Feb 2016 national by DOPE Magazine

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DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

EX-NFL EX-NFL PLAYER PLAYER CANNABIS CANNABIS AND AND CONCUSSIONS CONCUSSIONS

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EDITOR’S LETTER Readers, please prepare for takeof. What you have in your hands is a copy of the first national issue of DOPE Magazine. Prior to now, we’ve only been found in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and California. Now that we’re here and we have your at ention, we want to properly introduce ourselves. An essential fact to know about us is that DOPE stands for Defending Our Plant Everywhere. A lot of people mistake our publication’s title as an old-school weed reference or play on popular slang. While, yes, we do smoke a lot of cannabis and think we’re pretty cool, the acronym is definitely at the core of our mission as well as our inspiration for bringing you elevated information. This month we take a hard-hitting look at the issue of concussions in the NFL and the capacity of cannabis to treat the deleterious set of symptoms that often plague players long after their professional football careers come to an end. Former NFL of ensive tackle Kyle Turley reveals the gritty truth behind the scenes of what is arguably our country’s most celebrated sport that carries some potentially damaging and disastrous long term ef ects. There is always going to be great weed to smoke and celebrities to catch up with. Which is why you’ll also want to check out our chat with Waka Flocka and our strain reviews. We promise both are awesome. It’s also important to note that while significant strides have been made over recent years in the cannabis movement, there is still monumental change that must occur before society can truly understand this plant. Simply put, we’ve only just begun to comprehend what the interaction between ourselves and cannabis is all about. Also, sad facts remain—as Washington citizens take mighty rips of legal weed, non-violent pot peddlers in Oklahoma sit in prison cells. And while CBD miracle cures are saving lives in Colorado, parents of terminally ill children in Louisiana are forced to break laws in at empt to save the lives of their children. These nonsensical laws and gaps in research keep the progress moving forward at an awkward pace. It’s certainly appropriate to celebrate the progress, but we have to be committed to the fight as well. We’re truly grateful that this publication made its way into your hands. Enjoy everything from the stories to the strain reviews and remember, the cannabis movement involves all of us. May your destination be DOPE.

EVAN CARTER PRESIDENT DAVID TRAN CEO JAMES ZACHODNI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF BRANDON PALMA ART DIRECTOR ABIGAIL ROSS NATIONAL CONTENT MANAGER ALISON BAIRD MANAGING EDITOR LAUREN KRZYZOSTANIAK NATIONAL EDITOR MEGHAN RIDLEY ONLINE EDITOR CHARM DOMACENA GRAPHIC DESIGNER JAN DOMACENA GRAPHIC DESIGNER JONATHAN TEETERS DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS KATE KELLY OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE ANTHONY DAVIS VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES JESUS DIAZ NATIONAL SALES MANAGER EMMETT FRASER REGIONAL SALES MANAGER ZAK HUGHES DIGITAL AD TRAFFIC COORDINATOR DALLAS KEEFE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER NATHAN CHRYSLER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TREK HOLLNAGEL STRATEGIC ADVISOR JENIKA MAO ADMIN EVENT COORDINATOR CHRISTINA HEINTZELMAN EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

KINSEY LITTON OFFICE MANAGER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

R.Z. HUGHES LINDSEY RINEHART DAVID HODES JOHNNY HALFHAND DAVID PALESCHUCK BIANCA FOX SHARON LETTS DAVID BAILEY HEATHER COONS MIKE FRANCIS KELLY VO MEGHAN RIDLEY CONTRIBUTING ARTIST

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DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE DOPE is a free publication dedicated to providing an informative and wellness-minded voice to the can-nabis movement. While our foundation is the medical cannabis industry, it is our intent to provide ethical and research-based articles that address the many facets of the war on drugs, from politics to lifestyle and beyond. We believe that through education and honest discourse, accurate policy and understanding can emerge. DOPE Magazine is focused on defending both our patients and our plant, and to being an unceasing force for revolutionary change.

DOPE Magazine and the entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2016 DOPE MAGAZINE LLC, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or part without the written permission from DOPE Magazine LLC.

FEBRUARY 2016

CONTENTS

WRITER

PRODUCT

FORIA

ISSUE 54 | FEBRUARY 2016 MAKING CANNABIS SEXY THE ENTERTAINMENT ISSUE

ANT TO TRY A NEW cannabis experience in the bedroom this Valentine’s Day? Foria is one of the bestselling cannabis-based personal lubricants on the market. Their sophisticated packaging and high-end branding has attracted reviewers throughout mainstream media—so of course, we had to try it. The packaging looks more like a fine perfume or cologne ON THE COVER! than a traditional cannabis Kyle Turley: Fortune & Pain The ingredients are product. simple: medical cannabis oil, liquid coconut oil (MCT), and

FEATURES

• ABIGAIL ROSS

•THE ENTERTA INM

ENT ISSUE•

| FREE

| PHOTOS • ALLIE BECKETT

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERY WHERE

EX- NFL PLAYER CAN NAB IS AND CON CUS SIO NS

LEGALIZATION OUTLOOK A BREAK DOWN OF STATE LAWS

RALPH NADER

IN FOCUS INTERV IEW

love. (Yes, it seriously says “love.”) The bottle sprays evenly, making application remarkably user friendly. Foria provided a tingling sensation that was more cooling than warming. The sensation increased over time and relaxed my entire body, allowing heightened full-body sensations. I would definitely recommend Foria to anyone who wants to increase stimulation ® naturally.

COVER PHOTO Josh Fogel / Stock Pot Images COVER DESIGN Brandon Palma

12 PRODUCT Foria

14 INTERVIEW

In Focus: Ralph Nader

18 DOPE NEWS 24 INTERVIEW Cynthia Ludwig

38 ROAD TRIP: MEXICO Cynthia Ludwig

42 GROW THE MOST FROM COAST TO COAST

YOU SHOULD KNOW: Foria is a great option for those who are sensitive to fragrance—the scent is subtle, if anything

How To Get The Most Out Of Any Climate

44 TECHNOLOGY Meadow

The coconut oil used in Foria is not compatible with latex The product works quickly: stimulation begins within 30 seconds of use

NEWS 20 TOP NATIONAL EXPOS AND CONVENTIONS EVENTS FEB2016_NATIONAL.indd 12

1/19/16 8:34 AM

26 EAST COAST GROW

Exploring The Dramatic & Comedic

28 HALFHAND DOPE JAMS 36 AMERICAN STONER IN MEXICO

46 CANNABIGOTRY

50 STOP LYING ABOUT CANNABIS Exploring The Dramatic & Comedic

53 LEGALIZATION OUTLOOK A Breakdown of State Laws

56 SOULMATE STRAIN

Find The Perfect Match with New Potbotics Technology

58 #END420SHAME Cannabis Vs. Alcohol

WRITER

PRODUCT

• ABIGAIL ROSS

| PHOTOS • ALLIE BECKETT

FORIA MAKING CANNABIS SEXY ANT TO TRY A NEW cannabis experience in the bedroom this Valentine’s Day? Foria is one of the bestselling cannabis-based personal lubricants on the market. Their sophisticated packaging and high-end branding has attracted reviewers throughout mainstream media—so of course, we had to try it. The packaging looks more like a fine perfume or cologne than a traditional cannabis product. The ingredients are simple: medical cannabis oil, liquid coconut oil (MCT), and

WWW.FORIAPLEASURE.COM

YOU SHOULD KNOW: Foria is a great option for those who are sensitive to fragrance—the scent is subtle, if anything The coconut oil used in Foria is not compatible with latex The product works quickly: stimulation begins within 30 seconds of use 12 12

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WRITER

INTERVIEW

• DAVID HODES

| PHOTOS • CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW

IN FOCUS: RALPH NADER ALPH NADER, A CONSUMER ADVOCATE, lawyer, author, and past presidential candidate has been one of the hardest working consumer advocates for nearly 50 years. Nader has been responsible for at least eight major federal consumer protection laws, such as the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. He was responsible for launching several federal regulatory agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). His influence is behind the recall of millions of defective motor vehicles as well as guaranteed access to government through the Freedom of Information Act of 1974. Nader is a five-time presidential candidate: he was a write-in candidate in the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic Primary, the Green Party nominee in 1996 and 2000, and an independent candidate in 2004 and 2008. He has also been an advocate for hemp for years and is optimistic about the current state of the cannabis legalization movement. “Change all starts with public opinion,” he told DOPE. “And public opinion on cannabis has dramatically changed. Abraham Lincoln once said [that] with public sentiment you can do anything. Without it, you can’t do much.” We caught up with him for an exclusive interview in November, right after his keynote speech at the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

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“CHANGE ALL STARTS WITH PUBLIC OPINION, AND PUBLIC OPINION ON CANNABIS HAS DRAMATICALLY CHANGED.” DOPE: You have worked for years as an advocate for hemp, but many people will draw a line between hemp and legalizing recreational cannabis. Why are you coming out in favor of legalized cannabis now? RALPH NADER: Because every time we argued for hemp, they would say marijuana. So, you liberate marijuana, you liberate hemp. DOPE: In your speech today you seemed to be saying that the cannabis industry has the opportunity to fix a lot of what is wrong with this country in terms of drug reform and sentencing reform. Can you elaborate on that? NADER: There are sentences for possession and sale of hard drugs that are longer than homicide sentences. These non-violent offenders are filling the prisons. These sentences are corrupting law enforcement, wasting billions of dollars, generating all kinds of street violence, fueling these gang drug wars. Producing depressed and destroyed individuals who come out of jail crushed with a record where they can’t, even though they served the time, get a job. They can’t get credit. It’s a nightmare of self-immolation as a society. The marijuana breakthrough is the first big dooropening to a rational recognition that drug use and drug addiction is a health problem. It’s not a criminal problem. We don’t send tobacco users or alcohol users to jail. We wouldn’t send people who use DEA-subscribed drugs to jail. The only way you are going to treat it as a health problem is to legalize it. Otherwise, it remains in the shadows, underground.

DOPE: You also said that there was an energy at this show coming from not just business developers but from advocates that should be working in other industries but aren’t. Will this sort of energy from this new industry be instrumental in inspiring the work in other areas of social justice or reform? NADER: I certainly hope so. New reformers, before they run out of gas and become part of the establishment in American history, do help other things. Like the labor movement helped the consumer movement early on, and you can see it. Like where the civil rights movement helped the black farmers, for example, who were being dispossessed. It is astonishing that there are literally hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths in this country. I just named a few like occupational disease, hospice malpractice, and air pollution. You couldn’t fill half a hall with six months of preparation with people interested in working on these issues. It just doesn’t make sense, does it? It totally doesn’t make sense. DOPE: Here we are in Nevada, a state that has found ways to tax and regulate the gambling and prostitution industries. Isn’t this a good place for that sort of thing to happen to cannabis—to build a model for taxing and regulation? NADER: Nevada has the experience with taking taboo, unlawful activity and legalizing and regulating it, that’s true, but it’s not rocket science. There are patterns of proper regulation, and there is loophole-ridden special interest regulation that is pregnant with

unworkability in the future. DOPE: Some state senators are cautiously coming out for medical cannabis but stopping at legalizing recreational cannabis. They may feel that it’s political suicide to go any further. What is your take on that? NADER: Wait a couple of years and it will be more politically disadvantageous if they don’t do it. DOPE: Why has Hillary Clinton not come out and endorsed legalizing cannabis? NADER: She always has a finger to the wind; she is waiting for more states. She is waiting for more people who are her peers to come out for it and then she will jump on the bandwagon. And by the way, Bernie Sanders is already taking the first step. He called it absurd, equating marijuana with heroin as a Schedule I prescribed substance, and he wants marijuana taken off of the DEA list. So that is the first step. I am sure he is going to come out before April with a more comprehensive position on legalizing marijuana. DOPE: If I was an entrepreneur, a start-up guy in this business, what would I want to hear from Ralph Nader that would get me jazzed to continue doing what I am doing? NADER: Make sure that you contribute to the best business practices. That you blow the whistle on the rascals in your industry who may want to contaminate the product, or deceive the patients or the consumers, and be an ® example to everyone else.

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WRITER •R.Z. HUGHES

INFOGRAPHIC

| GRAPHICS • JAN DOMACENA

LOVE BUDS

STRAINS TO SHARE TOGETHER Love is in the air and we invite you to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year in classic DOPE fashion, with piles upon piles of sweet herb. Smoke and snuggle up with your sexy sweetheart for a special evening of laughter and cuddling. Here are some of our favorite strains sure to leave you and your lover in the passionate throes of Mary Jane.

CHOCOLOPE

DIAMOND OG

LOVE POTION # 1

Who needs a box of chocolates when you could have a big, sticky bag of Chocolope? Give your loved one a treat they will remember. Almost a pure sativa, Chocolope has made the rounds at cannabis cups all over the world, winning awards at every stop along the way due to its unique taste and invigorating effects. The robust chocolate flavor is a perfect complement to a glass of Pinot Noir after a romantic dinner.

Dense as a rock with enough trichomes to make it sparkle from across the room, Diamond OG has quite the appropriate name. Its funky aroma and flavor are unmistakably descendent from OG Kush, and the euphoric effects are excellent for fostering good will and closeness in relationships. Keep in mind: an eighth (or even an ounce) of this stuff is much cheaper than that 14 karat ring and a lot easier to get high with.

Cupid’s favorite bud is the perfect choice for an energetic evening with the significant other. Extremely stimulating, Love Potion #1 is known to exhibit potent aphrodisiac properties and increase libido. Take a toke or two of this and what was once a dormant ember will be ignited into a flaming inferno of desire. It also has a pleasant citrus taste that pairs nicely with white wines, making it an ideal accompaniment for a steamy date night.

VALENTINE X With a 25-to-1 ratio of CBD to THC, Valentine X is one of the most prized strains by those looking for significant healing. Named after St. Valentine, the patron saint of epilepsy, it has shown promise in treating seizure disorders. As a CBD-rich strain, it isn’t as stimulating as some of the other strains on our list. However, if inflammation is an impediment, try simply taking a few puffs of this first.

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KANDY KUSH This Kush cross is one spectacularly sweet strain. OG is crossed with Trainwreck, both of which are better known for their pine and earthy scents (but Kandy Kush smells more of ripe fruit and lemon candy). Give it a try and treat your taste buds to some delectable candy without any of the calories! Lovebirds will want nothing more than to lay in each other’s arms after finishing off a joint of this stuff.

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WRITER•ALEX HALPERIN OF WEED WEEK

RICO ACT PUSH ES BACK

TRUDEAU TRIBULATIONS After promising to legalize nationwide, Canada’s new prime minister Justin Trudeau has his work to do. Canada has had medical marijuana since 2001, but the system is a jumble. Recently the Mounties, Canada’s equivalent of the FBI, were cracking down on grey market dispensaries in Vancouver, apparently with permission from Trudeau, the would-be legalizer. He’ll also have to extricate Canada from several international treaties that outlaw cannabis.

Lawsuits filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO Act, could present a major threat to the industry. In December, one such case filed on behalf of a Holiday Inn in Colorado ski country blocked a dispensary from opening nearby. If that sounds like a broad interpretation of a law designed to stop organized crime, get used to it. Writing in The Cannabist, legal expert Sam Kamin says companies that provide services to cannabis companies are also at risk and will continue to be until there’s change in Washington.

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A SLOW GO IN TH E BIG APPLE

The first medical marijuana clinic opened in New York City to much fanfare but minimal business. Columbia Care opened on the always crowded 14th Street, but sales in the state are restricted by tight regulations that prohibit smokable medicine and require doctors who want to recommend cannabis to take a four-hour course. By the end of January, 20 dispensaries were due to open in the entire state, fewer than in some Denver neighborhoods.

NAPSTER FOU NDER GIVES BIG TO TH E CAUSE

EX-NFL PLAYERS CHALLENGE CANNABIS BAN

COP CANNABIS SMUGGLING 101

A group of former NFL players is calling on the league to lift its ban on medical cannabis. Nate Jackson, a former tight end for the Denver Broncos and author of the memoir Slow Getting Up, told The Guardian that he used cannabis during his playing days after passing the annual pre-season drug test. He found that it worked for him better than the many painkillers that the league couldn’t function without. He estimated that half of active players use cannabis; a number of other players have corroborated.

Sean Parker, the billionaire who founded Napster and was played by Justin Timberlake in The Social Network, contributed $500,000 to one of the legalization initiatives that is likely to appear on the California ballot in November, Forbes reported. This ballot, which is likely the frontrunner, includes a 15% sales tax and growing taxes. Supporter s will be required to collect almost 400,000 signatures.

A California drug cop was arrested while on vacation in Pennsylvania for attempting to smuggle 247 pounds of cannabis worth approximately $2 million. Christopher Mark Heath, 37, focused on drug crimes in his work at the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office. His arrest could undermine the police work he’s done in numerous cases in the well-known growing region north of Sacramento.

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CANNANEWS

TAKE A TRIP

TOP NATIONAL EXPOS AND CONVENTIONS FOR 2016

CANNABIS COLLABORATIVE CONFERENCE (CCC) Portland | February 3–4 ccc-con.com

reated for the industry, by the industry. This is a strong statement from Cannabis Collaborative Conference (previously the Cannabis Creative Conference) founder Mary Lou Burton, as she described the expo held in celebration of a growing and successful industry. “I learned that there was a need for a cannabis expo in Oregon,” Burton explained to DOPE, a founding sponsor. “In January, after Oregon voted to legalize, we decided to move forward with the idea. The first Cannabis Creative Conference was July 29 and 30, 2015. Our goal was 600 attendees in a professional B2B conference, featuring over 60 speakers and Steve Marks from OLCC as our keynote. Noah Stokes from CannaGuard Security and William Simpson with Chalice Farms jumped on board as founding sponsors and created our show theme, ‘Created by the industry, for the industry.’ “Our goal was to do a drill-down of what the recreational cannabis would be in Oregon, as far as rules and laws. We featured local expert speakers including attorneys, cultivation experts, and ancillary businesses. We brought in speakers from Colorado and Washington to share their knowledge and experiences. We were blown away when over 1,200 showed up.” The next CCC occurs at the Portland Expo Center on February 3 and 4. They are expecting about 3,500 attendees and will feature over 60 industry speakers and more than 50 exhibitors with displays, including MRX Labs, Chalice Farms, and CannaGuard Security. Attendees can expect networking, interactive workshops, a job

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fair, and more. New features of the event include cannabis tracking system (CTS) workshops held by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC). Franwell will also hold sessions and demonstrations. Join CCC at their pre-event, Marijuana Investors Summit Boot Camp, on February 2. This is designed for those who currently own a business in the industry or are looking to start one. Leading this series will be entrepreneurs who have found success in the industry as well as financial experts. “This conference will also feature a career readiness event,” Burton explained. “There will be top cannabis recruiters interviewing for job positions within all facets of the industry from entry-level to executive positions. There will be 30 educational modules from leaders in the industry, over 80 exhibits and hands-on displays, and tons of opportunities to network.” “It is so exciting to be part of what many are calling the ‘wild, wild West,’” Burton added. “I was asked how I decided to get involved with this new and still controversial industry. My reply was that, I believe there will never be anything like this in our kids’ or grandkids’ generation. I also believe that the tax dollars that are and will be generated from this new industry will help our schools and mental health system. I am really enjoying this industry. There is a quality to this industry that I have not seen in other industries; people really do care and want to help others. The medical benefits and stories that I have heard are truly amazing. This little plant is such an incredible resource.”

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MARIJUANA INVESTORS SUMMIT San Francisco | , March 3– to 5 marijuanainvestorsummit.com Ready for a great cannabis debate? Marijuana Investors Summit co-founder David Friedman is. “This time around, we are much more focused on academic and politicians than we were last time around,” Friedman said. This year’s expo will be held at the Hilton Union Square from March 3 to 5. “We are really looking forward to bringing dialogue to the summit, so it will attain a life after the summit, so that hopefully it will direct some policy. We are going to have a debate. I believe we are going to call it ‘The Great Marijuana Debate.’ It is going to be sponsored and moderated by ProCon.org. We are hoping to get a couple of pro and con speakers in order to hold a debate around the legalization and some real dialogue, because part of investing and the Marijuana Investor’s Summit is understanding the risk. There’s a lot of risk in it. We don’t just want to be cheering positively about cannabis all the time. We want to educate people about investment opportunities and risks. I get questions concerning legalization, bills, and rulings all the time and I don’t know the answers to all of them, so we want to put everybody in a room [where] people can ask questions and the right people can answer them.”

WRITER

CannaCon founder Bob Smart is excited for this year’s expo, as last year’s had nearly 11,000 registered attendees. This year, its third in Seattle, has 332 exhibitor spaces. There will also be live music and a dozen of Seattle’s best food trucks serving at the event. “We have a ton of new seminars coming up this year,” Smart said. “What we do at the seminars is just straight up question and answer. Like with Ed Rosenthal, he is going to just answer questions for an hour. We have law, tax, and debating panels that are going to do the same thing.” Smart is personally looking forward to the panel simultaneously featuring the Liquor Control Board, the Department of Agriculture, and the Washington Department of Health. The Department of Agriculture will also be holding pesticide classes that count towards certification. There will be a substantial increase of user products this year, such as live glass blowing, high-end vape products, and quality glass items. At the last February show, there were 34 retail stores open, Smart said. By this year’s February show there will be 170, allowing retailers to view an abundance of products to feature in their stores. These products will be available di-

CANNACON Seattle | February 18–20 cannacon.org

rectly to the user from the manufacturer at the show. “There is also an all-day budtender course occurring on the Saturday of the event,” Smart added. “There is no certified program yet, but our attendees who complete the course attain a budtender certificate. So at least when a person takes the whole class and gains the certificate, their employer will see they know more than the average.” Smart is also excited for CannaCon’s job fair and is proud of the event’s large size and the number of exhibitors, products, and services under one roof. “We will be holding a CannaCon Lifestyle expo this September, which will feature all products,” Smart said. “This is not a business show, like the one coming up, but a lifestyle show. There won’t be lighting companies, for example, but there will be cooking classes, clothing, pipes, and vapes.”

DOPE INDUSTRY AWARDS Portland | February 27

“The medical benefits and stories that I have heard are truly amazing. This little plant is such an incredible resource.”

• BIANCA FOX

DOPE chief branding officer and executive event producer James Zachodni described the publication’s awards show that began in 2012 and what makes it unique and special to the industry. “What’s special about this awards show in comparison to most cannabis cup events that are centered around the plant and all the products that come from the plant, including concentrates, edibles, and the like, is that there was not much attention given to the actual businesses and people in the industry, so we decided to be the first one three years ago. We wanted to make sure the stores, budtenders, growers, and others who make our industry go round and round got their moment to shine.” One clear positive aspect of DOPE’s awards ceremony is that all recipients are voted upon by the public. No buyouts, no bribes. It is public opinion and a public vote.

“We want people to know that,” Zachodni explained. “The people who are nominated can get their fans engaged and make sure they show some love. Even with the nominations, those who are voted upon are also publicly chosen as well. So really, the whole thing is a public vote. It really gives people a snapshot of those who are doing a really good job in the industry. It’s not just about who is selling the most pot, which is easy to figure out. We want people to say, ‘Well, it may not be the biggest and fanciest store in the city, but they have the best staff or the best community outreach,’ which to us, is what people should be recognized for.” The awards show will be rolled out in a couple more states in 2016, kicking off on February 27 in Oregon. For the past few years, the show has only been held in Washington. It is now growing into a regionalized award show within each state and a national one that takes the winners from each state, and then a much larger “grand finale” type show in Las Vegas, Zachodni explained.

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BRANDING BUD

TH E NEW (OLD) FACE OF CANNABIS

elebrities have long been used as the face of brands. Since the early 1900s, brands have been leveraging celebrities to promote and sell their products. From Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall advertising Cigarillos to modern day brands like Nike, Apple, T-Mobile and Beats By Dre leveraging celebrities to endorse and build their brands. Celebrity endorsements have and can reap huge rewards for a brand. Yet they have numerous pitfalls that a brand should consider before associating themselves with a celebrity, let alone building their brand upon a celebrity’s persona. Today, brand ambassadors are the norm. Celebrity endorsements and celebrity-owned startups and ventures are not uncommon. Examples abound and include Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher, and David Beckham, among others. There are a number of advantages to using celebrities in advertising, whether running print, Internet, or radio or television commercials. The key for brands is making sure the celebrity is relevant and has broad appeal. Popular celebrities often work best because they naturally generate lots of attention. Despite their fan base, celebrities are most effective if they promote products or services they are most likely to use. In other words, they must be plausible consumers. The affinity consumers have for certain celebrities can greatly influence their

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WRITER

purchases. People may have the attitude, “If the product is good enough for her, it’s good enough for me.” This philosophy is often the impetus behind advertisements for makeup, skin creams, hair products, and attire. Consumers want the wavy hair of a local celebrity, for example. Hence, they purchase the brand that the celebrity uses to achieve her hair’s fullness and bounce. Essentially, the testimonial of the celebrity adds instant credibility to a company’s product. Celebrity endorsements can improve ad recall, according to researchers Jagdish Agrawal and Wagner Kamakura. Celebrities in advertising build brand awareness and they build it much more quickly than traditional types of advertising. Brand awareness measures the percentage of people who are familiar with a particular brand. Some companies use celebrities to position or re-position their brands. Product positioning is placing a company’s products in the best possible light in the minds of a target group. One challenge brands face is finding new users for their products. Celebrities appeal to current customers, as well as those who have never tried a brand’s THE RISKS OF products.

CELEBRITY CONNECTIONS

Yet even if a celebrity is a good fit for a brand, leveraging one for endorsements has its own set of possible risks. They include, but are not limited to: images changing, celebrities becoming overexposed, and celebrities overshadowing brands. Celebrities are people, and people make mistakes. And when they do, they can affect the brands they endorse. In 2009, Tiger Woods’s public image crumbled after his infidelity with a number of women, including porn stars. General Motors, Gillette, Accenture, and Gatorade dropped Tiger to avoid negative perception, while Nike stuck around and lost customers. At the height of Tiger Woods’s popularity, he endorsed over 10 companies at once. When a celebrity works with so many companies, the celebrity’s credibility may suffer. People may feel that the celebrity will endorse anything to make a buck.

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• DAVID PALESCHUCK

Consumers may focus on the celebrity, not the product. This is a particular danger when celebrities endorse multiple products at the same time. David Beckham endorses a number of companies, which feature him prominently in print advertising. That said, his image as the focal point of the advertisements he’s in, devalues the products around him.

SO WHO ARE THE CANNA-CELEBRITIES? High-profile celebrities partnering with private companies for mutual gain is hardly a new concept. In the cannabis industry, however, it’s one that’s gaining traction. Many cannabis companies have inked deals with celebrities that have long been associated with cannabis. Other celebrities have started up their own product lines, opting to do it their way instead of partnering with established firms. Among the relationships forged to date include Tommy Chong’s partnership with Marisol Therapeutics. Seattle-based Privateer Holdings struck a deal with reggae legend Bob Marley’s estate in 2014, and rapper Snoop Dogg licensed his name to a line of vaporizers manufactured by Grenco Science. “It’s really been the partnership with Snoop that has taken us to the next level and separated us from other brands in the market,” said Tim Patenaude, vice president of Grenco Science. Most recently, Snoop partnered with LivWell, one of the largest pot-shop operators and cultivators in Colorado for his “Leafs By Snoop” brand. The proliferation of cannabis-related businesses means that business owners are seeking new ways to differentiate their brand and stand out in the minds of consumers. Celebrities are escalating their cannabis commercialism beyond paraphernalia. For the first time, artists, directors, and even authors are directly lending their likenesses and names to cannabis products. While there’s always been the “cannabis celebrities” like Tommy Chong, Jorge Cervantes, Jack Herer, and Ed Rosenthal, today there are television, movie, and pop stars participating at cannabis festivals and events, as well as licensing their names to various canna-

brands. Think Seth Rogan, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sarah Silverman, just to name a few. An example of cannabis making its way into mass media is the Wonderful Pistachios commercial featuring Snoop Dogg. Such suggestive spots pass over those heads that don’t “get it,” while those that do appreciate it that much more. What’s more important is we’re not only seeing the emergence of celebrity cannabis brands, we’re seeing these brands forge strategic partnerships with recreational stores and dispensaries, growers and processors, and statewide distributors.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE CONSUMER? A consumer reacts better to an ad when it gives them an incentive, a personal benefit, rather than one that is a hard sell—and celebrities bring more than a hard sell. Celebrity marketing has a long history, including baseball gloves with players’ signatures or Arnold Palmer’s preferred golf clubs. The appeal is both the idea that a buyer has a shared experience with a celebrity and that a celebrity knows what constitutes top quality. Perhaps nostalgia plays into the picture as well. As America’s roughly 78 million baby boomers reach their 60s, there is no doubt that nostalgia will most likely play an even more integral role in marketing than it already does. At a time when technology is advancing at an everincreasing pace, legendary brands and institutions are toppling left and right. Nothing feels durable or lasting anymore. As consumers, we protectively cling to those brands that have not only endured from our childhoods, but bring us back to relive the memories of that simpler, more stable time—and celebrities such as Chong, Nelson, Snoop, and others feed that need. Despite the saturation of celebrity news and gossip, there was no sign that the public’s appetite for celebrity has diminished. Certainly marketers appear to be employing them as much as or even more than ever before. As cannabis moves to mainstream and additional states legalize, there will be more and more business opportunities for

celebrity endorsements. Some predict there will be a handful of legacy brands between the Marley family, the Chong endorsement, the Jimi Hendrix family, and the Snoop Dogg group. Time will tell.

BOB MARLEY

Earlier this year, billionaire Peter Thiel invested in Privateer Holdings, a firm with several investments in legal cannabis, including the partnership with Bob Marley’s family on Marley Natural, “the world’s first global cannabis brand.” According to a press release, Marley Natural will “offer premium cannabis products that honor the life and legacy of Bob Marley as well as his belief in the benefits of cannabis.” “It’s a wellness brand. It’s a lifestyle brand. It’s not just focused on a very specific aspect of cannabis, which I think is maybe a little bit more what the stereotype would lead to,” said Tahira Rehmatullah, general manager of Marley Natural. Marley Natural will start off growing and selling cannabis strains in Colorado and Washington State, where recreational is already legal. The company will also look at possible MMJ cultivators and dispensaries in states such as California as well as manufacturing accessories and body care products that will be available in all 50 states.

MELISSA ETHERIDGE

Musician Melissa Etheridge wants to cater to cannabis enthusiasts who want the effects without smoking it. The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter has developed her own cannabis-infused wine. Etheridge is a vocal proponent of the medical benefits of cannabis that she used during her battle with breast cancer. “I believe this is a huge opportunity,” the musician recently told Bloomberg. “A huge business and a huge market.” Her partnership with California dispensary Greenway Compassionate Relief produces a line of cannabis-infused wines created through a “cold extraction” process.

WILLIE NELSON Country music legend, poet, and activist Willie Nelson recently announced his soon-to-be-released personal brand of cannabis, Willie’s Reserve. Says a company quote, “the new products are created to envelop Willie’s morals and convictions.”

Many celebrities have licensed their names and likenesses to companies in the cannabis industry through product endorsements, and some have even invested in their own cannabis brands.

SNOOP DOGG

Recently, Snoop launched in a limitedtime exclusive relationship with LivWell, one of the largest potshop operators and cultivators in Colorado. Leafs by Snoop cannabis products are made under a Colorado cannabis licensee, Beyond Broadway, which does business as LivWell and will grow the brand’s flower and manufacture its edibles and concentrates. What’s more important is we’re not only seeing the emergence of celebrity cannabis brands, we are seeing these brands forge strategic partnerships with recreational stores and dispensaries, growers and processors, as well as statewide distributors. Snoop isn’t the only rapper branching out into cannabisrelated accessories. The Game has also designed a vaporizer and Lil Wayne has a line of cigars called Bogey Cigars, targeted at cannabis smokers.

TOMMY CHONG

One of the godfathers of the stoner culture, Tommy Chong manages to capitalize on his relationship with weed culture by recently licensing his name to a new product called “Tommy Chong’s Smoke Swipe,” a line of dry wipes meant to eliminate the odor of cannabis or tobacco smoke from clothes. After recently competing on the reality show Dancing with the Stars, Chong is now more of a household name than ever before.

WIZ KHALIFA

The Grammynominated, charttopping rapper has his own Khalifa Kush, sold in San Jose, California. Khalifa gets an unlimited supply of the indica-dominant hybrid in exchange for lending his name to the cut. He also partnered with RAW, a smart way to expand the reach of the RAW brand.

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INTERVIEW

WRITER

• DAVID HODES

| PHOTOS •AOCS

IN FOCUS: CYNTHIA LUDWIG HE QUEEN OF CANNABIS. The Princess of Pot. The Duchess of Dope. Her Majesty of Marijuana. These were the nicknames given to Cynthia Ludwig when she introduced the idea of getting the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) involved in cannabis testing. A former research scientist for Monsanto, Ludwig has between 22 and 27 patents in five different areas of science. As the director of technical services at AOCS, she is working with cannabis labs on a collaborative study in order to determine certified and validated methods for testing cannabis. The goal is to create methods for the cannabis industry to use in order to ensure consistently safe products with no contaminants. Ludwig recently led a conference discussion on infusion products. It was there that I asked Jaime Lewis, owner and executive chef of Mountain Medicine in Colorado, conference panelist, and a chairperson of the National Cannabis Industry Association, about the involvement of AOCS in the cannabis industry. “I am beside myself,” Lewis said. “We have three to five years of data that we can bring to the table and have smarter people than us to help guide us in terms of taking the cannabis industry and treating it like any other industry. AOCS brings that knowledge of every other industry that has done this before us. I think [AOCS being involved] is one of the most exciting pieces of news I have heard.” Clearly, industry insiders like that Ludwig and AOCS are involved, despite the Monsanto link. I was able to sit down with Ludwig during the conference to find out more about how AOCS will impact the cannabis industry. The following is a portion of our interview, which has been edited for space and clarity:

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“AS FAR AS I KNOW THERE IS NO OTHER ENTITY LIKE OURS THAT IS WORKING ON THIS FOR THE INDUSTRY.” “AS FAR AS I KNOW THERE IS NO OTHER ENTITY LIKE OURS THAT IS WORKING ON THIS FOR THE INDUSTRY.”

DOPE: Why did you and the AOCS decide to get into the cannabis business? CYNTHIA LUDWIG: Seeing the need for more official methods of testing in the industry, we wanted to work on something that we thought would be relatively straightforward to build confidence in the methodology. We are going to dose some hop leaves (the plant that is genetically closest to cannabis) with aflatoxin (a naturallyoccurring fungi) at about six different levels. Then we are going to send those out to different labs for them to run a test kit. We will then get back hundreds and hundreds of data points that we will feed into our statistical analysis model, and then determine whether or not this test kit is accurate and meets all of the criteria for everything that goes along with that validaDOPE: Why did you and the AOCS detion method. Then we will offer that cide to get into the cannabis business? as a standard procedure officially certified by AOCS. People can refer to this CYNTHIA LUDWIG: Seeing the need method that has been truly validated for more official methods of testing by an international standard and we in the industry, we wanted to work can start using that in commerce. As on something that we thought would far as I know there is no other entity be relatively straightforward to build like ours that is working on this for the confidence in the methodology. We industry. are going to dose some hop leaves (the plant that is genetically closest to DOPE: Was there any pushback from cannabis) with aflatoxin (a naturallythe corporation about doing this work occurring fungi) at about six differin cannabis? ent levels. Then we are going to send those out to different labs for them to LUDWIG: We are very progressive, so run a test kit. We will then get back we went to our board and discussed it. hundreds and hundreds of data points We said we are neither condoning nor that we will feed into our statistical condemning, but we are saying that, analysis model, and then determine as a non-profit dedicated to the sciwhether or not this test kit is accurate ence and technology of fats and oils, and meets all of the criteria for everyit is our job. It is in our wheelhouse as thing that goes along with that validaan edible fat and oil—this is what we tion method. Then we will offer that have been doing for 106 years. as a standard procedure officially certified by AOCS. People can refer to this DOPE: Clearly, you are diving deep inmethod that has been truly validated side the plant with your research and by an international standard and we testing. There has been a lot of work can start using that in commerce. As on the genetics of the plant and reports far as I know there is no other entity that the genome has been mapped. like ours that is working on this for the How does that affect what you want to industry. do in the cannabis business?

issues. This could all be repealed some day, so my concern is of immediate analytical methods so we don’t have dosing issues, we don’t make people sick, and we don’t have incidents that cause news stories. DOPE: Some industry experts like Josh Stanley, a leading advocate for medical cannabis, have said that there really is no such thing as medical marijuana because there has not been enough research and medical studies to call it truly medical. Would you agree with that? LUDWIG: I would totally disagree. Take a look at some of the work coming out of Israel: it is probably the leading country in studying medical marijuana in hospitals—that is official medical research. Not to mention the issues. This could all be repealed some fact that there are so many grassroots day, so my concern is of immediate people self-medicating, who have been analytical methods so we don’t have using it for years and years. I’ve seen dosing issues, we don’t make people it myself: little old ladies taking opisick, and we don’t have incidents that ates so they can walk, but they are so cause news stories. bad for the body that they’ve gone to a cannabis regime of mostly CBD during DOPE: Some industry experts like Josh the day and a little bit of THC at night. Stanley, a leading advocate for mediThere is both true medical research cal cannabis, have said that there realthat is going on in other countries, and ly is no such thing as medical marijuathen the sort of grassroots research. na because there has not been enough research and medical studies to call it DOPE: What would you like to see truly medical. Would you agree with happen in terms of cannabis testing that? going forward? LUDWIG: I would totally disagree. LUDWIG: I would really like to see the Take a look at some of the work comanalytical communities dealing with ing out of Israel: it is probably the the cannabis industry band together leading country in studying medical and drop the walls of competitivemarijuana in hospitals—that is official ness. It really frustrates me when an medical research. Not to mention the industry analyst says to me, “Well my fact that there are so many grassroots method is better and it gives the right people self-medicating, who have been answer and that makes it a competiusing it for years and years. I’ve seen tive advantage.” That is absolutely the it myself: little old ladies taking opiwrong attitude for them to have. The ates so they can walk, but they are so fact that they have a great method bad for the body that they’ve gone to a means they should share it with the incannabis regime of mostly CBD during dustry so that everyone is running the the day and a little bit of THC at night. same method and we can all get the There is both true medical research same answer. The fact that you run a that is going on in other countries, and good quality lab that has a reasonable then the sort of grassroots research. price point should be your competitive advantage, not whether or not you got DOPE: What would® you like to see the right answer. happen in terms of cannabis testing going forward?

DOPE: Was there any pushback from LUDWIG: It’s going to be very importhe corporation about doing this work tant down the road, but I think we in cannabis? need to crawl first. If we don’t get this right soon, we are going to have more LUDWIG: We are very progressive, so we went to our board and discussed it. dopemagazine.comdopemagazine.com FEBRUARY 2016 2016 ISSUE THE ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT ISSUE 00 THE DOPEST ISSUE dopemagazine.com THE 25the We said we are neither condoningFEBRUARY nor LUDWIG: I would really like to| see condemning, but we are saying that, analytical communities dealing with

CANNANEWS

WRITER

• DAVE HODES

| PHOTOS • KERI RASMUSSEN

EAST COAST GROW EXPLORING THE DRAMATIC AND COMEDIC CONUNDRUM OF D.C. CANNABIS

HE CANNABIS SHOWBIZ INDUSTRY has a new star—the District of Columbia. A local production company is currently shooting a pilot for a new 30-minute comedy-drama web series called East Coast Grow. The plot will be centered around what is happening in the first city (OK, district) to legalize cannabis on the East Coast. The six-month-old Aboveboard Productions and its principals, Amy Tasillo and Matt Doherty, are working toward a deadline of April 20, 2016 (get it?) to release the selffunded pilot.

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“For the pilot and series, we will have a lot of scenes set throughout the northeast part of the city,” Tasillo said. “That’s because this is the part of town that we really want to feature, and also where a lot of the cannabis cultivation centers are in D.C.” Stories for the planned 10-episode series will explore issues related to employment in the industry, such as why someone with a misdemeanor offense would not be allowed to work in a dispensary, to more far-reaching topics related to the odd duality of the district. While politics and business are a huge

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part of the district’s identity, the show will explore the local culture as well. The stories will draw heavily from Doherty’s anecdotal accounts of his work in building one of the area’s first dispensaries and consulting for others. The company has built a fictional dispensary set in a makeshift studio in the northeast part of the district, complete with prop cannabis plants. “We found a provider for those prop plants based in Laredo, Texas on Etsy,” Doherty said. “I actually tried to locate the person who did the prop design for the show

CREW MEMBER REGINA WILSON HOLDS A CLAPBOARD IN FRONT OF JOSEPH MCCAUGHTRY (CODY) INSIDE A FICTIONAL D.C. DISPENSARY, SIGNALING THE CREW TO PREPARE TO SHOOT A SCENE FOR THE PILOT OF EAST COAST GROW.

DAVID JOHNSON (DARRIN) AND THEO COPELAND (MIKE) SHOOT A SCENE INSIDE THE FICTIONAL DISPENSARY FOR EAST COAST GROW.

“THIS IS A SHOW WITH MULTI-LAYERED MESSAGES ABOUT UNDERSTANDING NOT ONLY HOW TO NAVIGATE THE TRICKY LOCAL CANNABIS BUSINESS, BUT ALSO ABOUT HOW CITIZENS WORK WITHIN WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY AN EXPERIMENT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.” Weeds, but they are no longer in business.” The cast of five includes D.C.-area residents Devin Nikki Thomas, who will play Tia, a woman who left her job in corporate communications to manage the cultivation center. David Johnson will play Darrin, who works at the cultivation center but also hopes changing cannabis policies will help his community, and Joe McCaughtry will play Cody, a cultivation center employee. Rounding out the cast is Theo Copeland as Mike, a character struggling with his criminal past as he tries to build a legitimate business, and Greg Crowe as Aldo, the dispensary owner who also promotes the growth of the industry in the district. The series will employ some necessary political messaging, Tasillo said. “We want to have a delicate balance of that. We are going to have a more dramatic comedy approach where we can have those serious moments and create some serious discussion.” Copeland said that he thinks all entertainment and art should have a political and social side. “Otherwise it’s just empty and vapid,” he said, “and this project has that.” Thomas says that her character is a “fixer” who tries to help her brother who is incar-

cerated because of drug offenses. Much of her character is based on her own life in the district. “I was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and I have seen how things have changed over the past ten years—even over the past five years,” she said, “and right outside the door of this studio, for me, and people that look like me, there’s a reality that I can walk out right now and have some kind of adverse event, whether right or wrong. That is just the reality I face. I can’t forget that when I am in here, and my character is aware of that,” she said. “It’s about what’s right and what’s wrong, and how do we move forward.” Johnson said that Thomas was right. “It’s just knowing a lot of what is going on and being a part of it,” he said, “and being a victim of it from time to time. That’s what feeds my character.” Shooting a cannabis show in the district has had its challenges, Doherty said. “Getting permits has not been easy. We eventually got our permits for certain locations from the D.C. film office. We actually wanted them to be here, be a part of this production, and we wanted to put up their logo for the end-ofshow credits, but they made the decision that

the content was too questionable for them to support.” Tasillo added that they have the whole first season mapped out, with the first two episodes fully scripted. “We want people in the cannabis community here to feel like they are fairly represented and that their stories are being told in a way that they are happy about and that are beneficial to them in the work that they do.” As with all productions of this size about an important topic, passion for the work runs high. There is a modest production budget that supports a cast of five and a crew of half a dozen professionals. This is a show with multi-layered messages about understanding not only how to navigate the tricky local cannabis business, but also about how citizens work within what is essentially an experiment in law enforcement, civil rights, and the will of the people. “We hope people really begin to understand that D.C. is more than just a place of Capitol Hill and staffers and argumentation and stuff,” Doherty said. “We want people to recognize D.C. as a real city with people that live ® here with a real cultural base.”

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MUSIC

HALFHAND’S DOPE JAMS

’m not going to lie—I really hate winter. The dropping temperatures make my pain go buck wild. Thank goodness for cannabis, which helps preserve joy in my day-to-day life amid seclusion and adversity. A good album makes an ideal accompaniment to a fine bit of Dutch Treat, Pineapple Kush, or Silver Surfer. In my experience, these moments become like meditations

JIMI TENTS Perhaps the youngest artist on this list is Brooklyn’s Jimi Tents. At 19, raw talent shines through. His latest EP, 5 O’Clock Shadow, introduces his distinctive voice in the New York scene. On each track he proves his versatility in delivery, riding the drops and pumping up the energy over complex beats. His headnodding anthem Landslide forms a powerful lead single, but the gem of the album is Elmer Fudd, in which Tents performs rapid-fire verses on #BlackLivesMatter, enduring the realities of racism, police brutality, and the narrow margin between opulent success and crashing failure before hitting the breaks and rocking out soulful hooks. I sure hope Jimi Tents will bless our ears and minds with more tracks like these in the year ahead!

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during which I find solace from my chronic pain. These medical meditations are invaluable opportunities to slow down, take an account of things, and find some muchneeded relief. If joint pain (or anything else in this mad world) is an issue, why not roll one up and listen to one of these head-banging tunes? There have been some interesting developments in the scene.

FREDDIE GIBBS Shadow of a Doubt is a gritty followup to Freddie Gibbs’ previous album, Piñata. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, Gibbs hails from the postindustrial wasteland where Chicago bangers go to get their arms. While his style evokes the music of the ’90s, his adrenaline-pumping cadence fits the stress of today. With gripping realness, he has revived gangster rap and earned the respect of an army of hip-hop heads. The Internet has fallen in love with him: he tore up a recent AMA on Reddit, with fans even offering their “SOs” to Gibbs. Apparently some guys will do anything to stay “G’d up.”

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NXWORRIES Stone Throw’s new duo NxWorries (pronounced “no worries”) is made up of singer/songwriter Anderson .Paak and producer Knxwledge, who have already turned heads in the West Coast scene (.Paak even gained Dre’s attention and collaborated on Compton). It’s really hard to describe their signature sound. I’m not sure if it’s rap, soul, or R&B. It’s probably a little bit of each. The duo’s recent EP, Link Up & Suede, includes two songs by the same name, and they have proven to be incredibly eclectic and catchy ballads that hint at the potential success of their full album, expected to drop in 2016.

WRITER•JOHNNY HALFHAND PHOTOS•ARTIST’S WEBSITES & SOUNDCLOUD PAGES

LIL DICKY

DONORMAAL DoNormaal is a vibrant Cali-grown, Seattle indie hip-hop artist with a sun-faded experimental style. She has been blasting tracks like crazy on her latest album Jump or Die, available on SoundCloud. The tracks have eclectic production styles, some of which can’t match her lyrical energy. While hiphop is (slowly) becoming less and less of a man’s world, DoNormaal invokes a feminine love and wisdom rarely heard in the genre. While Nicki Minaj raps in your face, DoNormaal takes her confidence and intones elongated bars like a seeress from another age. Tracks like Wide Awake shine with energy and longing. Her sound isn’t “normal,” and that’s a good thing.

VINCE STAPLES

An Internet phenomenon for some time now, Lil Dicky has emerged from the ranks of the amateur rappers. After quitting his day job and devoting himself to a rap career, he released Professional Rapper in 2015. The single of the same name details this awkward yet hilarious segue for a Jewish boy, with the phenom taking Snoop Dogg’s sage advice over an impeccable flow. $ave Dat Money, featuring Fetty Wap, fires back against the flashy opulence prevalent in mainstream hip-hop culture with self-deprecating levity. Comical, ridiculous, and honest, Lil Dicky’s levity and conscientious white privilege has earned my respect.

work of a trap renaissance of the arts: what a testament to the unbreakable people who call Detroit home. A grand spirit flows through the album, but Chaldean Talk and Big Bank stand out from the rest with their sound.

Detroit trapper Earlly Mac is on the rise. His hit single Be Ok is gaining attention as some sort of trap daily affirmation. His EP Cousin Trap enjoys energetic production value with Icepic. Mac’s bars honor a hustler’s grind in Motor City, a

Regarded with awe in the blogosphere, Vince Staples made a huge impact on the scene in 2015. Confronting hopelessness and contemporary despair, Staples’ Summertime ’06 battles through the bleakness of racist power structures. The album is loaded with hard yet thoughtful anthems like Norf Norf and Señorita (for which the music video pokes at the audience through the looking glass). While there are some collaborative tracks like Dopeman, which features Jhené Aiko and DJ Dahi, the album is like spending an afternoon hearing Staples spin dry yarns in verse. With the world seeming so grim, this is deeply resonant. There’s a shocking honesty that contrasts heavily to the glamourdominant hip-hop mainstream. Bizarrely, despite such success, he has dropped hints in interviews of his disillusionment with hip-hop. Will he stay with Def Jam or jump off? Maybe he’ll go into business or politics later this year. With an Oscar nomination for his part in Creed’s original song, Waiting For My Moment, hip-hop heads unite in prayer that this nonchalant champion keeps spitting fire.

EARLLY MAC

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FEATURE

WRITER•SHARON LETTS

FORTUNE & PAIN OUT FRONT FOR THE PLANT

ust a few months ago, former NFL time use, really bring out the negative player Kyle Turley was sick with symptoms.” injuries from his 10-year career Turley can be seen in a video on as a professional football player. He YouTube expounding on his situation. was diagnosed with early-onset de“You know, you hear a doctor that’s got all these credentials and accolades, mentia and Alzheimer’s and struggled and he’s a doctor in the National Footwith emotional issues, severe light sensitivity from his medications, paraball League, and you tend to believe him.” noia, and anxiety—while still in pain. Turley further explained the draw Turley said that at 34 he was half the to the world’s most dangerous game. man he was before, with a cornucopia “Running out of a tunnel with about of prescription medications at his fin80,000 people screaming wildly for gertips and little healing in sight. “I was a mess nine months ago,” Tur- you, and you are about to participate in one of the most primal sports there ley shared from his home in southern is. As an alpha male, it doesn’t get any California. “My hands were shaking, I better.” had all these things going wrong. The In a matter-of-fact tone, Turley said, meds I was on were supposed to help, but unfortunately the pills, over long- “If you play the game hard enough,

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PHOTOS•JOSH FOGEL / STOCK POT IMAGES

you get hurt.” And Turley got hurt, more than once, with little protection or support from the very organization for which he was risking his health. Turley started playing for the NFL in 1998. He missed the 2005 season due to sciatic nerve damage that atrophied his right leg. He had tried to recuperate from a herniated disk, but that year he was in the hospital again for back surgery. Atrophy happens when there is a waste away from non-use of tissue or organs. Turley’s muscle mass decreased by 65 pounds from his usual 300-pound frame. After surgery, Turley considered early retirement or a switch to tight end. After gaining his weight back, he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as right tackle. What they didn’t discuss were the ramifications of the prescription drugs he needed to take in order to play. By the end of the 2006 season, he had missed most of the games due to reoccurring injuries. “As a person who has a real high tolerance for pain, you know, when you have issues that need medication, you know that’s easy to look at a doctor and go, ‘He’s handing out those shots right now, and I really need this if I’m going to make it through today.’” Vicodin, Percocet, Vioxx: it was all available. When Vioxx was banned in the U.S. for causing heart failure, Turley said he already had a bevy of the meds at home. “I had to give my dog ipecac one time because he ate one of my bottles, and I had to make him throw up,” he said, sadly.

A League of Hypocrisy I had stockpiles of this stuff, that’s how easy it was to get,” he remarked about the vials of Vioxx that he and other players were still taking after the ban. “As much as they want to punish this guy and that guy for performance-enhancing drugs, [the NFL is] using performance-enhancing drugs via pain killers alone. ‘We’ll pump up you guys full of this stuff, so you don’t feel nothing when you are out there,’” Turley added, impersonating the coaches and doctors who prescribed the medications. “A fix for the interim and in the immediate to keep you on the field.” Turley said he was the first one to “dig deep” and be there for the team. “Pushing through” injuries is common practice, and he was a team player. “When it comes to the serious injuries and the ones that these doctors know shouldn’t be out on that football field, that’s where it should be taken out of the player’s hands. It’s not a doctor’s decision: it’s ‘Can you go?’ That’s the question asked, ‘Can you go?’” When a doctor asks if a player “can go” despite suffering from a traumatic injury, the NFL fails to keep its players safe, Turley said. The priority is to win the game. “I was complaining of a lot of pain in my leg,” he explained, “and so I allowed the doctors on the team to advise me, [and they said] that it really wasn’t that big of a deal. ‘You must have something with your hip that’s a problem. Here, let us shoot you up with this, this will take away the pain and numb that and allow you to play.’” Playing Through a Traumatic Brain Injury Aside from the chronic neuropathy pain, Turley believes he suffered through hundreds of concussions. He was repeatedly given an ice pack and a whiff of ammonia on the sidelines before being put back in the game. In 2007 he was knocked unconscious, taken off the field, and put

in what he refers to as a “closet” in the locker room. His wife was called in to take him home. “I should have been in an ambulance on my way to the hospital,” he said. “My wife was like, ‘He’s 300 pounds. How am I going to get him home?’ She took me to the hospital, where regular doctors were very concerned—they were worried something was seriously wrong.” As has been highly documented in the media, when the NFL found out his wife took him to the hospital, rather than home, Turley said its own doctors stepped in and had him removed from the hospital, stating they would take it from there. Turley said he was back on the practice field soon after and played in the very next game. “‘No big deal,’ they said. ‘Oh, you have a headache? Don’t worry about it, keep playing, you’ll be alright,’” Turley shared, disgusted at the memory of what was really happening to him at the time. From Gladiator to Broken Turley agrees the gladiator reference for football players is real. “At any cost” is the unsaid mantra, with much at stake. “Give them games and cake,” he joked, using a reference from Caesar himself. “Even more so in the stands. Fans want blood. If someone is down on the field with an injury, everyone cheers. It’s the biggest soap opera on television, and the NFL loves it.” Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is caused by repeated injury or trauma to the brain. It is common in contact sports. A deadly game-stopper for football players, it is what ended Turley’s career. In 2002, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the federal agency responsible for research and recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness, examined 3,349 NFL players and found the risk of death from neurodegenerative disorders was approximately three times higher than average. The risk of death from Alzheimer’s and ALS was four times greater in the players. Today’s tech-

nology is able to discover the injuries earlier; before, the damage would have only been found post-mortem. “After I retired in 2007, the vertigo was really bad,” Turley shared. “I was vomiting all the time and didn’t know what was wrong. There is no one from the NFL to help you once you are out of the game. I presented to the emergency room shaking in seizure. It took four nurses to hold me down for the MRI.” Turley said he was hospitalized for four days while neurologists and cardiologists tried to figure out what was wrong. “They said I was 100% healthy and then they looked at my brain,” he continued. “They showed me a big blurred mass, and I said, ‘Oh, I’ve seen that before, back in 2003.’ That’s when I finally had the understanding of what was going on in my brain.” Open Letter to the NFL In June of 2014 Dr. Lester Grinspoon, associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and longtime advocate of cannabis as medicine, sent an open letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell urging the league to stop testing its players for cannabis use. “I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the growing specter that many of these athletes will pay the price of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) to a greater or lesser extent as they grow older,” he wrote. “The skull is nature’s way of protecting this most important organ, the brain.” Grinspoon went on to explain how the “interest, knowledge, and use of marijuana has grown exponentially” over the past two decades. He shared how “cannabinopathic medicine” is neuroprotective and free of toxicity, with non-psychoactive, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. He went on to list the challenges of funding for research in the U.S. and the politics involved. He then urged Goodell and the NFL to decrease the instance of CTE by using its “deep pockets” to fund a “crash research program to determine the right com-

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Gridiron Cannabis Coalition

bination of CBDs to THC to protect its players.”

Pot, Politics, and Sports Turley reports cannabis use is alive and well in the NFL and in the locker rooms. “I wasn’t tested for street drugs until my second year in the NFL,” he shared. “It’s only done once a year and you have enough time to prepare. It’s no secret. Everyone has always smoked pot in the NFL—coaches do it, owners do it, players do it. This is not something unique to players or the guys in the hood. Across the board, this is going on in the locker room.” It wasn’t until Turley moved his family to the legal state of California a year and a half ago that he became a legal cannabis patient. “When I was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and dementia nine months ago, that’s when I finally sat down and said I believed a lot of the prescription meds I was on were contributing to my ailment. And if I’m wrong, I have a bigger problem than I’m recognizing here, but I have to give this a shot.” The medications he was on were causing severe mood swings, suicidal thoughts, and thoughts of violence. He decided to go cold turkey and use cannabis to get off the prescriptions. Those who oppose cannabis as medicine in the home claim that it is potentially harmful to children, but Turley said he never feared his kids getting into or becoming ill from cannabis. He said he absolutely feared the kids getting into the prescription medications he had in the house. His favorite and most consistent strains are San Fernando Valley and Jack Herer. He bought good supplies of both and hunkered down at home, replacing the prescriptions with smoking cannabis and ingesting medibles. “SFV to this day I call my spiritual strain,” he explained. “It’s a hybrid sativa with indica and it’s very calming. When I’m out of SFV I also keep a good supply of Jack Herer on hand. It’s my backup. I’ve tried all kinds of Jack, but just Jack Herer is best for me.”

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“I don’t think we will let [my son] play football unless things change, and I think they will change—they have to for the game to survive.”

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Gridiron Cannabis Coalition was founded in an effort to help the NFL understand the healing benefits of cannabis as medicine. Former player and coach Mike Ditka sits on its board of directors, and many former NFL players are coming forward in testament. Committed to “the evolution of the natural healing elements of the cannabis plant,” the coalition acknowledges that the game is “plagued with multiple ailments and diseases currently void of non-addictive treatments or cures.” The coalition is “dedicated to the advancement of medical cannabis in the modern age.” Turley added, “Medical cannabis will save football.” “At the end of the day, for me and my life, I smoke the plant,” Turley surmised. “I’ve read time and again that this plant has been proven over thousands of years to be therapeutic - and no one has died from it. That’s my thing: I don’t want to die from my own hand. And I don’t want to die from this disease. And I sure as hell don’t want to die from taking medicine—that’s why I got off the pills.” As for the rest of the population that has believed the misinformation on the plant for the past few decades, Turley said he really doesn’t care about what anyone thinks about cannabis being his medicine. “I’ve already been through the fire,” he insisted. “I’m a grown-ass man and this is America. Research tells us cannabis won’t kill you, it won’t give you lung cancer, and it won’t cause upper respiratory disease. I read a story about a lady in India who’s smoked weed every day and she’s 125 now. That’s my inspiration,” he laughed. As for his young son and his wanting to be like dad and wanting to play football, Turley paused. “No, I don’t think we will let him play football unless things change, and I think they will change—they have to for the game to survive.”

CANNANEWS

WRITER & PHOTOS•SHARON LETTS

AN AMERICAN STONER IN MEXICO

uring the 1960s and early ’70s, my family vacationed regularly in Baja California, Mexico. We’d drive the few hours from Redondo Beach in southern California and stay in the Del Sol Motel in downtown Ensenada. We’d eat great food, ride horses on the beach, and get our dental work done in a clinic that mirrored the dental offices at home, for a fraction of the price. When I was a Girl Scout, we’d hold clothing drives and my mom and dad would drive a few wide-eyed young girls across the border to Tijuana. We’d traverse down dirt roads into rows of cardboard shacks that lined the city’s perimeter at the time, handing out bags of clothes to those in need. Being in that neighborhood and witnessing how they lived was a lesson in humility and empathy I couldn’t get anywhere else, and to this day, I like to believe the act has left me with a giving and sympathetic heart.

brick : photo submitted

I never feared coming down to Mexico. Though today’s toll roads along the coast have stopped a majority of bribery opportunities, I don’t remember being afraid when my dad was pulled over and made to offer up

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a $20 bill to the policía for no good reason. It was just life in Mexico as we knew it. The Mexican people who served us were good and kind. I never felt like a tourist; I felt like I belonged. It was—and is—my home away from home.

others to succeed.” That day I was able to focus on my schoolwork for the first time, and three years later, at 19, I was first published as a poet. To this day I’ve never written anything professionally without medicating, be it for television, newspapers, or this magazine. It’s my Ritalin, and it continues to help me focus on my work.

Pharmacia, Ensenada, Mexico

RAGWEED, TIJUANA JAIL TIME, AND CLARITY Years later, I’d hear stories about my favorite aunt’s friend, who was held in a Tijuana jail for attempting to smuggle weed across the border in the early 1950s. Evidently, it wasn’t his first time—and wouldn’t be his last. Rumor had it that my aunt helped him escape by making plans with him in visiting “concubine” quarters, the two of them conspiring on a thin, dirty mattress on the floor. I’m not sure how the whole thing played out, but he did escape to freedom. The first joint I ever smoked was no doubt the same Mexican ragweed my aunt’s boyfriend commandeered. It was 1975. I was 16 and on my way to high school when a friend offered up a smoke in a gas station bathroom. At that time, I would guess the THC probably measured in at around 5%, if that. I remember stepping out of the bathroom into the crisp morning air with all my senses activated and my third eye fully open. I had been failing high school, unable to retain anything, with no diagnosis. The principal advised that I would “need to work harder than

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“Gel De Marihuana”

SEEK AND YOU SHALL FIND Traveling as a full-fledged patient can be challenging. The truth of the matter is, where there are humans, there is cannabis. As demonstrated in my essay “An American Stoner in Paris,” published in the July 2014 issue of DOPE, even in a non-tolerant, illegal country, my medicine was easily found. Mexico is no different. In fact, the people of Mexico knew about the medicinal benefits of cannabis long before the U.S. was a country. The indigenous peoples of the world have been using plant-based medicines, including cannabis, for centuries. Take away the industrial revolution and all that’s left are biological beings and plants. We are meant to have a symbiotic relationship with nature for food, medicine, shelter, and survival. Based on our modern-day ailments

alone, I’d say our relationship with nature is failing. FROM GARDEN TO SHELF TO HEALING Pharmacies, or farmacias, are popular in Mexico. Americans frequent them often, as no prescription is needed for most of the medications offered. Pain and sleeping pills are common purchases, with Viagra signs prominently displayed. While perusing a farmacia in Ensenada, I came across a jar of salve with a big cannabis leaf on the label. “Marihuana” was clearly listed as a major ingredient. I asked the pharmacist if this really had “marihuana” in it, to which he replied, “Sí”. I asked if it was legal, and he said “ No”, laughing. I then asked why he sells it. “Because it works,” was his response, with a wink and a knowing nod. The ingredients also listed arnica, glucosamine, and other plant-based concentrates known to have antiinflammatory properties just like cannabis. Though it was weaker than what I have made at home or could purchase in a dispensary, it did ease the chronic pain in my knee and lower back. According to a paper published on the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s PubMed site, the most commonly used herbs in Mexico are nopal, peppermint, chaparral, dandelion, mullein, chamomile, nettle, passionflower, linden, and aloe. The farmacias seem to cater mostly to Americans and tourists from other countries, but there are many botánicas, shops filled with plantbased medicines, bulk herbs, and combinations of plant-based remedies. Even the big grocery stores like Calimax have homeopathic sections with bags of herbs, teas, herbal capsules, and salves. The most common herb added to everything from shampoo to herbal remedies is manzanilla, or chamomile. Chamomile is my favorite herb, mimicking cannabis without the THC. The cost is around $2 an ounce in the states for bulk flower, so it’s also economical. Locals use it regularly

in Mexico for myriad ailments including sleep, digestive issues, pain, inflammation, infection—the list is as long as it is for cannabis. They also put it into shampoo, soap, and eye drops, as it mirrors cannabis as an anti-inflammatory. Tinctures are an excellent example of the cost difference of herbal remedies in Mexico and the U.S. A 1-ounce dropper bottle can cost over $20 at herb shops in the U.S., but are typically around $2 in Mexico. However, travel isn’t necessary: Mexican, Asian, and other culturally diverse markets in the U.S. often have homeopathic treatments on the shelves at a fraction of the cost. A booth set up at a local weekly swap meet just south of Ensenada proper in the agricultural region offered many small bags of seeds and dried herbs for medicinal use. The woman selling them informed me that one bag of moringa seeds, when shelled and swallowed with water, quells diabetes symptoms. This, I thought, was worth researching. I quickly found a site called, “I Love Moringa the Miracle Tree.” Its home page claims the plant is a “fast-growing, nutritious, delicious gift from God,” with every part of the plant used for cleansing and healing the body.

Dried Arnica

I bought a large bag of dried arnica to make salve, a bag of moringa seeds for a friend with diabetes, and a bag of a combination of herbs that are said to quell body temperature issues associated with menopause. Each bag was about 30 pesos, which was an exceptional deal. With the current exchange rate, I spent $1.75 per bag. The bottom line is, the poorest in the world don’t look to Big Pharma to ease their pain—they go to the garden for help, a place we’ve wandered away from for far too long.

For Diabetes.

Viva la Mexico and its people for keeping plant-based medicine alive. Godspeed to them in legalizing my favorite herb, cannabis. Until that happens, health can still be found in the garden.

“The bottom line is, the poorest in the world don’t look to Big Pharma to ease their pain—they go to the garden for help, a place we’ve wandered away from for far too long.”

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ROAD TRIP

WRITER & PHOTOS

• SHARON LETTS

Lega l izi ng South of th e Bord er

EGALIZING CANNABIS in the dilemma. “The narco-wars in Mexico United States has dramatically are fueled by drug consumption and reduced demand for Mexico’s drug policy in the United States. The ragweed. This development brings current drug laws make no sense for hope to those who would like to see the United States, and they are dean end to America’s failed Drug War stroying Mexico.” and the violence it has brought to Reports from Reuters detail more both countries. than 85,000 people have been killed According to a story in The Washin Mexico since former President Feington Post, Mexico’s drug trafficking lipe Calderón launched his military organizations (DTOs) are now said to campaign to beat back the cartels in be focusing on cocaine, heroin, and 2006. Some say the numbers are a low meth, with a substantial 37% drop in estimate, with little incentive for the Mexican cannabis crossing its borders cartels to stop the violence. in the past two years (since Colorado Duncan Wood, director of the and Washington legalized). Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, In the spirit of competition, those offered the beginning of a solution: still growing for the black market in “Building institutions in Mexico; helpMexico have taken America’s lead on ing the rule of law; reforming the jusimproving the quality of its bud. THC tice system; reforming police institucounts are now said to be upwards of tions—that’s what’s going to make the 10%—the highest the country has seen. difference in the long run.” Sanho Tree, director for the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, shared on HuffPost Latino, “Things like cocaine, heroin, [and] marijuana—these are minimally-processed agricultural commodities. Legalize to End the Failed War on Drugs They’re very easy to produce, these drugs. They’re very cheap to produce. In another report from CNN, longtime There’s no reason they should be drug war correspondent Don Winslow worth this kind of money that people urged an end to America’s dismal are willing to kill, and torture and attempt to get its people off drugs. massacre over.” “I’ve written about the failed War on He went on to say that vigilante Drugs for the past 15 years. That’s a groups intent on sealing the U.S.sad statement, if you think about it. Mexican border by any means necesParticularly given that 15 years is less sary, such as those portrayed in films than half the life of this particular like Cartel Land, are actually helping war, which, at 44, has gone on loncartels with “price support.” They are ger than the Civil War, World War II, raising the cost of transporting drugs Vietnam, and Afghanistan combined.” and insuring longevity in the black Winslow’s beat is the Mexican bormarket. der and he said there’s still plenty “The catch-22 of the drug war [is of cocaine, heroin, and meth coming that] the more you escalate it, the across, but that the U.S. medical canmore valuable these drugs tend to benabis reforms have put the brakes on come,” Sanho surmised. Mexican weed. “We’ve cut marijuana A paper published by the Congresimports almost in half within the last sional Research Service explains the

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“One, two, th ree, fou r, we don’t want you r fucki ng war.”

— Protest c h ant ci rca 1 9 6 0

two years legalizing it,” he said. “Mexican marijuana traffickers will tell you that it’s not worth it anymore—they can’t compete with the domestic American price and quality. The wholesale price of Mexican marijuana has dropped from $100 a kilogram to $25. Growers in Durango and Sinaloa have stopped planting the crop.” What this means is the heroin epidemic in the states is now being primarily supplied by the Sinaloa cartel, which has switched from growing cannabis to farming poppies. Americans addicted to legal prescription opiates now have a cheaper option, with greater profit margins to the cartels than with cannabis. “A kilo of raw opium sap produced in Mexico costs about $1,500,” Winslow reported. “That’s $1,500 on one side of the border, $50,000 on the other. That’s a pretty good profit margin. A kilogram of cocaine costs about $12,000 to buy in Mexico but is worth $27,000 once it crosses that border.” Winslow said he’s not just blaming prohibition and that recreational drug users haven’t exactly been responsible in their purchases. “Addiction is one thing, but recreational drug users in this country have to take responsibility for what they do,” he lamented. “It always boggles my mind that people will be so particular about only buying fair-trade coffee or free-range chicken, but will think nothing of doing coke or weed that was transported or grown by slave labor forced to work in the fields by the cartels, women who are often raped and turned to prostitution.”

Legalize to Educate

Legalize to End the Violence

Dr. Carl Hart, professor at Columbia University, offered the solution of drug treatment, rather than incarceration, in a new book he’s working on now. In an article published in the November 2015 issue of DOPE, he mentioned that of all drug use in the states, a mere 10% of people are seriously abusing street drugs with lifethreatening consequences and crime involved. This “empirical fact,” as he called it, leaves much room for speculation within the failed War on Drugs. “In some ways, the liberalizing of marijuana laws highlights the hypocrisy of previous drug ‘education’ programs that exaggerated harms associated with marijuana use,” he explained. “Accordingly, some astute observers have begun asking the question, ‘If they lied to us about marijuana, then what makes you think they are not lying about cocaine, MDMA, heroin, etc.?’ This, I think, has led many to seek alternative sources of information for drug-related facts. Of course, some of these alternative sources can be equally misleading as so-called official government sources. It’s unfortunate that many of our governmental sources of drug information specialize in propaganda. This can be as dangerous as the drugs themselves.” Dr. Hart went on to say that the U.S. government and other governments around the world have played an active role in what he called the “miss-education” of the public about drugs. “There is a plethora of information that we can give drug users to decrease the likelihood of drug toxicity,” he continued. “This information is not new and the U.S. paid for a large amount of it through research grants. I should know because I had multiple grants myself.” If drug users were educated about the importance of the dose being administered and how the route of administration increases toxicity, Dr. Hart believes we could dramatically reduce the number of drug-related accidents or deaths.

The U.S. War on Drugs does not stop people from doing drugs or selling them, and the cartels are as savvy as they are strong. Since they are able to meet demand no matter the restrictions, Mexico has taken matters into its own hands. In 2009, Mexico decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and LSD. Cartels retaliated with record incidents of violence, deaths, and kidnappings for ransom. “The maximum amount of marijuana considered to be for ‘personal use’ under the new law is 5 grams—the equivalent of about four marijuana cigarettes,” The New York Times reported. “Other limits are half a gram of cocaine, 50mg of heroin, 40mg for methamphetamine and 0.015mg of LSD.” Mexico’s new drug leniency laws mirror Dr. Hart’s suggestion of encouraging treatment rather than incarcerating for personal drug use, but where ailments and disease are concerned, another approach was needed to get the plant to the people.

400 seizures that can occur in a 24hour period. Severe epilepsy symptoms that can stop a child’s growth and development and cause early death are successfully being treated in America with CBDonly strains or cannabis that has been hybridized to have low THC counts and higher cannabinoids, with little to no psychoactivity felt. The U.S. Department of Agriculture aided the cause by allowing cannabis with 0.03% THC counts to be labeled as hemp, allowing the product to be shipped across state lines. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported on this in his groundbreaking documentary Weed, which profiles five-year-old Charlotte Figi, who has suffered from Dravet syndrome since she was two months old. Charlotte was suffering from nearly 300 seizures a week when her family discovered CBD-only cannabis in Denver, and by then she was already developmentally delayed. More than 2.3 million Americans live with some form of epilepsy. The Epilepsy Foundation recently made a bold statement on using cannabis as medicine: “The Epilepsy Foundation supports the rights of patients and families living with seizures and epilepsy to access physician directed care, including marijuana.”

Legalize to Thrive

Grace’s father, Raul Elizalde with Amy Case, one of 150 Mexican residents who have applied to grow cannabis in Mexico.

Legalize to Heal This past year, several lawsuits were filed against the Mexican government to allow cannabis to be used as medicine. One of them came from a group of people representing Graciela Elizalde, aptly nicknamed Grace. Grace, an eight-year-old girl from Monterrey, won the case. Grace suffers from a severe case of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which often requires an induced coma to stop the approximately

Grace, whose growth is stunted, has not spoken since she was two years old. She was granted legal use of cannabis by a lower court after her father Raul spoke to the judge privately. The court did not just allow her to medicate, but legalized the plant for recreational use to the plaintiffs in this groundbreaking lawsuit. Many speculate the ruling will open the door for legalization in the country. “The first time I filed a suit, the court told me I needed permission from the health department,” Raul explained. “The health department told me I needed a court order. So I went back and spoke to the judge, he granted us permission, then they allowed us to get the medicine. It was a dance.” The “Cannabis Club” of five is al-

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CANNANEWS

lowed to grow, Regardless, the family is hopeful transport, and about her treatment. “She’s doing consume marigreat!” Raul exclaimed from his home juana for its memin Mexico City. “Right now more than bers’ own “recre40% to 50% of her seizures are reational use,” but duced and much less intense from the cannot sell it to very first day of use.” others. More than 400 children in Mexico Epidiolex was are now waiting to be treated with the Graciela Elizalde aka Grace the medicine oil for severe epilepsy. Raul expects initially allowed to be imported into many more to come forward since the Mexico for Grace via Cofepris, the win. Mexican Health Agency that oversees medicine imports. Manufactured by Legalize to be Human GW Pharmaceuticals, Epidiolex is still in the developmental phase, while Andres Aguinaco, one of the attorneys CBD-only oils from the states are alfor Grace’s collective, spoke via satelready in use and working. lite to the group gathered at ICU. He RaulLEGITIMATE was allowed CANNABIS to acquire INDUSTRY oil was – confident in his statement that from Colorado’s Realm of Caring, adthe that’s the end game. That’s why Steve process to legalize the country ministering Charlotte’s Web to Grace should take about two years. Once all DeAngelo wrote The Cannabis Manifesto. That’s regulations cases in for thewhy firststates time have just aput fewstrict weeks are presented and won, Mexiplacewith for cannabis growers, and reago, nothing consumers, short of miraculous cans will be allowed to grow, possess, tail stores. It’s also whyfirst seed-to-sale results. “I gave her the dose andtracking and consume cannabis. systems vital. Tracking systems help busi- More than 150 residents, includshe wentare tososleep,” Raul explained. nesses andand lawmakers keep track of every gram “She slept slept—with no seizures.” ing Amy King (who was born as a U.S. of cannabis to prevent diversion, improve trans Raul could hardly believe his little citizen in Texas but lives in Mexico), parency, and create accountability. girl was sleeping soundly and not seiz- have applied to grow cannabis in Whether it’s fair or not, cannabis faces an ing, he held under her Mexico since the country decriminaluphillsobattle on his the finger road to legitimacy. Withnose to see if she was still breathing. ized personal possession. Permits cost out seed-to-sale software, the cannabis indus“The next morning when she woke 1,000 pesos each, or around $50 USD. try is just another barely legal drug operation. up, her face had changed,” he shared. Software that helps the industry demonstrate to “It’s a human right to cultivate naysayers that cannabis can with be produced “She is a different girl now, may- and your own personality,” King said durconsumed board can only being a the gathering at ICU. “Based on be one or completely two small above seizures a week, good cannabis tracking comso far.thing. This Seed-to-sale plant changed our lives.” the Mexican Constitution, it’s a hupanies have helped by legiti Charlotte’s Web to is #end420shame part of CW man right to develop and explore your mizing the industry. Botanicals’ Advanced Solutions line. personality. The process of prohibition First, it’s important to recognize what the Grace began with .50 milliliters: half denies that right, and so we begin industry would look like without the ability to during the day and half at night. She’s the legal process.” The end goal, Case track each and every plant. “Lack of access to the now at .70 milliliters a day and takes continued, is for jurisprudence to take data provided by seed-to-sale cannabis tracking .30 milliliters during the day and .40 effect. would mean a lack of transparency and accountmilliliters at night. ability,” says Patrick Vo, CEO and President of “When the Supreme Court made the During a meeting hosted by Gendecision to allow personal use, they BioTrackTHC (Full disclosure: he’s also the author’sHemp husband.) lack of transparency and eral at the“A International Canbasically gave congress a directive to accountability is unsettling and Diego, uncomfortable nabis University (ICU) in San make the laws equal to its findings,” for law enforcement, Raul supported CBD the oil,government, but he also and conCase explained. “Because the laws as cerned citizens.” put a strong emphasis on whole plant they are written are unconstitutional, “Cannabis would nearly as acceptedCongress as theory, stating THCnot is be also needed. has an obligation to make it is now without tracking,” says Scott Denholm, It’s well known now that the chilthe law fit the constitutional findExecutive Director at Metrc. “v willing to step dren who start out on CBD only for ings.” out and the entire industry would probably be seizures get used to the dosing fairly on iffy footing if these systems weren’t out there. quickly, and small amounts of THC Regulation and tracking benefit the industry’s must be added to keep the momentum ability to not only survive but to thrive.” of healing going. thoughofpsyTo appreciate theTHC, advantages operating in a well-regulated market, all you need to do is look choactive in larger amounts, is said at be thehelpful one state cannabishealing isn’t tracked: to for where neurological California. “While cannabis market in small doses. TheCalifornia’s U.S. government’s has certainly survived tracking software, patent on CBD stateswithout that it’s a “neucannabis businesses in the state are much more roprotectant,” among other benefits.

#END420SHAME

WRITER

•KELLY VO

“Based on the Mexican Constitution, it’s a human right to develop and explore your personality. The process of prohibition denies that right.”

TRACKING THE PATH TO LEGITIMACY

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Legalize for Peace Adam Barra, a Mexican advocate of cannabis as medicine, shared with Latin news site El País, “Authorities have realized that they have to move forward on the therapeutic use of cannabis either the easy way or the hard way, and it seems like they are doing it the easy way.” Mexican President Enrique Peña Niego said after the vote that he “respects and accepts” the ruling, further speculating the decision will begin a new national debate on legalization. Prior to the vote, former Mexican President Vicente Fox was asked what the decision to legalize cannabis would mean. The cannabis-friendly politician simply stated, “It will stop the violence.” History can and does repeat itself. As more upper- and middle-class Americans get addicted to heroin via legal prescription opiates, the problems within the failed War on Drugs will continue to be revealed. Shutting down the Mexican black market won’t take the problems of addiction away, but it will help create a better place for education and healing.

While California’s cannabis market has certainly survived without tracking software, cannabis businesses in the state are much more at risk for federal and local prosecution, raids, and seizures. at risk for federal and local prosecution, raids, and seizures,” says Heather Smyth, Marketing Manager at MJ Freeway. “Seedto-sale tracking means that every touch to the plant will be recorded to ensure consumer safety and integrity. Tracking software makes regulation possible. And local regulation means protection from federal prosecution.” “From a state tracking perspective, a seed-to-sale system enables government agencies to have full visibility of everything – every plant and every gram,” Vo says. “That gives peace of mind not just to the naysayers, but to patients. And from a business perspective, we don’t want people buying their cannabis from dark alleyways. A tool that keeps employees accountable, tracks inventory, and helps maximize revenue is hugely important.” One of the biggest problems that tracking helps solve is diversion. “When I talk about diversion, I’m talking about stopping illegal marijuana from finding its way into the legal market. If we eliminate that diversion, it protects the consumer from unregu-

lated product and results in better prices.” All of that transparency is necessary if the cannabis industry wants to improve its public image. “There’s a halo effect that takes place when product is created in a legal structure,” Denholm says. “We don’t walk into the grocery store concerned about the fruits, vegetables, and canned goods we buy. If cannabis is regulated the same way, you’re going to see a boom. You’re going see people have a much friendlier attitude toward regulated cannabis products.” “We need to hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability to become more widely accepted,” Vo says. “Showing that we are responsible, that businesses are responsible, is absolutely critical to continuing to positively influence perceptions and the political landscape of the cannabis industry.” But it’s not just about other people’s perception of cannabis; it’s also about helping those individuals already in the business. “With cannabis tracking, business owners can understand patient and customer data to better serve their market and improve

their business model,” Smyth says. At the end of the day, tracking is about bringing the cannabis industry up to the standards of other legitimate industries. “I really want people to look back and see what has happened in states like Colorado and Washington, and what’s starting to happen in Nevada and Oregon,” Denholm says. “The world has not crashed and burned. People aren’t getting sick. People aren’t dying. The population hasn’t fallen off the edge of the world. Cannabis has not been the big issue that a lot of people thought it was going to be.” Even more, cannabis is about passion for the plant and it’s many uses. “I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact that cannabis has on the lives of individuals,” Vo says. “The legalization of cannabis, in and of itself, is nothing for anyone to fear. The prohibition of cannabis harms families and unjustly imprisons millions of people. Even if you have concerns, know there is technology out that we can use to show this industry is filled ® with good businesses and people.”

INDUSTRY LEADERS BioTrackTHC is the only cannabis industry software company providing tracking solutions to both government agencies as well as the private sector. Founded six years ago, fourteen hundred businesses use their paid commercial system and they have four government contracts. Metrc deployed Colorado’s seed-to-sale tracking system for the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division starting in 2013. Their system has eleven thousand users and has been used to track over three million plants and two million packages. MJ Freeway has provided professional services since 2010 that include cannabis business license application support, operational consulting, and marketing services. They offer digital menu services, a white-label mobile application for cannabis businesses, in-store mobile ordering, cash kiosk integration, and retail supplies. dopemagazine.com ISSUE 05 THE DOPEST ISSUE

GROW

GROW THE MOST FROM COAST TO COAST

HOW TO GET TH E MOST OUT OF ANY CLIMATE

ur tie-dye clothes and pungent opinions stand out just as well as the distinct aroma of cannabis itself. Cannabis growers are no different, constantly pushing the boundaries of science and horticulture to develop the best product. With all the hype about hydroponics, aquaponics, HIDs, and nutrient lines, it’s easy to forget we’re still working with a plant. In most beginner grow books (and I think I’ve read them all), more than half of the book is spent describing

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environmental control. With the reservoir heaters, coolers, air filters, water filters, and pH, EC, and TDS meters, I would hope the environment would be on lock! The importance of maintaining a proper plant climate is absolutely necessary, but understanding how to take advantage of the native climate will ensure the purchase of tools and not toys. The ecosystem outside is stable. I know it’s not air conditioned and vacuumed, but plant life, insects, and

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weather all have a steady pattern that is specific to a particular climate. When I lived in Texas, it required a lot of tools to execute a successful crop. The seasonal humidity, extreme temperatures, and long summer can make for a difficult haul when unprepared. Rather than being frustrated by the seasons, we can use what we know to determine everything from grow medium to pest management. Starting from the ground up, the soil and hydroponic decision is one

WRITER

“The importance of maintaining a proper plant climate is absolutely necessary, but understanding how to take advantage of the native climate will ensure the purchase of tools and not toys.”

• DAVID BAILEY

that comes down to a lot of factors, and I’m going to add another. How extreme the weather conditions get, where the grow room is located, and how dry or humid the air is should all be factored into which medium is chosen. Coming from the South, hydroponics had been my choice for a huge number of reasons, but it had disadvantages when I arrived in Colorado. Running an open flood table with Hydroton before had never been a problem since we always had even air exchange and moderate humidity. The dry air of Colorado was evaporating my open reservoir so quickly on a daily basis that my pH would fluctuate, while the Hydroton couldn’t hold moisture long enough to feed the plant. A quick lid and a switch to coco husks solved my evaporation issue, but fall and winter brought a whole new slew of lessons. Climate control down South means one thing: air conditioning. Fall in Colorado, on the other hand, meant warm days and below freezing nights. From experience, running the air conditioning during the day and a heater at night isn’t efficient or effective! By having my exhaust fan on a thermostat and switching my light cycle to overnight, my lamp heated my grow room at night while the air conditioning occasionally came on during the day. As if the temperature wasn’t enough, the bugs will be fleeing from the freeze and headed to the perfect

ILLUSTRATION

• BRANDON PALMA

climate: the grow room. Battling insects is a multi-step solution, but it starts long before any invaders come into a grow space. Just like clockwork, insects will migrate and breed in cycles. Knowing what insects are local problems in the area, even if it’s not specific to cannabis, helps manage the environment. Spraying before the season will also slow the migration. Getting natural preventatives from plants to predators can help control certain insects from ever arriving. Understanding the world the plants are growing in makes the grow room easier to grasp. We will always need tools and there will always be toys, but thinking it through can save time and money, not to mention ganja!

With all the exciting grow accessories on the market, it can be overwhelming and even confusing to determine what is necessary. While I’m sure there’s a use for everything, most of it is not even helpful. When shopping for grow supplies or trying to solve a problem, look toward horticulture before invention.

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TECH

MERRY MAKING IN THE MEADOW HOW MEADOW CARE IS NOR M A L IZING CA NNA B I S

he legalization of medical and recreational cannabis opened the doors for the development of new technology specific to the industry. All that new technology hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just helped the industry advance in leaps and bounds: it has a secondary side effect: normalization. Meadow Care, a cannabis software company, perfectly exemplifies how the development of new technology helps to normalize the industry. The idea for the software company was born in February 2014 while David Hua was attending Oaksterdam University. It was there that he learned about the difficulties dispensaries face trying to manage day-to-day operations. The price of software was exorbitant and the technology was archaic.

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Hua, who had been in the business of software and technology since 2006, approached a few of his colleagues at Sincerely with an innovative idea. In June 2014, Hua, Scott Garman, Rick Harrison, and Harrison Lee began writing the first lines of code. Meadow launched in October 2014 and was hailed as the Uber of the cannabis market. By working closely with local medical dispensaries, this San Francisco-based startup allowed medical card users to browse local dispensaries. After uploading identification and doctor recommendation, a customer could place an order for home delivery and receive their purchase in under an hour. And for those who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a medical card, Meadow will assist in scheduling an in-home

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consultation. In November 2014, Hua and the team applied to work with Y Combinator, a sort of boot camp for entrepreneurs. YC assists startups with everything from developing business plans, obtaining seed funding, and meeting potential investors. Those chosen receive funding of $120,000 and three months to spend with top developers in Silicon Valley. Meadow was accepted into the YC in January 2015 and graduated in April. They were officially the first cannabis company to graduate. Meadow recently announced the launch of a whole new seed-to-sale platform. With this new enterprisefocused software suite, dispensaries will be able to manage online and

WRITER

“You have this amazing industry that is ready to grow, but it’s lacking in technology and tools to scale.” mobile orders, coordinate delivery logistics, analyze sales and toggle data, and manage customer information, all while maintaining compliance. The new platform is a software as a service (SaaS) model, allowing dispensaries to pay each month on a sliding scale. “You have this amazing industry that is ready to grow,” said Hua, now Meadow’s CEO, “but it’s lacking in technology and tools to scale. That’s where Meadow comes in.” According

to Hua, all the different aspects of the cannabis industry will become connected through this new seed-to-sale platform that he calls “the GrubHub for cannabis.” Although Meadow was originally only available in the San Francisco area, Hua plans to make the software available in the wider market. After that, they hope to use the power of education to help dispel cannabis propaganda. “This is not some get-rich-quick scheme. We’re playing the long game on behalf of the movement. Our overachieving goal is to implement and publicize a lawful marketplace to demonstrate to medical cannabis opponents that patients can obtain access to necessary treatment without endangering public safety or rule of law.” Public safety and rule of law aren’t the only arguments against the legalization of cannabis. Opponents like the National Institute on Drug Abuse argue that cannabis is a gateway drug that leads to addictive behaviors. It is also stated that there haven’t yet been adequate numbers of studies to prove that cannabis isn’t dangerous.

• HEATHER COONS

Hua, a long-time cannabis patient, disagrees. “Marijuana isn’t a gateway drug. The drug dealers peddling the other addictive substances are the gateway. That’s why legalization and legitimization of the industry are so important. When you regulate cannabis, test it, and it’s sold from a store, it makes cannabis safer.” Another very common argument opponents raise is that the consumption of cannabis causes severe cognitive impairment and an inability to contribute to society through meaningful work. Hua, along with the Meadow team, is a perfect example of how much of a fallacy that statement really is. And they’re not the only ones. An article published by Bloomberg Business stated that the techies from Silicon Valley made up as much as 40% of some dispensaries’ business. Perhaps one day proponents will do a study that correlates technological advances with cannabis consumption. But until then, Silicon Valley’s movers and shakers help normalize the cannabis industry through new and innovative technologies that they develop for use in the industry.

HOW TO GET A MEDICAL CARD THROUGH MEADOW Go to www.getmeadow.com Click “No, I need one” Enter your zip code Create an account Select the day and time for your video conference appointment Enter your payment information, pay, and confirm Browse the selection until your recommendation is received dopemagazine.comdopemagazine.com FEBRUARY 2016 2016 ISSUE THE ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT ISSUE 00 THE DOPEST ISSUE dopemagazine.com FEBRUARY THE

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CANNANEWS

WRITER

• LINDSEY RINEHART

IMAGES

• “REEFER MADNESS” STILLS

CANNABIGOTRY T H E M OT I VAT I O N BEHIN D P ROHIB ITION IST P RACTI CES

eland Berger coined the term “cannabigotry” after witnessing the unnecessary arrests of people who either possessed or grew cannabis and seeing first-hand the discrimination cannabis users faced, whether in housing, jobs, or custody battles. A Portland lawyer of 31 years, he spent 19 of those years defending cannabis consumers before switching to his own private cannabusiness legal firm, CannaBusiness Compliance, LLC. He is also a tenured cannabis activist who works within several national cannabis activism groups, including NORML and Americans for Safe Access. Mr. Berger supplied a clear definition of cannabigotry. “Cannabigotry is the motivation behind prohibitionist policies,” he wrote in an email. “We are right on the science, we are responsible adults and cannabis is a gift. Why is there prohibition? Why are there prohibitionist policies (e.g. dispensary bans, urine testing for em-

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ployment, housing discrimination)? They just don’t like our kind. They have prejudged us, which is to say they are prejudiced against us. Cannabigotry is where the prejudice is based solely on cannabis.” Many would agree that cannabigotry got its start in America with the use of the term “marijuana,” which didn’t exist in America until 1910. Until then, cannabis was accurately referred to by its scientific name—cannabis. Harborside Health Center, which has come out as an active proponent against the use of the word, provides a short and accurate description of how the term “marijuana” began in the U.S. on their website. “‘Marijuana’ started off life as a Mexican folk name for cannabis, but was first popularized in the U.S. by a notorious yellow press publisher, William Randolph Hearst, [who was] committed to the prohibition of marijuana, which threatened his timber investments,” they write.

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“He used his control of hundreds of newspapers to orchestrate a vicious propaganda campaign against cannabis, which featured lurid (and false) stories about black and brown men committing outrageous acts of murder and mayhem. The campaign played on then-predominantly racist public opinion to make cannabis illegal at the federal level in 1937. Since then, ‘marijuana’ has come to be associated with the idea that cannabis is a dangerous and addictive intoxicant… [playing] a big part in stymying cannabis legalization efforts throughout the U.S.” Since the late 1900s, many Americans have returned to using the word “cannabis.” Hispanics have also formed new terms, such as gallo, mota, and pasto. One of the earliest statements meant to instill fear was made by the Los Angeles Chief of Detectives Joseph F. Taylor in the early 1930s. “In the past

we have had officers of this department shot and killed by marihuana addicts and we have traced the act of murder directly to the influence of marihuana, with no other motive,” he is quoted as saying. “We have found from long experience and dealing with this type of criminal that marihuana is probably the most dangerous of all our narcotic drugs.” Harry Anslinger was the director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962. Likely the most notorious cannabigot of all time, Anslinger gave this testimony to Congress in 1937 in his successful effort to criminalize cannabis for the U.S. “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.” Other quotes from Anslinger’s reign of fear-inducing propaganda include, “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men,” and “If the hideous monster Frankenstein came face to face with marijuana, he would drop dead of fright.” Reefer Madness came out in 1936 as anti-cannabis propaganda from the U.S. government and was centered on a principal of spewing propaganda to an audience of parents. The movie presents scenes of teenagers getting high and then watching themselves turn into criminals and destroy their lives. This was our country’s first attempt at a propaganda campaign in this way and was centered on misinformation so as to achieve the goal of fear of cannabis. Shortly thereafter, in 1937, cannabis was removed from the U.S. pharmacopeia and made illegal with enforcement. For modern-day reefer madness, there is no need to look any further than the “statement piece” put out by the state of Idaho in 2013. The piece held no legal effect but was estimated to cost at least $20,000 of taxpayer money for its drafting and passage. Idaho passed SCR 112 with just seven “no” votes out of 70 cast. The piece begins, “A concurrent resolution stating

findings of the Legislature and affirming the Legislature’s opposition to the legalization of marijuana in Idaho.” The resolution then continued to cite several pieces of propaganda in support of the reasons why their legislature didn’t want cannabis legalized. Non-scientific statements and opinions not based in fact riddle the resolution, such as “the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of marijuana has risen dramatically in the last 30 years, contributing to the fact that one out of six teenagers who start smoking marijuana will become addicted to it,” “marijuana use has a detrimental effect on individual learning and brain development,” and “drug legalization efforts in other states have led to social, economic and legal chaos, with programs full of fraud and abuse.” Then there is the assumption not based on research that “increased drug use will impact public education in Idaho, productivity in the workplace, escalate the number of impaired drivers on Idaho roads, and affect other areas of our lives.” This resolution came out concurrent to the third introduction of a medical cannabis citizen’s initiative from the now-defunct organization Compassionate Idaho. Medical cannabis had a 74% approval rating in Idaho in 2010, according to a BSU poll, but apparently the representatives neglected their populations when they added, “national pro-marijuana organizations have invested millions to push drug legalization in America, and have targeted Idaho for a ‘medical’ marijuana initiative in 2014.” The resolution ends firmly with, “… the Idaho Legislature takes this opportunity to state its opposition to efforts to legalize marijuana for any purpose in the State of Idaho,” despite the thousands of sick Idaho residents who need it. There are several hurtful instances of cannabigotry that many people are so used to that they may not even realize they are being discriminated against. In America, there are an estimated 100 million people who have used cannabis, 25 million of them in the past year, with 14 million regular users. Only in Washington, D.C. is

cannabis not tested in pre-employment drug screens. The population of D.C. has nearly 660,000 people, and 543,587 of them are adults over 18. This would mean that only 543,587 people in the country are potentially not discriminated from employment. In a country that had a 5.5% unemployment rate as of April 2015, would it not make sense to end pre-employment drug screens for cannabis, especially in states where it is legal? Another instance of cannabigotry is demonstrated by poor state laws enacted in response to Child Protective Services (CPS), which often states that even possessing cannabis or its paraphernalia means the parent is automatically guilty of child abuse or neglect in the eyes of CPS. This leads to children being removed from their often safe and loving homes to be placed with strangers in foster care. This was demonstrated as recently as March of last year, when Kansas cannabis activist Shona Banda had her 11-year-old son removed from her care for allegedly making cannabis oil to treat her medical condition in a non-medical state. He was placed with his father and Shona is facing five criminal charges in the case. A simple Google search yields the results of similar cases from all around the county. Perhaps the saddest example comes from Texas. Parents Joshua Hill and Mary Sweeny lost custody of their two-year-old daughter after admitting to sometimes using cannabis at night as she slept to CPS. The toddler was placed in the foster care of Sherill Small while her parents were investigated. Small exerted significant trauma to the child’s head, killing her in July 2013. Small is currently serving life in prison for her crime. Housing is another area of discrimination, as a cannabis consumer often can’t consume cannabis in rental properties or hotels. Cannabis use is not allowed in Section 8, military, or other federally funded housing, meaning impoverished cannabis patients are at risk of eviction if they are caught using their medicine at home—even in legalized states. Landlords often have the right to allow cannabis use on the premises or property.

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Activists have fought and won medical cannabis rights in 23 states and recreational cannabis rights in four states and the District of Columbia, but the opposition has been busy working to keep cannabis illegal. Anticannabis groups like SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) and SMART (Substance Misuse and Abuse Reduction Team) are organized around the notion of decreasing cannabis use. “Our mission is to educate citizens on the science of marijuana and to promote health-first, smart policies and attitudes that decrease marijuana use and its consequences,” SAM’s website claims. “This is the addiction business,” said Kevin Sabet, SAM’s acting president. “The industry has an incentive to encourage heavy use, and like the tobacco industry, marijuana businesses will try to hook potential customers when they’re young.” He travels around the country proclaiming statements like this to local officials in an effort to thwart legalization. Utilizing PowerPoint presentations as his guide, he continued: “Big tobacco was a disaster for our country in terms of the marketing machine that was activated, while the government looked the other way for a century. Do we want to repeat that with yet another substance? And one that in fact, unlike tobacco, produces intoxication and therefore leads to car crashes, workplace accidents, school dropouts, and mental illness?” SMART has been active too. A local news article by Ashton Edwards in Utah, Utah County stands against marijuana, makes Dec. 1 ‘Collective Responsibility Day,’ claims that “Collective Responsibility Day” is a stand against marijuana. “A billboard titled ‘Let’s be blunt’ is going up Tuesday to mark the occasion and to send the message that marijuana can be dangerous for young people,” Edwards writes. The local SMART coalition is

behind the move, according to the article. “Members of SMART said this effort is timely because some pending legislation could relax Utah’s laws on medical marijuana. SMART said it believes if the laws are changed, it could lead to increased recreational pot use in Utah. The billboard will remain up for the next three weeks, just in time for the legislative session.” However, public perceptions of cannabis have changed drastically with massive education campaigns from pro-cannabis activist groups like Americans for Safe Access, the Marijuana Policy Project, and NORML. According to a Gallup Poll from October 2015, 58% of Americans support legalized recreational cannabis. Cannabis community members, doctors, nurses, and lawyers are changing public perceptions using scientific facts and personal testimonies of cannabis’s medical efficacy as their tools. Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s complete change of stance in 2014 may be the most notable. He stated, “I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have ‘no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.’ They didn’t have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana, neither of those things are true. It doesn’t have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. […] We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that.” With admittance like Dr. Gupta’s and people discussing cannabis calmly, rationally, and with facts, a shift in the public perception and an end to cannabigotry could be something we see in this lifetime.

“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.” Harry Anslinger, 1937

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CANNANEWS

WRITER

• MIKE FRANCIS

STOP LYING ABOUT CANNABIS! Th e Fa i l u re of D.A.R.E. and th e Govern ment’s Rid i cu lou s Pot Website

If you’re like me, you got a good laugh while watching the new anti-marijuana advertisements recently put out by the Australian government. The ads chronicle the non-adventures of “Stoner Sloth,” with the aim of informing impressionable minds that teens who smoke cannabis transform into big hairy tree dwellers, who can’t tell salt from salad at a family dinner table, and totally ruin the fun vibe at upscale pool parties (among other unrealistic examples of social faux pas). Thankfully, the American media has jumped on the irony of these advertisements, and reported and tweeted their disapproval quite clearly. We should now take this opportunity to reflect on our own government’s attitude toward cannabis, and consider how laughable the misinformation campaign is here in the US. Like one hundred million and counting Americans, I am an alumni of the largest anti-drug program on the planet, the D.A.R.E. program. I vaguely remember being spoken to by a fireman, grudgingly performing skits about cocaine and hash that did not make any sense to my ten-yearold worldview, and in the program’s conclusion, taking a written pledge to never do drugs. I can remember the shocking revelation this pledge

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produced as I started to light up as a teen: I have broken a promise to many adults, and nothing bad has happened. Then, soon afterward: Those adults were wrong about smoking cannabis --it is awesome! It was a funny moment a few years ago when some former classmates and I discovered that every single person in our fifthgrade class was now a pothead. A less funny moment occurred recently, when I learned that the mediocre results of D.A.R.E. in our class was the rule, rather than the exception. Now more than ever, it seems our policy on drug education is a choice between the truth, or D.A.R.E. D.A.R.E. is the largest drug abuse prevention program in the world, and costs the US upwards of one billion dollars per year. However, its critics rightly cite that the majority of studies on D.A.R.E. conclude this program to be ineffective at best, and harmful at worst. A 2011 study published in Contemporary School Psychology which compiled and analyzed the results of all studies performed to date on the effectiveness of the D.A.R.E. program had this to say: Whereas the objectives of D.A.R.E. are laudable, the empirical evidence to date does not provide compelling evidence of effectiveness. Thus, given the contemporary socio-political

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zeitgeist emphasizing “evidencebased” and “empirically supported” prevention and intervention efforts in our nation’s schools, it is perplexing that a national D.A.R.E day has been established in the United States. It is indeed perplexing that this expensive failure of a program is acceptable to taxpayers and concerned parents alike. But this reality is largely ignored by the public, perhaps because the US government is, still in 2016, feeding adult citizens their own misinformation campaign about cannabis. The official website of the US government about cannabis is maintained by the National Institute of Health (NIH) at drugabuse.gov. To their credit, almost every one of the NIH’s claims here contain phrases that allude to our meager scientific research body on cannabis; phrases like “Limited evidence suggests,” and, “whether and to what extent...is not always easy to determine,” are everywhere. However, in what I see as an attempt to connect the lack of data with our current totalitarian drug policy, the prose becomes noticeably hazy.

Let me give a few examples. Upon arrival to the website, we are greeted with a letter from the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. In the third paragraph, she tells us: Whether smoking or otherwise consuming marijuana has therapeutic benefits that outweigh its health risks is still an open question that science has not resolved. But two sentences later: However, safe medicines... have been available for decades and more are being developed. Are they safe or not? I am confused, and not because I’m high. In the section “ What is the scope of marijuana use in the United States?” another alarming claim is made: Medical emergencies possibly related to marijuana use have also increased...in 2011, there were nearly 456,000 drug-related emergency department visits in the United States in which marijuana use was mentioned in the medical record (a 21 percent increase over 2009). About two-thirds of patients were male and 13 percent were between the ages of 12 and 17.5 It is unknown whether this increase is due to increased use, increased potency of marijuana (amount of THC it contains), or other factors. Or because of the reality of the situation, which is stated plainly one sentence later: It should be noted, however, that mentions of marijuana in medical records do not necessarily indicate that these emergencies were directly related to marijuana intoxication. Perhaps we should consider the much more reasonable explanation that a sizable percentage of the US smokes cannabis regularly. Period. Most perplexing of these instances of doublespeak is in the section entitled “Is marijuana a gateway drug?” The first paragraph details and explains studies in rodents which show that cannabis exposure desensitizes dopamine reward centers and “primes” the brain for enhanced responses to other drugs. This is a common idea about cannabis that all of us have heard at one time or another. Then the second paragraph: These findings are consistent with

the idea of marijuana as a “gateway drug.” However, most people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, “harder” substances. Thank you for explaining why marijuana is a gateway drug and then immediately conceding that, in fact, it isn’t. This tactic of making a questionable and outdated claim, then subsequently denouncing it, is used so overtly here that I believe it to be intentional. (Perhaps so the anti-marijuana lobby can selectively pick out and quote official government “facts” about the dangers of marijuana use? Or possibly it is the result of cognitive dissonance in the minds of the authors?) At any rate, the NIH grudgingly serves, in the 21st century, as a Nixonian anti-drug propaganda arm of the U.S. government. Okay, but you’ve won me over. I am now convinced cannabis is entirely bad for me and I need to kick my habit, but weed helps me sleep! What does the health institute of the most powerful country in the world suggest I do?: Because sleep problems feature prominently in marijuana withdrawal, some studies are examining the effectiveness of medications that aid in sleep. Medications that have shown promise in early studies or small clinical trials include the sleep aid zolpidem (Ambien®), an anti-anxiety/antistress medication called buspirone (BuSpar®), and an anti-epileptic drug called gabapentin (Horizant®, Neurontin®) that may improve sleep and, possibly, executive function. This recommendation is incredibly counter-productive considering the long list of side effects from the“promising” pharmaceutical drugs (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, fever, spasms, depression, and suicide, to name a few), and leaves us rightly wondering why we are being discouraged from using cannabis in the first place. The same argument applies for the use of cannabis as a painkiller, or antinausea medication. Both of these well known and widely accepted applications of the drug are completely ABSENT from this website, even as a chorus of cancer

survivors sing songs of gratitude. In this modern age of information, Google, and the dominos of states legalizing cannabis, it does not seem a radical idea to simply tell teens and adults (sorry D.A.R.E., ten years old is too young) the truth about cannabis use. I will even grant the benefit of the doubt here: if there really is compelling evidence that cannabis causes significant brain damage to teens who use it, please share that data with our nation’s youth, instead of the current three-toed, transparent, harmful propaganda. Further, requiring a pledge from children to never do drugs is as reasonable and effective as teaching abstinence instead of sexual education. We must rather equip our citizenry with the truth about cannabis use, guidelines for safe consumption, and reinstate a trust for the NIH and other health organizations as true agents for our health and safety.

“Whereas the objectives of D.A.R.E. are laudable, the empirical evidence to date does not provide compelling evidence of effectiveness.”

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ART

WRITER•MEGHAN RIDLEY

PHOTO•REID ROLLS

CLOSE TO S THE FLAME

outhern rapper Waka Flocka, a.k.a. Waka Flocka Flame is a Jamaican born artist who launched his career in Atlanta, Georgia. DOPE got to chill with Waka Flocka to discuss life, his art, and cannabis.

A WORD WITH WAKA FLOCKA His thoughts on Kanye West’s potential to become president:

Kanye can’t be our president. He too obnoxious. I fuck with Al Gore, hard. On Canada:

See, weed is legal in Vancouver! Oh, shit! I forgot! They legalized weed throughout the whole Canada. I met the fucking new president! He like 29 years old! He cool as fuck! He said he coming to the next one of my shows—like, what? A brief history lesson on Mary Jane:

Yaaaaa, bro! What weed was made for back in the day, the Indians wasn’t smoking weed, they was on DMT. See we think that it was weed, that’s how psychologically they made us think. Weed was a pain herb, so when you put into tea and drink it, it relaxes your body from a pain, that’s what they used it for, I just learned that.

“EDM embraced me and I embraced it. At the end of the day, I am more openminded now and I got tired of doing rap, rap, rap, rap. That shit just got boring, bro.” On the system of power:

His opinions on smoking weed:

Ol’ boy own Weedmaps, he tryna make me fuck with the weed shit, heavy. I’m coming out with OG Flocka strain. I love weed though, bro. The only thing I don’t like about the weed today, it’s not natural. I don’t want the spray on shit. I’m 29, I been smoking weed since I was ten years old, no exaggeration. I have seen the faces of weed. His take on Bernie Sanders:

The Bernster? He fucking with the weed, that’s about it. Waka’s Beauty Tips:

You ever take a bath with peppermint soap?! Ohhhh, ‘y’all trippin! I swear to God! That’s the best sleeping beauty soap ever! You ever want to sleep right from a working day? Get that peppermint soap! It’s killer, bro! They have all natural ingredients.

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His thoughts on the EDM music scene:

Once I learned about EDM, I was like, “Ohh, this is the only time white people party and act wild with the cameras around.” Europe put me on, Benji made me believe it in. I never believed in the shit ’cause I was like, “What the fuck this is?” I was in Europe and people were happy as shit! I started posting rave photos and people were like, “What the fuck? When did Waka Flocka get a huge white fanbase?” The thing is, it’s always been there. It’s just, me being where I am from and the kind of music I produce, we can’t attack those markets because we don’t know what club y’all party at? EDM embraced me and I embraced it. At the end of the day, I am more openminded now and I got tired of doing rap, rap, rap, rap. That shit just got boring, bro. Like, “I’m sick of this.”

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They just found a way to stop us from knowing. They just use they power to control. It’s about who markets it the best. Everybody was slaves in life. That’s called a job. But some can be evil in doing their shit. Like you work at Burger King, for instance, you got a fucked up manager or you got a cool manager who lets you eat the fries while you working: it’s all about who is in control. Evil, good, evil, good. Just like weed. Some muthafuckas dip their shit when I was in the hood. People would spray their weed with roach killing spray because it would hit harder, but the chemicals in that roach spray would fuck your organs up—damage your kidneys, damage your liver, but that shit hit harder, and people wanted to buy it. That’s just how it goes, like people selling crystal meth, the people buying, they think it’s Molly, but it’s really meth. It’s sick out here. It’s crazy.

CANNANEWS

WRITER•LINDSEY RINEHART

LEGALIZATION A Breakdown OUTLOOK of State Laws A

ll legalized areas in the United States have at least two things in common: recreationally legal cannabis is for adults over 21 and all legal cannabis must stay within the state in which it was produced. Aside from those two things, state cannabis laws vary.

WASHINGTON

THE BASICS: Washington voters passed I-502, which legalized adult use and possession of recreational cannabis in November 2012 with 56% of the vote in favor. I-502 doesn’t allow for recreational homegrow, but does establish stores for people to have safe access to cannabis. Customers may purchase and possess one ounce of cannabis, 72 ounces of liquid beverages, 16 ounces of solid cannabis, and seven grams of concentrates. Edibles are restricted to single servings of 10mg or scored for dosing up to 100mg total.

THE IMPACT ON MEDICAL CANNABIS: Legalization has heavily impacted the state’s medical cannabis program. All medical cannabis dispensaries were made illegal. However, recreational stores may sell medical cannabis. There is a voluntary patient registry system as of July 2015, which allows six plants per patient (a severe cut from the 15 previously allowed). Patients entered in the state’s patient database may possess three ounces of useable cannabis, 48 ounces of solid cannabis product, 216 ounces of liquid cannabis, and 21 grams of concentrate.

DRIVING & PUBLIC CONSUMPTION: Driving under the influence of cannabis is illegal in Washington under I-502 laws. If a driver is pulled over with at least five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood, that person will be charged with a DUI. There is no medical exception to this rule for Washington’s patients, which leaves patients vulnerable to DUI even when they may not technically be intoxicated. Public consumption of cannabis is not permitted, and cannabis users must smoke cannabis on private property outside the view of the general public.

TAXES: When Washington voters approved I-502, they also approved some hefty taxes on their legal cannabis. There is a 25% excise tax applied at sale to the consumer. Amendments to revise Washington’s marijuana tax structure have since passed and will eliminate the excise taxes, replacing the existing tax structure with a retail sales tax of between 30 and 37%. At the time of press the final tax was still being determined.

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OREGON THE BASICS: Oregon passed Measure 91 in November 2014 with 56% of the vote in favor of legalized cannabis. Oregon allows homegrow of recreational cannabis with a limit of four recreational plants per household as long as at least one member of the household is 21 or older. Safe access to “limited marijuana product” is available for recreational consumers through most of Oregon’s medical cannabis dispensaries until the recreational stores open in fall 2016. This means that recreational consumers can purchase up to seven grams of flower a day in addition to four immature plants and 50 seeds. Oregon residents may possess up to one ounce of cannabis in public and eight ounces in their homes. Measurements allowed include 72 fluid ounces, 16 solid ounces, and one ounce of concentrates and extracts. The proposed recreational edibles rules have a limit of 5mg per single dose, with up to 50mg per product allowed, if the product is scored for easy dosing.

THE IMPACT ON MEDICAL CANNABIS: Legalization has greatly impacted medical cannabis laws in Oregon, despite Measure 91 stating three times that it wouldn’t. Legislators cut grow limits, leaving many with nobody to grow their medicine. It also required patients to be Oregon residents and allowed local control of medical dispensaries. Patients may possess up to 24 ounces of flower and grower possession limits are set much higher. Safe access points have been legal in Oregon for medical cannabis since 2014, although many opened prior to the law. There is no tax instituted on medical cannabis. DRIVING & PUBLIC CONSUMPTION: Driving under the influence of cannabis is illegal in Oregon. However, unlike other states such as Washington, there is measurable limit. The person is determined intoxicated under standard DUI laws. No public consumption of cannabis is allowed under Oregon law, and must be done out of public view. TAXES: The 2016 tax rate is set at 25%. In 2017 it will decrease to 17%, enabling a local sales tax of 3% per municipality.

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COLORADO THE BASICS: Colorado residents passed Amendment 64 with 55% of the vote in 2014. This law allows adults over 21 to grow, use, and possess recreational cannabis. Residents may grow plants in their homes. The law allows for six plants per adult, three of which may be mature at a time, with a limit of 12 per residence. Safe access to recreational cannabis is enabled from state-licensed dispensaries. Any adult may possess an ounce of cannabis whether they are a resident or a tourist. Residents may purchase 28 grams of cannabis and cannabis product at a time, but non-residents may only purchase seven grams. The edibles, liquids, and solids limits differ from other states in this breakdown. For example, ten 100mg edibles equal one gram, so ten 100mg edible or liquid products equal one gram. The edible may not be higher than 100mg, with doses of 10mg per serving. Concentrate possession is also included in the 28-gram possession limit. THE IMPACT ON MEDICAL CANNABIS: The medical law is robust. It has combined licensing and sales of medical and recreational cannabis, a patient registry, a twoounce possession limit, and six plants for cultivation. Growers did have their

plant limits reduced, which negatively affected many of the state’s patients by causing them to lose their grower. There is a 2.9% medical cannabis sales tax, as well as local taxes that may apply. TAXES: There is a 15% excise tax applied from the grower to the dispensary that is included in the sales price. There is also a 10% state cannabis tax, as well as a 2.9% state sales tax applied at the point of sale to the consumer. There may also be a local sales tax applied. DRIVING & PUBLIC CONSUMPTION: Driving under the influence is illegal. There is a “rebuttable presumption” law that presumes the driver is impaired if they have five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood, but allows that presumption to be rebutted in court. Cannabis must be transported in the trunk of the vehicle if it’s an open container, a container with broken seals, or if there is evidence of consumption. Public consumption of cannabis is not allowed in Colorado. However, if a consumer is on private property, they do not have to be out of public view.

ALASKA THE BASICS: Alaskans approved Measure 2’s recreational cannabis laws by just 52% of the vote. Alaskans are allowed recreational homegrows of six plants per adult, but only three of the plants may be mature. Residents, as long as they are at home, may possess what they grew. In public, possession of one ounce is allowed. There are currently no licensed dispensaries to provide safe access, although they are anticipated to open in May 2016. Some unlicensed dispensaries have successfully provided access to cannabis and faced stiff legal repercussions for doing so. A licensed retail store may not sell more than the following quantity of cannabis or cannabis product in a single transaction: one ounce of cannabis, seven grams of concentrate, or cannabis products containing more than 5,600mg of cannabis. Edibles are limited at 5mg for a single dose, with a limit of 50mg per package.

THE IMPACT ON MEDICAL CANNABIS: The state’s medical law is based on affirmative defense, and includes a patient registry, where patients may have six plants, three of which may be mature. Growers are limited to only growing for two patients. The only impact on Alaska’s medical program is that a patient could potentially purchase cannabis at a recreational store (once they open). DRIVING & PUBLIC CONSUMPTION: Driving under the influence in Alaska is illegal and intoxication is determined by a field sobriety test. If the field sobriety test is declined, the driver will be charged with a DUI. In Anchorage, which is the main community, cannabis must be kept in the trunk of the car during transport. Public consumption is not allowed, but will be permitted in a state-licensed dispensary. TAXES: Cannabis imposes an excise tax on the grower of $50 per ounce of flower and $10 per ounce of trim. Local sales tax of any amount may be imposed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. THE BASICS: District residents approved Initiative 71 with 69% of the voters in favor of recreational cannabis. Residents may grow cannabis in their homes: D.C. allows six plants per adult, three of which may be mature at a time, with a limit of 12 per residence. There are no safe access points or sales currently allowed in D.C. for recreational cannabis. However, members of the D.C. City Council are currently considering legislation to regulate the commercial market. Washington, D.C. is a district, so all local laws are subject to Congressional approval prior to being implemented. Adults may possess two ounces of cannabis in public and they may freely transfer one ounce of cannabis to another adult, as long as money doesn’t transfer hands.

THE IMPACT ON MEDICAL CANNABIS: Safe access to medical cannabis is provided from state-licensed dispensaries with a sales tax of 7% DRIVING & PUBLIC CONSUMPTION: It is illegal to drive under the influence in D.C. The impairment is tested under existing DUI laws, including a field sobriety test, but there is no “per se” or “reputable defense” law. Public consumption of cannabis is prohibited in D.C. TAXES: There are no recreational sales of cannabis allowed in D.C.

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CANNANEWS

WRITER

•BIANCA FOX

SOULMATE STRAIN FIND TH E PERFECT MATCH WITH NEW POTBOTICS TECHNOLOGY

ading through a sea of green to find a perfect match is too familiar, but patients may one day discover their soulmate strain, the precise ganja for the perfect high or cure. The end to the strain search has arrived with a few new smart technologies by PotBotics, a startup operated in New York and California by father-and-son duo Baruch and David Goldstein. Up and running on patients’ desktop computers is a personal virtual budtender, the PotBot. Also available on Androids and iOS, PotBot is a unique cannabis search engine that uses neural network technology. The patient simply logs on to the company website and utilizes a strain recommendation engine to find their perfect match and the closest dispensary that carries the product. PotBot includes 300 strains and 27 ailments

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thus far, along with a list of helpful doctors and dispensaries nearby. “PotBot and a patient’s medical cannabis recommendation focus on ailment relief, tying existing knowledge about cannabinoids and understanding how the cannabinoids interact with a specific ailment,” said David Goldstein, CEO of PotBotics. The information given to the patient is gathered from those elements along with existing science articles and scholarly studies, Goldstein explained. The program doesn’t focus on the many strain names currently in the market since a lot of those are marketing and branding indicators. Because growers often try to differentiate their plants and dispensaries try to upsell their products, Goldstein estimated that there are over 1,000 different strains available in the U.S. market. “While that is fine for the recreational side, for a patient to attach

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themselves to a strain name removes a lot of expansion in the market,” Goldstein added. “There really is no regulatory body that says a White Widow strain is a White Widow. What we try to do here at PotBotics is educate the patient first on the cannabinoid value by giving them a cannabinoid range instead of automatically jumping out and recommending White Widow. If they are a new patient, lower THC is a better way to go; if they are looking for sleep, [we know] that CBN is the cannabinoid that promotes drowsiness. That’s the technology.” He added that it is not the name of the strain that is important to know for the patient, but its actual chemical compound—specifically its cannabinoids and terpenes. Another new program from PotBotics is BrainBot, a helmet that reads a patient’s brainwaves by using electroencephalography (EEG) technol-

ogy. EEG scans measure and record the brain’s electrical activity. The scans help doctors recommend specific strains for certain ailments by analyzing a patient’s neural response to cannabinoid stimulants. This invention is currently in a pilot program that analyzes patients’ responses both before and after smoking cannabis (an inhalant is used with BrainBot testing). The BrainBot allows general practitioners to take the guessing out of the game when recommending strains to their patients. It will increase research findings and scientific data of medicinal cannabis. It gives an accurate reading of what type of strain is beneficial to the patient, including the THC and CBD levels and six other cannabinoids. After the patient’s fourth visit, the PotBotics team can look at what those values are and how they affect the brain. “Right now this trial and error process for the patient is costing them a lot of money,” Goldstein said. “The BrainBot will narrow down the choices of strains and select the one that will help their ailment the most.” BrainBot is currently under a pilot program in northern California and will roll out in April. They are also currently preparing a helmet for children to use in doctors’ offices so that parents will be able to assist them with epileptic seizures. “Prior to owning PotBotics, my father, who carries a doctorate in mathematics, was studying different pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals and seeing how they affect neurological responses,” Goldstein explained. “I was wondering why there was not a similar process available for medical cannabis. While the EEG is not an all-encompassing device, it shows the neural response to the stimulant. While you cannot see the pain reduction on an EEG, you can see that there is less awareness of pain.” PotBotics is focusing on ailments that are within the EEG spectrum: epilepsy, concussions, and brain trauma are already in the EEG market, but not for cannabis use. “The real goal now for us is to look at the ailments that are currently being recommended by a doctor for patients seeking relief through medi-

cal marijuana,” Goldstein added. The dynamic duo owns two offices in Palo Alto and New York. They are also working on other technologies, including the PotBot Kiosk and NanoPot. The PotBot Kiosk, a robot with a built-in customer relationship management tool, greets patients at the doctor’s office or a dispensary. Doing so helps expedite orders from the waiting room and benefits dispensaries from a medical aspect since the strain recommendation comes from a third party. “One of the major barriers for patients is that sometimes when they go into shops, they are receiving a bit of a biased recommendation,” Goldstein explained. “The budtender may not have the know-how. Just because someone came in last week with similar symptoms does not mean that the popular strain they gave them will work for this patient. Most of the budtenders are working in dispensaries that are solely recreational based. This is where the PotBot Kiosk comes in.” The PotBot Kiosk is currently undergoing its northern California launch. Currently in refined environmental beta testing, it is set to launch in southern California in April. A special technology for growers, NanoPot scans seeds with gene-radar technology to discover the seed’s molecular biology. With that information, the grower can make decisions on what strain to breed in order to attend to a specific ailment. The grower is also given a customized growth plan that includes information on the perfect amount of sunlight, UV films, irrigation, and nano-fertilizers in order to achieve growth of certain strains and hybrids. This technology is currently in its earliest stages of development and does not have a rollout date. “NanoPot is meant to bring the service full spectrum,” Goldstein explained. “By providing benefits to patients, doctors, and growers, the PotBotics technology platform touches on the three major points of cannabis distribution. Once we have a better understanding of what cannabinoid levels affect patients, giving tools for growers to grow those type of values is imperative.”

“PotBot and a patient’s medical cannabis recommendation focus on ailment relief, tying existing knowledge about cannabinoids and understanding how the cannabinoids interact with a specific ailment.”

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CANNANEWS

CANNABIS VS. ALCOHOL

o write like Shakespeare, sing like Gaga, and create like Steve Jobs, it might be helpful to use cannabis. In 1988, Steve Jobs famously remarked, “The best way I would describe the effect of the marijuana and the hashish is that it would make me relaxed and creative.” Cannabis and creativity have always gone hand-in-hand. Countless celebrities, artists, and even business professionals have championed the use of cannabis to get their creative juices flowing. So should the promotion of cannabis for creativity’s sake be a source of shame, particularly when creativity and alcohol have similar associations? The relationship between cannabis and creativity has been extensively researched. In Frontotemporal and Dopaminergic Control of Idea Generation and Creative Drive, a study conducted at Harvard Medical School, researchers analyzed the creative centers of the brain in individuals with high and low creativity. They found that the frontal lobe of the brain—the part that controls a person’s creativity—had more activity under the presence of cannabis. Another study, Being Stoned: A Review of Self-Reported Cannabis Effects, concluded that half of the cannabis users questioned “reported heightened creativity during cannabis intoxication.” And in 2010, Morgan Rothwell uncovered cannabis’ ability to increase the hyper-priming process— the process that helps your mind make connections between two seemingly unrelated things (and the cause of those “Aha!” moments). Research studies on alcohol and creativity have come to similar conclusions. Uncorking the Muse: Alcohol Intoxication Facilitates Creative Problem Solving, a study

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WRITER

• KELLY VO

conducted at the University of Illinois, analyzed the creative problem-solving abilities of 40 intoxicated men. The inebriated participants all came up with the correct answers, and they were more “insightful” as well, according to the researchers. Similarly, the Newt Judge Experiment is famous for pitting two groups of nine advertising executives against each other on a campaign about binge drinking to see which group could come up with the most valuable ideas. One group was allowed to drink as much as they wanted in the three hours of the experiment, while the other group was offered only water. In the end, the drinking group came out on top with the most ideas, four of which were in the top five. Why is alcohol acceptable but cannabis is not? While alcohol can stimulate creativity, it has far worse negative consequences. Every year, 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes, and alcohol misuse costs the United States $223.5 billion each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In contrast, cannabis has caused zero overdoses and grosses millions in tax dollars every year for legalized states. Are we promoting the wrong substance to encourage creativity? The effect of cannabis on creativity is perhaps most evident in the cultural and artistic contributions of Bob Marley. Throughout his legendary career, his music and artistry had an unparalleled influence on global culture. A Rastafarian, Bob Marley believed that cannabis was a sacred plant—the “wisdom weed.” “Now, when you smoke, it make you cool, you know?” Bob Mar-

GRAPHICS

• BRANDON PALMA

ley said in an interview. “It make you stimulate your mind, and make you sit down and meditate. Rum teach you to be a drunkard, and herb teach you to be someone.” Bob Marley recognized the difference between cannabis and alcohol. Getting high doesn’t make you want to brawl—the munchies and a nap are much more likely. Another celebrity found much better creative results from cannabis than from alcohol. Interviewed on Public Radio International, singer-songwriter Jason White elaborated on his creative muse. “Most of my productivity occurs after the sun goes down. I’ll sit on the porch and I’ll pour myself a glass of bourbon. That’s when the magic seems to happen.” His most creative moment, however, occurred when he smoked a joint left on his coffee table by a friend. It was while he was high, not drunk, that he wrote his most wellknown song, Red Rag Top—a hit performed by Tim McGraw that reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. There is no good answer for why alcohol is respected as a creative stimulant but cannabis isn’t. Many celebrities have ignored the shame and stigma associated with cannabis and gone for it anyway. Lady Gaga told Anderson Cooper in an interview that she “smoke[s] a lot of pot” when she writes music, and Seth Rogan told MTV News at the Toronto International Film Festival, “I think way more people smoke weed than the media likes to acknowledge.” It’s time to #end420shame and accept the truth— that cannabis trumps alcohol when it comes to getting the creative juices flowing.

“Why is alcohol acceptable but cannabis is not? While alcohol can stimulate creativity, it has far worse negative consequences”

Don’t believe that cannabis and creativity go hand-in-hand? Check out these artistic celebrities who have used cannabis on the job:

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE has attributed his focus to smoking on a regular basis.

MADONNA claimed she smoked a joint before her appearance on Late Show with David Letterman in 1994.

RIHANNA often shares selfies of her smoking pot on social media.

NATALIE PORTMAN told Entertainment Weekly that she was a bit of a stoner during her days at Harvard University.

*If you have a compelling cannabis story to share, email kellyv@ dopemagazine.com or use the hashtag #end420shame on any social media platform.

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