Lori Smith is completely mobile and happy now thanks to cannabinoid (CBD) products. There was a time when the 37 year old says she was out of pocket due to spinal arthritis, two herniated disks in her neck and tendonitis in both shoulders.

“Six years ago, I had an accident on the playground while playing on the jungle gym with my 4 year old daughter and then a couple of years later a car hit my SUV while I was stopped at a traffic light,” Smith told Newsmax Finance.

The Boca Raton resident reportedly eventually weaned herself off of pain medication with a combination of CBD based oils, capsules, protein bars, tinctures, Real Scientific Hemp Oil (RSHO) and salve. "I like the fact that CBD is not addictive and that CBD products taste good,” said Smith who works as an office manager. “There’s no bitter aftertaste.”

Candy and drinks accounted for some 45% of sales in Colorado last year and that's not counting nationwide online sales for CBD infused products such as protein bars and water, which are legal even in states that haven't legalized medical or recreational cannabis.

“I’ve studied the growth of the nutrition and the organic food industries for years,” said Patrick Rea, executive editor of the 3rd ArcView State of Legal Marijuana Markets report. “I believe the cannabis industry will be an even bigger opportunity."

Cannabinoids are a group of compounds derived uniquely from the marijuana plant and while tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive ingredient, other known non-psychoactive compounds are cannabinol, cannabidiol (CBD), cannabichromene and cannabigerol.

Much like medical marijuana, some states only permit legal CBD and not marijuana. They include Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.

“CBD is important to the marijuana industry with regards to synthetics,” said Michael Perinotti, a co-founder of MarijuanaStocks.com. “The downside is that CBDs have been around for a while and a product that doesn't contain THC is competing in a saturated marketplace.”

That saturated marketplace includes industry leader Dixie Botanicals, which was acquired from Tripp Keber by Medical Marijuana Inc (MJNA) in a legal deal valued at $6.8 million.  Keber is the CEO of Dixie Elixirs.
 
“MJNA is anticipating several new Dixie Botanicals product lines,” said Marcos Agramont, director of operations with HempMeds. “We plan to launch a Dixie Botanicals beauty and skin care product line as well as more concentrated CBD products and a Dixie Botanicals vape.”

As more states legalize, awareness is spreading on the best way to ingest the drug and its CBD offspring.

"We are focused completely on infusing every product you see when you walk into a 7-11 convenience store," said Ata Gonzalez, CEO of GFarmaLabs, a California-based edibles company that currently infuses chocolate bars and candy. "We are designing and building our facilities to be cannabis infused edible processing centers where we are creating three flavors of honey, cinnamon, lemon and regular honey to add to coffee and tea."

Juliette Fairley is an author, lecturer and TV host based in New York.