Pharmaceutical Giant, Walgreen, has hopped on the CBD bandwagon and now stocks a variety of CBD products proudly displayed on its shelves. You can now buy CBD-infused products in about 3,860 Walgreen store outlets in select states.
This move by Walgreens to add CBD-related products to its lineup aims to provide a wider variety of accessible health and wellness products that best satisfy the needs and wants of its customer base.
Keep on reading to discover the type of CBD products you can and cannot find on the shelves of Walgreens.
Walgreens has taken a rather safe strategy when it comes to the type of CBD products available across its megastores. The CBD products you’ll find on its shelves include:
These beauty and skincare CBD products don’t contain THC and therefore won’t make you high. That’s why Walgreens markets them as beauty or skincare items rather than supplements. Hence, a natural entry point into the booming CBD marketplace.
Some of the select states where you can buy Walgreens’ CBD-infused products include:
Unfortunately, Walgreens does not stock food or dietary CBD products like traditional CBD oil and CBD gummies in-store or online.
With the high demand for CBD edibles, what’s holding back Walgreens from meeting consumer demand for CBD oil? Why is the giant still playing safe from stocking dietary CBD products?
Here are a few reasons why:
Hemp-derived CBD became legal by the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, popularly known as the Farm Bill. The amendment made hemp an agricultural crop away from its initial classification as a Schedule I category substance. It also approved hemp-derived CBD products as long as they contained less than 0.3 percent THC.
Even with these momentous federal changes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet evaluated CBD products on whether they are effective and safe to treat particular ailments or have other effects, as claimed.
The FDA has only approved one CBD product as of today. The product is called Epidiolex. It is a CBD-based prescription used to treat different forms of seizures, including:
Therefore, selling CBD products with unverified therapeutic claims is a breach of the law. The FDA also disapproves of the use of CBD as a food additive or dietary supplement. And companies that sell CBD products must conform to the FDA’s marketing and labeling requirements.
With the lack of FDA approval, Walgreens opts to take a no-risk approach. That’s why you will find neither CBD oil nor CBD gummies on its shelves.
With the lack of a clear enforcement policy from the FDA, states have taken it upon themselves to regulate CBD products.
There are over 20 states that currently allow CBD-infused foods and drinks. These states include West Virginia, Texas, Ohio, and Florida.
Other states, like Massachusetts, Hawaii, and California, have introduced laws to allow CBD-infused foodstuff. Still, other states like Maryland adhere to FDA’s stance that bans CBD in food and drinks.
The patchwork of state regulations governing CBD edibles has led to a wide inconsistency of individual state regulations. The state of Utah, for example, regulates the shape of a CBD edible. A gummy must be in a cube or rectangular shape.
As such, retailers selling CBD oil or CBD gummies have to keep a close eye on individual state requirements. And this presents a complicated and cumbersome situation that a giant drug store like Walgreens doesn’t want to get involved in.
Your local Walgreens store probably does not stock CBD oils or CBD gummies. But there are many other stores that sell high-quality oral CBD products. These include:
Most online dispensaries have an extensive product line that you can choose from. They also offer better deals in the form of regular discounts, reward programs, coupon codes, and wholesale pricing. Even better, buying CBD oil online is convenient because your order gets delivered to your doorstep in a few business days.
You could also buy CBD oils and gummies at CBD-specific shops. When buying from a specialty shop, make sure to ask the following questions:
Major gas stations are now stocking CBD oil and gummies. So you can pick your preferred product when you stop to fill up your tank. However, the disadvantage of buying CBD products from retail locations like convenience stores or gas stations is you can’t really tell the quality of the product you’re getting.
You can actually buy CBD products at Walgreens in select states, but you’re only limited to hemp-based topical creams, patches, and sprays. This means that you won’t find CBD oil or CBD gummies at Walgreens. Your options for sourcing these products include gas stations, convenience stores, CBD specialty shops, and online dispensaries. Hopefully, Walgreens will soon expand its CBD product lineup to include oils and gummies.
