Adastra Targets Medicinal Cannabis & Psychedelics Markets As Sales Continues To Increase
Fresh off of a record-breaking August, Adastra Holdings CEO Michael Forbes sits down with The Dales Report to discuss the Canadian cannabis producer’s trajectory and expectations for the future of the space.
This continuation of a longer interview offers greater insight into Adastra’s methods for testing and manipulating the duration of psychoactive chemicals used in therapeutic settings, and the future of CBD and cannabis extractions in the Canadian medical landscapes.
Adastra Explores Extraction Formulations To Control Trip Duration
The pair continue their conversation by discussing the advancements being made to better regulate the dosage and the duration of a psychoactive reaction when using psilocybin and LSD in therapeutic situations.
Adastra has been licensed In Canada as a cannabis extraction, distillation, and product manufacturer, and Forbes sheds a bit of light on the extraction process and how it can control the product’s effect.
When asked if extraction formulations be customized to lower trip times to be more manageable for patients, Forbes acknowledges that it is often easier to lengthen the trip, but that both results can be achieved.
A prolonged trip is often created by the introduction of E4M or Methocel, which serves as a time-release mechanism to extend the duration of an introduced chemical’s impact.
Forbes describes E4M as a “cellulose matrix that you blend the molecules into so that it delays the effects of the drug in the body.
He continues with the example of psilocybin and the intestinal discomfort often experienced by users. “Adding it with a food or a delayed release is quite beneficial because you dont scare patients away with the negative side effects.”
“To speed it up you want a quicker absorption, where you have a smaller molecule. Depending on what moleocule you are getting into, like the brain, it would need to be more fat solouble, an dinto the body, it would be more water solouble. So you can play with the hydrophilicness of the drug by adding some change to it or encapsulating a certain molecule.”
Clinical trials will give Adastra the chance to interact with each patient and to better understand which experience offers the better journey and therapeutic result. This feedback will be used in realtime to make modifications to the formulations being used in order to create proprietary formulations that provide the optimal experience.
Adastra Posts 190% YOY Quarterly Growth
Adastra recently reported 190% quarterly growth year-over-year, and much to the delight of marijuana stock investors, August saw the brand produced their highest aggregate sales figures to date.
With products currently in more than 1,500 retailers, Adastra now looks to push into the medical space. In doing so, Forbes projects that Adastra will soon be generating $5 million a month in sales. With an already impressive footprint and an experienced sales team, Adastra expands its focus into flower, medical offerings, and psychedelics.
Forbes states that Adastra is “coming out with guns a’ blazing” as they look to push into a space that has largely chosen to restrict any advancements from cannabinoid extraction companies.
There is a huge hole in the legislature where bud tenders are not allowed to talk about anything health related… Pharmacies are even allowed to sell CBD, and the mainstream medical community doesn’t even understand cannabis yet. You have to go to a specalized clinic. The vast majority of health of CBD and the benefits lives in a blackbox, and there is nowhere to go and get the right information easily.”
Forbes believes that opening the doors for pharmacies to sell CBD is the most obvious legislative pathway if the best interest of the patient is put above all else. He also expects that CBD could become available in pharmacies within the year.
“I believe that you’re going to have CBD sold in pharmacies, where it should be because there are a lot of interactions with other medications. And the best professionals to deal with that is through the pharmacy.”
If successful, this expansion would open a variety on new revenue streams for Adastra, and given the brands new facilities and existing footprint, they expect to remain a leader in the space as legislation restrictions ease for the industry.
With a pending license from Health Canada for psychedelics and an impressive network of contacts within the Canadian pharmaceutical landscape, Forbes is confident in his ability to scale-out a CDB product into the pharmaceutical retail setting.
