4/20 Guide 2023

2 4/20 guide 2023

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Budding Businesses Budding Businesses

By Nate Lechner asst. culture editor

While on a trip to Colorado in 2015, Jim Charon was looking for cheaper medicinal options for his chronic shoulder pain. Although he didn't know much about it, Charon decided to give CBD a try, which ultimately helped him towards recovery.

Once he returned home to Syracuse, he started to educate himself as the cannabis industry developed. He began to understand how CBD products can provide a form of relief for injured people, without needing to pay high medical expenses. After a few years of experiencing CBD’s benefits, Charon decided to take the next step and open a business of his own.

“I've been building the business to help people understand what the products are and breaking the stigma behind cannabis and hemp products,” Charon said.

Charon is the founder and owner of Syracuse Hemporium, a licensed CBD retailer in Syracuse. Since opening the business in 2018, he’s focused on selling quality and affordable CBD and hemp products, helping other businesses enter and navigate New York’s cannabis industry and educating people on what the products can do.

To further his educational mission, Charon will be hosting an event celebrating 4/20 on Thursday, where customers can enjoy the products of different cannabis vendors and connect with other members of the cannabis community.

Charon started the business at a local farmer's market, where he could connect with people on a personal level and educate customers on what his products could do, all without having to pay for advertising. His number one goal is to help customers buy the best products for themselves and explain how CBD products differ from other forms of medication.

“With the CBD products, the most important thing is (that) it's the health benefits

without the high, so that's where it's not the same as marijuana or cannabis,” Charon said.

As the cannabis industry is still relatively new in New York, getting the proper authentication to legally run a business like Charon’s is quite a lengthy process, he said. Charon said that there are a lot of strict rules and regulations he must follow.

“With the cannabis industry, you're looking at so much compliance that you got to make sure you're taking, and dotting the Is and crossing the Ts from the beginning to the end,” said Charon.

Joe Rossi —a cannabis practice group leader at Park Strategies, a top lobbying firm in New York State — has worked on the legal side of cannabis in central New York since 2018. He represents the Cannabis Association of New York, an organization in which Charon is the central New York committee chair.

As part of his job, Rossi advises and assists people as they enter the CBD industry. He explained that as people continue to get into the New York cannabis industry, it is very important for them to follow the different guidelines that have been put in place by the state government.

Rossi specifically cited the New York Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), which created the Office of Cannabis Management that issues licenses and develops regulations on how and when businesses can participate in the industry.

As the industry continues to expand — both across New York and the whole country — Rossi knows that there will be a lot of complications, but said that those who are truly passionate about cannabis will find success in the industry.

“It's a rollercoaster. There's ups and downs, twists and turns that you can't see and come out of nowhere, and you just got to roll with it,” Rossi said. “I think the folks that will be passionate about the plant can help create this legal cannabis industry.”

Crystal Guess, a senior account executive at cannabinoid wellness company NuLeaf Naturals, has been working with Charon since he started Syracuse Hemporium to educate people about CBD products. One of the reasons people have a negative opinion about CBD, she said, is ignorance of how CBD products can act as medication.

For the CBD industry to continue to grow and to have customers coming back, Guess said that retailers also need to be properly educated on how to market the products. Specifically, she said that it’s very important to be able to explain exactly what CBD does to people’s bodies.

Guess said that many people think that CBD products can be used as needed like Band-Aids, however that is not the case. Proper usage and dosage are extremely important to explain when teaching people about CBD.

Consistency is key when taking CBD products

for medication, Guess said. She compared the effectiveness of CBD over time to that of toothpaste — investing in a high-quality CBD product will have the same long-term effectiveness as

investing in a high-quality toothpaste will have.

If people use CBD to help recover, Guess said, they won’t see results after a few days, but after consistent use, the effects of CBD can really take hold.

“(It’s a) miracle over time, not overnight. Consistency is key,” Guess said. “And usually, people start seeing the really good benefits of it, (in) minimum at least five to seven days after they start consistently taking the product, and then the miracle starts to happen.”

Charon said he would like to continue operating Syracuse Hemporium as a CBD retailer and will apply for a dispensary license once those are made available in New York state. He hopes that when cannabis sales become fully legal, it will be easier for people to learn about how the products can help.

“What I've been trying to do is build the cannabis community in central New York,” Charon said. “And (the 4/20 event) is another way to help unite the community.”

After dealing with chronic shoulder pain, owner Jim Charon began to use CBD in 2015 to deal with his ailment. Charon now wants to educate and take away the stigma around CBD and cannabis. meghan hendricks photo editor

Jim Charon has produced affordable and effective CBD products through his business Syracuse Hemporium since 2018. On 4/20 he will be hosting an event for the cannabis community of central New York to come together

With the CBD products, the most important thing is (that) it's the health benefits without the high, so that's where it's not the same as marijuana or cannabis

Jim Charon owner of syracuse hemporium

Higher education Higher education

By Kelly Matlock asst. copy editor

Dr. Junella Chin was initially resistant to trying medicinal cannabis to treat her spinal disease, but now credits it for making her career possible. She suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a condition that causes the bones of the spine to fuse together. Without using cannabis, she would be unable to function all day as a doctor.

“I was so ill that it was a point where I would either drop out of medical school or find something else,” Chin said. “I was really, really reluctant, but it slowly got my health back and I started learning about the science of it.”

Twenty years since Chen began using medical cannabis, she shares her story and teaches students about the cannabis industry through Syracuse University’s cannabis studies program. SU offers a cannabis studies minor for students along with a certificate for those outside of the university through its College of Professional Studies. Dr. Chin teaches cannabis health and science at SU as part of the credit program.

She said one of the biggest issues surrounding cannabis is consumer information. Changing laws regarding cannabis use around the country, including New York’s recent legalization, have made it relevant, but people know little about it, she said.

other applications of her treatment.

“I thought if medical cannabis could help me, and I was studying to be a doctor, why can’t I help other patients to do it?’” Chin said. “So I made it a career to teach patients about plant-based medicine.”

When SU reached out in 2021 about starting a program to educate students about the cannabis industry, Chin was thrilled. She now teaches about harm reduction, drug epidemics and the science behind medicinal cannabis.

Chin also serves as the vice chairwoman of the Advisory Board for the New York State Office of Cannabis Management. The board attempts to dispel misconceptions about cannabis, such as beliefs that it is a “magic bullet” and should be only used in extreme cases like cancer treatment.

We wanted to make sure that (the cannabis industry) was something that could grow in New York state both responsibly and sustainably. We felt that Syracuse University, in its history of providing education, could play a role in helping to mold the industry from an educational perspective

“It's important to teach(about cannabis)... I look at college kids as the primer, because then they can go into cannabis law, they can go into cannabis medicine, they can go into cannabis chemistry,” Chin said. “That is where we have to plant the seed. No pun intended.”

Jim Gaffey executive director of administration and strategy at the college of professional studies

Jim Gaffey, executive director of administration and strategy at the College of Professional Studies, introduced a cannabis studies program in 2021 at SU. After marijuana was legalized in New York, Gaffey decided SU should play a role in the industry’s growth.

“We wanted to make sure that (the cannabis industry) was something that could grow in New York state both responsibly and sustainably,” Gaffey said. “We felt that Syracuse University, in its history of providing education, could play a role in helping to mold the industry from an educational perspective.”

Before teaching at SU, Chin attended medical school in California. When the state legalized medical cannabis use in 1996, she watched its usage as treatment for symptoms of autoimmune diseases grow.

Chin was nitially reluctant to use cannabis to treat her spinal disease because she worried the stigma could harm her career, but it successfully supplemented her other treatments.

“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? I'm trying to be a doctor,’” Chin said. “I basically kept it under the radar.”

After the treatment helped alleviate some of her pain and helped her regain mobility, she became interested in the science behind plant based medicine. As a doctor, she was interested in

“Our main goal is to provide awareness and harm reduction, to make sure that the public and vulnerable populations are protected,” Chin said. “As a professor at Syracuse and at NYU, my main goal is to get good information out to people.”

One of those people is Noah Aznoian, an MBA student at SU studying marketing and enterprise. He is currently taking a cannabis science class with Chin within the cannabis studies minor and takes her class about medicinal cannabis.

Aznoian plans to pursue a career in consulting in the cannabis industry. SU’s program has helped him develop better research methods, and he’s helped to co-teach and be a research assistant for several classes to learn how to apply his knowledge to the industry.

Two years ago, Aznoian met Chin after coming across her book, “Cannabis and CBD for Health and Wellness,” and reached out to learn from her expertise. He has been working with her recently to gain a better understanding of how to make efficient medical applications for patients.

“I’ve really gotten into the industry here at the university,” Aznoian said. “It’s really exciting.”

Aznoian said that a common misconception about cannabis is that it is a cure-all miracle drug. It has specific health benefits that can be used for different applications, but more work needs to be done for consumer education, he added.

“I think there is a lot of stigma around cannabis use in the United States,” Aznoian said. “It's so valuable what Chin is doing here for Syracuse because people are not educated on how it works in the body and how it works in general.”

Aznoian said with New York’s legalization of recreational marijuana, the industry is a growing market. The state has a dense population of medical marijuana consumers, which makes it influential for the industry across the country, he said.

“For Syracuse as a university to have a role in informing and educating those that are going to be in and around the industry here in New York is super, super valuable,” Aznoian said.

kellymatlock@dailyorange.com

The program has been active since 2021, with students like noah aznoian learning about cannabis' benefits cassandra roshu asst. photo editor

After being a doctor for most of her career, Dr. Junella Chin made a big jump to education after Syracuse gave her the opportunity to be part of their new cannabis studies program

4 hip-hop artists with their own lines of cannabis

By Josh Feldstein music columnist

For years across hip-hop, marijuana consumption has become a focal point in the genre, puffing its way through unlimited chart toppers while being a critical point of many rappers’ discographies. There are a handful of artists who have expanded their careers even further thanks to weed consumption, branding and lines about the drug in their tracks.

Stoner rap has become a huge sub-genre in the music industry and can most loosely be defined as tracks that discuss the drug and enhance your experience while you’re on it, providing a new perspective on how others may think when they reflect on their highs. Some artists have even generated their own strains of weed on top of their already green-eyed career.

The marijuana industry is a diverse community, and one that has become intertwined in hip-hop and what the genre has to offer. Below are some of the MCs who have built their career on weed, while also spreading their wealth into more than one revenue system.

Wiz Khalifa

Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the dazed and blazed rapper Wiz Khalifa has been a member of the music community since the mid-2000s, releasing his debut project “Show And Prove” in 2006. Throughout the late 2000s period, Wiz and fellow Pittsburgh product Chevy Woods were putting the city on the map, along with the popularization of the new era of weed rappers.

Early pieces like “How Fly” and “Kush And OJ,” a collaboration project with Curren$y, helped segway Wiz’s laid-back, enthusiastic sound past his hometown and hit a mainstream stage. Debat-

ably his most popular album, “Rolling Papers,” would release in 2011. “Roll Up,” “No Sleep” and others across the tracklist exude the party animal and weed smoker inside of Wiz, while Curren$y and Chevy Woods both also made appearances.

Continuing off the theme of much of his future projects after “Rolling Papers,” some of his highest charting tracks, “Medicated,” “Bake Sale,” and “So High,” all expand off of his love for marijuana.

When it comes to what he is putting out on the market, Khalifa Kush includes two different strains titled ‘KK’ and ‘Khalifa Mints,’ both available for purchase at dispensaries and on his website.

Rick Ross

Known for being a pioneer in the Miami hip-hop movement, Rick Ross has shared his love for weed inside and outside of the music industry, disclosing in his rap and also outside with his recently released strain known as “Collins Ave.” Ross’ bellowing, intimidating voice has made him one of the most recognizable pieces of not only rap, but all of the music, and his influence on the game has pushed many stars ahead into the mainstream scene.

First coming onto the scene around the same time as Wiz Khalifa in 2006, Ross was part of the new wave of stoner rap leaking its way into the media, and his debut album “Port of Miami” highlighted his abilities.

Along with his lyricism on his love for weed, his lavish lifestyle has spawned many tracks dissecting the high-end life he lives, with his record label even being called Maybach Music Group. Having this money to spend and releasing more classics “Teflon Don,” arguably his best project, and 2012 mixtape “Rich Forever,” Ross would then become invested in the marijuana market.

“Collins Ave.” goes back to his Miami roots.

The product is named after the popular hotel and shopping strip lined with high-end stores. Expected to be released this summer, Ross has high expectations for the product, linking up with High Tolerance, a company that has produced strains for many other big-name artists.

Juicy J

Possibly the face of Memphis’ rap scene and a valuable member of the former rap group Three 6 Mafia, the affection towards weed and its effects have seeped through in a lot of Juicy J’s music. Since the start of his career, he has always been very vocal about his smoking habits, “staying trippy” and taking a journey through a high.

Launching the first solo pieces of his discography in the late 2000s at the same time Ross and Wiz started to become big figures, Juicy J’s chopped, gritty lyricism paired well with constant tracks on marijuana. 2009’s “Hustle Till I Die,” includes “Purple Kush,” “Fiyayaya Weed” and other tracks that encapsulate the theme, teaming up with fellow Three 6 Mafia member and older brother Project Pat.

A majority of Juicy J’s discography revolves around the hustling business; collecting cash and “rubba bands” from being a drug kingpin. “Stay Trippy,” which dropped in 2013, was when he would start collaborating with Wiz Khalifa, setting up a bond in music and marijuana that spans until today. Most recently, the two released the project “Smoker’s Night,” an effort linked together with the rich love for weed and the heavy, bouncy Memphis influence throughout.

In 2020, Juicy launched a medical cannabis company known as ‘Asterisk*’ which would be based out of Los Angeles, a partnership with successful entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. Through the company, the two partners were looking to expand the cannabis community while also bring-

ing a little fun to it. The creative genius of Juicy J was also incorporated into the announcement, releasing a music video for “Gah Damn High” with Khalifa, producing a reel to hype up ‘Asterisk*.’

Snoop Dogg

Writing an article about stoner rap without Snoop Dogg would be a crime, as the West Coast rapper has become the face of the blend of marijuana and hip-hop. After several appearances on Dr. Dre's tracks, Snoop dropped his first solo project in 1993 — the infamous “Doggystyle,” one of the most complete, decade-defying performances of the Los Angeles rap movement.

“Gin and Juice” commenced the marijuana rap that Snoop targeted, standing as one of the best songs about the drug of all time. As expected, the dense smoke clouds blew over to most of his discography. “The Next Episode,” with Dr. Dre and “Young, Wild & Free,” featuring Wiz and Bruno Mars both dive into stoner rap, but the truth is much of his catalog may not even mention marijuana, but is rather made to listen to while smoking.

With his whole career surrounding the subject, it had to have been an easy decision for Snoop to enter the market for distributing his own strains. In 2022, he announced ‘Death Row Cannabis,’ named after the iconic 1990s record label which produced him, N.W.A., and other major west coast talents.

Despite the launch of ‘Death Row Cannabis,’ the California rapper had previously entered the market in 2015 with ‘Leafs By Snoop,’ which was only targeted to the Colorado area at the time. With legalization in more states and an open door for other Death Row members to hop on board, it could be a fast, successful launch into the cannabis industry.

jfeldstein75@gmail.com

Take a look at the ultimate 4/20 movie watchlist

By Teddy Hudson movie columnist

Movies are a hallowed 4/20 tradition. Whether you plan to go out and enjoy the nice weather, take a trip to Green Lakes or see a comedy show, your celebration will inevitably lead you back to a dark, temperature-controlled room, snacks in hand, flipping through Netflix.

lead in this low-stakes comedy, and fans of “The Office” will enjoy John Krasinski in an unorthodox role as a bespectacled geek who looks eerily similar to the actor’s old nemesis, Dwight Schrute.

“Dazed and Confused”

This laidback hang-out movie takes you along for the ride with a group of Texan teenagers on their last day of classes in 1976. Low on plot but high on atmosphere, “Dazed and Confused” features a stacked ensemble cast that includes a young Matthew McConaughey in his endlessly quotable first major role.

At the end of the film, a stoned McConaughey gives a timeless piece of advice that has become perhaps his most iconic line of all time: “You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.”

Couch lock is nothing to be ashamed of, and after spending a long day in a lawn chair with a couple of joints, there’s nothing better than coming inside to unwind with a favorite flick.

Ever since marijuana went mainstream in the 1960s and ‘70s, the film industry has developed a rich tapestry of weed movies for the enjoyment of those who partake. From explicitly stoner-themed comedies to films that are just so weird they deserve to be seen high, there is no shortage of options to watch this Thursday.

To help you narrow down your choices, consider this list of 10 particularly strong cinematic head highs. Whether your preference is comedy or drama, or somewhere in between, check out these picks from the last 50-plus years of weedsmoking on screen.

“Inherent Vice”

“Inherent Vice” follows a spaced-out private eye who uncovers a criminal underworld in Los Angeles while searching for his missing exgirlfriend. The bumbling detective, portrayed by an immaculately-sideburned Joaquin Phoenix, spends nearly the entire movie in a smoky haze as he delves deeper into the inner workings of a mysterious drug ring. Look out for a magnificent scene in which Josh Brolin, playing a hardcore drug-busting cop, shoves a handful of weed into his mouth to assert dominance.

“Smiley Face”

For most people, paying the power bill is not a feature film-length quest. But for Jane F., the protagonist of Gregg Araki’s “Smiley Face,” it might as well be the apocalypse.

After she accidentally eats a plate of her roommate’s cupcakes, not realizing they’re edibles, Jane must take on her busy day while baked. Anna Faris is hilarious as the

“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”

The ultimate literary drug bender gets the Terry Gilliam treatment in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Hunter S. Thompson, this film follows an eccentric journalist assigned to visit Las Vegas and cover a motorcycle race for a magazine. Instead, he calls up his equally weird lawyer for companionship and turns the trip into a drug-fueled super-binge. Gilliam’s surreal directorial style is a perfect match for this material.

“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”

Before Keanu Reeves was triple-killing assassins with a graphite pencil as John Wick, audiences knew him as the shaggy Southern California goofball, Ted Logan. In this time-travel adventure, Ted and his best friend, Bill Preston, played by Alex Winter, are two high school slackers who discover a time machine while hanging out at Circle K. Desperate to pass their history class, the boys use their new power to round up a group of famous historical figures like Socrates and Napoleon and bring them back to the present for a truly excellent final project.

“Pineapple Express”

No 4/20 viewing party would be complete without at least one Seth Rogen comedy. In “Pineapple Express,” Rogen plays a mild-mannered pot smoker who, along with his dealer, accidentally witnesses a murder. On the run from killers who need to cover their tracks, the two team up with a wily supplier to outwit their criminal pursuers. Though the Pineapple Express weed featured in the film was fictional at the time, it has since inspired a real-life strain.

“The Holy Mountain”

“The Holy Mountain” is absolute maximalist

mayhem. Watching it while high probably counts as a religious experience, or maybe psychological torture — or both. In the film, a Jesus-like drifter embarks on a psychedelic odyssey, on which he encounters seven strange people who each represent one of the planets in the Solar System.

From a deranged police officer to a cynical toy manufacturer, the characters you’ll encounter are the stuff of dreams and nightmares. During production, director Alejandro Jodorowsky required his cast to live together in the same house for months, take mushrooms and sleep for as little as four hours per night.

“Easy Rider”

Believe it or not, there was a time when now86-year-old Jack Nicholson was a new kid on the block in Hollywood. His standout performance as a square-turned-smoker in “Easy Rider,” the tale of two bikers who smuggle cocaine across America, launched his career as an A-list star. Directed and written by Dennis Hopper, who also stars alongside Nicholson and Peter Fonda, this story of the demise

of American counterculture in the 1960s is an essential piece of film history.

“Up in Smoke”

Cheech and Chong are the Abbott and Costello of cannabis. Their first-ever feature, “Up in Smoke,” launched a creative partnership that would produce dozens of movies, albums and short films, as well as their own line of legal marijuana. A bonafide smash at the box office, grossing at least $40 million, this is the foundation upon which all modern stoner comedies were built.

“Harold and Maude”

In this 1971 film, a death-obsessed young man meets a 79-year-old woman at a funeral and falls in love. “Harold and Maude” is an odd couple comedy, an often morbid look into the lives of two misfits staring into the abyss of death. It may also be the only studio comedy ever to feature an actress born in the 1800s hosting a smoke session. Legends of director Hal Ashby’s weedfriendly film set are still told today. ehudson@syr.edu

illustration by remi jose illustration editor

Decriminalize Marijuana Decriminalize Marijuana

As marijuana use and legalization grows in the country, we need to consider those incarcerated.

Legislators fail to recognize their role increased mass incarceration rates

By Rainu George senior staff writer

On March 21, New York state legalized marijuana, following 23 other states that have decriminalized or legalized its use. While this great leap by the legislature is progressive, it is important to recognize the communities of color that are still being persecuted as a result of harsh, outdated drug laws.

Since President Richard Nixon’s declaration of drug abuse as “public enemy number one” at the start of the War on Drugs in 1971, the United States has seen a critical increase in mass incarceration. The incarcerated population has increased by 700 percent since 1970. Primarily, those ending up behind bars are Black and Brown men from low-income communities. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “despite the roughly equal usage rates, Black people are 3.73 times more likely than White people to be arrested for marijuana.”

Draconian laws on drugs enacted after Nixon’s era intentionally targeted marginalized communities. The War on Drugs was declared to stop the use of illicit drugs, but targeting drug abuse was a mere front for incarcerating members of Black and Brown communities. For example, the establishment of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, established mandatory minimum sentences for the possession of five grams of crack cocaine, primarily used by Black and Brown communities, but 500 grams of powder cocaine, which was used by the white population.

Across ethnic groups, the use of illicit

4/20 guide 2023

drugs is the same; white people possess and use illegal drugs as well, but the ones continuously incarcerated are Black and Latino men. Though Black and Latino populations together only make up 40 percent of the U.S. population, 60 percent of state prison populations and 80 percent of federal prison populations for drug offenses consist of Black and Latino people.

Mandatory minimum sentencing and high incarceration rates further contribute to the poverty of these communities of color by creating employment barriers, reducing earnings and decreasing economic security through criminal debt, among many other disturbances. Without measures to provide help and structure relief, the government handled the issues through mass incarceration, only adding to the cycle of abuse that affects generation after generation, all for a drug that has little research to back up its assumed risk, in comparison to harsher drugs.

If these 23 states are willing to open weed shops and allow recreational use, why is marijuana designated as a schedule one substance, meaning felony charges if an individual is found in possession? In New York alone, the penalty for possession of 16 ounces of marijuana is equivalent to illegally selling a firearm, or for possessing an explosive bomb or machine gun. Such unequal comparisons do nothing to alleviate the mass incarceration rate in the U.S., which has the highest rate in the world and does little to keep communities safer.

The matter of for-profit prisons needs to be addressed when talking about the war on drugs, as well. Private prisons have financial incentives to incarcerate individuals and meet maximum occupancy

resulting in for-profit prisons leading to higher incarceration rates rather than effective rehabilitation of prisoners. In 2022, Republican governors rejected a new White House call to pardon low-level marijuana offenders due to big campaign donations — nearly $8.5 million on state lobbying in the last three years — from higher ups in the private prison industry who reap financial incentives from continuing the drug war.

Even with some mandatory minimum sentencing reduced for marjuana and other drug offenses, incarceration still impacts communities of color disproportionately, with for-profit prisons keeping these communities behind bars. Those in cohorts with for-profit prisons continually lobby for harsher sentencing laws or support policies that maintain high incarceration rates with the goal of producing a profit.

To address the disproportionality in drug offenses, there needs to focus on rehabilitation in the communities affected by drugs and violence. There can be communitybased drug abuse treatment programs, and support research for cannabis use. Choosing

to penalize instead of providing support is an intentional decision by our government, that once again puts profit over its people. There also needs to be reform in law enforcement practices to offer accountability by addressing racial biases. Imprisonment does not lead to the betterment of local communities, and those imprisoned cannot lead better lives after they get out with a record that makes it harder to meet their basic needs. Looking for housing or finding a job often involves a background check, and a criminal record will prevent an individual from gaining either. What’s more discouraging for them is seeing marijuana being legalized all around the country, but having to suffer from outdated laws regardless.

The U.S.’ criminal justice system’s treatment of people of color has been unfair for decades. Although the legalization of marijuana calls for celebration, marginalized communities paid the price of imprisonment by law enforcement and the system. Beyond legalization, we need to move to decriminalization and pardoning those convicted of marijuana charges.

rcgeorge@syr.edu

Weed isn't a gateway drug, thinking so is harmful

By Conor Sarasin columnist

There are likely more people than you think that have smoked marijuana today, and there’s nothing wrong with them doing so. In America alone, 48.2 million people use marijuana, both recreationally and medically, to treat psychological conditions like depression and anxiety along with physiological ailments such as chronic pain. Others use it to simply relax. There are many misconceptions around marijuana, one of the biggest being the false narrative that it is a “gateway drug”.

For many cannabis consumers, usage is a way to treat conditions that would usually require the consumption of harsher substances. As America continues to fight its major opioid crisis, some people are turning to weed instead of prescription opioids. In this sense, marijuana is working against the definition of being a gateway drug.

When you search “gateway drug” on the internet, it’s challenging to find a definition that doesn’t include marijuana. Lack of accurate facts about marijuana and other drugs is problematic, as false perceptions are further perpetuated

about the substance. Public perception is everything in the conversation around marijuana. Inaccurate content leads to opposition of proposed progressive legislation that would stimulate research and deepen knowledge regarding cannabis use, if passed. These inaccuracies also cause greater harm for those imprisoned for marijuana charges.

The argument for marijuana’s description as a gateway drug usually comes from the idea that people who have done or are addicted to hard drugs tried marijuana prior. This is correlation, not causation.

When speaking with Syracuse neuroscience graduate and addiction researcher Ashlyn Umbach, she explained that individuals who are more vulnerable to substance use or addiction tend to start off with what is perceived as gateway drugs — marijuana, nicotine and alcohol — due to their accessibility. A variety of other factors including socioeconomic status, mental illness, disabilities and race play into increasing someone’s likelihood of trying harder substances. She went on to say that “this does not mean the consumption of “gateway drugs” lead to the usage of more intense illicit substances.”

From Reefer Madness, an American propaganda film on marijuana, to the beginning of the War on Drugs in 1971 and even now, the United States government has taken an aggressive and racially motivated stand against the herb.

We are still feeling these actions today. Richard Nixon’s former domestic policy chair admitted this intent when he explained that the reason behind starting the War On Drugs was to stop the two “enemies” of the White House, which he described as “the antiwar Left and Black people.” The Nixon Administration’s plan worked to disturbing perfection, as they were able to incarcerate massive numbers of people of color for nonviolent marijuana and other drug charges. This fabricated declaration of war set the precedent for the U.S. to find new ways to take advantage of the prison system as an alternative for slavery.

Opponents fighting the legalization of marijuana cite outdated government propaganda that paints cannabis as an extremely harmful gateway substance. Continuing to push the narrative that marijuana directly leads to the use of heavier drugs allows legislators to pass bills that heavily criminalize weed.

Marijuana is classified as a schedule one substance by the Drug Enforcement Agency, putting it on a more serious legal level than Fentanyl and Oxycodone. Although people may feel sick or lose motor function if they consume too much cannabis, no fatal dose has ever been consumed by an adult.

Due to varying brain chemistry, some people experience adverse effects when using marjuana. An increase in public knowledge on how weed aids and harms certain users would greatly benefit the general public. Although marijuana use is difficult to research in a controlled, scientific setting, national legalization would allow more effective testing techniques surrounding cannabis use to be developed. Legalization would remove the research barriers to begin proper studies of cannabidiol.

Of course, if you choose to use marijuana, enjoy it responsibly and safely. If you are someone who doesn’t like marijuana, that’s okay, but understand that this medicine is not a gateway substance that will result in illicit drug use. Voting in favor of nationally legalizing marijuana will save lives and keep innocent people out of prison. cjsarasi@syr.edu

Legal Paradise Legal Paradise

By Dominic Chiappone asst. news editor

James Williams said he finally found his “paradise” after the William Jane recreational dispensary in Ithaca opened on March 16. The shop is the first legal operational dispensary in central New York.

Williams, who was born and raised in Syracuse’s Southside neighborhood before he moved to Ithaca nine years ago, emphasized the stigma he saw and experienced surrounding recreational cannabis use growing up. Williams first began smoking recreational cannabis in 2005, but hid it from people around him who viewed it as bad or wrong.

Now, through the legal dispensary, Williams sees a chance to educate the local community about recreational cannabis use through his role as a “budtender,” or dispensary employee, while also building a

new sense of community with the continued expansion of regulated marijuana dispensaries throughout New York state.

After New York state’s Cannabis Control Board announced the initial approval of 36 Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary Licenses in November 2022, Williams said the new recreational marijuana licenses have been helping people previously impacted by disproportionate convictions for marijuanarelated offenses.

William Durham, the owner of William Jane, was arrested for marijuana possession in Brooklyn when he was 23 years old. Following his arrest, Durham rebuilt his life as a businessman before becoming one of the first owners in New York state with an operational dispensary through the CAURD program. Williams said Durham serves as a great leader for the new dispensary as well as a model for the future of regulated cannabis businesses.

“(CAURD is) definitely a good sign for people with his resume, same background. This is encouragement. This is choosing a better life, choosing just to have hope,” Williams said. “This gives a lot of people hope, and it’s giving me hope.”

New York state initially awarded 28 of the 36 CAURD licenses to business owners with a prior marijuana-related conviction through Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Seeding Opportunity Initiative, including the William Jane dispensary.

In total, the state plans to reserve its initial 175 planned dispensary licenses for people with past marijuana convictions. As of March 2, the state had issued a total of 66 CAURD licenses, with 56 going to businesses and 10 going to nonprofit organizations.

Dominic, Durham’s cousin, said he knew many more family and friends that were arrested for smoking cannabis, even though he said it wasn’t as serious as other crimes.

A June 2013 study from the American Civil Liberties Union identified that Black people were over three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession compared to white people. In Brooklyn, where Durham

was arrested, about four Black people were arrested for every one white person arrested for possession, the study found.

Rates are also disproportionate in Syracuse. A March 2021 study from The Public Science Project found that marijuana-related arrests in the city of Syracuse were four times higher for Black, Asian and Indigenous people compared to white people between 2010 and 2020. The study also identifies that Black people made up 80% of all marijuana-related arrests in the city between 2010 and 2020.

Council passed a law in December 2022 to make it easier for the city to close cannabis businesses that don’t possess a state license.

Dominic and Williams also want to build a sense of community through the products the dispensary sells, especially by educating their customers. Dominic said William Jane’s budtenders take classes on new products coming from state-regulated farms, which Williams said help them to inform customers about the cannabis they’re buying.

Williams also said the education the dispensary offers is specifically useful because it allows him to better interact with customers who are still new to the industry.

Under William Durham’s leadership, the staff works together like a family, Williams said. The new dispensary provides a great model for what the regulated cannabis market could look like if more licenses for dispensaries are approved for licenses, he said.

Dominic, who also works as an assistant manager at William Jane, called the new Ithaca dispensary a “full circle” moment in New York’s efforts to undo its past mistakes on marijuana convictions. He said regulation through the state is the best way to move forward, even as the CAURD licenses roll out at a gradual pace.

“It’s a learning experience, because the laws are still so new with New York state dispensaries,” Dominic said. “It was just like trying to raise a new baby, but you never had one before, so you just go step by step by step trying to just get everything right.”

The cannabis that the dispensary receives is lab tested and directly transported from state-regulated farms, Dominic said. Because of this, he said William Jane’s products are higher quality and have more detailed information in areas like origin and composition compared to “gray” markets, or non-state regulated dispensaries that sell cannabis products. In Syracuse, the city Common

“(William Durham has) definitely been a great leader so far… always been a businessman, so he has always been smart,” Williams said. “He's running his staff, his management is definitely doing great, and everybody is like a family here. That's why this is the best place to work.”

Shortly after William Jane opened, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan on March 28 issued a ruling allowing New York state to distribute CAURD licenses to previously barred regions, including central New York. The recent ruling means that cities like Syracuse could see regulated dispensaries opening soon, the New York Times projected.

With more licensed dispensaries soon on their way to opening, Dominic said he hopes businesses like William Jane can continue to unite people through legal recreational cannabis use.

“It’s just amazing to me, because I never knew it was such a big community of cannabis like this,” Dominic said. “It's definitely exciting to me to work here and call this place paradise.”

dcchiapp@syr.edu

@DominicChiappo2

The William Jane dispensary, located in Ithaca, received one of the 28 initial CAURD licenses issued to people with prior convictions for marijuana-related offenses in NYS. Opened on March 16 owner Willaim Durham and his staff welcomed the Ithaca community to try their variety of locally farmed products. meghan hendricks photo editor

William Durham was arrested in Brooklyn for marijuana possession at age 23. Now, he owns the first legal operational dispensary in central New York

As of March 2, the state had issued a total of 66 CAURD licenses, with 56

going

to businesses and 10 going to nonprofit organizations.”

New Systems New Systems

By Neil Vijayan asst. digital editor

Businesses in the cannabis industry across New York are working to move operations that would have once been illegal to the forefront of a growing enterprise.

With the first retail dispensaries to receive Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses approved for operation across the state’s regions, networks are beginning to sprout between cannabis growers and retailers whose dealings are now legitimate. Businesses, including the state’s 165 total now-operation legal dispensaries, are joining together in trade unions and coalitions statewide as the industry grows.

nesses were approved for a license, with 28 of which owned by entrepreneurs with or those with relatives who have prior marijuana-related convictions in New York. The equity-based plan is part of the state’s Seeding Based Initiative, which seeks to reverse the harmful

cannabis market grow into a legal, regulated industry in the state, and recalled how the ‘cannabis universe’ looked before legalization, when businesses like his were illegal.

Rivera was involved in this “legacy market,” which Tantalo defined as the pre-legalization market, and had a cannabis conviction. He was released from prison in 2018, he said.

Now, Rivera serves on the board of a group dedicated to connecting legal cannabis professionals.

“It's kind of cool to see an emerging market open up and be a pioneer at the forefront of it, especially something that had such a bad stigma,” Rivera said.

“It's [had] such a bad social effect on people from our neighborhoods.”

Buttolph is a member of the Cannabis Association of New York, a trade union that aims to bring New York businesses together and grow the cannabis industry community. He called CANY an “industry leader,” and said the union has seen a rapid growth in operations since the CAURD license rollout began.

Jayson Tantalo of Flower City Hydroponics in Fairport is the vice president of operations for the New York CAURD Coalition, a group of over 100 businesses across the entire New York cannabis supply chain, from growers to front-end retailers. The coalition includes both CAURD licensees and applicants, he said.

“It’s a collaboration over competition thing,” Tantalo told the Daily Orange in January. “The opportunity to sell legal cannabis, for us, that’d be of tremendous value, because that’s what I’ve been doing since before I can remember.”

New York state began working toward a legal, regulated market for recreational cannabis in November, with the issuance of the first Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses. In the first round, 36 busi-

effects of marijuana criminalization.

“We started in 2019 as a hemp farm, and really, the hemp market kind of fell out, almost as soon as we got into it,” said Lee Buttolph, chief executive officer of Tap Root Fields farm in Skaneateles. “So the cannabis has been a great opportunity for us. As of last summer, we were given a conditional cultivators license, the regulated THC cultivator license.”

Buttolph said that while he’s optimistic about the state of cannabis in New York, there are still challenges to doing business in the state’s largely uncharted cannabis industry.

“The first [challenge] is the regulatory side to it. Because it is a new market that is changing pretty regularly. We have conditional regulations. I think one of the hardest parts has been figuring out where…we spend money when we don’t know [if regulations will change].

I'm not being overly critical of the state, though, I probably could be if I wanted to- it takes time to build out a brand new regulated market.”

Jeremy Rivera, the New York CAURD Coalition’s executive director, said he’s also pleased to see the

“[CANY] has this really great community of farmers, processors, retailers, and, I think even more importantly, has a big following of people that want to do those things,” Buttolph said. “It brings together a lot of people who are interested in getting into this market.”

Buttolph said more people are getting interested in participating in the cannabis market now that full legalization is within sight, and also emphasized how the new market is ensuring equity.

“There's a whole bunch of other people in this community – disabled veterans, women, minorities, that we'd like to see getting a first crack at the marketplace,” he said.

The initial rollout of the CAURD licenses has included people with minimal business experience, meaning that getting dispensaries up and running has been a slow process, Buttolph said. Still, and despite more work to be done to cultivate a thriving industry in the state, he said New York has taken the right first steps to establishing an equitable cannabis market.

“You gotta start somewhere, and the state’s starting somewhere, right?” he said. “It's going to a deserving group – these people disproportionately affected by past cannabis laws, which threw a lot of people in jail for no reason.”

nvijayan@syr.edu

The New York CAURD Coalition works to provide a platform to connect people working in the legal cannabis industry like growers and dispensary owners across New York state. courtesy of mary buttolph

The CAURD Coalition of 70 applicants and 14 licensees is working to establish systems for collaboration and communication in the emerging industry

It was just like trying to raise a new baby, but you never had one before, so you just go step by step by step trying to just get everything right

Dominic Durham

assistant manager at william jane