What’s In a Toke? The Chemistry of Cannabis Smoke, Challenges to Cannabis Education w Riley Kirk PhD

Why does smoking Cannabis deliver unique effects compared to vaping or ingesting Cannabis? Why are social media platforms banning Cannabis educators from talking about the science of Cannabis? We have questions! In this behind-the-scenes episode I sat down with Dr. Riley Kirk (@cannabichem) from Real Isolates, the company behind the Cannabis smoke extract product called Smokenol, to talk about the chemistry of Cannabis smoke (and lots of other cool natural products science!). In this conversation we discuss some of the unique cannabinoids that show up in Cannabis smoke and what Dr. Kirk has learned during her time studying the transformations of cannabinoids like CBD.

We also discussed her struggle to share Cannabis science education with the world due to the antagonistic nature of social media toward Cannabis content. Dr. Kirk has been shadow banned and de-platformed from social media sites like Instagram and TikTok for discussing basic Cannabis science and cannabinoid pharmacology.

We dive into why these issues have real-world adverse effects for anyone curious about Cannabis and what Cannabis educators should know before they rush to their Reels or Stories to talk about Cannabis. The conversation rounds off with a dive into Dr. Kirk’s love for plants where we talk about her favorite non-Cannabis medicinal plants and the exciting things we can learn when we apply the lens of Cannabis science to other natural products.