Studying the Impact of Irradiation on Cannabis Quality

Help Us Pioneer New Cannabis Research: Studying the Impact of Irradiation on Quality

Hi, we're Francis Hall and Tom Rothmeier, the team behind Urbanistic —a cannabis education and grading company based in Canada. We're dedicated to helping the cannabis community gain a deeper, science-backed understanding of this powerful plant. With years of experience in cannabis grading and education, we're setting out to answer a crucial question that remains largely unstudied in our industry: how does irradiation affect cannabis quality and safety over time?

What We’re Raising Funds For

We need your help to conduct a landmark study that explores the impact of irradiation on cannabis. In particular, E-beam treatment is one of the most widely used methods to sanitize cannabis products, killing harmful microbes and helping to ensure product safety. But current research only looks at cannabis before and immediately after irradiation, largely ignoring potential longer-term effects. We’re looking to fill this gap and fund a three-month, randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will offer fresh insights into the “temporal” effects of irradiation on cannabis quality.

We’re excited to also introduce a new framework for cannabis research. Instead of just lab testing to understand the chemical changes in the plant; we will also at each interval run the samples through our TDC Grading Platform , allowing us to gain a more granular and in-depth understanding of how irradiation may impact cannabis quality over time.

We have partnered with Northern Scientific for this research project, a fully Health Canada licensed laboratory based in Vancouver.

This study will be blinded, randomized, and executed with rigorous standards, thanks to our collaboration with a top-tier laboratory. And once complete, we'll publish our findings open source for the entire cannabis community to benefit.

Why This Study Matters

Quality and safety are essential for consumers, growers, and distributors, but right now, we don't have the full picture on the effects of irradiation on a product as it moves through supply chains that are often complex and prolonged. We hypothesize that cannabis treated with irradiation might deteriorate in ways that haven’t been captured in short-term studies. The cannabis industry needs this research to make more informed decisions about product quality and safety.

How the Funds Will Be Used

The funds raised will directly support all aspects of this study:

Why This Matters to Us

Cannabis quality and transparency is our passion. We believe consumers deserve reliable, science-based information about their products, and that’s why we’re dedicating our expertise and resources to this groundbreaking research. This study isn’t just about one experiment—it’s about demonstrating a new, transparent framework for cannabis research that puts real data into the hands of consumers and industry leaders alike.

By supporting this study, you’re not only advancing cannabis science; you’re also helping create a more transparent and informed industry for everyone.

Thank you for considering a contribution to our campaign! Together, we can drive meaningful change in cannabis research.

Acknowledgement

To show our gratitude for your donation, we will include your name on the published research, officially recognizing your support.

How the Funds Are Being Handled

We, Francis Hall and Tom Rothmeier, are co-founders of Urbanistic, a cannabis education company. The funds raised through this campaign will go directly to Urbanistic’s bank account to fund the research project described in this campaign. Urbanistic is the entity executing the study, and all funds will be used for its stated purpose of completing and publishing this research project, including: acquiring and grading product samples, sample testing, analyzing results, and publishing the findings through an open-source, peer-reviewed process.

As founders, we are personally overseeing the use of funds to ensure they are spent exclusively on costs relating to this research project.