Where others direct their focus on the psychoactive THC molecule, Danielle Blair and her Calyx Wellness Centre see value in the cannabis plant’s main non-psychoactive chemical, cannabidiol – otherwise known as CBD. Blair told Business of Cannabis that education will be key to introducing all walks of life to the benefits of the cannabis plant.

“I think a defining trend will be families speaking about this topic openly and with regularity, and trying to integrate the benefits of CBD into their communities.  This means educating young families as well as the elderly.” – Danielle Blair

For these demographic groups, Blair explains, “the benefits of cannabis and CBD are outside of their realm of understanding or comfort. They grew up in a world where cannabis was against the law, and that won’t just go away with when recreational legalization happens.” “It’s going to be all about  education, from dinner table discussions, to helping children understand what’s happening and working with schools to educate and integrate honest harm reduction into the curriculum so they appreciate how harmful misused cannabis can be for a growing brain” As a mother, Blair says she always thinks “How can I teach my kids the best practice in this open market.” She says that, “…when we were growing up it was alcohol, and we had to have that conversation with our parents about drinking and not overdoing it.” That’s part of Blair’s motivation with Calyx Wellness Centre, “Calyx is very much a community-integrated educational platform for the community to have a place to feel comfort.” “I feel like we bridge the gap between the cannabis culture and people that would like to use the benefits of what the molecule has to offer but don’t want to have the feeling of being high. We’re bridging a gap of the unknown. A daily struggle is having a conversation with someone who believes it’s a placebo, or non-sense or just capitalization on a trend.” Blair sees Calyx as blazing a trail in bringing the powers of CBD to the masses. “There are no CBD-only companies in Canada at this point. There are medical marijuana companies that are deriving CBD from cannabis, but there’s no other companies just focused on the health benefits of CBD and its therapeutic properties. We were the first to do it in the world – to have a storefront on CBD and show what it has to offer.”

Interview conducted by Harrison Jordan, Special Contributor, Business of Cannabis