While I love Bob Marley, I don't celebrate 4/20. I'm always down for relaxation and good vibes, but I don't smoke weed. This is often a hard distinction to be made when I tell people about the CBD oil that I have taken for almost a year now.

So what is CBD? CBD is a cannabinoid compound that is found in marijuana. However, it does not contain THC and therefore does not get you high. In other words, it is not psychoactive. There is no intoxicating effect.

Ever since the seventh grade, I would develop severe stomach pain accompanied by feelings of nausea and vomiting several times a month. This pain has caused me to miss many days of school and always try to figure out its cause with no success. Sometimes I would attribute the pain to a bad period or my lactose intolerance but other times there didn't seem to be a specific cause. I've nearly passed out in the worst of the pain, as well as taken a few ambulance trips.

I've been to several doctors, gone on gluten-free diets, yet there still has been no conclusive reason for my pain. I did some research and decided to give CBD oil a try. I started off with a pretty low dose of about 250mg, several drops under the tongue when I began to feel like it was going to be one of those days.

I will admit, I was extremely skeptic and tried this out of curiosity, not because I thought it was going to have any real effect. After all, it is not regulated by the FDA, and studies are still in progress to determine its success. However, I was happily surprised to experience almost complete pain relief.

CBD oil is legal in New York and the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) removed it from the 2018 list of banned substances.

If you're experiencing chronic pain like I was, it might be worth doing some research on the subject.