Landis, the founder and CEO of CBD brand Floyd’s of Leadville, landed in the CBD world partly because of having both literally and figuratively crashed hard out of the pro cycling game. Landis was once flying high as a member of Lance Armstrong’s team and having won a Tour de France on his own accord. Both Armstrong’s and Landis’ titles were expunged in the well documented subsequent doping scandal. Landis’ decision to come clean about practices within the pro peloton at the time was a key part of that story.
In addition to his tense interactions with the doping authorities, Landis was dealing with the after effects of a high speed crash that had damaged his hip joint. That ultimately led to years of pain and a hip replacement at age 31.
Discovering a new direction
So, at a time when many younger adults are just entering into the first full blooming of their careers, Landis had to face the end of his. In addition to physical pain and the pain of disgrace, he was coping with a growing reliance on opioid medications.
“A few years ago I was working at a compounding pharmacy, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life,” Landis said. “This was around the time they had legalized marijuana in Colorado.”
Landis said he had used the substance in the past, but never at regularly because of the intense performance demands (and doping controls) of pro cycling. But later, in his new life as a ‘civilian,’ he thought it was worth a try.
“I started using it to try to get off the pain killers and to try to stop drinking so much,” Landis told NutraIngredients-USA.