Processor Lighthouse Sciences’ journey has been marked by challenges, determination, and a steadfast commitment to developing the highest quality products for Ohio medical marijuana patients. Learn more about the care their team takes in producing their concentrates, cartridges, topicals, honeys and more:
The Painstaking Delay
When the Ohio program awarded a processor license to Lighthouse Sciences back in 2018, CEO Brian Scotese says he and his team were all ready to go. Experience gained working with renowned Industry Group Arcview helped secure a high-scoring application. However, the team’s enthusiasm was met with unexpected delays due to unforeseen issues related to their chosen property in the Northfield neighborhood near Cleveland’s Rocksino. These concerns forced the team to search for a new location to establish their lab.
Furthering their complications, the state of Ohio rejected their application to relocate the lab, insisting they resolve the concerns on the current property before seeking approval to move. This painstaking delay consumed two years and involved significant legal maneuvering.
When they finally got moved into their new lab in Eastlake in 2020, Brian wanted to find a way to set Lighthouse Sciences apart from the 46 other processors in the Ohio program that got a head start on them. He identified a key way that Lighthouse could build something truly special when he met Alex Sandorf.
Bringing in Master Extractor Alex Sandorf
Sandorf was a master extractor originally from the California market with nearly 15 years of growing and lab experience. His background brought to Ohio a wealth of knowledge from the west coast, having operated in mature rec markets such as California, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon, having extracted and produced for prestigious national brands such as Guild Extracts, F/ELD, Lowell Smokes, Claybourne Cannabis Co, Rove, Nuvata, and more .
Brian knew Alex’s expertise would be key to what Lighthouse wanted to bring to the Ohio market: mature market products to an immature industry.
Extracting Top Shelf Flower
Brian and Alex note that everything Lighthouse Sciences does starts with the premium top shelf flower that they source from partners like Farkas Farms. “Everything we’re extracting is top shelf flower,” says Alex. “We don’t do any trim runs. So it’s a much more expensive input, but it makes for a much better output. There’s an old industry adage: Fire in, Fire out.”
Alex notes that testing profiles have improved, giving the team a more advanced understanding of the various compounds of the flower. “We’re just seeing testing profiles starting to come out for the flavonoids, phenols, esters and poly-phenolic compounds. Everything that comes together that presents the aroma and essence of the plant that works in synergy with your cannabinoids, and we’re working with Labs here in Ohio to bring that cutting edge knowledge to products here to stay on the forefront of what’s possible”
The Processes at Lighthouse Sciences
Everything Lighthouse does is with the intent of gaining a best in class customer experience. Another way that Lighthouse Sciences sets themselves apart from the rest of the processors in Ohio is with their formulations. After receiving a certification in medical cannabis patient care, Brian’s wife Lou Scotese, a certified aromatherapist, worked with a national team of medical cannabis specialists to create a cannabis-infused line of topical treatments incorporating essential oils.
These carefully selected oils are the foundation of some of Lighthouse Sciences’s most popular products, including the MJ Muscle and Joint Balm. The balm features 3,000mg CBD and 500mg of THC in each 2 oz. jar. Says Brian, “It is the number one selling product for creams and lotions in the state. It’s the number 26 selling product SKU-wise across all of Ohio.”
Premium Craft Concentrates and Vapes
The concentrates they produce at Lighthouse Sciences are cryogenically extracted and vapes are made using true, pure THCA isolate.
Says Alex, “With our vapes, we’re 100 percent distillate-free. What we do is we take those separated off THCA diamonds (crystalline isolate), we grind it into a fine powder and decarb it.” Some people call it crystallate, liquid diamonds or decarbed diamonds.The industry hasn’t really settled on a term yet, but the difference from distillate is stark. It’s a truly flavor neutral component, and a blank canvas for the Cannabis Derived Terpenes to shine through with no ‘distillate’ flavor”.
Alex notes that their process results in a much higher purity and potency than you would get with a standard distillate between 88 to 92 percent. Decarbed diamonds test at 97 to 99 percent THC with a nearly 100% total cannabinoid content.
Liposomal Nano Emulsion
The cutting edge technology used by Lighthouse Sciences makes their topical products unique. One of the issues with CBD balms is the way it’s absorbed by the body and the way it is utilized as it binds to the base of your CB1 and CB2 receptors. Lighthouse processes the infused cannabinoids, using a mechanism for producing what’s called a liposomal nano emulsion. “So it’s not just a nano particle, which is a small nano-sized particle, but it’s actually an encapsulated particle in these liquid spheres,”explains Brian.
The liquid spheres enhance the effective time of the balm. With this liposomal nano encapsulation process, you get about four to six hours’ release of the cannabinoids.
Topical and Sublingual Sprays
In addition to the topical MJ Muscle Balm, Lighthouse Sciences also produces two topical sprays. The Quiet Mind Relief Spray is pictured below. They also produce one metered sublingual spray product, formulated with MCT oil to increase bioavailability to within minutes.
Honey
Made by in-house Executive Chef Johnny Schulze, leveraging his 30+ years of experience, Lighthouse’s THC infused honey uses locally sourced Ohio wildflower honey from renowned Dr. David Heilman, a beekeeper and apiarist. Flavors are all-natural and chosen to accentuate the taste of the honey rather than overwhelm it. Flavors include Lavender, Lemon, Mint, and Pure Natural honey.
Focus on Quality
Only more important than the dedication to cutting-edge science at Lighthouse is the commitment to quality. “You can ensure you’re putting good quality clean things into your body when you use our products, inhale them, and so forth,” says Brian.
“We spend more money on our cartridges and our containers,” adds Alex. “Terpenes are volatile, aromatic compounds. Volatile being the key word–if you can smell terpenes, that means they’re leaving, they’re off gassing into the air.”
Alex stressed the importance of the packaging, which starts with premium Calyx containers. “With most standard packaging, from however long it’s been from the time it was made until it got into your hands, it’s been losing terpenes. They’re fragile, volatile compounds. We go through a number of very complicated and time consuming and in depth processes to extract those terpenes. We make sure we get all of them out of the flower and take extensive, painstaking steps to preserve them throughout that process. And I sure as heck want to make sure that they’re still in the jar when the patient gets home to use their medicine.”
Money Back Guarantee
Continuing their ethos of not cutting corners, and ensuring patients receive nothing but the best, Lighthouse is one of the few companies with a 100% money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. Email info@lighthousesci.com to make contact.
Where to Find Lighthouse Sciences Products
Find Lighthouse Sciences products in your local dispensaries by searching https://lighthousesci.com/where-to-buy/
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