Dr. Sanjay Gupta Will Launch a Line of Hemp CBD Products

[Editor’s Note, UPDATE: This is not the CCN correspondent, but a different Dr, Sanjay Gupta. Read the update here: https://cannabisnow.com/dr-sanjay-gupta-will-launch-a-line-of-hemp-cbd-products/. ]

Nearly 5 years to the day since Dr. Sanjay Gupta announced his belief that cannabis is medicine, the famed physician specializing in neurosurgery has announced that he will be launching a branded line of hemp-derived CBD products.

In an announcement on August 9, a company called Tree of Knowledge said they will produce the formulas, handle production and create the packaging for a line of hemp-derived CBD and cannabis-derived CBD products for Gupta. The forthcoming line will be called “Dr. Gupta’s” under the Gupta Products umbrella. It will include things like CBD capsules, CBD tinctures and CBD salve. The announcement noted the products will all be non-GMO and gluten-free.

“We are extremely excited that Dr. Gupta has selected TOK to work with to create a new product line under his name. We see this as an extraordinary partnership where we can combine our expertise in creating premium quality products with Dr. Gupta’s worldwide name recognition, said Tree of Knowledge CEO Jean-Paul Gaillard in the announcement.

In July of this year, Tree of Knowledge became a publically traded company on the Canadian Securities Exchange. That same month, Gupta announced he had joined the company’s advisory board.

Gupta says he believes his product deal will provide medical professionals with CBD products they know are sound.

“As the world perception is changing with respect to CBD products, I have embraced Tree of Knowledge, first as an advisory member and now as a product partner,” Gupta said. “Their vigorous testing and the exceptional quality of their products, being free of pesticides and microbial, makes them a world leader. This level of quality allows me to offer my network of top medical professionals a line of products that they can be completely comfortable in recommending to their patients.”

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: From Advocate to Industry Insider

In August 2013, Gupta famously apologized for his original impressions on medical marijuana. As CNN’s chief medical correspondent, he authored a piece that outlined the specific places he had found himself to be mistaken. These included having faith in the science behind the Drug Enforcement Administration in making pot a Schedule 1 narcotic, not looking at research from smaller labs outside the United States and not hearing the calls of patients who had been able to live a better quality of life thanks to cannabis.

He made this pro-cannabis statement when launching his soon-to-be hit documentary series “Weed,” which would go on to get annual installments.

“I had steadily reviewed the scientific literature on medical marijuana from the United States and thought it was fairly unimpressive. Reading these papers five years ago, it was hard to make a case for medicinal marijuana. I even wrote about this in a TIME magazine article, back in 2009, titled ‘Why I would Vote No on Pot.’  Well, I am here to apologize,” Gupta said at the time.

Gupta went on to note on the personal experiences that drove the decision as well, like seeing the quality of life afforded to children with severe forms of epilepsy. He took the story of those children benefiting from CBD extracts to the airwaves, and it impacted millions of Americans the same way it did him. The national conversation on cannabis as medicine accelerated even faster, and many of the parents that have helped get medical cannabis laws passed in their states had their early understandings of how cannabis could help their child from Gupta’s work.

Marijuana Policy Project Spokesman Mason Tvert, who helped lead the effort to legalize marijuana in Colorado, commented on Gupta’s impact.

“Sanjay Gupta’s positive impact on public perceptions of cannabis cannot be overstated,” Tvert told Cannabis Now. “In addition to educating countless people about marijuana’s medical benefits, he shined a spotlight on how the DEA has long been misinforming the media, officials and the public on the subject. Many public figures have evolved on this issue in recent years, but Sanjay Gupta was among the most effective at using his enlightenment to enlighten others.”

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