Botana Cart is a portable kiosk that sells CBD products in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The small business recently opened a “Botana Mart” on Rosemary street which will prioritize the health and safety of its users. CBD and other products often act as an alternative for alcohol and other drugs.
The Fiancé of the owner and supporter of Botana Mart, AK, shares a concerning story to warn about the dangerous effects of alcohol. She saw a young girl incapacitated at night close to Franklin street.
AK: “She can’t even speak and she’s basically unconscious at this point. I put her on her side.”
AK: “I always keep a bag of medical supplies in my purse. It’s basically a pair of gloves, some Narcan, band aids, etc. But my gloves on, scoop some vomit out of her mouth, put her on her side, check to make sure she’s not doing on opioids, which she was it by her symptoms were not opioid related but does not mean that her drink was not spiked with something or that she was over drinking.”
AK loves Botana Mart because of its various alternatives like CBD gummies, Delta-8, Kava coffee, and more. She said she doesn’t feel pressured to drink in social settings anymore, instead she can get her alternative products from Botana Mart.
AK: “The culture around alcohol, especially in college towns, is in a lot of ways really unhealthy. Which is one of the best parts about places like Botana Cart, where you are given these alcohol free options. Especially when it comes to your health and safety especially as a young woman who maybe you haveN’T really been out to bars or you don’t know how to identify predatory behaviors or maybe your drinks are getting spiked during overserved and you don’t know how to identify that.”
Botana Mart takes its products seriously and informs buyers of exactly what’s in each option.
AK: “They print out basically these sheets of paper with every order that we get here for the items in the shop that tells us what’s in it, how much is in it and how it was basically processed. So you know what you’re getting.”
AK: “Everything that comes from a Botana cart is documented and researched. And we take a lot of care and picking out the companies and the products that we do.”
Founder and owner, Brandon Srinath, said a big reason why he started this new branch is because of the lack of safety in other CBD businesses in the area.
Srinath: “The reason that we started is because I saw so many products from different places. And I’m not just talking about here, just overall that comes to kava kratom that comes to mushroom tinctures that don’t come from a verified source.”
Srinath: “We are the ground team for botanicals, and we are out here to be involved with the people. And we just want people to be safe. There’s been a lot of crazy stuff happening on campus, they rarely report about it.”
He’s excited for new additions to the business that are set for the near future, like a rickshaw that will shuttle people around town. Srinath said he hopes this will cut back on drunk driving in the area.
Srinath 1: “We also just purchased a rickshaw, which has like two seats in the back and a bike in the front. So we’re going to be offering free rides from, you know, wherever to here, we’ll be offering at a very low cost, rides to the game and everything like that.”
Srinath: “The more we come together as a community, the safer and better and overall, and we can tailor our world to our needs.”
UNC student Caroline Caynor, loves alternative options to alcohol and plans to check out the new addition to Botana Cart.
Caroline Caynor: “I was looking for an alternative where I could still drink and hang out with my friends and have something to hold in my hands that isn’t like a soda. I discovered drinks that don’t have alcohol but have vitamins, minerals, CBD, ashwagondwa, and stuff like that.”
Botana Mart is currently working to update the website and plans to have a hard opening in January.
Caynor: “I think it’s really cool that Chapel Hill is opening up more alternatives to drinking. I think it’s such a new concept that there’s so much possibility within all the products so I think it’s fun to try out all the stuff.”
