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KAYL WOHL COPY EDITOR kayl@leafmagazines.com
ASHLEY HIRCHERT SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD ashley@leafmagazines.com
We
ABOUT THE COVER
Every year, the California Leaf team and our trusty contributors have the unique opportunity to explore Cannabis being grown on the large scale and on the small, intimate scale. From the sunlit fields of our photogenic cover stars Ridgeline Farms, to the intrepid crews behind Massive Farms, Mendocino Grasslands, Xotic Flavorz, and Mendoja Farms, this special issue highlights how Cannabis is created from seed to sale — the process that lets us consume our Cannabis safely and, ideally, with a copy of CA Leaf in hand.
PHOTO BY JUSTIN BOWERS @JBOWERSPHOTO
CONTRIBUTORS
WES ABNEY, NATIONAL NEWS
DANIEL BERMAN, DESIGN
BOBBY BLACK, FEATURES + DESIGN
JOSHUA BOULET, ILLUSTRATION
JUSTIN BOWERS, PHOTOS
TOM BOWERS, FEATURES + PHOTOS
REX HILSINGER, FEATURES
MATT JACKSON, FEATURES
JESSE RAMIREZ, DESIGN
MIKE RICKER, FEATURES + PHOTOS
TOM SEARCY, PHOTOS
ELEKTRA SPECIALE, PHOTOS
TERPODACTYL MEDIA, FEATURES + PHOTOS
WES ABNEY
Editor’s Note
I write this note not knowing who will be the new president of our principled country, but I stand in full support of the elected President of our democratic republic who will work to address the systemic issues in our institutions. America is surely the greatest country in history, a nation founded on the ideals of freedom here and around the world. Yet, we have much work to do to ensure our fundamental rights.
The pursuit of the American dream rings clear around the world because this is the land of freedom and prosperity, which is symbolized by the legalization movement. There is no cause greater than fighting for the sick, the oppressed, and the natural world, and our movement is composed of these elements that have risen like a seedling out of a concrete crack. As we look ahead to 2025 and beyond, those fighting for survival in the Cannabis industry need more of this prosperity to land in the industry’s hands, and not in the endless tax coffers. We need to fight to be treated equally, as promised in our enshrined Constitution and Bill of Rights, where the pursuit of happiness and freedom go hand in hand with consuming Cannabis.
Weed might seem legal where you are reading this, but current laws enforce policies restricting gun rights, parental rights, and social service access for Cannabis users, all while over-taxation and overt censorship of Cannabis on social media make it clear that there is a narrative and an agenda against our plant and our community — and that’s on a good day. We aren’t far from a scenario where the fact-checkers turn on Cannabis and label the types of stories the Leaf has been publishing since 2010 as “misinformation.”
"WHY IS THERE A WAR AGAINST OUR MEDICINE AND NATURAL PLANTS?"
We live in a bubble in our legal states, and it’s easy to forget that a third of our country still faces criminal prosecution for possession of Cannabis. Our community makes light of drug laws surrounding psychedelics, but we sadly ignore that people are going to prison every day for these healing medicines, especially when used to treat ailments that big pharma has a chokehold on, like PTSD and depression.
Why is there a war against our medicine and natural plants? Because it threatens the pharmaceutical and military-industrial complex that dominates our society, and therefore the world. These forces market food full of ingredients and additives that are illegal in the EU and Canada, advertise alcohol and antidepressants, and push pro-consumption media that promotes pills to fix health issues. They do not, however, recommend exercise, natural medicines, dietary changes or spending time in nature with clean air and grounding, because there is no profit in that advice. Would a plant do well in this type of environment? No wonder America’s health is declining!
When I started the Leaf, weed was illegal. Consuming Cannabis, especially as medicine, was an act of defiance that opened consciousness to the lies of the system. The problematic criminal justice system that has locked up our community for 100 years became alarmingly apparent during this era of Cannabis enlightenment. Today I fear that awakening is lost as people legally choose the highest potency products to numb their minds. The defiance of using weed to open minds to promote health, well-being and healing has less impact now than the founding principles that legal Cannabis valued. I’ve always believed that Cannabis is a tool that could change the world, but it must be used as a tool for conscious growth. I still believe that Cannabis can change the world, but I’m convinced more than ever that it will take a great spiritual awakening to unite us and break free from the current zeitgeist that has divided Americans. Now is the time to fight against division, censorship, authoritarianism and mass media manipulation. We know the truth about our plant medicines, and we must hold that truth and guard it carefully. Just like the Truffula trees in Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax,” we must nurture the plant medicines that are connected to our spirits, our community and our health, and preserve them for a future that benefits all people, plants and animals.
SINGAPORE EXECUTES FOURTH PERSON IN 2024 FOR POSSESSION OF DRUGS
The island nation of Singapore, which has the strictest drug laws in the world, has executed a 64-year-old man for trafficking 36.93 grams of heroin.
ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
REJECTS LEGALIZATION MEASURE
TW0 WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION
Astunning blow to legalization efforts in Arkansas was landed after the state Supreme Court ruled that the ballot initiative expanding medical Cannabis was too vague.
What’s unclear to voters is why the measure, which would have expanded access to doctors, added new conditions and allowed medical cards to last three years, was a threat to the justices’ views on Cannabis. The AP reported that in a “4-3 decision, the justices ruled the measure did not fully inform voters that it would have stripped the Legislature’s ability to change the 2016 constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana in the state.”
“The measure also included a controversial amendment that would have legalized recreational Cannabis up to an ounce.”
The percentage of all drug arrests made for Cannabis in more than a dozen states in 2023.
66%
“Flights into the country feature normal landing announcements, and a quick reminder that “drug trafficking may be punishable by death.”
While most countries in the world are reapproaching the issues of drugs and criminal penalties by focusing on rehabilitation and decriminalization, Singapore maintains the death penalty for anyone caught with drugs, regardless of intent to sell. A person found with 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine, 250 grams of meth or 500 grams of Cannabis is subject to death by hanging if convicted. Only a handful of countries maintain these types of drug laws, including North Korea and Iran, where trafficking large amounts of illegal narcotics is punishable by death.
Flights into the country feature normal landing announcements, and a quick reminder that “drug trafficking may be punishable by death.” Citizens can also be drug tested by authorities if it’s believed they’ve consumed drugs, making personal freedoms regarding drugs nonexistent even when traveling.
CNN interviewed Kannon K. Shanmugam, Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law, who defended his country’s drug policies, where 40 inmates are awaiting hanging on death row. “Look around the world,” Shanmugam told CNN. “Any time there has been a certain laxity in the approach to drugs, homicides go up. Killings, torture, kidnappings … that goes up.”
Life in a Singaporean prison is tough. Prisoners sleep on small floor mats, aren’t allowed furniture and are fed through a slot on the bottom of the door. In the hot tropical climate, there’s no forgiveness from heat or humidity, and as Shanmugam said, “We choose to make it harsh.”
As the world watches the United States for cues on drug policy, federal legalization could bring respite to drug prisoners not just here, but overseas as well. Until the war on drugs is ended globally, victims will continue to struggle for rights, including the right to live after making a mistake. For Shanmugam, the fight against drugs is “a fight you never say you’ve won.”
The measure also included a controversial amendment that would have legalized recreational Cannabis up to an ounce, if Cannabis became legal under federal law. Arkansas voters declined to legalize recreational Cannabis in 2022, and this issue is still up for debate among the ironically named Natural State residents.
While the state currently maintains a limited medical Cannabis program, there are no plans to legalize adult use or expand medical access for patients. By adding in the legalization caveat and restricting the Legislature’s ability to modify the rules, the ballot was “doomed… and plainly misleading,” according to Justice Shawn Womack. Those hoping for legalization will have to return to the initiative process to bring freedom to Arkansas in 2026.
BHIP HOP ICON SNOOP DOGG REPORTS WEATHER ON TODAY SHOW, HIGH CHANCE OF CANNABIS FORECASTED
eloved rapper and stoner cultural icon Snoop Dogg dropped by the Today show last month to deliver a weather update laced with Cannabis jokes.
While the forecasts for Mary Jane Falls, Nevada, were clearly a joke, the overall message was that people are smoking Cannabis all over the country and that it’s as normal as the daily weather.
“...my favorite is when it’s nice, hot and misty outside, 84 degrees in Blunt, South Dakota,” Snoop said in the clip”
“Al, it’s 57 degrees in Mary Jane Falls, Nevada? And then I heard it’s gonna be 56 degrees in Stoner, Colorado. But my favorite is when it’s nice, hot and misty outside, 84 degrees in Blunt, South Dakota,” Snoop said in the clip, which is available on YouTube. While things are staying hot in Roach, Missouri, according to Snoop, the real buzz is that weed continues to make ground in popular culture and at the ballot box.
The percentage of polled voters who supported Florida legalization bid last month.
It took two to tangle over a garbage bag full of weed, which led to one person shot and both arrested in Wilmington, Delaware.
The amount in pounds of Cannabis an errant flock of sheep ate this summer, prompting weird behavior on the Thessaly, Greece farm.
200,306 40%
The number of Americans arrested for Cannabis in 2023, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data released last month.
Quoted
“This is just evidence that the Legislature is completely impotent when it comes to taking this thing [legalization] on and doing this legislatively. They are unwilling to do the hard work because they don’t want the smell of the devil’s lettuce on them.”
-Former state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg, Florida Republican, who told Politico that “he believes that at least half of Republican lawmakers support Amendment 3 [to legalize Cannabis] privately even though they publicly oppose it.”
PUFFCON 2024
Creating one of the biggest hash celebrations on the West Coast is no easy task. Thankfully, this year, the team at Puffco had the support of over 8,500 attendees for the 4th annual Puffcon event in Los Angeles.
The grounds this year stretched into every corner of the space with immersive lounges and live art exhibits so expansive that many of us explored every part of it. What started as a sort of thank-you to the community that supports them has steadily evolved into its own brand-centric celebration, creating a one-day amusement park of sorts. The row of vendors also came strong again with threads from Pyroscopic and EDISTSEW, or you could get something printed on-site from brands like Sour Wavez, Your Highness and Talking Terps. You could even play carnival games to win an inflatable Peak Pro.
Walking around, you could find hash-centric versions of travel centers, dinosaur parks and carnivals, each done at full volume.
Walking around, you could find hash-centric versions of travel centers, dinosaur parks and carnivals, each done at full volume.
The parking lot was moved off-site to allow for a much larger stage and concession area, and also to make room for the Ferris wheel and Gravitron.
Much of this next-level style of activation we’ve seen at events this year points to a growing reality: the industry has shown that we’re responsible enough to rent the cool event toys for large-scale stuff like this, and we definitely have the crowds for it.
This year, the line for Puffcon stretched three-quarters of the way around the entire Center Studios property. Photographer Jojosnaps told us it took her seven minutes to film from the front to back of the line right before opening. Some people told us they waited three or more hours to get in this year, an issue Puffcon said they hope to streamline for next year’s event.
As with any event in its first five years, there’s still a lot of room for growth and growing pains with Puffcon. No doubt, this year has shown the potential to go even bigger and more immersive for 2025. In a short time, Puffco has increased this crowd to almost three times the size of that first year and has shown that people are willing to pay for a ticket and wait for hours to come and enjoy the fun.
PUFFCON.COM | @PUFFCON_LA
CALIFORNIA LEAF BUDTENDER OF THE MONTH JAYMAUPIN
You may see him wearing cool gemstones and jewelry when he’s behind the counter at the Cannabis Buyers’ Club of Berkeley, where he was the fourth budtender ever hired. He’s super involved in his church, singing with the Praise Team and attending a men’s bible study group. Follow him on Instagram @maupinjay42.
SO, YOU’VE BEEN AT CBCB SINCE 1997. WOW! Yeah, I went in there one day to buy some weed and they asked if I’d like to come volunteer for an event — that’s how it all started. It was before Prop 215. Our founder, Aundre Speciale, had a card table that she’d set up in a community space at Telegraph and Channing to do intakes. She had a whiteboard and a quarter pound of pot, and that’s when she started distributing medicine.
HAS MUCH CHANGED OVER THE LAST 27 YEARS? Since the beginning, the miracle of CBCB has been all about compassion. And the reason it’s continued is because of Aundre’s heart. We wanted to bring quality Cannabis to the community that was affordable, and we’re still doing it. So, not much [has changed]. The foundation is the same.
IF YOU WERE TO DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR A LIVING, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
I don’t know. I don’t think I’d be doing anything else. My life has always been about Cannabis.
WHAT’S A SPECIAL MOMENT YOU’VE HAD AT CBCB? One of the best times was when Tommy Chong came. We all got our turn to talk with him. That was very special because he is such a down-to-earth person. He said that because of each and every one of us doing the work we’re doing, it’s why we’re still here.
WHAT IS THE BEST MOMENT IN A “CHEECH AND CHONG” MOVIE? (Laughs) Them in the car with the big joint and a cop drives by, so they eat the weed and then the cop wasn’t concerned with them in the first place.
DID YOU EVER HAVE A MOMENT LIKE THAT? Kinda. When I was much younger, we were smoking in my friend’s dad’s car, and a cop gave me a ticket. I went to court, and the judge laughed and gave me a $50 fine. This is Berkeley.
CLARKIES JOINT
Owners Clark & Rachel Worswick
We often hear about retail shops launching their own store brands, but every so often, we’re lucky enough to get a top-tier legacy brand opening its own storefront. Such is the case with Clarkies, one of the newest additions to the tight-knit dispensary lineup in Sou thern Humboldt. Rachel and Clark Worswick have been cultivating indoor fire in the Triangle for more than two decades and launched their rec market brand, Clarkies, more than six years ago. Now, thanks to a fortuitous opening in the property market in Redway, the endearing hamlet neighboring Garberville, the pair have sprouted the next phase of their dream. Clarkies Joint opened in August and immediately found its place in the community, serving a steady stream of locals and passersby looking for something a little out of the ordinary.
THE VISION
Like so many people impacted by the collapse of the local economy after state-implemented legalization decimated the existing farming community, the Worswicks realize that they have to get creative and diversify the way their brand reaches the market. The first step was opening a retail location where they could not only sell their own branded flower but put on their favorite brands and their friends’ products.
Rachel Worswick has some firsthand experience with the difficulties facing the Triangle community after spending time in the Oregon Cannabis community during the oversaturated market downturn of 2017-18. “I definitely see the climate of the market, and I’ve been studying since the Oregon days how to stay alive when the market does this,” she said.
In addition to providing a friendly retail space where locals and tourists can find their own fire and medicine, the couple also has big plans sprouting for the building. They’re working toward a distribution hub, a 16-light indoor grow facility where clients can custom-grow and custom-harvest their own Cannabis, and, upstairs, a fully appointed Airbnb. (We stayed there overnight during our visit, and it was comfortable, cozy and came fully stocked with Clarkies flower and multiple bongs to utilize.)
THE VIBE
When you first pull up to Clarkies Joint, you’ll be struck by the colorful facade adorned with paintings of weed, mushrooms and even Sasquatch. Painted by Bay Area street artists Illuminaries, it’s the brightest storefront we’ve seen in the community, and it belies the playfully psychedelic approach and street art roots of the owners.
Inside, you’ll find a cozy space with shelving on one side, a bench with magazines in front of a wall-size bud shot with the Clarkies logo, and a counter at the end opposite the door. The space isn’t huge — and it doesn’t need to be. They’re not trying to be a warehouse of Cannabis or an Apple Store for weed. This is a tightly run shop for people who want to buy from folks who know what they’re doing.
THE MIX
The product mix isn’t overbearing at Clarkies Joint — like we said, they’re not a shop that carries anything and everything. The selection is tightly curated, and fairly priced. “We want to be able to move through the product for freshness and variety,” Rachel Worswick said.
Aside from Clarkies’ own top-tier indoor flower — which should not be missed — you’ll find some locally crafted favorites, like Arcata Fire extracts and a number of offerings from the Redwood Roots family of farms. You’ll also find a few of the more widely available products, such as Wyld gummies.
Clarkies also has a few collaborations planned, including projects with Ridgeline Farms and Huckleberry Hill, so keep your eyes peeled for those.
Be sure to ask them about their selection of trophy Jerome Baker glass — they have a few awesome pieces in the shop.
THE SERVICE
While Clarkies Joint definitely focuses on bringing the heat, they are a community shop, and the staff aims to serve the community that relies on it for relief.
“Lots of customers around here are the older customers needing edibles for pain or people driving through needing a joint after their long drive,” Rachel said.
Rachel and Clark can often be found behind the counter, but they also have a solid crew behind them who can help customers find what they need.
THE ROLL-UP
One thing that almost everyone can agree on is that preserving legacy communities and bolstering Cannabis tourism are major steps on the road to building a thriving industry in which craft, mid-size, and large businesses can healthily coexist. With their new retail spot and their plan to create a tourism destination for craft Cannabis connoisseurs, Clarkies is on the right path. If you ever find yourself in Redway, make sure to stop in and pick up some of their flower, and snag some of the other local craft brands while you’re at it. They represent a part of the culture that needs to be preserved and savored.
BUDTENDER RECOMMENDATIONS
Friendly Brand FSO and Moon Made Farms flower -Dillon Smith
Honey Butter Rosin Co rosin and Sheman Snacks gummies-Reed Kennedy
Friendly Brand Nucleus carts, Clarkies HFCS, and Shaman Sluggers-Kelly Hicks
Manzanita Naturals The Fizz 100mg soda and Bigfoot gummies local rosin -Rachel Worswick
Clarkies LA Pop Rocks, Sharpy, and Crush flower -Clark Worswick
“...A TIGHTLY RUN SHOP FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BUY FROM FOLKS WHO KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING.”
ELITE GENETICS STYROFOAM CUP
They say it can take hundreds or even thousands of years for a Styrofoam cup to disappear, but this one was gone in two days. A combination of GMO and Sunset Sherbert, fans of Colorado‘s colossus breeder Cannarado will recognize this lineage as their MSG, which Team Elite Genetics calls Styrofoam Cup.
TEAM ELITE GENETICS has a track record of producing some beautiful, award-winning flower grown in living soil.
From its beginnings in Huntington Beach, this Southern California cultivation company has racked up 30 different Cannabis Cup awards for 13 different strains, eight of which were created in-house. Alongside their own strains, they also run cultivars from sought-after breeders, like Dying Breed Seeds and Swamp Boys. Their rosin line seeks to bring these hard-to-find genetics onto the solventless menu of your local store.
Styrofoam Cup won Team Elite Genetics
2nd Place Indica Flower at the 2022 Southern California Cannabis Cup and 3rd Place Indica in 2023, where this rosin, in particular, earned them 2nd Place in Solventless. With a nice color and a solid-but-wet consistency, this is as good for dabs as it is for rolling into a hash joint. As you roll some between your fingers, the smell is funky but sweet, with a berry and citrus blend from the Sunset Sherbert. That twist at the end carries the GMO and delivers a bit of an edge
comes to the doorstep but never really comes inside. Styrofoam Cup gives a great high for posting up on the couch and doing something fun, like video games, drawing or watching some TV. You’ll find yourself drawn into the activity but with no desire to get up and do anything important.
“Styrofoam Cup gives a great high for posting up on the couch and doing something fun … with no desire to get up and do anything important.”
Team Elite Genetics may be known for their flower, but don’t sleep on trying the rosin versions of their award-winning collection of genetics.
Jon Boley & Carrie Strope
"Succulent Fire" | 2024
THIS AMAZING joining of artistic evolutions highlights what happens when two artists truly complement each other's styles, skills and strengths.
Carrie’s dedication to the consistency of the flower builds is magical; the blending of the colorways creates a literal and realistic feel that keeps the eye looking for the next detail. Jon’s ability to create something functional yet still make it a canvas to showcase an internal vision is always a shining light in his compositions. I think the artists put it best in their own words.
“This one really turned out amazing, and I worked hard to keep it organic, purposefully off-balancing the flowers in different areas and canting the face slightly. This series represents how art and inspiration can take over our worlds, engulfing us within it,” said Jon, a.k.a Shaggy.
“I clustered 136 of Carrie’s freeze-cast flowers on top of one of my bottle vase pipes, leaving the fitting and mouthpiece slightly exposed to show how the pipe world is slowly emerging into the art world. For many years in our community, we have been hidden and looked down upon. Happily, over the years, we have begun to be accepted by the world as a whole.”
“I began working with glass in 2005, starting with soft glass at the furnace and a kiln-forming class in Napa, California,” Carrie said. “This collaborative piece with Jon is something I’m particularly proud of. It combines both of our aesthetics and skill sets: my expertise in color mixing and kiln forming and Jon’s incredible artistic vision and mastery of glass. The technique I used here is usually reserved for soft glass, which makes working with borosilicate in this way so exciting — it challenges many of the traditional boundaries of glasswork. This approach allows for more control over color gradients and the blending of custom colors that aren’t typically found in borosilicate work.”
Valued at $10,000, this 9"×5"×5" work of art was made entirely of colors by Northstar Glassworks (@ northstarglass) including Opaque Aqua, Lava, Cherry, Canary, Goldenrod and Black Jack.
“The intricate arrangement of succulents around the rig highlights the level of craftsmanship involved, with each one thoughtfully placed like a mosaic of flowers in a bouquet, creating a natural and vibrant effect,” she said.
“The warm gradients of oranges, reds and yellows add depth, making the piece not only a tool but a stunning visual centerpiece. To me, this piece represents a fusion of artistry and technique, pushing the limits of what glass can do. Whether it’s displayed as part of a collection or used for its intended purpose, it merges form and function, elevating both the experience and the appreciation of glass as an art form.”
@GLASSARTBYSHAGGY | @CALYXANN
BURSTING INTO the California Cannabis market at the start of 2024, Bosky has become a name many recognize for its beautiful work. Creator and Head Cultivator Ryan Clark attributes their quick reputation to the hard work of his small but dedicated team, which includes his wife Jenn, who oversees finance and compliance.
CLARK, a cultivator with 20-plus years of experience who previously ran a grow for an indoor cultivation facility in the Central Valley, also deserves a fair share of the credit for Bosky’s upward trajectory. He’s even spent six years developing and testing proprietary fertilizer blends in order to dial in cultivation methods at their facility.
“Bosky” is a Middle English adjective that dates back to the 17th century, referring to an abundance of trees and shrubs. Clark says this word seemed to embody the entire essence of what the team is trying to achieve: a thriving garden of quality genetics developed through time and intent.
This month’s highlight, Grip Tape (a nod to Clark’s longtime love of skateboarding), showcases Bosky’s in-house combination of Kookieland and Cherry Gushers. He says it smokes like a Headband or an OG, which makes it great for recovering after a long day of skating or your preferred physical activity.
Although Grip Tape was bred and selected from one of their 2023 pheno hunts, its history actually involves a string of Bosky’s hunts. Kookieland is a gassy flavor developed in 2017 from their cut of Archive’s Dosido and a male of S.D. Cookie Jar’s King Candy (Forum Cookies x Candyland). The other side of the strain is Cherry Gushers, a bag seed clone gifted by their friends at Billionaire Exoticz.
Grip Tape has that mottled light and dark-green camo thing going, but underneath, the nugs are a light, chronic green. The smell is super doughy and a little gassy at the back. After breaking it up that smell turns to a sweet caramel dough, slowly revealing a fruit-smelling center.
The taste starts out as a fifty-fifty blend of dough and fruit, but as you cough, those blossoming fruit notes wash over your salivary glands and make the whole thing lean into that wild cherry flavor.
Grip Tape gives a high that allows you to keep moving but also fills your head with stuffing. It didn’t put me out on the couch, but it did put my brain on a blissful autopilot. I can definitely see how, after a day of skating, this would be just the thing to help you relax while still leaving you upright enough to cook dinner.
GRIP TAPE GRIP TAPE
For those who choose to stand out, be di erent, and create their own path
MASSIVE FARMS
THE WORDS “LEGACY” AND “LEGEND” GET TOSSED AROUND A LOT IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY, AS EVERYONE SCRAMBLES TO MAKE THEIR NAME AS THE COMMUNITY EMERGES FROM THE UNDERGROUND. SHILOH MASSIVE IS ONE OF THOSE NAMES THAT SITS COMFORTABLY NEXT TO THOSE WORDS. A LEGEND WHO LEARNED FROM LEGENDS, MASSIVE STARTED HUSTLING WEIGHT AND COLLECTING SEEDS AT A YOUNG AGE.
TAYLOR & SHILOH WITH PIPPIT
HEGRABBED ADVENTURE BY THE CALYX and journeyed wherever the Cannabis smoke carried him, earning a name for himself around the globe in the process.
Now, he’s a partner in Kollaboration Ventures (KVC), a vertically integrated group of significant size and scale, built to weather the tumultuous Cannabis seas.
SPROUTING FROM SEED
Growing up in Gig Harbor, Washington, Massive developed a taste for top-tier indoor strains, which proliferated in the area. A genetics geek was born.
“I read this article about Nevil [Schoenmakers] and the Cannabis Castle, and as a stoner kid in high school, I thought that was so cool,” he said. “I never wanted to run out of weed. Back then, you couldn’t have big cloning rooms, but if you collected and kept all the seeds, you could keep growing more.”
Massive started banking seeds and growing, drawing inspiration from Nevil out of Amsterdam and Marc Emery out of Vancouver, British Columbia, because they were famous for their seed libraries.
“I kept going up to B.C.; they had the Blunt Brothers up there,” he said. “It was their own version of Amsterdam.”
He and his friends started their own guerrilla grows, Northwest style.
“We had this strain, The Pez — anyone up there knows about the Pez — and it would survive the elements,” he said. “We’d burrow into the blackberry bushes on what we called O.P.P., other people’s property. You could cut out a dome in there and grow under it. We’d have to sneak in there at night and harvest it. That’s what was fun about it. It was an adventure, flying under the radar.”
After a stint in California for college, he got a job with Odwalla juice and, shortly afterward, moved to Oregon and got a house with a basement.
“From then on, it was nothing but weed,” he said. “I quit the Odwalla job and just grew weed.”
DEVELOPING ROOT STOCK
Massive knew from his time in college that California was where he wanted to end up.
When Measure G hit Mendocino County in 2000, allowing for the cultivation of outdoor Cannabis plants, he set a plan in motion.
He moved to Nice, California, because it sounded nice, and it was nestled right up against the Cannabis mecca of Mendocino County. That’s where he saw an ad in the paper.
“It said, ‘Come get your medical recommendation,’” Massive said. “I called the number and went up this dirt road. I turned the corner, and there were like 180 plants there. I was like, ‘I hope I’m in the right place.’ I got up there, and there were Eddy Lepp and Dr. Milan Hopkins.”
“FOR A THING THAT’S ALMOST KILLED ME MORE THAN ONE TIME, AND THAT’S PUT ME IN JAIL … CANNABIS IS THE HARDEST BUSINESS TO SUCCEED AT IN CALIFORNIA...”
-SHILOH MASSIVE
VERTICAL PROGRESSION
Now, as the director of genetics for a group that operates retail, cultivation, distribution, manufacturing and extraction, Massive is writing a major chapter in his life story.
Among KVC’s holdings are retailers Coco Farms and Vallejo farms, a type 7 lab coming online, and multiple mixed-light and sun-grown licensed properties totaling 180,000 square feet of flowering canopy.
He works closely alongside his cultivation team, run by Flip, the director of cultivation; Lauren, the cultivation/compliance officer; and Miguel, the lead cultivator. Earlier this year, the company won a gold medal at the California State Fair for its Rank Rose, the Mixed Light entry under the brand name Pacific Reserve.
It was a pivotal moment in Massive’s life.
Before long, he was growing with that crew and rooming with Jack Herer.
“Eventually, we grew like 40,000 plants on the side of the highway,” he said.
SESH WITH YOUR IDOLS
After some time living in Nice, Massive took a logical next step and moved to Amsterdam.
“That’s when I met Nevil, and I got some seeds from him,” he said. “It was pretty crazy going from sitting in the back of math class in the 1980s, reading in High Times about this guy named Nevil, and then starting to grow, heading to Amsterdam and that leading me right to Nevil’s doorstep.”
He also met Baba Soma of Soma Seeds fame during that time, and the two remain friends to this day. After a couple of years, he decided it was time to go back to Cali.
“I came back from Amsterdam with enough money to buy a house, and I raised my kid in that house for 19 years,” he said.
“It’s a highlight to be solid in our own bubble, controlling the supply chain and being vertically integrated,” Massive said. “It’s a huge accomplishment. It’s so hard to exist in California. For a thing that’s almost killed me more than one time, and that’s put me in jail, it’s something entirely different when you’re successful at business in such a crazy system as California. Cannabis is the hardest business to succeed at in California, legally.”
Between their cultivation licenses, the team usually works with a rotating menu of roughly 30 strains, and they’re currently about to dig into their winter pheno hunt. They never buy bulk from other growers and use their own material in their jars and products.
Massive couldn’t be happier for that kid reading Cannabis magazines in the back of high school math class. “I’ve been an ambassador for Cannabis and the Cannabis world for so long,” Massive said. “I’ve been a freedom fighter, and I hold the plant in high esteem. I let the plant guide my life. I’m just known for being an all-around Cannabis pirate.”
FLIP & SHILOH
TAYLOR BLAKE
RIDGELINE FARMS
EVERY DAY FOR ABOUT 10 TO 15 MINUTES, LIFE AT RIDGELINE FARMS DISTILLS INTO PICARESQUE PERFECTION. AS THE SUN DIPS OVER THE NOT-SO-DISTANT COASTAL HILLS BEYOND GARBERVILLE, LIFE SLOWS, AND LONG DRAWS FROM ONE OF JASON GELLMAN’S HAND-ROLLED JOINTS REACH CAVERNOUS DEPTHS IN YOUR CHEST, WRAPPING YOU IN A BLANKET OF CALM.
GELLMAN DOESN’T MISS many sunsets on his farm. He’s sculpted the landscape to complement the evening ritual, with sun-warmed stone benches looking out over his tiered, full-term garden, extending the gaze to the farm’s namesake ridgeline on the horizon. It’s the farm’s logo, come to life.
“I often describe my farm as a piece of artwork,” Gellman said. “Growing up around a family of craftsmen, there are a lot of artists in my family. And I didn’t have any of that art. I’m a horrible artist and a terrible carpenter, and I didn’t know what my craft was. But building my farm, and creating my strains — this is my art. This is my craft.”
The multi-generational farmer has hustled his entire life, learning his trade and perfecting the craft he plans to hand down to the next generation. His story is the story of the SoHum community.
JASON GELLMAN
“...I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT MY CRAFT WAS.
MY STRAINS —
IS MY ART. THIS IS MY CRAFT.”
A SON OF HUMBOLDT
Gellman’s father belonged to the generation that started in non-Cannabis careers and later made the shift to weed. He was a carpenter and leather worker who grew weed on the side. Gellman learned all of those skills, but weed was the one that stuck.
“My generation, we were the ones that were always surrounded by it. I like to say we’re Generation Weed,” Gellman said. “As early as six years old, I clearly remember picking leaves on plants and having plants drying in my bedroom as a kid, because we lived in such a little house. From day one, I’ve been surrounded by the plant.”
From those early days, Gellman knew who he was. At 15 years old, he moved out of their small, remote house deep in the woods and started living with other members of the SoHum Cannabis community, moving from grow to grow, and family to family.
“They all would just take you in, and they were like, ‘I’ll teach you a little more about the plant and farming,’” Gellman said. “Growing up in Southern Humboldt, where every friend’s family was growing Cannabis, it was instilled in me to be a farmer. What you watch your elders do is what you do.”
During those years, he learned to love the community, as they showed him love and support, teaching him their ways as if he were a son of Humboldt.
the Cookies menu: Blueberry Caviar and Blackberry Caviar. Both are phenos of Gellman’s own Lantz genetics crossed with Grape Gas, and both are absolutely gorgeous, with rich colors and even richer terpene profiles.
“I’ve been surrounding myself with the right people, making the right decisions, and staying true to who I am,” Gellman said, taking a moment to reflect on his own successes and what they mean when cast against the current Cannabis landscape.
“This community has given me so much love and support that I am forever indebted to them,” Gellman said. “I love where I come from, I love where I’ve lived, I love where I’ve raised my kids and my family. … I want the world to know that this is where some of the best farmers in the world came from. This is where some of the best genetics came from.”
ALL THE RIGHT MOVES
Other farmers talk about Gellman and Ridgeline the way you might talk about an award-winning pheno that someone else grew. There’s respect and reverence for someone who has made the right decisions, kept the right cuts and had fate break in his favor more than once. The greatest boon of all is undoubtedly his long-standing relationship with Cookies.
“Being a smaller farm that doesn’t have as much reach, you have to pick and choose who you work with,” Gellman said. “I’ve gotten to know some of the Cookies leadership and Berner really well. We have a partnership where they’re getting my genetics out to the world, and I wouldn’t have that reach without them. … Talk to any young Cannabis smoker; if they know Cannabis, they will know one name: Cookies.”
If you’ve been to a Cookies store in California, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Gellman’s stellar genetics, including prior California Leaf Magazine Strains of the Month, Ridgeline Runtz and Lantz.
Two of the most impressive new releases to come out of the 2024 fall harvest will be going toward
“This market is crushing people. It’s crushing families, it’s crushing communities, it’s crushing whole towns and it’s crushing investors. It’s not discriminating. There are only a few people who are actually going to survive this. A lot of people feel they should get the spotlight. They ask, ‘Why not me?’ And I totally agree.”
RIDGELINE’S HORIZON
The way he sees it, genetics are the key to Ridgeline’s future and the future of his multigenerational Cannabis family. He’s been creating new crosses in a pollination project together with his father, as well as his son — three generations of Gellmans.
“It’s almost like a ceremony,” he said. “It’s something sacred to create these strains, and from that, see what these strains become.”
Walking through the rows of hoop houses and traversing his tiered fullterm garden, Gellman’s energy is palpable and contagious. He wants you to smell this one, give that one a squeeze, and check out the color on this one over here.
He estimates that he’ll release seven commercial cultivars this season, including the Blueberry Blackberry Caviars. One of the upcoming winners is a cross between Gush Mintz and Lantz that creates dense, formidable flowers. “That one’s the Throbber,” he says with a smile.
After we make the requisite jokes about the Throbber’s name, Gellman goes through the rest of the list of phenos he’s most excited about: RidgeLion (Cheetah Piss x Lantz), Runtz x Lantz, Ridgeline Rebel (Rebel OG Chem x Lantz), and a collaboration with another of SoHum’s favorite sons, John Casali from Huckleberry Hill, called Ridgeline Rose (Whitethorn Rose x Lantz).
Like so many farmers, these flowers represent his entire life’s work. Cannabis is the ocean, and he’s a ship captain with the sea in his blood and salt in his bones.
“I’ve gone slow and steady and stayed in business,” Gellman said. “I honed my craft. I don’t know anything else to do. This is what I do. I grow weed, and I take pride in it. I’m honored to represent my community the best I can.”
THROBBER
CHEETAH PISS X LANTZ
STANDING AMID THE CANNABIS AND SUNFLOWERS IN THE FIELDS OF MENDOCINO GRASSLANDS AT YOKAYO RANCH, YOU REALIZE EXACTLY WHY PEOPLE SWEAT AND BLEED TO THE EDGE OF INSANITY IN ORDER TO LIVE THIS LIFE. CO-OWNER IAN POWELL UNDERSTANDS THIS AS WELL AS ANYONE.
HE’S
HUSTLED HARD and been through the fire to get here on this property, which is part wedding and event venue with rentable cabins and part licensed pot farm with 32 flavors of full-term and light-dep deliciousness in a setting that would just as easily be home to an award-winning small-batch winery.
Powell, a Swiss Army knife of a man with a firm handshake and easy demeanor, fought for his country, only to be later imprisoned by that same country before arriving here at Yokayo. You can sense it when you’re with him on the farm — the gratitude and dedication he brings to his work with his life partner and COO, Jenn Gray, and their team. He has the character of someone who knows what he has and how easily it could be lost.
A FEDERAL FOUNDATION
Powell spent the early 1990s in the Marine Corps, stationed overseas, deploying to various exotic locales. He finished his Military Service Obligation as a disciplined man weathered by experience and returned to Mendocino to work the harvest for Fetzer, while also simultaneously starting to find work in the Cannabis harvest.
to do the electrical work or whatever it might be,” Powell said. “Otherwise, you gotta figure out the shit yourself. … You become the jack of all trades.”
Powell became an expert at building out grow rooms and started taking side gigs helping people with their buildouts.
“I ended up with a pretty big Rolodex of people with grows who needed things moved,” he said. “And I started hustling weight.”
He quickly became a fairly significant supplier, until one day one of his drivers got busted with a load in West Texas.
“They had my driver deliver the load anyway, so they could get the people on the other end,” he said.
“I was young, I was strong, and I was looking for an opportunity,” Powell said. “I just fell in love with the people and the culture, and the plants themselves were fascinating. Also, there was the allure. Back then it was hide-and-seek. You were an outlaw.”
In the world of guerilla farming, you either have to know how to do something yourself or know someone you can trust who can come do the work for you. It provided an opportunity for someone like Powell.
“You had to know the right guy, who will keep it hush-hush and come out to the farm
The Feds had 37 people on the indictment, but no one knocked on Powell’s door.
He decided to lay low, waiting. Then, two years later, they came.
“I ended up on the ground on Commercial Street in Willits, being held at gunpoint by DEA agents,” he said.
Powell pled guilty in 2010 without any sort of a deal, and within six months, he was in federal prison at Lompoc, ready to do a fiveyear bid. “I was like, ‘I’m guilty. I’ll take the fucking hit,” Powell said. “If you want to play the game, if you get licked, you gotta be able to take the lick.”
By 2014, Powell was out, and by the time his probation period ended in 2016, he came back to Mendocino. His sister was getting married at a sprawling, idyllic ranch, and the owner just happened to have two 99-plant permits but needed help figuring out how to grow and move the weight.
Powell agreed to help out, and the rest was history. By 2019, he and a business partner had purchased Yokayo Ranch, and Mendocino Grasslands was born.
BUILDING REAL BUSINESS
The engine beneath the MG’s hood is the partnership between Powell, with his knowledge of cultivation and distribution, and Gray, whose attention to detail keeps the business operating and scaling smartly. Together, they’re growing the farm with the help of the team and their Brand Manager, Adam Donahue.
“Being a small farm like this and a small brand on the shelf, competing with these monsters, we have to stay nimble,” Powell said, referring to the industry landscape.
“We have full-time employees that are on salary. They get health care. We’re taking this seriously. We’re not in the backwoods anymore. We’re not up in the hills.”
They have roughly an acre of grow canopy spread across the multiple licenses they hold, which makes them a larger small farm, but nothing compared to the scale Powell and Gray see on the horizon for the industry.
FIELDS AGLOW
IAN POWELL
FROM WINE TO WEED
Powell and Gray are building Mendocino Grasslands for a future that looks more like the wine industry, which is the other marquee draw of the region.
“We parallel each other so well. It’s the same growing season, it’s the same harvest season,” Powell said. “We’re really doing the same things.”
“I JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH THE PEOPLE AND THE CULTURE, AND THE PLANTS THEMSELVES WERE FASCINATING.”
-CO-OWNER IAN POWELL
They see the transition from the wine industry to Cannabis as a natural one, especially with younger generations spending less of their money and their livers on drinking.
MENDOCINO GRASSLANDS
“If they do drink, it’s really light, and they pair it with really good Cannabis,” he said.
Weed’s evolution to a destination experience is a no-brainer, but it will take legislation and a lot of work.
“Mendocino County has the ability to harness Cannabis, bring tourism to the county, and take advantage of that in some way,” he said. “Why can’t we have a weed tasting room? Come in, you like what you see, we can ship you a case. A lot of people don’t have the access or the knowledge to get themselves to where we’re at.
If they could go direct-toconsumer at their farms, it would really help build the community and the economy.”
Powell hopes that future arrives soon. For the time being, he’s happy living a blessed life at his majestical Mendocino farm.
“There are still people incarcerated for this, right now, as I stand here at my farm, selling legal weed,” he said. “It’s crazy. Whatever I set out to do, this was my journey. It also makes Grasslands a special place.”
MENDOCINOGRASSLANDS.COM
XOTIC FLAVORZ
WHITE-KNUCKLING THROUGH HAIRPIN TURNS AND SNAKING ON MAKESHIFT ROADS FROM REDWAY TO HONEYDEW IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, THE MAP APP SWITCHES TO “OFFLINE SOURCES ONLY.” THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’RE ON THE RAGGEDY EDGE. THIS IS OUTLAW COUNTRY.
CODY KING knows these hills and valleys. His family helped build the Cannabis community out here, with his dad, mom and uncle contributing to the local legend when King was an up-and-coming prince. Like so many NorCal farmers, ranchers and ofthe-land entrepreneurs, King bears the marks of a life hard-lived under the War on Drugs.
“I came from this life,” he said, recounting stories from his childhood.
“I came from the trap.”
King lost his father to suicide at the age of 15, and left home, moving from place to place in the Triangle. Like many people born into the world of guerilla farming, he had to build his own future.
He’s never had what you might call a real job. He cultivated his kingdom, drawing from an internal well of strength that Fortune 500 business owners only read about in leadership books.
Now he’s one of the largest-scale legacy cultivators in the NorCal game, overseeing roughly 16 acres of heat-churning canopy in a patchwork of ranches and farm properties under the banner of Xotic Flavorz. Other farmers talk about him with hints of reverence and even envy, edging their tones. To him, there wasn’t another path to walk — his fate was etched in time from the beginning.
MAXIMUM ESCAPE VELOCITY
When he turned 18, King moved out of NorCal to go to college back East. He wanted to distance himself from the life but naturally found his people among the hip-hop heads and smokers.
Before long, the life started calling him back. He didn’t have enough escape velocity to tear away from NorCal’s gravitational pull.
“They’d say, ‘Yo, you’re from Humboldt,’” King said. “‘Where’s the packs at?’”
The wheels started turning. It wasn’t the life he was running from. It was his life, and he couldn’t deny it.
Then, sitting in anthropology class one day, King had a realization. “The professor was talking about what job I could get after graduation, and he was saying I could get $30K a year,” King said, laughing.
“I had already made $30K that semester.”
He realized that he was meant to build an empire, so he dropped out and moved back home.
“I came back from school hella ambitious, ready to put my nuts on the line,” he said.
FORWARD MOMENTUM ONLY
Spending the day at Xotic Flavorz, one feels King’s energy permeating everything. Here is someone who does not rest and will not rest until he has built everything he intends to build.
He handles the vision, the sales and the hustle, while his brother-in-law, Gerardo, handles the nuts and bolts of day-to-day farm operations. King started with one piece of property and used that to buy another and another.
He continues to grow, while the local economy struggles under the weight of what the new legal weed landscape has done to the community’s major profit centers. While other farmers wonder if they’ll survive another harvest, King adapts, moving forward with unstoppable momentum.
When the price drops from $1,000 to $300 per pound, that just means he has to grow more.
HAWAIIAN SNOW CONE
OWNER
CODY KING
Push harder. Find efficiencies.
When neighboring ranchers and farmers faced bankruptcy due to the trials of the local economy, King sat down with them and offered to work with them to build his hoop houses on their land, run them and give them a cut bigger than their own work could offer. Anything it takes.
“I’ll invest everything I’ve ever made, and everything I’ve worked for, back into this brand,” King said. “You’re not seeing me hang my head. I’m not even sad.”
He currently operates nine farm properties in the backwoods of Humboldt County, and counting.
FIRE IN, FIRE OUT
The internal fire that powers King’s momentum transmutes to fire flower in the Xotic Flavorz bags.
“HE CULTIVATED HIS KINGDOM, DRAWING FROM AN INTERNAL WELL OF STRENGTH THAT FORTUNE 500 BUSINESS OWNERS ONLY READ ABOUT IN LEADERSHIP BOOKS.”
“We do everything we can to maintain quality and integrity,” King said.
He feeds a sizable team with his operation and only asks that they work as hard as possible to push out as much heat as the market can handle.
He feels comfortable out there on the raggedy edge, where the map apps go offline and where the heart of Cannabis thrums deep in the hills. It’s that deep history — the layers of composted and compacted scars and stories — that sets him and other legacy farmers apart from the rest of the entrepreneurs in the industry.
“It’s easy for me to adapt to a corporate setting,” King said. “But it’s not easy for someone corporate to come out here and do this right.”
XOTICFLAVORZ.COM | @_XOTICFLAVORZ_
MENDOJA FARMS
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU CAN DO AS A BUSINESS OWNER IS TO KNOW YOURSELF. ONCE YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE, YOU CAN IDENTIFY YOUR CUSTOMERS AND BUILD YOUR BRAND. AFTER MORE THAN TWO DECADES OF CULTIVATING, MENDOJA FARMS OWNER JUSTIN WILSON KNOWS EXACTLY WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE’S SETTING OUT TO DO. HE’S A HEAT-SEEKING HASH SMOKER WITH A PLATINUM PALATE, AND HE’S HUNTING FOR WASHERS.
WILSON
CULTIVATES
mixed light, light dep, and full-term Cannabis at his properties outside of Covelo, and his aim is true. He wants at least 80% of his crop to go toward producing top-tier, terp-laden hash.
“I get such positive reviews back from hash, it’s hard for me to go anywhere else right now,” he said.
Hash made from his flower fills some of the highest-end jars by some of the most sought-after makers on the market. It’s been a journey to get here.
AT HOME ON THE FLATLAND
Wilson has been honing his craft since the days when he had to hide his plants in the hills. Now that he can do it out in the open, it almost feels too easy.
“When I first moved my grow down here, I was like, ‘Oh my god, growing weed on flat land? No hills? That’s cheating,” Wilson said.
Now that he has licensed grows down on the flatland, he’s been building a farm that feels like a home, right down to the visual flourishes that feed his artistic side. He has multiple murals by worldrenowned psychedelic artist (and Leaf Magazines collaborator) Chris Dyer.
Finally at home, he takes the time he used to spend hiding from the law and focuses on finding the best possible strains to turn into delicious dabs.
HUNTING THE WINNERS
It’s not easy finding the right phenos. What looks good on the plant, or in the jar, might not show out in the wash.
Ask any California hashheads who know, and they’ll say Wilson has the magic sauce.
“I’ll never grow anything unless it passes my initial pheno hunt test,” Wilson said.
Right now, Wilson and his tight-knit crew have 300 strains in their nursery and 50 different strains flowering. They grow everything using 100% organic inputs, and every plant is still watered by hand, the oldschool way. They also harvest at night to preserve the terps.
“The plants like it more, the triches don’t get all greasy,” Wilson said. “The heads explode in the heat; they stay intact in the cooler air.”
BRINGING THE HEAT TO MARKET
Wilson’s current favorites from his lineup are OGZ, Tractor Fuel, Lemoncane x Tractor Fuel, Z, Sour Cindy from Maui, and a heater called Pleazure from fellow Mendocino cultivators Woodwide Highcraft, which was California Leaf Magazine’s Strain of the Month back in March 2023.
“I’LL NEVER GROW ANYTHING UNLESS IT PASSES MY INITIAL PHENO HUNT TEST.”
-OWNER JUSTIN WILSON
“Thirty years of smoking weed is part of it,” he says, referring to his ability to pick winners. The 42-year-old started his career at 14, helping out as a trimmer on a friend’s parents’ property on the Mendocino/Humboldt border.
We noted some juicy, mouthwatering terps emanating from Mendoja’s Pink Drink, the Sugar Loaf and the Yellow Zushi on a recent visit to the farm.
Keep an eye out, and you’ll see the fruit of his top-shelf collaborative partnerships with respected California hash makers. He currently has collabs out with Trilogy and Have Hash headed for dispensary shelves, as well as some other drops planned for 2025.
If you have a really keen eye, you might even see some of his finished flower on the shelf. Snag it if you can get it.
MURAL BY AUG. 2023
PSYCHEDELIA ISSUE COVER
CHRIS DYER
At Airo, we thrive on local partnerships rooted in quality and consistency. Together, we’re driving innovation and delivering premium cannabis experiences nationwide.
CURRENTLY IN 25 MARKETS AND GROWING
Master in Disguise
In a career spanning half a century, author Jorge Cervantes has published some of the most influential grow guides of all time — establishing him as one of the world’s most renowned Cannabis experts. Which is why, despite being forced to hide his true identity for decades, High Times once referred to him as “the most trusted name in marijuana cultivation.”
WEED & WANDERLUST
The man known as Jorge Cervantes was actually born George Van Patten on October 10, 1953, in Ontario, Oregon. A gardener from the get-go, he began growing radishes at just five years of age. In his youth, he worked as a paperboy (for The Argus Observer) before being promoted to the press room, where he acquired valuable knowledge about writing, photography and printing techniques.
It was in 1971, while in high school, that George and his friends got stoned for the first time — scoring a “three-finger lid” (about an ounce) of Mexican dirt weed, stuffing one of his father’s pipes full of it, then sitting in his car and puffing away until it was all gone.
“It took forever to get high, but once I was high, it was great,” he told Oregon Cannabis Stories last September. “It was surreal, like I was in a movie. I loved it.”
After high school, Van Patten used the money he’d saved to fund a trip to Spain, where he studied at the University of Valencia (1973-74). A year later, he continued his education down in Cholula, Mexico, where he truly fell in love with “mariguana” (spelled with a ‘g’, he notes).
“I’ve been fascinated with Cannabis since I took my first hit when I was 17 years old,” Van Patten told softscrets.com last year. “A few years later, at the University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico, I started consuming daily. All I could think about by the time I graduated university was growing more and better Cannabis.”
In 1976, he moved back to Oregon, where he graduated from Portland State University and grew his first crop of Cannabis. The following year, he moved to Santa Barbara, where he partnered with a Chilean buddy named Roberto to open a landscaping business called Green Thumb Gardening. On the side, he ran a guerilla grow in the Santa Ynez Mountains and became the top pot plug in the area. But soon, that travel bug was biting once again ... so, in 1979, George sold the business and drove back down to Mexico, then onward through Central and South America on a yearlong adventure before returning to Portland.
THE INDOOR GROW BIBLE
Once back in Oregon, Van Patten moved his operation indoors — transforming his basement into a grow room to avoid detection. But despite the explosion of indoor growing, there wasn’t much information available about how to do it right.
“I started asking questions at the new hydroponic/HID stores that were appearing at the time, and I found that many of the owners and employees really did not
know what the hell they were talking about,” he recalled in an interview with Wildflower magazine. “That’s when I started to write.”
Granted, there had already been a few grow guides published — most notably, “The Cultivator’s Handbook of Marijuana” (Bill Drake, 1970) and “The Marijuana Grower’s Guide” (Ed Rosenthal and Mel Frank, 1981) — but they were focused almost entirely on outdoor cultivation. So Van Patten began recording and analyzing his methods in the garden, then compiling his findings and recommendations into an indoor grow manual. In addition to writing the book, Cervantes also took the photos and drew the diagrams himself.
Of course, he couldn’t release a Cannabis cultivation book under his real name without drawing heat on himself. And so, using the
Jorge Cervantes in his disguise circa 2006.
The master at work out in the field.
Spanish translation of his first name and the maiden name of his wife, he adopted the nom de plume Jorge Cervantes. To further hide his identity, he devised a disguise for his new persona: a black dreadlock wig, black goatee, black beret and sunglasses — a get-up he would later refer to as his “Che Guevara/Bob Marley look.”
After shopping his manuscript to a dozen different publishers without success, he drew upon his past experience at the newspaper to publish it himself. The result was a 96page black and white manuscript first released in 1983 entitled “Indoor Marijuana Horticulture.” He then hit the road throughout Western Washington and Oregon on a mission to sell it to every headshop and garden store he could find — or, at least, any that were willing to carry it.
“Most hydroponic stores wouldn’t sell my book because it linked them to Cannabis cultivation,” Cervantes explains. “If they were connected to Cannabis cultivation, their store, bank accounts and all assets could be confiscated.”
“I’ve been fascinated with Cannabis since I took my first hit when I was 17 years old ... All I could think about by the time I graduated university was growing more and better Cannabis.”
Those stores that did carry it kept it hidden behind the counter… but despite its lack of visibility, IMH was a huge hit — selling 6,000 copies in its first year and landing distribution deals with Seattle’s Homestead Books and San Francisco’s Last Gasp. It was so popular and comprehensive, in fact, that its adherents began referring to it as the “Indoor Grow Bible.”
HIGH TIMES & HOLLAND
Over the next few years, big things started to happen for Jorge — primarily thanks to the pot publication of record, High Times: In February 1984, his book was first advertised in its pages (as part of Rosenthal’s Quick Trading ad); that December, he made his first editorial contribution to the magazine (“Sex and Cloning”); and in early 1985, he first saw the ad for the Holland Seed Bank, through which he was able to connect with Dutch Cannabis breeder Nevil Schoenmachers. Later that year, he traveled to the Netherlands and paid the first of many visits to Nevil at his infamous “Cannabis Castle.” During these visits, Schoenmachers introduced him to new breeding and growing techniques (e.g., Rockwool) and shared with him lots of weed and seeds, including one renowned cultivar that became his alltime favorite to grow and smoke.
“That Nevil’s Haze he got from [Skunkman] Sam … I couldn’t get enough of that!” he gushes.
GREEN MERCHANTS
Besides High Times, there was really only one other notable Cannabis magazine at the time — Sinsemilla Tips (see our Nov 2021 issue), run out of the Full Moon Farm Products shop in Corvallis, Oregon. Being just an hour and a half south of Portland, Cervantes occasionally drove down there for equipment. It was there, in 1981, that he met the shop’s owner (and ST’s publisher) Tom Alexander, who later enlisted Cervantes as a regular contributor to the magazine, carried his book, and became a lifelong friend.
Another cultivation shop owner/author turned lifelong friend was Steve Murphy (aka Murphy Stevens) — owner of the Indoor Sun Shop in Seattle, whose book “How to Grow the Finest Marijuana Indoors Under Lights” reportedly inspired the second edition of Jorge’s book. Released in 1985, this re-writ-
ten, expanded and professionally printed version of “IMH” featured a full-color cover and improved illustrations.
In addition to his new edition, Cervantes also designed a proprietary high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting system and even opened a grow shop of his own to sell them: Jorge Cervantes’ Indoor Garden Store. Unfortunately for him and Alexander, their stores would be forced out of business a few years later, courtesy of Uncle Sam.
On October 27, 1989, DEA agents raided dozens of grow shops as part of a multi-state sting dubbed Operation Green Merchant. Though nothing these shops sold was technically illegal, undercover narcs had persuaded employees and customers to discuss Cannabis cultivation, then used that testimony to bust them. Luckily, Cervantes dodged that bullet; since none of his customers would implicate him, his shop was not raided, and he was never charged. Nevertheless, authorities were harassing him, and the heightened scrutiny by police had him especially spooked because Green Merchant had also targeted Schoenmakers — who, Cervantes confesses, he’d been illegally moving seeds to on occasion. Afraid of ending up in prison like many of his comrades, he decided to close his shop.
OUT OF THE SHADOWS
During the 1990s, Cervantes moved every couple of years: first to Washington, then British Columbia, then Amsterdam, before ultimately expatriating to Barcelona in 1998. Throughout that time, he continued to build upon his past successes. In 1990, he founded his own company, Van Patten Publishing. In 1993, he released a third edition of his book, retitled “Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible,” featuring new chapters by fellow cultivation experts Ed Rosenthal and Robert Connell Clarke. After the passage of Prop 215 in 1996, this edition became the textbook of choice for new educational programs that emerged to train medical Cannabis cultivators in California. In 2000, when Rosenthal ended his long-running HT column “Ask
Ed” over legal issues with the magazine, Cervantes took over the slot, renaming the advice column “Jorge’s RX” and writing it monthly for the next decade. In 2006, he partnered with HT to release the how-to DVD series “Jorge Cervantes’ Ultimate Grow.”
And, of course, he remained a fixture at the annual Cannabis Cups, hosting seminars and signing books — always as his incognito alter ego.
It wasn’t until after the Obama administration announced its hands-off policy toward medical marijuana that he felt confident enough to come out of the grow closet. On February 8, 2010, in an interview on NPR’s “Tell Me More,” Cervantes finally came clean about his secret identity. His real-life American debut followed that June at the first-ever High Times Medical Cannabis Cup in San Francisco, where he hosted a medical cultivation seminar without his disguise for the first time.
THE ODYSSEY CONTINUES
Over his half-century-long career, Jorge Cervantes has published more than 50 books in 11 languages. To date, IMH alone has sold over a million copies. He’s been honored with a Gold Benjamin Franklin Award by the Independent Book Publishers Association in 2015, High Times Lester Grinspoon Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, and a 420 Icon award from World of Cannabis/Cannabis Business Awards in 2020. And just this year, Toronto’s Grow Up conference inducted him into their Hall of Fame. But perhaps most meaningfully, he’s taught countless pot smokers around the world how to grow their own Cannabis.
“The Cannabis community has been my life,” he once professed. “Standing here today, reflecting upon the path traversed, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of pride … this journey has been nothing short of magical — a green odyssey that has touched lives across continents, breaking barriers and cultivating friendships that span languages and borders.” Muchas gracias, Señor Cervantes.
To read the full, unabridged version of this story and listen to the interview on our podcast, visit worldofcannabis.museum/cannthropology.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JORGE CERVANTES
Los Alamos Gardens in California (2022).
Tom Alexander, Jorge & author Jeff Lowenfels.
‘TWASN’T IT SHAKESPEARE WHO WROTE
“a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose”? Whether he did or not, it’s a play on words. And from what the history books tell us, he was the best at making plays out of words.
Or organizing words into a play.
What we learn from this is that, as useful as language can be, it can also prove confounding. Through all the channeling to the place in the brain where comprehension is gained by translating your senses into images or ideas, there is always the opportunity for misinterpretation.
In the English language alone, there are currently 20,000 words, so chances are very good that a few of them are going to be doppelgänged. I mean, to a foreigner, it can’t be easy to discern the nuance of building a building. Or how a minute can be minute, much less how a solution can become a solution.
I know, it’s fucked.
They are called heteronyms. And as I’m sure you know by now, the key to differentiating terminology is by understanding the context of the word. Meaning, you just need to know the subject matter you’re talking about.
By the way, did you know they found a pipe in Shakespeare’s grave and they’re pretty sure the dude smoked weed? So, what did he mean when he wrote that “a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose”? Well, there are many ways to refer to a rose in literature. And actually, ‘twasn’t he who wrote that — I just looked it up. He wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” which is from “Romeo and Juliet” and means love transcends applied labels like Montague and Capulet.
And speaking of love, if a jar is ajar, it most likely means I’m preparing to pack a bowl. Just like Bill Shakespeare would’ve done.
