SAN ANTONIO – When she decided she wanted to stop taking prescription pills for her anxiety, Alyssa Walker discovered a natural and legal alternative.

“Recently, this year, I began taking CBD personally and I have gotten off some of my medication for my anxiety,” said Alyssa Walker, co-founder of Cannabis + Coffee.

CBD is a part of the marijuana plant that provides medical benefits that can help with conditions such as depression, anxiety and Post-traumatic stress disorder, without any of the psychoactive qualities.

“You don’t have to be on pills that have so many side effects, there’s something natural that you can use to aid yourself in your anxiety and your depression," Walker said. 

Co-Founder Rick Martinez also discovered CBD as an alternative to prescription medicines, but as a veteran and a nurse, he is particularly motivated to help other vets suffering from PTSD.

“It’s time that we really push this agenda forward, it’s time that we do something that people have never considered before, if only for the reason that 2 veterans commit suicide every day," Martinez said.

Excited to share with their San Antonio community, Walker and Martinez founded Cannabis + Coffee to educate people on the benefits of CBD. On Tuesday, they held their inaugural meeting at Shotgun House Roasters.

“We want to start the conversation about cannabis, and CBD specifically since that is legal here in San Antonio. And we want to start squashing that stigma that is still here in a conservative state like Texas,” Walker said.

For the sold out event, Cannabis + Coffee partnered with Flora and Fortitude, which handed out samples of two of their products, CBD infused coffee and caramels. 

 “We have been indoctrinated, we have been trained, we have been told by powers that be, by parents, by people that have misunderstood, or even by the law, that this is evil, and that’s wrong," Martinez said.

The group is planning to make Cannabis + Coffee a monthly event.