Cannabidiol to be Offered at Growing Number of Pharmacies

Officials with Walgreens will soon offer certain products containing cannabidiol (CBD) in nearly 1,500 stores in select states, including Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, New Mexico and Tennessee.

In a statement on their website, Walgreens officials noted that the CBD-related items they are planning to carry include non-THC containing topical creams, patches, and sprays. 

"This product offering is in line with our efforts to provide a wider range of accessible health and wellbeing products and services to best meet the needs and preferences of our customers," officials wrote in the online statement. 

The Walgreens statement about CBD products came just a few days after CVS Pharmacy announced that they will begin selling hemp-derived CBD products in Alabama, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and Tennessee. The national drug store chain will be marketing the topical cannabidiol products, such as creams, sprays and roll-ons, as “an alternative source of relief,” CVS said in a statement to NBC News.

Jeff Lombardo, a PharmD, who has done research on medical research in this area, noted that pharmacists must do their

due diligence regarding these products

, "with a full understanding of what these compounds truly present in terms of both safety and efficacy."