MY CBD OIL TRIUMPH – I don’t lose… Either I win or I learn! | After a multi year search, I finally found a reliable source of third party tested, high quality CBD oil products, which we are able to get here in Portugal where I presently reside, and can be shipped all over the world. In fact, the results were so pleasing that I could not wait to get onto my blog and share the news.
The search for properly tested Cannabis oil products has taken several years and several disappointments, resulting in some rather hostile endings and toxic backlash from the suppliers and distributors of said dodgy Cannabis based products, which I have documented in previous blogs such as CBD Oil scammers strike again! It has been an incredible journey, and through it all, we have met some interesting people, whilst finally arriving at the point of being able to access, test and recommend a good quality brand of CBD oil products, which have been certified by independent third party testing.
Furthermore, my new CBD supplier sent me a free sample box of five different CBD products, including a very potent REAKIRO CBD Oil containing 15% Cannabidiol, which came in the most beautiful cylinder box packaging, containing a safety seal to guarantee that the product had not been tampered with. Furthermore, this bottle of 15% CBD Oil had the batch number and expiry date of the product printed on the side of the bottle. Included inside the box of samples was all the third party test certificates to prove that these products were legitimate, certified and followed the European Union Consumer Protection Regulations that are set by the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network and the Cannabis Trade Association based in Amsterdam. After a lengthly, hectic journey of trial and error, being scammed and learning the hard way, whilst growing my knowledge base about CBD products, I was so excited to finally see how a legitimate CBD manufacturer and distributor operates.
After checking out all the documents, I immediately tried all the samples in order to test it out. Of course the product that I was most interested in was the 15% CBD oil, which came with a dropper. I placed a small drop under my tongue, and the effects were near instant. Within a few minutes, I could feel the CBD activating my Endocannabinoid system and balancing out my brain chemistry. My focus was sharper, my anxiety was gone, my mood was lifted… Indeed, not even a hint of that depressed heavy feeling I have had for the past fortnight, which had been worsened by lockdown and toxic people. Truly, I felt the most motivated that I have felt in several weeks, and I got more work done in one day than I had in the entire week prior. Nothing could distract me from what needed to be done. In fact, I have never had such an intense reaction to any product that I had previously tried.
My previous foray into purchasing CBD Oil, was done in an attempt to remedy my kitty called Porridge, who has feline dermatitis, resulting in constant scratching and scabs on her skin, but unfortunately, this 2% CBD Oil product for animals that I purchased specifically to treat my cat, did not work at all. With the new CBD products I have just received, I was ever so keen to try them on my kitty, and I was not disappointed. Almost immediately, the incessant scratching and itching abated, and I have noticed that the scabs are starting to dry up and fall off after just three days of usage.
WANT TO OBTAIN QUALITY CBD PRODUCTS?
Obtaining quality CBD products from outside of Portugal
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN PURCHASING CBD OIL
ASK FOR TEST CERTIFICATES – Before purchasing any CBD Oil product, ask to see their test certificates.
THIRD PARTY TESTING – A legitimate CBD manufacturer producing quality product, will pride themselves on getting their products regularly tested through a laboratory that specialises in food testing, as CBD Oil is classified as a ‘Food Supplement’. At no point is acceptable for a CBD Oil company to produce a test certificate for their own products as their results can be compromised or outright fraudulent. It costs about 100 pounds per test, but a good CBD Oil company will pay to have their products tested, and should normally publish their test certificates online via their website, or they will be able to send you recent test certificates via email. That all being said, with photoshop and other digital editing software available, it is also rather easy to create fake documents, so feel free to contact the third party testing facility to check if the test certificates are authentic.
BATCH / LOT NUMBER AND EXPIRY DATE – The batch or lot number should be printed on the side of the bottle of CBD Oil, along with the expiry date. All food supplements are required to have this information in order to comply with the European Union Consumer Protection Regulations that are set by the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network.
OIL COLOUR – Good quality CBD oil will have a slight green to dark green colour, bordering on brownish, depending on the strength. That means there is a good percentage of plant extract in the oils. Any CBD oil that is only slightly yellow or transparent, usually means it is of poor quality or over diluted with carrier oils, and has little to no health benefit.
TASTE & SMELL – The Cannabis plant has a distinctive taste and smell, which lends itself to CBD oil. Even if the CBD oil product is flavoured, there should be an after taste of the Cannabis plant. If one cannot register the taste or smell, that is because the oil is over diluted, or has no Cannabis content, making it a fake oil. Test certificates can be fake, but the real proof is in the taste and smell, but most importantly, the healing results.
SAFETY SEAL – All health and food supplements are required to have a safety seal on them, to ensure that the product has not been tampered with. Ensure that this seal is intact. If not, return the product to the distributor / manufacturer.
CUSTOMER SERVICE – A reputable CBD oil manufacturer will replace any product that does not meet the basic standards, such as in the case of product being expired, or not having the expiry date and batch number printed on the side of the packaging, or having a broken safety seal.
MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS – It is important to know the difference between Manufacturers and Distributors. The first six points above are the responsibility of the ‘Manufacturer’ of the CBD oil. The ‘Distributor’ is not responsible for the making of the product, nor are they involved with or responsible for the testing process. Independent third party test certificates should be provided by the ‘Manufacturer’ to the ‘Distributor’, so that said ‘Distributor’ can pass these certificates onto customers. However, it is up to ‘Distributors’ to ensure that the above mentioned basic requirements are met before selling a CBD Oil product on to customers. Dodgy ‘Manufacturers’ rely on clueless or wilfully ignorant ‘Distributors’, to get their dodgy CBD Oil product sold to the public.
DISTRIBUTOR KNOWLEDGE – As there is no regulation on who can sell CBD Oil, I have come across clueless ‘Distributors’ who really have no knowledge of what is good or bad, what the regulations are, etc. They are only in the game for profit, not to help people. A reliable ‘Distributor’ will ensure they are in possession of all the corresponding, up to date test certificates, and properly marked and packaged products, prior to selling them onto CBD oil customers. The distributor is the safety barrier between the ‘Manufacturer’ and the end user of the CBD oil product. In much the same fashion, as a Pharmacist who distributes drugs made by pharmaceutical companies, a CBD oil ‘Distributors’ should have a firm knowledge of natural health and alternative medicine. Never purchase any product from a person who does not know the basics, particularly when it comes to health products, as it is never a good idea to play Russian Roulette with your health.
CBD OIL SCAMMERS – The CBD oil industry has seen a massive boom due to the fact that the Cannabis plant is the most versatile medicinal plant on the planet, with virtually no negative side effects, resulting in the sharp rise in popularity of Cannabis derived products such as CBD Oil. Many clueless people are cashing in by selling these products, without actually having a grasp of the nomenclature, and without knowing the scientific facts, and without having a grasp of the basic legal aspects such as those required by the European Union Consumer Protection Regulations that are set by the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network. It is important that you be a Conscious Consumer, so that you do not get scammed by dodgy CBD oil product manufacturers and distributors. Obtaining good quality CBD Oil can be tricky, because there are many criminals and sharks that have seized upon this fast growing industry and the popularity of CBD oil products. As this is a relatively new industry, there is very little regulation on CBD product, and thus, there are many dodgy manufacturers out there, and equally, there are many clueless / wilfully ignorant distributors who care only about money as opposed to health, and who do not have a sufficient knowledge base to be prescribing alternative medicines and food supplements. They just ignorantly sell sub par products whilst neglecting to follow all the necessary safety checks to ensure their customers get a quality product.
CONSCIOUS CONSUMER TESTED – This new range of CBD products I have been sent is the real deal, and indeed, a hard won treasure. I had almost given up on the whole CBD movement due to the terrible experiences I have previously had in obtaining legitimate products, both at the hands of manufacturers and distributors. In my efforts to track down quality CBD oils and products, I have learned a great deal and done several public exposes of dodgy CBD Oils, their manufacturers and their distributors. Due to my ongoing work in this area, I was invited to an event in February 2020, by the Cannabis Trade Association to the launch of a Trade Mark, which will be applied to quality assured CBD products.
For many years, I have been well aware of the medicinal and health benefits of cannabis and the oils derived from them called CBD oils, which can be used to treat a variety of ailments. Indeed, the cannabis plant is possibly the most medicinal plants on the planet. I have been researching this medicine for a number of years. This process has included reaching out to and interviewing many advocates of this therapeutic, natural remedy, including interviewing Rick Simpson back in 2013. Since then, I have spoken to and learned from many doctors, homeopathic practitioners, naturopaths and alternative therapists of all kinds, in order to grow my knowledge about the endocannabinoid system within the human body, and how it responds to cannabinoids from the Cannabis plant, whilst watching as one by one, countries around the world began to end the prohibition of cannabis cultivation. It has been a beautiful and fulfilling experience to see the end of Cannabis prohibition in my lifetime, whilst watching the emergence of an ever growing body of research into the benefits of cannabis based medicines.
THE STORY OF MY BAD PAST EXPERIENCES WITH CBD OIL
Following the instructions from Rick Simpson, I had in the past been able to make Cannabis derived oils, but it had a very high Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, which is the component that makes one very stoned. I had also been given similarly comprised good quality Cannabis oils from various people who also made their own, and although it was good, it too make one very stoned from the THC. As I finished my Herbalism qualification, I learned that the most healing combination of Cannabis oils came from a higher percentage of Cannabidiol (CBD) as opposed to Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). With a sound knowledge and a growing trust in Cannabis based CBD oils, I have in the past not had much luck in obtaining a good quality supply. In fact, my first two attempts to obtain CBD oils from dodgy dealers, became rather traumatic following my public expose of said dodgy dealers, due to their over aggressive toxic backlash when I dared to question their dodgy practices.
DEAN OLIVER & SACRED KANA
My first foray into CBD oil came from a man I met as a guest on Conscious Consumer Network, by the name of Dean Oliver, who was pushing his brand of CBD oil called Sacred Kana. Dean Oliver claimed that his CBD oil had 10% CBD content, but several people including ourselves had had this product tested by independent laboratories, and it turned out that Dean Oliver’s Sacred Kana, had less than 1%. Thanks to the many people that Dean had scammed, there was no shortage of witnesses to confirm our findings via their own experiences.
Furthermore, Dean Oliver had published a fake test certificate on his website. We tracked down the company that supposedly did the test for Sacred Kana, and it turns out that they have never done testing for Cannabis oils, rather they are a petrochemical company that had nothing to do with CBD oils what so ever.
Needless to say that when we confronted Dean Oliver about his dodgy CBD oil sales operation, he got very nasty, even publicly attacking my husband and I at a busy market, falsely claiming that my husband pimped me out to pay off a drug debt.
After some research into Dean Oliver, we soon learned that he had spent almost 10 years in jail for armed robbery due to having to support a heroine addiction. Sadly these sort of criminals is what the CBD industry attracts, hence why we have had so many difficult experiences with those involved in the sale and distribution of CBD oil and its derivative products
I published a full expose of my findings about Sacred Kana onto a website which was online for about a year, but we let it go when it came time to renew the domain registration, as Dean Oliver had ended his Sacred Kana business after our expose. Following on from that expose, which went viral, I was contacted by 12 different people who shared some very interesting stories about their experience with Dean Oliver and his dodgy CBD oils, including several of Dean Oliver’s ex business partners, and all of them furnished me with scathing reports, which only confirmed what I had come to know.
ELAINE ARCHER & PHARMAHEMP
Following that ordeal, I had for some time been hesitant about purchasing cannabis oils of any kind, as it is almost impossible to tell what percentage of the active ingredients are present in these oils, without having them tested at a proper testing facility, which can be costly.
What prompted me to fall into the trap of purchasing yet another dodgy brand of CBD, was the fact that one of my precious kittens has dermatitis, and is in much discomfort. Upon seeing an advert which came across one of the community pages on Facebook that I administer, indicating that CBD Oil can cure dermatitis, I decided to contact the Portugal CBD distributor called Elaine Archer, who dropped a bottle off the next day.
Elaine Archer operating under the title of PORTUGAL CBD, was selling a brand called POOR DOG CHARLIE, made by PH PRO, which is a subsidiary of PHARMAHEMP, which came in three flavours, being peanut, salmon and bacon. Elaine Archer ensured me that this brand was suitable for cats, and thus, I ordered a bottle with the very last spending money for the month of January, as my cats are my life, and I want them to be well and to heal. Nothing in my life has a greater priority than the wellbeing of my kitty babies, which are my children. I asked Elaine Archer at the time to send me the test certificates in order to see the CBD content before ordering, but she did not send them, rather she was very pushy about coming over the next day to sell me the bottle of oil, and indeed, I ended up with the bottle of oil without having received the requested test certificates.
Nonetheless, I began twice daily administrations of the pet care oils, which came in a 10 ml bottle with a dropper. I squirted it directly into my cats mouth rather than mixing it with food, to ensure she was getting the exact dosages.
TEST CERTIFICATES THAT I WAS GIVEN BY ELAINE ARCHER – NOTE – NOT FROM INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY
DODGY TESTING DOCUMENTS – First thing I noticed was that these test certificates were produced by PH PRO and PHARMA HEMP, not a reputable independent third party testing facility. Secondly, this test certificate was not applicable to the product I had purchased from Elaine Archer, as I had purchased the BACON flavour, and this test certificate is for the PEANUT flavour pet range CBD Oil. But what really surprised me was that no where on the test certificate did it indicate the percentage of CBD content. In fact it had been left off the test certificate all together. Their was an indication of 0.2% THC content, but absolutely no CBD content mentioned at all, despite the label of the bottle stating that it had a 2% CBD content.
From the previous exposes I have done about dodgy CBD suppliers, I learned from the research I conducted with the assistance of the Cannabis Trade Association based in Amsterdam, that each batch needs to have its own test certificate, and that the number of the batch should appear on the test certificate, and that number should correspond with the number on the bottle of CBD oil.
When I went looking for the batch number on the test certificate, there was none. Furthermore, when I went looking for the batch number on the vile of POOR DOG CHARLIE I had purchased, there was no batch number there either. But to make matters even worse, there was no expiry / Best Before date on the bottle.
Without a BATCH NUMBER and expiry / BEST BEFORE date printed on the bottle, this product fails to meet the European Union Consumer Protection Regulations that are set by the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network.
When I pointed this out to Elaine Archer, she insisted that I was stupid, even telling me to “look closer” as if I did not know what I was talking about, and so I sent her a picture of the bottle of oil that she had sold me to show her that this bottle did NOT have a BATCH NUMBER and it did not have an expiry / BEST BEFORE date printed on the bottle.
Elaine Archer then accused me of washing the BATCH NUMBER and the expiry / BEST BEFORE date off the bottle. I suppose I also washed the BATCH NUMBER off of the digital copy of the test certificate she sent me, as this vital information is missing from there too.
Elaine Archer then offered to come and pick up the bottle from me, at which point I asked her for a refund, which she refused to do, and so I told her that I would then keep the remaining small quantity of oil and have it independently tested via my connections that I have used when I was doing my previous investigation and exposes of dodgy CBD oil suppliers. Elaine Archer then insisted that she did not want me to keep any of the remaining oil, even though I had paid for it. Elaine Archer instead insisted that she would have the oil tested here in Portugal. The problem is that there is no testing facility in Portugal, a fact I am very well aware of, having previously tried to find one myself. The closest testing facility is at Valencia University in Spain. I told Elaine Archer that since I had paid for the product, I would keep what was left and that I would have it independently tested, and that she could come and collect the bottle and take up the various before mentioned discrepancies with her supplier PH PRO.
Elaine Archer became very nervous when I mentioned that I was going to have the oils independently tested, and she then changed her tune and offered to give me a full refund when she came to collect the bottle, with the condition that I leave all the remaining oil inside. I reluctantly agreed to this course of action and attempted to end the conversation, but Elaine Archer was adamant that she wanted to push liability onto me, making further comments to the effect of:
“Do not wash the bottle as they will know. It is going back, have no doubts. If I see it has been tampered with then sorry”
To which I responded:
“Your desperation to push the liability onto me is absolutely disgraceful. I do not need to wash it. There is NO best before date and NO batch number. Your insinuation is making you look very suspicious indeed.”
At this point, I had had enough. Not only was there no improvement in my cat’s dermatitis, there was no independent third party test certificates, there was no CBD content listed on the test certificates, and she had sent me the certificates for the wrong product. Furthermore, there was no BATCH NUMBER on the test certificates, just as there was no BATCH NUMBER and no expiry / BEST BEFORE date on the bottle I had purchased… And it was being insinuated that I had somehow removed the information on the bottles in an attempt to obtain a refund.
My final message to Elaine Archer was as follows:
“For someone who has nothing to hide you sure are defensive. Not even an apology…. Shame on you. Don’t worry, you will get your bottle back tomorrow, unwashed and in pristine condition. Your insinuation that I somehow would remove the the details on the bottle has motivated me to get it tested and that is what I am now going to do. I now no longer care about the money. I will expose you for the scamming fraud that you are. I simply cannot abide by people scamming sick people and animals… sorry, that is the lowest of low.”
Message to Elaine Archer: Maybe you should just admit that you are dealing with a dodgy company, as their product does not work, and they have failed to provide you with adequate information on the test certificates and on the product themselves. I am amazed that you would even send me a test certificate without the appropriate information on it, possibly because you had not done your due diligence in examining the paperwork for yourself. Based on this, I would also suggest that you are not competent enough to be selling alternative medicines, when you are clearly negligent in following through with your responsibility as a distributor of live saving medicine, which would include ensuring all the regulatory matters are in place, such as accurately labelled bottles and corresponding certificates. As CBD is used to treat terminal illnesses such as cancer, it is important that such sufferers have access to accurate information, so that they can make accurate decisions about the medicines that they are putting into their bodies. Playing Russian Roulette with people’s health is highly unethical.
I realised that Elaine Archer did not have a clue what she was doing, and thus, I began to correspond via email directly with PHARMA HEMP in order to fully investigate this matter to its fullest extent. I then sent all the email correspondence to Elaine Archer in full transparency, so that she could see the communications, and how I was exploring this matter with Pharma Hemp.
The full details of said correspondence can be viewed on my article entitled CBD Oil scammers strike again
Elaine Archer then sent me the following message via Facebook Messenger:
“Oi vermin, im bored of your bollocks now, so stick your naturopathic crap and all your retarded date shit as far up your ass as as you can before your pervert husband gets a stiffy and has to go whack off infront of the kids club, again..now fuck off… ?”
This was indeed a rather overwrought response. Clearly this woman was panicking.
And thus I responded:
“Oh wow… Elaine, That comment about my husband “wacking off” in front of a kids club… where the hell did that come from? Is that what you say to people who catch you out on a scam? That is seriously cruel and hateful. That is serious slander. The fact that you even send such a message containing such perverted lies, only indicates your intention to bully me into backing off. I will now be taking this to the police and charging you with slander, as you have now gone too far. Furthermore, I am not the one in question here. I purchased a product from you, which did not have the expiry date or batch number. The certificate you gave me was not from a third party, and did not have the percentage CBD that was advertised on the label. As a savvy and Conscious Consumer, I have the right to question these matters. So far I have not had a satisfactory response from yourself (the distributor) or your supplier (the manufacturer). My credibility in this matter is not in question. The fact that you try to accuse me of washing the expiry dates and batch number off the bottle is just ludacris, followed by crazy provably false allegations about my husband, only discredits you. Seems I am the one who gave you too much credit by trusting you and purchasing from you to begin with. Your behaviour and allegations towards me and my husband only makes you look guilty as hell.”
For those who may be wondering about my credentials in dealing with this matter, I am the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Conscious Consumer Network. Ethical trade and consumerism has been a focal point for me for over a decade. I am a practicing Herbalist and Naturopath, making many of my own natural remedies and alternative medicines. I also run an artesian probiotic food and beverage business called Algarvian Life. I write have written and published many academic books, made several documentary films, and I have lectured and presented my works at conferences all over the world.
PART TWO
After sending this blog post to my Portugal based supplier Romeu, I was contacted by the CEO and founder of REAKIRO, who wrote me the following message, sharing his journey.
Dear Mel,
The best part of my day is reading responses from our customers about how our product is helping improve the quality of life for themselves and their loved ones. We try and excel in making sure the quality that we produce is the highest possible and something that we would proudly give to our own family. At Reakiro, all our customers are considered family !
We wish to help change the world and it is reflected in our company name, Reakiro, which is born from the language of the world ‘Esperanto’ and means recovery.
I also invite you to join our LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media pages to keep informed of the CBD industry changes and new products being launched. I would also be interested to see how your company may be able to help Reakiro keep striving for the best consumer focused service and experience.
I very much hope our products continue to give you the results you and your cat are looking for, again, any help we can be, please never hesitate to reach out. Hopefully one day you will try out our Hemp houses 😉
My respect and best wishes,
Stuart McKenzie, CEO and founder Reakiro
Ps: below is a small article I wrote which I hope is of interest:
#thegreenCEO
Like everyone reading this blog, we have all lost loved ones due to illness and disease, I am no exception. I lost my mother over 10 years ago. She was only 64 years old, a non-smoker, and in perfect health throughout her life, but cancer took her away from us. My five siblings and I were devastated as any family would be.
Every day I still wonder and wish I could have done more to help her. At the time, I felt helpless, I needed more information. I did not know where to turn to find the best solutions, I only wish I knew then what I know now.
When I started Reakiro I was told mostly about CBD oils and the good and positive results it had on people. When we started to produce it ourselves we to received many many letters of thanks and praise from customers for how it was helping in numerous areas of their health and well-being . Reading these letters was – and still is – the most rewarding part of my job.
I can promise you this, the quality of our product is the highest we can possibly produce. This is a product that we would give with pride to our own mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. We consider your family our family, and we’ve made a product which can hopefully help families everywhere, naturally.
