Rose Sendejaz is the caretaker of her 17-year-old grandson, Michael, who is nonverbal autistic. She’s also an advocate for Lazarus Naturals, a line of CBD products, and the owner of Cleaner Greener Ohio, which offers air purifiers and CBD products. Rose will be a vendor at the Ohio Cannabis Health & Business Summit at the IX-Center in Cleveland, June 20-21.

Cannabidiol, sometimes called CBD is a chemical compound found in the cannabis plant. Since it does not include THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, CBD does not induce a “high.” Research shows however that It can, however, help to reduce anxiety and lower stress levels—symptoms that are common among people with autism.

Question: What made you try CBD with your grandson?

I knew how well it worked for the pain in my knee when I sprained my minuscus a year ago. I did not want to do cortisone, but physical therapy wasn’t enough. Between the tincture that I used under my tongue and the balm that I applied on my knee, in three days my pain went from the feeling of needles being shoved through the side of my knee to feeling of first just pressure..and then nothing. It was amazing and it still is. When I do a show and overwork it I get pressure, but no more shooting pain. None.

I was really nervous about it, but I knew what it did for me. My anxiety levels went down and It gave me clarity.

I did my own research first. Then I started giving my grandson 5 milligrams, and now we’re at 25 milligrams twice a day. He’s sleeping through the night. That didn’t happen before. There were days he missed school because he didn’t go to sleep until 5 a.m. His sleep has definitely improved in the last several months. He doesn’t mind the flavor. I wonder if he realizes it’s something that helps him.

Can you give an example of changes you’ve seen in your grandson?

Yes. We used to see him doing something different maybe once a month. Now we see changes daily. His cognitive ability has improved 10-fold.

Things that people take for granted he didn’t start doing until after taking the CBD. A big one would be a change in the way interacts with his mom. For example, he actually kisses her on the cheek now and tells her I love you. He never did that before.

Not long ago, when his grandpa belched at the dinner table, Michael said, “excuse you,” before he could excuse himself. We laughed. We couldn’t believe it.

Who are your biggest CBD customers? Surprisingly, people who are 50 plus are the most open to trying it. Maybe it’s because they’re starting to experience pain and they want a more natural approach  that works. Millennials and younger people are very cautious because they have had stereotypes pounded in them and they worry about drug tests. We encourage them to go to their HR department to find out if there is a zero tolerance for any THC. What we have in our product is the legal amount which is 0.03.

When we do shows, some people snub their nose when they see the sign of CBD. It makes it a lot less intimidating when they see our purifiers.

How do you relax? One of the most relaxing things that I do is go to church. From my christian community I sometimes hear, ‘Don’t you think that you shouldn’t be condoning something that could be harmful to the general public?’ My response: Come talk to me when you get on the bandwagon to band alcohol. Marijuana and hemp can take away pain while alcohol destroys. Hemp can actually help conditions. I don’t want to drive down a road with someone stoned out of their mind or someone who is drunk out of their mind. You wont have any of those issues by using CBD.

Proud moment – I have many every time customers share the euphoria and child-like innocence when they tell me how the CBD products have helped. Seeing customer’s expressions when they talk about pain relief is wonderful. The phrase I hear most: “I can’t believe this…”