The Courier - April 19, 2017

NEWS

Legalizing marijuana in Illinois: Will it succeed? p5

FEATURES

OPINION

Inside the best dispensary in Illinois p10-11

The road to legalizing weed has just begun p14

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COURIER

THE

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Editor-in-Chief Lucas Koprowski News Editor Kitt Fresa Features Editor Caroline Broderick Graphics Editor Joseph Molino Reporter Vandy Manyeh

INDEX NEWS

OPINION

5 Cannabis, and the cocktail of drugs

14 The road to legalizing weed has just begun

FEATURES

6 The Big Lebowski: It’s just like, my opinion man

Photographer David Jura

SPORTS

16 Chaparrals overcome early mistakes for win

Social Media Manager Alizay Rizvi Reporter Carlos Peterson

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ON THE COVER

On Track to Legalization Graphic by Joseph Molino

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NEWS COLUMN: Legalizing Marijuana in Illinois: Guaranteed to Succeed?

Kitt Fresa · News Editor

Proponents of recreational use of marijuana may be able to toke up to 28 grams at a time come 2018 if Illinois lawmakers approve a new bill to legalize, tax and regulate the drug.

The bill would allow civilians over the age of 21 to buy, grow and possess up to 28 grams of Marijuana.

The legislation proposes wholesale taxing and subjecting retail sales to the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. The legislation will however not likely be up for a vote until sometime next year.

Legal Marijuana has been a hot topic lately with even more states like California, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Maine adding marijuana to their list of legal recreational use last year. The trend has turned out not to be a fluke as more and more states seek to legalize it or at least decriminalize in a few ways.

As it is now, federally, marijuana is a schedule one drug putting it in the same category of drugs like heroin and LSD. The DEA’s definition of a schedule one drugs is “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Not only has marijuana proved to be useful for medical use, but it has also been highly accepted for being non ad-

dictive. However, federally, both medicinal and recreational use have remained illegal.

So what will happen if Illinois legalizes marijuana next year? Crime will almost certainly fall as many cartels rely on marijuana as a massive source of income. The Sinaloa Cartel, led by the infamous Joaquín “ E l Chapo” Guzm á n Loera, has been known to have a massive influence on illegal drug sales in Chicago. Jack Riley, director of the DEA’s Chicago office has said in the past that “70 to 80 percent of the narcotics here are controlled by Sinaloa and Chapo Guzmán.” If the sale of marijuana is legalized the cartel will almost certainly lose their grip on Chicago.

Illinois’s incarceration rate has been very much above average. In 2015, Illinois led the nation in overcrowded prisons with a percent capacity of 150

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according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A portion of this is inevitably be-

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cause of Marijuana charges. If marijuana is legalized those in prison already will have to stay, but marijuana charges will almost be guaranteed to drop. In Washington D.C. where marijuana was recreationally legalized in 2015, marijuana related charges went down 85 percent. This same percentage isn't guaranteed, of course, in Illinois but it's highly likely we could see a major decrease if it is legalized.

Chicago isn't just limited to its cartel and incarceration problems though. It has had a terrible opioid crisis in recent times.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Opioid related deaths rose 120 percent in 2014 to 2015 in

GRAPHIC BY JOSEPH MOLINO

@codcourier

Illinois. Although research has been minimal on the medicinal effects of marijuana, it has been shown to be able to be a replacement for certain opioid drugs.

Usually dealing with pain, marijuana has been shown to do just as good a job at treating a patient as opioids and without the lingering addiction. Legalizing marijuana would not only provide a possible replacement drug for opioids, it could also be a drug used to manage opioid addiction.

This new bill’s chances have been looking good so far, the state of Illinois is broke and a massive new cash flow such as taxing new marijuana sales would be a vital source of income.

So not only are citizens support high, now our politicians are too. This could just be the thing Illinois has been looking for to bring it back some money.

When the bill was introduced two Illinois lawmakers said that the new legislation could introduce “$350 to $700 million in new tax revenue.” Americans’ support for legal marijuana use has been reported to be up to 60% according to a new poll by Gallup. Illinois could likely end up being another state that legalizes recreational marijuana in the coming year.

COD Courier Student Newspaper

NEWS

Cannabis, and the cocktail of drugs that it should not be mixed with Alizay Rizvi · Social Media Manager

It is the week of April 20, also known as the day of celebrating by pushing marijuana into our bloodstream. With all the commotion about marijuana it brings about the question: so how does marijuana work? Marijuana comes from a hemp plant called Cannabis sativa. The plant contains a chemical known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or better known as THC. How THC works is that it resembles N -arachidonoyl-ethanolamine better known as anandamide. Anandamide is the body’s natural chemical that works with memory, motivation, higher thought processes, movement control, pain, appetite, and fertility. This chemical binds to receptors in the brain that are known as cannabinoid receptors. These are the exact same receptors in the brain that THC binds to. Thus, marijuana alters those areas in the brain in many ways, however, it causes many different reactions in the rest of the body as well. And while many people believe in taking marijuana in a multitude of ways into their bloodstream, there are a lot of drugs out there that it should not be used with.

Marijuana and blood sugar levels: Marijuana and blood thinners: Marijuana is a drug that speeds up a person’s heart rate, relaxes and enlarges breathing passageways, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making the eyes look bloodshot. The heart rate, per drugabuse.gov—normally 70 to 80 beats per minute— may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or may even double in some cases, which can vary from person to person. For this exact reason, marijuana can increase the risk of bleeding in many people.

Combining marijuana with anticoagulants (blood thinners) such as warfarin (Coumadin) or heparin, antiplatelet drugs such as clopidogrel (Plavix), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve), or even aspirin. However, other herbs as also known to cause bleeding and multiple cases of bleeding have been reported with the use of Ginkgo biloba, and fewer cases with garlic and saw palmetto. Per U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health, fifteen published case reports described a temporal association between using ginkgo and a bleeding event. Most cases involved serious medical conditions, including 8 episodes of intracranial bleeding.

When marijuana acts upon the brains receptors it causes what people call the “unstoppable munchies”. The insatiable hunger that comes with marijuana can affect people’s blood sugar levels, especially in people who are deeply affected by the slightest changes in these levels. This is specific in people who have diabetes and who need insulin.

Insulin is a hormone that is secreted by the pancreas to transport glucose from the blood to the cells so that the cells can use it for energy. If a person makes too little insulin or is resistant to the effects of insulin the cells end up starving and often pull glucose from the fat, which causes the release of a type of acid called ketones which can cause problems in the body. However, if a person makes too much insulin it can cause hypoglycemia. Some symptoms of hypoglycemia are sweating, palpitations, hunger, confusion, blurred vision, dizziness, fainting and in serious cases, seizures and loss of consciousness. However, a study was done on the effects of marijuana and blood sugars and per herb. co, 579 participants out of the 4657 were current marijuana users and showed a lower prevalence of diabetes than non-users. The users showed 16% lower levels of fasting insulin which is the amount of the body’s overall amount of healthy blood glucose over time. However, because enough research hasn’t been done it isn’t safe to say that marijuana is okay to combine with blood sugar medicines.

Marijuana and central nervous system (CNS) depressants: Marijuana is a drug that decreases a person’s blood pressure, thereby causing them to be drowsy, dizzy and vertigo. It causes something called orthostatic hypotension (head rush or dizziness on standing up), possibly raising danger from fainting and falls.

However, when combined with drugs that naturally cause drowsiness and depress the CNS, it can enhance these effects even further. Examples include benzodiazepines such as lorazepam (Ativan) or diazepam (Valium), barbiturates such as phenobarbital, narcotics such as codeine, some antidepressants, acetaminophen (Tylenol) and alcohol. Marijuana may interfere with the way the body processes these drugs by using the liver's cytochrome P450 enzyme system. Thus, the levels of these drugs may be increased in the blood and may cause increased effects or potentially serious adverse reactions. It may also increase drowsiness when combined with herbs that are used to induce drowsiness such as Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), and Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, Lavandula officinalis).

Marijuana and reproductive hormones: Marijuana actually has several effects on multiple hormonal systems, and this mean bad news for a lot of us. The way that hormones work is that the hypothalumus secretes a hormone called gonadotropin releasing hormone which then effects the secretion of testosterone in men and estrogen and progesterone in women.

The problem is that THC also acts upon the hypthalumus which effects these hormones. According to a journal article written by Todd T. Brown, MD, and Adrian S. Dobs, MD, MHS, Human studies investigating the effects of cannabinoids on reproductive hormones have reported lower testosterone levels have been reported in chronic marijuana users compared to nonusers. Marijuana has also been associated with the development of gynecomastia in an early case series, however it has not been confirmed. THC has been shown to disrupt the normal ovulatory cycle and hormonal secretion in humans. It has also been known to counteract the effects of estrogen. This brings the question the reliability of oral contraceptives as some birth control pills contain estrogen. Taking marijuana along with birth control pills might decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills. All in all, usage of reproductive hormones, oral contraceptives, and marijuana is at one's own risk.

19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 5

F E AT U R E S The Big Lebowski: It’s just like, my opinion man.

MOVIE REVIEW

Kitt Fresa · News Editor

“The Big Lebowski” HBO Go

The Big Lebowski is really it’s own kind of film. It’s characters are all strange but yet seem to fit in perfectly. There seems to be no line drawn in the sand to limit The Big Lebowski’s creativity and bizarreness. Its main character alone has been such a draw that he has been the source of a new religion; Dudeism. The directors of The Big Lebowski, the Coen Brothers, are known for their unique filmography and outside-thebox thinking, but The Big Lebowski is certainly one of the movies that granted them that title.

We begin our journey from the outside, starting with The Stranger.

An old cowboy who already knows The Dude himself ( Jeff Bridges). The Stranger acts as a character, narrator and a u -

dience member all at the same time. He talks tall tales about The Dude, and we are promptly dropped into his world. The Dude roams around L.A. and bowls in his free time, always scavenging for his next White Russian and couch to kick back on. The Dude walks back home one day only to find two henchmen waiting for him.

One throws The Dude's head in his own gross toilet and the other unzips his pants and pees on his rug. It really tied the room together. One henchmen goes on to explain that the two are there to extort money from T h e

Dude, calling him “Mr Lebowski.” Only, they've got the wrong Lebowski.

The two leave in an aggressive embarrassment and The Dude is left on his bathroom floor with a toilet-water-soaked head and sunglasses on.

The Dude does some digging and eventually finds the real Mr. Lebowski in an attempt to get some money to replace his rug. The two meet in Mr. Lebowski’s illustrious house, and The Dude leaves without any money but having tricked Mr. Lebowski’s personal assistant, Brandt, into stealing a rug for him.

As The Dude leaves he winds up chatting up Mr.

(From left to right) Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi and John Goodman on the set of The Big Lebowski

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Lebowski’s trophy wife, Bunnie, as well.

The Dude is a toker for sure. Always kicking back and lighting some J’s, he proves himself to be The Dude time and time again.

The Dude’s casual mindset pairs well with his habit of smoking weed and in a good amount of scenes he is. However it’s almost like he goes unchanged. There isn’t a sober dude and there isn’t a high Dude he just is, The Dude. It’s the appearance of what The Dude is that makes him what he is, and weed is a strong component of that. Without the J, The Dude wouldn't be the same dude.

The Dude goes back off into his exceedingly casual life and bowls with his

teammates, Walter Sobchak ( John Goodman) and Donny Kerabatsos (Steve Buscemi). However, not too long afterwards, The Dude receives an urgent voicemail left by Brandt requesting that The Dude come and visit, and it’s not about the rug. Mr. Lebowski’s wife, Bonnie, has been kidnapped for ransom. Mr. Lebowski and Brandt see The Dude as being in a unique position because they believe the men who captured Bunnie may also be the same culprits who “soiled” The Dude’s rug.

The Dude abides, and the rest is a cra-

zy hilarious journey. It's like The Usual Suspects meets The Naked Gun. Jeff Bridge’s performance as The Dude is one of the most recognizable in Hollywood. Him and a litany of other cast members won awards for their unique and charismatic performances. The acting is from another world, the characters are the strangest in the world, but all need each other to exist. It’s almost a hallucinatory movie. The Big Lebowski is a must see for any movie fan and is sure to crack a few laughs and spark lots of curiosity.

There’s no better time to enjoy the turbulent journey of The Dude than now. The Big Lebowski is best served with a White Russian, and it earns an easy 5 out of 5 stars for being an exemplar y film.

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MOVIE REVIEW

F E AT U R E S

“Pineapple Express” Starz

Run, Smoke and Hide!

Kitt Fresa · News Editor

From the outside, Pineapple Express looks like a another stereotypical lame dude comedy, but it’s only until you start watching that it shows you otherwise. Pineapple Express made a name for itself in 2008 and has solidified its stance ever since making it one of the better classic weed movies.

It’s side-splitting comedy combined with a ridiculous story line made a lasting impression on me and also the world. It’s great comedy has over time placed itself in front of Harold and Kumar but not quite up to The Big Lebowski.

The movie, led by the dubious duo, James Franco and Seth Rogen, turn this film from hopeful to hilarious in just the first few minutes. Dale Denton, (Rogen) a process server, often buys weed from his drug dealer Saul Silver (Franco). After buying some new and e x c l u s i v e bud called

Pineapple Express from Saul, Dale goes off to serve his latest victim Ted Jones.

However, this is not before he parks his clunker car and lights up some Pineapple Express outside Jones’ house. A cop pulls behind Denton and gets out, she walks towards him but turns and runs into Jones’ house with her gun drawn. Hunched back in his seat Denton looks up at the house in confusion until he hears a gunshot ring out. He watches as a bloodied man crawls toward the second story window only to be shot in the back of the head by Ted Jones. The cop comes up behind Jones and draws her gun. She fires several more shots into the man and the two look at each other with a grin.

Freaked out, Denton throws his joint out the window and attempts to flee the scene.

However Denton is boxed in by the police car behind him and Jones’ car in front of him. In a panic, Denton smashes

back and forth between the cars until he wiggles his car free and peels out.

The two murderers run out but not soon enough.

Jones’ picks up the joint on the ground and takes a puff. “Pineapple Express,” he mutters. Ted Jones is no regular man; he’s a massive drug lord, and he turns out to be the one who supplied Saul with the exclusive Pineapple Express, which Denton recently cashed.

Thus, the hilarious chase begins.

Seth Rogen may not be an Oscar winning actor ,and neither is a good portion of the rest of the cast, but it doesn’t really seem to matter in Pineapple Express. Jokes almost always hit their marks and to top it all off the two protagonists - Dale and Saul - are stoned in every scene. It just makes everything funnier. They aren’t normal people.

They can’t help but be stoned, and that classic stoner logic combined with an entertaining storyline makes Pineapple Express

an uproarious comedy.

Dale and Saul are constantly running from Jones’ men, but of course they take the occasional smoke sesh to calm their nerves and bring them back down to reality. The two are down right stupid, and that’s where seemingly half the comedy comes from. Most of the stupid comedy is funny, but occasionally it drags the movie along slowly. At times it doesn’t make 100 percent sense, but, really, if you’re looking for a movie with a lot of sense I think you already know Pineapple Express isn’t it. But that’s not to say it isn’t worth watching. It most definitely is. It may be stereotypical and a little too dumb sometimes, but truly it’s a hilarious comedy that any comedy fan must see.

Franco and Rogen’s hysterical and brotherly relationship combined with a side-splitting plot line makes Pineapple Express a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

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19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 7

F E AT U R E S

TV REVIEW

Expanding the human palate with cannabis

“BONG APPÉTIT” VICELAND

Joseph Molino · Graphics Editor

You’ve never really tasted food until you’ve experienced the munchies from getting high.

If you’re familiar with stoner culture, the word “edible” is always immediately associated with brownies. Space brownies. Stoners and pot heads have been lacing these rich, gooey, chocolatey squares with cannabis so they could get high inconspicuously in public. No smoke, no smell, less hassle, more sustained high.

These advantages coupled with today’s push for marijuana legalization has widened the horizon for experimenting with weed infused food.

Viceland’s Bong Appétit follows the same prem-

ise of making edibles and takes it to the next level as we see cuisines across the world infused with different forms of cannabis.

It’s basically a laid back, non-competitive Iron Chef where the secret ingredient is weed, and the challenge is to push marijuana’s limitations. Alton Brown is replaced with a less intense, but equally passionate, Abdullah Saeed as host, accompanied by his two sidekicks, Vanessa Lavorato of Marigold Sweets for culinary guidance and Ry Prichard, a cannabis infusion guru.

The 20-minute episodic docu-series follows Saeed as he invites distinguished culinary experts into the Bong Appétit home (apt-

8 // codcourier.org // 19 April 2017

ly named, Casa de Bong) to prepare infused multicourse dinners for a set of cannabis aficionados. The chefs prepare their meals in a kitchen with a pantry brimming with what Abdullah claims is “the biggest selection of marijuana ingredients ever assembled.”

My introduction to the series started when a friend shared an episode titled “Filipino Flower Feast” on Facebook. This immediately caught my attention because if there’s one thing us Filipinos are most proud of, it’s our food. But Filipino cuisine, at best, is very conservative and traditional. It doesn’t leave any room for experimentation.

I remember reading through my mom’s handwritten cookbook when I was younger– every single ingredient set in stone.

They’re written like the ten commandments from the Bible: “Thou shalt follow thy recipe by the (cook) book.” You can not add or subtract or swap out any ingredient. I even made the mistake once, asking my mom if we could add oyster sauce in her Adobo recipe, and she looked at me with such disdain on her face, like it was blasphemy to even suggest we add a new depth of flavor in her cooking.

Marijuana? and Filipino food??? The two doesn’t add up at all, but I knew I just had to see it.

The penultimate episode shows how food and weed are both communal, and how there is no more communal way to eat than a traditional Filipino Kamayan feast.

Kamayan c o m e s from the w o r d hand, roughly translating to eating with your hands. It’s basically a buffet where

F E AT U R E S

an assortment of food is laid out on top of banana leaves as everyone shares and eats with their bare hands. Saeed enlists the help of experienced cannabis chef and expert of traditional Filipino cuisine Miguel Trinidad to masterfully infuse his dishes with everything from cannabis leaves and buds to extracted terpenes and various forms of hash. The menu consists of Bicol Express, a spicy dish made of sous-vide pork shoulder in cannabis coconut milk, slow-cooked barbecue ribs marinated in canna oil, canna butter poached prawns, all of which are lying in a bed of garlic rice infused with CBD

(Cannabidiol, a cannabis compound). Halo-halo is served last for dessert, which literally translates to “mix-mix”, and is made up of shaved ice and evaporated milk with a variety of candied fruit, sweet red beans, flan, topped with taro ice cream infused with hash.

Everyone digs in, sharing pieces of meat and handfuls of rice, exchanging stories while having a great time, making me miss home all the more but at the same time leaves me with a sense of yearning, too. Yearning to experience Filipino cuisine the same way these people did. The bastardization of this Filipino tradition that I grew

up with is what makes Bong Appétit a brilliant show– one that would certainly make my mom’s head shake in disapproval.

The show is not afraid to further the discourse on cooking with marijuana.

Saeed poetically ends the premier episode with the show’s mission statement: “Our specific goal is to push the limits of edible cannabis, to infuse foods in ways that no one has ever done before. But, perhaps, one day, people will look back and say this was the first place that that happened.”

No one has seen food and marijuana’s boundaries pushed this far. It challenges traditional aspects

of cooking, as it becomes a recurring theme in every episode throughout the series: from Ganja Grandma who learned how to infuse her traditional Italian cuisine for her epileptic daughter, a holiday dinner complete with an enormous Christmas tree blunt, to camping out in the wilderness and making hash smores. The show sheds a light on how cannabis and food go hand in hand in bringing people together, across ages and cultures.

Bong Appétit does not only push marijuana’s envelope (or for this matter, marijuana’s iconic baggie); it also expands the knowledge of its viewers on the

science of getting high.

You get bits and pieces of trivia with each episode.

As Lavorato and Prichard put it, not every dish they’re gonna serve will get you high. CBD is incorporated throughout the meal to act as a counterbalance to mellow out the intensity of the high produced by THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol, another psychoactive cannabis compound). This is how everyone in the show stays comprehensible– THC and CBD work hand in hand as crescendos and diminuendos, balancing each other out as the meals progress. The show also gives the audience a little peek on how hash oils are made, the difference of

sativa, indica and hybrid strains, and how terpenes are used as aromatics for adding different depths of flavor in dishes. These well thought-out pairings and mouth-watering amalgamation of flavors will not only leave you hungry but also curious for more.

With the marijuana reform our generation is experiencing first hand, the future of edibles isn’t limited to brownies anymore.

Bong Appétit excites our tastebuds with a new set of flavors the culinary world has yet to conquer, giving us a chance to expand both our minds and palates, as we explore cannabis as a new ingredient for cooking.

The second season of Bong Appétit premieres at 10:30 p.m. this Wednesday, on Viceland.

Kamayan, a traditional Filipino feast where a group of people share food on the same table, eating with their bare hands

Source: Viceland

19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 9

F E AT U R E S

Inside the Compassionate Care Center: Caroline Broderick · Features Editor

3C Dispensary founders include (from left) Judge Robert Livas, Hugo Fernandez, Traci Fernandez (seated) and Kathy Tucker.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY 3CDISPENSARY.COM

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Hugo Fernandez was a self-proclaimed conservative who never imagined touching any drug. This was before his wife, Traci Fernandez, became paralyzed from the chest down because of a neurological spinal disease, Transverse Myelitis, six years ago.

When she heard that medical marijuana was making its way to the state, a medical marijuana dispensary, now titled the No. 1 dispensary in Illinois, was born.

The couple who were well versed in business management, previously being the founders of iGenMedia, a small business that has been sold to Andromeda Technologies. Hugo and Traci have held positions at companies such as IBM, Arthur Anderson and Compuware. The two then shifted their business ventures onto something that would assist Traci, and others suffering from spinal conditions, after doctors explained how the disease is incurable.

The two started a foundation called The United Paralysis Foundation, where they would run fundraisers to profit paralysis research. This wasn’t enough for the couple who consistently researched new ways to help patients. It wasn’t until Traci heard the news of medical marijuana coming to Illinois that she found the next way to find help and fundraise for the foundation.

Unfortunately, due to Traci’s part ownership of the company, she is ineligible for a medical card.

The name of the company speaks for the mission and the hearts of its founders: Compassionate Care Center. Twenty-five percent of 3C’s sales go directly towards charity. Twenty percent for The United Paralysis Foun-

dation, and the remaining five to various other charities not connected to the Fernandez family.

Opening a dispensary was not about marijuana, nor was it about the money. After Hugo and Traci researched the extreme benefits from cannabis and saw the affects it had, they knew they had to share the medicine with as many patients as they can, despite those who do not understand the drug.

Finding a location was the Fernandezs’ first obstacle, and the two realized how strict Illinois’ policy is on medical marijuana.

They even found trouble in finding a landlord who would gladly support their business. The two spoke to nearly 50 landlords before two even agreed to consider them. Their opening of the dispensary has shown Hugo what biases and how uneducated people are about cannabis. This has only driven them more to push their mission and learn as much as they can.

“When people are put off by it I try to educate them,” said Hugo.

“When brand new patients come in, a lot come in because they have no other place to go. They have their bias: ‘I have my card.

I’m here to try this, but I can’t believe this is my last option. My whole life I’ve been clean. I’ve never done drugs. I’ve never been in trouble.’ They were in tears.”

These were the words spoken to Hugo as he met with an elderly couple three weeks ago who were first-time patients. The wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and their search for relief drove them towards alternative medicines.

“You have to educate them, and you have to help them get over that hurdle,” said Hugo.

“And it ends up working pretty well. Once they try it, not only

does it take care of their but also they feel good.”

In the state of Illinoi of approved medical co able to apply for a med includes: cancer, HIV cord injuries, lupus, g epilepsy, and other seri ditions. In the past year and only mental illness was PTSD. This contras ly with states such as C where anxiety and even headaches are approve tions.

3C’s menu for their not only includes flowe their strain menu reac 100, but concentrates, topical gels and patch menu item listed cont name, the cultivator it received from, whether is sativa, indica, or hy amount, and the price. A of Fire OG Kush runs Sweet Baby Jane Wax $50 by the gram, and M tiva Patch runs for $17 tunately, patients must p pocket for their medici insurance does not cover marijuana, but Hugo is provide an almost overw amount of medicine for A menu like 3C’s is har even in places like C where Hugo visits often from other dispensaries.

“We’re very proud of are able to do for patien nois,” said Hugo.

Each product is pro what is known as a c those who grow the plan nois, there are over 20 cu The closest, Cresco Lab in Joliet. These cultivato your average gardeners. they grow the flower in dustrial buildings, comp strong security and thou

r ailment, ” is, the list onditions dical card V, spinal glaucoma, ious conr, the first approved sts greatCalifornia migraine ed condi-

r patients ers, where ches over , edibles, hes. Each tains the has been or not it ybrid, the An eighth s for $50. runs for Mary’s Sa7. Unforpay out of ine, since r medical proud to whelming r patients. rd to find Colorado, n to learn . what we nts in Illi-

ovided by cultivator, nt. In Illiultivators. bs, resides ors are not . Instead, large inplete with usands of

F E AT U R E S

The #1 dispensary in Illinois

square feet.

“It’s not your traditional outside plant; it’s extremely scientific,” explained Hugo. “The testing that they do is all independently tested. When you buy your bottle of medicine, just like a bottle of Tylenol, it’s got all the ingredients and all the percentages on the bottle. It’s very impressive what they do. In Illinois, it’s the No. 1 place in the country as far as the quality of cannabis because it’s so strict what the cultivators have to go through.”

Not only is the state specific with cultivators, but an unruly amount of other specifics. When questioned on some restrictions, Hugo laughs, unable to choose only a handful of obstacles the company must constantly go through to please the state.

“One thing is the state really does not want for people in the business to have a relationship with a doctor, for example,” explained Hugo. “They don’t want doctors sending over patients to dispensaries or dispensaries sending people to doctors. There was a problem in other states where they’d have a doctor on site, and it would be more of a formality. They try to keep it completely separate. That’s just one example.”

The line between doctor and patient then leaves those suffering from their life-altering or most times life-threatening conditions, on their own. The doctor’s job is to confirm their patient has a condition on a form. From there, the patient must go through fingerprints, background checks, and a long process that can take up to two months for them to receive their medical card. In this time, many patients have died waiting. Only recently has the state realized the

urgency, and have implemented a process that expedites a patient’s medical card if they are only predicted to live a couple of months.

Any progress is progress for medical marijuana in Illinois, but the fight continues around the country.

“I really hope that in the future, this becomes completely legal,” said Hugo. “It’s a Schedule 1 substance currently. It’s worse than cocaine and heroin. In the eyes of the law, what you’re doing is horrible. There’s no medical value whatsoever to this. And what we know for a fact, is that it’s not true.”

Due to all the limitations, research is limited as well, so although people are knowledgeable on medical marijuana, there could potentially be so much more to be discovered.

“These people are going through very difficult conditions,” said Hugo. “It’s not your typical ‘Oh my back hurts.’ It’s not your typical pain. This is chronic pain, this is debilitating.

People can’t get out of bed when they have it, and when they take opiates, they can’t function. What we’re able to do with cannabis is give them their life back. And I love that. Might not be able to cure everybody, but the quality of life is greatly increased, and with a natural product. Without any negative side effects. I’ve never been this passionate about any business until now. It helps a lot of people.”

Hugo and Traci are not the only ones as passionate about helping their customers. 3C has 15 employees between their Naperville and Joliet locations. These employees range from managers to “budtenders.” Budtenders are the dispensary’s patient care specialists. These are the experts that

listen to your issues and find the perfect product.

When it comes to employees, Hugo could not express more confidence in those he employs.

Without hesitation, he easily admits many of them are more knowledgeable than he is, yet they retain the strongest sense of compassion for helping others as he exemplifies.

“It’s difficult dealing with the legislation and dealing with the things that seem unfair,” said Hugo. “I don’t understand it, but that’s OK. As long as we continue to do the work we are doing and help the people we are helping, I’ll put up with anything.”

The employees may be a large reason why 3C was titled the No. 1 dispensary in Illinois by Green Rush Daily. The title was a surprise for 3C, who had no idea they were up for the award. The Fernandez family only learned they won the title after numerous congratulatory calls. Naming the best dispensary was easy, because the process consisted of patient communication, where Green Rush simply called patients and asked them where they used their medical card and what they enjoyed about their dispensary.

Serving 1,200 patients between the two locations, 3C was the top-named and raved about.

Currently, for 4/20, the “stoners holiday,” the dispensary is putting together their 4/20 sale that resulted in hundreds of patients lining up around the shop.

This year, they have provided numbers for their patients so that they no longer have to wait in lines as they suffer from severe medical conditions, continuing to prove the dispensary mixes compassion with passion.

To learn more, visit 3Cdispensary.com

19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 11

FINISH YOUR DEGREE AT NIU

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READY TO TRANSFER? At Roosevelt, we know what you’re looking for in schools: an outstanding academic experience, generous transfer policies, and access to faculty with real-world experience.

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When you’re ready, transfer and finish your bachelor’s with us.

Meet with a Roosevelt admission counselor at COD, May 9 from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

admission@roosevelt.edu (877) 277-5978 roosevelt.edu/transfer

12 // codcourier.org // 19 April 2017

THINKING ABOUT SUBMITTING A LETTER? Letters to the editor must not exceed 500 words. If you choose to include citations, please do so in the text, as we can not accept footnotes.

All submissions must be sent to editor@cod.edu, with the subject title “Letter To The Editor.”

19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 13

OPINION EDITORIAL

A Battle of Smoke and Mirrors The road to legalizing weed has just begun The legalization of marijuana in Illinois is not a question of if, but when.

This has been touted by legislators across the country, most recently within Illinois’ own General Assembly. Bills are being pushed through both chambers with the aim at legalizing the purchase of up to 28 grams and giving the state a boost in tax revenue to help its budgetary gridlock.

If Illinois passes this, we will become the eighth state to legalize recreational smoking of the Devil’s Cabbage.

Or will we have? Even if recreational pot is passed in the state legislature, federal law states the drug is illegal under the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) drug scheduling, putting it next to drugs like heroin in the highest level of offense - schedule one. Because of this, every state that has legalized marijuana is committing a federal offense.

The federal government’s laws have supremacy over all state legislation.

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the

States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Why have these states had the ability to sell marijuana if it was fed-

erally illegal?

Former-President Barack Obama’s administration ignored the proverbial supremacy clause and allowed these states to legalize. In a 2015 interview with Hank Green, a YouTuber on the multi-million subscribed channel “vlogbrothers,” Obama stated, “The position of my administration has been that we still have federal laws that classify marijuana as an illegal substance, but we’re not going to spend a lot of resources trying to turn back decisions that have been made at the state level on this issue.”

With our new President Donald Trump and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, we aren’t going to see the same sort of treatment towards marijuana law. Af-

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LUCAS KOPROWSKI FEATURES EDITOR CAROLINE BRODERICK GRAPHICS EDITOR JOSEPH MOLINO PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID JURA REPORTER VANDY MANYEH SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER ALIZAY RIZVI

14 // codcourier.org // 19 April 2017

ter his confirmation, Sessions gave a statement that fully describes his disdain towards pot. “I don’t think America is going to be a better place when people of all ages, and particularly young people, are smoking pot,”

said Sessions. “I believe it’s an unhealthy practice, and current levels of THC in marijuana are very high compared to what they were a few years ago, and we’re seeing real violence around that.”

Although pot has had no deaths directly tied to its use compared to the approximately 88,000 annual deaths from alcohol, based on CDC statistics, Sessions has a heavy-handed claim on smoking a plant without added preservatives versus drinking a legal flammable liquid.

What is there to do when the executive ad-

ministration will crack down on any states that follow the Obama administration’s lead and legalize state-by-state?

There’s always declassifying it through the DEA, however that administration seems to be totally opposed

to declassifying it even one schedule down to make marijuana medically applicable in all 50 states.

The Obama administration’s DEA Administrative Chief Chuck Rosenburg said in a statement that marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” Ask any epilepsy patient with a medical card or any veteran with PTSD who uses marijuana, and they’ll tell you all the benefits from utilizing not only the THC but all parts of the plant itself to help lower their respective ailment’s effects.

So if that’s out, then

what about legalizing it through a bill? With a conservative-controlled Congress, it’s very unlikely marijuana will be legalized. The GOP has been one of the most staunchly opposed groups to legalization of marijuana, even though many legislators have come

around to see the lack of support behind the claim that it’s bad for its users.

If both attempting to legislate and declassifying the drug are out, then what is there to do? The federal administration seems unlikely to legalize it under the Trump administration, and states who go against the ban have had to jump through hurdles in order for their respective dispensaries to be within legal correspondence compared to other businesses.

With the feds slapping the “illegal” label on marijuana dispensaries, banks and credit unions refuse to give dispensaries accounts.

Doing so could implicate them in drug money laundering, which would take

away their Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation status and ultimately kill their entire business.

As a result, dispensaries are forced to only accept cash, as well pay their taxes completely with cash. On top of this, they can’t take advantage of federal tax loopholes that other businesses in their same brackets have at their disposal due to their illegal status.

Weed will never be truly legal until it is accepted on the federal level.

However, if enough states recreationally legalize pot, it will send a signal to the federal government that they have become truly out of sync with society.

Although it goes against the Constitution and is a clear violation of our founding Bill of Rights, this seems to be the only way to make anyone discuss the possibility of legalizing marijuana.

Twenty-eight states and Washington D.C. currently have legal medical marijuana. Seven states currently have legalized recreational use. Will Illinois follow the lead of these brave states and go against the federal government to prove a point?

Views expressed in The Courier represent opinions of majority of editorial board. The Courier encourages all students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members to voice their opinions on all the topics concerning them both in and out of school. We encourage readers to submit a “Letter to the Editor” voicing their opinions on topics discussed in the editorial.

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19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 15

SPORTS

Chaparrals overcome early mistakes for win Carlos Peterson · Reporter

RUNS

HITS

ERRORS

MCHENRY

3

7

1

DUPAGE

9

11

0

Chapparal player pitches at the April 13 home game versus McHenry County College.

Keeping errors to a minimum is one of the many demands of a baseball coach. Unfortunately for our Chaparral baseball team on Thursday, mistakes were made early and often. In what was the second game of a double header, the DuPage baseball team looked to bounce back from a tough loss in their first game of the day.

Opening up with back to back walks in the first inning, freshman pitcher Jake Heyman struggled to find his rhythm in the early going, giving up two cheap runs in the top half of the first inning. Despite making hard contact against the McHenry pitching, Dupage just couldn’t seem to find the gaps in the de-

fense however, the offense would not be held down for much longer.

While the offense was stagnant for the first couple of innings, the third inning was the beginning of an offensive explosion from the Chaparrals.

Working for their pitches and making great contact, the offense feasted on the mistakes of McHenry pitcher, Johnny Sanchez, who seemingly could not catch a break.

Head coach Kevin Tyrell felt that his players did a good job of letting the pitches come to them.

“Our guys did a nice job of putting pitches in play and forcing tough plays and working for walks,” said Tyrell of the offensive on-

16 // codcourier.org // 19 April 2017

slaught in the third.

While the offense of the Chaparrals seemed to be growing stronger with each at bat, McHenry seemed to be struggling to put together any semblance of an offense post first inning. As the game wore on, the early struggles of Heyman seemed to be the only source of offense for McHenry. Coach Tyrell thought very highly of the resilience displayed by his young pitcher. “Our pitching got stronger. He had a terrible first inning, giving up three runs which were a direct result of walks. He realized early on if he walked guys he wasn’t going to be in very long” told Tyrell of his freshman pitcher.

David Jura/Courier

Heyman was very pleased with his performance as well, being able to find a rhythm in the earlier innings and hitting his spots at the plate after some struggles. Something that Heyman found especially important was being able to have his mechanics stay precise. While he felt that it was a struggle early in the game, a demanding attitude from his coach gave him the motivation he needed. “Yah at the beginning there was a little bit of struggle. I felt like I was dropping my arm little more. My coach told me to pick it up and then I started to pitch better” Heyman recalled.

As a young pitcher the best thing that can be done

to reassure confidence is to get run support from your offense. The Chaparral offense would then go on to score five more runs in the later innings. Heyman said, “It feels amazing.

There’s no pressure. It gets easy.”

While the Chaparral staff did a great job of asserting itself, limiting the McHenry offense to only one run the rest of the game, the offense seemingly never stopped hitting. The fifth inning was full of contact and opportunity for the DuPage hitters adding another three runs to the board despite being stuck in some deeper counts. “Our team does a great job of making sure we don’t strike out. So even

when we’re down 0-2 our guys hate striking out. It’s a pride thing. They’re very good at letting the ball get deep and if its close we’re gonna get a piece of it.” says Tyrell glowingly of his team.

The Chaparrals did a nice job of closing out their double header with a strong all around performance. The pitching was able to get outs and the offense was able to make the opposition miserable. All in a day’s work for a team that has had it’s share of winning on the back end of double headers.

SPORTS

Unequal pay for equal work: Bigotry at its zenith Vandy Manyeh · Reporter

CREATIVE COMMONS

For more than 100 years women weren’t allowed to play in the Olympics.

Women made a breakthrough in 1990 when they were allowed to play lawn tennis and golf at the Paris Games. Since then, there have been formidable leagues just for female sports, and as an avid sports follower, I just can’t eschew watching these games because of a blind bigotry that has persisted for so long.

It has been well over three decades since President Richard Nixon signed the Title IX amendments into law. In part, this law states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

That fact that women are still fighting for their rights across sporting federations show a blatant disregard of the law. What a travesty of justice.

Women who play sports must always fight for the right thing to be done.

They aren’t paid well whether they play for their countries or clubs. They aren’t given the same facilities to play in, and investments into female sports is an ever growing conundrum.

Recently, the women’s U.S. Hockey Team had to threaten to boycott the 2017 Women’s World Hockey Championship that ended with a triumph against Canada in the finals. This is a team that has won six of the last seven championship titles. It is heartbreaking to note these women were advocating for menial things like child care benefits, maternity

leave and for money to be spent on young female hockey players.

This rigmarole has also been going on between the women’s soccer team and U.S. Soccer. From per diems, bonuses and salary, women on the team are still battling for a raise to be paid like their male counterparts.

Here are some arguments if your reaction is visceral: The women’s soccer team generates more money than the male soccer team. The U.S. women’s soccer team generated $23 million after the 2015 World Cup games. After the deduction of the team’s expenses, U.S. soccer received a profit of about $6.6 million. According to the New York Times’ Andrew Das, the men’s team was expected to lose $1 million after pulling in only $9 million in revenue for 2016.

As for television ratings, 26.67 million viewers tuned in to watch the 2015 finals between the U.S. women’s team versus Japan. This is on record as the most-watched soccer game in U.S. TV history. If this is not a wake-up call that justifies that women should be paid like men in sports, stop propagating the asinine argument that people care less about women sports.

This type of blind bigotry is at its zenith even in tournaments where male and female athletes play in together. The Western and Southern Open is a classic example. Serena Williams and Roger Federer both had the chance to defend their previous wins at this event last year. Preposterous as it may sound, Federer earned $731,000 while Williams made $495,000.

Finally, female athletes must go the extra length

to earn something decent as an athlete. A majority of WNBA players, for example, leave every fall to play across the Atlantic in Europe. From the reigning MVP and Los Angeles Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike to star players like Candace Parker and Angel McCoughtry, they are all globetrotters because they can’t earn what they should earn as an athlete in the WNBA. Let me put this into perspective. In 2016, Stephen Curry, the reigning MVP in the NBA plays on a contract worth $11 million per year and around $10 million per year in endorsement deals. These figures will double when he signs a new contract at the end of his four-year deal. On the other hand, Ogwumike makes $90,000 per year, $15,000 shy of the WNBA maximum salary cap.

The vice versa of this scenario would’ve seen more investments and revenue generation strategies.

We all saw a big jump in what players in the NBA are paid at the onset of this season, a raise that can be attributed to the massive jump in the salary cap created by a nine-year $24 billion television deal.

A far-from-entertaining player like Mike Conley will make $153 million in five years in Memphis.

From the women’s team that brings in the dollars and trophies like the men’s teams, playing in the same tournament and receiving a smaller portion compared to what male athletes get, to the lack of support for women’s sports causing them to play for the entire year in Europe and America, in my honest opinion, this is bizarre.

19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 17

When I Get Home – Post Animal Genre: Psychedelic Rock / Similar to: Tame Impala, Mac DeMarco Raw, syncopated, nostalgic, and equal parts playful and trippy: these words best describe Chicago-local psychedelic rock band, Post Animal. The band’s music is a dead ringer of Tame Impala, making sweet, sweet love to Mac DeMarco’s delightfully weird quirks. Their single, When I Get Home, is lush with druggy psychedelia filled with a sense of longing accompanied by an earwormy tune that digs its way into your head and burrows in your core forever. Every laissez-faire drum beat accompanied by wrought out synths feel like a welcome brush of cool breeze as you speed down Lower Wacker drive on an especially humid summer night. —Joseph

Eventually – Tame Impala Sounds like: Beach House, Grizzly Bear Genre: Psychedelic rock There’s nothing else that feels as satisfying and drags a smile across your face like when the lyric “eventually” somberly explodes through your speakers. The dreamy vocals make you feel like you’re in a trance, but those same phantasmagorical vocals play over a powerful beat. The two contrasting sounds play in a perfect harmony, and each transition into the next phase of the song is seamless. The whole ride is smooth and spacey, making it the perfect song to lay back and vibe to when you’re feeling the lush vibes. —Caroline

High for Hours – J. Cole Sounds like: Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean Genre: Hip-hop, Rap Losing yourself to the sweet intoxication of cannabis would be nothing without the pondering of the many issues facing people today. The rhythmic beat is hypnotic as you delve into the soul of an artist that has made his mark in advocating for issues facing the black community as well as the self righteous attitude of American culture. A very poetic muse that will leave you wondering if humanity can be saved. —Carlos

The End – The Doors Sounds like: The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix Genre: Psychedelic Classic Rock No song is better to ponder your humanity then The End by The Doors. It’s a song with no beginning and no end. It’s pure rolling energy, the use of the classic song in Apocalypse Now is proof of that. It’s the kind of song you just lose your mind to and think about existence. You may be paranoid but it opens up your instinctual reactions. If you haven’t heard it before, there’s no better week to listen to it then now. —Kitt

Get Hi – Danny Brown Sounds like: Kendrick Lamar Genre: Experimental Rap Detroit-based rapper Danny Brown released “Atrocity Exhibition” as a challenge to himself towards creating music that fully embraces his style of articulation and layered lyricism. “Get Hi” offsets its lyrics with the beat in a way to simulate how you lose the concept of time while high. The song made me feel very uncomfortable at first due to how offset the parts of this track fall, however as I gave it another shot the layered meanings throughout the piece shine through like an analysis of a Hemingway novel. —Lucas

18 // codcourier.org // 19 April 2017

COFFEE BREAK SUDOKU

No. 328

Medium

8

6 5 3 8 7

7 9 5 6 8 4 1 2 2 3 4

1 5 1 6 3 4

7 9

7

3 5 2 9 8

8 7

© 2017 Syndicated Puzzles

8

You can find more help, tips and hints at www.str8ts.com

2 6 8 7 9 5

8 7 9

3 4 4 1 3 2

5 7 6 1 4 2 3

4 3 4 9 2 5 3 6 7 5 6 8 7 9

3 2 4 5 6 7 9 8

2 1 3 8 6 7

Easy

Previous solution - Medium

7 9 6

7 9 8 3 4 5

1 3 2 2

8

8 1 4 5 4

7

9

You can find more help, tips and hints at www.str8ts.com

© 2017 Syndicated Puzzles

8 7 2 3

7 9 4 5 1 2 8 6 3

4

1 1

4

5 8

6 5 4 9 5 1

2 5 9 8 8 3 1 7 1 6 7 8 3

3 2 8 6 9 7 1 4 5

5 6 1 8 3 4 2 9 7

2 7 6 1 8 3 9 5 4

8 3 9 7 4 5 6 2 1

4 1 5 2 6 9 7 3 8

9 4 2 3 7 8 5 1 6

1 5 7 4 2 6 3 8 9

6 8 3 9 5 1 4 7 2

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Str8ts check out our books, iPhone/iPad Apps and much more on our store.

SUDOKU

No. 329

9

Previous solution - Easy

7

How to beat Str8ts – Like Sudoku, no single number can repeat in any row or column. But... rows and columns are divided by black squares into compartments. These need to be filled in with numbers that complete a ‘straight’. A straight is a set of numbers with no gaps but can be in any order, eg [4,2,3,5]. Clues in black cells remove that number as an option in that row and column, and are not part of any straight. Glance at the solution to The solutions will be published here in the next issue. see how ‘straights’ are formed.

STR8TS 5 6 7

Medium

9 6 8 7 2 5 3 4 1

8 7 7 4 6 3 5 8 6 3 9 5 4 2 1 1 3 2 2

3 1 2 2 3 5 1 4 2 1 5 3 4 7 6 4 6 7 8 9 5 9 8 9 8 6 7 8 9 7

No. 329

Tough

Previous solution - Medium

7 2 3 4 8 1 5 9 6

1 8

9 3 5 1 3 8 6 7 9 3 4 2 8 8 5 4 2 8 7 5 3 1 9 1

How to beat Str8ts – Like Sudoku, no single number can repeat in any row or column. But... rows and columns are divided by black squares into compartments. These need to be filled in with numbers that complete a ‘straight’. A straight is a set of numbers with no gaps but can be in any order, eg [4,2,3,5]. Clues in black cells remove that number as an option in that row and column, and are not part of any straight. Glance at the solution to The solutions will be published here in the next issue. see how ‘straights’ are formed.

© 2017 Syndicated Puzzles

7

No. 328

Previous solution - Tough

© 2017 Syndicated Puzzles

STR8TS

9 4 6 3 7 5 8 1 2

5 8 1 6 2 9 3 4 7

3 1 7 8 5 4 2 6 9

4 9 8 7 6 2 1 3 5

6 5 2 1 9 3 4 7 8

8 3 5 9 1 6 7 2 4

2 6 4 5 3 7 9 8 1

1 7 9 2 4 8 6 5 3

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Str8ts check out our books, iPhone/iPad Apps and much more on our store.

EVEN TEXTERS AND DRIVERS HATE TEXTERS AND DRIVERS. STOPTEXTSSTOPWRECKS.ORG 19 April 2017 // codcourier.org // 19

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