Reefer MEDness

How did Israel’s medical cannabis Patient 7 become an advocate and educator?

Gil Luxenbourg developed severe Crohn’s disease during his Israeli military service. After conventional treatments failed, he received the extraordinary suggestion from a military gastroenterologist: try cannabis.

In Part 1, Gil explains his journey to becoming one of Israel’s first licensed medical cannabis patients, helping establish the Israel Medical Cannabis Association, and educating patients and healthcare professionals about safer cannabis use. He discusses why poor dosing and bad first experiences caused many patients to quit—and shares a powerful warning about why patients should always tell their healthcare team about cannabis use.

Listen now for a remarkable story about medical cannabis, patient advocacy, education, stigma, and the early evolution of Israel’s cannabis system.

Gil Luxenbourg - website

Gil Luxenbourg - LinkedIn

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Can cannabis help pets?

In Part 2 of our conversation with veterinary technician and Inspired Pet Wellness founder Sandi Krusik van Bommel, we explore the sometimes confusing world of cannabis, CBD, THC, and pet wellness. Sandi explains what responsible cannabinoid use can look like for pets, why accidental ingestion is different from therapeutic use, and why pet owners need to consider more than THC alone when a dog gets into an edible.

We dig into THC toxicity in dogs. Sandi makes the important distinction between something being toxic versus lethal. Trevor and Kirk expand on the discussion from their pharmacist and nursing perspectives, including why an animal’s underlying health can change the seriousness of an accidental exposure.

Confused by terms such as CBD isolate, cannabinoid blends, and full-spectrum cannabis products? Sandi offers a memorable “chicken soup” analogy: an isolate is like chicken and broth, while adding vegetables, herbs, spices, and noodles resembles combining multiple cannabis constituents. Trevor and Kirk use the analogy to explore the complexity—and the art—of cannabinoid therapy.

Listen now to learn what every cannabis-using pet household should know about cannabinoids, accidental exposure, and responsible pet wellness.

Inspired Pet Wellness - website

Sandi Krucik-van Bommel - LinkedIn

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Can CBD and cannabis have a place in pet wellness?

Trevor and Kirk talk with Sandi Krusik van Bommel of Inspired Pet Wellness, a registered veterinary technician, canine rehabilitation therapist and certified veterinary cannabis consultant.

Sandi's cannabis origin story involves caring for her injured senior dog. After many false starts, Sandi's quest to help her fur baby led her into the world of veterinary cannabis. She tells us all of our pets have an endocannabinoid system, why not all CBD products are created equal, and how cannabinoids, terpenes, broad-spectrum products work together in the entourage effect.

In one of Trevor's new favorite analogies, find out why Sandy compares choosing a cannabis formulation to making chicken soup.

Discover what pet parents should understand about the evolving world of CBD, cannabis and animal wellness.

Inspired Pet Wellness - website

Sandi Krucik-van Bommel - LinkedIn

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Can cannabinoids really work through the skin?

In Part 2 of our conversation with Ripley and Jill of Blunt Botanicals, Trevor and Kirk dig into CBD, CBG, terpenes, and cannabinoid skincare. What is the science, formulation, and business potential behind cannabis topicals?.

The conversation gets practical with Blunt Botanicals’ cooling topical formulated with CBD and CBG. Rapid Cryo uses menthol, wintergreen, terpenes, and other ingredients designed to create a layered cooling sensation. Jill explains the thinking behind pairing cannabinoids with specific botanical ingredients and terpene profiles. Ripley discusses why the company focuses on products that can fit into everyday life without intoxication. They also explore cannabinoid-infused bath products, emulsification, formulation choices, and why avoiding an oily bathtub may be more important than it sounds, especially as we get older.

We look beyond formulation to the future of the category. Ripley discusses the growth potential Blunt Botanicals sees in cannabis topicals, upcoming Rapid Cryo format, skincare products, and the challenge of educating consumers about an often-overlooked cannabis category.

Listen now for a mix of cannabis science, formulation chemistry, entrepreneurship, and the occasional joke about smelling like wintergreen.

Blunt Botanicals - website

Ripley Halfyard - LinkedIn

Jill Provencal - LinkedIn

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

What happens when a personal mission becomes a cannabis skincare company? Trevor and Kirk meet Jill Provencal and returning guest Ripley Halfyard of Alberta-based Blunt Botanicals.

Jill shares how helping a close friend dealing with breast cancer, pain and radiation-related skin problems helped inspire her journey into formulation and cannabis topicals. Ripley brings years of experience in cannabis licensing, compliance and business development.

They explore Blunt Botanicals, Cosmic Cannabis and HipBees, along with natural ingredients, from-scratch formulation, white-label manufacturing and the importance of building a women-owned workplace that supports caregivers.

Listen now for the story behind the products—and the people creating them.

Blunt Botanicals - website

Ripley Halfyard - LinkedIn

Jill Provencal - LinkedIn

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

In this episode, Kirk and Trevor review “The Cannabis Cancer Connection” by Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich. Dr. Joe is a cardiologist who, in his retirement, became a self-descripted “cannabis oncologist”. He now applies pre-clinical cannabis research and his years of expertise and patient experience to his clinical cannabis practice. In his book, Dr. Joe discusses the “Art” of practicing medicine within an evidence-based system. He discusses the limitations of the available science behind medicinal cannabis, while at the same time challenging the medical system to recognize the plant’s potential. He has had successes and failures using cannabis as a therapeutic in cancer care and offers a balanced view of both. This book offers a good introduction to both cannabis and cancer, and will help individuals and families to better understand how cannabis can help those suffering from the disease. Dr. Joe also takes the reader deeper by applying the available knowledge and connecting it to his clinical practice making this a valuable resource to those practicing in the field of oncology.

Dr. Joe Goldstrich - The Cannabis Cancer Connection Amazon

And although it had nothing to do with our discussion, but it is immensely cool that Dr. Joe was in the hospital when JFK was being treated post-Dealey Plaza. He is even in a documentary about that! - JFK: What the Doctors Saw (Amazon)

Music by:

John Lennon - Imagine - YouTube

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Where can we find cannabis without stigma?

Kirk cold-calls two very different budtenders whose stories share an atypical cannabis cultural approach to retail. He stops in to visit a First Nations cannabis shop on a southern British Columbia highway and then a community-focused dispensary in downtown Winnipeg. These two settings could not be more different, yet Kirk finds an unexpected thread connecting these dispensaries.

At the Green Mountain High Road Dispensary and Smoke Shop, Sheena Dadson shares her relationship with cannabis during cancer treatment and takes Kirk inside a dramatically different retail experience where customers can see, smell, and handle cannabis flower before buying. Her story raises fascinating questions about First Nations cannabis retail, the consumer experience, product knowledge, and Canada’s regulated cannabis market.

Then 21-year-old Fiddler’s Green budtender Lyrin Morissette offers a generational perspective Kirk wasn’t expecting. Besides explaining dry-herb vaping and his community approach to cannabis retail, Lyrin enlightens Kirk with how there is now an entire new adult generation starting a relationship with cannabis, as a legalized substance.

These conversations ultimately lead Trevor and Kirk into a deeper discussion about mindful cannabis consumption, the recreational market’s focus on high THC products, and whether cannabis needs its own version of the responsible-drinking movement.

Listen now for two memorable budtender stories and their individual thought provoking approaches to cannabis retail.

Green Mountain High Road - Instagram

Fiddler's Dream - website

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion - desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

What happens when adult learning, government regulation, product shortages, and real-world retail experience collide?

Kirk’s Western Canada road trip continues through Alberta and British Columbia.

At Spiritleaf in Sherwood Park, AB, Kamryn explains how working as a budtender turned her curiosity about cannabis into a passion for learning. Her self-directed learning includes researching terpenes, cannabinoids, the endocannabinoid system, the entourage effect, cannabis products, and cultivation. This hands-on learning helps her better understand what customers are asking about.

Kirk returns to Marlee’s Den in Hope, British Columbia, where Lorraine describes the retail fallout from a British Columbia cannabis strike, including inventory shortages, direct-delivery complications, competition between independent and corporate retailers, and the challenges facing local growers. She also explains her experience with cannabis SKU's and why popular flower, pre-rolls, and infused products can disappear overnight from store shelves.

This is a ground-level view of Canadian cannabis retail dilemmas, budtender education, government regulations, and those who are navigating legalization one customer, and one SKU, at a time.

Listen now for cannabis stories you rarely hear from behind the counter.

Spirit Leaf Sherwood Park - website

Marlee's Den - website

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion - desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

What does 420 mean now that cannabis is legal? Kirk hits the road through Saskatchewan and Alberta, gathering candid stories about cannabis culture, legalization, medical cannabis, recreational retail and the changing meaning of 420.

Hear from a longtime Moose Jaw 420 organizer, a medical cannabis user buying through recreational stores, and cannabis retail professionals discussing low-THC products, stigma and the challenge of helping customers seeking cannabis for health reasons.

Listen now for a street-level look at cannabis legalization across Western Canada.

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Can a small craft cannabis producer survive when government gatekeepers control which products reach consumers?

Kirk visits Edmonton’s New Life Canna to speak with co-founder Robert Raposo. A former firefighter-paramedic and entrepreneur, Robert explains how a casual idea about growing cannabis became a 6,000-square-foot micro-cultivation and processing operation.

Robert takes us inside the difficult economics of Canada’s legal cannabis industry—from rotating SKUs to provincial product listings. He explains how government-controlled distribution can limit consumer choice, and why successful products can still be delisted.

The conversation also explores the BC cannabis distribution strike, farmgate retail, cannabis marketing restrictions, funding barriers and the challenges of supporting local growers. Robert shares why New Life Canna works with independent cultivators to create “win-win” partnerships while producing distinctive craft cannabis strains.

Listen now to discover what it really takes to build a craft cannabis company—and why growing exceptional cannabis is only one part of surviving the regulated market.

New Life Canna Ltd - website

Robert Raposo - LinkedIn

Additional Music:

Desiree Dorion desireedorion.com

Marc Clement - Facebook

Transcripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca