Meet the company supporting the LGBTQ community through CBD

Out & About gives at least five percent of its profits to The Trevor Project - a charity which offers suicide prevention services for young LGBTQ people. Credit: Out & About CBD

Wayne Carkeek founded Out & About CBD after suffering from anxiety for many years. Following his time serving in the military, Carkeek decided to come out to his family on Thanksgiving and turned to CBD to reduce the effects of his anxiety. Here, he reveals how Out and About supports the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer) community, including through donating some its profits to charity, The Trevor Project, and what he envisions the future of CBD to look like.

Q: What are the main goals of Out & About?

A: Out & About is a wellness company rooted in optimism, committed to enhancing the overall well-being of our LGBT community, and those seeking a natural approach to mind-body health. Our promise is to provide the highest quality products and share the most current information regarding hemp and CBD, its benefits, uses and precautions, to ensure you’re always on a path to optimal living.

Q: How are you enhancing the overall well-being of the LGBT community with CBD?

A: According to ADAA Upwards of 60% percent of all members of the LGBT community suffer from anxiety and depression at some point in their lives; a level that is more than two times than that of our straight counterparts.^1,2 With the daily life challenges we continue to face, we all deserve a chance at living a happier and full life. I believe that CBD is one of the most important natural wellness products to come along in many decades, and I want to share its benefits with my community. 

Q: Do you believe CBD can help alleviate anxiety?

A: CBD is currently used by many consumers to reduce anxiety and depression, relieve pain, as a sleep aid, and much more. The doors are now open for more studies to be carried on CBD and its health benefits. And as more studies are conducted, we’re seeing various ways in which CBD oil can help – in particular, for those suffering from anxiety.³ 

Q: Why is it proving difficult to attach health claims to CBD?

A: Health claims are very tricky for every hemp company. The terms you are allowed to say can be restricted through the different platforms selling CBD products. All of this is boils down to liability and a lack of studies which could support the claims made. As FDA restrictions ease in the near future and studies emerge in America, I am confident the results will eliminate the need for claim restrictions on hemp products. 

Q: What kinds of food/drink products do you offer?

A: We offer a variety of edibles; gummies, mints and energy drinks are just the start. As we began our testing phase, we found that gummies were some of the most widely used forms of CBD edibles. We wanted to expand from the typical offerings and think outside the box to find new and interesting ways hemp can become a part of a daily routine. When selecting flavours, it is difficult to stray away from the typical ones everyone enjoys. Strawberry, grape and orange are the varieties we offer in our gummies and a tropical punch for our energy drink. 

Q: How do you devise your flavour ideas? 

A: Our whole team is involved and works closely in the creation of our products. We also do our best to keep the ingredient lists clean. Our suppliers are very accommodating in the recipe process. Product testing is what we do best. As we source, we will sample every product for flavour, texture and bitterness. Once we have decided on our select choice, we sample them among friends and family to get a final vote. 

Q: Does the CBD have a particular flavor or texture?

A: CBD is known for its earthy or bitter taste, especially when you use extracts with their organic terpenes. The trick is to find a product that offers enough CBD extract but which is also masked well enough – without using unhealthy additives.

Each product is labelled with a measure of CBD in milligrams. For some users, 25mg can be too much; this is why we offer some variants of products with less CBD. To ensure the consistent quality of our products, we have them tested by an additional 3^rd party lab.

Out & About specialises in CBD gummies and energy drinks

Q: Why focus on the human and dog market?

A: We are focused on LGBT people and bettering their lives through the use of natural hemp products. I deal with anxiety and depression and have spent years looking for aid in non-pharmaceutical methods. Companionship is one method to help reduce anxiety…but what happens when your emotional support animal is stressed too? I believe CBD can help the whole household. We offer pet products for those animals who have separation anxiety or need calming in stressful situations. Keep in mind pets need much smaller doses that humans do, so it is important not to give them the same products you would consume.

Q: Where do you source your product from and how do you ensure it’s safe?

A: As I mentioned above, we source our products from a handful of different suppliers. We look into each of their products and choose which ones we believe will fit our product line, while holding up to our standards. We require all our suppliers have a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Certificate, and all hemp is American grown. 

We have each of our products tested by a third-party lab to ensure high-quality CBD. Tests include heavy metals, pesticides, and more.

Q: What is the difference between broad spectrum and isolate?

A: Broad spectrum CBD is the organic extract from the hemp plant, including its terpenes, which has an additional process to extract THC. Isolate is a purified form of the compound. This extract is stripped of all other natural extracts and ends up being around 99 percent pure CBD.

We only use broad spectrum extracts for all our products, except for mints which is an isolate. This is because it is difficult to provide a minty flavour with broad spectrum hemp. We chose broad spectrum because we are a wellness company. While recreational THC legal is many states, we are on a mission to “Love Every Day” without the intoxication or ‘high’.

Q: What does the future have in store for you?

A: As we navigate through the ongoing pandemic and FDA regulations on CBD, we have our sights aimed on early next year. Many other states just legalised cannabis, and the movement and stigma is taking a positive turn. We are comfortable with our product line and will gear our focus on teaching the benefits of pairing CBD with LGBT. Our team is looking forward to placing our products throughout the US and bringing a silver lining to the troubles we have all been facing this year.

References

1. https://adaa.org/finding-help/lgbtq-communities
2. https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/understanding-anxiety-and-depression-lgbtq
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5101100/