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CBD-crew Launch and a chat with Jorge Cervantes, Shantibaba from Mr. Nice & Jaime of Resin Seeds

e went on two locations to ask a few of those involved in the release of the CBD-crew, first part was with Jorge Cervantes and the second part was with Shanti and Jaime…

W Above left Jorge Cervantes

Below Howard Marks (Mr. Nice), Jaime of Resin Seeds and Scott Blakey (Shantibaba)

Above right CBD-rich strains: - Z 6 (project Z) - CBD Critical Mass (CBD-crew) WW20:Layout 1 04.09.11 23.32 Page 3

How did the CBD-crew idea evolve? Does it feel the same to work alone positive trend during the past year. Jorge: Shanti, Jaime and I were in the car or with a crew of like minded compa- What is your opinion? heading back to Jaime’s house. We were nies? Do you see the CBD-crew as a Jorge: You hit it on the nose! Cannabi- tossing around a few ideas from the past growing concern for like minded noids are very interesting molecules, few few days and CBD-rich strains and “bam!” companies and individuals? medicines offer such a wide range of po- we felt the effects of the Cannatonic, we Jorge: It is much more stimulating to sitive effects and very low toxicity. The felt no pain! At that point WE KNEW WE work with smart, accomplished peers. pharmacological industry is moved by ARE the CBD-Crew! – Two breeders, a We are on the same page and function profits and a naturally occurring plant scientist and me. much better as a group. molecule cannot be patented. Consider the costs to register a new medication, in What were the CBD-crew basic premi- Collaboration among businesses that the USA it is about $800'000'000 (yes, ses? complement one another is always smart. 800 million dollars!). It is easy to under- Jorge: Develop CBD-rich strains, study A strong working relationship with like- stand why until a few years ago nobody CBD as a medicine and promote CBD-rich minded individuals gives a natural advan- was interested in investing in this market. strains for medicinal patients. tage to research and dissemination of The leading pharmaceutical company information and products. dealing with cannabinoids is GW phar- How did the project begin and with maceuticals, based in the UK. Their sub- who? Will we expect to see more strains lingual spray, Sativex, has a 1:1 ratio Jorge: A good friend of mine, Shanti and CBDed so to speak in the future? between THC:CBD. Of course their pro- Jaime put us all together regularly to di- Jorge: In this industry based on piracy, we duct is fully standardized, one of the impor- scuss the issues and lab testing and slowly will see more CBD strains than ever be- tant requirements in the pharmaceutical the affiliations with several other bree- fore. But, just like Jaime and Shanti point world. But standardization is very difficult ders, lab workers, and professionals gai- out, good seeds require time, scientific if not impossible to achieve in a herbal ned a momentum and excitement we knowhow and hard work. A handful of product. We know that there are many have not seen since before. seed companies will do what it takes. variables that can influence the produc- Now CBD-rich strains are becoming tion of cannabinoids, like light intensity, When did you feel it was achievable known in California and other medical temperatures, fertilization, etc. The only and did it work how you thought it states in the USA. It will take time before way to play the game is to grow your was going to work…like a breeding they become popular in Europe and the plants and then extract the cannabinoids. program of a normal seed? world. I will certainly cover most of those Once extracted in a laboratory, you can Jorge: Actually the activity behind CBD- development on my new website produce a truly standardized product. On rich cannabis and the CBD-Crew is unlike www.jorgecervantes.tv the other hand patients seem to prefer any other I have seen. We have two pro- the natural solution to the standardized fessional, well-known breeders collabora- Together with the growing number products, most often because they are ting for the good of medical marijuana of US states that have medical mari- able to self-titrate (find the right dosage) patients. Normally marijuana seed bree- juana laws and new countries having when they inhale from a vaporizer or ders look after themselves. Now, we are programs that allow patients to ac- smoke directly. By inhaling, patience also legal and have laboratories with like-min- cess cannabis as a medicine (i.e. Ca- experience a faster onset of the positive ded scientists helping us. We are all wor- nada and Israel) I feel that the effects of cannabinoids. king in concert to advance CBD-rich interest of the pharmaceutical indu- strains like Cannatonic very quickly. stry for cannabinoids has been on a Last but not least is the money! The July WW20:Layout 1 04.09.11 23.32 Page 4

Many scientific and clinical studies indicate that CBD could be effec- tive in easing symptoms of a wide range of difficult-to-control con- ditions, including: rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, alcoholism, PTSD, epilepsy, antibiotic-resistant infections and neurological disorders.

2010 issue of the IACM (International As- Most cannabis is bred for the “high” through. First of all you need to be able sociation for Cannabinoid Medicines) pe- THC content. What else about CBD- to test the cannabinoid content of the ge- riodical listed the current price for 1mg of rich strains makes them such desira- netics you are producing, in order to se- THC in Sativex is €0,62 (the 10ml vial sells ble strains for patients? lect the right ones to move ahead with at approx. €150,00 in EU pharmacies), Jaime: Cannabidiol —CBD— is a com- your project. We collaborate with a certi- Marinol (syn- thetic THC) in the USA fet- pound in Cannabis that offers various be- fied laboratory for a series of analytical ches €1,80 per 1 mg. Weed sold in a cof- neficial properties. Taken alone, CBD is tests during the course of the plants lives. fee-shop in , for example high not psychoactive; when mixed with THC Before I started breeding CBD-rich strains, quality Super Silver Haze with a 19% THC it tends to smooth and modulate the eu- I was selecting plants based on their aro- content, costs approx. €9,00/gram. At phoric effects of THC, often this is some- matic profile, flowering period, yield etc. this price, the cost of 1mg of THC drops thing patients tend to dislike in high THC In this case you need to wait for the lab to €0,05 (12 times less than Sativex, 36 strains. After decades only high-THC to send you the result of your samples be- times less than Marinol!). Cannabis, CBD-rich strains are now being fore you can start to evaluate how to grown by and for medical patients. CBD move ahead! We are taking away the has demonstrated neuro-protective ef- guesswork of a breeder and replacing it fects in some pathological conditions, with precise science. and its anti-cancer potential is currently being explored at several academic rese- Jaime: I fully agree with Shanti, plenty of arch centers worldwide (try to search time-consuming work here! Furthermore Hello Jaime and Shanti, so glad to “CBD cancer Guzman” on google for with Cannatonic we discovered that only have you on Weed World for this more insights). 50% of the plants grown were CBD rich. chat on CBD-crew. We spoke already This means that out of a packet of 10 with Jorge Cervantes and since you Shanti: The reduced psychoactivity of seeds you would only find 5 plants that both announced this new project of CBD-rich cannabis makes it an appealing were really CBD-rich. Our goal was to yours during the last Spannabis fair treatment option for patients seeking overcome this problem and offer seeds in , could you tell us more anti-inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-anxiety that are 100% CBD-rich, which for pa- about it? and/or anti-spasm effects without discon- tients would mean that they do not need Jaime: As you remember the first time we certing euphoria or lethargy. Scientific to test samples to select a mother for pro- tested the 1:1 ratio of THC: CBD in Can- and clinical studies indicate that CBD ducing their own medicine. natonic (a strain I created for Resin Seeds) could be effective in easing symptoms of was also during a Spannabis fair, the a wide range of difficult-to-control con- When will the CBD-crew debut its 2009 edition, when we gave a sample to ditions, including: rheumatoid arthritis, new product line? be analyzed by CANNA laboratories. diabetes, alcoholism, PTSD, epilepsy, an- Jaime: By end of August 2011 we will se- From that moment on I have been wor- tibiotic-resistant infections and neurolo- lect medical cannabis growers around the king with Shantibaba on CBD since we gical disorders. world to test the new experimental cros- were both genuinely interested in brin- ses we made using legendary genetics of ging this powerful molecule to patients. And the CBD-crew, how did it come Mr. Nice Seed Bank and Resin Seeds as about? It is not every day you see starting points. We are fortunate to work Shanti: That’s right mate, during the past two seed companies collaborating so with growers that can have access to a decade science has demonstrated that closely? lab to test their plants during the growing CBD is a potent antioxidant with strong Shanti: You mean instead of stealing and season. anti-inflammatory qualities. Jaime and I feminizing your competitor’s genetics? both believe that patients should be given Jokes a part, if you want to develop new Shanti: Each test grower will receive 10 a chance to cultivate and employ CBD- genetics based on their chemotype seeds of a new CBD-rich cross - our goal rich cannabis to self-medicate. We wish (which cannabinoids will be produced in is for many growers in different climates to offer a well tested natural alternative the resin of the flowers) there is plenty of to grow out 10 seeds and analyze a sam- in a seed form. hard work based on trial and error to go ple of each plant so ultimately we can ve- WW20:Layout 1 04.09.11 23.32 Page 5

CBD-rich strain: Z7 (project Z)

rify that we reached our goal of offering strains in their catalogue but offer no test there is nothing more convincing than a 100% CBD-rich seeds to patients. If we results to back up their claims. At the end patient that can testify the effects of this succeed, then we'll start selling those people should really grow at least 10 molecule and suggest it to other patients! new varieties, which could happen some- seeds of a CBD-rich strain and test all of Let's not forget that CBD was always pre- where during November 2011. Check out those seeds for their cannabinoids con- sent in , like charas and Moroc- www.cbdcrew.org for more info and up- tent - there is no other way to prove it! I can, where the resin from many different dates. saw many patients in North America that plants is mixed together. We are just tried Cannatonic. These patients really aiming to have that THC:CBD ratio I have not seen the cannabis felt an improvement in the quality of their combination in one bud! market/community showing much lives. These are the patients we want to awareness of CBD itself or the fact help without any cheap marketing tricks! that not all plants growing from a seed packet of CBD-rich seeds ac- Shanti: Correct Jaime! I also noticed that tually contain CBD. Do you really during the last Medical Cannabis Cup in think there is a future for those hit San Francisco there was new prize for and miss CBD seed strains? CBD-rich strains. I feel the revolution is Jaime: Good point. I also saw new seed coming and slowly patients will start to companies that mention CBD-potent try the effects of CBD for themselves: