Since his days as a student at Indiana University, Dr. Dustin Sulak has built a reputation for political activity and public education that has earned him widespread recognition and respect in the cannabis and hemp industries. Dr. Sulak began speaking publicly on hemp nutrition, cannabis, and health when he was just 19 years old. The following year, he opened a private practice in Maine, specializing in osteopathic medicine and integrative health, as well as taking a mind-body approach to health and wellness.
His experience as one of the first doctors in Maine to give medicinal cannabis certificates led him to rapidly realize that cannabis served as a bridge to integrative medicine for the vast majority of his patients. Doctor Sulak recounted how people would come to him to get cannabis and then stay for all of the other services he provided.
Maine, on the other hand, was able to observe a wide range of products being used by his patients because of Maine’s unusual, hands-off approach to cannabis. As a result, Dr. Sulak began testing the various products in their on-site cannabis analytic lab in order to determine which ones were effective for patients and which ones were not.
And what he discovered inspired him to rethink the extraction procedure entirely.
EXTRACTION OF ETHANOL UNDER LOW PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE
The company’s CEO, Brad Feuer, explained in an interview that they needed a means to extract as much of the plant as possible while simultaneously removing any potentially harmful impurities from the process. “One of the most significant issues in the hemp industry is that these enormous outdoor fields are infamously prone to mold infestation,” he stated.
Researchers and developers have developed patented procedures for nano-filtration, which allow them to eliminate everything larger than a nanometer in size, such as mold, bacteria, viruses, and proteins while still keeping the therapeutic spectrum of the plant. Feuer described the process in terms of a few fundamental processes, starting with whole flower hemp:
1. Excluding the stalks, seeds, and stems of the cannabis plant, they begin by cryogenically grinding it into a fine powder, breaking down the plant’s cell walls, and sealing in the volatile components with liquid nitrogen. 2.
2. Using 200-proof ethanol, they then extract the chemicals and eliminate the chlorophyll, resulting in a better tasting product that also helps to avoid indigestion.
Final step is to pass the ethanol mixture through many nano-filters, which include the following:
The first filter is responsible for removing pollutants and contaminants.
Heat and pressure are not used in the second filter, which eliminates ethanol and concentrates the spectrum.
4. The condensed spectrum is blended with MCT oil to create a tincture composition that is completely acidic.
Five, for CBD and THC products, decarboxylated extracts are used. According to Feuer, “We’ve developed our own mild and effective method of decarbing to assist keep terpenes and other volatile components.”
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF USING ACIDIC CANNABINOIDS?
Dr. Sulak’s interest in acidic cannabinoids was sparked by his patients, who had expressed an interest in them. They constructed a cannabis analytic lab within the medical clinic so that they could better comprehend the items that his patients were utilizing. As they were evaluating the various products, they began to notice signals associated with THCa.
Among the patients treated by Dr. Sulak was one who had been experiencing many seizures per day and had found relief through the use of a CBD tincture she had purchased from a dispensary. In order to determine exactly how much CBD was in the formula, we decided to put it to the test.
They ran lab tests on the sample many times and were unable to detect any CBD. Instead, examinations revealed that the tincture was essentially a weak THCa glycerin extraction, not a tincture. Furthermore, this was only one of several anecdotal examples that caused Dr. Sulak to take notice to acidic cannabinoid formulations.
“CBD has a lower potency than THC, and higher doses of CBD can be prohibitively expensive,” Dr. Sulak explained. “CBDa appears to have a more potent therapeutic impact than CBD in many persons,” says the researcher.
Furthermore, Dr. Sulak stated that many medical cannabis users dislike the THC-mimicking effects of CBD, and that CBDa does not inhibit THC, allowing the full effect of both cannabinoids to be experienced.
METHODOLOGY IS BEING EXPANDED
The niche brand has established a global cannabis education community on Healer.com, as well as a global demand for high-quality cannabis goods, through the use of the instructional platform on the website. As a result, Feuer stated that the company is actively trying to develop scalable methods for producing more of these preparations across a wider range of markets.
Dr. Sulak’s team aspires to see their extraction technique spread across the country and around the world after successfully expanding their brand and technology to Maryland in the first place. “When we got into extraction, we were looking at how we could make it low-cost and very disruptive,” Feuer explained further.
“Our present platform can serve an entire state; if someone is already doing ethanol extraction, we can integrate our patented equipment into their facility to manufacture our products,” he stated.
THE USE OF CENSORSHIP AND MISTAKEN INFORMATION
While banking continues to be a source of frustration for the majority of hemp and cannabis producers, Dr. Sulak believes that the most significant issue stems from a failure to communicate effectively with customers, patients, and clinicians. The most vital information on “how to” use cannabis safely and successfully is, unfortunately, frequently barred from public access on social media and is strictly prohibited in continuing medical education classes. Cannabis and hemp censorship obstructs communication and collaboration among people working on the front lines of these businesses, causing considerable barriers for producers and medical practitioners and impeding the advancement of science in this field.
Dr. Sulak says he feels confined in his work because he works in two different businesses. In order to restore cannabis’ proper place in health and society, communication and education have always been the most crucial instruments available, yet strangely, there is more repression today than ever before.
“There’s just so much disinformation and statements that don’t benefit the industry in a new market with so many people wanting to get in,” Feuer continued.
THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE
Dr. Sulak is hopeful about the future of the cannabis and hemp businesses, despite the fact that there are still some problems to sort out in the budding industries. His optimism regarding legislative improvements was expressed in the following way: “I’ve been fighting to modify cannabis policy since 1998, and having any bill submitted at the federal level is a victory.”
His other belief is that economic considerations drive policy change, and he believes that it is only a matter of time before economic factors drive marijuana liberalization. It would be excellent if cannabis were removed off the Controlled Substances Act in the near future.