THE ADVOCACY ISSUE MARCH 2017 FREE
DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE
FEATURE BRINGING CANNABIS
TO THE CLASSROOM
TRAVEL AMSTERDAM: DECLINE OF AN EMPIRE?
NEWS MED & REC
ROOM FOR TWO?
STRAIN BASA NOVA EDIBLE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS CONCENTRATE SAGE & SOUR KUSH SHATTER DELIVERY SERVICE MIRAGE MEDICINAL GARDEN HAPPYDAY FARMS – LAYTONVILLE
JAKE PLUMMER OPENING THE PLAYBOOK ON ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
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EDITOR’S LETTER MARCH 2017 | THE ADVOCACY ISSUE
T
he Vernal Equinox takes place in the month of March and on Monday the 20th, we Northern Hemisphere inhabitants will celebrate the first day of Spring. Plants begin to sprout, we shed our winter coats and opt for lighter layers and we’re reminded that an astronomical event such as this is a natural catalyst for powerful change. Just as the Earth ceaselessly orbits, transitioning itself into the next season, we in the cannabis industry continue to push forward and strive for change. Our March Issue is dedicated to advocacy. In this issue, we sit down with Jake Plummer to talk about his efforts to normalize cannabis in the NFL. We also meet up with Tracy Ryan, CannaKids Founder, and discuss her team’s research efforts surrounding cannabis and pediatric medicine. We tap into new efforts to educate the public by highlighting several educational programs that introduce cannabis to the classroom and discuss politicians who, despite much criticism, are working to introduce cannabis initiatives in their respective states. The term equinox is derived from the Latin word aequus, meaning equal, and has been a historic symbol of both planting and harvesting throughout many cultures around the globe. This month is the time to reflect on the passing of a season and the birth of a season in which all things are possible. How will you celebrate Spring? As a cannabis advocate, what efforts will you put forth to normalize the plant? As the days get longer, how will you spend those extra few minutes of sunlight?
RECENTLY CORRECTED ARTICLES George Clinton: Doctor Funkenstein’s New Prescription – DOPE Magazine erroneously referred to George Clinton’s wife and manager as Stephanie. Her name is Carlon. We regret the error.
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DOPE MAGAZINE is a free monthly publication dedicated to providing an informative and wellness-minded voice to the cannabis 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.
THE ADVOCACY ISSUE
TABLE OF CONTENTS MARCH 2017
30
COVER FEATURE JAKE PLUMMER: OPENING THE PLAYBOOK ON ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
14 20 22 26 42 52 54 62
NEWS NEW HORIZONS FOR CANNABIS RESEARCH CANNABIS BRANDING SERRA CANNABIS POLITICS CHAMPIONING THE POLITICAL ARENA FEATURE THE END OF SMALL BUSINESS PRODUCTS WE LOVE EDUCATION #END420SHAME SOCIAL MEDIA TAG @DOPEMAGAZINE WEED WEEK
68 GROW THE FLIP CHIP – WHAT’S UP WITH LED 72
ADVOCACY INFOGRAPH
74
COMIC JOSH BOULET
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FEATURE CANNABIS IN THE CLASSROOM
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TRAVEL AMSTERDAM
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NEWS ROOM FOR TWO? SHOULD MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL CANNABIS MARKETS COEXIST?
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䌀夀䌀伀䘀䰀伀圀䔀刀⸀䌀伀䴀⼀䘀伀刀唀䴀匀
H E A LT H
NEW HORIZONS FOR CANNABIS RESEARCH CANNAKIDS’ SCIENTIFIC ENDEAVORS WRITER / MEGAN RUBIO
B
efore recreational cannabis was on the map, medical cannabis led the industry. Despite the numerous anecdotal accounts of cannabis’ success as a medicine, US research has been unable to support these findings. Research has not yet proven the efficacy of cannabis in the United States, but only because research has been at a standstill. Due to cannabis’ Schedule I classification, it is deemed as having no accepted medical use, which limits the abilities for scientists to study the highly regulated drug. One organization, CannaKids, is at the forefront of groundbreaking research surrounding cannabis and the treatment of life threatening diseases. In 2016, the DEA declared that it would allow researchers and drug companies to grow medical grade cannabis at other facilities besides the sole facility that has been used in the past. This would allow researchers greater access to the plant and get rid of the monopoly the DEA has had over cannabis research. CannaKids is currently going through the processes to get licenses and approval for their research. While nothing is set in stone, they hope to begin clinical trials as soon as possible. They will be partnering with a few highly reputable hospitals in California to see the studies through. The work that CannaKids has done was inspired by one mom’s quest to help her daughter. Tracy Ryan, the founder of CannaKids, is very open about how her own family struggles and how they’ve influenced the creation of her organization. In 2013, at eight and a half months old, Tracy’s daughter Sophie was diagnosed with an Optic Pathway Glioma brain tumor. Tracy and her husband were also told that due to the tumor, Sophie would go blind in her left eye and her right eye would most likely be compromised if not also completely blind. They were told that chemo would not get rid of the tumor, but had hope that it would stop the growth. They were also told the tumors had an 85 percent recurrence rate with a 90 percent survival rate. But the Ryan family wanted more for Sophie than to simply stop the growth, and wanted to do all they could save Sophie’s vision.
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They created a Facebook page called “Prayers for Sophie� and were connected with Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, filmmakers working on a documentary about cannabis oil and its effects on pediatric cancer patients. Cannabis oil, as a supplemental medicine to her chemotherapy, healed Sophie in many unexpected ways. After 13 months of chemotherapy and cannabis oil, Sophie visited a doctor, who declared that her eyesight was that of a typical two year old. Beyond that, her tumor had shrunk by 85 to 90 percent, results that would not have been attained with chemotherapy alone. Sophie has had some ups and downs with her tumor, but her body continues to perform miracles that her medical team can only attribute to the oils. Tracy describes the journey her family went through as being instrumental in the creation of the CannaKids organization. CannaKids has worked to address adult and pediatric diseases alike, but their organization’s primary research focus is on pediatric diseases. One of the main reasons they seek to learn more about diseases affecting children is due to the limited amount of resources provided by the government for such research. In regards to cancer, less than four percent of funds in the United States go towards pediatrics. CannaKids plans to partner with multiple hospitals to conduct research on terminal illnesses. There will be one hospital specifically where pediatrics will be handled. Through the use of cannabis, the trials are intended to address diseases such as cancer, fibromyalgia, end of life treatment and chemotherapy. The clinical trials will be double blind, meaning that neither the researchers nor the patients will know who is receiving a cannabis treatment and who is receiving a placebo. The team at CannaKids is confident that once clinical trials have begun, the results will speak for themselves and mirror research done in other countries. They also hope to discover other potential benefits of cannabis treatment besides pain alleviation. The clinical trials have yet to begin, but already CannaKids is helping patients around the world.
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Despite being limited in the ability to only treat patients within the state of California, CannaKids has a team of dosing professionals that consult on cannabis products and dosing in treating diseases. Nurses are able to provide recommendations and guidance on cannabis products and will aid in creating dosing protocols on an individual basis. Besides working directly with families, nurses are also open to engaging with the primary physician. Such efforts demonstrate one of the main goals of the organization—to personalize the approach to cannabis treatment, instead of generalized, blanket treatments. In this endeavor, CannaKids is working with researchers in Israel. Part of the research being conducted pertains to how individual strains and their properties affect diseases differently. While there are some strains that may be effective at treating breast cancer, those strains may not be as effective in the treatment of brain cancer. Researchers are hoping to determine which cannabinoids and terpenes are most effective at treating specific illnesses. CannaKids is hoping, through such research, to better understand and provide personalized treatment to whoever needs it. CannaKids is an organization that aims to be at the forefront of quantitative cannabis research within the United States. Thus far, anecdotal evidence has provided much support for cannabis as a medicine, but it is through clinical trials that scientists will be unable to deny the potential of cannabis as a treatment for life-threatening diseases. The results of the endeavors undertaken by CannaKids may very well be instrumental in changing cannabis’ drug classification, as well as expanding access to the medicine so desperately needed by many.
TRACY RYAN WITH HER DAUGHTER, SOPHIE
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CANNACON is a 21 and over event!
CANNABIS BRANDING
SERRA
INTERVIEWED BY BRANDON PALMA / 8TH DAY CREATE WRITER / BRANDON PALMA
PHOTO / COURTESY OF SERRA
“WE PURPOSEFULLY STAYED AWAY FROM THE USE OF GREEN, AND CHOSE YVES KLEIN BLUE AS OUR BRAND COLOR.” 20
S
erra Cannabis based out of Oregon takes cannabis to the next level. Looking to do their part in reversing many of the cultural stigmas associated with the plant. Serra fuses design, architecture and cannabis beautifully in all three of their locations throughout Oregon. Serra infuses luxury into its brand in a way that both the novice and expert consumer can enjoy. During a snowy day in Portland, DOPE Magazine had the privilege of sitting down with Cambria Benson Noecker, Brand Director, and gained insight into the company’s aesthetics.
DOPE Magazine: What is your inspiration behind your brand? Cambria Benson Noecker, Brand Director: With Serra we wanted to create a sophisticated, artistic, yet approachable brand that set new standards and supported the progressive paradigm of cannabis culture as it became more mainstream and socially acceptable. What message do you want to portray with your branding? We want our brand to challenge the stoner stereotype in an artful and clever way. Cannabis is for everyone. Our aim is to reach all cannabis users who prioritize and appreciate a curated retail experience—the connoisseur, the knowledgeable or the curious. Is there a special meaning behind the colors in your branding and packaging? We purposefully stayed away from the use of green, and chose Yves Klein Blue as our brand color. Our tagline “Purveyors of Quality Drugs” is a nod to cannabis’ history as an apothecary staple. How do you feel your brand and identity reflect the cannabis industry? Serra’s brand and identity reflect the evolving aesthetic of the cannabis community and its growing population of design-conscious consumers. How are you making your brand distinguishable throughout the ever-growing cannabis industry? Serra was built to be distinguishable by going after a customer base looking for a more artful experience. We continue to grow our brand and presence with products, partnerships, service and retail environments that elevate our brand and the cannabis industry as a whole.
Each month, we feature a brand that is shaping the modern image of cannabis through smart design and quality production. We’re always on the lookout and welcome submissions! Email brandon@dopemagazine.com and let us know about your Canna Brand!
WEBSITE - SHOPSERRA.COM INSTAGRAM - @SERRACANNABIS
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POLITICS
CHAMPIONING THE POLITICAL ARENA FOUR POLITICIANS BRAVE THE CANNABIS LEGALIZATION FRONT LINES WRITER / ZACH PHILLIPS ILLUSTRATION / NICO LISA
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A
newly elected administration is taking the reins for the next four years (at least). While predicting President Trump’s next move would be nothing short of a miracle, it appears the cannabis legalization fight is going to be prolonged. With an uphill battle facing advocates in Washington D.C., the importance of state and local representatives to push for improvement on existing legalization laws has become imperative. These government leaders would do best to showcase cannabis’ ability to operate and thrive under regulatory requirements, reduce prison populations through decriminalization and coexist successfully with established industries. We’ve chosen representatives and advocates across the country who understand that legal cannabis is under a microscope, and are pushing for improvements in their state to reveal that legalization produces positive outcomes.
OREGON STATE REPRESENTATIVE ANN LININGER THE CANNABIS CRUSADER In a country crippled by political polarization, one state representative dares to reach across the aisle and create meaningful, lasting initiatives in the cannabis industry. If that sounds a lot like a super-hero movie trailer, it should. Oregon State Representative Ann Lininger is nothing short of a cannabis super hero. Lininger, who co-chairs Oregon’s Joint Marijuana Legalization Committee, performed the impossible by passing several initiatives through the bi-partisan committee (comprised of six Democrats and four Republicans) without a single “no” vote. She credits her success on a “shared willingness to compromise,” and the committee’s priorities of “creating jobs, respecting the will of voters, and curbing the illegal market, [rather] than political bickering.” Add humility to her superpowers. Those working in Oregon’s marijuana market will be quick to decry regulatory bottlenecks that have stifled growth of marijuana companies in the state. To that, Lininger has a plan, “I think we need to streamline and unify our regulatory system. If we move some regulatory authority away from our Oregon Health Authority and into the OLCC, we need to do it in a way that protects the needs of patients.” Protecting patients’ access, shifting criminal laws of marijuana to match alcohol, streamlining regulation, building jobs and simply getting sh*t done. All of the superpowers of Oregon Representative Ann Lininger, The Cannabis Crusader.
ANDREW FREEDMAN COLORADO’S CANNABIS CZAR Being first in anything is never easy. The same theory applies to rolling out the United States’ first legal cannabis market. Something Andrew Freedman was tasked with when becoming Colorado’s Director of Marijuana Coordination. The job, which was designed to be a three-year role to help implementation, is coming to an end. All responsibilities will be shifted to Colorado’s Department of Revenue, which is fitting for an industry that crossed the one billion dollar mark in revenue in the first ten months of 2016. For Freedman, it’s the perfect time to look back at the impact he’s had. “It’s not perfect,” Freedman said in an interview with DOPE Magazine, “ There is still work to be done around home grow regulations, but I’m happy with what we’ve accomplished here.” The sun is not setting for Freedman, either. The Boston Globe recently reported that Freedman is being considered to implement Massachusetts’ newly passed recreational marijuana law. While Colorado is certainly a success for Freedman, it would appear his mark on the movement is far from over.
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ARTICLE TITLE
TEXAS STATE SENATOR JOSÉ MENÉNDEZ
MAYOR DON STEVENS
FIGHTING FOR THE MOLECULES
North Bonneville, Washington has received plenty of headlines over the past few years. The city gained national notoriety by becoming the first city to open a government-owned marijuana dispensary, The Cannabis Corner. While most politicians, even in legal states, are hesitant to bring marijuana businesses into their district, Don Stevens did the exact opposite. With the city struggling to ‘keep the lights on’ in 2013, Mayor Stevens pushed the city to open a dispensary for an additional source of revenue. Now, two years after opening its doors, The Cannabis Corner has netted upwards of $2.2 million in revenue. With all store profits going to updating the local playground, paying law enforcement and other expenditures for the city. Stevens is a lot more than a politician supporting marijuana legalization; he is showcasing how marijuana and government can work hand-in-hand, while benefiting in ways we didn’t believe were possible. While reception for the store has been generally positive, Stevens say the industry is still in “education mode.” Moving forward, Mayor Stevens aims to bring back medical patients into the fold of legal marijuana in Washington. The inability to have a home grow, and the lack of tax breaks for medical patients is a major concern for a budding industry. Nevertheless, Washington marijuana is full steam ahead, and Stevens is the man to lead the charge.
After ending his tenure in the Texas House of Representatives by passing one of the state’s largest mental health programs for Veterans, Senator Menéndez is now pushing to expand the state’s treatment options. In early December, Menéndez filed a bill in the Texas State Senate pushing access to medical marijuana in Texas. In his address to the media, Menéndez, flanked by veterans, doctors and families, described his desire to help the “medical refugees” of Texas. People who, in their search for proper medicine, move to New Mexico or Colorado to find proper access. Menéndez lamented the stigmatization and personification of, “just another set of molecules.” Calling for the removal of CBD and THC caps, he claimed, “doctors, not politicians, should recommend the proper medicine to Texas patients.” It still remains unclear whether the bill will gain any traction. There are plenty of hurdles lying in wait before becoming law. However, Senator Menéndez remains optimistic. “ Twenty eight states have already recognized the medical benefits of cannabis,” he said, smiling at the press, “including liberal strongholds like Arkansas, Alaska, North Dakota and Montana…it’s time for Texas to step up to the plate.”
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THE GOVERNMENT GUINEA PIG
F E AT U R E
THE END OF SMALL BUSINESS
HOW THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER CANNABIS. WRITER / JAMES SCHWARTZ RN, BSN, LNC CASCADEHIGH.COM
I
n case you weren’t already aware, Schedule I is defined as drugs which have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Cannabis is a Schedule I drug, putting it the same class as heroin, LSD, meth and peyote. For perspective some examples of Schedule IV drugs (ones with low potential for abuse and dependency) are: Xanax, Soma, Darvocet, Valium, Ativan and Ambien, yet we know these drugs are being highly abused in America today. As a healthcare provider who uses and understands cannabis, Schedule I is a ridiculous proposition, as cannabis has a far lower risk of dependency or abuse than many Schedule IV drugs. This is just one of the fallacies that the US Government continues to claim about cannabis as it prepares for the pharmaceutical takeover of the industry. Anything but a com-
plete descheduling of cannabis will destroy an industry so many of us have helped to build and pioneer, not only enduring the pitfalls typical of all business startups but also risking federal prosecution, a burdensome regulatory structure and legislative obstacles. First, let’s understand that as a Schedule I drug, cannabis has only been studied in the US by companies allowed access to cannabis grown, processed and distributed by the Federal Government. Yes you heard that correctly, the Federal Government has its own pot farm which is on the campus of Ole Miss. The only company which has been allowed unlimited access to the crop is GW Pharmaceutical. Conducting clinical research using cannabis requires interaction and approval of several federal agencies; the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) provides authorization; obtaining access to the product for research comes from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) who oversees the cultivation on the campus of the University of Mississippi, all cannabis transfers and research is overseen by National Institutes of Health (NIH), with review and oversight by the FDA. This structure creates a monopoly and GW Pharmaceutical is holding all of the cards. Epidiolex is GW’s lead cannabinoid product, and is in Stage 3 FDA Trials as a therapy for severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy syndromes including Dravet, Lennox-Gastaut (LGS) and others. Epidiolex is a proprietary oral solution of pure plant-derived cannabidiol (CBD), being studied to obtain safety and efficacy data necessary to be considered for approval as a prescription medicine. The FDA has granted special permissions called individual patient
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emergency INDs to physicians and state programs to treat groups of patients suffering from intractable epilepsy using Epidiolex. Early results from patients receiving Epidiolex under these INDs has shown promising results of clinical effect in reducing seizures suggesting cannabis’ assignment as a Schedule I drug to be erroneous. However, if cannabis was rescheduled as a Schedule II, cannabis therapy would only be allowed when supervised by a physician. This step would make cannabis therapy a Medicare or other third party insurer reimbursable treatment, a critical piece to the success of drug sales. Making cannabis a Schedule II drug would be a monumental shift in policy as it relates to the current industry and only a handful of cannabis companies could afford FDA trials. However, the pharmaceutical industry that wrote the book on FDA trials
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has the man power, medical expertise and the capital for these trials. Let’s now take a look at how some states are implementing their medical cannabis programs which create significant barriers to entry for cannabis small businesses and set the stage for the pharmaceutical industry to take control of cannabis. The legislation in states like Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania were written to give the Pharmaceutical industry a competitive advantage to entering a market place which has been previously impenetrable due to the federally illegality of cannabis. This was not done by chance or an overly conservative approach to implementing cannabis therapeutics, as there is a significant body of evidence that demonstrates the safe use and efficacy of cannabis. The legislative hurdles and regulatory constraints were created with a nefarious intent to obstruct cannabis small businesses that could neither afford the cost of FDA trials nor have the medical expertise to overcome the bar set by these state governments. For example, Pennsylvania, which is offering only 25 Grower/Processor permits statewide, requires that each applicant have a minimum of $2.5M in the bank and can demonstrate the capability to grow, process and manufacture FDA acceptable medical consumer ready end products (i.e. inhalers, pills, capsules, nebulizer solutions, etc.). These types of regulations, while insurmountable for almost any cannabis small business, are easily handled by pharmaceutical companies. When you understand the DEA schedule, that schedules governing of who can or can’t work with a substance, and then understand the government’s close connection to GW Pharmaceutical, it’s very easy to connect the dots. Step 1: GW Pharmaceutical conducts US Government condoned cannabis research under Schedule I assignment. Step 2: GW Pharmaceutical brings Epidiolex to market and supports legislation and legal efforts to reschedule cannabis, which allows only FDA certified cannabis products into the market and also allows for insurance companies to pay for cannabis therapy. Step 3: Pharmaceutical companies buy up all cannabis small businesses which own any sizable market share, all other cannabis businesses fail due to the cost and complexity of FDA trials and lack of executive level medical expertise. Be careful what you wish for…anything but a complete descheduling of cannabis will give the cannabis industry over to the alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies.
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“...BEING HEALTHY IS A CHOICE, BUT NOT A CHOICE THAT EVERYONE IS FREE TO MAKE.”
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t’s been a decade since Jake Plummer threw a pass in the NFL, but if you talk to him long enough you’d think he has a few seasons left in the tank. Jake is fired up—whether he’s talking about his newborn daughter Laverne, his love for Saturday games of handball, or the crazy Colorado weather—his enthusiasm for all things life is surging. But with a comic book like collection of old broken bones, sprains and surgeries, you’ve got to wonder how he keeps it up. The answer to Jake’s apparent perpetual youth is cannabis, specifically cannabidiol or CBD. In fact, CBD’s positive impact on Jake’s health has helped him to understand that being healthy is a choice, but not a choice that everyone is free to make. To overcome this “choice discrepancy,” Jake has
embarked on a crusade of cannabis activism designed to empower individuals to take back control of their wellbeing. Growing up in a small Idaho town during the ‘70s and ‘80s, Jake was in a world of his own, free to indulge his boyish curiosities. With two older brothers to show him the ropes, Jake quickly took a liking to sports. “I wanted to be just like my brothers, when I was young. I always wanted to play football when I grew up, but I had dreams of playing running back for the Raiders.” Just as Jake was developing his talents as a student athlete, America was in the thick of its War on Drugs. Initiated by President Nixon in 1971, America’s War on Drugs inaccurately portrayed a societal epidemic of drug abuse and addiction as it pertains to cannabis. Prop-
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agated through public schools, churches and even athletic teams, the War attempted to classify all drugs as “evil” or “dangerous”— even cannabis. As a young athlete, Plummer steered clear of drugs— even cannabis. It wasn’t the political regimes fear mongering tactics that kept Plummer on the straight and narrow—he was simply too busy focusing on football to carve out time for a typical youth’s “extracurricular” activities. But Jake’s indifference to drugs—specifically cannabis—was not wholly a result of his dedication to athletics. Jake was given an education about drugs, he was well aware of them—it was his education that guided his choices, not the political scare tactics of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
“I had people close to me that were using cannabis for a long time. For me, I grew up in an environment where it was, you know, not what Ronald and Nancy Reagan were telling us. To “just say no,” and that marijuana is “a gateway drug,” “it will make you dumb”—I was like what? I’ve talked to people that are extremely smart, brilliant, like Mensa smart, and they used cannabis on the regular. They’re not dumb. So I knew right away what was true and false. So for me there was never any stigma.” Jake never attached the stigma to cannabis that was force fed to Americans during his formidable years. He stayed focused on the journey that would land him in the NFL and give him the platform from which he speaks today. With ten years between him and his tenure with the NFL, Jake has taken time to reflect on his career. His focus has shifted from playing the game to finding ways to make it safer. He believes cannabis could be the answer. “As I evolved and got out of the game, football was still, and will always be, a part of my life. It doesn’t define me, but it is a large part of what walks into the room with me. I am fine with it, I love it, but I want to use it for good. I hope that it allows some people that maybe wouldn’t have listened to some of the things I am saying about cannabis, to listen. Now, they might respect me in a way, because I have always been very truthful and honest. I wouldn’t be advocating if I didn’t believe in its ability to mitigate pain, and just your overall wellbeing.” After his second hip surgery in 2014, Jake started using cannabis regularly to manage his pain and to help him develop a healthy mental state. He continued to use cannabis to manage pain, but it wasn’t until he discovered CBD that he noticed an overwhelming increase in his mental and physical wellbeing. His experience with CBD inspired him to take action on behalf of his fellow NFL players. Professional athletes like Jake put their bodies through hell to entertain us on game day. Objectified by “the man,” jeered and cheered by the fan, professional athletes are chewed up and spit out of their respective leagues like old wads of chewing tobacco. To make matters worse, players are doled out little envelopes of addictive painkillers to mask the pain from their battle wounds. They are given few options when they are in pain—you either take the pill or shot and keep going, or you sit down and watch another guy take your place. What if this wasn’t the case? What if players had a natural option to manage their pain? These are the questions that burn inside Jake. Jake has recently become an outspoken advocate for the responsible use of cannabis in professional sports. Cannabis was the answer to the issues Jake was facing in retirement, and he suspected it would answer many of the issues that players face during their careers, like depression, traumatic brain injury and chronic pain. He has taken his experiences in the NFL and his experience with using cannabis and forged them as one into a powerful movement.
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He is advocating for the responsible use of cannabis in the NFL, but also bringing attention to the myriad challenges that professional athletes face. Jake believes that the players should have a voice that transcends the limitations of the NFL Player’s Association and empowers them to speak from experience. “These guys are speaking from experience. We are not just advocates, but we are living walking experiments. A lot of us have used cannabis and found relief. Relief from not just pain or depression, but for some guys it saved their lives—helped them not pull the trigger, helped them get their families back. That’s powerful stuff. It has to resonate with somebody in their heart, that this is a valid option that should be looked into. Not just state-by-state, but by our Federal Government, by big organizations like the NFL. The control is not in the hands of the people that need it. If you look at the NFL, why wouldn’t you want your guys to have everything possible in their systems to play better and longer. But I don’t even know if they want us to play longer. They want the new guys with bleached mohawks.” Professional sports organizations are systems built around the almighty dollar. This leaves little room for players to voice opinions that stray from the company line. Jake’s advocacy for cannabis use in the NFL has morphed into a campaign for choice. Players are setup by their employers to blindly destroy their bodies and Jake is slowly but surely putting a stop to this shameful exploitation of talent. Jake’s message has earned him a new team of supporters that are assisting him in moving the chains on cannabis in the NFL and society as a whole. He and his fellow advocates are making progress. The NFL and its officials have become increasingly aware of the movement to research and allow cannabis in the league. Slow as the NFL’s reaction may be, there is progress—but now Jake and his supporters are preparing a new initiative for change. “I am not fighting these guys, I don’t want to fight anybody that big. I just want to keep sending emails to remind them that we are not going to allow them to make the statement (about cannabis) at the Super Bowl and then let the offseason go by, and then bang
the season starts, then all of a sudden they’re back in the cycle again. They say they want to research it—well we’ve got it all setup. Roger Goodell, are you going to write a check? A million dollars would go a long way.” After successfully influencing the NFL to take a closer look at cannabis, Jake feels empowered to push for even greater change— and he won’t be alone. In recent months, Jake and an impressive list of current and former professional athletes from all leagues, founded the not for profit organization Athletes For CARE (A4C). The soon-to-be launched organization will focus on confronting important health issues facing the sports community and the public at large. Whether it’s addiction, depression, chronic pain or improving overall health and safety in sports, Jake and his peers at A4C are uniting as one voice to advocate for research, education and compassion when addressing these issues. With the inception of A4C, and its imminent launch, it appears that Jake and his fellow cannabis advocates are ready to embark on the next phase of their journey to bring choice and wellbeing to not just athletes, but the general public. Though it isn’t uncommon for professional athletes to take up philanthropic efforts in retirement, Jake has taken a path seldom traveled by NFL players. His passion for helping others is evident in everything he does. He remains faithful that his cannabis advocacy will help to unite professional athletes under an umbrella of wellness and purpose. As he continues to pollinate the minds of NFL officials, and the general public with anecdotal evidence of cannabis’ role as an alternative medicine, there is no doubting that change is on the horizon. “I hope they turn to A4C. Come find us, we’ll help you, we’ll help you find your path and get involved with something. Come back and be part of a team that is doing good. That’s where this all came from. To bring these guys into the fold and get them off their soap boxes and back to doing good. You guys made it to the top of the game, and you can do anything in the world—we’ve just got to put our minds to it.”
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CANNABIS IN THE CLASSROOM SEATTLE CENTRAL CREATES THE STATE’S FIRST CANNABIS INSTITUTE WRITER / JEFFREY RINDSKOPF ILLUSTRATION / NICO LISA
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rey Reckling moved to Washington with the intent of becoming involved in the state’s emerging cannabis industry. He had 20 years of experience in higher education, but much of his experience with marijuana was through “self-directed study.” Today, he’s an instructor at Seattle Central College and one of the chief architects behind the school’s Cannabis Institute, a new but booming continuing education program preparing students for careers in the cannabis space. “I wanted to provide an opportunity to step things up and give the industry what it needs,” he explains. “No other industry is so young, so lacking in infrastructure.” To that end, Reckling partnered with Seattle Central’s interim Director for Continuing Education Lisa Babinec in January 2016 to develop a single in-person essentials course on cannabis. The continuing education program already included courses on liquor distillation and winemaking, so another focused on cannabis only made sense. Reckling and Babinec pieced the curriculum together from dozens of existing sources, attending listening sessions, speaking with healthcare professionals and patients, and identifying additional cannabis instructors to ensure their class was as up-to-date and all-encompassing as possible. “We want to talk full-spectrum, and give our
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students everything,” says Reckling. “We need to recognize all the rewards and the risks, even if they’re minimal compared to other pharmaceuticals or how it’s been portrayed in the past.” The result of all their research was the 20-hour medical marijuana consultant certificate program, the flagship course of the Cannabis Institute and the first cannabis-centric course to be approved by the Washington State Department of Health. The class is split into six modules, each based on a learning outcome determined by the Department of Health and focusing on a single facet of cannabis law and use. The instruction is now conducted entirely online, permitting students to do the required readings and take the accompanying quizzes for each module at their own pace. The final grade is an accumulation of the students’ quiz scores, and must be at least 70 percent in order to pass. Reckling and the other instructors are available to answer questions for two-hour blocks each week, while students can conduct their own discussions about the subject matter using the online platform CANVAS. Reckling sees these interactive portions of the course as especially important in training medical consultants that are not just knowledgeable, but personable as well. “We talk a lot about listening skills and developing empathy, because you can understand
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the condition on paper, but if you can’t listen to your customer and how it’s affecting him or her on a daily basis, it’s easy to assume and get things wrong,” he says. Since it was introduced last spring, nearly 500 students have enrolled in the certification course, already making it one of the most popular continuing education classes in Seattle Central’s history. Many of the students are already retail employees working in the cannabis industry, enrolling on their own or at the behest of their employers to bolster their credentials. Others are just personally interested in the medical benefits of marijuana and eager to become involved in the industry in some capacity, much as Reckling was two years ago. “People enroll from all over, and since we’re online it’s easy to deliver to them,” he says. “We’ve had lawyers, nurses, salespeople and graphic designers, who aren’t going to be the retail point of contact, but just want to be knowledgeable about what they do.” The course content has even made an impact on local retail shops. While developing the curriculum, Reckling and Babinec heard from the American Cannabis Nurses Association about the effectiveness of dosing journals wherein patients can record their cannabis intake and the effects. Since the consultant course started
recommending dosing journals, some Seattle retailers have created their own branded dosing journals to give to new patients. In the fall of 2016, thanks to the success of the initial consultant course, the Cannabis Institute began in earnest, offering students the chance to continue their cannabis education with shorter classes focused on more specialized topics. These include classes on qualifying conditions, pain management, and the science and folklore surrounding individual strains. “With cannabis, we’re never going to stop learning,” Reckling says. “It’s very much like being in tech right now, because information is going to keep increasing at an accelerated rate.” As I speak with Reckling, he’s already preparing to introduce two new classes—one on the promises and pitfalls of cannabis, and another about its effect on pets—heading into the spring 2017 semester, his third training the consultants that become key points of reference for medical marijuana patients. “Everyone wants to talk about the billions the industry could make,” he says, “but what’s exciting to me is that patients are improving their lives daily. So for us to be able to train the people on the frontline helping those patients—I just couldn’t think of a better way to be involved.”
OTHER HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS AROUND THE COUNTRY
“Marijuana Policy in the 21st Century” course at Oregon State University
“Cannabis Journalism” at Denver University
“Business and Law of Marijuana” at Hofstra University
“Marijuana Law and Policy” at Vanderbilt Law School
All courses at Clover Leaf University
All courses at Oaksterdam University
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GROWERS, YOU ASKED for more security.
WE LISTENED.
Emerald Harvest's new safety cap. Its tamper-evident ring guarantees product integrity. Safety cap with security ratchets Emerald Harvest products are available at all leading hydroponic retail stores. www.emeraldharvest.co
WRITER / DAVID BAILEY PHOTO / MARK COFFIN
FOUR TWENTY TRADING CO. Nothing is better than being front and center and Four Twenty Trading Company keeps you in the spot light. Cultivating the hottest styles of casual and cannabis, you can stay comfy and in style while repping your lifestyle. Prices vary www.fourtwentytradingco.com
MONKEY O KIT If smoking wasn’t fun enough, Monkey Os makes smoke and vape tricks a breeze. Equipped with the bubble juice and monkey blower, this kit provides everything you need to make the perfect smoke rings, smoke balloons and more! Price: $17.99 www.monkey-os.com
ACESO In today’s on-the-go society, convenience is key. Helping to alleviate daily stressors, Aceso has combined hemp-derived CBD with natural terpenes and vitamins in a quick and portable drink mix sachet. Prices vary www.myaceso.com
KADABRA VAPE Everyone loves the discreet nature and portability of vaporizers but not everyone can afford one. Kadabra breaks the mold with a reliable and high quality vaporizer at the perfect price. Oil, bud and keif, it’s there for you. Price: $99 www.kadabravapes.com
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COCOON For hundreds of years, fine artisans of wine and beer have packaged their goods in tinted glass to protect their precious products. Cocoon glass introduces violet airtight stash jars that block out harmful UV rays and preserve your favorite cannabis strains. Prices vary www.cocoonglass.com
LORD JONES Clothed in gold fringe and bearing the beautiful company crest, Lord Jones stands apart in quality, consistency and style. From their handcrafted infused edibles to their gentle and effective topicals, Lord Jones is a DOPE Magazine favorite that you simply can’t miss. Prices and availability may vary www.lordjones.com
HÄLSA Clean. Conscientious. Cannabis. This is what Hälsa has focused their products on and they have set the bar high. Heal, Unwind and Soothe provide unique holistic blends of terpenes, essential oils and cannabis for the perfect aromatic topical. Prices and availability may vary www.halsa.us
WOODIE BOX Hiking and smoking come hand-in-hand. Woodie Box solves the dilemmas that often come with consuming on the trail. A grinder card, rolling tray, storage compartment and one hitter are all packed into one small, lightweight, renewable wooden pocket case. Price: $34 www.woodiebox.com
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Amsterdam
DRIVE-BY SHOOTINGS AND COFFEE SHOP CLOSURES: DECLINE OF AN EMPIRE?
WRITER / SESHATA
Roxy, October 2015 De Kroon 3, January 2016 The Power, February & May 2016 DNA, May & September 2016 Green Place, September 2016 Blue Lagoon, October 2016 Vondel, October 2016 Greenhouse Kitchen, October 2016
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hat do these Amsterdam coffee shops have in common? Over the last year or so, they have all been closed “indefinitely” due to incidents involving gunfire. No-one has been seriously injured, although one customer was slightly wounded by shattering glass. Incidents have mostly taken place late at night, while shops were closed. COFFEE
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IT IS STILL NOT CLEAR WHY THE SHOOTINGS OCCURRED. THEORIES INCLUDE:
Corrupt government officials attempting to close coffee shops Rival coffee shop owners/gangs trying to eliminate competition Extortion rackets turning to violence when demands were unmet A personal or political vendetta held by a lone gunman.
COFFEE
Amsterdam is no stranger to drug-related gang violence – an ongoing feud over missing cocaine has claimed up to 14 lives since 2014. In March 2016, the severed head of one gang member was found on the sidewalk outside a cafe in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost. No official source has connected the coffee shop shootings with this criminal underworld, but rumors persist. The clumsy and corrupt “backdoor policy” employed in the Netherlands keeps coffee shops firmly in contact with the black market. Since the 1970s, when the first coffee shops opened, there is an almost continuous record of gangland involvement in the industry. However, the Amsterdam Union of Cannabis Retailers believes that the recent shootings are nothing to do with eliminating competition, as coffee shops have been closed en masse by the authorities in recent years. Coffee shop owners are also unconvinced by the extortion argument. One coffee shop owner stated to Dutch news channel AT5: “We have no problems with our suppliers, nobody is blackmailing us. Moreover, everybody knows fine well who we do business with. Who’s to say this isn’t the work of some psychopath?” Clearly, there is doubt remaining over the person or persons responsible for the shootings. Coffee shop owners have now hired security, installed extra CCTV and banded together to offer a €25,000 reward for information. Interestingly, just before Christmas mayor Eberhard van der Laan overturned the closures, provided that coffee shops adhered to a set of enhanced security measures. All but one coffeeshop has now reopened, and for now, the shootings seem to have stopped – but it seems that no-one except the shooter or shooters themselves know what really happened.
T R AV E L DOPE MAGAZINE SPOKE WITH THE OWNER OF THE RESPECTED AMSTERDAM COFFEE SHOP EERSTE HULP TO FIND OUT HIS OPINION ON EXACTLY WHAT’S GOING ON.
DOPE Magazine: What’s the current situation right now?
Is it a plan to discredit the coffee shops by a political faction?
Eerste Hulp Coffeeshop: It’s blown over because almost all coffee shops now have enforced security, armed security guards patrolling the area, and a reward on offer. There are between 32 and 36 coffee shops involved – it’s a collective action.
I wouldn’t dismiss it entirely, but I don’t think there’s any substance to the theory. The politicians have already done a lot of damage – in 1992, there were 2500 legal selling points for cannabis in Amsterdam. Now, we’re down to 150. I mean, they would never destroy the movement even if they put us down to 50 coffee shops. But right now, we coffee shop owners are a dying breed.
Are the shootings simply a means of eliminating competition? I have no real clue, but it’s not likely to be about eliminating competition. As others have said, we are already busy enough because of the hundreds of closures over the years. Any more customers and we won’t be able to cope!
What’s your opinion on the mayor’s decision to overturn the closures? Definitely a good thing – the right thing to do. The guy was making us all targets. When does it stop? When all the coffee shops are closed? If anything, the mayor’s big mistake has always been to close down coffee shops.
Has your coffee shop experienced any shooting incidents?
So you don’t think it was a calculated move to ensure tax revenues over the Christmas period, one of the busiest times of the year?
No...Thank God, no! Is there a deeper connection to the Amsterdam “gangland” underworld?
I don’t believe so. That logic hasn’t stopped him closing down hundreds of coffee shops year on year. If it was just about profit and taxes, they’d never close a coffee shop.
No, absolutely not. No link to the “underworld”. I know most of the coffee shop owners involved and that’s just not a theory that has any substance.
What does the future hold for Amsterdam coffee shops, do you think these shootings could have any long-term consequences?
Could it just be a lone gunman with a vendetta? What could the motive be?
Well, a lot is riding on the results of the upcoming elections in March. You know Geert Wilders? Geert Wilders (note: a notorious right-wing, anti-immigration politician) is now leading the polls – and he supports the closure of more coffee shops. This is bound to have way more influence than this situation with the shootings, and could threaten the existence of every remaining coffee shop.
It could well be just one psychopath. Right now it seems like a good possibility!
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NEWS
#END420SHAME CANNABIS EDUCATION OVERCOMES FEAR WRITER / KELLY VO
“I TRULY BELIEVE THAT THE ONLY WAY TO HELP THE WORLD GET MORE VALUE OUT OF CANNABIS IS TO #END420SHAME AND THAT STARTS AND ENDS WITH KNOWLEDGE.” – MAX SIMON 52
H
ow do you destroy the stigma around cannabis? You educate people. As Edmund Burke said, “knowledge conquers fear.” People only fear the consequences of medicinal and recreational cannabis when they don’t understand it. But as soon as people start learning the truth, they begin to open up their minds, and the truth is this: • According to data collected by the National IncidentBased Reporting System, violent crime in Washington is at a 40-year historic low since the passage of recreational cannabis. • The legalization of marijuana has not led to increased rates of marijuana use for youth, based on the Washington State Healthy Youth survey. • And, in 2013, traffic fatalities in the 19 states that had passed medical marijuana laws by 2010 had decreased by 8 to 11 percent according to a study in The Journal of Law & Economics. Those simple facts, and hundreds more, are why educating the public about cannabis is so necessary, and that’s exactly what Green Flower is aiming to do. Their mission is to “help you learn everything about cannabis today whether you’re interested in using cannabis as a medicine, starting your own cannabis business, being a better activist or growing your own cannabis at home.” “I’ve been a cannabis user my whole life. To a certain degree, I think I wouldn’t have made it through school without cannabis since I suffer from OCD, but I had this guilt about using it,” says Max Simon, CEO and Founder of Green Flower. “It wasn’t until I really started looking into cannabis as a medicine, and delving into the research, that I realized my guilt was misplaced. Then, as I became educated, I felt really angry that I wasn’t given the correct information my whole life.” Simon built Green Flower on the premise that the more educated you are about cannabis, the more acceptable it becomes and the greater respect you gain for the plant—all of which are vital to the industry’s success. That’s why, every single week, Green Flower broadcasts free cannabis classes from over 165 industry experts on almost any topic imaginable from cannabis health to industry news, personal development, DIY and activism, to name a few. “People want to use cannabis to improve the quality of their lives,” says Simon. “In fact, 98 percent of our audience are people who are interested in using cannabis as a legitimate substance—they’re using it to cope, solve, heal, etc. That’s why we’ve been purposeful about expanding cannabis knowledge. We pride ourselves on answering the questions that people have today.” And Green Flower’s eventual goal is to reach and educate ten million people. “I believe that there are tens of millions of people who could immediately benefit from our knowledge,” explains Simon. “But as a starting place, I’d like to see ten million people sign up for our classes.”
It’s a fantastic goal considering that, according to government surveys, some 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly. But if so many people already use it, why do we need education? We need education because more than 693,000 individuals are still arrested each year for marijuana—more than the total number of arrests for all violent crimes, claims NORML. But educating the public isn’t just about changing how the government, police, and naysayers view marijuana; it’s also about giving people what they want. “We’ve found that there are four areas of cannabis that people really have a craving to learn more about,” says Simon. “People want to learn how to use cannabis in the most effective way medicinally. Underneath the DIY vertical, they want to know how to grow their own plants, cook with it, and make their own tinctures. Finally, they want to discover how to get into the industry and the science behind cannabis.” And it’s only through this education that the truth about cannabis, and all of its various pieces, comes out. Think about it: maybe the DEA would have rescheduled cannabis to a Schedule II drug if they’d had more education about the medicinal benefits of the plant. It’s hard to argue with knowledge, so Green Flower is trying to provide as much knowledge as possible. And there’s another benefit to knowledge; it ensures that cannabis is used correctly. “I believe that some people are overusing cannabis and that it might actually be harming their life,” explains Simon. “But when cannabis is used responsibly and respectfully, and we acknowledge the power of it, it can be used in such a way that it provides extreme benefits.” “People are suffering in so many ways in their lives. They could be suffering because they’re not sleeping, because they’re anxious or they’re in pain, or even because they’re blocked creatively,” Simon continues. “But when cannabis is used with the right guidance and in the correct context, it can be used to heal your life. I truly believe that the only way to help the world get more value out of cannabis is to #End420Shame, and that starts and ends with knowledge.” If you’d like to share your End 4/20 Shame story with us email kellyv@dopemagazine.com or share your story on social media using the hashtag #End420Shame.
Green Flower Flower is is aa specially specially designed designed technology technology platform platform Green that shares shares FREE FREE live-stream live-stream cannabis cannabis education education classes classes that every week. week. every classes are are always always hosted hosted by by leading leading cannabis cannabis experts •• TThe he classes experts including Steve DeAngelo, Lee, Stacey including Steve DeAngelo, MandeeMandee Lee, Stacey Kerr M.D., Kerr M.D.,Land, Donald Donald andLand, more.and more. cover aa variety variety of of topics topics from from “Treating “Treating Cancer Cancer •• TThey hey cover with withCannabis” Cannabis”toto“The “ThePluses Plusesand andMinuses MinusesofofCannabis Cannabis Edibles.” Edibles.” are attended by thousands of people in the •• TAnd hey they are attended by thousands of people in the community. community.And, And,for forjust just$18 $18aamonth, month,subscribers subscriberscan canpay pay for foraccess accesstotoevery everyvideo videopast, past,present, present,and andfuture. future. To learn learn more more about about Green Green Flower Flower and and all all things things cannabis, cannabis, To visit www.learngreenflower.com www.learngreenflower.com visit
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NEWS
ROOM FOR TWO?
Should Medical and Recreational Cannabis Markets Coexist? WRITER / MEGAN CAMPBELL
“IS THERE A NEED FOR BOTH MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL MARKETS?” 56
T
hink of the 4-year-old who suffers from seizures. Think of the 17-year-old who is diagnosed with cancer. Think of the 21-year-old who battles lupus and has a limited income. These are the people the medical cannabis market is designed for. These are the people Tucker Eldridge, general manager of Nature’s Herbs and Wellness in Colorado, is thinking about when pondering whether or not a medical system is needed when recreational use is legal. As of now, around 30 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis in one form or another. Only a handful of those states have also legalized it recreationally. So when Eldridge—who’s been working in cannabis before and after Colorado legalized—is asked, “Is there a need for both medical and recreational markets? Can these parallel systems coexist?” his answer is yes and yes. But how the medical and recreational markets actually coexist differs from state to state. A good example is examining Colorado and Washington, the first two states to legalize recreationally in 2012, and California, which just recently legalized recreational use but has permitted medical cannabis since the ‘90s. In Colorado, the two markets operate in parallel. Eldridge says it’s possible to have the dual system. Although, proving the viability for the medical market is an ongoing process. For Eldridge the medical market ensures patients, some of whom are younger than 21 years old, get their needed strains, potency, and mode of consumption. The recreational market would just not be able to serve patients like the 4-year-old who suffers from seizures. That’s because there are caps in Colorado’s recreational market, such as not being able to make an edible with more than 100 mg of THC. For some patients, like a diabetic, it’s not reasonable or safe to expect them to eat several edibles packed with sugar to find therapeutic relief. They need something stronger baked into one treat.
And it is less expensive for the cardholder, as they get a significant tax relief on products. But in a couple of years, the medical marijuana laws will sunset, opening it up for regulatory revisions, he said. Whereas in Washington, the unregulated medical market was gutted when Senate Bill 5052 was put into law in 2015, nearly two decades after the state legalized medical cannabis and about nine months after recreational cannabis sales were first legally allowed in the state thanks to Initiative-502, which passed in 2012. The highly regulated recreational market laid the groundwork to dismantle the medical system, said Shango Los, podcast host of Shaping Fire and Washington medical patient. And while medical still exists in the state, it follows many of the same regulations that bind the recreational system. The shift was a disappointing one for Los, who worked with many small, artisan producers on Vashon Island west of Seattle. “There were a lot of good people who lost during the transition from medical to 502,” he said. “There were a lot of people who trusted in the state that they would have a future and so they started their mom and pop businesses, they invested their time, they invested their money, they came out of the shadows and started paying taxes and they chose to become legitimate business people because they thought that Washington was going to create this place for them.” But there wasn’t a place for a majority of them. “Most of these folks were just small cottage businesses … but the quality was exceptionally high,” he said. “It was very challenging to me, to watch these people who I had interviewed and helped become small business owners and to go through all the trials and tribulations of that, just get cast aside for the new regimen.” For Los, there’s clearly a way to make the medical system work with the recreational one: fold medical into the recreational
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“THERE WERE A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE WHO LOST DURING THE TRANSITION FROM MEDICAL TO 502.”
market, but give patients a tax relief, allow patients to buy in bulk at a lower price, and increase the number of plants a patient can grow. Amanda Reiman, formerly of the Drug Policy Alliance, said California is looking to reconcile its two very similar cannabis systems—the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act and Proposition 64, which legalized recreational use in the last election. This would allow patients and recreational users access to the same products. The new system does not specify potency limits or non-limits, though Proposition 64 states that edibles must be broken into standardized 10 mg doses. Proposition 64 also states medical patients are exempt from sales tax. Reiman said that “these aspects of the policy have already been approved, they just have not been written into a unitary system for patients and non-patients.” That financial break is “extremely important for patients,” she said, as medical patients are already dealing with medical bills and usually need more cannabis than a recreational user. Plus, like Colorado’s Eldridge said, it’s important to have the medical system to serve those who are under 21 years old.
Additionally, local cities with a robust medical market would have the opportunity to opt out of having a recreational market, leaving the medical market intact and available for patients. “This is unlikely. What is more likely is that places that currently have no cannabis regulations at all might choose to only allow medical dispensaries once the state licensing starts,” she said. “However, since Prop 64 gave adults the right to cultivate for themselves, a locality cannot ban personal cultivation for medical or adult use purposes.” Legalizing cannabis allows for an over-thecounter model that opens up cannabis to be easily accessed and used as an alternative medicine, she said. Every state does it differently. But the medical market does serve a purpose—one that’s not going away, even if cannabis continues to be legalized recreationally.
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SHOTS FIRED...
LET THE REAL WAR ON DRUGS BEGIN
STATES WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA SEE A 25% DECREASE IN OPIOID ABUSE DEATHS
MEDICA LLY CERT IFIED R ETA ILER S
LACEY
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Colorado man Richard Kirk, who fatally shot his wife after eating an edible, has pleaded guilty to second degree murder. The Cannabis Business Alliance said it’s “relieved that after years of investigation and mental evaluations that Richard Kirk accepted responsibility for his actions.” The organization, eager to demonstrate that normalization of weed pointed to a study showing that legalization does not cause a rise in crime.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Sen. Jeff Sessions for U.S. Attorney General in an 11-9 party line vote. At press time, Sessions was expected to win confirmation from the Senate. Though Sessions is a prohibitionist who made no promises about allowing the industry to function, the National Cannabis Industry Association, did not oppose his nomination. Despite Sessions, cannabis executives seemed to be cautiously optimistic that the industry has grown, as the L.A. Times put it, “Too big to jail.”
California business owners are in a “legal fog” about how they can operate before the state creates rules for both MED and REC businesses. State senator Mike McGuire (D) from Sonoma County said there’s “no way” MED regulations will be ready to take effect on January 1, 2018 since the state is “building the regulatory system for a multibillion dollar industry from scratch.” The state’s Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation disagrees, saying the process is on schedule.
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Drug Policy Alliance founder and Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann is stepping down from the organization. In his farewell letter he wrote that the Trump administration, “Will surely hamper our progress at the federal level but do little to undermine our progress and prospects in the states and cities where so much of our work has focused.” In 2013, Rolling Stone called Nadelmann “the real drug czar” and “the most influential man in the battle for legalization.”
Massachusetts state senator Jason M. Lewis (D) has proposed creating a much stricter REC market than that in the passed ballot initiative. Boston city councilor Annissa Essaibi George took a fact finding trip to Colorado where she was generally reassured about legalization, except for the smell. “It’s wicked, it’s wicked,” she said. “It’s like driving through New Jersey with the oil refineries. It’s everywhere.” Voter approved MED and REC programs also face headwinds in Arkansas, Maine, North Dakota and elsewhere.
Former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel (R-Alaska), and CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc. netted more than $555,000 selling shares in the company. Analyst Alan Brochstein, who first reported the transaction at New Cannabis Ventures, said the proceeds “far exceed any economic value that has been created by the company, as CBDS reported sales of only $24,243 through the first three quarters of 2016.” Other senior executives at the company have also sold shares.
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till shaking the bulb to see if it’s out? From car headlights to light bulbs and street lamps, everything seems to be making the change to LED, and for good reason. We all know how much more efficient they are, just like when we switched those twirly CFL bulbs, and it seems to be branching into every field. Except cannabis? LED companies have tried just about everything to break into the cannabis space. You can’t help but see their ads on the side of every grow article and magazine. But when you see pictures of large operations, almost nobody has them. Why is this? The industry standard for cannabis has been HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps with the HPS (High Pressure Sodium) bulbs being the most popular. While I wish there were some triumphant story of clandestine growers secretly developing these specialty bulbs, it’s actually one of the first designs created to successfully replicate sunlight. HID’s are used, and have been for almost a century, in street lamps, headlights, warehouses and just about anywhere a large amount of light and intensity is needed. Needless to say, HIDs became standard because they were readily available and they worked! In a grow room, and especially a company, everything comes down to production efficiency. If you weren’t already aware, cannabis is known for being able to consume an ungodly amount of nutrients and light and actually use it for growth. Where most vegetables only need supplemental lighting and a few hours of concentrated light, cannabis needs heavy intensity the whole time. CFL (Compact Fluorescent)
bulbs and fixtures like the T5, plant versions of the twirly bulb, have proven effective for vegetative growth, but they don’t have enough intensity for flowering cannabis. This reason alone is why HIDs have maintained their status over the years despite advancements in lighting. LED lighting was one of the first to enter the cannabis space with sufficient intensity to successfully flower cannabis, with a catch; you have to grow short, tightly packed plants. The original models of LEDs boasted all the truths you still hear; cooler running, more efficient, variable temperatures, dimmable and with substantially less lumen depreciation over the life of the lamp. The downside was the lack of canopy penetration. Any buds beneath the top six inches of the canopy lacked density or even full development and putting the lamp too close bleached the tops of all the flowers. Their next biggest hold back was the lamp size. Most early designs maxed out at as low as 300 watts yet were intended to cover a 4’x4’ or 5’x5’ footprint, the same as a 1000 watt HID. Clearly not enough. This problem arose out of limitations with the light designs. Unlike HIDs that run on wire filaments and gas in a tube, LEDs are Light Emitting Diodes that are mounted on a chip in a reflector cup. The typical design includes hundreds of diodes in chips but the chips were extremely limited in their output due to heat exchange. If too much power was supplied, the lamps began wasting energy into heat rather than producing more intense light. What this meant to the grower was stacking countless lamps next to one
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another to attempt a similar coverage of a singular HID, not to mention the extreme start-up cost difference. No amount of heat savings is better when you have smaller yields, ever. While LEDs in the cannabis space has been an uphill battle, some substantial technological gains might have finally bridged the gap. Without overcomplicating it, even and rapid heat disbursement, or thermal dissipation, is the key to upping the wattage. Using the 3-pad flip chip technology by Flip Chip Opto and patented heatsinks, URSA lighting has done the unthinkable. Where the maximum LED wattage has been as much as 600 in recent years, URSA can now produce lamps as much as 2400 watts per unit. Their recent install in the Staples Center is proof. Combining all the advantages of LED lighting with the increased ability for canopy penetration means the tides may be changing. Use in greenhouses along with more compact indoor structures is only the beginning of potential opportunities. While this high wattage technology is still being perfected, this may be the first feasible option cannabis growers have for energy efficiency. Cannabis as a crop and a commodity is very high in energy consumption. As this industry grows and hopefully more people grow at home, we need to seriously consider the amount of energy we’re using to nurture this plant. If we can move towards less heat production and ultimately less energy usage with the same results, I think we can all get on board with that. Perhaps it’s time to put away the trustworthy HID work horse and try out the new “cool” toy.
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EDITORS CHOICE
THE TOPSTONE VAPORIZER SEAMLESS SOPHISTICATION WRITER / DAVID BAILEY
PHOTO / MARK COFFIN
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he art, practice and ritual of consuming cannabis is changing rapidly. We’re breaking from the traditional stoner basement circles and bringing our lifestyle to the front lines. No longer do you need to hide your glass art before your parents come over. Both modern and luxurious, the Topstone vaporizer is a piece you’ll want to display. Topstone elevates the vaporizer experience from taste, draw and pull to the flawless handcrafted and American made design itself. The elegance of this concentrate vaporizer is immediately noticed with the bocote hardwood mouthpiece, patented misted pyrex chamber and 3D printed base. Simple to clean and built to last, its beauty is undeniable and fits a multitude of settings. So go ahead, invite over the family and leave this out on display.
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ACLU and Human Rights Watch report that drug-possession arrests make-up a significant portion of modern-day police work. Every
25 seconds someone in the US is arrested for drug use.
Decriminalization – According to a recent Drug Policy Alliance report
50,000 people
in the US are currently incarcerated for “small quantity” possession.
VOTE! Your voice counts. The cannabis community welcomes Maine as the
8th state
to pass legislation eliminating marijuana possession penalties.
Overdose Deaths – States with MMJ laws have seen a
25% decrease in opioid painkiller deaths according to a recent John Hopkins University study.
Connecticut –
1 of 11states
considering “Pot Laws” in 2017. Other states include MO, NH, NY, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA and WI
Arkansas – “The Natural State” is currently considering
3 House Bills
that could hinder medical legalization (House Bill 1400; House Bill 1391; House Bill 1392)
CannaKids – Currently in the process of partnering with CA Hospitals in an effort to perform pediatric research using cannabis as a treatment. According to NIH estimates,
$355 million
will be used in researching Pediatric Cancer in 2017.
Yearning for change? Join one of these
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Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Americans for Safe Access, the Marijuana Policy Project or the National Cannabis Industry Association to advocate for the cannabis movement.
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DELIVERING CANNABIS WHILE FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE WRITER / BLAZE ROBINSON PHOTO / COURTESY OF MIRAGE MEDICINAL
THE HISTORY Malcolm began delivering marijuana at age 14 to family members battling cancer, AIDS and drug addiction. With dreams of opening his own brick and mortar shop, he expanded his delivery route out of state to raise capital. Arrested in Texas, Malcolm faced two- life sentences for marijuana trafficking. In 2014 he was found in New York violating his parole and sent to prison. Not knowing how long he would be incarcerated and with a legal and viable cannabis delivery service in California, he called his younger sister for a favor. Nina says it was clear she needed to continue her brother’s work “We have already fought so hard to be in the space, our family has already sacrificed so much for this industry.” Despite his record, Malcolm still dreams of owning a brick and mortar dispensary.
MIRAGE MEDICINALS (415) 264-5328 HOURS: MON- SAT: 11AM - 10PM SUN: 12PM - 6PM DELIVERY WITHIN SAN FRANCISCO CITY LIMIT MIRAGEMEDICINAL.COM
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THE PEOPLE Siblings Malcolm Mirage and Nina Parks own and operate Mirage Medicinals, a delivery service in San Francisco. No stranger to the war on drugs, Malcolm was incarcerated on charges of possession with intent to sell. Now free from prison, Malcolm and Nina work to keep California’s cannabis industry accessible to those who have been persecuted and incarcerated in the long fight to end marijuana prohibition. Nina also cofounded Supernova Women, a non-profit that supports women of color in the cannabis industry.
THE PRODUCT
“WE HAVE ALREADY FOUGHT SO HARD TO BE IN THE SPACE, OUR FAMILY HAS ALREADY SACRIFICED SO MUCH FOR THIS INDUSTRY.”
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Mirage’s menu features a variety of flowers, concentrates, edibles, and topicals from companies across Northern California. Nina says whoopi & maya’s soaks and rubs are very popular not only with their female patients but also with their bodybuilding clientele. The siblings love making friends with small boutique operations which allows them to carry new strains and unique products. One of their favorites is Islandpharmz’s Kava Sherbs Crumble (80 percent THC). Nina exclaims, “holy bananas the terpenes on that is through the roof. Patients tell us they put it on everything.” Its unique taste comes from infusing Samoan flavors like kava and pineapple juice during processing.
Unity has never meant uniformity. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The New Vape. April 2017.
GARDEN
HAPPYDAY FARMS HOMESTEAD CANNABIS WRITER / BLAZE ROBINSON
PHOTO / JOVE MANDZIK
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THE PEOPLE The couple had been growing cannabis for personal use for years; they were inspired by their life as rural farmers to expand their cannabis crop and advocacy. Casey explains, “America is a country founded on small farms, you had your cash crop and your personal crops. We believe the farm should be able to produce as much as it can for itself. Monocrop cannabis is just as dangerous as monocrop wheat or soy.” The couple co-founded the Emerald Grown Cooperative, which pools marketing resources and advocates ways for the government to regulate and support a stable thriving, rural farming system. With the cooperative, small farmers have a stronger collective voice and can come out of the shadows to explain to local policy makers what it is to be a holistic cannabis farmers not a large monocrop grower. Casey says “I like to spend more time on farming than politics, but if you’re not at the table with local policy makers than you’re on the table.” Amber and Casey sell their surplus crops through farmers markets, CSA boxes, or California dispensaries. The O’Neill’s dream of a future where “we could go to a farmers’ market and interact with patients…in a perfect world we could do a cannabis CSA.”
THE PLACE HappyDay Farms is located on a sunny slope in Northern Mendocino County. Mindful that they are stewards of the land, Amber and Casey O’Neill only farm two of the 20 acres that has been in the family for generations. The O’Neills hope to be an example of twenty-first century farmers—which looks similar to a nineteenth century farmer. The couple lives off grid, use rainwater for irrigation, save their seeds and plant their crops outside in compost-enriched soil. At the farm, food and medicine is grown together. Vegetables and other perennials that attract beneficial insects surround tall cannabis plants. Interplanting also prevents the cannabis from being densely planted together, which brings light and air to the plants while minimizing mold, pests and root rot. “…some of the biggest and most beautiful food comes out of our cannabis beds,” says Casey.
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NEWS
DUTERTE HARRY
A PRESIDENT’S PROMISE TO KILL THOUSANDS OF DRUG USERS WRITER / SCOTT PEARSE
“F
orget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I’d kill you, I’ll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there.” Rodrigo Duterte did make it to the presidential palace. He is the president of the Southeast Asian nation of the Philippines. And he his making good on his campaign promises, there are many happy, fat fish in Manila Bay. So where is the starting point of Duterte’s mission? How does a country come to tolerate a presidential candidate who threatens to kill his own people by targeting drug users? The Philippines is the most fervently catholic of all Asian nations, and in 1972, Archbishop Alberto would say things like, “Drug users are the worst saboteurs and are worthy of the highest punishments.” Not quite an explicit threat, but his words certainly set a certain tone. Views on drug users came from as high up as the Supreme Court who said in a cannabis case, “Drug addiction is one of the most pernicious evils that has ever crept into our society. It is of common knowledge that drug addicts become useless if not dangerous members of society and in some instances turn up to be among the living dead.” “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there is three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them.” Rodrigo Duterte hit the campaign trail on a platform of restoring law and order. “Feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have a gun, you have my support. [Shoot drug users] and I’ll give you a medal. Shoot a lot and I will make you police chief.” The Philippines does have a high rate of shabu, or methamphetamine, use but less so than many countries, including the United States. “They say I am a killer. Maybe I am,” Duterte said during a presidential debate, in which he was asked what he would do if one of his children was caught using drugs. The candidate’s response: “I will kill him.”
And what successful presidential candidacy is without the taint of predatory sexual behavior and outright misogyny? “I was separated from my wife. I’m not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up.” During his time as mayor of Davaos he regretted that he wasn’t there to take part in the rape of an Australian missionary, “There was this Australian lay minister... I saw her face and I thought, what a pity... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first.” Responding to outrage over his remark, Duterte reasoned that when he made the statement, “I was angry and just used gutter language.” He won the election. Once installed in the presidential palace, Duterte’s first order of business was to authorize his police to murder. “Do your duty, and if in the process you kill 1000 persons because you were doing your duty, I will protect you. If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful.” In the first 100 days of Duterte’s presidency the death toll was suspected to hover around 3500.
And just because he doesn’t need to do it himself doesn’t mean he shouldn’t claim to. A president’s role is to inspire his people, “In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys [police officers] that if I can do it, why can’t you. And I’d go around in Davao with a motorcycle and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble. I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill.” That seems clear enough, but just to be sure, “Rich or poor, I do not give a shit. My order is to destroy.” Public resistance to his war on drug users was limited to a handful of people, most notably by senator Leila De Lima, “they think that it’s good for peace and order. We now have death squads on a national scale, but I’m not seeing public outrage.” The first poll taken in 2017 had Duterte’s ratings on trust and approval at 83 percent. And people are being murdered in the street. The Catholic Church said, “Get high on God, not on drugs.” The media was strangely quiet in resistance when Duterte said, “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch.” But surely democratic checks and balances would prevent a president from ordering extrajudicial killings, “My mouth has no due process. I don’t care about human rights. You’d better believe me.” If anything the presidential office has given The Punisher access to special powers, such as the presidential pardon, “Pardon given to Rodrigo Duterte for the crime of multiple murder, signed Rodrigo Duterte.” By early 2017, the death toll has already reached a suspected 6200.
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BUSINESS
MEADOW REVEALS GREENER PASTURES A BETTER EXPERIENCE FOR THE PATIENT WRITER / LOBIE PHOTOGRAPHER/ ASHLEIGH CASTRO
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n February 2014, three computer engineers and a marketing maven decided to try to solve the problem of finding high quality cannabis meds while accommodating the fastpaced tech-fueled lifestyle of the San Francisco Bay Area. In a world where you can order hot meals, rides and even groceries online for sameday delivery, it makes sense that we can also peruse menus and get our cannabis through a similar system. At the same time, they also wanted to simplify the back-end process for care providers, allowing them to spend more time helping their patients and less time on the nitty gritty of running a business. These goals were ambitious enough to get Y Combinator’s attention, a tech incubator that provides funding and guidance to start-ups that are chosen during an aggressive bi-annual selection campaign. In October 2014 Meadow SF launched as the first cannabis-based business with Y Combinator funding. “We planned by default that we would not get
in [Y-Combinator] because we were cannabis, they had the foresight to see our ability to execute in an environment that was growing,” said David Hua, CEO and Co-Founder of Meadow. Walking into Meadow’s headquarters in San Francisco’s Mission District, you’d be hard pressed to differentiate it from any other Y Combinator-funded start-up. A handful of desks and couches are flanked by the now-iconic cube-style bookshelves that outline a few rotating workspaces, as well as a more open warehouse-style room to the side, space they frequently use to host industry events. The first impression you’ll likely get of Meadow is their delivery platform hosted at GetMeadow.com. You’re asked if you have an MMJ card, prompted to provide your zip code, and if you’ve used services like Instacart, you’re already familiar with the setup. An array of products are available with photos, test results, strain types, descriptions and estimated delivery times, all cleanly laid out
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and a click away. You choose your dispensary, fill up your cart and checkout is a breeze, especially if you’ve gotten your recommendation through Meadow’s second site, MeadowMD.com. MeadowMD.com is even simpler than the delivery site—you plug in your California zip and you’re given a schedule within which you can book a 30-minute video consultation with a licensed physician. Meadow aims to dispel stereotypes of revolving door medical marijuana doctors, offering in depth consultations aimed at identifying patients’ needs and providing apt recommendations on consumption. Once you’ve gotten your recommendation in Meadow’s HIPAA-compliant system, you only have to click to sign the patient agreements from any of their associated collectives and you’re fully registered and ready to order for delivery or pick up. Your recommendation is also always available online in case you don’t have a hard copy on hand.
“I TRY TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH PEOPLE I CONSIDER GIANTS, AS WE MOVE FORWARD THERE’S A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE AND CARE THAT HAS TAKEN US TO THIS POINT,” EXPLAINS HUA.
This brings me to Meadow’s third, newest and potentially most groundbreaking product. Meadow Platform (meadowplatform.com), their business-to-business back end product, is a tablet-based POS system, patient intake record tracking system, inventory management system, delivery and in-store pick up service all rolled into one. A simple line of code allows the dispensary to post their stock on their own website, and patients can place orders to be delivered or picked up and paid for in-store, with an average turnaround time of fifteen minutes. This is a huge plus to regular patients who know what they want, and it allows budtenders to devote their time to those who require a more in-depth consultation. It’s also more discreet, I saw patients picking up
their orders from the front desk at the Apothecarium (SF) being in and out within mere minutes. I was immediately asking our friends at Meadow to get in touch with my local collective. “I got to catch up with Lucas who helps run the front desk at Apothecarium, he shared that his regulars are using it, which is great! Now they don’t have to wait in line especially during holiday ordering surges,” said Hua. Meadow Platform is also an asset to the dispensaries themselves by providing personnel with an easy way to view a patient’s purchase history and make more personalized recommendations, simplifying the checkout process, and helping maintain best practices in order to stay within both the current Prop 215 regulations and those
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for businesses to be operating under Prop 64. As we enter the green new world of legal adult cannabis use in California, the previously under-the-radar systems that have been the status quo under Prop 215 are going to be moving on as record keeping and standards of practice are being scrutinized more than ever. Pre-existing dispensaries and new players alike are preparing for recreational sales becoming permitted, and Meadow is on the forefront to be a hub for patients and dispensaries, providing simple, robust web-based services that appeal to both demographics and bring marijuana culture one step further towards standardized legitimacy.
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BOOK REVIEW
THE NEW JIM CROW MASS INCARCERATION IN THE AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS WRITER / SCOTT PEARSE AUTHOR / MICHELLE ALEXANDER
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A
s cannabis consumers, we are all invested in ending the war on drugs, but for many the stakes are much higher than the simple right to enjoy marijuana when and how we see fit. “More black men are imprisoned today than at any other moment in our nation’s history,” and the majority of these men imprisoned are casualties of the federal government’s War on Drugs. This startling fact, that we should imprison such a high number of a particular race, points to a systemic policy failure that is robbing minority men of their right to liberty and opportunity to function fully within our society. The New Jim Crow written by Michelle Alexander, an associate professor of law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law explains how the justice system is being used to control African Americans: “The absence of black fathers from families across America is not simply a function of laziness, immaturity or too much time watching Sports Center. Thousands of black men have disappeared into prisons and jails, locked away for drug crimes that are largely ignored when committed by whites.” As a reading experience, this book was flung against the wall several times in exasperation at injustices that continue today, all while having a black president at the wheel. As a white reader, The New Jim Crow presents a depressing and confronting reality, but if there is a time to educate yourself on what is at stake for our most vulnerable, it’s during a Trump presidency. The message isn’t one community blaming the other, but a call to arms to eradicate the injustice of the war on drugs. Alexander comments, “A nation is a choice.” We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion, and concern to those who are locked up and locked out or headed for prison before they are old enough to vote. We could seek for them the same opportunities we seek for our own children; we could treat them like one of “us.”
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NEWS
FREE OUR PEOPLE
TRESPASSING, DISTURBING THE PEACE: DISABILITY ADVOCATES MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD WRITER / SCOTT PEARSE
PHOTO / TIM WHEAT
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D
awn Russell doesn’t initially strike you as the type of person you would expect to have been arrested over 25 times with charges ranging from trespassing to disturbing the peace. She is an organizer with ADAPT. ADAPT will say they use civil disobedience and direct action to advocate for people with disabilities, but these feel like too big of words for me. Basically, they are badasses literally willing to throw themselves under a bus for their voices to be heard. And what are they shouting about? The first ADAPT actions happened around issues of wheelchair access on public transit in Denver in the late ‘70s. People with disabilities were stranded in nursing homes, an issue that persists to this day, and people were further isolated because the bus that swung by their place wasn’t wheelchair accessible. The activists, who became known as the “Gang of 19,” laid themselves in the path of an R.T.D. bus and an organization was born. ADAPT launches two national actions a year. Their modus operandi is to flood a room, a meeting or an office of government with people in wheelchairs. Their intent is to remain until their demands are met. “It’s the real fucking deal,” says Dawn. This often leads to arrests. “I didn’t think my sweet David [her recently passed husband] was paying attention to how many arrests I had. When I got out of jail after an action in Chicago, and we were in real jail there, and I remember getting out and he’s standing there with flowers and balloons and a big sign that read Happy 25th.” Dawn joined ADAPT in 1996 in Memphis and when pressed for some of her favorite recollections from ADAPT actions, “I’ve gotta calm down enough to tell you,” the fervent protestor immediately comes out in her. “We were at the conference of Mayors in D.C. We had taken over this guy’s office and we were trying to get his staff to contact him. The staff slipped out the back door. Often we’re able to lock it all down, and they can’t get out. But this day they all got out. And we were saying we’ve got a whole bunch of people in this office and we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do. Low and behold, at five in the evening, the guy’s office that we were in, his office phone started ringing, and ADAPT answers the phone, ‘Hello, ADAPT speaking.’ and so it was the guy whose office we were in and we got a meeting right there.”
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