After our initial episode concluded with Liz Thompson, we decided we had more to talk about so we hit record! Enjoy this bonus conversation where we explore how Canada handles insurance coverage for Cannabis expenses and what the future of health insurance coverage for Cannabis could look like in Canada and the US.

Elizabeth Thompson is a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan currently working on a project that has started to get international attention – the National Football League’s (NFL) million dollar research project to understand how cannabinoids could impact the health and safety of athletes. In this behind-the-scenes conversation we hear Liz’s story about her personal connection to professional sports, her journey to understand molecular mechanisms of the body, links between the endocannabinoid system and sports injury recovery, and how a moment of inspiration snowballed into the clinical trial now titled “Cannabinoids for Pain Management and Neuroprotection From Concussion” (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT06204003). If you are an athlete, athletic trainer or sports healthcare worker, you have an opportunity to contribute to the NFL research project! Visit www.maryjaneathletics.com to complete a survey so that your experience and voice can be represented in this groundbreaking project! Learn more at: https://www.maryjaneathletics.com/ https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06204003 https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/health-and-wellness/pain-management/nfl-awards-1-million-to-study-impact-of-cannabis-and-cbd-on-pain-management

You may have noticed that your local gas station has started selling products marketed like Cannabis products with promises that they are legal ways to get you high without THC. No, we haven’t gone back in time. This isn’t 1999 and no, you’re not reading one of those “legal bud” ads in the back of the High Times magazine. This is 2024 and we are seeing a re-emergence of synthetic cannabinoids, particularly THC analogues, now presumably legal under the guise of the 2018 Farm Bill. Colorado Chromatography is one of the leading labs responsible for producing and studying these new cannabinoids on the block, like HHC, H4CBD, THCP, and others. In this conversation we sit down with the Chief Science Officer of and co-founder of Colorado Chromatography, Westley Cruces, to talk about their journey learning about these molecules, the results from preliminary safety studies on HHC, evidence of fraud in delta-8 and THCP products, and more! Learn more about Colorado Chromatography: https://coloradochromatography.com/

We kick off 2024 catching up with Dr. Jeff Raber of The Werc Shop to talk about Cannabis quality, Cannabis potency testing fraud, THC inflation, acetone showing up in Cannabis extracts, preparing young scientists for working in the Cannabis industry, the launch of The Werc Shop’s ENTOUR brand and more! How do we fix the lab testing fraud issue in the Cannabis industry? Why is acetone showing up in terpene-rich Cannabis samples? How can young scientists prepare for the brutal realities of working for a startup Cannabis company? We explore these questions and more in this episode of The Curious About Cannabis Podcast! Learn more about ENTOUR at www.entourbrand.com Learn more about The Werc Shop at www.thewercshop.com

Welcome back! In this episode we will spend some time diving into some of the top several scientific research articles about Cannabis that got my attention in 2023. Also, don’t forget to sign up for the 2024 Curious About Cannabis Master Class before we fill up! As of now we have 7 spots left before we are all full for the year. Don’t miss your chance to attend one of the most epic and rewarding Cannabis education events of the year! Articles mentioned: Minor, Nonterpenoid Volatile Compounds Drive the Aroma Differences of Exotic Cannabis – https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsomega.3c04496 Selected cannabis terpenes synergize with THC to produce increased CB1 receptor activation – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006295223001399 Combined non-psychoactive Cannabis components cannabidiol and β-caryophyllene reduce chronic pain via CB1 interaction in a rat spinal cord injury model – https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282920 Cannabinoformins: Designing Biguanide-Embedded, Orally Available, Peripherally Selective Cannabinoid-1 Receptor Antagonists for Metabolic Syndrome Disorders – https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c00599 Cannabis: a multifaceted plant with endless potentials – https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2023.1200269/full

What’s going on with Curious About Cannabis? Lots! Tune in to learn about the updates. Go to http://www.masterclasscannabis.com to sign up for the 2024 Curious About Cannabis Master Class Visit http://member.cacpodcast.com/ to join the Curious About Cannabis membership platform and get access to courses, videos, every podcast episode including unreleased episodes, and more! Use code “cachalloween” for 20% off CAC books until they are gone! Visit http://store.cacpodcast.com to shop now.

Did our modern conception of “sativa”, “indica”, and “ruderalis” come about because of politics rather than science? What have been the political and social factors influencing how scientists have studied and discussed Cannabis? I had the opportunity to meet Trevor Wittke to talk all about these issues and more. Trevor is a Cannabis breeder and lifelong curious mind who spends much of his time diving into the sometimes lost and opaque history of Cannabis science to better understand the plant and share his findings with others. In this discussion we unpack his recent exploration into 20th century debates around Cannabis taxonomy, particular between Richard Schultes and Ernest Small. We also talk about the strain debate and what we can learn from reading the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. We also spend time exploring key issues and concepts critical for breeders to study and understand in order to improve the landscape of commercial Cannabis. If you grow Cannabis or are interested in the history of Cannabis, you will not want to miss this episode! #CuriousAboutCannabis #CannabisEducation #Hemp #CannabisCommunity #CannabisIndustry #HempEducation #CannabisTaxonomy #Strains #Cultivar #Chemovar #Cultigen #ICNCP #UPOV #CannabisBreeding #CannabisCultivation #HempCultivation #HempBreeding

12/12 photoperiods for flowering? Flushing for better flower? Eh, you might have been misled. In this episode we meet Michael Alden, a researcher at Clemson University in South Carolina who has spent several years carefully examining how the Cannabis plant responds to inputs, stress and different cultivation techniques. He shares with us his findings so far regarding the science behind nutrient flushing, why 12/12 flowering photoperiods are not ideal for some plants, how to achieve dense buds without the use of plant growth regulators, and much more! If you are interested in the science behind Cannabis cultivation – you’ve come to the right place. #CuriousAboutCannabis #Cannabis #CannabisCultivation #CannabisGrowing #HempCultivation #HempGrowing #Flushing #PGRs #nutes #botany #horticulture #CannabisEducation #HempEducation #CannabisPodcast #CannabisScience

Explore the fascinating world of Cannabigerol (CBG) in the latest episode of our podcast! We are joined by our friendly neighborhood pharmacist – Dr. Codi Peterson. As we delve into the hot topic of CBG, we cover its effects on the body and compare it to other medications. We also take an unexpected detour to discuss the influence of AI like ChatGPT in Cannabis education. Join us as we ponder the future of Cannabis content, engage in lively conversation, and learn a lot more about this promising cannabinoid. Tune in now! #CBG #CannabisCommunity #Cannabinoids #HempProducts #PharmacyInsights #CannabisEducation #ChatGPT #FutureOfCannabisContent #CannabisPodcast #CuriousAboutCannabis #CodiPeterson #JasonWilsonMS #HempScience #Cannabigerol #CannabisIndustry #CannabisCommunity

In this behind-the-scenes episode we catch up with physician and medical Cannabis educator Peter Grinspoon, MD to talk about the ways in which Cannabis is misunderstood – both by the anti-Cannabis camps and the pro-Cannabis camps. We talk about the clinical data around medical Cannabis, what issues Cannabis has demonstrated efficacy in treating, the limitations of medical Cannabis and more. We also spend some time diving into Peter’s background, talking about his late father Lester Grinspoon, MD who authored a landmark book entitled Marihuana Reconsidered which was published in 1971 and paved the way for the medical Cannabis movements that would follow. We also discussed Peter’s brother Danny’s struggle with cancer, which claimed his life at the age of 15, and the role Cannabis played in enhancing Danny’s quality of life before he died. Later in life Peter would struggle with a grueling opiate addiction which he would later go on to write about in his 2016 book Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction. Toward the end of the show we talk about what it was like growing up around famed scientist and science communicator Carl Sagan, who was a good friend of the Grinspoon family and also a Cannabis user. Peter just released a new book entitled Seeing Through The Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles The Truth About Marijuana available now. This was a special episode for me, personally, because Peter’s work, the work of his father, and the work of Carl Sagan all had big impacts on how I came to think about Cannabis and science education. I hope you enjoy! #CannabisEducation #MedicalCannabis #MedicalMarijuana #CannabisIndustry #CannabisCommunity #Cannabinoids #Addiction #CarlSagan #LesterGrinspoon #PeterGrinspoon #Cancer