Our first interview!!
Cannabis as a Sleep Aid for Insomnia: An Interview with Pianta Tinta
October 30, 2015, By Pamela Hadfield, Co-Founder & Director of UX
Topics: Insomnia, Pain, Cancer, Fibromyalgia, Muscle Spasms, Epilepsy
Tinctures are an easy-to-ingest way to administer marijuana.
Due its lack of psychoactivity and for its ability to effectively treat a variety of medical conditions, CBD (Cannabidiol) is the rising star among the cannabis plant’s cannabinoids. Pianta Tinta Collective, a new manufacturer within the cannabis marketplace, focuses on high CBD tinctures, oils and rubs ‘to enable others to live a higher quality of life.’ Their tinctures target insomnia and chronic pain as well as other common conditions people often face. Co-founders Elizabeth Knight and Dr. Kathy Acquistapace feel they have found their niche with a more medically oriented customer base and pride themselves on ongoing customer consultations with Dr. Acquistapace, the in-house Naturopath.
Pianta Tinta is also representative of the booming artisanal marketplace within California. Smaller product manufacturers often focus on sourcing the highest quality outdoor grown cannabis for unique offerings, such as CBD tinctures, that may or may not be found in your local dispensary. Elizabeth Knight took time to speak to us about Pianta Tinta and the growth of their business over the past year.
What was the inspiration for starting Pianta Tinta?
Pianta Tinta means ‘plant tincture’ in Italian. We chose that name because we focus on the cannabis plant as well as more natural modalities of healing. We founded our business based on Dr. Kathy Acquistapace’s research on CBD and the newly found applications for it as a medicine.
As a naturopath, Dr. Acquistapace was looking for more alternative natural medicines for her patient base. As she learned more and more about CBD, we became excited about the possibilities but also became aware of the lack of CBD alternatives in the market, especially within dispensaries.
As a business, we were most interested in entering the cannabis marketplace with products that were high CBD and very low THC. When you visit a dispensary as a first time medicinal marijuana patient, it is not that easy to find high CBD products. When a senior citizen enters a dispensary today they will most likely be presented with products that are very high in THC. Even a 1:1 ratio of CBD to THC may be too much THC for a first time cannabis patient. Ultimately, we decided to make tinctures as this is a very easy way to ingest cannabis.
What high CBD cannabis strain do you favor for your product lines?
We work with ACDC as our favored strain. It is a hybrid strain that is bred to have very high CBD content and very low THC content. It is not the easiest strain to grow but we think it works very well for the high CBD products that we produce. Our grower grows the ACDC strain outdoors, in organic soil; he uses grow pots without the use of pesticides/fungicides which we feel is very important.
We also test our products at Steep Hill Halent and CW Analytical labs. We first test the ACDC flower to know the cannabinoid ratios, the terpene profiles and to make sure it is free of any microbes, fungus or molds. After we go through making the tinctures we test again to get the final cannabinoid content, which is what we print on our labels. We strive to represent our product as accurately as possible.
Other than the ACDC flower, what other ingredients do you put within your cannabis tinctures?
Our tinctures are very straightforward. All of our labels list the ingredients, which include the ACDC flower/leaves and ethyl alcohol. We do not flavor or put any additional chemicals in our products. We pride ourselves on providing our customers with very ‘clean’ products.
Are you targeting a particular segment of the population with your product line?
The people we want to reach represent a wide range of ages and demographics. We believe that we are able to reach these people because our products positively address a wide variety of symptoms that affect almost all age groups. We often find that senior citizens are looking for alternatives from a regime that is far too heavy with opioids, so they are open to trying cannabis as an alternative. We see that younger people are far too stressed out and can use some anxiety relief, which CBD is also good for. Our products are for anyone who is seeking to use marijuana medicinally, and to receive the benefit from CBD.
Do your products target specific medical conditions?
We are not able to make claims as we do not have any clinical studies to back these up. However, anecdotally we have seen great success across a variety of conditions including adults with seizure disorders. For instance, we had a patient, a man in his fifties, who was having 4-6 seizures a month, and since taking our Super High CBD tincture he has had a total of 5 seizures since January. That is a huge reduction of seizures and in addition he was able to drop many of his pharmaceutical medications.
We have also seen a lot of people who have chronic pain, whether that be arthritis, pain from previous injuries, general inflammation, etc. This topic of pain covers a wide swath of medical conditions and can encompass so much, but we have found that many people have found relief with our Super High CBD product. We also have members of our collective with cancer who have added our Super High CBD as well as our High THC tincture and oil to their treatment regime.
Since virtually all pharmaceutical products carry unwanted side effects, CBD offers the alternative of providing the positive benefits without the negative side effects.
On your website, I see that you are promoting a new high THC tincture for sleep. Is this tincture good for treating insomnia?
We recently produced a high THC tincture that we feel is particularly good at relieving insomnia. As we all know, insomnia can be difficult to overcome. Not everyone has insomnia for the same reasons. For instance, one person may not be sleeping because they have pain related to inflammation. If you bring the inflammation down with a high CBD product, they may be able to get a good night’s sleep every night. In other instances, a high THC tincture will help relax a person who struggles to get to sleep and also help them to stay asleep longer.
Our newest tincture contains a high percentage of THC and almost no CBD. THC tends to relax people, however everyone is different. Some people find that CBD may relax them and others may find that a combination of THC and CBD may be best for them. As we are all unique, we recommend that people try our new high THC tincture for their sleep issues and see if their sleep improves. Some people may find that it works well and others may find that adding CBD to the THC may work best for them. We suggest that a person starts with a small amount before bedtime and keep a sleep log. This way, they can find what works best for them based on their own body.
You offer members of your collective consultations with your in-house Naturopath. What should a patient expect to gain from a consultation?
Dr. Acquistapace is our Naturopath. She has over 25 years of healthcare experience and her focus is on alternative and natural healing. She works with people who are wanting to reach their highest level of heath and explains to them how Pianta Tinta tinctures can be a part of their health plan. At Pianta Tinta, she often works with people, many first timers to marijuana, to better understand cannabis and how to integrate it into their lives. She is also available to answer more general health questions as well.
People are often overwhelmed by the amount of information they are given, especially those new to cannabis, so Dr. Acquistapace is there to help guide and consult with people along the way. Our customer base is often looking for answers and wondering how medical marijuana interacts with their body and possibly with their existing medications. Dr. Acquistapace consults in 15-minute increments over the phone, over Skype and in-person. We want to be flexible based on the patients needs.
What general advice would you give to people that are new to cannabis?
Read your labels! A lot of products are mislabeled or misrepresent the medicine. This is especially true for many of the high CBD hemp-based products that are sold over the internet. Hemp is different from cannabis and the products made from it is sourced differently as well. Make sure that the products are lab tested and make sure you know how much of the medicinal cannabinoids CBD and THC is in the products. Ratios are popular but it does not tell you specifically how much cannabinoids are actually in the product. It is important to educate yourself or consult with someone who can give quality advice before ingesting your medicine. Also read the label for any additional harmful or unnecessary ingredients such as residual solvents like, butane, naphtha, isopropyl alcohol, propylene glycol, dyes, artificial flavoring and fragrances.
How do you people find Pianta Tinta Tinctures?
We do not currently sell through storefront dispensaries. We have chosen to be a collective and produce and manufacture our own cannabis tinctures for our members. We are located in Vallejo and people pick up their products from us directly by appointment only. Before seeing us you will need to obtain your medical marijuana recommendation, which you can do through HelloMD. To obtain our products you must first go online to the Pianta Tinta website and fill out our short membership form, which requires a valid medical marijuana recommendation and photo ID. You can contact us to schedule an appointment or we are also able to deliver for a small additional fee.
By Pamela Hadfield, Co-Founder & Director of UX
