Rita Wos is an unlikely proprietor of a CBD store. Her career is in real estate, and it was only when she started researching whether to buy Monterey Holistic Health on Lighthouse Avenue that she began trying products to see if they were any good. “I was never into pot,” she says. “I was doing the research and decided if I wanted to sell it, I should give it a try. I wanted to sell the products I know really work from my own personal experience.”
That personal experience includes years of struggling to fall asleep, sometimes lying awake for two to three hours, the entire day racing through her mind. Melatonin made her groggy. A half-dropperful of her favorite CBD tincture (made by Flora Sophia or Extract Labs), and she’s asleep within 30 minutes.
There are different types of CBD – that’s cannabidiol, found in the cannabis plant – and none of them make you high, like the psychoactive component, THC does. Various CBD compounds are sold as isolates, but the one Wos prefers personally is what’s known as a full-spectrum CBD, bringing multiple different compounds – plus 0.03-percent THC – together.
While she emphasizes every customer’s needs are different, in general, a higher-concentration dosage helps treat pain, and a lower concentration treats anxiety and sleep problems. The latter are making up more than half of customer needs during the pandemic, Wos says.
It takes several weeks until the change really comes through – CBD products are subtle by design. “It builds up in your body and makes you more relaxed, and opens up the endocannabinoid system and receptors in your body,” she says.
It’s helping keep Wos relaxed while she runs the shop two days a week during shelter-in-place. She bought the store in October for her niece to operate, but her niece has kids at home, so Wos is filling in.
“I’ve seen a lot of new customers,” Wos says. “People are coming in and looking for sleep.”
MONTEREY HOLISTIC HEALTH, 623 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey. Open 11am-6pm daily. 583-5122, montereyholistichealth.org
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