Roxanne Benton has a store that sells tools and supplies to people in the aromatherapy industry. A few years ago when her teenage son Bevan was diagnosed with ADHD and Tourette’s, she asked a dear friend what she would do in the same situation, and it just so happened she had some helpful essential oils on hand.
Fast forward a few years, Bevan’s Tourette’s kicked in with a vengeance. The social pecking order of junior high is tough enough. Throw in ADHD and Tourette’s and you have one unhappy, picked-on kid.
Bevan’s doctor had given him Clonadine, a blood pressure medication, to “chill him out a bit.” It didn’t do anything for his anxiety or help him sleep. And it certainly didn’t do anything for his tics or “glitches,” as he and his mom called them. From the sidelines, Roxanne could still see him “glitching” while he was on the Lacrosse field.
“Seeing your son twitch uncontrollably with such force — tantamount to whiplash — is horrifying. I would do anything for him, take any pain I could for him. That’s what moms do.”
Since Roxanne had been using essential oils in her health and wellness routines as well as her business for over six years at this point, it eventually led her to meeting John Taylor. He informed her about a CBD project he was working on in Kentucky. This project utilized hemp that is grown under a Federal Pilot Program. It is flavored with natural CO2 extracts, is pesticide-free and is federally legal throughout the U.S., as per the Farm Bill of 2014.
Naturally, Roxanne trusted her friend John and considered the idea of allowing Bevan to try some CBD oil.
“I was so excited to get my first bottle from John. I gave some to Bevan, and took some myself. I don’t know if he slept so well because he was just tired and could finally get to REM sleep, or what – but I was grateful that he could finally sleep so soundly. After two days of taking CBD, I knew that while we still had lots of work to do, I had my boy back – for the first time in a very long time,” she said with relief. Bevan was calmer and more attentive. He was still “glitching,” but not nearly as drastically.
Incidentally, Bevan is Celtic for “Youthful Warrior.” Fairly soon after he implemented CBD in his diet, this ordinary mom’s extraordinary kid rediscovered himself, while Roxanne discovered the potential to heal, in the cannabis space.
After seeing him a few times, Bevan’s therapist noticed that his demeanor had changed. He was paying more attention during his sessions, and he seemed to be more “present.”
Roxanne hadn’t mentioned to her son’s therapist that he was taking CBD until he remarked to her that her son was behaving differently.
“I told him about the whole story about my friend, the manufacturer of CBD in Kentucky and how we gave it to Bevan. His therapist said to ‘keep it up!’ ” she said.
Roxanne was so happy with Bevan’s progress — He is now 15 and still plays Lacrosse — that she began to spread the news to her aromatherapy followers.
“I already had a small audience, and they were thirsty for knowledge about how this misunderstood plant, this natural product, could help so many with widely varied issues. So, I did what I do best — dug into research and started offering my own brand of Patriot Botanicals CBD to my customers.”
These days Roxanne is helping people realize that CBD is neither a snake oil nor a cure-all. “As I understand it,” she says, “CBD mainly helps bring our bodies back to homeostasis, so our bodies can work more efficiently.”
