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Backed by DEA licenses and FDA approval, cannabis enters a new age of meaningful study
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July JULY 2022 + Backed by DEA licenses and FDA approval, cannabis enters a new age of meaningful study RENAISSANCERESEARCH CTPharma'sgrownHydroponically-cannabisrootsreachfornutrientsatcultivationsiteinConnecticut. Courtesy Photo MJBizMagazine July 2022 Volume 9 • Issue 6Table of Contents 34 RENAISSANCERESEARCH Backed by DEA licenses and FDA cannabisapproval,entersanew age of meaningful study. DEPARTMENTS8 From the Editor 12 Five Questions With Jacopo Paolini 14 Hemp Notebook 16 Company News 20 DevelopmentsIndustry 52 Industry Players 56 Unboxed 57 Our Advertisers 58 Seed to CEO STORYCOVER
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine4 On Our Cover Dr. Stephen Dahmer, chief medical officer at Vireo Health, visits the company's medical marijuana dispensary in White Plains, New York.
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July 2022 | MJBizMagazine8 Most cannabis professionals know that, for decades, the University of Mississippi was the only institution authorized by the federal government to cultivate marijuana for U.S. research studies. The university’s School of Pharmacy continues to oversee its cannabis research program through a contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Given the NIDA’s inherently antidrug stance, it’s no surprise that most federally sanctioned studies using Ole Miss cannabis have revolved around substance abuse, underage use of marijuana and impaired driving. Slowly but Surely Since 2016, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began deciding which organizations could grow cannabis for research, the agency has made slow but significant progress. In the past three years, the DEA has awarded six registrations for bulk-marijuana manufacturing, allowing scientists more choice in the raw materials they use for research. And in 2021, the agency awarded its first cannabis research license. Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took the surprising step of appointing a state-licensed marijuana cultivator to grow and manufacture cannabis tablets for an FDA-approved university study.
FROM THE EDITOR Kate
These steps by the DEA, which still works daily to prosecute those in the illicit marijuana space, and the FDA—a notorious foe of CBD producers everywhere—have confounded some in the cannabis industry.Yet,according to several sources in our cover package, which starts on page 34, their relationships with agents from these departments are at least civil if not downright helpful. For decades, politicians have told us that they are our best hope for the federal legalization of marijuana. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear such cases, even as states rebuffed decades of prohibition and began licensing marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and retail while pocketing hefty profits. But with individual agencies taking the initiative to not only regulate cannabis production for research but, in some cases, also approve cannabis-based therapeutic studies, it appears real change might be coming, albeit slowly. Could it be that federal marijuana legalization is ringing and the call is coming from inside the house?
For the Science Crowd If cannabis science, research and pharmaceuticals are your jam, check out MJBiz Science, MJBizDaily’s newsletter for the scientific cannabis community.
Let’s hope these developments are auspicious signs of more promising days to come.
Kate Lavin is the editor of MJBizMagazine. Reach her at mjbizdaily.com.kate.lavin@
Government Partnerships
Chemist Susan Audino, an instructor for the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation, reviews the latest cannabis studies, newsworthy scientific developments and tech funding each month. Sign up for this and other MJBiz newsletters at consideration.attendcomVisitmoreScientificbyclinicalaboutedgesymposiumEmeraldadirectlyaemail-newsletter-signup.mjbizdaily.com/What’stheonlythingbetterthancannabissciencenewslettersenttoyourinbox?HowabouttriptoSanDiegoinFebruary?TheConferenceisatwo-dayfeaturingcutting-researchandinformationtesting,formulatingandtrials.SessionsarecuratedTheEmeraldConferenceCommittee,withdozensposterpresentations.theemeraldconference.fordetailsabouthowtoorsubmitanabstractfor Lavin The Future is Now
Federal agencies show some promising signs of marijuana acceptance
Could it be that federal andlegalizationmarijuanaisringingthecalliscomingfrominsidethehouse?
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The new cannabis variety, called Enectarol, isn’t the first certified hemp variety; the EU and Canada have long verified fiber and grain hempWhatvarieties.makesEnectarol
This spring, a Dutch and Italian seed-breeding company, Enecta, became the first to get a flower/ cannabinoid variety of cannabis accepted into the European Union’s catalog of common plant varieties, a milestone that will for the first time allow farmers to buy cannabis seeds bred to produce a cannabinoid profile guaranteed by government agriculture authorities.
We still believe that CBD will be the main player in the European market for the next five, six years. But to be ready for what will come next … we want to start to European Union adds cannabis seeds rich in CBG to catalog of government-approved farming supplies
Now, you can buy a variety legally and be sure that if you use the seeds and cultivate following some rules, the final result is 90% guaranteed, something (the illicit market) cannot really offer.
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine12 I magine buying cannabis seeds the way conventional farmers do—choosing varieties with guaranteed germination rates and profiles—with the bonus of the seeds being legal to sell in any state and internationally. It’s a tantalizing prospect and one that is getting closer to reality, thanks to legal hemp breeding.
To find out more about how Enecta developed a certified cannabinoid variety—and how long it will take to see other cannabinoidproducing plants win government approval—MJBizMagazine caught up with the company’s co-founder and chief science officer, Jacopo Paolini. What’s the big deal about getting a cannabinoid producer in the EU catalog of common plants?
For Enecta, the main business of the plant is to extract CBD and CBG. Before, the oil market in Europe was all based on varieties that were developed for fiber and for grain, not for extract.
What’s the next cannabinoid on your radar?
Now, a farmer can buy seeds in a legal way. So (they) can be sure about the result.
Stamp of Approval
Until we entered (the catalog) with this new variety, all the extracts came from a variety that may not have a good cannabinoid profile for the extract markets or not been tested for the extract market.
Last year, the European Commission approved the use of CBG in over-the-counter cosmetics, a ruling that puts Europe ahead of the United States and Canada.
When you buy seeds from the (illicit) market, you don’t know the level of THC. You don’t know exactly how the plant will perform.
Your company also has submitted a CBD variety for European certification.
FIVE QUESTIONS with Jacopo
By Kristen Nichols Paolini Jacopo Paolini
different is that it was bred to make a cannabinoid.Enectarolis a bushy cannabis variety that produces cannabigerol, or CBG, called the “mother cannabinoid” because it is the precursor for other cannabinoid production in cannabis plants, including THC and CBD. CBG on its own is getting attention for possible antiinflammatory properties, and early in-vitro research shows it could inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors.
Being in the catalog, we can give our clients the best quality not only on the level of cannabinoids but also on the terpene profile.
Are you seeking certification from the U.S. version of the EU catalog, called the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA)? Definitely. I think it will take maybe another year.
How is the war in Ukraine affecting European cannabis companies? For the cannabis market, the problems are the raw materials, because materials like fertilizer, like plastic, everything now costs more thanThisdouble.isaproblem for the farmers. Farmers are suffering a lot because of the cost of gasoline, the cost of electricity, the cost of fertilizing. It’s strangling all the farmers here in Italy and in every other country in Europe. This interview was edited for length and Kristenclarity.Nichols covers hemp for MJBizMagazine. You can reach her at kristen.nichols@mjbizdaily.com.
study CBG more. Because in CBG, you can find the full chain ofOnecannabinoids.wearelooking at is CBDV. We have some studies that (show) it works quite well against epilepsy. We need to stabilize the variety. We also want to try to have CBN. It’s quite good for sleeping. I think next year, we can start to try the first outdoor trial (of CBN).
FIVE QUESTIONS Model S4 Liteongrow model S4 (640W&800W): Patented plug&play design and proven Full Spectrum Full Spectrum+730nm IR （spectrum upgradable）（spectrum customizable） 2.8μmol/J System Efficacy 2240μmol/S Total Output Website : www.lightontechnology.com Tel: +86-15361046395/ +86-18825548083E-mail: wph@lightontechnology.com “In CBG, you can find the full chain of cannabinoids.” – Jacopo Paolini, Enecta
And if the results are good, we will start the process of registration. What are current market conditions for selling cannabis genetics in Europe? Where are you selling Enectarol? It’s quite a mess. You can find really good variety, but they are totally from the (illicit) market. Maybe they sell you a variety with high CBD, but it has the label of a fiber variety. And it’s a problem for the farmers, because the farmers buy the seeds but really don’t know what is Maybeinside.it’s7% CBD or maybe not. You have no guarantee of the result. Our main markets today are Spain, Greece, Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy.
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine14 I ’ll never forget talking with a veterinarian a couple of years back about CBD. She summed up the entire medical profession’s problematic approach to cannabis by confessing to having little idea what CBD does to animals.
The cannabis industry and medical profession alike would benefit when people stop relying on Dr. Google. We just have to work together to get there.
Instead, let’s see the medical establishment help solve this problem of cannabis misinformation by bringing it up before their patients do, a signal that cannabis is OK to talk about.
The conclusion of this psychiatry piece was something everyone can agree on: We need more research into cannabis treatments such asButCBD.it’s a frustrating chicken-oregg conundrum for entrepreneurs in the cannabinoid industry at any THCWe’relevel.told that science doesn’t know if cannabinoids are safe or effective. That we need more evidence. At the same time, we’re told to ignore reams of anecdotal evidence that cannabis can relieve mental illness such as anxiety and depression.TheU.S.Food and Drug Administration consistently warns CBD companies against making health claims—even when peerreviewed studies corroborate theirConsequently,findings. CBD manufacturers and retailers are forced to be vague about what their products do. And the result is no surprise: The public is generally as clueless about CBD as the medical providers we look to forIt’sguidance.nowonder consumers are consulting Dr. Google to find out which CBD products to take and how much.
CHICKEN OR EGG?
The researchers reported an alarming number of Google results for “CBD depression treatment” and launched into the usual handwringing about people not going to the experts (them) before taking cannabinoid products. “Self-care for mental health has its limits, and that is when patients turn to supplements and products purchased online without the knowledge of their doctor,” the authors wrote, before adding: “This is potentially dangerous.”
Instead, clinicians can help the cannabis industry make sure products are as safe and clean as possible.It’sOK to be honest when we don’t know enough about cannabis treatments. But there’s no use acting like the annoyed veterinarian or the exasperated psychiatrists who send patients running to Dr. Google.
HEMP NOTEBOOK Kristen Nichols
• Less than half told their psychiatrists they were using CBD to help with mental health.
Why medical misinformation about cannabis hurts the industry
In this issue of MJBizMagazine looking at the latest research on cannabis, we can’t forget that this plant has been demonized for so long that it will be decades before there is adequate research on the ways it can be used. What the cannabis industry needs now is for the medical establishment to get real: Stop telling people not to use cannabis until we have better research. That approach never worked, and it’s never going to work.
The Doctor Won’t See You Now
The study described CBD use as a “new phenomenon of concern” for psychiatrists, warning that among people who use CBD to self-treat anxiety and depression: • Only 19% asked their doctors or pharmacists about CBD.
The industry would love more guidance, too. I can’t think of a CBD professional who wouldn’t be glad to sit down with a health practitioner for advice on making quality products.
Then, in the very next breath, she complained about pet owners asking Google instead of their veterinarians about CBD. That conversation came to mind recently, when I saw a head-slapping study published in the medical journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Kristen Nichols covers hemp for MJBizMagazine. She can be reached at nichols@mjbizdaily.com.kristen.
NO USE WAITING
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine16 at closing. The company said it will make a subsequent payment of store when it opens, paying six times the location’s annualized Properties (IIP) announced $45 million worth of funding to
Aurora Plans Closures, Sells Greenhouse at Loss Aurora Cannabis is closing its flagship Aurora Sky facility in Edmonton, Alberta, as well as shuttering an outdoor farm in British Columbia and the company’s prized Anandia testing and genetics division.
Aurora said the moves are part of a plan to save the company $115 million-$130 million in annualized costs by the first half of its next fiscal year.
NewLake Capital Inks $30 Million Credit Facility Marijuana industry real estate investment trust NewLake Capital Partners of New Canaan, Connecticut, announced it secured a five-year revolving credit facility worth $30 million, with the possibility of expansion to $100 million “as additional lenders are added.”
COMPANY
Have a company announcement you want us to consider? Send a news release or general information to announcements.)developments,deals,about(Note:magazine@mjbizdaily.com.We’relookingfornewsexpansions,financing,partnershipsandsimilarnotproduct-related
Among the conditions to close the deal is Item 9 Labs receiving financing.Sessions has 43 stores in Ontario—the largest cannabis market in Canada—with annual sales exceeding CA$70 million from 18 franchisees, the companies said in a news release.
CannTrust Changes Name to Phoena Canadian cannabis producer CannTrust Equity changed its name to Phoena Holdings
The Edmonton, Alberta-based producer also acknowledged the pending sale of its Sun facility in Medicine Hat, Alberta, for $36 million (CA$47 million), less than onefifth of the amount the company spent on the greenhouse.
The additional capital will allow the company to continue to invest in the cannabis industry, Anthony Coniglio, NewLake Cap ital Partners ’ president and chief investment officer, said in a news release.
Canopy Inks Option to Buy Jetty Extracts
The name change comes as the Vaughn, Ontario-based company exited court-supervised proceedings under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), after a key subsidiary completed a financing worth $13.3 million. Phoena will continue to operate in recreational and medical marijuana channels, with no changes expected to current operations, the company said in a news release.
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine18
Item 9 Labs Strikes Deal for Sessions Cannabis Arizona-based Item 9 Labs Corp. signed an agreement to acquire Wild Card Cannabis, which includes Sessions Cannabis, one of the largest marijuana franchise companies in Canada. The total purchase price is $12.8 million in cash plus potential earnout payments, according to a regulatory filing. Two earnout payments, the first due 12 months after the closing date and the second after 24 months, could add a total of $8.2 million in stock to the deal.
NEWS U.S., Canada & International CANADIAN DEVELOPMENTS privately held multistate cannabis operator PharmaCann to expand its facility in Hamptonburgh, New York. IIP closed a sale-leaseback deal on the PharmaCann cultivation and processing facility in 2016, acquiring the property for $30 million. IIP has since committed another $33.5Undermillion.theamended lease, IIP will provide $45 million “for the development of a new industrial building for cultivation and significant enhancements in production capacity as well as upgrades at the existing facility.
Smiths Falls, Ontario-based Canopy Growth Corp. entered a deal giving it the right to buy Californiaheadquartered Jetty Extracts for at least $69 million in cash and stock. The transaction is contingent on federal legalization of marijuana in the United States. Canopy said it will have no economic or voting interests in Jetty until it elects to exercise the rights to acquire the cannabis extracts business.Canopy previously entered two similar deals that give the company the right to acquire multistate operator Acreage Holdings and edibles maker Wana Brands when U.S. marijuana prohibition ends. Separately, Canopy Growth slashed 245 jobs, or approximately 8% of its workforce, in April as part of sweeping changes designed to curb recent losses. In a news release, Canopy said it expects the adjustments to generate up to $117 million in savings in 12 to 18 months.
FDA Issues First Warning Letters on Delta-8 THC U.S. health authorities issued their first warning letters about delta-8 THC this spring, saying the hempderived isomer “has psychoactive and intoxicating effects and may be dangerous to consumers.”
Ontario’s retail cannabis sector is reeling after it was revealed that the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), the province’s legal wholesaler of adult-use marijuana, lost track of a significant amount of data for at least one month.
The five manufacturers to get delta-8 warnings were ATLRx, BioMD Plus, Delta 8 Hemp, Kingdom Harvest and M Six Labs. One of the companies was accused of telling consumers on its website that delta-8 THC is “effective at killing cancer cells.” Another manufacturer allegedly claimed that delta-8 THC “improves cognitiveCompaniesfunction.”thatreceive warning letters have 15 working days to stop selling the products or remove any illegal marketing claims. Companies that don’t comply could face product seizures or even criminalSeparately,charges.afederal appeals court ruled that delta-8 THC derived from hemp is “lawful” and eligible for trademark protection.
The warning letters address mis leading marketing claims and come eight months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a vague consumer update expressing concern about the health effects of delta-8 THC products. Despite that initial warning, delta-8 THC products seem to have only become more popular.
It is not known when the OCS became aware of the data breach.
The Ontario Provincial Police con firmed that the agency is investi gating a major data breach affecting 1,200-plus regulated cannabis stores in the Canadian province.
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine20 INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS National & International
The FDA noted that it is seeing “a proliferation” of delta-8 THC in candies, cookies, drinks, concentrates and vape cartridges as well as sprayed onto smokable hemp.
U.S. News
“I can confirm that the Ontario Provincial Police is conducting an investigation,” a spokesperson told MJBizDaily. “If our investigation does determine that charges are warranted, they will be laid.”
Police Confirm Probe into Ontario Cannabis Data Breach
Former U.S. House Speaker Sued by Lobbying Group John Boehner, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, allegedly breached a contract with a prospective marijuana lobbying group to form the National Cannabis Roundtable, according to a lawsuit filed in Washington DC. The suit alleges that Boehner signed an agreement in March 2018 to become co-chair of a marijuanalegalization group called The 10ButCampaign.instead, Boehner allegedly used “proprietary strategies” developed by The 10 Campaign to form the National Cannabis Roundtable, a marijuana lobbying group, in early 2019. According to the suit, shortly after signing the agreement with The 10 Campaign, Boehner joined the advisory board of New York-based multistate marijuana operator Acreage Holdings.
“The FDA is very concerned about the growing popularity of delta-8 THC products being sold online and in stores nationwide,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, principal deputy commissioner of the FDA, said in a May 4 statement announcing the warning letters.
The lawsuit claims that Boehner misled the plaintiffs to believe that he was advancing the interests of The 10 Campaign when talking with potential funders and clients.
In its email to retailers, the OCS said it took immediate steps to address the situation, including restricting access to internal data reports, commencing an investigation to identify the source of the leak and notifying the Ontario Provincial Police.
The leaked data is said to include the sales of every cannabis store in the province for December 2021 as well as store names, license numbers, kilograms sold that month, kilograms sold per day, total units sold, total inventory at the beginning of the month plus each store’s sell-through rate, among otherRetailersdata. have expressed concern that the leaked information might increase security risks because the public could calculate how much inventory stores carry day-to-day.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with delta-8 vape maker AK Futures, giving it another opportunity to block other companies selling counterfeit versions of its “Cake” vapes.
State News OR NV CA California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to eliminate a tax on marijuana cultivation—but not without raising taxes elsewhere in the state’s struggling cannabis industry.
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine22 INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
WA
In a proposal to the Legislature for a state budget that would start in July, Newsom recommended ending the tax of $161 per pound of flower. To compensate for the lost revenue, the state would raise the retail excise tax on marijuana purchases after three years, from 15% to 19%.
California marijuana companies have argued for years that heavy state tax and regulatory burdens are killing small businesses and further empowering the illicit market. Industry members have called for a reduction in the excise tax along with the elimination of the cultivation tax.
Not only do California cannabis companies pay a steep tariff at the state level, but they also face taxes from local municipalities.
The governor’s prospective budget also calls for the state to offer roughly $20 million in grants to encourage municipalities to improve their retail licensing programs.
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Also, state legislators removed a rule that limited the number of marijuana micro-grows and retail operations in a municipality. Municipalities that don’t allow marijuana businesses won’t be affected by the change.
FLOWERFLOWERFLOWER
Colorado Numbers from the state revenue department show recreational and medical marijuana sales continuing a downward trend.
INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS State by State
In March 2022, for the 10th consecutive month, Colorado posted lower sales year-over-year. State marijuana stores and dispensaries sold $162.5 million worth of cannabis in March, a 22% decrease from the same month in 2021. Also, the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) said it’s unsafe to consume cannabis produced before Feb. 25, 2022, by Boulder-based Fresh Baked. Regulators “identified harvest batches of retail marijuana flower (bud/shake/trim) that were not properly tested dating back to July 14, 2021,” the MED said, adding that products have been found to contain levels of microbial contaminants above state limits. Connecticut State marijuana regulators were inundated with more than 15,600 applications for retail recreational marijuana stores before the May 4 deadline.
The state Department of Consumer Protection, which regulates marijuana in Connecticut, reported that 8,357 applications were submitted for the first six social equity licenses, and 7,245 applications were submitted to the general lottery for recreational marijuana stores. The state also received 1,896 applications for micro-cultivator licenses, which cap the grow space at 2,000-10,000 square feet.
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Florida Miami, the state’s second-largest city with a population of more than 450,000, will finally allow its first medical cannabis dispensary. The City Commission voted 3-2 to allow medical marijuana dispensary MRC44 to open, paving the way for other businesses to apply. City leaders had contended for years that dispensaries were illegal, even though Florida legalized medical marijuana in 2016. The allowance of dispensaries in Miami could be a boon, considering the number of tourists who visit the city each year. To prepare for other cannabis companies now applying for business licenses, the city is expected to review its zoning code and discuss where MMJ businesses are allowed to set up shop.
ENTRANCE/EMPLOYEELOCKERSSHIPPING/RECEIVING
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Illinois A state judge on May 27 lifted a court order from August 2021 that stood in the way of 185 new business licenses being issued for recreational cannabis stores. The order had been put in place in response to a lawsuit that challenged the lottery process for those licenses. It also represented an obstacle to some social equity retail applicants seeking to open theirSeparately,businesses.Illinois marijuana regulators awarded 48 additional craft grow licenses in a step to diversify the industry. All the permits went to social equity applicants, half of them majority Black- or Hispanic-owned businesses. Three cannabis growers also were issued permits to begin construction on their facilities.
State by State
Louisiana State legislators passed a bill to expand the number of allowable medical marijuana dispensaries, or so-called pharmacies, from nine to 30, with the option to do so resting with the existing MMJ operators. The introduction of smokable flower this year fueled sales, the number of patients and thus the need for expansion, industry stakeholders said.
The bill also codifies the existing definition of “medical cannabis” established by the state’s Medical Cannabis Commission.
A new MMJ operator could apply to enter the market only if an existing dispensary declined to open a second satellite location.
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine26 INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Under House Bill 697, the state’s existing medical cannabis operators could open an additional dispensary in the same geographic region after reaching 3,500 active patients and a second satellite location once the next 3,500 patient milestone is reached.
Louisiana currently has nine existing MMJ retail operators. The measure calls for the state Pharmacy Board to issue a 10th medical cannabis license in the New Orleans area.
Maryland
A bill banning the sale of delta-8 THC and delta-10 THC to people younger than 21 goes into effect July 1. A person who violates the prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $300 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second violation within two years and $3,000 for each subsequent violation within two years of another violation.
Also, Deputy Treasurer Sarah Kim will take the reins of the Cannabis Control Commission while Treasurer Deb Goldberg interviews candidates to take over for the former chair, Steven Hoffman, who resigned in April. Kim leads the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission and, as general counsel to the Treasury, was part of the effort to implement the 2016 law that legalized marijuana in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Lawmakers in the Massachusetts House of Representatives joined their state Senate counterparts in approving legislation to promote greater diversity in the state’s licensed cannabis industry. The bill would direct 20% of the money in the Marijuana Regulation Fund—which gathers the revenue generated by the state’s cannabis application and licensing fees, excise tax and industry penalties—into a social equity fund. The fund would help applicants get access to capital via grants and loans, including some that have no interest or are forgivable.
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Michigan launched recreational marijuana sales in December 2019, but the Detroit City Council didn’t approve its final recreational marijuana ordinance until April. The process was delayed after a federal court ruled that the municipality’s initial law was “likely unconstitutional” because it favored localSeparately,residents.House of Dank and Jars Cannabis, both of which run medical marijuana companies in Detroit, filed suit against the city over its proposed adult-use licensing ordinance.
Jars Cannabis claims the adult-use law approved in April would be the “kiss of death” for its business because the ordinance requires that existing MMJ dispensaries wait until 2027 to apply for recreational marijuana permits.
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Michigan More than two years after the process started, Detroit issued its first recreational marijuana business license. Doghouse Farms, a grow operation on Detroit’s east side, received the license and soon will be selling marijuana on the recreational market. The business invested roughly $4 million in a 25,000-square-foot cultivation facility to grow marijuana for the adult-use market.
In a reversal of policy, CBD-infused food and drinks will be legal starting Aug. 1.
A campaign working to legalize adult-use marijuana in Missouri has submitted almost 400,000 voter signatures to the state in support of a November ballot measure. The campaign, Legal Missouri 2022, submitted at least 385,000 signatures—far more than the 170,000 signatures required to qualify for the November ballot. If confirmed by the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office, the ballot question would allow residents to vote on whether to legalize recreational marijuana and create a tax and regulatory framework for the industry. Separately, a Missouri appeals judge upheld medical marijuana licensing caps. Paul Callicoat and his family had sued the state after being denied a license to grow medical marijuana on their 70-acre farm. They had argued that the cultivation license cap violated their right to farm.
INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Minnesota Adults older than 21 will be able to buy intoxicating hemp-derived THC products in Minnesota grocery and convenience stores under a bill lawmakers approved. The measure would limit hemp-derived intoxicants to 5 milligrams of THC per serving, with a maximum of 50 milligrams of THC per package. Products must be tested for fertilizers, heavy metals, pesticides and solvents.
Missouri
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• Do not allow anyone younger than 21 to enter a cannabis store. Allow people 18 or older to work for a marijuana business.
New Jersey In the first month of recreational cannabis sales, New Jersey retailers sold $24 million worth of adult-use products. The 13 state-licensed retailers averaged about $5 million per week and conducted 212,000 transactions after rec sales began April 21.
New Jersey was the first East Coast recreational market to open in 18 months, following Maine in OctoberMeanwhile,2020. state regulators voted to grant conditional licenses to nearly a dozen adult-use marijuana retailers and approved licenses for 21 new growers and 13 manufacturers.
Montana Billings, the largest town in Montana by population, lowered the age limit for people to work in marijuana businesses from 21 to 18. The move was in response to a lawsuit that medical marijuana dispensary Montana Advanced Caregivers filed against the city because it has three employees who are older than 18 but not yet 21.
The Billings City Council changed the age requirement to reflect Montana’s marijuana laws, which:
INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS State by State 800.838.7446 І www.ushio.com/hiluxgro
The adult-use cannabis market got off to a relatively smooth start, despite long lines reflecting pent-up demand from local residents as well as neighboring New York and Pennsylvania.
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The state Cannabis Control Board signed off on 16 conditional adult-use marijuana cultivation licenses along with a slew of proposed industry rules. The new grow permits bring the total number of licensed cultivators to 162, following 58 new farming licenses issued in May. New York is the first regulated cannabis market to allow licensed hemp growers to get first crack at growing recreational marijuana. Conditional license holders can grow adult-use marijuana outdoors or in a greenhouse with up to 20 artificial lights. Ohio
The state’s pharmacy board approved 70 provisional dispensary licenses, which could more than double the 58 dispensaries previously licensed. After obtaining that certificate, each provisional licensee has 270 days—or until February 2023—to become operational. The pharmacy board is reviewing three more companies for potential provisionalAdditionally,licenses.aninitiative to legalize adult-use marijuana in Ohio won’t be on the state’s November ballot. Instead, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol struck a settlement with Republican lawmakers that paves the way for the issue to get on the 2023 ballot or to be passed by the Legislature next year.
New York
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine32 Note: Entries sourced from MJBizDaily, Hemp Industry Daily and other international, national and local news outlets. These developments occurred before this magazine’s publication deadline, so some situations might have changed.
• Valley Organics (Jeffersonville). Virginia Last-minute political sparring over marijuana crimes appears to have prevented new limits on the cannabis industry in Virginia. State lawmakers used a legislative maneuver to reject a wide-ranging cannabis bill they’d earlier sent to Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Seven additional cannabis grow licenses were approved as the state increases suppliers for a recreational marijuana market that’s expected to launch in October.
Regulators said they discovered the alleged violations during inspections and after reviewing the lab’s records.
Oklahoma The Oklahoma Health Department issued an emergency order to temporarily suspend the MMJ testing lab license of Shiv Krupa, doing business as Scale Laboratories, after the state’s Medical Marijuana Authority issued a recall of 99 products allegedly contaminated with mold, yeast, aspergillus, salmonella and E. coli.
Although Amendment A legalized recreational marijuana in November 2020, that measure was struck down as unconstitutional by a state-backed lawsuit. Separately, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is building two new cultivation facilities to support its medical marijuana dispensary, Native Nations Cannabis, citing high demand. The first of the new facili ties is planned to open this summer.
Under Vermont law, priority is given to economic-empowerment and social equity applicants. The new licenses went to:
• DP Holdings/VT Cannabis Organics (Danville).
The bill also limited smokable-hemp sales to people older than 21 and the types of hemp edibles that could be sold.
State
• Arcadia Cannabis Co. (Essex).
• Epona Farms (Salisbury). • Family Tree (Sheldon).
• Snowbird Botanicals (Barnet).
South Dakota A group advocating to legalize adult-use cannabis, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, turned in roughly 25,000 signatures to the secretary of state’s office, which could be enough to put the issue on the November ballot.
DEVELOPMENTS State
The measure would have banned delta-8 THC products by removing any mention of “delta-9,” a change that would have prevented hemp operators from selling intoxicating THC isomers such as delta-8 THC outside marijuana sales channels.
INDUSTRY by
Vermont
• Great Brook Homestead (Middlesex).
34 Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine
meaningful RENAISSANCERESEARCHstudy
mjbizdaily.com | July 2022 35
Backed by DEA licenses and FDA approval, cannabis enters a new age of
Photo by Matt Staver
DEA EXPANDS LICENSES
But federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration—while not exactly smoking blunts with NORML on the frontlines of legalization—are not the anti-marijuana zealots they were only a decade ago.
The overwhelming majority of cannabis studies undertaken by universities, pharmaceutical companies and other entities—and frequently funded by the cannaskeptical National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institutes of Health—have focused on addiction and impairment, impact on teens and other potentially negative consequences of cannabis.
GROWING PARTNERSHIPS
HEADWAY
By Omar Sacirbey
Research Renaissance
“The DEA has actually been very good to work with. They’re slow, I’ll say that. But for the most part, they’re very responsive,” MedPharm CEO Albert Gutierrez told MJBizDaily earlier this“Theyear.DEA has been an extremely collaborative supporter … ever since I started working with them 15 years ago,” said Dr. Sue Sisley, executive director of the Scottsdale Research Institute, one of the six entities to receive federal cannabis cultivation approval. “We have had an excellent rapport with the DEA.”
Cannabis companies find increasing levels of acceptance—and federal licensure—for therapeutic research involving marijuana
The DEA, for example, has in the past year increased the number of entities licensed to cultivate cannabis for federally approved research from one to six. The agency also has awarded cannabis research licenses, including some for companies with state-issued marijuana business licenses, such as Colorado-based MedPharm Holdings.
There has been a modest increase in federal funding opportunities for cannabis research, and at least one state-licensed marijuana company, CT Pharma in Connecticut, has federal approval to provide cannabis for a study in partnership with Yale University. Such research funding likely will increase, thanks to a provision in the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill passed last year allowing researchers to use cannabis from state-licensed businesses. Additionally, many federally approved cannabis growers and researchers say the DEA and FDA have been supportive partners.
MAKING
At the same time, U.S. medical, scientific and pharmaceutical circles have been slow to accept the therapeutic benefits of cannabis—though that, too, is changing.Indeed,a few universities are studying cannabis’ potential therapeutic effects, such as one study into pain management coordinated by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York in partnership with Minnesota-based multistate operator Vireo Health, a subsidiary of Goodness Growth“ThereHoldings.hasbeen a marked change in terms of buy-in from physicians and providers,” said Dr. Stephen Dahmer, chief medical officer at Vireo. “I’ve seen a tremendous shift in bias.” Despite this progress, marijuana’s status as a Schedule 1 drug still makes it very difficult to get research approval. Many research institutions find the amount of time, effort and money needed to get federal approval to study cannabis remains too much squeeze for the juice in return. Other cannabis executives eschew the federal framework by surveying their own consumer database for information about product efficacy, as California-based infused products
Albert Gutierrez is the CEO of MedPharm.
Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine36 L ong restricted by the federal government and stigmatized by the medical and scientific communities, cannabis has been involved in only a handful of studies carried out in the United States over the past several decades.
While research into the harms of cannabis still make up the bulk of studies on the plant, there are an increasing number of studies into marijuana’s impact on specific ailments, such as pain management, opiate replacement, brain inflammation and sleep problems, among others. This is critical at a time when the cannabis industry is maturing to a point where consumers who once were content to jump from product to product will increasingly select items that provide consistent relief, Dahmer said. “There is a very marked amount of attrition for new patients that come into any market,” Dahmer said. “One way to combat attrition is to find a therapy that truly works for patients.”
• Funding for cannabis research from the federal government and universities is still modest, but grants and other sponsorship opportunities are increasing.
After decades of restrictions, cannabis is entering a new era of expanded research in the United States. Universities and other scientific institutions are undertaking serious studies into the therapeutic benefits of the plant. This likely will benefit the industry and create opportunities for individual businesses, but note:
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• There are various ways to pursue cannabis research—from federally approved studies that are costly and time-consuming to surveys about product efficacy that are relatively inexpensive and quick.
• Some cannabis businesses have received U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration licenses for cannabis research; some are involved in research partnerships with universities and other entities. Businesses can find university partners for marijuana studies by networking at medical conferences and identifying interested parties through the growing amount of cannabis research literature.
DEDICATED CONSUMERS
• While there has been an increase in studies that look at cannabis’ therapeutic benefits, most federally funded marijuana studies focus on negative issues such as addiction and impairment.
maker Papa & Barkley has done with its so-called in-home-use tests.
• Cannabis businesses interested in pursuing studies should maintain a database of consumers, which provides an easy-to-access pool of potential subjects for studies.
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Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine38
CANNABIS STUDIES
Vireo Health team members Alecia Daley and Stephen Dahmer discuss the companyʼs cannabis research projects.
Photo by Susan Magnano Research Renaissance
Vireo partners with medical school to conduct pioneering research at a low cost
• Getting “buy-in” from the medical profession.
T he goal of a cannabis research study doesn’t always have to be the creation of a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.“Iwouldargue that even though we’re not cranking out a drug on the other end, the arguments for doing something like this are multifold,” said Dr. Stephen Dahmer, chief medical officer at Vireo Health, a Minnesota-based multistate operator that, over the past several years, has partnered with universities on several studies exploring the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. Dahmer said arguments for carrying out research studies include:
By Omar Sacirbey
“We certainly looked at an FDA path. An FDA path is an incredibly high bar. And in the early days, those companies (that we would have partnered with)
• Building consumer trust in a brand.
• Understanding how patients respond to cannabis treatments.
Vireo—whose parent company, Goodness Growth Holdings, agreed to be acquired by Verano Holdings—considered undertaking an FDA-approved study. But the process was too expensive, and finding a pharmaceutical company willing to partner with a marijuana business proved too difficult at the time.
Researchers began enrolling subjects in the 18-month study in August 2017, and the last subjects started in December 2021, meaning some patients are still in mid-study. Researchers have started to analyze data and found that some patients need to consume cannabis daily for pain relief, while others’ consumption is less frequent, with factors including individual thresholds for pain.
Photo by Susan Magnano
STUDY ONE Dahmer, who spends much of his time networking with other physicians, met Dr. Chinazo Cunningham at a neurological conference. The conversation with Cunningham, a clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and commissioner of the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports, led to an observational clinical trial. The study included patients enrolled in New York’s medical marijuana program who had chronic pain and also took opioids. The 250 patients in the study were instructed to consume cannabis products as they typically would and then answer questions such as:
• How does cannabis impact your opioid use?
STUDY TWO After successfully undertaking the first study, Vireo felt confident enough to pursue the “gold standard” of studies, a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.
mjbizdaily.com | July 2022 39 wouldn’t even speak to us. And it’s a multimillion-dollar—some argue billion-dollar—path to try,” Dahmer said.
Vireo is now waiting to see which of the products it is testing offers the best results and which has the best chance of making it through the FDA process, DahmerDahmersaid.noted that when companies file an IND for a pharmaceutical product, it’s usually for a “single constituent.”“Ifyoufile and receive an IND, you’re moving through that FDA process,” Dahmer said. “So you’d better be very certain that the product you choose to push down that pipeline is one that you hope will have success.”
“The patients, providers and the pharmacists are all blinded, so they don’t know what they’re getting,” Dahmer explained.
• What cannabis products are you using?
“That speaks again to the complexity not only of human beings—each one of us are very different—but how pain or chronic pain is a very subjective experience. Not only is it different for each and every one of us, but it can fluctuate markedly even throughout the day or throughout a week,” Dahmer said.
The doctor noted the research team has submitted a pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) application—an early step that companies must take if they intend to conduct FDA-approved studies that could lead to FDAapproved drugs.
While the first study was purely observational, researchers and Vireo officials haven’t ruled out the prospect of a cannabis-based drug with FDA approval.“We’realready testing the waters, looking at three of our different products versus placebo, backing that up with longitudinal data to try to determine: Of the many SKUs and products that we offer in the market, is there one that does better and that supports patients more in their diagnosis of chronic pain and … decreasing opioid use?” Dahmer said.
• How does cannabis impact your Thesepain?so-called “patient-reported outcomes” provide valuable insights for Vireo at a relatively low cost, because they are carried out by academic institutions that receive government and private funding. This study, for example, was funded by a $3.8 million National Institutes of Health grant in Cunningham’s name. In return, Vireo provided the products to subjects at a substantial discount, Dahmer said.
Vireo Health sells several medical marijuana brands at its dispensary in White Plains, New York.
The second study involves New York medical marijuana patients with chronic pain who were given softgels in four formulations—a placebo plus three combinations of THC and CBD. Study administrators aim to enroll 250 patients; through late May, they had enrolled about 80. Patients are enrolled for 14 weeks in the study, which is being funded by a private grant. “The beauty of a randomized control trial is that the time period is much shorter,” Dahmer said.
Photo by Matt Staver Research Renaissance
Operating in state-licensed medical and adult-use marijuana markets help finance cannabis research at Denverbased MedPharm.
Currently, only six entities are registered with the DEA as “Bulk Manufacturer Marihuana Growers.”
DEA REGISTRATIONSRESEARCH
By Omar Sacirbey
One company with a DEA registration to conduct cannabis research is MedPharm Holdings, a Denver-based company with recreational marijuana operations in Colorado and Michigan as well as medical cannabis operations in Iowa.
WHAT’S BEING STUDIED AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT MedPharm’s operations in the state-regulated market—cannabis cultivation and manufacturing vape cartridges, concentrates, topicals and infused ingestibles such as pills and tinctures—help finance its research activities, which are GATEKEEPER’
‘ ULTIMATE
The permit allows license holders to cultivate and distribute cannabis flower or extract, per strict DEA quotas, to DEA-licensed researchers working on studies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (See “Can DEA-backed cannabis growers strike gold via drug development?” at mjbizdaily.com for details.)
Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine40 In the ever-evolving world of cannabis research, the most groundbreaking companies might be those with licenses issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Depending on the license class, these companies can legally grow, manufacture, import, export, analyze and conduct research with cannabis.
As a state-licensed marijuana business with a DEA research license, MedPharm is still a rare breed, but company executives expect the DEA will eventually grant licenses to other cannabis firms.
Some registrantsbulk-manufacturingalsohavetheother DEA registrations, including those for research, with hopes of developing cannabis-based drugs that someday will be approved by the FDA.
“The ultimate gatekeeper is the DEA license,” said Duncan Mackie, MedPharm’s director of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics. “Big pharmaceutical companies like Thermo Fisher won’t even talk to you or sell you a refrigerator until you get a DEA license.”
DEA licenses open new doors for the cannabis industry to participate in therapeutic research
“The landscape is changing. Our DEA agent is actually super-helpful. He gives us great insight, great input,” Mackie said. He added that DEA agents have been to the facility several times, and their primary concern is ensuring cannabis isn’t diverted to the illicit market.While getting a DEA cannabis registration is difficult, it is doable, Mackie said. “As long as you’re doing the right things and you’re following the right rules, I don’t understand why people can’t get through,” Mackie said.
“Obviously, there are hurdles. It’s a pain in the butt getting big safes that are required, doing the applications.”
To conduct the study, scientists take cells found in the brain, such as microglia, place them in a petri dish and then inflame them, mimicking the inflammation process that accompanies various diseases. Next, individual cannabinoids or combinations of cannabinoids are put into the petri dish to see whether they break down inflammation-causing proteins.Mackie said the research seeks to answer the question, “What do these minor cannabinoids do?’ Whether they’re an isolate or in combination with other terpenes or other cannabinoids, how does the microglia react while it’s in an inflamed state to a dosing of different levels of cannabinoids?”
IN THE LAB
CHANGING TIMES AND ATTITUDES
mjbizdaily.com | July 2022 41 heavily but not exclusively focused on neuropharmacology, including brain inflammation, traumatic brain injuries, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and theFoundedlike. in 2016 with scientific discovery built into its mission, MedPharm was already researching cannabis and neuropharmacology, thanks to a Colorado state research license that enabled it to partner with institutions such as state universities. But in December 2021, MedPharm became a federally licensed DEA Schedule 1 research facility for cannabis and cannabinoids. It’s now leveraging that DEA research registration on a study examining if cannabinoids—especially minor cannabinoids, which are known as “very potent Mackiehastheirthings,partners)makesCannabisistheAlzheimer’sassociatedproteinscompounds”—cananti-inflammatorybreakdownthethatcausebraininflammationwithdiseasessuchasandParkinson’s.TheFDAandDEAhavebothapprovedstudy,forwhichMedPharmpartneringwiththeInstituteofResearch.“IthinkhavingaDEAlicensereallythem(universityresearchfeelmuchbetterabouttoo.They’renotgoingtolosefederalfundingbecausetheDEAalreadygivenitsblessingforthis,”said.
– DuncanMedPharmMackie,
EARLY FINDINGS
One of the study’s early findings is that cells can withstand high amounts of the cannabinoids CBD, THCV and CBN before dying. “I have to put in quite a lot before I can get cell death, which is great. It gives you a really nice, large therapeutic window,” Mackie explained. “If you’re not getting an effect with a very low dose, you can actually ramp the dose up and not see too much cell death, which is very nice from a drug-discovery, medicinal chemist’sMedPharmstandpoint.”alsoplans to explore combinations of cannabinoids and nutraceuticals.“Assoonaswe find something that we can really use as our lead compound and build around (it), we’ll be off to the races,” Mackie said.
“Big refrigeratorThermocompaniespharmaceuticallikeFisherwon’teventalktoyouorsellyouauntilyougetaDEAlicense.”
In drug discovery, however, “races” can take years and more than $1 billion. It took GW Pharmaceuticals (now part of Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals) roughly a dozen years and around $1 billion before Epidiolex, its CBDbased medicine for epilepsy, was approved by the FDA. But that could be changing, too, some industry observers say, as the internet has reduced the time it takes to navigate federal bureaucracy and scientific information is easier to share among researchers. And while the DEA hasn’t gotten on the legalization bandwagon, cannabis operators and researchers who work with agency officials say they are no longer anti-marijuana zealots trying to undermine the industry.
The most important hurdle, Mackie added, is assembling a scientific team that has the background to carry out the work—from administration, maintenance and recordkeeping to backgrounds in biology, chemistry and pharmacopeia.“Thebarrierto entry is not drastically hard. But I think that they don’t just let anybody get a license,” Mackie said. “They do require you to prove that you have the scientific knowledge and ability to carry out what you’re proposing.”
Universities and research institutes evaluate effectiveness of CBD and THC against various ailments
Interventional Studies Reducing Pain and Opioid Use With CBD Cannabidiol for Reduction of NeuroinflammationBrain Therapeutic Response of Cannabidiol in Rheumatoid Arthritis Safety and Effects on Responses to Stress and Pain of Natural MedicalProductsMarijuana Conditions Opioid-use disorder Back pain, symptomsdepressive Rheumatoid arthritis Pain Interventions CBD CBD CBD CBD and THC collaboratorsSponsor/ University of Colorado at Denver GeneralMassachusettsHospital UCLA Yale University, PharmaceuticalConnecticutSolutions Enrollment 150 80 60 36 Funded by Other Other Other Other Completion date February 2027 Dec. 15, 2026 June 10, 2025 Dec. 1, 2023 Brief summary Assess the tolerability and efficacy of fsCBD and bsCBD to reduce opioid use, anxiety and pain and improve sleep and cognitive function. Investigate if CBD anti-neuroinflammatoryexertseffectsinpatientswithchroniclowbackpain,withorwithoutmildtomoderatedepression. Examine the efficacy of CBD treatment for arthritis.rheumatoid Examine the safety and dosesbehavioralpharmacodynamicpharmacokinetic/profileandthephysiologic,neuroendocrineandstressandpainresponsestoacutesingleandrepeateddosingoforalCBDaloneandincombinationwithTHCandmatchedplacebo. Research Renaissance
Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine42 T he following tables contain observational and interventional clinical studies* involving marijuana-derived CBD and THC. These are but a thimbleful of the cannabis studies undertaken in recentFederallydecades.funded research into cannabis has had an overwhelmingly negative bias, focusing on issues such as addiction, how the plant affects the teenage brain and how to measure and detect impairment. Such anticannabis research continues today, only moderately tempered. What has changed is that there are significantly more therapeutic studies, such as those exploring whether cannabis relieves pain, helps Alzheimer’s patients with cognition or reduces tremors related to Parkinson’s disease.While most of these studies involve CBD, a significant number involve THC. What follows is only a sampling and is not meant to present the full range of cannabis research taking place.
Ongoing
CLINICAL STUDIES
* In an observational cannabis study, participants consume an “intervention”—say, cannabis flower or edibles—and are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. These studies do not lead to new drug approvals. In interventional studies, researchers assign interventions such as drugs or behavioral counseling to participants and evaluate the health outcomes and/or their efficacy in combatting symptoms or illness compared to existing treatments and placebos. These studies might lead to new drug approvals.
Interventions Norethindrone acetate (female hormone), CBD, other CBD CBD and THC collaboratorsSponsor/ Milton S. Hershey Medical CenterMain Line Health, Ananda Hemp University of California, San Diego; Migraine Research Foundation
mjbizdaily.com | July 2022 43
Conditions Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis Back pain, neck painAnorexia nervosaAlcohol-use disorder
Evaluate the effectiveness of CBD on the management of endometriosisrelated pain. Assess the effect of a hemp-based CBD product on the severity and duration of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy among non-metastatic breast, colorectal, uterine and ovarian cancer patients who received neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy that included neurotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Evaluate three different treatments of vaporized cannabis (THC, THC/CBD mix and CBD) for the acute treatment of migraine.
Role of CBD in Regulating Meal Time Anxiety in NervosaAnorexia CBD for the Treatment of Alcohol-Use Disorder
Interventions CBD and THC Oxycodone, THC CBD CBD collaboratorsSponsor/ Brown University University of Colorado at Denver University of California, San Diego University of Colorado at Denver Enrollment 76 100 40 45
Completion date Nov. 30, 2023 June 2023 May 2023 May 31, 2023
Investigate the impact of cannabis on pain and inflammation among patients with rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis. Treat low back pain associated with nerve injury with oral THC or whole-plant cannabis for eight weeks. Research the efficacy of CBD in reducing anxiety related to mealtime for patients with nervosa.anorexia Assess the efficacy of fullspectrum CBD and broadspectrum CBD to reduce drinking in participants with moderatedisorder.alcohol-use
Ongoing Interventional Studies
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), colorectal cancer-stage II, colorectal cancerstage III, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer Migraine
Enrollment 36 100 120
Completion date June 1, 2023 April 1, 2023 Nov. 20, 2023
Impact of Cannabis on Pain and Inflammation Among Patients With Rheumatoid or ArthritisPsoriatic Cannabis Versus Oxycodone for Pain Relief
Funded by Other Other Other
Funded by Other Other Other Other
Endometriosis, pelvic pain
Cannabidiol and Management of Endometriosis Pain Effect of Hemp/CBD on Patients With CIPN Efficacy of Inhaled Cannabis for Acute Migraine Treatment Conditions
Source: clinicaltrials.gov “Other” funding sources may include individuals, organizations and universities.
Brief summary
Brief summary
Completed Interventional Studies Without Results
Conditions Essential tremor Alcohol use disorder (AUD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Neuropathic low back pain Interventions CBD and THC CBD Dronabinol, THC collaboratorsSponsor/ University of California, San Diego; International Essential Tremor Foundation, Tilray, Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research New York University Langone Health, National Institutes of Health, Tilray University of California, San Diego; National Institute on Drug Abuse
Does Medical Cannabis Reduce Opioid Use in Adults With Pain? Pain Research: Innovative Strategies With Marijuana Conditions Cancer, post-surgical pain, postsurgical complication Chronic pain, opioid useChronic pain, chronic low back pain collaboratorsSponsor/ University of Colorado at Denver, National Cancer Institute
Funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), other Other Other Brief summary Determine how daily cannabis use affects surgical outcomes. Examine how medical cannabis use affects opioid analgesic use, with particular attention to THC/CBD content and adverse events. Examine effects of edible cannabinoids on pain relief, inflammation and cognitive dysfunction in chronic pain patients.
Funded by Industry, other NIH, industry, other National Institutes of Health, other Completion date Nov. 30, 2020 April 20, 2022 March 25, 2020
Observational Studies of Note
Enrollment 7 95 131
Quantification of Cannabinoids and Comparison to Post-Surgical Pain Medication Requirements and Surgical Outcomes
A Study of Tolerability and Efficacy of Cannabidiol on Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease Safety and Efficacy of Four Different Potencies of Smoked Marijuana in Veterans With PTSD Characterization of the Analgesic Effect of CBD in Healthy, Normal Volunteers Conditions Parkinson’s disease Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Pain Interventions CBD CBD and THC CBD collaboratorsSponsor/ University of Colorado at Denver, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Research Renaissance
Funded by NIH, industry, other Other Industry, other Completion date November 2017 January 2019 April 2020
Completed Interventional Studies With Results
Brief summary Study the effect of CBD on Parkinson’s disease tremor. Gather evidence of safety and efficacy of smoked cannabis to manage chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD among veterans. Determine the analgesic effects of CBD. Trial of Cannabis for Essential Tremor Cannabidiol as a Treatment for AUD Comorbid With PTSD Does Medical Cannabis Reduce Opioid Use in Adults With Pain?
Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine44
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies UCLA, INSYS Therapeutics Enrollment 13 80 18
Brief summary Evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combined oral formulation of THC and CBD in patients with essential tremor. Determine whether CBD is effective in treating alcohol use disorder in individuals with comorbid PTSD. Treat low back pain associated with nerve injury with oral delta-9 THC or whole-plant cannabis.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Vireo Health University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Colorado at Denver, Colorado State University Enrollment 80 352 283
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Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine46 C onnecticut-based CT Pharma, one of the four original companies to receive medical cannabis cultivation licenses in the state, made headlines in 2019, when it became the first state-licensed operator approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grow cannabis to be used in an FDA-approved study. Until then, the cannabis flower and oil used in FDA-approved studies had been grown at the University of Mississippi (the sole federally approved grower in the United States until recently), produced synthetically or imported.
Research Renaissance
By Omar Sacirbey
CT Pharma grows cannabis for an FDA-approved study at its facility in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.
Courtesy Photo
MATERIALS
State-licensed cultivator awarded federal approval to provide cannabis for research
CT Pharma is collaborating with the Yale University School of Medicine on the study, which explores the efficacy of cannabis-derived tablets to treat stress and pain. Tablets are made from cannabis flower produced at the firm’s facilities in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. “The fact that we’re using material from plants grown within a medical program at a state level (for a federally approved study), that’s what makes it unique,” said Rino Ferrarese, CT Pharma’s president as well as executive vice president of the north region for Illinois-based Verano Holdings. A Chicago-based multistate operator, Verano acquired CT Pharma in late When2021.interviewed by MJBizMagazine in early 2020, Ferrarese predicted that the study would result in an FDA-approved tablet that would be on the market by 2025. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly delayed the study, but researchers finished the first phase and are now recruiting subjects for the Askedsecond.whether he still believes CT Pharma could have an FDA-approved cannabis-based pain reliever on
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Despite COVID-19 delays, Sinha and her team finished the first painmanagement study, which identified two specific dosages that met the team’s expectations for efficacy. Those two doses—one, a tablet containing 40 milligrams of CBD plus a low dose of THC; the other, a tablet with 100 milligrams of CBD plus a low dose of THC—will be the basis of the next study. “We were evaluating patients for the effect of cannabis as natural medicine on their subjective and physiological re sponse to stress and pain,” Ferrarese said.
A LICENSEE OK'D BY FEDS Rajita Sinha, a Yale University School of Medicine professor, wanted to use CT Pharma’s cannabis in research studies, and Ferrarese believes the company’s relationship with Sinha convinced the FDA to approve the partnership.Sinhaalready had developed and tested cannabis formulations for FDA-approved studies. And the FDA was more concerned about whether CT Pharma adhered to current Good Manufacturing Practice standards, Ferrarese said—specifically its cultivation, extraction, manufacturing, packaging and other processes.
Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine48 the market by 2025, Ferrarese said, “Anything is possible. “The reality is that the FDA has opened up. The days of the FDA taking 20-plus years to approve a drug are behind us,” Ferrarese added. “I think that the FDA wants to approve better medicines quicker.” But, he added, taking the time to navigate a process as rigorous as an FDA study will benefit consumers and the“Thereindustry.are tons of anecdotal stories of patients responding favorably to cannabis as medicine. But when you get into a clinical setting where … you’re using analytical methods to evaluate responses from the subject, it’s not until you start pulling all of these pieces together that you can start making inferences and really determining if, in fact, it’s efficacious,” Ferrarese said.
To do this, researchers put subjects through a so-called “cold pressor test,” in which individuals who have taken a dose (or placebo) submerged their hands in ice water. Researchers then drew blood to evaluate certain markers to see if the cannabis tempered physiological responses of pain and stress.
In the second study, for which Yale will soon be recruiting, researchers will test the two dosage forms on subjects 21-60 years old with chronic pain. They’ll dose every day and complete laboratory and blood analyses on days one, three and seven, when researchers look for markers that could suggest therapeutic effect.
The FDA wanted to see cultivation batch records, cleaning logs and facility layout. The agency also requested microbiology, potency and stability results showing that biomass didn’t become contaminated over time. “You need master batch records, training records for all of the staff, facility-control documentation, analytical reports. We had all of that on hand and were able to provide it to the FDA,” Ferrarese said. While the FDA requested “reams and reams” of information from CT Pharma, no one from the company had to meet with FDA officials, leaving the discussions to Sinha and other Yale researchers.
STUDY UPDATES
The first study involved subjects 21 to 45 years old. Over a six-week trial, subjects were given six doses—two CBD only and three combinations of CBD and low-dose THC, plus a placebo—to see how they reacted when subjected to pain and stress.
FUTURE TENSE Ferrarese believes it’s inevitable that the DEA will approve more state-licensed companies to provide cannabis for research—and not just universityFerraresestudies.saidacademia is not set up to run large-phase clinical trials on human volunteers. Instead, commercial research organizations (CROs), are better designed for administering studies. For example, they are faster at recruiting and enrolling subjects, he added. “Once we start seeing that the rules are loosening up a little bit and cannabis companies like ours are allowed to start exploring research and partnerships with CROs, we’ll get to the science that much sooner,”
Ferrarese“Developingsaid.cannabis drugs is a slow and tedious process right now because of all the restrictions that are in place. As the government comes around … we’ll be able to pursue commercially more accelerated pathways forward in developing the science.”
FerrareseRinoRajitaSinha
Research Renaissance
“We’ve always wanted to make products that are based on the most accurate cannabis science, so I can go out and speak agnostically about (the research),” Rocourt said. “The more you (the customer) know, the more likely you are to buy Papa & Barkley products, because we are formulating them to the best in class of cannabis science.”
One of the most important assets Papa & Barkley had was a database that included thousands of consumers who had bought its products. The registry, started with the company’s launch in 2016, included customers who bought THC products in California’s regulated market as well as national customers who’d purchased CBD goods.
Setting up an IHUT is a multistep process that starts with subject recruitment and screening, said Cassie Perlman, Papa & Barkley’s senior vice president for marketing.
For its most recent IHUT analyzing the efficacy of Papa & Barkley’s Sleep Releaf Tincture, which contains 4 milligrams of THC, 2 milligrams of CBD and 1 milligram of CBN per serving, the company wanted to have about 100 subjects. Papa & Barkley aimed to recruit a mix of 150 women and men, however, because many subjects drop out of the tests. In the end, 94 subjects completed the study.
• On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your trouble sleeping?
• Do you take any other sleep aids or pharmaceutical products?
Renaissance
By Omar Sacirbey SCIENTIFIC STUDIES
To recruit subjects for the sleep tincture study, Papa & Barkley mailed questionnaires to consumers, asking questions such as:
Julu 2022 | MJBizMagazine50 Guy Rocourt, the CEO of Papa & Barkley, a California-based infused products maker, has followed cannabis research from his earliest days in the legal marijuana industry.Asthecompany’s former chief operating officer, Rocourt infused what he learned into the balms, edibles, tinctures and other products Papa & Barkley produces. For example, he started including lavender in whole-plant cannabis balms after reading an Israeli research paper that found the plant helped cannabinoids penetrate the skin. Such research, Rocourt reasoned, would lend credibility to the products while educating the company’s patients.
Absent university partners, Papa & Barkley mined its customer database to carry out product research
Papa & Barkley then analyzed the recruitment screening results that were returned.
LEADING
ALAUNCHINGRESEARCH PROGRAM But a few years ago, when Rocourt wanted to set up studies to explore cannabis’ therapeutic effects, the universities he approached about a partnership either said no or didn’t reply. Rocourt speculated they were worried about losing federal funding as well as the stigma of marijuana and bias in favor of mainstream drugs. Rocourt was undeterred, however, and Papa & Barkley decided that if it could not pursue research in partnership with universities, the company would leverage its assets to perform its own research through “inhome-use tests,” or IHUTs.
• How many hours do you sleep per night?
Guy Rocourt Courtesy Photo Research
BORROWING FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES To create the sleep study and other research, Papa & Barkley looked at studies that were being done in the natural holistic health and supplement industries, Perlman said. Using research from these industries as a reference, Papa & Barkley created a sleep study where the 94 subjects were mailed the sleep tincture, instructed to take it daily for two weeks and asked to reply to a survey at the end of the first and second weeks. The survey asked subjects questions about how long it took to fall asleep after using the tincture, how often they woke up, whether they felt groggy when they woke up and how they would rate their sleep quality. Perlman reported that, based on survey results, subjects using the tincture fell asleep 20 minutes faster on average, woke up less throughout the night and didn’t feel groggy in the morning.Basedon the success of the cannabinoid formulation used in its sleep tincture, Papa & Barkley believes the same formula likely would work in gummies or other infused products, Rocourt said. “At the end of the day, it’s the same cannabis inputs and the same ratio,” he said. “We have disclaimers on all of our (sleep) products that say the study was done on a tincture but can apply to the entire Sleep Relief collection.”
Gassed out from juggling Payroll/HR providers? $50 gas card for a demo. That simple. Refuel and learn how we supportRefuel and learn how we support cannabis organizations in managingcannabis organizations in managing their people.their people. Papa & Barkley's latest involvedstudyits Sleep Releaf Tincture. Courtesy
While these studies haven’t secured Papa & Barkley admission to any universities, Rocourt believes that day will come—and when it does, his company will already have a head start, thanks to the “Eventually,IHUTs.when we can work with a university, we’ll at least have documentation that we’re worth placing a bet on,” he said. Omar Sacirbey is a reporter for MJBizMagazine. You can reach him at sacirbey@mjbizdaily.com.omar. Photo
Former Kanye West Manager Joins Cannabis Platform
One of Monopoly’s first priorities as CEO is to organize a series of fundraising events in New York to benefit cannabis- and social equity-related philanthropic organizations, the company said in a news release.
Daoust most recently served as executive vice president of strategy and custom flavor solutions at spice manufacturer McCormick & Co. She also spent nearly 17 years combined at Fona International and Originates, two beverage companies where she held highlevel managerial positions. Pelligrini joins Vertosa’s board of directors with extensive finance and brand-development experience from the alcoholic beverage industry. He currently serves as the co-founder and managing partner at Goat Rodeo Capital, a Vertosa investor and venture capital firm that specializes in the beverage sector. Pelligrini started his career at E. & J. Gallo Winery, where he held various finance and branddevelopment roles.
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine52 INDUSTRY PLAYERS New Hires & Promotions by Omar Sacirbey
Curaleaf Creates New Post: Chief People Officer
Massachusetts Operator Hires Cisco Vet as CEO Root & Bloom, a cannabis cultivation, extraction and manufacturing operation in Massachusetts, appointed Tom Regan as CEO. Regan had been working as a strategic adviser to the company, which expects to have products in stores this summer.
Music industry veteran John Monopoly, perhaps best known for discovering and managing rapper Kanye West, will try managing something even more difficult: a cannabis company. Monopoly will serve as CEO of Washington DC-based Urban Aroma, a platform that works to connect consumers with cannabis brands, delivery services and dispensaries that support legalization, social equity and fair access. Before joining Urban Aroma, which was founded in 2020, Monopoly worked in marketing and music promotions for Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott as well as brands such as Guff, Pheed and Zumani.
Massachusetts-based multistate operator Curaleaf Holdings appointed Tyneeha Rivers as its chief people officer, a newly created position. Rivers most recently held the same role at Curio Wellness, an Oregon cannabis company that Curaleaf acquired in 2020. Rivers also held executive and managerial HR posts with the Greater Philadelphia YMCA, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, The Galman Group as well as Morgan Properties. Michigan MSO Nabs Apollo Veteran as CFO C3 Industries, a multistate, vertically integrated cannabis company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, hired Valay Shah as chief financial officer. Shah will oversee the company’s finance, treasury and accounting departments.Beforejoining C3, Shah spent 12 years at New York-based Apollo Global Management, an alternative asset-management company. Before Apollo, he worked as an analyst for financial services firm Moelis & Co., where he met C3 CEO Ankur Rungta.
Emulsion Enterprise Bolsters Board Vertosa, a California-based business that creates emulsions and other ingredients for infused cannabis products, appointed Manon Daoust and James Pelligrini to the company’s board of directors.
Regan’s early career was spent at startups and tech companies, and he worked 10 years as a director at Cisco Systems. Most recently, RiversTyneeha ReganTom
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine54 Regan was president of Mindful, TR Concentrates and The Link Brands in Colorado, leading the teams responsible for branding, compliance, cultivation, distribution, extraction and retail operations.
B.C. Cannabis Company Gets New Board Chair The Valens Co. in Kelowna, British Columbia, a leading manufacturer of branded cannabis products, has sep arated the roles of board chair and CEO, appointing Andrew Cockwell as its new board chair. CEO Tyler Robson will remain on the board.
Harborside Adds Financial and Marketing Pros Harborside, a California-focused, vertically integrated cannabis enterprise founded in 2006, appointed Kavi Bhai as vice president of financial planning and analysis and Angela Pih as vice president of marketing. Before joining Harborside, Bhai spent nearly four years at two Denver-based cannabis productmanufacturing businesses: BellRock Brands, where he served first as senior vice president of finance and then chief financial officer, and Mary’s Medicinals, where he served as CFO for 27 months. Before entering the cannabis industry, Bhai, a CPA, spent eight years at Atlanta-based auditing and advisory firm Frazier & Deeter. In his newest role, Bhai will be responsible for planning, forecasting, budgeting andPihanalysis.ischarged with expanding Harborside’s market share by strengthening the company’s brands and sales capabilities.
Dispensary Association Head Takes Over Lab OnPoint Laboratories, an accredited and fully licensed cannabis compliance testing laboratory in Arizona, appointed Samuel Richard as CEO and equity partner. Richard succeeds Jeff Cardot, founder and current CEO, as part of a planned transition. Cardot will continue to be involved with the day-to-day management of the facility as part-owner.Richardpreviously spent 21/2 years as executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association. Hired or promoted someone for a senior-level position? Send a news release or general information to Omar Sacirbey at omar.sacirbey@ mjbizdaily.com.
AngelaPih
Previously, she was chief marketing officer at Northern California cannabis firms Papa & Barkley and CannaCraft.Pihisathree-time winner of the Clio Award for the advertising industry. In 2018, The Drum, a trade publication covering advertising, selected her as a Top Female Talent of Color. Real Estate Finance Firm Taps New CEO Connecticut-based NewLake Capital Partners, a provider of real estate capital to state-licensed cannabis operators, announced the retirement of Chief Financial Officer Fred Starker and the concurrent appointment of Lisa Meyer as the company’s new CFO, effective June 13. Meyer most recently served as president, CFO and treasurer of Western Asset Mortgage Capital, a diversified mortgage-finance real estate investment trust. Before that, Meyer was managing director of FTI Consulting and chief accounting officer at NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. Previously, she served as assurance senior manager at Ernst & Young.
BhaiKaviPLAYERS
INDUSTRY
Cockwell is managing partner of Ursataur Capital Management, a private equity firm he founded in 2009 to focus on Canadian midmarket companies. Previously, Cockwell was a founding partner of ReichmannHauer Capital Partners, a Toronto-based private equity firm targeting domestic and international investments. He also served in the private equity and corporate finance practices at global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., which he joined in 2003 and where he advised businesses, private equity firms and hedge funds in North America and Europe. Earlier in his career, he practiced M&A and securities law as an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and London.
Cannabis Banking Leader Hires Strategy Pro Denver-based Safe Harbor Financial, a leading financial services provider to the cannabis industry, appointed Tyler Beuerlein as its chief strategic business development officer. Beuerlein was previously chief business development officer for Hypur, where he helped facilitate more than $500 million worth of cannabis-related transactions and loans to state-legal marijuana businesses.Beuerlein has served on the editorial advisory board for MJBizDaily and as chair of the NCIA Banking and Financial Services Committee, NCIA Policy Council, Forbes Business Development Council and the ATACH Beverage Council.
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Happy Trails
Ayr Wellness’ down-to-earth pre-roll package is practical, eco-friendly
By Kate Bertrand Connolly Package printing/converting: GPA gpaglobalcannabis.comGlobal,
Graphics: Pocket pocketmade.comMade, SUPPLIERS
July 2022 | MJBizMagazine56 UNBOXED Cannabis Packaging and Design Insights
The package uses more than 90% recycled content as well as biodegradable materials. In addition, the Slack Pack materials are from Forest Council-certifiedStewardshippaperstocks, which ensures they come from responsibly managed forests.
The chasing-arrows recycling symbol and a reminder to “Keep Our Trails Clean” are printed on the end of the sleeve, encouraging consum ers to be mindful about disposal. They will find a different reminder inside the package, after they’ve consumed all the pre-rolls: The bottom of the tray is printed with a note that it’s “Time to Resupply.” To suggest a product, magazine@mjbizdaily.com.email
The tray’s main compartment contains seven half-gram pre-rolls wrapped in vellum; a paperboard insert holds a cache of matches. A match striker is attached to the side of the tray. GPA Global, a packaging manufacturer with North American headquarters in Seattle, created the custom box and prints the childresistant package using four-color offset lithography and gold-foil stamping.“Weconsidered several interesting packaging solutions, but the built-in matches and striker on the box were the major difference,” Finnerty said. “The ability to have a complete and compact solution in one package aligns with the brand ethos.” Graphics for the Trailstix Slack Pack, designed by San Franciscobased Pocket Made, feature faux wood grain and images of mountains, trees and clouds. The packaging materials also emphasize nature. The sleeve is paperboard, and the rigid sliding tray is made from chipboard with a natural paper liner. “We use unbleached and uncoated kraft paper, which captures the essence of being outdoors—natural and untainted,” Finnerty explained.
T he Trailstix Slack Pack, a pre-roll multipack, offers outdoorsy consumers convenience and portability with a back-to-nature sensibility. Miami-based Ayr Wellness, a vertically integrated multistate cannabis operator, introduced the Slack Pack under its Stix Preroll Co. brand in Massachusetts in 2021 and began the product’s national rollout thisThesummer.package design “was inspired by the slack packers, who carry only what they need, with no added weight,” said Jeff Finnerty, senior vice president of marketing at Ayr Wellness.
Have a Light?
Friendly Reminders Although foil stamping can increase packaging costs, any cost differential on this package was worth it to Ayr. “It’s about being on-brand,” Finnerty said. “That’s the driving force for the design—to bring the brand to life in our customer’s hand.” The contrast between the natural paper and gold foil gives the Slack Pack “a nice premium look, while still being easily recyclable.”
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ROSS LIPSON CEO, Bend,DutchieOregon Lean in on who you are as a person. But just as importantly, know what you’re not as great at and listen to others and empower others to give you those answers. Imposter syndrome is real. I think we all feel like we need to be the best at everything if we want to be the leader, but that’s just not the Leadershipcase.comes in many different shapes, sizes and colors. I’ve found practicing servant leadership has been very helpful: surrounding myself with experts and leaning on them and being humble.Iknow what I know. But most importantly, I know what I don’t know.
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July 2022 | MJBizMagazine58 Everyone wants to get in on the cannabis market. The podcast “Seed to CEO” gives marijuana entrepreneurs an edge. Each week, MJBiz interviews a cannabis executive to learn the stories behind their successes and failures. To hear from those who have been there and done that, visit mjbizdaily.com/podcast or listen to “Seed to CEO” wherever you get your podcasts. SEED TO CEO Tune In Today! These “Seed to CEO” podcast guests answered: Comments have been edited for length and clarity. SEED TO CEO Sound Bites from the MJBiz Podcast
WANDA JAMES
Founder & CEO, Simply Pure Denver I tell people that leadership doesn’t always feel good. Leadership means that, at key points in your life, certain people are going to be very angry at you. Leadership is very lonely. But when you’re doing something that you believe in—and I think it comes down to your heart and your soul, if it’s what you believe in—then, by all means, you fight every which way that you go, and the naysayers will fall off. You will find that you know your way through it. But, yeah, leadership is a tough road.
I wish that somebody had told me how much you are going to have to sustain your own motivation andThere’senergy.alot of glorification of leadership in this space. I hear from folks outside of the industry that say, “Oh, what you’re doing is so cool, you must be having so much fun.” And a lot of days, it is. But a lot of days, it’s not. The amount of mental energy it takes to launch and run an organization in a space as … complex and competitive and fast-paced as cannabis can be tremendous. And I didn’t realize how much of a support system I needed to have around me. What is something you wish someone had told you about the challenges of leadership?
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MJBizDaily Buyers Guide Extraction
Confirm there is consumer demand before investing in extraction
to extract for psilocybin We hope you find this content helpful, and we welcome your feedback at editorial@mjbiz.com.
prices Pros & Cons of In-House Extraction .............................................................................. 19 Extraction operations face high start-up costs In-house
MJBizDaily Buyers Guide Extraction mjbizdaily.com Copyright 2022, MJBizDaily, a division of Emerald X, LLC. You may NOT copy this report, or make public the data and facts contained herein, in part or in whole. For more copies or editorial permissions, contact CustomerService@MJBizDaily.com or call 720.213.5992 ext. 1. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Planning a Hemp and CBD Extraction Business ........................................................... 4 Establishing a business strategy and shopping for equipment Choosing the right extraction method How CBD extraction differs from high-level THC Best Practices in Sourcing Solvents and Solventless Materials ............................ 12
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MJBizDaily Buyers Guide Extraction mjbizdaily.com Copyright 2022, MJBizDaily, a division of Emerald X, LLC. You may NOT copy this report, or make public the data and facts contained herein, in part or in whole. For more copies or editorial permissions, contact CustomerService@MJBizDaily.com or call 720.213.5992 ext. 1. 4
The discovery of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids have increased interest in hemp extraction.
It has been four years since Congress passed the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill legalizing hemp and its derivatives, yet hemp cultivators and product manufacturers continue to navigate roller coasterlike regulations and fluctuating consumer demand for CBD and low-THC products.
As pointed out in the 2022 MJBiz Factbook, hemp operators are just starting to recover from a nationwide CBD glut that crashed prices in 2019 and 2020, thanks to the surprise success of intoxicating hemp-based extracts including delta-8 THC.
A HEMP AND CBD EXTRACTION BUSINESS
PLANNING
“There have been many ‘pop-up’ manufacturers and distributors that have inundated the market with great prices but then disappear,” says Liz Geisleman, CEO at Rocky Mountain Reagents, an extraction chemical and lab supply company based in Golden, Colorado. “We had one company make a very sizable investment in a CO2 extractor that worked for a month and then the company was gone.” This risky landscape for CBD extraction entrepreneurs and product manufacturers highlights the importance of understanding business best practices and extraction methods to increase the chances for success in this fledgling industry.
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Once business owners have answered these questions, they should examine the market to choose equipment that meets their needs. Given the risk of entering the volatile CBD arena, novice business owners and extraction professionals may want to invest in quality used equipment at a discount rather than spending premium prices on new hardware and machinery.
Good extraction equipment is built to withstand years of daily use.
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“There isn’t just one method for extraction or isolation. There are many factors to consider when choosing equipment,” Geisleman says. “What is the desired outcome? What is the desired output?” Geisleman highlights the importance of knowing about the biomass you’re working with before beginning extraction, citing specifics such as cannabinoid concentration and water content.
“With the number of companies in the industry going out of business, it is always a good idea to check for used equipment first,” adds Katie Stem, CEO at Oregon-based CBD and cannabis product manufacturer Peak Extracts. “Sometimes machinery that has been operated for less than a handful of hours is available for half the new purchase price. Most of this machinery is made of very durable stuff—built for years of daily use and manufactured out of stainless steel. You can find equipment that has a ton of life left in it.”
A BUSINESS STRATEGY AND SHOPPING FOR EQUIPMENT
There is no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to planning a hemp-extraction operation. Before choosing an extraction method and shopping the market for equipment, business owners should first outline and understand the fundamentals of their business plans. It is also wise to make sure any equipment selected will be scalable in the future.
Cons: High up-front costs and traditionally slower than other methods.
ETHANOL EXTRACTION
Cons: When used incorrectly, hydrocarbons can be dangerous and cause serious injury and property damage.
HYDROCARBON EXTRACTION
Cons: Product capabilities are somewhat limited to crude, distillate and isolate applications.
Pros: Solvents such as propane and butane have a low boiling point that retains terpenes during the extraction process. This helps replicate the whole-plant experience in products such as hash, shatter and wax.
CARBON DIOXIDE EXTRACTION
Pros: This extraction method can be optimized and requires less energy to run at scale.
SOLVENTLESS ROSIN EXTRACTION
Pros: Solventless extraction offers an artisan’s dream of product capabilities. Rosins are highly sought after and considered boutique.
Cons: Largely unscalable beyond a certain point. Types
Extraction
Pros: The highest throughput option with more in-line optimization opportunities (extraction/winterization/filtration/decarboxylation) is also cost-effective for high-volume operations. Its efficiency and mid-tier input costs make it one of the most efficient operating systems on the market.
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HOW CBD EXTRACTION DIFFERS FROM HIGH-LEVEL THC Extracting CBD from hemp is not a simple process.
in CO2 extraction for clean, potent and great-tasting CBD oils,” she says. “Our post-processing techniques also add to the clarity and purity of our finished Devereuxproducts.”continues,
CHOOSING THE RIGHT EXTRACTION METHOD
“They expect that we simply grow hemp and squeeze the oil out into a finished product.”
Karen Devereux, whose family owns and operates hemp cultivation and CBD product manufacturing business Northeast Kingdom Hemp in Barton, Vermont, says CO2 extraction offers a pure extract for their craft-size “Weoperation.believe
As for Stem, she prefers using CO2 or ethanol-based extraction methods at Peak Extracts, especially when the finished product will be consumable, such as an edible, infused beverage or tincture.
“CO2 and ethanol are both safe for human consumption and can produce beautiful extracts for all applications,” she adds.
“Often people don’t understand how involved it actually is,” Devereux says of hemp extraction.
-Katie Stem, Peak Extracts
“If I were advising a marijuana company, I would push them toward both BHO (butane hash oil) and solventless applications,” Flippo says. “Whereas if I were advising a CBD company, I would exclusively work with ethanol.”
Still, there is no one-size fits all option when it comes to picking an extraction method.
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As detailed in the 2021 Extraction Buyers Guide, there are four primary methods for extracting cannabis compounds: 1. C arbon dioxide (CO2) extraction 2. Hydrocarbon extraction 3. Ethanol extraction 4. Rosin extraction
“Unfortunately, I think too many hemp-focused operations are also focused on mass production, which is why the market is flooded with products—not all of which are good.”
Casey Flippo, CEO at Little Rock, Arkansas-based hemp extraction and CBD product manufacturer Natvana, considers capital expenditures, operating expenses and return on investment when choosing an extraction method, along with the product application and ease of use.
“My own personal preference is for CO2 or ethanol, because of the environmental impact of hydrocarbons,” Stem states. “Hydrocarbons are great solvents that produce fantastic extracts, but I have moved away from them for a few reasons, chiefly: risk of explosion, waste products, the potential for heavy metal contamination and onerous regulatory requirements.
According to Stem, hemp processing can be broken down to three stages: pre-processing, extraction and post-processing. “Invest in quality glassware, and make sure your ovens/freezers are large enough to suit your purposes.”
Finally, the post-processing stage is executed by machinery including a fractional distillation apparatus, isolation reactor, vacuum oven, freezer, rotary evaporator and, depending on the operation, a centrifuge.
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“Pre-processing is typically done by hand or with a machine to separate the cannabinoid-rich material from the fiber,” Stem says. “After this is done, the material is typically ground by a mill into uniform particulate matter.” Mills come in various sizes, she says, and investing in a good, durable, easy-to-clean mill is crucial. Mills should also be made from food-safe materials and be easy to properly sanitize.
“Extraction equipment should be purchased based on the operating budget, processing material volume and the desired product,” she says. “You can get an enormous amount of throughput out of ethanol, and technology has come a long way in the past few years. CO2 is energy-intensive to operate, but the byproducts are inert—unlike ethanol or hydrocarbons, whose waste products are biohazardous, flammable and explosive.”
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“Invest in quality glassware, and make sure your ovens/freezers are large enough to suit your purposes,” Stem advises. She also points out that the main difference between CBD extraction operations and high-level THC often comes down to production volume.
“Hemp is cheap and getting cheaper by the season, whereas (marijuana) can range from $100$2,000 per pound, depending on the market,” Stem says, adding that extracting marijuana in smaller batches can maximize efficiency. “With hemp, the opposite principle is true: the faster and greater the volume of extraction, the better.”
When starting to shop for raw materials, companies should first make sure there is enough demand for the products they plan to sell.
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Sourcing raw materials for cannabis extraction is not as easy as simply searching for the least expensive product online and hitting the checkout button.
In Colorado, for example, the ongoing decline in product sales over the past year has contributed to the closure of entire retail chains across the state.
Technical support is a key consideration when choosing a supplier or vendor for extraction supplies.
Product manufacturers who purchase solvents and supplies from third parties must consider several factors when vetting suppliers. Considerations might include inventory consistency and verifying whether a vendor’s brand values align with those of the extraction company.
“I would caution aspiring businesses to just be sure that they have a market for their finished products before sourcing their materials,” says Karen Devereux, co-owner and vice president of Northeast Kingdom Hemp, a craft-size, family-owned hemp cultivation and CBD product manufacturing operation in Vermont.
CONFIRM THERE IS CONSUMER DEMAND BEFORE INVESTING IN EXTRACTION MATERIALS
BEST PRACTICES IN SOURCING SOLVENTS AND SOLVENTLESS MATERIALS
Extraction processes are the same for hemp and marijuana.
Extraction professionals should make sure they’re provided with properly harvested plants or potent and clean biomass free of debris such as seeds or stems. Starting the process with quality material will expedite the extraction process.
“Ideally, plants are grown from scratch with the specific purpose of being transformed into solventless products,” Savage says.
This is especially true for extraction and manufacturing companies that specialize in solvent-free extracts and want to maintain the whole-plant experience.
Regardless of where or how extraction professionals acquire their solvents or other raw materials, having access to high-quality harvested cannabis is essential if companies want to produce the finest and cleanest products.
EXTRACTION BEGINS WITH ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY CANNABIS
The good news for product manufacturers is that more women are buying cannabis , and they’re outpacing men in spending on products such as infused beverages, capsules, tinctures, topicals and, in some states, vape pens.
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“Starting material is paramount in a solventless lab,” Thilo Savage tells MJBizDaily. Savage is the project manager for production and cultivation at Lume Cannabis Co., a Troy, Michigan-based business that specializes in solvent-free extraction products.
“We believe that hemp grown and harvested by hand on a small, certified organic farm, cured slowly and stored carefully, makes the best products,” Devereux says.
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“For every one good consultant, there will be 10 jokers jockeying for your business, so vet everyone before signing on,” advises Casey Flippo, CEO at Arkansas-based hemp extraction and CBD product manufacturer Natvana.
Those new to the extraction sector should consider hiring an experienced professional to help navigate the extraction machinery market. Even this process, however, requires careful vetting.
BEST PRACTICES IN VETTING SOLVENT SUPPLIERS
“When vetting a potential supplier, it is important to review their quality (assurance) program, a system for lot traceability, technical support and stocking capabilities,” advises Liz Geisleman, CEO at Rocky Mountain Reagents, a chemical and lab supply company based in Colorado.
LOOK FOR EXPERT GUIDANCE WHEN VETTING POTENTIAL SUPPLIERS
“All our products are packaged in new drums through dedicated lines from dedicated tanks to prevent possible contamination and ensure lot integrity,” she says. “We have increased our stocking level and went to third-level sourcing to combat the supply chain disruptions.”
Another best practice that buyers should consider when vetting potential suppliers is asking to see the sample extraction records.
The intended end product is a key consideration when choosing extraction equipment.
“Once you find someone you trust and that has synergies with you and your business’ core values, allow them to help you,” Flippo continues. “Most people will go to the mainstream sites and end up using the intermediary of the intermediary to buy everything. … A good consultant that truly knows what they’re doing knows where to go for the best deals.”
Once the list of potential suppliers has been narrowed down, factors to consider during the vetting process should include product traceability, customer support and product safety, to name a few.
Geisleman details how her company has successfully distinguished itself by demonstrating to clients the value of buying solvent chemicals from a brand that adheres to the cannabis industry’s high standards and regulations, in contrast to what she describes as “commodity brokers” who sell cheap commercial-grade products.
Buyers Guide Extraction
MJBizDaily
There are also ways extraction companies can invest in quality materials without “Foroverpaying.rawmaterials, buying in bulk is often the best option,” advises Stem, who suggests splitting a purchase with another company or taking the purchase in installments.
“Also look for reasonable delivery and freight,” she adds, “as those costs can sneak up on you.”
“Look for purity, readily available Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDA) and Certificate of Analysis (COA) from the companies,” says Katie Stem, CEO at Oregon-based CBD and cannabis product manufacturer Peak Extracts, who advises that shopping local can limit potential shipping issues and price hikes.
Katie Stem of Peak Extracts packs an extraction machine.
She notes that maintaining a consistent production schedule and using multiple vendors can help manage supply chain disruptions. Geisleman also advises holding more inventory to prepare for a worst-case supply scenario.
Flippo of extraction and manufacturing firm Natvana also recommends stocking up on supplies.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made sourcing some extraction materials more huge disruptions in supply since 2020,” notes Geisleman. “The pandemic and the ongoing war put a strain on an already overburdened system. Our global supply chain was limping along with multiple pinch points and lagging lead times, but all these issues were compounded and became devasting during the past two years.”
“Theredifficult.havebeen
“There are numerous options to ensure you have … the stock you require when you require it,” she adds, such as “nearshoring (the practice of transferring a business operation to a nearby country), third-party warehousing, third-party procurement services and blanket purchase orders with firm delivery dates.”
Geisleman also points out that the reinstated IRS superfund excise tax will go into effect beginning this month, meaning chemical importers and manufacturers will pay between 22 cents and $4.87 per ton on certain chemical substances.
Liz Geisleman
“This is not a huge increase for smaller producers,” she adds, “but (it) will impact a broad range of chemicals used in this industry.” “Pricing has always been a challenge, but more so now with the scarcity and supply chain disruptions.”
Geisleman says changing prices are another factor to watch.
“My primary advice is to strategically plan for these shortages,” Flippo says. “If you typically order 5,000 units per SKU (stock keeping unit), order 50,000 units. If you are financially restricted from self-inventorying, speak with your suppliers and put orders in well ahead of time and work out advantageous terms with your suppliers to aid in cash flow.”
“All petroleum-derived solvents and pure ethanol have been very unstable in cost and availability since the pandemic began,” she says. “Every indicator from the commodities market suggests this trend will be with us for at least the next 12 months.”
out that not all extraction and production companies have the luxury of holding on to extra inventory, as some operators face storage limits imposed by local regulatory authorities.
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“We are far from seeing the end of this situation by all estimations,” she adds. “It is always difficult to control operations costs when dealing with consumable chemicals such as solvents. Pricing has always been a challenge, but more so now with the scarcity and supply chain Geislemandisruptions.”alsopoints
MANAGING SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES AND FLUCTUATING MARKET PRICES
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Environmental waste is a key consideration when creating an extraction company business plan.
THE PROS & CONS OF IN-HOUSE EXTRACTION
Handling extraction in-house comes with pros and cons compared to paying another company to handle it. These factors can include high start-up and operational costs, hiring a team of well-trained experts familiar with the science of extraction, maintaining control of the product throughout the production process and potential harm to the environment, to name a few.
Start-up and operational costs will play a major role when deciding whether to manage the extraction process in-house.
“It’s going to vary from state to state based on licensing and real estate,” says Mirko Vulicevic, chief science officer at Legit Labs in Webberville, Michigan. “If you’re looking to move to a state like Michigan and looking to start an edible-based extraction company, and you’re doing pretty good volume, you’re looking at up to a $1 million facility.”
“Generally speaking … you can spend $100,000 or $20 million, depending on your application and market potential,” says Casey Flippo, CEO at CBD product manufacturer Natvana.
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According to the 2022 MJBiz Factbook , more than 70% of cannabis product manufacturers do at least some extraction themselves rather than buying extracts from outside sources.
Con: Extraction Operations Face High Start-up Costs and Overhead Expenses
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Companies that handle extraction in-house have the benefit of controlling quality throughout the process, as seen in vertically integrated cannabis brands that handle their product from seed to sale.
Stem recommends new companies consider outsourcing for extracts until they’re sure there is enough demand for their products to cover the startup costs.
“What it comes down to is a lot of companies like to be fully integrated,” Vulicevic says. “If you have the right people in place, and you do seed to sale, and you farm it in house, then it’s farm-to-table. It’s never leaving your chain of custody, so you can control the quality.”
20 “Extraction equipment is expensive,” adds Katie Stem, CEO at Peak Extracts. “It requires trained and knowledgeable staff, facility build out and specialized electrical requirements. Just the permitting with local law enforcement could take months to years to complete and is an expensive process in its own right.”
Pro: In-House Extraction Allows Companies to Maintain Control Over Products
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There is an inherent danger that comes with extraction. This sector of the industry requires trained professionals who are given properly designed and outfitted facilities, personal protective equipment and well-thought-out standard operating procedures. Companies that extract their own cannabinoids from plant material own the entire manufacturing process.
Con: Extraction is a Complex, Potentially Dangerous Science
“It is most efficient to purchase extracts from an established producer,” she says. Flippo advises: “Model your business, add 25% to whatever costs you are anticipating, and make sure you have six months’ worth of operating expenses covered before opening your doors. If you’re new to the game and don’t (have a cash reserve), you will fail. Quickly.”
Flippo, who comes from a real estate finance background before getting into cannabis, knew he had to surround himself with extraction experts for his business to succeed.
Whether taking steps to reduce energy use or finding ways to recycle used materials, extraction businesses should implement strategies that reduce harm to the planet.
“There are toxic and caustic waste products that need to be properly disposed of according to local regulations,” she adds. “Your local (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) agent or health authority can be a good resource to discuss options, as is the hazardous waste disposal contractor in your area.”
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“If I didn’t take the time to educate myself, take more time to raise millions of dollars, and then execute by hiring a team of highly skilled chemists and engineers, I likely would have blown myself up by now,” he says. “In this industry, you get out what you put in, and if you don’t possess the natural skill sets to be successful as an extractor, look at outsourcing.”
“There is absolutely a high potential for creating environmental waste,” Stem says of extraction processes. “The two biggest concerns are material waste as a byproduct of extraction and chemical/industrial waste as a byproduct of distillation, purification or cleanup.” Stem advises reusing and reclaiming solvents whenever possible. This can help limit an operation’s ecological impact in addition to improving overall efficiency.
Liz Geisleman, CEO at Rocky Mountain Reagents, points out that despite innovations in extraction technology in recent years, professionals can’t rely on machinery to prevent unnecessary waste. Instead, consider using solventless extraction methods and apply regular equipment maintenance. Scientific knowledge is a key component to all extraction processes.
“There are a lot of ‘side hustle extractors’ out there,” Flippo says. “In my opinion, not only is that incredibly unsafe, it’s a waste of time and resources.”
RISK OF CREATING ENVIRONMENTAL WASTE
Vulicevic says Legit Labs will “go through and make sure supplies aren’t being wasted and being dumped down drains. We try to reclaim everything. We don’t use drains for that purpose. We implement things called wash buckets here. Everything that has hash on it, any tool or any kind of product that touches a dish/beaker/glass of any sort, it gets washed in a 200-proof ethanol bucket and then gets reclaimed later. No hash is ever washed down the drain. No acidic, no crude, no solvents.”
“I’ve realized a lot of these states are putting up these new laws and regulations, but with no regulators in place,” he says.
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Vulicevic of Legit Labs says lack of regulatory oversight and employee error can lead extraction companies to create unnecessary, harmful waste.
“The guy that wants to go home at 4 p.m. to watch a football game … is going to release the hydrocarbon atmospherically instead of recovering it because it saves him 30 minutes,” he warned.
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“Solventless extraction is more sustainable and has more options for the spent biomass to create a potential income-generating vertical. The best way to limit waste production is to make sure your equipment is routinely maintained and kept in top working condition.”
“Extraction technology has improved greatly,” she says, adding that while equipment is more efficient, it does create waste.
In response, Vulicevic says companies must do a better job of regulating themselves and implementing internal procedures that don’t involve cutting corners.
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“In the beginning, there were many naysayers, particularly in the pharmaceutical space, who would say things like ‘extracts are too complex,’ ‘they can’t be standardized’ and ‘the regulatory bodies will never allow them in clinical trials,’” says Ryan Moss, chief science officer at Filament Health, a natural psychedelic drug-development company in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“These opinions are beginning to change,” Moss continues. “We have shown that we can thoroughly characterize our products and standardize them to the same degree as any small-molecule pharmaceutical drug.”
Filament health is developing psilocybin-based drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia. Courtesy photo
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The gradual legalization of medical and adult-use cannabis during the past decade has quietly played a role in dissolving taboos surrounding psychedelic drugs—namely psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.
POTENTIAL FOR PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOM EXTRACTION
With the decriminalization of psilocybin in select U.S. cities, professionals in the science and medical communities are now considering the use of these substances for potential health benefits.
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“Cannabinoids are non-polar molecules that exist in very high concentrations in the raw material itself,” Moss says, adding that cannabinoids make up about 15% of the dry weight of cannabis. “On the other hand, psilocybin (and related tryptamines) are watersoluble polar molecules that exist in relatively low concentrations,” less than 2% of the dry weight of the mushroom.
Moss adds, “The methodologies and techniques used when dealing with aqueous chemistry are vastly different from their non-polar counterparts. Techniques like sub- and supercritical CO2 and hydrocarbon extraction are not going to work here.”
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Ambitious entrepreneurs, however, should understand the differences between the mushroom and cannabis extraction processes.
Despite this, cannabis-extraction facilities can outfit or renovate their spaces for psychedelic “Theextraction.facility construction, explosion-proofing and solvent-handling capabilities will be useful tools for making the switch,” Moss adds. “Many of the tools, tanks, pumps and general equipment will help an individual who knows their chemistry well and has a process designed for its use.”
“For those who have only experience in extraction of cannabinoids,” Moss says he “would look to other extraction industries for guidance, as the similarities between psilocybin and cannabis are few and far between.” Ryan Moss
Even the most experienced professionals would find it challenging to utilize the equipment and methods meant for cannabis extraction on psilocybin. “Much of the off-the-shelf equipment that was designed specifically for cannabis and extraction and post-processing will not serve a purpose in psilocybin extraction,” Moss explains.
MJBizDailyPSILOCYBINreports
According to Moss, the molecular makeup of a substance like psilocybin is the total opposite of marijuana and hemp plants.
Since extracting water-soluble compounds is different than extracting non-polar molecules, much of the extraction equipment used by cannabis manufacturers would not be adequate to extract psilocybin, he says.
OUTFITTING A FACILITY TO EXTRACT FOR PSILOCYBIN
DIFFERENCES WHEN EXTRACTING
that the global market for therapeutic psychedelics (including substances such as LSD and ketamine) is projected to be worth $6.8 billion by 2027.
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Across International www.acrossinternational.com
Canapa Valley Farms www.canapavalleyfarms.com
COMPANY NAME WEBSITE
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Erika Record Baking Equipment www.erikarecord.com Exergy www.exergyllc.com Extract Consultants extractconsultants.com ExtractCraft http://extractcraft.com ExtractX https://www.extractx.com
COMPANY NAME WEBSITE
Dimplex Thermal Solutions www.dimplexthermal.com
Greentank Technologies https://www.greentanktech.com/ HAL Extraction www.halextraction.com Hardware Factory Store www.shophfs.com Hashatron https://hashatron-usa.com/ Heidolph Auto Pro heidolphna.com
Entexs Corp. www.entexs.com Enwave Corp. www.enwave.net
Hourglass International hourglass-intl.com
G&D Chillers www.gdchillers.com
Fluid Chillers www.fluidchillers.com
Hemco Corp. www.hemcocorp.com
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FLUX Pumps Corp. www.fluxpumpsusa.com/en-US/home.html
ExtractionTek Stainless https://extractiontek.com/ Filtrox www.filtrox.com
Emerald Scientific www.emeraldscientific.com
Gilson cannabis-pagewww.gilson.com/welcome-to-the-gilsonGold Coast Ingredients www.goldcoastinc.com Graco https://www.graco.com/us/en.html
Decarbitation https://hydrodynamics.com/ Deutsche Process www.deutscheprocess.com
Dynamistic Technologies https://dynamistic.co/ Ecodyst www.ecodyst.com Emerald Green Technology www.emeraldgreentech.com
Heyes Filters heyesfilters.com
HighTech Extracts hightechextracts.com HK Technologies www.hksieve.com Holland Green Science https://us.hollandgreenscience.com/home.html
Kaeser Compressors www.us.kaeser.com
COMPANY NAME WEBSITE
Kaplan Industries www.KaplanIndustries.com
I.W. Tremont Co. iwtremont.com
MRX Technologies www.mrxtechnologies.com MTA-USA mta-usa.com
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Isolate Extraction Systems www.isolatesystems.com
Huber USA www.huber-usa.com
National Engineering & Consulting www.nationaleng.com
Leybold USA www.leybold.com/us/en Lowtemp Industries https://www.lowtemp-plates.com/ Luna Technologies lunatechequipment.com Mach Technologies machtechnologies.com
Industrial Sonomechanics www.sonomechanics.com
Macurco Gas Detection https://macurco.com/ Maratek www.maratek.com Media Bros. www.mediabros.store
Microfluidics International Corp. www.microfluidics-mpt.com
Inca Trail Terpenes incatrailterpenes.com
Intest Thermal Solutions www.intestthermal.com/thermonics-chillers
IWDC - PurityPlus www.purityplusgases.com Julabo USA https://www.julabo.us
Industrial Source https://www.industrialsource.com/ Infinity Manufacturing Concepts crudehog.com
KECO PUMP https://www.kecopump.com/ Kimtron https://www.kimtron.com/ Kinematica www.kinematicausa.com
MFG Tray Co. www.mfgtray.com
Munch Machine www.munchmachine.com
Milestone milestonesci.com
KNF Neuberger www.knf.com Lab Society https://labsociety.com/ Lakeland Industries https://www.lakeland.com/ Lauda Brinkman lauda-brinkmann.com
Copyright 2022, MJBizDaily, a division of Emerald X, LLC. You may NOT copy this report, or make public the data and facts contained herein, in part or in whole. For more copies or editorial permissions, contact CustomerService@MJBizDaily.com or call 720.213.5992 ext. 1. 28
JWC Environmental www.jwce.com
Prospiant http://www.prospiant.com
Nucl3o-LV https://www.nucl3o.com/ O2VAPE www.o2vape.com
PIC Solution Inc https://www.pic-sfc.com
PortaFab Corp. http://www.portafab.com/ Precision Extraction Solutions www.precisionextraction.com
Puren Solutions https://purensolutions.com PurePressure https://gopurepressure.com/
Pyrite Trading Co. www.sambocreeck.com
Sartorius Chromatography Equipment solutions-integrationwww.sartorius.com/en/pr/novasep-equipmentShimadzu Scientific Instruments www.GrowYourLab.com
Steri Technologies https://www.steri.com/ Steris https://www.steris-ast.com/ STM Canna http://stmcanna.com
Pharmco by Greenfield Global https://go.pharmco.com/extraction/
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PodTronix https://podtronix.com/ Pope Scientific www.popecannabisdistillation.com
Quadro Engineering Corp. www.quadroliquids.com
Orange Photonics www.orangephotonics.com
Summit Research www.summit-research.tech
The DigiVac Co. www.digivac.com
RKI Instruments https://www.rkiinstruments.com/ Root Sciences www.rootsciences.com
The Terpene Store www.theterpenestore.com
Omega Equipment & Supply https://www.omegastore.com
Sample Automation https://sampleautomation.com
So-Low Environmental Equipment Co. www.so-low.com
Pulsafeeder pulsa.com/botanical-extraction/ Pures Extraction www.pure5extraction.com
COMPANY NAME WEBSITE
Shivvers Manufacturing https://www.shivvers.com/hemp/ Skolnik Industries www.skolnik.com
Navac INC https://industrial.navacglobal.com/ Northwestern Extract Co. www.nwextract.com
Qsonica www.sonicator.com
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Thomas Scientific http://www.thomassci.com/ TruSteel http://trusteel.com/
Witte Pumps and Technology www.witte-pumps.us
Xtractor Depot xtractordepot.com
Wave Freeze Dryers USA https://en.wave.cc/ Welch Vacuum by Ingersoll Rand http://www.welchvacuum.com
COMPANY NAME WEBSITE Thermal Care thermalcare.com
MJBizDaily Buyers Guide Extraction mjbizdaily.com
Thermaline www.Thermaline.com
Worthington Industries highpointinnovations.com
Xtra Laboratories www.xtralaboratories.com