What a groundbreaking moment in cannabis research and personal healing this is; for two decades, people have found great relief from the use of what's known as 'RSO' or THC Rich Cannabis Oil. The number of Medical Marijuana patients that have gained recommendations solely for the use of this oil is astronomically high; social media networks abound with videos, posts, and talk of the legendary Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) - that gooey black oil that is known around the world,
Five years ago, a visionary emerged from the shadows, igniting the cannabis community with his revolutionary insights on CBGa and its power to amplify the effects of THC. This man, known as The Researcher OG, claimed he rediscovered the euphoria of his youth—what he fondly termed 'High School High' - all thanks to his pioneering work in discovering the vast benefits both cannabis users and those who abstain can gain by balancing the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). "ECS Balance Control" is his theory, which he's also trademarked as a Nutraceutical Brand for the future.
Today, we're honored to sit down with Mike Robinson, a titan in the world of cannabis education and the founder of the Global Cannabinoid Research Center. Despite juggling global initiatives and groundbreaking projects and even catching the eye of Hollywood and Netflix with his family's inspiring Cannabis Love Story, Mike has carved out time to share with us. Join us as we delve into the mind of this cannabis luminary, exploring his journey, his ECS Balance Control breakthrough, and his vision for the future.
Prepare for an enlightening conversation with Mike Robinson, a man at the forefront of ECS education and innovation. I've decided a Q&A is the best way to gather the most information - and quickly - so that readers gain the most knowledge and insight as possible from this Interview.
ECS: We all know you're a Cannabis Educator and Researcher, but tell us why you felt it was necessary to increase the potency of THC. Isn't it already potent enough?
Robinson: Nail on the head problem; it is already potent enough. THC was my best friend for most of my life; it got me through many issues I faced when I was young. I had a lot of pressure growing up racing, even more entering the world of adulthood at only 16 due to being 'advanced' most of my life. THC was always what I could count on, but back in the day, we just called it Weed; we didn't need to identify cannabinoids and terpenes to act cool on Tuesday, you know?
Then these oils, these dabs, and all the extracts - so strong that they can make your head spin; as an OG, watching all of this unfold was intense. I never thought the buds I loved would be legal, and I never imagined that those I knew in the 'legacy days' would end up stars in an industry that would eventually forget about them.
The 60 grams in 90 days gig has always made me scratch my chin with RSO; that stuff is so potent when it's made right that people can barely take a tiny bit of it, and they're dizzy if they've never used ingested THC - even if they're a total stoner! But there's no way to estimate how many grams a day anyone would need or use for any issue.
I probably used a pound of that type of oil over the years before I got into ECS Balance control; I've had many issues to handle. I love THC; it can be my best friend and make me feel great!
ECS: Let's go back, If THC oil is so potent, why did you try to increase it? We're confused - please explain yourself!
Robinson: You asked if THC was potent enough, and it is, so your question was answered. But the issue, if I end the sarcasm for a moment, is that we get hooked on our love for this green goddess we call Ganja. I call it Dank Ass Bud most of the time, or Stanky Dank, who knows - call it what you'd like, but the bottom line is eventually,
Cannabis smoking, dabbing, and use of THC-laden plants cause us to need more, more, and more. For this reason, I searched for ways to make that issue disappear; I wanted it to feel back in the day, that high-school-high feeling when we first searched for a Snickers bar after burning a two-dollar joint with three friends - those three hits we held in did the trick!
But jump ahead a few decades, and now what? Well, today, I can get that old school high again quickly; I can get RSO to work with the same dose I took four months ago - even a year ago for issues if I need that, I do not have to go up in doses, and I don't do back to back dabs. I also can smoke on the same 'dogwalker' or mini pre-roll for the whole day a lot of the time. The two-hitter quitter is back in my game because of ECS Balance Control.
ECS: Okay, Let's back this up; why did you go into this ECS Balance Control Research? Let's start there as you've gone from A to Z at a moment's notice!
Robinson: In January, I celebrated 5 years of addiction freedom from Opioids; at one time, I counted on them heavily. I've had all kinds of battles in life, injuries and more - the need to have pharmaceuticals of many types has been there for three decades since a 1995 racing wreck. Pain medication was always a part of it, but suddenly, rules changed, laws changed, and my diagnostics got better - I walked away from an Oncology issue free and clear after years of battle, but the outcome was that the new laws would make it very hard to continue taking medication - pills that no longer worked anyway.
Like many people, I had gone decades relying on these things I got at the pharmacy after waiting in line, often when I didn't even need to. It's hard to admit all these years later that I could have quit that habit of 'Just Saying Yes' to the doctor Rx pad years before I did. I relied on strong pain medications to stop the racing mind, the overwhelming feelings of doom I had, and the stress and anxiety of the cannabis compassion trail I was on for so many years. You can't help 1000's of people without watching dozens perishing... every year.
When I decided to cut back my own, my doctor informed me I'd have to take Narcan if I continued, like having a prescription on hand at all times. I had become Daddy to Genevieve during the years prior, and the Cannabis Love Story was in full force; with Gen's dad passing to Opioids over a decade before that, how was I supposed to say, "I need this prescription in case one kills me."
Instead? I told her only to get the 7-day supply the pharmacy would allow without the Narcan, and I'd use FECO (RSO) to battle it out; I'd quit. 24 years of being a Purdue Pharma guinea pig, test pilot, crash dummy, and then just an outright fool for continuing - was coming to an abrupt halt, and it scared the hell out of me, I won't lie.
So, then it was all about using THC oils to end the gig, stop the withdrawals that would come, and knock out the bodily yuck I'd be feeling after decades of numbing myself. I knew I had this handled; after all, I had just founded the Global Cannabinoid Research Center months prior and was the Director of Communications at the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine the year before that, with a long history of Cannabis Compassion programs preceding. I knew what I was doing, and I knew it would work.
But it didn't. The agony... oh man, it was horrid!
ECS: What do you mean? Why didn't it work the way you planned it? It seems like it would be the right way to go.
Robinson: I'd been doing extraneous research on endocannabinoids before this all, so I had an inkling of the answer. Certain things occurred before I could quantify any findings or consider words like "ECS Balance Control'. I got sick, very very ill, and nothing I did worked. I'd try to smoke a joint, and I'd get sick; I'd try oils, and it was so harsh. First, it would be dizziness, and I'd go into the bathroom; I'll call it a fort as it seemed like I set up camp there for a week or so.
Over and over, I'd try to dab. I went and hit some shatter, and it made me so dizzy. Then I saw this bucket of CBGa; I had some extract there, took some of it, and ate and ingested it. In that moment, I dabbed some and felt this weird and odd feeling, like I was happy and okay, which didn't make sense. I hit THC again after that and felt ill, so I went to the fort. When I came back out, the ingested stuff was starting to kick in; I laid down and ate some Gummy Rings, THC, with my lady and watched Netflix.
I had peace for the first time it seemed like a year, but it had been about 7-10 days. So, I continued to ingest various types of CBG, CBGa, and even CBD and CBDa to see what that felt like. I stayed away from THC unless I had to, and found that when I had to, it worked so well that it was off the charts; that's when the ECS Balance Control concept lit up in my mind.
"But, I didn't think of stoners getting high again when I discovered how to balance the Endocannabinoid System; I thought of all the people using RSO who've grown this incredible tolerance and found no efficacy and how it could work again - how a supplement could change it all."
So, I had to dig deeper; I had to figure out why; this was back in 2019, and I spent that entire year digging, doing my studies, and off the Int'l Symposium circuit - even cutting myself out of the world a lot to heal, learn, and soak in so much information that I was gaining by talking to University Researchers around the world, including the famed Professor Raphael Mechoulam who found the concept to be "remarkable."
ECS: Without us writing a book, what else can you share in this article that would help people who find they have an issue with THC Tolerance or that their RSO isn't working how it should?
Robinson:
We're a society that's learned to eat whatever is put in front of us, whether it be food or news, so we gobble it up. When it comes to the messages being sent to sell THC I can't say I agree with them all - especially when it comes to RSO. The number of grams a day, the amount a person should have and use - it's far too cookie-cutter. But that's a ton of my opinion, maybe a well-formed via research one, but still, it's just one guy's thoughts.
So, let's take this beat to the research streets. When it comes to inhalation and ingestion of THC, we have this harsh blow to our already starving (or sometimes overproductive) Endocannabinoid System (ECS). Research has been beyond conclusive that inhaling affects 2-AG production, an endocannabinoid that metabolizes into two others - 1 and 3AG. This is simple math: we inhale in THC and take out three endocannabinoids at once, and that's okay if we've got some balance.
When we ingest, it's AEA or Anandamide, the bliss molecule that gets stepped on - over time, either one of the modalities of intake will cause both of these to stop production, which means new receptors don't occur.
Then, people start calling that Tolerance, and suddenly, a crew of new experts on the scene want you to take a 'T Break' and lower that tolerance, not realizing that you may have an endocannabinoid 'spike' that they're feeding by not giving you anything to use at all. Anandamide is essential in the creation of several other endocannabinoids.
ECS: Is this theory based on plant cannabinoids?
Robinson: No, it's more like a synergy between what our body makes and does and what the plant's body makes and does, if that makes sense.
"Let's make one thing very clear: a plant makes cannabinoids for its lifespan to be increased - THC oxidizes to CBN in the Bud, and the plant lives on unless humans harvest it, and then it dies early.
A human needs endocannabinoid production for its life to be expanded. The fact that plant cannabinoids land on human endocannabinoid receptors and that THC and Anandamide are replicas is a miracle of Mother Earth. Our body desperately needs endocannabinoids; without them, the human is like a plant; life is limited".
It doesn't get much easier than that; I could break this down with complicated gibberish most people don't understand - that research based chiefly on Isolates. Many people search for citations in research; they want the newest on cannabinoids - I'm looking at endocannabinoids and the entire biome. We've seen so many CBD isolate-based studies, none of them show us how to have a better day or how we can make our ECS fuel our lives.
People need direction; they want it, so many are looking to social media for answers and ending up out of funds and still without efficacy. So many people have come to me over the years needing help, and one way I can help them is to send a message that cannabinoids can only do so much; ECS Balance is also maintained by changing our lifestyles - look at how I discovered it - quitting the Purdue Fest!
"Change your life, change your habits, and start it all by supplementing RSO with cannabinoids that can balance you out."
The MC or Multi Cannabinoid attack has always worked the best, well since I stopped being a hemp hater, I have to bow my head in shame on that one as there was a time when I thought anything other than THC was a waste of time; it wouldn't work.
Then I grew up and became a Cannabinoid Medicine researcher, and as I hit 50, I turned the page on that and became. Endocannabinoid System researchers focused on knowledge that dates back to the '70s, knowledge nobody was talking of anymore with so few carrying on the study - but they were in Tel Aviv, which sparked a historical relationship still bringing forth new findings.
"I like to base my research on how the ECS works, not how a fancily wrapped product does - cannabinoids come from plants and humans. Companies like ours put them in packages, but the concentration should be on the human body and what it creates." -Mike Robinson, The Researcher OG
We will most definitely have a Part II on this one! Stay Tuned to learn about ECS Balance Control and Mike Robinson, The Researcher OG's discovery.
