Latest news with #Iannuccilli
Boston Globe
02-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Sleeping, eating, or sex? There's a cannabis strain for that
Iannuccilli said the days of buying cannabis based on whether it's an His web-based platform called Advertisement On the Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The platform will also recommend pairings for 'wellness' conditions like stress, appetite, and nausea. Iannuccilli, a radiologist who previously worked in oncology, spoke to the Globe about the new software, and how he hopes it changes the way people shop for cannabis. Advertisement Q: Tell me about your new software PowerLeaf, and why did you feel like it was necessary? Iannuccilli: The vast majority of consumers don't understand that cannabis goes well beyond THC. There are other ingredients in the product — in fact, hundreds of them — that vary from strain to strain. And those ingredients actually do play into the differences in mood or the spectrum of effects that consumers get from the product itself. So the software that we developed takes the individual product that is on the shelf, that is seed-to-sale tracked from the grower, and it takes the lab results that were generated for that product from the regulatory testing. Those lab results get processed by a proprietary algorithm that I built around the science of cannabis, and it actually spits out information that can be used by the consumer to actually understand what the effects are going to be. What are some of the things that a customer would filter for? There are about 11 dominant activity states that we've identified. It can be exercise, just general relaxation, some people like to use it for meditation or stretching, and a lot of people are using it for intimacy. Some of these ingredients, they don't even need to get into your body. They don't need to be absorbed. If they tickle the nerve endings that are in your nose and your brain recognizes an aroma and says, 'oh, this smells like lavender,' not only does your brain recognize that, but it's also starting to release the chemical in your brain that has a calming effect. So do you not even need to smoke it? Advertisement You don't need to smoke it. But in order to get the aromatic effect, you do need to smell it. Inhaling is a very, very common method of using cannabis. As a physician, I am actually trying to do my best to educate consumers not only about what product to pick, but the safest way to consume it. So if you're going to inhale it, you can use other devices like a vaporizer — whether it vaporizes the dry herb or it's an oil form of the product — to create that aroma without actually having to burn the product. Does this work for edibles? Because that wouldn't have the aroma. It doesn't work for edibles. I've seen the app Leafly, or StrainBrain, or dispensaries that let you filter by mood. How is your product different? We are different because we are not going on subjective consumer reviews of a product experience. Let's say you strolled into a dispensary here in Rhode Island and you heard a lot about this product, 'Blue Dream.' The 'Blue Dream' that someone had in California who wrote a review on it could be chemically very different than what's being sold to you over here in Rhode Island. This platform doesn't just rely on the name of the product. It actually pulls the chemical ingredients for the exact product that you're looking to buy on the shelf. A terminal inside Mother Earth Wellness, a dispensary in Pawtucket, allows customers to select an activity and receive a strain recommended by the PowerLeaf software. Steph Machado/Globe Staff Can't I just go up to the budtender and say, hey, I'm looking for a strain that's going to help me sleep? You can, but the level of budtender education really varies in the industry. We're very new. A lot of people are very familiar with cannabis, but they're not so familiar with the science behind it. Advertisement In the industry we do see a lot of gamesmanship. And it's not fair to the consumer, but if something is selling and is very popular and there's a trend, people are going to go out and they're going to be looking for it. So it's very easy for a cultivator that isn't so sincere to just change the name of something that they think is similar and say, oh yeah, this is 'Super Orange Soda' or whatever that hip strain is at the time. And consumers really don't have that level of transparency. Some people will say this is just marketing, you're trying to sell these products. How would you change their minds? I would say you're absolutely right, but it's based on truth. This is actually chemistry, it's not just the THC effect. What we're trying to do with this platform is we are trying to get people to understand that they should not be shopping by THC potency. And in fact, when you overwhelm the experience with THC, the nuanced mood effects that a lot of people are looking for get drowned out. If you're able to scale it, how does this change the industry? It changes the industry by more effectively pairing the product to the consumer in a meaningful way. Think of wine: it's not just red versus white. Cannabis should be the same way. We're trying to get consumers to see that cannabis is a lot like wine. This Q&A has been condensed for length and clarity. The Boston Globe's weekly Ocean State Innovators column features a Q&A with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state's economy. Send tips and suggestions to reporter Alexa Gagosz at . Advertisement Steph Machado can be reached at
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
MANDEL: Teen daughter bravely faces killer dad at sentencing for mom's murder
It was a stunning act of courage from an orphaned child. The girl — just 13, clear-eyed and steadfast — strode to the witness box with nary a glance at her lumpen father in his ill-fitting grey suit, the man convicted of stabbing her beloved mother more than four dozen times. 'I am Tracy Iannuccilli's daughter,' began K.B., her name protected by a publication ban. And how telling that this pretty child, in the floral dress with blond hair like her mom, identifies herself as the child of her slain mother — and not of her killer father Kenneth Bellamy. 'I was 12 when the incident happened on June 30, 2023. I was mortified. I wanted to disappear. Not like killing myself — but to be wiped off the face of this planet,' she recalled. 'This has impacted me horribly, emotionally and physically. I remember having nightmares for weeks about what happened and the scene would keep replaying in my head — it still does.' Her 44-year-old mom was murdered in the North York hotel that had been converted into a homeless shelter. Bellamy told the jury it was an accident after Iannuccilli lunged for a knife, a preposterous story jurors rejected by quickly convicted him of second-degree murder in February. He faces an automatic life sentence and the only question to be determined by Superior Court Justice Kelly Byrne is how long before he can apply for parole. Crown attorney Kene Canton argued it should be 17 years — the top of the current range of 12 to 17 years for a domestic murder. Defence lawyer Kristen Dulysh said 12 years was more appropriate. 'The level of brutality is shocking,' the prosecutor said. 'Including the superficial and puncture wounds, there were about 49 stab wounds, the majority of which were to her face and neck in what can only have been a persistent, prolonged and truly horrific attack with a knife on someone who was defenceless.' Instead of getting her help, Bellamy barricaded the door and stuffed her body beneath the bathroom sink. It also wasn't the first time he'd harmed her. Canton told the court Bellamy has a conviction for assaulting Iannuccilli in 2017. Now their two children — there is also a five-year-old son — are being raised by their grandparents, their retirement plans and savings slipping away. 'For 15 years, Ken Bellamy was included in all family celebrations — birthday, Christmas, Easter, Sunday dinners,' Iannuccilli's 73-year-old father Fred wrote in his victim impact statement. 'It was obvious that Ken was a bad fit into the home and family of a veteran 36-year Toronto Police officer; he was given the benefit of the doubt. We were naive enough to believe he could change.' Instead, they blame Bellamy for drawing Iannuccilli into drug addiction after she went into a deep depression following the birth of their stillborn son in 2015. Her dad believed the 'apple of his eye' could fight her way out: She'd just applied for a new job and was excited about moving into an apartment. 'A day later we learned she was dead, our hopes of her recovery ended.' The vicious, heartless murder leaves behind a daughter who looks ahead at all of life's milestones she and her little brother will face alone. 'When I graduate this year, I won't be able to look at her from the crowd when I'm walking up on stage.' MANDEL: Man guilty of savage murder of his partner in homeless shelter MANDEL: 'Horrible accident' or 'grotesque' murder? Thanks to her dad. But she didn't address her father at all. It was her cousin who uttered the harshest words in his direction. 'You have committed the most cowardly act possible, abandoning your two sweet, loving children and massacring your wife. You took away my aunt's chance at getting her children and family back,' said Sarah-Mae Iannuccilli. 'Due to your selfish, drug-fueled rage, I will never see her again. I will never get to tell her about my life. Worst of all, your daughter will live her life with a dead mother and a murderer for a father.' The poised young woman then cursed the man who brought so much pain to her family. 'I hope the thought of my aunt haunts you for the rest of your life,' she said fiercely. 'I hope that your cell is cold and lonely. I hope that you regret what you've done and see the life you missed out on.' The judge will sentence Bellamy on May 30. mmandel@
