Former NFL player-turned CBD entrepreneur Kyle Turley will not take no for an answer. Over the past week, Turley has repeatedly pushed his products while maintaining the belief that cannabis can protect users from COVID-19 and even destroy the virus. And despite clear, science-based rebukes from cannabis advocates, doctors, and even prohibitionists, Turley is still not ready to give up his unfounded and dangerous public claims. 

Turley has spent the last week pushing his CBD tincture brand on social media as an all-in-one preventative measure and cure for COVID-19. When questioned by reporters from Marijuana Moment about the basis for his bold claims, Turley said he had “lots of reasons to believe what I believe, and I will continue to proclaim God’s truth in this whole thing because He saved my life through this plant. Period.”

On Twitter, Turley has repeatedly posted misinformation about cannabis and coronavirus, and even went as far as to offer a month’s supply of free CBD tincture to anyone who could provide proof that they had tested positive for COVID-19 after using his products. 

The @US_FDA will one day acknowledge the power of cannabis and its ability to prevent & cure COVID19 and every other disease. #ECS 🌱🧠⚡️ pic.twitter.com/3vou16vkxc

— KT (@KyleTurley) April 1, 2020

Thanks Curt! Get it while you can folks!!!!! 🇺🇸 🌱🧠⚡️🇺🇸#covidkiller #ecs ⚛️ pic.twitter.com/dmAmOrKSOe

— KT (@KyleTurley) March 27, 2020

As the deadly COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, cannabis advocates have already spent significant effort dissuading marijuana users from treating the plant as a wonder-drug or cure-all. Representatives from NORML have already released a statement refuting rumors that cannabis, and particularly CBD, is a cure for coronavirus. Now, thanks to Turley’s irresponsible advertising, the organization has had to reiterate its warnings.

“The last thing the world needs in these difficult and often confusing times is someone with any level of celebrity using their public platform to sell their personal products on false promises and pseudoscience,” Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “Marijuana and its components do not cure the coronavirus, to say the opposite just to put a few more bucks in your pocket is grotesque. All Americans should be on alert for these modern day charlatans and snake oil salespeople.”

In Canada, one hopeful cannabis researcher has petitioned health officials to begin clinical trials into whether THC or CBD can help boost the immune system and curb COVID-19 symptoms. Those research initiatives have not yet been approved, and the scientists have not made any claims about marijuana as a potential cure for the virus.

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