Real Cannabis Science - The Emerald Conference

The Emerald Conference, the largest collection of scientists and experts from the Cannabis Industry, is having its 3rd Annual Conference in San Diego this week, February 2nd and 3rd. You may have seen ads for Hemp Con, or various regional Cannabis Cups. This is NOT that. This is science. Science, yeah!! - REAL SCIENCE!

Participating in the 3rd Annual Emerald Conference is our very own Dr. John Abrams, Ph.D. Dr. Abrams is the founder and chairperson of the CESC (the Clinical Endocannabinoid System Consortium). The Consortium was set up to provide cannabis business with the science it needs to bring cannabis from plant to medicine. The CESC is unique in that it was set up as a nonprofit, for the public good. Recognizing that good medicine needs good science and that only the pharmaceutical industry has the resources to afford the research, founders of the CESC decided to establish the Consortium and collectively raise funds for research, the results of which would be publicly shared. “It's never been done before”, states co-founder and CMO of MediCann. “Not only are we developing medicine directly from a plant rather than as a synthetic, we are doing it as a collective effort.”

Dr. Abrams, raised in California, received his Bachelor’s degree with a major in Biochemistry from liberal UC Berkeley in the early 1970’s. He then travelled to Montreal, Canada and completed a PhD in Biochemistry at McGill University. He’s had a longstanding interest in linguistics; and since he was fluent in French, he wanted to experience firsthand life in a bilingual city. From 1980 onward, Dr. Abrams was part of the ground breaking application of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to major diseases like Cancer and Autoimmunity. These are the class of blockbuster drugs now produced by the likes of Roche / Genentech, Pfizer, and Abbott. “I see the work of understanding cannabis as medicine as very similar to the work we were doing in the field of Immunology in the 1980’s”, remarks Dr. Abrams. The big difference is that with the CESC, Dr. Abrams is poised to give beneficial information to the small grower and processor.

Dr. Abrams and cannabis testing laboratories throughout California have been data collecting and analyzing the various cannabinoids and terpenoids in cannabis. After several years of data gathering, patterns have emerged that define cannabis into distinct chemotypes. The process is not easy. Getting different labs to agree and standardize a method of analysis that is verifiable is the first step.

Dr. Abrams will be one of many speaking at the Emerald Conference. He is scheduled to speak at 1:30pm on Friday, February 3rd at the Regatta Pavilion Exhibit Hall at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay San Diego. At Friday’s presentation, Dr. Abrams will discuss some recent data from a 4-strain test plot and the variability of its sample analysis. The conference also offers Brian Berger, Associate Professor at Lehigh University, discussing microbial contamination, and Rick Crum discussing his experience with pests and pathogens in a high volume nursery. Dr. Jahan Marcu, Chief Science Officer at Americans for Safe Access, will be speaking on Thursday afternoon on international standards on the quality testing of cannabis. As well, Dr. Justin Fischedick, who will present his analysis of terpenoids in cannabis.  

The information presented at this conference is the real science that will likely affect policy in this new and burgeoning industry. This conference is highly recommended for growers, processors, or manufacturers in the cannabis industry.