product and to their COA. A batch number, basically what that does is if I’ve got this pen and it was manufactured on fourth of July, 2020 and I know that there’s a problem with it, I can follow that batch number and say, “okay, this thing was manufactured on that day by such and such company and now I know where the bad stuff came from or good stuff or whatever.” The good companies or good brands will have a batch number on everything. They put it on the product label, the packaging, and they also put it on the certificate of analysis.
Another quality thing you want to look for and branding is the packaging. Packaging is everything. And you want to see as much info on there. Another good thing that some of the oil manufacturing companies are doing on the packaging is putting what’s called a QR code. The newer phones today, you can just turn on your camera and you can face it at the QR code and it will pop up. It will send you to the link that’s in that QR code so that you can look at generally your COA.
It’s your testing results. You want to see how much THC is in that product. How much CBD, the various types of CBD, CBN, CBG, CBA, the different types of cannabinoids. Other things like terpenes. Were there metals in the plant? Pesticides? You want to see all zeros in those columns, in the testing results.
The other thing is they will also give you a way to contact them. They will not make you have to jump through hoops. Right? There should be a toll-free number for you to call or a phone number. You want to be able to contact them and ask them questions.
The best companies also offer a refund. If you try the product and it didn’t work, or you didn’t like it, or it was bad. They have a refund policy. If they really care about you as the consumer, they’re going to bend over backwards to exceed your expectations. That’s what the good companies do.
“If they really care about you as the consumer, they’re going to bend over backwards to exceed your expectations. That’s what the good companies do.”
HZ: I think, delving into your book, I mean, it’s a book that I’m really dying to read, a book that has numerous medical endorsements. 7 Ways to Manage Pain with CBD is a book that a lot in the industry are talking about. How did that process start?
DS: I didn’t want to write a book. That was the furthest thing for me to do. I had no intent. I didn’t get into CBD to write a book. I just wanted relief. Like I did when I was working on the book, I did a really stupid thing. I’m walking down the alleyway by where I used to live in Los Angeles. And there’s a little, there’s a ball there. And I know that as it’s sitting there, there’s a little lip though in the cement. And I think, “okay, you know what? I can still kick that and not kick the cement.” Guess what I did? I kicked the cement. That pain — you know, the first thing I did is I go and I’m shoving down gummies, I’m taking oil and I’m using these topicals. And I’ve got, these are my notes, and I’ve got over like two years of stuff. I had all these notes of things that I’ve tried and things that I’ve done and different ways to use CBD.
I always try to go after that. So, I use my own material to figure out how I’m going to attack things, and then it’s like, I’ve got so much stuff here. I’m already telling people. Why don’t I take what I know and show them the various ways that they can use CBD for pain?
So, I figured out that there were seven different ways of using CBD in various forms. For me, taking CBD oil helps a little bit. But when I take CBD and a topical or gummies or a tincture, I get a better effect and reduction in pain. And I get quicker healing, depending on what I do to myself. So, it came about from just having just papers, stacks of papers of stuff that I had written down, and researching and trying to find in my bookmarks that I found on the web.
I kind of knew a lot of stuff and I thought, well, let me put something together that’s a little different. It’s completely different because it’s highly graphic. I made it very pictorial, very graphic, so there’s no mistake what you’re looking at. So, that’s kind of how it came about is that event, going to my notes, and figuring okay, so what do I got here? What should I do? And I ended up coming up with the book.
Never in a million years, never did I think I would write a book. And I never, ever thought that it would meet any level of excellence or a standard. You know, for a doctor to read it and say, “wow, I would recommend this to my people. I would recommend this is what doctors need to read.” One doctor said, “you read this book, you’ll be years ahead of other doctors.”
It’s about a 45-minute read. You will know what CBD is, where it comes from. You will be able to stand toe-to-toe with anybody in a dispensary, a healthcare professional. You will understand how to read a label. What should be on the label. You’ll know about what a COA is. What the testing is. You’ll know how to look.
I actually had a lab from back east write that chapter for me on reading a testing result for a CBD product. And that’s kind of the book, in a nutshell. It tells you everything that you need to know. It tells you what state CBD is legal in and what couple states CBD is not legal in. When President Trump signed the Hemp Bill, it gave the states the right to decide what they’re going to do with hemp and CBD. And I think two states, maybe a third, have chosen to make CBD illegal. They said, “Nah, we don’t want that stuff here.”
HZ: Yeah, I think Iowa and Idaho, maybe?
DS: Yeah, that might be. I don’t recall off the top of my head. But yeah. So, that’s kind of what the book is. It will give any patient the ability to know what they’re talking about.
Never in a million years, never did I think I would write a book. And I never, ever thought that it would meet any level of excellence or a standard. You know, for a doctor to read it and say, “wow, I would recommend this to my people. I would recommend this is what doctors need to read.” One doctor said, “you read this book, you’ll be years ahead of other doctors.”
HZ: Awesome. I’m not someone who’s a fan of very broad questions, but here’s a broad question for you. What do you think the future of CBD is? Do you think it’s something that really grows, becomes very mainstream?
DS: That’s another excellent question. Let me tell you, the future of, I try to refer to it now as cannabis medicine is CBD. I’m closely in touch with lots of manufacturers, several researchers, several doctors, and there’s one organization out there, Hulliger Technologies. It‘s not a CBD oil for him, right? He’s been researching CBD for almost 30 years. He’s the one who made the breakthrough with nanotechnology and CBD. They call him Pot Patient Zero, meaning he’s the first known person to use cannabis and heal himself from cancer.
So, he uses nanotechnology and he uses a variety of other things along with his CBD. Because it’s for a health of the body, health maintenance, I can tell you this, that starting January, this particular gentleman and his research, the state of Florida is going to use him. They’re already setting up a facility for him and they’re going to use him and they’re going to use his medicine for cancer research.
There may even be a possibility of doing some sports research in there as well. It’s a fantastic opportunity. So, the future of cannabis medicine is going to be huge. There’s going to be greater understanding of the other minor cannabinoids. There’s going to be greater understanding of how the application and the mixing of these and other botanicals, other plant medicines, other plant herbs. Plant medicine is just so powerful when used properly, with knowledge and understanding. The future of cannabis medicine is going to be bright.
I think, you know, Florida is going to be leading the way to show that there’s more to this than just what meets the eye. There’s a reason why cannabis should not be illegal. It should be de-scheduled. It should be allowed to be given to the people. They should be allowed to have it. Now, if you want a tax. Okay, I get it. It’s like alcohol or whatever. You know, there’s something there for that. But the cannabinoids of those plants impact the human body in such a way that it brings health, it regenerates life, it brings healing.
I mean, look, there’s a study that just showed that CBD in mice heals bone fractures twice as fast. And I’m sure, I know, that it has the same impact on human bones. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not giving you medical advice. But the research is coming out and they’re showing how powerful this plant is or these two plants, hemp and cannabis, are. So, that’s really not a broad question. That’s really an important question because the future of what’s coming for cannabis medicine is going to be huge and it’s going to be impactful in so many ways.
“Plant medicine is just so powerful when used properly, with knowledge and understanding. The future of cannabis medicine is going to be bright.”
I can’t even fathom. I met the gentleman who’s got medical studies right now for using a CBD product mixed with some other things for IQ and mind and the brain. So, you’ve got that’s being worked on. You’ve got stuff that’s being worked on for cancer. The future is bright. If we could just get Congress to get off their butt. I mean, look, they hold patents. Schedule I says there’s no medicinal benefit to these drugs, so they’re illegal. Yet, they have a patent that shows that it heals people. Go figure.
And there is one other thing. There is an important thing that almost everybody is overlooking. It’s probably one of the most important messages that I’m trying to get out is to pay attention to the prescription drugs that you’re using if you choose to take CBD.
Here’s why. If you have a medication that has a grapefruit warning, that grapefruit, what it does, is it manipulates one of the enzymes or some enzymes inside the liver, and it prevents medications from being processed by the liver. So, that toxicity builds up in the blood.
How do you know if you’ve got something you have to worry about? Well, the first thing is if you’ve got the grapefruit warning, do not take CBD. Don’t touch it. There are other drugs out there that we don’t know yet. So, if you’re on prescription medications, meet with a cannabis physician together and understand what could happen.
I tell people, think of your liver as a castle back in the old days, surrounded by a moat. The castle has a drawbridge that comes down. So, the liver has that drawbridge down and all of these prescriptions go through and get processed by the liver. Now, CBD is a boss and it comes in and it takes control of that liver. It brings up that drawbridge and says, “you’re not coming in here.” And those drugs, the toxicity builds up in the blood, and it could cause problems. So, if you’re on prescription medications, be aware, understand what you’re doing. Talk to some professionals. It’s very important to your health.
But then there’s a second one. CBD can amplify certain side effects of drugs that you’re taking. So, for instance, if let’s say you’re taking drug ABC, and one of the side effects is drowsiness. If you’re taking CBD, one of the side effects of too much CBD is drowsiness. Well, you don’t necessarily have to be taking too much CBD to be drowsy. Where if you take CBD and mix it with a prescription, you’re going to feel that drowsiness. You’re going to feel that because it’s amplifying what’s in the manmade medication that you’re taking.
So that’s something that you want to pay attention to as well. Some of the side effects can be dry mouth. If you take too much, it can give you diarrhea. It can cause you to be drowsy. Taking too much oil, obviously, is not good for you at one time. And then there are some side effects that we still, just because of lack of research, we don’t know.
So, for those of you seniors, people who are taking prescription medications, please talk to a cannabis doctor or even a cannabis pharmacist. A cannabis pharmacist, they know a great deal about the interactions between drugs, so that’s really important. I just wanted to share that warning. It’s so important that we pay attention to that.
HZ: Just the final 60 seconds here, do you have a message to people who might be on the fence or people who maybe just need that extra swaying. The floor is yours if you have anything else to say. A final message?
DS: If you have an illness, if you are struggling with physical pain, chronic pain, high impact chronic pain, chronic regional pain syndrome. If you’re dealing with these types of pain, if you’re dealing with anxiety, if you’re dealing with PTSD, if you’re dealing with a variety of ailments and issues, don’t let what you hear about the bad CBD oil and Route 66 gas stations scare you away.
The truth is, if you spend a little time getting to know and understand cannabis medicine and CBD — when you have a little bit of knowledge, you’re a powerful person and you can do a lot for your health. You can do a lot with these two plants to change your life for the better.
Don’t be on the fence. Don’t think about it. Don’t say, “well, I need to do some research and see if this is right for me.” It’s right for you. What I want you to do is to jump in the pool and see for yourself.
Now, obviously, the very first time when you try, you’re going to try to make sure that you’re not having an adverse side effect or an adverse reaction. Once you know the answer to that question and you don’t have anything adverse from taking it, jump in, learn, take it, try it, use it. Get help. Let somebody guide you. There may be a cost involved. But I promise you, maintaining health is a lot cheaper than paying for illness. So, if anything, please jump off that fence, get into that pool, wade through it, and do it.
HZ: David Schroeder, thank you so much for being on. And your book, 7 Ways To Manage Pain with CBD, that’s available, wherever books are sold?
DS: Yes, you can buy it on amazon.com, walmart.com, barnesandnoble.com, and my website thecbdwriter.com.
“I promise you, maintaining health is a lot cheaper than paying for illness. So, if anything, please jump off that fence, get into that pool, wade through it, and do it.”
HZ: Well, I think you’re going to have a lot of readers. Especially me.
DS: Nice. The whole idea is just for people to get educated and learn CBD.
HZ: I love it. Perfect. Thank you so much.
DS: Absolutely. Thank you.
For more information about David Schroeder’s journey with CBD and the natural healing powers of CBD, visit thecbdwriter.com.
To purchase his book, 7 Ways to Manage Pain with CBD, visit any of the following websites:
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