Stormlight Bio

Who we're here for

Cannabis users and their families.

Cannabis is part of millions of people's lives. Some use it every day by choice. A growing number are deciding for themselves that they want to stop. We're building support for both.

Using regularly

People who choose to use cannabis daily

No judgment. If cannabis is part of your life, we want to help you stay as healthy as possible while you use it.

Choosing to stop

People who have decided to step away

Stopping can be hard. If you've made that decision, we want to support your health through the change.

Wherever you are with cannabis, we want to improve your health.

Our story

This started at home.

At his peak, Alex was using six grams of cannabis a day. He became seriously ill and experienced cannabis-induced psychosis.

Alex is founder Michael's brother and co-founder Gord's son. Watching him go through psychosis changed our family, and it showed us how little support exists for people who use cannabis heavily.

Michael was once a regular cannabis user himself. We know cannabis users. We love them. And we believe their health deserves the same serious attention as any other.

That's why we started Stormlight BIO.

Alex as a boy in his soccer uniform, kneeling beside a yellow soccer ball — Alex's journey
Then. At his lowest. Today.

Alex on a city street at night in a dark hoodie, smoking, with a hooded figure standing behind him — Alex's journey
Then. At his lowest. Today.

Daily cannabis use has exploded in the U.S.

20×more daily cannabis users in 2022 than in 1992: from 0.9 million to 17.7 million people

Daily cannabis use Daily alcohol use

Source: Caulkins, “Changes in self-reported cannabis use in the United States from 1979 to 2022,” Addiction (2024), from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Daily or near-daily means 21 or more days in the past month. Values redrawn from the published figure. Dashed lines mark changes in survey methods.

10.8%

of young American adults use cannabis every day.

That's more than 1 in 10 Americans aged 19 to 30.

Source: Monitoring the Future Panel Study (University of Michigan/NIDA), 2024, via Visual Capitalist (2026).

The side effects

What heavy cannabis use can do.

Many people use cannabis without serious harm. But for daily and heavy users, the risks are real, well documented and affect millions of Americans.

Memory

Heavy, long-term use is linked to lasting problems with memory and learning.

27.5%

of long-term heavy users recalled fewer than 10 words from a 15-word list, compared with just 3% of non-users.

Solowij et al., JAMA (2002)

Brain fog

Trouble focusing, slow thinking and feeling mentally cloudy are common among daily users.

~5M

daily users report serious difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions (29% of daily users vs 11% of non-users).

Merrill, Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience (2025), CDC BRFSS 2022. U.S. estimate applies 29% to 17.7M daily users.

CHS

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome causes severe nausea, vomiting and stomach pain in heavy users.

2.75M

Americans may suffer from CHS each year. One in three near-daily users in an emergency room study met its criteria.

Habboushe et al., Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology (2018), estimate

Psychosis

Hallucinations, paranoia and losing touch with reality. This is what happened to Alex.

5×

the risk of a psychotic disorder for people who use high-potency cannabis daily. About 1 in 200 people who use cannabis report a psychotic episode that needed emergency care.

Di Forti et al., Lancet Psychiatry (2019); Schoeler et al., Translational Psychiatry (2022)

Psychosis: what 1 in 200 means in the U.S.

61.6 million Americans used cannabis in the past year. If 1 in 200 of them has a psychotic episode serious enough to need emergency care:

~290,000

Americans who would need emergency care for cannabis-related psychosis.

Estimate: 61.6M past-year users (NSDUH 2025) × 0.47% lifetime rate (Schoeler et al., Translational Psychiatry, 2022).

If you're experiencing any of these, talk to your doctor. Numbers come from published studies and national surveys; figures marked as estimates are projections from those studies.

What we're doing

The first clinical trial of its kind.

We're preparing what we believe is the first clinical trial aimed at supporting the health and well-being of daily cannabis users.

Now

Building the team and the trial

Bringing together partners, advisors and supporters in Canada and the U.S. to launch our first study.
Q3 2027

First data

Our target for the first results from the trial.

The science

It's a secret, for now.

We're keeping the details of our approach private while our work is underway. If you'd like to learn more, reach out and let's talk.

Who we are

Two Canadians with a personal reason to do this.

Michael Barr

A chemical engineer with a background in clinical research and medical device development. Michael was once a regular cannabis user, and Alex is his brother.

Gord Barr

An accountant who became the youngest partner at one of Canada's largest independent accounting firms. Alex is his son.

A chemical engineer and an accountant walk into a bar…

They order non-alcoholic beers and work on improving the health of millions of cannabis users around the world. It's no joke. But important and lots of fun.

Get involved

We've started. Come with us.

If our mission speaks to you, we'd love to hear from you.

Investors

Help fund the first clinical trial focused on the health of daily cannabis users.

Research partners

Doctors, clinicians, research sites and scientists in Canada and the U.S. who want to collaborate.

Future participants

Cannabis users who'd like to hear when our study opens. Sign up below. No commitment.

Advisors and supporters

People with lived experience, families, doctors and experts who want to help shape our work.

Hear about the trial first

Leave your email and we'll let you know when our clinical trial opens and how to take part. We'll only email you about the trial.

Contact us

michael@stormlightbio.com

Open email app