Pubdate: Thu, 11 Nov 2004
Source: Hour Magazine (CN QU)
Copyright: 2004, Communications Voir Inc.
Contact:  http://www.hour.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/971
Author: Jamie O'Meara
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

POP THE PAIN AWAY

They say that the person who learns to package and sell happiness will be a 
wealthy person indeed. Well, we're not there yet, but Montrealer Peter 
Horowitz, president of Cannabrex Nutriceutical, may be close. The 
entrepreneurial Horowitz has found a way to exploit one of the more 
peculiar peccadilloes of modern mankind - namely the desire, and in some 
cases the need, to get high - in the pursuit of a just and righteous cause.

Horowitz & Co. give us the Cannabrex Home Encapsulation System, also known 
as the Cannabrex Kit, a well-crafted package that provides a much 
healthier, more efficient, less socially stigmatized means of taking 
marijuana, hash or their derivatives for medicinal reasons.

The kit supplies all the necessary ingredients and instructions to make 
gel-capped pot pills that Horowitz says maximize THC absorption while 
minimizing unhealthy or unpleasant side effects that come with smoking, 
eating or other means of ingesting the drug. No harsh tokes or clothes that 
smell like the '60s; no blistered lips and blackened cutlery in the 
kitchen. And absolutely no temptation to drink the bong water.

For around 60 bills, you get your own fun and easy-to-use home prescription 
system. It goes something like this: chop the shit up, add some oil, heat 
it up on the stove (a process called decarboxylation, which basically 
removes one of the chemical roadblocks between you and your buzz), add some 
powder filler, pour it into your gel cap maker and, hello, Bob's your uncle.

Horowitz says the newly opened company - which takes orders through its 
website, www.cannabrex.com - has already attracted the interest of 
marijuana compassion clubs in Canada and the U.S., as well as the support 
of a number of pain-afflicted individuals already, um, hooked on their product.

We went to Horowitz for the straight dope...

Does the government see you as anything more than a better-dressed, 
technologically uptown, high-end head shop peddling excipient powder and 
decarboxylation chemistry instead of roach clips?

Canada is one the best places to be doing this sort of thing. It's still an 
uphill battle, but "marijuana" is fast becoming a good word, while 
"pharmaceutical" is becoming a bad word. Marijuana is the biggest cash crop 
in Canada right now - we just have to figure out how to normalize it while 
our big brother from the south is trying to take over the world. They frown 
upon a medicine that doesn't make them, their Drug Administration or their 
pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars.

So where is the potential market for Cannabrex?

The kit was born out of necessity. A friend of mine has a condition that he 
treats with marijuana. He is married with three kids and goes to school. 
Smoking every day was not only affecting his health, but there is also a 
certain social stigma attached to being a "stoner," and he didn't need his 
kids, boss or professor seeing him go out to the parking lot to smoke a joint.

This situation, combined with his love of chemistry, inventing and research 
compelled him to develop a smokeless way of ingesting THC. I helped him out 
along the way, and by doing so realized the market potential for this type 
of product. So we put it together and now there are people already using 
the Cannabrex Kit to treat multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder, Crohn's 
disease and back pain. Some are Canadian federal exemptees, which mean they 
can legally use marijuana. The list of conditions and ailments it can treat 
is too long to list here.

How does your THC delivery system compare to that of the tried, true and 
cheaper hash brownie?

Not only can a hash brownie, although tasty, be readily reduced to a pile 
of smelly crumbs, it can also go rancid. A Cannabrex capsule uses an oil 
blend that not only requires no refrigeration, but behaves more like a 
carbohydrate than a fat. The fuels of preference for the body is 
carbohydrates, and the body will use up its store of carbohydrates before 
using other fuels. This causes the THC to take effect in a much shorter 
time and in a much more effective manner.

And for those watching their weight, a Cannabrex capsule has way less carbs 
than a brownie.

Given that you can buy gel caps at health food stores and the basic 
chemistry at any chemical supply store, do you think your product may be a 
little bit pricey for, say, someone presumably sick and possibly strapped 
for cash?

First of all, the most important components of the kit are not available 
anywhere retail. Secondly, if you break it down, the cost per capsule is 
less than 30 cents - and that's for the initial purchase of the kit. The 
refill packs will end up costing closer to 15 cents a capsule. We are also 
in the final stages of developing different herbal formulas for the kit, 
but I can't really get into that here.

Is there any potential for legal issues to arise, either within Canada or 
cross-border, with respect to the sale of a product that is primarily a 
prohibited drug delivery system?

Problems can only arise if the current laws change, but they are only 
changing for the better right now, albeit a little too slowly...

Have you yourself tested your product? What were the results?

The only marijuana-treatable symptoms I suffer from are related to back 
pain, and I do yoga and get massages for that. I was also too busy filling 
out paperwork, but there was no lack of people willing to test out our 
product. I do, however, use the Cannabrex Kit to make my own blend of 
Korean ginseng capsules.

Anything to add?

Check out our website or e-mail me at  And tell your 
parents about us. They probably have symptoms that marijuana can treat, but 
they don't want to roll a joint or smoke it out in the garage where the 
neighbours can see them...
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