"Ophelia” is of Greek origin from the word meaning to “help.”  And, that’s exactly what Amanda Holt and her family want to do with their new shop Ophelia’s CBD Hemporium …help people.

Since the legalization of cannabinoids for medicinal purposes, their availability has become much more widespread.

When the farm bill passed that allowed the growing of hemp, Amanda, her husband, Ryan, and her husband’s mom, Donna, began talking about the possibilities of selling CBD products and growing hemp themselves.

“So, May 1, we applied for our license to grow, and we have two and a half  acres,” Amanda said.

Their hemp crop will be used to produce and sell the portion of the plant that customers can smoke for medicinal purposes but does not contain THC.  Their business is not a dispensary for medical marijuana, which contains THC, the substance that can make people high.  The plant the Holts use is essentially for over-the-counter products.

The Holts also will produce extract from their hemp for use in oinments, lotions, teas and other products they plan to produce in the future.  They currently carry a commercial brand of products in their shop.

“So, our end goal is to be able to expand our farm so we can grow extract and process all under one roof,” Amanda said.  “We didn’t want to be a smoke shop; we didn’t want to be a vape shop.”

Holt said their goal was to open a boutique selling CBD products to help people find relief from pain, skin problems and other issues that might be helped by the use of CBD oil.

CBD is one of about 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants and accounts for as much as 40 percent of the plant’s extract. In 2018, clinical research into cannabidiol included studies of anxiety, cognition, movement disorders and pain, and in many cases, users believe their use of CBD provides relief from these ailments.

Hemp is another strain of the cannabis sativa plant.  Farmers have lobbied for several years for the right to grow industrial hemp, which is used to produce CBD oil as well as wearable and other commercially-produced products.

“Not only are we concentrating on the CBD, the tinctures and the smoke-able flowers, hemp is a commodity, and we need to let people know that,” Amanda said.  “Our tee-shirts are 55 percent hemp, 45 percent organic cotton, our beanies, our hats, our socks.”

Ryan Holt pointed out that hemp could conceivably replace cotton as an agricultural crop because it does not require pesticide.

“Our place isn’t about THC, it’s about hemp,” said Ryan.  “We’re in the middle of agricultural country, and people need to get educated.”

Ryan said most people don’t need the effects of THC.

“The entourage effects that come from the legal hemp is all that a lot of people need,” he said.

“So many people are opening their eyes, coming in and loving the products,” Amanda said.

“Whether somebody buys from us or down the street, I just want them to be educated,” she added.

The Holts spent a lot of time researching to determine the types of products they wanted to sell.

“And, we do plan to have our own products,” Ryan said.

Ryan spent time researching particularly the processing of hemp, so he is confident he will end up using the same extraction process that is successfully used by other producers.

“I knew what others were doing and knew our products would be equal to theirs,” he said.

The Holts already have heard success stories from customers who used their CBD products for pain and report CBD is the first thing to help them.

“People have come in and written reviews and said, ‘thank you, this truly worked for me.  I felt relief, it’s helping me get through my day’,” Amands said.

Amana also stressed their business was a family operation.

“It really is family, family, family,” she said.

Ophelia’s grand opening will be this weekend with a ribbon-cutting at noon on Saturday.  The shop will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.