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The company collaborates with universities, clinics and cannabis producers to determine which cannabis extracts work best for different conditions. With that information, the company is able to formulate different products that they can then take through chemical trials.

“We got into this because we believe in medical cannabis,” says Kamal, the company’s president and co-founder.

“Personalized healthcare is emerging fast, and cannabis is one of the compounding factors. What it comes down to now is finding out which strain works best for which condition in which patient,” she says.

GAD may affect one in three in Canada

Photo by RJohn97 / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Kamal and Lantela chose to focus the study specifically on GAD because of its prevalence in Canadian society, as well as how often cannabis is used as a treatment. As anxiety disorders go, GAD is one of the most common—studies indicate it may affect about three of the Canadian population any given year.

People with GAD suffer persistent, often crippling, anxiety about everything that could go wrong; their days are marked by what-if scenarios and all of them have negative outcomes, including fear about losing a job, running out of money or becoming seriously ill. This overwhelming anxiety can affect their work, their relationships and their ability to cope with the hurdles of day-to-day life.

The study with GAD patients is thought to be one of the first—Kamal is unaware of any other published research looking particularly at terpene content in different strains—to look closely at different strains and the medicinal benefits they might offer. It’s a relatively new area of research, she notes. “Most studies focus on THC and CBD, but don’t go into terpenes that much,” she says.