As I look back on the calendar year, one significant tipping point in 2015 was the focus on experimental design in the cannabis market that most didn’t expect to happen so soon or so respectfully.

It is the merging of traditionally trained scientist and the incumbent practitioners.

My hypothesis has been this: If more open and respectful discussions between “classically trained scientists” and “cannabis incumbent practitioners” can occur, then creative discoveries will exponentially occur.

While I could see the changes through the first half, it was time to perform an experiment to see how far the balance had shifted from anecdotal experiences and hearsay to Design of Experiments (DoE), Quality by Design (QbD) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). It was time to test out how far the balance had shifted.

So, I decided to have a one-day event to bring people together.

The Tuesday before an event in Las Vegas, I performed an experiment on the Cannabis Industry. During this one-day event, five customers agreed to describe their experiences within the workflow, from extraction to formulation, as well as give a peek into the challenges of two testing labs. It was based on significant amount of scientific data.

While they were focused on the potential of medical marijuana, the correlation could be drawn to other traditional medicines and dietary supplements. It was a day of myth busting as the two groups worked together.Nearly 160 people gave up their time for this innovation-filled day, and months of planning by so many people made the event easy to attend.

Here are the results on how you can extract terpenes as well as cannabinoids using supercritical fluid extraction with CO2:

Pesticides and toxins are also extracted at dangerous levels if they are present in the material put in the extraction vessel.

Principle Component Analysis, based on data from nearly 200 runs, will provide you with extraction specific methods based on strains know the final formulations.

Since then have we have done six smaller sessions in other states, including Kentucky, California, Washington and Colorado. All have been packed with people who have catapulted the science and productivity in their facilities through learning principles of chemistry, physics and math that provide explanations to the experiences they are having daily.

But more that, there is a mutual respect for each other to solve challenges. They are looking for best practices to provide the greatest efficacy and safety for people relying on them for potential health benefits.  The claims are not substantiated by the regulatory body, but, like the dietary supplements they need to be first safe for consumption.

Yes, 2016 will be a year to expand upon the work of 2015.