Did you get your PhD at the University of Minnesota?
Yeah, I completed a PhD in cannabis, molecular genetics and genomics. We worked on I guess what is now the best genome assembly, the CS10. It’s used by NCBI [the National Center for Biotechnology Information]. It is the standard cannabis genome.
I got interested in creating my own products. I was also part of the mycology club, so I learned how to grow mushrooms on logs. I was super excited about that. I bought some property up in Taylors Falls and started a company called Minnesota Food Forest, which still exists. We do various farmers markets. That property was majority maple trees. I watched every YouTube video that exists on making a tubing system to collect maple syrup. At the time there weren’t many. There was a lot of trial and error, but I figured it all out. I married my passion for maple products with my love for cannabis.
Is the maple syrup from your property used to make your THC maple candies?
Yes, the syrup comes from Taylors Falls.
Where did the idea come from for Doctor Dabs Healthy Highs?
I was working at a company called Superior Molecular. I was the chief science officer. The law changed in 2022 so now we could sell THC edibles. I think it was just a “right place, right time” where I had access to make some cool stuff and a boss who was willing to let me do what I want. I wanted to make innovative products that people weren’t making. The market is largely seltzers — we’ll call it beverages — and gummies. Sodas and gummies aren’t super healthy for people. We make some savory options, like
the seasonings. We do BBQ, jerk, Cajun, southwest and Nashville hot chicken seasonings. People put it on various things, from nuts to meats to vegetables. We do some tea blends. Our nighttime tea
won most innovative CBD product this past year at the Legacy Cup and the previous year the THC maple candies won most innovative THC product. We’re interested in making useful products that are also innovative and lack competition in the market.
You also have a seed business [A&D Genetics
]. How did that come about?
We’re breeding cultivars that have traits of economic importance. We’re doing some feminized seed lines and regular seed lines. It’s basically the brainchild of me and Mason [Alt], who is the CEO for Retro Bakery and Love is an Ingredient. It’s kind of marrying my actual passions. I do like making cannabis edibles. But I like plant breeding and getting my hands on the plants, growing plants, studying them, keeping and analyzing data. That’s what I’m most passionate about. We’ve got three cultivars currently on the market and five more are waiting for labels to come back and they’ll be on the market by early next week. We use marker-assisted selection, which probably makes us unique.
What is that?
Let’s say you want to create a specific thing, let’s say it’s Honeycrisp apples. You want crunchiness, you want sweetness, you want disease resistance and yield. So you have these markers that you know are in both of the parents and you’re making crosses to ensure that they will show back up in the offspring.
What are the markers you’re looking for in cannabis?
We have markers for terpenes and high potency for cannabinoids and terpenes. Those are the main traits we’ve been focusing on because that usually ends up being bag appeal or aesthetics, high [potency] numbers, which was economically important, and certain terpene — or smell — profiles.
What is your favorite method of consuming cannabis?
That’s a good question. I guess I like flower with a little bit of bubble hash on top.
You were in the running to become the director of the Office of Cannabis Management. What was that process like?
It was cool. There were three rounds of interviews. The first round was basically a panel. It was a lot like the oral prelims for a PhD, where you’re in a room of really smart people and they’re all grilling you. It was three rounds of that and probably the most intensive background check that exists.
That’s interesting.
Yeah. They knew more about me than I knew myself, or at least remembered about myself. Every place I’ve ever lived since I was 18 years old. Anybody I ever owed any money to, where all my debts and properties are. Anytime I’ve ever been pulled over and not charged. It was incredibly thorough.
The state auditor
released a report about the Walz administration’s failures to properly vet Erin DuPree, the governor's first pick for OCM director. What did you think about that when it came out?
I just don’t understand how they made that mistake.
They looked into your businesses, I would assume.
Everything. I had a BCA special agent open carry in my house. We went through the forms. We went through who I owe my debts to. That guy went to probably eight of my neighbors and interviewed them about me. They called most of my former bosses, friends, my girlfriend and the mother of my child. We went through my social media together. The net that they cast to learn more information about me was incredible.
Did they look at your products to make sure they are compliant?
We talked about my products. I don’t know if he really talked about the compliance, but he wanted to go through my business website. So how they missed all that was surprising.
Do you see your businesses staying in the hemp market, or would you like to pursue an adult-use license?
I haven’t figured that out yet. Right now I do like the hemp space, just because of the ease with which we can sell to grocery stores, or meat shops — nontraditional cannabis places. I think it’s pretty cool. I don’t think everybody wants to go to a dispensary.
