DOPE Magazine - Northern California - The Social Issue - June 2019 by DOPE Magazine

SOCIAL CREDIT SCORES ARE CHINAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEW INCENTIVE SYSTEMS A DATA-DRIVEN DYSTOPIA?

SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ALLIES OR ENEMIES? YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED

INSIGHT FROM A SEXOLOGIST SHAN BOODY WEIGHS IN ON SEX AND SOCIAL MEDIA

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THE SOCIAL ISSUE

JUNE | DOPE MAGAZINE

FROM THE EDITOR A

t 13 years young, Rylie Maedler is becoming the vocal medical cannabis advocate that the global cannabis community needs. When she came to visit DOPE headquarters in Seattle from her home state of Delaware, we were blown away – she is a young, graceful and talented woman wise beyond her years. In 2013, Rylie was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive bone disease of the jaw, AGCG. After hundreds of tests and visits to the doctor, Rylie’s family opted to treat Rylie with cannabis-derived cannabidiol or CBD. The results were astounding. Rylie’s bones started regenerating, her seizures stopped, and she began to get her life back. Today Rylie is the face and brains behind a 501c3 non-profit, Rylie’s Smile Foundation and has been instrumental in passing medical cannabis legislation in Delaware – giving more access to kids and families in need of medical cannabis. Her story is one of courage and perseverance in the face of much push back — the exact kind of cannabis story we need to tell to strengthen our social fabric.

Our resident investigative journalist, Bruce Kennedy, shares his experience as a field producer during the Tiananmen Square protests of the late eighties, which occurred thirty years ago this month. Despite the wretched conditions, the protestors rose above and sacrificed their lives in an effort to enact change and protest oppression. Kennedy’s time in Beijing left him riddled with anxiety — he has since used cannabis to combat his PTSD. This story is one of social significance and a great addition to our annual social issue here at DOPE Magazine. We discuss China’s social incentive system through their enactment of social credit scores. As the world’s most populous country, China is

using Big Data’s surveillance capabilities to reduce its citizen’s public worth. Are we at risk of the implementation of social credit scores? Modern Chinese history expert, Pamela Crossley, thinks so. We meet up with YouTube sensation and sexologist Shannon Boodram, known more intimately by her followers as Shan Boody, who discussed with us the relationship between sex and social media and how the internet is a neutral playground. Boodram calls for more discussion and education on how we teach both young and old to use the internet properly and why our ability to distinguishing between a reliable and or unreliable source is as imperative now than it has ever been in the age of fake news. We speak with cannabis branding experts on the fetishization of cannabis in marketing strategies. We all know that sex sells but where, if at all, does it belong in today’s medical and recreational cannabis markets? As the industry aims for inclusivity, social equity and diversity it is our responsibility as consumers to decide what marketing tactics we will accept and which we will reject from a lens of social responsibility. As always thank you for picking up this month’s issue of DOPE Magazine. This month, we ask you to think critically about the ways you engage with not only social media but your social networks off the screen.

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EFENDING UR LANT VERYWHERE As a lifestyle publication, DOPE Magazine is dedicated to creating purposeful, relevant conversations. We’ve built a steadfast framework of inclusivity when speaking about gender, race, class, politics, family and culture—with the ethos DEFEND. At DOPE, we don’t just defend our plant, but our people, patients and planet. Our highly curated content continues to focus on those who maintain a relationship with— and advocate on behalf of—cannabis. While cannabis remains the central theme of our brand, it is our belief that creating conversations about real people and relatable experiences is the best way to normalize the role that cannabis plays in society. Our aim is to continue to illuminate issues that deserve our attention and must be addressed if we wish to both promote and create change. We are grateful for your time, we welcome your feedback and are ever appreciative of your participation and dedication in creating positive, lasting change in the cannabis community.

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THE SOCIAL ISSUE

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SOCIAL CREDIT SCORES ARE CHINA’S NEW INCENTIVE SYSTEMS A DATA-DRIVEN DYSTOPIA? 040 HISTORY

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INSIGHT FROM A SEXOLOGIST SHAN BOODY WEIGHS IN ON SEX AND SOCIAL MEDIA 064 CULTURE

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ylie Maedler, age 13, is the youngest CEO in the cannabis space, heading the charge of her research and development company Rylie’s Sunshine – dedicated to creating safe and affordable cannabis oils for kids living with debilitating illnesses. When Rylie and her mother Janie show up to the DOPE Magazine headquarters, Rylie is pulling her carry-on luggage across the bumpy sidewalks, wearing a big toothy grin from ear-to-ear. The elastics on Rylie’s braces are bright blue — blue denim is the international ribbon color symbolizing hope for the more than 7,000 small rare disease communities around the globe, she later explains. The blue bands symbolize her dedication to bringing awareness to rare diseases, but the braces themselves are a reminder that she is lucky to have her teeth at all. In 2013, Rylie’s face began to swell, and her teeth began falling out at a rapid and suspect rate. Rylie thought, “’Yay! I’m going to be rich with tooth fairy money,’ but I could tell my mom wasn’t excited for me. She looked scared, and she got even more scared when my face started looking different.” She had contracted a rare, destructive bone disease of her jaw. Janie decided it was time to head to the doctor. Weeks passed, and hundreds of tests were per formed. The diagnosis was aggressive giant cell granuloma (AGCG). The disease’s cause is unknown, and it tends to rear its ugly head again and again in patients despite treatment attempts. This type of granuloma is thought to have only been found in very few people worldwide … to call it rare is almost an understatement. In Rylie’s case, AGCG also resulted in debilitating and painful seizures. At the time of diagnosis, the Maedler family was faced with few options for treating Rylie. One option was FDA-approved Denosumab, which is used to treat patients with bone cancer, bone loss, osteoporosis and giant cell tumors of the bone. The other option was Interferon, whose mechanism of action is not only complex but not well understood. “Interferon can cause lupus, an autoimmune disease,” Janie points out. Plus, AGCG is so rare that there is not much research or evidence to suggest that either of these treatment options would work. After careful consideration and an abundance of research, Janie, Rylie’s mom, decided decided that they would try treating Rylie with cannabis-derived cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant. “My doctors thought I wouldn’t have teeth or I would be deformed for the rest of my life after I got my surgery … but my mom was looking up things to do, and she saw cannabis. Cannabis popped up a lot [in her research], and she thought, ‘Well, I’m willing to do anything for my daughter.’ So she decided to try it, and it ended up helping my bones regenerate, and all my bones have regenerated.” This is where Rylie’s journey into the world of cannabis as medicine began.

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CHOOSING MEDICAL CANNABIS ACTIVISM

Very soon after making the decision to treat Rylie’s AGCG with CBD cannabis oil the family witnessed results. “Shortly after taking cannabis oil, my pain started going away, my bones started regenerating, my seizures decreased a lot, and the roots of my teeth started growing back!” Rylie smiles. “Which made me smile even though my teeth were so loose and crooked! Thank God for braces!” Rylie takes non-psychoactive CBD and THCA either through a pipette or in capsule form four times each day. “I don’t smoke [cannabis]. I don’t get high,” she remarks. When Rylie learned that the medicine she had been taking was not available to other sick kids she was saddened and disheartened — and then, motivated. “I knew I wanted to become an activist after I found out what my medicine was and why people were against it. I still didn’t understand why people would be against something that helped me so much, and I wanted other kids to be able to have it so they can get better and start feeling better and have a happier life. So, I decided to speak for medical cannabis and educate others about it and kind of get rid of the stigma of it,” Rylie shares. In January of 2015, the Rylie’s Smile Foundation was formed. The 501c3 non-profit aims to “bring the smiles back to sick children and their families by helping them achieve a better quality of life.” The foundation provides health education, technology devices and advocates for more treatment options for sick children all while supporting the research of less toxic therapies on a global scale. “So my foundation, we advocate for better access, support research of less toxic therapies and we help families financially. We go to different families, we talk about medical cannabis and how it’s good … how it can help their kids,” Rylie shares with the confidence and acumen of a woman twice her age. “We try to let people know [about the] stigma. It isn’t real because it’s a real medicine, it’s not just some drug that people use to get high, you know?” The non-profit not only promotes medical cannabis education it fundraises as well. “I want it [Rylie’s Smile Foundation] to focus on medical patients because they really need it and it’s hard to get medicine that’s affordable and good quality because a lot of times I used to get medicine that had mold in it and it was still expensive and it would just cause more problems for me,” Rylie says with concern in her voice. Rylie’s non-profit work led to the establishment of Rylie’s Sunshine in July of 2017. Rylie’s Sunshine works with one cannabis producer to create whole-plant botanical oil that is reliable, safe, natural and clinically tested. The botanical oil blend is an MCT oil that’s non-GMO and tested for both purity and potency. The company has a team of medical experts available for one-on-one consultations for those curious about using variations higher in CBD, THC and THCA as a treatment for serious pediatric illness.

“RYLIE HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN EXPOSING THE NEED FOR MEDICAL CANNABIS FOR PEDIATRIC PATIENTS IN DELAWARE, AND HER VOCALISM IS BEGINNING TO BREAK DOWN THE NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS THAT YOUTH HAVE TOWARD MEDICAL CANNABIS ON A LARGE SCALE.”

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POLITICAL ACTIVISM

You would think that being the youngest CEO of a cannabis non-profit and the founder of a CBD company dedicated to providing whole-plant medicine to patients in need would quell Rylie’s thirst for activism. But you’d be mistaken. Rylie has also made it her mission to change the laws surrounding medical cannabis in her home state of Delaware. In June of 2016 after months of hard work, Delaware Senate Bill 90, more commonly known as Rylie’s Law unanimously passed the Delaware House landing on the desk of Governor Jack Markell for approval. The passing of SB 90 made it possible for those under 18 with qualifying conditions to legally use medical cannabis to treat a myriad of conditions including PTSD, intractable epilepsy, Dystonia, muscle spasms and cancer to name a few. Rylie was instrumental in the passing of SB 90 and children and their families in Delaware can now safely and legally choose to use medical cannabis as a treatment option. “So the first law I made was Rylie’s Law, and it was to allow kids to be able to take medical cannabis. And then my next law was to make it legal to have cannabis on school grounds because at the time I had to walk all the way off of school grounds just to take my medicine,” Rylie points out. “I would be singled out, I would miss things in class, kids would be like, ‘Hey Rylie, why do you always leave school?’ and I knew that there were other kids who had it worse. [These kids] had oxygen tanks or wheelchairs, they wouldn’t be able to go out in thunderstorms or rain, and they wouldn’t be able to take their medicine like I could.” Rylie wanted the playing field to be equal for all kids — thus the inspiration for Rylie’s Law Part II was planted. A seed that couldn’t be stopped. Rylie and her mom Janie worked hand-in-hand with Delaware Senator Ernie Lopez (R-Lewes) in the passage of Senate Bill 181, giving qualified medical patients the ability to legally take their medical cannabis while on school grounds or on a school bus. While the bill requires the administering of medical cannabis to be done by a parent or legal guardian, it remains a win for cannabis legislation and sets the groundwork for further cannabis legislation in Delaware and beyond. Despite all of Rylie’s successes, Delaware is still facing an uphill battle when it comes to medical marijuana legislation. “We have a lot of conservative people who have influence here [in Delaware]. Most are powerful medical establishments and doctors. We are working so hard to remove the stigma and validate medical cannabis as a viable option for patients,” Rylie shares. “My goal is to work with these doctors and companies, not against because I want them to treat patients with medical cannabis. I don’t want them to put up walls and think of it as a recreational drug only.” Every single law that Rylie’s foundation has put forth has been met with resistance. “I try to remind people of the ‘why’ and the reason we need to work together on this, not against each other … because in just a year or two we will be back at Legislative Hall probably working together again to improve the laws more.” Rylie states. “It has been a true test of patience for every patient in our state and my heart goes out to the families. They keep me going.”

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DARE TO BE VOCAL

In 2017, Rylie’s Smile Foundation spearheaded a petition to pass severe autism as a Qualifying Condition for Pediatrics. The petition contained 263 pages full of information about autism as a diagnosis, how it affects the quality of life, letters from families, letters from medical professionals and supportive research. Rylie and her supporters believed that pediatric autism should be on the list of qualifying conditions for access to medical cannabis in Delaware. “There are a lot of people in my family and that I know who have autism. Cannabis helps with autism so much, so we thought it should be legal for them,” Rylie emphasizes. The petition review process was long and arduous as the state wanted to pass it as an “Autism with aggression only” law. Rylie’s Smile Foundation asked for more testimony from parents, convincing the state that autism affects the quality of life of all children on the spectrum not just children showing signs of aggression. This petition was approved, and severe debilitating autism was added as a qualifying condition after much debate in December of 2017. Rylie has been instrumental in exposing the need for medical cannabis for pediatric patients in Delaware, and her vocalism is beginning to break down the negative perceptions that youth have toward medical cannabis on a large scale. “At first when I was in third grade when we told the public that I was taking cannabis … at first, a lot of parents were trying to keep their kids away from me or saying, ‘She’s a bad influence, stay away from her.’ As time went on, people become more accepting of it and right now, everyone in my school is very supportive, and they all know that medical cannabis is good and they know how much it’s helped me and all that,” Rylie adds. But Rylie has been active in changing her school’s drug prevention curriculum as well. At 13, Rylie is going through a drug prevention program at school. Many of us remember Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” program of the ‘80s and ‘90s – it seems that not much has changed on the drug education front in the last two decades. “Okay so the videos they show in school, they’re all from the ‘90s or late 2000s … they’re not up-to-date, and we have so much research that shows that medical cannabis helps people so much and it’s a real medicine, yet the videos all claim that cannabis causes more problems like [cannabis] causes you to be insane. And they use scare tactics to try to keep people away from it,” Rylie critiques. Rylie would like to see a curriculum that is more up-to-date – a curriculum that is inclusive of not only recent cannabis research findings and testimonials but one that is more in touch of the way that students her age learn and internalize new knowledge. “We want to promote harm reduction [curriculum]. We want to teach others to not experiment with cannabis or mix cannabis with other substances. We want to educate others and help them learn how to use [medical cannabis] safely,” Rylie remarks.

“IT’S IMPORTANT FOR THE SITUATION TO CHANGE FEDERALLY, BECAUSE IF WE CHANGE IT FEDERALLY [THEN] ALL THE STATES WILL HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE MEDICAL CANNABIS LEGAL. RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FROM EVERY STATE WANTING TO DO THINGS IN THEIR OWN WAY, WHICH TAKES LONGER [TO GET ANYTHING DONE OR PASSED].”

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Currently Rylie, her family and supporters are working diligently on expanding Rylie’s Law. When Rylie’s Law first came to be it had about four qualifying conditions on the list and children could only be approved by certain specialists, which limited the law in many ways. Many children who could greatly benefit from medical cannabis for their diagnosis have yet to be able to attempt treatment with it. SB24 allows doctors to recommend medical cannabis for diagnoses that are not on the current qualification list. Further, the pediatrics sector will no longer be limited to the five specialists currently allowed to provide medical cannabis recommendations. The Maedlers hope that this will improve circumstances for those patients who have rare diseases or serious quality of life issues. “I’ve seen how involved Rylie gets in the legislation aspect of things. She understands more than most adults and even more then some legislators I believe,” shares Janie Maedler. “She knows how actions can be perceived, she knows what can make a bill go south in the media, she knows how to approach an opposing legislator and turn their vote. The hardest part is that I know she has a time clock in her head and she feels that patients are suffering while bills are being challenged or amended, so that is her biggest stress but part of the process. She has a unique way she works on future legislation and refrains from publicizing much of her efforts until [the job is] done. She is very careful about what she vocalizes to the media before a law is passed, and she does most of her work in person with legislators. She is very old school.” In addition to her work in Delaware, Rylie has been globetrotting and spreading her vision for the future and testimony of medical cannabis around the world. From CannaTech Sydney to CannaTech Tel Aviv she’s been welcomed by crowds and brought tears to attendees’ eyes. Her perspective as a patient, lobbyist, activist, CEO and well-adjusted teen give her an undeniable edge. When she talks people listen. Cannabis is fortunate to have a dedicated, resilient and passionate medical cannabis proponent on its team.

FUTURE RYLIE

Rylie has big plans for her future. When she’s not doing typical teen stuff like “hanging out at the beach or pool,” snuggling with her cat or playing piano, she’s planning future interviews in hopes of spreading cannabis’ message at a feverish pace. “I want to interview researchers, possibly celebrities about what they think about cannabis, their experiences and what they know [about cannabis]. I just want to interview people, get to know them, their experiences … everything. I think it would be cool to interview others,” Rylie emphasizes. On that list? Snoop Dogg of course. Rylie also hopes to see cannabis removed from the list of Schedule I substances and legalized on a federal level. “It’s important for the situation to change federally, because if we change it federally [then] all the states will have to work together to make medical cannabis legal. Right now, we have different government officials from every state wanting to do things in their own way, which takes longer [to get anything done or passed],” Rylie describes. In coming years, as Rylie continues to hone her skills as a political activist and global cannabis advocate she will undoubtedly make waves and move the pendulum of cannabis stigmatization in the right direction. At 13, she has done more for cannabis legislation and activism than most of us could hope to accomplish in a lifetime. Rylie is a force, and we can’t wait to see where she takes us next.

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A R T I C L E CS UE CL T UI OR NE

ARE CHINAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEW INCENTIVE SYSTEMS A DATA-DRIVEN DYSTOPIA? 32

WRITER | JEFFREY RINDSKOPF

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emember that “Black Mirror” episode where society’s hierarchy was determined by social media-style star ratings, an average of the score everyone you interacted with from day-to-day gave you? When the protagonist’s score has nosedived, she finds herself stranded on the roadside hollering at speeding cars as drivers whizzed by too put off by her one-star status to lend a hand. She becomes undesirable, almost invisible, a non-person. Like many “Black Mirror” premises, this science fiction is distressingly close to reality and getting closer. Only as conceived, the real-world equivalent will be based on not just the perfectionist whims of one’s followers, but on the goals of an authoritarian government ruling over the world’s most populous and economically powerful nation. Last year, Chinese courts banned 23 million would-be travelers from purchasing flight or train tickets based on their low “social credit” scores (SCS). Earlier, in 2017, anticensorship journalist Liu Hu found himself suddenly cut off from traveling on planes, buying property or taking out loans while in the midst of seeking legal redress for a charge of “fabricating and spreading rumors.” “ There was no file, no police warrant, no official advance notification,” he told The Globe and Mail. “What’s really scary is there’s nothing you can do about it. You can report to no one. You are stuck in the middle of nowhere.” Hu was among the first to suffer consequences owing to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s most ambitious social management project to date, which aims to numerically rate all 1.35 billion Chinese citizens on a single unified scale by 2020. First announced in 2014 and deeply rooted in party history, this mandatory and overarching social credit system still exists only in theory. There are currently more than 40 individualized opt-in systems operating in villages and big cities across China, run jointly by local governments and private data-collecting companies such as Sesame Credit (affiliated with payment platform Alipay) and Rapid Finance (affiliated with mobile messaging app WeChat), though the lines between these services and federal SCS trials are being increasingly blurred. The systems utilize millions of data points on participants’ daily habits – collected via smartphone surveillance, facial recognition cameras, or community “watchers” – to assign them an evolving, publicly available trustworthiness rating based on evaluation

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by government bureaucrats and/or secret algorithms. Socially positive behaviors like picking up litter or donating to governmentrun charities earn a higher score and preferential treatment in booking luxury hotels or renting apar tments; socially negative behaviors like counterfeiting or jaywalking can cost points and block access to high-end retailers, loan applications or public transit. The Chinese government’s stated goal in nationalizing surveillance-based credit scores is to create a “culture of sincerity” that will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.” A professor of history at Dartmouth and author of “The Wobbling Pivot: China since 1800,” Pamela Crossley writes in an email that the system’s unstated goals are “conformity, surrender of privacy, and competition among citizens — as they would be in any country that applies such a system.” As SCS schemes expand, they’re assigning hard and fast points values to more and more morally neutral behaviors – from buying diapers (that’s good) to frequent videogaming (that’s bad) – based on biased assessments of whether or not a given activity upholds state power. Limiting social mobility and amplifying existing inequalities

by design, they ’ve already aided in the Chinese government’s ongoing internment and public erasure of Muslim religious minorities by incentivizing citizens to report on public prayer and other Islamic practices to authorities. Since all companies with a Chinese business license were given their own 18-digit social credit code in 2018, blacklists have also been used to crackdown on illegal social organizations including trade unions, nonprofits, foreign-funded NGOs and any political groups that don’t adequately prioritize CCP values in their charters. They’ve also been used to successfully coerce international airlines and other companies into showing Taiwan as part of China on in-flight maps, adopting the CCP ’s version of truth by the threat of sanction. It’s a sign the system is already fulfilling its secondar y objective o f s t r e n g t h e n i n g C h i n a ’s “d i s c o u r s e power,” a task extending far beyond its borders and potentially inter fering with other nations’ sovereignty. So far reactions to SCSs by those affected have ranged from indifference to outright enthusiasm, likely because they fill a genuine need for accountability shared by many developing economies like China’s, where bank accounts and credit histories are still a novelty. In a 2018 survey of 2,200 Chinese

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citizens, 76 percent said mutual mistrust between citizens was a problem, and 80 p e rc e n t e i t h e r s o m ew h a t o r s t ro n g l y supported commercial social credit systems, in which more than 80 percent were already enrolled. “ You tell people it’s a game of merit accumulation,” Crossley explains. “As with any game, it works so long as people believe that the rules are reliable.” So far, the CCP has succeeded in keeping public perceptions of unfairness and the number of people severely impacted by social credit low, but one of the system’s many Catch-22s is that the most critical and victimized voices naturally become those least likely to be heard. While officials extoll the 3.5 million people and companies who’ve paid outstanding taxes or debts thanks to social credit, average citizens ingeneral seem willing to make the tradeoff between less privacy and greater security navigating the commercial world, especially when believing they’ll reap the glamorized benefits of social credit rather than its hidden costs. If this isn’t starting to sound familiar, you haven’t been paying attention. As Crossley notes, the Chinese SCS system is “derived from American practices,” with the advent of central planning and “a political index that is at most only suggested in American ideas of credit worthiness.” Between FICO ratings, social media rankings and commercial reputation sites, most Westerners have already acquiesced to being judged by many opaque, algorithmically-defined scores, so what’s to stop a concerted government-private sector effort from consolidating them into just one? We already know average Americans are more than willing to sell a maligned group of fellow citizens like drug users, welfare recipients or immigrants down the river if they think it means preferential treatment for them and theirs. While most operate under the illusion that our surrender of personal info to private companies couldn’t possibly precede mass data collection and abuse – as with Cambridge Analytica and Russia’s role in 2016 elections – Google’s Chinese equivalent Baidu and other tech players are already kowtowing to Beijing’s social credit development, human rights violations and all. Opaque digital algorithms are increasingly replacing human judgment in determining our deservingness

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“THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT’S STATED GOAL IN NATIONALIZING SURVEILLANCE-BASED CREDIT SCORES IS TO CREATE A ‘CULTURE OF SINCERITY’ THAT WILL ‘ALLOW THE TRUSTWORTHY TO ROAM EVERYWHERE UNDER HEAVEN WHILE MAKING IT HARD FOR THE DISCREDITED TO TAKE A SINGLE STEP.’”

for everything from public housing and job openings to home nursing care visits and American citizenship. “ They condition people to respond to externally-imposed values (usually connected to conformity) and turn them into the agents of mutual discipline and sur veillance,” Crossley writes of algorithmic judgment and social credit systems. “They also empower internet platforms and financial institutions in much greater degree than governments, leading to gradual displacement of public accountability by private financial objectives.” In spite of our natural human efforts to simplify, every action exists within a personal and sociocultural context no one algorithm or other system of judgment can fully consider. We say justice is blind like it’s a good thing, but if the same scales become responsible for punishing not just major transgressions but even minor moral lapses and norm violations, we’ll be undercutting innovation and doling out a lot of punishment without regard to its human costs. Moreover, any mandatory, surveillance-based system of social ranking will inherently lessen freedom of choice by making governments and private data

collectors third parties, enforcing observers, in every interaction. As on social media platforms, the knowledge of being observed will inevitably alter and homogenize both our behavior and how it’s perceived so even spontaneous acts of kindness will begin to seem performative and transactional. To avert this Or wellian future, global societies need to become much more proactive in strengthening democratic safeguards and limiting cooperation with Chinese social credit expansion, as well as relying less on data-mining companies and credit scoring systems on an individual level. “If we don’t do anything, then one day a corporation or a government institution will pull all the information from different data banks together and come up with a social credit score,” Gerd Gigerenzer, a director at Berlin’s Max Planck Institute for Human Development, put it bluntly to Der Tagesspiegel. “At the moment we are investing billions in digital technologies when we should be investing just as much in digital education so humans are aware what algorithms really can, and cannot, do.”

HOW TO MAINTAIN A GOOD SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE China’s social credit systems evaluate and score citizens and companies on so many data points it can be difficult to keep track of which behaviors will earn you points, and which will cost you. To help you remain an upstanding, prosperous, and high-scoring citizen, follow our key. STEER CLEAR OF SUCH BEHAVIORS AND YOU’LL BE PRIVY TO REWARDS LIKE

PUNISHED BEHAVIORS INCLUDE

Traffic violations

Spreading rumors

High internet speeds

Taking drugs

Walking dogs without a leash

Deposit-free car and housing rentals

Cheating at online video games

Free access to gym facilities

Not paying taxes Smoking on trains

Occupying reserved seats

Associating with people with low scores

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

Special waiting areas at airports and train stations Better foreign exchange rates Skipping hospital waiting lines

HISTORY 40

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

n image stays with me, 30 years on, of a chaotic nighttime scene in Beijing: yelling, explosions and the silhouettes of thousands of people moving around while a young man, shot in the abdomen, is carried past me by several people into a makeshift medical tent staffed by university students in Tiananmen Square. I prefer to not engage in first-person journalism, but I have my own narrative about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and cannabis. Considering this month marks the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, and given how stressful these times are, that story is now worth sharing.

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Days and Nights in the Square

Thirty years ago, while working as a field producer for an international TV news network, I spent nearly a month in Tiananmen Square, talking with students, protestors and others involved in the anti-corruption, pro-democracy demonstrations there. I witnessed the optimism of those demonstrators firsthand, and spoke with many of them about their hopes that they would be able to change their government in a positive manner. The students and their supporters were living in squalid conditions in the Square, surrounded by the trash they had accumulated (although there were some attempts at cleanup). There were only a handful of public toilets nearby and they had become foul, stinking, awful places due to overuse and a lack of maintenance. Most of the demonstrators who stayed in the Square — and there were thousands if not tens of thousands of them at any given time — slept on or under plastic sheeting. Later someone donated several dozen popup tents. Despite the wretched conditions there was still a sense of purpose among most of the demonstrators I spoke with, at least at first. I remember one young student telling me in English that he had waited his whole life for this moment. One evening, not too long before the massacre, a group of university art students arrived in the Square and set about building what became known as the Goddess of Democracy Statue. During that event I remember smiles and cheering from the crowds watching the statue rise up into the night sky. As the days and weeks drew on, however, there was a mixture of boredom, dread and squabbling among the demonstrators ahead of an anticipated government crackdown. Some people were expecting something along the lines of what happened in South Korea several years earlier – when police used tear gas and clubs to break up anti-government protests in Seoul. So, what occurred in the Square during the brutally violent repression on those demonstrations by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops, starting on June 4, 1989, shocked, and angered not only many Chinese but much of the international community.

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

Vivid Scenes I remember entering the square around sunset that evening and feeling like someone had kicked over a huge ant’s nest. One of the largest public squares in the world was filled people moving around quickly, angry and tense. For some time PLA armored personnel carriers (APCs) had been charging down avenues surround the Square, chased by students, as they scouted out the situation. At one point in the evening, tracer bullets were fired skyward, somewhere south of the Square, as an apparent signal by the PLA to begin their operations. We were in the center of the Square, at the obelisk called the Monument to the People’s Heroes, when people came running up to us. They said the military was heading towards the Square and shooting wildly as it came. Numerous people, they said, had been killed. Thirty years on and I still have these vivid, hallucinatory scenes engraved in my mind: An APC, stopped and set afire by the demonstrators, burning near the portrait of Chairman Mao. Demonstrators commandeering a bus and trying to set it across Chang’An (“Eternal Peace”) Avenue in the northern part of the Square, in a failed attempt to block PLA troops and equipment from advancing.

The Odessa Steps Time slowed down for me as the shooting intensified. Several times bullets whizzed by low, over our heads. At one point I remember watching a double-line of PLA troops, the bayonets on their rifles shining in the light of the fires and street lamps, run into position along the eastern side of the Square as they attempted to cut off fleeing students. I was reminded of The Odessa Steps, a famous sequence from the esteemed Soviet silent film “Battleship Potemkin.” In that sequence the citizens of Odessa, who’ve turned out to cheer on a rebellious naval vessel, are massacred on steps leading down to the waterfront by Czarist troops. It was that vision of impending bloodshed that prompted me to tell my video crew it was time to leave. They refused, saying there was still much more for us to cover. So I took the videotapes we had shot up to that point and left the Square, using the darkness and chaos in my favor. After bribing a motorcyclist, who drove me through units of PLA troops and clumps of bystanders gathered on the darkened Beijing streets, I made it back to my network’s headquarters, where I reported on what I had seen. About a day later, while working with another crew on a nearby hotel balcony, I was eye-witness to a now-historic scene: of one man single-handedly stopping a line of tanks on Chang’An Avenue. At the time I thought I was about to witness a man getting crushed, and was amazed when the armored column stopped and then tried to maneuver around this lone individual. Later on, I was arrested along with my film crew for violating martial law. After being held by public security officials for several hours, and watching a man who came to our defense being beaten up, we were forced to write confessions. Our gear was also confiscated. The sense of dismay deepened. Sources told us that a PLA army group had rebelled following the massacre and was on its way to fight the troops in the Square. We were also told Chinese security forces were coming to arrest us and seize our equipment, which set off a mad scramble to hide all our gear with friendly people and organizations around Beijing. But neither of those scenarios occurred. As the government crackdown intensified, it became clear that most foreign journalists would be unable to continue their coverage of this story. We were sent home soon after.

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Anxiety and Nightmares Months after returning from China, my wife said my personality had changed. I initially dismissed her observations but, as time went on, I knew she was right. I had nightmares about tanks. I would become angry, irritable and even panicky for no specific reason. And while that irritability and anxiety diminished, it would return fullforce when I returned to China several times later on work assignments. During my time in broadcast news, I avoided cannabis. It was illegal in the state where we lived. I also needed a high level of focus at work and I had a family to consider. But in 2014, after moving to Colorado and obtaining access to legal cannabis, I tried marijuana again for the first time in years and found that it helped with my insomnia and some of my free-floating anxieties. Only after speaking with experts in the field while researching articles did I realize that I had been experiencing classic symptoms of PTSD.

What is PTSD? The American Psychiatric Association (APA) defines PTSD as a mental health condition that affects people who have witnessed or lived through a traumatic event, such as a serious accident, a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, war, combat, violence, abuse or criminal assault. Its symptoms, according to the APA, can include “intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings” about that traumatic experience, even long after the event. While much has been written about PTSD and combat veterans, the disorder is not limited to those in the military, and can occur in anyone. The APA says about 3.5 percent of U.S. adults suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Women are twice as likely as men to have PTSD, and an estimated one in 11 people will reportedly be (formally) diagnosed with PTSD during their lifetimes.

How Cannabis can Treat PTSD

A Veterans Administration-funded study currently underway in San Diego looks at how cannabidiol (CBD), the non-intoxicating chemical compound in cannabis, might be used along with psychotherapy to help military veterans with PTSD. Medical researchers have been examining how cannabis might have real promise as a

potential treatment for PTSD for several years now. In 2013, a study by researchers at NYU’s Langone Medical Center found a connection between the number of cannabinoid receptors in the human brain (known as CB1 receptors) and PTSD. The NYU study’s lead author, Dr. Alexander Neumeister, said understanding the biology behind PTSD could help scientists focus on specific medications that could eventually treat the disorder. That line of research is supported by Sue Sisley. An Arizona-based medical doctor and researcher, Sisley recently completed a federally-approved and groundbreaking t h re e - ye a r - l o n g c l i n i c a l s t u d y o n h ow m a r i j u a n a a f f e c t s P TS D s y m p t o m s i n military veterans. “CB1 receptors are located throughout what we call the emotional center of [the] brain, (an area) that is heavily populated with CB1 receptors,” she tells DOPE. “When people smoke THC-rich cannabis, the molecule binds to CB1 receptors and possibly causes a suppression of adverse, negative memories. It seems to dampen those memories.”

Still not enough research Anka Vujanovic, a clinical psychologist, associate professor and director of the Trauma and Stress Studies Center at the University of Houston, said she’s not surprised that the chemical compounds in cannabis look promising as a potential PTSD treatment – as well as a treatment for epilepsy, pain and other conditions. But she acknowledges that there’s still not enough research being done about cannabis and PTSD. “There are so many chemical compounds within cannabis,” she says. “The studies that we have are messy because we don’t have a clear picture of what strain you are using, what are the chemical compounds from that strain, what are the potential therapeutic effects of those specific compounds.”

Cannabis in the Toolbox I’ve been lucky. My PTSD symptoms from 1989 have, for the most part, faded away. And I’m thankful that I was able to understand what I had been going through in Tainanmen. And while I’ve relied mostly on exercise and a set of understanding friends and family since then to help me work through my anxieties, I’m thankful that cannabis has been part of my mental health “toolbox” when I needed it.

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

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FEATURE 50

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

itting in an Oakland bar in July 2013, Alicia Garza was incensed. George Zimmerman had just been acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter (a lesser charge) in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The incident would forever change race relations in the U.S. – but in that moment, Garza was processing the verdict. Scrolling through her Facebook feed, she observed many blaming black Americans, refusing to face or even acknowledge the racism that infects so much of the country. She decided to express her feelings in a manner typical for her generation: posting on social media. Garza’s post, “A Love Note to Black People,” ended with a simple conclusion: “Our Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter.” Patrisse Cullors, Garza’s Facebook friend who organized antipolice violence groups in Los Angeles, replied to Garza’s message by converting the phrase into a hashtag: “#BlackLivesMatter.”

"ONE THING WE HAVEN'T HAD MUCH OF A CONVERSATION ABOUT IS HOW IT'S [SOCIAL MEDIA] BEING USED TO BULK UP THE POWER OF A CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT IS NOT INVESTED IN THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE." – PAROMITA SHAH, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR THE NATIONAL IMMIGRATION PROJECT OF THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD With this simple online exchange, one of the most influential activist groups of the 21st century was born. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement quickly spread to other networks and became part of the zeitgeist, receiving dozens of accolades and awards – plus criticism and scorn. If not for the power of social media, an organization as significant as BLM might not even exist. Unfortunately, online networks aren’t just fertile ground for creating and growing important cultural movements: they’re also places where opponents of change can spew negativity while safe behind their keyboards.

Black Lives Matter highlights the unifying power of social media to expand the collective consciousness of social justice. According to numbers from a 2018 Pew Research Center report on social media, over half of all Americans report using social media to promote a social or political cause or find information about rallies and demonstrations. But social media also comes with well-known downsides: haters and trolls have free reign to intimidate, and the information shared is often misleading or totally false. Perhaps most disturbing is the unwillingness of major social networks to regulate either factor. DOPE Magazine spoke with several organizations created to promote social justice by advancing equality for people disadvantaged because of race, citizenship status and religion. While they all agreed on the importance of social media in advancing their causes, they also used specific examples to explain how the benefits don’t always outweigh the drawbacks.

ORGANIZING THE CAUSE AND ITS ENEMIES Courtney Sebring is a Content Strategist at the Black Youth Project 100, a member-based organization working for freedom and justice for black people. She spoke of how BYP100’s New York chapter catalyzed the removal of a statue honoring Dr. J. Marion Sims, a 19th century gynecologist who advanced his field but also experimented on black female slaves, often operating on them without anesthesia. Women from BYP100 raised awareness of Sims’ dark history with a dramatic protest in the summer of 2017. “The post went super viral on Facebook after the New York chapter took very powerful action,” Sebring says. “So many people cared about this action and felt seen.” Their demonstration also drew media coverage from major outlets including The Washington Post and Essence. The following spring, the city moved the statue honoring Dr. Sims from Central Park to his gravesite in Brooklyn. But organizing through social media can also expose a group to people who don’t agree with their cause, and the consequences of that can go far beyond negative comments. Ani Zonneveld, founder and president of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), says she received insults and threats on her life after conservative Muslims found out that she – a woman – was going to be leading a prayer at an upcoming MPV conference in Malaysia.

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THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM

“A right-wing organization basically took that and Googled me, found [information about] me leading men and women in prayer ... so they went berserk,” Zonneveld shared. “It really riled up the hate. There was a lot of death threats towards me ... like her blood is halal – you know, purposable.” Activists aren’t the only ones subject to trolling. According to Pew, 41 percent of Americans have personally been subject to harassment online, and two-thirds have witnessed others being digitally harassed. People with malicious intent don’t have to resort to explicit attacks – social media makes it easy for information to be weaponized to advance a specific agenda or ideology. It’s now known that over ten million tweets and Facebook updates from Russian troll farms were published in the lead-up to the 2016 election, to spread fake news designed around contentious issues like gun rights and racial violence. Information can also be harnessed against people at a much more individual level. The National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIP-NLG), a Boston-based organization, provides technical and legal assistance to community-based immigrant groups. Associate Director Paromita Shah says it’s not uncommon for police investigators and prosecutors to use social media to force people into narratives that fit their case. “One thing we haven’t had much of a conversation about is how it’s [social media] being used to bulk up the power of a criminal justice system that is not invested in the rights of the people,” Shah says. “All that data [from social media profiles] can be used to turn out a profile really quickly, and it’s usually not used to paint generous pictures ... I see it being used to make people look like somebody they are not, used to turn a young man hanging out with friends to look like he’s in a gang or someone who is breaking the law.” Data from Facebook’s annual transparency reporting shows that government requests for information on users nearly quadrupled between 2013 and 2018, growing from 11,000 requests between January and June 2013 to 42,466 requests between January and June of last year. Police surveys report that four in five departments use social media to help solve crimes. Social media has collared many dangerous criminals, but as the reach of these networks increases, mistakes and wrongful accusations involving digital perceptions of people are also on the rise.

WHERE'S THE REGULATION?

Most believe that social media networks are dropping the ball when it comes to regulating and policing those who harass social justice organizations online. After receiving threats on her life, Zonneveld was stunned at Facebook’s response: “We complained to Facebook, and then after several days, Facebook wrote back and said ‘Well, it seems like it’s a very lively and invigorating conversation’,” she says. In her opinion, verified organizations that do positive work should receive priority status when reporting harassment – almost like a blue check mark for complaints about intimidation.

Sebring agrees. “It is crucial for these platforms to not allow content that furthers harm to us to remain public, and to listen when the people reporting it are the people experiencing that risk of harm,” she says. If the networks continue failing to regulate themselves adequately, signs point to government intervention sooner rather than later. When asked on a podcast if tech’s selfregulation era should come to an end, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says “it probably should.” Activist groups online face another big challenge: converting digital sentiment into real-world action. The rise of social media has made it too easy to click a button to “like” or “share” a post promoting causes in which a person believes. You’d think that these actions are a gateway to real-world involvement in activism, but data shows the exact opposite. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research showed that expressions of public support for a social cause online were correlated with lower levels of subsequent donations of time and money. We know that correlation does not equate to causation, but it is grounds for further study.

"THERE WAS A LOT OF DEATH THREATS TOWARDS ME ... LIKE HER BLOOD IS HALAL YOU KNOW, PURPOSABLE." – ANI ZONNEVELD, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF MUSLIMS FOR PROGRESSIVE VALUES

WHAT'S NEXT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA? Two huge events this year look poised to re-shape the narrative about social media. In March, parts of the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand were broadcast live on Facebook, first by the shooter and later by fans and supporters. Facebook was widely slammed for allowing the video to be live-streamed for 17 minutes and re-shared multiple times. On Easter Sunday, a coordinated wave of bombings in major cities of Sri Lanka killed at least 250 people. In order to prevent the spread of misinformation and “false news” stories, the government banned the use of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube and Snapchat for over 24 hours. Locals criticized the drastic move, but others viewed it as a dose of much-needed regulation for tech companies that appear too arrogant to do it themselves – an op-ed by Kara Swisher, published in The New York Times two days after the ban, put it succinctly: “Sri Lanka Shut Down Social Media. My First Thought Was ‘Good.’” Clearly, social media will continue to serve an important role in the spread of activism and causes designed to promote social justice, but there are still major strides needed in the regulation and monitoring of these sites before groups promoting positive change can leverage their true power.

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

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PROFILE 56

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

SHAN BOODY WEIGHS IN ON SEX AND SOCIAL MEDIA WRITER | ANDREA LARSON PHOTOS | COURTESY OF STORIES OF: WOMEN

& BRANDON BARNHART

hannon Boodram, better known as Shan Boody is an open book – especially when it comes to talking about sex. As she neared the end of her high school years in 2010, Boodram and her now-ex-best friend formed “those girls are wild” – a blog / YouTube channel that gave Boodram the know-how and wherewithal to use the social fabric of the internet to launch her career as a sexologist, therapist and all around badass sex educator. In 2011, “those girls are wild” featured an interview with Chantelle Brown-Young. At 17, Brown-Young now better known in mainstream media as Canadian supermodel Winnie Harlow shared her experience and wisdom surrounding her skin condition Vitiligo. Harlow would later be discovered via Instagram by none other than Tyra Banks catapulting her career via the twenty-first cycle of America’s Next Top Model. “those girls are wild” ultimately retired with the demise of Boodram and Andrea Lewis’ friendship, but Boodram’s penchant for being first on the scene and appetite for giving the middle finger to the status quo have since led to her success as a published writer, YouTube sensation, host, producer, ambassador, advisor and sex therapist. As it’s our Social Issue, what better time than now to have a frank discussion with Boody on sex’s place in social media. What follows is a play-by-play on our discussion designed with Boomers, Millenials and Gen Z in mind. The day that we speak, Boody is running errands … oh and it’s her birthday to boot. “My book was like, due today,” Boody laughs, “The word due is such a loose term because it’s been due 18 times … but today was the last day I had to make changes.” Boody is leaving the UPS store after dropping off her changes and is on her way to the bank to get money for rent. She’s a normal chick, with normal errands, leading a quite abnormal albeit avant-garde professional life.

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“SOCIETY’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS SEX IS REALLY NARROW IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY HAVE AS VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF SEX. FOR EXAMPLE, OUR PORN IS SO CARTOONISH, WITH REALLY BIG DICKS AND REALLY BIG BOOBS…”

THE INTERNET RESPONDS TO YOU! ON ITS OWN, IT’S NEUTRAL.

Boody has been talking about sex for over a decade and in that time has witnessed the myriad of ways that social media has played a role in the differing cohorts; from Boomers to Gen Z. “What’s fascinating is that we’re having this conversation in general. [Social media] is catered towards what you look up, what your interests are.” Boody confirms. Depending on what you’re searching for and search terms, in general, can lead to gripping information and sources or as Boody puts it, “misogynistic, abusive, negative and incorrect information.” What results is the internet’s response to the user (you) and what you’re looking at, Boody reiterates. “The goal, obviously, is that people are using [the internet] for what it’s supposed to be … a source of infinite information. It is a barrier-free place where you can finally ask the questions that you wouldn’t have had answers to [pre-internet],” Boody asserts. Boody points to the notion that the internet is a truth-seeking space where many inquisitive minds will land if the education they are offered, through their parents or a K-12 curriculum, isn’t satisfying their thirst for knowledge. This may be especially true when it comes to questions about sex. Many curious minds may also turn to online pornography to understand sex. Are social media and porn as teacher problematic? Having been educated in Ontario, Canada Boody went through the province’s HPE Curriculum or “sex ed.” program. In Ontario, sexual health education is broken down by grade. The program was approved under a liberal-leaning government and according to Boody, “By grade seven, you were taught about masturbation, oral sex … and how to do those things safely.” Since then the more conservative-leaning government has replaced that curriculum. You will see similar movements away from “liberal” sex education curriculums in the U.S. as well. With a “two steps forward, one step back” approach to sex ed. curriculum, more tweens and teens may be turning to the internet, and by default social media, to fill in the gaps. Boody believes that the internet is making up for these gaps, “…but you have to hope that people are on the right sites that actually provide factual information.” Boody believes that a curriculum geared toward “educating yourself on the internet” is crucial and that it should be instilled in youth by caregivers and parents as well. “As a parent or a caregiver for any youth, you can’t assume they’re getting the answers, A) from school or B) from the internet. You have to provide them with a base of information and discernment,” Boody posits. “Obama said

at the end of his last speech that ‘we can disagree on opinions, but we shouldn’t be arguing facts,’” Boody paraphrases. “We are in a time and place where we do argue facts and you see that in the sex education community, so it is scary from that standpoint. You still have to trust major journalistic publications … you still do have to go back to the people who are legally accountable to provide the truth.” The takeaway here is that while the internet is neutral insofar as the information available will tell the story you seek, we must continue to educate all generations on the importance of research methodologies and an ability to discern a reliable versus unreliable source, fact from fiction, integrity from deceit. Diversification and discernment in selecting your sources of education will leave more people in a place to better understand the truth about safe sex, our bodies and our relationships as a whole. “I’m 34 years old and so my experience in it [the internet] is so drastically different from somebody who’s 13 or 14, who doesn’t have discernment, a circle of support, a base of self-confidence and a general idea of who they are,” Boody notes. This also parlays into the internet’s vast and often nasty call-out culture. “For an older person … you do have a base understanding that call-out culture can be an opportunity to start important conversations,” Boody states optimistically.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PORN. EXPECTATION VS. REALITY.

Social media acts as a supremely effective catalyst for rekindling old friendships and staying in touch with those that you may have otherwise drifted apart from. That said, social media is responsible for creating unrealistic expectations when we talk about the quality and quantity of our relationships, intimate and otherwise. At what point do these expectations become unhealthy? In 2016 a survey of over 2,000 Americans highlighted our tendency to feel lonely. The poll conducted by the American Osteopathic Association reveals that 72 percent of Americans experience loneliness, and regularly. One-third of those polled stated that they feel lonely at least once per week. How can that be? A quick perusal on your Instagram seems to convey the opposite message: an infinite scrolling reel of social gatherings, bedecked happy hour cocktails, kittens and flaw-erasing filters are testimonials to our never-ending pits of joy and elation … right? According to Dr. Jennifer Caudle, assistant professor of family medicine at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, “Loneliness is ‘an invisible epidemic’ masked by people’s online personas, which rarely reflect real emotions.” “I think social media tends to give off the impression that everybody is super connected, has tons of friends, feels very included and doesn’t feel lonely,” Boody intonates, reducing her voice to a whisper. She goes on to say that a lot of people simply don’t feel included or connected. Having 3,000 or 300 friends can mirror intimacy and connectivity when in reality many social media users don’t have those close interconnected relationships. Boody quickly and naturally turns this conversation into one about sex. “When I was growing up all my [sexually active] friends were claiming that they were orgasming so many times [during sex]. Ultimately repeating what they heard in porn,” Boody states.

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

“THE GOAL, OBVIOUSLY, IS THAT PEOPLE ARE USING [THE INTERNET] FOR WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE … A SOURCE OF INFINITE INFORMATION. IT IS A BARRIER-FREE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN FINALLY ASK THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU WOULDN’T HAVE HAD ANSWERS TO [PRE-INTERNET].”

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“Then something switched. People were like, ‘I’ve never come during sex.’” The response from people was like “Oh my god, me neither.” Boody says, “That was the starting point when things could start getting better. When we started to get more cliteracy … you know literacy with the clitoris.” Honest conversations can help us decipher between what is feasible and what is unrealistic especially when it comes to relationships and sex. Boody’s YouTube channel is streamlining this process. It’s a place where people of all generations can go to hear honest discourse and feedback on intimacy, friendships, pleasure, safe sex, the list goes on. “We’re all pretending that everything is great. ‘I’m like, so awesome. I’m so connected. I have so many friends.’ Then we start being honest. ‘I’m actually feeling really lonely.’” Again, this is where diversifying your educational resources comes into play. “Society’s attitude towards sex is really narrow in terms of what they have as visual representations of sex. For example, our porn is so cartoonish, with really big dicks and really big boobs,” Boody notes. She goes on to say that the persistence of this imagery and the abundance of this imagery makes us uncomfortable with visuals that don’t match what we see in porn. It makes us feel shameful too – especially about our own bodies. Opting to search for visuals and imagery that more closely mirror a plethora of different body types and genitals will lead to a sex-positive journey. “The only opportunity [that most people have to see a vulva] is in porn and the diversity there is just so ridiculously small, and I say small as pun intended because it is the small lips, the small vulvas, the small clitorises.” This again reiterates Boody’s notion that the internet is neutral. What you search for and what you seek is what you get. You have the ability to change the channel. “If you don’t like what you’re seeing and it’s not reflective of who you are and how you want to be celebrated, you have to start making an effort to change the pages you interact with and to unfollow the ones that are perpetuating a standard that doesn’t make you feel good,” Boody reiterates. “That’s the beauty of the culture that we’re in. There’s so much out there. It’s not like before when you had 20 channels on TV, and you had to pick one that was kind of close to you. There are billions of options out there … billions of people you can connect with, mediums that you can find community on. So why not seek out the ones that make you feel good about yourself?” Does this mean that you should eradicate the channels that challenge you and make you uncomfortable? I can’t help but wonder if this advice could lead to a narrowing of the mind. Boody extrapolates further mentioning acclaimed emcee Killer Mike’s Netflix series, “Trigger Warning with Killer Mike.” In the program, Killer Mike talked about an incubation period, of sorts. “Killer Mike believes that black kids should go to all black schools up until a certain age. [His reasoning is for kids to] gain confidence, to gain a sense of kinmanship, [to realize that they are] powerful, important, valuable … to get that sense of self before they start interacting and integrating [with other races and cultures].” Boody makes mention that race is not her area of expertise but notes, “I do think everybody in life should be trying to form a base, a central idea of what their morals are, what their values are, what their self-opinion is, and once you have that you should be like, ‘Okay, now I wanna challenge [those ideas] in healthy ways that feel good for me and be open to the world.” “The goal shouldn’t be, I’ve found my comfort zone, let me stay here forever. The goal should be, I found my comfort zone, now I know where my home is, but I still have to leave my house once in a while if I expect to get anywhere in this world,” Boody states signing off.

WEBSITE

THESTORIESOFWOMEN.COM

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SHAN’S RECOMMENDED READING ON SEX, INTIMACY AND RELATIONSHIPS

JUDGE THIS COVER BY BRITTANY RENNER

This behind-the-scenes look at the author’s life is both raw and witty. A tale of 7 men and 7 lessons … the beginning of Renner’s liberation.

THE STATE OF AFFAIRS: RETHINKING INFIDELITY BY ESTHER PEREL

Why do people cheat? Why does an affair hurt so much? Can an affair ever help a marriage? The author weaves together real life with psychological and cultural analysis. Fasten your seat belts readers.

BAD BOYFRIENDS BY JEB KINNISON

Fairy tales of love, those most often kept alive in the Western world, keep us choosing the wrong types of people to begin relationships with. Learn to read red flags and discover something about yourself in this practical guide filled with study materials and plans of action.

THE ETHICAL SLUT

BY JANET W. HARDY & DOSSIE EASTON After two decades, and three editions, this book’s dive into polyamorous lifestyles is still relevant. Poly pioneers and poly millennials alike will find this a useful guide to love, sex and intimacy beyond the limits of conventional monogamy.

Shan Boody and Whitney Bell of “Stories of: Women - A Vulnerability Variety Show.” Boody emceed the LA-based Stories Of: Jealousy in 2018 at the historic Regent Theater.

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EDITOR’S CHOICE

WRITER | ANDREA LARSON

PHOTOS | COURTESY OF NEW HIGHS CBD

NEW HIGHS CBD FULL SPECTRUM HEALTH AND WELLNESS

ew Highs CBD founder Sarah Remesch is the thought leader behind the company’s dedication to promoting female-run businesses in the cannabis space while simultaneously supporting products that promote health and wellness above all else. New Highs CBD produces luxury CBD tinctures, all supported and backed by third-party testing facility EVIO Labs, ensuring that their products are tested for potency and purity before arriving at your doorstep. With the rush of CBD products flooding the market, it’s important for consumers to know where their CBD is coming from and that the product they’re ingesting is both safe and effective. Made from two simple ingredients — MCT coconut oil and CBD-rich hemp grown in Oregon — these tinctures contain less than 0.3 percent THC, ensuring they provide the health benefits of CBD without the intoxicating high associated with THC. The oil is full spectrum, meaning it’s food-grade, CO2-extracted hemp oil safe for ingestion or topical application, and makes a great addition to your favorite culinary dishes.

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CULTURE 64

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ex sells. A lot of people in any industry will drag out this tried and true mantra to justify any number of sexualized advertisements that to some would seem more at home on PornHub than on a billboard above a busy city street. When the line between sexy and sexist seems paper thin, it begs the question, is there a place for sex in cannabis culture? And if so, where does it belong? A 50-foot billboard looms over Los Angeles; the image is a familiar one. Sexy lady, not much in the way of clothing, leaving the onlooker eating from the palm of her hand. At first glance, this sign could be selling anything. Victoria’s Secret lingerie? The new cheesydouble-whatever from Carl’s Junior? The 2020 Audi fresh off the lot? It is an advertisement for none of the above. It’s an ad for a cannabis vape cartridge. No words, just tits and product placement. And for some in the cannabis industry working to make it a more inclusive, safe place, ads like this could be viewed as an insult to their hard work. “When we talk about inclusivity and diversity and representation we are not just talking about women. We’re talking about the social equity piece, diversity as it relates to race, gender, identities. Dan Bilzerian, who is like the height of heteronormative white male, is an embarrassment frankly,” says Anna Duckworth, co-founder of Miss Grass. Duckworth and Kate Miller, co-founders of Miss Grass a woman’s guide to cannabis, recently called the Goop of cannabis by W Magazine, weighed in on sexist marketing with Cheddar online. From Dan Bilzerian’s lingerie models selling vapes on billboards all over California, to Altai Edibles’ stunt a few years ago of using a model’s body to display an array of meats, the days of senseless and bizarre marketing tactics don’t appear to be numbered just yet. The industry is young, and like many nascent industries its marketing strategies will have to mature with the arena. “It’s really a huge disappointment to see [Bilzerian] try to align with the cannabis industry, specifically where the cannabis industry is going,” Duckworth says. “When we are talking about inclusivity we are not just talking about women. We’re talking about the social equity piece, diversity as it relates to race, gender, identities,” Duckworth continued. Duckworth and Miller want to make sure there are more women represented not only in advertising but in cannabis culture. “There are no women represented in the zeitgeist

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- in pop culture, any sort of film, entertainment, television, we never see people like us smoking weed,” Duckworth says. These sexy advertising campaigns have been met with disappointment by those in the industry who see it as a tasteless obstacle on the path toward progress. Enter David Paleschuck, an experienced marketing and advertising manager who has worked with the likes of MasterCard, Mountain Dew and Microsoft. His book “Branding Bud” explores the complex relationship between cannabis product, branding and consumer. “The way I look at it, there [are] nine categories of cannabis brands. A few of those are counterculture, influencer and novelty brands (like the overtly sexual brands),” says Paleschuck. “It’s really all the same stuff, but it’s about how we associate ourselves with things and what we choose to surround ourselves with that gives us the cues of who we are,” he says. “It’s not only context, it’s also intent. There needs to be some fun introduced to it, so you realize it’s actually not real. Maybe we need to make things overt, so it is overly obvious and silly, almost like professional wrestling. It’s so over the top that it has to be fake,” says Paleschuck. According to studies conducted by Eaze, the cannabis delivery company, women now represent 38 percent of cannabis consumers, a number that has doubled in the last year. Women represent a large number of cannabis users and are encouraging the market to reach them effectively. Some brands attempt to make the gap and succeed, while others do not try at all. They have a market and instead of expanding into new territory, choose to stay with their tried and true consumer base. Cannabis pin-up Kitty Kitty Bang Bang and #GanjaGlam babe proudly uses her sexuality to promote her brand. A cannabis influencer, model, actress and singer, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang makes the case for equally empowered and sexy women in the cannabis marketing field. Sporting pink joints, ‘50s glamour and self-confidence Kitty is the poster child for sexy marketing gone right. In a post from Kitty’s Instagram she sums it all up, “Remember it is possible to be a multifaceted woman! Be classy + a freak. Be spiritual + a bad bitch. Be fierce + compassionate. Be a Queen + smoke weed!” San Francisco based cannabis branding company Cannaverse has over 30 years of industry knowledge to help their clients navigate cannabis culture and branding. Co-founders Dan Ager and Chris Leonard lend their branding knowledge to the conversation. “As the market gets more saturated it’s really getting down to consistency. What we’re doing as an agency is doing our best to gain trust in the consumer,” says Ager.

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When erotic images of famous women were first used to sell soap in 1885 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., a soap manufacturer, it worked in a big way. Since then companies from every field have been reaching to connect sex and a product, whether it’s soap, burgers or cannabis. “ What it really comes down to is best practices and a quality product, so you don’t lose that trust in the consumer,” says Leonard. But perhaps staying true to your message is the key. Leonard says authenticity in branding will help bridge the gap between brand and consumer. As the cannabis industry goes through a sexual awakening, with inclusivity and respect at the forefront, the road to a woke future may be bumpy. But with active participation from everyone in the industry, it may just avoid a backslide into Carl’s Junior carwash-burgereating territory, where ‘sex sells’ is a blanket excuse for female objectification. “I think the industry has to mature a little bit and see where it all goes,” says Paleschuck. Sex may sell, but so do honesty, creativity and innovation. It doesn’t take sex to sell a great product; it didn’t take lingerie to sell the iPhone. The industry is begging for creativity, whether that creativity is sexy, comedic, artistic, or wellness-inspired, let’s do it with a healthy dose of perspective. If the industry can foster an environment where cannabis culture can connect to underrepresented people, then the mutually beneficial relationship between cannabis and consumer can get stronger. Paleschuck says, “When you sail, you never go in the direction you want to go in, you go way to the left and way to the right, and you eventually make your way to where you wanted to go. In sailing, it’s never a straight line, and that’s kind of how society is too.”

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#SCOUTEDBYDOPE

WRITER | ANDREA LARSON PHOTOS | JORDAN SWENSON

SUMMER’S HERE BECOME ONE WITH THE SUN

HAUS OF KARYN ROLLING PAPERS Kim, a stylist and designer hailing from NYC and Daryn, an entrepreneur based in Miami (they’re the creative types) had a baby. Thus, Haus of Karyn was born. These two badasses offer up some of the most coveted of all rolling papers. We tested them out and not only do the papers burn evenly and clean they come in an assortment of options just in time to celebrate Pride Month. If you’re fancy AF, get yourself a pack, or hell, buy a whole damn box!

PACK TRIFECTA BOX WEBSITE IG FB

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LADY JANE Pesticide, additive and solvent-free, Lady Jane’s vaporizer pens and tinctures are a great addition to your stress reducing or beauty routine. I personally keep my Lady Jane CBD oil in the fridge to drop into my morning smoothies or rub on my hands and face as a moisturizer. The co-founders of Lady Jane had a mission: enjoy life, laugh a little more, stress a little less, tackle anything that comes their way and empower those around them to do the same. Ladies, mission accomplished!

CBD VAPORIZER PEN $55.00 | 130MG CBD CBD TINCTURE $60.00 | 600MG CBD MINI TINCTURE $32.00 | 300MG CBD WEBSITE CHILLWITHJANE.COM IG @LADYJANECBD FB @LADYJANECBD

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MARY JANE SWIM This perfectly dusty pink suit is soft, comfortable, fully lined and sewn from a fast-drying poly/lycra blend 4-way stretch fabric. Durable, cozy and stylish! The team at Mary Jane Swim offer an assortment of swim and activewear collections adorned with our lovely plant. Be sure to check out the team’s newest line of accessories – Seven Leaflets which includes fanny packs, towels and day bags. Happy beaching babes!

PIPED BOTTOM $30.00 PULLOVER TOP $30.00 GYM/DAY BAG $35.00 WEBSITE MARYJANE-SWIM.COM IG @MARYJANESWIM

THE GIANT WEED LEAF POOL FLOAT Who doesn’t need a giant weed leaf pool float with a cup holder? Exactly.

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DOPE SHOTS

DOPE PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

CHECK OUT THE WINNER OF THE DOPE SHOTS PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST! WANT YOUR WORK FEATURED IN THE PAGES OF DOPE? BE ON THE LOOKOUT EACH ISSUE FOR YOUR NEXT CHANCE TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK.

CONGRATULATIONS,

ZACHARY JORGENSEN “It’s all about the details. This macro shot is compiled of 30 images stitched together. As a cannabis photographer, I get to work with these beautiful plants every day and it’s my ultimate goal with each shot to capture every ounce of detail.”

INSTAGRAM WEBSITE

@ZAJCANNABIS ZAJPHOTO.COM

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We’re Growing

California, our doors are open! Since 2011, Green Leaf Lab has been the leader in Cannabis Science. As the nation’s first licensed and accredited testing laboratory, we’re happy to bring our expertise and services to the Northern California community.

Now Open in Sacramento greenleaflabs.com | (916) 924-5227

STRAIN

WRITER | PERRY FEIN

PHOTOS | STEFAN LOOFT

ICE CREAM CAKE GO SHORTY, IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY!

onoma County has long been the epicenter of the Golden State’s world-renowned wine industry, but if Elyon Cannabis has its way the sprawling vineyards will need to move over and make room for the newest – now fully legalized – cash crop on the block. Quickly making its mark in both the county and the industry, the producer is lauded for its sustainably-grown and potent “sun-powered greenhouse cannabis.” I was lucky enough to try their Ice Cream Cake; true to its namesake, subtle hints of vanilla suffused every inhale. My anxiety melted away, and the high that followed was strong-yet-relaxing.

PRODUCED & PROVIDED BY ELYON CANNABIS

T HC 18.77% LAB WORKS TEST SONOMA sonomalabworks.com WEBSITE INSTAGRAM TWITTER

ELYONCANNABIS.COM @ELYONCANNABIS @CANNABISELYON

AVAILABLE AT BLUNTS AND MOORE 701 66TH AVE SUITE B OAKLAND, CA 94621

SOUTH SACRAMENTO CARE CENTER 114A OTTO CIR SACRAMENTO, CA 95822

BLOOM ROOM 471 JESSIE ST

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EDIBLE

WRITER | PERRY FEIN

PHOTOS | STEFAN LOOFT

DR. NORM’S LEGACY OF LAUGHTER

he sibling team behind Dr. Norm’s — one of my favorite edible vendors in the market — named the company in honor of their father, a medical practitioner known for giving compassionate care and having a “wicked sense of humor.” Their cookie recipe, on the other hand, was inspired by their mother who “used cookies as a way to connect with people.” The company’s 10 MG 1:1 CBD and THC Peanut Butter Chocolate Therapy Cookies certainly live up to the lasting legacies of the founders’ parents. After indulging in the delicious vegan treats, my friends and I were soon overcome with hysterical fits of laughter.

PRODUCED & PROVIDED BY DR. NORM’S

T HC 10 MG PER COOKIE CBD 10 MG PER COOKIE

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TEST WEBSITE INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK TWITTER

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AVAILABLE AT KINDPEOPLES 3600 SOQUEL AVE SANTA CRUZ, CA 95062

ALL MEDMEN LOCATIONS

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CONCENTRATE

WRITER & PHOTO | ASHLEIGH CASTRO

DO-SI-DOS CANNABINOIDS FOR EVERYONE!

EVEL meets Madrone to create their PAX Era pods of delicious, limited-edition Do-Si-Dos. A draw from the pod glazed my taste buds with mint and lime-y pine, sweetly followed by baked cookies. Effects elevated into deep cerebral tickling and a strong rush of euphoric energy. Do-Si-Dos is a relaxing-yet-bright strain that promotes happiness and uplifts mood. A warm buzz comforted my body as this vaporizable dessert balanced digestion for a post-dinner session. LEVEL and Madrone collaborate on pods that provide phenomenal relief. LEVEL is a cannabinoid company first and foremost, offering various classes of product. Their oil is quadruple-distilled and they only use steam-distilled, cannabis-derived terpenes. To maintain the integrity of the plant, LEVEL is dedicated to working with farmers who have devoted their lives and land to cannabis cultivation; Madrone is a family of artisan growers who practice sustainable farming.

PRODUCED & PROVIDED BY LEVEL AND MADRONEE

T HC 75.31% CBD 0.57% LABORATORIES TEST ANRESCO cannabis.anresco.com WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

LEVELBLENDS.COM | MADRONEGROWN.COM @LEVEL.BLENDS | @MADRONECALIFORNIA

AVAILABLE AT SHAMBHALA MEDICAL CANNABIS COLLECTIVE 2441 MISSION ST SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110

SOLFUL 785 GRAVENSTEIN HWY S SEBASTOPOL, CA 95472

ZEN GARDEN WELLNESS 2201 NORTHGATE BLVD SUITE H

SACRAMENTO, CA 95833

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STORE

WRITER & PHOTOS | ASHLEIGH CASTRO

ECO CANNABIS LEADERS IN THE COMMUNITY

THE PLACE

The glowing warmth of the staff and ambiance at ECO Cannabis are inviting. Upon arrival, customers are given the option of an “Experience Guide,” each carrying a tablet of product information to assist their order, choose self-serve or express pick-up. The shop’s interior includes shout outs to Oakland culture and the wood honeycombs that accent the wall refer to a bustling beehive, vibrant and buzzing. Efficiency is key to the ECO experience. Located on Telegraph Avenue, ECO provides free parking. Founder and CEO Kevin Ahaesy says, “I experienced frustrations with flow as a cannabis consumer prior to getting our licenses. If you wanted to get through a dispensary in a short time that was hard to accomplish.” ECO is here to change that through a focus on service and logistical flow.

THE PEOPLE Ahaesy founded ECO while making his exit from real estate. An opportunity came to launch a property in the “green zone” of Oakland. Then Ahaesy learned about the social equity program. Navigating the application process, they upped their equity awards from one recipient to eight. Those eight equity businesses are fully supported by ECO while maintaining individuality, which qualified ECO as one of four dispensaries given permitting. They opened their doors in January 2019. “I’m committed to hiring 100 percent Oakland residents, 50 percent of which have previous incarcerations, many for cannabis,” said Ahaesy. These staff members are given the opportunity to split work part-time at ECO’s cannabis campus and in store. They’re friendly, knowledgeable and sincere. ECO’s community involvement includes hosting neighborhood beautification projects and shopping parties.

THE PRODUCT ECO grows cannabis in East Oakland, and vertical integration allows them to supply terpene rich flowers at low prices, in bulk quantities up to ounces, offering something for everyone from the canna-curious to the experienced. Additionally, brands such as Canndescent and FloraCal are available. Concentrates are accessible with both devices and oil displayed together. ECO carries products from equity businesses and local companies. “I buy 50 percent of our product from equity businesses. It brings those people up and supports them,” Ahaesy explains, “It’s one thing to support the equity program and give someone free rent. It’s another to buy product from them so it could kick start their business.”

“I BUY 50 PERCENT OF OUR PRODUCT FROM EQUITY BUSINESSES. IT BRINGS THOSE PEOPLE UP AND SUPPORTS THEM.” – KEVIN AHAESY, ECO CANNABIS FOUNDER AND CEO

ADDRESS 2435 TELEGRAPH AVE OAKLAND, CA 94612 (510) 338-3001 HOURS: MON-SUN: 11AM – 9PM WEBSITE ECOCANNABIS.NET INSTAGRAM @ECO_CANNABIS FACEBOOK @ECOCANNABIS TWITTER @ECO_CANNABIS_

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PRODUCT

WRITER | KATIE CONLEY

PHOTOS | COURTESY OF MAXINE MORGAN

FLOW FORMULA ALL-NATURAL CBD CAPSULES FOR MENSTRUAL RELIEF

never take over-the-counter medicines, much to the chagrin of my female friends who just want to borrow some damn ibuprofen for menstrual cramps. Now, I can hand them all-natural, vegan-friendly Flow Formula capsules from Maxine Morgan, founded by father-daughter duo Dr. Allen and Ariel Morgan. If you take the recommended dosage of two capsules per day (you can safely take up to four a day, if symptoms persist) you’ll be ingesting 200mg of ginger root, 100mg of turmeric root and 15mg of hempderived, CO2-extracted CBD. I had two pills each day of my cycle with a large glass of water, and it was like pushing the “mute” button on my period. It was all still happening … unfortunately … but the dull pains and aches became almost nonexistent. The CBD is noticeably calming, perfect for putting a tamp down on (or a tampon? Sorry!) those typical period rage-thoughts. For those who experience menstrual cycles, this is a must-try!

PRODUCED & PROVIDED BY MAXINE MORGAN

CBD 7.5 MG

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GARDEN

WRITER | ASHLEIGH CASTRO

PHOTOS | COURTESY OF JUNIPER

JUNIPER

FAMILY-RUN CANNABIS ON THE HILL

THE PEOPLE Jennifer Appel has grown cannabis since 1983, and her garden, Juniper — a full-flower, strain-specific company that exclusively produce pre-rolls — is a family affair. Appel’s descendants grow with her; her son Arlo, a lifelong cultivator, manages the farm’s daily operations and his partner Katherine works alongside him. Appel’s youngest son Indigo is her wingman and assists all aspects of the business, and her teenage daughter provides social media and computer guidance. Working together and doing what they love keeps the family close. “It feels in many ways like an oldfashioned way to live,” says Appel. “My children have grown up playing outside, seeing firsthand what it takes to grow your own food, while surrounded by a nurturing and caring community.”

THE PLACE The grassroots Southern Humboldt cannabis community carries “strong values of walking lightly on Earth, taking care of each other and celebrating community,” shares Appel. Fifteen miles from the ocean, Juniper cultivates on a steep hill tucked into a tiny valley. Appel purchased the farm in 1992, inspired by the land’s quality. On the farm, birds sing and the sound of running water echoes on the breeze. “The land has a magical feeling and always has, since the first time I went there,” says Appel. “The land takes care of us and people who smoke flowers from the farm.”

THE PRODUCT Juniper has grown for decades, and their newest product line launched this past spring. “We use AAA flower in our pre-rolls and don’t add any trim, ever,” says Appel, adding, “We’re pesticidefree.” As her son Arlo explains, “We choose to use organic dry amendments over synthetic fertilizers because organics allow plants to communicate with microorganisms in [the] soil. They will break down organic matter and make required nutrients available.” Biodiversity gives back to the land, which in turn has given abundantly to people. Thin Mint GSC, Orange Sherbert, Gelato 41 and Trinidad OG are available in sociable pre-roll packs or glass tubes until next season; their next harvest will include Mimosa, Sundae Driver, Lemonade and Ice Cream Cake varieties.

WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

JUNIPERGROWN.COM @JUNIPERGROWN

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“THE LAND HAS A MAGICAL FEELING AND ALWAYS HAS, SINCE THE FIRST TIME I WENT THERE. THE LAND TAKES CARE OF US AND PEOPLE WHO SMOKE FLOWERS FROM THE FARM.” – JENNIFER APPEL, JUNIPER OWNER AND FOUNDER

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PRODUCT

WRITER & PHOTO | VICTORIA GREENER

ON THE MEND WITH LA MEND GET RELAXED WITH A CBD PATCH

Friday night after a long week of work felt like the perfect time to pop on a Be Calm patch by La Mend — within minutes I felt the tingle of mint working its magic. While THC can cause anxiety in some people, CBD is well-known to have the opposite effect; giving people relief from daily stresses and even joint pain. This Be Calm patch is a perfect combo of menthol and 15mg of CBD. Also, La Mend has three other hempinfused patches; Nite Nite, Hangover and my favorite, Period. Have you ever looked forward to that time of the month? Neither do I. But now I’m looking forward to giving the Period patch a try.

PRODUCED & PROVIDED BY LA MEND

15MG CBD PER PATCH TEST

WEBSITE INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK PRICE

PROVERDE LABORATORIES ProverdeLabs.com

THEGOODPATCH.COM @THEGOODPATCH @MYGOODPATCH $12.00 DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

COMMUNITY PROFILE 90

WRITER | P. GOTTI

PHOTOS | COURTESY OF DR. YU-FUNG LIN

DR. YU-FUNG LIN

THE GRANDMASTER OF CALIFORNIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DOCTORAL CANNABIS EDUCATORS

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

r. Yu-Fung Lin isn’t your typical cannabis advocate. Growing up in Taipei, Taiwan, she knew the commercial crop, hemp. Not until she came to America as a PhD student in Ann Arbor, Michigan did Dr. Lin discover its other qualities. Dr. Lin is an Associate Professor of Physiology and Membrane Biology at UC Davis. Her in-terest in cannabis stems from cannabinoids’ unique effects on ATP channels, membranous gate-ways studied for their relation to diabetes, hypertension, seizures and regular bodily function. She plans to lead groundbreaking research with ATP channels and cannabinoids — if and when that research is legalized and properly funded. Department chairs convened in 2016 at the UC Davis School of Medicine to discuss can-nabis. Following its legalization in California, the student body became more interested in experi-menting with cannabis, inside and outside of the lab. Science had established some medical bene-fits, but misunderstanding remains surrounded its psychoactive effects. The group of UC Davis re-searchers and educators, including Dr. Lin, realized with frightful awareness that the cannabis in-dustry was suffering from a lack of needed information, at every level. At the behest of the university, Dr. Lin devoted herself to understanding the academic re-search on cannabis, levying her background in membrane biology and physiology. She compiled her research into UC Davis’ first cannabis coursework. Her classes — Physiology of Cannabis and Cannabis and Cannabinoids in Physiology and Medicine present cannabis objectively, alongside reliable interpretation of the available science.

“DR. LIN URGES, “THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL’S POSITION IS ESSENTIAL TO MEDICAL TREATMENT. [IT SIMPLY] WOULD NOT BE SAFE TO SKIP THE DOCTOR.”’ Cannabis education, Dr. Lin hopes, will become standard for medical professionals. When confronted with the reality that budtenders, not doctors, are effectively providing medicine while doctors’ involvement feels like forced bureaucracy, Dr. Lin urges that “the medical professional’s position is essential to medical treatment.” It simply “would not be safe to skip the doctor.” Doctors study for years in medical school and continue with life-long learning to provide in-formed guidance appropriate to patients’ unique medical history. The problem is not with doctors, but with the state of education that produces doctors who receive no formal education regarding the cannabis they prescribe. Dr. Lin hopes to open a new course to the UC Davis community of public servants and in-terested members of the local community.

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EDUCATION

INTERTRIBAL YOUTH SAFEGUARDING CULTURAL CAPITAL

WRITER | PERRY FEIN | MARC CHAVEZ PHOTOS | COURTESY OF INTERTRIBAL YOUTH

nterTribal Youth (ITY), also known as Native Like Water, is an organization dedicated to engaging with indigenous communities to prepare “youth and adult volunteers in science, outdoor education, conservation, wellness and cultural self-exploration.” Breaking ground in 2000 under the name Young Native Scholars, the group’s goal is to provide cultural experiences for First Nations persons in the continental United States as well as Alaska and Hawaii. “In 2005, ITY worked up enough courage to initiate an international program for Native American youth and college-age students. This began our first International Exchange to Panama, Central America, thousands of miles away,” shares Marc Chavez, ITY founder and program director of InterTribal Youth. “It took courage, for the community and youth were not all ready to visit lands so far from home. It seemed dangerous. This was before social media and [the] internet made the world feel smaller. The exchanged experiences between indigenous communities provided a priceless education at home and abroad.” Initiating “Native Like Water,” ITY participants travel to Jamaica once a year and participate in the Earth Family Gathering. Each year an intergenerational group assembles intending to build bridges of “overstanding” and to “indigenize education.” Since its founding, ITY has quadrupled the number of programs it offers, and now offers experiences in Southern and Northern California, Hawaii, Panama, Jamaica and Mexico. DOPE Magazine caught up with Chavez to discuss the important work the organization is doing. [This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.]]

Billy "Mystic" Wilmot of Mystic Revealers plays at Inna de Yard space - home of legendary Reggae musician Earl "Chinna" smith in Kingston, Jamaica in 2018. Far right is Sleepy Eye Lafromboise (medicine man and native youth counselor from Oklahoma).

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

At the groundbreaking of the Rastafarian Community Cultural Center in Kingston, Jamaica. Ras Kremlin from the House of the Dreaded Nyabinghi in Spanish Town (left), Priest Kelly from the Judah Coptic Church (center) and Bunny Wailer Livingston (right) bless the new cultural center on the waterfront. DOPE Magazine: The organization has many names. Young Native Scholars. InterTribal Youth. Native Like Water. Can you tell me a bit about each name and in what contexts you use which? Marc Chavez: We started as Young Native Scholars, and our goal was to try and get indigenous youth into higher education. But unfortunately, because academic achievement among indigenous youth is so low in schools, that meant we were serving a tiny fraction of the community and further complicating the relationship between indigenous communities and higher education [which has a history] of stripping indigenous youth of their identities. So, we changed the name to be more inclusive. We settled upon InterTribal Youth, and in 2015 we started using the name Native Like Water to include adults, elders and to further investigate our collective relationship to water. It sounds like there is a tension between your organization’s desire to see indigenous youth succeed, and an equally understandable concern about the effects of university education on an indigenous youth’s relationship to his or her identity. How do you navigate this?

No matter what subject a university student chooses to study, there is a lack of the precolonial contribution to the discipline. We’re talking about prestigious educational institutions that are only a few hundred years old at most, and ignoring a land and knowledge that’s been inhabited by the original people for over 20,000 years. Our organization is focused not only on getting kids into college; we are focused on how we engage the community and universities on “indigenizing education.” How do you put the idea of “indigenizing education” into practice? One example is when we went out on a tall ship, like 40 of us, and we even had an astrophysicist join us. But because his specialty is not wayfinding using the stars seen as the Native Hawaiians do, he was equally there as a student as he was a professor. He joined us in learning and bridging our indigenous knowledge. So, what we’re doing is building bridges of “overstanding.”

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How do your concerns with Western cultural hegemony relate to cannabis education, culture and the industry?

As the popularity of recreational and medicinal use of cannabis continues to grow on and off the reservation, I felt the community needed a more comprehensive background of its cultural use. Upon an invitation by elders, Native Like Water formed an intergenerational delegation and set out to visit “Yamaye” aka Xamayca or Jamaica. On our Jamaican trip, a group of noble elders and cultural leaders voiced their concern that the “train with our cultural capital is leaving the station, and without the cultural bearers.” Globally, Anglo-EuropeanAmericans own the majority of [cannabis] production and retail companies. Folks are positioning around a plant for its medicinal and economic benefits, claiming the cannabis culture but ignoring cultural competency. As cannabis makes frontline news, we must ask who will play a leading role in addressing indigenous culture, wisdom and sacredness of the plant? Those who consume and grow it may require, or may seek, the cultural knowledge behind its use and production. Jamaica has great fame for its use. Ganja, Reggae and “Rasta culture” are extremely popular and cross all age groups, world-wide. As an educator that works directly with youth, one can make some clear observations. We know that often up to 50 percent of some high school youth are

participating in the use of cannabis. It’s a topic in music and even pop culture. Yet, who is talking about it in the classroom with a holistic educational approach? Everybody is talking about it, but at the same time no one is talking about it within formal education and even less in its cultural context. The word “medicine” gets thrown around a lot these days, as does the word “ceremony.” Often used, many times cliché. A truth within indigenous medicine is that it must exist with prayer and ceremony. From Ayurvedic medicine to the bushes of the Americas and Africa, plant medicine requires a deep meditation to fully activate its healing potential. First, with the plant prior to its use in cultivation and harvest. Second, with the patient or recipient and plant during use or consumption. Thirdly, afterward, while the medicine is doing its work. All the while in gratitude to the creator, mother earth’s gifts and an inner communion. There is more to Ganja then economics and social recreation. There is a fortitude and indigenous “levity,” a feminine nature of leadership, that is at its true core being. However, the latter is so often missing in the equation, in the education around the plant. At a recent cannabis expo in Northern California, it was revealed that over 50 percent of the medical cannabis sold at dispensaries and on display is non-organic and contains traces of artificial pesticides or synthetics ... We must know that there is an increased level of efficiency, healing and potency which comes with education. With cultural integrity and a sacred perspective, I hope we all can optimize our journey.

DEFENDING OUR PLANT EVERYWHERE

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GLASS

WRITER & PHOTO | WIND HOME

THE “SELF-LOVE” SET EVERYONE’S TAKEN A SELFIE LIKE THIS AT LEAST ONCE …

nspired by the way we act because of social media, glass artist Nathan Belmont created this appropriatelytitled set, “Self Love.” The rig itself stands approximately nine inches tall and has a 10mm joint. Though the set is a one of a kind, Belmont plans to do more humanoid pieces in the future. He’s particularly proud of the female figure sculpting; he mentioned this was his first time working with all hollow glass. Belmont began blowing glass in 2005 while living in Hawaii, where he was lucky enough to receive an apprenticeship and stubborn enough to stick with it. It can be difficult to convey a message using functional glass, but Belmont did an amazing job of doing just that with this set, proving his 12 years’ experience in the process. This piece is currently not for sale. Belmont’s current works are viewable on his Instagram.

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