Charlotte's Web

Developed c. 2011–2012 in Colorado Springs by the Stanley Brothers, a team of six siblings. Originally called "Hippie's Disappointment" for its lack of intoxicating effect (THC below 0.3%, CBD up to 17–30%; ratio approaching 30:1 CBD:THC), the strain was bred by crossing drug-cannabis genetics with industrial hemp to suppress THC and elevate CBD, drawing in part on "R4" high-CBD Midwestern hemp lines. It was renamed for Charlotte Figi, a Colorado Springs girl with Dravet syndrome whose seizures dropped from roughly 300 per week to two or three per month after beginning a CBD regimen derived from the strain in 2012. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiled her in the August 2013 documentary Weed, paired with his editorial "Why I changed my mind on weed." The story prompted tens of thousands of medical-refugee families to relocate to Colorado, catalyzed state-level CBD-only laws across the South and Midwest, and provided momentum for the 2018 FDA approval of Epidiolex and the 2018 Farm Bill's hemp legalization. Charlotte's Web is the single most consequential patient narrative in the U.S. CBD movement and a rare strain whose cultural significance derives entirely from therapeutic use.