Miesiąc: luty 2020

Maintaining a well-balanced diet and an active lifestyle are two of the oldest tricks in the book to achieve optimal health. Incorporating these two practices into your routine can improve your bodily functions and ward off diseases. But if you’re looking for other means of improving your health, consider using CBD. This compound binds with the receptors in the brain and the immune system in order to provide countless health benefits.

Cannabidiol or CBD is a product extracted from industrial hemp plants. Since the human body can tolerate cannabidiol, using this product regularly doesn’t harm any organs or result in dependency or addiction. On the contrary, long-term use of CBD can help with the following 

1- Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a long-lasting disease that attacks your central nervous system and damages the brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord. Failure to seek the necessary treatment for this disease can lead to poor balance and muscle control problems. The longer multiple sclerosis is left untreated, the more severe its effects can get.

CBD can manage the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. CBD has anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties that can help reduce muscle contractions and pain caused by multiple sclerosis. CBD can help people with multiple sclerosis because it helps relax their muscles, lessens the severity of its symptoms, and prevents the disease from getting worse.

2- Anxiety And Depression

Your physical and mental health works hand in hand. It’ll be hard to attain optimal physical health if your mental health is poor, and vice versa. How can you find the motivation to exercise or eat right if your mind has too many negative thoughts?

You can achieve your health goals faster when you use CBD. This product can effectively combat anxiety and depression by regulating and improving the production of serotonin in your brain. This is a neurotransmitter responsible for your mood and social behavior.

According to studies, people with normal levels of serotonin have greater stress tolerance and lesser susceptibility to anxiety and depression. Serotonin can improve how the brain functions, making it easier for you to manage stress and prevent it from developing into a mental health problem.

3- Cancer Symptoms

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. This disease takes millions of lives every year, with patients getting younger and younger. Aside from having a healthy lifestyle, using CBD regularly can also help you attain a cancer-free life. This works because CBD can increase the death of cancer cells and prevent them from spreading in different parts of your body.

For people diagnosed with cancer, CBD can also help because this can reduce the pain and discomfort a patient usually feels after going through treatments. Undergoing repetitive radiation and chemotherapy treatments can weaken the body and cause nausea and vomiting. With frequent use, CBD can lessen the severity and frequency of these symptoms.

4- Acne And Other Skin Issues

As mentioned, your physical and mental health share a connection. Disregarding the importance of one can adversely affect the condition of the other.

Acne might only be visible on the skin, but dealing with this skin issue over and over again can harm your mental health. Acne can cause poor body image and low self-esteem, and in worse cases, can trigger anxiety and depression.  

If you have been trying to get rid of acne but failed countless times already, using CBD might be the only solution you’ll need. CBD can regulate the overproduction of oil from your skin, so it doesn’t trap dirt and moisture, and cause acne. With normal levels of oil, dirt can easily slide from your skin and lessen acne breakouts.

5- Cardiovascular Diseases

Your heart is one of the most important organs in your body because it pumps oxygen and circulates nutrients to all of your organs and systems. But as you start to age, your heart’s ability to function will decline. It won’t be able to work as efficiently as it becomes prone to illnesses and diseases.

You can keep your heart healthy even as a senior by adding CBD to your daily routine. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, CBD can prevent the arteries and nerves in and around your heart to narrow. As a result, oxygen and nutrients can pass smoothly from the heart to other parts of your body.

Consult Your Doctor

CBD is generally safe for use, but before you decide to add this product to your diet, it’s always best to consult your doctor first. Using the wrong type of CBD product or taking it in the wrong dose can result in severe health risks and side effects.

By talking to your doctor, you can gain professional advice about the best CBD product to use based on your current health status and fitness goals. Working closely with your doctor can help you achieve the best results from CBD without putting your health at risk.

WE SAID THIS: Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.

In this week’s Industry Focus: Wild Card Wednesday, Emily Flippen talks with Matt Anderson from Vanguard Scientific. This show was prerecorded in December at MJBizCon, the world’s biggest conference for the cannabis industry. Matt talks about his history in the regulated-products market, why marijuana is a lot like the oil we put in our cars, what investors need to know about buying into the market now that it’s dropped so harshly from its highs, how the marijuana industry might handle vertical integration, and more.

To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool’s free podcasts, check out our podcast center. To get started investing, check out our quick-start guide to investing in stocks. A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on Dec. 11, 2019.

Emily Flippen: It’s Wednesday, Jan. 29, and I’m your host, Emily Flippen. For this week’s Wildcard Wednesday, we’re going back in time a little bit, back to Dec. 11, 2019, when we traveled out to Las Vegas for cannabis convention MJBizCon. While our team was out there covering the cannabis industry, we had the opportunity to sit down and chat with one industry insider himself, Matt Anderson. 

Now, before we dive into our interview, I want to give listeners a quick overview of the cannabis industry to the extent that I can. We hear a lot about investing in pot stocks, especially in the news, and the volatility that comes with it. But it’s important to understand the industry dynamics for the cannabis industry. They’re completely different than any other industry you may be investing in. For those who aren’t aware, marijuana, both medical and recreational, is legal in Canada, as well as 11 states across the U.S. Hemp was legalized across the U.S. in 2018, and it’s not the same thing as marijuana. Hemp is derived from the same cannabis plant that marijuana is, but it doesn’t contain any of the psychoactive substances — that’s THC. CBD is a chemical that can be derived from hemp, and the sale of hemp-derived CBD topicals is legal nationwide. 

So, having covered our bases there, the opening of the cannabis industry has opened up a whole new part of the equity markets. A lot of investors have lost their shirts investing in the cannabis space, while others still see the long-term potential. We sat down with Matt and we talked about his business, the state of the cannabis industry today, and what he sees for cannabis investors in the future. We hope you enjoy the interview!

Matt, thanks for sitting down with us today and talking. We’re here at MJBizCon, which is the largest cannabis conference for professionals in the world. Yet there are still a lot of investors and a lot of listeners out there who have no idea about what investing in cannabis even means. You have been around the block yourself, to say the least, in the cannabis space, so I’d love to hear a little bit more about your background, your history, and how you got started in cannabis.

Matt Anderson: So it’s dangerous, right, to say you’ve been around the block in the cannabis industry. My background’s actually in regulated products. When I was 21, I built a distillery in my garage and made bathtub gin. Fast-forward seven years, we had two distilleries built in the United States and we were distributed in 17 states. Coming out of the alcohol space in 2015, I joined the regulated environment in Florida, actually for Senate Bill 1030, which was high CBD, it was called the Charlotte’s Web Initiative. And I really got to see the difference between luxury or alcohol products to a real health-controlled product like a cannabinoid. And from that, the industry has just blown up, right? It’s been something that’s had conversations touching medicine, therapeutics, all the way to recreational and consumer dollars. So, for investors looking in the space, they’ve been able to find a niche, but then trying to quantify what that niche opportunity means has been, let’s just say, less than straightforward.

Flippen: Your role now, you are now the CEO of Vanguard Scientific, which is an extraction company. I know a lot of listeners out there were probably confused by a lot of the words — not only extraction, but cannabinoid, even. So maybe give us a baseline. What do you do now? 

Anderson: Yeah, sure. We’re actually technology integrators, but, extraction company, sure. Let’s use oil and gas for comparison. The oil that you pull out of the ground isn’t the same E-85 that you put in your gas tank. There’s about nine to 10 different pieces of equipment, and then a number of specialized different steps that take, to actually be able to consistently produce that final oil product. The same is exactly true for this industry. Whether you’re looking to produce a full-spectrum oil for a therapeutics product, or you want to get a distillate or isolated cannabinoid product for pharmaceutical off-take, there’s different equipment, different processes, and different regulatory hurdles that are needed in order to be followed and compliant do so. What we do is, we work with our clients in a sole source relationship. So we’ll show up and become consultant advisors. We’ll help them procure their equipment to meet their needs. Our company’s technology agnostic, so we represent the best extraction companies on the floor today. And then, we help them understand knowledge, technology, and methodology so they can actually produce compliant ingredients to get to the final market. 

Flippen: I love that analogy you used about the gas you’re pulling out of the ground not necessarily being the same thing that you put in your car. Obviously, your company now is great kind of a middleman in that process. I’ll continue the analogy. You have upstream, midstream, and downstream in the energy sector. In the cannabis sector, it can be the same, right? You have people who are growing their product, people like yourself who are working in the middle, transforming what you pull out of the ground into something like oil. And then, you have people who are maybe taking that and then putting labels on it and selling it to the end consumer there. So it’s a really great analogy, and there’s lots of interesting, investable companies at every point along the space. But the equity markets now, they’ve been really depressed. Maybe talk to us about what we’re seeing today that’s impacting the equity markets, both in Canada and the U.S. 

Anderson: Look, I think that what’s happened in this over 60% retrenchment of the Canadian markets was probably the best thing or the most healthy thing that could have happened to the industry. For better or for worse, we’ve had very comfortable legal firms and very comfortable NYMEX or CSEX marketplaces that were enabling pre-revenue companies to justify large valuations.

For sophisticated investors, they kind of saw it coming. Quarterly reports were coming, and without real revenues or real assets, you were selling on an opportunity of a value creation. So we saw that happening in the United States. But at the same time, some of the more sophisticated private equity groups in the United States began to aggregate dollars and then bet on real revenue, and bet on, let’s say, horses that could run. Vanguard, for instance, we’re eight quarters of on-target earnings, and we’ve really focused on returning that investor experience.

This is going to be the largest economy in the United States and the world. Dow Chemical have released a small press release that said by 2025 that hemp might actually be larger than soy production globally. So when you start thinking about what the actual cannabinoids can do, and then the actual plant itself below the flower, we’re starting to talk about addressing plastics and biofuels, right? Pain management. I think the number we quoted was something like a $2.6 trillion investable or addressable market that’s capable.

So the equity markets themselves, what they’ve done is, they’ve said, „Look, you can’t bet the widget and expect the horse to come in. You have to do your diligence. You’ve got to look at a run rate. You’ve got to look at the fitness of a company. And just like any other industry, you have to use some standards before you place capital.”

Flippen: Now that the valuations we’ve seen in the public market have come back down to a reasonable basis, it really gives investors something to start working off here. What do you see as being the biggest headwinds and the biggest tailwinds for cannabis companies today? 

Anderson: Wow, that’s a great question. I think that companies that have published forward-looking perspectives that haven’t recalibrated or haven’t had a chance to readdress what they’ve promised are in a tough position. I’ve seen some of the best companies, no matter how big they are, print reactionary statements saying, „Look, given the circumstances in the environment, here’s now our recast.” Those are things that I really look for and appreciate in leadership teams.

Yeah, they take a haircut in upfront valuation, but they’re finally putting a barrier, or I should say a hurdle rate out there, that they’ll actually be able to hit, versus getting ready to let their investors down again. So I think that’s probably a very large headwind opportunity. Folks that have gone heavy on the wrong infrastructure, that have invested in the wrong part of the supply chain, one would argue it’s time to recap those companies’ bets and start over. 

Flippen: In terms of tailwinds, for Vanguard Scientific, what do you think is catalyzing the industry moving forward? Is there any reason why retail investors should be involved in the cannabis industry today? 

Anderson: Yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. I think that the regulatory hurdles overall create the market opportunity. In any sort of industry that has hurdles or barriers to entry, what you see is market opportunity for those companies or performers that have the fitness level to compete. So, not everybody has a chance to be on the Walgreens shelf, but boy, oh boy, once that product hits the shelf, they’re in 100 stores worldwide.

So, kind of looking at that analogy, for those operating teams and those companies that have a strong value proposition — and I’d say Vanguard definitely is one of those companies — what we’re doing is promising our investors stabilized returns. We’re looking to smooth out the return narrative while we’re aggressively asking them to invest in audacious reaches for us to continue to expand our business model. 

Flippen: Now, as somebody who is operating in that midsection of the market, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about vertical integration. It’s a fancy word to just say that there are a lot of companies out there that are making the decision, whether that be because of their own personal beliefs about the market or regulatory requirements, to own every aspect of the value proposition in the cannabis sector. So they’re owning the seed to sale experience, producing it, extracting it, changing it, labeling products, doing it all themselves, getting to consumers. Obviously, that is not your business right now. How do you feel about the future of vertical integration? 

Anderson: Great question. You go back to business school; you’ve got two paradigms. One’s buy versus build. Can you be great at everything? Are you an expert at every step of that value chain? And then you start setting things, supply chain integration, right? And that doesn’t say vertical supply chain. I’m not saying I own it all. But what it does mean is, I do have a tight relationship, right? I’m hardwired and understanding, in which I know tolerances, plus and minus a value across the supply chain, so I can do what is the most important part, and that’s promise consistency in the final product.

So I think some of the companies that are doing it the best aren’t necessarily coming in and saying, „I have to own the company because I want to justify on my balance sheet that I’ve got the value creation,” but they’ve come in and invested in this supply chain infrastructure because they have the need to guarantee that final product. So I think it’s supply chain integration versus vertical integration for the win. 

Flippen: Matt, thank you so much for talking with us here at MJBizCon. It’s been an absolute pleasure. 

Anderson: Yeah, thank you and thank The Motley Fool!

Flippen: As always, people on the program may have interest in companies discussed on the show, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against any stocks mentioned, so don’t buy or sell anything based solely on what you hear. Thanks to Austin Morgan for his work behind the glass today. I’m Emily Flippen. Thanks for listening, and Fool on!

The global march toward cannabis legalization has seemingly awoken another long dormant area of scientific interest: psychedelics as medicine. While the idea of using LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin (the main hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms) to treat mental health disorders is far from a trail-blazing concept, this whole area of research had been off limits for the better part of the last 50 years. Then, something strange happened.

In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation (BTD) to Compass Pathways’ psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression. A few months later, the agency awarded BTD for Usona Institute’s psilocybin therapy for major depressive disorder. In lockstep with the FDA’s more open-minded approach toward psychedelic medicine, Denver, Oakland, and Santa Cruz all decided to decriminalize magic mushrooms. Hundreds of other U.S. cities are reportedly considering similar measures at the moment.

Image Source: Getty Images.

The dawn of a new era in psychedelic medicine

This renewed interest in psychedelics is being sparked by a pair of seemingly unrelated events. First up, cannabis has now been scientifically validated as a treatment for two severe forms of childhood epilepsy (more on this in a moment). These pioneering efforts with cannabis as medicine, in turn, have inspired researchers to take a second look at other controversial compounds like psilocybin.

The second driver is Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) groundbreaking work with the ketamine-derived medicine Spravato. In March 2019, J&J’s hard work paid off when the FDA approved Spravato for treatment-resistant depression. This landmark approval is unique in that ketamine is well known to have hallucinogenic properties, as well as a long history as a party drug.

What’s important to understand is that a paradigm shift is starting to taking shape within the Western medical community. In effect, scientists are increasingly intrigued by the therapeutic potential of psychedelics as treatments for a whole range of mental health disorders. Pyschedelic medicine thus has the potential to be a gold mine for early investors.   

Shroom stocks may be a far better bet than cannabis  

Psychedelic medicine offers investors several key advantages over legal cannabis. First and foremost, there will be considerably less competition in this emerging space, thanks to the stringent scientific, logistical, and regulatory barriers involved. Keeping with this theme, J&J’s Spravato has to be administered under the direct supervision of a healthcare provider. All psychedelic therapies are likely to be administered in the same manner. That’s a level of administrative control that simply doesn’t exist for medical cannabis.

In addition, psychedelic therapies will probably sport markedly stronger intellectual property rights than most medical cannabis products. This built-in economic moat should translate into steady levels of revenue growth for the industry — a key feature that is currently lacking in the legal cannabis space because of the lack of a viable competitive moat. 

What’s the risk? Any approved medicines will have to be rescheduled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Right now, almost all psychedelics are listed as Schedule I drugs, meaning they have no currently accepted medical use and are considered to have a high potential for abuse.

Fortunately, this issue shouldn’t be a show-stopper. Back in 2018, the DEA rescheduled GW Pharmaceuticals’ (NASDAQ:GWPH) cannabis-based epilepsy medicine, Epidiolex, following its regulatory approval by the FDA. So, there’s no overarching reason to think psychedelics can’t be handled in the same manner, especially if a drug successfully completes a rigorous clinical trial program.   

Potential IPOs within the next year 

This flurry of clinical activity and growing public interest in pyschedelic medicine is expected to spark a handful of initial public offerings (IPOs) soon. Here is a list of the companies known to be considering an IPO. 

Mind Medicine is reportedly considering an IPO on Toronto’s NEO Exchange in early March. The IPO would take place via a reverse takeover under the ticker MMED. Mind Medicine lists former Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) co-CEO Bruce Linton as a director, as well as Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary as an investor. 

Compass Pathways is also mulling over the public option. One of the company’s main financial backers, biotech building company Atai Life Sciences, has reportedly spoken to multiple financial institutions about an IPO for Compass. Atai is seeking an $800 million capitalization for Compass upon its public debut, presumably on a Canadian stock exchange.  

Field Trip Ventures is a Canadian venture capital fund that funds research into psychedelic medicines. The company has stated that it might consider going public sometime soon, but it may also decide to remain private for the time being because of the nascent stage of the industry. 

What’s the opportunity?

Buying psychedelic medicine stocks during the first wave of IPOs is a risky proposition, to be sure. But the upside potential is undoubtedly immense. Any novel drugs approved for hard-to-treat forms of depression will have megablockbuster sales potential, with annual sales topping $5 billion. In that event, a Compass Pathway IPO, even at an initial market cap of $800 million, would probably look like an incredible bargain in hindsight. 

The IPOs of Canopy Growth and GW Pharmaceuticals illustrate this point nicely. In brief, Canopy Growth and GW Pharmaceuticals both delivered 1,000% plus returns for investors that bought their IPOs. Psychedelic medicine stocks, though, may eclipse even these stately returns, thanks to their inherent competitive advantages over the struggling legal marijuana industry.  

For example:

#1 – Convenience

Being able to carry around your CBD oil in your vape pen makes it incredibly easy to access CBD oil whenever you want.

Instead of having to carry a vial of delicate CBD oil, or transport CBD gummies with you, you can instead keep it in your CBD vape pen.

Many vape pens charge using batteries, so you only need to load it up with your preferred CBD vape oil, and you are good to go.

It can also be incredibly discreet – you need to take it out, take a toke, and put it away, allowing for covert puffs when no one is looking.

It can also have a variety of healthier implications, as well.

#2 – No Combustion

Though this isn’t something most people consider when starting to use CBD vape pens, one of the most significant benefits of using them is that they don’t involve any combustion.

When you smoke regular marijuana, even if it is only CBD-rich with no THC content, it still must combust to be burned. This process of combustion can be incredibly damaging to your lungs, resulting in a variety of different health conditions.

Even ignoring all the damage that combustion can do to your lungs, avoiding combustion also means avoiding heat. When you smoke, you have to deal with the hot smoke that is a fundamental part of the smoking experience. With CBD vape pens, however, you can altogether avoid it due to the fact that the smoke is typically cooled to reasonable levels before you inhale.

This also lends itself to developing a better flavor profile as well.

#3 – Better Flavors

When you don’t have to deal with the intense burning sensation that regular smoking brings, you can then get to enjoy a more complex, intricate taste experience with CBD vape pens.

This is why you can typically find all kinds of different, unique and exciting flavors to add to your CBD vape pen.

Flavor can come in the form of terpene packs to add to your smoking experience, giving you the flavor of your very favorite weed strains. If you prefer more artificial and interesting flavors, you can buy all kinds of individual tastes to combine into the perfect vape experience.

No other method of imbibing CBD allows you to taste bubblegum or apricot at the same time, so it is one of the key reasons why so many people use it over other methods.

One other benefit of these better flavors is that you don’t run the risk of offending people with the smell of your smoking. Instead of cannabis smell, or regular CBD oil vaporized, you can instead fill the air with the scent of jasmine or green tea.

Is There Anything to Worry About with CBD Vape Pens?

Sadly, most things have a few side effects, and CBD vape pens are no exception. While there are innumerable benefits of choosing to use a CBD vape pen over other methods of imbibing CBD oil, it is still a good idea to keep something in mind.

Some more mediocre quality CBD vape pen oils are made using propylene glycol, which has been linked to higher health risks after multiple years of using it.

So, if you do want to make the jump to using CBD vape pens, make sure you check a variety of informative websites like Marijuanabreak to find out which are the best products to use.

Dany German

Sponsored

Canadian cannabis companies are introducing lower-priced, „value brand” marijuana in a bid to overtake sellers on the illegal market, who reportedly account for nearly 70 percent of the country’s total cannabis sales.

Recreational marijuana was legalized in Canada under the Cannabis Act, which has been in effect from October 2018. Canada is the second country in the world to legalize cannabis for recreational use nationwide after Uruguay.

In the year following the legalization of recreational cannabis, marijuana sales reached around $908 million, with more than 400 retail stores available across the country. However, sales from online shops and retail stores accounted for only around 15 percent of the total revenue as of September 2019, according to a report by Statistics Canada released last December.

„Online sales represented 13.3% of total sales from cannabis stores since legalization,” while „direct-to-consumer trade by wholesalers, including retail sales by publicly operated cannabis stores classified as wholesalers, accounted for a total 1.9% of cannabis-related retail activity since October 2018,” the report said.

Legally sourced cannabis was reportedly priced at an average of $7.84 per gram, while illegal sources offered it at around $4.36 per gram on average during the last quarter of 2019, according to Statistics Canada.

The strong competition has prompted three of Canada’s biggest cannabis producers (Canopy Growth, Tilray and Aurora) to introduce lower-priced marijuana products offering equal, if not better, value for money.

Twd., Canopy’s value brand, is offering a one-ounce product this April called „Twd. 28”, which will be priced at $4 per gram, with a THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) potency level of 13 to 25 percent, CNBC reports.

„All of this is designed to draw consumers from the illicit market and into legal channels,” Adam Greenblatt, Canopy’s business development head, told CNBC.

He added, „It’s there to provide more variety and more of a value offering to ideally mature the market. Low-cost cannabis attracts bulk purchasers, people on the illicit side who would buy their cannabis by the ounce. People who buy cannabis by the ounce have been toughest to convert.”

Tilray, one of the world’s largest producers of premium medical marijuana, is launching a „no-frills cannabis brand” known as „The Batch.” It will be offered in three sizes, seven grams being the largest and a THC count of 10 to 15.9 percent.

„The Batch is a new no-frills cannabis brand focused on delivering quality cannabis flower and pre-rolls at competitive prices,” Tilray’s chief marketing officer, Adine Fabiani-Carter, told CNBC.

„We expect our new product format and offerings to increase revenue and profitability over the long term,” the officer added.

Aurora will also introduce its value brand „Daily Special”, with a THC level of 15 to 21 percent. It will be available in three sizes, 15 grams being the largest.

The use and possession of marijuana is illegal in the U.S. under federal jurisdiction, but the law varies at the state level. Its use (be it recreational or medical) is legal across some states in the country.

A poll released by the Pew Research Center last November showed that the majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana. The survey showed 91 percent of Americans to be in favor of legal marijuana for medical or recreational use (59 percent want both uses legalized), while 32 percent would support legalizing it for medical use only.

More than half of U.S. adults (52 percent) opposed the legalization marijuana in 2010 but by 2019, that figure dropped significantly by 32 percent.

An employee managing cannabis plants at a cannabis factory in Lincoln, Ontario, on October 12, 2018. Getty Images

As a cannabis policy expert, I can confidently say that Elizabeth Warren has the best plan to legalize marijuana.

Why? Because her plan not only addresses ending prohibition, but it considers how legalization can be executed in an equitable and just manner. The failed „War on Drugs” disproportionately harmed African-American, Latino and poor families across the United States. Countless lives were ruined at the hands of our government that spread lies about the damage of the plant and suppressed research that could prove its medical efficacy.

We need a bold new approach that legalizes cannabis, expunges past convictions, and creates an inclusive cannabis industry — Elizabeth Warren has a plan for that.

I live in Pueblo — the poorest of Colorado’s large cities, and also the only majority Latino city. When I read in her plan that “anti-marijuana laws were first adopted over a hundred years ago to target primarily Mexican migrants and Mexican-Americans” and that “the term ‘marijuana’ itself was racialized, meant to associate the plant with Mexican-origin people, stigmatizing both,” I knew that Elizabeth is a candidate who understands both the history and the policy of cannabis.

This is personal to me. As a state Representative and Minority Leader in the Colorado Legislature, I had a leading role in developing our marijuana rules. We’ve raised over a billion dollars in cannabis tax revenue that funds school infrastructure, full-day kindergarten, youth literacy programs, and investments in homelessness services and mental health care. That’s why I’m impressed with Elizabeth’s commitment to passing Senator Booker’s bill to invest $500 million a year into Black and Latino communities that have suffered the most harm and work to repair the damage done by our criminal justice system.

As a Pueblo County Commissioner, I established the first cannabis-funded college scholarship program for every high school graduate to pursue higher education. We also created the Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University-Pueblo. That’s why I admire her work to enable and expand federal marijuana research, particularly for medical use by veterans who suffer from chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.

I agree with Elizabeth: Bringing marijuana into the regulatory framework is insufficient. We have a responsibility to ensure equity in the cannabis industry. Those who are already wealthy should not be the largest beneficiaries after a century of racist enforcement policy. Small and minority-owned businesses deserve a fighting chance at success. That’s why I’m encouraged by her commitment to maintaining competitive markets and increasing access to capital for women- and minority-owned businesses.

Sal Pace was a strong proponent of allowing the legal cannabis industry into Pueblo County.

Courtesy of Sal Pace

Elizabeth is not a lifelong politician, but she is a lifelong fighter for people in need. After the Trump administration and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced their intention to interfere with states that legalized weed, Elizabeth fought back to protect the people of Colorado. She worked across the aisle, even with Senator Cory Gardner, despite disagreeing with him on the vast majority of issues. She demonstrated her legislative skills and willingness to put people over party in order to make progress.

Her leadership sent a clear message to Trump and Sessions that the American people were united against their anti-marijuana agenda. It’s one reason that I’m so confident she’s the best person to be the next President of the United States. She’s consistent in her belief in doing the most good, for the most people, as quickly as possible.

A candidate who can mobilize cannabis voters will also inspire new people to the polls. Data shows that cannabis voters turn out when politicians speak to them about cannabis policy. Two years ago, tens of thousands of cannabis employees received mail and phone calls explaining how Jared Polis was an advocate for marijuana. Then they were asked to go vote. These cannabis voters who had previously voted at significantly lower rates in the last gubernatorial election turned out at a rate of nearly 50 percent in 2018. Only Elizabeth Warren has the track record and campaign plan to engage these mostly millennial cannabis voters, inspiring them to turn out in historic numbers in 2020.

As a cannabis voter, I’m proud to endorse Elizabeth Warren for President. I hope you will vote for her on March 3.

Sal Pace has served as a Pueblo County Commissioner and Democratic Minority Leader in the Colorado House of Representatives. He is currently a boardmember of Mineral Hill Industries, a cannabis real estate company, and serves on the board of directors for the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization dedicated to cannabis law reform.

Westword occasionally runs opinion pieces and essays on matters of interest to residents of metro Denver. Have one you’d like to share? Email editorial@westword.com.

“Decarb” is one of the first terms you hear when you decide to get more serious about weed than simply finding the best place to buy an eighth.

“That flower isn’t going to get you high unless you decarb it.”

If all you do is smoke, you don’t have to worry about decarbing cannabis. The flower is automatically decarbed when it’s burned or vaped.

It becomes an issue, though, if you plan on processing your bud to make products like oils, tinctures or edibles. In those cases, the common wisdom is correct: you won’t get high until you decarb it first.

What is Decarboxylation, and Why is it Important?

It’s commonly believed that cannabis contains both THC and CBD. That’s not actually true.

Cannabis flowers contain THCA and CBDA, which are precursors to the better-known cannabinoids responsible for pot’s psychoactive and medicinal properties. In order for THCA and CBDA to be turned into THC and CBD, respectively, they must be converted by having one of the carboxylic acid groups removed from their molecular makeup.

That removal process, as you may have guessed, is called decarbing (which stands for decarboxylation). Decarbing “activates” the THC and CBD in weed; it occurs when the flower is heated or burned – which is why you don’t have to bother with decarbing when you smoke or vape pot. It happens naturally.

When you want to use marijuana for some other purpose, though, it must be decarbed first. Otherwise, its THC and CBD aren’t activated, and there will be virtually no medical benefit and no high when you consume it. As one example, you can’t buy some bud, blend it into a smoothie and expect to get baked. Unless you’ve decarbed it first, you may not even feel a slight buzz.

(Some people believe you don’t have to decarb pot if you’re going to be using it in a baked product, like brownies. That’s somewhat true; you don’t have to. But lab tests show that only some of the THC and CBD is activated when you bake raw cannabis in food. To reach full potency and realize the full benefits, always decarb first.)

So that’s what decarbing is. Here’s how to do it.

How to Decarboxylate Cannabis

In the Oven

The simplest way to decarb your weed is to put it into the oven.

You have to be careful with the temperature, though, for several reasons. Once the temperature goes over 300° you risk damaging the integrity of the cannabinoids, which obviously is not desirable. But those higher temperatures also can compromise the terpenes in cannabis, the oils responsible for pot’s flavor and aroma (and according to many scientists, possibly responsible for some of the psychoactive and medical effects as well). Once terpenes are exposed to high temperatures they can evaporate, leaving the cannabis tasting and smelling bad.

That means you want a temperature well under 300° for decarbing. The best choice is somewhere between 220° and 240°, depending on how hot your oven runs. Lower and slower is better when it comes to decarbing, so start at 220° and adjust on future batches if necessary.

You want the weed to brown slowly without burning. If it’s browning too fast or starting to burn, turn the heat down. Decarbing begins after about half-an-hour at 220°, but the entire process can take longer; 45 minutes is a good amount of time for your first batch.

Here’s the actual procedure to follow.

1. Crumple a large piece of aluminum foil (you can use parchment paper as well) and place it on top of an oven-safe baking sheet.
2. Break your flower into small pieces, each about the size of a grain of rice, and spread it out on the foil. Don’t grind it finely, because that will make it more likely to burn.
3. Loosely cover the foil and pot with a second piece of foil (or parchment), and bake at 220° for 45 minutes. When it’s golden brown in color, it’s done.
4. Cool and store in an air-tight container. It can now be ground finely for use in recipes if desired.

That’s all there is to it.

This simple method of decarbing may smell up your kitchen and oven more than you’d like. If you want to reduce the odor, there are ways to do that.

Using a Glass Jar

If you take your small bud pieces and heat them in a sealed jar (like a mason jar), most of the odor will stay inside the jar instead of spreading throughout your house. This method also helps keep the pot from burning and keeps the flavor and aroma inside the jar, a great benefit if you want to make an infusion later on.

1. Break your flower into small pieces, each about the size of a grain of rice. Don’t grind it finely, because that will make it more likely to burn.
2. Put the weed into your jar and lightly screw on the lid.
3. Spread a damp towel on an oven-safe baking sheet, put the jar on top of it, and bake at 220°. Open the oven and shake the jar every 10-15 minutes to make sure the flower heats evenly.
4. After an hour, remove the jar, shake once more, and let cool for another hour.
5. The decarbed pot is ready for use, or for storage. It can now be ground finely for use in recipes if desired.

Other Decarbing Methods

If you’re already a whiz in the kitchen or are ready to layout some bucks, there are other methods you can use to decarb your cannabis.

• A sous vide cooker (or immersion circulator) is perfect for decarbing, since the whole point of sous vide is to maintain an exact temperature for a long period of time. If using this method, you should pre-grind the weed since there’s no danger of it overheating or burning. Set the temperature at 205° and cook for 90 minutes.
• Decarboxylator machines sold for home use are relatively inexpensive, between $100-$200, and they make the process simple while eliminating most of the odor. Decarbing takes longer than in an oven, about 90 minutes, but this is a terrific alternative if you do a lot of cooking.
• A final alternative is buying a Magical Butter Machine or similar appliance, which will decarb the herb as it makes infused oils, tinctures or cannabutter. The cost is about the same.

Decarbing is a time-consuming but necessary process if you plan to do any baking or cooking with cannabis. Trust us, it’s well worth the time and effort.