G N I K T A L ABIS C A N N WI TH SC IE NC E
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High! Canada Magazine had the extreme pleasure of sitting down with Alex the Chemist also known as Alexzander Samuelsson. He works for NextLeaf Solutions as lead chemist out of Vancouver BC and we were lucky enough to catch him between meetings recently in Toronto.
Tell us Alexzander, you're a chemist, what led you down the path into the cannabis industry? After I graduated university I tried to get a job for about a year and a half. I sent over 400 applications with cover letters, resumes with no response. After, I went through a period of depression I was on SSRI's, anxiety medication and Aderall just to balance it all out. I was with my dad on his 50th birthday, and I decided to share a joint with him after not trying cannabis for many years. After I shared that joint with him , it literally opened up a new horizon. I felt like me again, I was giddy, I was happy; I was positive and curious again. All these things came rushing at me intensely. When you're on pharmaceutical drugs it can really dampen down your emotional state and your ability to think and experience reality. My dad had always been cannabis friendly and it was just a random act of sharing that I impulsively decided to try cannabis again after it had negative effects on me in the past. This was overwhelmingly positive and as a bored out-of-work chemist with the internet, I needed to know how does this work for me and what mechanism arises to give me this kind of relief?
Fast forward 5 years - you're considered one of Canada's top chemists when it comes to all things cannabis. You've built yourself a phenomenal social media following. You are a valued and a very respected member of the cannabis space. How did you go from sharing a joint with your dad and doing some research to who you are today? Thank so much for the kind words! I still have a hard time processing how fast we can grow in this space. I started researching online and reading the academic papers on what mechanism makes me feel this way. Then I learned about the endocannabinoid system and learned about the compounds that the cannabis plant produces, which hit these cannabinoid receptors that are in our brain and body. Then I learned about terpenes and all the other compounds in the cannabis plant. It sparked an intense interest in this world I was never privy to before. After reading for about 6 months I have a good friend named Steven Naraine, he's been a great mentor to me in the space. He basically showed me the ropes, he brought me to my first cannabis conference in the cannabis space, he brought me to a social networking event and eventually helped me figure out a way to become an independent consultant and get contracts. One of the best aspects of the industry is the ease at which we can be mentored and to pay it forward mentoring and helping others
Do you remember what your first contract was? Yes it was Agmedica. Helping them write their business plan, and technical documents for Health Canada application. It was a success and then I worked with Beleave on their Health Canada response letter where they needed SOP's and other technical documents written. I had also written the science chapter for Lift’s retail training course as well as other minor contracts along the way.
What other things have you been up to for the last while? There are some definite highlights; I have to give a shout out to Dessy Pavlova she has been an incredible supporter. She gave me my first speaking role at the Edmonton Cannabis and Hemp Expo in 2017. Then I received another opportunity to speak in Calgary as well as the Toronto Lift Expo. Since then I have spoken at over a dozen conferences, events, trade shows, and been fortunate enough to be featured on several podcasts. Stay tuned there’s a lot more fun science education I’m planning for the community in the coming months.
