Issue 34 - Fall 2018 by Freedom Leaf

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CONTENTS

FEATURES 38

FREEDOM LEAF DIVES INTO HEMP STEVE GELSI Your favorite marijuana magazine is also a hemp and CBD producer.

EAZE DOES IT ROY TRAKIN Canna-delivery services are all the rage in California.

FREEDOM LEAF INTERVIEW: MARTIN A. LEE DOUG MCVAY Project CBD’s cofounder discusses the cannabidiol boom and whether CBD will ever be entirely legal.

BETTER LIVING THROUGH CANNABIS CHEMISTRY BILL WEINBERG Little-known scientist Roger Adams was the first to isolate CBD.

CBD & HEMP FAQ ERIN HIATT Sixteen questions about marijuana’s most famous nonintoxicating cannabinoid and industrial cousin. 6

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CBD TO THE RESCUE DOUG MCVAY Eight questions for neurologist and psychopharmacologist Dr. Ethan Russo.

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CONTENTS

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JOY TO THE WORLD STEVE BLOOM Meet Hemp Industries Association president, Joy Beckerman.

COLUMNS

EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NOTE I STEVE BLOOM

COOKING WITH CANNABIDIOL CHERI SICARD Our cannabis chef adds CBD to her latest recipes.

NORML I TYLER MCFADDEN

SSDP I ELISE SZABO

WOMEN GROW I DR. CHANDA MACIAS

OAKSTERDAM U. I DR. ASEEM SAPPAL

ROSIN REVOLUTION ED ROSENTHAL WITH GREG ZEMAN In this except from Beyond Buds: Next Generation, learn all about the budpressing, oil-producing cannabis craze. 8

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REVIEWS: WIZ KHALIFA & CYPRESS HILL I ROY TRAKIN

EVENTS CALENDAR

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EDITOR'S NOTE

THE NEW CBD GENERATION I GET ASKED questions about cannabis all that’s been added to the Controlled Subthe time. The most-asked questions lately have stances Act as a Schedule V drug. Others been about Canadian stocks and CBD. We use it for a variety of ailments and conditions covered the former in Issue 33. We’ve devotfrom anxiety to inflammation. As Joy Beckered this entire issue to the latter question. man, president of the Hemp Industries AssoAll of sudden, people from all walks of ciation, exclaims on page 56, “The citizens life, especially those who’ve never or rarely of this country deserve to have access to this used marijuana, are wondering about CBD, safe plant.” or cannabidiol, the That includes second-best-known CBD on its own or cannabinoid after in combination with THC. Why this inother cannabinoids terest? As Martin A. like THC. But that’s Lee, our featured the rub. While THC interview subject, is strictly prohibited says with amazeby the federal ment on page 47, government, CBD “You can get CBD is perceived to in gas stations have a different across America. It’s legal definition. everywhere.” However, until the This, of course, DEA reschedules or is a good thing, deschedules mareven if the source ijuana, CBD, even and quality of the without any THC in of the CBD is often it, will remain in unclear. Freedom a legal grey area. Leaf has a better That’s why it can idea. We’re exbe found in gas tracting CBD from stations and conlegal hemp plants in venience stores in Nevada and Spain some states while and recently purnot in others. It’s chased Bay Area up to the local oil extractor Irie jurisdiction. But if Freedom Leaf CEO Clifford J. Perry in Ses CBD. Our quality you don’t currently Salines on the island of Majorca in Spain. is top notch and live in a state that available via the Hempology, Leafceuiticals has either legal recreational or medical and Irie CBD brands. Read all about Freemarijuana, it’s likely you can still go to the dom Leaf’s hemp and CBD businesses as corner store and pick up a CBD-rich tincture well as our relationship with Merida Capital or gummy bear. Partners, who invested $3 million into FreeIt’s a brave, new world of hemp and CBD dom Leaf in October, on page 38. For those products, and we’re glad to be right in the interested in purchasing Freedom Leaf stock, thick of it! we’re listed as FRLF on the OTC Market. Is CBD a miracle drug? For children who suffer from seizures, it is. That’s why the FDA Steve Bloom and DEA both recently approved the use of Editor-in-Chief Epidiolex, a whole-plant CBD formulation

Steve Blo m

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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

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Chris Thompson

MANAGING DIRECTOR Rodrigo Chavez

CONTRIBUTORS: Steve Gelsi, Erin Hiatt, Dr. Chanda Macias, Mitch Mandell, Ross Marinaro, Tyler McFadden, Doug McVay, Ed Rosenthal, Dr. Aseem Sappal, Cheri Sicard, Elise Szabo, Roy Trakin, Bill Weinberg Copyright Â© 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.

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MIKE WHITER

NORML

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS WITH CANNABIS

Congress should make marijuana accessible for veterans. BY TYLER MCFADDEN THE VETERANS MEDICAL Marijuana Safe Harbor Act, introduced by Democratic senators Bill Nelson (FL) and Brian Schatz (HI), and the Veterans Equal Access Act, introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), would allow Veteran Affairs (VA) physicians to recommend medical marijuana to veterans in the 31 states (and Washington, DC) where it’s legal. Out of the more than 18 million veterans living in the United States today, more than nine million are annually served by VA hospitals. Unfortunately, thousands of those veterans go unseen and underserved every day. I watched first-hand as my partner, a disabled veteran, waited for more than a year to be processed and seen by a mental health specialist and approved for physical therapy after his honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy. There were days when he was in so much pain from his service-related injury that he could barely walk and was constantly visiting the local VA hospital during that long year; since then, he’s been prescribed several different medications for his ailments. But what if the best medicine for those ailments is marijuana? An American Legion poll recently found that nearly 1 in 4 veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces self-reported using marijuana to treat a mental or physical ailment, which is a much 12 FREEDOM LEAF

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higher rate of use when compared to the general population. Despite medical marijuana becoming increasingly available in states across the country, this self-medicating is often done illegally and leaves veterans at risk of arrest and incarceration for simply trying to deal with service-related ailments that the VA has not managed to alleviate. Though the VA currently allows its physicians to discuss medical marijuana with veterans, they can’t recommend it or help veterans complete paperwork for participation in state-regulated programs because of cannabis’ continued federal status as a Schedule I drug. The Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act would fix that. Forcing Congressional action on allowing veterans access to marijuana is an important first step to providing medical equity for those struggling with service-related ailments. Prioritizing the health and well-being of all veterans, regardless of their state of residence or socio-economic status, is of paramount importance to our country’s social fabric. Congress should support our troops by giving them equal access and the ability to choose the medicine they need and deserve. Tyler McFadden is a NORML Junior Associate.

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SSDP

REDUCING HARM

SSDP regionals introduce students to drug-policy reform principles. BY ELISE SZABO EACH FALL, SSDP’S regional conferences bring students, alumni and community members in their respective areas together for knowledge sharing and community building through interactive workshops, educational discussions and networking. We kicked off the season on October 6 at SUNY Binghamton in New York State. After welcoming remarks by former SUNY Binghamton SSDP Chapter Leader Grant Leow, I along with fellow SSDP staffer Hannah Procell led a cultural competency training session where we discussed racial bias in drug policy enforcement and the U.S. prison system and read some anecdotes of peoples’ first-hand experiences with being targeted by law enforcement. It’s important that incoming activists understand this and incorporate it into their advocacy. The next session was a panel on harm reduction featuring Truth Pharm founder Alexis Pleus, SSDP alumnus and harm reduction counselor Garrett Reuscher and harm reduction psychotherapist Eddie Einbinder. The three experts explained the principles of harm reduction and the best ways to argue for it to prohibitionists, and also how to support a loved one struggling with drug abuse without compromising their autonomy. Then SUNY Binghamton graduate student Kevin Revier presented “Stories from Jail: Harm Reduction Through an Abolitionist Framework,” which focused on the expe14 FREEDOM LEAF

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riences of incarcerated people and the horrific treatment they face behind bars, the Prison Abolition movement and what anticriminalization activism looks like beyond just drug-policy reform. Amy Hildebrand, JJ Chamberlain and Leow followed with a frank discussion about the successes and failures of legal cannabis, how it helps some and hurt others who’ve been victims of cannabis criminalization, and capitalism’s difficult relationship with healing and justice. Sheila Vakharia, policy manager of the Drug Policy Alliance’s Office of Academic Engagement, addressed the crucial role academic research plays in informing policy change. Procell returned to explain SSDP’s policy change efforts. She concluded with examples of what young people can do right now to get involved. The event closed with a “Drug War Stories” open-mic session. Our regional conference continued on October 13 at Kent State University in Kent, OH; October 26-28 at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA; November 3 at the University of Texas in Austin, TX; November 10 in Vienna, Austria; and Deccember 1-2 at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Visit ssdp.org/ events for more information. Elise Szabo is SSDP’s Pacific Regional Outreach Coordinator.

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WOMEN GROW

CBD & ME

The cannabidiol revolution is being led by women. BY DR. CHANDA MACIAS FOR SEVERAL YEARS, I’ve assisted thouprovided patients. This natural cannabinoid sands of patients with an alternative form of found in both the cannabis and hemp plants medicine: cannabis. Through direct feedback has aided people for some time. However, and observational studies, patients have init’s only now that CBD is becoming more dicated that CBD, in particular, provides a broadly known and accepted. significant benefit to mediate certain healthAs a dispensary owner, it’s rewarding care needs. to see my patients—from children to senior As a scientist who earned her PhD in celcitizens—improve based on this medicine. lular biology with extensive studies in cancer They’ve come to me with inflammation and research, including breast and coanxiety, mood swings and hormonlon cancer, and evolved into al imbalances, insomnia and developing a model to excruciating pain, and understand the mechwithin months they’re anism of prostate new people. cancer metastaI’m excited to sizes to bone, announce that I’ve studied we’ll soon be and conlaunching our sulted with own Nationmany paal Holistic tients. When Health CenI opened my ter product dispensary, line. The first National Hoproduct will listic Healing be a hemp-deCenter, in 2015 rived CBD tincin Washington, ture. Our patients DC, I’d already need affordable Dr. Chanda Macias had 15-plus years rehealthcare solutions. As searching the impact meda mother, wife and caregivical marijuana and hemp has er, I’m conscious of price points on patients. and don’t want to add another heavy finanDuring my time at Howard University as cial burden on them. Director of STEM Education in the College of Today, we’re seeing more women turnEngineering, Architecture and Computer Sciing to CBD products for self-care and more ences, where I was awarded over $10 milwomen-led CBD companies. CBD is quicklion in federally funded grants, I had the oply becoming an alternative natural product portunity to train MDs, PhDs and advanced that promotes an improved quality of life. undergraduates in biomedical research for This further supports my studies and research infectious diseases in several global commuover the years. We’re all trying to make a nities to address healthcare disparities. This difference in the lives of others. was where my education, experience and skillset contributed greatly in my understandDr. Chanda Macias owns National Holistic ing of medical marijuana and hemp. I was Healing Center and is Chairwoman of the familiar with the benefits cannabidiol (CBD) Board for Women Grow, LLC. 16 FREEDOM LEAF

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OAKSTERDAM UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL’S IN The burgeoning cannabis industry is a major job creator. But first you should take some classes at Oaksterdam U.

BY DR. ASEEM SAPPAL ALTHOUGH CANNABIS IS illegal at the federal level in the United States, 31 states have legalized it for medical use and nine states for adult use. If you’re thinking about participating in this burgeoning industry, now’s the time to jump in. According to the Marijuana Business Factbook, the legal U.S. cannabis market in 2017 was between $5.8 billion and $6.6 billion. Recent data compiled by Arcview Market Research projects the market to reach $11 billion in 2018 and $23 billion by 2022. Expansion of the cannabis industry isn’t just about sales. It currently employs an estimated 125,000 to 160,000 people, with the potential of nearly 500,000 full-time jobs by 2022. While there are plenty of job opportunities for prospective employees, today’s employers are beginning to realize they need people who are more than “closet cultivators.” Growers are certainly needed, but the types of positions available in the industry go way beyond horticulture and include manufacturing, retail, government policy, healthcare, accounting, marketing, legal, security, carpentry, electrical and more. A formal cannabis education from Oaksterdam University (OU) will greatly help anyone interested in entering the industry. The first cannabis college in the United 18 FREEDOM LEAF

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States, OU offers a 14-week Horticultural Program that dovetails with the Basic and Business Programs. It’s important for aspiring budtenders, cannabis chefs, edibles manufacturers and others to have a wellrounded education. Why OU? Since 2007, we’ve been the forerunner in providing the highest-quality training for people interested in a career in cannabis and the first institution to address the growing needs of the marijuana movement, from patients to regulators. Such a focus has established OU as the only cannabis college with a comprehensive curriculum in business and horticulture available today. In addition to training individuals looking to get into the industry, OU is also for regulators and government officials, such as city council members and state evaluators overseeing medical-marijuana license applications. OU’s research and development has expanded through partnerships with the Oregon Health Research Institute, as well as with the University of West Indies. Our faculty is comprised of professionals, academics, entrepreneurs and OU alumni—over 25,000 from over 30 countries who’ve received marijuana-policy reform training. Learn more at oaksterdamuniversity.com. Dr. Aseem Sappal is Provost and Dean of Faculty at Oaksterdam University.

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DOES IT

Welcome to the brave, new world of pot deliveries.

BY ROY TRAKIN

f you’ve ever ordered a car from Uber or a book from Amazon, navigating your delivery of a pack of Lowell Smokes from Eaze is a no-brainer for anyone with a smartphone, as I found out recently. Just go to Eaze.com, set up a user name and password, take a photo of your California driver’s license (or registered ID) to

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prove you’re 21, submit credit card information and you’re off to the races. The Eaze menu is clean and uncluttered, with a wide variety of flower, prerolls, tinctures and oils, all from least expensive to most, left to right. Like any other commerce site, you add items to your cart, then check out. Any purchase over $50 has no delivery fee; anything less carries a charge of $5. The prices are competitive with li-

TOMMY QUICKSILVER

Eaze’s “Chief Cannabis Evangelist,” Jason Pinsky

censed brick-and-mortar dispensaries, though the addition of the required 9.5% sales and statewide 15% excise taxes pushes the total of my two Biscotti Singoli hash-infused pre-rolls ($40) and one LoudPack Kosher Kush preroll ($12) to $69.86 with the $17.86 surcharge. The Eaze interface lets you know how long it’s going to take, with the steps to delivery checked off, in turn: “order received,” “order is being prepared,” “driver is on the way” and “order is arriving,” with the courier texting the progress along the way until they’re at your front door. With the company’s boast of a 15- to 20-minute delivery, I was a little disheartened when it showed a wait time of 48 to 56 minutes, but I suppose that’s what you get when you order at 4:30 p.m. smack in the middle of L.A. rush hour. I imagine it’s a lot different in a Sacramento suburb on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Still, my Eaze courier arrived at precisely the moment the clock struck zero. I buzzed him up on my apartment intercom and had three pre-rolls in my hand in a compliant, child-proof package after signing my name on his iPhone. And while there was no room for a tip, I gave the guy $10 in cash. My deliverer seemed genuinely grateful. California’s come a long way from the bicycle-riding pot delivery service depicted in HBO’s High Maintenance. Thanks to Eaze and other services, that dream is now a reality, at least in Cali. The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2014 by since-departed tech entrepreneur Keith McCarty, who used the money from selling start-up Yammer, a social media enterprise, to Microsoft for $1.2 billion. McCarty, a Christian conservative from Orange County who doesn’t partake himself, was looking for a business for his on-demand technology. McCarty, who has since been replaced as CEO by his Yammer colleague Jim Patterson,

was intent on getting medical marijuana patients—at the time, the only ones who could legally consume—their required medicine without any hassles. With adult use now legal in California and eight other states at press time, Eaze has grown exponentially, adding offices in Venice and San Diego and affiliations with 12 individual licensed dispensary warehouses in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, Napa and Santa Rosa. Those individual distribution centers, most of them not connected to a dispensary, in turn employ upwards of 1,000 drivers (with W2s and on payroll) all connected by Eaze’s licensed software. Many of the cars are stocked with a variety of securely packaged, child-proof exit bags in complete compliance with regulations. “If Amazon and Lyft were to smoke a joint and have a baby, it would be Eaze,” Jason Pinsky, a longtime hemp activist dubbed the company’s “Chief Cannabis Evangelist,” tells Freedom Leaf. His job, he explains, is to “create media that educates and inspires.” Marijuana delivery services are nothing new. Companies like Postmates make cannabis deliveries, but they involve third-parties and often take more than an hour. Many dispensaries offer their own delivery, frequently with white-label (nonbranded) partners. When Eaze tried to provide their back-end technology to local LA dispensaries, the company received mostly a cold shoulder. “Why should I share my customer base with them?” wonders one high-profile dispensary owner who preferred to be anonymous for this article. “I’m trying to brand my own store, plus they’re getting all my data.” With more companies receiving licenses from the state for delivery, there’s been pushback. In October, several San Diego weed couriers were busted for not having

“If Amazon and Lyft were to smoke a joint and have a baby, it would be Eaze.” JASON PINSKY

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Eaze CEO Jim Patterson

proper licenses, including Leaf Life, with 50 pounds of product and $2,500 seized, and Fast Grass, where 30 pounds of weed was taken, along with four pounds of meth and $1,800 in cash. Since the beginning of the year through September in Los Angeles alone, 515 people were arrested, representing 101 illegal delivery services. There’s been a great deal of pressure from a coalition of police, city governments and retail dispensaries on the California Bureau of Cannabis Control to ban deliveries altogether. Meanwhile, Eaze has taken a page from its founder’s idealism regarding cannabis’ effects on health and well-being. “This is a medicine,” says Eaze’s Director of Consumer Communications Sheena Shiravi, who joined the company three years ago. “We want patients to get it discretely, professionally and in a comfortable environment. It’s all about ‘Eaze’ of use.” Eaze also offers clients—distributors and brands—the benefits of its expertise on compliance and the regulations for each local area. “We’re the policy-maker’s trusted credible friends,” Shiravi adds. “We work with them to offer safe access for consumers with the most seamless technology.” Distributors pay an annual licensing fee for Eaze’s technology based on their size and traffic. Shiravi points to Eaze Insights—a database that provides valuable information on consumer behavior—and a three-pillar plan that addresses economic empowerment, social outreach and community sustainability in association with companies like The Hood Incubator and Success Center in the San Francisco Bay 22 FREEDOM LEAF

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Area, which target those who’ve been most negatively impacted by the War on Drugs. The goal is to train people for entrepreneurial roles within the emerging cannabis economy. EazeMD was launched to help patients secure medical cards by connecting them with doctors via an online video chat. Eaze has also been active in compassionate-care initiatives by calling on brands to donate products, as well as supporting local political agendas, including the expungement of criminal records for marijuana-related offenses. In California, cannabis delivery is here to stay. Whether Eaze will turn out to be the dominant player remains to be seen, but they’re the most high-profile entry so far, complete with $52 million raised from investors since its start-up, including Series A funding from the Snoop Dogg-backed Casa Verde Capital, as well as the likes of Bailey Capital, DCM Ventures, Kaya Ventures and FJ Labs. According to Forbes, Eaze is “the highest-funded start-up in the history of the cannabis industry, as well as the fastest-growing one,” with 300% growth in 2017 from the previous year. Last year, the company reported it had performed 120,000 deliveries per month to 250,000 users. “One day soon we’ll have more cannabis delivery drivers on the road than Domino’s Pizza,” predicts dispensary owner Dina Browner, who owns Alternative Herbal Health Services in West Hollywood. Now if only they’d fix the potholes, too. L.A. resident Roy Trakin writes for Freedom Leaf, Variety and other publications.

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BETTER LIVING THROUGH

CANNABIS

CHEMISTRY LITTLE-KNOWN SCIENTIST ROGER ADAMS WAS THE FIRST TO ISOLATE CBD AND ALSO PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE DISCOVERY OF THC.

ARTICLE BY BILL WEINBERG ILLUSTRATION BY ROSS MARINARO

he name most associated with cannabis science is generally Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam, who’s credited with first isolating and identifying THC. But given the current CBD craze, there’s another figure who should receive his due: American chemist Roger Adams, who first isolated cannabidiol. And, by some accounts, he even has a claim to being the person who initially identified its psychoactive cousin, THC. In addition, Adams grappled with the role of science—and its misuses—in war and totalitarianism during the great world political upheavals in the early 20th century. A true Boston blue-blood and direct descendant of President John Adams,

the precocious scion entered Harvard in 1905 at age 16. In 1913, he travelled on a fellowship to Germany, the world leader in chemistry at that time, and studied at Berlin’s prestigious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. He returned to the U.S. to take a post at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign just as World War I was breaking out. For the first but not the last time, events on the global stage had an impact on his life, career and research. In 1917, Adams took a position with the National Research Council in Washington, DC and its associated Chemical Warfare Service. Germany was then notoriously using poison gas in the trench warfare of Europe. Adams studied this with an eye toward developing prophylactics to gas attacks—and potentially deterrents in the capacity to retaliate in FALL 2018

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In 1942, Adams won a patent for his method of isolating CBD and was also the first researcher to identify THC. kind. Ironically, the expertise he learned in Germany was now being put to use for the war effort against Deutschland. Even after the war, Adams remained close to the then-forming national security establishment, which also had an impact on what would be his life’s most important scientific work. In 1939—just two years after marijuana was banned by Congress—Adams received a Treasury Department license to work with cannabis oil at his lab in Urbana-Champaign and presented a paper to the National Academy of Science Adams with on “The Chemistry the electron of Marihuana.” supermicroscope in 1941 The next world war also broke out that year, although the U.S. wouldn’t become involved until after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. The national security establishment was clearly taking a keen interest in Adams’ work. In 1942, the newly formed Office of Strategic Services, the wartime predecessor of the CIA, drew on Adams’ research in its quest for a “truth serum.” Cannabis was administered to U.S. soldiers and also to scientists working on the Manhattan Project—the super-secret mission to develop the atomic bomb—but produced negligible results. Marijuana’s newly illegal status made this research controversial. In his profile of Adams in No Boundaries: University of Illinois Vignettes (2004), Ronald Doel relates how the esteemed chemist was publicly dressed down by Harry J. Anslinger, the anti-pot zealot who was the crusading figure behind the “reefer madness” of this era. 26 FREEDOM LEAF

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As commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Anslinger was the nation’s first Drug Czar. And since Adams’ research was being overseen by the bureau, Anslinger apparently perceived him as having a bit too much enthusiasm for his work. After Adams reportedly let slip in mixed company about the “pleasant effects of the use of this drug,” Anslinger publicly scolded him. “In my opinion, this drug is bad for human consumption and should be painted so,” he lectured. In 1940, Adams was appointed to the National Defense Research Committee to assist in the war effort, but FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover suspected him of being a Communist sympathizer and blocked Adams’ appointment for several months due to his membership in the Lincoln’s Birthday Committee for Democracy and Intellectual Freedom, a body of academics opposed to Nazi pseudoscience and “race” theories. Adams was what would later be called a “premature anti-fascist.” With the U.S. and USSR allied in World War II, anti-Communism was (for a while) de-emphasized, and Adams eventually got his security clearance. In 1942, he started the Illinois chapter of Russian War Relief, an organization established to support Uncle Sam’s wartime ally. From a scientific standpoint, Adams’ most important work was his cannabis research in the early 1940s when he identified and synthesized cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN). In 1942, he won a patent for his method of isolating CBD.

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After Adams reportedly let slip in mixed company about the “pleasant effects of the use of this drug,” Harry J. Anslinger publicly scolded him. Adams was also the first researcher to Adams at the University of Illinois and to identify tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Dr. H. J. Wollner, consulting chemist of published 27 studies on cannabis in the the U.S. Treasury, who supplied some of American Journal of Chemistry. the active principles of marihuana which But Adams never actually isolated were used in the study.” THC directly from the plant; instead, he The post-war era saw the pinnacle of synthesized it in the lab by tweaking the Adams’ embrace by the foreign policy molecular structure of other cannabiestablishment. In 1945, he returned to noids, principally CBD. Adams apparentGermany as an advisor to General Lucius ly had been looking for the psychoactive Clay, administrator of the U.S. occupation cannabinoid; he knew it had to exist and there. Adams’ special mission was to had a good idea of its molecular oversee the reconstitution and makeup, but never actually de-Nazification of GermaAdams (left) identified it in the plant, ny’s scientific establishvisited Japan in 1947. apparently because ment. In 1947, he was the technology later sent to U.S.-occuused by Mechoupied Japan with a lam wasn’t availsimilar mission. able to him back Adams rein the ’40s. turned to IlliWhile Mechounois, where he lam is generally remained until credited with isohis death in 1971. lating THC at the In 1958, the year Hebrew University after his retirement, in Jerusalem in 1964 the American and giving the comChemical Society pound its name, Adams established the prestiproduced THC analogs in gious Roger Adams Award his laboratory some 20 years in honor of his work. earlier and is said to have “inferred” the He also developed the “Adams Scale” existence of the molecule in the cannabis to measure the potency of cannabinoids; plant. Mechoulam confirmed Adams’ it’s still in use by researchers today. Aldiscovery by using a nuclear magnetic though CBD’s multifarious applications resonance spectrometer. would only become apparent decades According to hightideventures.com, later, Adams noted its analgesic effects in “The isolation of delta-9-tetrahydrothe ’40s. cannabinol as the primary psychoactive Roger Adams repeatedly risked his constituent in cannabis was first career and position both for his cannabis done by Wollner, Levine and Lowe in research and his political ideals, standing 1942. This followed the work of Roger up to the forces of intolerance in a very Adams. Since then, (THC) has become the paranoid age. most widely studied cannabinoid.” In 1944, "The La Guardia Report on the New York-based freelancer Bill Weinberg Marihuana Problem" acknowledged Adwrites for Freedom Leaf and other cannabis ams’ work: “We are indebted to Dr. Roger publications. 28 FREEDOM LEAF

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CBD & HEMP

FAQ BY ERIN HIATT

HERE ARE 16 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MARIJUANA’S MOST FAMOUS NONINTOXICATING CANNABINOID AND INDUSTRIAL COUSIN.

What’s the difference between hemp & CBD?

Cannabis sativa L, a.k.a. “industrial hemp,” is an incredibly versatile and durable plant, making it ideal for the manufacture of rope, canvas, paper, textiles, fuel and plastic. Hemp seeds are frequently used for food and beauty products. Hemp grows tall and thin, like bamboo, and is nonintoxicating, unlike marijuana. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is extracted from hemp or cannabis to make oil. In the past few years, as the legality of marijuana has evolved, CBD sales skyrocketed by nearly 40%, according to New Frontier Data. This growth is unlikely to slow as word about CBD’s potential healing and medicinal benefits continues to spread.

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What's the difference between hemp-derived CBD and cannabisderived CBD?

Hemp-derived CBD, extracted only from the plants' stalks and stems, contains less than 0.3 percent THC and must be imported into the U.S. The 2014 Farm Bill allowed states to grow hemp as part of university research pilot programs. However, most hemp-derived CBD comes from outside the U.S. Cannabis-derived CBD is not limited to extraction from the stalks and stems; other parts of the plant, especially the flowers, can be used to make CBD oil. Cannabis-derived CBD is grown in legal states. The most meaningful difference between the two are oversight and product quality. Imported CBD oil has littleto-no oversight regarding extraction techniques and is not likely to have undergone any testing. U.S.-grown cannabis-derived CBD is tightly controlled, monitored and tested for contaminants.

CW HEMP

Charlotte Figi

What is CBD?

One of the more than 100 chemical compounds present in the cannabis plant, CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system, which plays a role in regulating physiology and mood. CBD burst onto the scene in 2013 when a young Colorado Springs girl named Charlotte Figi caught the attention of Dr. Sanjay Gupta while filming the CNN documentary, Weed. Figi, who suffers from Dravet syndrome, was having up to 300 seizures a week until her parents started treating her with a high-CBD strain now named for her, Charlotte’s Web.

high amounts of THC are less likely to be tolerated by patients, while CBD is known to be tolerable even at high doses. Side effects from CBD are not widely reported, but when they do occur, they’re believed to generate from interaction with other drugs. THC has side effects that are wellknown but temporary, like dry mouth, red eyes, sore throat and increased heart rate. Avidekel by Tikun Olam

Which cannabis strains are highest in CBD?

Leafceuticals' hemp facility in Spain

Can you smoke hemp?

Hemp is bred to have negligible amounts of THC and a higher ratio of CBD. So you could smoke it. But if getting high is part of the plan, then hemp’s not for you.

What's the difference between THC and CBD?

The obvious and visible difference between THC and CBD is that THC can get you high, while CBD cannot. Both are known to have healing properties, but

According to lab data posted by Leafly, the Dancehall strain, with a CBD:THC ratio of 20:1, ranks first. Other high CBD strains include ACDC (19:1), Ringo’s Gift (19:1), Remedy (17:1), Suzy Q (17:1) and Sour Tsunami (15:1). Other strains with high, or balanced, ratios of CBD to THC are Atlant, Avidekel, Candida, Cannatonic, Charlotte’s Web, Dance World, Dinamed, Good Medicine, Harlequin, Hawaiian Dream and Nordle.

What are the medical benefits of CBD?

Studies have shown that CBD plays an important role in the treatment of many conditions, most notably epilepsy. In fact, the FDA recently approved Epidiolex, a CBD oil for Dravet syndrome and LenFALL 2018

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nox-Gastaut syndrome, another rare kind of epilepsy. A 2012 study suggested that CBD can be used for pain management. Many professional athletes say it helps them recover from injuries and manage chronic pain and inflammation. Other studies have shown that CBD acts as a neuroprotectant (to shield the brain and nervous system). CBD also interacts in profound ways with cancer cells and may even cause cancer cell death. Other medicinal benefits of CBD include easing symptoms of anxiety and insomnia and as a potential treatment for fighting opioid addiction.

What’s the best way to use CBD— smoke, vape, eat, tincture, topical?

Most people consume CBD by vaping or as a pill, capsule or tincture. Others may dab it or add it to their food as an isolate. To relieve aches and pains, many use CBD topicals, like a cream or salve. You can also smoke the flower. 32 FREEDOM LEAF

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Is CBD legal?

Even though it seems like CBD is popping up everywhere, the short answer is no, CBD is not federally legal . Seventeen U.S. states have enacted laws that allow for its limited use. But, for the most part, it sits in a legal grey area. If the product contains even a trace amount of THC, it’s considered an illegal substance and may not enter the U.S. stream of commerce. As for U.S. farmers who are growing hemp as part of pilot programs in legal states, CBD sales are essentially tolerated and lightly enforced. But if you ask the DEA, the Department of Justice and the FDA, CBD is a controlled substance. However, Epidiolex, mentioned in question 7, was given Schedule V status (“lower potential for abuse”) under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by the DEA in September. All other CBD formulations remain in Schedule I (“no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”), despite extracts being given a new code in 2016.

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UK COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

University of Kentucky's hemp farm in Lexington

Is hemp legal?

HASH, MARIHUANA & HEMP MUSEUM

Hemp has been illegal since the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, when it got ensnared in the same legal net as marijuana, making it a Schedule I drug. Things have changed somewhat for the better since President Obama signed the 2014 Farm Bill. Now, 41 states have authorized hemp production. However, the disconnect between state and federal laws remains a barrier because the U.S. government continues to assert that hemp and marijuana are legally identical. This puts farmers at risk of prison, asset forfeiture or DEA raids.

Hemp door panel

What are some of the products that can be made with hemp? Hemp can be made into hundreds of products, such as paper, rope and textiles for clothing. High-end car companies like BMW and Mercedes are utilizing hempbased composites and plastics, while more companies in the food and beauty sectors are adding hemp to their products. There have been exciting developments in plastics, biodiesel and hemp nanomaterials, which could one day replace environmentally devastating batteries in cell phones and hybrid automobiles.

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Can hemp be used to build houses? Yes. Hempcreteâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a mixture of hemp, lime and waterâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is thought to be more thermal resistant than concrete, as well as more energy efficient. Building with hemp is an environmentally friendly alternative, making the home much less toxic, fire resistant and more able to withstand mold, insects and fire.

Where is hemp grown around the world?

Industrial hemp crops span the globe, but the top producer is China, where hemp has been growing continually for thousands of years, followed closely by France and Canada.

How will the 2018 Farm Bill affect hemp's legality? Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill would be a game changer for the U.S. hemp industry. Introduced last spring by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the new law would remove hemp from the CSA

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and legalize it as an agricultural commodity. Currently, the debate over regulations for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is holding it up. President Trump has demanded that any law he signs include work requirements for those receiving SNAP benefits; industry insiders are working to remove a felony provision that would exclude drug felons from working in the industry. On September 30, Congress allowed the 2014 Farm Bill to expire.

Are hemp food and household products legal? Yes, but only if the products contain imported hemp seed or hemp seed oil and has less than 0.3 THC. Two exemplary companies in this space are soap maker Dr. Bronner’s, which annually imports 20 tons of hemp seed oil from Canada, and The Body Shop, with its bestselling line of hemp seed oil-based lotions, from French-grown plants.

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What are the nutritional benefits of hemp seeds?

Non-psychoactive hemp seeds, or hearts, have been a nutritional powerhouse for thousands of years because they’re high in polyunsaturated fatty acids like linoleic acid (omega-6), alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and other nutrients. Polyunsaturated fats are believed to help reduce bad cholesterol levels, which is essential to lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke. These fats also add vitamin E, an important antioxidant that protects the body from cell-damaging free radicals. Since our bodies are unable to produce polyunsaturated fats, hemp seeds can play an important nutritional role in long-term health. Hemp seeds are high in vitamins A and C and beta-carotene, another powerful antioxidant. Hemp seeds also contain fiber, protein, potassium and iron. Add hemp to your diet by sprinkling shelled seeds on salads or yogurt. Check your local grocery stores for seeds, protein powder, hemp milk, nutrition bars, granola and coldpressed hemp seed oil. However, cooking with hemp seed oil is not recommended; when heated, it becomes rancid and loses its nutrients. It’s best to keep it cool. Erin Hiatt is Freedom Leaf’s resident hemp and CBD expert.

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DIVES INTO HEMP Our little magazine company is becoming a CBD powerhouse.

BY STEVE GELSI

reedom Leaf Inc.’s bid to Freedom Leaf CEO Clifford J. Perry says diversify into an industrial Merida Capital’s long-term view on its inhemp cultivator, CBD provestments reflects the firm’s name, taken ducer and formulator drew from an area in Spain where the Romans support with a $3 million built aqueducts that have stood for some investment from Merida Capital Partners 2,000 years: “They stay with their comin October, capping off a busy year of panies and promote acquisitions and deal-making for the Las Vegas-based synergy in their portfolio. So far, they’ve company. been tremendously successful.” While Freedom Leaf Perry likes to call Freedom (OTCQB: FRLF) has been Leaf the “little train that traded on the Over The could” since it started Counter markets as out as a publisher of a fully reporting a magazine and is and audited public now branching out company for four into hemp cultiyears, the transvation and fullaction with Merispectrum CBD da Capital marks extraction busithe first time it nesses in a flurry has sold equity in of transactions. the company to a In one of its more venture capital firm. high-profile deals, in Freedom Leaf Inc. CEO Merida Capital is not June, Freedom Leaf acClifford J. Perry in just any venture firm. It quired a 430,000-squareValencia, Spain already commands a high foot greenhouse nursery, profile in the cannabis business as for cultivation and production of a backer of KushCo Holdings Inc., New legal industrial hemp in Valencia, Spain, Frontier Data, Grow Generation, Emerincluding light deprivation throughout ald Scientific and many others successthe greenhouse, a 43,000-square-foot fully participating in the cannabis and indoor growing research facility, which hemp sector. Freedom Leaf operates under the name 38 FREEDOM LEAF

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Tall hemp plants being grown in one of Freedom Leaf’s Leafceuticals Europe grow facilities in Valencia, Spain.

FREEDOM LEAF'S CLIFF PERRY:

“IN TWO TO THREE YEARS, THE MARKET WILL CONSOLIDATE. BY THEN, WE’LL HAVE MARKET PENETRATION.” Leafceuticals Europe, S.L.U. Among its other transactions, in August, Freedom Leaf agreed to pay $2.2 million for Tierra Science Global, a health supplements firm that generated more than $500,000 in revenue in the first six months of 2018. As part of that deal, Freedom Leaf plans to manufacture a number of hemp full-spectrum CBD oil products, including two skin serums created by Beverly Hills anti-aging practitioner Dr. Naina Sachdev. Freedom Leaf hired biomedical engineer Purdue graduate, Nicholas Shi to optimize the extraction and distillation processes of Leafceuticals Inc. Shi is focusing on improving hemp CBD oil yields, fractional distillation of other rare cannabinoids, terpenoid processing time and product quality at the Leafceuticals Inc. extraction lab in North Las Vegas.

Freedom Leaf also, in March, purchased Irie CBD, a CBD product company that generated $1.5 million in revenue in 2017, and is manufacturing products under the Hempology brand as well. Merida Capital and its affiliates acquired $3 million worth of Freedom Leaf stock through a private investment in a public entity for a significant minority stake in the company. Merida Senior Partner David Goldburg will be joining Freedom Leaf’s board of directors as part of the deal. Mitch Baruchowitz, managing partner at Merida Capital, says the firm was drawn to the Freedom Leaf’s acquisitions in the CBD space, among its other properties: “It seemed like they’d rolled up some interesting CBD products and brands which could be expanded quickly, inFALL 2018

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cluding a stable consumer CBD business, Irie. Plus, they’ve made some inroads in Europe where we’re interested in making investments. We invest in companies that are growing fast. Freedom Leaf has done a good job of finding assets in a frugal and responsible manner. “Merida’s investment is a validation of Freedom Leaf’s aggressive efforts to build a high-quality family of cannabidiol-based products, but it’s also an acknowledgement of the potential for the Valencia, Spain cultivation facility to become a significant supplier of both hemp and cannabis to European markets in the immediate future." Merida invested in Freedom Leaf Inc. from Merida Capital Partners LP II, which has deployed $40 million thus far since February. To be sure, the acquisitions and a focus shift from license sales to product sales have weighed on Freedom Leaf's bottom line. For the 12 months ended June 30, 40 FREEDOM LEAF

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ABOUT MERIDA CAPITAL PARTNERS Merida Capital Partners is a private equity firm targeting fundamental growth drivers which accelerate the rapid development of the cannabis industry. Their motto, “Responsible Investing in the Emerging Cannabis Industry,” highlights their focus on cultivation technologies, products and services associated with the evolution of cannabis as an agricultural product, a natural plant-based medicine, a constituent in pharmaceutical formulations and a recreational consumer product.

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MERIDA’S MITCH BARUCHOWITZ: “FREEDOM LEAF HAS DONE A GOOD JOB OF FINDING ASSETS IN A FRUGAL AND RESPONSIBLE MANNER.”

the company reported a net loss of $4.6 million, compared to a loss of $910,000 in the prior 12 months when revenue fell to $411,272 from $817,457. The company cited a decrease of license sales offset by increases in product sales. Management has indicated that its increased expenses to support its acquisitions and additional product sales already is bearing fruit in terms of increasing revenues. But the CBD opportunity remains huge, with interest from a wide variety of industries and the expected passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which will reclassify hemp as an agricultural commodity regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 42 FREEDOM LEAF

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Industrywide sales in the global industrial hemp and CBD market will total about $3.9 billion, with a compounded annual growth rate of 14% by 2025, according to estimates from Grandview Research. In the U.S., Frontier Data forecasts CBD sales will hit $1.2 billion in 2020 and $2 billion by 2022. The market for CBD, an ingredient for food, beverages, beauty and medicine, is projected to grow at a rate of 39% through 2021, according to estimates from market research firm Technavio. Perry sees Freedom Leaf as a potential beneficiary from mergers and an acquisition in the CBD space with winners emerging as the industry grows. “In two

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to three years, the market will consolidate,” he predicts. “By then, we’ll have significant market penetration.” Freedom Leaf continues to seek wholesale buyers for its CBD products as it works on setting up its infrastructure and production in Spain and Nevada with backing from Merida Capital. Perry has met with many executives and entrepreneurs that are formulators and suppliers of nutritional products to health food, big box stores and others. These companies are setting up labs around the country for CBD extraction, part of an expected wave of production. Pharmaceutical companies will also be on the hunt for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). Perry said the company is in talks to potentially supply them with APIs from its European hemp facilities. With Freedom Leaf’s roots in cannabis/ hemp activism, the company is now positioned as a major player in the hemp and CBD markets. “We didn’t get into this yesterday,” Perry explains. “The secret sauce of Freedom Leaf is that we’ve become a fully vertically integrated hemp CBD company. We’re doing genetic research to develop high-CBD, low-THC strains of

Workers at the hemp greenhouse in Valencia, Spain.

cannabis. We also do formulation and processing and have retail brands selling CBD products to consumers. We’re a brand you can trust.”

ABOUT FREEDOM LEAF Freedom Leaf Inc. (OTCQB:FRLF), a group of international vertically integrated hemp businesses concentrating on health, wellness and education as well as cannabis media companies has been a leading go-to resource in the cannabis, medical marijuana and industrial hemp industries since 2014. Founded by professionals with decades of combined experience in marijuana legalization advocacy. Freedom Leaf is building a diverse portfolio of valuable businesses through strategic mergers, acquisitions and accelerator projects across the industry. Freedom Leaf’s large portfolio of acquisitions and properties includes: our full-spectrum hemp oil product line, Irie CBD; our wholly owned hemp extraction division, Leafceuticals Inc.; our exclusive health and wellness full-spectrum hemp oil brand, Hempology; our indoor green44 FREEDOM LEAF

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house in Valencia, Spain for the cultivation of hemp; our hemp-based rolling paper company, Plants to Paper; two of the largest Spanish-speaking cannabis web portals in the world, LaMarihuana.com and Marihuana-Medicinal.com; and our flagship publication Freedom Leaf and freedomleaf.com.

LEADERS OF THE CANNABIS ECOSYSTEM ARE POWERED BY MERIDA BANKING, GOVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T & REGULATORY

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FREEDOM LEAF INTERVIEW

MARTIN A. LEE INTERVIEW BY DOUG MCVAY

Cofounder and director of Project CBD, an educational nonprofit that reports on cannabis science and therapeutics, Martin A. Lee is also the author of Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana—Medical, Recreational and Scientific (2012) and Acid Dreams: A Social History of LSD—the CIA, the Sixties and Beyond (1985). How did you get interested in CBD? I heard about it as a journalist attending and covering science conferences. I started writing about cannabis—the medical marijuana phenomenon—when I moved to California. I was drawn into it mainly from a civil rights/social justice perspective. Why are people still being busted if this is legal and for medical use? It was a whole universe that opened up, which I had no idea about at all. So I started to focus on cannabis science and therapeutics, rather than just the raids by the police and that kind of thing, which was what initially drew me into writing about cannabis. It kind of changed course. But what specifically sparked your interest in cannabidiol? I would hear about CBD from scientists at these conferences. Steep Hill, the first lab that emerged to service the medical marijuana community, was able to identify both THC and CBD levels in the various cultivars. When these different CBD-rich strains popped up, that was it! What will this do? How will this affect people? Fred Gardner and I knew this was going to have a potentially major impact for not just patients, but for the whole medical marijuana phenomenon. Right away, we thought this could be a tremendous challenge to prohibition and the drug war, and that it would be very difficult for the DEA to respond to CBD and explain why it should be kept illegal. What’s amazing is now you can get CBD in gas stations across America. It’s strictly illegal and it’s everywhere. It’s like the plant outfoxed the drug warriors.

It really was not anticipated that CBD would charge ahead of THC. For people who are outside the cannabis sphere, the idea that it can have health benefits and not get you high is very irresistible. That idea is really compelling to a lot of people. And that’s OK with me. With any luck, they’ll learn that they like getting high. But that’s another matter. If CBD can be the gateway to THC, I think that’s great. It’s a powerful thing. Our hunches about it were correct. It’s a way of driving legalization to the next step. Legalizing industrial hemp, that’s huge, and legal CBD is in pretty much every state now. It’s basically de facto legal. It’s a wild time. There’s a huge pro-cannabis cultural shift already underway. But CBD came, it kind of punctuated it, catalyzed onto another level, in both these spheres—for industrial hemp and for medical marijuana. It’s real. And it doesn’t have to get you high. That’s just, like, whoa. It’s a shitstorm that’s been unleashed. THC is getting a negative connotation these days in some cannabis circles. Why is that? Some people can tolerate CBD much easier than they can tolerate THC, which means it’s going to have a wider potential group of users. CBD’s psychoactivity is easier to manage than THC’s, although THC is important medicinally. There are good reasons why there’s such a CBD craze now, but it’s not the only game in town. That’s the important thing. For children with terrible seizure disorders, a CBD-rich oil can result in remarkFALL 2018

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“

CBD IS A VERY POWERFUL MOLECULE. IT’S PART OF A PLANT THAT’S BRIMMING WITH THERAPEUTIC ATTRIBUTES.

able changes. It’s really almost miraculous what it does. But for some children with epilepsy, it doesn’t work at all and it can make it worse; they need something with more THC in it to help them. The problem is everyone’s smitten with the idea about CBD as the medicinal muscle of the plant. It’s one of many compounds in the plant; it partners with THC as a power couple. But it’s a couple, not as an isolate, and it’s important that people realize that. Policy skews in a direction that privileges CBD over the rest of the plant. It’s really disrespectful to the plant. In one way, it’s a step forward. In another way, it’s a continuation of prohibition. It’s an ironic situation, but we should be very thankful that the gift of CBD is available to us. CBD is a component of cannabis’ entourage effect, right? Absolutely. There’s no question. We’ve seen this over and over. To me, it’s not a theory about synergy, or entourage, or the ensemble effect. The science is showing that this is real. Do you expect CBD to be rescheduled or descheduled in the near future? I don’t know what the DEA will ultimately do, but certainly there’s pressure to really reassess how the plant is scheduled, or if it should be scheduled at all. The fact that CBD has been approved as a pharmaceutical, now at Schedule V, with Epidiolex, which is pure CBD, that would mean if the FDA does what it ordinarily does, it would not allow herbal versions of that on the marketplace. The whole FDA regulatory apparatus favors pharmaceuticals. It does not favor herbal medicines. This is a major phenomenon. CBD has become the hot nutraceutical and there’s huge consumer demand. So, in a sense, 48 FREEDOM LEAF

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CBD has really flummoxed them and is forcing them to consider shifting gears in some way to accommodate the therapeutic potential of CBD-rich cannabis, not just CBD. But as long as the Controlled Substances Act is on the books, we’ll always have problems. It will be impossible to practically implement legalizing just one component of the plant, to say this part is legal and that other parts are illegal. The federal government has to give way on this, but I can easily see the DEA holding out, making it go to court and people fight this tooth and nail for the next couple of years until there’s clarity with this issue, because right now, where we seem to be heading is to legalizing industrial hemp for the growing of plants with biomass to extract CBD. That’s going to be legal nationally soon, when the Farm Bill passes at the end of the year. How will this affect domestic hemp cultivation? You’ll be allowed to grow hemp, but then afterwards, it’s not clear what happens. When you extract an oil and it goes over 0.3% THC because it becomes concentrated, then it’s illegal, so then you’d have to take THC out. The whole thing’s a mess because the Controlled Substances Act is still the law of the land, and as long as that’s the case, we’re going to be dealing with absurdity when it comes to drug policy. CBD is being touted for hangovers to serious illnesses and everything in between. How widely applicable are CBD medicines? They are widely applicable, but we shouldn’t romanticize them or make grandiose assumptions. CBD is a very powerful molecule. It’s part of a plant that’s brimming with therapeutic at-

PROJECT CBD Breaking News. Making News. Cutting edge reporting on CBD Science & Medicine

Deep Science Cannabis Dosing

Hemp vs Cannabis

ProjectCBD.org Founded 2008 FALL 2018

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tributes. CBD is therapeutic because it mimics and augments endogenous compounds. These endogenous cannabinoids are part of the endocannabinoid system, which exists in every mammal and many other animals. All people have one. It’s very difficult to find a disease that doesn’t involve dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system in some way. If one can regulate the endocannabinoid system—improve it, tune it up, augment it when something goes wrong—that can be helpful for many different diseases. But the important thing to emphasize is that CBD is just one molecule in the plant, one compound, and it works best when it’s part of the whole plant matrix in combination with THC. There are some conditions where a THC-rich remedy will be better and more effective than a CBD-rich one. What kind of impact do you think that the Epidiolex scheduling decision is going to have as far as other cannabis medicines? It’s hard to say. Again, the DEA can stall, it can make excuses, it can say anything from the resin is illegal or that the United States always abides by its treaties—in this case,

the UN’s Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs—so they can’t change it and it has to stay Schedule I. The contradiction is so glaring at this point. Epidiolex is 99.5% CBD. It’s essentially just a CBD isolate. If anything, you could argue that it shouldn’t even be Schedule V. It just should be descheduled. But Schedule V’s a lower schedule. Epidiolex went through all these trials, it’s got to go somewhere on the schedule and so that’s where they put it. We need to change the law, rather than make one part of the plant legal. I’m not sure strategically how much further that can go, the sort of single molecule strategy of legalizing just CBD. I think that it will reach its limit, with the Farm Bill, and then we’re going to be in a cul-de-sac, and we’ll have to confront the fact that you can’t interpret your way out of the Controlled Substances Act. You have to just change it or eliminate it. Are you working on any other book projects? Project CBD is the platform where my work is hosted on, and I think for the foreseeable future that’s where my focus will be, because there’s a lot to do there. The website is strategically positioned in this whole phenomenon and that’s not something I’m going to walk away from. It’s a good platform, a strong one, and if anything, I want to develop that and strengthen it and bring more people into it, use it to launch more, not just writing, but all kinds of activist projects. Doug McVay is editor of drugwarfacts.com.

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CBD TO THE RESCUE Dr. Ethan Russo, an expert in neurology and psychopharmacology, specializes in cannabinoid research. What are the main therapeutic effects of CBD? CBD has somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 mechanisms of action. Fortunately, all of these seem to be beneficial. The main ones are anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, anticonvulsant, antibiotic and anti-cancer. What are the differences between CBD and THC? THC in low doses is analgesic, a muscle relaxant, anti-emetic, promotes sleep and is mood elevating. In high doses, it’s intoxicating and produces anxiety, rapid heart rate and even paranoia and orthostatic hypotension. On the other hand, CBD in low-to-moderate doses is stimulating and anti-inflammatory and reduces anxiety and psychotic symptoms. It lacks THC’s side effects. CBD is an incredibly versatile and safe drug. It’s not a miracle, but it is amazingly therapeutic for a wide variety of conditions. Is THC bad and CBD good, as some would have us believe? Hardly. THC is a unique therapeutic agent that does not deserve the hysterical response that it evokes in politicians. What are the differences between hemp-derived CBD and cannabis-derived CBD? Hemp and cannabis are the same species. I believe that CBD extractions should derive from flowers of plants bred for CBD content, not from hemp refuse. The World Health Organization is performing a critical review of CBD. Their draft report, released in May, recommends descheduling. Do you think that WHO will recommend descheduling in its final report? They should. CBD is nonintoxicating, produces no reinforcement, no craving and no withdrawal. In no manner does it 52 FREEDOM LEAF

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Dr. Ethan Russo

qualify as a scheduled drug. It’s merely a case of guilt by association. Do you expect the DEA to change CBD scheduling like it did recently with the FDA-approved Epidiolex? I predict that CBD will remain in Schedule I as a forbidden substance unless Congress acts. The DEA may clamp down on unapproved sources of CBD unless public opinion sways Congress to intervene. Some advocates want to see cannabis removed entirely from the schedule of controlled substances and treated more like willow bark and other herbs with traditional healing properties. Do you think that’s a pipe dream, a reasonable goal or something other? My opinion is that the government will do what it wants irrespective of what science says. Where do you think cannabis medicine—CBD as well as non-CBD—will be in another 10 years? That totally depends on whether rational policies allow proper development of cannabis-based medicines. —Doug McVay

“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 FALL 2018

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JOY TO THE WORLD Meet hemp evangelist, Joy Beckerman.

BY STEVE BLOOM YOU CAN’T TAKE THE HIPPIE out of Joy Beckerman. The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) president became a canna-activist on Grateful Dead parking lots in the early ’90s. “I learned about the social and political injustice of marijuana and of industrial hemp on Grateful Dead tour,” she tells Freedom Leaf. With her busy schedule, Beckerman doesn’t have the time to attend Dead & Company shows these days, though she did go to the Fare Thee Well concerts in 2015. She has a trade organization to run and presentations to make. Just days before this interview, Beckerman spoke to a large group of attendees at the CannaGather event in New York. At warp-speed, she discussed every aspect of hemp, from science to laws to investment possibilities. Several days later, Beckerman tells me why she decided to make hemp her life’s work. “If you’re going to be a profes54 FREEDOM LEAF

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sional, you’re going to have to specialize and serve your clients and the needs of building either the hemp economy or the marijuana economy,” she says. “I chose the former.” Back in her Deadhead days, Beckerman opened a hemp store, Heaven on Earth, in Woodstock, NY. She proudly recalls that “we got a cease-and-desist letter for stamping ‘I GREW HEMP’ on dollar bills.” After closing up that shop, Beckerman moved to Washington State, where she immersed herself in the new legal marijuana economy there. Unfortunately, the state’s hemp program proved to be a disappointment, and she returned to New York last year. “It doesn’t allow for extraction and there’s no infrastructure to process the seed or the fiber,” she says. “In many ways, extraction is bringing people into hemp.”

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“I’m reaching On the other out and being hand, New York, proactive, as is my which she dubs the nature,” she says. “Hempire State,” “I’m a grassroots has a robust proactivist, that’s gram. “They put what I’ve always $10 million into been and what I it,” Beckerman continue to be.” explains. “The New Though there’s York Department some confusion of Agriculture is about hemp and very receptive and CBD, Beckerman wonderful to work embraces both. with.” “I’m so grateful for It’s a good time the energy of the for hemp and CBD CBD community,” production. The she relates. “The 2018 Farm Bill, JOY BECKERMAN: “I’m so industry leaders when it’s passed, grateful for the energy of for CBD are doing will remove hemp the CBD community.” a tremendous job from the Controlled educating. They’re Substances Act helping to fund a lot of the boots-on-theand place it under the jurisdiction of the ground lobbying to move this plant forDepartment of Agriculture, no longer ward and to clear up ambiguity in laws the DEA. and regulations around CBD. The citizens “It brings hemp up there with other of this country deserve to have access to crops and allows it to have federal crop this safe plant.” insurance,” she reports. “It expands the The CBD boom is benefitting the HIA, definition of hemp to include derivatives, which has grown from 200 members to cannabinoids and extracts.” 800 since the passage of the 2014 Farm It will also mean the end of the many Bill. Beckerman’s also on NORML’s Board state hemp pilot programs. Currently, of Directors and likes the new direction hemp is legal in 42 states, but remains the organization is heading. prohibited federally. The best programs, “Due to the tools and resources that she says, are in New York, Oregon, Colwe now have in place and the expanded orado, North Carolina, Kentucky and staff NORML has, we’re kicking ass and Montana. taking names,” she boasts. “People want Beckerman credits Jack Herer, who to be card-carrying members of NORML. wrote the hemp manifesto, The Emperor They’re really starting to come out of the Wears No Clothes, as her primary inspicloset. It’s a different time now.” ration. “He exposed this massive truth Next for Beckerman is “to continue about this plant,” she notes. “The knowldoing presentations and seminars, more edge of it was being hidden from us. The speaking and more education and outEmperor turned my life around. He’s largreach, and teaching people about manuer than life in my mind.” facturing, good agricultural practices Herer would be proud of Beckerman’s and compliance.” dedication to hemp. No one has syntheShe’ll bring her considerable speaking tized his work and beliefs like her. Herer skills to MJBizCon at the Las Vegas Confamously would hold court for hours vention Center on November 16 for “The on the subject, that hemp, among other Future of Hemp” panel. Expect a fastthings, could “save the world.” Beckerpaced, good-natured presentation from man channels that energy whether she’s an industry veteran who got her start on talking to a crowd or conducting a one“Shakedown Street.” on-one interview. 56 FREEDOM LEAF

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COOKING WITH

CANNABIDIOL RECIPES BY CHERI SICARD

If you know how to cook with THC, then you already know how to cook with cannabidiol (CBD). The two essential cannabinoids have a lot in common; after all, they come from the same plant—cannabis sativa. If you’re cooking with a high-CBD strain of whole-plant cannabis, the techniques are identical to a high-THC strain. But in many areas of the country, the only options people have is CBD isolates or distillates. No worries. Whether it’s concentrated CBD or a crystallized CBD isolate, you can still use it to cook with. Since most people take CBD for health reasons, this issue’s recipes can be made even healthier by adding CBD.

DECARBOXYLATION, TEMPERATURE AND CBD Cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), present in raw cannabis, has many medicinal benefits. However, for the full CBD effect, you’ll want to decarboxylate (heat in oven) at least some of your cannabis, just as you would when extracting THC. CBD concentrates or isolates may be decarbed already (most are), so check the labels to see if this step is necessary. Decarb high-CBD strains (defined as 90% or more of total cannabinoid content) for 15 minutes at 220°F, in order to dry the plant material, and then another 60 minutes at 250°F for decarboxylation. Since oils and isolates don’t need to be dried, you can just decarb for 60 minutes at 250°F, if it’s needed at all. The other decision with concentrates and isolates is whether to infuse them into butter or oil. Add the decarbed concentrate or isolate to butter or a cooking oil and heat gently until dissolved and 58 FREEDOM LEAF

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PHOTOS BY MITCH MANDELL well combined. Use a slow cooker or double boiler for this step. According to Project CBD, there's no exact boiling point for CBD, but it’s in the 320°F-338°F range, slightly higher than THC. Make sure to keep your infused butter or oil temperature well below this temperature range. If recipes involve stirring ingredients into hot liquids, you can forgo the infusion step with concentrated oils and stir the CBD directly into recipes. Crystalized distillates are even easier; simply sprinkle on or in nearly any food you’re preparing. Keep in mind that CBD, like THC, metabolizes better in the presence of fat, so it’s best to use

in recipes that contain fat. Alternately, consume nonfat CBD edibles accompanied by a fat-containing food or beverage.

CBD EDIBLES DOSING The most challenging part of cooking with CBD is dosing, but since it's non-psychoactive, the effects of too much CBD, if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re felt at all, will not be as intense as too much THC. Consuming too much CBD has no known side effects. When mixed with THC, far lower doses of CBD are needed, often as little as 2.5 milligrams. However, those using a pure CBD isolate will require a much higher dose.

Everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CBD needs are different, and while one person may do well on a low dose of 2.5 mg, others will need up to a gram or more.

CBD OIL VS. HEMP OIL Some people are confused when it comes to hemp oil. CBD oil can be made from the hemp plant, usually pressed from the flowers, leaves and stems. However, not all hemp oil is CBD oil. Nutritional hemp oil, which does not contain CBD but is still a healthy oil to incorporate into your diet, is pressed from hemp seeds.

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SPICY CBD KALE CHIPS This is one of the easiest and healthiest ways to use CBD-infused olive oil, regardless of if you make the oil from a high-CBD strain of cannabis or a concentrate or distillate.

• • • •

12 oz. kale, fresh 2 tbsp. CBD-infused olive oil 1 tsp. seasoning salt ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 250ºF. Wash kale well to remove all dirt. Run your fingers down the length of the stem and strip off the leaves while keeping them as large as

possible. Dry leaves well using a salad spinner, a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. Place dry kale leaves in a large bowl, drizzle with CBD-infused oil and toss to coat, massaging the oil in to give the kale a thin, even coating. Sprinkle with seasoning salt and cayenne and toss again. Spread leaves in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets taking care not to overcrowd them. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets once halfway through. When finished, leaves will still be intact, but completely dry to the touch. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Makes 6 servings.

VERY GREEN CBD SMOOTHIE Get your day off to a healthy start with this smoothie packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidant-rich super foods.

• ¾ cup coconut water • 1 cup spinach leaves, packed • 1 small banana, peeled and frozen • 1 cup pineapple chunks, frozen • ½ cup full-fat Greek yogurt • 2 large dates, pitted • 1 tbsp. raw hemp seeds, shelled • ¼-½ gm concentrated CBD oil or CBD isolate/distillate

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Makes 2 servings. 60 FREEDOM LEAF

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CBD VEGAN STIR-FRY This handy stir-fry recipe is a terrific way to use up leftover veggies in your fridge and cook with what’s on hand.

• 2 tbsp. honey • 2 tsp. sesame oil • 8 cups assorted fresh vegetables, sliced • 3 cups vegetable stock • 2 tbsp. minced garlic • 1 tbsp. minced ginger • ¼ cup soy sauce • 1 gm concentrated CBD oil or CBD isolate/distillate

• 1 tsp. black pepper • 3 tbsp. cornstarch 62 FREEDOM LEAF

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• 3 tbsp. soy, canola or vegetable oil • ½ cup toasted sliced almonds • Cooked brown rice for serving In a small bowl, whisk together honey and sesame oil. Add cut vegetables into honey/oil mixture to coat. Set aside. In a small sauce pan, mix vegetable stock, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, CBD concentrate or isolate, cornstarch and pepper. Heat oil in a wok over high flame. Stir-fry honey-coated veggies for 2 minutes. Add sauce mixture to vegetables, reduce heat to medium-high and cook until thickened, stirring constantly, for 6 minutes. Serve over cooked rice, garnished with toasted almonds. Makes 4 servings.

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CBD TUNA AND WHITE BEAN SALAD Canned tuna fish pairs with delicate white beans in this fiber-rich, entréesized salad.

• 1 can tuna packed in olive oil and drained

• 1 can (15 oz.) white beans, rinsed and drained

• ¼ cup yellow onion, minced • ¼ cup celery, minced • ½ tsp. garlic, minced • 3 tbsp. fresh Italian parsley, chopped • 1 tbsp. lemon juice • 1 tbsp. olive oil • ¼-½ gm concentrated CBD oil or CBD isolate/distillate

• Salt and pepper to taste • 2 cups salad greens for serving In a large bowl, toss together drained tuna, beans, onion, celery and parsley until well mixed. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, CBD oil or distillate, salt and pepper. Add dressing to tuna mixture until all ingredi-

ents are well combined. Place 1 cup each of salad greens on two chilled plates and divide tuna mixture between them. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

VEGAN CBD CHIA SEED PUDDING Neutral in flavor and a natural thickener, nutritious chia seeds boost the intake of protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

• 1 container coconut milk (13.66 oz.) • 2 tbsp. real maple syrup • ½-1 gm concentrated CBD oil or CBD isolate/distillate

• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract • ¼ tsp. salt • ¼ cup chia seeds • 3 tbsp. raw cacao powder • Fresh berries for serving Combine all ingredients, except cacao, in a blender and mix until well combined and emulsified. Pour half of the mixture in each of the four clear serving dishes (or one large one) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Add cacao to remaining chia mixture and blend for another 10 seconds. Carefully spoon the chocolate chia mixture on top, keeping the layers 64 FREEDOM LEAF

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distinct. Cover and chill and for at least 6 hours. Serve chilled accompanied by fresh fruit, if desired. Makes 4 servings. Cheri Sicard is the author of The Easy Cannabis Cookbook and other books.

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ROSIN REVOLUTION Dabbing made easy thanks to this bud-pressing, oil-producing craze.

BY ED ROSENTHAL WITH GREG ZEMAN

osin is a concentrated blend of terpenes and cannabinoids extracted using a method sometimes called “rosin tech” (RT). It’s the simplest, least-expensive way to extract concentrate from raw buds or hash for more effective dabbing. Instead of a chemical process, rosin tech relies on heat and pressure to squeeze cannabinoids and terpenes from the source material. It’s a very fast process: A batch of rosin can be produced in moments and consumed immediately. Another advantage of rosin production is that it poses minimal risk of physical injury. The physical science of rosin is simple: Applying heat melts the terpenes and cannabinoids into a pliable resin. Then it’s squeezed using a press. Some lipids 66 FREEDOM LEAF

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and waxes melt at the same temperatures. Thus, the finished product is generally not as refined as the results of some other methods. The tradeoff is the speed and ease of extraction. There’s a wide range of tools and equipment that can be used to make rosin. The choice depends mostly on the quantity being pressed. On the hobby level, you can use household items. Industrial processors use pneumatic or hydraulic presses. No matter the size of the project, the start-up costs of this method are very low compared to chemical extraction, where just the cost of the safety equipment and laboratory modifications exceeds the cost of even an elaborate, large-scale rosin operation.

STARTING MATERIAL There are three basic types of material you can press rosin from: buds, hash and kief. Within those categories there are different types and grades.

BUDS

Freshly cured, resin-rich flower (small buds and trim are ideal) results in the best rosin, because it’s rich in terpenes and high in cannabinoids. Conversely, older, drier material results in lower yields that are darker, less flavorful and less potent.

MACHINE PRESSING ROSIN Rosin processing, though not a cold process, occurs below the volatilization point for most of the terpenes and doesn’t reach the temperatures needed for decarboxylation. The rosin is mostly a concentration of THCA and/ or CBDA, the acidic precursors to the cannabinoids. The result: the material is great for smoking, but will not be intoxicating if eaten.

CHOOSING A PRESS

One option for those new to concentrate production is to choose an entry-level, mid-sized, tabletop model press like those

KIEF

Dry-sift kief (pictured above) generally contains a high percentage of plant material. The more plant matter removed from the trichome heads, the higher the yields and the cleaner and smoother the resulting rosin.

HASH

When rosin is pressed from hash, it’s a secondary concentration, a refinement of an already concentrated product. This results in a higher concentration of cannabinoids in the rosin.

made by Sasquash (seen on page 68) that offer higher-volume capacity than a hair straightener without the investment and storage concerns of a large press. If you do choose to purchase a press, a big factor is the amount of pressure it produces. You don’t need to buy a press that produces 25 tons of pressure when all you need is two to five tons to press small quantities of hash or bud. Pressing several ounces of bud or hash at one time requires 10 to 25 metric tons of pressure. Most commercially available, rosin-specific presses are designed to press hash only. If you’re planning to press flower, choose a machine that is designed to handle it. They require more pressure than hash-pressing models. FALL 2018

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TOOLS FOR MAKING ROSIN PRE-PRESS MOLDS

In addition to the press, there are a number of other items to consider. Press molds are a crucial component of many smaller rosin presses, so it’s important to pay attention to the specs. Pressure affects yield. To maximize pressure, use the same force in the smallest area possible.

FILTER BAGS

It’s possible to do a “naked press” on a bud—pressing it without any physical screen or filtration to remove plant material. But if you want to further refine your product and confine your material to a condensed area (without the trichome loss incurred using molds or hand pressing), filter bags are an excellent option and should be used for large quantities. They’re available in several micron sizes like bubble bags used in cold-water extraction. 68 FREEDOM LEAF

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PARCHMENT PAPER OR PTFE SHEETING No matter what approach to RT you choose, parchment paper is absolutely essential. That’s parchment paper—NOT WAX PAPER. Make sure the paper you choose doesn’t have any coating.

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MACHINE PRESSING FLOWER Pressing buds yields between 10% and 35% of the original material, roughly corresponding to the cannabinoid content of the starting material. If a strain tests around 20%, expect a yield of about 20% of the material’s weight in rosin under optimal conditions. An ounce of buds yields about five grams of rosin. Before pressing, make sure the relative humidity of the material is just right: too low and your yield and quality will suffer, too high and your rosin will be difficult to collect or will smell and taste like chlorophyll and may even turn green. Generally speaking, you’ll want to use material with a relative humidity level of 55% to 60%. You can measure this using a hygrometer, either a basic analog model like what’s found inside a cigar humidor, or purchasing a digital hygrometer for $10 to $15. If your bud is too dry, use a humidity pack like those sold by Boveda specifically for cannabis. Always cut and fold parchment paper before pressing. Filling or ripping parchment in the middle of a job is messy, awkward and inefficient. Lowering temperature usually results in higher quality, but this is not always

the case, and lower temperatures will reduce yield, sometimes drastically; it depends on the starting material quality and “personality”—the collective idiosyncrasies and physical quirks that affect how it reacts to pressing. A good way to judge how long to keep the bud under pressure is to watch the color of the oil and the degree to which it’s flowing. Once the flow starts to darken and slow down, it’s time to remove pressure. Some producers choose to start high and work their way down, but we recommend starting at a low temp and working up until you notice a deterioration in quality. Your goal is an even balance between yield and quality. You should be able to roughly dial in your ideal temperature for a given strain within four or five test runs. If you want to refine your temperature to the precise “Goldilocks Zone” for pressing, you might need eight to 10 test runs. But once you have a batch dialed in, you’ll be able to use the setting, or combination of settings, for the rest of that run. Most rosin extractors heat the material 150º F to 250º F range. This varies based on the material’s relative humidity, which also affects yield. Always check yields and rosin quality at different tempera-

AN OUNCE OF BUDS YIELDS ABOUT FIVE GRAMS OF ROSIN.

70 FREEDOM LEAF

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tures to determine the best setting for a particular batch. Make sure to be consistent with the amount being pressed. Spread the bud so it forms an even layer. Don’t over-process your buds before pressing. Many processors feel like they get a better press from mostly intact buds versus broken or ground material, but others just break everything down to the same size and make an even layer. Once stems are removed and flower is weighed to the desired amount, place two small buds in the filter bag first and make sure they’re packed into the corners tightly. This prevents loss of oil to the corners. Once they’re packed, fill the bag with the remaining material evenly

with no voids and an even thickness of between a quarter inch to a half inch, leaving a one-inch flap for a fold. There will be two additional corners after the fold; fill these voids to ensure even flow and prevent loss. Once the trichomes have melted, apply full pressure. You should start to see oil flowing from the platens. Depending on how fast the extraction is happening and the amount being pressed, keep pressure on the material for 35 to 90 seconds. The reason for the time variation is that flow rates vary by variety and freshness. Slow-flow flowers require pressure and heat for a longer time period. Fresh flowers with fast-flowing oil should be pulled off the heat quicker.

COLLECTING ROSIN

maintain the rosin’s manageability while you collect and package it. Make sure you wear gloves to prevent contamination with skin oils and to avoid getting rosin stuck to your hands. After pressing out the rosin, leave all the papers in the refrigerator for about five minutes to cool everything down and stabilize the oil. Cold plates or cold blocks can be used to help with collection; an aluminum plate left in the refrigerator or sitting on a block of ice is an ideal cold surface. Avoid scraping parchment paper; this can result in paper particles being scraped into the final product.

Gathering up rosin after pressing is often more challenging than the press itself. Depending on starting material, its moisture, temperature and timing, a wide range of consistencies can happen. It can be a stable, easy-to-gather material or a sticky sap. Hash rosin is more stable (less sticky and gooey) than flower rosin, which is often difficult to gather. No matter what consistency you’re working with, it’s probably best to work in as cold a room as possible, ideally with cold work surfaces, to increase or 72 FREEDOM LEAF

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CURING AND STORAGE After collecting the rosin and rolling it into a ball, there are several ways to cure it. A large ball is a good way to protect most of it from oxidization and to pre-

LOW-TEMP DABS Now that you have your resin, we recommend low-temperature dabbing. While hot dabs are how most dabbers were introduced to dabbing, thankfully this is no longer necessary, now that lowtemp dabbing has become the majority practice. The key to effective dabbing is finding the ideal balance between preserving the terpenes while activating the cannabinoids. The problem is that the vitalization point of most terpenes is far below the boiling point of most cannabinoids. Compromises must be made. Lower temps mean higher terps and less activated cannabinoids; higher temps mean lower terps and higher cannabinoid activation. Low-temp dabs utilize low pressure achieved through restricted airflow via a carb cap. Carb caps restrict and direct airflow, lowering the pressure and by extension the boiling points of both the terpenes and cannabinoids 74 FREEDOM LEAF

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vent the evaporation of terpenes. Always store rosin in a sealed container in the refrigerator. This preserves terpenes and prevents oxidization. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t plan to weigh it out, leave it in a large ball inside of a sealed container.

THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE DABBING IS FINDING THE IDEAL BALANCE BETWEEN PRESERVING THE TERPENES WHILE ACTIVATING THE CANNABINOIDS. present. This allows for a flavorful, lowtemp dab that still contains higher levels of active cannabinoids. Excerpted from Beyond Buds: Next Generation. ÂŠ 2018 Ed Rosenthal. Reprinted by permission of Quick American Publishing, Piedmont, CA.

Songwriter. Outlaw. Legend.

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Wiz Khalifa

HIGH AND MIGHTY

On new albums, Wiz Khalifa and Cypress Hill roll out familiar stony themes. BY ROY TRAKIN FOR WIZ KHALIFA and Cypress Hill, cannabis is ingrained in their lives and music, a part of their daily rituals, but also a potent metaphor that touches at the very core of what they’re about as artists. Khalifa’s sixth studio album, Rolling Papers 2, the sequel to his 2011breakthrough, which featured the chart-topping “Black and Yellow,” is a relatively mainstream effort, even at a staggering 25 songs in 90 minutes. On the other hand, Cypress Hill’s ninth studio album, Elephants on Acid, their first in eight years, is a psychedelic romp influenced by the Beatles just as much as rap. Rolling Papers 2 symbolizes many of Khalifa’s driving passions. In addition to an essential cannabis accessory, it also stands 76 FREEDOM LEAF

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for dollars earned and contracts signed (and broken). A deft wordsmith with a penchant for Top 40-ready hooks, Khalifa sees weed as a social lubricant, a way to both seduce and enhance the experience. On “Very Special,” he teaches how to roll, double entendre intended, and on “King,” he declares, “I roll up the weed/ She rollin’ with me.” Herb is also the way Khalifa defines success. On “Hot Now,” he boasts, “We went from coppin’ it to supplyin’/ Be here at the drop of a dime.” Khalifa’s not just a sex and drugs hedonist, he’s got a heart, too, especially on the title track where he admits, “Do this shit for my son… I’m getting’ grown but not too grown to let my family show.” While Rolling Papers 2 would have been better cut in half, Khalifa must be admired for his sheer volume of output. The autobiographical “B Ok” recounts the recent death of his transgender sister. The closing track “Something New,” a collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, represents Khalifa opening up

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UP ON THE ROOF: (from left) Cypress Hill’s Eric Bobo, B-Real, DJ Muggs and Sen Dog

and using the past to carve out his next step. Other weedy tracks include the back-toback “Gin and Drugs” and “420 Freestyle,” plus Snoop Dogg joins him on “Penthouse.” If Rolling Papers 2 is Khalifa’s White Album, then Elephants on Acid is Cypress Hill’s Sgt. Pepper’s. Where Khalifa favors cannabis for its sensual delights, B-Real, Sen Dog, DJ Muggs and Eric Bobo look at it as a spiritual drug meant to scramble the rational mind. They understand both sides of the euphoric experience, not just the giddy highs. “I wanted to create a record that gives you the experience of tripping without doing any drugs,” Muggs explained in a recent Instagram post. “You need a touch of madness to create a masterpiece.” The 21-track concept album (complete with instrumental interludes) might not be a masterpiece, but it’s not for lack of trying. Muggs uses exotic instruments like the sitar, oud and flute and brings in a pair of musicians, Sadat and Alaa Fifty, from Egypt’s celebrated mahraganat dance-music scene, to add panache to “Band of Gypsies.” “You’re looking at the last of a dyin’ breed,” B-Real notes in full “Insane in the Brain” mode. “Weeded up, please, speed it up/ Sittin’ in the Cali sun heated up… I just want to swerve with a little herb.” On “Put Em in the Ground,” “Pass the Knife” and “Warlord,” Cypress return to their patented horrorcore style with Sen Dog playing the assassin on the latter’s Wu-TangClan-like martial arts set piece, rapping, “I was formed with fire upon the blade, the violence and the crusade." There are plenty of the obligatory paeans 78 FREEDOM LEAF

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HIGH ON THE CHARTS 1993: Black Sunday (Cypress), #1 2014: Blacc Hollywood (Khalifa), #1 2011: Rolling Papers (Khalifa), #2 2018: Rolling Papers 2, #2 2012: O.N.I.F.C. (Khalifa), #2 1995: Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom, #3 1998: Cypress Hill IV, #11 2000: Skull & Bones (Cypress), #5 2010: Rise Up (Cypress), #19 1991: Cypress Hill, #31 to pot as well, including “Jesus Was a Stoner,” a headie number that juxtaposes “getting stoned” with having someone “stone” you and features B-Real at his most evangelical about the sacrament: “I’m called the weed messiah/ Rock your lighter/ You transfixed with the spliff and your lips higher.” And on the smoked-out “Reefer Man,” B-Real offers, "I’ll make you fly like Peter Pan/ On cloud nine no one but the reefer can.” The album closer, “Stairway to Heaven,” is not a Led Zeppelin cover, but Cypress’ cheeky nod to the rock ’n’ roll myth, an epic battle between good and evil. “Runnin’ til my number’s up but now my soul’s in limbo,” B-Real intones with his trademark nasal delivery. “I look into the darkness, while I’m starin’ out the window/ And it goes… I’m building my stairway, stairway to heaven/ But I keep finding my way back down.” Rolling Papers 2 and Elephants on Acid represent welcome returns for a pair of hiphop acts that have found second lives with concepts borrowed from their first.

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EVENTS CALENDAR Marijuana Business Conference

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM SUMMIT Jeremy Hotel, West Hollywood, CA

14-16

MARIJUANA BUSINESS CONFERENCE Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

2-5

HEMP INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Hilton Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles, CA

FALL NORML CANNABIS CONFERENCE University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

15-16

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CANNABIS & MEDICAL RESEARCH Hyatt Regency Osaka, Osaka, JAP

17-18

2-4

CANNAFEST 2018 PVA Expo, Prague, CZ

CANNA DOURO 2018 Centro de Congressos da Alfandega, Porto, PT

3-4

THC FAIR Oregon State Fair & Expo, Salem, OR

VIVA LAS HEMPFEST ReBar, Las Vegas, NV

9-10

CHROMIC CON Speakeasy Vape Lounge & Cannabis Club, Colorado Springs, CO

LISBON MEDICAL CANNABIS Hotel JÃºpiter, Lisbon, PT

NJ CANNABIS MEDIA INAUGURAL SUMMIT Hilton Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ

9-11

HERBAN EXPO Rio Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV 80 FREEDOM LEAF

CANNAGATHER Galvanize, New York, NY

WOMEN OF CANNABIS CONFERENCE The Enclave, Las Vegas, NV FALL 2018

Joy Beckerman and Josh Weinstein at CannaGather

20-22

CHTA NATIONAL CONVENTION Delta Hotel, Winnipeg, MB

FREEDOM LEAF

NOVEMBER

FALL 2018

FREEDOM LEAF 81

Cannabis & Hemp Expo

COLORADO WINTER HEMP SUMMIT Fort Collins, CO

12-13

Cannabiz Warsaw

24-25

CANNABIS & HEMP EXPO Shaw Centre, Ottawa, ON

11/30 -12/2

CANNABIZ WARSAW Centrum TargowoKongresowe Global Expo, Warsaw, PL

7-9

INTERNATIONAL CANNABIS POLICY CONFERENCE Austria Center, Vienna, AT

12-13

ARK-LA-TEX CANNABIS EXPO Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, AR

15-16 Aspen High Summit

DECEMBER

EMERALD CUP Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, CA

HAWAII HEMP CONFERENCE Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu, HI

2-5

ASPEN HIGH SUMMIT Limelight Hotel, Aspen, CO

7-8

CBD EXPO EAST 2018 Hilton, Orlando, FL 82 FREEDOM LEAF

SPRINGFIELD CANNABIS CONVENTION MassMutual Center, Springfield, MA

CANNABIS WEDDING EXPO Sportsmen Lodge Events Center, Los Angeles, CA

26-27 CannaCon

JANUARY 5

CULTIVATORS CUP TetraHydro Club, Wakefield, RI

FALL 2018

INDO EXPO Denver Mart, Denver, CO

1/31-2/2

CANNACON Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, WA

SAN FRANCISCO February 7-8 Hilton Union Square BARCELONA March 14 Auditori de CornellÃ / W Hotel BERLIN March 31-April 2 Maritim ProArte Hotel TICKETS ON SALE NOW! INTERNATIONALCBC.COM FALL 2018

FREEDOM LEAF 83

84 FREEDOM LEAF

FALL 2018