Tonic CBD, A 100% Woman-Owned CBD Company, is Showing How Cannabis Can Change the World

So, we want to change the world, right? Yes. We do. This shit is hard no matter who you are. Add any number of layers of oppression and trauma (non-male gendered, black or brown skin, socioeconomic background, any kind of abuse, I can go on and on...) and chances are you are fed up with, well, everything.

The War on Drugs actively harmed (and continues to harm) marginalized communities and people of color are still more likely to get convicted of cannabis related crimes today. TODAY: Amazon is actively supporting legalization, celebrities own cannabis brands, wealthy white male investors are actively investing hundreds of millions of dollars into more white male owned and operated business because "they see themselves" in those owners and in one state you can grow, consume and sell cannabis legally and in the state next door you can go to prison and lose your children.

And then we have our oh-so-imperfect modality of Health Care. I could go on for days about how our health care system misses the whole mind, body and spirit connection and, in turn, is not helping anyone actually BE WELL. It is frustrating to have doctors completely out of touch with plant medicine and its amazing connection and relationship to us as a species. We need whole wellness to heal ourselves.

The drain humanity has on our planet is going to reach critical mass in the next 50 years. The number of natural disasters is on the climb because our planet is suffering from the insatiable greed humans are known for. Climate change is real, as I write this from the soon-to-be totally on fire west coast of the US.

The reality of all of this is almost laughable. Almost...

But no fear, ya'll! Despite the scary truths of modern society, I am a confidently realistic optimist thanks to tools like meditation, music, community, dance, laughter and cannabis companies like TONIC. Oh my YES, TONIC! Hot damn, I love these amazing CBD products!

Our global systems need to work well for all cohabiting here and women like Brittany Carbone are leading the way with innovative, intentional, equitable and ethical brands that are shaping the future of what sustainable business looks like. TONIC is one of three woman owned and operated companies that work together to make magic.

Carbone co-founded Tricolla Farms, an upstate New York based hemp farm, in conjunction with the TONIC product line in 2017, and just added Bardo Labs to their portfolio in 2020. These 3 entities collectively form a sustainable, craft, quality-and-access-driven hemp supply chain rooted in their love for the plant, the people who consume it and the earth that provides it.

Brittany recalled the moment when she realized that her cannabis company could actively help change the world.

"I experienced first hand not only the hypocrisy and backwards nature of doctors pushing pills over plants, but also the privilege around consuming as a middle-upper class white woman. When I found cannabis in high school it clicked. I dealt with depression pretty much my whole life and cannabis was something that finally made me feel “normal” but the misinformation and stigma around the plant caused every authority figure in my life to tell me I was wrong and I was eventually subjected to bi weekly drug testing formTHC while being prescribed Xanax. I began to abuse Xanax and came to the realization this shit was fucked up; I was much better off smoking weed than taking these pills, but that didn’t matter because the doctors were saying to take the pills. It cut me deep that this was the reality that so many people were living.

Then, in college, I got arrested for smoking weed in my dorm room. Because my parents were able to pay for me to have a lawyer, take my day in court, and pay the $2750 fee to enter an expungement program that consisted of 1 year probation and 1 day of community service, I was able to have my record cleared and not carry that incident with me as I entered the workforce, etc. I realized that there were a lot of kids that, if put in that position, would not have the same outcome. I witnessed my Black friends have a much greater fear of getting caught by the cops than my white friends.

Tricolla Farms, upstate New York

The year after I started TONIC, I was part of a panel at an event called Breaking the Grass Ceiling, put on by Humble Bloom and Maya Shaw, and that was the first time the big picture of racial inequality and oppression around the plant was truly internalized. It was through the conversations at that event that I was able to put this all together - all of these pieces of ideas and feelings that were already in me where being put together; I could see how it all fit and I could see my place in it all.

A few months later I started TONIC’s Purpose Program, pledging to donate a portion of our revenue each month to a different nonprofit partner dedicated to supporting communities who need our support. We have donated over $50k since the program’s start. At Bardo, we work to lower the financial barrier to entry and offer up our resources unconditionally to BIPOC brands to help promote and nurture more representation on the ownership level and ensure that the communities most harmed by the war on drugs have equity and opportunity in the hemp/cannabis industry."

Carbone's products speak for themselves. She created them for herself and her healing, and in turn are healing others. TONIC uses other beneficial plant medicines like Ashwagandha to assist in the optimal effects. These products provide targeted results to help you tune your frequency to be in harmony with nature, with yourself. TONIC truly sets the bar high for quality and effect and is a brand you can feel good supporting.

Renewal Face and Body Oil

Companies like Tonic CBD are showing us just how cannabis can change the world by being grounded in practices and ethos that keep people, plant, planet in mind as well as profits. Now, that is something we can get behind!

Support these amazing woman owned, ethical, high quality brands in any way you can:

TONIC
TRICOLA FARMS
BARDO LABS
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