BUCKHANNON – WV Endosolutions is promoting a holiday offer, free samples and one big giveaway customers won’t want to miss.

Between now and 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9, the local hemp and CBD store is offering Christmastime discounts ranging from 10 to 30 percent off “everything CBD” in its store, and anyone who stops by during the month of December will earn free samples.

Locally owned and operated by founder Tom Thacker, a longtime cannabis supporter and activist, Endosolutions recently teamed up with one of its manufacturers, Moon Flower Hemp, to coordinate a giveaway Dec. 1 valued at $300.

While the lucky winner was announced Tuesday, Dec. 1, in addition to discounting all CBD, or cannabidiol, products from now through Dec. 9, Thacker said he’s planning to do another larger giveaway Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. Want to get registered to win? All you have to do is stop by Endosolutions, and Thacker said he’s more than happy to enter people curbside.

Stay tuned to WV Endosolutions’ Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wvendosolutions or its Instagram page at www.instagram.com/wvendosolutions for all the details, and mark your calendar because the winner of the package will be announced via social media on Christmas Eve.

“The giveaway coming up the week before Christmas is going to be a mix of products of a lot of different companies, not just Moon Flower alone,” Thacker said. “You won’t want to miss the chance to win.”

Endosolutions, a business committed to selling the world’s highest quality CBD products in their most pure and potent form, has made clear its mission: “to offer premium cannabinoid wellness products we would not only take ourselves but also share with our family and friends,” Thacker said.

Since it opened a couple years ago, Endosolutions has grown not only in the number of brands it carries, but also in the variety of different types of cannabinoid products it offers.

“We’ve gone from selling just one brand of CBD products when we first opened – RxRemedies products – to being able to offer our customers about 15 different brands,” Thacker said. “We’ve also expanded from selling just oils, tincture and pet treats to selling honey, gummies, weight-loss formulas, sleep formulas, body spray, water – water’s been a big hit actually – and so much more.”

In fact, four of the brands Endosolutions carries are entirely local to north-central West Virginia, and they include Moon Flower Hemp in Buckhannon, Cannabaugh Farms in Upshur County, Shady Grove Botanicals in Pickens and Whispering Winds in Bridgeport.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is just one of the cannabinoids found in the hemp plant, and although CBD processers and sellers can’t make official claims about its medicinal benefits because only one or two medicines containing CBD are currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a slew of studies and heaps of anecdotal evidence have convinced Thacker and many of his customers of the therapeutic benefits of the hemp plant, and specifically CBD.

The top three reasons people seek out Endosolutions’ products are for arthritis and pain associated with it; to treat anxiety, depression and ADHD, especially in children; and to either alleviate the side effects or symptoms of cancer. In fact, Thacker said some clients actually say the products he sells help with cancer growth itself.

“Our clients’ claims are very believable if you look at several studies, some government studies which are cited at cancer.gov,” he said. “It’s clear that cannabis products don’t kill all types cancer for everyone, but the studies show they do reduce or eliminate some types of cancer in some people.”

So, why are CBD and other cannabinoid products able to aid people with so many different conditions from inflammatory conditions to chronic pain to insomnia to anxiety and depression to nausea and more? Thacker says it’s because of the myriad possible combinations of terpenes (which are the aromatic compounds found in many plants, including, for example, lavender) and the cannabinoid, or the chemical compound secreted by the cannabis flower itself. In addition to CBD, there’s also CBG, CBC, CBN and so many more.

THC, found in marijuana is perhaps the most well-known cannabinoid, but there’s a minimal amount in most of Thacker’s products. The CBD products he carries can be categorized as full spectrum (everything contained in the source plant, but federal law requires the amount of THC to be less than .3 percent), CBD isolate (this formula contains only CBD) and broad spectrum, which contains everything except THC.

The most important concept Thacker said he wants people leery of trying CBD products to keep in mind is that “it’s not about getting high at all.”

“I think a lot of people have the erroneous idea that this industry is driven by people who want to get high, and that it’s not a medicine,” he said. “It’s more a medicine than anything, in my opinion. At least in our products, the THC level is so low that nobody can get stoned with them; it is going to relax you, and it does have a lot of health benefits for most people. I think it should be a first option instead of a last option.”

However, even though the majority of CBD products are not yet regulated by the FDA, Thacker said the products he sells are pharmaceutical-grade and have numerous medicinal benefits, and he believes people are beginning to see that. He’s noticed attitudes about CBD are changing.

“I think people have seen that this is something God gave us to use, and I think if a lot of people look at it that way, they’re going to say, ‘hey, let’s try something that God gave us first, not something that big Pharma gave us.’”

Indeed, learning about the history of hemp is so important to Thacker that he’s erected the American Hemp Museum right inside his store so customers can learn about how – and why – hemp and cannabis became so taboo, a development that actually only occurred over the last century, he said.

“To me [the store] and the museum tie in so closely together,” he said. “Without knowing the history behind it, it’s hard to understand why it got the bad reputation it did within the last 100 years, and it’s hard to understand why you might want to try it now.”

The museum, which contains old medical texts that mention cannabis – one dates back to 1868 – and a variety of news articles and posters containing information about the cannabis plant has proved to be a standalone attraction to some people.

“I have had some people come in just to see the museum,” Thacker said. “They didn’t want to buy anything, they just wanted to learn about it and for me I could spend – and a few other people who are hemp nerds – we could spent and have spent years of our lives researching it. I like to learn new things every week and every day if possible. It never gets old to me.”

Located at 242 S. Kanawha St., Endosolutions is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and you can shop online 24/7 at endosolutions.shop. For more information, email wvendosolutions@gmail.com or call the store at 304-473-0420.