Post #4 – Growing Cannabis is NOT like growing Tomatoes - Technologies used in production – Seed-To-Sale Software

Growing cannabis is not like growing a tomato. Cannabis – though a weed – is a complicated plant to grow, especially when one is trying to increase specific concentrations of cannabinoids such as THC and CBD. 

Master growers (I have even met people that call themselves “plant whisperers”) use highly guarded techniques to increase these active ingredients such as varying the hours of “light” when in bloom, changing soil nutrients to "shock" production of specific cannabinoids in the flowers and even playing different music from soothing classical to jarring rock. Anything goes: if it works, duplicate it. If not, try something else.

"That is cash being thrown into the garbage."

But let’s take a step back and look at what technologies are being used and invented to deal with this rapidly expanding industry.

Firstly, there was a need to manage the production of the bud, monitor its progress, control the inventory at harvest and “trace and track” everything including waste. This is referred to as “seed-to-sale” software. This software does (or is supposed to do) exactly what it says: monitor and record the entire life of the plant from seed to bud, harvest to extraction and then sale. 

If a plant is sick and has to be quarantined, this needs to be recorded. If that plant needs to be destroyed, then this action needs to be tracked and confirmed. Waste is now valuable due to new and efficient extraction techniques so even garbage (shake, trimmings or a "bad" plant) can yield active ingredients therefore EVERYTHING must be tracked and recorded. That is cash being thrown into the garbage and someone will sweep up and turn that waste into cash. If it were not tracked, this could end up in the illegal market.

"Then add fish. Really. I'm not making this up."

Seed-to-sale software is a technology vertical that is in its infancy. I have been consulting with a Canadian offering called AllCann (http://allcann.com/). This was my first experience with this type of platform and I have to admit, it was a real eye-opener. The level of detail required to monitor the growth, the weight, the value, the waste and finally management of the produced inventory is immense! 

Layers upon layers of modules combine to create software that needs to fulfil the requirements set forth by Health Canada. i.e.  If you want to produce cannabis for medical use (or future recreational use) your production MUST be tracked by a software that can produce the reports required by the ministry.

Early platforms such as MJ Freeway have been proven to have serious security flaws and have been “hacked” more than once. (MJ has given assurances that they have fixed the problems.) There are now a large number of software platforms emerging as companies vie for market dominance. Kind’s Agrisoft platform is making the news as is Canada’s top software and Ample Organics in Toronto are quickly becoming a powerhouse. Metrc are going strong in the US.

Snoop Dog's cannabis-industry focused venture capital group just placed a substantial bet ($2.3M) on a newcomer software company in seed-to-sale called Trellis whose grow and inventory management modules look very impressive.

Then add fish. Really. I'm not making this up. Software, somewhere is being created to support aqua-farming licensed producers such as Green Relief. It turns out that the cannabis root balls and the fish, Tilapia, like being at the same temperature (between 73-78 degrees Fahrenheit). (I will cover aqua-farming in detail in a future post devoted to Licensed Producers (LPs)).

So, the scientists at Green Relief created a closed-loop water system which uses the fish waste as fertilizer. I kid you not. I had the unique pleasure of having a tour of this facility with their CEO Warren Bravo and it was truly fascinating. They even have a scientist from Guelph University monitoring the health of the fish! So you can start seeing the complexity of the problems that need to be solved for this industry.

Aqua-farming LP Green Relief's facility. The blue tank at the back of the 
photo is where the fish live. Awesome! 

Technology is emerging to provide solutions for a huge range of industry issues. Not just helping to be “legal”, not just evolving to assist in monitoring and managing new grow methods but at the same time, as technology goes through yet another transforming era, we are seeing things like the IoT (the Internet of Things) enter the market. Concepts such as smart tables that actually “know” which plant is on it, what stage of growth it is at and is it is in good health will be the norm. 

The race is all about increasing yield while retaining quality. Other industries have faced these challenges but never has there been such a diverse and complicated plant – and for good measure, throw in a school of fish.

Post #3: Tracking and Tracing Technologies

As CTO of LEMON Mobile Inc, a location-based messaging and loyalty platform for events that tied event owners and sponsors to fans during the event. We anonymously “tracked” people (with their permission of course) using a number of technologies such as GPS, WIFI, BLE Beacons and even inaudible sounds.

"having a “closed loop” system that tracks everything from production to sale is required to stop cross-border leakage."

We have deployed our technology at many high-end events across the US and Europe culminating in supporting one of our largest mobile deployments --  The 2015 Rugby World Cup when we were tracked and messaged 2.5million people.

Data visualization of fans arriving at Twickenham Stadium during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. When data collection matures in the cannabis industry, marketers and producers will be able to grow according to their customer's preferences. 

We collected a ton of data and stored it in the cloud and we used it to help event organizers understand their audience: where they resided, what teams they followed, and other attributes which helped us to deliver the relevant message to the right visitor.

Cannabis now needs to be traced and tracked. This is a stipulation the Canadian Ministry of Health as well as every State were cannabis legal in one form or another. There are lots of ways to do this; from low tech, hand-written labels to high tech scannable barcodes, embedded RFID chips and even BLE (blue tooth low energy) beacons attached to their stems to track and trace the plant’s life. These plants are valuable assets and producers don’t want them going walk-about. But also, the ministry wants to know exactly where every plant is, whether it is healthy and if it is not, what was done with it.

Metrc (https://www.metrc.com) is considered a gold standard in cannabis tracking. As the main seed-to-sale platform for Colorado, Metrc considers tracking to be one of the most important aspects of their software. This is due partially to the fact that States have different cannabis laws and having a “closed loop” system that tracks everything from production to sale is required to stop cross-border leakage.

“By the use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology combined with serialized item tracking, the system creates an "end to end" surveillance system where the municipality has real-time visibility at any given time into the "inventory" at all the locations (does not rely on audits for tracking)” (https://www.metrc.com/the-system)

RFID is just a little chip that broadcasts a unique identifier: a unique number to that plant. A "reader" is used to log the plant and then the grower is able to make notes assigned to that number. Here is Metrc's whitepaper on RFID and the cannabis industry. 

More to come on tracking and tracing technologies.

Post #2: How we got here

Multiple factors are colliding to create a perfect storm with regard to technology and the coming legalization of cannabis in Canada. It is the end of prohibition for a product stigmatized by generations of big business leaders and law enforcement agencies (a subject for another blog). The shift to legalization has its roots in an attempt to take this revenue stream away from organized crime and at the same time, tax it and allow for medical research. Both of which are amiable goals. 

"the world is watching Canada – looking for advancements in research, products development and how legal restrictions will effect marketing and advertising"

Canada is second only to Uruguay to move to a legal status allowing for recreational and medical use and production of cannabis. (Here is the current state of legalization around the world by country). There are numerous States in the US that are “State” legal for recreational and medical use but it is still a Federal Offence to profit from cannabis as it is considered a Schedule One drug (like heroin). 

As such, the world is watching Canada – looking for advancements, research, products, and legal restrictions on things like marketing and advertising. This environment is pulling in global talent and big money for research and production.

"Police are playing whack-a-mole, raiding these illegal shops regularly."

Currently, cannabis is still illegal in Canada but the government has announced full legalization on July 1^st, 2018. Many feel the announcement was premature. Illegal distribution points (dispensaries) – most with their origins from the more liberal west coast – have been popping up all over urban centers across Canada in a rush to stake a flag. Police are playing whack-a-mole, raiding these shops regularly. The pot for these enterprises is coming in from everywhere. 

A last Hoorah?? This year's Karma Cup may be 

the last one as the province takes over 

production and distribution

The technology that is out there to manage inventory, waste, customer purchases and prescriptions – basically run this emerging potentially billion dollar business are for the most part faulty and allow for huge data breaches. This is called seed-to-sale software and if one wants to produce cannabis legally, they need to use this software to manage their grow and inventory because the software is required to produce reports for the Ministry of Health and for regulators.

As well, it is the illegal market that have perfected auxiliary products and methods so that consumers don’t have to “smoke” pot to get to the active ingredients (FACT: over 60% of cannabis consumed in “legal” Colorado is not smoked!). This includes extracts like shatter, soap and distillate which are by-products of cannabis to concentrate THC in high doses and are consumed through heat not flame. 

Also edibles are a huge booming business though they take up to an hour to activate in the body. These include things like the common “hash” brownie but also “gummies” (gelatin), sugars, and candies. These products look to be highly regulated – and they should be - as they "may have an appeal to children” (duh). 

Due to the fact that edibles normally take an hour to act, many companies are looking for better, more efficient delivery methods. These methods will make up a future blog post where we delve into the new mechanisms being used to deliver active ingredients into the bloodstream. It is a fascinating area as science meets the challenge with interesting approaches such as Nanosphere Health.

So this is where we are. God only knows where we are heading. But one thing is for sure. The genie is out of the bottle and cannabis is here to stay. It will take many forms, have true and false medical benefit claims, will make a bunch of millionaires and a handful of billionaires and will eventually just be another “thing” in society. But man oh man, just getting there is going to be very interesting indeed!

Post #1: Cannabis and Technology

Welcome to Budding Technology: the home of all things related to technology and the cannabis industry. We will cover everything from genetics to grow facilities, harvesting to waste control, extraction methods to product creation, active ingredient delivery mechanisms to scientific cannabinoid breakthroughs. We will be covering it all, with a focus on emerging technologies and methods being deployed in the industry. Why? Well, basically EVERYTHING is emerging, and it is changing rapidly!

"...the illegal market is crawling out from the shadows with their tried and tested methods that increase yield and their home-grown extraction processes and products"

Cannabis and technology make strange bedfellows. One is helping us soar to a digital future and the other an ancient plant. Cannabis is an easily grown, hardy, weed full of active ingredients called cannabinoids. Its use has been traced back 1000s (if not tens) of years. It can now be found naturally all over the world from the Himalayas to Indonesia, South America to the Middle East though it is believed that its origins are from South Asia. 

Vendor's showing their wears at this year's Karma

Cup. Will this be the last year for this grey market

industry event?

Depending on where it was grown (and cultivated) by ancient peoples it has a unique genetic make-up and contains varying concentrations of specific cannabinoids which, scientists believe, were purposely cultivated to contain these attributes that helped specific ancient peoples. These are the secrets the market is trying to discover and uncover. And the race is on…

"Edibles, vapes (like tobacco vaporizers), tablets, sugars, strips that dissolve in your mouth, even tampons, are seen as new delivery mechanisms."

And it all comes back to human science. You see, people have an endocannabinoid system (ECS) in their body which is located in our central and periphery nervous systems. These are a series of neuron receptors (cells binding with molecules called endocannabinoids) which help mediate appetite, pain and memory (to name a few). 

Two main receptors make up the ECS: Cannabinoid Receptor 1 (CB1) and Cannabinoid Receptor 2 (CB2). There are two main endocannabinoid molecules: anandamide and 2-Ag. Cannabinoids attach to these molecules and the nervous system then "interprets" the message or signal (like, you are hungry aka. munchies). A future blog will cover this in detail but it is hurting my head now. 

The glands in the cannabis plant also produce terpenes (oils) and cannabinoids (active ingredients such as THC and CBD).  Terpenes are what gives the specific taste and smell of a strain of cannabis just as sap in pine trees has the distinctive scent. They range wildly in their smells and tastes bringing names to such strains as Blueberry Kush, THC Cheese, Sour Diesel and Pineapple Express: each actually smells like its namesake (the cheese is kind of gross in my opinion). And there is now scientific research into how “terps” actually help the body intake specific active ingredients with their specific taste and smell. 

Here is a great article and infographic produced by Leafly which shows the huge array of terps found in cannabis. Terpenes are not just found in cannabis. The same terps found in, say OG Kush, can also be found in hops and coriander. (As an FYI, OG stands for "Original Gangster" and is derived from early rap artists like Dr Dre, Ice Cube and the late Eazy-E). 

"This crazy emerging market with even crazier business ventures and crazier still technological solutions is hard to monitor."

There are 113 cannabinoids in cannabis with the most commonly known being phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the one that gets you “high”. But other cannabinoids such as CBD are proving to be very effective in treating symptoms for various human ailments such as Parkinson’s, autism and epilepsy to name just a few. According to Wiki, there are actually 483 compounds in the plant, many have not been fully researched. 

As such, the scientists and geneticists are moving in. Pharmaceutical companies are stealthily swimming around the industry like great while sharks, the illegal market is emerging from the shadows with their tried and tested methods that increase yield and their home-grown extraction methods and products. It is the Wild West.

This crazy emerging market with even crazier business ventures and crazier still technological solutions is hard to monitor. Edibles, vapes (like tobacco vaporizers), tablets, sugars, strips that dissolve in your mouth, even tampons, are seen as new delivery mechanisms. Extraction machines to pull out specific cannabinoids run upwards of a million dollars. These extracted ingredients are going into massage oils, skin treatments and almost any cream, ointment or drop one could think of. How are they doing it? Is it safe? What is the true science behind the claims? 

These are the things that Budding Technology will investigate. If we get something wrong, tell us. If you disagree with our position on a specific issue, tell us. If you want to know more about a specific subject, ask.

And if you are a true hater of anything cannabis, believe it is a gateway drug to crack and meth and think pot smokers and hippies are unwashed and stupid, well you should probably be reading something else. We are open-minded, professional and have experience in the industry. We are interested in dialogue and advancing technology. We are not interested in a bun fight. Thank you.

All the best and be happy.