A Philosopher's Guide to the Cannabis Industry with Jason Wilson

Dr. Riley Kirk is joined by Jason Wilson, MS on this episode of Bioactive. The two share many interests in self-exploration of the brain with drugs, navigating their own paths in the cannabis industry, thoughts on open access science, and more.

Jason is a neurodivergent scientist and excellent science communicator. He is the host of the podcast Isn’t Life Curious which is the new name after years of being the Curious about Cannabis Podcast. Jason is passionate about providing accessible educational material for consumers and medical patients.

This is the longest episode of Bioactive so far, and is a great journey in self exploration and navigating challenges in life. We first start with Jason’s story of exploration then move into philosophy and the sciences.

Both Jason and Riley note the books by Alexander Shulgin in this episode which we’re happy to report are now much more affordable and can be found on Amazon and other book stores for $20 or so.

If you love this podcast drop a 5 star review wherever you listen to podcasts or consider joining the Bioactive Patreon for as little as $1/month.

Learn more about Jason Wilson with his full bio:

Jason Wilson is a biologist, educator, and artist with over ten years of professional experience in the cannabis industry and over fifteen years experience as a medical cannabis patient. Growing up in Mississippi, Jason got his early exposure to Cannabis science at the University of Mississippi's Cannabis Research and Development laboratory fixing lab equipment as an IT technician while studying philosophy and psychology. He went on to study science education and biology as a graduate student in Oregon where he worked as a botanist for the Bureau of Land Management studying and working to restore native plant populations across a wide array of ecoregions. Upon graduating he went on to help build one of the first accredited Cannabis testing and research laboratories in the state. After spending several years developing analytical methods, testing thousands of products, and performing research, Jason went on to run a research and development laboratory for a vertically integrated hemp cultivator and product manufacturer in southern Oregon where he conducted research projects on decarboxylation efficiency, sub and supercritical fluid extraction efficiency, ethanol extraction efficiency, filtration and refinement efficacy, homogeneity, product stability, and more. Currently, Jason conducts natural product research out of his lab, Natural Learning Laboratories, while serving as a laboratory operations specialist for a tech startup and instructional designer for Abstrax Tech. He is the author of Curious About Cannabis: A Scientific Introduction to a Controversial Plant, now in its third edition, and the host of the Isn't Life Curious? podcast. Each year, he leads the Curious About Cannabis Master Class, an intensive program focused on cannabis and cannabinoid science. He guest lectures and speaks at conferences on topics related to natural product quality, cannabis science, and psychedelics. In his free time, Jason enjoys creating music, painting, gardening, and exploring nature.

OTHER RESOURCES

Weird Brains Article

https://www.greenstate.com/lifestyle/weird-brains/

Budtender crash course:

https://learn.naturaledu.com/pages/budtenders

Cbd extraction paper with spellman:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9638139/

Curious about cannabis book:

https://cacpodcast.com/book/

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