August 2, 2019 • 56:32 minutes
#104 – From Taking Opioids to CBD Evangelist and CBD Entrepreneur with Veteran Greg Keeley of On Duty CBD
Greg Keeley is a Service Disabled Combat Veteran. He has the unique distinction of service in both the United States Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, serving in combat roles in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pacific.
As Chief Operating Officer of a national security driven biosecurity company he had oversight of numerous labs, across two countries and four U.S. states. Previously, Mr Keeley held leadership roles in a number of cybersecurity firms.
Mr. Keeley served in senior roles in the United States Congress, including the Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and the Chairman of the Republican Senate Policy Committee.
As a sought-after national security analyst, Mr. Keeley is a regular contributor to Fox News, Fox Business, Washington Times, Daily Caller, The Hill and the Guardian amongst others.
Show Notes
Combat Veteran Greg Keeley first discovered CBD in a supermarket parking lot. After testing it, he started to reduce the medications he had been prescribed for PTSD and associated sleep disorders. He was able to completely free himself from prescription meds. Such was his personal success with CBD that he started his own company, On Duty CBD.
Highlights
- Replacing opioid medications with CBD
- Starting a CBD business in Kentucky
- How more regulation will help create more trust in CBD
- Helping veterans and first responders
- CBD and big pharma
- CBD to help with anxiety in dogs
Links of Interest
Summary Keywords
cbd, people, duty, product, veterans, first responders, milligram, thc, hemp, dropper, big, industry, canine, kentucky, australia, folks, military, oysters, buy, processes, opioids
Speakers
Vadim Fedorovsky, Host, CBD School Podcast
Greg Keeley, Veteran, Founder and CEO, On Duty CBD
Podcast Transcript
Introduction
Vadim 00:01
You wrote to me once. I’m a service disabled combat veteran. I was taking six drugs — six drugs, people — a day from the VA. Thanks to OD CBD, I now take zero.
All right. And we are back in class. This is Vadim, the CBD professor from cbdschool.com: Your school to learn all about cannabidiol. This episode of the CBD School Podcast is brought to you by On Duty CBD. The CBD for veterans, nurses and anybody that’s working hard to serve their community. On Duty CBD is a fully veteran produced company. It’s grown by veterans and their founder, Greg, is a veteran himself and I think you’re really going to enjoy this podcast that I do with him. I think you’re really going to love this episode in learning more about him, his own story with CBD and why he decided to start the company. Visit ondutycbd.com to get a 20% discount just for CBD School listeners. That coupon code is FREEDOM20, scores you 20% off any of their fine products. They have both THC-free and full-spectrum products. And if you need to speak with the customer service team, make sure to reach out to them and they are waiting for your call. So use that FREEDOM20 to get 20% off any of their fine products. And I really hope you enjoy the show.
On today’s podcast, I am sitting down with Greg of On Duty CBD and I have been looking forward to this podcast for a while. We were going back and forth trying to set it up. I was traveling and without internet connection. But we’re finally linked up here. So Greg, welcome to the show.
Greg 02:05
Hi, Vadim, thank you so much. Really excited to be here.
Vadim 02:07
Yes. So where is your accent from? Where are you from?
Greg 02:10
So Australian born and bred, was raised on a winery just south of Perth, on the west coast of Australia. So literally, I couldn’t get any further from my home state right now.
Vadim 02:24
Yeah. I’ve heard of Perth before. So is that a big city?
Greg 02:27
Yeah. You know what, I’m not sure how big it is now, but I think it’s the fourth largest city in Australia. It’s probably got a couple of million people in it. Maybe maybe a little more than that. You know, a lot of resources come out of Perth and out of Western Australia. A lot of oil and gas, gold, and that sort of thing.
Vadim 02:45
Okay, cool. So you’re from Australia, and obviously, I already know this, but the listeners don’t. I know you are a veteran. So how did you come from being in Australia to serving in the US Army? Did you move to the US when you were young?
Greg 02:59
Very good question. No, it’s an unusual story. And I’ll keep it brief. I served in the Royal Australian Navy for about 10 years, primarily in information operations in Australia. And then in 2000 to 2003, I was a liaison officer to the United States Department of Defense, looking at both Afghanistan and Iraq. I deployed to Iraq with the US military in an Australian uniform. And the long and short of it is, shortly after that, I was recruited into the US military from the Australian Navy. So I joined the US Navy as a direct entry officer from Australia. Apparently, from what I understand, I’m the first person to have done that and remain, from what I understand, you know, the only person who has done it.
Vadim 03:49
So you’re the only Australian that’s been grandfathered into the US Army?
Greg 03:54
Yeah. Navy, of course. We’re always about “Go Army, Beat Navy”. But yeah, from what I understand, I’m the only person to come in as an officer from an allied service into the US Navy.
Vadim 04:05
I never really thought about it. But I guess, does the US have good relations military wise with Australia?
Greg 04:11
Yeah, absolutely. Australia’s the only country on the planet that has served alongside or fought alongside the United States in every single combat operation since World War I. And that includes obviously World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, you name it, Australia and the US have fought side by side. So there’s a long history of trust between the two countries, from military to intelligence to diplomatic operations. And it’s been a seamless transition, one could say.
Vadim 04:42
Yeah. I’ve always wanted to visit Australia. And I guess, I don’t think they do too much restriction on US citizens, right, as far as visas or going in and out of Australia?
Greg 04:53
Oh, no, super easy. They’d love to have you come and visit. It’s just a long way.
Vadim 04:57
Oh, I don’t mind. I’ve flown all over. So I don’t mind flying. I’m used to it. But so you live in the US now though, right? You’re based in California, I believe, right? Or am I getting that wrong?
Kentucky Trump CBD Hemp Flower
Greg 05:06
No, we’re based in Lexington, Kentucky. OD CBD is based on Lexington. That’s where our growing operation is. It’s where our processing is. It’s all based out of the University of Kentucky here in Lexington. And that’s where our headquarters right now.
Vadim 05:22
Cool. Yeah, I spoke with one of your colleagues the other week, and maybe that’s why I mixed it up. But he was telling me a bit about that. Matt of Wild Health. Yeah. Interesting.
Greg 05:33
Yes.
Vadim 05:34
Kentucky, Lexington is a pretty place. I visited one time for a hemp conference there.
Greg 05:38
Yeah, Kentucky’s beautiful. And you know, here we are in Lexington, you know, it’s the horse capital of the world, UK or University of Kentucky is here and you know, probably the backbone of the community, but the horse industry and now the hemp industry, a big part of Lexington, a big part of Kentucky. I mean, you just have to look back at the history of hemp in Kentucky, and you know, it goes back to pre-Civil War. And the state is really going back to its hemp roots. And you know, the state is super supportive of hemp growers, super supportive of the CBD industry, and the land, you know, the soil and the climate and everything is just ideal for growing hemp. And, you know, that’s why we get such good, good products out of here.
Vadim 06:26
Have you found that there’s a certain strain or varieties that are ideal for, you know, grow even more optimally than the general plant in Kentucky?
Greg 06:37
Yeah, that’s a good question. You know, we’ve experimented it On Duty with a bunch of different strains, a bunch of clones, what we’ve found is the strain that we’re using the most, not exclusively, but the most, is called Trump, believe it or not.
Vadim 06:53
I’ve heard of it. Yeah, I’ve heard that strain.
Greg 06:56
Yeah, you know, we used a bunch of other strains, including, you know, Cherry and some others. What we found with the Trump strain is that it’s very sturdy, has a really good root base, the stalk is robust and significant. So, you know, there’s a lot less damage because of weather or weight or anything like that. And the product would get off, it is terrific. I think we’re probably running probably at 85% of the Trump strain right now.
Vadim 07:23
That’s great. That’s great. Why is it called Trump? Do you know who named that?
Greg 07:27
No, I actually don’t, but it’s actually not called Trump specifically. It’s TRMP or something, just abbreviated. Everyone just abbreviated whatever the actual name of it is. It’s one of those things that will just go into the annals of history because everyone just refers to as Trump now. But it literally just came from the letters and that’s just how it happened, I believe.
Vadim 07:51
Yeah, that’s interesting. I’ve heard of it somewhere. I can’t remember. I actually have some hemp growing in Pennsylvania. That’s where I grew up. And the farmers there right now are trying to figure out the best strain and genetics for Pennsylvania, which has a similar climate, not exactly the same as Kentucky, but very similar. It’s not too far, actually. So it’s interesting what the whole nation is trying to figure this out. I think, you know, it’s still quite new.
Greg 08:18
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, we’ve played around with a number of different, you know, strains here. We’ve just found that Trump is the best for our purposes. Over this growing season, we’ve got a few other strains that we have in the ground. We’re experimenting with a couple of strains that we’re trying to develop internally. So yeah, we’re pretty excited. You know, the great thing here is there’s all of our hemp is grown by veterans, by military veterans that live here in Kentucky. And there’s a good crop of them, if you’ll pardon the pun. And they’ve all been very open to experimenting and trying some new strains for us and trying some more organic. You know, all of our products are organic.
Well, actually now we’re toying with some regenerative agriculture right now. So we’re not even using plows on a couple of the farms, just to see how that goes. It’s been trial and error. We identified a couple of our core farmers right at the get go, or the first one right at the get go. He had a 100% organic farm. He’s an army veteran. And he obviously then knew other veterans, and he put us in touch with those guys. And we, you know, started using them. And then we went to the state of Kentucky, and we asked for help from the state in identifying veteran farmers that we could go and help and we could work with and they did that as well.
So, you know, we don’t have a collective. You know, it’s nothing that formal. But we have right now a small cadre, if you like, of farmers that we work with exclusively, and that’s growing every month, it seems, as our requirement for product gets greater and we identify veteran farmers. And of course, if they’re not certified organic, which, you know, to be quite honest, most folks aren’t currently, we need to make sure they have organic processes. So we have a number of hurdles that we need people to work through to make sure that everything’s, you know, no pesticides, no heavy metals, none of that sort of business. Because effectively, at On Duty, we kind of control our process from the time the plant goes into the ground. In fact, before that, from the time we’re developing the land, pre-planting, all the way until it went into the bottle and got shipped to the gardens at home. And so that’s very important to us. And identifying the right farmers and the right veterans, it’s not easy, but we’re very happy with, you know, the folks we’ve got right now.
Vadim 10:45
Yeah, that’s great. So, I guess with organic, what’s the deal? Do you know? What’s the current status of the USDA on hemp? I mean, last I checked, there wasn’t really a way to get certified by the USDA to be organic for hemp, is there?
Greg 11:01
Right. No, I don’t think it’s necessarily certified. It’s following entire 100% organic processes, which is what we do. You know, I think the USDA, like many government agencies, are sort of just in a holding pattern right now until they, you know, see what shakes out more broadly. And hopefully, you know, that’s not going to be much — that process isn’t going to take too much longer, I hope.
Regulation to Create More Trust in CBD Industry
Vadim 11:25
Well, yeah. And I had a list of questions ready. And I think it’s a great time to actually ask you. Where do you see the space? I always like to get the view of entrepreneurs that are in the trenches. Where do you see the space, CBD hemp space, in five, 10 years? What’s your outlook?
Greg 11:39
Holy cow, you know, our projections change literally five to 10 days sometimes. I think what needs to happen, I think what will happen is, you know, the government will at some level come in with some form of regulation, which I think is long overdue, and I hope they do. And that, you know, the team had On Duty, from the farm to the lab to sales guys are all 100% supportive of some form of regulation. You know, there’s a lot of cowboys in the industry. There’s a lot of folks that will import products from parts unknown, content unknown, and then stick it in a bottle and put their label on it, and sell it in a gas station for $15. That’s not sustainable. I don’t think it’s safe. And I think the sooner there is some level of regulation or oversight by the government, or the federal government, the better. It will get rid of all these cowboys that are, you know, flooding the market trying to make a quick buck. And, you know, they’re doing a disservice to people that buy this stuff.
So, you know, CBD can help people enormously. It’s helped me. It’s helped many people I know. But if you’re starting out on CBD for the first time, and you find it at the 7-Eleven at 19.99, you buy it, it doesn’t do anything for you, you’re not buying ever again. So I think the sooner the federal government comes in, and you know, takes a stance on some of these issues, and put some form of regulation in place, the better. And I think it’ll be good for the industry. As I say, it’ll shake the tree and the good apples will keep growing and the bad ones will fall to the wayside. And the sooner that happens, from our perspective, the better.
Vadim 13:19
I agree. I think the regulation is good. And exactly what you said is that the quality control in the industry will just make things better. And most of the serious people in the space are, I think, in agreement that they want to just play by the rules. But the problem is there are no rules really set. There’s no standardized set of rules to follow. I mean, there’s some loose stuff like having, you know, obviously clean facilities and all that kind of stuff. But there’s no standardized rules for the space or regulation. I think that’s coming and I think it’ll be a good thing,
Greg 13:53
Oh, look, Vadim, I agree entirely. Some of the products you see out there, and you know, a lot of this is anecdotal, but we’ve done testing ourselves. There’s either no CBD in the actual products, they’re selling a CBD. You know, there’s no ingredients list or nutritional facts listed on any of their products on some of these products. It gets down to the fact or the point that people need to understand what they’re putting in their body. And unless they take a bit of time to research this, if you’re buying, you know, On Duty CBD or you’re buying another brand, I just urge folks to go online, do a little bit of research, check out their testing if they’ve even done it because a lot of these cowboys don’t even have testing and just check the veracity of some of their crazy statements.
You asked where I think the CBD industry will be in five, 10 years. Well, you know, even in two or three years, I think what you’ll see is, you know, some big players will come into the industry and I don’t mean on the growth side or anything like that. I mean, big retail or whatever you want to call them, players. Just like they’ve done into the liquor industry and the like. And you’ll see, I believe, major groups will start swallowing up brands. They’ll start pulling in grow operations. And you’ll see groups like beverage companies, maybe it could be anybody that decides that this is a market they want to be in, you know, you’re seeing it now. And so I think what will happen is, it’ll be, you know, almost like the airline industry, or the beer industry or anything else. You’ve got 100 players or 10,000 players right now. And that’s going to narrow down and narrow down or narrow down over the next few years until there’ll be your big players and then there’ll be, you know, like the smaller guys, which will be like having a crop brewer at the end of the street. And I think that’s the way it’s going to go.
From Opioids to CBD for PTSD
Vadim 15:42
Yeah, I agree with that. And I have to ask about something else because I was just going over some of the emails we were exchanging back and forth. And you wrote to me once. I’m a service disabled combat veteran. I was taking six drugs — six drugs, people — a day from the VA. Thanks to On Duty CBD, I now take zero. So talk about that, please, share with us.
Greg 16:04
Sure. I’m happy to. You know, you come back from a combat deployment, and you know, if you’ve got any issues, you know, the PTS-related, PTSD-related, anxiety related, the VA and the Defense, or the military hospitals are simply overwhelmed. And what happens invariably is they just put you on a regimen of opioids, of drugs, which include drugs for PTSD, anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, whatever the case may be. So I fell into that camp. And I was on those 2012 until the beginning of this year, effectively. And you know, so you’re talking five years taking five or six different opioids every single day. Now, that’s obviously not good for you. I had a guy that I know called me up, and he was trying to get into the CBD business. He called me up and he’s like, “Hey, do you still have that PTSD thing?” And I’m like, “Yeah. I still got that.” And then he said, “Would you try this?” You know, I’m looking at CBD. “Would you try it?” And I’m not making this up, Vadim. I didn’t even know what he was talking about.
Vadim 17:13
You didn’t know what it was?
Greg 17:14
No, I had no clue. So I’m literally talking to him, and I’m on my laptop while I’m talking to him. And I’m googling CBD. And this is in December of last year. And I was like, “Well, you know, sure, I’ll give it a try. I’ve got an underloads.” So I went and met him. And again, this sounds like it’s out of a movie, but it’s not. We’re sitting in the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly grocery store and I’m putting six drops of this oil under my tongue. Like we’re doing some crazy, you know, drug deal in a movie. And you know, I didn’t feel anything or whatever.
I went home, and you know, then I did my research. And I researched that the stuff he had given me was pretty crappy and of unknown origins likely coming in from China or somewhere. And I’m thinking to myself, well, I don’t want to take something I don’t know where it’s from and stick that in my body every day. So I did a bunch of research, found some good brands, tried some different stuff. And then I just thought to myself, we can do this as well or better than what we’re taking now. And that’s how the whole process started. So literally, at the end of last year, or in December, or January of this year, you know, On Duty CBD was just a glimmer in our collective eyes. And, you know, we pull the product together, we pull that grow operation together. And here we are.
Vadim 18:37
Yeah, that’s great. That’s great. So the CBD, and you’ve been taking it regularly since you found a good product, or how did that work out?
Greg 18:45
Yeah. So I found a couple of products, which I tried. And yeah, the short answer is I’ve been taking it on a daily basis since the end of January this year. And it’s worked remarkably well. You know, we had our own product available at the end of January, our first run that we did internally. So I’ve been taking, you know, On Duty CBD since the end of January of this year. And the short answer is after four weeks maybe, maybe six weeks, I stopped taking all of those pills. So I became a sort of true believer, not quite overnight, but you know, the proof is in the pudding. I was literally taking five or six opioids given to me by the VA every single day. I was sitting here talking to you now. I don’t take any of them and I haven’t done for five or six months.
CBD Dosage Regimen
Vadim 19:37
That’s amazing. I mean, how do you find that? Is the CBD — how much are you taking? Like, how do you find that? What’s your strategy with it? Because I know people listening are always wondering, you know, how much to take or what’s a good protocol? Like do you have some advice on that or or just from your own experience?
Greg 19:56
I mean, just from my own personal experience, at On Duty, our whole mantra, I guess, when talking to people about, you know, how much to take or what’s the best ratio regimen for them to use, is to start low go slow kind of deal. So you know, I started on a small dose, probably a third of the week. Everything that we do, we used to talk in, you know, mills and milligrams and all that sort of thing. But now we just talk dropper. So it’s just easier to understand.
Vadim 20:276
It’s so much easier to do that. Yeah. Sorry to interrupt. There’s so many people that I get confused. Like, I have to explain dropper full versus drop or drops or, I think, it’s better just to say like half a dropper full or a full dropper full, you know.
Greg 20:40
We’ve been through that whole process over the last six months. You know, we used to give them, you know, an actual measurement and then we’re like, that’s too hard. So then we switched out to saying, start with six drops. And it’s like, well, who can really measure it? No one’s going to sit there in the mirror doing that. Then we just literally dropper, so we could understand it, also I can understand that, outsiders understand that. I understand how to measure stuff but I don’t.
So you know, I started with a 500-milligram strength product, what we call an On Duty Pure, which, you know, has a trace amount of THC in it, and 500-milligram and I was doing a third of a dropper. Now I then upped that to a half and then three quarts of a dropper taking it morning and night. Now, you know, and then I progressed. I went on to 1000-milligram. Then now I take a full dropper, morning and night of our 1500-milligram and it works fantastic.
But, you know, we just tell people to experiment. We had one person call our customer service line just the other day and said, “Look, I’ve been taking this,” I’m not sure if they’re doing it for sleeplessness and what they were using it for. “And it’s not doing anything.” So we said, “Okay. Well, what and how much are you taking?” And they told us, it was, let’s say, they were doing half a dropper. And we just said, “Well, look, put it up to a full dropper, morning and night, and see what happens.” Anyhow, it kind of been four days later, the same lady contacted one of our registered nurses that runs our customer service and was like, “I’m sleeping like a baby. It was the amount I was taking, not the product.” And you know, I think that rings true of any CBD product out there. You just have to work out what works for you. And for some people, 500-milligram half a dropper might work, you know. I’m a big guy. So you know, I’m a 1500-milligram twice a day kind of full dropper kind of guy.
Vadim 22:34
So you take one dropper in the morning and one at night.
Greg 22:37
Yes, sir. And it’s fantastic. I’ve thought about dropping it down and, you know, doing half and half, and see what happens, but ‘why fix something that’s not broken’ is the way I look at it.
Vadim 22:49
Yeah, surely.
Greg 22:49
It’s doing the job for me. You know, I don’t take any of those opioids anymore. I pull out the On Duty bottle, take a dropper in the morning, and then just before I go to bed, pull it out again and take a dropper at night, sleep like a log and haven’t had a nightmare in six months, you know.
Vadim 23:06
That’s beautiful. Wow.
Greg 23:06
It’s just been fantastic. And, you know, I’m not Robinson Crusoe with that. I have a number of friends that come out of the US Special Forces community that have started taking either our On Duty Pure or our On Duty THC-free, you know if they’re still serving so they have no issues with drug tests or anything like that. And they’re not taking Ambien anymore to sleep. They’re taking On Duty CBD. And you know, for me, that’s exactly why we set the company up to help those guys out.
On Duty Pure vs On Duty Free
Vadim 23:36
That’s great. I mean, going from Ambien to a product like CBD is just, I think, anybody would want to do that as long as it works for them. And I find it interesting that you said it helps with your nightmares because THC is really good for that. I’ve always heard of veterans using THC products in legal states but, you know, that’s not appropriate for everybody. So you know, a CBD is going to be better. I’m glad you carry — so the Pure is the full-spectrum product containing some THC and the other ones — No, the pure — I’m sorry, I got that wrong, right?
Greg 24:11
No, Pure is the full-spectrum product that has some THC under 0.3%, obviously. And then our other product is THC-free and we just call that our On Duty Free.
Vadim 24:25
Yeah. Love it.
Greg 24:26
The reason we have that is because we formed On Duty with the military and veterans and cops and firemen and nurses and school teachers in mind. And some people — if it’s based in fact or not — are worried about failing what we call a pee test. And so, you know, if you’re a serving military guy, or you’re a police officer, you can still get the benefits of CBD just by taking our On Duty Free variety. You know, we have some outlets or retailers that we work with. So almost exclusively to police officers. And to that end, they only carry On Duty Free. They don’t carry the full-spectrum at all. So to fulfill our mission, having that Free, that THC-free product, has been very important to us.
Vadim 25:19
Yeah. Is that a full-spectrum minus THC or is that made with an isolate?
Greg 25:24
THC-free is isolate based, yeah.
Vadim 25:28
And I think having a product like that is important, and I’m assuming no one’s ever had a problem that said they’ve taken in with drug tests.
Greg 25:38
It’s funny, actually. One of our senior guys here who spent 20 plus years in the sporting goods industry with companies like Remington and Six Hour and, you know, firearms companies. He’s been taking the full-spectrum On Duty Pure product for six months, literally since we began. And he went for his medical a month ago. And he specifically asked the doctor to test for THC. So he takes the 1500-milligram, he does what I do, full dropper, morning and night, the results came back and there was no sign of any THC at all. And that was taking our full-spectrum On Duty Pure product. So the likelihood of getting pinged on a pee test is super low in any case. But for that added peace of mind, the Free product, certainly, you know, you’ve got no chance.
Vadim 26:32
Yeah. So he was taking the full-spectrum one, right?
Greg 26:35
Right. And it didn’t show up at all. That’s a 1500-milligram full-spectrum.
Vadim 26:42
Well, yeah. I guess, for people, it’s still about the peace of mind. Because some people just get unlucky and they fail it. And it could just be their metabolism or however their body processes it.
Greg 26:55
Yeah, absolutely.
Customer Service from Registered Nurses
Vadim 26:56
It’s good that you have that product. And I also heard you mentioned you have — is your customer service team all registered nurses or some of them?
Greg 27:04
Yeah. So if you call the On Duty customer service line, or you send an email to our customer service folks, the people that will answer your call or will answer your emails are either registered nurses or they’re clinical medical assistants. So they’ve all got medical training. They’re based here in the US, which is a big differential for us. And, you know, I’m surprised how much impact having medically trained people available for consumers and retailers to talk to. What a huge difference that’s made. Because, you know, people call up, like you were saying earlier, Vadim, about, you know, how much do I take, when should I take it, et cetera, et cetera. Because there’s so much information on the internet, who knows what’s real and what’s not. Call our customer service line. We encourage people to call customer service, or it’s actually easier to drop us an email. And, you know, we can get back to you and answer the questions that you have and the questions are answered by medically trained professionals. And that’s a huge differentiator for us.
Vadim 28:12
Yeah, that’s really the first I’ve heard of that. I mean, it’s great. So they can actually get medical advice. And can the nurses tell them how much to take? Or is it more general information?
Greg 28:26
I mean, the medical professionals that, you know, work at customer service wouldn’t ever give medical advice per se. Because, one, they are not allowed to do that. And two, that’s over the phone, you’re never going to give medical advice, but they can give guidance. They can point people to resources, and they can help out. You know, people call up and they ask the question we were just discussing about, you know, what’s the difference between Pure and Free? Our customer service of medical professionals can answer questions like that. They can point you to the product, like, people will say, “Well, I’ve got joint pain. Should I be using your high intensity roller product? Or should I be using On Duty lotion?”
Vadim 29:06
Yeah, I get that.
Greg 29:07
They can talk about, you know, yeah, what’s the best product? And so these folks can help with all that.
Recommendations for First Time CBD Users
Vadim 29:13
And what would you say is the best product for someone, let’s say, they’re brand new, first time on your site, and just listened to the podcast and giving it a try, what products should they start with?
Greg 29:22
It depends, you know what the issue is. Or, you know, if they just want to try CBD, you know, for the first time, my advice would be to go for one of the sublingual oils. As I say, we advise people to start low and slow. So I would advise them to come in at the 500-milligram level or the 1000-milligram level and get some sublingual oil, and start with that. Now if their issue is, you know, more joint related and we get a lot of that, like joint pain and things like that. Then I would advise them to shoot for either our On Duty lotion or what we call the roller, which is a high intensity, very high strength. It’s a little roller ball that looks like a chapstick kind of deal. And that’s really used for what we call a surgical strike. So if you’ve got joint pain in your thumb, for instance, you can really target the area with this roller ball. And, you know, we’ve had people say they get almost instant relief from it.
So if people are looking for a pain relief kind of deal, for joint pain, try lotion or the roller. The lotion is more general. So you know, you can put that all over your back shoulders. You can get a message with it, for goodness sake, which is what I do. But if they want to just try something in general, I would certainly point them toward the sublingual oils, which is, you know, sort of our flagship product and sort of go from there. We do see a lot of people do. They might use the roller ball or the roller ointment for joint pain and then they’ll take the sublingual oil for full body kind of effect. And that seems to work really well.
Vadim 30:57
Yeah, that’s great. I understand the roller and the topicals. You carry the roller and the lotion and the roller is the more concentrated one, right?
Greg 31:05
Yeah, the roller is really strong, very concentrated. So if you’ve got joint pain in your thumb, or you know, in a particular finger or your knee or whatever, you can just put a little bit of the topical from that roller directly on the point of interest. And that’s how you would treat that. Now if you’ve got more general aches, if you got sort of sore back or shoulders or whatever, in that case, I would go with the lotion because that’s a more general broad based. It’s sort of a shotgun approach as opposed to a sniper pinpoint accuracy approach.
Vadim 31:39
Yeah, that’s great. And with the tinctures, they’re all the same size. So the higher up you go, the more concentrated each dose is. Is that correct?
Greg 31:48
Right. Yeah. So we run three tinctures. Or six because we have both the THC-free and the On Duty Pure. But we run those at 500. Soon to be at 1000 and 1500. So there’s the three to choose from. If I was going into it again, I would probably start on our middle product and go from there. But you know, for a lot of people, the 500-milligram is done just fine. But yeah, the bottles are all the same size. It’s just the potency is different.
Keeping CBD Natural
Vadim 32:20
Okay, yeah. Makes things really easy. And are they flavored? Each one of them. Did you go with any flavors?
Greg 32:26
Yeah, good question. That’s one of the things we decided as a group that we didn’t want to get into. You know, we’ve got nothing against it. It’s just not…
Vadim 32:36
Your style?
Greg 32:36
…our kind of thing. We’re not making candy. We’re not making anything that’s meant to taste like that.
Vadim 32:43
It’s a therapeutic product, right?
Greg 32:44
Right. So our Pure product has an earthy taste to it. And depending, you know, on the batch, it could be a little stronger than the bottle you had before.
Vadim 32:53
You have to like that sort of thing, I guess. People hit or miss with the cannabis, hemp, terpenes and all that flavor.
Greg 33:00
And that’s exactly why. You know, we wanted to retain as much of the fats and the terpenes.
Vadim 33:05
The plant. Yeah, the plant.
Greg 33:05
The food. The plant, right. And we didn’t want something tasting like candy floss or tasting like cherry or anything like that. Because it’s not candy. It’s a product to help folks’ wellness and well being. And if they want candy, they can go and buy a gummy bear.
Vadim 33:24
CBD gummies, yeah, or something.
Greg 33:25
Right. Now our THC-free variety has absolutely no taste and it has absolutely no color. So it’s very neutral. So you know, we have both there. So what we’re finding funnily enough is people are using the THC-free On Duty variety in things like cocktails and, you know, if they’ve got a beer, they’ll put a few drops in because it doesn’t have any taste. It doesn’t affect the taste of whatever you’re eating or drinking. And you can get a beer and you can add, you know, five drops to your beer or to your coffee or to your ice cream, for goodness sake. Whatever you want. I’ve got a friend that puts our Pure, the On Duty Pure on the oysters
Vadim 34:08
That is a first.
Greg 34:11
Yeah. That’s his thing. He has oysters on the half shell and he puts like three or four drops on each oyster. And he eats those, and it’s like, well, that’s pretty cool.
Vadim 34:19
Yeah. That is a first time. Personally, I do enjoy oysters a lot and I’ve never mixed them with CBD but I guess I’ll try that.
Greg 34:28
I haven’t tried it yet either. But it’s funny. Since I’ve been in the business, I literally have a bottle of, you know, On Duty Pure in my bag or in my pocket. And it’s not an unusual sight to see me in a coffee shop having a coffee and putting a few drops in or whatever. So next time I go out to dinner, I think I’m gonna probably just order some oysters and put a few drops and we’ll see how it goes.
Vadim 34:50
Yeah, yeah, that’s funny. Hey, everyone, I hope you are enjoying the show as much as I did learning about Greg and his background and why he started On Duty CBD. I love their mission and I love how they’re focused on people that are serving their community, veterans, police men and women, firefighters, and also their canines. So check out ondutycbd.com. Make sure to use that coupon code FREEDOM20 for 20% off any of their fine products. They have THC-free and full-spectrum varieties. Again, that coupon code is FREEDOM20. And I hope you enjoy the rest of the show.
So you have oysters in Kentucky?
Greg 35:39
Gosh, look, I hate to say this because I love Kentucky. But I don’t eat seafood in Kentucky. If there’s no sea, if there’s no ocean close by, I sort of stay away from seafood. The food here, restaurants and stuff here are amazing.
Vadim 35:53
Yeah, it’s good.
Greg 35:54
But there’s lots of good stuff I can eat without eating seafood in Kentucky.
Vadim 35:58
Delicious food. Their barbecue and all that stuff.
Greg 36:03
Oh, yeah, it’s fantastic.
Vadim 36:04
Yeah, I mean, people are putting CBD in everything. And I mean, I look at that as more of a fun thing. It’s just that it’s celebrating how versatile it is. But there’s also this wave of THC in food and that obviously has a psychoactive effect. I was hoping to get your thoughts on THC and whether or not On Duty would get into that sector, if it becomes legal.
Greg 36:27
Yeah, look, Vadim, that’s a good question. And that’s something we’ve thrown around internally at the company with our small leadership group. Given who we’re working for, and our client base, if you like, the people that use On Duty, I think it would be unlikely we would move into that space. But, you know, one never says never. And if it got to the point where something like the Veterans Administration sort of sanctioned it, and we’re like, yes, look, this THC product is great. It helps guys with PTSD and that sort of thing. If things evolved that way, which I actually think they will and probably should, we would certainly go down that path. But right now, we’re looking after the folks that have served this country, the folks that have served their communities. And for us, for On Duty right now, that means providing a product that falls within all parameters and they can use without any second thought.
Helping and Educating Veterans and First Responders
Vadim 37:26
Exactly. Yeah. I appreciate that. I think they will come around to that because THC is very useful for people and federally will become legal, and that will change pretty much everything.
Greg 37:41
Yeah. There’s no question.
Vadim 37:42
Has the veterans associations that you obviously interact with or are involved with, what’s their overall stance on CBD?
Greg 37:51
You know what? I don’t think there’s a government agency — Well, I mean, goodness, the government agencies can’t come out with a stance on CBD. You know, I think veterans organizations, the ones that certainly, you know, on an anecdotal level, on a local level that I deal with, are all looking for ways to help the veteran community. And you know, there’s a lot of folks, and I know dozens of them, of guys that are back with post traumatic stress issues, anxiety issues, whatever the case may be, and find the veterans organization and one that actually cares about their membership and their well being, you know, I would be actively involved in seeking out solutions or options with CBD. And I will go and talk to any veterans group that wants me to come and talk about CBD, what it did for me, what it could potentially do for their membership. Because I think it’s super important.
And a big part of what we’re trying to do at On Duty is the education side. Because unless people are educated about CBD, they won’t ever be comfortable with it and it’ll retain this stigma. And it’s part of our remit, or our mission is to educate veterans, to educate first responders, to educate nurses, people in the healthcare industry, people that serve their communities and serve their country. We want to make sure they understand what CBD is, what it can do for them. And if it’s not for them, that’s fine, too. But we just want to make sure that folks, you know, because when you think about those kinds of groups, the veterans, the military, the police, they really haven’t been around that sort of CBD/THC kind of environment.
Vadim 39:31
Yeah, that’s a good point. I mean, in a lot of cases, they’ve probably kind of avoided it based on a stigma.
Greg 39:38
Well, look, I’m one of those, right?I didn’t even know what it was.
Vadim 39:41
Yeah, I can’t believe you didn’t know what it was.
Greg 39:46
I’ve never even heard about it.
Vadim 39:46
Yeah. So that tells me there’s a million, you know, and a half other people that haven’t either at least
Greg 39:52
Oh, in the military community, veteran community, I can’t even — there’s just gonna be millions. And so if we can educate a couple of people here and there, that’s what we’re trying to do.
Vadim 40:02
It’s not marijuana.
Greg 40:04
Yeah. People, it’s hemp. It’s not marijuana. And I can’t tell you how many times a day I had that discussion. And even when you explained it to people.
Vadim 40:15
Yeah, it’s just a misunderstanding of the plant itself. I mean, it’s a plant. It has cannabinoids. So I think that part is easy. And it’s about explaining that some of the cannabinoids are different. And it really is different depending on which ones you take of the two primary cannabinoids. And in the future, it’s going to be, I think, you know, all other cannabinoids are going to start, I think, I’m hoping, will also be used in other concentrations like CBG and THC.
Greg 40:44
CBN.
Vadim 40:45
Yeah. CBN, I was reading just the other day, actually for sleep could be huge, I think. Because that one, it helps with sleep is what I’ve read.
Greg 40:56
Yeah, we’ve been actually looking into the whole CBN thing. And I think that could be the next, you know, the next thing to take off, potentially. But you know, it’s about education. And we at On Duty, it’s a big part of our mission is the education side. Some people don’t want to be convinced or either don’t — you know, I think there’s a big generational part to this also. But, Vadim, I think when we look at it, we look back on this in another, gosh, even six months, I don’t think 2020, the discussion about, you know, whether CBD is legal, whether hemp is okay, you know what, I don’t think that’ll ever be a discussion in another six or 12 months. It’s become so mainstream now. It’s like going down to the store to buy your groceries. It’ll just become that commonplace.
Vadim 41:46
And what do you think is gonna happen to all these micro brands? There’s so many small businesses, you know, working in the space. So many. I mean, it’s like 10 new companies a day. Do you think there’s going to be huge acquisitions or something that will — I’m not sure, actually. I’m quite interested to see what happens.
Greg 42:03
Yeah, I am too. My gut tells me that given there’s so many of these micro groups popping up, I think a lot of them will simply fall by the wayside, you know, just competitively. I mean, it’s difficult to secure credit card processing, for instance, if you’re a CBD company.
Vadim 42:23
I know.
Greg 42:24
We have that because of our processes and because everything is above board. And I’m not saying people aren’t operating above board, but our processes are very transparent. And I think as a result of that, we’ve been able to hold on to our critic, you know, our processing capability and that sort of thing. You know, we’re in nearly 200 retail stores around the country now. We have a very robust online shopping experience, which has been great at ondutycbd.com. So what I think you’ll see is a lot of these operations, I think there’s two elements to this. One is the operation that is literally buying their bottles from China and putting a label on the side of it and trying to sell it wherever online. I think those folks will disappear first. And I think whether because all they are is some kind of brand and they’re just selling it, and there’s not really a barrier to entry for those folks. But I think they’re the first ones that will go. And particularly, as we’re talking earlier, if the government brings in some kind of regulation, those folks will all disappear.
Vadim 43:31
Who’s that? The people that are getting lower quality stuff that are importing?
Greg 43:35
Right. The lower quality stuff, you know, they just buy a vat of it from China or some imports from China. They come up with a label and stick it on and then sell it online. You know, those guys, I don’t think will have longevity. You know, the market will just dictate they’re gone. I think what you’ll see with the smaller, you know, sort of what you call, I guess, boutique guys, I think a lot of those guys will get acquired, or they will, you know, form partnerships. You know, you might have a cool brand, you know, legit US based brand that might form a coop with a couple of grow operations. But I think what you’ll see is these guys, the smaller groups, if they want to continue to grow, will need to, they’ll either be acquired or they will amalgamate with other groups. It’s just a scale issue because you can’t keep producing 500 bottles a month and hope to grow the business or anything like that. You’ll just get pushed out.
On Duty K9 for Pets
Vadim 44:35
It’ll be interesting to see what happens. I think the cream will rise to the top as always and people will compete with quality and service, and I think you’re doing things right with having a very focused mission. Obviously you do sell CBD to anybody and even pets.
Greg 44:54
We do sell. If pets had their own account, we’d sell directly to pets with our pets.
Vadim 44:35
Yeah, yeah. Do you have dogs?
Greg 45:01
Yeah, we do. So On Duty K9, we’re sort of relaunching that as its own standalone. But it’s a big market for us, the canine industry. So, you know, a lot of our users of our pet product, On Duty K9, are canine handlers, their police dogs, their military working dogs, their service animals. Because they get it off us because the human, the handler, or someone they know is already using On Duty or they’re in the military, or whatever. And so then they see that we have the On Duty K9 and the transition is easy because they trust the product, they know the product. They know that we grew it, they know that we processed it at University Kentucky, they know that we put it in the bottle and they know where it’s coming from. Because effectively, our pet product is exactly the same as what we’re giving Officer Smith to take every day. It’s just a lower concentration.
Vadim 45:58
Yeah. A lot of people are confused by that and I’m glad you brought that up as a good teaching moment. The pet CBD isn’t different from the human CBD. It’s a lower dose for the pets because they’re more sensitive to it.
Greg 46:11
Right. Ours, certainly. You know, I can’t speak for every product out there but certainly ours. Pet CBD comes in at 250-milligram and our lowest human CBD comes in at 500 milligrams. There’s nothing that stops you giving your pet the On Duty 500-milligram, you just give it less.
Vadim 46:30
Yeah, exactly. We just got a new German Shepherd puppy. So she’ll be getting some CBD. And I’ve heard a lot of good things from people. Well, obviously, pets can’t tell you if it’s helping them. But I’ve heard good stories from people saying it helps with arthritis type of stuff or relaxing them.
Greg 46:49
You know, I have a two year old Doberman that was a rescue. Her name is Betsy Ross. You know, she gets a bit anxious when we drive her. So we give CBD. We can be in the car for five hours. And she has the CBD before, you know, the night before the morning of travel. She’s a completely different travel dog. She’s much more chilled out, relaxed. She doesn’t get anxious. And you know, she’s still alert and, you know, chases the ball and everything like that. She’s just not anxious. And it’s been great for her.
Vadim 47:23
So why do you do it the night before as opposed to right before the ride?
Greg 47:27
Anecdotally, I think it’s more effective because it’s in their system. And I think it takes effect. We’ll actually give Betsy Ross CBD sort of 24 to 48 hours before we travel.
Vadim 47:40
Betsy Ross
Greg 47:41
Betsy Ross. She actually has her own Instagram account, @betsyrossk9.
Vadim 47:48
Oh, nice. I’ll link everyone to that. It’s @betsyrossk9?
Greg 47:53
Yeah. @betsyrossk9 and she loves her Instagram. But yeah, it just seems to be, you know, the efficacy. You know, my guess is it’s just less of a shock to the system for the animal if it’s already there. And they don’t feel any different because they’ve been taking it for a few days. And, you know, I don’t want the dog to associate having CBD On Duty K9 with getting in a car and she knows she’s going to travel for six hours. So you know, we’ll give it to her for a couple of days beforehand and just get it into a system and everything seemed to work well that way for us.
Vadim 48:28
Yeah, that’s great. That’s awesome. So maybe some people actually listening at home can use that strategy. Is that your only dog? Or do you have others?
Greg 48:35
No, Betsy Ross is a handful. She’s enough for anybody. Betsy Ross the Doberman, she’s 80 pounds of bouncer.
Vadim 48:44
Wow. That’s pretty big for a Doberman, right?
Greg 48:46
Yeah, she’s a big girl.
Vadim 48:48
I think people, probably listening at home, the bigger dogs, I think, probably can take a bigger dose but not necessarily a human dose, obviously.
Greg 48:57
No. So what we tell folks is it basically works out to a third of a dropper or five drops per 10 pounds of animal. So if your dog weighs 10 pounds, you just give it three or four, five drops. If your dog weighs 80 pounds, we basically just give her a dropper.
Vadim 49:16
All right.
Greg 49:16
So there’s no hard and fast rules. But that’s just sort of a rule of thumb that we offer as guidance to folks.
CBD Safety and Big Pharma
Vadim 49:22
Yeah, I think also just observing the pets behavior and making sure it’s not in discomfort. And really with CBD, it’s pretty safe for the most part. I mean, obviously, lately, there’s been some talk about drug interactions and the liver. Have you seen that?
Greg 49:37
Yeah. And look, I read that study, the same as most people in this industry did. If you look at the sample, you know, how they did that test, the dosing that they did in that test was entirely out of whack. And there was no way that anything else was going to — you know, put it this way. That test went the exact way that the people that paid for it expected to. And what we’re hearing is that there were interests that paid for that testing, or whatever you want to call it, that were tied to big pharma and that sort of thing. Because it’s not in the interest of the big pharmaceutical companies for CBD to be so effective. You know, I mean, just look at my case, you know.
Vadim 50:21
They lost a customer, right? Good customer.
Greg 50:24
Right. I think I can safely say that that sample, that test, that report, was bought and paid for before it was put out into the market.
Vadim 50:33
Well, I never heard that. That is some juicy stuff.
Greg 50:37
You get it over here from the CBD professor.
Vadim 50:40
Yeah, you heard it here first. So the theory is that it was a big pharma that paid for it and purposely wanted to make CBD look bad?
Greg 50:47
Yeah, I mean, that’s a common practice. It’s not just a CBD thing. That happens every day across every industry depending on who your lobbyist is, depending on what wheelbarrow you’re pushing that day. You know, so this isn’t a thing that, you know, someone’s gone and really gone off and CBD, et cetera. It literally happens every single day across every industry you can imagine. It’s just another tool that a company can use to make money. And I don’t begrudge them doing that. But it’s just that folks need to understand that just because a report’s being published on the internet, it doesn’t mean — everything isn’t exactly what it seems on the internet. Put it that way.
Vadim 51:26
Yeah. I just encourage people to read it and not just read it and make your own opinions.
Greg 51:35
Right. Exactly
Vadim 51:35
And if you come out of it believing CBD is not safe for you or your family, then that’s your right.
Greg 51:40
100% correct. Yep. I agree with that entirely.
Vadim 51:42
Yeah. I think it’s like CBD companies are generally run by very open minded people and they understand that it’s not for everybody. And I think I just encourage people to actually read it and not read someone’s thoughts of it, you know? Try to read the study for yourself and see what it was.
Greg 52:00
But when you do read it, make sure you take into account the dosage that they use and all that sort of thing because it’s really skewed the results, obviously. And, you know, I think you’re exactly right. People just need to read it for themselves, and, you know, make their own determination.
Vadim 52:17
Exactly. Yeah. So that’s some juicy stuff. I didn’t know. I mean, I think it does make sense, though, you know, with interests and so on, so forth. I think big pharma will just, in some way, they’ll get into it, into the industry anyway either.
Greg 52:30
You know, look, I think you’re seeing that happen already. You know, we talked a bit earlier in the podcast about, you know, what’s going to happen in, you know, a couple of years, one year, two years, five years. And I was talking about beverage companies buying into, you know, the CBD companies, but big pharma are going to — they’re probably the most likely to do so. Because, you know, you can’t turn the CBD train around now. There’s too many people that are getting enormous benefits from it. Now there’s too many big organizations that are behind it, you know, such as CVS and Walgreens and Rite Aid, and you name it, Kroger Supermarkets. Target have said they’re into it now.
So it’s here to stay. It’s just we need to make sure that the right product is out there. And you have farm to table options like you do with On Duty CBD, where you know where it is from the time it goes into the ground to the time you put it in your mouth, where that’s come from. And I think that’s super important. And that’s why, Vadim, it’s really important, you know, with podcasts like this, and we educate people and people educate themselves to know what they’re putting in their bodies. Because there’s a lot of stuff out there and there’s a lot of products out there that, you know, you wouldn’t give you a dog so you shouldn’t be putting it in your mouth either. You know, by the same token, there’s a lot of good products out there as well.There’s a lot of good American grown, American produced CBD products in the marketplace and the market is big enough for all of them.
Vadim 53:59
Yeah. The demand is there and there’s still people that don’t even know what it is.
Greg 54:05
Right. So you know, we encourage people strongly if you’re not going to buy On Duty CBD or you can’t find it, make sure you’re buying an American grown product that has third-party testing and you know where it’s come from.
Wrap-up and Contact Information
Vadim 54:18
That’s great. That’s a nice place to, I think, end this podcast. We really enjoyed having you on. I like to have you on again, and just very nice talking to you. I think you’re doing a great job with On Duty, and I encourage everyone to try it out.
Greg 54:32
Vadim, thanks for having me on the podcast today. I really enjoyed it. And as we said, you know, at On Duty CBD, we’re all about educating. We’re all about helping, you know, veterans, first responders, et cetera, et cetera. If you’ve got any questions, I’m on Instagram @gregonduty. That’s @gregonduty. I’m happy to answer any questions there. My dog, Betsy Ross, has more followers than I do. I would love to focus on talking to me on Instagram @gregonduty.
Vadim 55:03
Talk to him, people.
Greg 55:05
Please, please. Or go to our website, ondutycbd.com and message one of our medical staff and they will be delighted to help you out. Vadim, thanks so much. I enjoyed it enormously and look forward to the next one.
Vadim 55:17
Thank you, Greg. Thank you.
Hey, everyone, the CBD professor here and I hope you really enjoyed that podcast just as much as I did. It was great to learn about Greg and his mission for On Duty CBD. Make sure to visit ondutycbd.com. That’s ONDUTYCBD.com. Use the coupon code FREEDOM20 that gets 20% off any of On Duty’s fine tinctures, topicals, lotions or K9 products. Again, that coupon code is FREEDOM20 and you can use that at ondutycbd.com. Thanks again for listening. And until the next CBD School Podcast episode, I wish you a great day wherever you are in the world. And make sure to visit cbdschool.com for even more great content on CBD. I’ll catch you on the next episode.