Pubdate: Thu, 25 Feb 2016
Source: Portland Mercury (OR)
Colulmn: Cannabuzz: The Week in Cannabis
Copyright: 2016 The Portland Mercury
Contact:  http://www.portlandmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1174
Author: Josh Jardine

A TALE OF TRANSDERMAL THC

I SPENT SEVERAL MONTHS foolishly forgoing my regular massages. This 
came with a price-namely, some serious pain issues after my LMT 
worked out the kinks and knots I had neglected for so long. It was 
bad, people. So bad, I had to skip a concert I had just bought 
tickets for. So bad, I was unable to turn my neck without pain, or 
shrug, or really do much of anything that required movement.

I knew I had stumbled into a new territory of pain, because a vape 
session with some high-THC indica gave me scant relief. As I don't 
tolerate opioids or most any painkillers terribly well, I was 
considering a megadose of edibles when I recalled receiving a product 
sample that seemed designed for just this occasion: a THC-infused pain patch.

To be clear, I'm not talking about duct taping an eighth of bud to 
your body. (But in the interest of seeing someone actually do this, 
by all means, give it a whirl. Try affixing it to your forehead. Send 
me a photo so I can make sure you are doing it properly.)

No, I'm talking about the Synergy Skin Worx pain patch. This locally 
produced item comes to us from Bud (no, really) and Mandy Seybert.

"After running dispensaries and seeing how much people needed a 
different way to use cannabis to manage and ease pain," says Mandy, 
"we developed the pain patch with the assistance of a doctor and 
chemist. We found that we were able to control the delivery rates of 
the cannabis to the bloodstream, and that we were actually getting a 
95 percent absorption rate, which was fantastic compared to other 
delivery rates of using cannabis such as edibles, smoking, and vaping.

"Now, with that being said, the first patches we made were WAAAY too 
strong," she continues, "and God bless all of our testers that we did 
our clinical trials with." (Side note: If you have a canna product 
that you're worried is "waaay too strong," please just drop it off at 
the Mercury offices and we'll test it out for you.)

Seybert adds, "We test all of our patches with in vitro testing 
[cadaver skin] to see the delivery rates along with the longevity of 
the time release. We discovered that after 24 hours, the delivery 
system did gradually drop. The patch can last for 48 hours, but the 
rate of delivery cuts from 95 percent to as low as the 70 percent mark."

The patches come in a variety of formulations and strengths: a THC 
patch with 70 milligrams THC; a cannabidiol (CBD) patch, which has a 
1:1 ratio of 43 milligrams CBD/THC; and a high-CBD version, with a 
whopping 96 milligrams CBD and 20 milligrams THC. All patches are 
24-hour time release, except for the high-dose CBD patch, which is 36 
hours. All patches are made from fully activated, 
whole-plant-cannabis plant oil, which the Seyberts feel is key to 
their effectiveness. They are waterproof and sweatproof, and can even 
be cut into smaller sizes-a half patch is half strength.

The Synergy Skin Worx patches work via transdermal delivery, meaning 
that the active ingredients are delivered to the bloodstream through 
the skin. This allows the body to absorb the THC and CBD directly 
without having it broken down and processed by the liver, as happens 
with an edible. They are also not a "spot treatment" form of relief, 
so if you have back pain, you don't necessarily need to apply it to 
your back. Placing it on your arm should work just as well.

After application, users usually start to feel the effects in 45 to 
60 minutes. And if the effects are not to your liking-maybe you enjoy 
pain, and that's just fine, you crazy diamond-you can remove the 
patch and the effects will diminish and cease after 45 to 60 minutes.

"Just make sure wherever you apply the patch isn't hairy, because it 
will hurt when removed!" Seybert cautions. This piece of great advice 
is something my hirsute self would love to have had before I stuck 
the patch on. Nonetheless, I'm proud to admit that I only let out one 
very manly shriek. (My girlfriend informs me there was a 20-minute 
period of post-patch-removal bitching, in which I mansplained just 
how much it hurts to have hairs pulled from your body with a sticky 
strip of fabric. I took her rolling eyes as gratitude for this information.)
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom