5 Questions With: Local CBD Oil Purveyor Liz Sprinkle

A Raleigh-based business aims to make CBD oil accessible to curious North Carolina users
Written by Ayn-Monique Klahre

Raleigh business owner Liz Sprinkle launched her own line of CBD oil last year. Called Love Always, Liz, the brand positions CBD oil in the wellness category, and Sprinkle herself aims to make curious potential users—mostly women—comfortable trying a tincture that still has a bad stigma by talking about it and modeling a healthy lifestyle. We talked to Sprinkle about the benefits of CBD oil, how people are using it and the best ways to get quality CBD oil in North Carolina.

Photo by Kellie Chaney

What made you decide to start your own line of CBD oil?
I saw something on TV about a child using CBD oil to manage epilepsy, and it just sparked something for me. I’d been using it myself to manage situational anxiety and to get quality sleep, and I believed in the product. But then my mom was getting curious about it—she’d seen something in the paper about the oil—and was interested in it for the typical ailments people suffer from as they get older, like mild arthritis and trouble sleeping. But the stuff she saw on the market—those dark amber bottles with the black stoppers—was too intimidating to try. That’s where the idea was born of starting a new brand that could feel approachable and aesthetically pleasing. Something you’d use for self-care.

What kinds of people are interested in CBD oil?
All kinds! I use it because I’m a huge health person, I’m super active. I snowboard, wakeboard, I’m a divemaster—I really push my body to the limits. I also deal with situational anxiety and have trouble getting quality sleep, so it helps me. But the majority of people who are asking about CBD oil are women, and a lot of them are moms. If you’re only getting four or five hours of sleep, let’s make sure it’s quality sleep! My friend’s mom uses it for vertigo, it’s literally the only thing that helps her. Combat veterans have used it for PTSD, postpartum moms have used it to combat depression… People with immune disorders use it for chronic pain… Honestly I’ve heard from all sort of people who have benefitted from using CBD oil.

So… is CBD oil legal in North Carolina? Won’t CBD oil get you high?Those are the top questions I get! Yes. CBD oil is legal in North Carolina. In December 2018, the Farm Bill federally legalized hemp—before 44 out of 50 states had legalized it—so now it’s legal throughout the United States. One major misconception is that hemp and marijuana are the same thing. They are not! They are related plants, but hemp doesn’t have the high levels of THC that make marijuana a drug. In fact, our forefathers, literally everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence, all grew hemp because they used it for things like textiles and rope. George Washington smoked hemp to help with his toothaches. CBD oil actually has a long history in the United States. And NO, CBD oil won’t get you high. (You can read more about the science of how it works here.)

Photo by Kellie Chaney

How do you know if the CBD oil is from a reliable source?
There are four states that regulate CBD oil, specifically Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon. So if something is sourced from one of those states (ours is from a farm in Colorado), you can be assured that it’s been tested. Beyond that, we and other legitimate growers pay money to have our oil randomly batch-tested by a third party to make sure that we’re delivering on quality and potency. It costs an arm and a leg, but we want to do our due diligence. We also have worked to make our CBD oil cheaper than our competitors—but beware of anything you come across that’s too cheap, because it could be a flag that it’s a counterfeit product. There’s a lot of that out there.

Can you buy your CBD oil in Raleigh?
Right now, the majority of our sales are online through our website, lovealwayslizcbd.com. We have also been selling through popup shops and have events coming up at Midtown Market and Trellis Beauty later this spring. We’re also one of only two CBD vendors at the Nashville and DC Rock n Roll Marathons this year. So there are lots of places to find CBD oil in North Carolina and beyond this spring!