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IN T IM ACY E XPER T ISE
Television series host, author and executive producer Karley Sciortino shares her expert opinions on sex, slut-shaming and the effects of using cannabis in the bedroom. ON THE COVER:
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departments news
10 News Nuggets 14 By the Numbers 18 Local News 22 Healthy Living reviews 26 Cool Stuff 28 Entertainment Reviews in every issue 54 À La Carte 58 Growing Culture 60 Colorado Now! 61 News of the Weird
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Industry Insider Mathew Gerson, co-CEO of cannabis sex lubricant company Foria, shares how the business focuses on women’s pleasure.
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Romantic Endeavors Here’s just a few ways that couples can use cannabis to enhance their Valentine’s Day celebrations.
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Precious Moments A comprehensive list of the best couples from cannabis-related films that revolve around romance.
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Looking Ahead The future of hemp is bright, and the recently approved 2018 Farm Bill is only the beginning.
Online Exclusive! d Utilize Cannabis for your Winter Skin Care Regimen d Pennsylvania College Receives Hemp Research Permit
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ashley Kern EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Benjamin Adams ASSISTANT EDITOR Ayesha Rahman EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Matthew Abel, Hilary Bricken, Devon Alexander Brown, David Edmundson. Caroline Hayes, Carl Kozlowski, Alison Malsbury, Emily Manke, Kiara Manns, Madison Ortiz, Denise Pollicella, R. Scott Rappold, Ed Rosenthal, Kimberly R. Simms, Lanny Swerdlow, Simon Weedn, Laurie Wolf PHOTOGRAPHERS Steve Baker, Kristopher Christensen, John Gilhooley, Joel Meaders, Mike Rosati, Eric Stoner, Bruce Wolf ART DIRECTOR Steven Myrdahl PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Aguirre GRAPHIC DESIGNER John Venegas REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Kim Cook ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Alex Brizicky, Angie Callahan, Eric Bulls, Casey Roel, Vic Zaragoza OFFICE MANAGER Mikayla Aguilar CULTURE® Magazine is published every month and distributes magazines at over 1,400 locations throughout Colorado. No articles, illustrations, photographs, or other matter within may be reproduced without written permission. CULTURE® Magazine is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.
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NEWS
NUGGETS
Colorado Recreational Cannabis Sales Reach New Heights Colorado cannabis sales in 2018 surpassed sales in 2017, despite a brief decrease that took place from September through November that same year. According to the Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Sales Report, recreational and medical sales combined totaled a little over $5.9 billion and is approximately a $1.5 billion increase from 2017, which totaled approximately $4.5 billion. As of July 2018, Colorado hit record-breaking sales, but soon saw a decline over the last few months of the year. On an individual level, recreational sales didn’t quite hit
State Opens Up Possibilities for Hemp Internship Those working toward a career in the agricultural workplace now have the option to intern on farms and ranches, according to a statement issued by the Colorado’s Department of Agriculture (DOA). Thanks to the recent passing of the Farm Bill, the Agricultural Workforce Development Program will include hemp farms, which means those who are aspiring to become hemp farmers can now get real life experience and guidance 10
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the $100 million mark, and medical sales reached approximately $26 million. November’s revenue was the lowest since May, but November 2018 sales still surpassed sales collected in November 2017, according to the Department of Revenue. In terms of most successful cannabis products, concentrates and edibles made the most sales. Many dispensary locations in Colorado have shut down the medical side, focusing only on recreational cannabis, which could be a reason for lower medical sales.
from established hemp farmers in Colorado. The program entices business owners to participate by offering reimbursement of up to 50 percent or $5,000 of what it would cost to hire the intern, says the official DOA statement. Businesses that want to get involved in the intern program must submit their applications by Feb. 15. Those who are participating must also facilitate a “focused learning opportunity” for interns who will earn at least minimum wage. The program was born during the 2018 Colorado General Assembly by the Young and Beginning Farmers Interim Study Committee and is intended to help create more jobs and boost hiring in the farm industry.
Thailand Legalizes Medical Cannabis On Dec. 25, members of Thailand’s parliament voted unanimously to approve medical cannabis for medical use and research. Patients suffering from chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy or chronic pain can obtain permission to consume medical cannabis. “This is a New Year’s gift from the National Legislative Assembly to the government and the Thai people,” said Somchai Sawangkarn, chairman of the drafting committee. It’s a big deal for Thailand, which typically imposes an extremely harsh stance on drug offenders, sometimes invoking the death penalty. Even though medical cannabis is legal, however, it’s not uncommon for police to frisk you and force you to urinate in a cup right on the street without trial to determine if there are any drugs present. Visitors are still urged to consume medical cannabis in private, even if they have permission. The country also legalized the plant kratom for medicinal use.
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The percentage of sales revenue that was generated by recreational cannabis sales in Colorado over the past five years: (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
The number of cannabis-related bills that have been introduced into the Colorado General Assembly for review, as of midJanuary: (Source: Westword)
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The number of cannabis dispensaries in Denver where medical and/or recreational cannabis can be purchased, as of late January: (Source: The Denver Channel)
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The amount of money, in billions of dollars, that was collected by the state of Colorado in combined recreational and medical cannabis sales between 2014 and Oct. 2018: (Source: The Denver Channel)
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The projected amount of money, in billions of dollars, that consumers will spend on recreational cannabis worldwide in 2019: (Source: Investor’s Business Daily)
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The number of U.S. senators, out of 100, who voted in favor of the Farm Bill that legalized industrial hemp in the United States: (Source: The Washington Post)
The estimated number of years that have passed since the state of Arkansas last allowed cannabis to be legally planted: (Source: 40/29 News)
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The percentage of cannabis-related arrests between Jan. 1 and Nov. 23 of 2018 in New York City that involved minorities: (Source: NY Daily News)
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Cannabis Career Fest WHEN: Sat, Feb. 16 WHERE: The Cable Center, 2000 Buchtel Blvd. South, Denver WEBSITE: vangst.com/vangst-talent-careerfair Think you have what it takes to succeed in the cannabis industry? Colorado is brimming with cannabis-related jobs, but you have to know who to talk to in order to make that leap of faith. Denver’s Cannabis Career Fest is being promoted as a “high-energy, experiential event that attracts thousands of cannabis consumers, enthusiasts and advocates.” Expect over 2,000 job-seekers, 45 recruiting 14
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companies, over 600 interviews and over 500 positions to be filled. There’s a good chance that you can find a job if you can outperform other attendees. Larger companies like Dixie Elixirs, LivWell and Green Man Cannabis are regularly at the festival. This is also a great event for employers looking for qualified individuals. Update your resume, bring some business cards and begin your career in cannabis.
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NEWS
LOCAL
Youth Protection
C o l o r a d o o r g a n i z at i o n p r o p o s e s s t r i c t e r l i m i tat i o n s on THC in cannabis products
By Caroline Hayes
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mart Colorado, a nonprofit group that lobbies for safe cannabis consumption, has proposed a cap on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) amounts in cannabis products, specifically concentrates. According to the organization’s report, entitled “Highly Potent Pot Poses Unacceptable Risks to Public and Colorado Youth,” the potency of cannabis has more than tripled since the ’90s and Colorado ranks first in the nation for youths who consume the most cannabis. Currently there aren’t any regulations in Colorado limiting the potency of THC in concentrates and flower. Smart Colorado is a parent-run group that believes that high-THC potency is a problem, but it’s not the only group that has presented a study on cannabis’ effects on the residents of Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment also published a data analysis called “Marijuana Legalization in Colorado: Early Findings” which found that cannabis-related trips to the emergency room rose 29 percent from 2014 to mid-2015. Another study conducted in 2015 (which analyzed regarding high potency cannabis and psychosis) stated that there was a 24 percent increase in new cases of psychosis. Consumption of products with THC may cause heart palpitations, anxiety, paranoia and episodes of confusion. High doses of THC are especially 18
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questionable and potentially dangerous for the brain development of consumers who are 12 years of age or younger, as the human brain does not fully develop until around age 25. Research has shown that high amounts of THC in a young brain is not only harmful but can lower IQs, lead to drug addiction, schizophrenia and psychotic episodes, reports Smartcolorado.org. So, what does Smart Colorado propose as a solution? The group is concerned that there is not enough scientific evidence to support that potent cannabis is not a risk to the public and thus they believe that THC levels should be capped until proven otherwise. The organization also supports educating the public, specifically the youth, of the effects which cannabis may have on developing brains. Finally, Smart Colorado supports more research in order to understand the risks associated with high levels of THC content, and also would like to seem limitations on advertising that may normalize cannabis consumption among the youth. Creating a max level of 16 percent THC content in concentrates and flower was proposed back in 2016 with Amendment 139 but was withdrawn from the initiative. Now, Smart Colorado is reintroducing potency regulations to the table. Smart Colorado has had success in creating safety measures for children in the state’s ever-growing cannabis industry. From discontinuing packaging that appeal to children, to educating parents on the dangers of cannabis in youth, the organization has a strong mission statement to keep its community safe by reporting on findings about any harmful effects of cannabis or how it’s being marketed and manufactured. According to their mission, “Smart Colorado is focused on providing important public awareness and education of marijuana’s health risks to youth, and awareness of regulatory limitations and policy challenges that result in increased youth exposure to the drug. Each of the objectives listed is an integral part of implementing the organization’s mission.” On the flipside, putting a cap on THC into effect could pose serious obstacles for patients, growers and manufacturers. Trying to dial in and scale back precise THC content and possibly have to destroy anything that tested over the allotted amount could cause a setback for businesses in the industry. c
Denver NORML Citizen Lobby Days 2019 If you ever wanted to be a part of real-life grassroots activism in action, now is your chance. Walk in the footsteps of renowned cannabis activists like Jack Herer and Dennis Peron. It could lead to writing or influencing the cannabis-related laws of tomorrow. NORML will hold only four lobby days in Denver throughout the year. The theme of this year’s lobby days is finding support for our proposed legislation for Workplace Employer Drug Testing Reform. Fight the powers that be by making your voice heard inside the state capitol building. Being engaged in politics is one of the only ways that you can take a stand against outdated cannabis and hemp laws. Fill out the form on the website, get your name tag and take part in making history! WHEN: Tues, Feb. 19 WHERE: Colorado State Capitol, 200 E Colfax Ave. Ste 136, Denver WEBSITE: blog. norml.org/tag/2019chapter-lobby-day
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NEWS
HEALTHY LIVING
Lovely Chemicals T H C a n d t h e a m p l i f i c at i o n o f s e x u a l d e s i r e By Lanny Swerdlow, RN LNC
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exuality, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Objectively though, sexuality can be viewed as the state of being sexual, incorporating the prosaic categories of wanting sex, expressing sexual receptivity and sexual activity itself. The state of being sexual begins with the natural human desire for sex driven by hormones and cultural stimulations. From desire comes excitation, as the very thought of having sex results in the body preparing for sex with associated physiological and psychological changes. If all precedes normally, the state of excitation progresses into actual sexual activity producing multiple and escalating sensations resulting in orgasm. Sexual relief comes from the orgasm with the body relaxing as it returns to its normal state augmented by feelings of contentment and fulfillment. All too often, humans have difficulty achieving one or more of the above states of sexuality. Problems with low sex drive and/or sex becoming mundane causes sensations from sexual activity to be muted. This makes orgasm difficult and sexual relief elusive, resulting in feelings of inadequacy and disappointment. The desire for sex, the excitation for sex and sexual activity all trigger the release of anandamide, a cannabinoid produced by the body that binds to the CB1 and CB2 receptors found abundantly in the brain and just about everywhere else in the body. Intrinsically involved in feelings of pleasure, anandamide has been euphemistically given the nickname the “bliss molecule.” Binding to the CB1 and CB2 receptors, anandamide also reduces anxiety and depression, mitigates pain, restores appetite, promotes fertility and even kill cancer cells. This is one of the reasons why people crave chocolate. Chocolate contains theobromine which studies have shown to cause the brain to produce more anandamide. Cannabis is known to produce the same effects as anandamide from pain relief to pleasure, but unlike chocolate, cannabis does not cause the body to produce anandamide. Cannabis has its own anandamide-like cannabinoid—the legendary psychoactive cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Like anandamide, THC attaches to and activates the CB1 and CB2 receptors so it should come as no surprise then that cannabis has the same effect on the body as anandamide. Even though cannabis can arouse sexual desire it shouldn’t be considered an aphrodisiac, as it doesn’t treat sexual dysfunction per se—it should be considered more as a sexual stimulant. According to Dr. Mitch Earleywine, author of Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence, the “CB1 receptor seems to be involved in improved 22
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“The desire for sex, the excitation for sex and sexual activity all trigger the release of anandamide, a cannabinoid produced by the body that binds to the CB1 and CB2 receptors found abundantly in the brain and just about everywhere else in the body.” tactile sensations and general euphoria” If cannabis “improves tactile sensations and general euphoria” it would not be a stretch to conclude that it improves sexuality in all its many forms and permutations. Some studies have reported a dose-dependent relationship in that small to moderate amounts of cannabis produce desired sexual stimulation but high doses may inhibit sexual function. A 2013 study published in the journal Frontiers of Endocrinology found that low doses of THC significantly increase testosterone levels in mice while high doses of THC caused testosterone levels to drop below the testosterone levels found in mice that were not given THC. Of course, people are not mice and many other factors
affect sexual performance in humans. How you feel about the person you are with plays a very significant role as well as the setting in which sex occurs. Dr. Lester Grinspoon, the world’s most widely published author regarding the medical application of cannabis, noted “are you afraid you’re going to have a knock on the door and the cops will come in? Those things influence the high. So part of the set in having a sexual experience is how the people feel about each other.” Enhancing feelings of camaraderie and bonding has always been a hallmark of communal cannabis consumption, so enhanced feelings of affection and lust between stoned lovers is to be expected and enjoyed. This is not to say that the use of cannabis can rectify all the problems related to sexuality any more than cannabis can provide symptomatic relief to all the problems related to pain and insomnia, but for many it can provide a physiological and psychological boost resulting in an improved and pleasant sexuality. c
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1. Eva II With so much focus nowadays on penetrative sex, it can be easy to neglect the clitoral area of the female body. That’s where Eva II comes in. Eva II has flexible “wings” that clip on and fit perfectly with the female anatomy, and it gives the outside areas vibrating stimulation without blocking penetration. Don’t accept an unsatisfactory sexual experience when there are options like this on the market! Its hip modern design is fairly discreet, and it comes with a charging base and travel case for late night encounters with your loved one. Price: $135 More Information: dameproducts. com/products/eva-ii 2. FLIP ZERO EV Are you and your male appendage ready for some good vibrations? EV stands for electronic vibration, and this male-oriented device definitely delivers. Every detail has been thought out—from the realistic 6.73-inch insertion length to the various speed settings with pulse and alternating modes. Most importantly, this device’s unique flip-open design sets it apart from most other maleoriented stimulation machines. It recharges with a USB cord and can run on full power for 40 minutes of pleasure. With a one-year warranty, you know this is a durable device that will last you through years of abuse. Price: $200 More Information: usstore.tengaglobal.com/products/flip-zero-evelectronic-vibration
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3. Awaken by Foria The stakes are very high when putting cannabinoidbased products inside your body, but Foria is a name you can trust. Awaken lubricant in particular contains eight natural aphrodisiacs including full-spectrum CBD and kava kava extract. Kava kava is a natural Hawaiian root remedy with euphoric and numbing effects, plus purported medical benefits. All Foria products are independently tested for purity and safety. Increase sexual arousal with slippery, natural organic ingredients. The lubricant has a chocolate and mint aroma and a smooth consistency that goes perfectly with its active ingredients. Price: $48 More Information: www.foriawellness.com 4. WARM™ Sex toys are great, but there is usually one consistent problem: They can feel ice cold to the touch! Cold, polished metal toys are the worst and can make you scream, and not in a good way. WARM™ solves the problem by functioning as a heating pad for dildos, vibrators and various sex toys. It takes most toys just 15-20 minutes to heat up to a pleasant, natural temperature. It resembles a heating pad that folds around your toys into an envelope. It can also be used as a storage bag that can slide underneath the bed. Price: $149 More Information: experiencewarm.com
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REVIEWS
entertainment
BOOK
A Woman’s Guide to Cannabis Nikki Furrer Pub. Workman Publishing Co, Inc.
RELEASE DATE: FEB. 15 AVAILABLE ON: PC AND XBOX ONE
A Woman’s Guide to Cannabis deciphers cannabis as a whole for its readers— both female and male, or novices and experts alike. The informational handbook touches on all the aspects of cannabis, including a reliable dosage guide, educating facts about the plant’s benefits in terms of health, wellbeing and beauty, or how to use the plant to boost moods, lose weight, fight insomnia and enhance pleasure. It also lists recipes and self-soothing beauty products for the readers’ convenience. If anybody is looking for ways to navigate the world of cannabis with ease, this book is the perfect go-to guide. (Ayesha Rahman) 28
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GAME
Crackdown 3 Dev. Sumo Digital Pub. Microsoft Studios With an almost 10year gap since the release of Crackdown 2, Crackdown 3 is finally set to bring players back to New Providence for some serious action. The premise is the same— collect a wide variety of weapons, gain new character skills and defeat countless enemies from an organization called TerraNova. Players can explore an openworld city landscape in solo or co-op mode, or try out the new “Wrecking Zone” multiplayer mode where the entire city can be destroyed as you rise to the top. It’s time to “step up your boom”! (Nicole Potter)
MOVIE
Halloween
MUSIC
Dir. David Gordon Green Universal Pictures
Scooby Snacks
Though it is not the first of its kind, John Carpenter’s 1978 movie Halloween inspired a legion of horror directors and writers and propelled the slasher films into the mainstream throughout the ’80s. Forty years later Carpenter returns with original star, Jamie Lee Curtis, to resurrect the story line from the first two movies and bring back the chilling horror and suspense that captivated audiences in the beginning. The film does well bringing things into the modern era by incorporating new characters and things like podcasting that gives it the realistic, this-could-happen-toyou atmosphere that propelled the original. (Simon Weedn)
Jack Wavy Wavy Records At just 18 years old, Denver rapper Jack Wavy has just released his debut EP, Scooby Snacks, and brought a little much-needed warmth and sunshine to the cold, dark winter months. Drawing from the party vibes of West Coast hip-hop with hints of the stripped down, sparseness of trap, Wavy deftly rhymes across six tracks that are sure to get feet moving and dance floors packed. Though Wavy shows some room for maturity and growth (a given for any young artist), the EP is extremely balanced, well-produced and the title track is incredibly infectious. (Simon Weedn)
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K a r l e y S c i o r t i n o c o n f e s s e s d e ta i l s a b o u t h e r s e x u a l e x p l o i t s a n d h o w t h e y h av e influenced her perspective on sex and the e v o l u t i o n o f h e r p r o f e s s i o n a l e n d e av o r s By Benjamin M. Adams
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“[Cannabis] heightens t h e s e n s at i o n w h e n someone is touching your skin. It sort of clears your mind and makes you more focused—and more w e t i n t h e o r y.”
c claimed television series host, writer and executive producer Karley Sciortino wears many hats—but her pursuits almost always revolve around relationships, sex and sexuality. Over a decade ago, Sciortino founded the website and blog Slutever.com while still in her early 20s. Her adventures ranged from living in a colorful London squat to pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in the realm of sexuality. Several years later, VICE took notice and produced a webseries of the same name, with Sciortino as its “resident sexpert.” Last year, Sciortino and co-creator Adri Murguia launched Slutever as a VICELAND television series—with Sciortino now operating as executive producer. The show’s second season premieres Feb. 10 on the VICELAND TV network, and the show can be found on Amazon Prime. Slutever challenges the taboos of sex in modern culture and the gender roles that are constantly evolving. Although Sciortino continues to become a household name through her show, she remains true to her writing roots. In addition to being a columnist for Breathless, a sex and dating column at Vogue, Sciortino compiled her sexual escapades into a memoir called Slutever: Dispatches from an Autonomous Woman in a Post Shame World, which was published last February. Sciortino’s high level of visibility on Instagram is part of what cements her authority on all things sex-related. She’s also dabbled in film as a cowriter for Now Apocalypse. Just in time for our annual Sex Issue, CULTURE caught up with Sciortino to discuss overcoming sexual inhibitions, reclaiming stereotypical words and how cannabis can be incorporated in the bedroom.
You founded Slutever, which eventually was expanded into a VICELAND documentary series. In your own words, how does Slutever compare today to how it began as a humble blog? It’s sort of had a slow evolution. In the beginning, it was really
just a personal blog that was full of stream-ofconsciousness-esque rants about my sex life. At the time I was living in a squat and commune in London, and there were about 15 of us living in an abandoned hostel and pretty much all we did was have drugs and go
to raves and have sex with strangers. I was vaguely attempting to be a writer at the time, writing freelance for magazines but not making any money. I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I hadn’t gone to college, so I said, “I guess I should teach myself to write by
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practicing.” I feel like my life was interesting enough at the time that maybe somebody would care. For the first few years it was basically about living in the squat and the people I was living with. A few years later, I moved to New York. I was 24. That’s when it really became more sex-focused. I started assisting this dominatrix for work. I just really started getting interested in the psychology around sexuality, and I started interviewing the clients and talking about their fetishes and sexual desires. That really spawned an interest in that field and it sort of grew from there. Then I started doing the VICE show in its earliest incarnation in 2012. That was the time when I said this is a sex thing. I think it got more mature over time, with more personal essays about my romantic life and the way I thought about sex and my opinion about sexuality. Eventually it grew into more of a magazine and now other people contribute.
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What would you say to people who have lingering anxieties and are still afraid to talk about sex? I would say that talking about sex is the primary key to having a good sex life, because if you can’t talk about it, you’re not going to get what you want, because you’re not going to be able to explain it to someone. They’re not mind-readers. You’re also not going to be able to please your sex partners, because you’re not a mindreader either. I think being able to express your needs and boundaries is the only way that you can have a fulfilling sex life where you feel autonomous and healthy. Talking about sexuality is an amazing way to get close to people. If you’re able to talk about intimacy, it’s a way of bonding with people. It’s also transgressive, which is fun! As you know, in some cultures, when females are sexually active, some are sex-shamed with the word “slut.” What do you want to change about that? I think that slut-shaming is still a massive problem in many cultures and in the United States. Girls are called whores as teenagers before they’ve even had sex, if they’re wearing a low-cut top. The word “slut” has sort of gone rogue. It’s used now to describe revealing clothes to someone who is having casual sex. So it’s a derogatory word, but having said that, I do think that we’re on the right path as a culture. Increasingly we see women, whether it’s famous women like Rihanna or Taylor Swift, these girls are having many 34
sexual partners, and they aren’t shamed for that. I think that we are able to see now that there are alternatives to monogamy. Even dating apps have sort of normalized the idea that women are looking for things more than relationships. So I think that the sexual double standard is beginning to fade. A lot of what I wrote in my book Slutever is about reclaiming the word “slut.” It is about redefining what that means. My ambition is to redefine the word “slut” as someone who seeks out visceral experiences through sex, to build confidence, to connect themselves with people and to satisfy the sense of adventure. I think that reclaiming words like the word “slut” is important because historically, many different cultures and communities have reclaimed words in a very successful way—words like racial words, “queer,” “butch” and “fag.” All these words have been reclaimed. That takes away the power of those words to harm you. It’s funny and powerful. Irreverence is a tool for rebellion. Plus, the word “slut” just kind of just rolls off of the tongue well. Do you foresee gender roles continuing to evolve in the post-#MeToo era? I think that #MeToo, at its core, is about women reclaiming control of their bodies. Women are saying “I don’t like to be touched that way,” or “this is my body” and how that is expressed in the world. I think there is a lot of power in that. I think that there is definitely a wave of female unity with this movement. I think that all of these things
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have a forward momentum. We live in a world where gender is now being challenged, in many forms. I don’t know any women anymore who are like, “I have to be submissive to my husband and clean shit.” I don’t know any of those people. Growing up in a strict religious household, did that propel you to push the bar of sex taboo even further? Definitely. I think that if you grow up in a religious family it can go one of two ways: You can adopt that repressive ideology, or it can just sort of propel you to want to break all the rules. Just be rebellious
for rebelliousness’ sake. When you’re Catholic, everything is a “no,” so you just want to break those boundaries. If my parents were like, “You can have sex if you want,” I think I would have a slower and more casual approach to sex, but when you don’t have any sex, it makes you want to have sex with everyone—just to piss them off. Sex for me was also a form of provocation. I think it ratified that early 20s, teenage rebellion thing. A lot of people have that obviously, and express it through drugs or partying, or dropping out of school, or having a boyfriend with a face tattoo. For me, it was just about being slutty.
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“ F o r m e , s e x wa s different when we were high, because i t wa s s o r t o f slower and my body wa s t i n g l i n g . I t f e lt m o r e r i t u a l i s t i c .”
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the class and go home, have a drink and make this sex tape. It was an experience unlike any other. Do you consume cannabis, and if so, would you consider it an aphrodisiac? I would. It’s funny, because I’m not a weed smoker, and I never have been regularly. The only times that I’ve ever smoked weed was for sex. I was dating this guy a few years ago, and he was really into vaping weed ritualistically before sex. It heightens the sensation when someone is touching your skin. It sort of clears your mind and makes you more focused—and more wet in theory. So we had that ritual before sex. For me, sex was different when we were high, because it was sort of slower and my body was tingling. It felt more ritualistic. In our first season of Slutever, we did this episode about sex and weed. A lot of it was about weed lube. There’s a lot of companies now that make that, but we followed around this company in San Francisco that these two girls founded called Quim Rock, and they home-bake their own weed lube. So we made all this weed lube together, and I tried it during sex. The idea is that it increases blood flow to your vagina and causes you to get more wet and engorged. It does really work—however, it kind of makes your vagina smell like a dispensary it was so strong. So unless your partner is really into the smell of weed, it’s not a good vibe. It doesn’t make you high, but if you eat it, it does get you high. It literally turns your pussy into an edible.
Tell us about the notorious Johnny Knoxville a.k.a. Bad Grandpa tape. We’d been doing Slutever in a web series form for about a year-and-ahalf at that point. He wanted to come up with Bad Grandpa and had this relationship with VICE. It was his idea and he said, “Can we do something with Slutever?” I was like, “Wait, what?” He was in his Bad Grandpa 38
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suit, and the premise was that we were spending a day in LA. We went to this tantric sex club, but didn’t tell the other people that it was Johnny Knoxville. We were “randomly” paired together, and it just was like this creepy pervy 90-year-old. Everyone was completely freaking out. It was pretty funny. We made this fake sex tape where we leave
How long did it take you to put together the material for your recent memoir, Slutever: Dispatches from an Autonomous Woman in a Post Shame World ? That was sort of a lifetime of experiences. The book is sort of half memoir, half personal sexual theory and ponderings. The first chapter is what I call a slut manifesto. It’s my ideas about the history of sluttiness and reclaiming that word.
Then, the book goes from my childhood in a Catholic family to being slut-shamed by my family and in high school. It sort of follows my life through finding my own slutty identity, being in an open relationship and working as an escort. I definitely did research. I really like Camille Paglia who is sort of this controversial feminist from the ’80s who is one of the first pro-sex feminists, as they’re called. Her ideas were sort of really formative for me. It was all of the stuff that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Given your Vogue sex and dating column, Breathless, do you operate more naturally as a video host or as a writer? I think I primarily identify as a writer, because I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. But I really love doing the VICE show because it gets me out of my room. Writing is such a solitary, nail-biting experience when you spend so much time alone. So it’s fun to be out in the world and interview people collaboratively. I think seeing people on camera and being able to see people tell their own stories that there is more opportunity for people to be humanized under that medium. What would you say to single adults who are going to spend Valentine’s Day alone this year? Valentine’s Day is stupid. People always say that it’s a commercial holiday, but I really think that it’s true. It’s sort of like the romantic version of New Year’s Eve. It’s kind of an anti-climax when you feel pressured to have dinner and sex that feels better somehow. If you actually feel bad in that situation, then just go hang out with single friends. It would be more fun. What news do you have for the next upcoming few months? Tell us about Now Apocalypse. Now Apocalypse really incorporates stoner themes. I co-wrote the first season of the show with the director Greg Araki who is sort of this cult film director who came out in the ’90s who made a lot of sexually progressive movies that I love. His movies even in the ’90s, had things like a bisexual lead character—which you never saw. There
are threesomes, sexual empowerment and funny and strange slutty girls. I feel so lucky to work with him. He asked me to help him write the pilot about a year ago for the show. It’s about these four 20-somethings in LA, trying to make it in Hollywood and basically having a lot of sex and exploring their sexuality. The main character Ulysses is a super stoner. There’s this alien conspiracy side story. It appears that we’re on the brink of an apocalypse, spawned by an alien invasion, but you can’t tell if it’s actually happening or whether it’s all just Ulysses’ hallucinations. He basically never stops smoking weed. c @karleyslutever | www.viceland.com/slutever
“My ambition is to redefine the word “slut” as someone who seeks out visceral experiences through sex, to build confidence, to c o n n e c t t h e m s e lv e s with people and to s at i s f y t h e s e n s e o f a d v e n t u r e .” CultureMagazine.com
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Industry Insider
Satisfying Success
F o r i a F o u n d e r M at h e w G e r s o n c r e at e s p r o d u c t s t h at h e l p c o u p l e s e x p e r i e n c e h e a lt h y sex lives By R. Scott Rappold
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annabis and sex—it used to be so simple. People smoked a joint and then got on with it. But what happens when the cannabis is so strong that instead of focusing on the lover, the partner is drooling while staring at a spot on the wall or contemplating as to how the sponge in that cartoon can talk? “They’re not used to the potencies that are out there and they’re kind of getting steamrolled,” says Founder and co-CEO Mathew Gerson. “In the bedroom, getting too high for a lot of people is not the best thing to do for an enhanced intimate experience. It doesn’t necessarily bring you closer to your sensations or closer to your partner. You kind of overshoot the mark a little bit.” Six years ago, Gerson founded lubrication company Foria to bring cannabis into the bedroom in a way that focused on pleasure, specifically on women’s pleasure. His line of lubricants, oils and even suppositories— yes, you read that right—have become immensely popular around the world, some designed to enhance pleasure, others to dull the pain that many women experience with intercourse.
“In the bedroom, getting too high for a lot of people i s n o t t h e b e s t t h i n g t o d o f o r a n e n h a n c e d i n t i m at e e x p e r i e n c e . I t d o e s n ’ t n e c e s s a r i ly b r i n g y o u c l o s e r t o y o u r s e n s at i o n s o r c l o s e r t o y o u r p a r t n e r . Y o u k i n d o f o v e r s h o o t t h e m a r k a l i t t l e b i t. ” 40
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Condoms to cannabis
Few people outside of lifelong growers took a direct path into the legal cannabis industry, but Gerson’s was even more circuitous than most. After years of studying to be a Buddhist monk, he was living in a cave in the mountains outside of Telluride, Colorado, ruminating about the human condition and the suffering around the globe. “I was looking at the social issues around human sexuality and some of the downside results of the lack of protection, sexual education and access to contraception in parts of the world where people couldn’t afford condoms,” recalls Gerson, 44. So he left the woods and started a condom company, Sir Richard’s, free of glycerin, parabens, spermicide and petrochemicals, vegan-certified and PETA-approved. For every one sold, Sir Richard’s donates a condom to a Third World country. “Our tagline was, ‘Doing good never felt better,’” says Gerson. After he sold the company seven years ago, he became interested in medical cannabis, which was booming in Venice, California, where he lived, and throughout the state. He started learning about cannabinoids, terpenes and the myriad other aspects of the plant just emerging from decades in the underground. “My relationship with cannabis over all those years did not include that kind of sophistication. That was really fascinating to learn about all these other benefits and how they can modulate your experience. I was really interested in getting into that and learning more.”
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Oils, lubricants and more
“When I heard about [cannabis] oil, my mind being somewhat primed to think of oil as a lubricant, that was sort of the a-ha moment for me personally that led to the creation of the first batch of what became Foria 42
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Pleasure and opened up that portal for a focus on female wellness in general,” says Gerson. The idea was, can cannabis be used to make women feel more sexual pleasure? As it turned out, it was not a new idea at all. His research suggested that women may have been using cannabis in such a way for centuries (he believes the classic image of a witch on a broomstick stems from women inserting cannabis oil vaginally.) The lubricant was designed to be applied vaginally at least 15 minutes before sex—what he calls the “marination period”—enhancing sexual pleasure, decreasing dryness and leading to more fulfilling orgasms. Though it contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), it doesn’t enter the brain, leaving the mind clear. Women immediately took note. “Being the first company to bring together the chocolate and peanut butter of sex and drugs, we got a lot of attention from women around the world,” he says. “It turns out the benefits of using cannabis as a topical for women in the bedroom were much broader and more profound than we could have imagined.” The follow-up product targeted not pleasure, but pain. To help women who experience pain with intercourse or from female conditions like menstrual cramps or endometriosis, the vaginal suppository Foria Relief used THC and cannabidiol (CBD) to dull the pain, again without psychoactive effects. The results were so encouraging that a Harvard professor has launched a study of 400 women to look at how the cannabis product eases menstrual cycle discomfort. Next up was a rectal suppository to enhance sex in that region or ease pain. This time, Gerson admits, “it was not a product that flew off the shelves,” Americans not being very inclined to embrace rectal delivery methods. “I used to say, ‘We’re trying to change the world one asshole at a time,’” Gerson laughs. “It is a challenging delivery system of cannabinoids, but it’s one that makes a lot of sense and once you do it once it’s not such a big deal.”
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First psychoactive product
In 2019, Foria plans to release its first psychoactive product, a vape pen that will deliver a microdose of THC, so that when it’s time for love, the consumer isn’t face down in a bowl of Cheetos. For now, the THC products are available only in California and Colorado, though expansion to other legal states is also in the works for 2019. CBD-only products Foria Basics, a daily tonic for general wellness, and Foria Awaken, a lubricant, are available for order on their website and can be shipped anywhere. Whether it’s going in their lungs, their vaginas or up their rectums, people have put a lot of trust in Foria products, something that makes Gerson proud. “A lot of people have built a lot of trust in their relationship with us, because we would first say, ‘Hey, you can trust to put these products on a very sensitive part of your body,’” he says. “We have a really high benchmark as to how we approach these products.” c
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Embrace Variety C a n n a b i s c a n h e l p d at e n i g h t s b e c o m e m e m o r a b l e a n d i n t i m at e
By John McClain
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or cannabis-loving couples, there are many ways to share a token of love on Valentine’s Day. Having a partner who also partakes in cannabis means that 44
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you can have a unique, euphoric way to celebrate romance while reaching whole new highs. While couples should always be aware of their local city and state laws prior to making plans, the addition of cannabis into a date night routine
“Having a partner who a l s o p a r ta k e s i n c a n n a b i s means you can have a u n i q u e , e u p h o r i c w ay t o c e l e b r at e r o m a n c e w h i l e reaching whole new highs.” can spice things up like never before. Whether you go out for a night on the town or stay cozy indoors, these cannabis-friendly Valentine’s Day date ideas are sure to make your day more intimate and special.
A D at e I n d o o r s For busy couples, time spent together can be limited, but having a dedicated date night at home can be just as intimate with the addition of cannabis. Why head to an overly crowded restaurant when you can stay home instead? There are countless recipes that can be reimagined with cannabis in mind. Work with your loved one to craft the perfect dinner and dessert combination by altering recipes to include infused butter, vegetable oil or simple syrup. Chocolate— once called a food of the
A Night on the Town Taking a creative class together is a fun and social experience that allows partners to share their artistic skills. States with legal recreational cannabis are beginning to host herbinspired private or group cooking classes that are both romantic and teach some useful skills too. Budding artisans can also find group art classes where cannabis consumption is encouraged to help tap into participants’ creative side.
gods—is a basic requirement for Valentine’s Day presents. Think beyond the heartshaped box and bring home some extra-special brownies, decadent infused chocolates from a local dispensary. Of course at the end of the day, romancing your partner will ultimately lead to steamy bedroom activities and you can’t get more intimate than sex. Many reports state that cannabis can enhance sexual pleasure, so it’s only wise that you utilize products such as cannabidiol (CBD) or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -infused lubricants. These products help reduce pain for women experienced during intercourse, leading to a much more relaxed state of being as well as the possibility for more intense orgasms.
Couples can also expand their physical and mental horizons by trying a cannabis-friendly yoga class. Imbibing cannabis before a yoga session can bring heightened awareness and calm to your standard yoga practice. Sharing this experience with your partner can allow couples to connect with each other in a whole new way, both during and after the class. Don’t forget the triedand-true couple’s massage with masseuses who use CBD massage oils. The relaxing mix of physical touch and CBD’s ability to reduce pain, inflammation and stress means that both parties are improving their physical and mental wellbeing. c
Find the Perfect Cannabis-Loving S o u l m at e Singles shouldn’t be left out on Valentine’s Day. Swipe right with one of these unique cannabis dating apps to find the perfect date. (Note: Apps may not be available in areas where cannabis is not yet legal).
High There! boasts millions of downloads and has been covered by several mainstream news outlets. It connects people through their preferred way of partaking cannabis and their reactions to it. 420 Singles has been around since 2011. It focuses on meeting your preferred gender in the area, but also boasts a swipe right feature for quick review. You can fill in personal details including background and religion for a thorough opportunity to match. My 420 Mate offers website and app options for viewing and includes extra features such as a “hot” list and hosted meet up events. The site is currently free to use and will ask users about cannabis consumption preferences.
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The Season for Romance
finally come together near the climax—in a church confessional.
S w o o n o v e r t h e s e u n d e n i a b ly c u t e c a n n a b i s c i n e m a c o u p l e s By David Edmundson
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t was famed psychology professor and fictional character Dr. Sean Maguire who said in Good Will Hunting, “It doesn’t matter if the guy is perfect or the girl is perfect, as long as they are perfect for each other.” The pursuit of love is a popular narrative in filmmaking, and it’s not hard to see why. It humanizes the
characters you are watching and allows you to be in their shoes. We may not know what it is like to smuggle thousands of pounds of cannabis across the U.S./Mexico border in a stolen recreational vehicle, but we can all relate with the struggle to love and be loved. Here are some of CULTURE’s favorite couples in cannabis cinema.
meets the eye. Think of the film as a Nicholas Sparks novel directed by Cheech Marin.
Mark and Stacy (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982) They are unquestionably the cutest couple on this list. These two high school mall employees are a couple that everyone can root for. For all of the dumb teenage mistakes they make, you still find yourself hoping that the impossible will happen. Spoiler alert for a 36-year-old film: They end up with each other in the end. 46
Thurgood Jenkins and Mary Jane Potman (Half Baked, 1998) The names are so good, we had to list them in full. Half Baked has a lot of story in it. It’s about a group of friends trying to raise money for their friend. It’s about the group trying to navigate the minefield that is drug dealing. But it is also a story of one man trying to prove to himself and the women he loves that there is more to him than
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Jam and Beth (Detroit Rock City, 1999) Set in the late ’70s against the backdrop of the iconic rock band KISS, Detroit Rock City is an underrated gem. At the heart of the film is wannabe drummer Jam’s quest to find his way into Beth’s heart. Through all the whacky shenanigans and detours, the two
Jay and Justice (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, 2001) Five movies into director Kevin Smith’s “View Askewniverse,” his recurring sidekick Jay finally found love. And in true Smith fashion, it was with an international jewel thief who found that the only thing she loved more than the thrill of a heist, was the tender embrace of her loud-mouthed Jay.
Harold and Maria (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, 2004) Roldie and Maria’s love did something miraculous, it survived a trilogy of films littered with sexual humor and cannabis-laden exploits. Maria forced the titular Harold out of his shell and showed him that there is something more than consuming cannabis and hanging out with your
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friend—you could consume cannabis and hang out with your girlfriend.
Alex and Samantha (Grandma’s Boy, 2006) Another underrated gem. Grandma’s Boy is an easyto-follow film with a stellar cast. Chief amongst them is the couple at its core, Alex and Samantha. He’s an underachiever, happy with his station in life, and she is an organized and analytical executive, but together they find the best in themselves and learn to strive for more than their roles have given them.
David and Rose (We’re the Millers, 2013) A stripper and a cannabis dealer go to Mexico under the guise of a married couple to smuggle a huge shipment of cannabis into the United States. The pair definitely started out as adversaries, just in it for the paycheck, but as their feelings grew, so does the film’s hilarity. I mean, what could go wrong smuggling an RV full of cannabis across the U.S./ Mexico border and into the hands of an orca-owning megalomaniac of a drug czar.
Ted and Tami-Lynn (Ted, 2012) Relationships are hard during the best of times, and they can be even harder when one of you is a foulmouthed teddy bear with no genitals. However, through all of their fights, their passion is undeniable. TamiLynn even stood by Ted’s side when he fought the legal battle of the century to declare himself a person in a court of law.
HONORABLE MENTION: Craig Jones (Friday series, 1995+) In the James Bond of cannabis films, Craig, played by Ice Cube, had a love story in each of the three Friday films. There was Debbie in Friday, Karla in Next Friday and finally Donna in Friday After Next. While sadly, it looks like none of them passed the test of time, the romantic pursuits in each Friday film was an enjoyable side quest in cannabis cinema. c
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“The pursuit of love is a p o p u l a r n a r r at i v e i n filmmaking, and it’s not h a r d t o s e e w h y. ”
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Making History T h e H e m p Fa r m i n g A c t o f 2 0 1 8 a i m s t o p u t American hemp products on the map By Devon Alexander Brown
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nce dubbed America’s No. 1 obstructionist by The Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is an unlikely ally in the corner of cannabis. However, he may have unwittingly opened the floodgates for its growth and progress by legalizing the commercial production of hemp. Hemp, the often overlooked cousin of cannabis, lacks the concentrations of 50
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tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that give cannabis its psychoactive effects, but contains greater concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD). And due to the growing demand for alternatives to pharmaceutical pain medications, CBD could be poised for a boom with a functioning domestic hemp market—though hemp is much more than CBD. Hemp can be used for a variety of commercial products such as textiles, bioplastics and foods like hemp seeds and protein powder and it was industrially
produced well into the 1950s until shifting market conditions and the introduction of federal regulations ushered in its cessation. Decades later hemp was officially made illegal in the United States under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the same federal statute that classifies cannabis as a Schedule I substance. But the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, a law introduced by McConnell under the 2018 Farm Bill, removed hemp from the list of controlled substances and deemed it an agricultural commodity—a move that grants hemp farmers access to the national banking system, water rights and federal agricultural grants while helping to restore lost profits.
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Thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp will also be eligible for regulation by the USDA, meaning that it will be open to interstate commerce and qualified American-grown hemp can be labeled as certified organic. More importantly, crucial financing and research opportunities will be accessible for continued innovation as CBD is generally well tolerated and many conditions rely on CBD products. The legalization of hemp is also likely to improve patient access to these medications while potentially lowering their prices. Several studies show that CBD is an effective treatment for childhood epilepsy syndromes such as Dravet syndrome and LennoxGastaut syndrome, which tend to be unresponsive to antiseizure medications. Illnesses such as anxiety, nausea and chronic pain also respond well to the compound. However, the CBD industry has long been open to abuse because of a lack of government oversight which has allowed disreputable companies to profit off of undereducated consumers. Increased regulation will help stop this practice. While increased regulation is surely to be celebrated, that same regulation could mean increased access will be slow to start. Hemp-derived CBD also qualifies as a food, drug, or cosmetic under FDA rules and the FDA will retain authority to regulate CBD products as it sees fit. Shortly after the 2018 Farm Bill was passed FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb released a statement addressing plans to meet with stakeholders regarding potential safety concerns and the general production and marketing of hemp. “We’re aware of the growing public interest in cannabis and cannabisderived products, including cannabidiol,” Gottlieb said in a December press announcement. “Increasing public interest in these products makes it even more important with the passage of this law for the FDA to clarify its regulatory authority over these products . . . we’ll use this meeting to gather additional input relevant to the lawful pathways by which products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds can be marketed, and how we can make these legal pathways more predictable and efficient . . . we’ll also solicit input 52
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relevant to our regulatory strategy related to existing products, while we continue to evaluate and take action against products that are being unlawfully marketed and create risks for consumers.” While CBD products aren’t likely to appear at the Walgreens' pharmacy in the next few months, there is already a healthy market for CBD and hemp-derived products. New
“Increasing public interest in these p r o d u c t s m a k e s i t e v e n m o r e i m p o r ta n t with the passage of this law for the FDA t o c l a r i f y i t s r e g u l at o r y a u t h o r i t y o v e r these products.” Frontier Data reports show that U.S CBD sales reached $367 million in 2017, an increase nearing 40 percent. And the total retail value of U.S hemp products was estimated at $820 million that same year, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. With hemp’s proven fiscal value, it’s possible that CBD could eventually be legalized for all food and drink products once FDA standards are instituted. Regardless, there aren’t signs of this trend slowing down. c
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Love is in the Air
Embrace your inner sweetness with thoughtful cannabis-infused desserts By Laurie Wolf Valentine’s Day is an opportunity for many things: It’s a
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day to be honest with your crush, to express love to your significant other and it’s a day to increase sexual activity.
HEARTS
Most importantly, it’s a day to share your sweetness— and you can’t get sweeter than a plate of delicious
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desserts. With love in mind, here are three cannabisinfused recipes that are bound to impress your loved one, and maybe help you get lucky in the bedroom too!
Nutella Heart Pies Ingredients: 2 store bought piecrusts, rolled into 10-inch circles 1/2 cup cannabisinfused chocolate hazelnut spread 2 tablespoons cannabutter or oil Egg wash 54
Instructions: 1. Heat oven to 340˚ F. Spray a baking tray or cover with parchment and set aside. 2. Using a 2-inch heart cookie cutter to cut as many hearts as you can from each crust, rerolling the scraps. 3. Place a teaspoon of the infused spread and place in the center of one of the hearts. Place a
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heart on top, and go around the entire edge of each heart with the tines of a fork. Brush with the egg wash, making sure it covers the area you pressed with the fork. 4. Using a spatula, transfer pies to the baking sheet. 5. Bake until the hearts are golden brown, begin checking after 8 minutes. Cool thoroughly.
PHOTOS BY BRUCE WOLF
R e d V e lv e t C a n n a- C a k e
Instructions: 1. Heat oven to 340Ëš F. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray and set aside.
Ingredients: CAKE: 2 1/2 cups flour 1/4 cup cornstarch 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 ounces unsalted butter, softened (1/2 stick) 2 ounces cannabutter, softened 2 1/4 cups sugar 1 cup canola oil 3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoons white vinegar 3 tablespoons red food coloring 1 cup buttermilk FROSTING: 16 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 4 cups white sugar 3 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.
6. Cool in the pan before removing. Unmold.
3. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat with the butter until creamy. Add the oil and mix for two minutes.
7. In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese and the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat until mixed well and fluffy, add a pinch of salt and beat for one minute.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for two minutes. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the vinegar and food coloring. Turn the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the dry ingredients.
8. Place one cake on a cake platter. Cover the top with frosting. Place the other cake on top and cover with frosting. Frost the sides of the cake as smooth as possible. Take any left over cake crumbs and sprinkle on the sides and the top if desired.
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ice cream sandwichES Ingredients: 3-inch round cookie cutter Baking spray or parchment
1 large egg 2 3/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cannabutter, softened
1 quart ice cream, any flavor, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup sprinkles
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup melted chocolate
Instructions 1. Heat oven to 340˚ F. Spray or cover baking sheets. Set aside. 2. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butters and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until well combined. 3. Add the dry ingredients with the mixer on low. Don’t over beat. 4. Scoop the dough onto the prepared pans in two tablespoon balls. Leave two inches between the balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool thoroughly. 5. Pour sprinkles on a flat plate. Place half the cooled cookies on a sheet pan that will fit in your freezer. Place a 1/4 scoop of ice cream on each cookie. Quickly place the remaining cookies on top, press gently together. Dip in the sprinkles and place in the freezer until very cold and solid. 6. Place the melted chocolate on your work surface. One at a time remove a cookie sandwich from the freezer, dip in the chocolate and immediately return to the freezer. Repeat until all the cookies are done.
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SERVINGS
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recently visited one of the most respected cloneries in Northern California—Dark Heart Nursery. Through stores and dispensaries, it supplies both hobbyists and commercial enterprises with thousands of clones each week. Dark Heart has a bank of plant varieties that it holds in tissue culture, which is a form of maintaining plants as cells in an undifferentiated form. Think of these as stem cells that can be regenerated to whole plants. This serves several purposes: It takes little room. A library can be stored in a single refrigerator rather than in hundreds or thousands of square footage, and they require little care while in storage. The process also creates sterile material— no bacteria, fungi, pests or disease are present. The technicians at Dark Heart regenerate plants from the tissue culture material to use as mother plants. These plants are usually grown to a height of three to six feet and are cut as they grow to force branching to get the plant to produce more clone material. They are grown in a sterile potting mix that
contains peat moss and perlite, in 10-gallon containers. Cuttings from these plants are the end product of the clone center. Groups of the cuttings are cut and placed in a beaker filled with a root growth enhancer containing a plant hormone such as Indole 3 Butyric Acid (more commonly known as IBA). Each clone is trimmed down to just a few top leaves with pruned fingers. They are placed in two-foot rockwool cubes, 50 to each 10-foot x 20-foot tray, which have a grate bottom to promote drainage and air flow. A clear plastic dome is placed over the tray for the first few days. Within a few days, the cuttings have adjusted and the covers are removed. They are ready for sale when new growth has started in the canopy and roots appear at the bottom of the cubes. The nursery also sells adolescent plants that are two feet tall with a bit of branching. Both greenhouse and outdoor growers buy these plants to get a head start on the season outdoors, resulting in considerably larger plants or to get faster turnover in greenhouses. Growing a crop from clone to ripening can take 90-120 days. However, without having to vegetate much, the time is cut down to 60-70 days. Dark Heart has served the cannabis community of Northern California (and the rest of the world) for more than 15 years. It has succeeded because it consistently delivers high-quality, healthy and uninfected clones of popular varieties. Its products have helped growers of every size to produce bountiful, potent harvests. c
In the foreground the sativa hybrid plants have been cut. Plants in the back, about six-feet tall are waiting for their “haircut.”
On the left clones are maturing. On the right, new cuttings (in domes) are starting their two-week journey. Soon after that they will be adopted by expectant growers.
GROWING CULTURE
A VISIT TO DARK HEART By Ed Rosenthal
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Cuttings are clipped, manicured, pruned, and placed in two-foot rockwool cubes.
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A sativa clone mother is about to be sheared for cuttings. These plants have life expectancy of about six months before they are replaced.
TIP OF THE MONTH Start planting now! Plant clones or germinate seeds so you can set the plants out as soon as the climate in your area permits. Remember the plants have to be kept in a vegetative state. You can do that by flashing lights on the plants several times each night for a few seconds using a bright led flashlight (preferably red) to interrupt the darkness. If you place them out early in the season (before March 15) you can keep them growing vegetatively using the light. Without the light, with the short days of spring, they will start to flower when set outside.
Rooted clones ready to find new homes.
Copyright by Ed Rosenthal. All rights are reserved. First North American Magazine rights only are assigned to CULTURE Magazine. No other reproduction of this material is permitted without the specific written permission of the author/copyright holder.
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COLORADO NOW! EVENT LISTINGS
Denver Mac & Cheese Festival, Feb. 8 Other than those who are lactose intolerant, who doesn’t like macaroni and cheese? Brought to you by the creators of BrunchFest, this festival encourages you to indulge in unlimited samples of gourmet macaroni and cheese creations, with everything from breadcrumbs to bacon bits, while chefs and restaurants cook and compete for the best cheesy variety. Number 38, Denver denvermacandcheese.com Unwritten Law, Feb. 9 Poway, California-based punk rockers Unwritten Law broke into mainstream radio, creating sing-a-long songs along the lines of pop punk bands like Green Day and The Offspring. Seven studio albums later, the band still makes an important contribution to melodic punk music with a strong growing fan base. Marquis Theater, Denver themarquistheater.com Winter Beer Pairing Dinner, Feb. 10 Spoil yourself with a luxurious five-course dinner, consisting of duck taquitos, roasted winter vegetables, rigatoni, short rib and other fine foods at this cozy, but popular event. Find your inner foodie and pair the dishes with carefully selected fine craft beer pairings, and
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socialize as the evening winds down. Briar Common Brewery + Eatery, Denver briarcommon.com
Anderson .Paak, Feb. 13 Hot on the heels of his latest album, Oxnard, Anderson .Paak is ready to perform his latest tracks to a pumped up audience in Colorado. Bolstered by a Grammy Award nomination, the artist formerly known as Breezy Lovejoy reinvented himself as Anderson .Paak with more refined beats, melodies and rap lyrics. Fillmore Auditorium Denver, Denver andersonpaak.com Sleightly Impossible, Feb. 16 Magicians Gene R. Gordon and Matthew C. Brandt present a night unlike any other—filled with both comedy and magic. The two magicians can work “miracles” with ordinary objects, and they’ll keep you laughing while they’re at it. Lumber Baron Mystery Mansion, Denver lumberbaron.com Macramé and Mimosas, Feb. 17 The talented Amie Phillips of Boriya & Co will teach knotting techniques with rope and answer any macramé-related questions. While making macramé is fun—it’s much more fun with mimosas refills that
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WIZ KHALIFA, FEB. 15 Wiz Khalifa will bring down the house with his large catalog of refined hip-hop material that has crossed over into mainstream radio. He’s also obviously a huge fan of the green herb, telling CULTURE in 2018 that “[Cannabis] brought people together, made people happy. The best things that I do are on pot.” Summit Music Hall, Denver www.summitdenver.com could lead to laughter and creative decisions. Maker’s Garage, Denver archipelagoclubs.com/ member-calendar Jim Belushi, Feb. 17 Recently Jim Belushi went full throttle into the cannabis industry, launching Belushi’s Farm and several other cannabisrelated projects, tours and collaborations. Perhaps Jim Belushi is best known for his comedy act, plus his characters and skits on the earlier seasons of Saturday Night Live. Vilar Performing Arts
Center, Avon jimbelushi.ws Peter Murphy, Feb. 26 Grab your black lipstick, eyeliner, fishnet stockings and whatever other gothic apparel and accessories you might need. Former Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy was king of all things dark long before Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson, but his sound is more along the lines of Joy Division, The Cure or The Damned. Oriental Theater Denver, Denver theorientaltheater.com
NEWS of the
WEIRD
BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL
LEAD STORY—REGIFTED? Rakhi Desai of Houston didn’t think much at first of the gift she brought home from a white elephant party in mid-December—a brown stuffed bear with a stitched-on heart. As she looked it over later, Desai noticed the words “Neptune Society” stitched on its foot “and then I started to feel, and it’s almost like little pebbles or rocks” inside, she told KTRK-TV. That’s when it hit her: The bear was filled with someone’s cremated remains. The friend who brought the bear to the gift exchange got it at an estate sale, so Desai called the Neptune Society, hoping to reunite the bear with the family it belongs to, but the organization doesn’t track the bears. However, there is a name on the bear’s tag, and Desai is hoping to find the owner through that. “(T)his bear is very special to somebody and belongs in somebody’s family,” she said. WEIRD ROUNDUP On Christmas Day, Deadspin.com shared a “verbatim” list from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission of emergency room visits paid by Americans who inserted items into various body parts, and shouldn’t have. An edited sampling: Into the ear: “Popcorn kernels in both ears, ‘feeds her ears because her ears are hungry’”; “Was cleaning ear with Q-Tip, accidentally
walked into a wall, pushed Q-Tip into ear”; “Placed crayon in ear on a dare.” Into the nose: “Sneezed and a computer keyboard key came out right nostril, sneezed again and another one almost came out”; pool noodle; piece of steak; sex toy. Into the throat: mulch; “Swallowed a quarter while eating peanuts”; plastic toy banana. And finally, into the rectum: “Significant amount of string”; cellphone; Christmas ornament ball; “Jumped on bed, toothbrush was on bed and went up patient’s rectum.” OVERREACTIONS Alarmed neighbors in Perth, Australia, called police after hearing a child screaming and a man repeatedly shouting, “Why don’t you die?!” on Jan. 1, according to the Evening Standard. Multiple units of officers arrived at the property, only to learn that the unnamed man, an extreme arachnophobe, had been trying to kill a spider. His wife confirmed to police that her child had been screaming, and her husband apologized to police for the confusion. The spider didn’t survive. WEAPON OF CHOICE Rogelio Tapia, 26, was arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, on Dec. 31 after a dispute at a QuikTrip around 3 a.m. The store clerk and witnesses told police Tapia chased the clerk around the store and assaulted him with a banana after the clerk tried to intervene in a domestic situation. According to KCCI, Tapia caused about $1,000 in damage; he was charged with assault and thirddegree criminal mischief. CultureMagazine.com
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