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.