FRE E
ISSUE #53
Miss Majick P. 07
2017 SUMMER
Vapor Lounges Potting Clones Center P.30
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
ISSUE # 53
SUMMER 2017
CREDITS Publisher
Kristen Mann <kristen@hempology.com>
Editor-in-Chief
Judith Stamps <editor@hempology.ca>
CONTENTS Edibles 101.....................................................P.03 The Dabbing Granny.....................................P.07
Graphics Editor
Concentrates............................................P.09
Advertising
Ottawa Rises..................................................P.11
Owen Smith <rainbowensmyth@gmail.com> <cannabis.digest.advertising@gmail.com>
Contributors Judith Stamps Owen Smith Kristen Mann (Alberta) Russel Barth (Pottawa) Anna James Julia Veintrop Hanna Kyla-Junilla Brent H. Shal Friesen Ernie Yacub Lenore LeMay
Cover by Carly Neigum
For editorial questions, letters, or information on submitting:
<editor@hempology.ca> 826 Johnson Street V8W 1N3 Phone: 250-381-4220 www.hempology.ca www.cannabisdigest.ca
CannaLube Review.......................................P.13 Accessing the ACMPR: Part 4.....................P.14 Comox Valley Raid........................................P.15 Allow Vaping Here................................CENTER Vaporizer Critique..........................................P.19 Seniors and Cannabis..................................P.21 Ten Pragmatic Thoughts..............................P.24 420 Origami Cranes.......................................P.25 Media Sensationalism..................................P.27 Potting up Clones..........................................P.30 The Liquor Store Question...........................P.31 Wordsearch / Comics.....................................P.33 The Cannabis Digest will not be held responsible for claims made within the pages of the newspaper, nor those made by advertisers. We do not suggest or condone illegal activities, and urge readers to research their countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s laws, and/or talk to their doctors, before engaging in any activities that could be deemed as illegal or dangerous to oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health.
Introduction to Eating Cannabis
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
What You Need to Know Before Eating Cannabis
generic to brand name drugs is an example of this, and we think of both as equally effective. Because of all the factors associated with growing cannabis, you should always look at the milligrams labeled, yet take into account the possibility that it may be slightly stronger or weaker, depending on the quality of the product.
Rather than seek to relate dosing cannabis to a prescription, think about trying cannabis like trying a new stretch. This analogy may not work Julia Veintrop for many people who have never stretched or looked at a yoga mat in their lives… can hat You Need to Know we add something more uniAbout Taking Canna- versally relatable? bis Edibles.
W
I love edibles and I am not quiet about the fact that they saved my life. If you suffer from pain, or have other medical conditions that may benefit from a slow release form of cannabis, edible cannabis may help you. Here are some guidelines to help you, ‘start low and go slow…’ If you go to Health Canada’s website to find out information on dosing cannabis, they will tell you, “There are no precise doses or established uniform dosing schedules for products such as fresh marijuana, smoked/vaporized marijuana, or cannabis oil. If you plan to smoke or vaporize your cannabis, it is a lot easier for a person to get a sense of amount because of the quick release effects. If you want to try an edible, everyone will tell you to start low and go slow. But what exactly does that mean? Should a 250lb trucker start at the same place as an 85lb senior?
Think about the milligrams, but take this idea with a grain of salt
and absorb into your bloodstream really quickly. On the opposite side of that, on top of a full meal, an edible can take hours to absorb.
3
THC both target your CB1 and CB1 receptors but in completely different ways. If you have a lot of THC in your system and you feel too much of the effect, introducing CBD into your system will stimulate it in a totally different way reducing your high significantly. This has been proven on a clinical level to the point where pharmaceutical companies are beginning to develop CBD products to specifically reduce any psychoactive effects of THC.
What is the cannabis being ingested with? The food your cannabis is ingested with will make all the difference in how fast you feel it and for how long. If you need to digest a cookie or brownie, it will take a lot longer than a drink with quick-release cannabis. (Let’s not mention candy.) In addition, you need to ask: with what type of cannabis is the edible made? An edible made with a Know that it is impossible concentrate will have an effect to fatally overdose and taste different from an edible made with leaf or hash infused ingredients. Through Our cannabinoid receptors trial and error with a sense of are the part of us responsible for absorbing all the different cannabinoids; this is what creates all the amazing benefits cannabis provides. The receptors can be found everywhere, our skin, organs and brain, adventure, you will find what but, the one place we have works for you but believe me: very few is the brain stem. the feel of an edible will vary Responsible for all involundepending on what it is made tary functions like heartbeat with. I am at the point where and breathing, the brain stem I can do the Pepsi/Coke chal- can never be over-stimulated lenge with a variety of edibles and shut down by cannabis. It and tell whether it’s made is physically impossible. This with leaf, bud, hash, shatter or is the reason why no one has an extract, because they feel so ever died from cannabis and different. no one ever will; it is literally safer for our systems than Hmmm - Or do we want to the majority of what is in our cut down the trial and error houses. by talking to someone at the VCBC? If you take too much and start to freak out, know that no matter what, time is going Be aware of the type of to pass and you are not going cannabis in the edible to physically hurt yourself.
"Here are some guidelines to help you, ‘start low and go slow’"
You can really hurt yourself if you stretch without knowing what you are doing. You take it slow, letting your body feel your muscles as you relax. Some people who have been stretching for a while need to go really deep into it to feel the effects, and if you were brand new to the activity, you would never expect yourself to match their flexibility. You might be one of those super flexible people but if you haven’t stretched in a while, you would take it slow and be cautious until you got comfortable with it. Edible forms of medical cannabis are very much like this. Make sure you get advice from a reputable medical cannabis dispensary like a Cannabis Buyer’s Club, and have a chat with someone who knows about the product to advise you on what to do and what to expect. If you are trying it for the first time, make sure you are in a comfortable environment and have no pressing matters. Take your time; listen to your body and the way it feels before increasing the dose. Plus, don’t assume that what you experienced in the past will work ideally for you now.
Thankfully, these days a cannabis user can find almost every kind of edible available to them and all of them are a bit different. The first thing, when choosing an edible, is to inquire if it is made with a Sativa, Indica or a CBD dominant or hybrid cannabis, as these will all have different benefits. The Cannabis Buyer’s Club in Victoria BC, and similar, older compassion clubs, offer a variety in strains that can be beneficial. Again, speak to an expert. If the dispensary does not offer this kind of information, walk away. You may not get what is Pay attention to how much best for you.
In this day and age, we are used to being able to go to the doctor for an ailment and have a certain amount of medicine prescribed to treat the condition. We are trained to think of the number of milligrams as being uniform from product to product, and that if it is in your stomach CBD is a cannabinoid has the amount on the bottle has amazing properties that we take, then, the brand If you take an edible on an none of them produces a doesn’t matter. The slight difference in effectiveness of empty stomach, it will digest choactive effect. CBD
that but psyand
If you take too much, have something high in CBD As a budtender, my biggest fear when selling someone an edible for their first time is that they will try it, take too much and never want to try it again. The effects of edibles are truly incredible and if I had to choose between smoking cannabis and eating it, I would make no hesitation. If you have a serious condition or intense pain and have found some relief in inhalation, try an edible. The key to your health and a better quality of life might only be a brownie away…
Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2017
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
EDITORS NOTE: The Canadian Scene
Judith Stamps
A
they are largely to blame for the provinces’ apprehension. They have offered no positive view on cannabis, no sense of how Canadians might benefit from the herb: no sense of how they might find it soothing, or relaxing, or a balm for everyday aches, stresses, and fears; how it might create employment, or generate useful income; how it might spark new developments in medical research, long held back by stigma. Instead they’ve harped on the purported danger to kids, and on the dangers of the black market. This focus has led the provinces, naïve beginners on the subject, to believe that these dangers will recede if only they develop right supply chain. But how? How? No wonder they’re scared.
nyone with an eye on the Canadian federal political scene will have noticed that some of our provinces have begun to choke on the prospect of putting together a retail scheme for cannabis. Mewling like kittens, Saskatchewanians, for example, have begun to beg the feds to put off legalizing for an extra year. It’s enough to make you happy, for once, Well, here’s my advice to that Trudeau is not inclined premiers, albeit unsolicited. If you are a premier, do this. to listen to anyone. Take your favourite cabinet The federal Liberals should ministers, and go visit four understand, however, that places that have legalized cannabis for recreational use.
Study the retail plans. Pick the one you like best, and copy it. Just do it. It will not be perfect, but it will be a start, and it can be perfected over time. As to the dangers, discuss these matters with your legalizing colleagues in other parts of the world. Not everyone is as negative in outlook as Trudeau and his task force.
And here’s some advice for the feds, equally unsolicited. Get someone to provide support to the provinces on this issue. Stop scaring everyone; that’s an obstructionist tactic. Start being helpful; offer planning support. We’re adults, remember? We know how to open shops. We’ve been opening shops since before confederation. We’ve been selling stuff since the beginning of civilization. We’ve been selling cannabis since the beginning of markets. Every province can manage. Meanwhile, if you are an
5
activist, keep working with your communities, and city governments. This is a grass roots effort. No government can own it. No government can claim credit for it. Independence, the right, this case, to relax with the herb of one’s choice, is not anyone’s gift either to give or to withhold. It’s a natural right. Let’s keep these thoughts mind as we watch the fumbling of governments. That way we can at least find them entertaining. From joining the hysteria, there is nothing to be gained at all. Editor@Hempology.ca
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Cannabis Digest • Summer 2017
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Big Changes Ahead
Kristen Mann his summer I have T moved to small resort town in Alberta. While it has
Now more than ever we must stand together to create positive, lasting change. One of the ways that you can easily get involved is to fill out the various surveys and questionnaires that are currently being released by the provincial governments. They are seeking stakeholder input on the drafting of the new laws. Book an afternoon to answer the online questions and take your time to seriously consider that you are the people who will make this change.
Future generations are relying on us to help create been a big change to meet thoughtful, useful and rationew friends and be in a new nal policy that can stand the place (and not have the internet), I am once again struck by the near universal need/ symbiotic relationship between happiness, community building and healing. test of time. It is much harder When one can talk person- to chip away at bad policy ally and honestly with fam- with court case and constiily members or friends about tutional challenges than it is their cannabis experiences, it to write good legislation to normalizes the idea to peo- begin with. Get involved, and ple who may have incorrect encourage your social circle or incomplete information to get involved as well. about this sacred plant. Offering help and education to We too will have a new stothose around you is some of ry to tell. After 21 successful the most effective activism. years, Hempology is entering Big changes really do start into a new chapter of its life. with the smallest seeds. We have experienced many changes this year beginning Change. Is it good? Is it with the loss of Ted Smith's bad? Is it scary? It's all of leadership. After Ted stepped these things! The more we away in February many dediembrace change and allow it cated board members stepped to flow through our lives, the up to fill his shoes and help faster we can adapt to new re- Hempology continue its legalities. acy of educating the public about Cannabis. Change is happening very fast to many of us these days. Although everyone's heart As we look around at the was in the right place the task emerging cannabis market has proven too onerous. The and all the new information Board of Directors has decidthat is popping up every day, ed to dissolve the formal soit is easy to feel overwhelmed. ciety and release the Cannabis Digest to become its own Patients wonder whether entity. Hopefully students they will be able to main- will continue to gather at the tain their grows under the various university and college incoming legislation, and if campuses across Canada, but they will lose their ability to the organization will now be drive based on the sweeping solely for and by the students. changes to impaired driving While we are sad to be dislaws. Seniors wonder if may- banding the formal aspect of be legal cannabis will help the society after such an inease their aches, and how to credible past few decades, we properly dose. Long-term are excited by the possibilities growers wonder how they can for the future. ensure their rightful place in the new legal market and In the upcoming months we politicians wonder on whom will be completing the prothey can pawn off the ardu- cess of becoming an incorpoous task of crafting this leg- rated business so that we can islation. continue to spread the news
and stories affecting Cannabis consumers in Canada. We will be looking to form new partnerships within the craft cannabis culture. As we move forward into our new beginnings we are excited to keep you, our readers, writers, distributors and friends, informed about all the changes both with us and with the status of cannabis in general. We expect that by the next issue we will have begun the transition process.
We will be reformatting the paper to make it friendlier and more organized, to increase its readability and outreach. We plan to rebuild our webpage and make it easier to navigate. By adding more high quality video content we will draw in another audience, those who prefer watching information to reading it. We hope to increase crosspollination between those who read our newspaper and those who read the blog posts. If you haven't done so yet, check out cannabisdigest. ca for even more quality cannabis info.
We hope to grow our subscribership both across the country and also around the world. We encourage glass As they say, "My friends are shops, hemp stores and cof- your friends, and your friends are my friends. The more we get together the happier we'll be."
"Change. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it scary? It's all of these things!"
fee houses to subscribe to distribute Cannabis Digest. We would like it to be in the hands of more people who know less about Cannabis, so please leave a copy with your mom, doctor, local small business or friends.
Issue Number 53
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Some Kind of Majick
7
Victoria-based internet personality talks activism, hardships and dabbing. From age 30, Majick’s life be- more than five years ago, when psychiatric medication.” gan to take shape, and her can- “covert dabbing operations” nabis activism was an integral where hosted in the back of Now, Majick considers herpart of this journey. “By the closed restaurants. self drug-free, “I don’t get high time Ted [Smith] recruited me off cannabis. I believe the reaabout five years for the Board of For decades, Sterling has son I don’t feel ‘high’ is that I Directors for the Victoria Can- battled with the legalities and need all of the properties in the nabis Buyers Club I had started stigmatization from her canna- leaf and when I use it, it’s going to really come out of my shell.” bis use. to where it’s needed. So I can talk to you. So I don’t feel so “I don’t know what it is but “I was in Grade 6, around the much pain. That’s just my perevery birthday that ends in ‘0’ is age of 10 or 11, when I was in- sonal theory”. big for me,” said Majick, “At 30 troduced to cannabis and I’ve Anna James I went back to school. I never used it off and on for the rest Majick is excited for the future speaking candidly about her desire to travel, represent o her online fans, quality cannabis brands and 57-year-old Miss Majick continue manifesting ideas is Canada’s ‘Dabbing Granny’; which she credits with brining Insta-famous for smoking conjoy into her life. centrated THC and yelling “Yabbadabbadoozie”, her smile “I’ll tell you what I want. I curling around red tortoiseshell want to change the world - as glasses. my Instagram says, one smile, one hug and one high five at As I wait at The Green Gatime”. rage dispensary for Majick, another person arrives to meet her to whom she’s promised to split got a degree out of there but of my life but the system has a 2-for-1 ice-cream voucher af- I got what I wanted – the so- always made me feel guilty for ter her interview. cial skills. At 50 applied at the it. I spent 10 years in NA [NarRoyal British Columbia Mu- cotics Anonymous] for what I Behind her cartoonish inter- seum where I still volunteer to thought was cannabis addicnet persona is Majick’s deep this day”. tion, and I always ended up on commitment to her Victoria community, her home for over Throughout her hardships, fifty years. Majick bounces in Majick displayed an ability to with a manila folder brimming turn tragedy into positivity; with clippings, a pastiche of her when her cousin was killed at life achievements, “Thank you a young age by a car accident, for making me put this all to- Majick took to the streets to gether” she smiles. offer free hugs.
T
In the folder are two panel discussion invitations from the Capital Mental Health Association, her article published in Islander, and a newspaper profile on Majick’s life on the streets.
Embracing strangers was a marked transition from being house-bound by agoraphobia, “I once lived invisibly... My dealer would come over and I’d do his laundry in exchange for cannabis.”
“Prior to 88’ and 89’, I was a mess. When I was in my thirties I had a lot of mental health issues,” said Majick, reeling off a list, “I was young to know what I knew. I saw stuff and did stuff that other people didn’t. I only worked this out in my forties. I didn’t know there was a wrong side of the tracks here in Victoria,”
After “a shitload of fucking therapy” Majick now enjoys a very public life by posting 420-related content online that has attracted sponsorship deals and almost 10,000 Instagram followers. “My first post was in 2014. My niece talked me into it. About seven months in I had about 300 or so followers until I got a message from a woman called Gail, the American ‘Dabbing Granny’ that said, ‘I gave you a shout out miss. Be prepared for some new followers’. It started jumping up by hundreds and hundreds immediately.”
Majick paints her early life as filled with trauma, chaos and instability punctuated with colourful adventures. “I’m not one of those island people who never leave,” Majick says with a laugh. “I hitchhiked across Canada three or four times but always came back because this Finding internet fame is my home”. through cannabis puzzles Majick who remembers a time, not
Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2017
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
Learning to Concentrate
9
A Basic Guide to Making Cannabis Conncentrates len, kief is comprised of the resin glands that form on the flowers, leaves, and stems of the cannabis plant. Although cannabis without kief still contains cannabinoids, it is the resin glands that develop on the flowers that give off the strong psychoactive effects. These trichomes contain a variety of cannabinoids (THC, CBD, CBN, etc.) and terpenes that are trapped in the head of the resin gland.
umn and washed over plant material. Most starting plant material is dried and cured; some extract artists use fresh frozen plant material; more information on that below. After this washing, the remaining solution is collected. Extract artists must ensure that no residual solvents are left in the solution, so the next step is to purge and evaporate the solvent from the solution. Heat and vacuum is applied to make this purge process faster while still
Hanna Kyla-Junilla is a cannabis concenWhat trate?
Under the general term of cannabis concentrates falls any product obtained through an extraction process. Solvents (i.e. butane, propane, CO2, ethanol) are used to strip the cannabinoids and terpenes from the cannabis plant, leaving behind a highly concentrated, highly potent end product. It is important to note that the solvent used for extraction goes through a rigorous purge and evaporation process, and should not be residual in the finished product. Of course it is best to ask if the concentrates at your dispensary are lab tested to ensure that no residual solvents are left behind. Cannabis concentrate subculture is emerging quickly as patients enjoy the therapeutic effects of cannabis concentrates without having to combust plant material. Some concentrates in the market boast 90%+ THC levels and can be very therapeutic for a number of conditions such as chronic pain, sleep disorders, and mood disorders, by flooding your system with cannabinoids in a short amount of time.
In this article we will look at the various cannabis concentrates available in today's market and explore the nuances of each concentrate. -KIEF-
To extract artists and concentrate connoisseurs alike, CO2 extraction is ideal, as this gas reaches its critical point at a cool enough temperature to ensure that delicate terpenes and cannabinoids do not degrade during the extraction process. This makes for a very flavourful and terpene enriched end product. Extraction Method
Extraction Method Luckily, extracting kief is very simple. If you have a grinder at home that is multi-chambered you would simply grind your herb for consumption, and after a few good uses the bottom compartment of your grinder should have a nice sprinkling of kief. Another extraction option that is especially optimal for larger quantities of bud is to sift the cannabis with a fine mesh sifter. It is important to use very fine mesh, as this prevents plant material from slipping through the sifter during the separation process.
Once the kief has been separated, a lot of consumers enjoy sprinkling their kief onto ground cannabis for more potent consumption, or turn their collection of kief into hash. Hash is kief that It is also important to note that has been heated and pressurized. cannabis concentrates can be Pressurizing kief also changes its achieved without the use of sol- colour; the more pressure applied, the darker the hash.. vents (i.e. kief, rosin, ice water hash extractions) thus eliminating concerns of residual solvents as well as tedious purge and evaporation processes. This greatly benefits both patients who are looking for all natural cannabis concentrates, and the cannabis industry as it gains interest in accommodating these needs.
naturally occurring compound that leaves behind no residues, making it ideal for cannabis extractions. Moreover, CO2 extraction helps to ensure that these cannabis concentrates are pure and safe to consume, making this medicine fitting for patients who are in search of natural cannabis concentrates..
-BUTANE HONEY OIL (BUTANE HASH OIL)Perhaps one of the most common extracts on the market, BHO is known by many other nicknames (shatter, budder, wax, oil, crumble, sugar wax, sap, pulland-snap) which originate from the extract's consistency. While the basic principles of extraction are the same across all these, differences in texture and appearance are mostly due to the finishing process.. Extraction Method
To make a butane extract, buAlso known as dry-sift or pol- tane is pressurized in a large col-
The dissolving powers of CO2 change with different pressures, thus enabling extract artists to experiment with different vessels and different pressures. Playing with pressure and temperature retaining flavourful terpenes and allows for the complete separacannabinoids in the end product. tion of terpenes, cannabinoids, and everything in between. Most butane extractions are made with dried and cured canDuring extraction, the carbon nabis flowers, however, some ex- dioxide runs through an extractract artists prefer to freeze the tion vessel at a certain temperaflowers when fresh in order to ture and pressure; after gathering trap the flavourful and aromatic all the available terpenes, waxes, terpene profiles. That being said, and cannabinoids, the solution dried and cured flower extrac- passes to a separator vessel (a diftion will produce a fine extract, ferent temperature and pressure just not as flavourful and pun- will be needed for this process) gent. This fresh frozen extraction that can be used to change the method produces an end product composition of the extract. After known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;live resin.â&#x20AC;?. extraction is complete, a drop in pressure allows the CO2 to easily -CO2 OILevaporate and be recovered. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a
Cannabis Digest • Summer 2017
Solvent Free Extraction -ROSIN-
home with the following items: 1.
Electric hair straightener
Thanks to an emerging solventless technique called “rosin” 2. Parchment paper (untechnology, concentrate enthu- bleached, if possible) siasts and patients alike are now able to enjoy the effects of con3. A collection tool (either centrates without having to be metal or glass material, a dabber concerned over the solvents used tool works) for extraction. Rosin utilizes extreme heat and pressure to extract the resin from the plant, thus eliminating tedious purge and evaporation processes that could take days to complete.
Turn your hair straightener to the lowest setting (280-300F (anything higher and you will be losing valuable terpenes), and cut yourself a square of parchment paper. Fold the paper in half and place your starting material in between the folded parchment paper.
"I fully support their actions in opening the Cannabis Culture stores"
When comparing rosin to BHO, the two are indistinguishable on an aesthetic level. Rosin, when extracted properly, retains just as many valuable terpenes that account for the pungent and aromatic flavours present in other cannabis concentrates. Extraction Method
Remove the parchment from your hair straightener and unfold the paper. You can toss away the flattened nug, and use your collection tool to capture the fresh rosin you've pressed. For larger batches you should press on a new square of parchment each time and then collect all of the rosin at the end. You could also place the parchment in the freezer for a few second to stabilize the rosin if it's quite sappy. This will help to collect the extract. Temperature is everything when it comes to rosin pressing!
Perhaps the reason why rosin has been widely embraced by the 4. Heat-resistant gloves cannabis community is that the (safety first!) sheer simplicity of the technology allows cannabis users with no 5. Quality cannabis (ensure prior chemistry or extraction ex- that your flower is resinous as perience, to try it for themselves this will produce better yields) safely, and with no risk. Rosin can be easily extracted at
You will want to hear a sizzle before you remove the heat and pressure – this indicates that the resin has melted from your plant material.
Steps To Make Rosin
Lower temperatures (200's) give a lower yield but the end product is very flavourful and Carefully line up the buds in- stable (hard and has a shatterside of the parchment paper with like consistency). your hair straightener and apply very firm pressure (some prefer Higher temperatures (300's) to stand on their hair straight- give a larger yield but the end ener to apply the firmest possible product is less flavourful and less pressure – be careful you don't stable (sappy). break your heating tool!) for about 5-7 seconds.
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
The Rise of pOttawa
11
Ottawa Becomes Cooler Than Ever
Russell Barth sometimes think that if I Earth ever joined some sort of Galactic Federation, Ottawa
would be known throughout the galaxy - not just the world - as the lamest place to visit. Name anything from public transit to entertainment to City Council, and if you don’t find yourself getting bored or angry, you’ll be rolling your eyes with embarrassment. Ottawa is where you bring your kids for a vacation when they have been brats all year. But this is not the case with the Nation’s Capital’s first noprescription-required cannabis dispensary. Although the establishment is called Cannabis Culture, and bears the logo of the Marc-Emery-started franchise, Chief Budtender Ming Saad made it clear that the store currently has no affiliation with Marc Emery, professionally or otherwise. In light of Emery’s recent controversial remarks about Trans people - comments that all but a few considered transphobic hate speech, for which he later apologized - Saad felt it was important to distance the store publicly from the Emerys. CC Ottawa sits in the heart of Ottawa’s gay village, so Saad worried that there might be some backlash from the public. So far, there has been none. Although the store was raided by Ottawa Police on March 9, just two weeks after it opened, and 5 people were charged, they managed to have the doors re-opened and the shelves restocked in under 23 hrs. The Ottawa raid happened the day after the raids that closed other Cannabis Culture stores in Toronto and Hamilton, but was not actually part of that larger operation. Subsequently, the arrestees were not saddled with the same sorts of wildly onerous bail conditions that
the Emerys, Britney Guerra in keeps trying to draw parallels by the Tory-stacked Senate. If Hamilton, and Chris and Erin between the two but there re- the wild- eyed gobbledegook Goodwin were dealing with. ally aren't any.” spewed in The House Of Commons by the likes of Rob NichThe store is located at 391 Customers agree. In mid- olson and Marilyn Gladu reBank Street, open 7 days a June when a friend who I have cently is any indication of what week from 10am to 10pm, and known for 39 years called and the tories think of the whole Saad estimates an average of asked if I knew where to get a idea, we can be pretty sure that 800 - 1000 customers per day, certain strain of pot that helps this bill will not pass the Senamounting to about $30,000 with his back, I suggested Can- ate. worth of business. And yes, they nabis Culture, not only because pay their taxes. All of them. The I know Saad and many of the That leaves the market wide store operates as if pot were al- other people who work there, open for the next three to four ready legal, holding their es- and that they are good people, years at least. Recent reports show that Canadians used over 635,000 kilos of cannabis last year, 87,000 kilos of which came from the ACMPR producers. The LPs would have to grow in number, grow in size, and protablishment, themselves, their but because they have a wide duce eight times what they are volunteers, and their products selection of top-shelf product producing now to replace the to the highest standards. This is coming from medical-grade existing extra-regulatory cannot a fly-by-night outfit. This is growers. nabis market. taking root. He told me later that not only Cannabis dispensaries are My wife and I visited for the did he get the strain he was creating jobs, and, in some casfirst time in June, and were very looking for, he also had a won- es, jobs for people who perhaps pleased with what we saw: a derful experience purchasing it, can’t get or hold down a regular wide variety of cannabis prod- meeting tourists from France job. ucts being served up by friendly, who were as astonished as he energetic and informed bud- was. The host of this year’s 420 tenders. Customers wait outevent on Parliament Hill, Alex Newcombe, for example was budtending the day that CC was raided, and he is still facing charges and dealing with bail conditions.
"It is how pot-buying should be."
“It was a harrowing experience, but the real fun was recognizing the few cops in masks that had bought from us the few weeks prior.... You know they went home and enjoyed themselves….”
side in a waiting area, and then are buzzed into the back room. That room has a line of people up waiting for their turn, but the crowd is small and quickmoving. It is how pot-buying should be. For Mike Foster, owner of Crosstown Traffic (the oldest and longest-running head shop in the area), it is a welcome and long-awaited change. “It is an important effort and I am happy to see it. It shows cannabis sales the way that it should be done, open and accessible to the public. The over-regulation being proposed by the government is not necessary. Many decades of cannabis being relegated to the black market did not lead to a single cannabis death. Compare that to the days of alcohol prohibition and the massive poisonings that ensued before legalization. The government
Newcombe lives with an anxiety disorder, that - paradoxically - was alleviated somewhat What the future holds for CC by working in the arrest-prone Ottawa is anyone’s guess, but business of budtending. according to Saad, the proprietors plan to dig in their heels Leanne Wilson, meanwhile, and fight until the bitter end, tends to the front door 6 days with a plan to challenge the or more per week, a job which law all the way to the Supreme consists mainly of checking IDs Court Of Canada if necessary. and buzzing the door open for More locations, though they the next customers to enter the might not be called Cannabis purchase room. “Volunteering Culture, are in the works, not at CC has been one of the best only from the people who own experiences I've had the pleaand operate CC Ottawa, but sure to be involved in. We have from other people who realize a very close knit team, that ofthat Ottawa can support more ten feels more like an extended than one cannabis dispensary. family. It also helps that, on a daily basis, we are standing up Many in the legalization-ac- and fighting for something we tivism community worry that all believe in.” She said. “Not the Liberal government’s Pro- only is it wonderful knowing hibition 2.0 Cannabis Act won’t how many people we are helpallow for mom-and-pop canna- ing every single day, but it also bis dispensaries like Cannabis gives us an opportunity to be inCulture, but just as many sus- volved in our community where pect the bill won’t pass at all and we don't get judged by our was never designed to. Person- choice of medicine. Many emally, I think it will be scuttled ployers are unaware or unsym-
pathetic to the needs of medical cannabis patients and therefore most of us have trouble fitting in to a standard working environment as we are unable to medicate during working hours. Volunteering at CC allows us to be productive members of society without bearing the stigma of our medical cannabis use.”
legal equivalent of hiring The Hulk to move your furniture. Morale around the shop is, as one would expect, exceedingly high. So, as lame as it has been, and as tedious as Ottawa can be, it really does keep getting cooler around here all the time.
Everyone working at CC knows that, unlike many of the other dispensaries that have been raided and left their employees lawyer-less and with no financial backing, they have Kirk Tousaw in their corner, the “[A] prominent lawyer in modernizing cannabis policies.” —Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
“Vancouver-based lawyer who recently won a landmark medical cannabis case in the Supreme Court.” —Winnipeg Sun
“Kirk Tousaw has always been a thorn in the side of authority when it comes to the laws surrounding marijuana.” —Law Times News
“[Successfully] represented many clients in high-profile marijuana-related cases.” —The Globe and Mail
Cannabis Criminal Defense • Medical Cannabis Compliance Strategic Litigation • Law Reform • Dispensary Regulation ConTACT uS for information about our customizable ReTAineR PACKAgeS
Kirk Tousaw
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Barrister & Advocate
Issue Number 53
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Personal Lubricant An Educated Review By An Island Gal
the brain (central nervous system), lungs, liver, kidneys, and genitals. When Cannabis is applied to the skin topically, it works to harmonize the cells and conditions there; cannabinoids lock onto the anandamide receptor sites, (that’s our body’s natural cannabinoid receptors, part of our endocannabinoid system) and react accordingly to what the environment needs. What does that mean for Miss Envy Personal Lubricant? To experience it for yourself is far beyond what my words can hen it comes to personal illustrate, but allow me to try. and intimate lubricants, you want to ensure that what Everything feels natural. Like, you are putting on/in your body really natural, there is no sensais healthy for you. A lot of us tion that doesn’t happen in a have skin allergies and sensitiviwoman’s body when organities, and let’s be real, the more cally, primally aroused. There intimate an area is, the more is no fake ‘tingling’ leaving you likely it is to be sensitive. to wonder if it’s burning you; nothing synthetic or manufacAs someone who is persontured. When applying Canna ally allergic to a lot of synthetic Sutra, the lubrication itself feels products, perfumes/fragrances, like your body’s own – although and anything latex, I am parthere is a colour to it, so not ticularly careful what I use. My recommended for white sheets! personal health can be affected, Then the absorption of THC and even just being uncomfortbecomes more apparent, and you able in those places is just not can feel your capillaries begin to worth it. Lube should feel natswell, just gently, just as if you ural, and work with your body’s are naturally very aroused. And PH balance. That’s why Canna for those of us who have a hard Sutra works. time ‘letting go,’ this does make that so much easier. It helps faTHC is directly received cilitate the body’s natural proby your body’s CB1 receptors, cess so you can get out of your which are expressed largely in
Shal Friesen
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head and let it happen. Every sensation is heightened, every touch, vibration, even your own body heat is more apparent than with non-medicated lubricants. I have yet to try other brands of cannabis personal lubricants, but I’m honestly so thrilled with this product I just might not! Achieving full satisfaction has never been easy for me, in fact it’s generally more of a chore, if not completely a lost cause. But my success rate since finding this product is astounding, and I emphatically recommend it to all women. I do have to disclose, however, that I have yet to use this product with another human being, and while it is my go-to for guaranteed satisfaction, it has been a solo mission. I have no problem sharing that since I have been using the Canna Sutra. I’ve never been more pleased with myself ! What, in speculation, could it do for you and a partner? Well guess what? Men also have endocannabinoid receptors so although the sensation will be different, there will still be a pleasant effect as the cannabinoids are absorbed, as well as the benefits of increased natural lubrication. As well, it can help facilitate a more ‘effortless and painless’ insertion as anandamide-cannabinoid receptors are created and formed in areas
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of inflammation. When applied to these areas, once the receptor site is activated, cannabis has a regulating effect. Therefore, pain is not “taken away’ or even ‘numbed’ but the sense is adjusted to be perceived as something else. The same principle applies when cannabis is used for arthritis pain and sore muscles. In addition to its organic coconut oil base, Canna Sutra has other natural essential oils. I could tell you about their specific properties; they take this product over the top. But we know it’s all good stuff so instead I will leave you with one last thought about sexual health when using a personal lubricant. Cannabis assists the body in healing; it is anti-inflammatory and antiparasitic. It inhibits the growth of bacteria, fungi and even some viruses. Topical solutions are utilized by many to recover from eczema, psoriasis, contact dermatitis, pruritus, scrapes, rashes and burns. These solutions help to regulate the body's immune response systems. So this is more than your drugstore lubricant. It’s an all in one happy vaginal health tonic! Now if I could only cross borders with it! Along with personal experience and peer reviews some information obtained from Web Sources: Wikipedia, www.projectcbd and www.cannabis.info
Cannabis Digest • Summer 2017
Accessing My ACMPR: 4 One Woman's Continued Journey to Find a Doctor To Sign Her ACMPR Forms
Julia Veintrop
a lot of time for your body to Back to my Doctor... start naturally producing what the opiates replaced, if it ever The operation I am having does at all; this period is called requires me to lie flat and be the post acute withdrawal. on bed rest for 6 weeks to ensure I avoid any hernias and to It’s why so many people ad- let my organs resettle. If I were dicted to opiates feel like they to take an opiate during or afcan never come off of them; ter the surgery, I risk agitating because even though they all sorts of PAWS symptoms, may have detoxed over a year and it will cause severe comago, they still don’t feel right. plications that will follow me ‘PAWS’ is not something that the rest of my life. is commonly known, as there have been few studies on it; it My family doctor, the guy
aving a smart doctor H can definitely have its advantages and disadvantages. I was so happy when my surgeon told me that she would willfully sign my ACMPR. She even wanted to do a bit of research because usually she just signs proof of conditions for compassion clubs. That was encouraging to hear even though it meant a delay. No problems from this girl because I have been waiting for years. What’s a bit longer? I headed back to Victoria, happy from having my hope renewed. Treating serious pain like this with cannabis seemed like a reach, but I have no choice. It’s really nice to have a doctor be so confident in telling me that cannabis will be more than sufficient. Before this appointment, I felt like I was facing two options: a Viking style hold ’er down while the surgeon slices and dices, or the most horrific option of all, having to take an opiate. Like me, many people facing these options would probably take no time making a decision; the choice between the two options is an obvious and easy one. Although I don’t think many would see the opiate the same way that I do, as hell before death. Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome The reason I cannot take opiates and know my life will crash and burn if I ever do is not because of addiction; it is because I took them for so long. I now suffer from post acute withdrawal syndrome or PAWS. Regardless of why you are prescribed opiates, when you stop, you will detox. The time it takes for the drug to fully leave your system is called the acute period, but it doesn’t end there. It takes
Where I am left right now...
Thank God for my surgeon and her big, smart brain! Oh the benefits of having a doctor with not just intelligence, but common sense to boot! The only problem is, she is smart enough to realize she has no idea how many grams a day to approve for me, and she still doesn’t have the answer. There is a big difference between giving someone paperwork to prove their condition and prescribing a daily amount of cannabis, and this Doctor takes her job very seriously. She doesn’t guess on anything, she studies and calculates and then makes decisions based on the evidence in front of her, as all doctors should. I will be seeing her again very soon and am preparing my argument to get as much cannabis prescribed to me as possible. I know she understands the need for me to access cannabis legally, but if she can’t come up with a limit that makes sense, we might have a problem. I can’t see this lady choosing a gram limit that she deems as a safe and low amount without anything concrete to back it up, but I have a feeling that’s what will happen.
has yet to be classified in the DSM-V. I believe firmly that awareness of PAWS was a key factor in my healing; it is so important to know that if you came off opiates and you don`t feel right, that is normal. It might be that way for a while; it can take years but it does get better. It is worth suffering through.
who thinks I want to fire up a bong in the OR, had a perfect solution for this; he would prescribe me such a massive amount of opiates and flood my system so there would be no way I would detox. My GP wanted to basically give me an open Oxycontin prescription for 6 weeks, then cut me off and get me to detox, again... but the man will not sign my To put this in perspective, ACMPR. I’ll share a story of the only time I took an opiate after detoxing. I had been off all opiates for over a year, I had a brutal migraine that had lasted over 3 days, and I was ready to die. At a moment of weakness, I took less than half of an over the counter, Tylenol 1 (approximately 3 mg of codeine). It did nothing for my headache, but for 3 weeks after taking that pill, I was back to extreme hot and cold flashes, severe diarrhea, no sleep and extreme restless leg syndrome. I would like to point out that I did not suffer from nausea or vomiting, and that is thanks to cannabis.
In actual fact, I am not too worried about the grams per day limit she gives me, or how many plants I will be able to grow. I don’t think anyone has told the government that the amount of bud you get from a single plant depends on the talents of the grower. The ACMPR allows for 1 indoor or 2 outdoor plants for every gram prescribed and it is even more if you juice it. I think this is going to work out ok.
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
Comox Valley Raids
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Cumberland Residents Continued Struggle For Safe Access To Cannabis 1 or 2 applications for a busiCompassion Club ran a dispenness license were to be conA considerable amount of sary at my home in Courtenay sidered for approval. A flurry time, money and resources were for 7 years prior to being busted of emails and phone calls im- wasted, not just by the propo- twice in 2011. portuned council to wait for nents, but also in village staff the Canadian Government to time, but the village made some After being open for barely legalize before granting busi- of it back by keeping the regis- barely a month, Attadawoosh ness licenses. Many who were tration fees, which amounted to was raided by the RCMP twice opposed claimed not to know several thousand dollars. None and the dispensary is now that the dispensaries would still of the proponents have yet sued closed and unlikely to reopen be illegal, including one coun- the village to get their money any time soon. cilor, despite the RCMP telling back. Ernie Yacub During the Cumberland application process, a Comox Valley Sitrep, website,cannabisforhealth.ca, May 2017 morphed briefly into a storefront in one of the locations or a while it looked like which has now been rented to there would be two disanother business. The Cannabis pensaries opening in Cumfor Health education program berland until some last minute will continue to bring much opposition derailed the Village needed information about the Council’s year long process of therapeutic/medical benefits consulting with Cumberland of cannabis in another location residents, which included a surand through the website. vey and an open house meeting. The survey indicated a 75% ap- council that they would shut The good news is that a proval rating, and the public them down because they would (Attadawoosh) Connect with us info@cangenerally supported the initia- still be illegal, business license dispensary tive at the open house meeting. or not. (Documents, applica- opened just a few weeks ago on nabisforhealth.ca andfacebook. tions, staff reports, etc. can be K’omoks First Nation land on com/cannaforhealth The opposition developed found at https://cumberland. Dyke Road, the only dispensary in the three weeks prior to ca/medical-marihuana-dispen- in the Comox Valley, although not the first. The North Island the council meeting at which saries/)
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Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2017
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
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Edibles, Extra
Vapor Lounges Promo
Owen Smith here used to be a movie theT atre in Victoria that allowed people to smoke cannabis while they
sat, laughed and ate lots of popcorn. People used to smoke cigarettes in restaurants and on airplanes. In recent decades, our awareness of the hazards of smoking has increased and governments have implemented strict regulations on where people can smoke and how it can be advertised. Smoking cannabis, while not proven to cause the same serious health problems, shares the same physical qualities of smoke. It floats around and sticks to things, it's smelly and it contains the known detrimental products of combusted plant material.
rette smoking and providing direction for legalized cannabis consumption, vaping creates a middle ground that is already becoming of interest to herbalists and essential oils experts. The complimentary effects of essential oils can help to guide the cannabis users experience. Oils with known stimulating or sedative effects are often found in varying amounts in different cultivars of cannabis. Terpene profiles of cannabis cultivars can provide greater insite into some of the subtle effects that users may experience. Extract makers have
permitted her to medicate with her smoke-free device mid-flight. The airline since changed their policy to disallow vaping due to the heat generated within the device. Lisa's son was the first child to be permitted to use his walkie-talkie sized vaporizer at his Calgary high school. Lisa now runs one of Calgary's only vapor lounges in the basement of her large rasta coloured house. Ted Smith has written at length about the importance to medicinal users of vaporizing at the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Clubs member lounge. The VCBC lounge has
The legalization of cannabis has the media and many observers concerned that this drastic off/on switch in policy will increase the general consumption of smoke. The narratives of prohibition that have placed images of young people smoking big doobies in the foreground could now be seen as the suggestive memes that our new sensible approach should seek to replace. A campaign to encourage safer cannabis use should be friendly to the idea of vaping. Medicinal cannabis users seeking immediate short term relief of acute symptoms have been rightfully encouraged by Health Canada to explore the range of available vaporizer technologies. Fine tuning temperature with a vaporizer can reduce up to 80% loss of cannabinoid content from the burning ember at the end of a cannabis cigarette. After vaping, many soak their dried brown plant material in oil to draw out the remaining cannabinoids for oral consumption. When you eat cannabis, you need to inhale less often.
begun producing 'distillate', a highly concentrated, very sticky cannabinoid substance that is colorless and flavorless. Creators are re-introducing essential oils to suit their taste buds and guide their high. I tried a Non-cannabis vaping has spiked in dab of cherry flavor distillate that popularity over the past decade. The tasted a lot like Shisha. parts of the population that enjoy blowing huge white clouds, appreMedical cannabis patients in need ciating tasty flavours and those en- of relief have brought this issue to deavoring to quit smoking cigarettes the attention of various areas of socihave all begun to choose vaping over ety. Lisa Kirkman may have been the smoking. By both combatting ciga- first to vape on a plane when WestJet
always been an essential refuge for those whose medicinal cannabis use is not permitted in their residence and cannot idly smoke in public without severe anxiety. The lounge used to be a small L shaped closet space that could fit 5 or 6 people with an exhaust fan pumping the smoke into the back alley. When I was working at the VCBC I was privileged to lay one of the first strips of wood flooring (and sign my name to it) at the expanded VCBC vapor lounge that now suits around a dozen people
Cannabis Digest • Summer 2017
acts and Drinks
ote Safer Alternatives
with a much more advanced ventila- are stirred into a fruity drink. tion system. Supervised cannabis consumption More than a refuge, vapor rooms offers a host of benefits to new unbecome a community hub for the experienced cannabis consumers. sharing of information about canna- Creating licenses for vaping to ocbis use, the diffusion of it's cultural cur would help direct the undesired stigma and the building of meaning- negative effects of overconsumption ful personal relationships. It's com- and provide an avenue for consummon to see people of different gener- ers to learn healthy limits. Places ations engage in dynamic exchanges where vaping is allowed should prothat range from political history to vide worshops, events and informavaping technologies. By providing tion sessions to educate their patrons high quality vaporizers like the Vol- about the best consumption practiccano Medic, the vapor lounge pres- es. ents many people with their first opportunity to try this new and safer Places where cannabis use is already way to inhale cannabis. common such as movie theatres, mu-
age public use and will also help us manage unwilling exposure.” Likewise, city councilor Jeremy Loveday stated that, “They need a safe place to do it. That’s one example why having a safe space for people to consume their medicine, if they legitimately need it, makes sense. They shouldn’t be forced out into the street.” These considerations were only made in the context of non-profit society's and the council indicated that they would not apply the same liberty to for-profit businesses. The Green Ceiling, situated as part of Victoria's 'Great Canadian Canna Mall' has received numerous fines and letters from the local government. Similarly, Victoria's TerpCity Lounge on douglas street has received thousands of dollars in fines. The by-law states: "a person carrying on a cannabis related business must not c) allow a person to smoke, vape, consume or otherwise ingest cannabis or products containing cannabis on the premises”. Legalization hopes to show us that prohibition is not the only solution to steer our available avenues for medicine and pleasure in healthier directions. The permission for vaping in a legal regime is in alignment with both the interests of public health and the populations desire to explore this fabulous plant. If cannabis consumers are encouraged to eat, drink and vape their way to satisfaction, the safer choice to consume cannabis over alcohol or cigarettes can become safer still.
I recently visited three 'TerpCity' vapor lounges, one in downtown Victoria, one in Ganges on SaltSpring Island and one in Chemainus. The lounges are tastefully adorned with locally crafted woodwork and equipped with a variety of vapor gear and cannabis infused cocktails that are served over the bar. The move away from cannabis consumption by way of smoking may become even more friendly when the measured milligrams of cannabinoid
sic concerts and gaming conventions would all benefit from a relationship with a vapor lounge. Providing patrons a pre and post event venue to privately get 'lit' together would surely please their neighbors Vapor rooms were a topic on the edge of the Victoria City Councils precipice of acceptance in their cannabis business licencing bylaws. City councilor Marianne Alto stated to council, “I think that managing onsite consumption will help us man-
I imagine that one day there will be cannabis pubs serving local craft flowers, extracts and infused drinks. I imagine young and old sitting together to discuss the trials and tribulations of life over mango lassi's and Ganja Colada's on a sunny patio deck. I imagine a little old lady watching the wisps of blueberry scented vapor spin into thin air wondering how this was ever illegal.
Utillian 720 Vaporizer Review
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
Judith’s Review Post: A Critique of the Utillian 720 Vapourizer Similarly, ancient Egyptians are 2. The oven, which heats known to have employed a hoo- via convection, takes a good kah, or water pipe, not vaping amount of dried flower. What’s exactly, but certainly inhaling a good amount? I’m a light an improved quality of smoke. consumer; I might take a four Stationary vaping in modern of five tokes twice during the times took off with the work of afternoon, and the same again Dr. Lunglife, published in High twice more in the evening. At Times in 1989. Using parts that rate, one fill lasts me a couavailable from Radio Shack, ple of days plus. Lunglife’s design used cannabis concentrate brushed onto the 3. The unit holds its charge filament of a one or two watt well. A light at the bottom of light bulb, plugged into a ce- the Utillian indicates battery Judith Stamps ramic base, wired with a switch, strength: green, fully charged; powered by a NiCad, recharge- red, needs charging; greenie able battery, and covered with yellow through orangey red, Vape jar featuring a breathing hole. easy to guess. Fully charged, In the 1990s another maker, Verb: to inhale vapour through Eagle Bill Amato, created a for me, the Utillian is good for the mouth from a usually bat- glass globe with a breathing two or three days, ‘up to’ meaning: tokes vary in length. One tery operated electronic device that heats up and vapourizers liquid or solid material.
Noun: i) the electronic device itself, as in: I use a vape. ii) An instance of inhaling, as in: I took a vape. Derivative terms: a vaper, as in: someone who vapes. Etymology: derives from vapor, or vapour Origin: 1980s. Comment: Vaper is charmingly like viper, as in: If You’re a Viper (meaning, a fan of cannabis) composed and first recorded in 1936 by legendary jazz violinist, Stuff Smith. Note to Utillian: could now be updated to: If You’re a Vaper. General Stuff
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apourizers are healthy alternatives to joints and pipes, as they heat the herb or its concentrate, to temperatures below ignition, producing an inhalant relatively free of particles. They represent an additional step beyond smoking, as they allow the vaper to choose from a range of vape-temperatures. Heating can be done via conduction, that is, contact with a super heated surface like stone, metal, or glass; or via convection, that is, contact with hot air drawn through the plant material. Vapourizers come in stationary and portable versions. Although the origin of the term, as noted by contemporary dictionaries, is the 1980s, stationary vaping dates from ancient times. Many cannabis consumers will be familiar with Herodotus’ account of the Scythians in 500 BCE, inhaling vapor from hemp tossed onto heated rocks.
stem, at the bottom of which sat a metal plate for bud; fired up with a heat gun. The bestknown stationary unit today is the German-made Volcano, by Storz and Bickel. Listed at $670.00, it remains today the model of perfection, offering an infinite range of temperatures. You’re likely to see it stocked by your neighbourhood vape lounge.
review has suggested that the Utillian 720 is good for 1½ hours of continuous use. They must have had a team.
4. The box contains useful extras. I don’t use concentrates, but the Utillian comes with a wax or shatter chamber, tweezers, and a wax tool. It also comes with two extra filters, and rubber ‘o’ rings (that hug the filter); a cleaning brush, and Stationary vapourizers were a USB cable. soon followed by smaller, portable varieties. The Utillian 5. The overall vaping expe720, the focus of today’s blog, rience is good, although here I is one of these. At 2 ¼” wide, 4 make a confession. I am unable ¼” long, and about 1” thick, this to understand why reviewers rounit is comparable to Storz and manticize the flavour of vaped Bickel’s Mighty, but at $219.00, cannabis. I’ve tried five good is half the price. Here are some quality portable vapourizers, salient features. and I can only taste shoe polish, or floor cleaner, or furniture 1. It is simple to use. A wax. Notwithstanding this pemagnetized lid clunks on and culiarity, possibly rare (I invite off nimbly, allowing effortless feedback), the Utillian 720’s access to the oven. A single, side click button, turns the vape on and off, and adjusts its temperature. Five rapid clicks give you ON or OFF; a double click takes you through four temperature choices, each marked by a line of bars in an illuminated colour. Green represents 170˚ C (338˚ F); blue, 180˚ C (356˚ F); purple, 190˚ C (374˚ F); and red, 210˚ C (410˚ F). Turn the Utillian on; the bars flicker for a few seconds; and turn solid when all is set.
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vapour is cool and easy, even at the highest temperature.
6. The Utillian 720 looks classy: an asymmetrically oval prism ridged vertically at each side, in anodized aluminum, with a black, soft, rubberized finish. The mouthpiece swivels out for use, and parallel for storage. At a glance, it’s not unlike a phone, or a remote, or a small carry case. This similarity gives it stealth-value, still a virtue. On the critical side, I have this to say. For the consumer interested solely in concentrates, a smaller, less expensive unit like a vape pen might be the better choice. More generally, I have a problem with the cost of vapourizers. But then this is a problem not unique to vapourizers. It attends all ‘green’ improvements, from alternative therapies to organic foods. People surviving on low wages, or small pensions, simply can’t afford them. Never having calculated the price of making an object like the Utillian 720—I doubt that I have the skill—I cannot comment on cost saving measures. The present generation of vapourizers is young; perhaps the emergence of a second hand market in the future will, as with cars, distribute them more fairly. I do not argue either, for government subsidies, as I believe they would bring inflation. Still, my heart glowed a little as I read through Dr. Lunglife’s vape plan. It can’t have cost more than a few dollars to build. Providers of medicine friendly technologies would do well to think about distribution. The rest of us should become rampantly inventive, combing YouTube offerings, electronic shops, hardware stores, craft stores, discard bins, and second hand markets, for ideas. In the meanwhile, vapour from the Utillian 720, if we can manage it, will not go astray.
Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2017
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
Seniors need cannabis
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Moving Past The Stigma Of Prohibition To Help Seniors Better Understand Cannabis crime, pharmaceutical companies, and for-profit prisons. What will happen to these entities when cannabis becomes legal? The majority of North Americans believe it should be legal. There’s no turning back this tide. "In the past decade, the endocannabinoid system has been Lenore Lemay implicated in growing number of physiological functions, both eniors are the fastest grow- in the central and peripheral ing demographic using nervous systems and in periphmedical cannabis. Why is this eral organs." happening? The majority of Canadians support the de-crimi"Modulating the activity of the nalization of cannabis. People endocannabinoid system turned are finally waking up to the in- out to hold therapeutic promcredible healing properties of ise in a wide range of disparate cannabis. diseases and pathological conditions, ranging from mood and Edibles give you the opportu- anxiety disorders, movement nity to medicate yourself with- disorders such as Parkinson's out having to inhale any smoke and Huntington's disease, neuor carcinogens. In addition, ed- ropathic pain, multiple sclerosis ibles are more long lasting than and spinal cord injury, to canjust inhaling smoke, as well can cer, atherosclerosis, myocardial be more potent. Therefore, most infarction, stroke, hypertension, people who use edibles use it to glaucoma, obesity/metabolic control chronic pain as well as syndrome, and osteoporosis, to insomnia. name just a few."
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It’s important to deconstruct Pharmacological Review 2006 what we’ve been taught. National Institute of Health researcher Pal Pacher, M.D., Ph.D The 1936 film Reefer Madness was a wildly untrue porThe discussion around cannatrayal of cannabis use that was bis has been controlled by those part of a propaganda campaign who don’t want to see this plant that characterizing marijuana as legalized. Originally, it was cona dangerous gateway drug. We trolled and criticized because only have to listen to the con- of greed; cotton growers in the cerns of senors regarding the southern US did not want it to safety of marijuana to realize compete with cotton and timber just how effective that campaign barons didn’t want to compete of lies was. with hemp in the production of paper. Racism was also used Why is it made illegal in the to inflame the issue. Cannabis first place? And who benefits was derided and referred to as from it’s illegal status? Some of “marijuana” because it was used the beneficiaries are organized by Mexicans who were coming
to the US to work in the fields.
Martin Lee, author of Smoke Signals: A Social History of MariLinking it to Mexican migrant juana, workers and later to Black jazz musicians was a deliberate tactic You can’t overdose and die on to trigger underlying racial ten- Cannabis the way one can on sions. In Canada it was denigrat- an opiate that is prescribed for ed as a way to control Caribbean pain. It won’t stop your respiraminers who came to work on the tory system the way that epilepeast coast. It was not unlike the sy medication can. It can make way opium was criminalized as you sleepy and provide you with a way to control Chinese immi- a deep and satisfying sleep. grants. We controlled those substances as a way to control those It is possible to take too much. populations. When that happens, it’s called "Greening out". I’ve talked with more than one police officer who has expressed And it doesn’t feel good. It how much more danger they can make a person feel paraface when dealing with people noid, anxious and scared. It can intoxicated from alcohol - it can also increase muscle spasms make people aggressive, erratic, and pain. There are people who unpredictable and unreason- will find that their thoughts are able. Where people who are us- speeding up and this can cause ing marijuana tend to be mellow them to feel more anxious. and peaceful. That’s why having the proper dosage is important! If you ever We are meant to have an inti- eat too much, eat sugar, have mate relationship with cannabis some orange juice. The sugar interacts with the THC and will Cannabis is an incredible plant diminish it’s effects. Just like with multiple healing proper- drinking too much alcohol can ties. We are meant to have an have a negative affect, so too can intimate relationship with this consuming too much marijuana. plant. We have Cannabinoid re- And having a little bit of alcohol ceptors running throughout our can be very pleasant and relaxbodies. We don’t have Ibuprofen ing, so too can having a little bit or Acetaminophen receptors. of marijuana. Cannabis has been known to treat and kill cancer cells. It can Motto with edibles: Start low also help treat pain, depression, and go slow. Just as when we anxiety, insomnia, Crohn’s dis- start a new prescription mediease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, cation, we start low and build Menstrual cramps, Endometrio- up to a stronger dose. Cannabis sis, Fibroids, Psoriasis, Eczema, may be a very beneficial plant for all manner of skin conditions. seniors once we are able to move passed the stigma and lies of pro“Endocannabinoids inhibit hibition and provide guidance immune response, reduces in- on how to benefit from its use. flammation, relaxes musculature, lowers blood pressure, dilates Visit Lenore at Euphoria Edbronchial passages, and normal- ibles and Potions, 1612 Quadra izes overstimulated nerves.” St. Victoria, BC
Cannabis Digest • Summer 2017
Russell Barth or the past year, BuzzOn F co-founder Wayne Robillard has been hearing wild ru-
mours about himself. People email him, call him, and talk to him in person, telling him that they had heard he was arrested, that BuzzOn had been raided, and worse. None of which was true, of course, but Ottawa, like many small communities, has a bigger rumour mill than it does reliable media. It comes as no surprise to me that rumours are pushed as fact, while facts are dismissed as hearsay. So here is the real story. After years of trying, Wayne Robillard finally managed to get someone to finance his idea of a marijuana vapour lounge in Ottawa. He had a soft opening on April 20th, 2015, and was formally open on May 1st. The media caught wind of it, the Mayor commented, and the police dropped by to see what was going on and what Wayne was all about. Then the bylaw inspectors came, and there were a lot of changes that needed to be made. Robillard says that after discussing his situation with other businesses that had started new ventures in Ottawa, he realized that BuzzOn was being subjected to excessive scrutiny, and was not being given anywhere near the same level of leniency as were other non-pot-related businesses. For starters, their space was originally zoned as retail, but the city made them change it to “place of gathering,” which meant they had to install wheelchair accessible bathrooms. They also had to install a mammoth air ventilation system. “We could find ones bigger than we needed, and smaller than we needed,” explained Robillard, “but not the middle size that we needed.” A contractor heard him lamenting this on the radio, contacted him, and made a custom ventilation system for the lounge. Robillard feels that it took much longer than it should have to get all the renovations done, partly because of the city’s need to inspect and sign off on every little thing, and partly because his investor/partners often took longer than necessary to get these tasks completed. This
process dragged on until October, when they were finally able to open their doors to the public again.
gan to feel more like we were hanging out in the basement of someone’s parents’ house than in a place for adults. It was in no way a violent or menacing atmosphere, but for many people who had bought long-term memberships to the lounge, it was simply no longer a very comfortable environment.
Business was slow to return. Some people thought that BuzzOn had been busted, and for that reason, didn’t want to enter the building. Others had heard wild and untrue rumours about the lounge having a lot of poThen in April, the entire Buzlice hassle, or guys with “beefs” zOn family of employees and making trouble with rivals. regulars was devastated by the death of their friend, BuzzOn Then, no one would sell Buz- employee, Alex Cross. Cross zOn advertising. They were was on his way home from Buzonly able to buy one advertise- zOn in the early hours of the ment in the Ottawa Sun, which morning, when his car was hit hardly anyone reads any more. by another car that was fleeing But business eventually picked Ottawa Police. up, and by January of 2016, for the first time, they made more Despite a 420 party hosted by money that month than they Robillard, a well-attended visit had spent. This is when Ro- from Dana Larsen, and another billard and the financiers dis- Dab Throwndown, the death of agreed about how much money Cross cast a gloom over the enhe should get for his efforts, tire venture, and the wind had and parted ways. been taken out of everyone’s sails. Then there was a rather heated falling out that one of the Because of sagging attenowners had with someone from dance, the lounge simply didn’t Yuk Yuk’s, which ended Buz- have the financial wherewithal zOn’s sparsely-attended com- to scoff at and simply pay - or edy night. lawyer up and f ight - any fines that might have come their way In February I tried to bring from new provincial bylaws resome attention to the lounge garding public use of medically with my weekly live podcast, prescribed marijuana. Pottawa. Although Robillard was no longer managing the BuzzOn closed its doors on lounge, he still had enough in- the last day of June 2016. fluence with the owners to convince them that having a weekBut really, BuzzOn was its ly show like this could help own worst enemy. It had the business, especially since they blessing of the community of no longer had a weekly comedy vendors in the area, it was not night. facing any police harassment, and it had name recognition Business remained slow but as the f irst lounge of its kind steady through the early months in the city’s history. But they of 2016, but picked up signifi- dropped the ball. They couldn’t cantly in March, when BuzzOn buy advertising, which wasn’t hosted the Mastah Concen- their fault, but they could have trate Series Dab Throwdown, had a lot more online hustle. the first event of its kind in Ot- They had a Facebook page tawa. which had posts for events, and that is about all. The last tweet As the weather improved, the lounge posted was from me business dropped to half of when I was volunteering there what it had been in the win- one day in May of the previous ter. But this decline might also year! No Instagram, no Youhave had something to do with tube videos…in fact, one of the how BuzzOn’s vibe changed af- employees was adamant about ter the departure of Robillard never appearing on camera. from the lounge’s helm. Not just in the background of Pottawa, but ever. The music playing in the lounge began to consist of the So as sad as I was to see the same 30 songs played all day place close, I was not the least from some internet radio sta- bit surprised, and neither, it tion, every song rich with N- seems, was anyone else. words, “bitches,” and references to guns, money, sex, and drugs. But Robillard is not deterred. A group of about twelve people In fact, he has started hosting - the owners, the employees, monthly “speakeasy” events and their immediate group of with open sales, and raffles, friends - became the regulars, and taste testing, and everyand being in the lounge be- thing any self-respecting stoner
would expect at a public pot event. Sure, you have to kind of know someone to find out where and when the event is being held, and it is usually in a rented commercial space somewhere in the outskirts of the city. But having attended two of them, I can tell you that it was as cool as Ottawa has ever been.
Issue 18 Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
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Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2017
TEN PRAGMATIC THOUGHTS Ten PragmaticThought For Cannabis, And For Drugs In General
Judith Stamps
1
.
Anything that people do for enjoyment, that does not harm others, can be done moderately, and usually is. Infants experience bliss in breastfeeding, and stop when theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had enough. Kids, teens, and adults, in general, are competent moderates.
2.
boost.
5. Laws that outlaw consensual pleasures create classes of criminals out of ordinary, good human beings. Creating classes of criminals is a compulsion in its own right. This compulsion is a pleasure for some people, and some groups, but it is a pleasure that harms others. Such pleasures, and the
dustry has learned that chewing less invites us to eat more. Multiple flavours have been added to our preferred crackers; the industry has learned that greater variety leads us to want more. In food shops, we do combat with food labeling that confuses and misleads. In the media, we are swamped by ads that prey on our frailties.
No substance or activity that affects mood and thought is an agent, like a demon, with an agenda of its own, driving us inescapably out of the bounds of control. Demons, like superheroes, belong to the fantasy world.
8. When we target racial groups, we force them to experience negation. Negation is torture.
9. People who tell us to wait
for legalization until there is more cannabis research are telling us, in essence, to wait for the messiah. When the messiah comes, we will have a feast, pray with the saints, and dance with the angels; the alchemists will find their nirvana, and the chemists will figure out the rest. Until then, we carry on.
10.
Legalization is inherently frightening. Canada, for example, is busy pumping life into its latest social demon: the scary as hell, stoned driver. It has become the nightmare of provincial governments saddled recently with creating retail markets for cannabis. Made into an action figure, it would have spirals for eyes, spikes for hair, an oversized bong, and a racing car. In the flesh, it will prove harder to spot.
3.
For any given pleasure, some users will become compulsive. Thus, 3.5% will overdo gambling; 10% will binge on alcohol, 8.5% will spend too much time on video games, 2% will run riot on the internet, 7% will overspend their credit cards, or shop compulsively, others will be excessive in seeking sex, and so on.
4.
To be addicted is to be enslaved. Adults who overdo pleasurable things are not slaves. With education they can learn their limits. Some laws that sustain them, have activities are not well suited no place in a healthy society. to some people. With compassion, and observation, they can 6. North America is a livsort these matters out. ing contradiction. Despite our drug laws, we are dominated 5. Locking the door to one by corporations that thrive on pleasure invariably drives creating compulsive behavpeople to another. During the iours. years of alcohol prohibition, from 1920-1933, sugar conTake the food industry. It sumption in North America targets us daily through methspiked. Soda pop companies ods designed to game our apmultiplied and thrived, as did petites. The methods are inthe makers of ice cream, can- genious. Standard portions dy, and jelly doughnuts. After have been ratcheted upwards, 1933 it stayed spiked, and con- distorting our perceptions of tinues to increase, a sad legacy. what is enough. Hyper-porRationing does similar dam- tions of fat, sugar, and salt have age, albeit inadvertently. Dur- been pumped into prepared ing WWII, meat was rationed. foods, hyper-saturating our So was sugar. Post WWII, intake. Hydrolyzed yeast and meat consumption spiked, and marinades have been added to remains today, higher than it meats to soften them, requiring was before the war; and sug- us to chew them less; the inar intake enjoyed yet an extra
arrests, beatings, and prosecutions, as distorted sex.
7. It is likely that sexual repression plays an important role in drug laws. Those laws, conversely, target racial groups, probably because something about them arouses sexual feelings that the lawmakers cannot accept. We may learn something from viewing
In only five decades, under the most miserable duress, the drug liberation movement has made astonishing progress. Let us continue to educate our public, comfort our friends, and blow the minds of our enemies. Patience and fortitude, the stonersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; virtues, are winning the day.
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
420 Origami Cranes For The Healing Of Canada With Cannabis
Julia Veintrop “Love From The Cannabis Business Community Of Victoria and the people supporting it” o Whom It May Concern, Canada is in need of some healing socially, economically and environmentally. Alongside many others, I truly believe that cannabis is and will continue to help and heal the citizens of Canada, the country itself and ultimately, the entire world… and we have to do everything we can to push this along… so we’re going to fold some cranes!
T
With a warm, open heart I would like to invite your business and anyone connected to it, to participate in this art project! The inspiration came from the story of a little girl folding 1000 cranes after the bombing of Hiroshima; she did this based on a legend that if she could fold 1000 cranes, she could heal her cancer.
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Canada that we got a bong, turned it into a dab rig, got together and created something beautiful to help heal the world! What time is it? 420? That means it is almost crane time, and we need lots of used parchment! Thank you for your support! Thank You! PS - If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at bagofjewlz@ gmail.com *Materials note: Residue stuck on from Cannabis extracts (shatter, pressed rosin, wax, oil etc.) is preferred Smallest square acceptable for this project - 3” x 3”
used squares of parchment paper that had previously come in contact with cannabis in some form. When 420 cranes have been folded, we will varnish them to preserve any shatter, rosin, resin or reclaim, and then string them together to form a hanging wire sculpture.
You can be involved as much or as little as you like. The minimum effort I am looking for from you would be giving me a piece of used shatter parchment we can fold into a crane. The maximum effort would be coming to fold cranes and help designs the final wire sculpture. You are also welcome to fold the cranes yourself for me to The project is to create pick up! a hanging, wire Origami sculpture to be gifted to The Ashley Abraham has City Of Victoria. We will do been kind enough to althis by making 420 folded low the creation to happen origami cranes using only at The Green Ceiling, and
Decorating the parchment is encouraged! Especially grant free admission to work with the names or initials on this project on the follow- of people whose lives have ing dates: been positively affected by July 12th, 19th - 6pm - we cannabis and how this was will meet to fold the cranes achieved, or anything that . inspires you! July 26th – we will varnish the cranes and plan the wire sculpture. Aug 3rd – we will construct and finish the final sculpture, to be presented to the mayor and City Council of Victoria at the Aug. 10, 2017 Council Meeting As the saying goes, if we all got a bong, then we’d all get along. Let’s show
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS 1. Silence—You can refuse to talk to the police or answer their questions. You must give your name, birthdate, and address, or show them your ID. You DO NOT have to say anything else. 2. You can say NO if police ask to search any of your things. 3. You can leave unless you are being arrested or detained 4. You have the right to know why you are being detained, and to speak privately to a lawyer—even if you can’t pay. 5. You can only be strip-searched in private, and only by someone of the same sex. 6. You have the right to know the officers’ badge numbers. 7. You can report an officer who abuses me, swears at me, or violates your rights Example of what to say if you are being detained: “Officer, if I am under arrest or being detained, please tell me so...If I am free to go, please tell me so. If I am not free to go, please tell me why...I wish to exercise all my leagal rights, including my right to silence and my right to speak to a lawyer, before I say anything to you. I do not consent to be searched. I wish to be released without delay...Please do not ask me questions, because I will not willingly talk to you until I speak to a lawyer...Thank you for respecting my rights.” *Every situation is different. Use courtesy, and common sense.
Legal Aid BC: 1-866-577-2525 Check out Pivot Legal Society for more info < www.pivotlegal.org>
Cannabis Digest â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2017
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
Cannabis and media sensationalism
27
From Hearst to Herer, the History of Cannabis Sensationalism in The Media
Judith Stamps
powders, and Burroughs et al. developed a new, compressed form. A tablet is a graspable object made of compressed material; the company borrowed this form, calling its product a ‘Tabloid,’ a term they trademarked. But even trademarks evolve. By 1900, the word had taken on metaphorical meanings, and was applied to anything in compressed form, including short, pithy stories in newspapers. Sensational news, always short
of hemp resins. It would not surprise me to learn that the hemp of the day had respectable levels of psycho-activity. After all, who was looking? That fact must have had some effect on hemp prohibition. But the Hearst/timber connection I had yet to consider. I started by reading a few online histories of Hearst. They indicated that he had inherited some mining interests, and had spent his time,
I
t is instructive to re-visit the role that news sensationalism has played in demonizing cannabis. I paid the topic a visit this week. Sensationalism, we will recall, is the conscious use of exaggeration, manipulative language, dramatic photos, lies, and fabrications, the news equivalent, we might say, of using explosives. Some of these elements were present in early 19th century tabloid publications called the ‘penny press.’ But in newspaper history, they are identified most commonly with a later figure, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), father of the ‘yellow press,’ a name taken from the colour used in a cartoon featured in Hearst’s papers. In cannabis history, Hearst was to become an icon. Hearst, interestingly, was a Democrat, known to pay his staff well. But when it came to news, the man took sensationalism to heart. As his work demonstrates, he spared no use of anti ‘marijuana’ technique. He was a shameless promoter of reefer madness in the 1930s and 40s, the heyday of hysteria on the subject, providing key support for the work of Harry Anslinger, American prohibitionist, and author of the infamous 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. Hearst has been credited, too, with opposing, and helping to destroy, the hemp industry, on the grounds that it posed a threat to the timber based pulp industry, in which he had an interest. My first stop on this visit was to examine the word, ‘tabloid.’ ‘Oid’ is a particle that means, ‘like.’ Tabloid means ‘like a tablet,’ a term invented by Burroughs Wellcome and Company, a pharmaceutical firm based in London in the 1880s. Medicines at that time were standardly available as
in form, came to be known as tabloid news. Howling headlines accompanying short, wild tales were the new ‘pill,’ so to speak. Tabloid news reports, similarly, have always been ‘drugoids,’ something many of us have suspected for some time. Contemporary sound bites, I should add, have only made the pills more potent.
What do I conclude? For now, I drop from my historical outlook, the idea that Hearst had timber holdings, and wanted to shut down hemp production for that reason. Of course actual timber barons of the day may have played a role. Perhaps future researchers will shed more light on this matter. Meanwhile, from my standpoint, sensationalism, the rampant racial prejudice of the day, and guilt by association, were causes sufficient to explain cannabis prohibition in all of its forms.
when not acquiring papers, investing in art and film. But nothing was said about timber. Next, I Googled Hearst and timber holdings, only to be met by articles claiming that such holdings were nonexistent, and that the theory was without basis. One article, by Brian Dunning, on a site called Skeptoid (why Panning back from this scene, the ‘oid?’), called it an “urban it is important to remember legend.” That was a surprise, that cannabis had been prohibited in many places long before it came to the attention to federal governments, either in the US or Canada. These include: Egypt, where, under French occupation, by the late 1870s, hashish was banned, and after British occupation in 1882, cannabis cultivation was banned. Algeria: by the early 1900s, in the wake of French occupation, cannabis was banned. Brazil: inbut it did coincide with what troduced into the country by I had been able to find thus Portuguese colonists, in 1830, far. The timber theory is usu- cannabis was banned. Jamaica: ally credited to the late, leg- introduced by indentured serendary cannabis activist, Jack vants from India, during the Herer, whose name today is period of British rule, in 1913, born by a fine strain of bud. cannabis was banned. The list
(Sensational news, always short in form, came to be known as tabloid news. Howling headlines accompanying short, wild tales were the new ‘pill ’, so to speak.) Continuing the visit, my attention fell next on Hearst the sensationalist’s purported effect on the hemp industry. I know less about hemp than I do about cannabis the medicine. But I have read through a transcript, available online, of a meeting convened by Anslinger in 1938, to decide how to implement prohibition. Representatives of the hemp industry and others, who visited hemp fields in the US, reported at this meeting that the flowers were sticky, and heavily resinous. Farmers noted that once cut down, the flowers tended to disappear from fields, most likely courtesy of the neighbours. Tests subsequently done on local hemp flowers indicated the presence
I checked my copy of Herer’s book. In The Emperor Wears No Clothes, he refers to “the enormous timber acreage and businesses of the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division, Kimberley Clarke USA,” a claim, unhappily, not accompanied by a reference. Right, I thought, and looked up Kimberley Clarke. It is indeed an enormous paper manufacturer—I knew that—but no articles on it mentioned Hearst. I searched next for Hearst/ Kimberley Clarke, only to find myself back, full circle, in the realm of Skeptoid, and similar critiques.
Cannabis Digest • Summer 2017
goes on. Colonialism played a large role. But it was also banned in California in 1913; New York City in 1914; Wyoming in 1915, Texas in 1919; and in Iowa, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon in 1923. In the late 1880s, Mexican newspapers, some with English language editions, were already carrying shocking tales of cannabis users who ran through the streets naked, wielding machetes. Thus when, in 1937, Anslinger made his move, with Hearst by his side, they simply hopped onto a wave that had been building for some 60 years. Why had it been building? Something to do with the breakdown of colonialism, perhaps? And of slavery? And a subsequent rise in racism?
With the march of science in modernity, its rejection of herbal practitioners, its alignment with medicines derived from petro-chemicals, and its love affair with artificial fibres, cannabis, it seems, was doomed for a time to become fodder for media sensationalism. The techniques continue, but anti cannabis sentiment, happily, is in decline. In keeping with this decline, let us vow in our own accounts to shun lurid tales, and exaggeration. They belong to the anti-cannabis brigade. Let us instead, seek accuracy. It will not explode, nor will it be a pill, magic or otherwise, but it is sure to win the day.
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Issue Number 53
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Cannabis Digest • Summer 2017
30
Potting Up Clones C l o n e C o r n e r S h a r e s T i p s o n H o w t o P o t U p Yo u r C l o n e s
and advantages. The most obvious draw back is the need to mix in liquid nutrients such as General Hydroponics several hether we know it or times weekly. Rather than not there are always doing this, we recommend an tricks to even the most seemingly simple task. Potting up a clone into its permanent residence is also a process that when done right, will promote speedy growth. Here is the process as discovered by our team of dedicated enthusiasts.
Brent H. Clone Corner
W
a week. If the roots are over watered then they will not spread out and grow. A proper amount of root stress by a lack of water is necessary for the health and establishment of beginner plants.
Step One: Dipping in “Neem Oil.” We recommend this step to eliminate pests that may be free loading and hitching a ride from one garden to a nice new garden where much damage is possible. This product is sold in most hydroponic stores, and whatever you hear about it, this is 100% natural, organic and as non-toxic or harmless as body soap. No mask is required (check with your health professional) when spraying this product and later on it can be used as a pest preventative maintenance technique in your garden (we spray every two weeks with this stuff to fight off new infestations). Dipping should take place prior to transplanting when the cut is still in plug form. To accomplish proper dipping, simply fill a 1-litre bucket with a cap (1 tbsp/15ml) and add several drops of dish detergent so the neem will stick to leaves instead of running off the leaf surface and onto the ground. Note: After dipping clones in neem oil it is a good idea to allow 1 – 2 hours before putting plants under bright lights or in the sun; the reason for this is that neem oil requires time to soak into leaves. If this time is not permitted to pass and the plants are under harsh lighting, the neem will begin to burn the leaves, leaving a rusty looking leaf that may become ugly and wither. Step Two: Now that your little lovely beautiful babies have been neem oiled, it is time to use the potting medium (soil or hydroponic) of choice. Deciding on what to use is a grower's choice, although most use Promix HP, which is not really a soil so much as it is a medium of peat moss and a few add-ons that allow for quality drainage. Fertilizerless soils have their drawbacks
organic all-in-one soil such as the “Power Plant Products” brand of premixed soil (Tel: 250.618.6042 for details). This is an all-in-one organic soil that requires zero liquid fertilizer saving time, energy and effort, yet providing great results. And on top of it, the quality, ability to handle stress, smell, flavour, and terpine results will be favourable to even the most talented of horticulture hobbyist. Hydroponic tables will not require step four. Step Three: Placing or spacing out plants in your garden for best results. A sea of green is a wonderful thing. Using stadiums are great as well. However you are set up, the easiest tip is to not allow leaves of neighbouring pots to touch one another. Using this technique will assure that each plant is receiving sufficient light and not stretching from being over crowded. Another thought to this technique is that at first less space is required when plants are small and not even filling out the pot, therefore it is impossible for leaves of neighbouring plants to be touching. Less space could mean fewer bulbs and saving some electricity. Step Four: Watering with the “Goldilocks” method. Not too much and not too little... DO NOT over water, NEVER water too much, please give enough water to wet the top inch of a large pot, or very little in a small pot. This cannot be stressed enough, and is the most crucial point of this article. It is better to water a little each day than once
Step Five: Staging from small to larger pots. Plants do not need eyes to see what is around them or they would have evolved that way. We as humans need to understand that plants understand their environment, what is around them and how much
of a specific thing they have to work with. And as for pacing, plants grow in proportion to the environmental elements they are able to use. The point to all this is that for some reason the rate of growth when going from little starter pots, then to one gallons, then into two gallons and so on, is faster than it would be if the grower just started with a two gallon pot. Thus, for perpetual uninhibited growth, we recommend starting the plant in a small pot, and moving slowly into larger and larger pots. From a practical point of view, use a starter pot; then a 1-gallon pot; and finally your final size of plant pot. In conclusion, here is one last tip. Do the little things you can do well and always err on the side of caution. Good soil, patience and attention are all that is needed. To sum up, less is best when it comes to watering, make sure pests are taken care of, and start small and allow these plants to grow into larger as pots as needed.
Issue Number 53
www.CannabisDigest.ca
The Liquor Store Question
31
How Will The Provinces Decide To Distribute Legal Cannabis? papers; and also in alternative media such as Cannabis Culture, the Georgia Straight, and Lift News. Opinions ranged from enthusiastically pro to sternly con. Then, during a political debate leading up to the BC provincial election on May 9th 2017 (results yet to be de-
request divide themselves more or less into three headings: the perspectives of public health, of public safety, and of political economy. Speaking for public health, there is the federal task force, and Perry Kendall, BC’s first Public Health Officer. Kendall echoes sentiments ex-
Judith Stamps n December of 2015 British I Columbian cannabis buffs were confronted with a conun-
drum, a present, I fear, from Bad Santa, but then again, maybe not. BC has both government run and private liquor stores, normally competitors with one another. But supported by the formidable BC Government Employees’ Union (BCGEU), they came together that winter to lobby the provincial government for the right to sell cannabis in the upcoming legal market. They were well suited to this task, they argued, because they already knew how to deal with a restricted substance. Stories on the subject were carried in the mainstream media: CTV News; CBC; Global News; in local
cided) New Democratic Party leader, John Horgan, was quoted widely on his support for the liquor stores on this issue. His key opponent, BC Liberal Party leader, Christy Clark mocked him for taking this stand, calling him a pawn of the unions. I think about cannabis politics a lot. But I chose the word ‘conundrum’ here because the idea of LCB cannabis continues to confuse me.
pressed by UBC Public Health Professor Mark Haden. The federal task force, for its part, would like to see a “ban on colocating cannabis with alcohol and tobacco products,” as such a combination, its members believe, would encourage “dual use.” Kendall and Haden have a different message. They argue that liquor stores have long been in the habit of pushing consumption. And pushing consumption is not what the The responses to the LCB’s authors of the Cannabis Act in-
tended, a judgment that is probably correct. The issue of ‘dual use’ should not concern us much. As people will be able legally to have tobacco, bud, and single malt scotch in their homes at any given 4:20, we must leave it up to them to learn how best to combine them—or not. We put whiskey in our coffee; we have cigarettes with our beer. It is common in Europe to mix tobacco and cannabis; it was common in earlier times to infuse wine with cannabis; and the US market already features beer containing cannabis. Some public education might be in order here, but trying to cage consumption through public policy is simply to treat the public as a collection of infants, potential derelicts, or worst of all, inappropriately happy folks (whatever that means) with some great cocktail recipes. We should all be done with dictating how it is appropriate for adults to relax. On the matter of pushing consumption, I am sympathetic. Both Haden and the task force have called for “plain packaging.” True enough, ads push
consumption. That’s not a good thing. Such thoughts have led me, I confess, to imagine a hallowed cannabis industry run by monks, or medieval sisters, or more contemporarily, a new age sect, sequestered solely to meditate, do yoga, and grow cannabis. They would focus on quality, praying daily for inspiration. But such an arrangement, as one can see, would pose a problem for the existing, yet to be licensed BC industry, whose members may not wish to join such a sect. Besides, making cannabis the only substance on the market that cannot be packaged attractively, or advertised in any way, will only enforce the notion that ‘weed’ is worse than everything else out there. And cannabis already has sufficient stigma attached to it. Speaking for public safety (perspective two) there are the Liquor Control Boards of Ontario and BC. Their view is this: if protecting kids and keeping crime at bay are the key goals of legalization (certainly the sentiment of the feds), the LCBs already have the ‘social responsibility thing figured out.’ They excel at checking ID. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is quoted as saying: it makes a lot of sense; no point in re-inventing the wheel. Similarly, Jenna Valleriani, blogger for Lift News, has argued that if public safety is the first concern, liquor stores are the best choice, adding, somewhat confusingly, the modifier, ‘unfortunately.’ The public safety view is incoherent. Teens get access to alcohol every weekend of every year, and have done so in every decade, and probably in every century. They don’t walk into liquor stores. They acquire their drinks from older friends, or from family. Super duper skills in ID checking are irrelevant to this scene. Besides, liquor stores market hard sodas. Doesn’t that appeal to teens? Truly, I doubt that the LCB believes its own rhetoric. Rather, it is more likely to be making good use of the feds’ obsession with keeping cannabis away from teens, a position equally incoherent. But to what purpose? Is there a larger agenda? Then there is perspective three: economics. One can hear the BC liquor store’s request in two ways: One: We are well equipped to sell cannabis, and should be allowed to do so; and Two: We are the only ones properly trained to sell a restricted substance. What should we hear?
envisioned a wine model for the cannabis industry, he notes, featuring artisanal growers and producers working alongside larger manufacturers. We could have LCB cannabis, and then more specialized styles of dis-
pensary cannabis. Private liquor store spokesperson, Damian Kettlewell, has floated the idea of having producers of all sizes selling to a central wholesaler, who would then supply both the LCB and the private liquor shops. That sounds harmonious. But is it realistic? Considering this matter, Colorado based lawyer, Andrew Livingston, quoted by Canadian media, reminds us that the BC government, to succeed, will have to balance the demands of long time players with any new retail plans. Indeed. Some participants in the long time players’ group are skeptical, and see the LCB’s request to sell cannabis as ploy to centralize production and distribution.
For the skeptic, here’s the problem. If the liquor industry sells cannabis—and I am betting that regardless of what party rules BC, it will—it will be the largest buyer of wholesale cannabis in the province. As such, it will have power to dictate prices, to undercut prices, and to sell cannabis, for a time, at a loss. That could wipe out dispensaries, and with them, their artisanal suppliers. They could choose to deal only with large producers, or only with the current LPs. Would the BCGEU and the private liquor stores use those powers? Or is Larsen right, and that’s not their agenda at all? And is Kettlewell’s image: producers of all sizes selling to a wholesaler, most likely to be the scene? To protect BC Bud, the provincial government would likely have to wrest some power from the To this question responses feds, not an easy task with this have varied. On the mild side, lot. But is protecting BC Bud renowned BC activist, Dana in the provincial cards? Larsen, has emphasized that the liquor stores have not asked Second, the vibes coming from for a monopoly. He has always Ottawa are not BC friendly.
Earlier this month Vice Canada News featured a town hall meeting with Justin Trudeau. When asked how he would eliminate the black market in cannabis, Trudeau responded that, if offered a chance to buy either
from a legitimate shop, or from the Hell’s Angels (“les Hells,” he said, speaking in French) most Canadians would choose the former. Well, that’s true. But the choice he paints is a fake. In BC, at least, the choices have long included growing one’s own, buying from a reliable seller; and in some municipalities, buying from a dispensary. Why
work with such a distorted image? Then, every currently unlicensed producer in Canada is subject to arrest until Trudeau pronounces otherwise. And BC has a lot of those. That sounds like setting local, informal producers up to look like criminals. And finally, there is the law and order agenda: ‘we’re just here to protect the kids and eliminate the gangs.’ There is no place in that agenda for fostering exceptional qualities of cannabis, a style of production more likely to be found in a varied market, teeming with small producers. The law and order scheme seems friendlier to big business. These are hard spaces to read. It has to be said that selling cannabis in liquor stores would benefit customers in municipalities that might reject local dispensaries. And that it might go some distance to normalizing the plant. But it is against the background of the contorted, cross-crossing signs I’ve been trying to track, that we must wend our way through the Liquor Store Question, and the larger question of BC industry’s future. I remain confused, the best I can do for now. I do foresee heavy lobbying ahead for all concerned. Meanwhile, we wait to see which government we’ll get to lobby.
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CANNABIS CLUBS ACROSS CANADA Cannabis dispensaries in Canada, due to a lack of regulation, all operate under unique and individual mandates. As such, the membership requirements of each dispensary differ. We recommend travelling with a copy of your original proof of condition (doctor’s note) which the VCBC staff will be happy to provide to its’ members. It is also recommended to research the dispensaries in the region you will be visiting and try to establish contact, if possible, before your visit. Please be discreet and polite when contacting another dispensary—you are representing the VCBC too! Keep in mind: Some dispensaries have problems with supply and accessibility. The VCBC cannot guarantee that another dispensary will have supply or accept your card as proof of condition. Please help grow this network and support your local clubs by encouraging quality gardeners to direct their product to local dispensaries, or by growing yourself. (Updated March, 2017)
Sunshine Coast
British Columbia
GRASSROOTS CANNABIS DISPENSARY 4730 Willingdon Ave, Powell River Tel: 604-485-6636 www.grassrootscannabisdispensary.com
Vancouver Island VICTORIA CANNABIS BUYERS’ CLUB (VCBC) 826 Johnson St., Victoria Tel: 250-381-4220 www.v-cbc.ca
RAINFOREST COMPASSION CLUB 103-703 Gibsons Way, Gibsons,BC Tel: 604-886-9796 therainforestcompassionclub@gmail.com
OCEAN GROWN MEDICINAL SOCIETY 1725 Cook St Unit 1, Victoria Tel: 778-265-1009 www.ogms.ca
Vancouver
VANCOUVER ISLAND COMPASSION SOCIETY 853 Cormorant St., Victoria Tel:250-381-8427 www.thevics.com GULF ISLAND ORGANICS 1040 Fort Street, Victoria Tel: 778-265-5919 www.gulfislandorganics.ca FIVE STAR DISPENSARY 2622 Douglas St, Victoria Tel: 778-265-8420 fivestarmedicinal@hotmail.com GREEN BUDDHA MEDICINALS 2616 Bridge Street Victoria Tel: 778-265-5935 www.greenbuddhamedicinals.com GREEN HART 475 Gorge Rd E, Victoria Tel:778-265-5725 www.thegreenhart.com WARMLAND CENTRE Pioneer Square Mall, Mill Bay Tel: 250-929-5588 www.warmlandcentre.ca
GREEN CROSS SOCIETY OF B.C. 2145 Kingsway, Vancouver Tel: 778-785-0370 4296 Main St., Vancouver Tel: 604-875-6640 www.greencrossofbc.org VANCOUVER MEDICINAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY 880 East Hastings St. Vancouver 1182 Thurlow St. Vancouver Tel: 604-255-1844 www.cannabisdispensary.ca EVERGREEN CANNABIS SOCIETY 2868 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC Tel:604-900-1714 www.evergreencannabissociety.com THE HEALING TREE 529 East Hastings St., Vancouver Tel: 604-5599600 21 West Broadway , Vancouver Tel: 604-336-5600 8188 Champlain Cres Vancouver Tel: 604-428-7896 www.hdcvan.ca CANNA FARMACY 1259 Kingsway, Tel: 604-558-3225 8546 Granville St. Tel: 604-563-3250 736 E. Broadway (Fraser) 2935 W.4th Ave (Kitsilano)
T.A.G.G.S 11696 - 224th St., Maple Ridge, BC Tel: 604-477-0557 www.taggsdispensary.ca
Interior British Columbia BE KIND COMPASSION CLUB. 288 Hwy. #33 Kelowna BC Tel: 778-753-5959 3012 30th Ave Vernon BC Tel: 778-475-5592 www.bekindok.com KOOTENAYS’ MEDICINE TREE #4-1948- 68 Avenue, Grand Forks Tel: 250-442-8248 Nelson Location: #106 - 601 Front Street Tel: 250-352–0961 www.kootenaysmedicinetree.ca
Ontario C.A.L.M. Toronto, Ontario Tel: 416-367-3459 www.cannabisclub.ca
Maritimes FARM ASSISTS - THCC 2320 Gottingen St. Halifax Tel: 902-266-4769 www.thefarmassists.com THE HEALING TREE 276 Water St, St. John's, NL Tel: 709-754-0189 www.hdcvan.ca *To add your club to this list, please contact: cannabis.digest.advertising@gmail.com
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