August 2012 — Issue #26

NORTHWEST LEAF THE PATIENT’S VOICE

August 2012

[FREE]

Issue #26

-mmj101: What every patient needs to know -tasty: ICE CREAM BARS AND COTTON CANDY -health: Being honest with your doctor

Seattle Hempfest

2012 INSIDE: Map, highlights & history

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NORTHWEST LEAF

contents august 2012 Nwleaf@gmail.com LIKE US AT Facebook.com/nwleaf

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Profile PROFILE

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Vivian Mcpeak is the legendary executive director of seattle hempfest. The longtime hemp and marijuana activist is excited for the future of Hempfest, which has grown to become the largest annual event in Seattle!

In an intimate interview, Vivian shares how he came to believe in medical marijuana and what Hempfest means for America.

CANNABIS NEWS 12 NATIONAL The headlines from around the country

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of the month 52 strain Another beautiful bud shot up-close

marijuana 101 24 medical An entry-level course in knowing your meds

medible makers 60 tasty Hash oil cotton candy, ice cream bars

for safe access 36 fighting As legal battles continue, we keep digging

of the month 71 device You won’t want to miss this oil rig

need a map, right?

44 you’ll Don’t get lost roaming around Hempfest

legal 86 staying Stash spots can help you out

no on i-502..................10 oakland protest.......16 broken bongs...........28 cartoon. . . . . . . . . . . . 32 moratorium..............36 hempfest history......48 photo essay.............50 ettalews.............69 concentrates........72 growtech................78 Dr. Rose....................82 COVER & CONTENTS PHOTOs

Daniel Berman/Northwest Leaf

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august 2012 LIKE US AT Facebook.com/nwleaf

to advertise in or display us call Wes abney 206.235.6721 or email nwleaf@gmail.com

editor’s note To our readers, Thanks for picking up the 26th issue of Northwest Leaf!

As another sunny month passes in Seattle and Tacoma, patients everywhere are enjoying high quality medical Cannabis with safe and professional access. Fortunately, most of the access points in these two cities are safe from prosecution and special targeting by law enforcement.

This isn’t the case for many who have founded access points in other cities. This month, we continue to investigate tactics used by law enforcement and the criminal system to target our brothers and sisters in this fight.

the truth about the plant you thought you knew, every issue.

We will be exploring the case in Bellingham, where access point operators Martin Nickerson and Shy Sadis are both facing multiple felony charges. We also have new details on the situation in Maple Valley for Green Society Group, and the lawsuit in Kent. Plus, there’s additional ammunition in the fight against I-502, which includes a faulty fiscal note proving the initiative could never be economically feasible.

founder & editor-in-chief

In our Seattle Hempfest special section, readers can find a handy map, a great one-on-one interview with executive director Vivian McPeak, and a lookback with photos from past Hempfests. There’s also tasty medibles, great recipes, and as always, a gorgeous Strain of the Month. To stay current, take a peek into the news section for all the month’s juiciest pot headlines and funny stories.

Wes Abney photographer & designer

Daniel Berman issue contributors michael allison kirk ericson Georgia Peschel Dr. Scanderson DR. SCOTT D. ROSE Seattle Hempfest staff

For new patients or those considering MMJ, Dr. Rose’s article outlines how to talk to your doctor and what to bring to the authorization clinic. There’s also an updated MMJ 101, so get ready for school with a big legal bong toke!

Above all, thanks for reading, and supporting safe access to MMJ! If you have questions, comments, or even critiques please reach out to us at facebook.com/nwleaf or email direct at nwleaf@gmail.com.

-Wes Abney // Founder & Editor

Department of Corrections

8/august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

- Roach paper artist Cliff Maynard created our 4/20 April cover, but the story omitted his website, www.chronic-art.com.

- The test results for Blueberry Shatter from June’s Concentrate of the Month are solely from Canna-Test, not also NWBA. - Our lookback on issue #12 in the June 2012 issue inaccurately reported that Tacoma’s Initiative 1 did not pass. It did pass.

- Our Tannins & Terpenes special section in July 2012 did not mention all the wines are available at Wine World stores.

OPINION

TRUTH, LIES AND BULLSHIT: DISPELLING CANNABIS MYTHS — A COLUMN By Mike Allison for Northwest Leaf

TESTING THE TRUTH: WHAT THOSE RESULTS REALLY MEAN >> Getting accurate, valid results is no joke, and requires serious training and a level of commitment few possess

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lot of access points are now testing their medicine for THC, CBD and CBN. After all, no one will argue whether patients have the right to know what they are ingesting. So, not to be outdone, our access point purchased a gas chromatograph several months ago. And, since I’m the resident geek, the job of figuring out how it works landed in my lap. At first, I thought it would be simple.

After all, I’m good at geek stuff - why else would I be the resident geek, right? It’s not simple, though. Not by a long-shot. I’ve been at it for the better part of three months now and, after performing hundreds of tests, I’ve learned a few things that might be helpful when considering your medicinal options.

One thing I never understood is how anyone can say 15% or 20% of any bud is pure THC. It’s obvious, when you look at a bud, that far more than 90% of it is vegetable matter. We all know the medicine is almost entirely isolated in the crystals (capitate trichomes, to be precise).

But, by weight, the crystals only make a small fraction of any bud. That’s obvious to the naked eye. It’s completely impossible for anything but a concentrate, where the crystals have been separated from the vegetable matter, to contain so much medicine.

Photo by Daniel Berman

But, those numbers have to come from somewhere, right? Indeed, they do. Gas chromatography is the most widely used method for analyzing cannabis. With this method, you don’t just stick a piece of bud in the machine, like I used to imagine. No, not at all.

The first, most obvious step is to weigh a sample in a container. Then, a predetermined amount of solvent is added. In most cases, the solvent is alcohol. So, what we are doing is dissolving the cannabinoids in alcohol and testing the resulting solution.

It’s the percentage of medicine, in solution, that is measured, not the percentage by weight.

That’s where those numbers actually come from.

In fact, one of the most important steps in obtaining reliable results is calibrating the machine. To accomplish this, the operator needs lab standards - alcohol solutions with precise amounts of the compounds which need to be measured.

Using these standards, operators can tell their machine precisely how much of a given substance is present. The standard we use is 33% THC, 33% CBD and 33% CBN. This is diluted with our solvent to render a solution with 13.32% of each. This standard is then injected into the machine and a test is performed. This

way, the machine knows, for example, what 13.32% THC looks like. Then, when a real world sample is tested, the machine knows how much THC is in the sample, based on the calibration standard.

The most important thing to understand about gas chromatography is that the operator plays a huge role in the validity of test results (or lack thereof ). If the operator isn’t proficient, there is absolutely no chance of obtaining consistent and reliable results.

While the machine does the actual testing, it’s up to the operator to correctly prepare samples, inject samples and interpret the results. The margin for error is slim and, lacking thorough training, errors are certain.

Also, for many, the temptation of boosting results is impossible to overcome. It’s human nature to want a product to be good.

So, when it’s time for a judgment call, many operators tend to err on the side of favorable results, rather than realistic figures.

Considering everything, my advice for patients is to take test results with a healthy dose of skepticism – especially suspiciously high measurements. At best, they are a rough estimate. At worst, they are artificially inflated and purposefully misleading.

august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

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VOTE www.noonI502.org

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Reasons Northwest Leaf Votes No On I-502

I-502 is a “legalization” initiative that actually criminalizes legally authorized patients. It will destroy Washington’s hard-fought medical cannabis community. It’s backed by the group New Approach Washington, which joined forces with the ACLU and a select group of investors who’ve contributed $3.2 million in campaign donations. Here are five important reasons why all caregivers and patients must vote NO on I-502.

YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO DRIVE I-502 sets legal driving limits for patients and recreational users alike – without any designation between the two. Essentially, any patient on a regular medicating schedule would be considered illegal to drive. There is a zero tolerance section for those under 21. Luckily some are working against this terrible idea. As noted on the Patients Against New Approach website, “Initiative 502 creates a new law that makes it illegal to drive with 5 mg/

ml of active THC in your bloodstream even if you are not impaired. That level is NOT supported by science and would subject patients to highlyinvasive blood testing, unnecessary confinement and a criminal conviction that will haunt them for life.” Essentially, if you medicate on a Monday, you wouldn’t be considered “legal” to drive until Tuesday, possibly even Wednesday, regardless of impairment. That is not acceptable for patients.

Gil Mobley, MD, who specializes as a medical review officer (drug screenings) had this to say about the DUI statute: “If 502 passes, there won’t be a doctor in the state who can ethically recommend cannabis knowing that it will take away their patients’ right to drive. It will make innocent patients and recreational users into criminals. We need to correlate a DUI law with roadside impairment tests — not baseless numbers.

State-Run Access Points

New Possession Limits

Washington voters are tired of the state mucking in people’s lives. There would be a 25% special tax levied against all sales. Privately run collectives disappear. Patient to patient collective access disappears. Imagine lower quality medicine, less information; No skilled budtenders to guide. Our present system allows for choice and innovation.

I-502 will limit patients to one ounce of dried cannabis, one pound of medibles and 72 ounces of cannabis-infused liquids. Currently in Seattle, possession for non-medical patients is decriminalized up to 48 grams. Under I-502, possession north of 40 grams becomes a felony. This would make more nonviolent users felons and destroy the medically authorized limits patients have now.

Mass Production

The Federal Gov’t

There’s a lot of cash being thrown at this initiative by industrious backers. There’s a reason: It would take away the rights of individuals to cultivate their own medicine. What kind of legalization doesn’t let you grow? Instead, a limited amount of facilities (and owners) would be allowed to produce the cannabis for the state-run access points. This means lower quality, mass-produced pot and high profits for only a select few. We cannot support a marijuana monopoly.

The Feds have made it clear they will intervene if states enact legalization measures. Do we really need more raids and negative attention for cannabis? Yes, at some point a state will need to stand up and fight the feds, but it shouldn’t be now with a faulty law that hurts and hampers patient’s ability to medicate. To wit, initiatives campaign director Alison Holcomb of the ACLU said she has no idea what will happen if I-502 is voted into law. “This is an evolving area of the law,” Holcomb told The Seattle Times. “We’d be foolhardy to say we think we know what’s going to happen.” If the director of the campaign thinks it’s foolhardy, patients and voters have no reason to support it. I-502 is a risk we cannot take.

Patients of Washington - Don’t Let I-502 Take Our Rights!

It’s not right for medicine, and it’s not right for patients.

Chesapeake burns

National

>> Inferno may be linked to marijuana grow-op

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ueen Anne County drug task force officials are investigating the cause of a fire in June that destroyed about 50 acres of land on Kent Island. A marijuana growing operation gone awry is suspected in the blaze, according to Monte Mitchell, who heads the state Department of Natural Resources Forest Service. More than 200 firefighters were needed to put out the inferno on the island, located in peaceful Chesapeake Bay. Weeks afterward, the fire still burned — contained but alive. Dry weather, the Baltimore Sun reports, is keeping the flames stoked.

the teenage kingpin >> Avoids selling high-grade cannabis during school

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nBA PLAYER SAYS HE’S OVER POT >> After entering treatment, and getting a new contract, Phoenix player looks to turn new leaf

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t 23 years old, Michael Beasley says he is ready to put his enthusiasm for Cannabis behind him. Beasley, a 6-foot-10 forward for the Phoenix Suns basketball team, just signed a three-year $18 million contract, The Seattle Times reported. “I realize 10 minutes of feeling good is not really worth putting my life and my career and my legacy in jeopardy,” he said, “so I’m confident to say that that part of my career, that part of my life, is over and won’t be coming back.” The baller from Kansas State University was charged with marijuana possession and speeding while living and playing in Minnesota for the Timberwolves. During the news conference, Beasley admitted that he had twice violated the NBA drug policy while playing for the Miami Heat. He entered a drug rehabilitation center in 2009, the Times reported. “I’ve really realized my potential,” Beasley said. ”I’ve really realized what I can do. “Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that Cannabis has hampered his career any. Suns General Manager Lance Blanks said he is standing behind Beasley and they’re moving forward. “Regardless of his past and regardless of any thoughts that people may have, we are excited,” Blanks said. “I know I am excited to embrace everything he is about and most importantly wants to be as a Phoenix Sun.” Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE/Getty Images

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STORIES BY NORTHWEST LEAF STAFF

ne imagines that the days of summer jobs consisting of fast food and lawn mowing didn’t sound as tempting for one Ohio student. Authorities say that a 17-year-old high school student in Ohio led a $20,000 a month marijuana distribution ring, employing as many as six underlings alongside a handful of adults in the area. The student, whom the sheriff ’s office has not named, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of possessing, cultivating and trafficking in marijuana.

Police removed 600 of the high-quality hydroponically grown marijuana plants out of homes criss-crossing greater Cincinati, the AP reported. Prosecutors allege the student distributed the marijuana through his underlings, who purchased it from him at prices approaching $5,000 per pound and sold it to countless students at area high schools.

Officials calculated the confiscated Cannabis was valued in excess of $3 million, though we all know those figures are often trumped up for maximum impact. Prosecutors said the ringleaders took significant effort to not sell on school property or conduct any business there, which they thought would tip people off easily.

Neighbors called the student bright but misguided yet still not the type you would expect to break the law. “[He was] someone who’d be in a church youth group or honor program,” said one community member. Mason City School Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline said the district combats drug activity by conducting surprise sweeps, providing programs on drug use and abuse for students, and using a school resource officer.

Quick Hits!

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Number of times in as many days a Minnesota man was arrested for possession of marijuana after being stopped for a traffic violation.

Dollar amount of marijuana an Everett-area man drove off without paying for in a parking lot drug deal that ended in an all-out brawl later that night, leading to the death of one man by

Number of nonprofit medical marijuana collectives operating in Washington’s South Kitsap Peninsula area. The City Council will vote late July to permanently ban the facilities in the city of Port Orchard.

Morgan freeman: let’s legalize it

Number of marijuana plants discovered growing at a Nashville, Tenn., animal control in a tool shed. The building sits just across the street from the sheriff’s office.

>> The actor has been vocal about wanting cannabis legal and taxed like liquor is in stores

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et busy living, or get busy toking. One could almost imagine this line dropping from the lips of Morgan Freeman, the Oscar-winning actor best known for dozens of iconic roles over the years, from “The Shawshank Redemption” to recent turns in the new “Batman” series.

That’s because he can claim a different title: marijuana proponent. Freeman told Newsweek magazine that he doesn’t understand why marijuana is criminalized. Why not just legalize it and tax it like we do liquor, he asked. In the Newsweek interview, Freeman noted that the drug war isn’t working. “Marijuana! Heavens, oh yeah. It’s just the stupidest law possible, given history. You don’t stop people from doing what they want to do, so forget about making it unlawful. You’re just making criminals out of people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity. And we’re spending zillions of dollars trying to fight a war we can’t win! We could make zillions, just legalize it and tax it like we do liquor. It’s stupid.” Freeman once told the British newspaper The Guardian that he had stopped using “hard drugs,” years ago, but that he would “never give up the ganja.” He joins a long list of celebrities who have gone public with their appreciation for Cannabis, including the film director Oliver Stone, who graced the cover of High Times in August. The former television talk show host Montel Williams has been a visible advocate for cannabis, even after he was fined for bringing a pipe through airport security. Meanwhile, the singer Rihanna has been spied smoking blunts in Jamaica, Willie Nelson never goes on tour without a couple of pounds, actor Seth Rogen (of “Pineapple Express” fame) smokes regularly near paparazzi lenses, and the actress Cameron Diaz has been known to favor those funny smelling cigarettes on romps around Los Angeles. For more information, check out the site veryimportantpotheads.com.

You’re just making criminals out of people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity.

SF WON’T BAN IT

>> Outdoor smoking ban doesn’t cover medical marijuana

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ew legislation proposed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors would ban cigarette smoking outside at San Francisco street fairs, festivals and other outdoor events held on city property. But smoking medical marijuana in the same places and events would be explicitly allowed. Supervisor Eric Mar said he introduced the proposal because of the health impacts of secondhand smoke when people light up in public. “It’s carefully crafted also to exclude smaller neighborhood organized events such as block parties. And also, importantly, it does not prohibit the use of medical cannabis,” Mar said.

Event sponsors would be required to post “No Smoking” signs and make “No Smoking” announcements, but Mar said he does not foresee the city being able to actively enforcement this tobacco ban if it becomes law.

Quoted

the city through its police have used strong arm tactics to knock down doors of the collectives without a warrant and without exigent circumstances.

-San Francisco’s federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in its ruling overturning Long Beach, California’s unfair practices towards existing medical marijuana dispensaries in the area. Many collectives have seen their property destroyed and confiscated, never to be seen again.

NATIONAL

destroying evidence >> Confiscating everything in sight in Long Beach, CA

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Oregon relaxes organ rules >> New policy doesn’t require transplant candidates be clean for six months

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regon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland said in July it will relax marijuana use regulations for potential transplant candidates. Under the old policy, the state’s largest organ transplant program required six months of negative drug tests before someone could join the waiting list for liver transplants. Now, candidates must test negative for just a single screening, The Oregonian reported. The policy was changed for people in need of kidney, pancreas or heart transplants as well.

OHSU officials said the new policy is not a testimonial to medical marijuana’s medicinal value, and that all candidates should still refrain from using Cannabis, tobacco, alcohol or illicit substances.

The change of heart stemmed from hospital doctors observing medical marijuana patients — potential transplant candidates — and seeing they were not addicted, according to Dr. Willscott Naugler, a liver specialist and medical director for the liver transplant program at OHSU. “If you had a beer last weekend, no one would say you are an alcoholic,” Naugler told the newspaper.

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“You might be. But it doesn’t mean you are. We have taken the same approach to marijuana. If you had it last weekend, you may not have an abuse problem.” The new policy will also apply to the only other hospital in the state that performs transplants, Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which shares “a team of specialists and surgeons.” The hospital team performs a combined 60 liver transplants, while OHSU performs 20 heart, 100 kidney and eight to 14 pancreas transplants annually.

While no federal guideline or standard protocol exists for requiring transplant candidates to test clean of any drugs, almost all require a substance abuse screening. Marijuana can stay detectable in a person’s system for more than a month depending on frequency, tolerance, ingestion amounts, metabolism and physicality.

In Oregon, 137 people are on the waiting list for a new liver, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the country’s organ transplant system. The agency reports 92,853 patients in the country are on the kidney waiting list.

et’s say you’re a government official in the cash-strapped Southern California city of Long Beach. How will you invest the taxpayers’ money? Fixing roads? Getting more teachers? Nope. Actually, the city has gone full speed ahead to take on medical marijuana collectives. Last month, the owner of one collective reported that a litany of different government groups did all in their power to destroy his. A reported 14 police officers were on hand to knock down doors without warrants, confiscate medicine, ATM’s and computer equipment and then destroy evidence of their destruction. The city spent an estimated five hours of time on the scene, even though they are facing a $14 million budget deficit that is hurting the city’s economic future.

The Long Beach problems have been going on for months as officials refuse to agree to any plan allowing for collectives to operate outside of an exorbitantly priced ($14,000 lottery system.

That lottery was struck down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which deemed the practice illegal. Ruled the court, “the evidence seems to show that the city through its police have used what I refer to as strong-arm tactics to knock down doors of the collectives without a warrant and without exigent circumstances.”

Medical marijuana industry advocates believe the damage to collectives could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. THC Downtown employee Dorian Brooks said the police stepped on his back and neck and used racial epithets against him as they detained him on misdemeanor charges related to operating a dispensary. While Brooks was prone on the floor, officers grabbed everything in sight, including cash and buds, before smashing and confiscating the security camera and recording footage capturing the whole event. Officers, Brooks said, didn’t know the footage was being backed up to an offsite facility. Now it’s on Youtube at www.tinyurl.com/longbeachraids, where it has been viewed more than 100,000 times, as of late July.

AZ SAYS NO TO POT FOR PTSD

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rizona will not allow recommendations for PTSD, migraine headaches, anxiety or depression. Health Services Director Will Humble cited a lack of research on how marijuana helps the conditions, though he said there were “many moving stories,” from people who testified cannabis helped them with pain. “Because marijuana has not been subjected to any high quality, scientifically controlled testing for any of the petitioned conditions, we find no convincing evidence that marijuana provides a benefit,” the agency said. “We acknowledge there is anecdotal evidence that using marijuana has helped patients, but there is no way to exclude the possibility that the improvement is due solely to placebo. Now, the only conditions that qualify patients for medical cannabis recommendations are cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, chronic pain, muscle spasms and Hepatitis C.

BY NORTHWEST LEAF STAFF

Fusion medical cannabis hours: 12-8 weekdays 12-4 saturday closed sunday happy hour daily 2-4 206.402.3957 1602 Dexter Ave N. Seattle, WA fusionmmj.com

visit us at hempfest booth 418 and receive a coupon for free dama oil redeemable at Fusion.

the cost of cannabis

NATIONAL

>> Patients used to be able to add in their medical marijuana expenses when trying to qualified for federal food stamps. No longer is that the case.

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Oakland obama visit attracts protestors >> Pricey campaign fundraiser staged down the road from cannabis university shuttered last April

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resident Obama might have picked the wrong spot for a fundraiser. On July 23 , Obama attended an event at the Fox Theater, which sits on the edge of Oaksterdam, Oakland’s unofficial Cannabis district. In April, federal agents raided multiple properties connected to Richard Lee, who founded the Oaksterdam University and dispensary properties. Lee has been a visible activist for the cause of marijuana legalization. Obama, you’ll surely recall, campaigned heavily on the promise of not using federal resources to go after states enforcing their own medical marijuana laws. That has not been the case, as California has seized up alongside Cannabis giant Colorado. “Obama made a lot of promises and spoke a big game in his campaign to become president. He used language and concepts familiar to the radical community,” said Occupy activist Lauren Smith, 30, of Concord. “But what he did when he got into office was decide to be the great compromiser. ... People feel really betrayed.” Obama might be coordinating with the U.S. attorney in the area, Melinda

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Haag, who has set her eyes on taking down Harborside Health Center. That facility is believed to be the largest cannabis dispensary in the country. The group’s founder, Steve DeAngelo, said the dispensary bused in patients and supporters from around the state to march and protest the president’s visit. Tickets to the fundraiser were priced from $100 to $7,500. Another fundraiser later in the day promised a dinner with the president for just $38,500 per person. That is the legal maximum for a donation.

‘‘

what he did when he got into office was decide to be the great compromiser. ... People feel really betrayed.

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

ew people knew about or qualified for a three-state program in which those eligible for food stamps could deduct the cost of growing or obtaining medical marijuana from their income calculations.

That cost could be hundreds or thousands of dollars. The rule was instituted so the elderly and the poor who qualified for medical marijuana would not be overly burdened by the cost of their medicine. But after The Oregonian newspaper brought the issue to light last month, federal officials put a stop to the deductions in It’s a sad day when we Oregon, Maine New Mexico. have to see this kind of and The costs of retreat based on what obtaining regular appears to be federal p r e s c r i p t i o n are still pressure and federal drugs allowed under the intimidation same deductions system, however.

-KRIS HERMES, aMERICANS FOR sAFE ACCESS “States that currently allow for the deduction of medical marijuana must cease this practice immediately and make any necessary corrections to their state policy manuals and instructions,” wrote Lizbeth Silbermann, director of the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service’s program development division, according to “States that are not in compliance may face penalties for any over-issuance of SNAP benefits.”

Medical marijuana advocates were frustrated by the federal government’s intrusion on state-run programs. “It’s a sad day when we have to see this kind of retreat based on what appears to be federal pressure and federal intimidation,” Kris Hermes, a spokesman for marijuana policy reform group Americans for Safe Access, told The Oregonian. “It makes one wonder when the federal government is going to come around and realize this is indeed a public health issue and address the problem accordingly.

It’s a problem only in the sense that the federal government is creating the problem.”

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• REGISTER with us during HempFest in booth #535 at Cannabis Cove, or by fax, email or on our website • PLACE YOUR ORDER – by phone, fax, email or on our website after registering • DELIVERY* – Free throughout Greater Seattle and the Eastside with minimum order. Extended delivery hours during HempFest (August 16 - 19) 11 AM to 9 PM. • SPECIALS – Check our website for our other August Specials *Sale of all cannabis products is prohibited at HempFest

access

Shining in the Emerald City

Emerald City Collective Gardens sits just across the Hempfest fenceline next to the old Seattle P-I globe.

Patients can expect quality meds and an obvious dedication to individual service.

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BY WES ABNEY PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN Emerald City Collective Gardens (206) 462-1050 3161 Elliott Bay Ave. #102 Seattle 98121 HOURS: m-sAT. 11A-9PM sUNDAY: 12-8PM Weed Maps: tinyurl.com/eccgseattle cHECK THEM OUT FOR THEIR PUNCH CARD

20/august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

othing says Seattle like the waterfront Ferris wheel, fresh oysters with local beers on the pier, and a jar full of quality medicine.

That’s how the friendly budtenders at Emerald City Collective Gardens feel.

From inside the clean and professional waiting room is a view of Myrtle Edwards Park, the home of Hempfest. For many Seattleites, it’s hard to look at the park and not imagine it being the third Saturday of August at 4:20 p.m. ECCG will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday this year, meaning no

patient has to travel far for meds.

“Every year we can’t wait for Hempfest,” said co-founder Mike.

“We have some really cool specials and giveaways lined up for all our patients before the event.”

The building is off Elliot Avenue and has private parking and discrete access. Inside the one-onone budroom, several medicated products await. Ten to 15 strains ranging from $7 to $13 vie for attention, with 4 gram specials at $45 for top shelf and $35 for middle. Each purchase earns a punch from its rewards program, with a special gift for every 10 visits.

The collective is known for their GDP, which unfortunately

wasn’t there during our visit.

Still, many solid choices were available. The Purple Widow looks great, with a less heavy floral scent and solid relaxing effects.

For Sativa lovers, the Cinderella-99 is an obvious choice. It has a sweet and tangy sour smell. The effects are uplifting and euphoric, making this a great daytime medication.

There were also three diesels available, with the NY Diesel being the top-shelf option. The grapefruit diesel has a sweet smell that is almost completely overwhelmed by the petrolish diesel smell.

We also tried the OG Kush, which had nice fluffy nugs that smell like

ABOVE: Tasty in-house pre-rolls of Cinderella are a great value and one’s free to new patients | This might just be the only

vending machine to yield rolling papers for a quarter | PureCure oil is an extremely efficient way for patients to medicate. peanut butter. When smoked, the flower tastes a little sour, but in a good way, and delivers a steady high that lasts for several hours.

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hat we do is treat patients the way we would want to be treated,” explained Mike. “You want to be treated with respect, like you matter. How can you be rude in this business? It’s all about customer service.”

That attitude ties in well with their model of one patient being served at a time. Not only have the ECCG owners interpreted the state law that way, but they prefer the opportunity to work with each patient individually. “Even if we could [serve multiple patients at once], I don’t think we would,” Mike said. “We have patients come in and share their condition and story with us, and we respect their privacy. And it helps us to find the best medicine for them.”

For partners Mike and Solomon, helping patients is the top priority. The two met in the real estate business in California and decided to team up on an access point in Seattle. To gain experience and a foothold in the area, the two ran a delivery service for almost a year before finding the downtown location.

“It took a long time to build confidence.

We went into this not knowing what would happen,” said Solomon, who also mentioned fears of doing business outside of Seattle. “I’ve had a great time, though. This is my life now.”

For the partners, it’s a big step to see stability within their own business and the industry. It’s allowed them to shift their focus from day-today business to longer-term growth.

“I can’t go back to the black market,” Solomon said. “We’ve chosen to step up, pay taxes, have state and city business licenses. We’re going to hold our ground here.”

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guide

MMJ101 OUR ESSENTIAL PRIMER ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA TERMS, LAW & ETIQUETTE

Hello new patient. We’ll be shedding some light into how this whole medical marijuana thing works in Washington. Many patients and access point owners have been confused about how to stay safe and legal, even just talking to one another. We have put together a guide outlining medical marijuana terminology, etiquette, and procedures for using medical marijuana. It is important to note this code of conduct, because patients are still vulnerable to attempted prosecution and legal issues when confronted by law enforcement. So what else should you know?

It’s medicine. Not dope, chronic, dro, ganja or herb You’re medicated. Not high, stoned, baked or toasted Infused foods are medibles. Not just the pot brownies.

You have a medical recommendation. Not a green card.

You visit an access point, collective garden.

Not a store or dispensary

You ask for a medicine’s weight in grams. Not as a dub/zip or O. Patients use medicating devices.

Not pipes, bongs or bubblers.

You may leave access points with medicine. Not a sack, bag or stash.

You can roll your medicine.

Not called a blunt or joint.

Growing plants are called clones. Not shoots, starts or starters,

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Law Enforcement and You A few simple guidelines on how and when to medicate.

Following them will protect your rights and continual access to medicine

1 2 3

use your house, don’t medicate in public don’t smoke in your car or anyone else’s stay within the 15 plant — 24 oz. dry med limit

R

ule number one regarding the use of medical marijuana: if it’s outside private property, it can still be viewed as illegal.

This includes medicating at a friends rented apartment, a hotel room, your car, or a campsite.

Anywhere that isn’t owned by you is technically not legal for medicating. With that in mind, if you do choose to medicate in an area outside your own home, you must be extremely careful and mindful of what’s going on around you. There have been many raids and arrests that started with a neighbor smelling — you guessed it — “marijuana odor.” A towel under the door is helpful.

The next rule regards MMJ and it’s relation to driving. Under state DUI law, medical patients can still be prosecuted for driving while medicated. At no time should you ever smoke and operate a motor vehicle,

or smoke while inside your vehicle or anyone elses.

Seriously. Don’t ever do it.

The third and perhaps most important rule is regarding your recommendation. It outlines the amount of both dry medicine and plants you are allowed to have as a patient. Although some doctors will have different interpretations of personal limits, law enforcement has a basic set. 15 plants per patient, and up to 24 ounces of dry medicine at any one time.

If you go over these limits, law enforcement can and would love to prosecute you under their draconian drug laws. Don’t give them the opportunity to violate your rights; stay within the legal limits by medicating inside your private home or that of another cannabis patient!

Disclaimer: We’re not lawyers and this is not legal advice. Follow all local, state and federal laws. Be respectful to law enforcement if contacted.

Access Point Etiquette Let’s face it: once you are in the front door, it can be tempting to be loud, excited and grab stuff without asking — here’s why you want to avoid that.

w

hen you first arrive at an access point you’ll need to be verified. If you have never been to the specific location before, the access point is responsible for verifying that you are actually a patient. This protects them, and you, and it is in your best interest as a patient to only go to places that properly verify. Keep in mind though that most places only verify your status Monday through Friday in regular business hours.

The process involves presenting a copy of your medical recommendation and state ID to the secretary/door monitor, who will personally call your doctors office and

1

carry your medical marijuana recommendation everywhere

confirm that you are a patient. You will also be asked to fill out a membership packet by the access point, which makes you a part of their organization. Ask any questions you may have. Each access point has different paperwork, so don’t assume anything is standard. Carry your ID and authorization with you everywhere you go Once inside, there may still be a waiting period before getting your medicine. Make an appointment ahead of time or prepare to be patient. Always wait to be invited/ escorted into a back medicine room. Security is tight at most locations, and it is inappropriate to barge into a back room and can set security systems off. Just like any

2

Respect people’s privacy, and wait to be escorted to the back

other business, wait your turn and be respectful to both staff and other patients alike.

Now that you have chosen your medicine and acquired it, it important to be discrete when leaving an access point. Keep your medicine out of sight from the general public, and do not medicate near a location (or in public areas ever). Your medicine is for you only. If you plan to drive away, store your medicine in a secure place, preferably the trunk. This will help protect you if pulled over. Don’t forget to support medical marijuana and get behind initiatives you believe in — it is up to all of us to create the future we want to be patients in. Just not I-502.

3

Don’t medicate near the location, store in trunk on the drive home

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Access

What to do when your bong breaks Try these creative solutions when fate divides your device

By Liza Weeks for Northwest Leaf Photo by Smokewire.net

T

he breaking of a bong is a sound every stoner dreads. It can happen several ways, including a happy dog’s flicking tail knocks it off a coffee table, a drunken fool loses his grip and it shatters on the floor or the owner breaks it while trying to clean out the musty-smelling resin that builds up inside. But regardless of how it happens, hope is not lost.

Broken bongs can be put to creative use.

Jake C, as he is professionally known, is a glass blower who sells his one-of-a-kind pieces through Gathering Glass Designs in Bellingham.

He was one of the founders of the store but no longer owns it.

“Owning a retail business was more business, numbers stuff I didn’t want to do,” Jake C says, lids drooping over his scarlet eyes. “I was just trying to make glass.”

Ninety-five percent of his “sculptures that bubble” are sold over the Internet to collectors as far away as Australia and Germany.

Jake C doesn’t normally fix bongs because he’d rather make a new one, but it wasn’t always so easy. “Back in the day, you know, you’d duct tape it, do whatever you can. I wouldn’t recommend that. I don’t think it’s clean or sanitary. Mildewy, moldy duct tape probably isn’t good to be breathing on.”

He says the viability of repair depends on how the bong broke. If it’s glass-on-glass and the

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female end snaps off, it can usually be welded back on. Or, if you do not want to fix it, it can be used as a flower vase that’s as visually appealing as the flower itself.

“If the thing snaps in half and it’s like jaggededged, chances are with the money you’re going to pay to get it fixed you could get a new one.

But a lot of people have emotional attachments to their pieces, so a lot of people will pay to have their pieces fixed. But it all depends on the break.”

If the bong is not worth fixing, Jake C says it can be used as a jar or put in a fish tank to make your fish the coolest fish on the block. If it is the bottom of the bong that breaks, he says you can detach the top and turn it into a steamroller.

More creative uses would be to use it as a bottle rocket launching stand or an incense burner. If you want to get a little classy, you can use it as a holder for discarded shish kabob skewers at a dinner party or barbeque.

If it isn’t even salvageable enough for that, he suggests crushing it up and putting the shards in a rock tumbler to smooth them out. The result looks like beach glass and can be put in potted plants to add some funk. The shards can also be incorporated into a colorful mosaic.

For the less creative, whether bongs are recyclable is a debated point. According to Seattle Public Utilities, they will recycle broken bongs regardless of whether there is resin in them. However, Rodd Pemble, recycling manager for Sanitary Services in Bellingham, says bongs are not accepted for curbside pickup.

His rule of thumb for recycling glass is if it is purchased from a grocery store holding food or beverages, then it can be recycled. Anything else, including coffee cups and Pyrex, should be thrown away.

Or in the case of bongs, put to some whacky, creative use.

1 2 3

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PROFILE

The only conclusion to draw >> Our nation’s hypocritical treatment of cannabis is fodder for cartoonist Georgia Peschel. Her son is a medical cannabis patient.

By Wes Abney | Cartoons courtesy the artist

T

he healing power of art and spirit has been known for thousands of years, leading to many of the masterpieces we value today. The simple fact is that pain can lead to art, and can even help heal it. The process is a catalyst for thoughtful reflections and frustrations to pass from the artist to paper.

For mother Georgia Peschel, art has been a lifelong passion. She has taught cartooning, painted school murals and worked on several other projects. But it wasn’t until her son, Storm, fought through a disease that Western medicine considered “untreatable,” that her art transformed, she said.

At an early age, her son was diagnosed with multiple synostosis syndrome. This relatively unknown genetic disease affects a tiny percentage of children. The symptoms are distressing. The debilitating disease causes fusing of bones in the face, limbs and middle ear.

From birth, Storm’s bones were fusing together in the most painful of ways, starting in his feet and fingers. His hearing was also affected, as was his eyesight. Doctors told the family that he would likely be in a wheelchair by age 12. His life expectancy was about the same age.

“I remember coming home and being physically ill. It was the worst thing they could have said. My head spinning, my heart breaking. How are we to continue to watch our son suffer like this every day?” she wrote in an email to the Northwest Leaf.

From the beginning, Storm’s pain management was a major issue. He hated taking medicine and the prescriptions the doctors offered were not

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working. The side-effects were numerous, and he often threw up his medicine before it had the chance to take effect. Storm spent day and night in severe and debilitating chronic pain.

“Imagine watching your child walk, and each step looks like he is walking on glass,” Georgia asked. “It hurts that much to put his feet on the ground.

See his fingers fusing together, knowing as time goes on, it will only get worse. Time for something drastic.”

When he turned 14, Georgia tried Cannabis to ease Storm’s pain.

“From the first puff, we saw the results, and that is what mattered most to us! Within minutes he would feel better. No one knew; no one could tell.

My son was not stoned; he was medicated,” she added.

Now, she educates people worldwide with her art, and has found relief in touching others with her Happy Hippie Cannabis art.

“I drew and painted to keep my mind elsewhere. To keep my sanity. It’s my favorite distraction.”

Georgia’s distraction has developed into several hundred comic strips in the Happy Hippie collection, a handful of printed books, and an online following clearly dedicated to her message.

“I have no intentions of stopping my cartooning,” Georgia noted. “I want Cannabis legalized so that I do not have to worry about a future where my son might have difficulty getting what he needs: Medicine to control his pain.”

To help the cause, Georgia will be submitting cartoons to the Northwest Leaf each month. For more information and to see some of her best work, check out georgiatoons.com.

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PROFILE

Internet Sensation

By Wes Abney | Photos by Daniel Berman

thurlow weed travels the country to broadcast his web radio show on all things cannabis

E

veryone on Facebook has a friend who is always doing something fun, traveling or eating an exotic meal while you’re Facebooking at the 9-5 office job, politely referred to as hell.

For many, Thurlow Weed is that personality. He lets you feel connected to his cause while he travels the country for his Internet radio show, No Excuses Radio.

Looking through his Facebook page provides pictures from expos in far off and warmer states, where he poses with mmj celebs and generally has an awesome time while sharing the positive news of Cannabis.

“What I’ve felt and learned the most from traveling is that there is good pot and good people everywhere,” Thurlow said. “Every city has something different, something to offer.”

With an undeniable optimism and a firm grasp of his destiny, Thurlow has taken his radio station mobile with the Weed Not Greed tour. The tour is set to hit 21 cities in 33 days, starting at Seattle Hempfest in August. Other stops include L.A., Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, and it ends in Washington, D.C. He’ll be live broadcasting from every stop, and checking in on the road through social media and live stream. The goal is

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to meet as many people as possible and inspire them to listen and learn through the show.

“Change can’t come without education.

It’s the only way it can come about,” Thurlow explained. “I don’t want to leave just a better world for my children. I want to leave better children for the world.”

He said from the beginning his transparent intentions and easy personality have made whatever project he was on a hit. Thurlow started broadcasting in Denver five years ago, producing an FM show called Green Rights Radio. He also produced a popular Internet show called the medicated chef. It was the world’s first live Cannabis cooking show, and featured insanely potent recipes and a truly unusual style.

“What show have you ever heard of where people could call in to a live medicated chef and get their questions answered?” He smiles, his hands frozen up in the moment.“It was groundbreaking.”

He started his Wake N Bake show in February of this year, and has been running around Washington and Oregon doing live interviews and broadcasts. Locally he’s been at the NW Cannabis Market, the Sacred Plant Market, SonShine Organics Olympia Market, Portland’s Canna Cafe, the Portland Saturday Market, and the largest 420 rally in the world in Denver, which had 80,000 attendees.

While traveling around, Thurlow relies on the

‘‘

What I’ve felt and learned the most from traveling is that there is good pot and good people everywhere.

Get connected with Thurlow: Noexcusesentertainment.com Facebook.com/mr.thurlowweed Twitter #thurlowweed Youtube: the thurlow weed

To support Thurlow’s mission and the Weed Not Greed tour with a donation, visiit www.weednotgreed.com

friendliness and compassion of fellow activists.

It’s a lifestyle that is in many ways enviable: He has the opportunity to live free of normal societal bonds and take activism on as a full-time job. Not surprisingly, he’s got friends around the country.

“When I’m in the Northwest I stay with Betty Retro of Moms for Marijuana in Portland, and at SonShine Organics in Olympia,” he explained. “They’re all such great people.”

As part of his travels, Thurlow sends out updates and occasional calls for help or lodging on social media. On Friday,July 20, his Facebook

post read: “Headed to Anaheim! Who’s going to the Kush Expo? Who’s staying at what hotel? Or who has a place Diana Sunshine Wulf, Littletree Tokes and I can crash? Message or call us ###. THANKS!” Ultimately they found a place, and four days later they were in Arizona with this post: “On our way to do some interviews with activists! #weednotgreed #thewakenbakeshow #moms4marijuana There is one thing he likes to clarify before doing his broadcasts, though.

“I’m not a DJ,” he said, though the show has music breaks. “I’m a talk-show host.”

The difference in style is what makes the show so rare, and allows listeners to feel connected from thousands of miles away.

Whether he’s interviewing someone like Kotton Mouth Kings about music, or vice president nominee judge Jim Gray about politics, or simply sharing his thoughts and countless experiences ... it’s all real.

In a world of media misinformation, it’s something worth listening to.

august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

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NORTHWEST

BY WES ABNEY | PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN

WHEN PATIENTS LOSE SAFE ACCESS To the City of Kent, patients like Dave are “a moral nuisance.” The city doesn't take their medicine seriously, and fails to appreciate the improvement in quality of life that cannabis brings so many. As Dave battles the final stages of cancer, it is entirely possible he may not see the moratorium instituted last month on collectives in his hometown of many years ever lifted. Not that the mayor could muster a tear. Activists from Kent to Bellingham are fighting unique wars of their own to make sure patients get back what they deserve and so desperately need.

Kent’s misguided effort to ban medical Cannabis access points has reached a new low.

In the response to a lawsuit challenging the legality of the city’s ban on access points within the city, Kent has declared patients rights a “moral nuisance.” Many of these nuisances are like Dave, with less than a year left to live and little in the way of resources for accessing medicine.

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The mayor and the police department have used their positions of power to target medical marijuana patients. The evidence for this is overwhelming, as it has been in so many other cities. Even when a brave council member like Jamie Perry stood up against the city, the pleas fell on deaf ears.

“I am a mom of two young children. I don’t believe that allowing collectives is dangerous to children.

I take offense to that!” she said before voting to strike down the ban last month. “We need to focus on stopping prescription drugs.

People are dying from morphine and Oxycontin. We need to take a more holistic approach to medicine.”

In the weeks following the early June decision, the two access points in Kent have faced many tough decisions. Staying open in the face of the ban risks legal consequences while denying thousands of patients safe access to medicine compromises their desire to provide medicine. Evergreen Holistic Center didn’t close, having previously been raided by the city.

ARTICLE CONTINUED PAGE 38

NORTHWEST

WHEN PATIENTS LOSE SAFE ACCESS | continued from p. 36 Northern Cross Collective owner Martin Nickerson, with his patient, Tim.

Herbal Choice Caregivers made the decision to close, respecting the law. Until mid-July, that is.

Herbal Choice Caregivers made the decision to close, respecting the law. Until mid-July, that is.

“My wife and I were shaken at first,” said owner Deryck Tsang. “Now, we’ve decided to fight this.”

His collective is situated more than four miles from the nearest school and is tucked away in the corner of an industrial area. It is clean, professional and hasn’t had any previous issues.

Herbal Choice opened its doors September 2010, and has had multiple city business license renewals. For Deryck, the change is mind boggling.

“Now the city is targeting my landlord, asserting that I am conducting illegal activities,” he said. “That’s just the opinion of the city of Kent. In my opinion, we are doing everything correct in state law. I guess we’ll decide in court.”

For now, his doors are open, and patients like Dave are making their way back in for medicine. He says his pain is best managed with Cannabis, and it is making his last days easier.

“I’m not asking much. I said it at the last town meeting,” he said, pausing to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. “Just leave us [mmj patients] alone.”

Bellingham: The flip-flopping city It was a relatively normal day in Bellingham when Martin Nickerson, owner of Northern Cross, and Shy Sadis, owner of The Joint, Bellingham, sat down for lunch. They were meeting to put business first, and acknowledge that they were the two main access points in a small town. Together, they wanted to present a mature and legal model for the city of Bellingham while standing their ground for safe access.

Lunch ran late, and Shy had his son’s baseball game in Seattle to rush back to. Parting ways, Shy headed south, and Martin went back to his collective.

Unbeknown to either man, a large task force

While these raids were occurring in Whatcom County, police in Skagit County also raided Martin’s home and his father’s. Officers destroyed several legal gardens, burning recommendations and taking legally licensed hunting guns.

38/august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

‘‘

composed of Bellingham police and special drug enforcement officers were preparing to raid both collectives, and a third in Bellingham known as KGB. The raid hit like a freight train.

Martin and budtender Poppy Sidhu were both arrested as Northern Cross was ripped apart by officers, who took all the medicine, monetary funds, computers and cameras. Miles away a security function went off on Shy’s phone, bringing a live feed of the raid at his own collective for several minutes before the camera system was taken down.

“I felt completely powerless,” said Shy. “It was a weird feeling, trying to watch my stores and call my attorneys at the same time. It wasn’t a happy day.”

I would take a plea if it was no felony and just allowed us to walk away.

But I don’t see that happening.

Besides, I didn’t spend $50,000 on attorneys fighting this to take a plea deal.

W

hile these raids were occurring in Whatcom County, police in Skagit County also raided Martin’s home and his father’s. Officers destroyed several legal gardens, burning recommendations and taking legally licensed hunting guns.

“What makes me the most upset out of everything is how they have treated my father,” Martin said, explaining how his father has been caught in the crossfire. “They targeted an innocent man who wasn’t even connected, and he has a heart condition! He’s already had one heart attack...”

During the raid of his father’s house, police seized a 30-year collection of legally purchased guns that is largely irreplaceable. Months later, none of the property has been returned.

Because Shy was in Seattle at the time, he escaped the initial raid, though warrants were immediately put out in his name. A budtender was also arrested at The Joint Bellingham, similar to Poppy, and she has been charged as well. For both female budtenders, their situation was identical.

They were employees and patients among several others working at both locations. It is unclear at this point why they are being charged, though in pleas offered by the city for Martin and Shy, prosecutors offered to drop the charges against the employees.

At this point, neither Shy are Martin are interested in a plea deal, though both are facing felony charges.

“I would take a plea if it was no felony and just allowed us to walk away. But I don’t see that happening,” Shy said. “Besides, I didn’t spend $50,000 on attorneys fighting this to take a plea deal.”

Since the raids, The Joint Bellingham has shut its doors and Shy is focusing on running his Seattle location, and fighting his charges. Though he was able to leave his lease amicably, his entire investment

-Shy Sadis,

The Joint Bellingham owner

into the professional location is gone. For Martin, he doesn’t have a second shop. As a local resident, he’s made the decision to stay open and to fight the best way he knows how: by providing medicine.

“We have thousands of patients here, like Tim,” who Martin is seen posing with outside the Bellingham courthouse. “We’re still waiting on our newest city business license. I want to win on this, to show that we are in the right. But I don’t expect to win because of all the bias. So I’ll appeal.”

Maple Valley fight continues Since imposing its own moratorium in Maple Valley, the city has moved further by issuing a citation against Green Society Group for violating the moratorium. This is the latest attack by a city that has pulled out all stops against medical Cannabis.

“The city couldn’t prove that we were dispensing medicine here,” said coowner Jon Hoffer. “So they based the citation from public testimony at council meetings that implied we had helped patients access medicine.”

Currently, the Maple Valley location of GSG is only verifying patients onsite before redirecting them to another location about three minutes outside the city limits, where they can get medicine. The city has iterated that by moving to unincorporated King County, GSG will avoid any further problems.

This is still a problem for Jon, who has invested countless hours and a significant amount of financial contributions to make the city location possible.

“In the end, we are not going anywhere,” Jon said. “That’s been ours since day one.

We are about to go into serious litigation.

august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

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S E AT T L E H E M P FE S T 2 012 what’s hempfest really about? talking with exec. director

Vivian McPeak

BY WES ABNEY | PHOTO BY DANIEL BERMAN

Leaf: What is Hempfest?

Vivian:

To me Hempfest is about Cannabis and hemp use by adults and for commercial purposes, but really underneath it all Hempfest is about freedom, liberty and justice. It just so happens that the focus is on pot because of prohibition.

Leaf: You’re obviously passionate about pot. When did you first smoke?

Vivian: I was 13 years old at a Steppenwolf concert at the Inglewood Forum in L.A. But I didn’t really get high until years later, when this girl would invite me to smoke after school. That’s when it hit me. It was a life-changing event.

Leaf: So that inspired you to help start Hempfest?

Vivian: The idea came out of a NORML meeting at Gasworks park, a peace vigil. My personal involvement stems from seeing so many friends and family members, and ordinary decent people who find themselves in the criminal justice system over pot. I saw prohibition as a way for the government to target and wage war on the pot culture, my culture, and Hempfest was and is a positive way to fight back.

Leaf: How do you feel about MMJ? Vivian: For a long time I supported it because it was a platform

for the festival and legalization. Right about the time the state was voting to allow MMJ my Dad came home with cancer. He’d lost so much weight I wouldn’t have known it was him if I saw him on the street. I started feeding him pot brownies and they kept him alive for a month and a half longer than doctors said he had. When you’re never going to see someone again for the rest of eternity a month and a half is a long time. And I realized I was committing a felony to do that. That wasn’t right.

After I-692 passed for MMJ in the state, that’s when we knew that democracy was alive and that even prohibition would be subject to the will of the voters. Now, it’s exciting because it’s the biggest emerging market in the state and country.

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Leaf: How do you feel about the politics of pot in

Leaf: Speaking of the right way, what does it

Vivian: I understand what Harborside and California/Colorado

Vivian: We plan year round for the event, and now we have an office space to work out of. It was grassroots to our assroots working out of homes for 20 years, now we have a sweet place to plan. Still, it’s tough. We get into the park a week before the event to start marking vendor spaces, erect the stages and canopies, bringing in the entire infastructure.

Then, vendors start coming in. There’s roughly 400 this year, and six stages featuring 120 acts. It’s a soulcrushing amount of details, all done by volunteers. We build a small city... actually it’s rather large when you consider the amount of people who visit. Then we have three days to clean up and scour the park for every cigarette butt and piece of trash.

D.C. Now? And I-502?

are protesting and why, but I think that the people who are bashing Obama need to realize that the President doesn’t order every raid. Don’t think the DEA is in love with Obama. And if we elect Romney he’ll give them [DEA] a blank check. He doesn’t even recognize MMJ. He’ll roll back policies to the Bush era.

With Obama, we have to support him and wait until his second term. Don’t forget all the problems he’s inherited. His second term will be part of a long term strategic process, when he can start working on his legacy. As for I-502, I don’t feel any DUID law should be passed that doesn’t have a basis in science.

Overall though, I’m neutral on the initiative.

Leaf: Is

there a favorite memory over the years?

Vivian: Wow. Thats... wow. Hard to choose, but my favorite is a

particular 4:20 AM Monday morning hanging with some friends that are no longer with us anymore and looking out over the water. The runner-up would be when I introduced [Ex-Seattle Police Chief] Norm Stamper to speak on stage. It was unreal, and seemed like a sign things were changing.

Leaf: Is there a worst memory?

Vivian: In 2004 we had record heat for 30 days that lasted

literally until Saturday morning. Then it rained for 24 hours straight. Only 30% of the bands even went on that year, and it was really discouraging. But, the sun came out Sunday afternoon and the dedicated Seattleites came out by the thousands. There’s a lot of challenges with running an event, but the weather is the only one you can’t control.

Leaf: How has Hempfest changed over 21 years?

Vivian: It has grown and evolved and in a lot of ways forced it

to mature. We feel a lot more responsibility to get it right now.

Hempfest is the biggest annual event in the city now. The event itself has a lot of power, and it has to be done in the right way.

take to make the event run?

Leaf: What about volunteers?

Vivian: Yes! Theres a misconception that we have got so big

that we have everything we need, but that’s not the truth.

We only get about 10 cents per attendee in donations, and we depend on clear eyed and motivated people to volunteer.

We invite everyone to come forward and get involved.

People can go to hempfest.org to volunteer or even donate.

Leaf: Any final thoughts for our readers?

Vivian: Our theme this year is building bridges. We look

out over our regional reform community and it is mirrored by our nation, and we really think Hempfest has been a major bridge builder. Let’s come together and share our conversation. Even when we disagree we are stronger together than we are apart.

Also, we strongly remind people to not sell drugs or medibles at the event this year. It’s an enhanced felony.

Besides, the majority of our medical emergencies each year are related to people overmedicating. Safety first.

We’ve created an event where you can enjoy a pot friendly environment, listen to music and speakers, all while relaxing. Don’t ruin it for everybody selling drugs.

If we had told anyone during the spring of 1991 that we were going to place a marijuana rally in one of Seattle’s most beautiful waterfront parks,

fill it with a few hundred thousand pot enthusiasts, staff it with volunteers, and that bands and speakers would come from all over the nation to participate while the police looked on, well, they’d have thought we were crazy.

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SPECIAL SECTION S E AT T L E H E M P FE S T 2 012

1999 crowd - photo credit: A.P. Lilly

HEMPFEST MOMENTS

Woody Harrelson, Main Stage, 2003 - Photo by A.P. Lilly

Jack Herer, Main Stage, 2009 - Photo Credit: A.P. Lilly

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Main Stage circa 2000, Photo Credit: Hempfest Archives

1991: Seattle hempfest is born

T

he keynote speaker at the 1991 Hempfest was Jack Herer, author of the now classic “The Emperor Wears No Clothes.” It is an essential read for any activist, and was truly groundbreaking for it’s time, deserving the title of the Cannabis Bible. Vivian McPeak reminisces about his speech, and the fun of clean-up for the first time in this excerpt from his book, Protestival.

“Herer gave a speech that was explosive. “Hemp will save this planet!” he insisted. “In 5,000 years of human consumption not a single person has ever died from cannabis!” The crowd roared. It was unusual to see anyone speaking publicly about ganja but this guy was saying things nobody had ever heard before.

When the event was over, I made sure that the Peace Heathens ethic of “leave no trace” was enforced, as I knew how critical it was for us to leave the park as clean as or cleaner than we found it... Thus began a Seattle Hempfest tradition of picking up every stitch of litter in the parks that has been generated by the event. We estimate that in the 20 years of Hempfest, we’ve picked up over a million cigarette butts.

Once the clean- up was done, and we had a chance to reflect, we were incredibly bolstered by the success of that first Hempfest. People were so eager, so hungry for a way to express their passion for legalization, and many folks told us that Seattle Hempfest was exactly what they had been looking for.”

in 1991, Hempfest cost $40,000 to produce and had 60,000 attendees.

In 2010, they had 100,000 ATTENDEES each day, and spent $274,000 in expenses.

Partial List of 2010 Expenses: Generators: $20,000; Sanitation: $17,000; Staging: $20,000; Supplies (non-food): $30,000; Supplies (food): $17,000; Services: $18,500; postal, printing, office supplies: $15,500; Security: $14,500; Insurance: 49,000; Advertising/artwork: $15,000; Event Programs: $10,000; Port-a-potties: $11,000; Radios: $6,200; Tables and Chairs: $3,500; First Aid: $12,000; permitting Fees: $15,000.

------------------

A GOOD NEIGHBOR

There were no significant disturbances related to Hempfest inside Myrtle Edwards Park.

There were no arrests, no reports of any disturbances, property crimes, or any other criminal conduct other than marijuana use. The pathways remained relatively free of congestion throughout the day. At times the pathway near the south end became heavily congested; however, at no times did it become filled to a level seen in previous years. Officers were able to walk from one end of the park to the other without significant trouble throughout the day.

-Seattle Police Department Report, 2010

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F E AT U R I N G

SEARCHING FOR THE BEST IN LOCAL CANNABIS JOURNALISM?

Northwest Leaf has an all new website dropping August 19: thenorthwestleaf.com!

-Our Full Archive -Exclusive Content -Reviews and News -Tips and Tricks -Photo Essays

SPECIAL SECTION

S E AT T L E H E M P FE S T 2 012

Capturing p g Hempfest p Northwest Leaf photographer Daniel Berman has documented Hempfest for the past three years, enjoying the people, sights, and ahem, smells.

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Crystal Clear Talking Trichomes

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Most of a cannabis plant’s THC is contained in trichomes, the tiny crystals that are essential to any high-quality medical strain and yield pot’s psychoactive effects.

By wes abney | PHOTOS BY BOB MONTOYA FOR NORTHWEST LEAF richomes exist naturally on a huge variety of plants and different algae, and are described as “hair like” structures that grow out from the plants skin. Common types of trichomes are hairs, scales or a peltate hair. A common example of this are the little white hairs that grow on the stalks of domestic tomato plants. Touch them and they emit a fresh vine smell and leave a sticky residue on your fingers.

By this point you might be asking yourself, “What do tomato plant hairs have to do with pot?” Everything.

What’s beautiful about the flower of a cannabis plant is that it products THC and CBN (cannabinol) on their stems, leaves and the vegetation surrounding the bud becomes the trichomes.

THC is the main psychoactive component that people smoke cannabis for, while CBN is more of the body numbing part of the equation.

Looking at these pictures one can clearly see the mushroom shaped resin glands that look like they’re made of glass. They cover almost every inch of the cannabis flower and leaves, and are developed

after calyxes are formed, occuring after the male pollen fertilizes the female plant. The bud we are all familiar with are actually just the calyxes clustering into tight, dense structures. Resin glands continue to develop on the surface of the cannabis plant as the calyxes grow and blossom.

While trichomes are a positive when it comes to cannabis, they aren’t directly linked to perfect potency. There are actually three main types, each with unique attributes. Of the three, the Capitate-Stalked variety contains the most cannabinoids. They are also the tallest, reaching 150-500 micrometers, and are easily identified by the tall, rounded tip. They appear during the flowering cycle of the female plant, and, when the amber colored heads have turned cloudy under a microscope, the buds are ready to harvest.

From an evolutionary standpoint, the weak don’t survive and positive attributes develop stronger over time. This is an easy way to explain why strains have developed the way they have, with gardeners naturally selecting the strongest and best strains for their gardens.

Over time, growing techniques and pot potency have both taken a mind-numbing jump.

So the next time you fire up a bowl of top grade medicinal cannabis, think of the beautiful trichomes that are helping ensure your health and mental well being!

For more of Bob’s photography, visit www.montoyastudios.com

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NORTHWEST LEAF

STRAIN OF THE MONTH Review by Northwest Leaf Staff Photo by Daniel Berman

The purple berry kush smells so delicious you will want to take a bite out.

The extremely dense and solid nugs have a refreshingly sweet bouquet, with a nutty kush smell lingering in the background. The nugs look like little Christmas trees, their purple-tipped leaves covered in a layer of highly visible crystals. There are so many, they almost look sprayed on.

The taste is sweet, and leaves the tongue numb but the lungs tingling for more. Heavy indica effects are quickly apparent, with cerebral numbing and a noticeable absence of pain or worries. The PBK is definitely an afternoon or nighttime smoke for most. However, for those in heavy pain, this would be a good choice for morning use. Despite being so great for pain it is surprisingly not a sleep inducing smoke. In fact, it could be just the boost you need to get through a rough day.

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BY WES ABNEY PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN

Medible Makers Just in time for summer, happy cakes bakery and cotton head edibles have teamed up to create tasty treats like ice cream bars and cotton candy.

The best part? They’re all made with hash oil! YUM!

C

ertainly no food heralds the start of summer more than cotton candy and ice cream, and Cotton Head Medibles has just the treat for patients.

“It’s important to us that people know our products aren’t for kids,” Harmon explained. “They’re for adults wanting nostalgia with their medicine, to remind them of childhood and provide medicine in the same way.”

With passion for medicine and great ideals, Harmon has teamed up with Christine from Happy Cakes Bakery to create all new medible lines. Both have a genuine approach to the business, and are making the products for more than profit.

“Of everyone in the industry [mmj], we have the highest cost and the lowest margin,” explained Christine. “I have a vision, and I work my butt off trying to make it happen. Not only do we have to pay for the medicine to infuse,but the ingredients and time as well.”

With both Cotton Head Medibles and Happy Cakes containing only organic ingredients, the bar is set high from the beginning. But what makes them even better is the high-grade medicine that does the job.

“We medicate everything with dehydrated hash oil, and we can literally medicate anything with it,” Harmon said with a mischievous smile. “When you cook with butter you don’t really know if it will hit hard or be easy. That’s why we use the hash oil.”

Their hash oil is processed with 200-proof food-grade ethyl alcohol that is considered pharmacological grade and safe for ingestion. After a proprietary process, the oil has the consistency of sugar and can be mixed into anything.

Through testing and basic measurements, this oil infusion

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“It is very important that people look at the product labels in our goods and know what’s inside them,” Christine said.

“That includes the medicine.”

method has allowed Harmon and Christine to produce consistent and stable products. With each batch and each item, the two know exactly how much medicine is inside.

“It is very important that people look at the product labels in our goods and know what is inside them,” Christine said. “That includes the medicine.”

Christine previously owned a bakery in Marin County in California but had lost passion for baking. It wasn’t until she got her first Cannabis authorization that she thought of cooking with pot. It brought back her excitement for the kitchen and laid the roots for her current business, she said.

“I had no idea how many people I’d be helping. I had a woman come up in a collective and just give me a hug. She said the medibles have changed her life.”

For Harmon, six years working for Starbucks was enough of the corporate life. Now, he is free to develop new products and refine the medicine further.

“I got into this to help people who want to medicate without smoking,”he said.“But we don’t just create products off the will of our brains.We develop products based off what patients want and need.”

Happy Cakes offers brownies, cookies and Rice Crispies.

Brownie ice cream sandwiches are coming soon. As for Cotton Head, there are 14 flavors of cotton candy, 16 flavors of instant drinks, six hard candy flavors, six ice cream bars, and two types of medicated sprinkles for popcorn.

The cotton candy retails for $10, and contains two to four servings per tub. The ice cream bar contains 420mg of hash oil, and has three to six servings for $20. The warnings on the

Grape, Orange, Blue Raspberry and Watermelon cotton candy.

Each package is available for a $10 donation, and contains four servings. A whole tub contains 70-140 mg of pharmaceutical grade hash oil derived from Blueberry, an indica strain (73% THC and 16% CBD).

label are clear, and we recommend patients take heed. Eat onequarter of the ice cream bar and wait one hour before consuming more. Or, share it with a patient friend on a hot August day.

Either way, you can’t go wrong with this medicated treat.

“You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream,” shouts Harmon, medicated treat chef extraordinaire. He pauses to take a bite of his organic double chocolate bar and gives an inquisitive look. “That’s what they say, right?”

yOU CAN FIND THESE PRODUCTS AT OLYMPIC WELLNESS, CCC BALLARD AND MANY OTHER FINE ACCESS POINTS

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An extremely powerful treat that provides really strong medicine to patients requiring high dosage levels to treat chronic pain and nausea. Just a nibble off these truffles is enough to feel the effects after about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on metabolism. The taste is dark chocolate to start but then morphs into a sweeter flavor that is distinctly herby — without ever becoming overpoweringly so. We appreciated that a single, regular size truffle has so many servings, because that means patients get real value. Ettalewʼs also makes peanut butter cookies, 7 layer bars, brownies, medicated saltines and a host of other great products that are available at numerous access points across Washington state. So try them today. Just start with a bite!

$15 — 4 to 5 servings Great for pain relief

Available from: Puget Sound Health Alternatives, SureCan, CCC Ballard, Seattle Medical Marijuana in Fremont, Greenside and Greenwood

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by kai hogen | HOURS TO COMPLETE: 8+

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PRICE: $350 with color/$250 clear Available at The Hippie House, Tacoma 3109 6th Ave. Tacoma, WA 98406 (253) 267-1708

Northwest Leaf congratulates new father and lampworker Kai Hogen for this awesome oil rig. The all-in-one design includes a dabber, oil storage area and a dynamic flip hinge. While some dabbing veterans might have seen this style of rig before, one accessory sets the Lil’ Baller apart ...Instead of a standard quartz/ titanium nail bowl piece, this device has a removable quartz “bucket” that can be used for dabbing concentrates, or is perfect for vaporizing hash with a glow stick (heated glass rod). This custom device took a grueling eight hours to make and is available in either clear or worked (color) varieties. Inspiration for the device comes from The Mothership Bucket, which Kai developed by adding the detachable quartz piece.

text BY WES ABNEY | PHOTO BY DANIEL BERMAN

Check out more of Kai’s work at facebook.com/ burningsnowstudios

>> Email us at nwleaf@gmail.com

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It looks like a giant ball of caramel, but you wouldnʼt want to eat it. This BHO is ideal for dabbing, or loading into your favorite vape pen. It has a smell reminiscent of the “Dawg,” a throwback to chemdog, though thereʼs a peppery dank smell that lingers as well. The smoke is very smooth in concentrate terms, and is powerful without being overly expansive. You can take big tokes of the Ghost Dawg without ending up on the floor, at least from coughing!

The Ghost Dawg is a mix of KC Dawg and G Dawg which are both from Harborside, and local Vortex and Ghost. It is to be considered an indica dominate hybrid, with Sativa effects from the Vortex that allows for all day use. The effects are very strong and heady, with a noticable euphoria about 20-30 minutes after medicating.

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growtech

ARTICLE CONTINUED from pg. 78

Top 5 things you gotta know before growing your own medicine indoors What are your medical needs?

Do you have the time, experience? What system will you use?

This is a pretty easy one, but none the less very important before getting started.

How much medical cannabis do you consume on a monthly basis and what variety treats your condition(s)?

If you need sativas you will need a taller room or some type of bending/ trellis system with a lot of wind simulation. Indicas can be done in much shorter spaces but need a cooler environment or if you need a variety of medicine you will need to create a tall space that is very controllable. When it comes to consumptions, figure a beginning grower can produce a eight ounces of low medical grade cannabis per 1000 watts of flowering light every cycle and an experienced grower can produce twenty four ounces per 1000 watts of flowering light every cycle.

You must be very honest with yourself on this one because you will get in over your head and it can come back to bite you in the ass if your not. Your experience will directly influence the time you must put in to cultivate; if you helped a friend grow or had a vegetable garden your off to a good start. If you have grown before think about the quality of medicine you produced and compare it to the best you have had, also how much did you yield? The more experienced you are, the less time you will have to put in.

Most indoor grows will require a lot of work, totaling, on average, about 35 hours a month for someone with continuous system that is always flowering with 2000 watts.

That is the least amount of time you can put in and expect high quality results.

(If you can produce the best in less time, call us and we will give you a job.)

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Do you want to do hydroponics or soil; hydroponics is easier if you are experienced but can be a nightmare for a beginner, soil is simple, easy and allows you to be more “organic� but is harder to produce big yields.

Automation is a factor in most grow systems; simple timers and pumps do a lot for you and advanced control brains will do everything for you, even text you an update but can break and shut your whole system down. Your environmental system is a large factor; the two ends of this spectrum are open air systems or controlled environmental agriculture. Both have their own pros and cons but nonetheless are one of the many things you must figure out before you get growing.

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HOW TO BE HONEST WITH YOUR DOCTOR... >> We must be vocal about why medical cannabis works, even to healthcare naysayers

M

any people who regularly use Cannabis as medicine in the U.S. have traditionally done so under the label of “self prescribed.”

Patients have had many reasons for not divulging their use of Cannabis to their healthcare professional, or any part of the entire health care system for that matter.

That’s in part due to the Federal legal system, which forces individuals to engage in illegal activities to procure or produce their medicine by upholding Cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic.

From public policy to insurance and medical policy, to legal issues and the negative stigma surrounding the subject of Cannabis, patients have grown used to being admonished and made to feel bad about their use. Fortunately, this is changing —17 states currently have

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BY NORTHWEST LEAF SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR DR. SCOTT D. ROSE

medical marijuana laws on the books; another half-dozen have legislation pending. Most patients, however, are still reluctant to broach the subject with their personal physician. How can a patient talk with their doctor and full disclose their choice to use Cannabis as medicine?

It is essential that individuals who have valid conditions and reasons to use medical Cannabis talk with their doctor. Get the proper documentation, and get legal! Do it if you’re in possession of Cannabis, or just using, and finding benefit. Be aware though, Federal law does supersede state law. Arrests can, and are being made for possession, use, and cultivation of cannabis — even by approved patients.

In King County, Wash. there have been arrests of patients with valid paperwork.

The passing of proposition 215 in 1996,

made California the first state in the US to allow the use of Cannabis medicinally.

In 1998, Washington state voters passed initiative 692 and the state laws were written — they continue to be shaped.

Authorizations are required to be printed and signed on tamper-resistant paper in Washington state to be legal, and may be granted by a Medical Doctor, Physician Assistant, Osteopathic Doctor, Osteopathic Assistant, Naturopathic Doctor, or a Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

If an individual has a “primary care doctor,” then chances are they are working with one of these individuals already. It is your right to ask for their authorization, and it is their right under the doctor patient relationship with the intent to serve you best that they know of your use.

Many healthcare professionals are uncomfortable discussing the use of

The steps to success 1) The first step is choosing your doctor. Don’t

2) Next, make sure to have all pertinent medical records ready at your appointment. It doesn’t help your cause if you show up unprepared.

3) Finally, talk clearly and directly with your doctor about your condition, and why you believe MMJ is going to be a good treatment for you. The more information you give the doctor, the stronger your file (and legal defense) for using medical cannabis will be! Good luck and congrats on choosing a healthier alternative to pharmaceuticals.

Cannabis with their patients. There is the issue of Cannabis as a Schedule 1 substance defined as “indicating a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical value.” This is the same classification as heroin, PCP, LSD, and crack cocaine - hardcore “drugs” that health care professionals counsel their patients against. Some may perceive that they are putting their patients at risk of prosecution by authorizing their use.

Then the other side of the industry.

Where does one go to obtain their medicine? It is not the typical scenario of getting out the script pad and sending someone out the door to the pharmacy.

There is a negative stigma associated with the illicit use of Cannabis. An awareness of how colleagues and peers in that practitioners community may judge them. There is often an ignorance factor as well. The risks and benefits of Cannabis use have not been taught to modern day health care professionals.

There is often fear of legal ramifications on the part of the healthcare professional themselves for making the recommendation to the patient to use Cannabis as medicine. That is in spite of landmark cases yielding proven protection for the doctor. Washington state law is written as “Healthcare professionals will also be excepted from liability and prosecution for the

authorization of marijuana use to qualifying patients for whom, in the health care professional’s professional judgment, medical marijuana may prove beneficial.” If your provider does not feel comfortable or declines to authorize your use, or you just cannot or will not discuss it with them, then the next best option would be to see someone who specializes in the evaluation, authorization, and longterm management of your Cannabis use.

Ideally, your health care provider would either refer you to that individual or at least know of your use. I feel it is important for your medical team to all be on the same page. At the same time, they should respect individuals’ rights to privacy.

Make sure to educate yourself, as a Medical Cannabis patient, about the subject of your medicine. This is key to having a more informed discussion with your doctor. Most health care professionals are still stuck in the mindset of Cannabis as a highly addictive drug with negative repercussions. This is the reason that illicit drug use is way under reported on medical intake paperwork and often omitted entirely in direct questioning. On average, if people even divulge it, alcohol consumption is reported at or under 50% of the actual amount consumed - and ethanol is a legal substance! There needs to be a shift in paradigm away from the perception of the “smoking of pot”

merely for recreational use, to the use of Cannabis as medicine. You the patient can help shift this paradigm through your own knowledge base. You will likely be educating your doctor as a relative expert with just a little bit of reading.

Divulge your use to help educate the medical community as to the benefits of Cannabis, and just how many of their patients are using! This empirical knowledge, along with continued research will help further shift away from the illicit in the medical mind. In a state that accepts the use of Cannabis medicinally, if you have a bona fide medical complaint that in your state warrants the use of medicinal Cannabis, and if you are in possession, using and finding benefit from your use — then get legal! You are either a legal patient or you’re not. If you are not then you will be treated as a criminal. If you are a legal patient then you at least have a leg to stand on. Continue to read about your medicine, deliver your medicine in healthful ways to your body, and talk to your health care professionals to educate them about your use.

choose the first one you see. Instead, compare your options and prices to find the office that best fits your needs. Do you know what you need?

Dr. Scott D. Rose is a Naturopathic Physician Acupuncturist specializing in pain management in Kirkland.

Visit www.askdrrose.com. august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

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Staying Legal HHiding iding SSpots pots WHEN PATIENTS TRAVEL WITH THEIR MEDICINE or medicating devices, keeping a low profile is essential to staying out of law enforcementʼs way. These are great for those with roommates and also anyone wary of tipping people off to their MMJ patient status. Although we canʼt guarantee you wonʼt get in trouble using these, they are a solid way for you to remain just a little bit safer.

Knowing where to stash your stuff could mean not going to jail over the smell of your meds.

COMPILED BY NORTHWEST LEAF STAFF PHOTOS COURTESY MANUFACTURE

SAFETY TIPS: 1. Always keep your medicine in a secure container, stored out of reach and visibility of children or non-patients. Don’t get casual with leaving medicine laying around. Keeping it airtight is also a plus — it will help preserve the freshness of the flower or bud.

2. Keep all medicated products or devices out of reach of children.

So important, we had to mention it twice. If you only medicate in one room, get a lock for it.

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This “value size” stash can is perfect for hiding meds in plain sight. Besides, the last thing a burglar would ever touch is a persons foot fungus treatment.

If the desenex isnʼt your style, thereʼs insect spray cans, high life cans, furniture polish cans ...the list goes on. One thing to keep in mind is that any stash can that looks like a drink is liable to be confused for one!

This fully functioning wall clock pops open to reveal a hidden space inside. Something like this is ideal for keeping an extra copy of your recommendation, an emergency amount of cash, and even keep meds safe.

With the non-assuming design and the fact it actually works, itʼs definitely time to get an Embassy wall clock.

Of all the products for hiding personal documents, this hanging closet safe is the best choice. It looks like a plain black tanktop, and mixed into a closet of clothes is completely unassuming. But, it could easily be holding everything you need in a tough situation. The shirt unzips to feature nine different compartments capable of holding everything from medicine to an extra copy of your authorization.

86/august 2012 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

3. If you have a personal garden, keep it secure! This includes smell, which is the number one way grows get busted.

4. Keep an extra copy of your recommendation in a safe and secure space. Much like a passport, it’s only good if you have access to it. Also, if you lose a wallet/purse, you’ll still have proof of legal use of cannabis!

5. Invest in an air filtration system even if your not growing.

It doesn’t have to be costly, you can buy a HEPA air filter that is designed for smoke at Walmart for around $50. It cuts down on smell and stagnant smoke, and encourages a healthier lifestyle.

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