GREAT FALLS — Rocky Mountain Remedies stands out as one of the few companies in Montana operating with a full spectrum of cannabis licenses. Not only do they cultivate marijuana plants, but they also process them into a wide range of finished products available for sale.

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"We have a cultivation license, a dispensary license, and a manufacturing license," explained Roger Paul, General Manager of Rocky Mountain Remedies. "The manufacturing license allows us to do extractions and make edibles, oils, and other products."

Inside the facility, the process resembles a university chemistry lab, complete with beakers, microscopes, and a large, high-tech extraction chamber at the center.

The work demands a deep understanding of physics, particularly thermodynamics, and strict safety protocols.

"Basically all we're doing in there is thermodynamics," Paul said. The extraction process uses solvents to separate oils from the shake — the leftover parts of the marijuana plant after the buds have been harvested. In just about an hour, the raw plant material transforms into a super-concentrated THC oil.

From there, the oil is further refined through a proprietary method involving cycles of heating and cooling — similar to distillation techniques used in whiskey production. This careful refinement results in a syrupy distillate that can contain more than 80% pure THC.

"Plants will produce anywhere from 18% to 25% THC naturally," Paul explained. "If everything goes right, you can push into the low-30% range. When it comes to raw THC oil, good extraction yields testing numbers between 70% and 85%. If you hit 90%, everything went perfectly."

The distillates are then crafted into the final products, including vape cartridges, edibles, sugar concentrates, shatter, and more. Each product must be meticulously processed and labeled to ensure consistent quality and potency.

"It's a process. You gotta always keep it moving," Paul said. "As you see, there's a lot going on around here."

Stay tuned next week for a deeper look into how Rocky Mountain Remedies and other Montana dispensaries handle the retail side of marijuana sales.

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