FAQ

What is Total Spectrum™?

(short answer)

The Total Spectrum™ is the complete chemical profile of the cannabis plant, everything that contributes to the effects of a certain strain of cannabis. It is fundamentally different from isolate, broad spectrum, or even full spectrum. 

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What is Total Spectrum™?

(long answer)

Total Spectrum™ is a descriptor that defines a new tier of product quality that did not exist until we invented the technology (LACY ™) that makes it possible. The entire focus and intention behind our innovation is to preserve the myriad of compounds, that make up the distinct and unique effects of a specific strain of cannabis, its entourage effect. In short, total spectrum means we’ve captured 100% of the total cannabis plant profile. Nothing added, everything preserved.

It’s an incredibly simple concept, with absolutely monolithic implications for the cannabis industry. All the distinct characteristics of a strain, all of its medical properties, its full efficacy - captured in a non-smoked product like a capsule. This innovation was crucial for the industry. Why? Because of a notoriously destructive process called decarbing (decarboxylation/activation). 

What is isolate?

Isolate refers to single-compound products isolated from the cannabis plant. This attempt to isolate (or “purify”) a single compound is typical in synthesis-based pharmacological drug-design. Oxycodone is only one compound, and so is Acetaminophen (Tynenol). But for products made from natural sources, like cannabis, there is more at play than just a single compound. The story is more complex, and so the same approach won’t work here. For this reason, these types of isolate-based products have been shown to be considerably less effective. Why? They miss out on the holistic and synergistic effects of the hundreds of compounds found in the cannabis plant - known as the entourage effect. 
 

What is broad spectrum?

Typically, broad spectrum refers to a product that has had any THC removed, but does contain other minor compounds alongside the main active ingredient (usually CBD). These minor compounds could be the degraded remains of the cannabis plant profile they started with, or they could be added in after activation - either from cannabis, from other natural sources, or from synthetic sources. This is referred to as recombination, attempting to mimic the total cannabis plant profile by combining individual components. 

What is full spectrum?

Full spectrum, for the most part, is the same as broad spectrum except it typically has some small amount of THC, once again either added in or native to it’s profile. As you can see, each of these product types incrementally attempts to get closer to the native total cannabis plant profile, but still fall drastically short. 

The way the market defines “full spectrum” is incorrect and misleading. “Full” connotes everything is included, a complete spectrum of the cannabis plant - and as the data clearly shows, that is objectively untrue. Without using our technology “full spectrum”, or rather what full spectrum is supposed to mean - is not possible. So rather than fight that battle of semantics with every customer, investor, etc. - we have adopted the phrase “total spectrum”. It stresses the importance of taking the profile in its totality. And psychologically, it frames these products as being higher quality, and a step up from full spectrum - which is objectively true. 

What is the entourage effect?

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The Entourage Effect is a mechanism by which compounds present in cannabis which are largely non-psychoactive (terpenes, flavonoids, etc.) by themselves modulate the overall psychoactive effects of the plant. All of the compounds in cannabis (like cannabinoids and terpenes), working in together create the distinct effects and medical benefits of a specific strain of cannabis. LACY ™ is the first and only system to preserve the entourage effect of a specific strain all the way through the decarb/activation process.

What is decarb?

(activation/decarboxylation)

Decarbing is a necessary step when consuming hemp (CBD-rich) or cannabis (THC-rich). If you were to eat raw hemp/cannabis flowers directly from the cannabis plant, you wouldn’t feel any effects. It must be decarbed - or activated - first. In fact, if you’ve ever smoked a joint, you’ve decarbed. If you’ve ever dabbed an extract, you’ve decarbed. If you’ve ever made weed brownies, you’ve decarbed. If you used enough cannabis, but the brownies didn’t work, you probably decarbed it wrong.

The heat used to light your joint, or make your edibles, activates the cannabinoids so they can work in your body (converting CBD-A to CBD, or THC-A to THC).  This decarb step must be done first. But this process is extremely destructive to the overall cannabis plant profile. There is one set of reactions we are targeting during the decarboxylation process - activating the cannabinoids. But in pursuit of that, the entire plant profile is destroyed - drastically diminishing the effects of the output. Yes, it may have been activated, but the strain attributes - the entourage effect, the distinct and inherent effects and medical benefits of that strain - have been lost. 

All of the care and attention in cannabis breeding and cultivation - lost and undone by the final processing step. Everyone else viewed this issue as an unavoidable outcome. This is how it is, this is how it’s always been, and this is how it will always be. The lack of innovation around this problem threatened the future and overall potential of cannabis. That was 100% unacceptable to us, and borderline offensive. We understood cannabis science, cannabis processing, and cannabis pharmacology on a fundamental scientific level - and we knew there had to be a better way. 

What is LACY?

Our patented flagship invention - Lossless Activation Chamber Y (“LACY”) - allows us to be the first in the world to create total spectrum cannabis products. Our technology creates products that are unmatched in quality, with higher yields and lower costs than the rest of the industry. These products capture the distinct effects of whatever strain of cannabis we start with. Truly leveraging the entourage effect and with no need for re-combination. “Re-combination” means mixing isolated cannabis compounds, stripped from the plant, in a misguided attempt to mimic its distinct effects (entourage effect). We differ by preserving the plant profile from the beginning. The total plant profile, from plant to product to person - preserving everything. The total spectrum of each cannabis strain, including its distinct pharmacological effects - or in other words, its entourage effect. Through our proprietary lossless processing methods, we can provide reliable, consistent, precisely-dosed, total spectrum cannabis products that are designed to target specific ailments/produce specific effects. Just like the strains of cannabis they were made from.