THC and CBD made cheap using brewers yeast!

https://phys.org/news/2019-02-yeast-low-cost-high-quality-cannabinoids.html

@sonhouse said
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-yeast-low-cost-high-quality-cannabinoids.html

It is an interesting development, but I take issue with the following claim.

"Cannabis cultivation is a prime example of an energy-intensive and environmentally-destructive industry. Farms in northwest California have polluted streams with pesticide and fertilizer runoff and helped drain watersheds because marijuana plants are water-hungry. Illegal grows have resulted in clear-cutting and erosion.

Indoor cultivation under grow lights with ventilation fans uses a lot of energy, accounting for a growing percentage of annual power consumption. One study estimated that California's cannabis industry accounted for 3 percent of the state's electricity usage. Indoor grows have caused blackouts in some cities, and energy consumption can add more than $1,000 to the price of a pound of weed.

Hence Keasling's interest in finding a "green" way to produce the active chemicals in marijuana."

These examples are from illegal growing operations in the forest and indoor growing. We may grow it legally here in Michigan now, but there is an incentive lacking for promoting outdoor growth of cannabis.

I grow my cannabis outdoors with manure as fertilizer. I do not use chemical fertilizers. If you grow it right it is not environmentally-destructive at all and it tastes better grown organically. End prohibition of cannabis nationally and much of the down side from it will diminish.

@Metal-Brain
Amen to that. Like the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers said, it's not a free country if you can't smoke what you chose.
Personally I'm out of that game now but one thing that screws up the whole deal is the feds not allowing bank accounts for marijuana sales in states where it is legal. So it has to be cash only and that leads to problems like theft of large cash drawers.

@metal-brain said
It is an interesting development, but I take issue with the following claim.

"Cannabis cultivation is a prime example of an energy-intensive and environmentally-destructive industry. Farms in northwest California have polluted streams with pesticide and fertilizer runoff and helped drain watersheds because marijuana plants are water-hungry. Illegal grows have resulted ...[text shortened]... organically. End prohibition of cannabis nationally and much of the down side from it will diminish.

I think that this is a real problem. The major difficulty with cannabis was discussed, to some extent, in a recent thread in Debates - its use is associated with mental health problems. I'm sure that moderate use of cannabis will not cause users any difficulties, but people find moderation with narcotics (including alcohol) difficult. There is, however, some poor quality evidence for problems with "strong" strains. The strong strains tend to express THC far more that CBC, whereas older strains have relatively more CBC and less THC than the stronger strains. One of these substances is a receptor agonist and the other a receptor antagonist. So one takes the poison and the antidote together, so to speak. This brings me to the difficulty with using yeast. They can produce pure THC and pure CBC and purity is not necessarily a good thing here.

@DeepThought
If what you say is true, then it seems they should mix the two together for recreational use. The one time I smoked near pure THC I did not like the high that it rendered.
The cat is out of the bag, so we are on an extended experiment with both.

@deepthought said
I think that this is a real problem. The major difficulty with cannabis was discussed, to some extent, in a recent thread in Debates - its use is associated with mental health problems. I'm sure that moderate use of cannabis will not cause users any difficulties, but people find moderation with narcotics (including alcohol) difficult. There is, however, some poor quali ...[text shortened]... sing yeast. They can produce pure THC and pure CBC and purity is not necessarily a good thing here.

Cannabis does not cause mental health problems. Cannabis can bring out an existing mental health problem when used. Whether or not you are a moderate user or a heavy user makes no difference.
CBD in combination with THC gets you high. Stronger strains have a preferred combination of the two. Calling one a poison is an effort to demonize cannabis compounds. You should do more research into it before using an improper term like poison to describe CBD or THC. Pure CBD is a useful medicine. It alone cannot get you high so you are incorrect when you say purity is not a necessarily a good thing.

You should try cannabis so you know what it is really like. I find that people who have not tried it are generally misinformed about it.