Photo: Instagram
The Stanley brothers want to help people live better lives.
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Written on Mar 24, 2020
The CBD/Hemp/Cannabis/Marijuana industry is hot right now. It is also evolving at such a rapid pace, it is hard to keep up with all the developments.
Chances are, when you think of medical marijuana, you're thinking of a broad category of products that are made from cannabis, and many of those deliver benefits to the user without getting them "high." Hemp is one of those products.
As a general rule, hemp is cannabis that contains less than 0.3 percent THC, which is the part of the plant that produces that "high" that marijuana is known for. Hemp is slowly and steadily becoming better known and gaining supporters, and the Stanley brothers are doing their fair share of the heavy lifting when it comes to educating the public on the benefits of hemp products.
But who are the Stanley brothers?
Read on to find out more about these brothers, and how they are turning the hemp and CBD industry on its head.
1. The Stanley brothers have a business selling hemp products.
The first thing you need to know about the Stanley brothers is that I am not talking about the legendary bluegrass band. The second thing you need to know is that I am talking about seven brothers from Colorado Springs, Colorado who make their living selling hemp products.
The brothers — Joel, Josh, Jesse, Jared, Jon, J. Austin and Jordan — are passionate about what they do, and brother Jesse says that he views cannabis as being "God's plant" after watching the healing effects it provided to their uncle who was suffering from pancreatic cancer when all other treatments failed.
It's actually something that all of the brothers believe in, and an idea they all agree with: when it comes to modern medicine and healing on a grand scale, the cannabis plant is the answer and they want to make it accessible.
When Jesse says, "God is moving in the hearts of men and women and children around the world about this plant in ways that I never would’ve imagined," he's talking about the family business, and that business is changing the way people think about cannabis and the products derived from it.
2. The brothers got their breakthrough after meeting a little girl named Charlotte, who had epilepsy.
It takes more than just watching cannabis products to help one person to build a business out of its potent results. For the Stanley brothers, their business didn't really come into focus until a woman named Paige Figi walked into their first dispensary.
You see, Figi was looking for treatment for her five-year-old daughter, Charlotte, who had severe epilepsy. Charlotte has a form of epilepsy called Dravet's Syndrome.
Before she met the Stanley brothers, Charlotte was having over 300 grand mal seizures per day. By the time she was five years old, she had gone through all pharmaceutical options and none of them worked for her. In order to give medical marijuana a try, Charlotte had to get approval from her doctor and get a medical marijuana card.
Most people would've turned away the desperate mother, because that's how taboo our society's relationship with cannabis still really is. But, the Stanley brothers didn't. They saw a way to help the little girl.
The Stanley brothers use Proprietary Hemp Genetics in their low THC hemp products. They called it Charlotte's Web, and the word was out: these guys had found a way that hemp products could benefit people in many ways.
3. They come from a very close-knit family.
The Stanley brothers hail from Colorado. It isn't just the seven of them either — their mother had 11 kids and raised them all as a single mom. Talk about an amazing woman! The Stanley family grew up close. They didn't have a lot of money; in fact they were extremely poor, but never felt it.
They were brought up to respect family and to help people who needed it. That's a life lesson they still practice today with Charlotte's Web. They are all about families helping families. That sounds like a true sense of community.
4. They are determined to remain a positive and credible part of the CBD industry.
While the Stanley brothers might have already succeeded in educating many people on the benefits of hemp products, they know that there are certain lines that they cannot cross if they want to maintain their positive image and keep their credibility as providers of hemp as a dietary supplement.
On an interview with Today, the brothers said that their hemp and CBD oils are about getting healthy, not about getting high.
5. Their company is still thriving.
Today, Charlotte's Web is the hemp market's leader in the production and distribution of CBD wellness products and they're still growing.
In 2020, the company entered into a merger with Abacus Health Products, in which Charlotte's Web is going to acquire the company for a 35 percent share in the CBD market. The merger will create the world's largest integrated CBD company.
The CEO of Charlotte's Web, Deanie Elsner, released a statement, saying, "The complementary strengths of our relative market positions made this merger a logical strategic move. With this acquisition we strengthen the business to reflect the evolution of the category. Because most of Abacus's products are positioned in adjacent categories, our combined distribution reach has limited shelf overlap. Together we are the most developed CBD company across every channel and segment and positioned to accelerate our growth and extend our market share. Furthermore, it enables us to drive more scale production through our vertically integrated infrastructure."
Abacus' CEO, Perry Antelman, released a similar statement, adding, "This Transaction provides a unique opportunity to our shareholders and employees to participate in the compelling potential of the combined businesses. Abacus is one of the largest suppliers and distributors in the United States of topical products infused with hemp extract to the F/D/M and healthcare practitioner markets. By joining with Charlotte's Web, we have the opportunity to maximize our growth by leveraging the Company's leading brand, vertical integration, infrastructure, expertise, financial position and capital markets presence, and position the combined Company to deliver benefits for our stakeholders over the long-term."
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on May 13, 2019 and was updated with the latest information.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.