Our Last Email Went Unanswered: Goodbye, Mentor Raphael Mechoulam

I'll never forget a warm, Santa Barbara sunny day in August of 2018 and the excitement that came across the face of the founder of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine as I told him, "Raphael Mechoulam just emailed and called us." Little did I realize I was standing between two legends or the depth of the discoveries of the pioneer who had sent a message and followed it up with a phone call to thank the Academy for its recent newsletter I wrote. 

Working for Dr. David Bearman, who founded the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, was a humbling pleasure throughout that year. It was communications like the one on that day that held a special place in my heart and the excitement that he showed. 'What, are you kidding me?" I showed him the email from across the oceans, and he jumped up from behind his chair, "Yes, Yes, Yesss!!" The 80-year-old legendary founder of the Haight-Ashbury drug treatment clinic in 1969 extorted with such happiness. 

The weight of that communication from Israel didn't set in until after I founded the Global Cannabinoid Research Center at the end of that year - 2018. Throughout the following years, more than once, I found myself on websites as a Keynote Speaker alongside Raphael Mechoulam at International Symposiums of Medicine; then, in November 2021, we were put together on the Organizational committee for TOXI2021. The World Toxicology Conference, in which Professor Tom Blundell of the University of Cambridge, U.K. was the Chair. 

Shortly after this event, I decided that the Global Cannabinoid Research Center should have a closer relationship with Tel Aviv and Professor Raphael Mechoulam himself. After all, I'd taken his calls and appeared with him - so why not reach out, hoping that this substantial iconic godfather of cannabis science would interact with me? I admit it took some time and the right opening for a Q&A to start between the two of us, one which I will treasure forever. 

Being approached for collaborations and talks that lead to earaches in our industry is a norm for many of us, as so many make plans that need to follow through. I had a possible joint venture that looked good, but there was a catch. The entity created and emulsified converted cannabinoids - specifically HHC, Delta 8, and 9 from Hemp. 

So, I took it upon myself to email that man with a plan back in the 60s that has made our plant legitimate, as I wanted to know what he thought of these CBD conversions into THC analogs. Admittedly, sending the first email involved a lot of nerves and more than a tad of wonder if he'd even look at my email, let alone respond.

The next day, a surprise was in my inbox: a letter from the legend. As a preamble, I got an exceptional cup of coffee before opening it up to read. This man, who had so many patents and creations, willingly responded to my inquiry about how these cannabinoids were made, by whom, and if they were ever found safe for human consumption. Right off the bat, a distaste for acetates (THC-0), much like we've seen in the US recently, was made clear by the staunchly worded professor. 

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"They were created in an investigation, for research, made in discoveries in the late 60s here, in our labs." -Prof Raphael Mechoulam, email Nov 2022 to GCRC founder Mike Robinson.  

I understand that you would like me to rewrite the text you provided to make it clearer and correct any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Here's the revised text:

In August of 2018, I witnessed an exciting moment between the founder of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine and a pioneer in the field, Raphael Mechoulam. I had informed the founder that Mechoulam had reached out to us via email and phone, thanking the Academy for the newsletter I wrote. Working for Dr. David Bearman was a pleasure, and I cherished moments like these.

After founding the Global Cannabinoid Research Center later that year, I found myself on websites as a keynote speaker alongside Mechoulam at various international symposiums. In November 2021, we both served on the Organizational Committee for the World Toxicology Conference. I decided to reach out to Mechoulam, hoping for a closer relationship between the Global Cannabinoid Research Center and Tel Aviv. We eventually had a Q&A, which I will always treasure.

As someone in the industry, I'm frequently approached for collaborations and talks that can be overwhelming. I had a possible joint venture that involved converting cannabinoids - specifically HHC, Delta 8, and 9 from Hemp. I reached out to Mechoulam, wondering what he thought of these CBD conversions into THC analogs. He promptly responded, expressing his distaste for acetates (THC-0) and answering my queI understand that you would like me to rewrite the text you provided to make it clearer and correct any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Here's the revised text:

In August of 2018, I witnessed an exciting moment between the founder of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine and a pioneer in the field, Raphael Mechoulam. I had informed the founder that Mechoulam had reached out to us via email and phone, thanking the Academy for the newsletter I wrote. Working for Dr. David Bearman was a pleasure, and I cherished moments like these.

After founding the Global Cannabinoid Research Center later that year, I found myself on websites as a keynote speaker alongside Mechoulam at various international symposiums. In November 2021, we both served on the Organizational Committee for the World Toxicology Conference. I decided to reach out to Mechoulam, hoping for a closer relationship between the Global Cannabinoid Research Center and Tel Aviv. We eventually had a Q&A, which I will always treasure.

As someone in the industry, I'm frequently approached for collaborations and talks that can be overwhelming. I had a possible joint venture that involved converting cannabinoids - specifically HHC, Delta 8, and 9 from Hemp. I reached out to Mechoulam, wondering what he thought of these CBD conversions into THC analogs. He promptly responded, expressing his distaste for acetates (THC-0) and answering my questions about the safety of these cannabinoids for human consumption.

I hope this revision meets your expectations. Please let me know if you need any further assistance.I understand that you would like me to rewrite the text you provided to make it clearer and correct any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Here's the revised text:

In August of 2018, I witnessed an exciting moment between the founder of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine and a pioneer in the field, Raphael Mechoulam. I had informed the founder that Mechoulam had reached out to us via email and phone, thanking the Academy for the newsletter I wrote. Working for Dr. David Bearman was a pleasure, and I cherished moments like these.

After founding the Global Cannabinoid Research Center later that year, I found myself on websites as a keynote speaker alongside Mechoulam at various international symposiums. In November 2021, we both served on the Organizational Committee for the World Toxicology Conference. I decided to reach out to Mechoulam, hoping for a closer relationship between the Global Cannabinoid Research Center and Tel Aviv. We eventually had a Q&A, which I will always treasure.

As someone in the industry, I'm frequently approached for collaborations and talks that can be overwhelming. I had a possible joint venture that involved converting cannabinoids - specifically HHC, Delta 8, and 9 from Hemp. I reached out to Mechoulam, wondering what he thought of these CBD conversions into THC analogs. He promptly responded, expressing his distaste for acetates (THC-0) and answering my questions about the safety of these cannabinoids for human consumption.

Over the following weeks and months, the talks continued with citations to publications I had never found before by any search I'd ever done. I started realizing I was gaining information that few, if any, in my world of cannabinoid medicine had. In nearly 40 emails back and forth, the legend continued to share information about how these cannabinoids created from CBD came to the scene - and why. I quickly gave him a nickname in my little office, "Ye of little words," due to the short but concise responses at first. 

I'm known for going on and on with email and communications, which could be better for business. Professor Raphael Mechoulam never referenced long emails, and he didn't bat an eye at my wordiness or repetitive ways that came about after a head injury in 1995. Instead, he answered them gracefully and with kindness and knowledge on cannabinoids coming directly from him, the man that isolated or created them. 

At some point, I'll share that information. Today as we all look back on the life of a legend that just left us on March 9th, 2023 at age 92, we celebrate the discoveries, the knowledge we all have, and the future of Cannabis as Medicine in the form of a plant and beyond - with a lot of the credit for the legitimization of our industry falling on the lap of a single man and the teams he created for research. 

As I type this, the knowledge that Professor Mechoulam has passed the baton to the balance of us researchers instills within me. Instead of feeling sadness at the loss of a great person living to the ripe age of 92, I'm celebrating what he gave to us and me personally. Hope is a powerful tool nobody can beat when the right person wields it, and the professor utilized it like an Olympian with more gold medals than anyone ever to walk the earth. 

As we huddle together, missing the key that opened the doors in the world of Cannabis Science, we mourn but simultaneously relish in the achievements of the great man. 

Doctor Mechoulam was the first person to synthesize THC. He was born in Bulgaria in 1930 to a Sephardic Jewish family that relocated to Israel, where Mechoulam studied chemistry. In the early 60s, as a chemist at the Weizmann Institute, he acquired some cannabis from the Israeli police to isolate and identify the plant's psychoactive component. 

"Morphine had been isolated from opium in the nineteenth century, early nineteenth century," Mechoulam told CNN in an interview in 2014. "Cocaine had been isolated from coca leaves [in the] mid-nineteenth century. And here we were, mid-twentieth century, and yet the chemistry of cannabis was not known. So it looked like [an] interesting project."

At CannMed in California in 2019, at 88 he announced yet another cannabinoid creation of his - a synthetically stable cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), fit for clinical use.

"We have taken the unstable acid molecules of the cannabis plant and synthesized them to provide a stable, consistent basis for researching new therapies across a wide range of medical needs," Mechoulam said in the conference presentation.

In the same talk, he urged the scientific community to support more medical cannabis research aimed at cannabis-based treatments for conditions like what plague Genevieve and me personally - Severe Epilepsy. He spoke about the amount of lost time by failing to get research done steadfastly as he once did.

Mechoulam was a professor of medicinal chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. He received the Israel Prize in Exact Sciences – Chemistry in 2000, a NIDA Discovery Award in 2011, and the Harvey Prize (an annual Israeli award for breakthroughs in science and technology) in 2019.

But, in our home, he wins the prize as the most compassionate researcher to ever exist on Planet Earth. He cared about what hurts us, what we fight against, and what scares us far more than the Cancer I currently have - Epileptic Seizures. 

Forever we have a debt to repay, and the only way we can do this is to keep studying and learning about a plant that's often minimized, marginalized, and pushed aside in a way that has jeopardized the future of humanity. 

Rest in peace, Raphael Mechoulam. The world loved you and will forever miss your presence.