The DAO of Cannabis
This is the first of an article series exploring how we unlock the secrets of cannabis with Deep Tech
“It’s not you. It’s me.”
Although disingenuous when it comes to personal relationships, it’s the opposite when we’re talking about us and cannabis.
It really is us.
Our one-hundred-plus years of acquiescence to the absurd prohibition of a plant despite our shared five thousand-year history of medicinal, sacramental and celebratory uses is on us. The blip of prohibition has warped, perverted and ingrained a dark reputation of cannabis into every cultural nook and cranny across the globe. Its stigmatization is multi-faceted, stubbornly rooted, and a stain that is proving difficult to exonerate. All to the vast detriment of humanity.
The black sheep, of course, is THC. CBD is the more palatable younger brother that enjoys mostly unbridled exploitation in the US and UK. Meanwhile, drug companies have zeroed in and exacted their pound of flesh with these molecules, now happily charging a king’s ransom for a small bottle of purified THC and/or CBD. But at least it’s ‘legit’. It’s a drug. It has millions of dollars behind it to make sure it’s safe for human consumption as if thousands of years of use wasn’t enough. And a tsunami of patents ensures they can extract (tithe?) us for decades to come.
Opponents continue to rail about the dangers of cannabis, especially to the still-developing brains of our youth, and therefore want to keep it in the dark with laws that declare it has no medicinal value. That attitude has hounded cannabis into oblivion for decades, preventing the critical research that actually can illuminate what cannabinoids and in what concentrations and formats should not be provided to the young.
New research is indicating that, indeed, THC can negatively affect healthy brain development, but we would have known about that decades ago if research hadn’t been banned in the early 1970s. Ignorance of the plant hasn’t protected our kids. Only the light of knowledge can.
So now the thin edge of the wedge — ‘medical’ cannabis — is the blunt instrument that is steadily toppling the outright ban of cannabis in markets around the world. Addressing chronic pain has been proven as a strong use case for high THC consumption for adults, along with over a dozen other medical disorders. It seems to be enough for policymakers and politicians to relax prohibition a little and open the door a crack, with the allure of tax windfalls dancing in their minds.
But in the wake of medical cannabis reformation, invariably comes ‘adult use.’ Or, more accurately, ‘recreational’ cannabis law. Once recreational enters the picture, ‘patients’ of medical cannabis no longer need to seek the advice of reluctant physicians because they can just order online or visit the local dispensary. Or just grow their own without fear of jail. The ‘medical’ laws then atrophy and become essentially meaningless due to a lack of interest on both sides: patients and physicians. The path of least resistance is followed, and the recreational users are happy that their use no longer poses a legal risk.
In the US, only about 17% of adults smoke cannabis on a regular basis. They are generally the traditionalists who got what they wanted in the end, at least in states that have implemented recreational programs. In markets like Canada, which has a nationally legalized framework for cannabis, the canna-curious crowd has expanded adoption to a little over 25% of the adult population.
Of course, you can count on politics and governments to F-up deregulation by creating multiple layers of RE-regulation, compliance, and draconian tax grabs that make it almost impossible for a legitimate industry to survive. Thus, we have a persistent black market that has an even easier time of it because its customers can now possess legally, and it can deliver choice, product formats, and quality completely unfettered from government regulations.
It continues to be a political, economic and cultural football that prevents the plant from returning to its historical place as medicine, sacrament and celebratory manna.
Perhaps the greatest impact cannabis can have is in the field of therapeutics. There are well over 100 distinct cannabinoids and over 150 terpenoids — the volatile oils in the plant that provide its characteristic odor and also have myriad therapeutic effects — contained in any given cannabis plant. The industry has only commercialized about a dozen cannabinoids, which leaves over 90 percent of its chemistry in unexplored territory.
Enter Deep Tech
How do we move ahead?
We can begin to deconstruct the stigma surrounding cannabis, open up the addressable market to 100% of the adult population, and actively explore the vast medicine chest contained in the plant through modernization, using the tools of ‘Deep Tech.’
The term ‘Deep Tech’ has evolved over the years, initially referring to companies pursuing cutting-edge science and technology research to solve difficult problems. Significant capital requirements are needed, with years of development, yet players have no guarantee of success. Deep Tech involves applying these technologies in concert to effect a challenging solution — a solution that, if delivered, triggers immense value. Google, Amazon, Meta (Facebook), SpaceX, Tesla and Apple are examples of Deep Tech companies that have delivered and continue to deliver massive returns.
Deep Tech is also related to timing. For example, the iPhone is an example of multiple ‘deep’ technologies brought together in a completely new way, infused with a vision and drive that only a Steve Jobs could have pulled off. It completely revolutionized communications, computing, entertainment, photography, videography, and many more fields simply by virtue of placing all of that capability in the palm of your hand. This technology layer was also launched with an ecosystem of app developers and accessory manufacturers that supercharged the utility of the iPhone platform into its global ubiquity today.
So, what was once the absolute cutting edge of multiple technologies, fused into a single device back in 2007, would have been considered a prime example of Deep Tech. Today it is now ubiquitous, commoditized and enmeshed everywhere as a potent service ecosystem in our lives.
As the co-founder of MIT’s Deep Tech Bootcamp, Josh Siegel, puts it:
“A ‘Deep’ Technology was impossible yesterday, is barely feasible today, and may soon become so pervasive and impactful that it is difficult to remember life without. Deep Tech solutions are reimaginations of fundamental capabilities that are faithful to real and significant problems or opportunities, rather than to any one discipline.”
Five technology pillars are massively impacting major industries today: artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, Web3 (blockchain, smart contracts, tokenized assets — where the ‘DAO’ comes in), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and nanotechnology. These technology stacks are reshaping biosciences, finance, product development, knowledge worker employment, services industries, and many others. The coalescing of these technologies into solution equations is the ‘new’ Deep Tech.
Cannabis has been conspicuously isolated from these technology waves due to prohibition.
This article series will explore each of these five technology pillars and how, taken together, can be applied to the cannabis industry to bring it fully out of the shadows and into the global consumer marketplace.
Before You Go
If you want the full meal deal, my new book is coming this summer:
The DAO of Cannabis — Unlocking the Secrets of Cannabis with Deep Tech
Head over here to register for updates on the pre-order and publish dates and grab the free introduction chapter. My articles are always free, but you can grab the whole kit and kaboodle with this new book. It’s a playbook for modernizing the cannabis industry with Deep Tech.
Thank you for your support!
~ Chris
