"Navigating CBD Legalities: A Journey from Norway to Healing the World" Justin Benton welcomes Herman from Norway as a special guest. Herman shares his experiences with trying to obtain CBD products in Norway, a country with strict laws regarding hemp and CBD. Despite numerous challenges and packages being stopped by customs, Herman remains determined to bring CBD's potential benefits to his country. The conversation also touches on the therapeutic use of CBD and its potential to help individuals overcome trauma and anxiety. Justin emphasize his commitment to healing the world through the power of CBD and discusses his mission to reach one billion people with its benefits by 2025. Produced by PodConx
"Navigating CBD Legalities: A Journey from Norway to Healing the World"
Justin Benton welcomes Herman from Norway as a special guest. Herman shares his experiences with trying to obtain CBD products in Norway, a country with strict laws regarding hemp and CBD. Despite numerous challenges and packages being stopped by customs, Herman remains determined to bring CBD's potential benefits to his country. The conversation also touches on the therapeutic use of CBD and its potential to help individuals overcome trauma and anxiety. Justin emphasize his commitment to healing the world through the power of CBD and discusses his mission to reach one billion people with its benefits by 2025.
101cbd - https://101cbd.org/
[00:00:00] Welcome back to the Miracle Plant Podcast, where we discuss this miracle plant with so many names and how it's helping people in so many extraordinary ways. Well, we are going cross the pond. We're international. We're on a mission to heal the world. We've got a very special guest that's with us. Uh, Herman, uh, we, we, we've had some crazy experiences, uh, over the past few years, and, uh, I'll let Herman introduce himself, where he's from.
And, uh, he's been a client of ours for a few years. And, and, uh, if at first you don't succeed, you try, try again, because different countries have different customs and, uh, getting this, this miracle plant in the hands of our clients who need it around the world is not the easiest thing, but, uh, we always find a way.
So Herman, welcome to the Miracle Plant Podcast. Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're from.
Thank you, Justin. I'm, uh, Herman from Norway and, uh, I was sort of lucky to meet you for, uh, first time five years ago in Santa Barbara [00:01:00] at the first CBD conference that was held there in, uh, 2019. And I was staying there for a longer period, uh, going back because I studied there earlier in the nineties. Um, and, uh, just experienced, uh, CBD then when I was there for the first time.
And, uh, we've been trying to get it over here. Uh, of course we had a lot of, uh, communication about this just then. And, uh, you managed to send a couple of, uh, batches for testing, et cetera. Uh, so, uh, but, uh, the, um, uh, law or the, the change in law here is not moving fast forward as we were hoping for, unfortunately.
many packages have we sent and how many packages have you received in Norway? What'd you get?
Well, I'm not, I'm not quite sure how many packages you actually sent. Uh, [00:02:00] I think the first time it went through after one or two, um, or just first time it went through, um, that was in, uh, 20 years, 2020 or something, I think, and then we tried a couple of years later during the pandemic. Uh, and of course then the borders were much more controlled and shut as a, they, they, They took, uh, not only samples, they, they scanned everything going into Norway.
For Norway, it's a very small country. It's like a town in, in the States. It's 5 million people. So they can do that, manage to do it. And then I think you sent four. Maybe until it went through and after it, because we don't get any message that it's stopped in the customs. It just doesn't arrive and you don't know where it is.
And, uh, uh, but after I got the, uh, got the package through, um, I got also got a [00:03:00] note from the police saying we have, um, filed your case for, uh, illegal import. And I didn't know I have the case and I was a bit shaking and thought, okay, well, we have to do this to, to try to change things. And then a week later, I got another letter with the same message
Was it a different case or the same case?
that was a different one. So two of the parcels was definitely stopped and that was only the sample. You know, we had like 10, 15 bottles
What did, uh, so what ended up happening with the case or what did you have to do to clear your name for it from, from getting hemp, you know?
Oh, I didn't. I didn't have to do that because they just said that because of the evidence, they was just closed at the same time as it was informed to me. So what, what happened here when we, when we were trying to do this more as a, as a regular thing, [00:04:00] uh, the prospects of a change in Jurisdiction was, uh, uh, on its way and there was a very close, uh, call for a proposition that would decriminalize all drugs as they have done in several European countries and especially then decriminalize cannabis, uh, et cetera.
And that would, that would, uh, directly include CBD because in Norway, it's the whole hemp plant that is illegal. So you only have some, um, some, uh, things that is, uh, disclosed like, uh, seeds, hemp seeds, uh, hemp fiber. And, uh, I think also, yeah, but that's very, very few parts of the hemp plant, which is very ironic because Norway used to be a navel.
Uh, nation with lots of sail, uh, ships. And of [00:05:00] course they used the sails were made of hemp. The ropes in the ships was made of hemp. And there's been a lot of industrial hemp production in, in Scandinavia. And this is still is in Denmark and Sweden, uh, today, but in Norway, when the ban came in the 60s, 70s, the whole plant.
So, so it doesn't matter if it's, uh, CBD, you can get, you can get synthetic CBD now, but not the real thing.
Yeah, it's sad. We did the same thing in 1937. We passed the marijuana tax act that, um, basically made marijuana illegal and hemp illegal, which, um, at the time cannabis oil was the number one, uh, prescribed medicine for pain. Uh, over 3 million prescriptions were written a year before, and the head of the American Medical Association went to Congress and said, what have you guys done?
You've never, you didn't consult with us. You passed, you [00:06:00] took away one of our most powerful tools in the tool belt to help treat Americans. And not only did they do that, but they made it illegal to grow hemp. So it was illegal to grow hemp, which George Washington grew hemp here. And our forefathers and Thomas Jefferson, our second president, said that hemp was a matter of national security.
Uh, and in the colonial days, in the 1600s out here, it was required by law that if you were a farmer, you had to grow at least one acre of hemp because of that national security, because of its so many, uh, uses, uh, in, in, in those days. So. The good news is we got it. We got our act figured out here. Uh, in 20 14, 20 18, we had a couple bills that made it legal, but, uh, and we're kind of the, the beacons of light for better or worse, uh, in the world.
And, uh, so hopefully other countries like Norway will, will figure out that there's a difference between hemp and cannabis. Uh, well, cannabis is hemp, [00:07:00] but there's a difference between hemp and marijuana. One's high in cbd, one's high in t h c one will, one will get you healthy, one will get you high. And, uh, you know, hopefully they'll take our lead.
And, and, uh, so let me ask a little bit about, you said we were sending you some stuff and I remember that Santa Barbara meeting, that was amazing long before when everything was wild and crazy five years ago, uh, or whatever. And what, what were you trying to do? Were you trying to do research? Were you trying to make a product?
Remind me again of what you were looking to do with the raw CVDA.
I, I was, uh, very curious because I just heard about it, that this had, uh, sort of became a known product and, uh, While I was there, I started, uh, I went to a couple of, uh, tested a couple of products, yours and, uh, another one from OJ. Uh, the, yeah, CO2, I don't remember the name of it, it used to come in a, some kind of paper [00:08:00] bottle, uh, thing.
Um, but I did, I did it, and I did it, uh, twice a day, you know, for, I started when I was there, I had this sort of, uh, sabbatical for two months, and I, Went, I wanted to go around and do some research in general on, on holistic, uh, treatments, holistic, uh, therapies. I also went to SLN, I went to OJI and, uh, and then of course I stayed in, in Carpentaria outside Santa Barbara.
And I, I, uh, saw this ad for the CBD conference and, um. Uh, I remember there was this, uh, ex, uh, NFL player there who had been really badly damaged, I think we were in the same, um, seminar and how he described how the using the, um, uh, using CBD had made him come back from a incredible pain, trauma. physical pain.
And the [00:09:00] metaphor he used, I think it was him, or maybe it was you. It was that when you have trauma, you have these neurotransmitters in the brain that grows out so that you will remember it and, and, you know, not burn yourself on the stove again. Uh, but they stand there and then they will. remind you about this trauma all the time.
And he said that the CBD for him was like cutting the hedges. It was cutting actually physically down this, uh, transmitters so that the, the physical reminder of the, of the trauma was, was gone. And that was really, uh, as I've been working a lot with, uh, treating people in coaching and therapy, uh, from that, it was very interesting.
So I, of course did that for myself. To see if I could have the same effect and I absolutely experienced it after it took two, three months, I think before it really, I really got down on [00:10:00] from some kind of flight flight mode. that I wasn't really aware of. Uh, and, uh, after, since I, I used it more on off, uh, periods, not for, for maybe a year after I used it regularly.
And then it's been more, uh, as a treatment, I would
So what do you do with coaching and therapy?
I used to, uh, run a coaching business that I started here in Norway back in 99. Uh, and, uh, from around 2000, I did that professionally. Uh, for, uh, until 2017, um, and, um, I did also a lot of trainings, uh, management courses, uh, et cetera. But in, in those settings, when you work with, um, high profile managers or high achieving people, uh, and you get them one on one and you, [00:11:00] uh, are sitting down and after a couple of sessions, you always come to the personal.
Part. Because as you probably know, just in the, it's always personal, uh, if a manager is, uh, very set on some kind of things, it's because he has some kind of drive that was made from some time in his past. So in order to change something, or if they want to achieve something and it's something is hindering them or, or in the way we have to.
help them, uh, remove that past and remove usually some kind of trauma. It doesn't have to be a real like, uh, uh, Dr. Phil trauma. It's just every, everything can become a trauma if it's repeated, if it's experienced as such at that time, at that age, and then it will just be a pattern that's moving. And of course, then using CBD to cut that hedge [00:12:00] will help any therapist To, to get a client to move, uh, move on and especially get out of the fight flight,
Yeah,
uh, state, I
Well, I also, I want to reiterate too, that for those that don't, didn't pick up on it, like we, you know, we sent, it sounds like we batted about 50%, maybe not even 50 percent getting the packages, uh, over to you in Norway and you know, I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, but I'm, what I'm trying to say is.
That we really are on a mission to heal the world. And, you know, we, uh, we obviously lost money sending you those products, but that that's not what it's about. We continued to send the products. We continued to pay the postage. We, you know what I mean? We continued and, and why did we do that? Because that's the right thing.
Um, you know, there's, there is going to be a resistance out there. You know, there is going to [00:13:00] be people that are confused or people that have ulterior motives. We have a lot of issues with big pharmaceutical companies out here that are very threatened. By the power of this raw plant, uh, the power of the cannabis plant for pain, stress and sleep, not to mention other health, you know, severe health ailments.
So I just wanted to make sure everyone understood like, you know, and Herman was great. Herman was very patient. He would email us and work with Laura and the customer service department. And we would be like, okay, I
Yeah. Poor Lord.
sending them another one because that's, you know, you paid for your order and we were, you know, we were willing to take a loss because.
That's that we're on a mission to heal the world. This miracle plant helped my son with severe autism, uh, who no longer carries a diagnosis. And if we've got to send seven packages. And, uh, you know, get two of them through, then that's what it takes. And, you know, I'm, I'm, like I said, I'm very hopeful in the, in the very near future that the Scandinavia and other, you know, countries around the world [00:14:00] understand the power of this plant, which has been around for 8, 000 years documented going back to medical journals in the Orient.
So I'm, I'm happy that you were persistent, you were, you were patient and, uh, you finally got your packages.
And we, we will not give up here. There is a big difference now in, in the laws in the three Scandinavian countries, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Denmark, you, you know, uh, of course. Uh, but Germany has opened up a lot. Spain has opened up. I think France is, you know, a bit UK it's very open and free. You can get everything you want.
Uh, so there is a big difference with the hope is that the EU. We'll, uh, we'll, um, organize these laws so that if it's a law in one country, the other countries has to follow. Or they will do some kind of, uh, um, federal in a way, because EU is not like a confed, you know, it's not a federal like US, it's more a [00:15:00] confederacy, uh, still, but, um, that the big countries are going forward, the small countries like Scandinavia has to follow, uh, and it was really sad during the, uh, COVID, uh, pandemic when everything was closed down that the opposition got, uh, uh, head on this new legislation here.
Thank you. Otherwise, it would be open and then it would be what we talked about five years ago to get batches from you, you know, then we can get batches, we could brand it ourselves, we could be maybe one of the first, uh, with, with your miracle project, which I think I tested lots of Scandinavian European versions and it's not the same.
And if we could just get that over, uh, as one of the big, um, providers, it would be
Well, we'll, we'll do it. You know us when we're, I'll send it now, Herman. I'm not afraid, but I don't want you to get any more police letters, but
If it's too [00:16:00] large, I don't think we have a chance to get it through. We have to, it has to be legal in some, some way. And then we'll, we'll, we'll find a way to, to send a hundred gallons
yes, well,
the time or
you know where to find us and we'll, we will send it. And, uh, we love, we love breaking through to new countries and, uh, before COVID. We were going to open up, uh, distribution centers, uh, in, in, in Ireland was the plan and, uh, you know, COVID just messed everything up, slowed everything up and, and we had to move in another direction to online because people were really conditioned to shop online when they were staying at home.
So that's where we are now. Um, but I would love to support you in any way possible, you know, opening up your own product line. You know, we do white labeling or private labeling is what it's called as we give you the materials. We'll even do some bottling for you if you need it and, uh, and you put your label on it because it doesn't have to have our label, um, to heal [00:17:00] the world.
It just has to have the product. And again, the reason why ours is different, uh, is because it's raw, it's cold pressed, it's whole plant, and that's the full potential of the plant. When you heat it, cook it, treat it, synthesize it, mess with it. It doesn't, it's, you know, it's raw. CBDA is up to 1000 times stronger.
Uh, proven by Dr. Raphael Meshulam, the godfather of cannabis medicine. So anyways, well, I'm just, I'm excited. We got a chance to connect. I know it's late out there in Norway and, uh, I'm, uh, you know, proof's in the pudding, we, we'll, we'll, we'll, you know, we'll figure it out. We'll just keep persevering, you know, Herman, any final words or anything for the audience?
Yeah, just to keep up the good work, Justin, and I'm really glad that we met, uh, all those years ago. And, uh, I was, uh, happy also to, to meet your wife and hear your story and what you've been achieved through this, uh, time. So I wish you still, uh, all the best for that. [00:18:00] And I really hope that you've managed to get the bridgehead in Europe on the, if it's Denmark, Ireland, maybe
Maybe it'll be Norway.
UK, it would be great.
a flag in Norway.
That's
Awesome.
We would love that.
on the count of, on the count of three, we're going to say heal the world and you that are listening as well join us because that is the mission to reach 1 billion people by 2025 about the power of this miracle plan, especially in the raw form.
So on the count of three, let's say heal the world. So those that out there can feel it, find it and help them with their health challenge so they can find the power of this miracle plan. So on the count of three, let's say heal the world. 1, 2, 3, HEAL THE WORLD! Alright, well thanks for swinging by the Miracle Plant Podcast everybody.
Be a blessing and happy healing!
appealing.
Oops, alright, perfect. We're good.