There’s one thing that the wife of Chris Ball of Ball Family Farms would like everyone to know: Cannabis and beauty go hand in hand.
During the question-and-answer period in the session “The Future of Plant-based Wellness,” Ball’s wife — a model who has been in the beauty business for 15 years — prompted her husband to flesh out the connection between the two.
The desire to lay out the particulars makes sense. Although the substance’s decriminalization has been catching on in more parts of the country, and sectors like beauty are seeing the rise of more cannabis-oriented products, it’s still a fledgling industry that has to fight misconceptions.
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Put another way, there are benefits or effects of cannabis beyond “getting high.”
“[My wife] always is trying to enlighten me about my business and how it goes hand in hand with her business,” Ball explained. “So we made some little notes here…I don’t want to forget, because I don’t want to get in trouble when I leave here, so I’m gonna read this off my phone.
“OK. So what’s women’s biggest fear? According to my beautiful wife, it’s aging.”
That matters, he added, because it’s directly impacted by lack of sleep and stress — two areas that, as research shows, can be improved with the use of cannabis.
“When you’re consuming cannabis, or mushrooms for that matter, these type of medicinal medicines can help you be [less] stressful, can help you sleep better, can help you lead a better life,” he added.
The insight capped a robust conversation between the founders of Bell Family Farms, Alice Mushrooms and Shroomboom. As start-up leaders, they all came bearing different stories and backgrounds. Ball was convicted for selling and distributing cannabis, before receiving a license in 2018 to do it legally. For Shroomboom’s Alejandra Rodriguez, struggles with an eating disorder led to a deep exploration of physical and mental health. Charlotte Cruz of Alice Mushrooms is the newcomer of the bunch, having just launched a functional mushroom-based brand of chocolates for focus and sleep in October.
None of those products were designed to get people high, but rather, to support overall wellness. Cruz helped set the stage, explaining that she categorizes consumable mushrooms into three types, with culinary at one end and psychedelic on the other. Functional fungi, where her brand operates, lies somewhere in the middle.
The attention has put more of a public spotlight on mushrooms, but wellness communities have been touting Lion’s Mane, Reishi and others for years. They tend to be rich in fiber, protein, vitamins and myriad nutrients, and research into their benefits continues. Various studies are examining the use of mushrooms for everything from cognitive benefits for Alzheimer’s patients to fueling energy levels. Far eastern cultures and others have long been using powdered mushrooms as a supplement for medicinal or wellness purposes.
Alice Mushrooms packs them up into tasty chocolates, and Shroomboom offers a range from gummies and beverages to topical creams and more.
For these brands, the distinction between functional and psychedelic is an important one — not just because of legalities, but as an entry point for further education about both forms.
“We want to use our platform to educate people about functional mushrooms to then start breaking down a little bit of the barriers people have toward mushrooms,” Cruz said. “Our goal is to be the first recreational chocolate bar on the market once the legislation changes.”
She envisions psychedelic mushrooms following the same trajectory as marijuana legalization, with Oregon and Colorado already primed to introduce a framework for it. There may be benefits to psychedelics as well, given studies on beneficial effects for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorders.
Such studies matter, according to Rodriguez, citing the research behind psychedelic mushrooms. “It’s information that is not debatable,” she said. “There is science backing this and we’re at a time that we know that not all drugs are bad for you.”
Likewise, for Ball, the use of cannabis to help ease pain or help cancer patients find their appetite are powerful arguments.
Across the board, these founders have major challenges on their hands. Building a successful brand while educating consumers to fight stigmas amid changing legalities is tough. But the benefit of literally expanding people’s minds outweighs that.
“This education is so important,” Rodriguez said, “because when you’re giving a consumer information, you’re empowering them. You’re giving them tools, and this is the way that they can make informed and educated decisions about their behavior.
“When we know, we can change our behavior.”