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SUMMER(OTCQ 2018 FREEDOM A D IVI SI ON OF F R E ED OM LE AFIN C.COM B: FR LF)LEAF 5
CONTENTS
12
FEATURES 30
20
MIDTERMS MADNESS Ten races where pro-pot candidates can knock off drug warriors.
MICHIGAN & MARIJUANA BILL WEINBERG The Wolverine State is poised to become the 10th to legalize it.
22
SENATE SHOWDOWN Twelve critical races that could flip the Senate from Republican to Democratic control.
34
KEEPING THE FAITH IN UTAH ERIN HIATT Despite a history that includes settlers in Mexico who used marijuana, the Mormon Church is opposing efforts to legalize medical cannabis.
24
FREEDOM LEAF INTERVIEW: TICK SEGERBLOM ALLEN ST. PIERRE The Nevada state senator and Freedom Leaf board member is running for a seat on the Clark County Commission. 6
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40
THE HISTORY OF MARIJUANA BALLOT INITIATIVES From 1972 to 2018—45 initiatives, 27 wins, 17 losses.
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CONTENTS
42 42
CANADA’S LEGALIZATION CHALLENGE STEVE BLOOM On October 17, regulated cannabis sales are slated to begin in the Great White North. But some industry veterans question whether Canada is doing it the right way.
52
CANADIAN CANNABIS STOCKS RISE UP STEVE GELSI Companies like Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis and Tilray Inc. are energizing stock exchanges in the US and Canada.
76
COLUMNS
10
EDITOR’S NOTE I STEVE BLOOM
12
NORML I CATHERINE NACIER
14
SSDP I BETTY ALDWORTH
16
WOMEN GROW I AMY BERLINER
60
CANNABIS PROHIBITION IN CANADA BILL WEINBERG In 1923, Canada banned marijuana. In 1970, a national commission called for decriminalization. Nearly another 50 years later, legalization is finally happening.
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JUST DESSERTS CHERI SICARD A coast-to-coast roundup of medicated Canadian sweet treats. 8
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18
OAKSTERDAM U. I DR. ASEEM SAPPAL
72
REVIEW: FARE THEE WELL I STEVE BLOOM
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REVIEWS: ZIGGY MARLEY & SLIGHTLY STOOPID I ROY TRAKIN
80
EVENTS CALENDAR
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EDITOR'S NOTE
VOTING MATTERS!! THOUGH THE TRUMP Administration has This issue of Freedom Leaf covers the midbeen fairly hands off with marijuana legalizaterms, from Congress to statehouses to voter tion thus far and Republican support for the intitiatives in Michigan and Utah (three more cause is rising, Democrats are still our best bet in Missouri and one in North Dakota are for cannabis law reform. That’s why the midalso on the ballot). Our resident Utah native term election in November is so important. Erin Hiatt digs deeply into her state’s mariRepublican committee chairs like Texas juana history, which includes the Mormon Rep. Peter Sessions have consistently blocked Church’s 19th-century migration to Mexmarijuana legislation. Bills don’t hit the floor ico where they discovered cannabis, for if he and others stand in the way. That’s why her article, “Keeping the Faith in Utah,” on there’s such a logjam page 34. of canna-bills like Another history ones sponsored by lesson can be found Senators Cory Booker on page 60, as Bill and Chuck Schumer Weinberg chronicles and Reps. Earl Blu“Cannabis Prohimenauer, Barbara bition in Canada,” Lee and Jared Polis. which surprisingly It’s a good time preceded US prohito be a progressive. bition by 14 years. A Following Sen. Berlarge chunk of Issue nie Sanders’ Dem33 is devoted to ocrat Socialist lead, Canada, the first G7 28-year-old New country to legalize York newcomer marijuana. After Alexandria OcasioParliament passed Cortez defeated the groundbreaking 10-term incumbent Cannabis Act in June, Rep. Joseph CrowPrime Minister Justin ley in the primary. Trudeau, who we Also in New York, featured on the cover TV star Cynthia Nixof Issue 12 in 2016, on is challenging in- Steve Bloom with Cynthia Nixon at the announced that legal cumbent Gov. Andrew NYC Cannabis Parade & Rally in May. sales would begin OctoCuomo. “We don’t ber 17, which happens to need to just elect more Democrats, we need be my birthday. to elect better Democrats,” she told an eager While some north-of-the-border activists crowd at the NYC Cannabis Parade & Rally are not thrilled with the new federal and in May. provincial regulations they now face (see Nixon hasn’t much of a chance against my article on page 42), the fact is, nations Cuomo’s well-financed reelection machine, are starting to, one by one, ignore the 1961 but she has succeeded in pushing the modSingle Convention on Narcotics Drugs and erate governor to the left on a number of move ahead with sensible cannabis policies. issues, including cannabis. On July 13, the First Uruguay, now Canada. Who’s next? state Board of Health issued a report that recommended taxing and regulating marijuana in the Empire State, which until now Steve Bloom has lagged behind other Northeast states, Editor-in-Chief like neighbors Massachusetts and Vermont.
Steve Blo m
10 FREEDOM LEAF
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FOUNDERS Richard C. Cowan & Clifford J. Perry
PUBLISHER & CEO Clifford J. Perry
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Steve Bloom
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Robert Groberg
ART DIRECTOR Joe Gurreri
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Ray Medeiros
COPY EDITOR Janice Rhayem
VP OF ADVOCACY & COMMUNICATIONS Allen St. Pierre
DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MARKETING Chris Thompson
MANAGING DIRECTOR Rodrigo Chavez
CONTRIBUTORS: Betty Aldworth, Ngaio Bealum, Amy Berliner, Matt Emrich, Steve Gelsi, Erin Hiatt, Mitch Mandell, Doug McVay, Catherine Nacier, Amanda Reiman, Dr. Aseem Sappal, Cheri Sicard, Roy Trakin, Bill Weinberg Copyright © 2018 by Freedom Leaf Inc. All rights reserved. Freedom Leaf Inc. assumes no liability for any claims or representations contained in this magazine. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without permission is prohibited.
SUMMER 2018
FREEDOM LEAF 11
NORML
MILLENNIALS & MARIJUANA We need to make our voices heard. That starts at the ballot box. BY CATHERINE NACIER
I’M A 20-year-old woman of color who works in the marijuana industry. Imagine my dismay when I found out I couldn’t even apply for most jobs in the industry because I’m not 21 or older. Fortunately, that’s not the case with NORML. If you want to enter the industry, take the time before your 21st birthday to learn about the War on Drugs’ detrimental effects and the fight to end prohibition and to build a legal marketplace. Your future job or company can only exist if there’s policy reform. While working on the advocacy side, expect to meet innovators and history makers who are passionate about marijuana. You’ll walk away with a better idea of where you fit into the industry. ADVOCACY HAS NO AGE LIMIT Organizations like the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) are run by dedicated people who spend every day trying to build a better world for marijuana users. Give some of your time or money to help the cause. Or send in a job application and really put in the work. GET YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO BUDGE Find out who represents you on the state, local and federal levels and make your voice heard. Lobby your legislators in 12 FREEDOM LEAF
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person with letters and emails or over the phone. And while you’re at it, why not lobby them to let people under the age of 21 work in the industry? HAVE THOSE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS Chances are, when you say that you work or want to work in the marijuana industry, people will have questions. Or someone who thinks marijuana is a gateway drug calls you a menace to society who’s harming the children. These are the moments when you have to speak up and try to change peoples’ minds. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE According to the PEW Research Center, in the 2016 presidential election only 46% of the 69.7 million millennials voted compared to the 69% of the 72 million baby boomers. Elected officials on the state and local levels have tremendous influence on prohibition. So work to vote the anti-marijuana judges, politicians and sheriffs out of office. How much better would marijuana laws be today if millennials and Gen-Zers used the full power of our votes? The 2018 midterm elections are right around the corner on November 6. Voting matters. For info on registering to vote, upcoming elections and out-of-state voting, go to Vote. org, Ballotpedia, Rock the Vote, and Vote. gov. You can also register at norml.org/act.
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SSDP
GOIN’ GLOBAL
SSDP supports students in more than 30 countries. BY BETTY ALDWORTH IN 2014, THE STUDENTS for Sensible Drug Policy international chapter network consisted of Ireland, Mexico and Nigeria. Four years later, we’re in 30 countries on every habitable continent. During that time, we’ve taken action on regional issues, such as the Ayotzinapa student massacre and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, co-hosted youth drug policy activists in Bangkok and organized dozens of workshops in West Africa, as well as four annual conferences in Ireland, the most recent of which in April included an announcement from the Green Party of Ireland that they would back cannabis legalization. Juana Boateng founded the first SSDP chapter in Ghana—a country where defendants facing drug charges are stripped of due process. “We started advocating for the rights of people who use drugs by taking to the streets and talking to people about our cause,” Juana explains. “It’s been a tough road for us as we had minimal funds to accomplish this work. But the love, support and encouragement I received from amazing, intelligent SSDPers gave me a sense of belonging. I feel confident, bold and privileged because I know I belong to a family, a team of change makers and a group not scared to fight for what’s right.” Estudiantes por una Política Sensata de 14 FREEDOM LEAF
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Drogas México was founded in 2010 and has since grown to support students in 14 states. “The current prohibitionist drug policies in México only focus on security instead of health,” says Marisa Morales. “It’s been gratifying to be able to influence drug policy in México, especially because we’re the only youth organization working on this issue. Currently, we’re advocating for cannabis regulation. México took a promising first step last year by approving the use of medical cannabis. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re moving forward.” Most international chapters operate without any support from academic institutions, often having to pay fees just to print flyers for meetings or reserve a space on campus for an event. Heavy stigmatization surrounding drug policy also means that many international members find themselves at personal risk just for being involved in SSDP. It’s absolutely remarkable what our international chapters have achieved over the last few years, and our International Activities Fund, launched in July, will give them the resources to accomplish so much more. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to kickstart the fund. Learn more about the program at ssdp.org/iaf. Betty Aldworth is SSDP’s executive director.
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WOMEN GROW
PASSION PLEA
A cancer sufferer discovers the miraculous benefits of cannabis. BY AMY BERLINER AS A STAUNCH critic of medical cannabis my whole life, it all came tumbling down when I was diagnosed with skin cancer. That cannabis could help me challenged everything I’d known and believed. Shortly after my diagnosis, someone suggested I try medical cannabis, countering my "Just Say No” attitude; to me, it was just a recreational drug, and certainly not medicinal. But the revelation of my skin cancer forced me to consider alternative treatment options. As I dove into the research, it made me revisit my hardline views. How could I refuse medical benefit when videos and scientific research supported all I thought was untrue? I realized I’d been closed off to the idea that the plant could have any therapeutic benefits because all I’d seen was the purely cultural mentality, and very little of the scientific facts. In my quest to learn more, I decided I’d follow the research and integrate it into my healthcare plan. In a short time, cannabis addressed my cancer symptoms as well as pain from a previous spinal cord injury when I broke my neck horseback riding. (The neuropathy I’d come to believe would forever be a challenge for me subsided.) My appetite returned, and I was able to increase my sleep in restorative ways. 16 FREEDOM LEAF
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After coming out on the other side of my cancer, I knew this life challenge was meant for me to advance integrative healthcare solutions based on my own experience and missed opportunities, replacing opinion with science and research to steer forward. Today, as founder and CEO of Aegis Biomedical Biotech, out of my own frustrations, I’ve built innovation based on a passion and commitment to improve cannabis education, research and technology. Educating myself in the science of medical and clinical cannabis has enabled me to pave unpaved roads for both alternative and traditional therapies that benefit those who suffer most. Passion is my powerful commitment. Channeled right, we all have the ability inside us to make the difference we wish to see in the Amy Berliner world based on turning our passion into purpose. I’m thankful for the opportunity to discover a passion that was dormant, cultivating in me a desire to see others become educated and aware just as I did with the science, and not just the culture of, cannabis. Amy Berliner is Women Grow Los Angeles’ Market Leader.
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OAKSTERDAM UNIVERSITY
Sen. Booker
Sen. Schumer
CONTINENTAL CANNABIS With legalization in Canada and impending legislation and upcoming midterms in the US, drug-reform policy hangs in the balance.
BY DR. ASEEM SAPPAL NOW THAT CANADA is the second country in the world and the first G7 nation to legalize adult-use cannabis, people are anxious to see how they’ll implement the new law. Whatever they do once sales begin on October 17 is bound to influence laws in the United States. A record 41 pro-cannabis bills have been introduced in Congress since January 2017, and more are likely to be proposed before the end of the Congressional session on January 3. To give some perspective, nearly that many pro-cannabis bills were introduced in Congress between 1999 and 2015. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Marijuana Justice Act. It would legalize cannabis at the federal level, expunge all federal cannabis-related offenses from criminal records, grant convicts currently imprisoned for those offenses the right to petition for resentencing and cut federal prison and law enforcement funding from states that haven’t legalized it. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has sponsored the same bill in the House. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act. It would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level and effectively allow states to decide how to regulate it. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). 18 FREEDOM LEAF
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While it's encouraging to see all of these bills on Capitol Hill, there are still plenty of hurdles to overcome. Attorney General Jeff Sessions strongly opposes cannabis and anti-drug congressional committee chairs like Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) have successfully prevented such legislation from being voted on by either chamber. But elected officials are finally responding to the views of their constituents when it comes to cannabis. Sen. Cory Gardner (RCO) recently refused to vote on Justice Department nominees in a standoff with Attorney General Sessions—a move that ended with President Trump promising to support states’ rights for cannabis. Hundreds of federal, state and local elections are taking place on November 6 (see “Midterms Madness” on page 20). Pro-cannabis candidates have much to promise constituents: more jobs, increased tax revenue, lower crime, reduction in opioid addictions and fewer people in the overcrowded prison system. The best strategy is to campaign and vote for pro-cannabis candidates. For example, in the 2017 gubernatorial race in New Jersey, (now) Governor Phil Murphy backed legalizing cannabis and easily beat his Republican opponent. Dr. Aseem Sappal is Provost and Dean of Faculty at Oaksterdam University.
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midterms MADNESS In addition to several marijuana initiatives on the ballot in November, a number of races could result in pro-pot candidates knocking off drug warriors. Here are 10 races to watch. Rep. O'Rourke (D) vs. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) O'Rourke is challenging incumbent right-winger Cruz. O’Rourke, who’s supported the legalization cause ever since he was on El Paso’s City Council, has O'Rourke repeatedly called for the end of “the U.S. government’s War on Drugs” and “the federal prohibition of marijuana.” An O’Rourke victory would help swing the Senate back to Democratic control. The congressman even has the support of Willie Nelson, who he performed with on stage at the singer’s Fourth of July Picnic in Austin.
Rep. Jared Polis (D) vs. Walker Stapleton (R) In the Colorado gubernatorial race, four-term congressman Polis is hoping to succeed Gov. John Hickenlooper (D). Polis, who’s a longtime marijuana supporter Polis and is also gay, won the primary with 45% of the vote against three opponents. “I’m proud to be the only candidate in this race that publicly supported the ballot measure to legalize marijuana (Amendment 64), and I have fought hard to declassify marijuana as a 20 FREEDOM LEAF
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Schedule I drug in Congress,” he states at his campaign’s website. As governor, he’d be much more favorable to cannabis than the reluctant Hickenlooper.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vs. John Cox (R) In the California gubernatorial race, it’s likely that Newsom will succeed Gov. Jerry Brown (D). Newsom was a major backer of Proposition 64, which legalized cannabis in the Newsom Golden State in 2016. “We believe the war on marijuana is a failure,” he states at his campaign website.
J.B. Pritzker (D) vs. Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) Pritzker has never held office, but he has plenty of money to bankroll his Illinois gubernatorial race against the Republican incumbent. (Pritzker’s family owns the Hyatt Pritzker hotel chain.) He won the primary with 45% of the vote against five opponents. “The path forward for Illinois is clear,” Pritzker states at his campaign website. “We need to legalize marijuana.” Gov. Rauner vetoed a decriminalization bill in 2015 before signing a watered-down version the following year.
Ben Jealous (D) vs. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) In the Maryland gubernatorial race, former NAACP executive director Jealous is also attempting to unseat a Republican incumbent. He won the primary with 41% of the vote against Jealous seven opponents. At his campaign website, Jealous calls for “legalizing marijuana for adult use and working to strengthen diversity requirements for licenses in the marijuana industry.”
Gov. Tom Wolf (D) vs. Scott Wagner (R) In the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race, Democratic incumbent Gov. Wolf seeks to hold the office. During his first term, he signed legislation that legalized the use and sale of medical marijuana.
Wolf
Andrew Gillum (D) for Governor of Florida The mayor of Florida’s capitol city, Tallahassee, wants to run the state. Gillum, who’s African American, must win the primary on August 28 in order to face the Gillum Republican candidate who’s hoping to replace Gov. Rick Scott (R). He states at his campaign website that he “supports the legalization of marijuana in order to generate new revenue to pay for teacher and instructional staff pay increases and to reduce the mass incarceration of people with low-level drug offenses.”
Liz Watson (D) vs. Trey Hollingsworth (R) In Indiana's 9th District, Watson is challenging the Republican incumbent, Rep. Hollingsworth, who was elected in 2016. She won the primary with two-thirds of the vote. “I’m a strong supporter of removing marijuana from Watson the Controlled Substances Act,” she writes at her campaign website. “This step is important to stemming the tide of over-incarceration, especially of people of color.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) vs. Anthony Pappas (R) Newcomer Ocasio-Cortez surprised 10-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley (D) in the primary with 58% of the vote in New York’s 14th District. She’ll most likely defeat her ReOcasio-Cortez publican opponent in the heavily Democrat district. In addition to supporting “federal legalization of marijuana,” she wants to close “for-profit prisons and detention centers,” end cash bail and release “individuals incarcerated for nonviolent offenses.”
David Trone (D) vs. Amie Hoeber (R) In Maryland’s 6th CD, Trone, a businessman, is attempting to succeed fellow Democrat and three-term congressman John Delaney. Trone won the primary with 41% of Trone the vote against seven opponents. Though he doesn’t mention marijuana at his campaign website, Trone refers to the “failed War on Drugs” and calls for the repeal of “mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses.” SUMMER 2018
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SENATE
SHOWDOWN
With the Republicans’ 51-49 edge in the SENATE, THE DEMOCRATS NEED TO GAIN AT least two seats on November 6. Here are 12 critical races. Montana: Sen. Jon Tester (D) DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS vs. Matt Rosendale (R) Florida: Sen. Bill Nelson (D) Two-term Senator vs. Gov. Rick Scott (R) Tester is up against Though the primary is on August 28, three-term Senator Nelson will likely face current Florida Governor Scott in the general election. Polls show this potential race Nelson as a toss-up.
Indiana: Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) vs. Mike Braun (R) One-term Senator Donnelly is facing a challenge from former State Representative Braun, who won the Republican primary on May 8 with just 41% of the vote. Donnelly was unopposed. The race Donnelly is considered a toss-up.
Missouri: Claire McCaskill (D) vs. Josh Hawley (R) In another toss-up race, two-term Senator McCaskill and State Attorney General Hawley are vying for the Missouri seat. As of April, McCaskill had $16 million in her war chest. 22 FREEDOM LEAF
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State Auditor Rosendale, who won the Republican primary on July 16 with just 34% of the vote. Tester was unopposed. As of mid-May, Tester Tester had nearly ten times the donations ($10 million) as Rosendale. President Trump attacked Tester after he released documents that revealed professional misconduct by White House doctor Ronny Jackson, who Trump had nominated to head the Department of Veterans Affairs; Jackson subsequently withdrew his name. Despite Trump’s protestations, Tester is expected to hold his seat.
North Dakota: Heidi Heitkamp (D) vs. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) One-term Senator Heitkamp and Congressman Cramer are in a very close race, with some believing the seat could flip in the red state. Heitkamp’s donations ($8 million as of May) were triHeitkamp ple that of Cramer’s. With cannabis legalization also possibly on the ballot, Heitkamp should appeal to the state’s marijuana supporters.
Ohio: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) vs. Rep. Jim Renacci (R) Two-term Senator Brown is competing against Congressman Renacci, who won the Republican primary on May 9 with 48% of the vote. Brown was unopposed. All Brown polls indicate that Brown is expected to hold his seat.
West Virginia: Sen. Joe Manchin (D) vs. Patrick Morrisey (R) Two-term Senator Manchin is attempting to stave off State Attorney Morrisey, who won the Republican primary on May 8 with just 35% of the vote. Manchin Manchin took the Democratic primary with 70%. The moderate Democrat—he voted for Neil Gorsuch to become a Supreme Court Justice—is considered vulnerable in a red state.
Wisconsin: Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) vs. Republican opponent One-term Senator Baldwin ran unopposed in the August 14 Democratic primary. She’ll most likely face State Senator Leah Vukmir (R). Baldwin Baldwin, who’s been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), is expected to hold her seat. *Two other Senate races in Michigan and Pennsylvania appear to be solidly in the Democrats’ favor, with two-term MI Sen. Debbie Stabenow and two-term PA Sen. Bob Casey Jr. both expected to win.
REPUBLICAN TO DEMOCRAT Arizona: Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) vs. Republican opponent Since the Arizona primary isn’t until August 28, it’s unclear who’ll be challenging Sinema. She’s aiming to win the seat currently occupied by Jeff Sinema Flake (R). Sinema, who’s bisexual, is a three-term Congresswoman and a former Arizona state representative.
Nevada: Rep. Jacky Rosen (D) vs. Sen. Dean Heller (R) Both candidates won by significant margins in the June 12 primary. One-term Congresswoman Rosen is challenging Heller, who’s Rosen the incumbent. This is viewed as a seat the Democrats can pick up. As of mid-July, Rosen’s campaign had raised $3 million more than Heller’s.
Tennessee: Phil Bredesen (D) vs. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) Former Governor Bredesen and eight-term Congresswoman Blackburn are locked in a tight battle to win Sen. Bob Corker’s seat. As of mid-July, Blackburn had a slight lead in camBredesen paign contributions.
Texas: Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) vs. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) As noted on page 20, three-term Congressman O’Rourke is trying to upset one-term Senator Cruz. Both won their primaries by significant margins. Cruz has major national recognition due to his failed presidential bid in 2016. At nearly $25 million each in contributions, this promises to be one of the most expensive Senate races of 2018. SUMMER 2018
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FREEDOM LEAF INTERVIEW
TICK SEGERBLOM BY ALLEN ST. PIERRE
Nevada State Senator Richard “Tick” Segerblom descends from a long line of legislators. In November, he’s running for a spot on the Clark County Commission. Segerblom, who’s also an attorney, was instrumental in getting marijuana legalized in the Silver State and continues to monitor developments. He’s also a member of Freedom Leaf ’s board of directors. Was it inevitable that you would go into politics? I’m a fourth-generation Nevada legislator. My great-grandfather was a state senator from Winnemucca, my grandmother was an assemblywoman from Winnemucca and my mother was an assemblywoman from Boulder City, so I’d say it was inevitable that I would try to serve to keep the streak going. Seriously, I had a keen interest from early on because I saw how government could have a very positive role in a community and be a force for good. I got my first chance working for Jimmy Carter’s administration and never looked back. You’ve been a member of the Nevada legislature since 2007. What have been your greatest accomplishments? There are many bills I’m proud to have signed onto, including increased education funding and greater worker protections. I’m especially proud of working with other legislators to create the state’s first workable medical marijuana framework in 2013 and then working to improve that system in 2015 and 2017. We’ve come a very long way since voters first put the right to medical marijuana in the state’s constitution in 2000.
You supported Question 2, which Nevada voters approved in 2016. How is marijuana legalization in Nevada working so far? It’s a work in progress, but it is working very well. The industry now employs thousands of Nevadans, provides millions in tax revenue and the businesses themselves have been models for other states to look at as they explore legalization. The products are safe and well tested. We still have a long way to go in criminal justice for people who were convicted of marijuana offenses for what is now, and should have always been, legal. What are the reasons why Nevada was able to implement legalization relatively quickly compared to other states like Washington, California and Massachusetts? We modeled our medical marijuana program on the recreational program in Colorado, so when the voters approved Question 2 we only had to flip a switch to convert medical to recreational. We also have a very dedicated industry and a talented group of civil servants who labored hard to create a rigorous but workable system that got off the ground quickly. There are a lot of rules, but the rules have helped ensure we have a good system and a working market. SUMMER 2018
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Segerblom (right) on the Nevada Senate floor
How soon do you envision “public use” of cannabis in adult-oriented businesses like bars, clubs, casinos, etc. in Nevada and specifically Clark County will happen? By this time next year, we’ll have pot lounges with alcohol and/or food. We’ll also have cannabis health spas where you can do yoga and Pilates and have massages, and hopefully not long after that have cannabis events and festivals. Las Vegas is working on legislation for that now. I’m seeking election to the county commission and want to make this a priority at the county level as well. This is one of the next big steps for the industry. However, there won’t be marijuana in casinos anytime soon. What’s your advice for fellow lawmakers who want to end cannabis prohibition in their states? Work together. This is not a partisan issue. It can be approached from many angles—business, criminal justice, healthcare—but the common thread is to work seriously toward a good law that will create a solid industry and market. The voting public is there on marijuana. The key is to convince the politicians that all hell won’t break loose if they legalize it the right way. 26 FREEDOM LEAF
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You’re currently running for the Clark County Commission. Your campaign website has a section about marijuana that recommends establishing a “marijuana bank” in Clark County? How would that work? The banking issue is very important because marijuana is not yet decriminalized at the federal level. The problem we’re trying to solve is to provide marijuana establishments a safe way to make deposits. Since it’s a cash-only industry, there are security concerns. A county-run bank would take deposits and help stabilize the industry. I’d look to partners to help iron out the details, but that’s the idea. You also call for “justice for the victims of the failed War on Drugs.” Has Nevada expunged arrest records for marijuana offenses yet? No. This was vetoed at the state level last year. But we can always try again. Meanwhile, I’ve encouraged the district attorney to work with residents to help seal records. It’s not the optimal way to do it, but it’s the only thing we can right now. Why leave the Senate to work on the commission? They’re very different. At the county level, you’re working directly with ev-
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"BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, WE’LL HAVE POT LOUNGES WITH ALCOHOL AND/ OR FOOD IN NEVADA. HOWEVER, THERE WON’T BE MARIJUANA IN CASINOS ANYTIME SOON." erything from major developments and infrastructure projects to ensuring potholes are filled on residential streets. It’s much more hands-on than the state level, where legislators are crafting laws and policies but often aren’t directly involved in implementing them. I’m looking forward to putting some of the ideas I promoted in Carson City into practice in Clark County. How close are we to federal cannabis legalization? That won’t happen until after the 2020 election, but if Democrats take over Congress this year, anything is possible. Do you think President Trump would sign a bill that removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, effectively legalizing it? He would be crazy not to. His base—old, blue-collar white men—love marijuana. Will Trump win reelection in 2020? No!! What do the Democrats have to do to prevent Trump from winning a second term? Win this November and then keep fighting like hell until he’s either impeached or defeated. We can’t take anything for granted. 28 FREEDOM LEAF
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Who would be the Democrats’ best opponent to challenge Trump? I supported Bernie Sanders in the last election because he was willing to speak truth to power. Now, all the prospective Democratic candidates have adopted his platform. Let’s have a spirited primary election and may the best woman win. You joined Freedom Leaf’s board of directors in May. What’s your vision for the company? Freedom Leaf is special because everyone involved has been in the marijuana movement from day one, and they and the company have evolved as the movement has evolved. In addition to its huge media presence, Freedom Leaf has perfectly positioned itself to take advantage of the next wave, which is hemp. Wherever the cannabis industry goes, Freedom Leaf is already there waiting to be discovered. Would you like to be governor of Nevada one day? I’m almost 70, so realistically County Commission will be my last elected position. By the time I retire, I anticipate that marijuana will be just like alcohol and fully accepted by society. Allen St. Pierre is the former executive director of NORML and Freedom Leaf’s VP of Advocacy and Communications.
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HI G A N C I M &
marijuana
The Wolverine State is poised to become the 10th to legalize it.
c
annabis legalization is on the November 6th ballot in Michigan. If the initiative passes, residents over 21 will be allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of flower and 15 grams of concentrate. It would also permit adults to grow up to 12 plants. Michigan would be the 10th state to legalize marijuana and the first in the Midwest. Currently, possession of any amount is a misdemeanor, with maximum penalties of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Ann Arbor, home of the annual Hash Bash, has long charged just $25 for a first offense. Another 19 cities, including Detroit and Kalamazoo, have passed decriminalization or depenalization laws since 2012. The Michigan Marijuana Legalization Initiative is the fruit of an effort by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA), which turned in enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot. They needed 252,000 signatures and
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submitted 360,000. In April, the initiative was approved by the State Board of Canvassers. CRMLA raised $1.6 million as of midJuly with the Marijuana Policy Project, donating nearly 40% of that total ($618,000). Smoker’s Outlet Management and MI Legalize 2018 kicked in $250,000 and $170,000, respectively. However, there is opposition. Smart Approaches Against Marijuana (SAM) is the biggest contributor ($150,000) to Healthy and Productive Michigan, one of the groups leading the fight against the initiative. The other is Committee to Keep Pot Out of Neighborhoods and Schools. Under Michigan law, the state legislature had the chance to first act on the measure. Republicans in the state senate wanted to make it more restrictive, but the lower house overwhelmingly failed to pass the legislation on June 5, so it never reached the Senate. Instead, it will be decided by the voters.
BY BILL WEINBERG
SUMMER 2018
Bloom Cannabis Club in Ann Arbor, MI
CRMLA spokesperson Josh Hovey stated: “While we would’ve been happy to see our initiative passed by the legislature as written, we’re confident Michigan voters understand that marijuana prohibition has been an absolute disaster and that they will agree that taxing and regulating marijuana is a far better solution.” The Michigan State Police Marijuana and Tobacco Enforcement Division is preparing for legalization in the event that the initiative passes. The division currently oversees the state medical marijuana program in conjunction with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Voters approved the Michigan Medical Marijuana Initiative, or Proposal 1, in 2008. But the state Supreme Court struck down the dispensary system initially established under the law in 2013. The court held that under proper interpretation of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Initiative, retail distribution of cannabis was actually not permitted. The Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, passed in 2016, gave the program a fresh start, clearing up the ambiguity in the 2008 law. The first licenses for medical marijuana businesses were finally awarded on July 12, a decade after the program was established. Michigan’s patients had, until now, been forced to purchase from dispensaries operating in what was called a legal “gray zone” that’s only now being eliminated. In June, Det. Sgt. Eric Bannon of the
Marijuana and Tobacco Enforcement Division commented: “Right now, we do background investigations on medical marijuana facilities and applicants. Once people become licensed under the Act, then we’ll assist them with enforcement action if needed and facilities inspections to make sure they meet the requirements of the laws. We recently had a meeting and talked about it, but right now we’re concentrating on the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act that’s already in place. I’m sure we’re going to have a bunch of meetings to come up with a plan of how we’re going to regulate and how we’re going to move forward.” The notion that an “enforcement action” is a form of “assistance” is not comforting for those getting into the industry—especially after the medical program’s long, slow and shaky start. LARA will have one year if the initiative passes to come up with a regulatory scheme for the recreational market. Getting the Marijuana Legalization Initiative on the ballot was a favorite theme at this year’s Hash Bash—the venerable Ann Arbor smoke-in and cannabis festival held every April since 1972. One of the featured speakers, Abdul El-Sayed—a progressive Democratic candidate for governor—called for state authorities to expunge the convictions of all cannabis offenders if the ballot proposal is approved. “No one should be left with an arrest record,” he told the crowd, which responded with a cheer. SUMMER 2018
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Democratic candidate for governor Abdul El-Sayed
In June, state Rep. Sheldon Neeley, a Democrat from Flint, introduced a bill in the House that would do exactly that. “We definitely don’t want people to have a criminal record for a nonviolent crime that would be legal if it passes in November,” he explained. Neeley’s bill would void all misdemeanor convictions, such as possession of personal quantities, as well as some for cultivation. Under the bill’s wording, the law taking effect is explicitly tied to passage of the initiative. “Expungement is a separate issue than legalization,” Hovey noted. “Our first draft included expungement, but our attorneys strongly recommended pulling it or risk the whole thing.” From 2013 to 2017, 117,123 Michigan residents were arrested for marijuana; 49,928 were convicted and, as of 2016, 3,670 were still incarcerated or on probation. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Reporting statistics, 5.1 million Americans were charged with cannabis offenses between 2010 and 2016. African Americans were three times more likely to be arrested for pot than whites, despite roughly equal use rates. Michigan is the state to watch in 2018. Passage of the legalization initiative and the expungement bill in a heartland state of 10 million would be a significant step forward for cannabis liberation and racial justice nationwide. 32 FREEDOM LEAF
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michigan by the numbers 20
CITIES THAT HAVE DECRIMINALIZED MARIJUANA
2008
YEAR MEDICAL MARIJUANA WAS LEGALIZED
269,553 REGISTERED CANNABIS PATIENTS
215
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1984
LAST TIME THE TIGERS WON THE WORLD SERIES
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DESPITE A HISTORY THAT INCLUDES SETTLERS IN MEXICO WHO USED MARIJUANA, THE MORMON CHURCH IS OPPOSING EFFORTS TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL CANNABIS. BY ERIN HIATT In 1885, the prophet and president of the Mormon Church, John Taylor, purchased about 100,000 acres of land in Mexico—in Chihuahua and Sonora, to be exact, some 200 miles south of the US border. More than 300 polygamous Mormon families from Utah migrated south to settle the land and to proselytize (even today you see the travel-
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ing twosomes of fresh-faced young men in their white shirts, ties and black name tags) and, many theorize, to preserve the practice of polygamy. At the time, Mormon polygamists were being jailed and having their property seized. The state itself was denied statehood by the federal government to halt the practice. Former presidential candidate
Mitt Romney is descended from the Mexican settlements; his father, George, and grandfather, Marion, were born in Colonia Dublán, Mexico, in 1907. But in 1910, many who had settled in northern Mexico began an exodus back to Utah due to anti-American sentiment fueled by the Mexican Revolution. Some say they returned with a local plant introduced by the natives: cannabis. The Mormon Church, formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), were and still are infamous for their teetotaler ways and as eschewers of vices of all kinds; hence, they didn’t look kindly on the brethren partaking of the plant, viewing it as a violation of Mormon scripture from the “Doctrine JOSEPH and Covenants,” section 89 (D&C 89), commonly referred to as the “Word of Wisdom.” Church founder and prophet Joseph Smith wrote D&C 89 at the strong urging of his wife, Emma, who was tired of
Smith’s friends gathering in their home and spitting tobacco on the floor. But Smith went far beyond forbidding tobacco; D&C 89 also bans the use of wine, coffee, tea and liquor. And it promises that those who follow the doctrine will receive health, protection, knowledge and wisdom from God. So when the settlers returned from Mexico with marijuana in hand, church leadership urged the legislature to officially outlaw cannabis in 1915, making it the country’s first statewide ban. This version of events seems to have first appeared in 1995, when a University of Southern California law professor, Charles Whitebread, floated his theory in a speech to the California Judges Association, “The SMITH History of Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States.” Riddled with historical and cultural inaccuracies, Whitebread said that he “had help from some people in Salt Lake City associated with the Mormon Church and the Mor-
1866
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MORMONS WITH MEXICANS, 1908
mon National Tabernacle in Washington,” which does not exist. At the instruction of Smith’s successor, Brigham Young, 19thcentury Mormons became incredibly self-sufficient, raising their own cotton, flax, silk and, yes, hemp to limit interactions with non-Mormons. In the Journal of Discourses, a pioneer-era magazine written by church leadership in the late-1800s, they advised members, “We must make our own woolen, flax, hemp and cotton good or we must go naked.” Nonetheless, Whitebread drew the line straight from Mexico to Salt Lake City and blamed the cannabis ban on the morals of the church. Mormon historian Ardis E. Parshall challenged Whitebread’s logic in her 2009 article, “The Great Mormon Marijuana Myth,” a comprehensive, if dense, takedown citing LDS conference talks, newspaper editorials and even arrest records, making Whitebread’s explanation much less tidy. 36 FREEDOM LEAF
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“There is no hint whatsoever that Utah’s law—which you now see did not specifically target marijuana or even show particular awareness of marijuana, but merely incorporated the language used by other entities to name marijuana among a whole host of regulated drugs—was spurred by religious concerns,” Parshall wrote. There is some argument that Utah did not pass the first statewide cannabis ban at all, but that California beat them to the punch with their 1913 law. Parshall’s contention that religion had nothing to do with the original 1915 ban, however, does not seem to hold much water today. In November, Utahns will have the opportunity to vote on Prop 2, a.k.a. the Utah Medical Cannabis Act—a ballot initiative that could blow open Utah’s legal cannabis landscape. LDS leadership has taken a position against Prop 2, even going so far as to
commission Salt Lake City law firm Kirton McConkie to conduct a legal analysis of its implications. In May, based on the firm’s findings, the church concluded that “serious adverse consequences could follow if it were adopted,” citing “grave concerns,” like an increase in youth use, a lack of traditional research, taking power out of the hands of pharmacists, a mandate to destroy patient records after 60 days and providing legal cover to doctors that make recommendations. Even though Prop 2 has strong support among Utah voters, it’s had its fair share of challenges. The Utah Patient’s Coalition (UPC), the group spearheading the legalization effort, has faced stiff opposition—and some would argue shady tactics—from Drug Safe Utah, the anti-legalization group that tried to keep medical marijuana off the ballot. Comprised of the Utah Medical Association, the ultra-Conservative Eagle Forum, the Sutherland Institute and the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, they have impressive prohibitionist bona fides. They’re also very closely aligned, oftentimes in consultation with the allmale church leadership. The Mormon church has not been shy about stating their views, especially around matters that intersect with perceived moral issues like drug use. For example, leadership counseled its members in 2008 to vote for California’s Prop 8 initiative that made gay marriage illegal and applied the same tactic with recreational cannabis initiatives in Nevada and California. When given as a directive, members tend to rally behind church guidance.
SALT LAKE TEMPLE, 1870
Mormons are not necessarily opposed to cannabis, per se, but have strong opinions about how and why it should be used. Opinions about Prop 2 seems to boil down to the word “medical.” A Dan Jones & Associates poll from 2016 showed that support even then for medical marijuana hovered around 66%. But when asked about legalizing recreational marijuana, the results were flipped, with 77% opposed. “The challenge in Utah, which may be somewhat unique to our state, is the influence that a single religious denomination can have on a huge swath of the population,” DJ Schanz, UPC’s campaign director, tells Freedom Leaf. “It’s a constant balancing act of winning over supporters in this demographic without being confrontational and abrasive to the organization, even with said religious organization's subtle efforts to derail the ballot initiative.” Currently, Utah has a very restrictive, lawmaker-driven medical marijuana program in place. H.B. 195 allows those diagnosed with terminal illnesses access to medicinal cannabis and Charlee’s Law permits CBD-only treatment for children with intractable epilepsy. Many stakeholders and policymakers in Utah believe marijuana can be a medicine unless it’s smoked, at which point it no longer has medicinal value (Prop 2 does not allow for consumption at a temSUMMER 2018
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“THE CHALLENGE IN UTAH, WHICH MAY BE SOMEWHAT UNIQUE TO OUR STATE, IS THE INFLUENCE THAT A SINGLE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION CAN HAVE ON A HUGE SWATH OF THE POPULATION.” —DJ SCHANZ, DIRECTOR OF UTAH PATIENTS COALITION perature of 750°F or greater). H.B. 195 is also smoke-free. In the view of church leadership and many members, marijuana used in any way outside of a strictly regulated, medicinal application turns it into a habitforming and addictive narcotic. This leaves faithful members and ward leaders feeling torn about medical use, especially since the church has not provided clear guidance. At a 2010 conference in Colorado Springs, priesthood leaders were asked what the official church policy is on medical cannabis. “It’s an issue between the church member, the member’s bishop and the Lord, to be made in consultation with the scriptures and Word of Wisdom,” was the general answer, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. A Mormon bishop who wishes not to be named says he hasn’t had any members ask him for advice about using medical marijuana yet, but is certain it will eventually come up. “The counsel I would give them would have a lot to do with specific circumstances,” he confides. “I hope this is an evolving policy and that [church leaders] are open to further clarification in the future.”
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The church says they want more research, stating: “It’s in the public’s best interest, when new drugs undergo the scrutiny of medical scientists and official approval bodies.” Even Mormon Senator Orrin Hatch is pressing the federal government to lift the delays on cannabis research approvals. But none of this may matter to Utah voters, about half of whom are active Mormons. A recent Salt Lake TribuneHinckley Institute of Politics poll indicates that, despite the church’s vigorous disapproval, support for the initiative remains high, at about 66%, though down from 76% in January. Unless the winds shift, Prop 2 will probably pass, as long as the word “medical” is lit up like a Christmas tree. However, that could all change if the LDS leaders tell the members to vote “no” as they did in California and Nevada. And if Prop 2 does pass, look for church leadership and the legislature to lawyer up. When Utahans wake up on November 7, they'll still be tussling with the church about marijuana. Guaranteed. Erin Hiatt is a Utah native and writer who lives in New York.
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THE HISTORY OF STATE
MARIJUANA BALLOT INITIATIVES
Initiatives will be on the Nov. 6 ballot in the following states: MI and ND (MJ) and UT and MO (MMJ).
LEGEND: MJ Marijuana legalization or decriminalization MMJ Medical marijuana 40 FREEDOM LEAF
YEAR
STATE
NAME
MJ/MMJ
W/L
MARGIN
1972 1986 1996 1997 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 2000 2000 2000 2002 2002 2004 2004 2006 2006 2006 2008 2008 2009 2010 2010 2010 2012 2012 2012 2012 2014 2014 2014 2014 2015 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2018
CA OR CA WA AK AZ NV OR WA MA AK CO NV AZ NV AK MT CO NV SD MA MI MA AZ CA SD CO WA OR AR OR AK DC FL OH CA NV MA ME FL AR MT ND AZ OK
Prop 19 Measure 5 Prop 215 Initiative 685 Measure 8 Prop 300 Question 9 Measure 7 Initiative 692 Question 2 Measure 5 Initiative 20 Question 9 Prop 203 Question 9 Measure 2 Measure I-148 Initiative 44 Question 7 Measure 4 Question 2 Prop 1 Question 5 Prop 3 Prop 19 Measure 13 Amendment 64 Initiative 502 Measure 80 Issue 5 Measure 91 Measure 2 Initiative 71 Amendment 2 Issue 3 Prop 64 Question 2 Question 4 Question 1 Amendment 2 Issue 6 Initiative I-182 Measure 5 Prop 2015 Question 788
MJ MJ MMJ MJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MMJ MJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MJ MMJ MJ MJ MJ MMJ MJ MJ MJ MMJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MMJ MMJ
L L W L W L W W W W L W W L L L W L L L W W W W L L W W L L W W W L L W W W W W W W W L W
66.5% 73.8% 55.6% 60.4% 58.7% 63.9% 58.7% 54.6% 59% 61.4% 59.1% 53.5% 65.4% 57.3% 60.9% 55.7% 61.8% 58.9% 55.9% 52.3% 62.8% 63% 58.6% 50.1% 53.5% 63.3% 55.3% 55.7% 53.4% 51.4% 56.1% 53.2% 70.1% 57.6% 63.7% 57.1% 54.5% 53.7% 50.2% 71.3% 53.1% 57.9% 63.8% 52.2% 56.9%
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CANADA’S LEGALIZATION
CHALLENGE
On October 17, regulated cannabis sales are scheduled to begin in the Great White North. But some industry veterans question whether Canada is doing it the right way.
V
BY STEVE BLOOM
ansterdam—that sobriquet for Canada’s most liberal city is well-earned. When marijuana legalization was just a glimmer in the eyes of cannabis activists, there was Vansterdam, a sly reference to Holland’s Amsterdam, which launched the retail movement with their coffeeshops filled with smokeable flower and brilliant hash in the 1980s. That trend eventually found a home in Vancouver. Today, dotted across the city’s landscape are stores where you
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can toke onsite and/or purchase various take-home products, from buds to concentrates. I’m in the Cannabis Culture shop on Davie St., located on a quiet block away from commercial traffic, about a half mile from Stanley Park. It’s not high noon yet. I’m en route to the park for a hike (it’s six miles around the park’s sea wall). I
Legal sales are slated to begin on October 17 across the country, making Canada the second country after Uruguay and the first member of the G7 to do so. But in Vancouver, where dispensaries have operated without licenses in a non-legal gray area for years, this may all soon change. Though rather tolerant when it comes to pot, British Columbia, like the other nine provinces, has to follow a set of new rules issued by the federal government. However, each province can customize the rules to suit their specific needs and concerns. That’s why there’s some hope that the city’s ubiquitous dab bars and smoke shops will somehow survive.
A QUICK LOOK AT C-45 The main summary of the Cannabis Act reads: “The objectives of the Act are to prevent young persons from accessing cannabis, to protect public health and public safety by establishing strict product safety and product quality requirements and to deter criminal activity by imposing serious criminal penalties for those operating outside the legal framework. The Act is also intended to reduce the bur-
MATT EMRICH
settle down at a seat at the dab bar, where six coiled rigs are spaced apart. The menu on the board behind the bar is colorful, with illustrations for each strain, from Blue Mango to Skywalker OG. I ask for the former and the THC Distillate, which I’ve never tried. Whereas I cough when inhaling the Blue Mango, the distillate (strictly THC) goes down real smooth. In addition, I purchase an Orange Tangie pre-roll. The bill is C$20 ($15 US). Pleasantly stoned, I head to the park and commence my hike. I would return to the Cannabis Culture shops—the one on Davie and the original on Hastings St.—several more times during my recent visit to Vancouver just days after the Parliament officially legalized marijuana with passage of C-45, i.e. the Cannabis Act, on June 19. Ever since Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister on October 19, 2015, and sworn in on November 4, it had been generally assumed that he would follow through with his campaign promise to tax and regulate recreational cannabis. “Will Canada Legalize It?” we asked in Issue 12 in 2016 with Trudeau on the cover. It took more than two years to accomplish, but the answer is yes:
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den on the criminal justice system in relation to cannabis.” C-45 permits “the possession, production, distribution, sale, importation and exportation of cannabis,” and authorizes “persons to possess, sell or distribute cannabis if they are authorized to sell cannabis under a provincial Act that contains certain legislative measures,” while setting “penalties for sale or distribution to young persons, and the unlawful possession, production, importation and expor44 FREEDOM LEAF
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tation of cannabis (i.e. the black market).” It also “prohibits any promotion, packaging and labelling of cannabis that could be appealing to young persons or encourage its consumption,” repeals cannabis as “item 1 of Schedule II” and, perhaps most importantly, allows “an individual to possess no more than four cannabis plants that are not budding or flowering.” The system of production counts heavily on the country’s 113 licensed producers, who control the medical-marijuana market. But the mail-order model used for medical purposes will be expanded to include shops like those already in Vancouver, Toronto and other cities around the country. In some cases, the retail outlets will be government-run while others will be privately owned and operated. The details, from BC to Quebec, were furiously being “hashed out” during the writing of this article.
GOOD TIMING FOR ICBC
The International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC) has its roots in Oregon, where several medical-marijuana conferences in Portland and Eugene preceded it. After expanding to San Francisco in 2015, ICBC quickly spread to Vancouver, Berlin and Kauai. It’s a boutique event where presenters have time to
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The menu at Cannabis Culture on Vancouver’s Davie St
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MATT EMRICH
“THE NEXT YEAR IS GOING TO BE BUMPY. IT WILL BE CHALLENGING ON A LOT OF DIFFERENT LEVELS.” ANDREA DOBBS schmooze with attendees, and there isn’t an overload of panel discussions. ICBC generally kicks off the night before with a VIP cocktail party at the host hotel. In this case, it’s the massive Sheraton Wall Centre on Burrard St. On June 24, after a keynote by rocker Henry Rollins, ICBC gets down to business with its opening and most important panel, “Transitioning to Legal Use: Canada Moves Forwards,” moderated by attorney Kirk Tousaw. “The greatest thing about legalization is we now have the issue in the open,” says fellow lawyer Robert W. E. Laurie who has his own practice, Ad Lucem Law, and was recently given a seat on nearby Nanaimo’s Cannabis Task Force. “Families won’t be torn apart like they were before. It’s an amazing opportunity to shed the cynicism and engage with government.” But it’s not all positive for Laurie, who adds, “The only way that laws will change is through civil disobedience, and I think 46 FREEDOM LEAF
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we’re going to see more of it. But unlike the last few years, we now have federal, provincial and municipal laws all working in concert. However, the penalties, risks and ramifications are going to continue to be a problem in this new legalization environment.” “It’s a period of uncertainty,” NICHE CEO Barinder Rosade joins in. “Customers are used to a certain standard of product. We’re really behind on innovations and research in technology. We need to advocate for a better industry. We can’t forget how we got here and have to continue in a spirit of collaboration.” Andrea Dobbs, who runs the Vancouver smoke shop and dispensary Village Bloomery, notes that “during this transition, it puts my client base at risk. The legality is all so unclear. There are harsher criminal penalties than ever for doing what’s against the law. There are a lot of questions. The next year is going to be bumpy. It will be challenging on a lot of different levels.”
“My goal is to have cannabis recognized by the American Medical Association as a viable medicine for various ailments, including Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, MS, Cancer and who knows what else. That’s my goal.”
info@chongschoice.us shop.chongschoice.us SUMMER 2018
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to export legalization around the world, we need to act responsibly. It’s up to educators, professionals and parents to step forward and say that they’re highly functioning people. We’re selling legalization here. We’re not selling a particular brand. It’s our responsibility to get it right. “We’re paying for the sins of Big Pharma, Big Alcohol and Big Tobacco,” Black concludes, “so we have to be kinder, smarter, more conscious, more compassionate and more generous. We have to put our money where our mouth is.”
A VOICE FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND When I returned to New York, I tried to pick up the loose ends of my legalization fact-finding trip to Vancouver. Each day another news story about Canada ended up in my email box or on my Facebook timeline. It was hard to make sense of it all, so I asked Rob Laurie to help me out. I’ve met Laurie at several ICBC events, from Vancouver to Berlin and back to Vancouver again. He’s a jovial guy who likes to recite lines from classic Canadian TV shows like The Trailer Park Boys and SCTV. But he’s dead serious when it comes to cannabis in Canada. Laurie’s not thrilled about the new law and does little to hide his contempt for it. “Legalization 1.0 in Canada is really Prohibition 2.0,” he tells me from his
From left: Rosy Mondin, attorney John Conroy and Hillary Black
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MATT EMRICH
Rosade concurs: “Government should rethink the central distribution and warehousing. It’s very short-sighted.” Another major concern is the current government ban on anything but flower and oil. All other concentrates, as well as edibles and topicals, will not be available for sale. Seizing the silver lining, Dobbs suggests, “This is an opportunity for consumers to become quite familiar with the flower. I want people to learn how to make their own topicals, oils and edibles.” During the next panel, “Cannabis in the Capital Markets,” Quadron Cannatech CEO Rosy Mondin explains: “We advocated for breaking up the Cannabis Act so a lot more participants could enter. For now, there isn’t a whole lot of competition. I keep hearing about market crashes. I’m not sure about a crash, but I think there’s going to be a reallocation of the wealth that’s out there to a bunch of different companies. We’re going to have so many more big players coming in. This industry is moving at light speed. It’s going to continue like that for the next three years.” Later in the day, industry veteran Hillary Black offers some needed perspective. Black founded Canada’s first dispensary, BC Compassion Club Society, in 1997 and is now director of patient education and advocacy at Canopy Growth in Ontario. “It’s time to come out of the closet as people who use cannabis for pleasure,” she declares. “If we want
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home on Vancouver Island. “There is no dispute that the Constitution of Canada gives Ottawa the power to legalize marijuana. To what extent it also empowers Parliament to regulate marijuana is less certain. “The Cannabis Act passed at the federal level along with the British Columbia statutes (Cannabis Control and Licensing Act and the Cannabis Distribution Act) are designed to replace the traditional industry with a new government monopoly, which has many legalization supporters questioning whether this is, in fact, legalization. “The aim of the federal government is to effectively eliminate the black market. It will be tough, but the government is attempting to limit access in order to achieve public safety and public health goals, such as the protection of children and communities. The elimination of the black or illicit market, I believe, is just the excuse the government needs to justify the creation of a federal controlled monopoly, which has many folks in British Columbia nearly up in arms over the fact that the traditional BC craft-cannabis industry has been effectively sidelined with respect to participation in the legal market. The black market will not go away. I suspect it will just adapt. There is too much money involved for people and communities like Nelson and Grand Forks that have made their livelihood out of the illicit cannabis trade.” Despite his pessimistic outlook,
“IT’S AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO SHED THE CYNICISM AND ENGAGE WITH GOVERNMENT.” ROBERT W.E. LAURIE 50 FREEDOM LEAF
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Laurie holds out hope for Vancouver’s dispensaries and others in the surrounding areas. “Under the new provincial and federal cannabis framework, I suspect that most of these current businesses will attempt to participate in the retail application process,” he explains. “The BC government has indicated that current operators will be permitted to apply and each one will be considered on a caseby-case basis. In Alberta by comparison, folks who’ve been selling or distributing cannabis prior to legalization, from nonLP sources, will most likely not make it through the screening process.” So, Vancouver may not shut down its current grey-area establishments? “BC is generally considered a very tolerant and open place,” Laurie says. “Vancouver is the San Francisco of Canada when it comes to cannabis, libertarian, LGBT and environmental activism.” Laurie and others suspicious of the federal government’s motives will have “mixed emotions” come October 17. “Legalization and civil rights regarding access to cannabis, like law generally, is an evolving process,” he sighs. “It will be a day like any other. I suspect my office will be quite busy.”
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CANADIAN CANNABIS
STOCKS RISE UP Companies like Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis and Tilray Inc. are energizing stock exchanges in the US and Canada.
BY STEVE GELSI
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W
hile the US boasts the largest economy and stock market in the world, thanks to tech giants Apple, Google and Facebook, Canada offers the largest cannabis companies for now. To be sure, US cannabis companies such as MedMen Enterprises Inc. and Terra Tech Corp. have been expanding quickly. But Canada's Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis, Tilray Inc., Aphria Inc., Cronos Group and others have bulked up significantly. The Ontario-based Canopy Growth is valued at $6 billion. With adult-use sales scheduled to begin in Canada on October 17, the spigot of capital has opened as investors pour money into the nation’s top pot stocks.
All told, the total cannabis market in Canada, including medical and illegal as well as legal recreational products, may yield up to $5.4 billion (C$7.2 billion) in sales next year, according to estimates from Deloitte. With an eye on this growth, financiers and executives have been eager to offer investors new options. In one of the freshest cannabis deals, Nanaimo, BCbased Tilray’s shares jumped 30% in their stock market debut on the NASDAQ on July 19, giving the company a total market value of $2.7 billion. It’s a rich price tag for a business on track to generate just $80 million this year. But that’s the kind of valuation pot stocks have been receiving as investors rush in with an eye on huge growth. In the last year, Canopy Growth shares have more than tripled to $24. The company listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange after trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). Aurora Cannabis
“THERE MAY BE AN OVERSUPPLY AT SOME POINT, SINCE THERE ARE A LOT OF GROWERS. YOU’RE NOT GOING TO NEED ALL THESE PRODUCERS, SO THAT’S A BIG RISK.” MATT KARNES, GREENWAVE ADVISORS SUMMER 2018
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stock has doubled to $7. The Green Organic Dutchman also doubled to $6 since its shares went on the TSE in May. Eager to get on the bandwagon, USbased cannabis companies have been listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) as well. MedMen (MMEN) started trading in May. Acreage Holdings, another US cannabis company, plans to list its shares on the CSE this fall.
BEWARE OF REVERSE MERGERS AND RISKY BUSINESSES These and other companies get listed through reverse mergers involving a shell company that already has public stock that’s trading. Matt Karnes, founder of GreenWave Advisors and a former Wall Street analyst, says companies that go public in Canada through reverse mergers may pose an additional layer of risk because the process avoids many of the traditional disclosure requirements to guide investors. “They’re not subject to normal filings, so it’s a bit like getting in through the back door,” he tells Freedom Leaf. “It's riskier because the companies are not subject to the same scrutiny. The traditional public filing process is a lot more rigorous than a reverse merger. That’s where the difference is. But once the company is established, additional disclosures are often made.” Investors should remain cautious about reverse mergers. “Because it’s so easy to do, there are some shady characters claiming they have cannabis businesses,” Karnes explains. “It’s slowly going away though, as investors weed them out.” Canada is the top choice for pot investing in the midst of the legal adultuse market about to take off nationally. “Any young industry is going to present challenges and some volatility,” he points out. “There may be an oversupply at some point, since there are a lot of growers. You’re not going to need all these producers, so that’s a big risk.” Larger companies such as Canopy Growth and Aphria are seeking sales outside Canada in the 54 FREEDOM LEAF
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US and other countries. “The bigger players are teed up for international opportunities,” Karnes says. “Canada will be able to export its products. It’s well positioned for the recreational market.” Another challenge for investors is to avoid overpaying for a stock, given the lofty valuations that may deflate at some point. “You have to determine the intrinsic value of the stock based on growth prospects for the company,” he states. “Some of the prices are rather steep. You’re really betting on the future.”
OPTIMISM FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH Among Canadian companies, Vancouver-based cannabis extractor Quadron Cannatech Corp. (CSE: QCC) has the distinction of hiring the first female cannabis industry CEO, Rosy Mondin, among companies on the CSE. She may also be the first pot stock CEO in the world (MPX Bioceutical has a female chief operating officer, but not a CEO). “We’re the first G7 country to legalize adult-use cannabis,” Mondin boasts. “Canada already has a robust medical-use market. BC Bud is an internationally Quadron Cannatech CEO Rosy Mondin
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producers (LPs), the Canadian industry has already come a long way, and adultuse sales are just around the corner. “This is an industry that, until recently, even the government licensed producers were having difficulty obtaining banking services, and institutional lending was virtually non-existent,” she says. “It’s not a great commercialized environment yet. However, as legalization progresses with the establishment of the regulatory framework, we’re seeing more business sectors coming into this space. “If you think about all the segments that are needed to service the legalized cannabis industry, the amount the industry is going to evolve come October and thereafter is huge,” Mondin predicts. “People are not really grasping the scope of it and how immature it is right now.”
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known strain, similar to the reputation of the varieties in Northern California. That’s one reason why Canada is such a big deal in the space.” Quadron Cannatech’s business model is similar to the wine industry. With wine, consumers don’t usually follow the grower of the grapes, but the brands that are created from the grapes. The same may happen with cannabis. “Entrepreneurs and investors have been jumping into the space because we’re developing a new commercialized industry,” Mondin comments. “It’s a very exciting business. Cultivation has been the first one out of the gate, attracting substantial investment dollars. But in 2014, my business partners and I entered the extraction market. We saw the future of cannabis moving toward oils. At the time, it was difficult to communicate the enormity of the cannabis concentrates market. People thought we had feet growing out of our heads as not many were thinking about concentrating cannabis into a value-added product.” With 113 licensed medical-cannabis 56 FREEDOM LEAF
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Quadron Cannatech president Leo Chamberland thinks many companies in the cannabis space will not succeed. Larger firms like Canopy Growth will likely survive, but he expects the industry “will face consolidation and severe adjustments to valuations” that will likely leave smaller players vulnerable. Entrepreneurs need to have some kind of track record and not just a compelling story behind their businesses. With cultivation in the spotlight, everyone claims they’re the best farmers, but that may not guarantee success. “Very few can do it on a large, commercial scale,” Chamberland comments. “Do they have the management skills? Have they done this before? You may be able to grow the best weed, but it’s a business and it has to work like that.” Despite these hurdles, the country known for hockey and maple syrup will continue to get behind cannabis. “People are excited to invest in the sector,” Chamberland adds. “It’s not very often that something like this happens. Cannabis has been around for a long time. It’s known. It’s tangible.” The leaf on the Canadian flag may be cannabis after all. Steve Gelsi is a New Jersey-based financial writer.
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THE TOP 12 CANADIAN
POT STOCKS Each company is a licensed producer (LP) of cannabis in Canada.
1
5 CANOPY GROWTH CORP. NYSE: CGC
$6.1 billion market cap, owns Ontario-based LP, Tweed.
CRONOS GROUP INC. NASDAQ: CRON
$1.4 billion market cap, owns Ontario-based LP, Peace Naturals Project Inc.
9
ORGANIGRAM HOLDINGS INC. CVE: OGI
$714 million market cap, owns New Brunswickbased LP.
10 2
AURORA CANNABIS INC. TSE: ACB
$5.3 billion market cap, Alberta-based LP also owns Ontario-based LP, MedRelief Corp.
3
TILRAY, INC. NASDAQ: TLRY
$2.7 billion market cap, owns British Columbiabased LP.
4
APHRIA INC. TSE: APH
GREEN ORGANIC DUTCHMAN HOLDINGS LTD. TSE: TGOD
$571 million market cap, owns British Columbiabased LP.
$1.3 billion market cap, owns Ontario-based LP.
11 7
HYDROPOTHECARY CORP. TSE: HEXO $965 million market cap, owns Quebec-based LP.
8
$2.5 billion market cap, Ontario-based LP. 58 FREEDOM LEAF
6
EMERALD HEALTH THERAPEUTICS INC. CVE: EMH
CANNTRUST HOLDINGS INC. TSE: TRST
$908 million market cap, owns Ontario-based LP.
SUMMER 2018
THE SUPREME CANNABIS COMPANY INC. CVE: FIRE
$442 million market cap, owns Ontario-based LP, 7 Acres.
12
NAMASTE TECHNOLOGIES INC. CVE: N
$440 million market cap, owns Ontario-based LP, CannaMart Inc.
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CANADA CANNABIS PROHIBITION IN
In 1923, Canada banned marijuana. Nearly 50 years later, a national commission called for decriminalization. Nearly another 50 years later, legalization is finally happening.
C
BY BILL WEINBERG
ister—William Lyon Mackenzie King, who later as prime minister led Canada through World War II—was dispatched to investigate. King was shocked to find the claimants included (legal) opium merchants. Back in Ottawa, he wrote a report on the opium menace, which warned the Asian drug was catching on with white women and girls. King subsequently drafted The Proprietary and Patent Medicine Act, effectively banning opium for all but restricted medical use. It passed in 1908. Morphine and cocaine were added to the law in 1911. Marijuana’s turn came in the 1920s, a decade that saw a unified anti-drug and anti-Asian campaign. One commentary in the Vancouver Sun praised the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for “bending their energies to rid our Canadian soil of the Oriental filth The Harrison Act of 1914, the first maof the drug traffic.” Canadian suffragette jor anti-drug legislation in the US, was Emily Murphy wrote in Maclean’s of the passed on a wave of anti-Asian hysteria. “grave drug menace” posed by Asian imIn Canada, the connection was even migrants plying “our children” with more blatant. “poisoned lollypops.” On September 7, 1907, a In 1922 and 1923, the drug thousands-strong white laws were stiffened with penmob of the Asiatic Exclualties of summary deportasion League rampaged tion for foreigners found to through Vancouver’s Chihave smuggled drugs. Uninese and Japanese disversity of Guelph historian trict trashing shops and Catherine Carstairs (who throwing some immiwrote 2006’s Jailed for Possesgrants in the harbor. “Not sion: Illegal Drug Use, Regulaa Chinese window was tion and Power in Canada, 1920missed,” it was reported. 1961) reports that 671 Chinese imBusiness owners demandmigrants were expelled over ed compensation, and the next 10 years—most of the deputy labor minWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King anada’s path to cannabis prohibition closely followed that of its southern neighbor. Like in the United States, a century ago cannabis was widely available in tincture form as a medication before being banned in a campaign that blatantly harnessed racism and xenophobia. Yet now Canada is legalizing coast to coast, while the US federal government refuses to end its 80-year policy.
THE ANTI-IMMIGRANT ROOTS OF CANADIAN CANNABIS PROHIBITION
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Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969
them longtime Canadian residents. Hardly coincidentally, 1923 also saw passage of the Chinese Immigration Act, Canada’s equivalent of the United States’ Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. Apart from a very few students and merchants, Chinese immigrants were effectively banned from Canadian soil. Also in that package of laws was a provision adding a new substance to the list of prohibited drugs: marijuana. This actually put Canada ahead of the US when it came to cannabis prohibition. While a number of states had already outlawed it by then, the federal government didn’t act until 1937. “Whatever the motivation, marijuana was banned without debate,” Kate Allen wrote in the Toronto Star in 2002. “The only recorded statement in the House of Commons was: ‘There is a new drug on the schedule.’” But there was little cannabis use to crack down on and annual convictions for marijuana over the next 20 years hovered between zero and 12. This changed quickly and dramatically some 40 years later with the counterculture eruption of the 1960s. As youth grew their hair long and grooved on the Beatles and homegrown Canadian talent like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and the Guess Who, cannabis use suddenly exploded on college campuses and in hippie enclaves from Vancouver to Halifax. Conservatives were, of course, aghast and marijuana busts soared.
THE LE DAIN COMMISSION SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER On May 29, 1969, Canada’s liberal prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, appointed the Royal Commission on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs to study the cannabis question. The commission was informally named for its chair, Gerald Le Dain, then dean of Osgood Hall, a Toronto law school, and later a Supreme Court justice. Looking at alcohol, LSD, opiates and barbiturates, as well as cannabis, the Le Dain Commission convened public hearings and heard testimony from thousands of people across the county, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono after their notorious “Bed-In for Peace” in Montreal. “This is the opportunity for Canada to lead the world,” the Beatle testified three days before Christmas in 1969. The 320-page report, released in April 1970, determined that “cannabis has little acute physiological toxicity—sleep is the usual somatic consequence of over-dose. No deaths due directly to smoking or eating of cannabis have been documented and no reliable information exists regarding the lethal dose in humans.” It concluded that much of the scholarship around marijuana was “ill-documented and ambiguous, emotion-laden and incredibly biased . . . The resulting confusion is exemplified by current legisSUMMER 2018
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CALLING CANNABIS PENALTIES “GROSSLY EXCESSIVE,” THE LE DAIN COMMISSION RECOMMENDED DECRIMINALIZING PERSONAL POSSESSION OF CANNABIS AND DRASTICALLY REDUCING THE PENALTIES FOR TRAFFICKING IT. VINDICATION FOR LE DAIN
lation in many parts of the world, including Canada and the United States, which classifies cannabis with the opiate narcotics, even though these drugs are pharCanada initially failed to follow the Le macologically different.” Dain Commission’s recommendations. In In addition, the report noted, “Some the 40 years after the report was released, observers have suggested that chronic Canadian police forces recorded at least smoking of cannabis might produce cartwo million cannabis-related violations. cinogenic effects similar to those now However, the commission’s findings attributed to the smoking of tobacco, alwould periodically be revisited. In 2002, a though no evidence exists to support this Canadian Senate study, “Cannabis: Report view at this time.” of the Senate Special Committee Calling cannabis penalties on Illegal Drugs,” stated, “The “grossly excessive,” the Le [Le Dain] Commission conDain Commission recomcluded that the criminalmended decriminalizization of cannabis had ing personal possesno scientific basis. We sion of cannabis and confirm this concludrastically reducing sion and add that the penalties for continued criminaltrafficking it. ization of cannabis Previous studremains unjustified ies cited in the based on scientific report—the Indidata on the danger an Hemp Drugs it poses.” Commission ReSadly, Gerald Le port commissioned Dain died in 2007, by Britain in 1894, before his work bethe Panama Canal gan to see fruit in pubZone Military Investilic policy—apart from gations carried out by a national medical mariGerald the US Army from 1916 to juana program unveiled in Le Dain 1929, the LaGuardia Commit2001. But with Prime Minister tee Report in New York City in 1944 Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre, now and the Baroness Wootton Report again shepherding Canada’s Cannabis Act (Ccommissioned by Britain in 1968—had 45) into law, the courageous truth-telling arrived at similar conclusions: a more jurist Le Dain has finally earned his vinditolerant and lenient approach to cannacation, albeit posthumously. bis, as would the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug, chaired by forBill Weinberg is the author of Cannabis mer Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Trips: A Global Guide That Leaves No Shafer in 1972. Stone Unturned. 62 FREEDOM LEAF
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JUST DESSERTS RECIPES BY CHERI SICARD • PHOTOS BY MITCH MANDEL We celebrate legalization in the Great White North with a coast-to-coast roundup of medicated Canadian sweet treats. BODACIOUS BEAVER TAILS
Named for Canada’s national animal, you’ll find variations of these ovalshaped donuts throughout the country.
DOUGH
•2¾ cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting) •1 package (2 ½ tsp.) active dry yeast •¼ cup warm water •½ cup milk (warmed) •2 tbsp. cannabis-infused butter (melted and slightly cooled) •1 egg •2 tbsp. sugar •½ tsp. salt •½ tsp. vanilla •3 cups vegetable oil
TOPPING
•¾ cup sugar •1 tbsp. cinnamon Mix water, milk, yeast and 1 tsp. of sugar in mixer bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until foamy. Warm the water and milk to just above lukewarm in order for the yeast to grow; too hot or too cold, and this recipe
won’t work. Add cannabutter, sugar, salt, vanilla and egg. Using the mixer’s dough hook, add flour and mix until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Increase mixer speed to knead dough for about 5 minutes until it’s smooth and elastic. If dough is sticky, add a little extra flour. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. Punch down dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 equal-sized pieces and shape so they’re oblong. Use a rolling pin to flatten and roll out each piece of dough into an oval. Use a knife to score a crisscross pattern in the top of the dough. Transfer donuts to a lightly floured baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl. Fill a large skillet with 2 inches of oil and heat to 350°F or until a small bit of dough dropped in the oil floats to the surface sizzling. Keep an eye on the oil during the cooking process, and be sure to lower the temperature if it starts to smoke. Fry each tail for about 30 seconds per side or until golden brown. Coat with cinnamon/sugar mix. Serve immediately. Makes 8 donuts. SUMMER 2018
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GNARLY NANAIMO BARS
These layered bars made their debut in a 1950s cookbook from the Vancouver Island city of Nanaimo. They’ve been growing in popularity ever since.
CRUST
•2 tbsp. melted cannabis-infused butter •2 tbsp. melted butter •5 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa •1 egg •2 cups graham cracker crumbs •¼ cup sugar •1 cup flaked coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) •½ cup finely chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds
FILLING
•¼ cup instant vanilla pudding mix •¼ cup milk •1 cup butter (softened) •4 cups confectioner’s sugar •1 tsp. vanilla extract 66 FREEDOM LEAF
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ICING
•1¼ cups chocolate chips •⅓ cup heavy cream Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9inch square baking pan. Place all crust ingredients in a food processor bowl and pulse until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture in an even layer in the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely before proceeding. In a small bowl, stir together the pudding mix and milk. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer and beat the softened butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and pudding/milk mixture. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to coat the filling over the cooled crust. Chill for at least an hour. Prepare icing by combining chocolate chips and cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Spread icing over bars; chill until cold, then cut into squares. Store covered in the refrigerator up to a week or wrap individually and freeze for longer storage. Makes 18 bars.
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BLAZED BUTTER TARTS
Classic butter tarts date back to the pioneers who settled the Canadian prairies. This maple-enhanced version gives a nod to Canada’s east coast.
CRUST
•2½ cups flour •2 tbsp. sugar •1 tsp. salt •¼ cup cannabis-infused butter (cold) •¾ cup butter (cold) •⅓ cup ice water
FILLING
•½ cup brown sugar •¼ cup butter (melted) •¾ cup real maple syrup •2 eggs (beaten) •2 tsp. apple cider vinegar •1 tsp. maple or vanilla extract Mix flour, sugar and salt in a food processor bowl. Cut cannabutter and butter into small chunks, add to the processor and pulse 8 to 68 FREEDOM LEAF
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10 times. Add ice water a few tablespoons at a time until the dough just holds together; don’t overmix. Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface (or between two sheets of plastic wrap) and press to about ⅓-inch thickness. Use the bottom of a glass to cut out 12 rounds (a little larger in circumference than the size of a muffin tin cup). Gather scraps and reroll as needed, trying to use up all the dough. Press the dough circles into the bottom and up the sides of 12 muffin tin cups. Chill for at least 30 minutes. While crusts are chilling, preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare filling by stirring together the brown sugar and melted butter until well combined. Add maple syrup, eggs, cider vinegar and extract; beat well so mixture stays emulsified. Divide the filling between the prepared chilled crusts to about a ¼-inch from the top. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350°F and bake until pastry is golden brown and filling is starting to set, about 1012 more minutes. Let cool completely before removing tarts from the muffin tin and serving. Makes 12 tarts.
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MARIJUANA MAPLE CANDY
Canada produces 71% of the world's pure maple syrup. No tribute to Canadian sweets would be complete without maple candy.
•½ cup pure maple syrup •¼ cup heavy cream •1 tbsp. cannabis-infused butter Combine syrup and cream in a small saucepan. Add butter and cook over high heat. Make sure to not stir it. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan (it shouldn’t touch the bottom of the pan). Cook, again without stirring, until the mixture reaches 235°F. The mixture will be deep amber and form a soft ball when a little is dropped in a glass of cold water. Gently pour the hot mixture into a medium bowl, taking care to
avoid splattering. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer. Roll the mixture into a ball and place between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, press to about ¼-inch thickness. Place on a baking sheet and chill for about 15 minutes. Cut into squares or, for a more decorative look, use cookie cutters to make shapes. Store covered in the refrigerator. Makes 4 servings.
BLUNT BLUEBERRY GRUNT
This old-fashioned dish of fluffy dumplings steamed in sweet blueberry sauce originated in the Maritime Provinces. Its unusual name supposedly comes from the sound the biscuits make while steaming in the sauce.
SAUCE
•4 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen) •¼ cup water •2 tbsp. lemon juice •⅔ cup sugar •½ tsp. cinnamon
DUMPLINGS
•2 cups flour •¼ cup sugar •2 tsp. baking powder •½ tsp. salt •¼ cup cannabis-infused butter (cold) •1 cup milk Combine blueberries, sugar and water in a large cast-iron skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until blueberries have softened and mixture resembles 70 FREEDOM LEAF
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whole-fruit jam, which takes about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to warm and add lemon juice and cinnamon. Prepare dumplings by combining flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor bowl. Add butter and pulse 10 times until it’s evenly incorporated. Remove to a mixing bowl and stir in milk until just combined. Increase heat under the blueberry pan to medium. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the simmering fruit. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Serve warm as is or with whipped cream or ice cream. Makes 12 servings. Cheri Sicard is the author of The Easy Cannabis Cookbook and other books.
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FARE THEE WELL
Life after Jerry Garcia’s death is explored in Joel Selvin’s post-Grateful Dead book. BY STEVE BLOOM JOEL SELVIN’S FARE Thee Well is a long strange trip. Once Jerry Garcia died in 1995, the Grateful Dead went into a free fall. The guitar player dubbed Captain Trips was their fearless leader. Referring to the band and the people around the Dead (crew, managers, other staff), Selvin writes on page 2: “Their entire foundation had come loose, and they were jolted by the harsh realities that had suddenly intruded into their lives.” Fare Thee Well is basically the story of the four remaining band members (a.k.a. the Core Four): singer/guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. It could also be called “Life After Jerry.” The main thesis of the book focuses on Lesh and his wife Jill wresting control of the band. With Garcia gone, they took over, or at least attempted to take over, the band’s operations. This occurred after both Leshes 72 FREEDOM LEAF
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recovered from their respective illnesses in 1998 (Phil had a liver replacement and Jill had thyroid cancer). Their disdain for Weir boiled over when the singer collapsed on stage at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, in 2013. Weir had developed a drinking problem. On top of that, he was taking pills to deal with a shoulder injury. Lesh hardly blinked when his bandmate went down. The alleged coldness between the Leshes and pretty much anyone who Phil didn’t perform in his Phil and Friends ensembles is stunning. While the Leshes lived it up, many crew members and staffers were fired. To Phil, the drummers were a drag (one was enough) and Weir was a hassle. So instead he played with an array of Dead stand-ins in his group, as did Weir with RatDog. The 20-year story arc begins in the aftermath of Garcia’s death and concludes with the 50th Anniversary “Fare Thee Well” concerts at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, and Soldier Field in Chicago. They were billed as the last time the Core Four would perform together. True to form, based on Selvin’s account, Lesh chose not to be part of
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the band’s latest endeavor, Dead & Company, with Weir, the drummers and John Mayer in the Garcia role. Had he joined them, the whole Fare Thee Well gambit would’ve been a lie. The rancor and squabbles, harsh words and piss-offs melt away once they reunite for their final five shows. Selvin provides a setlist rundown of each show, which included Phish’s Trey Anastasio on guitar and Bruce Hornsby on piano. While Weir preferred a slower pace and less bass, they found a way to agree for the sake of the fans, who paid thousands of dollars on tickets, hotels and transportation. “As only the Grateful Dead could do, they chose to honor their legacy with this extraordinary panoramic retrospective of their glorious career—10 sets, 88 songs (a mere two repeats), more than 17 hours on stage,” he writes. “All of this was nothing short of a miracle.” Selvin (he co-wrote the book with Pamela Turley) credits Peter Shapiro, a New York club and theater owner and Deadhead, for making it all happen. The impresario took advantage of his solid relationship with the Leshes (he booked Phil and Friends many times at New York venues) to fashion an unlikely deal that all of the band members would agree to. Unlikely because the band members were not getting along and bigger entities like Live Nation and Dick Clark Productions were knocking on their door, looking to Fare Thee seize the Well golden annipromoter versary opPeter portunity. Shapiro
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FIVE MORE BY JOEL SELVIN •Summer of Love: The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times in the Wild West (1994) •Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hell’s Angels and the Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day (2017) •The Haight: Love, Rock and Revolution (2014) •Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm & Blues (2014) •Peppermint Twist: The Mob, the Music and the Most Famous Dance Club of the ’60s (2012) “Shapiro never lost touch with his fan side,” Selvin explains. “He was one of the crowd and ably represented their audience’s point-of-view to band members. In the entire music business, only Shapiro was positioned to be able to navigate the thorny, twisting slippery back channels of the Grateful Dead world to bring the fractured group back together just long enough to play these concerts. “Ever more so than the band, Shapiro understood the vast musical and social subculture based on Grateful Dead music that had developed over the years since Garcia’s death. Fare Thee Well certainly qualified as a peak.” It didn’t take long for the Core Four, minus Lesh, to announce they were forming Dead & Company along with Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge. What seemed like a lark at first has become the latest intersection of multiple generations of Grateful Dead followers. The last three years they’ve booked lengthy summer tours. If anything is lacking in Fare Thee Well, it’s a significant postscript about Dead & Company. How John Mayer worked his way into the camp via Weir is explained, but some tour dynamics, which is discussed at length with every post-Grateful Dead outfit from Further to the Other Ones, would’ve added a bit more depth to the overall post-Jerry story. Shapiro knows what’s up. His Lockn’ Festival in Arrington, VA, from August 23-26 booked Dead & Company as the headliner.
Songwriter. Outlaw. Legend.
At last, Willie tells the whole story. Download Willie’s original song “It’s a Long Story” at www.myredmusic.com/willienelson Free with proof of purchase. LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY
On sale now in hardcover, ebook, audio, and large print wherever books are sold
SUMMER 2018
l i t t l e b row n . c o m Hachette Book Group
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REGGAE REBELLION
New albums by Ziggy Marley and Slightly Stoopid take down Babylon. BY ROY TRAKIN THAT REGGAE IS alive and well—at least among its fans—nearly 40 years after the death of Robert Nesta Marley should be no surprise. The Jamaicanbred genre has found a welcome home as an influence on today’s hip-hop, lending much of its rapid-fire, dancehall patter, syncopated/tribal drum beats and dub-style production touches to modern rap. In many ways, the times are ripe for a mainstream reggae revival. Sting and Shaggy have an album out (44/876) and a summer tour. With the wave of international cannabis legalization, and a buffoonish rightwing Trump White House as a convenient target, the moment is certainly right for David Nesta “Ziggy” Marley (Bob’s eldest son) to come forth with Rebellion Rises, a collection of powerful message songs from “See Dem Fake Leaders” to “Change Your World” to, naturally, “High on Life.” 76 FREEDOM LEAF
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Marley turns 50 on October 17 (the same day marijuana is officially legal in Canada). Rebellion Rises follows Marley’s Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album for 2016’s Ziggy Marley, 2014’s Fly Rasta and 2013’s Ziggy Marley In Concert. It’s the odds-on favorite to snag another Grammy. Starting with “See Dem Fake Leaders,” Ziggy takes on the “Get Up Stand Up” urgency of his father’s legacy, denouncing the wicked in no uncertain terms. “From religion to politics/[they’re] riding the wave of fear,” he exhorts, while hoping for a world of “peace and prosperity,” especially those “taken for granted” or “taken advantage of.” “The Storm is Coming” is a similarly apocalyptic warning, with a female backing trio channeling the I-Threes and Ziggy’s own son Gideon, who adds a child’s-eye innocence to this call to arms. “World Revolution,” a collaboration with songwriter/rapper Samuill Kalonji, suggests a “peaceful solution” for the “new generation” with the lyrics, “Dem, talkin’ ’bout world war/We're talkin’ ’bout world revolution.” On “Change Your World,” he reveals over slivers of insinuating wah-wah guitar,
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ANDERS JUNGER
“My name is Ziggy/And I’m a little bit shy.” The smooth inheritance of his father’s mantle has never been more apparent when he sings convincingly, “Work in synergy/Feel that energy/We’re going to change the world.” The languid ska horns and breezy, rocksteady riddims of “I Will Be Glad” and pumping keyboard of “High on Life” offer two of the album’s paeans to herb. While the former touts, “When the seeds of life are trees/And the fruits we eat are sweet/Oh, I will be glad,” the latter offers cultivation advice: “Already planted the seed / Now we water the trees.” “Circle of Peace,” featuring a midtrack rap from younger brother Stephen, leads into the opening piano bars of “I Am a Human,” Marley’s version of John Lennon’s “God,” as he proudly expresses, I am human/Haven’t I suffered for too long/Still the reasons for hope/Keep on holding on…/I’m not a Christian/I’m not a Muslim/I’m not a Jew/ Shouldn’t matter to you.” Marley concludes on the album’s title track closer, “Love is its weakness/The system I protest/ We are its biggest threat/The wave of consciousness.” Whether that’s enough to remove Trump from power—or even dent the Spotify streaming charts for that matter—is yet to be determined. With Rebellion Rises, Ziggy Marley continues to prove he’s most assuredly his father’s son. Slightly Stoopid have something less political in mind with Everyday Life, Everyday People. The San Diego-based reggae group’s ninth studio album (and first since 2015’s Meanwhile… Back at the Lab), features contributions from some of their inspirations, including UB40’s Ali Campbell, neo-bluesman G. Love, toastmaster Yellowman, Jamaican reggae stalwart Don Carlos, Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli rapper Chali 2na and Italian reggae ambassador Alborosie. Led by Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald, Slightly Stoopid are best known for their laid-back dub style. But they’re also capable of the breezy, tropical ska of the Don Carlos-guested “Stay the Same (Prayer for You)”; the grungy, horn-laden “Livin’ in Babylon,” spiced up with a predictably bawdy Yellowman toast; and the psychedelic funk
SLIGHTLY STOOPID LINE-UP Miles Doughty – guitar, bass, vocals Kyle McDonald – guitar, bass, vocals Paul Wolstencroft - keyboards Ryan Moran – drums Oguer (OG) Ocon – percussion DeLa – saxophone Andy Gelb – trombone
ON THE CHARTS 2012: Top of the World (Stoopid), #13 2015: Meanwhile… Back at the Lab (Stoopid), #37 2007: Chronchitis (Stoopid), #55 2016: Ziggy Marley, #99 2014: Fly Rasta (Marley), # 129 of “Higher Now,” with Chali 2na rapping over a smoky haze. Campbell adds his own dance-hall boasts to the cover of Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It.” Punctuated by sharp horn parts, it’s akin to the dub-heavy version Sublime recorded for the Hempilation benefit album in 1995. Unlike the Sly and the Family Stone song of the same name, “Everyday People” is a groove-laced cross of hip-hop, dancehall and jazz, featuring Philadelphia hipster G. Love on vocals and harmonica. And the breezy R&B and gurgling organ vibe of “No One Stops Us Now: Nobody Knows” would be a Top-40 hit in some parallel reggae-themed universe. It may be too late for them to become household names, but in their universe, Ziggy Marley and Slightly Stoopid are shining stars. Roy Trakin also writes for Variety and Pollstar.
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EVENTS CALENDAR
15-17
CHAMPS FLORIDA Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Kissimmee, FL
21-22
CBD EXPO WEST Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim, CA
22
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SEATTLE HEMPFEST SEATTLE, WA
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SEPTEMBER
14-16
7-8
MJBIZCON INT’L Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, ON
GROW UP CANNABIS CONFERENCE & EXPO Scotiabank Convention Center, Niagara Falls, ON
7-9
{CANNABIS SCIENCE CONF.{
MONTANA HEMP & CANNABIS FESTIVAL Lolo Hot Springs, Lolo, MT
PORTLAND, OR
{BOSTON FREEDOM RALLY{ BOSTON, MA
24-26
U.S. CANNABIS CONFERENCE & EXPO Hyatt Regency, Miami, FL
27-29
CANNABIS SCIENCE CONFERENCE Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR
30-31
BIG INDUSTRY SHOW Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA 80 FREEDOM LEAF
25-26
THE STATE OF CANNABIS Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA
26-29
CANNABIS WORLD CONGRESS & BUSINESS EXPO Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA
27-28
17-19
SEATTLE HEMPFEST Myrtle Edwards Park, Seattle, WA
KAUAI CANNABIS EXPO & CONFERENCE Hilton Garden Inn, Kapaa, HI
INTERNATIONAL CANNABIS BUSINESS CONFERENCE Hilton Portland Downtown, Portland, OR
8-9
THC FAIR Jackson County Expo, Central Point, OR
14-16
BOSTON FREEDOM RALLY Boston Common, Boston, MA
15-16
THC FAIR Deschutes County Fairgrounds, Redmond, OR
SUMMER 2018
{CWCBE { LOS ANGELES, CA
27-29
CANEX JAMAICA BUSINESS CONFERENCE & EXPO RIU Hotel & Resorts, Montego Bay, JA
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{ CANNX INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CANNABIS CONFERENCE{ TEL AVIV, IL
29-30
AM MEDIA GROUP
RED ROCK HEMPFEST The Collective Sedona, Sedona, AZ
29-30, Oct.1
GREAT MIDWEST MARIJUANA HARVEST FESTIVAL Library Mall, Madison, WI
OCTOBER U.S. CANNABIS CONFERENCE & EXPO Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ
10-11
RAD EXPO Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR
11-13
NATIVE AMERICAN CANNABIS & HEMP CONFERENCE Viejas Casino & Resort, Alpine, CA
16-18
CHAMPS COLORADO Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO
17-20
CANNABIS WORLD CONGRESS & BUSINESS EXPO Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA
NEW WEST SUMMIT Marriott City Center, Oakland, CA CANNX INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CANNABIS CONFERENCE Tel Aviv Convention Center, Tel Aviv, IL
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LOS ANGELES, CA
15-16
4-6
14-16
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20-21
RHODE ISLAND CANNABIS CONVENTION Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI
SUMMER 2018
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GREAT MIDWEST MARIJUANA HARVEST FESTIVAL MADISON, WI
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22-23
CALIFORNIA CANNABIS BUSINESS SUMMIT Hilton Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
22-24
CANNMED UCLA Luskin Conference Center, Los Angeles, CA
29-30
CANNATECH INNOVATION SUMMIT Doltone House, Sydney, AU
PORTLAND September 27-28 Downtown Hilton SAN FRANCISCO February 7-8 Hilton Union Square BARCELONA March 14 Auditori de Cornellà / W Hotel BERLIN March 31-April 2 Maritim ProArte Hotel TICKETS ON SALE NOW! INTERNATIONALCBC.COM SUMMER 2018
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EXPERIENCE THE NEW ERA OF CANNABIS
The 2018 Southwest Cannabis Conference and Expo series create an electric environment where industry members, entrepreneurs, local leaders, companies, job seekers and curious individuals come to learn about the rapidly expanding cannabis industry and the impact on our changing culture. Together we bridge the gap between state programs, education and responsible patient care.
Get involved and learn more today.
REGISTER FOR THE MOST INFLUENTIAL EXPO EVENTS OF 2018
MIAMI - FLORIDA August 24-26, 2018
PHOENIX - ARIZONA October 4-6, 2018
EDUCATE, ENGAGE, EMPOWER. R E G I S T E R & SUMMER L E A R 2018 N M O R E AT U S C C E X P O.C O M
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