A dollar of THC threatens the future of the cannabis farmer – here’s why – breaking cannabis news today

Canopy Growth Corporation acquired some old cannabis patents last year. One patent Canopy acquired was for making a synthetic variant of THC known as dronabinol. (1) Dronabinol was previously known to be too expensive to fit in the recreational cannabis market. Well, chemistry has brought some benefits that will be good for studying the endocannabinoid system. However, these benefits can also result in synthetic THC hiding on shelves as an organic phytocannabinoid that costs a dollar or less per gram.

Limonene is an important terpene in the essential oil of orange peel and cannabis. This ‘terke’ can be converted into carvone; a versatile platform for organic synthesis. Other terpenes can also be used to make THC and CBD isomers.

Cost reductions give a synthetic cannabinoid an unfortunate chance

Dronabinol itself is expensive, in part because of Phase III clinical trials that grossed $ 10 to $ 40 million in a bill – in 2001, according to a book published by the National Academy of Sciences – and currently it still costs $ 292 $ 633 for a gram and a half of synthetic THC broken down into individual 2.5 mg capsules as a prescription drug.

In order not to neglect good cultivated cannabis (C. Sativa), perhaps we should say, “At least this THC comes from hemp and not from acetylated terpenes?”

Regulators, and ultimately some processors, have strayed so far from cultural tradition that non-cannabinoids can come into the market disguised as natural substances – phytocannabinoids. With advances in organic chemistry, it will now cost less than a dollar a gram to make THC and other rare and expensive cannabinoids.

It’s a little more complicated in the field of cannabinoid production and nomenclature than synthetic and natural. (3)

“Is it Eubio?” – A motto for cannabis fit for 2021

Many salespeople irrefutably promote poetry-synthetic cannabinoids as rare compounds with the bold claim that they are exclusively derived from the cannabis plant. In reality, it is economically irrational to make certain cannabinoids, such as THCp, from cannabis. However, according to a study published in Sage Journals, a eubiosynthetic cannabinoid should only be produced by one plant. This research project was carried out by independent researcher Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli, co-founder of the FAAAT Think and Do Tanks. (3)

Some cannabinoids such as THCp are less than 0.001 percent present in the plant, which would require at least 100 kilograms of flower (or biomass) to produce 1 gram of isolate.

Now the cost of cannabinoids made by chemical synthesis can drop so low that cannabis farms can barely compete. A few cannabinoids will always have their place in semisynthesis, like clean Delta-8 and even D10-THC. But the alteration of other cannabinoids found in hemp or cannabis is what creates these THC isomers. Techniques now exist to convert non-cannabis terpenes to isomers of THC and other cannabinoids without molecular differences – given the chemist’s experience.

How will chemistry labs disrupt hemp farms?

Semi-synthetic THC for less than a dollar gram is what is currently threatening to disrupt cannabis growers and the market. This process will result in the industry relying on the shoulders of laboratories and chemical manufacturers, if not inexpensive hemp farms. This raises many ethical questions, but it also puts the world’s hemp farmers on the verge of a career loss or at least a significant reduction in profits. Are we really ready to move the entire cannabinoid isolate industry away from agricultural fields and into the realm of chemical laboratories and imported regents?

Cannabis plants and chemistry are mutually dependent and construct each other in ways that some can never understand. So can it be agreed that a balance must be maintained between the two?

Two different organic one-flow synthesis methods for making THC and CBD.

Derived from terpenes, not cannabis

Oddly enough, some poetry synthetics coming out on the market are potentially only semi-synthetic as they are derived from a unique terpene. We previously discussed this procedure with Professor William Maio of New Mexico State University. So you can hear that the only remaining compound in these “synthetic” cannabinoids is a “terpene”.

The process can involve the transfer of non-cannabis-derived terpenes into modified terpenoids such as acetylated isopiperitenol. The resulting terpenoids are then broken down into polymerized cannabinoids by buffering them in a pink solution of boron trifluoride etherate (BF3) over a bed of acidified silica. This is quenched in a basic (high pH) solution and the resulting cannabinoids are purified.

With price cuts and limited transparency, we have a delicate fence between the processor’s semi-synthetic plans and the consumer’s edibles, vape pens, and dab rigs – regulatory hurdles.

Regulations and the great synthetic debate

The Feds are torture for hemp and cannabis consumers and growers in general. At one point, however, we need to ask: is current self-regulation in the industry preserving the viability of farmers? Politics and regulation from the pen of the wrong arm are currently maintaining a certain amount of turbulence in the industry.

Tighter restrictions will prevent the occurrence of important scientific developments in the field of rare cannabinoids – advances that could translate into horticultural science as well as clinical research. The question that remains is whether we will allow the Feds to completely restrict semi-synthetics.

There is an unknown line between right and wrong. That answer depends on whether it’s coming from a regulator, a consumer, a for-profit processor, or a compassionate care service. Perhaps the simple acidic isomerization of CBD or D9-THC to D8 is innocent. And if the regulator continues to restrict Class II solvents but allows acetic acid, maybe that is a better step forward than a complete restriction.

Some members of the industry claim to use CBD as a scaffold for D9-THC, but are still fairly familiar with organic influence synthesis methods. (A screenshot of a conversation the author had on Instagram about organic THC synthesis.)

How can a regulator ensure the purity of a product for the health of its patients without restricting freedom of leisure?

D8-THC can be made from hemp-derived CBD in a clean process, but it can also be made dirty. The regulator’s job is to ensure access to solvents because, for example, cannabinoid production is not restricted in such a way that the chemist’s viability is compromised, but not so generous that safety is disregarded. Any disregard by the farmer can fall on the regulators when it comes to product labels that are easily tampered with by processors who have entered this market for the wrong reasons.

The industry is driven by the dollar and consumer choice, so buy wisely. The green is damp, but neighboring fields are thriving and might just have a problem with snakes in their poorly manicured grass.

Let us know your thoughts on the real cost of cheap cannabinoid production in the comments. Do you think respect for cultural traditions is in order as we evolve the cannabis industry into lesser-known solvents?

swell

1. US8324408B2
2. Mack A, Joy J. Marijuana as Medicine? The science beyond controversy. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (USA); 2000. 10, MEDICINAL PRODUCTS MADE FROM MARIJUANA. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK224399/
3. Riboulet zemouli, Kenzi. (2020). ‘Cannabis’ Ontologies I: Conceptual problems with the terminology of cannabis and cannabinoids. Drug Science Policy and Law. 6.1-37. 10.1177 / 2050324520945797.
4. EP3 653 596A1
5. Bloemendal, VRLJ, Spierenburg, B., Boltje, TJ et al. One-flow synthesis of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol with homo- and heterogeneous Lewis acids. J Flow Chem 11 99-105 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41981-020-00133-2