Cannabis can agonize PPARs, a messenger protein that regulates lipid and inflammatory homeostasis and inhibits common cold symptoms. (1) Moreover, Lethbridge University discovered significantly reduced cytokine levels in chronic cannabis users that led to drastically decreased viral severity. (2) And, on the bacteria front, cannabis can effectively fight off bacterial infections. So, what cannabinoid or cannabis products affect superbugs and vaccines, and how do any hurt overall health?

The link is in the process. In fact, no plants need to be involved in the origin of these cannabinoids.

cannabis products filled with antibiotics can affect covid lockdowns

Fermenting cannabinoids

A previous report covered a conversation with Organigram’s former Senior Marketing Director, Ray Gracewood. This detailed their now released dissolving cannabinoid product, a drink mix powder.

In our phone call, I asked Ray Gracewood if the cannabinoids in their drink mix powder were grown [out of yeast] with their Hyasynth Biologicals partnership, instead of cannabis.

They come from different strains.

Ray Gracewood

It was announced that different strains of yeast are going to drive the cannabinoid production for Organigram’s vape pens, topicals, and edibles. (3) Strains of bacteria, such as E. Coli, can also be used to produce cannabis, according to definitions in the Cannabis Act. (4) Or, of course, strains of cannabis plants could be used to make cannabis but possibly at a greater expense. In full, Organigram and Hyasynth have yet to release their intellectual property.

Trade-secret sources behind proprietary mixes

To find out more, we sent Organigram and their current Interim Director of Brand, Eric Williams, a direct email. We received no response. But, it was a Public Relations company that Organigram contracts, Gage Communications, who contacted me to pitch the previous interview with Ray in 2019. So, I forwarded my email to Gage Communications and asked for an update. Their President, Marlo Taylor, had this to say on behalf of Organigram regarding the origin of their cannabinoids.

Cannabinoids in the ReMix product are extracted from cannabis plants.

Marlo Taylor on behalf of Organigram.

Can you further describe other strains that are used in your drink mix powder, ReMix?

Cannabis distillate, [produced by synthesis, manufacture, or chemical alteration] from various strains (either CBD or THC dominant depending on the end product) is processed into a nanoemulsion…

Like Organigram’s other product offerings, ReMix meets composition and quality requirements set out by Health Canada. These requirements relate to accuracy of labeled claims and microbial/chemical contaminant levels, among other things, and do not specifically address the origin of cannabinoids (i.e. biosynthetic, synthetic, plant-based) or how refined cannabinoids must be when added into a mixture.

Marlo Taylor.

Thank you for your response, Marlo.

Please note the added definition from within the Cannabis Act, which is included inside parentheses ‘[]’ for your courtesy. (4) In the Cannabis Act’s definitions, ‘cannabis’ can refer to a synthetic or biosynthetic cannabinoid, unless the term, ‘cannabis plant’ is specified.

The founder of Hyasynth Biologicals, Kevin Chen, told Project CBD that they were still in the research and development phase one year ago, (5) which Organigram invested another $2.5 million into last November. They plan to invest a final $2.5 million once Hyasynth achieves another milestone, according to a press release. (6)

Cannabis producer, Cronos Group, paid Ginkgo Bioworks $90 million for a strain of cannabinoid-producing yeast. Photo of Jason Kelly, CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. Courtesy of Ginkgo Bioworks.

Furthermore, Health Canada only regards a finite list of contaminants in cannabis products and does not consider the source. Given that fact, is it possible that cannabinoids grown out of yeast, too unrefined or too uncertain to release, are secretly added to Health Canada licensed products? Would anyone truly sell impure cannabinoids without the public’s knowledge, as opposed to waste any cannabinoids that were adequately produced in their R&D process?

It seems unlikely if we consider the impact an adverse reaction might have on any company.

Health Canada’s eye is blind on the subject, so we simply do not know.

Unfortunately, the source of some Licensed Cultivator’s cannabinoids is not only hidden from public knowledge, Health Canada remains willfully ignorant on the subject. (4) The focal point of this argument, however, is undisclosed control agents that can be used by licensed processors. These agents help mitigate contamination during the production of unrefined yeast-derived cannabinoids.

Control agents are commonly added to the media (starting material) and are regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in conjunction with Health Canada.

Justin Atkin the CEO of The Thought Emporium, bottom left, interviews Kevin Chen BSc, the CEO of Hyasynth, top right.

Antibiotics and fermented things

Cannabis formulations are often based on proprietary recipes, therefore it is uncertain what products can affect the progression of superbugs or the efficiency of vaccines. But, antibiotics are commonly used with the technique, often known as fermentation or cellular agriculture. (7) Some cannabis products biosynthesized from yeast are quite pure, so we recommend verifying the processor’s credibility.

Justin Atkin, a Youtuber, biohacker, and founder and CEO of The Thought Emporium, found a method to rid himself of lactose intolerance. With some alarm, he succeeded in his efforts by genetically modifying himself via self-inoculation of a DIY strain of an artificial virus he grew from yeast. But, there is a catch to his biohacking and stark use of fermentation – he is allergic to the antibiotic, penicillin. (8)

Because he uses penicillin in his media and cannot trust the purity of the final DIY virus, Justin Atkin’s EpiPen is as necessary as the Undergrad Chemist, Nile Red’s two fume hoods. Justin has also interviewed Hyasynth Biological’s CEO, Kevin Chen, and cited Chen as a mentor.

Antibiotics are in some cannabis products, which affects the microbiome, vaccine efficiency, and ultimately covid lockdown severity
Antibiotics devastate the efficiency of vaccines by disrupting our microbiome. Hagan et al. 2019.

Antibiotics in food products and cannabis create Superbugs

Moreover, Health Canada’s microbial restrictions on cannabis products, combined with their aforementioned blind eye, will encourage antibiotic use. Yet, excessive antibiotics can directly thwart the efficiency of vaccines by devastating the microbiome (dysbiosis). (9, 10) Additionally, surfactants used in some finished cannabis products might directly inhibit the vaccines’ efficiency, (TNF-alpha agonist) depending on the formulation. (11-15)

Excessive antibiotics added to cannabis products can especially elucidate bacterial-resistant Superbugs that can add stress to health-care systems. (16).

True, that superbugs argument should lose viability when we consider the fact that cannabis can replace antibiotics in many situations. Unfortunately, though, modern medicine and corporate methodology seem to prefer manufacturing artificial substances despite the broad and dirt-cheap pharmacopeia of nature.

Let us know if you think any artificial cannabis product can increase superbugs while affecting vaccine efficiency. And stay tuned next week to find out what Monsanto-partnered cannabis pesticides contain antibiotics.

Photo of Human Error by Collin Mann.

Source

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  2. Kovalchuk, A., Wang, B., Li, D., Rodriguez-Juarez, R., Ilnytskyy, S., Kovalchuk, I., & Kovalchuk, O. (2021). Fighting the storm: could novel anti-TNFα and anti-IL-6 C. sativa cultivars tame cytokine storm in COVID-19?. Aging13(2), 1571–1590. doi/10.18632/aging.202500
  3. OGI. Organigram invests in Hyasynth Biologicals Inc., helps bring transformative “cellular agriculture” to Canadian cannabis industry. Sept, 2018. Cision NW.
  4. Cannabis Act (S.C. 2018, c. 16). 02, 15, 2020.
  5. Bill Weinburg. Feb. 2020. Yeast-derived CBD & GMO Cannabinoids
  6. Organigram. Nov. 2020. Organigram confirms additional $2.5 million investment in Hyasynth biologicals Inc…. $OGI
  7. Seo, S.-O.; Park, S.-K.; Jung, S.-C.; Ryu, C.-M.; Kim, J.-S. Anti-Contamination Strategies for Yeast Fermentations. Microorganisms 20208, 274. doi/10.3390/microorganisms8020274
  8. David Grossman. 2018. Scientist painstakingly documents his own DIY gene therapy. Popular Mechanics.
  9. Hagan, T., Cortese, M., Rouphael, N., Boudreau, C., Linde, C., Maddur, M. S., Das, J., Wang, H., Guthmiller, J., Zheng, N. Y., Huang, M., Uphadhyay, A. A., Gardinassi, L., Petitdemange, C., McCullough, M. P., Johnson, S. J., Gill, K., Cervasi, B., Zou, J., Bretin, A., Pulendran, B. (2019). Antibiotics-Driven Gut Microbiome Perturbation Alters Immunity to Vaccines in Humans. Cell178(6), 1313–1328.e13. doi/10.1016/j.cell.2019.08.010
  10. Lynn, M. A., Tumes, D. J., Choo, J. M., Sribnaia, A., Blake, S. J., Leong, L., Young, G. P., Marshall, H. S., Wesselingh, S. L., Rogers, G. B., & Lynn, D. J. (2018). Early-Life Antibiotic-Driven Dysbiosis Leads to Dysregulated Vaccine Immune Responses in Mice. Cell host & microbe23(5), 653–660.e5. doi/10.1016/j.chom.2018.04.009
  11. Yuan Z-Y, Hu Y-L, Gao J-Q (2015) Brain Localization and Neurotoxicity Evaluation of Polysorbate 80-Modified Chitosan Nanoparticles in Rats. PLoS ONE 10(8): e0134722. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134722
  12. Nishimura, S., Aoi, W., Kodani, H., Kobayashi, Y., Wada, S., Kuwahata, M., & Higashi, A. (2020). Polysorbate 80-induced leaky gut impairs skeletal muscle metabolism in mice. Physiological reports8(20), e14629. doi/10.14814/phy2.14629
  13. Robinson, P. C., Richards, D., Tanner, H. L., & Feldmann, M. (2020). Accumulating evidence suggests anti-TNF therapy needs to be given trial priority in COVID-19 treatment. The Lancet Rheumatology2(11), e653–e655. doi/10.1016/S2665-9913(20)30309-X
  14. Feldmann, M., Maini, R. N., Woody, J. N., Holgate, S. T., Winter, G., Rowland, M., Richards, D., & Hussell, T. (2020). Trials of anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy for COVID-19 are urgently needed. Lancet (London, England)395(10234), 1407–1409. doi/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30858-8
  15. Morens, D. M., Taubenberger, J. K., & Fauci, A. S. (2008). Predominant role of bacterial pneumonia as a cause of death in pandemic influenza: implications for pandemic influenza preparedness. The Journal of infectious diseases198(7), 962–970. doi/10.1086/591708
  16. Tong, S., & Lee, T. C. (2020). Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia: does duration matter?. The Lancet. Infectious diseases20(12), 1353–1354. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30590-9