May 2021 - AK Leaf

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the action issue

#61

[

MAY 2021

issue

58 MIKE ROSATI

8 feature

40

STONEY MOOSE KITCHENS

O'HARA SHIPE

[

GOOD TITRATIONS IN FAIRBANKS

52 EDIBLE OF THE MONTH

38 Dear Biden-Harris Leaf Nation Editor-inChief Wes Abney minces no words in an open letter to the Biden-Harris Administration, calling for those in The White House to follow their halcyon campaign promises and end the war on drugs, the policies of which many in their own administration created or enforced.

//////////

may 2021

feature

ADOBE

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

GANJA GUYS

22 CONSUMPTION LOUNGE

DAVID BERREY

20 SHOP REVIEW

O'HARA SHIPE

Huckleberry Hill Farms Founder Johnny Casali went from serving out a sentence in federal prison to owning a legal Cannabis business and thriving in the hills of Humboldt.

11 14 16 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60

EDITOR’S NOTE N AT I O N A L N E W S LEGALIZED IT? SHOP REVIEW LOUNGE REVIEW BUDTENDER Q&A GARDEN HIGHLIGHT H I G H LY L I K E LY CANNTHROPOLOGY STRAIN OF THE MONTH THE ACTION ISSUE DEAR BIDEN-HARRIS FROM PRISON TO POT EQUITY IN CANNABIS INSIDE EMERALD CUP S U S TA I N A B L E C A N N A B I S CANNABIS PHILANTHROPY RECIPES EDIBLES PA I R I N G S EXTRACTS GLASS ART STONEY BALONEY

JEFF DIMARCO

Waugh Street Glass

THE action ISSUE LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

10

28 garden tour may 2021

SWEET MATANUSKA GREEN

OWNER TONY DELARM

PHOTO by O'HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS/ALASKA LEAF

E S TA B L I S H E D 2 0 1 0

T H E E N L I G H T E N E D VO I C E

N O RT H W E S T L E A F / O R EG O N L E A F / A L AS KA L E A F / M A RY L A N D L E A F / CA L I F O R N I A L E A F / N O RT H E AS T L E A F

A B O U T T H E C OV E R The globetrotting artist Joshua Boulet is renowned for his unique sketches and portrait work, which he has brought to more than two-dozen Leaf Nation covers over the last decade. Chock full of icons, moments and whimsy, Boulet’s delightful illustration for the cover of The Action Issue faithfully captures this powerful moment for our country. As the Cannabis industry reckons with change, and the future of legalization looks ever more promising, there has never been a greater need for our community to come together, rise up, and speak out!

ILLUSTRATION

by JOSHUA BOULET @JOSHUABOULET JOSHUABOULET.COM

PUBLISHER

CONTRIBUTORS

WES ABNEY | FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BOBBY BLACK, FEATURES JOSHUA BOULET, ILLUSTRATION TOM BOWERS, FEATURES JEFF DIMARCO, PHOTOS MAX EARLY, FEATURES STEVE ELLIOTT, NATIONAL NEWS BEN NEFF, PHOTOS BAXSEN PAINE, FEATURES MIKE RICKER, FEATURES MEGHAN RIDLEY, EDITING MIKE ROSATI, PHOTOS ZACK RUSKIN, FEATURES O'HARA SHIPE, FEATURES + PHOTOS PACER STACKTRAIN, FEATURES JAMIE VICTOR, ILLUSTRATION DAN VINKOVETSKY, FEATURES NATE WILLIAMS, FEATURES FLETCHER WOLD, PHOTOS BRUCE & LAURIE WOLF, RECIPES

WES@LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

CREATIVE DIRECTOR DANIEL BERMAN | VISUALS & DESIGN

DANIEL@LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

STATE DIRECTOR JOSHUA STAHLE | AD SALES

JOSH@LEAFMAGAZINES.COM 907-317-2536

CONTENT DIRECTOR O'HARA SHIPE | EDITORIAL

OHARA@LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

CONNECT WITH ALASKA LEAF Exclusive Cannabis Journalism @NWLEAF

|

@AKLEAFMAG

@NWLEAF

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ABNEY

Editor’s Note Thanks for picking up The Action Issue of the Leaf !

EVERY PUFF IS A PROTEST, and we’re so full of smoke that we had to blow this Action Issue towards our beautiful Cannabis community.

11

Pot might be legal where we live, and it sure feels good to express that freedom, but we have not yet reached the promised land of Cannabis freedom around the world. Our cover highlights a fictional protest for this very reason – with amazing detail including hiding myself and a few Leaf team members by artist extraordinaire Joshua Boulet – but the message goes beyond a fun piece of art. We still have many items to take action on, starting with our community coming together and OUR PEOPLE returning to the roots that drove Cannabis from the underground HAVE SPOKEN, to the mainstream.

AND WE DON’T BELIEVE THAT ANYONE DESERVES TO BE LOCKED IN A CAGE FOR A PLANT.

When I began publishing Northwest Leaf in 2010, the Cannabis community was small, full of passion, and its members at risk of getting arrested on nearly a daily basis. It was activism that drove legalization from idea to reality, from the early pioneers in the ‘60s and ‘70s, to the MMJ pioneers I grew the Leaf with. It was the caucus of voices that led to Hempfest’s spirit of protestival, the enduring Boston Freedom Rally, and the cries of the masses who called for the end of prohibition for the plant we know and love.

We stand on both a rich and sad history, as the true cost of our freedom was others losing theirs as victims in a battle on our own soil. As I state in my open letter to the Biden-Harris Administration printed in this issue, the war on drugs is quickly becoming a war on the American way of life.

Our people have spoken, and we don’t believe that anyone deserves to be locked in a cage for a plant. Or any other drug. So we must keep raising our voices, acting as activists, and bringing the spirit of protest to every pulpit until this unjust war is ended – and we are all free to share our plant and voices as one.

I hope that the stories within this issue inspire you to take action and give you pause when you take your next legal toke of Cannabis. And as you exhale, thank those that fought for us to enjoy that right – letting your spirit be filled with a desire to take action until everyone shares that same freedom.

-Wes Abney may 2021

leafmagazines.com

We are creators of targeted, independent Cannabis journalism. Please email us to discuss advertising in the next issue of Alaska Leaf Magazine. We do not sell stories or coverage. We can offer design services and guidance on promoting your company’s medicinal, recreational, commercial or industrial Cannabis business, product or event within our magazine and on our website, LeafMagazines.com. Email josh@leafmagazines.com for more information on supporting Alaska Leaf!

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Marijuana products may be purchased or possessed only by persons 21 or older. This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit-forming. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgment.

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of reach of children.

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cannabis NEWS

politics

14

TRENDS

LEGAL CANNABIS ARRIVES EARLY FOR VIRGINIANS

NEW BILL WOULD ALLOW VA TO PRESCRIBE MMJ TO VETS

V

U.S.

Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on April 17 reintroduced legislation to allow doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical Cannabis to veterans in the 36 states that have established medical marijuana programs, reports Maui Now. “In 36 states, doctors and their patients have the option to use medical marijuana to manage pain – unless those doctors work for the VA and their patients are veterans,” Sen. Schatz said. “This bill protects veteran patients in these states and gives their VA doctors the option to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans, and it also promises to shed light on how medical marijuana can “...IT PROMISES TO help with the nation’s opioid SHED LIGHT ON HOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA epidemic.”

CAN HELP WITH THE In addition to creating a temporary, five-year safe harbor NATION’S OPIOID EPIDEMIC.” protection for veterans who use medical Cannabis, the bill would also direct the VA to research how medical marijuana could help veterans better manage chronic pain and reduce opioid abuse.

west coast

UAE DETAINS LAS VEGAS MAN OVER CANNABIS

A LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

legalization

Las Vegas man who consumed Cannabis before he visited the United Arab Emirates has been detained for almost two months, his lawyer and officials confirmed to KLAS. Peter Clark, 51, flew to Dubai in late February for a business trip, according to his lawyer. After Clark became ill with pancreatitis and was hospitalized, a test found traces of marijuana in his system. Clark was detained and jailed.

While recreational marijuana use is legal in Nevada, it’s definitely not in the UAE. Clark now faces a prison sentence of several years according to his attorney, Radha Stirling.

5

years have now passed since Pennsylvania legalized medical use of Cannabis.

may 2021

43

percent of the U.S. population now lives in states where recreational adult-use Cannabis is legal.

AMERICANS OVERWHELMINGLY SAY CANNABIS SHOULD BE LEGAL FOR RECREATIONAL OR MEDICAL USE

N

ow, it’s down to the few. Fewer than one out of 10 U.S. adults (8 percent) are still saying that Cannabis should not be legal for any purpose, according to the latest survey from Pew Research.

An overwhelming share of American adults say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use (60 percent) or legal for medicinal use only (31 percent).

53 PERCENT OF ADULTS A separate AGES 65 TO 74 SAY question, asking CANNABIS SHOULD whether Cannabis BE LEGAL FOR BOTH RECREATIONAL AND use should be made MEDICAL USE. legal, has shown a “steep, long-term rise in support for legalization,” according to Pew Research.

Older adults are far less likely than young people to favor Cannabis legalization for recreational use, according to the survey.

This is particularly true of adults ages 75 and older, with just 32 percent saying marijuana should be legal for recreational/ medical use.

By way of contrast, 53 percent of adults in the next-oldest age group, those ages 65 to 74, say Cannabis should be legal for both recreational and medical use.

Among younger adults, there is even wider support for legalization for medical and recreational uses, including 70 percent of adults under age 30.

467

pounds of Cannabis were seized by Texas Dept. of Public Safety troopers last month near the Rio Grande River.

irginia lawmakers voted in April to move up the legalization date of recreational Cannabis in the state to July 1, 2021, reports ABC 3 News.

Both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly had in February passed legislation legalizing marijuana for adult recreational use.

The legalization date had initially been set for January 1, 2024, but Gov. Ralph Northam added amendments to existing bills to fast-track the legalization. Northam, when proposing the accelerated timeline, THE LEGALIZATION said many Virginians DATE HAD INITIALLY BEEN SET FOR would be on board with JANUARY 1, 2024. speeding up the process.

“While not everybody is in favor of moving this forward, the great majority of Virginians are and that’s what this is about,” Northam said.

“When you’re in public service, you listen to Virginians and then move their thoughts and initiatives forward.”

GOP: WISCONSIN WON’T LEGALIZE MEDICAL CANNABIS

T

he Wisconsin Legislature won’t be legalizing either medical or recreational marijuana during this legislative session, the Republican leader of the State Senate said.

Although Gov. Tony Evers and Democrats have for years urged legalization of both medical and recreational Cannabis, they’ve not had any luck in convincing the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Ooostburg) ruled out even the possibility of recreational or medical marijuana becoming law any time during the next year.

“First of all, we don’t have support from the caucus, and that’s pretty clear,” LeMahieu said.

“We don’t have 17 votes in the caucus for medicinal purposes or recreational purposes.”

LeMaheiu claimed Republican senators have “societal concerns” about Cannabis legalization. He also claimed states shouldn’t legalize medical marijuana before the federal government does.

19.9k $342m black market Cannabis plants were seized by the Riverside County, California Sheriff’s Department in April.

dollars is the estimated size New Mexico’s recreational Cannabis market will be one year after legalization.

$1.2b

Canadian dollars (about $950 million American) were lost

by Canopy Growth during the first nine months of its current operating year.

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cannabis NEWS

LEGALIZED IT? Wha t ha pp ens whe n th e w il l of the p eople i s over tur ned ?

On November 3, 2020, marijuana advocates celebrated a clean sweep on the ballots as voters approved legalization in all four states considering the reform. Yet while the Cannabis community enjoyed the spotlight on Election Day, prohibitionists have been working in the shadows ever since. The result has been a muddying of democracy as we know it. // NULL AND VOID //

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

16

A voter-approved constitutional amendment legalizing Cannabis in South Dakota has been overturned. The amendment, passed by 54 percent of voters, would have allowed possession of up to an ounce of Cannabis and implemented retail sales. It also established a 15 percent tax on pot and permitted home cultivation.

While the amendment included a provision allowing local governments to ban Cannabis sales in their jurisdictions, state officials felt the need to ban legalization altogether.

Governor Kristi Noem (R), who opposed Cannabis legalization in South Dakota from the start, instructed Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Rick Miller to file a lawsuit challenging the amendment on her behalf.

Unsurprisingly, the Circuit Judge hearing the case, who was appointed by Noem in 2019, agreed with the governor and ruled that the amendment passed by South Dakota voters was unconstitutional.

Judge Christina Klinger wrote, “Amendment A is unconstitutional as it includes multiple subjects in violation of [the South Dakota constitution] and it is therefore void and has no effect…”

Essentially, Klinger found that the amendment went beyond a single issue – making it a revision to the constitution and not an amendment. In other words, several powerful prohibitionists came up with a bullshit technicality that allowed them to suppress the will of the voters and keep Cannabis illegal.

And, despite Noem denying her role in the suit to void voter-approved marijuana-law reform, an executive order signed by the governor in January states that on “November 20, 2020, I directed Rick Miller to commence the Amendment A Litigation on my behalf in his official capacity.”

Noem is also on record asserting that voters in South Dakota – the same voters that elected her – made “the wrong choice” when they approved the legalization amendment.

The issue will now be heard by the state Supreme Court after attorneys representing marijua-

MAY 2021

Montana residents approved legalization with 57 percent of the vote in November.

However, the state’s adult-use law is still up in the air.

na-law reform advocacy groups appealed Judge Klinger’s ruling. Normally, the South Dakota Attorney General’s office would defend such a challenge to a state law. However, AG Jason Ravnsborg dropped his defense of the amendment.

Gov. Noem stated that she’s “confident that the South Dakota Supreme Court” will uphold the Circuit Court’s decision. The governor personally appointed two of the high court’s five justices.

South Dakota’s new medical marijuana law, approved by over 69 percent of voters on Election Day, isn’t safe from the governor either. Noem tried to push the program’s implementation back a year, from July 2021 to July ‘22 and, when that failed, she attempted to change the law to add restrictions. / / M O N TA N A / /

Montana residents approved legalization with 57 percent of the vote in November. However, the state’s adult-use law is still up in the air. Three separate Republican-sponsored measures are currently being considered. Unfortunately, all three bills change the original proposal that was laid out in the ballot initiative and approved by voters.

The legalization bill favored by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte would create a system where local jurisdictions have to “opt in” to the legal Cannabis industry. The original law approved by voters allowed for an “opt-out” provision. This change makes the state’s default position “out” of legal Cannabis, and is sure to have a negative impact on the success of the program.

The bill would also delay the start of retail sales and reroute the majority of pot tax revenue to a fund proposed by the governor for substance abuse treatment.

And while the state’s recreational pot law is somehow being rewritten by the very people who opposed legalizing pot in the first place, at least one state senator has proposed a referendum for the ballot to repeal legalization.

But, at the moment, Montana appears to be moving forward with some version of a taxed and regulated system with retail sales. // NEW JERSEY //

Gov. Phil Murphy clashed with lawmakers, refusing to sign a bill establishing the state’s regulatory framework until amendments were made detailing penalties for underage possession.

During the resulting two-month stalemate, people continued to be arrested for pot possession in the Garden State.

Legislators ultimately passed a cleanup bill that satisfied Murphy. Shortly thereafter, on February 22, the governor signed the legal framework bill into law, legalizing Cannabis. Murphy also signed a decriminalization bill that ends pot possession arrests.

Unfortunately, in the three and a half months between legalization passing on Election Day 2020 and the governor signing the Cannabis bills in late February ‘21, more than 6,000 people were arrested for minor marijuana possession in New Jersey.

STORY by MIKE GIANAKOS @MIKEGEEZEEY/NORTHEAST LEAF | ART by ADOBE/FRESHIDEA

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shop review

GANJA GUYS ENVIRONMENT & VIBE

R EVI E W b y ALAS KA LEA F STA F F | P HOTOS b y O ' HARA S H I P E @ S H I P E S HOTS

As a newer dispensary, Ganja Guys is still making improvements to their cozy interior, but by and large, this is one of the most welcoming shops we have seen in Anchorage. The walls are lined with hip, urban wallpaper and custom-built shelves that are jam-packed with products and fun paraphernalia. The combination of attention to detail in their displays harmonizes beautifully with the shop’s wooden accents giving off a distinctly PacNorWest feeling.

PRODUCTS

20

Where Ganja Guys really shines is their in-house specialty products like their Hitlist Joint Sampler. Packaged in a cassette tape box, the sampler houses five joints cultivated by Freedom 49 Farms. But the real magic is the accompanying QR code printed on the box. With just a scan of your phone, you can blast off into nirvana with a curated playlist. In addition to their house-made products, Ganja Guys also have a wide spread of edibles, topicals, flowers and glassware from all around the state.

HISTORY When it came to devising a plan for their dispensary, the Ganja Guys crew knew they wanted to create something outside the box to enhance the Cannabis experience of their customers. So, they didn’t stop at building a dispensary – they also built an adjoining restaurant called El Jefe Tacos. With a mouthwatering menu that includes breakfast burritos, street tacos and crazily enough, sushi, El Jefe is as much a destination as Ganja Guys. Although the restaurant is family-friendly, it is nonetheless geared to feeding the insatiable appetites of discerning stoners.

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

BUDTENDERS Ganja Guys’ eight budtenders are all well-seasoned Cannabis connoisseurs who are enthralled with the industry. The dispensary is also equipped with online courses for new budtenders to get up to speed quickly. For Ganja Guys, the primary mission is to spread the love of Cannabis, and it’s a belief system that has been adopted by the staff. From the instant you hand over your ID for inspection, it is clear that you are in great hands.

QUICK HIT Anchorage’s Ganja Guys are revolutionizing the idea of interactive dispensaries. From their curated playlists and podcasts to their adjoining taco joint, the owners of Ganja Guys have worked hard to create a space that you won’t want to leave.

may 2021

GANJA GUYS 101 E. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RD., ANCHORAGE OPEN 9:30AM-11:30PM DAILY AKGANJAGUYS.COM @GANJAGUYS.AK (907) 206-4420

The combination of attention to detail in their displays harmonizes beautifully with the shop’s wooden accents giving off a distinctly PacNorWest feeling.

21

Got the munchies?

You're in luck...

shop review

CONSUMPTION LOUNGE

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

22

GOODTITRATIONS may 2021

Chief Operations Officer Brandon Emmett enjoys a joint overlooking the company's flower room, which is a fun feature of the Good Titrations consumption lounge.

B

ack in 2016, when Alaska voted to legalize, we were all very excited.

Cannabis had finally broken through in the state, and what was to come had everyone involved with Cannabis in any capacity, very excited. To the excitement of many, the bill was comprised of wording that would allow lounges to finally open up.

For a hot minute, we had POT-luck events in downtown Anchorage … but that would, sadly, not last.

So we could expect that it wouldn’t be too long before consumption lounges opened, right? It was in the bill, so it should be coming along with retail stores...

Fast forward five years and a pandemic later – finally, Alaska has a lounge. Opening on 4/20, it was the finest way to ring in this year’s holiday.

More will follow suit very quickly, as there are a few endorsements out there that are in various stages. Were it not for the pandemic, this article would have been written a full year sooner, but alas, that was not to be.

But, FINALLY, Alaska is open for business with on-site consumption. And leading this charge is a name familiar to most consumers: Good Titrations.

Welcome, my friends, to Alaska Leaf’s very first on-site consumption lounge review!

Shaun Tacke, CFO of Good Titrations, has been kind enough to keep me in the loop on the whole process of turning an old Chili's into a retail store, and then further into a lounge. I remember a year ago, the store was the size of a large closet. You would walk in the door, buy your products through a window, and promptly leave.

Behind there, Good Titrations was building out today’s beautiful, spacious location.

The entrance is the previously mentioned storefront, which leads into the entrance desk. Proceeding to your left after being carded and added to the customer portal takes you to the store … but what we’re here for is through the glass door: The Lounge. A beautifully crafted space reminiscent of a regular old coffee shop, with a U-shaped bar in the middle of the room and tables along the wall, and a large seating area nestled away across from six TVs – yes, it is a gorgeous space.

At the lounge on opening night, you had a few options.

Firstly, coffee. I ordered a caramel mocha and was quite impressed with how it turned out. There were also some un-infused baked goods to snack on. But let’s get to the Cannabis – what happened after we sparked up will stick with me for a long time.

Smoking inside of the lounge was a surreal experience.

We have been waiting for this for such a long time, and it is finally here. Honestly, I didn't fully process that fact until the next morning. Moreover, I found myself sitting at a booth and just watching people’s reactions as they walked into the main hallway on their way to the store. People would stop dead in their tracks when they saw us smoking inside – popping their heads in to see what was happening. I watched one lady do a triple-take!

Everyone who was there was in a state of joy. Good Titrations COO Brandon Emmett sat down at the booth I had locked down, and you could simply see the satisfaction of the moment on his face … the hard work that it took to get to this point. Good Titrations and the team finally got here – and we’re all excited to see where it goes next.

**AS A REMINDER, at any Alaska on-site consumption areas, you are allowed to purchase edibles with up to 10mg of THC and up to 1g of flower. Everything you purchase must be consumed on-site.

At Good Titrations, you can bring in your own piece to smoke loose flower purchased at the bar. You can only partake in products purchased at the lounge – no outside products allowed.**

GOODTITRATIONS.COM | @GOODTITRATIONS 506 MERHAR AVE FAIRBANKS, AK | 8AM-11PM DAILY

STORY by JOSHUA STAHLE/ALASKA LEAF | PHOTOS by DAVID BERREY @DAVYTHECAMERAMAN

interview LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

24

21 may 20

F A E L ALASKA R E D N E T BUD H T N O M E H T F O

W H O ’ S Y O U R FAV O R I T E B U D T E N D E R ? T E L L U S W H Y ! E M A I L N O M I N A T I O N S T O J O S H @ L E A F M A G A Z I N E S . C O M

DANIEL LUTHER DAN TAKES ADVANTAGE OF HIS HOME STATE’S OUTDOORS SCENE by hiking, camping, longboarding, snowboarding and getting out on the motorcycle when whether permits. Since getting behind the counter, he’s found ways to steer his own friends and family toward Cannabis and an overall better way of life. You can follow him on Instagram @dan_luther87.

HAVE YOU LIVED ANYWHERE OUTSIDE OF ALASKA? I moved to

Denver about three years ago and then returned home after just under a year.

DID YOU NOTICE ANY PARALLELS BETWEEN COLORADO AND ALASKA IN THE CANNABIS WORLD? Well,

there are a lot of differences. It appeared to be saturated down there, which was evident when I walked in the door and immediately got offered a free pre-roll. That was a big surprise and a nice one, I’ll say. Things are much less expensive down there and I noticed that you don’t get to know your cultivators and budtenders as much as you do here. There’s a lot more one on one in Alaska within the industry. We’re a more relationshipbased culture, I think.

DID YOU NOTICE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY? Pretty much the same,

you’ve got your top shelf and your mids. But there was a company down there called Caviar that makes infused joints that are really good, and I’d be quite pleased to see them come north.

WHAT ABOUT ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS? Oh no! No, no, no. I did

get offered them when I was down there, and I will try a lot of things – a big foodie – but bull balls is not one of them.

SO, YOU’LL JUST STICK WITH THE BELUGA CAVIAR? Absolutely.

HIGHER BY BADGRAMM3R

"THERE’S A LOT MORE ONE ON ONE IN ALASKA WITHIN THE INDUSTRY. WE’RE A MORE RELATIONSHIP-BASED CULTURE, I THINK."

HEY, CONSUMPTION LOUNGES ARE OPENING. DO YOU SEE WASILLA GETTING IN ON THE ACTION? I

really hope so, but I hope they do it right – so it doesn’t get shut down and create a stigma.

WHAT IS DOING IT RIGHT? Not allowing criminal behavior around it.

We need to prove that we’re within the law so everyone can benefit.

1204 HYER SPUR, PALMER BADGRAMM3R.COM 9AM-8PM DAILY (907) 318-7550

INTERVIEW by MIKE RICKER @RICKERDJ | PHOTO by O'HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS

garden highlight

26

Sweet Matanuska Green Owners Steve, Tony and Nolah Delarm.

leafmagazines.com

Sweetmatanuskagreen

Trimmers Vidal Page and Wayne Delarm work on trimming some of their harvest of Bubonic Chronic.

may 2021

LIKE MANY OF THE OG VALLEY GROWERS, Tony Delarm's first foray into Cannabis cultivation was growing in closets and sheds as a 19-year-old.

By 21, Tony had perfected his techniques and was selling in Alaska's booming black market. But when he began having children, he temporarily slowed down production to focus on his carpentry business. "[My kids] all knew that I was growing, the seeds of his own but I never really wanted to bring them legal limited grow "I had always into what I had going on. I just wanted to operation, Sweet utilize it to help financially support them Matanuska Green. dreamed of the and give them the things that I wouldn't "I had always have been able to otherwise," says Tony. dreamed of the busibusiness being The extra income boost enabled Tony ness being legal, so I legal, so I saw to purchase Christmas and birthday gifts saw the writing on the for his three children. After the dissoluwall when talks about the writing on tion of his marriage in 2004, Cannabis legalization started. the wall when helped him pay child support each month I told a lot of the without being in dire straits financially. guys in my circle that talks about legalUnfortunately, as the strain of the divorce we needed to start ization started.” exacted its emotional toll on Tony, he put saving so we could the kibosh on his grow operation. go legal and not -Founder Tony Delarm "I just wasn't doing very well," says Tony. get left behind. They As Tony continued to spiral, his mom came all thought I was crazy, but I started saving every to him with some sage advice that changed the frickin’ penny," says Tony. trajectory of his life.

His fortitude paid dividends in 2019 when "My mom was like, 'Tony, you never borrow Tony was able to secure permitting and a legal money. You've never had any problems, and you license to grow on his property. He rolled up have a bunch of freedom that nobody else has. his sleeves and used his 25 years of carpentry When you quit growing weed, you started borexperience to build a farmhouse-style unit near rowing money and you're not doing well. I didn't his home in Wasilla. The unit houses his Alaskan think I would ever say this to you, but you need to toys – four-wheelers and trucks – while the upstairs go back to growing,'" recalls Tony. supports the 497-square-foot grow space.

His mom's approval and early rumblings about Although space is limited, Tony and his team of legalization in Alaska spurred Tony on to sow family members have worked to use every avail-

able inch. One way that they are maximizing space is by opting to water nearly 200 plants by hand.

"On watering days, I get to come in here and feed the plants while hanging out with my dad.

It's really nice being able to spend time with him and to play with the plants," says Tony's daughter Nolah.

Tony didn't always have a good relationship with his children, so watering days have taken on a special meaning. As have harvest days, where Tony's son Steve works as a trimmer, helping to harvest five strains from 100 plants each month.

In total, Tony rotates between 18 and 22 strains to keep his product selection fresh.

While operating a legal limited grow has affected his bottom line, Tony believes that he made the right decision for himself and his family.

"It has turned out really well because I am no longer having to look over my shoulder or be worried about getting stabbed in the back. It made everything safer, and now it's something that I can keep in the family," says Tony. "I am happy to know that in the long run, I did something not only for myself but for my children. I'm just happy that now I can share a little bit of something that I have worked 30 years to perfect."

SWEETMATANUSKAGREEN.COM

STORY by ALASKA LEAF STAFF | PHOTOS by O'HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS/ALASKA LEAF

highly likely

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Their most criticallyacclaimed work to date was the movie they wrote and produced called “Judas and the Black Messiah.”

Highly Likely highlights Cannabis pioneers who paved the way to greater herbal acceptance.

lucas brothers

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

Known as The Lucas Brothers, Kenny and Keith Lucas are twin comedians who also act, write and produce various pieces of video content, including animation and critically acclaimed film.

You may have seen them before with their identical looks and matching thick, black-framed glasses. The brothers are often open about their consumption of Cannabis, and can be seen smoking a joint outside a New York comedy club at the beginning of their 2017 Netflix comedy special “On Drugs.”

along with them. Look no further than the amazing Animation Domination series “Lucas Bros. Moving Co.” – a show that is especially good to watch while high. The series features an amazingly imaginative style of animation, but what really shines is the writing and vocal delivery. They also embody a sort of ‘every person’ stoner persona in the series, and from what I can tell, in real life.

But not everything the twins have created has been based in comedy.

Their most critically-acclaimed work to date was the movie they wrote and produced called “Judas and the Black Messiah,” a biopic that tells the story of the chairman of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panthers, Fred Hampton.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a AISED IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, the twin brothers started law compelling, intellectual story that school (Keith at Duke, Kenny at NYU) but in the middle of paints a picture of incidents in the their post-graduate degrees, they dropped out and started Civil Rights Movement that are pursuing careers in entertainment. As Kenny told NPR in still pertinent today. There’s an February, “It was weird to study law and kind of be poor underlying humanity to the story and Black, because ... I see what the consequences of policy and as well, one that shines a light on law are like on a daily basis, and especially when it’s in relation racial inequities that stretch far back to African Americans and the notion of criminality and how it’s in time and continue to effect and projected onto Blacks.” Their change in career was a deliberate complicate our modern world. It’s choice, made out of wanting to produce “something that has a already won many awards, including direct impact on people from an emotional standpoint.” a Golden Globe. At the time of this In many ways the style of comedy that the Lucas Brothers have writing, the film is nominated for no A clip from their Animation Domination series developed is entirely fresh and new. Delivered with a sort of less than five Oscars.

“Lucas Bros. Moving Co. deadpan coolness, their jokes are more than just something to So yes, like you and me, the laugh at – they also force the audience to think in a way they’re not accustomed to when Lucas Brothers smoke Cannabis. Like you and me, they likely watching a comedy show. This sort of conscious raising comedy was ahead of its time almost derive some sort of peace, wellbeing and creativity from it. a decade ago when they started doing it, but today feels like just the thing that our changing But unlike most of us, the Lucas Brothers have found a way culture needs. That’s because one of the stated goals of their art is to raise awareness about to channel what they get into something bigger than any systemic racism and its effect on people of color, as well as society at large. one individual can experience – and are having a beneficial All of that sounds pretty serious, but that’s both the beauty and the genius of the Lucas impact on our world. For that, they deserve our respect, Brothers’ work: They get serious points across in a funny way and they bring their audience honor and thanks.

R

may 2021

STORY by PACER STACKTRAIN for LEAF NATION

cannthropology

WORLD OF Cannabis PRESENTS

Yippie High-Yay! COURTESY DANA BEAL

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Dana Beal (with arm on speaker) leads a Yippie rally at the White House (1977).

COURTESY DANA BEAL

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

Occasionally referred to as “Groucho Marxists,” the Youth International Party (aka the Yippies) were a radical leftist group from the 1960s that used absurd, satirical stunts to make their political points. Among the many counterculture luminaries involved with the Yippies over the years is Dana Beal, a man who was personally recruited by founder Abbie Hoffman and ended up succeeding him as the group’s leader.

AN ACTIVIST IS BORN Growing up in Lansing, Michigan, Beal displayed a passion for social justice from an early age. In August 1963, at the age of 16, he hitchhiked to Washington D.C. to attend Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Two months later he organized his first demonstration against the Ku Klux Klan back in Lansing.

At age 17, Beal managed to avoid the Vietnam draft by getting himself committed to a psych ward, then went AWOL and took off for New York City.

Once there, he quickly established himself in the Lower East Side activist scene. During the Grateful Dead’s first-ever New York concert in Tompkins Square Park on June 1, 1967, Beal organized the first of many “smoke-in” protests – blazing out the 3,000+ crowd.

That August, Beal was busted for selling LSD to a narc, prompting a series of protest marches on his behalf. His support in the community was so impressive that it attracted the attention of another prominent activist by the name of Abbie Hoffman.

may 2021

FROM HIPPIE TO YIPPIE Both Jewish, anti-war activists, Hoffman and Rubin met in 1967 in New York while planning an upcoming demonstration in Washington and immediately hit it off. On August 24, 1967, they pulled off their first major media stunt: From the visitor’s gallery at the New York Stock Exchange, they threw out handfuls of one dollar bills onto the exchange floor – interrupting trading and eliciting both cheers Young Dana freed and curses from the brokers below. after LSD arrest.

On October 21, Hoffman and Rubin invited Beal and his crew down to D.C. to attend a massive anti-war demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial. Hoffman then led half the crowd across the Potomac, where they encircled the Pentagon and began singing and chanting in a supposed attempt to “levitate” the building.

Naturally, the building never moved, but the group had found their purpose.

It wasn’t until three months later – while tripping in Abbie’s apartment on New Year’s Eve – that they found a name for their merry band of miscreants when friend Paul Krassner spontaneously shouted out “Yippie!” and they instantly identified with the exuberant exclamation (later elaborated to Youth International Party).

On January 16, 1968, the Yippies published a manifesto – inviting activists across America to a massive protest outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that August. Dubbed the “Festival of Life,” it was a mock

For more on Dana Beal and the Yippies, listen to Episode #11 of our podcast at worldofcannabis.museum/podcast.

convention held in Grant Park.

Skirmishes between police and the nearly 10,000 protestors that week soon escalated to riots.

Weeks later, Mayor Daley issued a report blaming the violence on “outside agitators,” and on March 20, 1969, a grand jury indicted eight of those agitators. Among these “Chicago Eight” (later changed to the “Chicago Seven” after Black Panther Bobby Seale’s mistrial) were Rubin and Hoffman.

The trial was a national media circus – providing the Yippie leaders a perfect platform for their political theater. On February 18, 1970, both Rubin and Hoffman were convicted of inciting a riot and sentenced to five years in prison (their conviction was ultimately overturned in November 1972).

Beal, who was unable to attend the event, stepped in as the group’s de facto leader in their absence. And on July 4, 1970, when President Nixon threw an “Honor America Day” rally at the Lincoln Memorial, Beal organized a Yippie counter-rally at the Washington Monument to shout it down.

Story and photos originally published on worldofcannabis.museum and reprinted with permission.

STORY by BOBBY BLACK @CANNTHROPOLOGY for LEAF NATION

KEVIN SCHUMACHER

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOM FORCADE Another influential Yippie leader was Tom Forcade – a former Air Guardsman turned weed smuggler from Phoenix who connected with them after moving to New York in July 1969 to run the Underground Press Syndicate. Forcade’s moment in the spotlight came on May 13, 1970, when – after testifying at the US Senate’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography dressed as a preacher – he shoved a cream pie into the face of a committee member. After that, “pieing” became a signature Yippie tactic (Yippie Aron “Pie Man” Kay continued pieing controversial figures for many years).

Unfortunately, Forcade and Hoffman never saw eye to eye.

Forcade allegedly felt that Hoffman and Rubin were “burned out” after their trial, and that they were selling out by Tom Forcade (left) and Abbie Hoffman Poster for 1973 “May Day” Smoke-In in NYC. abandoning their more radical tactics and endorsing (right) in “Movement Court.” a candidate (George McGovern).

Their rift came to a head over payments regarding accusations and essentially resigning from the Yippies. With Rubin Hoffman’s “Steal This Book,” which Forcade had and Hoffman gone, Forcade’s faction took control. But by that time, worked on. A counterculture “Movement Court” was Forcade had more pressing issues to deal with: namely, the new convened to settle their dispute, but ultimately neither magazine he’d launched called High Times. Tragically though, just party accepted the verdict: Forcade refused to shake four years later on November 19, 1978, Forcade committed suicide Hoffman’s hand, and Hoffman never paid Forcade – leaving Beal as the Yippies’ last leader standing. the agreed amount.

In the decades to come, Beal continued to hold the annual Yippie The schism grew so severe that in Janusmoke-ins in Washington and New York. And when New York ary 1972, Forcade formed his own group, City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attempted to kill the protest using the “Zippies” (Zeitgeist International Party). police intimidation in 1998, Beal reached out to international Caught between the two factions, Beal sided allies and rebranded the NYC Pot Parade into the worldwide In the decades with Forcade and became a Zippie. Feeling Million Marijuana March. Within just a few years, the event had to come, Beal betrayed, Hoffman and Rubin attacked Forexpanded to over 300 cities around the world. continued to cade – publicly accusing him of working with DENOUEMENT the police. Tensions quickly led to threats hold the annual and incidents of violence, including an asAbbie Hoffman finally resurfaced in 1980 – but sadly, like Forcade, he also Yippie smoke--ins committed sault on Rubin by one of Forcade’s goons. suicide in 1989. Jerry Rubin sold out and became a Yuppie before in Washington being killed by a car on the streets of L.A. in 1994. Krassner died of natural TRANSFORMATION, TRAGEDY causes in 2019 at the age of 87. Thankfully, Kay and Beal are all still alive and New York.

AND TRANSCENDENCE and kicking.

In October 1972, Beal launched his underground newsIn the past decade, Beal has been arrested for trafficking marijuana four times—though paper the Yipster Times. A few months later, Beal moved only one charge stuck. In September 2011, while in police custody in Wisconsin, he sufinto the three-story building at 9 Bleeker Street that would fered a heart attack and died for three and a half minutes before being revived. Tragically, become his home – and Yippie headquarters – for the next during his incarceration in 2013, the Yippie Museum was closed, and in 2014, 9 Bleeker four decades (eventually opening its doors to the public as was foreclosed on and sold. Nevertheless, Beal remains defiantly hopeful – looking forward the Yippie Café & Museum). to finally seeing the end of America’s pot prohibition, which he insists is imminent.

In spring 1974, Hoffman skipped bail on a cocaine charge “The War on Drugs is just no longer at the top of the list of things to deal with in this and went into hiding. Months later, Rubin issued an apolocountry,” he said. “It’s impossible to go to jail for pot anymore – they just take the weed gy to Forcade in the Village Voice, disavowing his previous and let you go. That’s how I know legalization is actually coming.”

WORLD OF CANNABIS MUSEUM

When NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani attempted to kill the protest using police intimidation in 1998, Beal reached out to international allies and rebranded the NYC Pot Parade into the worldwide Million Marijuana March. Within just a few years, the event had expanded to over 300 cities around the world.

STRAIN OF THE MONTH

TANG

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

32

A RUSH OF BRIGHT CITRUS FLAVOR THAT SMELLS LIKE FRESHSQUEEZED ORANGE JUICE. MAY 2021

GIE GROWN BY GOOD CANNABIS

L

ike a freshly-picked orange from a sun-kissed grove, inhaling the sweet flavors of Tangie delivers summertime vibes one citrus-forward toke at a time. GOOD Cannabis follows through on their mission to be good people, do good for the community, and always deliver good products. And while we love the name good, this Tangie is better than good … it's fantastic!

Grown in-house and available at both GOOD’s store in Fairbanks and around the state, their Tangie is a staple that belongs in every stash – like orange juice in the fridge.

There is a magical feeling that comes with Cannabis that carries flavors from everyday life into the smoking experience.

Popping open a bottle of this beautiful flower releases a rush of bright citrus flavor that smells like freshsqueezed orange juice, with a delightful earthy-skunk finish that adds complexity and a taste of true dankness.

The buds have a beautiful compact shape with pointed, frosty tips and a heavy coating of trichomes covering every inch. Cured perfectly with a satisfying snap, the bud breaks up easily and is ready for any form of consumption.

We love testing new strains from our trusty Leaf bong, so we loaded up a fat bowl with sticky fingers – our stomachs growling from the delicious flavor emanating from the freshly broken up weed. But this flavor is for smoking – the munchies will certainly come later – so we ripped into the bowl and reveled in the syrupy, warm and light smoke that filled our lungs and minds with sunny rays of stoniness.

The mark of high-end Cannabis is delivering the bag flavor through to the smoking experience, and this is a perfect example of a smoke that tastes as delicious as the buds themselves. It’s hard to stop smoking this sugary citrus treat, with repeated hits filling the mind and body with an energetic, happily glowing vibe that feels entirely like summer in a toke.

17.6% THC .13% CBD .85% Terpenes GOODAlaska.com | @GOODakcannabis

REVIEW by ALASKA LEAF STAFF | PHOTO by O'HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS

THE ACTION ISSUE

36

leafmagazines.com

THROUGHOUT HISTORY, advocates for social and political action have repeatedly returned to the same wellspring of change: The Protest.

The French Revolution. The Suffragette Movement.

The Civil Rights Movement. Tiananmen Square.

The 1999 WTO Protests in Seattle. Arab Spring. The Occupy Movement. Last year, hundreds of thousands of people broke free from couch-locked quarantine to protest the killing of George Floyd by a public servant who should have knelt at Floyd’s feet rather than on his neck. People who’d never held a protest sign in their lives took to the streets. People who’d never given to charity before held fundraisers for equity causes. More voters turned out for the 2020 election than any other election in the history of the United States.

That’s why we chose a protest scene as our cover on Leaf Magazines’ first-ever Action Issue. It’s the classic visual representation of change motivated by

mAY 2021

ADOBE/PATRONESTAFF

HOW THE CANNABIS COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO FIGHT TO FIX THE SYSTEM.

unrest. The Cannabis community is no stranger to the protest, and is no stranger to action. Since the dawn of the plant’s prohibition and criminalization, advocates have taken to the streets to fight for legalization, for expungement – and for understanding.

And while the face of change is often an angry mob that’s reached its breaking point, we want to look past the protest line and spend this issue showcasing those warriors within the Cannabis community who wake up every day fighting to change the system. They do so in offices, in the fields, and in the halls where legislation is crafted.

In the following pages, you’ll find stories filled with hope and positive momentum. We connected with an Oregonian woman of color who fights for legislative change with one hand, while using the other to help equity applicants find funding to realize their dreams.

We got to know a small Cannabis company in Alaska that makes a huge positive impact in its surrounding

community. We spoke with a California farmer who served nearly a decade in a federal prison camp for cultivating Cannabis, only to go on to become one of the most respected sungrown producers in Humboldt’s legal market.

We sat down with the founder of the Emerald Cup, one of the most respected drivers of Cannabis culture on the West Coast. Lastly, because no social action would be possible without a healthy ecosystem to support us all, we connected with an organization that hopes to steer the Cannabis industry toward sustainability and ethical responsibility.

We hope you find inspiration in these stories, as we did while putting them together. Next time you feel that call to action – whether it be to pick up a sign and hit the streets, or pick up the phone and call your local lawmakers – may you succeed in making the positive change you want to see in the world.

STORY by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS/LEAF NATION

the ACTION issue

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION It is with the deepest respect that I share these thoughts, with great regard for the difficulties faced in leading our beloved country. Upon being elected, the global community exhaled in relief when you were elected to lead the United States, but your Administration continues to perpetuate the war on drugs, which has become a war on the American way of life.

It is time to acknowledge that the foundation of the war on drugs is racist, predatory, and not fitting with the American ideals we project around the globe. It is also evident that the laws and law enforcement regulating drugs are more dangerous than the drugs themselves.

Americans deserve their constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, and this includes the right to consume Cannabis.

38

In the last six months we have seen New York and New Mexico legalize Cannabis by legislative action, and the voters of New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana joined a total of 33 states whose voters all approve of an American’s right to use Cannabis.

Your response to overwhelmingly positive polling for legalization has been to fire White House staff members who admitted to using Cannabis. This is direct proof that your policies and beliefs do not reflect the will of the people.

What is mind-boggling is how can you have the vision to pull troops out of Afghanistan to end our country’s longest war, while continuing to wage a domestic campaign of terror featuring no-knock raids and mandatory minimum sentences for simple drug possession? Like the people of AfghanWE ARE CALLING ON YOUR ADMINISTRATION istan who are left worse off than when we began our needless war of aggresTO TAKE ACTION AND sion 20 years ago, today Americans FOLLOW THROUGH are worse off on the battlefield called ON YOUR CAMPAIGN Main Street – where innocent victims PROMISES, AND are killed, arrested and robbed through TO CORRECT THE asset forfeiture by a militarized police SHAMEFUL LEGACY OF THE WAR ON DRUGS force with less oversight than that for our THAT BOTH THE armed forces overseas.

PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT HELPED SHAPE AND ENFORCE.

We are calling on your Administration to take action and follow through on your campaign promises, and to correct the hypocritical legacy of the war on drugs that both the President and Vice President helped shape and enforce. We know your history and we are looking for you both to evolve with Americans, for America.

leafmagazines.com

Madame Vice President, your legacy as a prosecutor includes thousands of lives fractured by the war on drugs. President Biden, as a senator you helped craft the language of the war on drugs that has led to the militarization of police, private and for-profit prisons, and decades of lives ruined by drug policies – vowing in 1989 to hold “every drug user accountable,” adding that there aren’t “enough police officers to catch the violent thugs, not enough prosecutors to convict them, not enough judges to sentence them, and not enough prison cells to put them away for a long time.”

mAY 2021

Mr. President, you recently stated that gun violence in the U.S. is shameful and that we need to limit legal gun ownership – but said nothing about the average of three lives taken daily by police shootings since the murder of George Floyd. I personally find your lack of action on police accountability, the continuation of the war on drugs, and giving police reasons to arrest and kill innocent people in minor possession of drugs, to be shameful – which predominantly affects people of color and impoverished communities.

Please, let’s end police violence, gang violence and cartel violence. This comes by removing criminal penalties for minor drug possession, and redirecting funds from law enforcement and the criminal justice system towards social support, mental and addiction health care – making direct investments into communities affected by the war on drugs.

When a person chooses to use Cannabis or other drugs, they choose their pathway to happiness – and criminalizing their decision is what creates criminals. It justifies the cartels, the violence, and even the corruption that drives both the criminal organizations and the criminal justice system. Let’s repeat an earlier mantra: Americans deserve their constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, and this includes the right to consume Cannabis and other substances in the safety of their own homes.

Sincerely, Wesley Abney Founder | Leaf Magazines

STORY by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX | ART by JOSHUA BOULET @JOSHUABOULET for LEAF NATION

HUCKLEBERRY HILL FARMS | FOUNDER JOHNNY CASALI

the ACTION issue

INCARCERATION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP

40

Johnny Casali was 24 years old in 1992 when federal agents came calling at the door of his multi-generational farmhouse in California’s legendary Humboldt County. It was a fateful day that would lead to nearly a decade of federal incarceration for simply cultivating plants in the style and tradition handed down by his parents. Now, nearly 30 years later, Casali holds a position of respect among the legal cultivators in the Humboldt Cannabis community. His path has not been easy, and his story, while unique in its details, rings with a familiarity that reverberates through an industry still shaking off the shackles of a failed Drug War.

leafmagazines.com

F A M I LY L E G A C Y

“From the age of 10, I was following my mother around, watching her, learning from her how to cultivate Cannabis, and vegetables and fruit trees,” Casali said of his mom, Marlene Bandoni. “I really just fell in love with participating with my mother, and learning her techniques, learning what made her a master grower, per se, in the Emerald Triangle community’s mind.”

For Casali’s family, Cannabis was one of a number of crops and income streams that included fishing, crabbing and mainstream agriculture.

“We were really just living off the land, and supplementing our income with small bits of marijuana,” Casali said.

The budding cultivator’s interest grew along with him, and by the time he was a teenager, his mother struggled with whether it was OK to let her son begin to grow on his own. At age 15, she decided to allow him to grow 10 plants, as long as he agreed to hand over the Cannabis to her and put the money either into a college fund, or a wise investment.

“You couldn’t buy a motorcycle, you couldn’t go on vacation,” he said. His first solo grow yielded about 12 pounds.

mAY 2021

“I ended up being able to make enough money where I put a down payment on 11 acres of property on the Eel River,” he said. His parents co-signed.

“That was my first experience with making money from Cannabis, and really, from that point, it was just on.”

plant count in order to maintain harvest volumes.

Being twenty-something, carefree, wave-riding Cannabis growers, they didn’t realize that the increase in plant count also increased their chance of attracting the wrong kind of attention.

F AT E C O M E S K N O C K I N G

Early one morning in 1992, Casali heard a noise on the farm that didn’t sound quite right.

After a couple of years of college, Casali’s par“I heard somebody driving up the driveway really ents bought a commercial fishing boat, and handed fast, and I just thought it was maybe one of my the farm over to Johnny, who cultivated Cannabis friends who wanted to go surfing, or this or that, but with his best friend, Todd Wick. we had a rule that you just don’t drive fast on the This was in the late 1980s, and with the Reafarm,” he said. “So I came running out the door, gan-era War on Drugs in full force, enforcement but instead of meeting one of my grew far more intense in the friends, this time I met a guy in camTriangle.

“Since I learned ouflage with a 9mm to my head, “You would see convoys along everything from my and there were 30 federal agents.” the roadways, you would see helimom, I thought it was so They gave him the option to leave copters overhead,” he said. “You important to just honor the property, but he chose to stay could no longer grow out in the her, and to share her while they searched the farm, conopen if you wanted to make it.” story with people. So fiscating, among other things, seed They had to start cultivating every strain that I grow packs and 13 pairs of trimming underneath the tree canopy, with here today is bred with scissors. They gave him a yellow such low per-plant yields that they a strain that she used to ticket, and they left. His lawyer, Ron had to significantly increase their SEA CHANGE

grow 45 years ago,” -Johnny Casali

Listen to Leaf Life Podcast Show #52 “Cannabis Prisoners” Visit www.LeafMagazines.com

PA S S I N G O N T H E L E G A C Y

Sinoway, warned that the Feds had a five-year window to return, and were likely to arrest and convict him.

“He said, ‘If you’re planning on cooperating with them, I want you to walk straight back out of my office right now,’” Casali said. That’s the moment he knew he’d found the right lawyer.

THE TRIAL

After a year and a half, the Feds came back for Casali and Wick, kicking off a two-and-a-halfyear trial during which the pair faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to life.

At one point, they saw a glimmer of hope in the potential that they could get a reduced sentence as nonviolent first-time offenders. In the end, the linchpin wasn’t the Cannabis, but the trimming scissors.

“The prosecutor was able to tell this judge that 13 pairs of scissors could only mean that I had 13 workers,” he said, “and these seed packets that I had in my house could only mean that I had a prior grow, since I had those seeds.”

In the end, Casali and Wick were sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 10 years at Lompoc Prison Camp in Santa Barbara County.

SERVING TIME

When describing his sentencing and his internment at Lompoc, Casali fights back tears – his voice shaking under the weight of regret.

“I didn’t feel bad for myself. I felt bad because of the pain that I had brought to my mother and father. All they wanted to do was to give me the best life possible, and they felt very guilty for what had happened because they blamed themselves.”

Casali recalls his walk up to the gates, where he waited with a group of 10 inmates for intake.

“They asked me how much time I had gotten, and I told them ‘120 months,’ and they were just

flabbergasted that they were looking at someone who had more time than anyone else at the camp at that time,” he said.

Casali spent seven years building relationships with the other inmates, as well as the farm managers and guards, working the cattle and cultivating vegetables.

He formed a particularly strong bond with the man who ran the prison camp, Ray Escobedo.

“I used to bring him little plants, habaneros and things, and he would plant them in a little garden,” Escobedo said when contacted via phone for this story. Escobedo remembers Casali as being an exemplary farmhand, and by the end of the first year of his sentence, Casali had already earned a solid reputation at the camp.

“One afternoon, I heard my name come over the speaker from the chaplain’s office, and you never want to hear that, because it’s never anything good,” Casali said.

“My inmate friends, they all looked at me, because that’s what you do, like, ‘Oh, God, what happened?’

I went to the chaplain’s office, and that’s when they told me that my mom had passed away. She was actually scheduled to visit me the next day.”

Escobedo went to the Warden and vouched for Casali to leave the prison with a Marshall to attend his mother’s funeral.

After seven years, Casali and Wick were transferred to a drug program in Las Vegas, then to a halfway house in San Francisco for six months, before being given probation. They were then granted leave to start their own landscaping business, Eel River Landscape.

“We were mowing lawns, and trimming bushes and hedges for little old ladies in town,” he said. “I still look back at those times, and just remember that first day when I got back up to Humboldt, and everything just put a smile on my face. I could sit out in the yard for hours, and the air smelled amazing – that’s what life should be like for all of us, all the time.”

After nearly a decade of federal incarceration for operating his family’s legacy farm in Humboldt, Casali feels overwhelmingly lucky to be able to finally share his craft with the California Cannabis community.

“Since I learned everything from my mom, I thought it was so important to just honor her, and to share her story with people. So every strain that I grow here today is bred with a strain that she used to grow 45 years ago,” he said.

“I do that in her honor. There are some that are named after her, called Sweet Marlene. There’s one that’s called Whitethorn Rose, and they’re all bred with her strain that she bred with my best friend’s mother, called Paradise Punch. I like the idea that nobody else in the world grows these strains, and whether they’re the best or not the best, it’s part of the story of Huckleberry Hill Farms. It’s part of her story, and it’s part of my story.”

Like so many people who’ve seen the damage caused by failed drug policies, the retired prison camp manager Escobedo now sees Cannabis in a different light.

“It shouldn’t be illegal,” Escobedo said. “It’s no different than alcohol. It’s probably better than alcohol, you know. But it was illegal then.”

In recent years, Escobedo and another former prison camp manager came to visit Casali at his farm.

“He gave me a couple of seeds,” Escobedo said, “and I planted them here, and I made some creams out of them, for medicine, you know.”

Despite the freedom Casali now enjoys, he still regards helicopters overhead with a watchful eye, and can’t shake the fear of the potential blowback that could happen to him as retaliation for speaking out. Even though his livelihood Johnny and and his craft are his girlfriend, considered legal under Brittany Rose California law, it is still Moberly. federally illegal.

“All it would take is for them to come here, and find something that they can point to,” he said.

“More often than not, someone like me should be quiet and fall by the wayside, but that doesn’t really help anybody. I owe the community to speak out about where this multibillion-dollar industry was created.”

STORY by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS/LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by BEN NEFF @BNEFF92 for LEAF NATION

the ACTION issue

EQUITY IN CANNABIS NuLeaf Project Co-founder Jeannette Ward Horton on collaborating with edible maker Wana

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42

The failed War on Drugs destroys countless lives, with racist and classist policies that tear communities of color apart at the seams. Jeannette Ward Horton, co-founder of Oregon’s NuLeaf Project,

will absolutely not rest until our broken, oppressive, unbalanced system serves all of the communities it touches. As a burgeoning new sector, the Cannabis industry is the perfect place to focus on the monumental work of halting the destructive, regressive and oppressive policies that still impact communities of color around the country, and repairing the damage done. It’s a multifaceted mission, comprising political action, mentorship, and a rebalancing of the fiscal playing field. mAY 2021

POLITICAL POWERHOUSE

Horton’s organization was a primary driver for the Oregon Cannabis Equity Act, HB3112, which seeks to establish a Cannabis Equity Board within the Governor’s office to provide equity oversight of the state’s Cannabis industry.

Among her many contributions, Horton sought to change the language around equity in order to specifically speak to race in the state’s efforts.

The goal is to provide opportunity and representation for those most impacted by the War on Drugs – specifically to Black, Indigenous, and Latina/o/x communities.

Notably, as part of her efforts, Horton was able to include the divestment of Cannabis taxes from funding the police.

“I wouldn’t let that shit go,” Horton said. “And it worked.”

Horton and NuLeaf also provide mentorship, grants and avenues for funding for equity entrepreneurs looking to grow and thrive in the Cannabis industry.

In order to get funding for these efforts, NuLeaf partners with companies in the space who recognize the need for change.

SPREADING LIKE ROOTS

In addition to the work with Wana in Oregon, NuLeaf is branching out to take on other missions with collaborators around the nation, including a partnership with Ben’s Best Buds in Colorado, the upcoming Cannabis brand from Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. Their collaboration will be laser-focused on the funding piece of the equity puzzle.

The overall goal, Horton says, is to build a future with a healthy economic ecosystem rich in diversity and opportunity for systematically oppressed and underrepresented communities.

“Our mission is to build generational wealth for our communities,” she said. “This is not about just building Cannabis businesses. This is about repairing harm, and building it into these wealth opportunities for the Black community.”

The goal is to provide opportunity and representation for those most impacted by the War on Drugs – specifically to Black, Indigenous, and Latina/o/x communities.

A SHARED MISSION

As with so many people in the Cannabis industry and beyond, the social revolution of 2020 – sparked by the killing of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless people of color by public employees being paid to serve and protect them – inspired Wana to spring into action.

“That lit a fire underneath us,” Wana CEO Joe Hodas said. “What do we do here? This is a crisis.”

A significant operator in the national edibles scene, the Wana team heard about Horton and NuLeaf’s work on HB3112.

That dedication to positive political action, and NuLeaf’s efforts to connect equity entrepreneurs with the funding they need to achieve their goals, was what brought Wana to the table with Horton and her organization.

“To give someone a license, that’s great, they have a license,” Hodas said. But without funding, the license is simply a document. That’s where Wana came in, providing a financial contribution to NuLeaf in order to assist in their efforts.

Wana also hired its first-ever Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Karla Rodriguez, to work on the collaboration with Horton and other company projects in the CSR realm.

The goal is to create robust collaborations that connect their company with the greater cause of equity and inclusion at a deeper level.

“Companies tend to operate in a vacuum,” Karla said. “You can throw money at it, you can throw donations at a cause. But working with NuLeaf … we can learn what needs to be addressed in each market.”

>> N U L E A F P R O J E C T. O R G @NULEAFPROJECT >> W A N A B R A N D S . C O M @WANABRANDS

“To give someone a license, that’s great, they have a license,” Wana CEO Joe Hodas said.

But without funding, the license is simply a document. That’s where Wana came in, providing a financial contribution to NuLeaf in order to assist in their efforts.

STORY by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS/LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by FLETCHER WOLD @FWOLD_PHOTOGRAPHY & COURTESY WANA

the ACTION issue leafmagazines.com

44

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

INSIDE THE EMERALD CUP

Once referred to as the “Academy Awards of Cannabis” by Rolling Stone, the Emerald Cup has evolved from a small, underground competition for sungrown weed into the most respected Cannabis event in the country – beloved for both the humanity with which it runs its festival and the integrity it employs in running its competition.

Founder Tim Blake on-stage with Tommy Chong

mAY 2021

The story of the Emerald Cup begins 17 years ago, when an outlaw grower named Tim Blake decided to host a private community gathering of connoisseurs and cultivators in Northern California’s storied Emerald Triangle to celebrate their harvests and determine which of them had grown the best bud. Blake swears his inspiration for the Cup came not from other Cannabis competitions that had preceded it, but rather from an older, more wholesome source.

“As a kid, I loved going to the county fairs every fall,” he explains. “All the sights, the sounds, the smells, the friendly competition with the vegetables and fruits and animals … and I just thought, we should be doing that with Cannabis. Of course, it was still highly illegal, but we just decided to go for it.”

In December 2004, Blake leased a small event space just outside of Laytonville (christened Area 101 due to its proximity to the highway) and hosted an underground event for around 200 people disguised as a birthday party. Convincing a few fellow local outlaw growers to participate, he ended up with a couple dozen entries of some of the finest outdoor flower around. Prizes were awarded for first, second and third place, but two of the three winners didn’t even show up to claim their prizes for fear of getting identified and busted.

Over the next few years, Blake upped his game: incorporating a hash competition, creating event posters, and throwing all-night psychedelic parties complete with light shows and “survivors’ breakfasts” the next mornings. The Cup remained an annual tradition at Area 101 until 2010, when its continued growth forced Blake to seek out a larger venue. In 2011, it was held at Garberville’s Mateel Community Center … but the following year, they were unable to secure any dates or locations in Mendocino or Humboldt counties and had no choice but to move the event down to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

“That first year in Santa Rosa, most of the outlaw farmers wouldn’t come down – they thought it was sacrilegious to leave the Emerald Triangle,” Blake recalls. “But it turned out to be such a financial success for the vendors, that the second year there we actually had a waiting list and couldn’t even get everybody in.”

EMERALD EXPLOSION

In its new home at the fairgrounds, the event exploded. Within a few years, they went from 30-40 vendors to a couple hundred, and their attendance quadrupled from 7,500 to nearly 30,000. Now a full-blown festival, Emerald Cup offers dozens of panels and seminars, multiple speaking and performance stages, and top-notch musical acts like Rebelution, Damian Marley and Big Gigantic.

But that exponential expansion brought with it huge logistical challenges that Tim and his team couldn’t tackle alone.

“It’s a big job to essentially build a small city for the weekend,” Blake observes. “I realized, I’ve gotta find some professional help!”

Luckily, he soon found an eager and experienced new partner.

“When Red Light Management came knocking on my door, it was hard to turn them down,” Blake confesses. “With all the experience they had managing Dave Matthews Band and Phish, and running shows like Outside Lands, Bonnaroo and SXSW … it was an amazing opportunity.

They brought in a world-class production team and took things to a level nobody had ever seen before – like a Cannabis Lollapalooza.”

FOR THE COMMUNITY

Though the event was scaling up significantly, Blake made a sincere effort to avoid what he perceived as the shortcomings of some of the other large Cannabis events: focusing more on hype and profit than on providing the best possible experience.

“What I’m proudest about is, when you come to the Emerald Cup, you feel a real sense of community vibe there; farmers and product makers and all of the industry people coming together to have a yearly gathering and celebration,” he says. “When you’re doing it because you want to do something great for your community and not just for the money, that really comes across.”

Blake and his partners went the extra mile to create as comfortable and welcoming an environment as possible: buying 100 couches from the Salvation Army and hundreds of umbrellas to hand out during heavy rain days, going out of their way to find organic food vendors, hiring a handicapped support specialist to ensure that every part of the show was accessible, and spending nearly a quarter-million dollars on cushioned flooring for booths.

“At first I was like, ‘We’re spending how much money on flooring?’” says Blake.

Traditionally, judging had always taken place in person at Area 101 from November to early December.

But as of last year, the competition dates were pushed back to March to allow entrants more time to harvest, cure, process and package their submissions.

And the judges, who are given around a month to choose their winners, now conferred via weekly Zoom meetings.

Thanks to the pandemic, this year’s event also went fully digital – airing on Social Club TV from April 5-11.

The virtual event featured Tim with seminars and panels on a daughter, variety of topics including Taylor, who regenerative farming, psycheruns the delic healing, social equity “When you come to the Cannabis and marijuana marketing – all Emerald Cup, you feel a hosted by industry experts, competition. real sense of community activists and celebrities. The vibe there; farmers and “But then all the vendors were festivities were capped with product makers and all saying how amazing it was to stand a live stream awards show at there all day and not have their 4:20 on April 11 and excluof the industry people backs killing them, and we had like sive appearances by Ziggy coming together to have 200 handicapped people come Marley and Michael Franti. a yearly gathering and through saying they’d never seen Undoubtedly though, celebration.” - Tim Blake that type of decency shown to them Blake’s most memorable at an event, and I realized it was all celebrity moment occurred in worth it.”

2018, when his hero Willie Nelson came out to And their magnanimity doesn’t end there. accept a lifetime achievement award.

According to Blake, they’ve gone out of their way “He agreed to do it under one condition: each year to raise money and awareness for local He wanted us to change its name to the Willie schools and parks, as well as Nelson Award. I was like, oh my God – what environmental groups like the a prestigious honor he’s bestowing upon us!”

Trees Foundation and Friends of Blake gushes. “That was one of my proudest the Eel River. They’ve also promoments, standing on stage with Willie, realizing vided free booth space to many that he was now part of the Cup forever.” non-profits and donated unused contest entries to groups like FUTURE CHANGES Weed for Warriors and Sweet Starting next year, Blake plans to permanently Leaf to distribute to veterans and move the main event to April in L.A. – avoiding terminally ill patients in need. the harsh weather often encountered at past events and allowing for a wider swath of the THE COMPETITION Cannabis community to attend. However, they Their Cannabis competition still plan to host a smaller “Harvest Ball” back in (which is run by Tim’s daughter Taylor) has also Santa Rosa in the fall – one more reminiscent of been lauded for maintaining its integrity despite their original gatherings. its exponential expansion. From its single original “The Emerald Cup was a really innocent, woncategory of sungrown flowers in 2004, it’s now derful idea that turned into this huge business up to nearly 40 categories this year – including all that I never really counted or planned on. It’s types of topicals, edibles and concentrates. amazing to think back on how far we’ve come At its height, the competition boasted an insince that day,” Blake recalls fondly. credible 1,200 total entries, but that number has “But people love the idea of a fall gathering of been cut in half in recent years due to restrictions the tribe, where the community comes together imposed by the legal market. There are between at the end of the year to reminisce, celebrate six and 16 judges per category, all of whom are the previous year’s winners, and see the latest Cali-based Cannabis experts and celebrities. genetics so they can plan their crops for spring.

“We had a really incredible pool of judges this We can’t give that up.” year,” Blake attests.

No, Tim … we definitely can’t.

“We’re really proud of the quality and diversity of people that have come in.” (Full disclosure: I >> T H E E M E R A L D C U P. C O M was one of those judges).

STORY by BOBBY BLACK @BOBBYBLACK420/LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by MIKE ROSATI @ROSATIPHOTOS

the ACTION issue leafmagazines.com

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REGENERATIVE ORGANIC AGRICULTURE Prior to 1996, nowhere in the United States had legalized Cannabis. And while progress has been slow over the past 25 years, the country has witnessed steady improvements allowing for the medical use of Cannabis in 36 states.

With New Mexico’s most recent legislative success, 17 are now considered legal Cannabis states. But with great power comes great responsibility.

A 2017 study by Ithaca College found large-scale commercial production of Cannabis destructive to the local environment. Northern states rely heavily on the use of artificial indoor operations, which are ideal for maneuvering the difficulties of cold climates. The indoor cultivation of Cannabis requires an enormous amount of electricity, relying on high-intensity bulbs, ventilation, dehumidifiers and air-conditioners to power production. Without land-use policies to limit its environmental footprint, the impacts of Cannabis farming could get worse, the study showed.

Until then, the onus of nurturing Mother Earth’s finite resources rests in the hands of the growers.

Many will chase the dollar, consequences be damned.

Others have their eyes on leaving the world a better place than they found it.

mAY 2021

Aaron Howard, Mason Walker and Nathan Howard.

East Fork Cultivars

Naomi Lamb Top Hat Concentrates

CREATING SUSTAINABLE CANNABIS BUSINESSES

BLAZING THE TRAIL

“We are in a climate crisis,” said Oregon resident and activist Les Szabo. “We can’t talk about expansion without thinking about the environmental disruptions this industry could create.”

Szabo is a board member for Sun+Earth Certified, a nonprofit regenerative organic certification program for the Cannabis industry.

Regenerative organic certification is considered the new high-bar in growing standards, covering soil health, animal welfare and worker fairness in a single certification. The company’s goal is to have its Cannabis and hemp farmers making high-quality, organic products while leaving a positive impact on the local environment.

“It goes a little deeper into ethical land stewardship,” said Executive Director Andrew Black.

“Our approach focuses on no-till, mulching, composting and cover-cropping as essential parts of the farm.”

Sun+Earth Certified opened its doors on Earth Day 2019 with a pilot program that featured 14 partnering farms. In two years of operations, the company has expanded to 45 partners, covering California, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

“We’ve been really happy with the progress,” said Szabo. “This type of certification makes sense to both the producer and consumer.”

ONE STEP FURTHER

While they don’t share a partnership, Top Hat Concentrates (THC) Alaska embraces the same farming values as Sun+Earth Certified.

“It all starts with clean Cannabis,” said THC Alaska President and CEO John Nemeth. “We believe Cannabis is medicine that helps people in a myriad of ways, and adding chemicals seems counterproductive.”

Based in Juneau, the state capital of America’s northernmost state is run largely on renewable energy by way of hydropower. This has allowed for THC Alaska to minimize its ecological footprint.

“Essentially what we’re trying to do is give back more than we take from the environment,” said Head Cultivator Naomi Lamb.

Lamb, 33, has been in the industry for 15 years, sharpening her skills in her home state of California before joining the team in 2015. In Humboldt County, Lamb witnessed firsthand the

impact of a grow facility placing the value of the dollar above the environment and local community.

“My introduction to Cannabis was not pretty,” she said. “I came into the industry working for folks who valued quantity over quality. They were using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It was really ugly.”

In what she described as a “disheartening” experience, Lamb said, ”As a consumer, I had an expectation of the people who were growing having a more well-rounded concept that they were producing medicine.”

Armed with a team of forward-thinking activists, Nemeth hopes Top Hat Concentrates can lead Alaska into preserving what is considered The Last Frontier.

“The first step is creating business partnerships with people who want to do what we’re doing,” said Nemeth, voicing aspirations that regenerative agriculture could become the model for the country.

“There are a lot of problems on Earth and climate change is a big one. Where the tech industry has failed, I think the Cannabis industry has a chance to step up and really set a trend.”

THE CONSCIOUS CONSUMER

Monique Ramirez SunBright Gardens

Nick Mahmood Green Source Gardens

“We can’t talk about expansion without thinking about the environmental disruptions this industry could create.” - Les Szabo

“If we’re serious about addressing the combined threats to our health, environment and economy, we must take bold action quickly,” said Black. While Sun+Earth Certified farms take responsibility for creating clean Cannabis, the company hopes the cultural mindset circles the supply chain. MedMen Enterprises, or MedMen, has helped their cause, lending some of its 29 retail stores in a variety of states to support organic growers.

“There’s some real momentum behind this movement,” said Szabo. “But to have these major multi-state operators on-board is going to be really important for consumers going forward. They are a good vehicle for translating our values in concrete action.”

And then there’s the consumer.

“Buying mindfully,” is how Lamb describes it.

“It’s the same as when they talk about voting with your dollar,” said Lamb, a third-generation farmer. “You can educate yourself, source where your Cannabis is coming from and be mindful of the production methods behind it.”

Education, the industry experts all agreed, was the key to navigating a 21st-century landscape.

“People don’t understand the scope and the scale of Cannabis’ impact, both positive and negative,” said Szabo. “When we forecast the legal industry, we’re talking 50-60 billion dollars [per year]. This one crop is bigger than all of the organics in the U.S. When you talk about climate change, you can’t talk without thinking about the environmental disruptions this industry could create.

“We just want to let people know there is an alternative way that is safer and cleaner for the consumer.”

affordable advertising available!

email josh@leafmagazines.com LEAFMAGAZINES.COM | @AKLEAFMAG | #ALASKALEAF P H O T O

STORY by BAXSEN PAINE @BAXSENPAINE for LEAF NATION

B Y

@ S O N D E R F E LT L LC

F O R

L E A F

N AT I O N

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CANNABIS PHILANTHROPY leafmagazines.com

H O W A L A S K A’ S T O P H AT C O N C E N T R AT E S IS GIVING BACK TO THEIR COMMUNITY

Puff, puff...Pass out a $10,000 check?

After witnessing a crippling of the local economy at the hands of a worldwide pandemic, Juneau’s John Nemeth and his colleagues at Top Hat Concentrates (THC) Alaska decided to step in and lend a hand to their friends at the South East Alaska Food Bank (SEAFB).

Nemeth, the company’s President and CEO, was joined by Founder Ben Wilcox in personally delivering a five-digit donation to help families in need during these troublesome times.

“They reached out to us last May and said, ‘Hey, we want to help out the communities,’” SEAFB Manager Chris Schapp recalled. “It’s not very often you get a $10,000 donation.”

The financial aid came at the right time.The food bank was able to provide healthy and nutritious food to 42 non-profit agencies across Southeastern Alaska. SEAFB witnessed more than a doubling of applications for assistance – rising from an average of 65 per week to a high of 193 at the peak of the pandemic.

mAY 2021

THC Alaska has delivered Cannabis products, including CO2 extracted concentrates, to the most northern parts of the United States since 2015.

The Cannabis is grown through farming and growing practices that are geared towards helping reverse climate change.

“In a COVID year, it was a little different,” Schapp said. “We got hit really bad. For us in Juneau, so much of our economy is driven by the tourist industry.”

The state was hit hard following a shutdown of international travel through Canadian waters, nullifying an estimated 1.4 million tourists expected to travel to Alaska by way of cruise.

As the region’s hub and the state’s capital, 99% of the ships stop in Juneau. Alaska’s tourism economy accounts for one in 10 jobs in the state, and results in more than $4 billion in total revenue. >> T H C A L A S K A . C O M “I just think that in the early stages of 2020, not knowing what was going to happen, we felt as though it was a good opportunity to give back,” said Nemeth, whose previous philanthropic endeavors include service to Habitat for Humanity and the United Way. The THC Alaska team is composed of like-minded activists and their outreach in 2020 only empowered their natural inclination, leading the group to expand its efforts in 2021.

“There are a lot of problems on Earth – it’s about climate change, social equity and reform,” Nemeth said. “Our initial goal was to set a trend and get other Cannabis organizations involved. 2020 really opened our eyes to new opportunities.”

THC Alaska has set its course for its next philanthropic adventure, working in concert with The Last Prisoner Project – a non-profit organization dedicated to Cannabis criminal justice reform. Leading the fight is political liaison, Lacy Wilcox, who is also the President of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association (AMIA).

“We’re all activists first,” said Wilcox. “Our hearts are for the plant, but also for building the industry and making a difference. It was really important that when we all came in, we understood this was an evolution and would need fine tuning, possibly for decades.”

STORY by BAXSEN PAINE @BAXSENPAINE for LEAF NATION | PHOTO by TOP HAT CONCENTRATES

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cooking with Cannabis

R EC I P E S by LAU RIE WOLF | P HOTOS by B RUC E WOLF

Warm Weather Deliciousness two servings

TOTALLY TEMPTING TEA 2 cups water ½ cup Thai tea leaves ½ can condensed milk (7 ounces)

2 teaspoons canna-butter 1 teaspoon vanilla ice, optional

1. Bring the water to a boil. 2. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes and then pour over the tea leaves. Strain. 3. While still hot, add the milk, canna-butter and vanilla. 4. Whisk together at least 1 minute.

Place in the fridge to cool. 5. Serve cool over ice (optional).

50

four servings

BACON & SHRIMP {BAM!}

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

6 bacon slices, cut in half 12 large raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned 4 teaspoons canna-olive oil 3 tablespoons goat cheese, cold squeeze of lemon pinch of salt

1. Heat oven to 340° F. 2. In a medium saucepan over mediumlow heat, cook the bacon about half way.

Remove from pan and allow to cool.

3. Place the shrimp on your work surface. Brush each shrimp with the canna-olive oil.

4. Place a small piece of goat cheese on the shrimp in the center along with a squeeze of lemon and pinch of salt.

5. Wrap the bacon around the shrimp, covering the cheese. Place on skewers all in the same direction.

6. On a baking sheet with sides, place bacon-wrapped shrimp, seam side down.

7. Bake until the bacon is fully cooked and the shrimp are pink, 5-7 minutes.

two servings

HOPPIN’ HUMMUS SANDO 1. Heat oven to 340° F. 2. Pour the oils onto a baking sheet with sides. Place the vegetables on the baking sheet and sprinkle with the spices.

Toss to coat and bake until the vegetables are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

3. Place the bread on your work surface. Spread the hummus on all four slices of bread.

4. Pile with the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

may 2021

2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons canna-oil or butter 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1 small zucchini, cut in thin strips 1 bell pepper, seeded and cut in thin strips 1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced 4 slices whole grain bread ½ cup hummus, any flavor salt and pepper

As we emerge from THE WORST YEAR EVER, it feels good to be heading into a better place. A much better place – though there is still work to do. Cannabis continues to be my savior, chilling me out and helping me focus on the positive. The Thai Tea is a winner – a wonderfully sweet, refreshing drink with a vibrant flavor and beautiful color. Bacon and shrimp? Yes, please. Goat cheese, too?

Amazing. And the addition of canna-olive oil takes this dish to a place that is beyond perfection. This sandwich is also killer, with the rustic flavors of hummus pairing perfectly with a perennial favorite Cannabis strain, Gorilla Glue #4.

#We a rA Ma sk #Dont FearT heEdi ble #EatYourCannabi s #CallYourParents # Comf orting Ca nna b is # WeWillSurvive

edible of the month

MOOSE MILK

Reviews

STONEY MOOSE KITCHENS out of Ketchikan is known for making some of the best cookies around, which is why it was so exciting when they introduced Moose Milk in August 2019.

Who wouldn’t want to indulge by dipping an

REVIEW by ALASKA LEAF STAFF PHOTO by O'HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS

"The strawberry has taken us by both the heart and the taste buds."

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MAY 2021

infused cookie into an ice-cold glass of infused milk? Thinking about it now, maybe that was the cause of our Covid weight-gain – but hey, we enjoyed every delicious calorie!

To start, you could only get Moose Milk in original or chocolate – but now you can have your pick of four flavors, including strawberry and seasonally produced eggnog.

Although we love all of the flavors, the strawberry has taken us by the heart and taste buds. Made with organic strawberry powder, natural strawberry oil and natural strawberries, Moose Milk’s pink wonder smacks you right in the face with all that strawberry goodness. The thick yet smooth texture is reminiscent of a slightly melted milkshake, which can make it hard to stop at one serving.

If you are still developing your tolerance for edibles, we’d recommend having something sweet to gnosh on after taking a swig because the sweetness of Moose Milk will beckon you to keep drinking.

Taste and texture aside, Moose Milk is also formulated to get you high, fast. Nice and fatty, whole milk is the perfect carrier agent for THC to pass the blood brain barrier, fill your cannabinoid receptors and offer you that soothing relaxation within minutes – not hours. We first noticed the beginnings of a relaxing body high hitting us within 15 minutes.

An hour later, we were deep in couchlock and vibing out to a Rebelution mix on Spotify while debating the meaning of the number 42. The next thing we knew, it was four hours later and we had a little drool on our pillow. So do beware, the intensity of the high can sneak up on you if you overindulge.

Bottom line, there is a lot to love about Moose Milk and no matter the flavor, we’re certain you won’t be disappointed.

®

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OVER

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tannins & terpenes

T H E A RT OF PA I R I NG C A N N A BI S BLUEBERRY PANCAKE THCYRUP 1/2 cup pancake syrup of your choice 2oz Chef Bombshell's Blueberry THCyrup Combine ingredients in a cup.

Mix them well, then pour on pancakes, waffles, or use as dip for breakfast sausages.

MANGO CHERRY SUNRISE 1 fresh mango 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tbsp sugar

GRAPE MOTA-MULE

2 cups ice

1 can ginger beer

2oz Chef Bombshell's Cherry THCyrups

1 tbsp lime juice 1 cup ice

Put the first four ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour 2oz cherry THCyrup in the bottom of a glass. Pour mango mix in, slowly. Add sliced mango, maraschino cherries and mint for garnish.

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2oz Chef Bombshell's Grape THCyrup Add all ingredients into a beverage shaker and shake for one minute. Pour into your glass of choice. Garnish with concord grapes, lime wedge and mint.

CHEF BOMBSHELL’S

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

THCYRUPS FEW THINGS IN THIS WORLD have the versatility of cannabutter. From savory to sweet, it's hard to beat mowing down any dish featuring the creaminess of butter infused with the THC we so love. But as the edible market continues to evolve, we're seeing increasingly delectable ways of getting our Cannabis fix – including Chef Bombshell's THCyrups. Currently available in three flavors – cherry, blueberry and grape – these syrups offer a cornucopia of endless possibilities, which is why we couldn't settle on just one recipe to share.

One thing to know about Alaska's infamous Chef Bombshell is that she doesn't play around when it comes to Cannabis and the culinary arts. Each of the three syrups is as flavorful as they are potent.

We're talking 50mg of THC packed into a small two ounce bottle. But that's not all. The syrups also have between 0.17 – 0.99mg of CBD per bottle.

Their potency, coupled with their irresistible flavors, make them perfect for edible connoisseurs with hearty tolerance levels. So, newbs beware when sampling these babies!

To give you an idea of how you can pair the syrups for maximum enjoyment, we enlisted the help of the Bombshell herself. The results were two signature mocktails – Mango Cherry Sunrise and Grape Mota-Mule – and the best damn waffles we've ever tasted.

The Mango Cherry Sunrise's bright summer colors and fresh flavor make it feel like an event

One thing to know about Alaska's infamous Chef Bombshell

Read our Sept. 2017 cover story on Chef Bombshell in our free online archive: www.issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/ sept2017_alaskaleaf

is that she doesn't play around when it comes to Cannabis and the culinary arts.

....and follow @chefbombshell on Instagram for more recipes!

may 2021

despite its simple ingredient list: fresh mango, lemon juice, sugar, ice, and of course, cherry THCyrup. We recommend putting on The Travel Channel while you let this mocktail carry you away on a tropical vacation. Just make sure you have your afternoon cleared because you will be in a euphoric cloud for at least several hours once the THC kicks in.

For those with a more sophisticated palate, we'd recommend giving the Grape Mota-Mule a try. The sweetness of grape THCyrup blends with ginger beer and lime to tickle both your sweet and sour taste buds. Although the Mota-Mule is served over ice, the heat of the ginger beer lingers in the back of your throat after every sip, giving your whole body a warm tingle.

For Bombshell's final recipe, she amped up plain-old grocery store pancake syrup with an entire bottle of blueberry THCyrup. To further step up your Sunday brunch game, she recommends adding some blueberries to your waffles and pancakes before making them in your very own Cannabis leaf-shaped waffle maker from Waffleye.

REVIEW by ALASKA LEAF STAFF | PHOTO by O'HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS PHOTO BY @BERMANPHOTOS

concentratE OF THE MONTH

PRODUCT BY PAKALOLO SUPPLY CO & MIDNIGHT SUN CONCENTRATES Lilikoi Haze flower with .25g Black Mamba oil inside, painted with .08g Super Silver Haze oil and rolled in .08g Peach Crescendo kief

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leafmagazines.com

LAVA PALMS Much like a volcano bubbling over with the heat of fire inside, these infused palm blunts are bursting with concentrates that deliver an explosion of stoniness – turning the headiest stoner into a puddle of lava on the couch.

IT’S NICE TO TAKE A BREAK FROM DABBING and still have the concentrate effect by smoking an infused joint or blunt, which delivers a completely different buzz than the typical dab. A twist on the delicious palm blunts that Pakalolo has been offering for years, these infused Lava Palms are dosed heavily with Midnight Sun Concentrates for a completely new smoking experience.

The buzz all starts with the construction, which is more of an art than any other form of Cannabis smoking. The palms are filled with a blend of Lilikoi Haze flower and a quarter gram of Black Mamba oil, which causes the internals of the palm to burn slowly and evenly.

MAY 2021

The outside is painted in Super Silver Haze oil, which provides a sticky surface to be rolled in the Peach Crescendo kief. The oil and kief on the outside provide a heavy concentrate layer that will both melt into the palm and deliver smoke at the same time, creating a layered smoking experience that drops huge lava-style hits. Each puff will contain smoke from the flower, oils and kief, delivering a four-strain, multi-faceted high that melts the mind and body as surely as a lava flow hitting the ocean in a smokey, majestic experience.

Popping a palm into the mouth feels boss-like, with an elegant style that can only come from smoking a blunt. Lighting the lava palm is best done slowly to ensure the flower and palm are smoking evenly before hitting the painted outside. The middle half or so of the joint is painted, so the first few tokes are lighter and deliver a tropical, sweet passion fruit flavor that quickly becomes hazy and heavy, as the oil and kief add to the inhale for a sweet, skunky and heavy exhale.

Burning through one of these blunts is a commitment, in both time and how ridiculously high you will be by the end. Our review duo spent a good 20 minutes passing the palm back and forth, slowly smoking while quickly getting triple-baked. The concentrates blend into the flower, delivering a melting mind and body high that turns the head into a 20-pound bowling ball atop a jellied body. Couch-lock and giggles take over, as the crucial question of what to eat when the blunt is done lingers in the background. Perfect for group parties or an ambitious party of one, these infused Lava Palms blend the best of the joint and concentrate experience into tropical perfection.

A fourstrain, multifaceted high that melts the mind and body … turning the headiest stoner into a puddle of lava on the couch.

28.99% THC | pakalolosupplyco.com | akmidnightsun.com

REVIEW by ALASKA LEAF STAFF | PHOTO by O'HARA SHIPE @SHIPESHOTS

glass art

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WAUGHSTREETGLASS Hailing from Georgia, Will Waugh, better known as Waugh Street Glass, discovered his passion for glass art at the age of 17 through the glassblowing documentary “Degenerate Art.” During his early experiences in headshops, buying his first pipes, he became enamored with the color-changing effect of fumed glass.

When he found out that it was the result of essentially “painting the glass” with fuming metal, he was inspired to learn more about the niche of fume work within the world of glass pipes.

This quickly led to a rabbit hole of exploration in the world of fume work, which his artwork is most known for today.

“The cleanliness of scientific glass paired with the niche of fume work, that’s my main focus.”

@waughstreetglass

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

As he learned more about glass, Will became influenced by the clean, crisp work of artists such as Merge Scientific, who started as a scientific glassblower, and Siren Apparatus, who deftly juxtaposes the look of scientific glass with a heady aesthetic.

The delicate precision of Will’s finely detailed, immersive fumed patterns wasn’t a skill that came overnight. Will has spent countless hours in deeply focused practice and experimentation honing his fuming skills, learning along the way from other glass artists.

It’s that level of discipline, determination and curiosity that has allowed him to create such balanced and immersive functional glass.

may 2021

STORY by PETE THOMPSON/LEAF NATION | PHOTO by JEFF DIMARCO @IAMJEFFDIMARCO

WASTING TIME

It's

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leafmagazines.com

by Mike Ricker

an oxymoron actually, because it is impossible to waste time if you are here and experiencing life. The fact that you are actively conscious means that you are utilizing the energy that motors your body to gain experience. Therefore, the time is not wasted at all, but in fact, utilized.

And further, how can you waste something that is free? If you gave nothing to get it, then you are entertaining yourself with something you did not have before you began.

But time is a concept – a construct of our imagination – not a tangible asset in a physical sense. Therefore, it is impossible to waste.

In fact, the word “waste” is only a figure of speech. So, figuratively speaking, to waste time is to do something that does not uphold the value of the expectation that was set to optimize the moments of life you have. And there are many ways to frivolously attend to your life.

Like wondering what someone else is doing with their time...

Let’s take Thom Yorke, for instance. He’s the singer for the band Radiohead. I wonder what he is doing right now? Is he on the phone?

Is he on the toilet? Is he taking a bong hit? All three maybe?

But what does it matter if he is not in my presence, and why am I spending my precious time wondering with time I can never reclaim?

It’s arguably wasteful, but not a waste. Kind of like a box in bubble wrap inside of another box that’s inside of another box with Amazon packing tape striped around it … and what’s inside of the first box is a thumb drive. Like, was it necessary to quadruple pack that bastard? It’s wasteful, but not a waste – because you received the necessary item.

People are stupid.

Shit, that was a wasteful comment.

MAY 2021

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