DOPE MAGAZINE NOR CAL ISSUE 3 "THE PAST TO PRESENT" ISSUE by DOPE Magazine

NORCAL | NOVEMBER 2015 | ISSUE #6 | THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE | FREE

CAMPAIGN ZERO

STRAIN

Ensuring Accountability

BLUE LIGHTNING

CONCENTRATE

BRANDING BUD

PURE CURE

The National Brands Emerge

EDIBLE OM SIPPING CHOCOLATE

DISPENSARIES

1841 EL CAMINO & VALLEJO HOLLISTIC HEALTH CENTER

RACIAL DISPARITY IN THE AGE OF LEGALIZATION

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS STATE DIRECTOR’S NOTE

ISSUE 06 | NOVEMBER 2015 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE

14 STRAIN

MENDOCINO BLUE LIGHTNING

BRANDING BUD CONSISTENCY ACROSS STATE LINES

DISPENSARY

VALLEJO HOLISTIC HEALTH CENTER

16 DISPENSARY

EDIBLES

1841 EL CAMINO

CBD RAW SIPPING CACAO

DOPE NEWS

CANNABIS WORLD NEWS

CANNA-NEWS

IN FOCUS: MIKE SMIGIEL

CANNA-NEWS

BLACK LIVES MATTER

HEALTH

JETTY EXTRACTS

56 CONCENTRATE PURE CURE

SOCIAL CAUSE CAMPAIGN ZERO

70 CANNA-NEWS CHARLO GREENE

52 FEATURE

DR. CARL HART

46 POLITICAL CLINT WERNER

November is our Past to Present issue where we look back on the history of the topics we consider highly relevant to our industry today, and we seek to gain perspective on where we are headed as a slew of new cannabis industry regulations are about to come into play in California. In choosing what we want to look back on for this publication, we decided to take on the issue of race in America. No pressure. In our cover feature “Black Lives Matter,” neuroscientist Dr. Carl Hart takes on systemic racism and the failed War on Drugs that has resulted in the mass incarceration of blacks in America. Dr. Hart notes that while blacks and whites use cannabis at the same rates, blacks are still being arrested at much higher rates. We then drill deeper, into the #BlackLivesMatter movement, in an enlightening conversation with the Rev Ashiya Odeye, Reverend Director of the Order of the Olufumni Rastafari Church. The Rev helps us look deeper at the issue of systemic racism and how it has affected black cannabis users. The Rev points out that while our justice system is supposed to consider every citizen innocent until proven guilty, instead, a person arrested is going to be considered guilty unless they can prove their innocence. Clearly, a lot of work still needs to be done in terms of making our justice system fair. We further take on the failed War on Drugs arguing for a health recovery model over the draconian punitive model we have now. Of course we feature amazing local content, including reviews of strains, edibles, concentrates, products, and companies who are helping shape the industry. Speaking of which, at the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA)’s Policy and Regulations Summit, we got to talk with the lobbyists who actually wrote the bills that Governor Brown recently signed. For anyone looking for a long term career in the cannabis industry but not sure where the best opportunities are, I recommend joining the CCIA. You can’t get better access than having the opportunity to talk with the people who write the laws. Evan Kopelson, California State Director

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PRESIDENT

ASSOCIATE SALES MANAGER

EVAN CARTER

JASON ROSENBERG

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

JAMES ZACHODNI STATE DIRECTOR EVAN KOPELSON ART DIRECTOR BRANDON PALMA GRAPHIC DESIGNER CHARM DOMACENA

SHARON LETTS DAVID BAILEY DAVE HODES DEBBY GOLDSBERRY KIMBERLY CARGILE RADIOHASH RON MULLINS CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS RON MULLINS

AD DESIGN

CAL GREENFIELD

DOPE DESIGN AGENCY

ASHLEIGH CASTRO ADAM RITZ

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

DOPE is a free 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 researchbased 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.

GEOFFREY DONNE

ALLIE BECKETT MANAGING EDITOR/COPY EDITOR

ART DIRECTOR APPRENTICE NARISSA-CAMILLE PHETHEAN

WWW.DOPEMAGAZINE.COM

ALISON BAIRD OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE ONLINE EDITOR

KATE KELLY

MEGHAN RIDLEY SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER CEO

DALLAS KEEFE

DAVID TRAN EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

JENIKA MAO

JONATHAN TEETERS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

CALIFORNIA SALES MANAGER EVAN KOPELSON

EILEEN BARROSO

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EMAIL US AT ADS@DOPEMAGAZINE.COM DOPE Magazine and the entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2015 DOPE MAGAZINE LLC, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or part without the written permission from DOPE Magazine LLC.

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COVER PHOTO:

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WRITER/REVIEWER •RADIOHASH

STRAIN

PHOTOS • ASHLEIGH CASTRO

MENDOCINO BLUE LIGHTNING A BOLT OF BOLD BLUE, ANYONE?

GENETICS

TESTED BY: PURE ANALYTICS

19.7% THC 0.02% CBD

A tasty and effective indica-dominant strain from two classics, Mendocino Blue Lighting hails from parents that are both Cannabis Cup Winners: The fruity, sweet, relaxing, euphoric Blueberry and the resinous, spicy, calming Northern Lights.

THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS This reviewer woke up with his usual abdominal issues including pain and nausea, but they weren’t an issue ten minutes after vaping. MBL is exceedingly relaxing for the body, and is often said to help muscle aches and elevate the mood.

LOOKS Frosty Green, like a winter tree, these flowers are rich in trichomes that give this a darker green tint, with golden-tan pistils. The buds were medium density, that expanded into tiny, fluffy flakes once ground.

FLAVOR Just like it’s scent, the taste is very blueberry, with a pungent spiciness, like a fruity herb. Vaporized, its flavor is preserved in the sweet, thick, rich, cool temperature clouds, without the taste or harshness of combustion.

AROMA PROVIDED BY:

GRASS ROOTS MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY, SAN FRANCISCO

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ISSUE 06 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE dopemagazine.com

At first, the whole bud is a pleasant earthy, blueberry scent. For those who enjoy a sweet smelling strain, break one of these buds open. Grind away! The fragrance is fruity, full of berries, and a lot like it’s pungent Blueberry parent.

EFFECT You may want to have a pad, tablet, or book handy. MBL provides a curious couch lock, and one that may be realized only when already locked. High potential to leave a heavy sedative effect on the body, but it also leaves a creative mind in its wake.

EDIBLES

WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER •ASHLEIGH CASTRO

OM EDIBLES’ CBD RAW SIPPING CACAO A WARM MUG FULL OF WELLNESS

M EDIBLES UNDERSTANDS how well nostalgia and relaxing with your favorite cannabis treat can blend. Compassionate about how their patients medicate, Om Edibles CBD Raw Sipping Cacao is both vegan and made almost entirely of raw and organic ingredients. Their cacao’s homemade qualities are what make it so charming and delicious. Sleek in presentation, the sealable jar is perfect for managing doses. The label is both simply elegant and thoroughly informative, and once opened the aroma of their fresh cacao is mouthwatering. Made to perfection when mixed with hemp milk, the first sip brought memories of sitting fireside on winter nights. A light tingling feeling was to follow, as I sipped the cacao slowly over twenty long, enjoyable minutes. The effects come on pleasantly fast and after about forty minutes. I experienced an ear warming sensation followed by relaxation of my muscle tension and a pleasant euphoria. I didn’t find it to induce grogginess when using the appropriate dose. The high CBD genetics shine through, and Om Edibles uses 80mg AC/DC genetics, recommended to be about two and one half doses. Om Edible’s CBD Raw Sipping Cacao is incredibly versatile, and creativity can definately ensue here; we prefer the hemp milk version, or treat yourself as instructed clearly on their label, adding it to one cup of your preferred milk at low heat for decadent cocoa. Om Edibles recommends melting the cacao as well, to use as a dip for berries and fruit. Completely tasty as is, mousse fans may just dive straight in to the jar. ®

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FROM HOT CACAO TO FONDUE, THIS PRODUCT CAN BE ENJOYED IN VARIOUS WAYS. FEEL FREE TO GET CREATIVE! LOCAL TO THE BAY AREA, OM EDIBLES IS PROUD TO BE AN ALL FEMALE COLLECTIVE. VEGAN PRODUCT MADE WITH SIMPLE, MOSTLY ORGANIC, RAW INGREDIENTS MAKES IT FRIENDLY TO MANY AND A HEALTHY CHOICE.

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WRITER •RON MULLINS

DISPENSARY

PHOTOS • ASHLEIGH

CASTRO

1841 EL CAMINO

Serving Up Holistic Health and Cannabis Therapy

Offering “ treatments that contribute to overall mind-body health. ” 14

O EXPENSE WAS SPARED in the building remodel, and 1841 El Camino, formerly One Love Wellness, is now here to serve their community’s healing and cannabis needs. With a crystal-and-leather clad lobby, fresh baked treats for waiting patients, local cannabis-themed art, and plenty of parking, it’s nothing short of decadent. Menus display on monitors, along with relevant local events and cannabis documentaries. There’s a genuinely warm and friendly staff to match the atmosphere here, and they help patrons through a super easy check in upon arrival. After that, what awaits is a 700

ISSUE 06 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE dopemagazine.com

square foot dispensing area. Showcasing more than twenty carefully chosen strains alongside concentrates from shatters to waxes, and hope oil - they are all there - plus edibles from established brands are offered like Korova, Madame Munchie and Auntie Dolores. They also carry breakout brands like Edible Ideas and Oakor under the tongue strips for $28 packet. I grabbed those too, along with some delicious Hemi Truffles for $8 each. Donation amounts range from $20 to $55 per 8th oz., and the Platinum Girl Scout Cookies 8th for $50 was perfect for my budget. As a first timer, there was a free gram re-

ceived by yours truly, and it was a free gram of high quality Strawberry Banana nonetheless, not just some throw away bud they had laying around. Their full menu is available on Weedmaps online. 1841’s director says “Looking ahead, we’re excited about our plans to offer a variety of healing services to help each patient meet their individual medical needs, and to improve the quality of their daily lives. We are creating a community-minded center that will serve as a forum for our collective of patients, advocates, stakeholders, and partners.” In addition to traditional cannabis based medicines, 1841 offers holistic health services, discussion based forums, and other treatments that contribute to overall mind-body health.” Great vibe, great decor, and excellent meds, I left with The Platinum Cookies, Oakor Strips, and two Hemi Truffles for a $94.00 donation. Tax in® cluded!

1841 EL CAMINO AVE. SACRAMENTO CA, 95815

Hours: 9AM to 9PM (daily) 1841elcamino.com dopemagazine.com ISSUE 06 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE

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WRITER •KELLY VO

PHOTOS • PROVIDED BY DR. EIDLEMAN

#END420SHAME

CANNABIS IS NOT COCAINE OLARITY and fear defines the cannabis industry. In 2012, of the 1.5 million drug arrests in the US, almost half (48.35%) of those arrests were for cannabis possession and use. It’s no wonder that it’s rare to find an individual who feels ambivalent. You either hate it or you approve of it. Naysayers see cannabis as a gateway drug where all of the supposed benefits are hearsay. They believe that if cannabis is legalized across the country, kids will become dumber, drug overdoses will skyrocket, and the destruction of the world as we know it will follow. Proponents view Cannabis as nonaddictive, safe for consumption, and medically beneficial. They see little-to-no negative side effects to cannabis use and believe that the benefits far outweigh any potential risks. So, how do we bridge the gap? First, the United Stated must declassify cannabis as one of the most dangerous types of drugs on the market—a Schedule I drug. Even cocaine, Oxycodone (derived from the same poppy plant as heroine) and Vicodin don’t receive Schedule I classification though they claim 16,000 lives each year. By classifying cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, the US has forbidden officially sanctioned research, increased punishment for use and possession, and has unequivocally stated that cannabis meets two specific criteria: • There is currently no accepted medical use • There is a high potential for abuse The classification seems ironic considering that there are over 42 different diseases and medical conditions that are currently being treated with medical cannabis including nausea,

headaches, muscle spasms, fibromyalgia, bowel distress, cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and chronic pain. William S. Eidelman, MD—a medical cannabis doctor in Southern California—had this to say, “I have been repeatedly surprised at [cannabis’] wide range of medical effects. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory, it lowers blood pressure, it dilates bronchial airways (making it a good treatment for asthma), it is anti-epileptic, it is beneficial in autoimmune diseases like Chron’s, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc.” Dr. Allan Frankel has found similar results with his patients. “I’m still shocked by many of the clinical responses we get. Knowing the possibilities of CBD and other major and minor cannabinoids, I was certain pursuing [cannabis] would be of great benefit to my care of patients.” For both Dr. Eidelman and Dr. Frankel, the most surprising use of cannabis is its aparent ability to treat cancer, “not just the nausea and loss of appetite caused by cancer treatment, but cancer itself,” Eidelman states. So, if cannabis clearly doesn’t fit the first criteria required for a Schedule I drug, how about the potential for abuse? The Journal of the American Medical Association has found that the states that have implemented medical marijuana experienced a 25% decrease in opiate overdoses, while overdoses increased in the states without medical marijuana. In California, from 2010 - 2012, there was a 60% greater decrease in drug arrests compared to the rest of the US (23% vs 14%). It seems that the potential for abuse is also low with cannabis. So, how is it classified as a Schedule I drug? It always leads back to an incorrectly associated shame, lack of understanding,

ISSUE 06 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE dopemagazine.com

and fear. In the early 1970s, when the Controlled Substance Act was first implemented, cannabis was considered a negative social issue and not a dangerous drug. President Nixon didn’t know how to classify cannabis so it was automatically placed as a Schedule I substance, awaiting further review. Unfortunately, opponents, such as Sen. James Eastland, could not see past the negative stigma. “If the cannabis epidemic continues to spread at the rate of the post-Berkeley period,” Sen. Eastland stated, “we may find ourselves saddled with a large population of semi-zombies.” While Sen. Eastland had no proof or legitimacy to his claims, his viewpoint won, and cannabis remains a Schedule I drug. Now it is finally time to move past the overwhelming divide between sides to find a sustainable future for cannabis. When DOPE asked Dr. Frankel and Dr. Eidleman if there was one thing they would like

“ THE PUBLIC HEALTH BURDEN

OF CANNABIS USE IS MINOR COMPARED WITH ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND OTHER ILLICIT DRUGS. A RECENT AUSTRALIAN STUDY ESTIMATES CANNABIS USE CAUSED 0-2% OF THE TOTAL DISEASE BURDEN IN AUSTRALIA—A COUNTRY WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST REPORTED RATES OF CANNABIS USE. CANNABIS ACCOUNTED FOR 10% OF THE BURDEN ATTRIBUTABLE TO ALL ILLICIT DRUGS, 10% OF THE BURDEN ATTRIBUTED TO ALCOHOL, AND ONLY 2-5% OF THE BURDEN TO TOBACCO.“

THE UNITED STATES MUST DECLASSIFY CANNABIS AS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS TYPES OF DRUGS ON THE MARKET—A SCHEDULE I DRUG. EVEN COCAINE, OXYCODONE (DERIVED FROM THE SAME POPPY PLANT AS HEROINE) AND VICODIN DON’T RECEIVE SCHEDULE I CLASSIFICATION EVEN THOUGH THEY CLAIM 16,000 LIVES EACH YEAR.

WILLIAM S. EIDELMAN, MD everyone to understand about cannabis, they both agreed that knowledge and understanding is vital. “There is no need to be afraid of cannabis,” Dr. Eidleman says, “It is a miraculous substance.” Dr. Frankel followed up with, “I would like everyone to know that cannabis, like any other medicine, can be dosed predictably…and very effective.” In order to #End420Shame, cannabis must first be declassified as a Schedule I substance. Then, with valid medical research and active proponents

fighting for legalization using unarguable statistics and compelling stories, we will #End420Shame once and for all. If you have a compelling cannabis story to share, post it to any of your social media accounts using the hashtag #End420Shame so we can find your post. We may even share your story in a future print issue! You can also write us at kellyv@dopemagazine.com or share it on our Facebook page or Twitter account @DOPE_Magazine. ®

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WRITER•DAVE HODES

CANNANEWS

DESIGN•BRANDON PALMA

S THE steady march toward full cannabis legalization rumbles across the country, the buzz grows stonger among entrepreneurs, who now reach to seize every opportunity in a new American industry. Accelerating spurts of development continue to occur at an increasing frequency and pace. It’s not only that a substance previously illegal is now legal in four states and D.C., the very heart of our nation. This social change extends deeper into the American psyche. This whole new legal cash crop carries with it an unprecedented level of social change. It’s reaching into the very roots of the failed war on drugs, into sentencing reform for non-violent offenders and most importantly, into what it means to be a criminal, and who the criminal element really is. For centuries in this country, and continuing today, that criminal element often assumed to be a black man. In 1808 in Washington, D.C., where nearly 1,000 free slaves lived, and hundreds of other owned slaves were helping to build the federal buildings, a city ordinance stipulated that “No black person, or person of color, shall be allowed to walk about or assemble after ten o’clock at night.” Part of the “black code” set of laws that continued through the 1800s in various cities in the south, is was designed to control the growing black population. This began with a long cycle of unjust incarcerations and arrests that continue today. The US incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world. According to the Drug Policy Alliance (a national organization that promotes drug policies based on health and human rights), in 2014 there were 700,993 arrests for marijuana possession. Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, points to the massive racial disparity in these arrests, “In New York, young white people are actually more likely than African Americans to use marijuana, but African Americans compose 85% of those arrested for marijuana possession.” He says the war on cannabis creates a climate of fear and oppression in communities of color. “The reality is that for many Americans, particularly young men of color, a minor cannabis offense, no matter how it is dealt with, is a gateway to a lifetime of civil and criminal punishment, discrimination, fines, debt, unemployment and constant harassment by the police. The only way to close this gateway is with legalization. It is the only way to stop people from entering

black codes in the 1800s, and largely ended this punitive, unjust and racist system.” in the mid-1960s. “You now have millions To some African American youth today, of people, largely people of color and mostly feeling controlled by law enforcement is often young black men, who now can be legally disnothing new. The evidence of that control is criminated against in employment becoming more availand in housing,” says Piper. “They able to everyone, as can be denied the right to vote, and ever-present phone be denied welfare benefits and cameras reveal deeper, public housing. Those were all sometimes disturbing of the things that the civil rights truths about a larger movement was fighting for.” problem. Videos of As more states legalize, there Freddie Gray being has been an increase in commuting treated like a sack of sentences for those doing time for trash before his death cannabis arrests. “Commutations following a rough ride are starting to become more of an in a police van, or the issue in states that have legalized footage of Eric Garner, cannabis. You have that juxtaposichoked to death on tion between people who are now the streets of New making money selling cannabis, York raise new pro- B I L L P I P ER , D I R EC TOR OF NATIONA L while there are people in prison for found questions. AF FA I RS FOR THE having done the same thing,” Piper “The primary says. “So I think we are going to relationship, that most D RU G POL IC Y A L L I A NC E see a greater effort to get people African American who are in prison out of prison.” people have with this The change in drug policies country for the majormay be slow to come and Piper ity of our lives, is one points out the obvious, “We are up of confinement and against a lot of vested interests in the drug war. containment,” Asha Bandele, the Director of The private prison industry, the drug testing the Advocacy Grants Program for the Drug industry, the pharmaceutical companies that Policy Alliance. “The marijuana laws and give money to the legalization opponents. The other drug laws are just the most recent manistruggle is really between the social justice festation of that.” advocates on one hand, and the drug war profiAs legalization grows and the cannabis teers on the other. It’s between those who want movement spreads, discussions mainly focus on the disparity between cannabis, race and ar- to reduce incarceration and misery, and those who seek to profit off it. I think we will win rests. “I think linking arms and aims with other that battle slowly.” social justice issues is equally as important There has been talk that as he exits office as is the work on the reform of the marijuana next year President Obama may reschedule laws,” Bandele says. “You can reform that and marijuana (not deschedule – that would take something else will pop up. So as much as this an act of Congress). Perhaps he may also paris an effort to shift policy, it is also an effort don some non-violent offenders. Piper clarifies to shift the hearts and minds about how Black the situation stating “Even if the president people are viewed in America.” pardons thousands of cannabis offenders, She says cannabis arrests and other drug they’ll have the offenses on their records, and policies decimate communities because it there would be a news story with their names isn’t just the people in prison this effects, it’s in it, but one step at a time.” the people left behind. “You don’t just take Bandele believes the legalization of one person out of the community and make it safer.” That is not what happened. Whole fam- cannabis can boost small towns where the economy has been decimated by the cycle of ilies were destroyed. Children are less likely incarcerations. “Let’s make the country whole to have two parents around now than they did again.” during slavery.” Piper says cannabis arrests have created a new sort of Jim Crow environment. He refers to a set of segregation laws that followed the

I THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE A GREATER EFFORT TO GET PEOPLE WHO ARE IN PRISON OUT OF PRISON.

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Aroma and Resin Enricher

24 24 || ISSUE 00 6 THE THEPAST PASTTO TOPRESENT PRESENTISSUE ISSUEdopemagazine.com dopemagazine.com

WRITER•DAVID PALESCHUCK, PRESIDENT, NEW LEAF LICENSING

DESIGN•BRANDON PALMA

BRANDING BUD

MANY ANALYSTS BELIEVE IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE MORE STATES REFORM. THE SPREAD OF LEGALIZATION WILL OPEN UP NEW MARKETS UNTIL THERE’S A REGULATED OPEN MARKET AND A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD. David Paleschuck

TTITUDES surrounding cannabis

STEREOTYPES Who is the cannabis consumer and what is their lifestyle? Is there just one type of cannabis consumer? Are images of Cheech & Chong, Harold & Kumar, Willy Nelson & Snoop Dog all stereotypes of cannabis smokers? To push it further, is “smoking” itself a stereotype of cannabis consumption?

are undergoing a shift in American public opinion. A report by Pew Research Center released in 2014 demonstrates widespread support for legalization, and also shows support for cannabis jumping from 30% at the start of the millennium to 52% at the time of the study. As voters and lawmakers seek to reform laws, policy makers will have to address many difficult questions about regulation, production, sales, distribution and consumption.

There are generally two types of cannabis consumers: MEDICAL CANNABIS: Those with a state issued license to consume cannabis to reduce

INDUSTRY ACTIVITY

PRODUCTS & USAGE

Recent articles from The New York Times, The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times, among others include promising statements like “23 states have legalized medically,” “Colorado sales totalled $700 million in 2014,” “three states plus Washington D.C. have legalized recreationally” and “Cannabis Basics™ (and other cannabis brands) have received their trademarks from the US Trademark Office” Founders Fund, run by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, has invested millions into the industry, as has Y-Combinator, a business accelerator that helped get Reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox off the ground. At the entrepreneur level, business owners are creating many new products and most seek clarity on how to market & protect their brands legally and ethically, especially when particular legalities must be handled on a state-by-state basis.

LET’S LOOK AT THE FACTS…

With two specific segments, one can see the need for two distinct product strategies. “Medical cannabis”, with its need for ailment specific cannabis therapies, and “Recreational cannabis”, where the plant is considered an “adult substance” and marketed like alcohol and tobacco to 21+. Each serves a distinctly different demographic, when most brands tend to focus on one or the other. Josh Kirby, President of Oakor,™ and maker of cannabis sublingual breath strips says, “Due to federal policy surrounding interstate commerce with infused cannabis products, our strategy is two-fold: formulate consistent cannabis products; and license those formulas and our brand to reliable licensees...because of regulations, brand & product licensing allows us to minimize parallel processing, reduce risk, and leverage local talent and knowledge within each market.” Other notable cannabis licensing deals in the recreational market include Privateer Holdings, a multi-million dollar “cannabis fund” now aligned with the Marley Family for a new cannabis product brand called Marley Natu-

pain or symptoms of an ailment such as cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc. They typically consume edibles, and sub-lingual tinctures and use topical lotions, oils and they may avoid smoking cannabis due to their ailments. Often they choose cannabis products that have had their psychotropic component (THC) removed, while maintaining the pain-relieving cannabidiol (CBD) component. RECREATIONAL CANNABIS: Those that are 21+ without a state issued license. They typically consume cannabis through smoking, vaporizing, and may often be seeking a ‘high’.

rals.™ It’s a full line of products, ranging from cannabis flower to infused topical lotions and oils, and it’s launch is on track for year’s end. Many analysts believe it’s just a matter of time before more states reform. The spread of legalization will continue to open up new markets, until there’s a regulated open market and level playing field that will contain a whole new generation of brands. We’re sure to see an increase in the number of strong brands very soon across product categories, ranging from pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes to infused topical body lotions. That being said, as public awareness & acceptance of the plant ramps up, we could see a surge of well established brands developing cannabis products of their own. So is Bob Marley the next Marlboro Man? Will there be a ‘cannabis section’ at Whole Foods,® where high profile companies like Aveda® and Dr. Bronners® create entire lines of relaxing infused body lotions? Although these questions can’t be answered now, it’s clear the public will seek consistency in the quality of cannabis products, just as they would with any other consumable good.

[As business owners and entrepreneurs protecting our intellectual property is paramount. The August 25th 2015 Federal Trade Mark Registration granted to Cannabis Basics by the USPTO is quite a beautiful sign of the times!” Ah Warner, CEO/Founder of Cannabis Basics ] dopemagazine.com ISSUE 6 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE

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CANNABIS CONCENTRATES Past, Present & Future WRITER•DUTCH MASTER DESIGN•BRANDON PALMA

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MOROCCO, LEBANON, INDIA – THESE REGIONS HAVE BEEN NOTORIOUS FOR ANCIENT HASHISH PREPARATORY TECHNIQUES RANGING FROM THE SCREENBEATING/ SIFTING OF DRY PLANTS TO HAND RUBBED CHARAS OBTAINED FROM LIVE PLANTS, THE LATTER BEING HIGHLY-PRIZED.

[A Brick of Hashish]

the cannabis community many are under the false assumption cannabis in its concentrated form is a recent development. Popular media outlets regurgitate “facts” about the sudden upsurge in THC content – perpetuating a modern reefer madness. They claim that never before in history have humans seen the high THC levels we are currently witnessing in today’s concentrates. Any cannabis-consuming historian will say though, that this is far from the truth, as humans have been interacting with this plant for over 10,000 years, and often in its extracted, concentrated form. While ancient techniques have a difficult time achieving lab-grade purity, there is extremely strong (60%+ THC) hashish and concentrated forms of cannabis currently produced around the world via methods handed down for generations. Given humanity’s rich history and understanding of ancient cannabis extraction techniques where is extraction headed? By exploring a bit of the past and a tad of the present, we will hopefully be afforded a glimpse into the future of cannabis concentrates. Morocco, Lebanon, India – these regions have been notorious for ancient hashish preparatory techniques ranging from the screen-beating/ sifting of dry plants to hand rubbed charas obtained from live plants, the latter being highlyprized. Many of these very techniques were utilized in these regions hundreds (if not thousands) of years prior, with the tradition being handed down to younger successive generations. These areas are no stranger to cannabis concentrates – with cultural traditions rich in cannabis history. It is important to note, up until the 1970’s these areas (India, in particular) allowed and tolerated cannabis use for medicinal and religious purposes – even allowing it to be sold in government shops. While officially these areas have criminalized cannabis use, after bowing to international pressure, cannabis consumption is still quite common and moderately tolerated, with regions of Northern India still serving the popular beverage bhang, a cannabis-infused lassi-type drink. Unfortunately, many of these ancient techniques have become rather endangered due to draconian anti-drug policies. In the 1960s Western Culture begins to see mass consciousness experimentation and with it, the widespread consumption of cannabis. Academia became a hotbed for radically new ideas and the molecular pursuit for the elusive psychoactive constituents in cannabis, named cannabinoids, began. Although Roger Adams discovered THC in 1940, it was not popularized until Raphael Mechoulam’s THC synthesis in

GROW

[ A man smoking hookah ]

1964. With this came greater inquiries into the possible potentiation of CBD and THC, the two primary active cannabinoids found in cannabis. Readers of popularized cannabis publications of the time became bombarded with all sorts of odd gizmos and gadgets claiming to do just the sort – performing various reactions such as the ISO2 by Thai Power, an “at-home isomerizer,” which allows the user to isomerize CBD to Δ9THC. With greater acceptance and tolerance to cannabis consumption beginning to permeate throughout The West, a greater understanding of the plant as a whole rapidly becomes a reality. Cannabis concentrates finally emerge in the form of Honey Oil, with manufacturing brought up to quazi-laboratory standards. What we begin to see at this moment in history is an exponential increase in the knowledge about cannabis due to mass collaboration, albeit rather clandestine. Today, in a world of legal cannabis consumption we are seeing the emergence of a “concentrate culture” – aficionados whose primary method of consumption is with cannabis concentrates. Illustrious $3,000+ dab rigs, electric nails, rosin presses, the countless novel inventions abound. In Washington State, new regulations have effectively ushered the extraction scene into focusing on new “solventless” extraction methods. Also, mega-conglomerate extraction companies are beginning to dominate due to legislation that eliminates the cottage-industry aspect. With other “green” states choosing to take a different approach to cannabis extraction regulation, it will be interesting to see how Washington State fares on the national level.

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[ PHOTO BY • Kdaniel Ellis ] >

ITH DAB culture pervading

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WRITER•R.Z. HUGHES

Incoming! Airmail Cannabis A family of five living in Nogales, Arizona, less than a mile from the Mexico border, had an unexpected delivery through the roof of their carport. A 23-pound brick of cannabis, presumably dropped by an ultralight aircraft, missed it’s attempted target and came hurdling through the night sky to land with a crash on top of the family’s dog house. While it is not uncommon for smugglers to drop their illicit loads in the desert, this egregious error by the pilot marked the first time it came in such close proximity to a residence.

Deputies Target Okra Farmer In Georgia A man in Cartersville, Georgia got a rude awakening last month when the Governor’s Task Force for Drug Suppression showed up on his front porch armed to the hilt with a chopper hovering over his house. Retired Dwayne Perry happens to enjoy growing okra in his backyard with his much-deserved free time. This innocuous act caught the eye of overzealous, undertrained officers doing aerial sweeps of the area. While he wasn’t detained, and they apologized, Perry is rightfully upset with the Georgia State Patrol as this type of irresponsible raid has led to much grislier ends under different circumstances.

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Indiana Tries On Goofy Anti-Ganja Goggles When the powers that be attempt to educate our youth about drugs, illegitimate fearmongering and scare tactics is commonly the main approach. Hancock County, Indiana, has purchased a new technology for their Youth Council designed to mimic the cognitive impairment after smoking cannabis. In reality, a green lens makes it nearly impossible to see the color red, which in a driving simulation makes red lights, stop signs, and inexplicable urban lasers invisible. While cannabis has never produced color-blindness in users, this brazen lie may no doubt stick with these kids, promoting less-than-educated decisions in their futures.

GRAPHICS •BRANDON PALMA

Baked In The Balkans?

Something is in the air over southeastern Europe and it smells like a big bag of sticky reefer. Within the last few months there have been moves to adopt medical cannabis in both Bulgaria and Croatia, with neighboring country Serbia hosting a massive protest in the name of MaryJane. This news comes at a time when Albania, a nation that shares borders with Serbia and is quite near to Croatia, claims to have eradicated 99% of cannabis within their borders. Croatia had the groundwork to theoretically begin prescribing medicinal cannabis last month, and a Bulgarian MP recently brought a bill that legalizes cannabis for patients to the parliament.

Karachi’s Cop-On-Cop Crime There is serious tension between law enforcement agencies in Pakistan as the AntiNarcotics Force (ANF) has twice raided the offices of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC), seizing over 200 kilos of hashish and a couple kilos of heroin. Officials in the port city of Karachi have been cracking down on “the local drug mafia,” said to include members of their elite police force. While it looks like the AVCC is caught red-handed, it could very well be that the AVCC originally confiscated the hash because the ANF was engaged in illegal activity, but from this far away it’s difficult to tell which group has its hands in the international hash trade.

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CANNANEWS

WRITER•DAVE HODES

IN FOCUS: MIKE SMIGIEL

[ PHOTO • MICHAEL D. SMIGIEL JR. ELKTON, MARYLAND ]

EPUBLICAN PARTY member, lawyer and former Marine Mike Smigiel is on mission. He wants to honor the Constitution and the will of the people. He considers himself a libertarian, a conservative on fiscal issues and a champion of the fourth and tenth amendments stating “I am as liberal as the constitution says I can be, and as conservative as the constitution says I can be.” As a former delegate in the Maryland legislature, where he spent a dozen years, Smigiel worked across party lines to pass more bipartisan legislation than any other Republican in the Maryland legislature. Some of that work resulted in the passage of a cannabis decriminalization bill in Maryland that he co-sponsored, one of just two Republicans from a list of fourty co-sponsors. The bill was introduced in February, 2014 by Heather Mizeur, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Maryland at that time. Mizeur lost the election but is steadfast in her support of cannabis legalization. Smigiel is running for Maryland’s 1st Congressional district seat in 2016 against Maryland Republican Representative Andy Harris. Harris,

a three-term congressman, gained notoriety in the legalization community in D.C. for his attempts to block the legalization effort in the district by inserting a rider into a congressional omnibus spending bill that passed in December, 2014. The rider barred the district from legalizing and regulating cannabis, and nullified the legalization initiative that had been approved by 70% of the district voters. The initiative remained in place after a review period elapsed with no additional action, and legalization began on February 26, 2015, with a tax and regulating structure still to be determined as a result of the ongoing interpretation about what the rider really means. As a consequence, Harris has quickly become a target of what’s wrong with politicians when it comes to legalization efforts, their interpretation of the constitution, and their push back against the will of the people.

Q DOPE: You are working now

Q DOPE: You would think that

on getting into the primary to run against Andy Harris, who has been very vocal about his position on both medical and recreational marijuana. Why are you looking to get back into the fray of rule making?

the positive things that have happened in Colorado – especially the reported tax revenue in 2014 ($70 million in taxes and licensing fees), would change politician’s opinions. It seems like the discussion about what works is already over.

MIKE SMIGIEL: I think that the federal government has absolutely no right whatsoever in being involved in the issues of medical and recreational marijuana. I try to explain to every Republican that you can’t say that you stand for the tenth amendment, and you can’t stand up for individual state’s rights while you support the law enforcement, or the establishment position, against the legalization of marijuana or against the state deciding that they want to either legalize or decriminalize or accept medical marijuana. These states should go through the process.

Q DOPE: What is the source of your beef with Harris?

MS: Andy Harris clearly showed that he thinks he knows better than the people. The people of D.C. said that this is what we want to do – legalize cannabis, but then Harris interjects his views [that legalization leads to increased teen drug use.] If he is a conservative and he thinks it’s so important that he interjects those views, why won’t he then say, “OK, this is so important. We are going to make sure that the tenth amendment is supported,” but he decides that he is going to override the vote of the people over the legalization in D.C., and interject his own point of view there. Then he goes on the radio and makes the statement that they are also going to take a look at what they are doing in Colorado and California and Texas and Washington, and that they are going to take a look federally at trying to have the feds come in and stop it. That is absolutely anathema to everything that I believe in, in the individual state’s rights. If you have that experimentation with the policies in other states, you can adapt that which works and reject that which doesn’t work.

MS: Well Harris is being disingenuous now. He said let’s forget everything I said before and now, instead of being against cannabis, I am now going to the forefront of saying that we need to do a study. He says that we have to put the pharmaceutical companies in charge of the study, and that is absolutely wrong. They can now make certain plants that are tailored with the THC content and the cannabinoid content so that you can direct it towards a specific ailment, like a child with epilepsy. [ PHOTO • ANDI MORONY, ANNAPOLIS MARYLAND ]

SMIGIEL IS RUNNING FOR MARYLAND’S 1St CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT SEAT IN 2016 AGAINST MARYLAND REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE ANDY HARRIS.

We are able to do this without the help of the pharmaceutical company coming in and saying that you have to have it in pill form – which is everything that they can control and from which they make a profit. So it’s disingenuous for him to take this position that he is now somehow procannabis, when in fact he is pro-pharma.

Q DOPE: What is your

plan of attack for the upcoming elections? MS: Support the idea of state’s rights. No matter what state you are in, turn your eyes away from your state border and look to D.C. Take out Andy Harris. If that message goes to every senator, to every congressman in every state that you are next if you don’t adhere to those constitutional protections of the people and you don’t stand up for them, you are next. Congressmen want one thing: to be reelected. If they realize when speaking out against the marijuana industry, that they lose the ability to enjoy all of those benefits of being a congressman, they will stop attacking the industry.

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PHOTOS • PROVIDED BY JETTY EXTRACTS

BUSINESS

JETTY EXTRACTS MUCH LOVE TO THE NON-PROFIT WITH A BIG HEART

MATT LEE, CEO OF JETTY EXTRACTS E CHATTED IT UP with Jetty Extracts, a very different kind of non-profit organization, and the owners are onto something huge. They give things away that people can actually use, and they don’t do it for publicity, or a holiday time promotion, or even just every now and then. They give things away everyday. With a huge feel good factor, Jetty Extracts models the definition of non-profit chivalry, proving they are the California non-profit with a big heart. Their latest project, Shelter From the Storm, started in July and takes compassionate care to the next level. It is extremely rare to find an organization almost entirely focused on feel-good-habits that make oth-

ers want to participate. Jetty Extracts teaches that quality compassionate care doesn’t just mean receiving an extra goodie from the bud-tender during happy hour. It is much deeper. Genuine, compassionate care is built on the idea of community. Jetty Extracts ‘gets that’, and each time they pay it forward, someone else ‘gets it’, too. A non-profit in a relatively new industry, Jetty Extracts deserves our silver star for laying out customer care so magnanimously, helping people feel better and improving the quality of lives. That is the magic. Cancer patients wishing to use therapeutic cannabis for treatment can ask questions and receive answers from Jetty Extract consultants,

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at not cost. Here’s another big deal about them, they give free medicine to cancer patients. Each purchase of a gram from Jetty secures a free gram they will donate to a registered cancer patient. Proof of California residency and a doctor recommendation are the only VIP cards needed for cancer patients to take advantage of this program. Another fantastic offering to shelter project participants, is the opportunity to grow medicine for personal use. Hydroponic store operators give away new and used equipment. However, the willingness of local grow stores to participate, and a patients location, both determine whether patients will incur out-of-

pocket cost for grow equipment. It is worth looking into for those eligible, equipment is costly and so is the education to learn the process. To get it for free, is an awesome opportunity and we at DOPE are looking to watching other organizations follow suit as well. The programs at Jetty Extracts are revolutionary for any type of business. They provide the kind of give-backs people like donating to. Knowing each purchase is helping someone get medication for free, makes you want to clap your hands and shout, Whoo Sah! Perhaps good begets more good, because they keep giving back. There is an unspoken determination that goes into a program destined for success. There are rules of engagement that keep some programs alive where others drop off. Jetty Extracts has true potential, not only to help many more people in the future, but to inspire other businesses in our industry to do more of the same. With products currently in 150 stores across So. Cal, and growing, Jetty is looking to do more expansion. They have just raised a million dollars and are now working on plans to increase their operations. So if you thought

the innovative Jetty Extracts team was out of ideas, you guessed wrong. With the expansion and growth there are plans for a sponsorship program in the near future. They want to break the stigma of the “lazy stoner” and they believe, a lot of inspirational and productive people in the world are cannabis users. To that end, Jetty Extracts is looking to showcase a few movers and shakers. They want people who are making a difference in the community, those promoting social change. So, if you’re sailing around the world or hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, Jetty Extracts wants to help you live out your dreams and they may showcase your pictures and blog on their website throughout your journey. Wow! If that’s you or anyone you know contact them via ® info@jettyextracts.com.

“WITH A HUGE FEEL GOOD FACTOR, JETTY EXTRACTS MODELS THE DEFINITION OF NON-PROFIT CHIVALRY.” “THANK GOD FOR JETTY! I HATE HOSPITALS BUT WHEN YOU HAVE A JETTY TO TOKE ON IT MAKES THE DAY GO A LIL FASTER. GOD BLESS AND THANKS A MILLION.” - TRIESTE LORELLI

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WRITER •RON MULLINS

PHOTOS • ASHLEIGH

CASTRO

BUSINESS

VALLEJO HOLISTIC HEALTH CENTER HELPING PATIENTS AND COMMUNITY

ALLEJO Holistic Health Center has been a licensed dispensary in Vallejo for over two years. A UFCW union store, they make strides in the community by participating in charities and community events, and they’ve been featured on the front page of Vallejo Times Herald as well.Though the site is modest, it is packed full of amazing products. Over 35 strains include Gelato #41, Sunset Sherbert, and the most vivid purple GDP we’ve seen in awhile. Prices range from $15 to $60 donation per 8th oz. Edible brands like Punch Edibles, Avo-Canna sugar-free carob, and Korova Vegan Peanut Butter bars, are just a small portion of the selection that their numerous vendors provide. They also stock over thirty different types of concentrates including waxes, shatters, prefilled cartridges and more (for a complete list find them on Weedmaps). VHHC has a most vast collection of CBD products! They carry over thirty different types ranging from tinctures and capsules, to edibles, flowers, concentrates, topicals, and transdermal patches. Although the menu here can stand up to that of any large-scale facility, their true strength is in their outstanding patient service. Greeted by name, patients get one on one service from staff, familiar with the product’s therapeutic benefits. They’ll even roll up joints for patrons who are unable to free of

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charge! Not Mobile? VHHC delivers all over the bay area for free (a $100 minimum applies to outlying areas). I admit I didn’t want to leave, but when I finally did, I picked up that beautiful GDP for $50, a 225 mg Kushy punch dark chocolate pbj bar for $20, and a 83% THC Sherbert vape cartridge for $75, all totaling just $145, even with Vallejo’s rather exorbitant tax included. Compassion is at the heart of what VHHC does, offering free to low cost therapeutic cannabis to qualified patients with HIV/AIDs, cancer, fibromyalgia and other incurable illnesses. VHHC has also implemented a veterans program, and they sponsor Solano Aids Coalition and participate in an annual food drive and other charities. Most recently, they collected goods for those who have suffered from the recent Valley Fire in North Napa. Providing blankets, animal food, diapers, clothing, books and other supplies to victims, they are undoing the negative stereotypes ® affecting our industry with each good deed.

“ Undoing

stereotypes affecting our industry with each good deed.” 1516 NAPA STREET, VALLEJO, CA 94590 (510)-540-7878

Facebook.com/vhhc420

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CANNANEWS POLTICAL

WRITER •DEBBY GOLDSBERRY

PHOTOS • MICHAEL AMSLER PHOTOGRAPHY

ANALYSIS OF THE CALIFORNIA With Omar Figueroa, LAWS Attorney at Law S A cannabis freedom lawyer, Omar Figueroa has witnessed

the impact of prohibition, and how it destroys people lives. “The only way to stop seeing this is to change the laws,” he says. So unlike other lawyers, who may profit from prohibition, he is working hard to end it. He was involved in California’s 2010 and 2012 legalization efforts, neither of which succeeded. This year, he co-authored the California Craft Cannabis Initiative, and is a proponent of the Marijuana Control, Legalization & Revenue Act, both aiming for the 2106 ballot. His immediate concern, though, is California’s medical marijuana regulations, AB 243, AB 266, and SB 643. In a last minute legislative twist, after twenty years of regulatory inaction, the final drafts of these bills were written by the Governor’s office, and sent to the Assembly and Senate for approval. At press time, the Governor’s signature is expected to seal the bills into law by October 11th, and Figueroa is concerned. “The point is that these State regulations are being thrust upon us, and the case for them is built on the idea that the feds will leave us alone if we have a strong regulatory system,” he says. “This is true during the Obama years, but his term is nearly over, and the next President may not be appeased by strong regulations. We may paint ourselves into a corner, in an effort to keep the feds

CALIFORNIA’S MJ REGULATIONS AB 243, AB 266, AND SB 643 The Good · Creates immunity from local and state prosecution for license holders · Allows out of state participation, including ownership and investments · Eliminates the current nonprofit and not for profit requirements

The Bad

· Home cultivation is limited to 100 square feet · Each transaction between a dispensary and farmer requires a “middle man” · No direct farmer to patient distribution is allowed

The Ugly

· Creates a bounty for local police who will get to keep half of each fine, creating a financial motivation to find violators.

happy, only to have them change their approach. The industry really needs to be concerned as to who the next President is, as they could wipe out legalization all across the country.” He says the regulations are not all bad though. “Those with a local permit and state license will have immunity from arrest and prosecution, and people will no longer have to be worried about arrest by State authorities,” says Figueroa. A lot of ambiguity and differences in the laws will become clearer, and certain parts of the industry that are still in a gray area, like production of BHO extracts, will get a new regulatory framework.” Figueroa cautions that the biggest obstacle will be getting local jurisdictions to issue a license. “Some counties are moving quickly” he says, “and, political consultants across the state are already selling their services to cites and counties to help write regulations, but these things take time.” He believes that many locales will take a “wait and see” approach. “The framework would have been fantastic, if it has allowed these uses, unless specifically prohibited,” he says. Instead, each county and city will have to specifically create new laws to enact the state regulations. In other words he says, “it’s not legal unless you have a permit you cannot get.” A bigger concern to Figueroa is that farmer to patient direct access is not allowed in this new process. He believes that patients should be able to buy directly from the farmer. “They will give better quality and more choices to the patients,” he says.

“I would love a cannabis farmer’s market, where you could look at the strains and feel and smell the different offerings.” Figueroa is worried about the requirement that a distributor participate in each transaction between a farmer and dispensary, as this will drive up the end price of cannabis. According to Figueroa, the state is trying to capture the old post prohibition alcohol rules, originally intended to keep the alcohol cartel and mobs from creating monopolies. “The law insists upon a mandatory middle man, unless you are grandfathered in,” he says. “If the need for this was really so compelling, then there would be no grandfathering.” These laws will create two sets of taxes, the state taxes and fees and the local taxes and fees. “Some places may make these so high that there [will be] practical barriers to access,” Figueroa says. “We won’t have the level of entrepreneurship we have now, as the smaller producers wont be able to compete. Then, we could start to see mediocre medicines at dispensaries, and poor people will become the black market.” Figueroa advises people to actively engage in the rule making process, which starts next year at the state level and is beginning now in both cities and counties. The details will be decided in these forums, and input is needed from patients, caregivers, cultivators, and producers, to make sure common sense regulations prevails. After all, with one arrest for cannabis every 51 seconds in America today, we need cannabis freedom at last.

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CANNANEWS

SYSTEMATIC OPPRESSION IS COMING TO AN END! EDICAL CANNABIS LAWS in California do not currently protect patient’s civil rights. This leaves us open to stereotyping, discrimination, segregation and abuse from the powers that be. This environment of shame and fear can be a constant stress in our lives. As medical cannabis patients, we endure the loss of our children, housing, education, health care, banking and financially we suffer a disadvantage. This is nothing new for many, if not most people of color in this country. With the technological advancements of the internet and cell phone cameras, the abuses that were previously suffered in silence are being shown to the world. The hash tag phrase #BlackLivesMatter is a way to raise awareness of discrimination, racism and abuse by the system. The positive energy of social justice is being used as fuel for a long coming change being felt across the nation. It is a responsibility we all share. Not one day must pass before everyone takes a stand against racism and discrimination in every form. Cannabis prohibition was planted with seeds of racism. The truth is, interests in the pharmaceutical, chemical, timber, cotton and alcohol industries pushed for prohibition throughout the states before the Marijuana Tax Act came before congress in 1937. This was done with news articles and propaganda films that played on the prejudice and beliefs of popular culture at that time. A quote many of you may have heard from the head of the propaganda movement, Henry Anslinger, The Commissioner of Narcotics, “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing, results from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.” I was honored to interview, The Rev Ashiya Odeye, Reverend Director of Order of the Olufumni Rastafari Church and Executive

THE REVEREND ASHIYA ODEYE

“BLACK LIVES HAVEN’T MATTERED IN THIS COUNTRY, AND THAT’S BEEN A PROBLEM. WITH SLAVERY AND THE RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION THAT HAPPENED, AFTERWARD THERE WERE [STRUGGLES] THAT STILL EXIST TODAY...”

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WRITER •KIMBERLY CARGILE

Director the Justice Reform Coalition. His organization works hard to promote civil rights for all. It is not a coincidence that a large number of the people he helps have been arrested for cannabis crimes. Even though studies show that young white and black men use cannabis in equal amounts, the young men of color are arrested at much higher rates. “Black lives haven’t mattered in this country, and that’s been a problem. With slavery and the racism and discrimination that happened, afterward there were [struggles] that still exist today...” Revered Odeye stated. As we talked, I reflected on the phrase “innocent until proven guilty,” and wondered why we continue to disseminate this phrase. The truth is a person arrested is guilty till proven innocent. This flaw in our social justice system is an abuse to our citizen’s human rights. People who do not have money needed for bail or a lawyer, sit in jail for years sometimes waiting for their “speedy trial” to begin. In that time they can lose their job, their homes, personal relationships and not to mention their mental health and dignity. This is extremely devastating for many innocent people. The socio-economic disparity between the white and black communities leaves the black community vulnerable to this particular social injustice. The roots of prohibition are firmly planted in racism, and the movement to protect medical cannabis patient’s rights is founded on the same ideals that fought against racism. Medical cannabis activists are fueled by the same passion required of any repressed people

rising up from imaginable mistreatment. When cannabis activists look for solutions to changing laws and changing minds, we look to the civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, the disabled patient’s rights movement and the gay rights movement. True freedom can only come when there is a level playing field for all. As a subculture, the cannabis community has the opportunity to set new standards for how we treat one another. This morning at the From Raids to Regulation – The Emerging Politics of Pot Conference at Sacramento State University, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dale Sky Jones, a passionate and knowledgeable activist. She currently sits as chairwoman of the board for the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, taking a leading role in California legalization with the initiative in 2016. She stated, “What we are trying to do by legalizing cannabis is to disassemble these aspects of the social and civil justice issues of the drug war. These aspects, [being] a disproportionate amount of contact between cops and young people of color (especially men), and this assumption of guilt and presumption of sales.” By educating ourselves on the history of racism in this country, we learn that being born white gives a person current economic, educational and legal privilege based on a tired old system of patriarchy and racism. This has left a large majority of the African American population in this county disadvantaged. Making a change is going to first require that the most privileged white people recognize this fact and take a stand against injustice.

PHOTOS • LINDSEY AHERN

The fact that the cannabis movement’s leaders and public stakeholder’s majority is made up by white men played out today when I called my longtime friend, crazy comedian, vocal cannabis activist, and social genius Ngaio Bealum. Not surprisingly, another writer from DOPE Mag had already contacted him. He joked about the irony of this truth, “Really am I the only black cannabis activist in Northern California to call?” I asked him what we can do to change this disparity in our industry. He says, “Remember, the cats that bore the brunt of prohibition were mostly black and brown.” It’s no wonder the majority of the front line of cannabis activists are white. They have less of a chance of serving time for standing up for what is right. “Now is the time for more black people to get openly involved, not just secretly involved or on the sideline involved. The time is now for black people and minorities and cats to step up!” Diversity is a strength in our country and will be as well in this new industry. “Legalizing weed goes a long way towards solving a lot of different social justice problems in one swoop,” Ngaio so perfectly states. We have a problem that we all have a responsibility to fix. When I asked the Rev what we need to do in order to make a change in our country he reminds us, “The main thing is to be resistant. That’s our right as citizens. We must enact our right to be civilly disobedient. “ Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights! ®

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WRITER •DEBBY GOLDSBERRY

PHOTOS • ASHLEIGH CASTRO

BUSINESS

TRIMBOSS BY GENIUNE INDUSTRIES

SAVES TIME AND MONEY RIMBOSS is poised to take a top position in the dry trim sector, with their 4000 and 4100 model large capacity, high quality finish, trimming machines. This is not only because of the machines themselves, but it is also because of their visionary founding team. “Everyone at Genuine Industries feels that cannabis is a medicine, and it should be handled as such,” says cofounder Mike McCauley. “We took every step possible to use food-grade parts and to prove the fact that the process does not damage the material itself.” McCauley comes from a multi-generational farming family; the first farm he personally managed grew Easter Lilies. But, his life was changed back in 1997, after meeting pioneering physician Dr. Tod Mikuriya, who helped him use cannabis to care for his wife through her cancer treatments. He became further convinced of the applications of medical cannabis after falling off a roof while doing construction, and becoming a patient himself. So, with two partners, a sommelier, and an operations manager with family links to Einstein, he decided to turn his farming background towards tackling a problem in the field. “TrimBoss products were created after years of experience in the field of cultivating specialty crops,” he says. “When I started working with cannabis machinery, the trimming equipment claimed to not

damage the medicine, which needs to be cleaned and manicured with care, but this was not always true. I saw the benefits and downfalls of the first machines, and calculated them carefully.” McCauley’s goal was to use his respect and admiration for both the crop being cultivated, and for the farmer managing, and oversee these laborious tasks to create a product that saved time and money. He knew from talking to cannabis cultivators that they appreciated using dry trimmers, as cutting productions costs is essential to any farmer. TrimBoss takes off dry fan leaves fast, leaving only a small amount of final finishing for hand trimmers to complete. This means less opportunity for contaminants to enter the medicine’s stream, with fewer hands touching each flower. “We need to remember the OG’s that got us here,” say McCauley, pointing out that some strains, like traditionally dense OG’s, can be fully trimmed for market using a TrimBoss. “Growers are surprised when they see it works, and sometimes when I do demonstrations, it feels like performing miracles.” McCauley intends to set an industry standard with the TrimBoss. “Most industries have adopted voluntary standards of excellence in their equipment, products and processes,” he says. “Legislators will often use these standards for regulating production and distribution practices to protect the consuming public. As the can-

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nabis industry emerges, it too should develop such standards, using testable metrics such as contaminants and potency.” Then, he says, “entrepreneurs can choose their own methods of achieving this, from controlling the environment, to managing the chain-of-custody, to measuring their product and to facilitating long shelf-life.” When this type of visionary leadership combines with a time and money saving product that helps others produce a superior product, we knew the TrimBoss ® would be headed to the top.

PRODUCT

VISIONARY FARMING EQUIPMENT HE INVENTORS of TrimBoss, by Genuine Industries, have created a quick, pure, and effective manner to process cannabis for the medical market. The science behind these machines is impressive, but it is understandable why TrimBoss put the effort into it. Dry trimming machines have a reputation to overcome, with historic problems including losses due to over processing or from oily residues left on the plant matter. Nothing like this will ever happen with the TrimBoss products, as they use only food grade equipment, combined with air purifying technology to keep the product contaminant free. TrimBoss turned to Sequoia Labs to prove the biggest fact, which is that their machines do not lead to loss of potency in the final product. Scientists there first tested untrimmed samples of the flowers, which tested at 14.69% THC. Then, the plant material was trimmed using a TrimBoss machine. It came out at 19.2% THC, which is way higher then

consumers might imagine possible from a tumble trim machine. The final step in the test was to have a hand trimmer perform a quick trim, which upped the THC content to 22.31%. Those numbers are good enough to make any cultivator, especially those looking to save time and money, take a serious look at the TrimBoss. Michael McCauley, one of their founders, said he knew they had reached their goals with the TrimBoss 4000 and 4100, when one of their early clients told him, “it let me take my first vacation in ten years, I fired the people that were bothering me, and I kept the good one’s around while I left.” It is time for more people to feel this relief. Get the TrimBoss 4000 or 4100 factory direct online at www.genuineindustries.com ® or by calling 1-855-379-2767.

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FEATURE

B L ACK L I VE S M ATT E R

ONE NEU ROSCIENTIST’S MISSION TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD

AS THE STORY GOES, Dr. Carl Hart was living a good life as a successful black man when his past came back to haunt him, and that’s where this story begins. Why did I use the descriptor “black” when he is clearly a successful man? In more than one story researched online his tag line came with the color of his skin. One can easily speculate it’s the very same reason our prisons are lopsided with black non-violent offenders. Statistics show the same amount of people, white or black, consume and sell the same amount of drugs and the failed War on Drugs isn’t changing the discrepancy many simply call discrimination.

WRITER•SHARON LETTS

PHOTOS•EILEEN BARROSO

To begin again, Dr. Carl Hart is a neuroscientist, a best-selling author, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at Columbia University. His first effort to explain the failed War on Drugs and the misinformation surrounding it, High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of SelfDiscovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society, is at once a memoir, a book on drug policy, and a primer on the science of drugs. The work also won him a PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award – one of the most prestigious awards given for physical and biological sciences today. John Tierney of the New York Times called High Price, “A fascinating combination of memoir and social science. Wrenching scenes of deprivation and violence accompanied by calm analysis of historical data and laboratory results.” Hart compiles the painful facts from his own life, but it’s to explain the failed War on Drugs from the black perspective, coming himself from a poor neighborhood of color in South Florida. The work’s accolades focused on his “empirical evidence,” impossible to deny, ripping U.S. policy public perceptions to shreds in the process. “High Price reminded readers that some of our most respected members of society were (and perhaps still are) pot smokers, including the last three occupants of the White House,” Hart says from his home in New York. This, and other data, is helping to change the perception of the typical pot smoker from the ‘Doritos-eating’, lazy, couch potato – to you and me, responsible citizens.” His memoir recounted the morning he was presented with a paternity suit by a woman he had fathered her 17 year-old son with, now leading the troubled life he once fled from in his old neighborhood. It had been a one-night stand and he remembered the young woman sneaking him in through her bedroom window, in lieu of her mother’s watchful eye. He had been studying drug addiction from a neuroscientist’s perspective from his seat at Columbia, and was now facing that world in a very personal way. He learned his son had dropped out of high school, fathered several children with different women, sold drugs, and allegedly shot someone. With two small children already at home, the newly appointed Associate Professor at Columbia had his parenting

THE STATISTICS IN BLACK & WHITE • 2001-2010: 8 Million Arrests • 88% for possession of drugs • Cannabis arrests, 52% of arrests • Cannabis possession, 46% of arrests • 2010, one cannabis arrest every 37 seconds • States spent over 3.6 billion on enforcement of possession • Blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested in every region • Blacks & Whites use cannabis in similar rates, wealthy or poor • In more than 96% of counties with more than 30K people where only 2% are black residents, arrests are higher for blacks From the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) report, “The War on Marijuana in Black & White” June, 2013 work cut out for him. From his website he writes, “I’d wanted to teach my children everything I hadn’t known as I grew up with a struggling single mother, surrounded by people whose lives were limited by their own lack of knowledge. I wanted them to go to good schools, to know how to negotiate the potential pitfalls of being black in the United States, to not have to live and die by whether they were considered ‘man’ enough on the street. I also wanted to illustrate by my own example that bad experiences, like those I had as a child, aren’t the defining factor in being authentically black.” He began questioning his own path. How did he go from a black kid on the street with “learning difficulties” in elementary school, to an Ivy League professor? He admits to doing all the wrong things he barely studied but to pass high school; he carried guns, and deejayed in Miami within the ranks of Run-DMC and Luther Campbell, dodging bullets with the best of them; he witnessed “drug related homicides” at 12, losing a friend to gun violence; he witnessed his cousins stealing from their mother for crack – watching his neighborhood fall to addiction in the early 80s. How did he make it out? “I had five sisters – all older than me and they functioned as surrogate mothers,” he explained while on PBS’s The Tavis Smiley Show. “I had a grandmother that was really strong who doted on me, who wanted to make sure I didn’t go off the beaten path – even though I did, I didn’t want to disappoint my grandmother or my sisters in any major way.” Sports also played a role, not via a scholarship, but with the added incentive of keep-

ing up at least a 2.0 GPA, enabling him to play basketball, and subsequently allowing him to graduate. Hart said mentors were everywhere, but a supportive counselor in high school saw his potential and encouraged him to join the Air Force. “In the Air Force I served all my time overseas in Japan and England,” he shares. “Being in England was critical because it was an English speaking country with a social critique of the U.S., particularly regarding race issues. I had to go to England to learn about race relations in the U.S.” Empirical evidence points the longest finger at the discrimination that follows the failed War on Drugs, with the only winners in the war being law enforcement budgets and privatized prison profits, according to Hart, with poor neighborhoods suffering and wealthy ones seemingly left alone. Former U.S. Marshall and Drug Enforcement Agent (DEA) Matthew Fogg infamously appeared in a video clip produced by documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, stating the wealthier demographics of most raids are purposefully avoided. “I started noticing that most of the time we were hitting urban areas,” Fogg explained. “I would ask, ‘Well, don’t they sell drugs in Springfield and places like that?’ Statistics show they use more drugs out there than anywhere. He said, ‘You know, if we start messing with them we’d be in real trouble – those are doctors and lawyers, they know people. If we start locking up their kids they’ll start jerking our chain.’ He said, ‘they are going to call us on that, they are going to start shutting us down, and there goes your overtime.’”

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OBAMA’S VISIT WAS LARGELY SYMBOLIC. YOU CAN’T EAT SYMBOLISM, NOR CAN YOU MAKE LOVE TO IT. WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF SYMBOLISM. IT’S TIME FOR SUBSTANCE.

One strong piece of evidence that the failed War on Drugs targets those less fortunate is the very law supporting the convictions of both crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. As a scientist, Hart says the two substances are the same, yet penalties are much harsher for crack, found in lower income neighborhoods. Tavis Smiley offered up the adage, “Crack on

the streets, cocaine in the suites.” A vast majority of arrests for crack cocaine involve African Americans, and Hart wisely theorizes that if a vast majority of cocaine users who look like members of congress started getting arrested for cocaine, the laws would change. “The law itself isn’t racist, the enforcement of the law is,” Hart continues. “If we place law enforcement in neighborhoods of color you are going to catch people committing crimes. I live in a relatively upscale neighborhood in New York. If you place law enforcement in my community, particularly when it’s time to take the kids to school, you’ll catch them breaking the law every time – they speed, they sell drugs, but they aren’t getting caught because law enforcement is not there.” The crux of the problem, Hart clarifies, is not in the drug use itself, or even in the manufacturing and selling of it. “In this country we are led to believe it’s the drugs that cause communities to be how they are. The vast majority of people who use crack cocaine – something like 80-90% of them - do so without any problems. They work, they pay taxes. So when you have this small percentage of people who have problems, you can’t blame the drugs.” So what’s the problem, you ask? Why the disparities between crack and coke? Why are there more black men behind bars for pot than white men? If it’s not the drugs, what is it? “As a scientist, you are asking me to think like an idiot,” Hart laughs at the ridiculous prospect of even trying to answer the question intelligently. The disparities are as glaring as the discrimination, from a scientific view point. “The War on Drugs has not failed. The U.S. would not have stayed with a policy for more than 40 years if it was a failure. The policy has been hugely successful because law enforcement has, and continues to, benefit handsomely. Each year we spend more than $25 billion in the effort and most of it goes to law enforcement.” The same can be said for the privatized prisons, prosecutors, and drug treatment providers, with Hart adding media, researchers, politicians, filmmakers, and even comedians to the mix of those benefiting from the war on drugs. “The only groups not benefiting are drug users – especially if they are black – and the people who love them,” Hart concludes. Currently the professor is on sabbatical from Columbia working on his second effort, a book on decriminalizing and managing drug

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use, rather than incarceration. Programs that register and manage heroin addiction have been running with great success in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. With more than 20,000 people a year dying of opiate overdoses alone in the U.S. each year, something has to give. When asked if he feels President Obama’s recent visit to a privatized prison will make a difference in drug policy, he didn’t even have to think about it. “Emphatically, no,” he says. “This visit was largely symbolic. You can’t eat symbolism, nor can you make love to it. We have had enough of symbolism. It’s time for substance. It would be more beneficial – more substantial – if the president pushes for federal legislation decriminalizing the possession of all drugs, as they’ve done in Portugal and the Czech Republic. In this way, we would immediately decrease 1.2 million arrests each year – or the total amount of people who are arrested for simple possessing a drug.” While Hart feels some may be hopeful about President Obama’s recent visit to a Federal prison, and the subsequent release of approximately 6,000 nonviolent drug offenders, who had sentences reduced by an average of two years, he advises we still have a long way to go. “While this is a step in the right direction, I would remind people that we have more than 2.3 million of our citizens behind bars and that we already without this recent move - release more than 10,000 prisoners every week in this country. In short, the recent release of the 6,000 prisoners is a small – very small – step. Giant steps are needed.”

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CANNANEWS

WRITER•SHARON LETTS

CAMPAIGN ZERO Ending Police Violence in America BLACK LIVES MATTER, NOT A MOMENT, A MOVEMENT “Moving the hashtag to the streets”

HE CRUSADE to end police violence against people of color in America begins with statistics, or what Dr. Carl Hart refers to as, “Empirical evidence. More than one thousand people are killed by police every year in America,” he states, “Nearly 60 percent of victims did not have a gun, or were involved in activities that should not require police intervention, such as harmless ‘quality of life’ behaviors or mental health crisis.” Campaign Zero was launched by Black Lives Matter activists Samuel Sinyangwe, Brittany Packnett, DeRay McKesson and Johnetta Elzie. The organization’s website displays a graphic of the current 2015 calendar year, January through September, stating there has only been nine days that the police have not killed someone. The stats on police killings in other countries pale next to the U.S., with a reported 1,100 people killed at the hands of those enlisted to “Protect & Serve,” compared to six in Germany, two in the UK, six in Australia, and zero in Japan. Some ways to encourage transparency and accountability within law enforcement in your community:

SOME WAYS TO ENCOURAGE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN LAW ENFORCEMENT IN YOUR COMMUNITY: End “broken windows policing,” for minor crimes or activities that can lead to overpolicing. Community oversight, where residents hold officers accountable via a civilian oversight structure. Establish standards for reporting police use of deadly force, revise and strengthen policies. Monitor how police use force and hold them accountable. Independent Investigations of police violence, and mandatory body cams. Community Representation: increase the number of officers who reflect the communities they serve. Training in interacting with communities that preserve life. End for Profit Policing via quotas for tickets and arrests, and end high-speed chases. Demilitarization, ending the war zone at civil protests. Fair Police Contracts, remove barriers to effective misconduct investigations, with civil oversight.

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The movement, spurned by often unexplained and harsh abuse of people of color by law enforcement, began after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed by neighborhood patrolling volunteer, George Zimmerman. What began as an online connection-building forum by three women, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza, turned into a platform for empowerment. According to its website the three women wanted to “spark dialogue among black people, and to facilitate the types of connections necessary to encourage social action and engagement.” Co-founder Garza writes, “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” The founders created the movement in an effort to “rebuild the Black liberation movement,” and reinstate the basic human rights and dignity so many blacks in this country are deprived of. It’s an acknowledgement that black poverty and genocide is a state violence, and that “one million black people are locked in cages in this country – one half of all people in prisons

or jails – is an act of state violence.” The list of “state violence” against blacks in America is a long one, and the organizers surmise, “#BlackLivesMatter doesn’t mean your life isn’t important – it means that black lives, which are seen as without value within white supremacy, are important to your liberation. Given the disproportionate impact state violence has on black lives, we understand that when black people in this country get free, the benefits will be wide reaching and transformative for society as a whole. When we are able to end hyper-criminalization and sexualization of black people and end the poverty, control, and surveillance of black people, every single person in this world has a better shot at getting and staying free. When black people get free, everybody gets free.” Funny man Ngaio Bealum has graced the stages of weed festivals and cannabis cups coast to coast, appearing in television shows, such as Doug Benson’s “Getting Doug with High,” “The Sarah Silverman Program,” and recording “Weed & Sex,” a comedic CD that needs no explanation.

and plenty of jokes to follow. “Working weed into my routine happened organically,” says Ngaio. “They tell you to talk about what you know. I know weed, and the history of weed, and what it’s like to lead a cannacentric lifestyle.” Though he’d like to see more of the African American community at cannabis events, he says it is happening slowly. “I just joined the Minority Cannabis Business Association. Our goal is to get more women and people of color involved in cannabusiness.” A common belief throughout the cannabis community is the feeling that the War on Drugs is actually a war on its people, and Bealum agrees. “The private prison industry is unconstitutional and un-American,” he says. “No one should make money from human suffering, and folks deprived of their freedom. Private prisons lead to more prohibitions and longer sentences – just to increase the bottom line – and that should be abhorrent to any right thinking person. Decriminalization [of cannabis] would go a long way toward decreasing the systemic racism and abuses of authority we have in this country.”

NGAIO BEALUM Comedian, Activist, Writer, Chronnisseur

KYNDRA MILLER Attorney, CannaBusiness Law, Inc.

The son of hippie parents, Bealum gathered a lifetime of comedic material growing up on the culturally diverse streets of San Francisco – but it wasn’t all fun and games. “ My neighborhood was racially mixed and pretty cool, but there were some ass hats,” he shares. “My sixth grade teacher told me, ‘nigger kids don’t belong in the gifted program,’ but overall I had a good time.” Bealum says while all black people are his role models, there have been a few white folks in the mix. “Langston Hughes, Sherlock Holmes, Fred Hampton, Lee Morgan, and Moms Mabley, come to mind.” Weed didn’t enter into the equation until college, with burning joints a favorite method of delivery

Kyndra Miller was born in Rochester, New York, but raised by a single mother in Palo Alto, California. A predominantly white community in the late 1970s and 80s, Miller says the climate of the Stanford University town was liberal and culturally diverse. “Growing up in a predominately white, financially wealthy neighborhood provided me with an opportunity to obtain a top-notch public education at the primary and secondary levels,” she explains. “It also gave me an academic advantage when I matriculated to the University of California, San Diego.” From a social perspective, Miller says all of her friends growing up were white. “I learned to love and trust people that looked

THESE AND OTHER RACIAL HEALTH DISPARITIES ARE NOT THE RESULT OF SOME UNIQUE DEFECT OF MELANIN CONTENT.

different from me at a very young age,” she continues. “In hindsight, I realize that this ability is why I’m successful today.” The only black role model Miller said she had was her mother, Deidre Miller. “This woman is fierce!” Miller shares. “She started a Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology at the University of San Francisco as a single mom. She is my first love, my first BFF and my primary role model. My mother taught me to love all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or economic status. She set me up for success from the very beginning.” Miller began practicing law in Los Angeles in the entertainment industry, but soon moved into cannabis business law, with two offices, representing clients in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She’s been a patient out of necessity since a teenager. “My consumption was medicinal from the very beginning, as I faced some challenges with eating properly. Smoking cannabis works best for me, though I am excited to learn about alternative consumption methods, like vaporizing and eating edibles.” Miller’s activism to end the prohibition of the plant began in 2009, first with NORML, then the NORML Women’s Alliance (NWA). Since she grew up in a white demographic, she was undaunted by the predominately white cannabis community. The women’s groups are appearing to make more headway with minority communities, and Miller says the NWA’s logo features a woman of color. “I think the solution is rather simple. The more people of color that speak out publically about cannabis prohibition, and occupy seats in the board rooms and executive offices of cannabis businesses and organizations, the more we will see them participating in the industry,” Miller says. “I’ve seen more women and people of color participating in cannabis cups and rallies,

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but I wish there were more black speakers on the circuit. I’d like to see more successful black entrepreneurs – the fact that anyone can still count on one hand the number of ‘black’ cannabusinesses is just sad, but that’s true for most industries.”

DR. CARL HART Author, Professor & Neuropsychopharamacologist Columbia University, New York

Dr. Hart’s past was made public after penning his best-selling book High Price. Brought up by a single mother with eight kids in a predominantly black and poor south Florida neighborhood, Hart’s work includes personal stories from his past, with critics applauding him for his honesty. “I didn’t want young black men and women thinking they had to be perfect to get where I’m at, because I’m by no means perfect.” PBS Talk show host Tavis Smiley questioned the professor on his appearance, stating he would never guess by looking at him he was a professor at Columbia, to which Hart replied, “You have to be the best at what you do. If you aren’t the best, you aren’t getting away with it. I work at being the best that I can, in order to be myself.” Hart says his dreads are also a nod to the Rastafarian movement, where he explains he initially learned to question authority, something he’s grateful for now.

“If all the young brothers understood what dreadlocks were about, why we wear them – they would begin to think critically. Politics of respectability has done so much harm. There’s this notion that black people have to be so much better than white people. If we paid more attention to how black people think and not how they look, when faced with a potentially dangerous situation, they might have better people skills.” Smiley posed the question, “Why should people listen to you if you look like a drug dealer?” To which Hart replies, “I encourage people to be smart and think for themselves. I don’t feel the need to physically smack someone down for disagreeing with me, I’ll smack them intellectually.” The Black Lives Matter campaign, he says, brought up some valid albeit, painful realities. “The facts are black women can live three years less than white women; the difference between black and white men is nearly five years. In the United States, being black can be bad for your health. This is an inescapable fact, especially when you consider the following people and circumstances surrounding their deaths: Kathryn Johnston, Tarika Wilson, Trayvon Martin, Eric Gardner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray. These and other racial health disparities are not the result of some unique defect of melanin content. They are the result of the racial discrimination that operates dayin and day-out, hour-by-hour, in this country.

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DRUG WAR FACTS sixth edition, by Douglas A. McVay

Cannabis activist, journalist, and executive director of the non-profit Common Sense for Drug Policy Doug McVay created the “Drug War Facts” website in 1998 in an effort to provide evidence from government and other accredited sources on the failed War on Drugs in the U.S. Its mission is to debunk myths and misinformation surrounding the failed policies plaguing its people for decades. It also advocates drug management policies rather than incarceration. According to drugwarfacts.org, “Black males had higher imprisonment rates across all age groups than all other races and Hispanic males. In the age range with the highest imprisonment rates for males (ages 25 to 39), black males were imprisoned at rates at least 2.5 times greater than Hispanic males and 6 times greater than white males. For males ages 18 to 19 - the age range with the greatest difference in imprisonment rates between whites and blacks - black males (1,092 inmates per 100,000 black males) were more than 9x more likely to be imprisoned than white males (115 inmates per 100,000 white males). The difference between black and white female inmates of the same age was smaller, but still substantial. Black females ages 18 to 19 (33 inmates per 100,000) were almost 5x more likely to be imprisoned than white females (7 inmates per 100,000).”

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CANNANEWS

WRITER•JESSICA ZIMMER DESIGN•BRANDON PALMA

TIPPED SCALES RACIAL DISPARITY WITHIN THE WAR ON DRUGS

OR DECADES America’s war on cannabis has disproportionately affected African Americans. Politicians, professors, law enforcement officers, and drug policy reform lobbyists agree that change will require the improvement of police practices, at least partial legalization for medical use, and the modification of laws and regulations regarding a wide variety of subjects like immigration, driving and voting privileges, child custody, employment, housing, student loans, and the sealing of criminal records. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s 2013 report on cannabis enforcement, The War on Marijuana in Black and White, African Americans were 3.73x more than likely than whites to be arrested for cannabis possession. This is true even though both blacks and whites use cannabis at similar rates. The data that formed the basis for the report was collected between 2001 and 2010. Jon Gettman, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Shenandoah University who collected a considerable amount of the data, says a primary cause for the disparity in arrests is a style of policing called ‘broken windows’. It involves aggressively responding to small problems in a neighborhood to show that people care about the neighborhood,” Gettman explains. “The policing helps deter more serious crimes. If there’s a broken window and no one fixes that window, people will throw rocks

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and break other windows. The idea is that you create a more civil, more orderly community.” Gettman says across the country, law enforcement officers have “prioritized” areas for broken windows policing where members of the African American community live and work. “Marijuana possession arrests have no impact on the drug trade, and they’re a bad habit on the part of police officers,” he says. “Legalization removes the temptation to indulge in that bad habit, and will reduce tension, friction, and hostilities between police officers and residents of various communities.” Danielle Keane, political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), says legalization is key. “If people were not considered criminals for possessing cannabis, the police wouldn’t be in these neighborhoods.” She also suggests that retroactive expungement of criminal records, for individuals convicted of cannabis possession, should be adopted in states that have legalized the plant. This will ensure that these individuals will not be monitored by probation officers for cannabis-related offenses, or have cannabis possession used as a reason to deprive them of the custody of a child, OR have cannabis possession used to strip them of their voting and driving privileges. These individuals will also become more eligible for student loans, housing, and employment.”

WE NEED TO EXEMPLIFY BASIC PRINCIPLES. OUR POLICE DEPARTMENTS SHOULD BE BOTH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COMMUNITIES THEY SERVE, AS WELL AS KNOW THE PEOPLE THEY SERVE.

She clarifies the organization’s intent stating, “NORML is based on huge, extensive grassroots networks throughout the country. We see how important it is to have these conversations about racial disparity.” In Florida, Michigan State Senator Vincent Gregory (D-District 11) says there is no question that legalization would reduce the number of arrests in the African American community, but despite this, some residents in those communities do not support legalization. Gregory served as a law enforcement officer in southeast Michigan for 29 years. He says it is important to remember that these communities have been “hit hard by drug use,” and explains, “There is a fear in communities that drug use may become even more prevalent if we legalize cannabis. Many ask ‘How is it going to help us?’” He suggests other steps that can be taken that include requiring law enforcement officers to issue warnings, instead of conducting arrests. Law enforcement officers can also be trained to form good relationships with residents and business owners. Maintaining ongoing conversations between proponents and opponents of legalization allow everyone to share concerns. Gregory is motivated by America’s shifting attitude toward legalization. Change has built bridges between Republicans and Democrats. In the past, Michigan Republicans were staunchly opposed to cannabis. Now numerous Republicans, including Michigan State Representative Michael Callton (R-District 87), support legislation to improve access and regulation of therapeutic cannabis. He suggests improving police practices may prove to be a greater challenge. Traditionally, law enforcement agencies are given great autonomy in terms of deciding what changes they will make. They are also given the power to decide how they will enforce local laws and regulations. Carlyle Holder, president of the National Association of Blacks in

Criminal Justice (NABCJ), shares some of Gregory’s views. The NABCJ is primarily composed of black professionals in the field of criminal justice. He lives in central Florida and served 27 ½ years with the Federal Bureau of Prisons of the U.S. Department of Justice.Holder says the NABCJ is opposed to legalization. “As long as people continue to be incarcerated for cannabis, I cannot even begin to consider the topic of legalization. The federal government, which trumps state law, hasn’t even made an attempt to address the legalization of cannabis.” Holder also says the NABCJ sees medicinally used cannabis as a different issue, one on which the organization has yet to formalize an opinion. “I think medical marijuana is a nexus to legalization.” In November 2016, Florida voters may again consider legalizing more strains of cannabis for therapeutic use other than just Charlotte’s Web. Holder says much of the “over-policing” of lower-class neighborhoods with regard to cannabis possession has to do with economics. “In middle-class communities, we see less enforcement. In higher-end communities, the residents will not let the police patrol and harass them.” He explains that changing the quality of life in lower-class urban neighborhoods will reduce the number of cannabis possession arrests. “In these neighborhoods, black men from the ages of 18 to 24 are on the street, because there’s nothing else for them to do. Schools in these areas are underfunded. America has to make a massive investment in these neighborhoods.” He also suggests police practices need to improve, and that they should implement the recommendations of The Final Report on The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. This document, published in May 2015, sets out recommendations for law enforcement agencies organized around six main topics: Building Trust and Legitimacy, Policy and Oversight, Technology and Social dopemagazine.com ISSUE 6 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE

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Media, Community Policing and Crime Reduction, Officer Training and Education, and Officer Safety and Wellness. “We don’t want police departments like the one in Ferguson; the lack of diversity in that department was clearly a recipe for disaster. We need to exemplify basic principles. Our police departments should be both representative of the communities they serve, as well as know the people they serve,” says Holder. “We want the law to be fairly and consistently applied. The quality of justice should be equal across the board.” New York City, which in the past three decades was notorious for having disproportionately high numbers for Black and Latino cannabis possession arrests, is seeing change because of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 2014 decriminalization of possession. In November 2014, De Blasio began requiring police officers to issue a person in possession of 25 grams or less of cannabis a summons, rather than arrest them, provided the person has no warrant and has identification. The number of misdemeanor cannabis possession arrests dropped from 7,110 between January and March 2014 to 2,960 between January and March 2015. Unfortunately, the racial disparity for possession arrests has persisted. In the first quarter of 2015, the statistics for arrests were as follows: 1,494 Blacks (50.47% of the total); 1,130 Latinos (38.18 percent of the total); and 228 Whites (7.70 percent of the total). Kassandra Frederique, New York policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), a national nonprofit organization that supports drug policy reform says “We can’t just move arrests to tickets and think that the problem will be addressed.” Frederique points out that New York City

police officers have a history of not obeying directives related to arrests in Black and Latino communities and comments that “Creating different accountability structures for law enforcement is essential.” She also says it is important for Black and Latino communities to discuss how to monitor law enforcement officers. The DPA’s long-range goal is to see cannabis legalized at the state level, “with an economic justice perspective.” The organization has lobbied for The Fairness and Equity Act, a comprehensive piece of legislation that will change many ways that New York State treats individuals with cannabis possession convictions. “People remain incarcerated for past cannabis possession offenses. They are not able to get public housing. They can lose custody of their children. They are denied certain statuses as immigrants. They can’t pass employment security checks. They are denied student loans,” she explains.“Republicans in the New York State Senate are [being] really dense about this issue. They have not been interested in acknowledging the impact of cannabis-related arrests, especially on young people. If we don’t deal with the past and change the laws, we will not be acknowledging the impact that cannabis prohibition has had on people of color,” says Frederique. Alyssa Aguilera, political director of Vocal NY, a nonprofit organization that does community organizing in low-income neighborhoods in New York City, says her organization has partnered with the DPA to advocate for legalization and The Fairness and Equity Act. “The end goal is to end the war on cannabis so no one is arrested for having small amounts for personal use,” Aguilera says. “In the meantime, we are making ef-

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forts to [encourage] the de-prioritization of those arrests. In a lot of places, cannabis possession means a ticket, or fine, or summons rather than being pulled through the entire criminal justice system.” Aguilera suggests changing police practices will help with lowering the number of African and Latino arrests. “Still, I think there’s a lot of animosity and distrust; it will take time to repair relationships. The police are literally in watchtowers over communities, and they still engage in aggressive behavior.”

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ROAD TRIP

WRITER•SHARON LETTS

VIRTUAL ROAD TRIP: Garden City, Kansas The Shon a Banda Story LTHOUGH seventy percent of residents in the mid-western State of Kansas support cannabis as medicine, two bills presented this past year still failed to win approval in the state’s legislative session. The Marijuana Policy Project (MMP) calls Kansas’ cannabis laws “Draconian,” with the smallest spec of pot landing its residents in jail for up to a year with a thousand dollar fine. A second offense with another crumb and you could face felony charges and up to three years in the pen, drained of one hundred thousand dollars in fines. According to the Rand Corporation, studies have found harsh penalties do not reduce drug usage, and all the money in the world thrown at the miserably failed War on Drugs won’t deter humans from partaking. What if you are in an illegal state such as Kansas, though, and you have been enlightened to plant-based medicines, specifically cannabis, where other traditional meds have failed? What if it was the

only thing that helped? Would you do it anyway? A recent interview with rocker Melissa Etheridge (Dope Magazine, October 2015) found the artist’s only hesitancy in using cannabis for cancer symptoms was the fear of losing her children. Even though she was in a legal state to do so, the real fear was there. She had heard the horror stories of Child Protective Services taking children away from legitimate patients in legal states, let alone states like Kansas. “That part was scary,” Etheridge said. “I was being helped by this plant, and I was in a legal state, but I still had that fear that they could come and take my kids.” Kansas born Shona Banda was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2002. Also suffering from autoimmune deficiency, she said took every medication they gave her. When the meds stopped working, she tried another, then another, until multiple gastrointestinal surgeries became her only option.

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According to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, there is no known cause of the chronic ailment that affects more than 700,000 Americans between the ages of 15 and 35. While family history plays a part in contracting Crohn’s, environment and diet seem to also play a role, with it appearing most frequently in developed countries. Similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s suffers present with persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, urgent needs for bowel movements, abdominal cramps and pain, sensations of incomplete evacuation, and constipation (obstruction). Daily symptoms can include fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, night sweats, and the loss of a normal menstrual cycle. While diet and stress can aggravate symptoms, irritants are not thought to be the cause of the disease. Crohn’s appears to weaken the immune system, with the patient unable to fight off the mildest of inflammation and infections. A cocktail of prescription meds is often needed to quell myriad symptoms. The good news is cannabis helps. In a placebo-controlled study, published by the American Gastroenterological Association, researchers found patients who were administered cannabis (via smoking only) went into “complete remission” from all symptoms of Crohn’s disease. Three patients were weaned from steroid dependency, with all reporting improved appetite and sleep, and no significant side effects. Numerous patients are now on the green

THEN BANDA’S HUSBAND BEGGED HER TO TRY CANNABIS, AND THE CHILDREN SAW HER BEING HELPED BY A PLANT THEY WERE ALL TOLD WAS DANGEROUS.

train of wellness, traveling to legal states for healing. Many stay in their home states however, preferring to be surrounding by family, and taking their chances with persecution if caught. Shona Banda tried to stay put initially, but the plant material in her home state was not inspiring, to say the least. “When I first started to smoke for pain it was around 2003,” Banda shares. “Finding cannabis was hard at times, however, even ten years ago it was possible. Everyone knows someone, no matter the geographical location you live in. The quality wasn’t always great, but I had been in pain for so long I was praying for sleep or death at that point.” Her two kids watched her go through eleven surgeries in seven years. At one point she was taking 52 pills a day, including Remicade, at a cost of one thousand dollars a month. The lengthy warning list on the FDA approved drug states a possible side effect of “spontaneous pneumothorax,” or partial lung collapse, which sent Banda to the hospital for nearly two months. Most of her kid’s young lives were spent watching their mom suffer greatly. Then Banda’s husband begged her to try cannabis, and the children saw he being helped by a plant they were all told was dangerous. “I was a D.A.R.E. child and would have nothing to do with it,” she explained. “One day I was puking in the toilet and my husband was holding my hair back for me, saying he had brought me a joint to smoke. He pleaded with me to understand that this helped cancer patients, and if I had those same symptoms I should

About that same time the feel the same relief.” Stanley brothers were growing Banda said she reluctantly what would become Charlotte’s took the offer out of sheer desperation, and as the pain left Web, a CBD strain used to make oil for kids with epilepsy, her body after just smoking a but Banda was just slightly small amount, she literally fell ahead of her time. to the ground sobbing in relief, Her husband’s infidelity and disbelief. and subsequent separation had “Cannabis had taken my Banda struggling to survive pain away better than anything in the high priced state, and I had ever been given by a she was forced to pack up and physician,” she explained with go back home to Garden City, enthusiasm. “It was like finding Kansas. out Santa was not real as an “I just want to survive, I adult. This green cigarette had want to provide, and I want to done so much for my cramping grow and live with my children,” and pain, my thoughts were she says. “That is no crime. spinning in my head as I That is sheer will. That is what realized I had been lied to my love is, to do whatever it takes entire life. This was the best to stay alive and provide for thing for me and it was illegal.” your children. The only crime Soon she was vaporizing here was forcefully taking a to get cleaner medicine into child from his mother. her weakened lungs, and began The story in the media making medicine via oil to said that her 11 year-old-son ingest, putting her condition spoke up during a D.A.R.E. into complete remission. event or anti-drug rally at “I had seen the movie, Run school. The truth is it was from the Cure, and I knew I a mock counseling session needed to eat this in a pill, just involving the entire class with like real medication.” many different topics. Her Run from the Cure is Rick son’s responses were directed Simpson’s story - re-creator at teaching the counselor why of the strong cannabis oil that his mother did not believe puts cancer and other serious “marijuana” was bad. He also let ailments into remission (Dope, the counselor know that in the July 2015). family home they referred to In 2010 she penned the plant as “cannabis.” Live Free or Die detailing her It was a bold move by struggles and how cannabis a naive child to defend his helped her with Crohn’s mother, her health, and her disease. She and husband medicine. What followed was moved the family to Colorado, anything but civil. Her son and Banda soon became an was taken from the class, Child advocate for legalization. An Protective Services (CPS) was association with Rick Simpson called, and he was questioned and the Phoenix Tears extensively by the Garden City Foundation began, and Banda Police Department about the worked on the second version processes of medicating. The of his story with Run from the only problem was the substance Cure II. was not considered to be “My oil was the first ever medicine by the interrogators, tested for CBD in Colorado, and his mother was being and I have been the only oil accused of being a dealer, not maker Rick Simpson himself the healer she was. has ever endorsed,” she shares. Banda says that what “However, while there, no one was interested in CBD only oil.” became an “interrogation” of dopemagazine.com ISSUE 6 THE PAST TO PRESENT ISSUE

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her son without her or the father’s knowledge by the Garden City Police Department was leaked to the press by the department itself. “It would not be farfetched of me to say that law enforcement will lie,” she continues. “It would not be farfetched of me to say that law enforcement in Garden City acts routinely in favor of the State, or as in my particular case, they were simply ‘enforcing law.’ We do not see civil servants; we do not see protectors of oath.” “To Protect & Serve” was thrown out the proverbial window as her son was taken from her and her medicine was confiscated. Banda was put in jail with bail set at $50,000, the State of Kansas moved forward with criminal charges of “manufacturing, distributing and processing marijuana,” and her parenting skills became in question. Banda says the “blatant police force on

behalf of the state has become rampant across the nation,” and she hopes her case will bring some much needed attention to the more human side of medicating with cannabis for severe illness. The report derived from the interrogation of the child claimed he was subjected to abuse and neglect in the home by having to watch people process or trim cannabis, his mother and others using it as medicine, and having to observe the making of the medicine. In the context of Kansas law, where fines and jail time are levied for having a seed in your pocket lining, perspectives on cannabis healing get a bit muddled. Hope came via the receipt of a Child In Need of Care (CINC) request September 30th, with charges being dismissed and the minor child returning to his mother’s care. The state’s criminal preliminary hearing is now set for November 17th of this year, with politician Ron Paul defending Banda on the Ron Paul Institute’s website, stating “If there ever was a ‘poster child’ for the absurdity of the drug war, the case of Shona Banda must be it.” Looking at upwards of thirty years in prison for pot in the Draconian State of Kansas, Banda is countering with attorney Matt Pappas, filing a federal suit against everyone involved in the questioning of her son or in taking him away, and those who chastised her for “manufacturing and processing” the good medicine that saved her life. Those named in the suit are, the State of Kansas; Govenor Sam Brownback; Kansas Department of Children and Families

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Department (KDCFD); Phyllis Gilmore (KDCFD); Garden City Police Department (GDPD); James R. Hawkins (GDPD); Garden City USD 457 (GC Unified School District); Tyler Stubenhoffer (GCUSD); “DOES 1 to 10 (defendants not yet named). Among the many infractions Banda is siting as a parent, is the fundamental right to make parenting decisions even when the court may be forced to disagree based on State law, citing Troxel (530 U.S. at 65, 72-73) “… Due Process Clause does not permit a state to infringe on a fit parent’s fundamental right to make child rearing decisions simply because a court disagrees with the parent or believes a better decision could be made.” (Rogers v. Rogers, 2007 WI App 50, 300 Wis.2d 532, 731 N.W.2d 347 ¶ 18.) For this writer, whose work focuses on cannabis medicine and healing, it’s painful to watch legitimate patients getting lifesaving help from cannabis in illegal states, only to become persecuted for finding relief where traditional treatments have failed them. Cannabis is now believed by many to be the most proactive medicine anyone can use today, and Banda’s message that self-taught knowledge is crucial to being healed is more relevant than ever. On a personal note, after doing away with breast cancer and ten prescription meds for multiple thyroid disease and menopausal symptoms, would I – could I - ever live in an illegal state? Realistically, I could, as the medicine is there. Would I be taking a chance of being persecuted for my good medicine? Yes, I would, as many are. “Cannabis is the safest, most non-toxic substance on the planet, period,” Banda says emphatically. “It puts cancer into remission, cures disease and illness and stops pain. It’s an essential nutrient for the human body and our endocannabinoid system – it is food. All plants have cannabinoids or CBD-type compounds, it just so happens that in cannabis they are most abundant. We just need to let our people grow. Live free always!”

CANNANEWS

HE WASHINGTON Post reports, “More than 6,000 federal prisoners will be released between October 30 - Nov 2.” A first of its kind, this will be the largest one time release of prisoners. The timing aligns with the 45th Anniversary of America’s War on Drugs. Those convicted of non-violent drug offenses will be included in the roll-call for freedom. President Obama and many activist groups have pushed for action, noting the disproportionate rate in which black and brown men are locked into the for-profit prison industrial complex. Along with POTUS and activists, Dr. Carl Hart lends insight into his take on The War on Drugs, and the for-profit prison system. Both have created on-going peril for communities of color. In his book, High Price, Dr. Hart shares intimately from his lens as a black man in America, pulling from his experiences of growing up poor and black in Miami,

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Florida. Dr. Hart, has overcome personal and professional feats becoming a neurosurgeon who offers learned opinion on addiction, and effectively uses science to explain his take on the issue of drugs and addiction. Issues that continue to divide the nation. His ideas seem radical to some because they challenge popular thought. Dr. Hart touches on the plight of black women and the idea that they fall into some of the same traps as black men. #SandraBland stares back, strong and confident from a page on Dr. Hart’s website, www.drcarlhart.com. The post calls for justice for the activist’s aggravated and illegal arrest, her subsequent death while in police custody, and the character assassination around the cannabis found in her system at the time of arrest. He asks that we not forget her voice. Black women can view this as a move in the right direction for racial solidarity and recognition of sisters.

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While black women feel compelled to support black men, no matter what, the struggle against patriarchy is real. In the movement for black family survival, black women are largely silenced by a hierarchy system that systematically leaves us outside of the loop on matters that pertain to us. I offer a glance on the effects of state policing on black women, through my lens as a Queer Black Womanist. You see, black women carry the community when our men are locked up. Dr. Hart may have expounded more on the many magic feats of black women to keep things going when sons, husbands, uncles and brothers are locked away. When black men are systematically targeted for mass incarceration, women are left alone to fend for themselves and their children. In addition, they have to find a way to make visitation, pay extortionist rates for telephone communication, and make sure loved ones have a few dollars on the books.

WRITER•C. IMANI WILLIAMS

The number one rule for black women is: not to complain. Ever. No one has time for that, not the black church, not friends and family, not white feminists, and certainly not those who make and enforce the laws. It is not okay when black women are further marginalized and disenfranchised. In efforts to survive, some black women are doing hard time for non-violent crimes that may, or may not, have involved possession of cannabis. State policing is a trap for black and brown families and survival becomes key. If the basic needs of food and shelter are not adequately met, mayhem ensues. White supremacy recognizes this. It locks mothers away from children and in too many cases makes children orphans. As wards of the state, it becomes far too easy for these children to become further discarded, neglected and/or abused and the cycle continues. Can we agree, that all children deserve better?

As Dr. Hart explained not only in his book but also during his Ted Med Talk, mass incarceration is designed to work alongside the school-to-prison pipeline for black children. This sets up black youth with a direct line for being labeled and tracked as “problem children” with severe behavioral issues. These actions guarantee remedial classes and course work, the steady gaze of school administrators, and the watchful eye of the legal system. Zero tolerance policies assure that good kids are thrown out with those who bully (while simply trying to defend themselves) leaving little room for explanation. Everyone involved is expelled. This exacerbates the problem, instead of addressing the underlying problem (bullying) and working towards positive solutions. What Dr. Hart can’t do, due to no fault of his own, is speak “AS” a black woman. Again, voice matters, and as a Black Woman/Activist, Black lives really, really, matter to me. As a

queer black woman, #BlackTransLivesMatter, twenty two Trans women of color have been killed so far this year. These women were real people with families and loved ones. Why is there no outcry for justice? #BlackWomensLives matter, when The Black and Missing Foundation reports, over 64,000 black women as missing. Vanished. Gone. As a black woman this terrifies me; a national alarm should be sounding. Instead, the reaction from mainstream society is deafening silence. Black women are left to search for one another with our own devices, and little help from media and government. Black communities scramble to make sense of murders and disappearances on a regular basis, not only black women, but children and men as well. There is no public outcry. The apathy reinforces the stereotype, that blacks don’t really feel anything so they can take all types of sh*t that would easily break a feeling, compassionate person.

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That’s the evil of white supremacy- it systematically heaps despair on top of impossible acts and asks that people of color figure it out, without complaining. This isn’t to say that white people don’ t go missing, although cases involving white people do seem to garner immediate and more intense recovery efforts. Race and ethnicity don’t matter when human life is in danger. Some of those missing fall prey to unimaginable things, including sex trafficking and organ harvesting. Mix in black market drugs and the triangle of evil is complete. These are huge societal issues that need fixing. As noted journalist Henry Louis Gates Jr. explains in a recent article with The Root, another way people go missing, is to end up in up in the system. When this happens, an integral part of the family also goes missing. They’re missing from birthday parties, school plays, graduations, photos, and family holidays, just to name a few important events. People are also missing the everyday ups and downs and familiarity that comes from sharing “life moments” with loved ones. Some people are gone for decades, others for life. The real crime is that the disproportionate number of black lives lost through mass incarceration and policing of Black communities, systematically destroys entire generations. The War on Drugs must be recorded as an experiment gone wrong on black women, men, children, and families. Mass incarceration and government entities work together in keeping an active stream of people coming into the system. As activists for marijuana reform standing in solidarity and fighting to decriminalize cannabis, a call goes out to consider the plight of the real people, doing real time, because of a plant that should be legal across the land. Consider that while thousands are locked away, many white families are making a living growing and selling marijuana and cannabis related products legally. Some have built a legacy from the marijuana industry in for profit, and non- profit businesses, for two and three generations. That’s a lot of revenue, and a heck of a jump start on people from other races, who’d like in on some of the good vibes and money exchanging hands throughout the cannabis industry. People have been able to pay college tuition, make down payments on homes, buy cars and gain a level of security. Note: Atrocious numbers of black and brown people have been locked out of the profits gained from cannabis, and, instead, locked up themselves, where they labor at just above the cost of “free” for the profit of others.

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It doesn’t end with prison. Punishment goes beyond serving time and continues after release. Felony records are real, and having one makes re-entry back into society that much harder for people of color. Too many AfricanAmericans are demonized for the possession of the same cannabis that now flows through many other communities untaxed. This is unacceptable. Racial profiling, unlawful stops, searches and detainment, tickets and fines, along with possession charges, have led to the incarceration of thousands of black and brown men. At the same time, the loosening of laws surrounding marijuana in several states overlooks the fact that thousands of people of color are put away when white peers are never stopped and questioned. When they are, sentences, if any, are more lenient. Of concern to those incarcerated and to their Families, is who will backpedal to make sure the new laws include release and restitution. It makes more sense to: admit fault, acknowledge the wrongful imprisonment of those serving time for marijuana possession, release those affected, pay restitution, end the policing of black communities, and acknowledge that many of the ills plaguing inner cities is the direct fall-out of white supremacy. Policing puts additional strains on impoverished communities by way of added charges to unpaid fines, cars impounded due to unpaid towing charges, loss of voting privileges, low income jobs, inadequate education and housing, sub-prime and predatory lending, redlining, poor food choices, and the daily weight of fighting a system of injustice. When 6,000 federal prisoners are released and returned to their communities, there needs to be viable resources available to help them reintegrate. In what ways can the cannabis community help smooth this transition? How about challenging current laws, pressing legislation, voting, and lifting up unified voice for positive change? Speaking out in inner circles about injustice puts a face to human rights. Let people know what’s going on and how you plan to make a difference. With 6,000 people looking to make a new start, reform is happening. Read Dr. Hart’s book, watch his videos, stay informed and join the fight to make a difference.

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WHEN 6,000 FEDERAL PRISONERS ARE RELEASED AND RETURNED TO COMMUNITIES, THERE NEED TO BE VIABLE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO HELP THEM REINTEGRATE. IN WHAT WAYS CAN THE CANNABIS COMMUNITY HELP SMOOTH THE TRANSITION?

CANNANEWS

“GREENE HAD A CHARACTERISTIC NOT OFTEN FOUND AMONG THE 15-MINUTES-OFFAME SET. SHE HAD FOLLOW THROUGH.”

WRITER •STEVE ELLIOTT

PHOTO • JONATHAN CHA

CHARLO GREENE 2.0 ONE YEAR AFTER ‘ FUCK IT, I QUIT ’

Marijuana activist Charlo Greene, who famously quit her job as a reporter on live television with the words “Fuck it, I quit!” last year, gave herself a hard act to follow. After all, going as viral as the clip went is like a bolt of lightning — it rarely strikes twice in the same place. But Greene had a characteristic not often found among the 15-minutes-of-fame set — she had follow-through. Charlo is now working to increase diversity in the legal cannabis industry. “To be a true activist you have to know the cause you’re fighting for and its history,” Greene says ending bluntly, “All real cannabis activists know our drug policy is racist as fuck.” Greene has founded GoGreene. org, a nonprofit intended to encourage diversity via education, networking and empowerment. DOPE recently had a chance to sit down and catch up with Charlo. DOPE: A lot of people remember the “Fuck it, I quit” moment from last year, but you’ve taken it well beyond that. I understand you are working hard to protect medical marijuana patients in Alaska? CHARLO GREENE: Absolutely! We still run the Alaska Cannabis Club, which I started while I was still a journalist. I was the reporter by day and the weed lady by night. Until I quit, that was taking up so, so much more of my time and energy than I guess a side-thingy should have — but it’s my first priority. DOPE: Here in Washington State, patients have feared their access may be threatened, ironically, by recreational legalization. Have

you seen any hint of that in Alaska since the people voted to legalize? GREENE: What the head of the Marijuana Control Board stated outright, is that medical marijuana doesn’t exist in Alaska. If we wanted it to, then we would have given you a system that works — but this is recreational. So we’re not going to deal with it, we’re not going to ever regulate [medical marijuana]; it’s a non-issue for us. That would just be too much work and too much confusion to give the patients the medicine that they’ve been fighting for. DOPE: I guess that shows us just how far we have to go — because even after legalization passes, that presents a whole new set of challenges. GREENE: Now it looks like they want to make someone who grows at home get a personal grow license, which is absurd, seeing as our [state] Constitution has guaranteed our right to grow in the home since 1975, without any government intervention or oversight, up to 24 plants. They’re trying to limit that to 6 plants per household; any more than that, and it’s a felony. [Rueful laughter] DOPE: As we watch the dynamically evolving cannabis industry, there are some issues as it grows. One of those, of course, is a lack of diversity, and you have taken that on with GoGreene.org. Can you tell us a little about that? GREENE: Go Greene is the evolution of “Fuck it, I quit.” So it’s that same energy, that same refusal to make concessions for what we know is right. It’s the will of the people that are strong enough to fight for those who aren’t. What it’s all about is cultivating diversity in cannabis activism and in the industry to help those communities that are hurt by cannabis prohibition the most — communities of color. So we will reconnect with faith leaders,

community leaders, having community block parties, community barbecues, feeding the community and helping [others] find job and employment opportunities.We’ll be speaking in as many cities as possible, finding the leaders there, and giving them the tools, education and community backing of the Go Greene network to do whatever it is that they need, drive them to the polls, and keep watch over what happens afterward. DOPE: I love that you are portraying the cannabis community in a positive light and framing it in terms of opportunity and advancement. If readers want to support this effort, particularly if they are members of a minority community and want to get involved, how can they engage with GoGreene.org and get involved with your effort? GREENE: We have two different ways that we are moving forward: Go Greene branches, and Go Greene groups. On the GoGreene. org website it gives you the information behind each of these two things. So one is the group. They can start by having monthly meetings about what’s going on. And then, whenever they are ready to commit to six monthly meetings with us overseeing them as Go Greene, the national (and soon to be international) network, these are the official branches. I plan on visiting all of these branches in 2016, and having community events with me appearing there, so we can drive more excitement, drive more people through these groups. DOPE: These are exciting times, aren’t they? GREENE: VERY exciting times! I mean, tomorrow is the anniversary of “Fuck it, I quit.” I would never in a million years have thought what transpired, would have. And that I’d be in the position I am today, with not only people looking to me for advice and leadership, but I am able to give it! I think ® that’s really cool.

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POLITICAL

CLINT WERNER

CANNABIS MYTH BUSTER

LINT WERNER, author of Marijuana - Gateway to Health, was inspired to write his book while caring for his terminally ill best friend. A natural chef by trade and a long time associate of Dennis Peron, Werner knew that using cannabis would ease his friend’s pain and suffering. “He would smoke cannabis, and I would cook him these one pot meals,” Werner says. “I saw first hand how it kept him alive much longer than predicted.” Around the same time, Werner met his husband Dr. Donald Abrams, a lead re-

searcher at the University of California, San Francisco, and one of the world’s leading experts on cannabis medicines. Dr. Abram’s was deep in a fight with the National Institute on Drug Abuse about obtaining access to cannabis for his groundbreaking research on AIDS, pain and cannabis. By 1996, when Peron kicked off the campaign to legalize medical cannabis in California, he considered writing a book given his unique perspective on patients, activists and scientists. “I knew medical cannabis legalization was

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“STUDIES SUGGEST THE USE OF CANNABIS CAN ACTUALLY TAKE SOME BURDEN OFF PUBLIC HEALTH.”

WRITER •DEBBY GOLDSBERRY

PHOTO • ASHLEIGH CASTRO

After years of research and writing, Werner is an expert on cannabis therapy. Here are some of top myths he is called on to debunk… CANNABIS USE IS GENERALLY UNHEALTHY: There is a significant reduction of diabetes in frequent users, and if you use it three times a week, it reduces overall inflammation in the body. Studies show users have a profound drop in C-reactive proteins, or the inflammatory protein. The higher it is, the more likely you are to develop diabetes, cardiac disease, Alzheimer’s, and various cancers.

going to the ballot, and that this suppression of information related to health was going to be an incredible story,” Werner says. “So, I started reviewing Donald’s research information and visiting Dennis’s medical cannabis club on Market Street in San Francisco.” Werner watched the ballot initiative process in detail, interviewing supporters like George Zimmer, founder of the Men’s Warehouse. At first, he thought the book would be about the campaign, but publishers thought it had limited local interest. “They really wanted a book about the science,” Werner says, Werner’s first step to clarifying his understanding of cannabis as medicine was public. He phoned into the nationally syndicated Dr. Dean Adell radio program. He says, “I asked them these three questions. Does cannabis have tumor-reducing effects for pancreatic and certain breast, colon, bio duct cancers? Does it shield people from Alzheimer’s and from damage from alcohol? And, should people be allowed to use cannabis, and maybe even encouraged to use it, to reduce heart disease?” When all the answers were yes, he knew he had to write the book. The endocannabinoid receptor system was discovered in 1988, so by 2000, when he started to research for the book, there

wasn’t much information available. Scientists were just beginning to recognize that endocannabinoids regulated systems throughout our bodies. Werner says, “A few studies started to come out, showing that binge drinkers are protected from alcohol brain damage, that THC protected people from Alzheimer’s, and that people using cannabis show a reduction in head and neck cancers.” According to Werner, “The single most important reason to use cannabis is to supplement the natural endocannabinoid system, whose job it is to prevent the rise of a pro-disease environment in our bodies. This system also interrupts disease processes that may have started, and it triggers our intrinsic repair mechanisms.” With the science and politics changing rapidly, his research into why cannabis was blockaded in the first place, and how this has impacted our health, continues. The fall of 2015 marks the 4th anniversary of the book’s publishing, and Werner is considering a second edition. After all, next year is the 20th anniversary of California’s Proposition 215, which was the first of many winning battles in the fight against cannabis prohibition. Hopefully his next book can mark the last. ®

CANNABIS IS A GATEWAY TO HARD DRUGS: There is no evidence to support the basic idea that cannabis use creates a psychological effect, priming a person to take other hard drugs. In fact, 40% of Americans have used cannabis and only 4% have used heroin, which is a weak conversion rate for a gateway drug. To the contrary, prohibition can be a gateway to hard drugs, as you never see hard drugs at dispensaries like in the streets.

CANNABIS USE LEADS TO PSYCHOSIS: There are a several studies that show that people who are psychotic have their health improved through the use of cannabis, and that they can have a more healthful existence in terms of society at large.

BIG TOBACCO WILL TAKE OVER THE CANNABIS MARKET: Groups like Smart Approaches to Marijuana’s

concern is that if you get “big cannabis” in the form of big tobacco, it will “push” use and this will effect health beyond what is made affordable by the taxes being levied on it. If you do not know anything about the science, you may think so, but the studies shows that cannabis users have a chronic reduction in tumors,arthritis, Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, and that the use of cannabis can actually take some burden off pubic health. The real risk here is that we’ll get a market flooded with cannabis of compromised quality, like commercial junk food, rather than high end, locally sourced products raised with care.

CANNABIS USE CREATES IMPAIRED DRIVERS: Legalization opponents are making it impossible for people to use cannabis and drive. But, their tactics hold no comparison to the real effect on public safety. In fact, because of displacement of alcohol use to cannabis, there are less accidents on the road in legal states. In 2013, the Journal of Law and Economics, reported a 8 – 11% decrease in fatalities in states with medicinal cannabis, which is the same decrease seen when the drinking age increased and seatbelts became mandatory.

WRITER • LAEL HENTERLY

PRISON PROFITEERS The Lobby Against Legalization REPORT BY “THEA 2006 BUREAU OF JUSTICE

STATISTICS ESTIMATED THAT 13% OF STATE INMATES AND 12% OF FEDERAL INMATES ARE SERVING TIME FOR CANNABIS VIOLATIONS. “THAT’S UPWARDS OF 50,000 AMERICANS BEHIND BARS FOR VIOLATING MARIJUANA LAWS,” SAYS ARMENTANO. NORML CALCULATES THE ANNUAL COST TO INCARCERATE THOSE CANNABIS-CAPTIVES AT MORE THAN $1 BILLION.

”

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HE WAR ON DRUGS allowed the for-profit prison industry to flourish; now the private-prison companies’ lobbyists want to keep tough-on-crime laws in place — and cannabis offenders behind bars. In the 1970s John Knock helped import a lot of cannabis into Canada. The money was good and the risk moderate: it was cannabis, not cocaine, and he was moving it into Canada, not the United States, where the War on Drugs was quickly picking up steam. But when President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 into law, mandating mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders, Knock saw the writing on the wall. By 1987, he was out of the business. In 1994 the drug game was far behind John; he was living in Hawaii and taking care of his young son while his wife completed her PHd. Then the indictment came down: Knock had been fingered as a weed importer in a conspiracy case unfolding in Florida. He fled to Europe where he was arrested in 1996 and fought extradition until 1999. In 2000 he was found guilty of conspiracy to traffic marijuana in a jury trial. The sentence: two life sentences plus an additional 20 years. Knock had no prior convictions; no history of violence. “They even stated at sentencing that there were no victims,” says Knock’s sister Beth Curtis. Knock is far from the only person stuck behind bars for committing a cannabis crime. There’s no exact count because, “annual data does not break down drug sentences by type of drug,” says Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, a marijuana reform lobbying group. A 2006 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that 13% of state inmates and 12% of federal inmates are serving time for cannabis violations. “That’s upwards of 50,000 Americans behind bars for violating marijuana laws,” says Armentano. NORML calculates the annual cost to incarcerate those cannabis-captives at more than $1 billion.

As prisons filled with non-violent drug offenders, the number of people locked up in the US grew from 196,429 in 1970 to more than 1.6 million in 2009, according to a 2011 report from the Justice Policy Institute. As the prison population ballooned, governments turned to nascent for-profit prison companies to house the overflow, and house they did. In 1980 private prisons hardly existed; by 1990 the US had 7,000 inmates locked up in forprofit facilities; by 2009 that number had climbed to 129,000. The War on Drugs, and its resulting incarceration boom, hasn’t effected all equally. Minority communities have borne the brunt of the burden. Numbers released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2013 indicate that a black man in the US has a onein-three chance of incarceration within his lifetime. For white men the odds are one-inseventeen. In the same year minorities made up a whopping 60% of the prison population, and although a 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that black and white people use cannabis at similar rates, and an ACLU analysis revealed that black people were nearly four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than their white peers. The two main private prison corporations — the GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America — have benefited immensely from draconian drug policies and the resulting prison population boom, and if drug or sentencing laws change it could hurt their bottom line. “Changes with respect to the decriminalization of drugs and controlled substances could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, sentenced and incarcerated, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them,” writes the GEO Group in a 2010 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. “Our company does not lobby for or against, or take any position on, policies or

legislation that would determine the basis for, or duration of, an individual’s incarceration or detention,” says CCA spokesman Jonathan Burns. GEO Group’s Executive Director Pablo Paez says his company also doesn’t take a position on criminal justice policies. The numbers tell a different story, though. In April the Washington Post reported that since 1989 GEO and CCA have contributed more than $10 million to political candidates and spent almost $25 million lobbying the government. A 2011 Justice Policy Institute report found that private prison companies have influenced and helped draft tough on crime laws like “three-strikes” and “truthin-sentencing”. The private prison lobby is also one of the main players in the antilegalization movement, according to research by opensecrets.org. “They lobby on sentencing reform, crime and justice issues, and immigration,” says Paul Wright, director of the Human Rights Defense Center. Lately the tide has been turning against private prisons. In September, US Senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders introduced legislation geared at ending all government contracts with private prisons within two years. “We have got to end the private prison racket in America,” said Sanders during a press call announcing the Justice is Not for Sale Act. With recreational cannabis shops now nearly as ubiquitous as coffeeshops in Washington and Colorado, it’s easy to forget that tens of thousands of people are still serving time for cannabis violations— many in for-profit prisons. As attitudes towards the plant change in the US, Curtis says she remains hopeful that Knock— and the other cannabis convicts — will be released some day. “We just visited him for his 68th birthday,” says Curtis. “He’s not violent, he’s not dangerous, and he doesn’t need to be in ® there.”

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CANNA-HEALTH

CANNANEWS

WRITER •ABIGAIL

” High quality extracting is being perfected by this generation and will surely leave its mark in the history of the cannabis industry. “

ANNABIS CONSUMPTION in the United States has evolved in the past fifty years. These days cannabis can be enjoyed in most any way, shape, or form. However, in the smoker’s world it comes down to two things: cannabis and extracts. Cannabis flowers seem increasingly rare at cannabis conventions. Social media is filled with news feeds of dab hits and sensual photographs of a processor’s latest endeavor. Hash-like substances have been consumed all over the world for thousands of years, but the United State’s recent obsession with all things extracts is relatively new. When the United States was founded, everyone grew hemp as directed by law. In the 19th century, smoking cannabis for its euphoric effect was having its moment in France, but that didn’t translate over much to the United States at the time. It wasn’t until after the Mexican Revolution in 1910 that cannabis consumption caught on here. Immigrants brought cannabis from Mexico and introduced many Americans to smoking culture. This is when the derogatory word “marijuana” was created as conservative media outlets attempted to highlight Mexican origin of cannabis, and to discourage anti-immigrant groups from supporting its use. Cannabis could be readily found in jazz clubs and speakeasies at time. Attacks against cannabis smokers were racist from the start. Fear mongering led to the inclusion of cannabis in the Uniform State Narcotic Act in 1932. This Act more or less kept recreational cannabis use in the dark until its reemergence in 1960’s. Recreational consumption in the 1960’s and 1970’s was truly the birth of experimenting with different forms of consumption in the United States. Alice B. Toklas brought edibles to the mainstream with her “Alice B. Toklas Brownies”. The bong as we know it today was emerging, and was written about for the first time in a

ROSS

GRAPHICS • BRANDON PALMA

1971 issue of Marijuana Review. Hash was being consumed as well but it wasn’t until early 2000’s that it began to be extracted in the form that is most common today. Hydrocarbon extractions are a cleaner way to smoke and expose the body to fewer carcinogens than conventional flowers. The methods of concentrate consumption has been highly controversial. This is largely due to the fact that to outsiders, the process may resemble hard drugs and paraphernalia. Also, the news is lit up with stories of amateur extractors starting fires and in extreme cases, blowing themselves up. However, the fact is that extracts are here to stay and this chemistry-based art form is attracting whole new groups of smokers and talented extractors are the current rock-stars of the cannabis processing industry. Cannabis extracts have been consumed and processed for decades in the US, but the rise of concentrates to the top as a “smokers choice” of sorts, is relatively new. Demand for all types of extracts is undeniable to both recreational and medical producers. The original draft of the recreational cannabis law in Washington didn’t allow any kind of extracts to be sold unless they were infused into edible or topical products. However, the Liquor Control Board could not deny that this law set precedence for a new cannabis black market, and eventually the law was revised. Washington medical cannabis is still not allowed to process extracts using butane. Interestingly, this feels like a gentle nudge by the state to send previous medical consumers down the recreational road. Legislation will need to stay one step ahead of the game to continue to provide a safe and clean product for cannabis smokers across the state. High quality extracting is being perfected by this generation and will surely leave its mark in the history of the cannabis industry.

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