For the Past 17 Years, Montel Williams Did What the FDA Won't: He Made Weed
A Medicine
By Janet Burns ‘Forbes Magazine’ 20 th April 2017
After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
(MS) in 2000, Montel Williams set out to find
the safest, most effective form of medicinal
cannabis for treating his disease and others,
and to bring that product to the masses.
He explained by phone that the medicinal and
recreational booms have also brought a huge
rise in the number of different cannabis
producers, all operating under fluctuating,
often ill-defined regulatory standards. "We've
got a lot of 'garage scientists' in the industry,
who are well-meaning people—
I don't think anyone gets up in the morning,
goes to the garage, and thinks they’ll make
something poisonous that could hurt people,"
he said.
"But some are misled, some don't do the
research, and some don’t understand how
long it’s taken to get here, and just work from
bits and pieces of the extant literature," he
continued.
"If you looked at how some of these products
are processed, you would not give it to your
mother or your child.
So why do we call it medicine?"
After 17 years of nonstop research and
advocacy, those goals are finally in hand with
the launch of his new, medical-grade line of
cannabis oils and products--but don't expect
him to slow down anytime soon.
Now serving medicinal cannabis patients in
California (and other states soon), Lenitiv
Labs is the product of nearly two decades of
research spanning multiple continents and
continuous, very personal investment by
Williams.
As founder, the retired naval officer, former
TV host, and ongoing entrepreneur has
guaranteed to personally try every batch of
cannabis concentrate he sells, having spent
years learning how other companies process
the plant for use in 'medical' products.
Williams, whose company recovers active
and medicinal chemicals like THC and CBD
from cannabis plants using the 'green method'
of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with
C02, noted that the butane, hexane and
flavouring used to process much consumer-
grade cannabis can leave unwanted traces
behind.
"With specialty beers, sure, include all the
novelty junk you want.
But if you call it medicine, and give it to
anyone with a serious disease such as MS,
epilepsy, fibromyalgia, and on and on, you
must believe that they're walking in that door
trusting that it will work, and not do them
harm."