Business
Extracting Cannabinoids from Cannabis Smoke? – US Government Awards Patent for New Technology
Can you extract cannabinoids from marijuana smoke?
A new patent for the extraction of cannabinoids is now available and it could be a turnaround in the cannabis industry and extraction of cannabinoids. The U.S patent was recently awarded to Real Isolates and the early signs show that this could very well be what changes the face of isolation and extraction. Read on as we explore what this new technology is, the advantages it has over existing methods and how it can benefit the industry generally.
Overview
The cannabis plant contains different types of vital phytochemical compounds such as cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. Cannabinoids are to thank for the majority of the unique medicinal and recreational effects attached to the cannabis plant. With over 100 cannabinoids present in cannabinoids present in the cannabis plant matrix, it’s no surprise that the business of extraction is now a big deal. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the two major cannabinoids in the cannabis plants but there are still other cannabinoids like cannabinol (CBC), cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabichromene (CBC).
Cannabinoids are not only found in the cannabis plant, they are also found in hemp plant material too. While cannabis is illegal federally in the United States, industrial hemp is considered legal. What legalizes cannabis as industrial hemp according to the law is that its concentration of THC must be below 0.3% of the overall composition. Many extractors who have aimed to extract THC from industrial hemp have however been hit with a bit of an obstacle. Due to the effects of the extraction process, most extraction processes available now, THC content after extraction drives us to about 3.5% which is not deemed illegal.
Following the increase in the concentration of the extracted THC, most extractors resort to dilution of the product to become compliant with regulations. This reduces the medicinal capacity of these cannabinoids and renders them unusable for the desired purpose. Another approach that has been taken to solve the problem of an increase in concentration is fractional distillation. However, this has the problem of excess loss of products and increased costs for industrial refineries.
The use of C02 extraction and liquid-solid solvent extraction has also been extensively used to extract raw cannabis oil rich in these cannabinoids from cannabis plants. The issue with this is that it is hard to regulate the concentration of the cannabinoids present in cannabis oil. This makes it harder to remove and isolate specific compounds and further makes the need for a method to extract cannabinoids pivotal. This is where the new patented method comes in as a revelation and a solution to existing problems.
Real Isolates and its patented method
Real Isolates is a biotech company that has decided to stretch its wings into the world of cannabinoid extraction. This move has resorted in its issuance of a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office recently. The patent was issued for a new method of extraction of cannabinoids and other compounds from a rare cannabis source. The biotech company takes a step further from what other extractors have been doing. This is because cannabis smoke serves as its cannabinoid source as opposed to the original plant material being used by other extraction methods.
According to the company, the product of this method of extraction is rich in common and rare cannabinoids. This is sure to increase the entourage effect of the cannabinoids which helps in their medicinal effect as shown in the available literature. The Massachusetts company also believes the product will usher in a new era of cannabis and cannabinoid-based products. The presence of rare cannabinoids is touted to promote the creation of new and improved types of edibles, topicals, and inhaled cannabis products.
By being the owner of the patent for this new extraction method, Real Isolates has put forward a product to be derived through the process. The oil to be licensed through this extraction will be sold under the brand name Smokenol. Smokenol will be made readily available to manufacturers across the country as they look to expand their reach and influence.
Advantages over conventional methods
The CEO of Real Isolates Michiel Westerkamp, in a recent release, explained some of the advantages of this recent method over other conventional methods. The first of the advantages he pointed out is that it’s a safer and simpler alternative to the general hydrocarbon and CO2 extraction. This is because these methods convey a degree of risk to the operator or extractor and the integrity of the extracted products.
The extraction method also allows cannabis product manufacturers to develop a product with dose consistency and duration similar to that experienced in smoking. Many experienced cannabis users have had this problem of convenience and dose with edibles and topicals. This is because they are used to the effects of cannabis smoke. This extraction method helps to correct that and bring a product with similar effects.
General cannabis extraction methods make use of low temperatures to facilitate their extraction. The impact of this is that a great deal of rare cannabinoids is lost to the extraction process. It also created an unbalanced composition of cannabinoids reducing the much-desired entourage effect ascribed to this balance. Smokenol on the other hand makes use of high heat which activates and transforms the cannabinoids. This then creates a rich and diverse profile of active ingredients.
Summary
The available information shows that this new patent method by Real Isolates can change the landscape of cannabis extraction. Its advantages over conventional methods as being safe, simpler, and more effective are there to see. Its efficiency in promoting the development of new and diverse products too must not be overlooked. All that is left now is to enjoy the goodness that smokenol has to offer the cannabis industry. Likewise, we also look forwards to the development of other methods that will further improve the quality of products and promote customer satisfaction.
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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