Five years ago, Kristina Obsorn’s life completely changed. After being diagnosed with lupus, she had no choice but to leave her career as a cosmetologist due to complications from the chronic illness. It was around that time that Osborn met Roger Gaillard, a man suffering with his own physical afflictions. Roger had undergone severe back surgery with several complications. Facing a lifetime of medications, Roger’s brother introduced him to CBD. As he experienced personal success with the product, and as their interest grew, the brothers decided to start a CBD company. That is when High Country Products was born. 

At the time of the company’s inception, CBD was still a brand new concept and formulas were still having their kinks worked out. Luckily, High Country had a new scientist on their hands with Osborn, who had made herself a guinea pig. Everyone’s health issues are different, but for Kristina, lupus was unique to her. So far she has been able to stay off all pain medication, with the rare exception of a Tylenol 500. She has a CBD regimen for her really bad days, one for her good days, and one for her in-between days. The biggest thing it has helped her do is manage how much medicine she needs. There are medicines that she knows she has to take, but she can decrease the dosage over time. 

“CBD doesn’t cure anything,” she explained. “It won’t cure my lupus or my arthritis. I will have to stay on the medication that the doctors gave me. But, to keep away from the pain killers, on top of the medication, is the biggest thing that CBD has done for me.” When she has flare-ups like restless leg syndrome or nerve pain in the back of her spine and up into her neck, she applies topical products right away, and within five or ten minutes, she finds some relief. Depending on her pain level, the CBD helps to take the edge off. The products have also helped improve pain-related insomnia by helping her body to relax. 

Kristina is one of many in a new wave of chronic illness patients who are choosing an “East meets West” approach to their medical treatment. She accepts that the nature of her condition calls for modern pharmaceutical intervention, but by using an updated, old-world hemp derivative, she has kept her Prednisone (antinflammatory drug) and Hydroxychloroquine (immunosuppressive and anti-parasitic medication) down to maintenance doses. 

She recognizes that starting a CBD regimen is something that should be thought through and discussed with a physician. It’s imperative to discuss any possible drug interactions, such as some heart and blood pressure medications, beforehand. No one should stop their medications cold-turkey thinking that CBD is the answer. In Kristina’s case, she isn’t managing her lupus with CBD, but rather she’s managing the pain that comes with lupus with CBD. Kristina has found that doctors are 50/50 for or against it with no middle ground. Perhaps these are just leftover prohibitionist prejudices about the compound’s origin.

CBD comes from the hemp plant, which has been used for several beneficial properties, including its medicine, for thousands of years. The first documented use of cannabis-derived medicine dates back to 2737 BC, when Chinese Emperor Sheng Neng used a cannabis-infused tea to aid with a variety of ailments including memory, malaria, rheumatism, and gout. Evidence of its medicinal usage has since been linked to the Silk Road, Roman Empire, early Christian Eurasia, and even Renaissance European world powers. With time, the plant’s psychoactive effects created a stigma that eventually stifled its production and led to its criminalization. 

Medical marijuana was legalized in California in 1996, which sparked a trend that spread to a majority of states by 2016. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use. It was the 2014 Farm Bill Act that started to change hemp & CBD laws and regulations. Also, changes to the basic 10-panel drug tests that ensured that CBD users were not using psychoactive THC-based drugs made the compound more accessable and widely accepted. NO, CBD WILL NOT GET YOU HIGH. NO, YOU WILL NOT FAIL A STANDARD DRUG TEST. 

Ready to try it for yourself? High Country Products carries a large selection of CBD products, including 500 mg up to 3500 mg tinctures of CBD. They also carry other cannabinoid items like CBG and CBN, which are cousins to CBD. They have different healing purposes as well. CBN is good for sleep, while CBG is aggressive and is stronger. They also carry capsules, gummies, chocolates, and smokeables. Smokeables are hemp flowers that come in a pre-roll or cartridge vape. They have no THC, so you can’t get high using these products, although they can provide a body buzz. These items are great for anxiety, insomnia, and stress-related situations. They have a small selection of hemp flower that comes from a local company in Arizona, and one company that is out of Oregon. They also carry CBD topicals. All of the topical products are made by hand in-house by Kristina, including CBD salves, CBD pain sprays, body butters, massage oils, and CBD lotions. They also have CBD teas.

They consider themselves an artisan shop and carry items from vendors across the state of AZ to support local artists and other local small businesses. Many of the vendors came from The Rustic Cabin, but they already had quite a few vendors of their own. Shop for soap, candles, food, artwork and woodwork, jewelry, knits, beanies, signs, leather, gifts, and all types of Arizona-based souvenirs.