Utah: Your Extracts Are Coming!

Utah medical cannabis patients are exited that Proposition 2 laws are finally in effect and pharmacies are opening their doors. As the program is unveiled and the market matures, patients are still asking one question: where are our extracts?

Here to answer these questions is Dashiel Kulander, co-founder of Boojum Med, one of the companies selected by the state’s Department of Agriculture to process medical cannabis.

Salt Baked City sat down with Kulander for a light Q&A about what they’ve got going on at their facility in Heber, and when Utah’s 3,162 medical marijuana card holders can expect to see extracts on pharmacy shelves.

Q: Who is Mother Liquor and where did the idea start?

To understand the Mother Liquor brand, I think a good place to start is the name. ‘Mother Liquor’ is a chemistry term that refers to the part of the liquid solution that remains after crystallization occurs. In terms of cannabis, Mother Liquor would be all of the terpenes, flavonoids and phytonutrients of the original plant that target compounds such as THC, CBD or CBG have crystallized out of and subsequently been filtered out. Often in lab processes, the compounds like terpenes are often stripped away and discarded from the material in favor of increasing the potency and yield of the cannabinoids. But more and more research is showing the therapeutic value of these compounds and because of the rich terpene profile a lot of the actual flavor that a consumer is looking for is lost in many processes. I think there is also a metaphysical aspect to Mother Liquor, in the sense that this is a medicine that mother earth has provided for us, and one that we have only begun to scratch the surface of in terms of its medical efficacy and variety of uses. 

We do a lot of private labeling and manufacturing at Boojum Group, both on the hemp side, and we also have several clients on the medical cannabis side. We’ve been approached and pitched by a bunch of different people wanting us to start smokable brands. Smokeables are by far the most popular product in medical markets – whether that is flower or vape pens. Because Boojum is positioned the way that it is, which is a medical brand, it doesn’t really fit for us to be doing vape pens in the traditional sense, with just stripped down distillate, and whatnot. I was approached by a friend of mine and we talked about doing a solvent-less line. If we did want to release something that was a smokable product, we wanted to make sure it was the most unadulterated, healthiest full plant version that we could possibly make that is as true to the original plant profile as possible.  So we sprung for the equipment and now here we are – ready to rock and roll. I believe there is going to be a large market for this kind of artisan, craft, small batch, HTFSE (High Terpene Full Spectrum Extract) here in Utah. Solventless concentrates offer an alternative and some would say healthier way to inhale – without combustion – the original profile and we truly believe that it’s the safest and healthiest way for consumers to smoke cannabis. If that’s their choice.

Q: You’re from Utah, right? 

I grew up down in Moab, actually. My father still lives down there. The Utah landscape was a big part of my upbringing and you could say a large inspiration for the brand. The red rock desert where I grew up around monuments like Castleton Towers and the Colorado river – mainly nature in its most epic form – will all be elements of the brand at some point. We want this to be a brand that people really respect and really want to get behind because they feel it’s homegrown in the same state that they are. I was out in L.A. for twelve years doing marketing. I had a big desire to come back here with everything that we learned on that end, and also on the production side, and create a great Utah product. We were able to time it just right with the rules and the regulations and it’s good to be home and ready to get going.

Q: What’s the family think about you working in the cannabis biz?

As far as my parents, they come from the beatnik hippie generation. My dad went to UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara) so he’s not super conservative and he does use cannabis himself. My mom was diagnosed with cancer about 10 years ago, and she definitely supplemented her regiment of chemo drugs and other antidepressants such as benzos that are anti-anxiety medicines often used for palliative care, with cannabis. She liked to use the raw plant, or what you’d call in our industry, full spectrum. She would either eat it, or she liked to smoke it, and I really saw how much that helped her. My father also helped her immensely through her struggle with cancer and he used it himself to help ease the mental pain and the suffering of going through something like that. I would definitely say he is still a firm proponent, not only of medical cannabis, but these kinds of HTFSE in their most natural form.

Q: How do you use cannabis as a medicine?

Being in a state like California, obviously cannabis is far more accessible, and you get used to product differentiation and different types of delivery methods, whether it’s just straight up smoking the flower, or the concentrates, and edibles. Now here in Utah that’s hard to do, because there isn’t a lot of variety in terms of the products that we have available to us right now. People who do want to be using and smoking cannabis out here legally are going to have to get it from a pharmacy or dispensary. So you know, again, that’s our impetus for trying to get this up and running as soon as possible so people can experiment with different types of medicine and see what works for them. My preferred method would be the hash rosin, or it would be in an edible form – such as a gummy. The rosin to me would be something I would use to wind-down, opposed to a 1:1 (CBD to THC) edible that might just help you with a little bit of energy and even a little bit of focus, depending on the milligram dosage throughout your day.

Q: Do you only make THC products, or will you be making low-THC, high-CBD extracts as well?

We won’t be making low-THC, high-CBD  extracts at first. We may eventually, because we do a lot of reversed phase flash chromatography, where we are able to go in and actually fraction out the different cannabinoids. But when the time comes for us to experiment with potentially a high-CBD, we’re not just interested in the CBD, but also, you know, maybe a high-THC, high-CBG, or even like a CBN or CBC if it’s something a patient would want to use for anxiety, or to help them with restlessness to go to sleep at the end of the night. Olivia Kulander, who works as the science director at Boojum Group, has been doing extensive research on the pharmacokinetics of cannabis and how it interacts with the body and experimenting with these different ratios, and different minor cannabinoids to help target whatever affliction that a consumer is turning to cannabis for.

Q: So you’re a big believer in the Entourage Effect?

Absolutely, I’m a very big believer in the Entourage Effect and, again, that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to go with a rosin, because unlike a distillate which has had much of the plant profile stripped away to spike the potency and clarity of the oil – with a rosin made from hash, you know, that is something that has all of those terpenes and all of the phytonutrients intact, not stripped away and also not exposed to any type of thermal degradation that could either affect or burn off you know some of the minor cannabinoids or some of those terpenes that people are looking for in a rosin.

Q: There are so many types of extracts out there since the weed-nerds got involved. Which ones specifically will you be bringing to the table? 

This Mother Liquor line is kind of a new foray for us into a different type of extract, in a different type of concentrate. The types that we want to release at first are going to be traditional rosins so hash rosin or flower rosin (pressing the actual flower vs the hash). 

The first extract will be what’s called a hash rosin budder which is a nice terpene rich consistency that has been cured a certain way that makes it easier to work with. After that, and what I’m most excited for, is a rosin jam or sauce as some call it. This curing process takes considerably longer as you need some of the THC to crystallize out of the terpenes, but you leave them in the Mother Liquor or sauce which makes for an incredibly aesthetic and delicious product. Eventually we’ll start experimenting with additional solvent less concentrates such as THCa crystals, sugar etc. 

What’s most important to us obviously is the patients and clients first, so what is going to be the most effective and enjoyable product, where much of that demand remains to be seen. I think it will be interesting to see how educated the consumer base is in Utah after we have products like these on the shelves. Will they be asking for a specific flower because of the terpene profile, or asking for Purple Punch budder just because they like the consistency of the oil? We look forward to having conversations with Salt Baked City as much as possible in the future, so we can help educate Utah patients who are unfamiliar with those types of decisions. 

Q: What Utah medical cannabis growers are you working with?

Tryke is the first Utah grower that we’ve worked with so far. We’ve reached out to a few of the other state growers, and a lot of them don’t have supply currently available. It’s kind of an interesting thing with the rules and the regulations, you know, constantly evolving the way that they have and the speed that they have. One example is with the rosin product type which was something that a patient could only get after trying a couple other types of products without success prior. Now that law has changed. In the revised House Bill 425, patients are allowed to go in and purchase that wax or rosin even on their first visit. Another instance is the additional processing rights given to the cultivators due to a lack of licensed processors, (initially there were no applicants for the processing supply-chain category.) Because of that, a lot of people who are cultivating now are opting to sell some of their flower directly to these pharmacies, and obviously you can’t blame them for that, but with a program in its infancy right now, it creates a supply issue and also hinders the development of other product categories such as concentrates or the infused products. This is one reason why the majority of products on shelves are flowers. That’s why we’re excited that a larger producer like Tryke has come out here, mostly so we can have access to plant material to start pressing and making products with.

Q: Coming from California, are you impressed with the flower Tryke is producing so far?

Yes, I am extremely impressed with their flower – it’s tryk’d out so to say (chuckles). It’s definitely top-tier bud and has been testing at above 20% THC. Even the popcorn nugs we purchase that are traditionally used for making ice water hash has an incredible amount of trichomes on it. They have genetics that they brought with them that are tried-and-true and their only variable right now is adjusting for the climate. We are getting incredible yields off of the flower that we have now and are happy with it for sure. What I’m working with now in the lab is their Orange Skittles, Purple Punch, Strawberry Cookies, Riesling and Sundae Driver. The Purple Punch is a strain that is known to really dump when you squish it; if it’s grown right and any of the cookie varieties will do the same. It’s like night and day working with that type of flower and with the yields we get, versus the CBD and hemp stuff we were working with before that was grown outdoors by first year Utah growers. We’re all learning together.

Q: What Utah medical cannabis pharmacies will be carrying Mother Liquor products and when can patients expect to see them on the shelves?

I’ve had conversations with several of the Utah pharmacy owners and there is a lot of interest and demand from Utah patients for solventless concentrates and they are very excited to get  Mother Liquor line on shelves. We don’t have anything set in stone yet, but my guess is that the first pharmacies that will be carrying will be the ones that are actually open. As soon as the state finishes the testing on our products – which is a bit of bottleneck right now – we’ll be able to finalize those distribution deals with the pharmacies. Obviously, we want to set a price point that is affordable for Utah patients and makes sense for everyone involved. As soon as we finalize distribution, Salt Baked City will be the first to know!

Q: Since you’re in the business, what’s your overall opinion of Utah’s medical cannabis program so far?

I think they did a really good job with the program, especially when they were drawing it up and doing the legislation on it. In terms of learning from more mature markets, they knew they didn’t want to experience a massive oversupply that out-sized demand like we saw in Oregon, so I agree on why they capped the licenses. But at the same time, they also let outside capital come in similar to Colorado, and I think by doing that it’s allowed some of these facilities to get up and running much sooner. So, in terms of the medical program for patients, the way that I see it, there are a few factors that determine the potential growth of a medical program. One of those is the qualifying patient conditions here in Utah where, fortunately, they did amend some of the requirements to allow for such things as PTSD and pain. This casts a much wider net and really helps fuel the patient population growth. Another regulatory factor that helps sustain medical programs is product differentiation of product type and retail availability. So like I was mentioning before, they allowed wax and rosin, but they were going to ask patients to try two other product types prior to that. They’ve loosed up on that quite a bit and the medical dosage forms that are allowed in the state are fairly expansive. That is going to allow for more product differentiation and preferences for patients for a wide variety of products that are well manufactured like the ones that they’re used to from other more mature cannabis markets. So overall, I think the state has done a good job. I think there are some hiccups in terms of the rules and the regulations as they pertain to vertical integration in the state. You have many states that require vertical integration, and some that put heavy restrictions on vertical integration and make it more difficult, such as in California. That’s kind of their way of making sure that this is a free-market and that every sector of the supply chain is controlled or dominated by people that are focusing on a niche or focusing on one specific category in the supply chain. This is so they can improve their business efficiencies and the quality of their products. In Utah right now, they allow for both vertical and horizontal integration. This is creating some competitive issues, I believe, but the state has the patient’s best interest in mind and I think eventually a natural equilibrium will be set, but it will take one to three years for that to happen.