Getting Into Cannabis Extractions Industry... Realistic Goal? (U.S.)

Realistic?

  • Your Crazy No Chance

  • Possibly

  • Great Idea

Results are only viewable after voting.
Honey Oil Riot Squad

Honey Oil Riot Squad

Well-Known Member
Hello all,
I've never posted in toke and talk but it looks like there are a lot of people on here who may be able to help me out, so here goes.
I just got out of college recently with a bachelor of science in chemistry (ayyyy) and am at that point in my life where i'm like what the fuck am I going to do with myself right now, ya know? I come from a state where marijuana remains illegal except for newly limited medical use unfortunately, but i've been seriously toying with the idea of trying to get into the cannabis extractions industry. Though many people call me crazy, I've been doing research on the idea and it looks like this industry is about to seriously take off in the U.S. with legalization picking up. It looks to me like NOW is the time for someone like me who would take a serious interest in something like cannabis extractions to get my foot in the door of that industry. With the knowledge I have in Organic Chemistry (I have a focus on Ochem) and all the instrumental methods needed to analyze cannabis extracts, I could seriously make a killing in this industry, and I would love my job all the while.

THE PROBLEM is the damn stuff is still illegal where I live, except for an incredibly small (pretty much cancer only) medical program, that i'm sure has job applications coming out there asses.

So does anybody know much about the extractions industry and the potential of someone like me to get a job within it? Is this a realistic dream to have? I feel like there aren't a lot of pro-pot enthusiasts in the science field because unfortunately you can get some very arrogant people in science, and that leaves me a rare candidate for this field.

Does anybody have experience with all of the regulations around making a LEGAL cannabis extractions company in states like Colorado, Cali, Oregon, etc that have a large marijuana industry? Or even experience with trying to attain a job in cannabis concentrates (say as a technician at an already approved company)? I don't know where to start if I want to take this career and I'd have to move cross-country, but I am willing. The other option is to wait for my state to legalize, but that does not seem to be happening anytime soon.

All in all, i'm just asking if this would be a realistic goal. This sounds like a career path I'd love to get into.
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Honey Oil Riot Squad said:
Hello all,
I've never posted in toke and talk but it looks like there are a lot of people on here who may be able to help me out, so here goes.
I just got out of college recently with a bachelor of science in chemistry (ayyyy) and am at that point in my life where i'm like what the fuck am I going to do with myself right now, ya know? I come from a state where marijuana remains illegal except for newly limited medical use unfortunately, but i've been seriously toying with the idea of trying to get into the cannabis extractions industry. Though many people call me crazy, I've been doing research on the idea and it looks like this industry is about to seriously take off in the U.S. with legalization picking up. It looks to me like NOW is the time for someone like me who would take a serious interest in something like cannabis extractions to get my foot in the door of that industry. With the knowledge I have in Organic Chemistry (I have a focus on Ochem) and all the instrumental methods needed to analyze cannabis extracts, I could seriously make a killing in this industry, and I would love my job all the while.

THE PROBLEM is the damn stuff is still illegal where I live, except for an incredibly small (pretty much cancer only) medical program, that i'm sure has job applications coming out there asses.

So does anybody know much about the extractions industry and the potential of someone like me to get a job within it? Is this a realistic dream to have? I feel like there aren't a lot of pro-pot enthusiasts in the science field because unfortunately you can get some very arrogant people in science, and that leaves me a rare candidate for this field.

Does anybody have experience with all of the regulations around making a LEGAL cannabis extractions company in states like Colorado, Cali, Oregon, etc that have a large marijuana industry? Or even experience with trying to attain a job in cannabis concentrates (say as a technician at an already approved company)? I don't know where to start if I want to take this career and I'd have to move cross-country, but I am willing. The other option is to wait for my state to legalize, but that does not seem to be happening anytime soon.

All in all, i'm just asking if this would be a realistic goal. This sounds like a career path I'd love to get into.
Click to expand...
Get the terminal degree in your field or at least a masters. Let me call someone who has the terminal degree and loves extracting, @cannabineer.
 
Honey Oil Riot Squad

Honey Oil Riot Squad

Well-Known Member
Singlemalt said:
Go to grad school; then move to a legal state. Better yet go to grad school in a legal state and don't quit your day job; develop the cannabis as a serious hobby and gear up so when ready you can jump in hard.
Click to expand...
I've read an article about trying to start a cannabis company in Colorado and it said there are regulations in place saying that you have to have been a resident of Colorado for at least 2 years in order to start or get into a company. Is this still true and do other states have similar regulations? Because in that case I truly NEED to go to grad school in a legal state and I better pick the right one haha. So anybody know which state would be more promising?

Also, do owners and senior scientists of these companies who have pHDs in organic chem, etc actually smoke pot or are they in it for the money? Because I would like to be working in a place with a bit more "chill" coworkers than most of the industrial science companies I could go to with my degree lol.
 
Honey Oil Riot Squad

Honey Oil Riot Squad

Well-Known Member
Singlemalt said:
No dispersions on your skills kid, but lots of folks with no chem background can do fine extractions. You need another hook to stand out; something like analyses which requires instrumentaion (HPLC, etc). You know that's not cheap
Click to expand...
Exactly. This is why the idea can seem fairly unrealistic because to be on top and truly USE your chemistry skills to refine your oils you need to be fluent in techniques like HPLC, Mass Spec, GC-MS, etc, etc. (and now days have equipment for super-critical CO2 extraction) I have used all of these instruments in undergrad but not very extensively as someone who say focused their doctoral thesis on using HPLC in some way.
And then an even bigger problem is that these instruments are thousands of dollars. My current assets are NEGATIVE, thousands of dollars of student debt lol... thanks America.

I don't know your background or if you know a lot about this (it sounds like you might), but is HPLC the primary method scientists are using to assess cannabis extracts? Any other instrumentation in specific? I'd like to look into techniques if they are out there at all.
 
Singlemalt

Singlemalt

Well-Known Member
Honey Oil Riot Squad said:
Exactly. This is why the idea can seem fairly unrealistic because to be on top and truly USE your chemistry skills to refine your oils you need to be fluent in techniques like HPLC, Mass Spec, GC-MS, etc, etc. (and now days have equipment for super-critical CO2 extraction) I have used all of these instruments in undergrad but not very extensively as someone who say focused their doctoral thesis on using HPLC in some way.
And then an even bigger problem is that these instruments are thousands of dollars. My current assets are NEGATIVE, thousands of dollars of student debt lol... thanks America.

I don't know your background or if you know a lot about this (it sounds like you might), but is HPLC the primary method scientists are using to assess cannabis extracts? Any other instrumentation in specific? I'd like to look into techniques if they are out there at all.
Click to expand...
I did a lot of HPLC, capillary GC and GC-MS. That's why I said don't quit the day job. Accumulate. As well, if you stay in the chem biz(non cannabis) you'll have access to sales of used equipment or "obsolete" equipment. Back in my day, the VA's would have yearly or every couple year sales of such equipment. If it's still in print pickup "Gas Chromatography with glass capillary columns" 2nd ed by Walter Jenkins. It's a bit dated but still excellent. I took his class in grad school, one of my best moves.

Also the central storehouse at colleges and univs have equipment sales too
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Singlemalt said:
No dispersions on your skills kid, but lots of folks with no chem background can do fine extractions. You need another hook to stand out; something like analyses which requires instrumentaion (HPLC, etc). You know that's not cheap
Click to expand...
I had a lab colleague who liked to say "Let's not cast nasturtiums at our [competing scientists]" ...

My HPLC skills are weak. I emphasized prep work because it was fun. When I had the equipment, I did a more elaborate gravimetric assay to see how much THC was in an extract.

Edited for spelling
 
Last edited:
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Honey Oil Riot Squad said:
Exactly. This is why the idea can seem fairly unrealistic because to be on top and truly USE your chemistry skills to refine your oils you need to be fluent in techniques like HPLC, Mass Spec, GC-MS, etc, etc. (and now days have equipment for super-critical CO2 extraction) I have used all of these instruments in undergrad but not very extensively as someone who say focused their doctoral thesis on using HPLC in some way.
And then an even bigger problem is that these instruments are thousands of dollars. My current assets are NEGATIVE, thousands of dollars of student debt lol... thanks America.

I don't know your background or if you know a lot about this (it sounds like you might), but is HPLC the primary method scientists are using to assess cannabis extracts? Any other instrumentation in specific? I'd like to look into techniques if they are out there at all.
Click to expand...
You don't need to do supercrit. I don't have a pressure setup, and with careful solvent choice I have found a glass setup that efficiently extracts small (about a pound) lots of flowers for the oil. But I am effectively a three-trick pony. (I worked as a lab chemist, synthetic organic.)

You need something in your process that will make your extract stand out. And you will also want to be in complete State compliance wherever. The guys making a killing are selling into high-enforcement areas ... many of them get figuratively killed. Risk/reward.
 
Last edited:
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
cannabineer said:
I had a lab colleague who liked to say "Let's not cast nasturtiums at our [competing scientists]" ...

My HPLC skills are weak. I emphasized prep work because it was fun. When I had the equipment, I did a more elaborate gravimetric assay to see how much THC was in an extract.

Edited for spelling
Click to expand...
In my profession we never had time for that sort of flowery language
 
bluntmassa1

bluntmassa1

Well-Known Member
Great idea if you can make edibles dosed out in MG's but first you must come back and tell me exactly how you do it. :)

Definitely some room for edibles but just extractions yeah any drop out can make a good extract.
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
bluntmassa1 said:
Definitely some room for edibles but just extractions yeah any drop out can make a extract.
Click to expand...
Fixed it. I've only done dabbled with extracts, but I know there's a huge difference in making extracts and making QUALITY extracts. I thought the stuff I was getting seemed dirty so I bought a vac chamber. I washed the about a G of the stuff I had in ethanol, then through a SS micron filter, 150 I think, then vac purged. The filter caught what I'm assuming was fine plant matter and oils( lipids?)? It was green tinted white goo..after purging the extract was a clear golden color vs cloudy and darker before, oh and it lost 0.2 g :shock:. I've been real hesitant buying extracts since then. I just got a glass tube, going to start trying my hand at blasting.
 
Honey Oil Riot Squad

Honey Oil Riot Squad

Well-Known Member
cannabineer said:
You don't need to do supercrit. I don't have a pressure setup, and with careful solvent choice I have found a glass setup that efficiently extracts small (about a pound) lots of flowers for the oil. But I am effectively a three-trick pony. (I worked as a lab chemist, synthetic organic.)

You need something in your process that will make your extract stand out. And you will also want to be in complete State compliance wherever. The guys making a killing are selling into high-enforcement areas ... many of them get figuratively killed. Risk/reward.
Click to expand...
Been a while since I've been on and i just went over all these answers. You guys are awesome. Thanks so much. If not cannabis (lol) I've wanted to go into organic synthesis just as you did. Very cool and interesting field! I'll have to read up on this glass capillary GC-MS that single malt is mentioning.
I enjoy that I'm getting legitimate career advice from the exact same site I used to grow me some hydroponic deliciousness... I've still never found better buds than what I grew myself. Not even close. :leaf::leaf::leaf: Now I'd like to do that with extracts as well, but 100 percent legally would be ideal ;).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top