What consumers see is not what they get: Study finds almost no chemical diversity in Nevada’s cannabis varieties
LAS VEGAS, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — GB Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: GBLX) today announced results from a new study that shows only three chemical varieties of cannabis were sold in the Nevada dispensaries between January 2016 and June 2017– despite nearly 400 different “strain names” appearing on product packaging.
Co-authored by GB Sciences, Chaminade University, Makai Biotechnology and Digipath Labs, and published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, the study reveals extremely low chemical diversity within the cannabis varieties sold in the Nevada market during its medical-only phase. Over 93% of the samples tested were from a single chemical variety, high in tetrahydrocannabinol but without significant amounts of other cannabinoids.
“There is no protection for patients from inadvertent or intentional mislabeling of cannabis cultivars. Many cannabis samples with vastly different chemical profiles were labeled with identical cultivar names. And identical samples were often labeled with a huge variety of cultivar names,” said Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, CSO of GB Sciences.
Medical cannabis patients benefit from having access to cannabis-products with a variety of combinations of clinically-beneficial compounds, including cannabinoids and terpenes. So, the lack of labeling accuracy directly impacts patients. “If names were tied to active ingredients, doctors could recommend products with a higher degree of confidence and patients would have information that is vital to finding products that gave consistent results,” said Dr. Small-Howard.
To evaluate the chemical diversity of cannabis products available to medical cannabis patients in Nevada, the study examined the relationship between chemical profiles (cannabinoids and terpenes) and genetic markers from 2,662 cannabis samples, collected during the period when Nevada had a purely medical market, and the corresponding 396 cannabis cultivar names reported by the cannabis breeders.
Patients who would benefit from specialty products, such as significant levels of “minor” cannabinoids, were not well served during the sampling period. Alternatively, lack of patient and physician education on the medical benefits of the minor cannabinoids and terpenes may have also contributed to the dominance of THC in this medical market. Only intervention in the form of state regulation could have addressed this situation.
GB Sciences is proud to applaud the contributors to this research and paper: GB Sciences’ own Chief Science Officer, Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, and Lead Botanist, Dr. Ulrich Reimann-Philipp, join co-authors including Dr. Helen Turner, VP of Innovation and Dean of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Chaminade University, Dr. Mark Speck, Senior Bioinformaticist at Chaminade University, Dr. Alexander Stokes, President of Makai Biotechnology, LLC, and Dr. Cindy Orser, Chief Science Officer at Digipath Labs, Inc. in publishing:
“Cannabis chemovar nomenclature misrepresents chemical and genetic diversity; survey of variations in chemical profiles and genetic markers in Nevada medical cannabis samples.” The link to the article is found at https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/CAN.2018.0063.
About GB Sciences, Inc.
GB Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: GBLX) is a diverse cannabis company, focused on standardized cultivation and production methods; as well as biopharmaceutical research and development. The Company’s goal is creating safe, standardized, pharmaceutical-grade, cannabinoid therapies that target a variety of medical conditions. To learn more about GB Sciences, Inc., go to: http://gbsciences.com.
About Chaminade University
Located in the international city of Honolulu on the island of O`ahu, Chaminade is regarded for its remarkably diverse student body–students come from the Hawai`i, the mainland U.S., the Pacific region, and beyond. Class sizes are small, with a low student-to-faculty ratio. Here, students develop professionally through service-learning projects, research and internship experiences, and leadership and community networking opportunities. At Chaminade, students receive a personalized education that prepares them for an ever-changing future.
About Makai Biotechnology, LLC
Makai Biotechnology, LLC is a Hawaii-based cardiovascular therapy company established by Dr. Alexander J. Stokes, Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii, John A Burns School of Medicine. Makai Biotechnology is developing novel therapies for the treatment of heart failure. A novel ion channel target has been identified that modulates heart disease. Under the direction of Dr. Alexander Stokes, Makai Biotechnology has validated multiple effective compounds that regulate this target. Makai Biotechnology plans to establish alliances with major pharmaceutical companies to develop and test compounds from pre-clinical through phase II human clinical trials.
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Note: Although the Company’s research and development activities are not illegal, the production and sale of cannabis products violate federal laws as they presently exist.
Contact Information
Corporate:
GB Sciences, Inc., 3550 West Teco Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89118
866-721-0297, or
Liz Bianco, liz@gbsciences.com
SOURCE GB Sciences, Inc.
