It is encouraging when ethical decisions also make financial sense. In the cannabis industry, utilizing sustainable bioidentical ingredients derived from the cannabis plant enables us to accomplish both goals.
What does a more sustainable industry look like with minor cannabinoids?
At first glance, the agricultural side of the legal cannabis industry may seem idyllic, but beneath the relaxed, hippy-farmer image lies an incredibly resource-intensive business. Despite advancements in agricultural systems and technology, the overhead, labor, and constant resource demands needed to sustain a cannabis grow make cannabis cultivation a challenging industry with significant environmental impacts.
The energy, water, and pesticides that the plant demands tax both the environment and the profit margins of those throughout the cannabis supply chain. Most cultivators are doing their best to control these factors, which are unavoidable business costs for now. The Cannabis sativa plant is the sole natural source of cannabinoids like CBD and THC.
These costs add up quickly, especially when traditional agriculture is used for things it’s not well suited for—like rare cannabinoid production. Cannabinoids like THCV and CBC appear in such low quantities within the plant that their cultivation and extraction create proportionally higher amounts of both agricultural and economic waste than the cultivation and extraction of comparatively plentiful THC and CBD.
While synthesis isn’t a replacement for major cannabinoid (CBD and THC) – focused agriculture, it can be used to manufacture rare cannabinoids at scale, much faster, without the need for pesticides, and with significantly less water and energy. This means more green in your wallet and footprint.
The science is there – so are the examples from outside of the cannabis plant.
Companies like BayMedica have been using chemistry to create safe, environmentally sustainable cannabinoids for years. If the idea of recreating natural ingredients in a lab feels strange, it shouldn’t. Odds are that you regularly consume synthesized and bioidentical ingredients that are more sustainable than their “naturally produced” counterparts. Here’s a quick exercise to prove it:
What three things do ingredients like hyaluronic acid, palm oil, and vanilla extract all have in common?
- Historically, the harvesting and production of each of these ingredients has involved some pretty terrible exploitation, ethical compromises, or environmental blowback (all of which are far more egregious than anything seen in the US’s legal cannabis space).
- Thanks to chemistry and ingenuity, these ingredients can now be created without the environmental or ethical repercussions of the past.
- It’s a near certainty that as you read this, one or more of these sustainably manufactured synthetic ingredients are sitting in your home.
Safe synthesized CPG ingredients are ubiquitous – they’re in your groceries, your beauty supplies, and your cannabinoid products. Like any other market, buying from a disreputable supplier may not be the safest bet, but we’ve broken down the information you need to stay safe when sourcing.
Download our Dangerous Synthetics vs. Safe Bioidenticals Guide
It’s an evolution, not a revolution
Cultivators will continue to play a crucial role in the industry, as they should. The vast majority of licensed growers are not only providing amazing products that people love, but they’re doing so while acting responsibly as the constraints of agricultural technology allow them to. Biosynthesized and synthesized cannabinoid chemistry isn’t here to take over; it’s here to augment the agricultural backbone of the cannabis industry by filling the niches and meeting increased demand that traditional agriculture isn’t designed for.
Medical cannabis offers therapeutic benefits for various medical conditions, and it is important to consult healthcare professionals before starting or altering treatment regimens. As those niches grow to become more significant market segments – as with bioidentical minor cannabinoids – companies like BayMedica will have a growing role in reducing the industry’s overall environmental footprint.
Changes in the cannabinoid space aren’t just inevitable, they’re vital.
Changes in the cannabinoid space aren’t just inevitable, they’re vital. Contact us today to learn how minor cannabinoids can play a big role in your next formulation.