Tag: cannabinoids

Godspeed, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam 1930-2023

Deep gratitude to the Godfather of Cannabis Research.

After starting at Harborside in 2013, I was introduced to the work of Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, the Godfather of Cannabis Research — he isolated THC in 1964! If you don’t know this legend and his work, read/share his self-authored look back in the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology describing the life journey of the Bulgarian Holocaust survivor. Also, please watch/share Zach Klein’s incredible documentary, The Scientist.

It’s an incredible doc about how Mechoulam got started, and then continued to research cannabis for more than 60 years Among his early stories of getting five kilos of hashish from the police to research THC, and the strange looks he got on the city bus taking him back to the lab. His first research into the effects of THC happened in his home. He dosed five pieces of his wife’s cake with 10mg pure THC, and observed friends who took it, as compared to the five of them whose pieces were not dosed.

In 2017, with sweat beading on my brow, I sent Raphael Mechoulam a LinkedIn request to connect. I was shocked when he accepted the request within a few hours. We began a cursory conversation. I reached out to him to ask specific questions; he usually answered within a couple of days. His responses were short and business-like. After a heated debate with co-workers at Harborside on how many cannabinoids had been discovered in the plant…(with several saying 120), I clapped back shortly thereafter that “Mechoulam told me ‘more than 100, most in minute amounts.'” Eyebrows raised.

At the start of the pandemic, I reached out, with fingers crossed, to ask Dr. Mechoulam if he thought there was any potential for cannabis to fight Covid19.

  • Raphael Mechoulam  10:31 PM Hello, We are trying to convince clinicians to look at CBD for the second (lung inflammation) phase of the CORONA infection.  Best R. Mechoulam
  • APR 6, 2020 Jaene Leonard sent the following message at 8:48 AM Jaene Leonard (She/Her)  8:48 AM How’s it going? Are they receptive?
  • Raphael Mechoulam sent the following message at 9:44 AM Raphael Mechoulam  9:44 AM Not yet
  • Jaene Leonard sent the following messages at 3:26 PM Jaene Leonard (She/Her)  3:26 PM Well, thank you for advocating.

He went on to say he was working with two other teams — in Israel and Brazil.

Shortly thereafter, GW Pharmaceutical’s Epidiolex was descheduled in the U.S. I’m guessing with the hope that it could possibly be used for the cytokine storm characterizing second phase of that first devastating strain of the coronavirus.

In 2020, Mechoulam received The Harvey Prize, considered by many to be a predictor of the Nobel Prize. [I recently found a petition to have Dr. Mechoulam considered for the Nobel Prize. Please add your name and share this! (You can choose to have your name withheld from the public!)]

Dr. Mechoulam continued to work with cannabis compounds. Here are links to an article about his latest discovery of and research on cannabidiolic acid methyl ester (EPM301), and further information on his projects from the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I’m certain we’ll continue to see more come of his cutting-edge research in the future.

Side Note: I went back to school in 2019 to get my degree in screenwriting. I was inspired to write about cannabis from different perspectives, and in 2020 finished a fish-out-of-water pilot. A non-using cannabis researcher let go from Mechoulam’s lab team lands an educator job in a busy California dispensary. May this piece have legs.

So much of my work this past decade would not have happened without your work coming before. Thank you for being the trailblazer, sir. I bow in honor to you. May you fly free, Raphael Mechoulam. Thank you for all the blessings.

The Compassionate Budtender’s Chalk Talks… How Does Cannabis Do it All?

How is it possible cannabis helps with so many things? It works with systems in the body to promote balance!

Watch and learn about how cannabis interacts with the amazing ECS!

This Week with Jaene: Sunday – iRest Yoga Nidra in Oakland; Monday – Microdosing & Mindfulness, in San Francisco.

Your choice: a taste of Yoga Nidra, or a nice long, supported practice. Come and bathe in the moment.

 Starting this Sunday! Monthly iRest® Yoga Nidra 2-hour workshops at      Square One Yoga in Temescal! 

iRest Yoga Nidra Square One

Continuing this Monday! Ongoing Microdosing & Mindfulness at        Harvest Off Mission in San Francisco!  Free for 21+ with a valid ID   /  B.Y.O.C.    Medicating is optional!

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#7 ThCB — Honor thy Budtender

Be kind to your Budtender.

The Legend of 420 Harborside Screen Shot 2017-12-06
Courtesy, The Legend of 420, currently on Netflix.

I know, friends, we’re all excited. Suddenly, what was verboten for many years is free to all. Well. Not free. In fact, taxes are upwards of 35% for Adult Use cannabis in California. But you get it. Freely accessible. You just might have wait in some long lines with other equally excited folks. All those throngs of excited people sift and filter down to come face to face to one person: The Budtender.

I worked until recently at Harborside, the biggest (and arguably the most famous) dispensary in the Bay Area for nearly five years — with just under two of those years spent in the role of Budtender.  Under the leadership of the dynamic Steve DeAngelo, our team of Budtenders made it our collective mission to quench our own thirst for cannabis knowledge — combing the internet for, studying, and sampling (on our own time) as much cannabis as we possibly could. We shared with fellow Budtenders the knowledge we culled independently from researchers, growers and product-makers about the different cultivars of cannabis, the varying effects of cannabinoids and terpenes, products and methods of delivery — all information that is constantly evolving and changing — so that we might best serve the patient — you.

Everyone I know in the California cannabis industry has worked hard for the legitimate advancement of cannabis as medicine because we’ve experienced firsthand how effective and powerful it is. We’ve also seen — again and again — how it helps others. Everyone you’d ever see in your lifetime, we’ve seen at the counter, right in front of us, telling us their stories of struggle and heartbreak, of pain and loss. Google ‘cannabis helped my’ and watch the testimonials pile up onto the results pages. We’ve come in contact with the lot of them. It’s nearly impossible to hold that kind of space for healing on the daily and not be enduringly and seriously affected by it. Changed.

Along with the plants we’ve watched fill our gardens and line our shelves, our capacity for compassion has blossomed in ways we never imagined. The roots of this ever-evolving compassion informs our every decision — even outside of the workplace. Cannabis, in its essence, connects us to each other, helps us to empathize and try on the struggle of another, to see things from beyond the neatness of opposing views, to approach even the toughest of situations from a ground of love and respect for humankind.

And those times when we fail at the grand mission of compassion that cannabis has imprinted upon us, we suffer a greater sense of guilt than most — How we might have handled things better? How might we have been a better resource for information? How might we have tried to connect, rather than distance ourselves, from the suffering of another? How might we have exhibited more willingness to listen, observe, and, when appropriate, educate and encourage?

We share in your excitement about this brave new world, and we’re smiling right along with you — because cannabis is all about community and compassion. We’ve dreamed of this moment and we welcome newbies — whether brand new, or returning to cannabis after some time — with open arms. We know that this medicine can help everyone on the planet in some way. We. Just. Know. But there are also some things you should know about the Budtenders.

As you stand in the lines to be part of this moment in history, it’s important you know that behind the scenes, a massive reshuffling is at play in the industry to which we’ve dedicated ourselves. For several weeks now, we have witnessed a mass exodus of highly knowledgeable and trusted colleagues of quality cannabis flowers and products — victims to the new, ‘liberated’ world of Adult Use. They’ve been unable to secure funding, quality material, proper space or licensing and we’ve had to watch as it happens, helpless. These friends, many of whom were leading innovators themselves, are brokenhearted at being forced to leave their beloved industry and devastated at deserting the patients who have come to rely on them. So while we are celebrating with you, it’s important you know that the ground beneath us is giving way. Seismic changes are occurring at every level of what we’ve built upon for years. The future, while certainly open, is uncertain. This can have a dizzying effect for your Budtender.

The announcement today that Jeff Sessions had rescinded the Cole Memo — safeguards for legal cannabis businesses, employees, and users put in place by President Obama — further adds to the stress of providing safe access for new consumers, which is every Budtender’s mission.

Take this information with you when you enter the dispensary. Bring your kindness and patience. Know that the Budtenders are smiling through the challenges they are facing, because they want you to love cannabis like they do. Know that though they’ll not let on, their home lives have been affected by the madness of this massive moment in time. Know, that while they are thrilled for you, they’ve taken all these changes on their feet and their bodies are suffering under the weight of the run up to legalization and the constant rush of consumers since.

Know that the lines — at least for the time being — are unavoidable. If they’re going to trigger you, you might consider signing up for delivery. There will always be time to set foot into the dispensary, because Adult Use is now a reality. It’s all very exciting. And exhausting. With a little bit of mutual understanding, this new world will take root in wondrous ways for all of us.

May we all seek to embody the sweet gift of Compassion that cannabis bestows upon us.

#6 ThCB — The Compassionate Budtender — 1:1: A Slow Jam

CBD and THC — the Greatest Love Story. Ever.

Newbie! Meet the 1:1 Ratio!

I’d been thinking about writing a blog post about the 1:1 ratio for some time and was planning to put fingers to keys last week, but then was beset by a maleficent flu that put me down in all the worst ways. While I was aching and writhing for endless spans over three nights, a sweet riff from the beginning of a tune started playing in the back of my mind, lulling and soothing, like a cool cloth on my fevered brow.

Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…

“One on One,” from 1983. Hall & Oates.

Let me explain: Many of you newbies say “One on One” (instead of One to One) when you talk about ratios, and it’s just another reason to love you. As I’ve mentioned before, we love everything about you, and we welcome you to the cannabis community with open arms. You’re even more endearing than you know, because when I hear you say One on One, I am transported. Suddenly, I’m a junior in high school again, swaying slowly at the Winter Dance to one of the best second verse phrasings in the history of 80s pop ballads, under a mirror ball with the shortest guy in my class. Know this, Newbie: Cannabis is like your best days at school, and we’ll never make you feel like a wallflower here.

The drum machine and sweet bass line… Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…Ding Ding…

When I talk about ratios, including the 1:1, I am talking about CBD to THC. Well, usually. Some product packaging still lists ratios in other, confusing ways, but the industry standard is mostly alphabetical — CBD first, then THC. That said, Newbie, just a friendly reminder to ALWAYS CHECK THE LABELS CLOSELY. This is your medicine, take a little ownership, you adorable newbie, you.

We’re so early in the game with regard to knowing how the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) works. We know that every mammal has an ECS, as does every other creature on earth.  Except insects. Maybe even insects. We know that we have cannabinoid receptors all through our bodies. We know that THC locks into the CB1 receptor. We know some other more complex facts about CB receptors, too, and about endocannabinoids (cannabinoids our bodies make) as well as phytocannabinoids, (those in cannabis plants and plants like echinacea), but I’m not trying to overwhelm you with all of that delicious info. You can research more about it when and if you feel like it. Take your time!

CBD interacts with and benefits our bodies in varying ways — acting as, among other things, an anti-depressant, anti-psychotic, anti-tumoral, and neuroprotectant. CBD can also remove beta amyloid plaque, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s, from brain cells. Like THC, CBD has many different applications. But CBD works a little bit differently than THC.

CBD doesn’t lock into the CB1 receptor like THC does. Instead, according to Project CBD Director Martin Lee, “CBD changes the interface of the CB1 receptor so that THC doesn’t lock into it as well as it would normally.” What does that mean to you, Newbie? It means that when CBD and THC is taken in equal amounts, one will experience the medicinal benefits of THC without much of the euphoria (high) or dysphoria (unease) which normally accompanies THC use. Further adding to its mystery, according to Lee, “CBD interacts with over 65 targets in the body, including many non-cannabinoid receptors,” binding to some, influencing others.

Because of all this action, scientists, including Lee, refer to CBD as a promiscuous compound. While I find this label a bit unfair due to the general derogatory common usage of the term, (preferring myself to see CBD more as the quintessential flower child, loving the one it’s with and all that), I must agree. CBD slips gracefully into more varied positions than there are poses in the Kama Sutra.

Maybe I’m just a romantic stoner, but it seems to me there is no greater love affair than that which exists between CBD and THC. In the 1:1 ratio, working together as a team, there’s really no stopping these cannabinoids. Together, they might just change the world…

discodancing (3)

Here are just a few of the many, many ways THC and CBD work together:

  • CBD mitigates some of the high that makes newbies afraid to try THC.
  • CBD is great for quelling THC-related anxiety; if you get too high, take a little CBD!
  • CBD and THC are both anti-inflammatory powerhouses.
  • CBD and THC together are great for sleep — CBD calms the nervous system and THC brings relaxation and drowsiness. (CBN — the aged cannabinoid version of THC, is even more drowsy-making.)
  • On a cellular level, CBD and THC both capture free radicals to mitigate oxidative damage to cells.
  • Unlike many pharmaceuticals, which are experienced by the body as toxins, cannabinoids float around freely and are interpreted by the body as natural.
  • Both CBD and THC can help prevent Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), taken as a prophylactic, and even directlyfollowing impact.
  • In addition to altering the CB1 receptor to keep THC from locking into it, CBD also inhibits the enzyme that breaks down THC in the liver. THC may recirculate and re-dock in a CB1 receptor, increasing the duration of effectiveness, (which is why a high may be felt some time later when using a 1:1).
  • CBD decreases cravings for opioids and THC help is a powerful analgesic. This is a winning combination to help fight the opioid crisis.

How should you get your One on One…? In stereo, preferably somewhere where you’ll be comfortable dancing along. I’m sorry, Newbie, I can’t get that song off my mind. Here’s a link, in case you love it like I do.

Inhaling is definitely the fastest-acting method of delivery, and you can get excellent, clean delivery of cannabinoid medicine vaporizing flower with a good handheld or table-top vaporizer. I do NOT condone the use of vape pens, as I cannot attest to their safety), and generally, they do not feel good in my body. Please do your due diligence on any method of delivery, and listen to YOUR body, Newbie.

My vote is increasingly for sublingual tinctures as method of delivery preference — for you, Newbie, as well as for myself. For anyone, in fact. Sublingual delivery runs a very close second to inhaling for quick feedback and is definitely in first place for putting the user in the driver seat. Sold in bottles with droppers, tinctures provide the patient the most control over effects, which is what every experimenting newbie wants. With a tincture and a little bit of free time, you’ll find your minimal effective dose pretty quickly and painlessly.

I know I’ve said this before, but just a reminder, Newbie, record your dosing progress in a journal. on this here Stash Card, (created after this blog post). Before each dose, record date, time, starting symptom level, product taken, how much, effects (once the dose has kicked in), time, and another rating of symptom level as much as you can in the columns. There’s a sample of one filled out in the link. Save the labels of the products you’re using so you can refer to them when you figure out what is working for you. (Or take photos, 

One to One, One Drop at A Time: The Newbie Challenge

  • Start with with one drop under the tongue, (I always use a mirror – that area under the tongue isn’t sensitive enough to feel each drop). Don’t oversaturate! Be diligent!
  • Hold the drop of tincture for at least a minute under the tongue, swallow, and wait 15 minutes.
  • Rate your symptoms again. Choose whether you want another drop, or if you’re feeling relief already. It’s quite possible to feel relief with one drop — microdosing is very effective for many people, yours truly included. Stopping at one drop or even a couple of drops of the 1:1, you may not feel any psychoactivity whatsoever. You may just feel good.
  • If you continue, dose up very, very slowly — a drop at a time — and check in with your body fifteen minutes after each drop. Ask yourself, ‘Am I feeling different?’ ‘Am I feeling better?’ And wait. Listen for the response in your body. And write it down!

At the end of this experiment, you’ll have your first baseline for dosing. HOWEVER. This does not mean that this will always be your dose. It’s more of a starting point. Some days you may need less, some days a little more. If you found you used under five drops, excellent! Your low tolerance means you will get more for your money with cannabis medicine. Continue to dose up one drop at a time.

If you find your tolerance was over ten drops, the next time you dose, you may choose to use two drops at a time, every fifteen minutes. Keep notes! Rate changes! Check in with your body, and know that you’ll feel the effects a little more quickly.

If you get too high, and you don’t have extra CBD on hand to inhale or take sublingually, don’t forget the three things I tell every newbie:

Tell yourself it will pass,

Surround yourself with things you love, and

Go to sleep!

Who knows? The 1:1 sublingual may become your go-to cannabis medicine, as it is mine.

‘Cause if it’s really right…there’s nothing else…

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