Life has changed for Megan Schwarting. She and her husband, Ben used to be commercial cannabis growers. Now she’s a mom of three young girls who makes lotions and creams that she sometimes gives to her kids’ teachers as gifts. The products, Kush Creams, are a line of cannabis-infused topicals. Well, maybe things haven’t changed all that much.
Produced in Gig Harbor, Wash., Kush Creams was launched in late 2010. “At that time there was only a small handful of medical marijuana dispensaries,” she recalls. In those early days, Schwarting would go to the MMJ shops and set up counter top testers so people could try the products. “We did a lot of farmers markets and festivals that first year,” she says. “As medical marijuana grew we started to be on more shelves.” Kush Creams can be found in local markets throughout the state although Schwarting is quick to note that she would love to one day see the line on the shelves of Whole Foods.
However, mainstream acceptance has already happened in a different form for Kush Creams. The brand has partnered with MedGen, makers of Snorenz Snore Relief Spray. (You’ve seen their infomercials on late night TV when you’re channel surfing hoping to find a rerun of Friends.) At the Cannabis Cup in Seattle this past September the company launched Snorenz Medicated, a THC-infused version of the spray that is being manufactured and distributed by Kush. “It’s pretty neat working with a brand that you can find in places like Walgreens,” says Schwarting.
Kush Creams uses highly medicinal emu oil for the base of all its topical products, which penetrates down into the skin’s epidermal layer. “It absorbs rapidly and instantly,” explains Schwarting. (I can personally attest the creams go on smooth as silk and smell amazing.)
As with most cannabis-infused topicals, Kush Creams have no psychoactive effects. “These are non-psychoactive cannabinoids,” says Schwarting. “It will not show up in a urine analysis. These cannabinoids are where the pain relieving qualities of cannabis lie.” Among the ailments the creams help treat are rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, psoriasis and migraines.
Besides the creams and lotions, the Kush Creams line includes a throat spray elixir, tooth ache tincture and chemotherapy shampoos and conditioners. “I appreciate the chance to help people,” says Schwarting. “It’s what motivates me to stay in the lab pressing forward with research and development.”
Have cannabis-infused topicals helped to cure what ails you? Let us know in the comments below.
