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June 2013 Issue #36
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contents
JUNE 2013
28
40
56
Health PROFILE& Science
64
Seeds vs. clones may sound like some kind of new summer blockbuster hit, but really, it comes down to a very important
decision for every gardener. While both options can yield potent and healthy plants, there are risks to one side that don’t exist with the other. Writer Tyler J. Markwart dives into the issue which should help clear the way for a successful and bountiful crop.
NATIONAL NEWS..................12 FREEDOM MARCH..................22 N.W.P.R.C ACCESS................28 NEW JERSEY WEEDMAN..........32 STRAIN OF THE MONTH ........40 LEAF LOOKBACK...................44 MICRO STRAINS.....................50 TASTY RECIPES......................54 OIL SAFETY...........................60 GROWTECH..........................70 BEHIND THE STRAIN...............78
50
Micro Strains #2
N.W.P.R.C. profile
56
Garlic Dean profile
32
New Jersey Weedman
70
Growing Environment The single most important factor
Cover art by Jessica Caballero
48
We are turning three
78
Behind the Strain
CONTENTS PHOTOS by Daniel Berman/Northwest Leaf
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Marijuana in the News
28
40
Steve Elliott rounds-up the best
White Center collective is transparent The prolific activist hasn’t had it easy
Taking a look back at the last year
32
Bob Montoya’s column returns Bodybuilder’s burgeoning business
Dawg Jam ‘91 is a doozy
contents
60
Eyeing 10 grams of Papaya shatter
Questions & Answers Nick Valdez is definitely an
oil conneuisuer, working for Healing Space Gardens and creating his own butane hash oil concentrates that have won him top honors from the High Times and DOPE Cannabis Cup Awards. He sat down with writer Tyler Markwart for a dab and to talk about health and safety, from why patients have to be aware of what they’re ingesting to how collectives can best help inform. Photo by Daniel Berman
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editor’s note
JUNE 2013
Three years sure goes by fast and we want to thank everyone (especially you) for your support. It has been a real blessing.
W
ow! 36 issues, and the magic still hasn’t disappeared! Every single month we are more and more excited to share the development of the medical Cannabis industry. And what a journey it has been. Three years ago the first issue of Northwest Leaf was printed. It was on basic newsprint, unstapled and only 16 pages, but it was full of heart. I believed then, much as I do now, that there really is something worth sharing about this movement. Three years later, and we have certainly expanded. On that note, we have an awesome issue to share with you! Special thanks goes out to Jessica Caballero for the custom cover this month. She used the last 12 issues to make a unique collage of all things NW Leaf. Inside this issue are some great stories, including a sweet look at the Cannabis Freedom March. Check out the hearse brought out for the “Funeral for Prohibition.” I got the opportunity to sit down with the New Jersey Weedman, who flew to Washington
to help with the Northern Cross court case in Bellingham. He’s the marijuana grandfather of jury nullification, and has beaten several major court cases, including one where he ate some special treats right in the courtroom. The Leaf also looks inside Northwest Patient Resource Center, a distinctly clean collective offering transparency to their entire business. Our strain of the month is also stellar, testing over 20% THC! We also compare seeds versus clones, proper air care in a garden, a new micro strain of Cannabis by Bob Montoya and more! There’s also two great patient profiles, one on oil connoisseur and processor Nick Valdez, and the other on a man known simply as Garlic Dean. Overall, this is one sweet issue, and we couldn’t produce it without our readers and advertiser support. It has been a great three years, and we are looking forward to many more producing unrivaled Cannabis journalism in the Pacific Northwest.
Contact Northwest Leaf editor Wes Abney to discuss advertising or displaying our magazine in a new location. We want to hear from you! Feel free to send submissions, share news tips, your take on a story or one we should hear.
Phone 206-235-6721 Email nwleaf@gmail.com
founder & editor-in-chief
Wes Abney
the truth about the plant you thought you knew, IN every issue.
photographer & designer
Daniel Berman contributors Jessica caballero Steve elliott kirk ericson Asher Koch tyler markwart bob montoya Dr. Scanderson Dr. Scott D. rOSE Will rodenbough june 2013 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
/9
Opinion
BY STEVE SARICH
Will medical cannabis patients become the scapegoat for the failure of the I-502 stores?
R
Get Involved
Find your legislator! http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder
Call the toll-free hotline 1-800-562-6000
emember all the promises by Alison Holcomb and the initiative sponsors that I-502 would not affect medical Cannabis and patients here in Washington? Our tax-hungry legislators in Olympia have been working behind the scenes. The Liquor Control Board, law enforcement and big money potprepreneur lobbyists have come up with a devious plan to end medical Cannabis here in Washington without a vote of the people or an opportunity for public input.
as we’ve already had confirmed by the LCB’s own expert. To avoid any public outcry, legislators have approved an amendment to this years’ state budget that calls for the Liquor Control Board, the Department of Health and the Department of Revenue to develop regulations to force medical Cannabis patients to conform with the provisions of I-502. This was exactly what we were promised would not happen by the Alison Holcomb and the sponsors of I-502!
Rick Garza, WSLCB Director, testified “...over 90% of the Cannabis purchased at medical marijuana dispensaries is for recreational use…”. This was echoed by Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, who chairs the I-502 oversight committee and Rep. Rueven Carlyle, D-Seattle, who chairs the House Finance committee. Garza stated that this “90%” figure came directly from his meetings with law enforcement. That misconception is certainly not our biggest problem. Despite promises of “cheap pot” made by I-502’s author, most legislators now share now share the sentiments of WSLCB consultant, Mark Kleiman. “I don’t think the legal market are imagining will be able to compete with the medical market if it remains as wide open as it currently is. The going price for pot in the largely unregulated, untaxed medical system is about $10 per gram, For the state’s new highly taxed system, that is very hard number to hit.” He went on to say that “It is entirely possible that by the time we finish regulating and taxing this product, it’s going to be uncompetitive with what you can get at the collective gardens. I don’t think the legal market (state officials) are imagining will be able to compete with the medical market if it remains as wide
This amendment does not call for either a “study” or for any public input on the issues. This means the legislature is asking these agencies for a complete re-write of state medical Cannabis laws, adding taxes to medicine, restricting medical authorizations, and forcing patients into compliance with I-502 regulations that will put patients in harms way. They must have these new proposed regulations in to the legislature prior to the 2014 legislative session. What is bringing medical Cannabis into compliance with I-502 likely mean to patients? Based on the countless statements from both legislators and regulators, this is what we can expect: Patients will be limited to one ounce, like recreational users, they will pay the same exorbitant tax as recreational users, personal growing and collective gardens will become illegal, without personal growing, designated providers will be eliminated, we can expect further restriction on doctors that could make it impossible for many patients to get their recommendations, and they will set a 21 year old age limit for patients, leaving thousands of sick young people without access to medication. What else will they come up with? We can only imagine, but you can be sure that this will end medical Cannabis as we
‘‘
open as it currently is,” Kleiman said. So the general consensus, from both top LCB officials and legislators is that they don’t believe these new recreational stores can possibly be competitive with medical collectives due to the excessive 85% excise and sales tax called for in the I-502. What they’ve carefully failed to mention is this tax structure will make it virtually impossible to deliver on Holcomb’s promise to wipe out the black market. This is a far greater threat to the profitability of the LCB licensed stores. They don’t mention it, because, while the legislature effectively can end medical Cannabis in Washington, they can’t simply legislate away the black market. They are attempting to make medical Cannabis patients the scapegoat for the failure of the I-502 system. That’s a recipe for failure. I-502 was only “carefully crafted” to get passed the voters, but not to actually be financially successful or deliver on its promises of billions of dollars in state tax revenues,
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Washington State Liquor Control Board Director Mark Kleiman, in charge of implementing legalization in this state, said it is entirely possible that by the time we finish regulating and taxing this product, it’s going to be uncompetitive with what you can get at the collective gardens.
know it here in Washington and make felons out of patients who continue to grow their own medication. Our legislators need know that patients will not go down without a fight. We must let them know that they cannot defy the will of the voters of this state and eliminate medical Cannabis. They must realize that patients are voters and that we are willing and able to defeat them at the polls! The Cannabis Action Coalition and other concerned patients are organizing a rally for medical Cannabis patients in Olympia. Advanced notice of the exact date and time will be available on the Cannabis Action Coalition Facebook page. Please contact your legislators and tell them to amendment to the budget bill that requires Liquor Control Board involvement in medical Cannabis. Then join us in Olympia!
Steve Sarich is founder of the Cannabis Action Coalition
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national
STEVE ELLIOTT is the editor behind tokesignals.com, an independent blog of Cannabis news and opinion
SEATTLE DISPENSARIES GET D.E.A LETTERS >> Legal action threatens landlords and leads to multiple collective’s closure —all because of supposed zoning laws
A
nother wave of threatening letters has been sent out to Seattle area dispensaries by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Nearly a dozen local business owners are in legal limbo after receiving letters from the DEA telling them to shut down or face federal prosecution. Eleven legally licensed storefronts were targeted as part of a nationwide push that has zeroed in on Washington and California. The legal weapon of choice was civil forfeiture warnings. “These letters suggest that if my clients remain in business, they could lose their companies, their homes, their cars, basically every piece of property that the Feds consider an asset,” said Seattle attorney Kurt Boehl, who represents three of the affected access points, including Wallingford’s Truly Helpful Collective. “We strictly followed Washington’s Medical Marijuana Law [RCW 69.51A],” said Arasp Khoshkhoo. “We had business licenses from the City of Seattle and the State of Washington.
We paid our taxes. We did everything any other legitimate business would do.” “The people of Washington have spoken,” said Kari Boiter of the Washington Chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA). “An overwhelming number of voters say Cannabis is not a crime, particularly if you are seriously ill. Yet the Feds continue to threaten patients and caregivers with civil and criminal penalties. Is this how they will treat the I-502 industry?” The Washington State Liquor Control Board is currently moving forward with a plan to tax and regulate marijuana for recreational purposes. In light of I-502’s passage, the LCB plans to issue state licenses to marijuana producers, processors and distribution centers. Wykowski and Associates represents a number of the medical marijuana access points that received warning letters from the DEA this week. “These collectives have worked extensively with the City and State to ensure compliance,” said attorney Rachel Kurtz.
The city said I was 1,058 feet from the nearest school, but the letter from the Feds said I was within a thousandfoot school zone.
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“The letters...make no distinction between legitimate licensed businesses and those who have made no effort to obey state and local laws.” This isn’t the first time the DEA has targeted medical Cannabis with civil forfeiture. Last fall, more than 30 Seattle businesses were notified. The latest batch of letters is part of a coordinated crackdown in at least two states. In most instances, the notices cite proximity to neighboring schools and “protected areas,” but one owner forced to close in the fall says she is a victim of state and federal law conflicts. “When I opened my shop in Shoreline, the city measured the distance between my front door and the school down the street,” said Laura Healy of now-closed Green Hope Patient Network. “The city said I was 1,058 feet from the nearest school, but the letter from the Feds said I was within a thousand-foot school zone.” Healy is a steering committee member of the newly formed Washington Chapter of Americans for Safe Access. Among other priorities, the group, according to a Wednesday press release, launched to ensure that the needs of terminally ill and disabled patients remain at the forefront of people’s minds as Washington leads the national dialogue surrounding Cannabis prohibition.
PHOTO BY FLICKR/BRADRUGGLES
Quick Hits!
3,670
Pounds of pot a single group of marijuana smugglers supplied into Philadelphia according to news reports on the Montgomery County official’s plan called “Operation Weed Whacker.” The goal was to eliminate up to $1 million in illegal marijuana from entering that market.
20
Number of pounds heavier than average a pig fed food infused with marijuana leaves weighed according to a Reuters story about a Washington state farmer trying out some unusual methods. No word if the feed actually contains any THC.
cALIFORNIA MOVES TO BAN FOR-PROFIT MMJ SALES >> All collectives would have to operate under a non-profit model and require more extensive record-keeping
T
he California Senate Monday May 20 approved a bill that would end all for-profit sales of medical marijuana in the state. The proposed law would go further than then-Attorney General (now Governor) Jerry Brown’s 2008 guidelines, in that it would make the nonprofit collective model mandatory for dispensaries. Provisions in the bill, SB 439, would also rquire extensive records-keeping by dispensary owners. That would theoretically allow tax agents to look more closely at dispensary finances to ensure no profits are being taken; unfortunately, it would also expedite federal prosecutions if those records were successfully subpoenaed by the federal Department of Justice. Brown issued the guidelines after law enforcement asked for clarification on who they could bust for medical marijuana. After California voters in 1996 approved medical marijuana, the Legislature in 2004 expanded and clarified the law in 2004 with SB 420, the Medical Marijuana Program Act, a system of voluntary regulations that estabMore than 200 cities around the state have lished a licensing system and put limits on cultivation and sales. More than 200 cities around the state have banned marijuana dispensabanned medical mari- ries, actions which the California Supreme Court recently upheld. juana dispensaries “This legislation is sorely needed to prevent D.A. offices from continuing to use the marijuana laws as a sword rather than respecting them for their true purpose: as a shield for medical marijuana patients,” said Allison Margolin, an attorney who has specialized in fighting off prosecutions of medical marijuana patients by the L.A. County district attorney’s office. Several dispensary owners told the Times that they support SB 439, which cleared the Senate without a single GOP vote.
Quoted
“
4 135
Number of people arrested in raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in southern Oregon, among them, the Southern Oregon director of NORML.
The maximum number of dispensaries now allowed in Los Angeles after voters there approved Measure D. As recently as last summer, the area had in excess of 400 shops, all shuttered.
1 8
Number of packages of every 15 being sent Fed/Ex from California’s marijuana counties that a DOJ special agent said likely contains pot. Cali bud is revered, they said.
Number of months the Washington State Liquor Control Board has taken for implementing legalization under I-502. Licenses to produce, sell or grow will cost $1,000 per year, after the $250 per year application fee. In under a day, the application was downloaded nearly 4,000 times.
47
Percent of respondents in a HuffingtonPost/YouGov national poll that said they believe it should be legal to grow marijuana, while about 37% said they believe such an act should remain illegal. Success?
I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR - I’M NOT ADVOCATING MARIJUANA USE TO PREVENT DIABETES, IT’S ONLY AN ASSOCIATION. THE QUESTION IS, IS THE MARIJUANA LEADING TO THE LOWER RATE? OR DO THEY HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON? -Dr. Theodore Friedman, a research scientist at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles. Media outlets reported last month on a a study that found frequent marijuana users had smaller waists and lower levels of insulin, two precursors to diabetes, than those who had never smoked.
new york, old problems
>> 45k arrests every year at a cost to taxpayers of $75 million — and the racist stop-and-frisk policies have yet to stop
M
embers of the New York State Black, Puerto Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, (DRican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative CauBrooklyn-43rd AD). “This broken law is harmcus on May 22 gathered with community ing the future of everyday New Yorkers, particugroups to demand an end to the biased, costly and larly minority youth, leading to the deterioration deceptive practice of falsely arresting tens of thouof communities across the state. sands of people in New York for low-level mari“Not only does allowing these arrests directly juana possession every year. impact the lives of individuals and their commuDozens of advocates and impacted people from nities, they are a gross misappropriation of city around the state joined them at a press conference and state resources, wasting millions of taxpayer and rally to urge passage of sensible marijuana dollars in law enforcement resources, while dedecriminalization legislation, A.6716A (Camara)/ tracting from the prosecution of serious crime,” S.3105A (Squadron). The proposal would decrimiCamara said. “This legislation will ensure that innalize possessing up to 15 grams of marijuana in dividuals who possess small amounts of marijuapublic view; smoking in public would remain a na are sanctioned appropriately while avoiding misdemeanor. permanent damage on their records.” Community members and elected “Stop and frisk is meant to curb gun The vast majority officials are demanding that leaderviolence, but guns are found in less of people who get ship in Albany make fixing this law than 0.2 percent of stops according to criminal records for a top priority. The bill would help the ACLU,” said Democratic Conferend the practice of arresting tens of ence Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. [possession] are thousands of young people per year “Instead, an overwhelming percentage young black and Lafor possessing marijuana in pubof stops result in an arrest for small tino men because of lic view when police demand that amounts of marijuana. stop-and-frisk policy. someone “empty their pockets” dur“These arrests, which are usually of ing a stop-and-frisk encounter. That’s simply immoral young people of color, go on permaIn January of this year, during nent records which impact housing, and unacceptable. his State of the State speech, Goveducational and professional prospects,” ernor Andrew Cuomo made a call Stewart-Cousins said. “We must pass a to stop discrimination in New York. “We are one marijuana standardization law now.” New York, and as one New York we will not tolerSince April, thousands more people have been ate discrimination,” he said. needlessly arrested since the legislature failed to Cuomo noted the “challenge posed by the ‘stop act in March – most of them Black and Latino – and frisk’ police policies,” and he cited the related costing taxpayers millions of dollars and wasting marijuana arrest problem in New York. The Goveran estimated 10,000 police hours. nor called for immediate action then: “These arrests “Far too often, entire New York communistigmatize, they criminalize, they create a permaties are made to feel like suspects targeted by law nent record. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It must end. enforcement instead of citizens protected by it,” And it must end now.” said Senator Daniel Squadron, a sponsor of reEnergized by the Governor’s call, community form legislation in the Senate. “Let’s be clear: a groups and legislators rallied for reform week aflarge number of people carry small amounts of ter week in Albany and around New York. Then, in marijuana. March, it appeared that sensible reform was slated “But the vast majority of people who get crimito pass. But in typical Albany fashion, confusion nal records for it are young black and Latino men among leadership in the capital stymied the effort. because of stop-and-frisk policy,” Squadron said. “No more delays, no more waiting – it’s time “That’s simply immoral and unacceptable. for real reform,” said Assemblyman Karim Camara, “None of us should accept living in a place where Chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, the color of your skin, your gender, and your age
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define whether your behavior is a criminal act or not,” Squadron said. About 45,000 people were arrested in New York for marijuana possession in 2012 alone, mostly in New York City, far exceeding the total marijuana arrests for the 15-year period from 1981-1995. The cost to taxpayers was nearly $75 million last year alone, and over $600 million in the last decade, a profound waste of taxpayer money. A report released this March by the Drug Policy Alliance found that the NYPD spent 1 million hours making arrests for marijuana possession between 2002-2012. The report found that police spent an average of 2.5 man-hours on such arrests, amounting to 98,045 hours in 2012. Nearly 85 percent of those arrested are black and Latino –- mostly young men -– even though government studies show that young white men use marijuana at higher rates. Fixing the law and standardizing penalties will bring us closer to ending racially discriminatory marijuana arrest practices focusing our limited resources more effectively. The reforms have broad-based support. A new poll released Monday by the Sienna Research Institute found that 60 percent of New Yorkers support the proposal to fix the state’s broken marijuana possession law, making it the third poll this year to register at least 60 percent support for the measure. “It feels like I can’t step out of my house without being stopped by the police and have them go through my pockets,” said Shapriece Townsend, a Harlem resident and VOCALNY leader who has been wrongfully arrested for marijuana possession. “If police acted the same way to white residents in neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, they’d find the same number of people carrying marijuana.” “Enough is enough,” said Gabriel Sayegh, director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s NY office. “Albany leaders need to pass this reform now or explain why they’ve failed to act and why low income people in New York, especially people of color, are always told to wait.”
A NJ Gov. Says He Is Against Allowing Children In Medical Marijuana Program >> The portly Chris Christie says he is worried about the slippery slope
A
cting as if Cannabis was somehow uniquely dangerous among medicines, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he is against allowing minors to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program, in contrast to the law. “I’m very concerned, if we go down this slope of allowing minors to use this, where does it end?” Gov. Christie said. The governor was responding to a question concerning a story about Vivian Wilson, a two-year-old with a severe, rare form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. Vivian got a medical marijuana ID card from the NJ Health Department in February, but her parents, Brian and Meghan Wilson of State law requires Scotch Plains, have been unable to find a psychiatrist to support enrolling Vivian. approval of three State law requires the approval of a pedifferent doctors diatrician, a psychiatrist and the child’s prescribing physician before the family may buy Cannabis on a child’s behalf. Readers may remember New Jersey politicians bragging about having the “strictest medical marijuana law in the nation. The Wilsons are asking legislators to make an exception for their daughter and other children with debilitating illnesses who cannot be helped with mainstream medication. “I have the health commissioner looking at that particular situation and making recommendations to me,” Christie said during the press conference. “But I will tell you -- I’ve said this all along and I’ll say it again -- I want New Jersey to be a compassionate state. “And for people who this is your only option to get pain relief, for those who are terminally ill, are chronically ill, we’ve authorized it,” Christie said. “But I am not going to allow New Jersey to become a California or a Colorado where someone can fake a headache and get a bag of pot on every corner,” the governor said. “So I’ll have the health commissioner look at it, report back to me, but...I’m not inclined to allow them to have it.” The Wilsons are eager to obtain edible forms of Cannabis high in CBDs to help reduce the frequency and severity of their daughter’s seizures. One strain of high-CBD weed, Charlotte’s Web, is reportedly helping 19 children and young adults with serious epilepsy in Colorado.
michigan medical marijuana user wins his supreme court appeal >> State’s highest court says patients who drive aren’t automatically breaking the law
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he Michigan Supreme Court ruled on May 21 that medical marijuana patients aren’t automatically breaking the law against driving while impaired if they’re caught driving after smoking pot. The court, in a unanimous decision, overturned an appeals court decision in the case of Rodney Koon, a medical marijuana patient from Grand Traverse County. Koon was stopped in 2010 for going almost 30 miles per hour over the limit. He admitted having smoked mediRODNEY KOON WASN’T DRIVING IMPAIRED cal marijuana earlier, and a blood test showed the presence of Cannabis in his system. It’s illegal in Michigan to drive while under the influence of marijuana, but the state Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana patients have some protection. The court ruled that police must show a driver was actually impaired -- “under the influence” of marijuana for DUI charges to stick. The medical marijuana law approved by 63 percent of Michigan’s voters in 2008 “shields registered patients for the internal possession of marijuana,” the judges unanimously ruled. At the same time, the law forbids driving “while under the influence of marijuana.” But it doesn’t set a level above which drivers are considered to be “under the influence,” the ruling said. The court suggested that the Legislature consider setting a marijuana blood limit, similar to blood alcohol levels. Washington state’s legalization measure, I-502, approved by voters last November, includes a 5 ng/ml blood limit for THC metabolites; that limit is controversial because of the shaky (or perhaps nonexistent) science to support it being indicative of impairment. “It goes almost without saying that the (medical marijuana law) is an imperfect statute, the interpretation of which has repeatedly required this Court’s intervention,” the The court ruled that police justices, sounding irritated, wrote. must show a driver was “Indeed, this case could have been easily resolved if the (law) had provided a definition of actually impaired -- “under ‘under the influence.’” the influence” of marijuaDespite the victory for Koons, the fallout from na for DUI charges to stick, the ruling could be quite bad. If Michigan lawmakers decide to adopt a per se limit of 5 ng/ so patients have some ml, as in Washington state and apparently soon measure of protection. in also-legal Colorado, hundreds and perhaps thousands of unimpaired medical marijuana patients (and recreational users) could be caught up in that too-broad net. Statistics show fewer driving fatalities in states which have legalized medical marijuana.
PHOTO BY TRAVERSE CITY RECORD EAGLE
JUNE 2013 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
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national
federal criminal code (like our drug laws) could be revised by new congressional taskforce >> Only Congress can remove federal penalties
10 Maryland NORML Says State’s Medical Marijuana Law Is Fake >> Patients will not be able to grow their own medicine or buy it anytime soon under the plan
IT
seems simple enough, on the face of it. If Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signs a medical marijuana law, that means Maryland just became the 19th state which allows the medicinal use of marijuana, right? Gov. O’Malley signed a medical marijuana bill, HB 1101, into law on May 2 (although The Associated Press reports it could be up to three years before the program is running). But Maryland NORML, the state chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, was quick to condemn the bill as a fraud. “HB 1101 is a smoke and mirrors bill that will benefit NO patient in Maryland,” said Judy Pentz, director of communications and outreach for Maryland NORML. “It is a fake bill to afford our governor to ‘look good’ for his U.S. presidential run in 2016. “National NORML and Maryland NORML do not recognize Maryland as the 19th [medical marijuana] state,” Pentz told Northwest Leaf on May 1. “There will be NO growing and NO dispensaries here in Maryland. Patients will NOT be able to readily receive Cannabis and it will NOT be available to them. “The bill is set up with so much red tape that it cannot possibly help anyone,” Pentz said. “It requires
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they establish a committee to set up programs with academic research centers — of which there are only three in Maryland, and two of them have already said they are uninterested in participating. “Those academic research centers are funded in part by the pharmaceutical industry,” she said. “Furthermore, there will be no growers or dispensaries in our state,” Pentz told us. “So where will the marijuana come from? And the federal government is also written up to be involved in the implementation of the law.” Judy has a point there; specifically, at the bottom of page 3 of House , defining “academic research centers,” to the top of page 4 (number 2). House bill 1101 (2) Conducts research that is overseen by the federal department of health and human services and involves human subjects. “I know you are very lucky in Washington,” Pentz told us, “but here in Maryland we are no closer to becoming a medical marijuana state. We are still fighting hard here, but please understand, it does not help us for you to tell a vast audience that Maryland is the 19th state to legalize medical marijuana.”
House Judiciary Committee members on May 7 passed a resolution to form the Over-Criminalization Task Force of 2013 to examine and make recommendations for paring down the federal criminal code, which has expanded rapidly in recent years. The Task Force will conduct hearings and investigations, and has the opportunity to issue reports and make recommendations. This is noteworthy to the Cannabis community because the the Task Force could choose to examine federal marijuana policy. Only Congress can remove federal criminal penalties for marijuana – even for individuals who are in compliance with state laws (such as the 19 medical marijuana states plus the District of Columbia and the two states, Washington and Colorado, that have legalized recreational marijuana). More broadly, the Task Force will likely also explore the draconian drug sentencing policies of the last three A chance to explore decades that have lead to severe overthe draconian drug crowding in federal sentencing policies prisons. “The Task Force is a of the last three in the right didecades that lead to step rection and could severe overcrowding propose recommendations to signifiin federal prisons. cantly alleviate mass incarceration and racial disparities in the federal system,” said Jasmine L. Tyler, dep. dir. of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “The establishment of this Task Force is long overdue for the drug policy reform movement,” Tyler said. “It is past time for Congress to re-examine marijuana laws, conspiracy laws, mandatory minimum sentencing, and the appropriate role and use of the federal government’s resources.”
L.A. LAW
New rules add to Cali confusion over dispensaries
>> No new dispensaries will be allowed, and new regulations have been thrown at the 130 collectives that are still around today
c
itizens of Los Angeles on May 21 voted to regulate medical marijuana by passing Proposition D, one of three medical marijuana regulation measures on the ballot. The Proposition received 62.57 percent of the vote. Proposition D caps the number of collectives at those who opened prior to 2007, about 130, raises the gross receipts tax from $50 to $60 per $1000 of gross receipts, and establishes the distances they must keep from schools, parks, one another and residential neighborhoods. It also requires that collectives be closed between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m., prohibits the consumption of marijuana on the premises and requires background checks on managers. Unfortunately, the Proposition also does not allow for a new collective to receive a permit if one of the pre-2007 collectives closes. Proposition D was supported by several members of the City Council, the Greater Los Angeles Collective Association (GLACA), the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), both Los Angeles mayoral candidates and the current city attorney and his challenger. Under the Proposition, organizations
consisting of four or more people who cultivate, struggling to regulate its medical marijuana process, distribute or give away medical marijuana system for many years. The City Council must obtain a city license. passed an ordinance in 2010 to cut the numCompeting with Proposition D were Proposition ber of shops from roughly 1,000 to 70. But E (which received only 34.55 percent of the vote), numerous lawsuits were filed against the city which also capped the number at those operating by dispensaries and the ordinance was alpre 2007 but did not establish any new lowed to expire last year, leading tax (supporters of E threw their support The state of Califor- to another surge in the number to D towards the end of the campaign), nia still has a bewil- of collectives. and Proposition F (which received 40.88 Last summer, the city approved dering patchwork percent of the vote), wouldn’t have lima ban, but two months later of local regulations ited the number of pot shops but put repealed it after enough sigstringent controls such as audits and natures were gathered to get a that confuse law background checks on employees and measure repealing the ban on enforcement and also raised taxes. the ballot. leave the burden of The totals for all three Propositions Proposition 215 directed the rule-making to local state to work with communities add up to more than 100 percent because voters could vote for one, two, or all three in establishing medical marigovernments. of the measures. juana regulations. The state has “Los Angeles has finally adopted rules for medinot stepped up to the plate, and, as a result, cal marijuana distribution,” said Amanda Reiman, more than 200 localities have banned dispolicy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) pensaries, many too overwhelmed and under in California. resourced to take on this type of regulation. “The state of California still has not, fostering Even large metropolitan areas like Los Ana bewildering patchwork of local regulations that geles are struggling to handle regulations on confuse law enforcement and leave the burden of their own, according to the DPA, which says rule-making to local governments, many of which state level oversight is needed to assist localihave banned medical marijuana dispensaries outties in medical marijuana regulation and act right rather than take on the daunting task L.A. has as a buffer between localities and continued struggled with for years.” attacks on California’s medical marijuana As mentioned by Reiman, Los Angeles has been program by the Federal government.
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rehashed
STORY AND PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN
MARCHING for FREEDOM The cannabis community rallied at Volunteer Park in support of marijuana legalization before SMOKING THEIR WAY to Westlake Park Sat. May 11
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The march began near Black Sun, a sculpture by Isamu Noguchi inside Volunter Park.
rehashed
Marching for Freedom
F
reedom is beautiful whether it means lighting up a blunt as you walked down a Seattle side street or held signs aloft proclaiming ‘legalize it,’ the message was loud and clear one exciting day in May. A few dozen people started the event by gathering on the expansive grassy knoll at Volunteer Park, where they listened to rappers call out ‘hemp, hemp, hooray’ and speakers’ personal stories of medicinal triumphs. Of course, protecting patient’s rights in a post-I-502 society was also a chief concern of those on the stage, who said we shouldn’t lose our rights to grow and to access our medicine, or have to needlessly kow tow to the Liquor Control Board. Legalization has not been truly realized in this state, but the hard work of so many over the years was celebrated, and it felt like a special moment as the sun baked those beneath. There, on those stately park grounds, were actually more people smoking in a public place than were just sitting idle. Some had traveled to the march that day from across the state and many of the familiar names of our community took the stage to explain why they believe in Cannabis freedom — but yet how far we still must go. True, you probably won’t get arrested for smoking in Seattle, but outside of the 206, we don’t have complete protection as patients, people are still arrested for marijuana-related charges and drug laws are still regularly eviscerating people’s futures across the country. This reality means that events like the Cannabis Freedom March are a vital part of breaking down the stigmas that exists for many. You shouldn’t have to feel bad for partoking in your backyard. You shouldn’t have to worry about that certain scent following you into the bank. You shouldn’t have to reconsider wearing a shirt emblazoned in pot leafs out and about for any other reason than it’s tacky. But until that day, where shouting “5....6...7...8... let the patient’s cultivate,” isn’t a cause for old ladies lunching in Seattle to frown, it’s up to us to keep shouting, to keep vigilant in this fight for what we believe in and use to live well and healthily.
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Behind clear walls N.W.P.R.C in West Seattle keeps the inventory out in the open and they don’t regret it even one bit.
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BY WES ABNEY | PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN Picking a theme for a new medical Cannabis access point can be a tricky business. While there is beauty in knowing that each business is true to its own model, the uncertainty can be intimidating for new owners. Should it feel like a coffee shop? Or a swanky jazz ultra lounge? For John Davis, founding partner of Northwest Patient Resource Center in White Center, the answer is none of the above. Northwest Patient Resource Center is clean, professional and designed to do one thing: Provide medicine. Inside, the atmosphere is all business. Skip the pot posters and lengthy waiting lines familiar at many collectives. Two windows are always running to serve patients, with a third that can be opened in case of high patient volume. “This one, she is built for speed,” Davis explained. “We want to provide service as quickly as possible to
help serve the patients’ needs efficiently.” It begins outside, where patients find parking right in front and no accessibility issues. After walking through the front doors, a frosted glass divider neatly splits the space, hiding the beautiful wall of medicine behind. The realization that the medicine room is the main room is kind of a relief for new patients. Customers won’t find security doors, a man trap to walk through or a security guard to eye you up. “This is designed so that anyone can walk in off the street and take a look,” Davis said passionately. He reaches up and taps the bank-grade bulletproof glass that separates the public from the medicine. “There’s no exposure to medicine unless you are being helped by a budtender. People can look and learn but there’s no way for anyone unauthorized to touch the Cannabis.”
F
or patients with caregivers, this system is especially beneficial. At many access points, a caregiver, often a spouse or loved one, will have to wait in the front while the patient is taken into a back bud room. Here, caregivers can hear the consulting done by the budtender, and learn along with the patient about the medicine they’re getting, Davis said. Customers can choose from a fine spread of medicine, with 24 strains of flower and a large variety of edible items. On the top shelf is The Sour Tsunami, from Solstice Garden, which has sweet and earthy tones and a nice fluffy bud structure. The smoke is less favorable than the smell suggests, though it’s what one expects from a CBD-rich strain. The effects are calming and mellow and effective for relieving pain and anxiety. With an outstanding smell and taste, Solstice’s Blueberry Cheesecake is a delightful indica that is best for evening medication. Davis attributes the success of NWPRC to a previous experience with a medical access point that wasn’t run correctly. He learned his lessons. Later, when the opportunity came to start a new business, he jumped on it. The success he and his partners enjoy today came from a fateful meeting, one that gave the company a stable structure. “They both just wandered in here one day,” Davis said, smiling wide, about co-owners Jake Dimmock and Daniela Bernhard. “I was in the process of building it, and one day we found each other.” In an industry where partnerships often fail, this group has proven themselves savvy in the business of Cannabis. “We set out to be the Nordstrom of pot,” Dimmock said. “We are the most grown-up of the collectives.” NWPRC was built to be fully self-contained. The building is clearly secure to passing eyes, which helps put staff and patients at ease. What most don’t know, what the basic exterior fails to reveal, is just how secure the facility is. All the walls, including the side walls adjoining other businesses, are ballistically shielded, extending through to the roof. The windows are bulletproof, and the passthrough for medicine is the same as found in most banks. In back, the ceiling and floors are alarmed and equipped with motion sensors. The entire facility is covered in cameras. The medicine is also meticulously tracked, whether it’s grown in-house or provided by an outside patient. The collective’s indoor garden is always flowering a crop, and the growers log everything from nutrient use and flush dates to the amount of flower produced. Once flower is dried and cured, it is packaged on-site by a staff member. Then, a barcode is attached and it is logged into their point of sale system. Medicine is stored in locking drawers until patients make a request.
N.W.P.R.C. partners Jake Dimmock, John Davis and Daniela Bernhard. The space can serve up to 3 patients at a time.
“We hope to be the Nordstrom of pot. We are the most grown-up of the collectives.”
Sour Tsunami
-Jake Dimmock “My system is set up so that I couldn’t steal from this company if I wanted to,” Davis said, admitting that it wasn’t easy to build from scratch. “But it has paid off. We had four grams go missing from the system one day, tore the place apart, and it wasn’t until I checked the security tapes that we saw a potential vendor slip it into a backpack. You can’t cheat the system, and it protects the business.” Losses from theft and waste are a fact of any business, and can result in financial harm to the tune of thousands of dollars annually. By accounting for everything that comes through the facility, the business can easily prove compliance with state law. Open the books and every transaction is easily verifiable. The business also remits sales tax, as the Department of Revenue has asked medical Cannabis businesses to do. While many have a justifiable moral dilemma with paying sales tax for medicine, Davis has no such qualms. “There is no doubt about it. I sell Cannabis. This is a collective garden management company, and
it’s not a nonprofit,” he said. “We hope to profit. I don’t fear the lawman. I fear the taxman.” With the future of medical Cannabis uncertain, the crew at NWPRC, which just opened a second Seattle location, is looking to Initiative 502 implementation as the next big opportunity. They teamed up with Jamen Shively, a former Microsoft manager planning to launch premium Cannabis businesses called Diego Pellicer. That’s his great grandfather, described as the world’s largest hemp grower in the 1890s. “You have to be thoughtful about what you do with Cannabis,” he said pensively. “Failure in my businesses means jail. We don’t intend to fail.”
Northwest Patient Resource Center (206) 588-2841 www.nwprc.co
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BY WES ABNEY | PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN
From Man to Weedman
T h e L e g a c y o f C A N N A B I S A C T I V I S T R o b e r t E d w a r d F o r c h i o n, J r.
NJ Weedman uses
Cannabis to relieve pain from a rare form of bone cancer. He was one of the first activists to call for jury nullification — asking a jury to not recognize criminal acts as criminal — in marijuana cases.
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H
e is a political activist, dissident and superhero to the potheads. He was born Robert Edward Forchion, Jr. but now goes by Ed, or the name given to him: NJ Weedman. His cause is his legacy, and it has taken him across the country, and into the national spotlight and federal courtrooms. He has spent time in prison, transported hundreds of pounds of Cannabis, fought cancer for years -- and that’s just the beginning. As much a self-proclaimed marijuana Robin Hood to the people as he is to law enforcement, his words resonate with a truth that is hard to deny. When a man such as Ed believes that his cause is just and good, his heart will lead him through trials and tribulations to pursue justice.
Growing Up Born on July 23, 1964, Ed was raised in upstate New York in an upper-middle class family, with strict parents and a religious upbringing. If you had asked the young man in high school about becoming a “superhero to potheads,” he probably would have laughed, focused as he was on other projects. “My mom made me read [growing up] and she’s a nerd. I’m a nerd,” he said laughing. “It was my mother’s influence. Any time I would ask her a question, she’d make me do a book report. That was the deal. Ask a question, do a book report.” It was one fateful book report that led to his effort for jury nullification. “When I was 11 or 12, I remember my mom took us to Pennsylvania for the ’76 bicentennial celebration. On top of city hall was a statue of William Penn. I asked her who he was and she made me do a book report,” he explained. “That was how I knew about nullification growing up. I knew why Pennsylvania was named after Penn, and what he stood for.” His research led to Penn’s landmark trial in 1670. Penn and a partner were arrested for “unlawful assembly” of five or more religious people, a crime
under the English Crown. Penn took his case to trial, and encouraged the jury to nullify the case if they didn’t believe the law was just, or that his actions were not deserving of being labeled a crime. A grand jury refused to convict Penn. The history lesson wasn’t lost on the young man. When he did finally start using Cannabis, he noticed immediate beneficial effects for his asthma, noting that while he couldn’t smoke cigarettes without having an asthma attack, the pot smoke helped. By 18, he was a regular user of Cannabis and had opened his mind to the lies of prohibition, realizing that it was all “propaganda and Christian superstitions.” After graduating high school the sirens call of a university reached Ed. He enrolled in Claflin University, the first historically black university established in South Carolina. But as he tells it, Claflin didn’t approve of his Cannabis smoking lifestyle. He left the college soon after enrolling, and joined the National Guard. After an honorable discharge, he served in the Army, and eventually enrolled in the Marines. But his asthma attacks and chronic Cannabis use made service impossible, and he was given a medical discharge from the Marines. In retrospect it is clear that Ed was searching for something more. As an educated and wellspoken man not satisfied by the status-quo, he was looking to make a name for himself. But it wouldn’t be as Robert.
and as a coast–to-coast owner-operator of his truck, he was his own boss. The year was 1997. He’d been driving for three years, and practicing as a Rastafarian for two. The long-haul route he ran regularly from Arizona to New Jersey put him in touch with a new crowd. A smuggler was born. “It was ’97, and some Mexican dudes I worked with gave me that name [NJ Weedman],” he said with a hint of bravado. “I would pick up weight [Cannabis] from them in Arizona and run it to New Jersey, which was my normal long-haul route.” Ed started with smaller runs with several pounds, but eventually was moving more than 100 pounds at a time. The risk was high, but the money was too good to ignore. He had many close calls, including one where he had been pulled into a Department of Transportation drug stop. Just as the inspection was ramping up, his dog Buster spooked out of the cab and was hit by another truck. The inspector was so shaken by Ed’s loss that he stopped the screening and sent the grieving man on his way. The dog was taken back to New Jersey, where he was buried on family property. “That was the last time ... I was caught, and my dog paid the price,” he said. “I had 114 pounds in the back ... ready to get searched and off to prison. On that one run alone I made about $150,000. It took me about three days to transit, took my share of the product, and had it all sold within
People ask me ‘Why
are you still fighting? Didn’t Washington and Colorado legalize it? Isn’t the battle over?’
The Smuggling Years In one of the dozens of YouTube videos of Ed, he’s seen sitting in the cab of his big blue semitruck. Different messages wrap all along the truck body. His pride and love for the road is evident,
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access
>> Continued from p. 33
‘‘
From Man to Weedman
I am a weedless, moneyless man, now.
two weeks.” Ed’s knowledge of New Jersey made moving the product easy, leaving him with huge amounts of cash. “I bought a house with the money off that run, basically lived for the next few years off that,” he said. “I was living the good life then.”
E
ventually the law caught up with him on November 24, 1997, and his assets were seized in the process of a criminal trial. He was caught with 37 pounds, and faced a 10-year prison sentence. He represented himself in the highly publicized trial, encouraging the jury to nullify the case. Eventually, he accepted a plea deal. “I took the deal, but I had my own terms. I got to poll the jury to see how they would have voted,” he explained. “I remember there were five hands [of jurors who dissented]. It would have been enough to toss the trial. I tried to withdraw my deal, but they wouldn’t let me. That was my wake-up call. I was never going to take a deal again.” He served 17 months in a state prison, and when released a new energy overtook Ed. His ideas and theories had become fact, and he was ready to fight the system. Ultimately, he wouldn’t be disappointed. “When I was first released I was told I couldn’t smoke pot, couldn’t even talk about pot,” he said. “That didn’t happen.” He was arrested for violating the terms of his parole on August 19, 2002. “When I first got released by New Jersey, their probation terms said that I couldn’t even speak about Cannabis. That’s a violation of my freedom of speech,” Ed explained. “But I had to sit in prison and wait for federal court.” Representing himself, he spent nearly six months re-imprisoned until Jan. 24, 2003, when Federal Judge Irenas ruled his imprisonment violated his right to free speech and ordered him freed. The Judge issued a writ of habeas corpus, and declared him political prisoner of the state of New Jersey.
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“I’ve met attorneys, big ones, who are jealous of my court records,” he said proudly. “I also took on the state over their subpoena for my DNA. I said, ‘You can’t take the DNA of felons retroactively.” His court case stopped the development of the New Jersey State felon DNA database for several months, and a Superior Court eventually ruled in his favor. Feeling the pressure in New Jersey, Ed moved to California and built a Rastafarian themed medical Cannabis dispensary. “We were in the heart of Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard,” he said. “We had celebrities coming in and getting meds, smoking in our lounge.” He started identifying himself Public enemy No. 420, and wrote a book with that as the title. “This book is basically a book about me and my life, and my trials and tribulations to try and get marijuana legal for all of us,” he said in an interview at The Liberty Bell Temple in Hollywood in October of 2008. “If you come buy it from me, I’ll sign it and give you a free joint.” The Liberty Bell Temple served California patients until Ed was arrested shortly after in New Jersey for possession of a pound of marijuana. During the time that he was fighting the case in NJ the DEA raided his dispensary. “They came in and stole everything,” he said. “Everything I worked for, everything I had. Gone.” He was never charged in the raids, and the case was settled in New Jersey without and jail time. Since then, Ed has been held in limbo, unable to do what he has always done. Provide Cannabis.
Jury Nullif ication & Northern Cross We met Ed on a cold morning in Bellingham on May 8th this year, standing outside the courthouse holding signs for jury nullification. A box of joints was passed around to the crowd of about 100 patients and activists, and the smoke rose along with the voices of dissent. Martin Nickerson, the owner of Northern Cross Collective, flew Ed
to Washington to consult on his case, in which he faces multiple felonies. “I do not believe a jury of my peers in Bellingham will convict me,” Martin shouted to the crowd. He has been vocal about his case as the legal system continues to putter along, leaving him and two codefendants in limbo. “The prosecutor doesn’t want this case, the state doesn’t want this case, and the people don’t want the state spending over a million dollars to prosecute somebody following State law. It will only take one.” His last reference is to the essence of jury nullification, that it only takes one person to make a hung jury. In cases like Martin’s, that can be the only protection from years in prison. With the Bellingham case approaching trial, the pressure is on to build public support for the case, and raise awareness for jury nullification. “The lawyers and prosecutors have taken over the legal system,” Ed said. “We’re talking about a system that was set up so the jury was the arbitrators of the law. The jury was to save a defendant from the tyranny of the government, or punish people for their misdeeds.” During his most recent major trial, Forchion drew national headlines for eating medibles to combat pain while enduring eight-hour courthouse days. “The judge and prosecutor had to know I was eating weed. It wasn’t until I included that in my closing statement that the reporters picked up on it,” he said. “If I was eating a tasty cake, or a Hostess ... somebody would tell me no eating. But I didn’t care, I’m no hypocrite. If they had arrested me it would have proven that I was the victim.”
The future of Weedman
T
oday, much of the glitz and glamor of the NJ Weedman has disappeared. His dispensary in Los Angeles was raided in 2010, and the government seized every last asset he had. Ed is also burdened with a rare form of bone cancer, forcing monthly trips to Los Angeles for experimental treatments that harden his bones, so, hopefully, he said, they stop the growth of the tumors. The DEA calls him semiregularly, just to “check in on him,” and make sure he isn’t selling Cannabis ... or sharing his message. “When you become an enemy of the state, man ... I’m creative enough to still function, but people are tired of hearing Weedman’s problems,” he said. “They want to shut me up, to stop my message. They can’t imprison me, so the best way is to make
Northern Cross Collective’s Martin Nickerson (center) flew NJ Weedman up from the East Coast to consult about jury nullification technique. He protested outside of Whatcom County Court in Bellingham at a rally this May.
He has played his health as if it was a Stradivarius. Mr. Forchion continues to ignore this court. He has punched his own ticket. The time for excuses is all over. -New Jersey Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey sentencing NJ Weedman to
nine months in Burlington County Jail for violating the terms of his probation by possessing marijuana. The judge said jail wouldn’t interfere with the man’s monthly cancer treatments and remarked that such excuses were “hogwash.”
sure I can’t afford my treatment and can’t afford to spread my message.” The bone tumors are extremely painful, and the cost of traveling for treatments has become a major burden. He worries that people have forgotten about the cause, both for marijuana legalization and jury nullification. Ed said he has met many people in the past six months who ask him, “Why are you still fighting? Didn’t Washington and Colorado legalize it? Isn’t the battle over?” But as he, and the patients and citizens of Washington know, the battle is far from over. “I went back two years ago on Facebook to see what I was posting. Yea, things are so drastically
different. The crazy thing is, I over-employed people, gave too much away -- the whole nine yards. Now I’m scrambling, and I am a weedless and moneyless man now. Activism doesn’t pay at all.” Still, he has hope for seeing a real change in the entire nation’s drug laws. “Potheads... And I use that term affectionately by the way ... Potheads are a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “We came out and helped Obama. Now that same force would undermine New Jersey Gov. Christie or any other politician that tries to deny us. They are going to get a surprise.”
His book Public Enemy 420 is available from Amazon at tinyurl.com/njweedmanbook. He’s raising money for a national tour about jury nullification. Donate at tinyurl.com/njweedmantour. For more info visit njweedman.com
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Available from patient care network 921 S. Harney St. Seattle, WA 98108 (206) 397-4197 www.pcn921.com
22.76% THC // 0.77% CBG-A 0.06% cbg // 0.35% CBn Tested By
ANALYTICAL 360 Cannabis Analysis Laboratory
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HELP SHAPE THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY. GET COMPLIANT AND GET EDUCATED.
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Access Points
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COMPLIANT
2013
Gallery
Three years, 36 issues
June 2012
July 2012
Now a look back at the last 12 months Go to issuu.com/nwleaf to read the digital versions
August 2012
October 2012
November 2012
December 2012
February 2013
March 2013
April 2013
44/june 2013 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
September 2012
January 2013
May 2013
text by daniel berman
How could we ever forget...
One of the most daunting prospects of I-502 were cheek swabs.
Around this time we were just starting to really learn, as a community, what I-502 would hold for the average medical marijuana patient. We had no idea whether patients would face much stricter scrutiny if they got behind the wheel, because nothing like this has ever been tried, well, anywhere — but we Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/june2012 had reasonable cause to be concerned. Even before I-502 created the Per Se DUI limit of 5 ng/ml THC, many drivers could face serious charges for being actually impaired while driving, but now the new law’s potential passing would mean that many drivers could get ensnared just for even looking stoned or leaving a medical collective. Cheek swabs have not yet been implented for detecting THC in drivers roadside, eroding search & seizure laws.
How could we ever forget...
Who knew strains made the perfect pair with various wines?
July 2012
So you want to entertain some friends, perhaps a mix of medical marijuana patients and regular folks who just want to have a nice glass of wine. What if you could dazzle both of these groups? Wine sommelier Dean Smith Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/july2012 showed us how to pair weed with wine in an amazing guide we dubbed Tannins & Terpenes. In wine, tannins are the flavor profiles in the wine imparted by everything from the soil used to the weather and growing climate of the grapes. In marijuana, terpenes hold a similar quality, although they can be manipulated through cross breeding and selecting out for the desired terpenoid profile. Terpenes are also found in citrus fruits and strawberries, explaining why eating those foods just after smoking can increase your effects.
How could we ever forget...
All patients should follow basic etiquette to stay legal and safe
June 2012
August 2012
We have all been there: our first time in an access point. What do we do? What do we say? What do we not do? What do we not say? These are common concerns and yet it has never been well-covered anywhere else. MMJ Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/august-2012 101 was an answer to all that. We told you to always carry your authorization and state ID with you at all times. We told you to not make phone calls. We told you to respect other patient’s privacy. We informed on how to stay legal by speaking in the preferred terms of our community. Want to get two grams of Purple Kush? Ask for the weight in grams, never a “dub” or “twenty sack.” And it’s called medicine, or Cannabis, not dope, ganja, sticky icky or anything else that disrespects the hardwork and sacrifices of so many.
How could we ever forget...
September 2012
The experience of flying over Seattle Hempfest made us teary-eyed. It could have been because the side doors of the chopper were taken off to allow photography, and chilly winds were rushing in and shaking our core, Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/sept2012 but it was more likely because seeing the event from this perspective showcased how powerful the movement has become, how widely accepted Cannabis is across so many facets of society. From up in the air, the tens of thousands of people listening to speakers, relaxing and hitting joints, buying pipes and crazy shirts form one unique mass that says, in no uncertain terms, this is a major celebration.
Flying in a helicopter over Seattle Hempfest was memorable
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
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L o o k b a c k c o n t i n u e d f r o m p. 4 5
How could we ever forget...
MMJ patient Dennis Boon lives on the Tulalip Reservation
Not everything about state and federal law will ever completely mesh, but sometimes we take for granted that we will atleast, as Washington residents, be afforded the rights of our state to use medical Cannabis. It gets complicated when you are a patient but living on the Tulalip Tribe Reservation because Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/october2012 their government does not recognize the medicinal use of Cannabis, nor the state laws covering the same. This put MMJ patient Dennis Boon in a hell of a predicament when local authorities raided his home, seizing his medicine along with an extensive pipe and bong collection he had grown for a decade. Boon uses Cannabis to control his seizures and it is the only thing in his entire life, he says, that has ever successfully controlled them.
How could we ever forget...
Patient Carole Antun, 78, got a pot DUI in Ocean Shores
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December 2012
Photojournalist Matthew Williams documented a few months in the life of Tri-Cities, Wash. patient Steward McDonald, 64, who uses Cannabis for pain relief from his Parkinson’s and Wasting Disease. Every day is a chalIssuu.com/nwleaf/docs/dec2012 lenge for McDonald, who said he relies on the medicine to live, to survive and be in good enough spirits to leave his house. He could not do that when he was taking a litany of prescription drugs, all of which were doing little to help ease the torment. McDonald maintains a small garden on his property and shared with Williams the joys of his simple life: tending to the plants, visiting farmer’s markets, having his wife tie his long hair back into a pony tail and smoking marijuana as he tries to feel whatever normal can mean.
How could we ever forget...
A hazy night when marijuana became “legal” in Washington
November 2012
Ocean Shores is a great place to unwind, with its expansive beaches for miles and nothing but the sounds of seabirds and mopeds. But for Carole Antun, a 78-year-old painter originally from the East Coast, the area is a cause Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/november2012 for alarm. She was pulled over by local police as she drove out of the parking lot of the only dispensary left in the entire Grays Harbor county area. Antun, who uses marijuana to help relieve pain from a host of health problems, was accused of drifting over the right lane divider. She had difficulty balancing or standing on one leg during the sobriety test. They gave her a green DUI. She’s 78 — balance issues are a fact of life. Police held her roadside and at the station for hours, refusing her cries the entire time to use the bathroom.
How could we ever forget...
Stewart McDonald, 64, smokes for relief from wasting disease
October 2012
January 2013
The air was thick with smoke the night that marijuana became legal for recreational use in the state of Washington, just after midnight December 6, 2012. We covered the night in our new year issue. On that night, close to Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/jan2013 a hundred people lit up joints and even dab rigs as the lights of Seattle Center and the Space Needle loomed overhead. At one point, there was nearly more media than enthusiasts, but the point was still clear: we were embarking, as a state, on some uncharted new waters — and the media was going to show the whole thing. Some people didn’t know what to do, should they hide their weed? No. It was a night for celebrating, even when we didn’t know how the actual enforcement of these new laws would help or harm us.
How could we ever forget...
Access point owners have had to learn safety the hard way
We take safety for granted. We get settled in our routines and in our surroundings and it can be easy to just trust that everything will work out. But if you are not careful as an access point owner, you can put yourself, your employees and your patients at the risk of harm. That’s what happened to Casey Lee, the Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/feb2013 owner of Lacey Cross, who was robbed at gunpoint as he closed up the shop for the night. A back door was left unlocked as the last employees left for the day — he figured he was going to be leaving shortly and didn’t bother grabbing it. Then he had a shotgun pointed at his chest. Now access points are investing in security cameras, two-button remote access man traps, pre-verification and other techniques that help everyone remain secure.
How could we ever forget...
Traveling to Spolane to bring you this story was worth it
April 2013
The Glass Issue is definitely one of the most challenging issues we put together. For the second year in a row, we have been trying to source only unique and original local artist’s designs. It’s a lot of work, from traveling to the Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/april2013 studios to transporting the pieces to be able to photograph them (then try not getting reflections!). Ultimately, The Glass Issue is a one of a kind showcase of what Washington artists are up to, and giving the pages room to breathe means our readers can nearly reach out and smoke each beautiful pipe. If there is one downside to putting together these kinds of issues, it is that we hate not being able to include more — there is so much great art in this corner of the country. Maybe next year’s can have twice as many artists. Hmm.
How could we ever forget...
Concentrates are an extremely powerful way to use Cannabis
March 2013
Spokane used to have a few dozen access points serving thousands of legal patients. But that was three years ago, back before Drug Enforcement Administration raids left the community scrambling, with the closure of essenIssuu.com/nwleaf/docs/march2013 tially every single collective left in the horrible wake. Now, the Spokane medical marijuana community has rebuilt, and there are nearly a dozen collectives. The legal actions forced everyone involved to reevaluate their policies, facilities and game plan. It wouldn’t fly anymore to hang gratuitous billboards advertising pot shops right next to the elementary school. It would not be kosher, any longer, to not maintain top-notch security systems that protected patients and crops. Things had to be different this time if it was to succeed.
How could we ever forget...
The hardest part of doing this issue? Not uh, trying them out.
February 2013
May 2013
This one you should really still remember. Concentrates are Cannabis extracts that have been created through various procedures, some which are healthier than others — but all of which leave you quickly medicated in a Issuu.com/nwleaf/docs/may2013 kind of otherworldly manner. The issue was a dynamic look at the health and safety of concentrates, including how they are made, which are best for patients and which labs are doing the best work out there. We went behind the scenes at extraction labs, got up close with good and bad concentrate samples, and examined how concentrates are made when they are truly being done right. Because then, patients can spend less of their money and medicate with less product while becoming far more medicated than with regular bud.
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Gallery
STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB MONTOYA FOR NORTHWEST LEAF
Micro Strains Up-Close Each month we’ll highlight growers crafting strains with the goal of helping specific needs, not necessarily obtaining the highest yields
L
AST MONTH I asked you to imagine a pharmacist that had the ability to deliver the exact medicine a patient required to be well while eliminating all the harmful side effects that are so common in artificial medications. Now you have been diagnosed with a disease and told you are terminal and have months to live. Chris Garcia got that bad news. He has Crohn’s Disease. The disease of the digestive tract afflicts 400,000 to 600,000 people in North America alone. Thankfully, Chris has close contacts in the Cancer and AIDS Foundation of California. He has taken advantage of his good fortune and made it available here in our corner of the country. IE KUSH combines the best of Funkxtaz IE Kush and Inland Empire for a 70/30 Sativa dominant medical grade Cannabis strain. It has enabled Chris to survive and beat his condition for years longer than traditional treatments had given him hope for. The best results occur upon inhalation of the smoke or vapor. A cerebral effect that washes over the body, comes on quickly and fades over about an hour and a half. Settling the stomach and digestive tract, and ill effects of the Crohn’s disease. Appetite is not greatly stimulated but a general well feeling may encourage the thought of eating. BLACK ROSE is a blend of Funxtas Triple OG Kush and San Fernando Valley OG Kush. It is another 70/30 Sativa dominant Strain that has a much different onset and end effect. Bred to be a pain killer it comes on slow, what you might call a creeper. It is body numbing and a good appetite stimulant. It complements the aforementioned IE Kush in an overall solution to patients suffering from digestive tract issues, combined with the resulting pain.
available from Northwest Collective 5840 Pacific Ave. S.E. Lacey, WA 98503 (360) 464-0256 www.northwestcollective.org
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IE KUSH 70/30 Sativa
The white crystal-like trichomes are about half the width of a human hair — Seen in a 500x close-up
BLACK ROSE 70/30 Sativa
Photos this month are of the fresh flower, and the result of a ten-day curing process. Note how the trichomes are clustered once the leaf surface has drawn up after the drying process.
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2/22/13 4:03 PM
TASTY
COMPILED BY NORTHWEST LEAF
Recipes
These fresh and tasty items are great for parties apple-rhubarb dessert
Fresh Peach dessert
16 whole graham crackers, crushed 3/4 cup medicated butter, melted 1/2 cup white sugar 4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows 1/4 cup milk 1 pint heavy cream 1/3 cup white sugar 6 large fresh peaches - peeled, pitted & sliced
suMmer squash sandwiches with pecorino butter
1/3 cup fresh grated pecorino 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted medicated butter, softened
1 loaf semolina or Italian bread, sliced
1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted
butter, and 1/2 cup sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix until evenly moistened, reserve 1/4 cup of the mixture for the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2. Heat marshmallows and milk in a large saucepan
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 cup Gaeta olives, pitted and chopped
over low heat and stir until the marshmallows are completely melted. Remove from heat and cool.
1/4 cup chopped basil
3. Whip cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form.
1 medium zucchini, coarsely
Beat in 1/3 cup sugar until the cream forms stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the cooled marshmallow mixture.
4. Spread 1/2 the cream mixture over the crust,
arrange the peaches on top of the cream, then spread the remaining cream mixture over the peaches. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the cream. Refrigerate until serving.
54/June 2013 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a
Butter a shallow, 1-quart baking dish.
spread on one side of each slice of bread.
2. combine melted butter and brioche. Line the bottom
2. Combine the oil, lemon juice,
of the baking dish with one-third of the mixture.
garlic, olives and basil in a medium bowl.
3. combine rhubarb, apple, brown sugar, cinnamon,
In a food processor, pulse the zucchini until
nutmeg, lemon juice and zest in a medium bowl. Let rest
finely chopped. Fold the zucchini into the
until juices begin to run, 5 minutes. Then spread half of
oil and lemon juice mixture and season
the mixture over the brioche in the dish. Top with half the
with salt and pepper.
remaining brioche. Spread the remaining rhubarb over that
3. Season the tomatoes with salt
and top with the last of the brioche. Dot with 1 tablespoon
and pepper. Arrange the bread on 2 large
4. Cover and bake in preheated oven 25 to 35 minutes,
the bread for 4 minutes, or until lightly
until rhubarb is tender. Increase oven temperature to 400
toasted.
degrees F (200 degrees C), uncover dish, and bake until top
5. Set 6 slices of toast, buttered
3 medium tomatoes, cut into
with another slice of bread, buttered side
into bite-sized pieces.
butter. Spoon the warm water evenly over the top.
baking sheets, buttered side up. Bake
Salt and ground pepper
small head of frisée, torn
1...Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
bowl, stir the cheese into the butter and
side up on a work surface. Top each with
crosswise slices
cup unsalted medicated butter, melted 1/2 oz brioche, torn into 1/2 inch pieces 6 cups diced rhubarb 3 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced 1 cup dark brown sugar 5/8 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 pinch ground nutmeg 1 lemon, zested and juiced 1/2 tbsp butter, diced 1 cup warm water 3/8
is crusty, rhubarb is soft, and bubbles form at the edges of the dish, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
the frisée and the zucchini relish. Cover up and top with 2 slices of tomato and the remaining bread, buttered side down.
6. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.
PHOTOS BY FLICKR/ANNIESEATS & FLICKR/H-BOMB
Got a recipe we should feature? Email it to nwleaf@gmail.com and it just might appear here in our July issue
DAILY SPECIALS! Medible Monday Top Shelf Tuesday 1/2 off Hash Wednesday Tincture Thursday Free Joint Friday Free Gram Saturday Free Sucker Sunday
BY WES ABNEY | PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN
THEY CALL HIM Garlic Dean >>How a bodybuilder from Kent turned his popular garlic spread into a medicated delight — just not exactly on the first try
O
profile
ne year ago, Dean Fillion of Garlic Garden decided to medicate his traditionally made Lebanese Breeze whipped garlic. It was a big risk for the brand, and for Dean’s livelihood. His nonmedicated products can be found in more than 25 mainstream retail locations, including Whole Foods and PCC Natural Markets. Using a recipe passed down through generations, he has built his life around a single bulb that he truly believes in. “When I was a young boy, I contracted polio, and had to wear leg braces for a couple of years. During that time, my mom would make me eat a lot of garlic,” he said. “She said it would make me big and strong.” Looking at him today, it’s hard to say his mother was wrong. He’s in his early 60s, and is in better shape than most people half his age. To him, the answer to his health is simple. “After all these years of pumping iron, after polio and all, I’ve always looked back and said it’s from the garlic,” he said. “I’m rarely sick, my blood pressure stays down and it helps me sleep.” Although he had encountered Cannabis as a young man, smoking was never a habit of Dean’s. When he initially came into the MMJ scene, it was safe to say that he was under-experienced. He partnered with a seemingly nice young man who promised to provide medicated oil as an ingredient for a future medicated product, and help handle his sales accounts. It turned out to be a disaster.
“You can look at me, I’m an old man now, and I don’t get taken very often. But that [name withheld] got me, he got me good,” Dean said, his gruff face betraying how he really felt. “I trusted him, and it was a mistake.” The oil given to him wasn’t medicated, the fraudster disappeared and products given to access points had to removed from the shelves. “The hardest part of this journey was losing the friends I had in the medical community,” he explained. “It hurt. But I’ve come back to make things right, and share the new blend.” If I was limited to say only one thing about Dean, it would be that he has heart. His passion and zest for life is evident in the care he takes with his product. Nothing makes him happier than people enjoying his unusual garlic blends, and they are finally being enjoyed by medical Cannabis patients as both food and medicine. That’s how he meant for it to happen all along. “Since I’ve gotten partnered with Chris [Schoonover] of Green Society Group, everything has gone so well. He provides me with a great product to medicate with.” For Chris, the opportunity to help out a vendor is what his company is all about. Now the products are back on access point shelves, tested by Analytical 360 and medicated
After all these years of pumping iron, after polio and all, I’ve always looked back and said it’s from the garlic. I’m rarely sick, my blood pressure stays down and it helps me sleep.
Dean’s delicious whipped garlic has a strong, bittersweet garlic flavor, a hint of lemon and 10.78mg THC-total and 8.57mg activated THC per tablespoon Analytical 360 reports. There is zero indication of the medicine inside through taste, so be careful. 2 to 3 tbs. is a heavy dose. It is effective for pain management and sleep, making it a great addition to any dinner table. consistently for patients to enjoy. Garlic has been renowned throughout history for its preventative health benefits and viability for an array of physical uses. The National Institute of Health reports on its website that garlic is rated as possibly effective for high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, colon cancer, rectal cancer and stomach cancer. The NIH notes that it’s the allicin in garlic -the element that gives the herb its odor -- that has the beneficial properties. “It makes perfect sense, the blending of two medicines,” Dean explained. “It’s all still made in the original Lebanese tradition, with the addition of Cannabis.”
WAYS TO USE LEBANESE BREEZE.... Rub on: Beef, f ish, chicken or pork // Blend with: Sour cream, horseradish, plain yogurt, barbecue sauce or salsa // stir in: Mashed potatoes or vegetables, pastas, sauces, soups, chilies and stews // Spread on: fresh bread, tortillas, sandwiches, wraps, pizza and bagels
56/june 2013 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
pUMP YOU UP Dean Fillion’s family recipe for whipped garlic got him through tough times
8
PROFILE
Questions for an Oil Aficionado
Talking safety & health with Healing Space Garden’s
60/june 2013 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
Nick Valdez
BY TYLER J. MARKWART FOR NORTHWEST LEAF PHOTO BY DANIEL BERMAN
#1 Why do you consider butane a superior solvent over naptha, ether or ethanol? I actually don’t. Hexane is the best solvent for making oil but it is hard to source as it requires licensing to obtain and possess. It is better at extracting the things we want (cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids) while leaving the things we don’t want out of the extraction (water, chlorophyll, lipids and waxes). Butane is the next best solvent. I use quality butane that is easily purged from the final product. So many times I have been given a dab of un-purged or under-purged oil and my body knows it instantly. My throat starts to close up and the hit burns on exhale. Because of this I stick to my oils or friends who I know have the correct equipment and methods to make sure their concentrates are free of any solvents. This is a medicine and needs to be treated as such. Serving un-purged or under-purged oil is a disservice to the patients especially if they are paying the going rate at a dispensary, $30-$60 per gram. That being said, I don’t think my method is the best. There are a lot of different ways of extracting and I
‘‘
At left Valdez holds about 10 grams of his Papaya shatter. He won the 2012 High Times Medical Cannabis Cup and 2013 DOPE Cup in the concentrates category. //
If it is not fit for the shelf it is not fit to make concentrates from.
have found what works great for me but I am still learning. I am thankful for all of the people out there that have helped me along the way.
#2 any common problems when making oil? It boils down to Boyle’s Law. The physics behind the volume and pressure of a gas is affected by environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. So, we live here in the PNW where the weather changes every 10 minutes. We get wide shifts in temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure daily here. Ideal conditions for making quality oil are summer blue sky days. Warm temps, low humidity and high pressure. We get a lot of those around here, huh? Even though I am using a non-polar solvent for my extraction it is still possible to pull in moisture if the extraction is run during a rainy day. Not just that but the yield will be affected as well. In short extracting on cold, humid, rainy days will decrease the total yield and increase the chances that my batch will turn to budder during the purge process.
#3 Quality starting materials are one of the most important things when processing any product. what criteria do you prefer when preparing material for processing? Starting material is important. If it smells and tastes good then chances are the oil it will produce will smell and taste just as good. Often those flavors and smells are more prominent as they have been concentrated. I mentioned earlier that moisture is the enemy of making quality shatter. For that reason it is very important that the starting material is bone dry. I prefer to process whole nugs but I am spoiled. I do run trim leaf but I will not run moldy, mildewed, or really old material. So I inspect each batch of starting material to ensure it is safe to use. This is medicine after all. Concentrates seem to be an afterthought for some
dispensaries. By that I mean they use material that is unsellable to patients because its either old, mildewed, or does not smell or taste good. I am trying to elevate that and change the attitude. This is why I run top shelf whole nugs for the majority of my extractions. While concentrates are another way of using the whole plant to ensure nothing goes to waste it is important to use fresh trim free of fan leaves and not think of it as a way to recover something that would have been lost to the trash. If it is not fit for the shelf it is not fit to make concentrates from.
#6. Favorite strains for making bho?
#4 Indica’s are known FOR BEING good hash producers but how do sativas compare?
I like sativas and up highs. I have a lot to do in a day.
Things like return, taste, smell and color are mostly dictated by the strain and growing conditions. While some strains do produce more resin than others it’s really a mix of growing styles and genetics. Harvest time will affect the return. If a plant was harvested early, the trichomes have not had a chance to fully develop and the return will be less than that of a plant allowed to grow to full maturity. But typically sativas do produce less concentrate than indicas.
7. hAVE YOU ever EXPERIMENTED WITH CHANGING UP your STARTING MATERIAL?
#5 Have you tried running a batch of dry sift hash or bubble hash to see if those products can be refined even more? I love hash in all of its forms, when done right. In the past I’ve experimented with finishing bubble by pressing it with mild heat. And on a few occasions produced an amber, translucent, shatter-like hash. I have also experimented with further refining BHO by taking partially purged shatter, dissolving it in ethanol, winterized it (removing the dissolved fats), further filtering it and then purging it of ethanol. This produces a 100% clean medicine that can be used orally, vaporized or decarboxylized to put in topical medicines, or dabbed. I have made RSO. I have pressed dry keif into hash and have made hand rubbed charras. I like hash. But as far as doing a keif run or bubble hash BHO runs, no.
Space Queen from TGA and local, organically grown Malawi Cheese.
#6b. What’s the best Flavor? I prefer my dabs to taste sweet and fruity or floral.
#6c What is the best high to you?
I love starting with whole flowers. I get great returns and a superior concentrate overall. The goal of making flavorful hash is to preserve the terpenes and flavanoids, not just the cannabinoids. Those need to be present in my starting material in order for the finished concentrate to be enjoyable. The growers methods, strain, and how the starting material is cured and stored are crucial factors. I will not run mildewed or moldy starting material. That won’t produce medicine fit for patients. I don’t claim to know it all but I do think there is a lot of bad BHO out there so to me it’s important to share information and continue to learn as well. The dab and 710 scene is relatively new in Washington and it should be elevated to a professional craft.
8. Do you plan on entering the Medical Cannabis Cup this year? Perhaps hoping for a three-peat? I don’t want to be better than anyone, I just want my oils to be better than my last batch.
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Offering
10 different
Concentrates! Safe & Responsible access to medicine
Great Medicine
Local Edibles
NEW PATIENTS GET A FREE MEDIBLE WITH DONATION Knowledgeable Staff
Ask about our Daily Specials Neverending Food Drive
Make the trip to Bellingham! We offer many varieties of locally produced medicines & are committed to working with Patient’s individual needs.
GET 1/2 GRAM MEDS FOR EVERY 8 CANS NONPERISHABLE FOOD,
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
SEEDS VS. CLONES
BY TYLER J. MARKWART FOR NORTHWEST LEAF | PHOTOS BY DANIEL BERMAN
What’s the best way to save time and money when growing your medicine? First, establish a well-thought out plan
so you can manage any problems you face. Diseases, mold, mildew and viral infections can all cripple a garden before harvest, costing thousands of dollars in lost medicine and wasted time. Choosing a proper starting method helps reduce stress on the plants and the producer. Let’s compare the difference between growing from seed and clones and get you growing the right way.
Tap that soil The tap root holds it all down. Germinated seeds produce a tap root while clones produce what is known as a fiberous root system, when taken from a donor plant. A large tap root promotes strong vegetative growth, creating a stable plant. Larger plants have relatively larger xylem and phloem size, allowing for more nutrient and water transportation to the leaves and buds during flow-
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ering, which will increase the harvest weight. Plants grown from seed will slightly out-produce their clone when grown under identical conditions. More importantly, plants grown from seed have better pest and disease resistance compared with those grown from a clone. Driving past a wheat field, you’ll notice that the crop is uniform in height and other growth charac-
teristics. Producers are able to accomplish this by planting homozygously bred seeds and not acres and acres of clones. Professional plant breeders are able to stabilize selected genetic traits and can breed a homozygous cultivar that is strong, productive and uniform at harvest. When you have seeds that produce multiple phenotypes, it’s difficult for producers to reap a
uniform crop and maintain their garden without constant inputs. Award-winning strains such as Northern Lights from Sensi Seeds, White Rhino from Greenhouse Seeds and The Chronic from Serious Seeds are excellent for both commercial and home growers. Because of their phenotype stability when growing from seed, producers can be assured that their crop will be uniform in disease and pest resistance and produce a consistent, quality product for patients.
Are your clones clean? Clones are an effective way for patients to maintain specific phenotype traits such as flavor, high and odor. Patients can also gain easier access to wellknown established cultivars without the hassle of weeding out unwanted phenotypes or males. However, a downside to cloning is dirty clones. Bringing dirty clones into your garden is usually the No. 1 problem when it comes to pests and disease entering the grow room. Plants, like humans, can suffer viral attacks. Viruses such as the tomato mosaic virus can confuse new producers into thinking they are doing something wrong with their technique when they have just received a diseased clone. While plant viruses are not curable, they can be managed. Viruses are usually systemic, meaning they will also be present in clones taken from any infected donor plants. An infected plant is similar to an infected person. Without the aid of medicine and quality living conditions, the output of clones will be lowered because of the infection. Sourcing quality clones is critical for producers; taking clones from dirty clones can cause genetic expression loss in cultivars, which allows for infections and infestations to take hold because of a lowered immunity response. Cannabis is an annual plant, so its natural life cycle is to germinate-vegetate-flower/pollinate and then the females will produce seed all in a year. Both male and female will then die off after fertilization, allowing for a new generation of seeds to become stratified. Like humans, plants age because their DNA begins to break down along with other proteins that control the systems’ response mechanisms. Problems with immune/defense pathway responses will start to become prevalent as the cloning process continues. Reduced vegetative growth and production in the size of pistils, calyxes and stamen will also decrease, resulting in a negative effect on production of terpenes, cannabinoids and other beneficial medicinal chemicals that the plant produces. While keeping a donor plant alive for years is possible, in-breeding within the cultivar’s gene pool or crossbreeding with nondominant strains such as Northern Lights will allow the grower to maintain a large stock of seed and keep those genetics producing strong crops.
The right option While cloning is convenient and can allow growers to keep desirable phenotype traits alive, it does have its downfalls when it comes to systemic viral infections and genetic expression loss from aging mothers. Seeds will produce a stronger vegetative plant and in the end a stronger, more viable flowering plant because it produces a natural tap root as opposed to the fiberous root system that a clone creates during its rooting stage. The harvest from seed will be slightly larger than that of a clone, but clones will also finish faster than their seed counterparts because the clone is transplanted with established roots. For patients who are growing their own crop, clones can be beneficial in reducing the amount of initial input. For commercial growers and those who use small perpetual harvest systems, cloning could result in unwanted input costs for insecticides, pesticides, fungicides and other nonmedicinal chemicals.
Every garden is different, and even the same garden goes through changes. Knowing how to properly select plants and breed seeds is something every grower should learn to do. Go to the library and you’ll find wonderful librarians and library associates who will help you find books on plant science and plant breading. Or, for an even more in-depth study, sign up for horticulture, biology, biochemistry and molecular plant science courses at a college or university. Washington State University is the state’s land grant university, and it offers Master Gardener programs across the state. The Pullman campus has courses that are more specific, including molecular plant science, organic agriculture systems and bioengineering. Educate yourself, investigate topics and most importantly, read and ask questions if you don’t understand the growing process. The more you know, the better you’ll grow.
Bringing dirty clones into a garden
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growtech
BY DR. SCANDERSON FOR NORTHWEST LEAF
growing environment is the most important factor in maximizing your plant’s potential Feng shui the right way More important than the nutrients you use, the Indoor gardening requires creating an environment medium you choose or the strain in your that is an improvement of what is found in nature. garden, the right environment is required for Through the process of replication, we provide your plants to maximize their potential. Proper similar environments to what the plant is temperature, humidity, air exchange, air quality genetically programmed to respond to. Consider air and movement are essential to produce a medical- quality and oxygenation of the root zone. Plants grade harvest. grown indoors are fed levels of C02 that are rarely Other elements of your garden become found in nature. Similarly, no natural occurring irrelevant if your space is not dialed in to create environments provide a plant root system with an a consistent environment capable of adjusting to enclosed area of highly oxygenated solution the needs of your plants as they grow. This grow balanced with the highest quality fertilizers and tech will focus on the key elements required to growth derivatives found on earth. create and control your growing environment. Heat is the first and foremost challenge that To start, you need to choose between an open must be addressed to run a successful garden. system and a closed system. In an open system, In general, the more watts you use, the more parabolic the environment is, in part, aluminized reflector (PAR) controlled with an exhaust lighting you are feeding your Other elements of your mechanism of some sort and plants, which should increase an intake mechanism. Benefits the quality and yield of your garden become irrelevant of open systems are they use garden. if your space is not dialed the surrounding environment The more watts you use, to control heat, humidity and the more heat you’ll add to in to create a consistent air quality, which is both effiyour garden, which needs to environment capable cient and less expensive. In be removed to maintain a of adjusting. closed systems, no air exchange controlled environment for exists. Temperature, humidity growing Cannabis -- between and air quality is controlled 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. from inside the room. Benefits of sealed rooms Here’s where things get puzzling. A successful include more precise control, a higher quality of air garden also needs to maintain tempered humidity and a lower risk of infestation. levels and adding in wattage generally decreases In choosing which is right for you, understand humidity and most methods for controlling heat that the start-up costs of running a sealed room are also removes humidity. You can see the balancing higher and, depending on the type of setup, more act going on between adding in as much wattage expensive to run. as possible, providing a substantial cooling mechanism to evacuate excessive heat and ensuring that humidity levels stay consistent day and night.
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Let’s assume for a moment that the above puzzle is assembled, but you can’t forget that Cannabis is a photosensitive plant. At least half its day in bloom is spent in darkness. This is significant because without the wattage and warmth provided from running the lights during the day, temperatures decrease. Lower air temperature means the air holds less water vapor and so humidity rises as temperatures drop. This too, must be accounted for to create a successful medical-quality crop free from pest and disease. The two systems essentially differ in the fundamental approach to controlling these factors. If your garden is small and uses 400 watts or less, consider yourself lucky. It’s likely the existing auxiliary conditions and your garden are working in harmony. The ambient daytime temperatures are properly augmented when the lights are on, bringing the temperatures up to the ideal range. At this range, humidity usually is within the proper range, if not a bit low when plants are smaller. At night, the number of plants and total bio mass that generally grows under this wattage isn’t substantial enough to create levels of humidity that can’t be managed by using a simple oscillating fan. It is one of the biggest fallacies in gardening that simply replicating your existing setup to accommodate more plants will work. Larger gardens create more overall heat and water buildup, and the domino effect from the puzzle described above can spiral you right into disaster -- hot dry days and average or cool, damp nights. This speaks volumes of the benefits of running lighter wattage. I’ve seen some incredibly successful gardens come from nothing more than tightly placed CFL’s and desk top fans.
For gardens using 600 watts or more, the heat need to provide powerful levels of air flow produced likely will need to be accounted for in one and account for the potent Cannabis odor or more ways. To start, you can choose an air-cooled that these large levels of air evacuate lighting fixture. In these fixtures, the hood is fitted outside the building. To account for the with a duct and a glass lens so the interior of the smell, an entire industry is dedicated to hood is a highly reflective, sealed environment with manufacturing carbon filters that scrub the the lamp inside. As the lamp heats up, a gardener odor from all that air. To go along with can apply a fan to the hood duct to blow large these filters are inline fans, coming in a volumes of air over the lamp and out the ducting on variety of shapes and colors. The carbon filter the other side, carrying with it a large amount of needs to be replaced every few rounds, dependthe heat the lamp generates. This ing on your setup and your strain ducting can then be run to an selection -- stronger-smelling strains An entire industry exhaust outside the garden, effeccause filters to need replacement tively scrubbing up to 80 percent or more frequently. Also, the filter will is dedicated to more of the heat generated by the bring your CFM’s down. manufacturing lamp -- depending on the watts, The idea with this mechhood, efficiency of the duct run and anism is that when too much heat carbon filters that the CFM’s supplied originally by builds up, a temperature probe scrub the odor the fan. reads this level and turns on the Inline fans are measured exhaust fan and filter. When this from all that air. according to the number of CFM’s happens, a negative pressure will (cubic feet per minute) they move. be created in the room because Generally, I recommend applying 200 to 250 the fan is sucking air from inside the room and CFM’s per 1,000 watts, spaced at least one fan per dumping it outside. This negative pressure will be three lights. I find it’s better when making choices alleviated through the path of least resistance. If regarding how you want to cool to go with more air, you don’t provide a path for air to come in, the air larger ducting and more efficiency. It’s possible will be pulled in from every seam, crack, window you’ll go overboard, but unlikely. Getting this part and door surrounding your room. If you’re in a basecorrect and having cool running hoods with tops ment and have enough pressure, you’ll pull water that are never too warm to the touch will ensure through the concrete and potentially cause damage, that your plants can use the highest number of the so it’s critical that you deal with this negative pressure. watts you feed them. If you are running an open Fortunately, it’s easy to deal with negative system, you might choose to draw the air that cools pressure. Depending on how much air you are your lights from inside the garden instead of pulling, your intake can be as simple as hole fitted connecting the light’s air intake to an area outside with a stocking for a filter. For more substantial air your garden. I do not recommend doing that because movement, your intake might be another inline fan it all but eliminates the possibility of effectively pushing air into your garden from an outside source, infusing CO2 into your garden but never at more than 60 perand can make humidity control cent of the rate of exhaust to almost impossible. ensure that negative pressure I recommend applying Even with air-cooled and efficient air exchange occurs. 200 to 250 CFM’s lights, and especially for hoods When introducing air without glass between the lamp into your indoor garden, you per 1,000 watts, and the plant -- which maxineed to control and treat the spaced at least one mize the lumen outputs by air. I recommend using a fan per three lights. upward of 20 percent comHEPA filter treatment for any pared to passing the beam air you’re bringing in. The cost through glass -- more cooling of the HEPA filter can be might be required. In open systems, this excessive easily justified by the losses caused by powdery heat can be evacuated through an exhaust system. mildew and other diseases you will be avoiding. An exhaust system pushes air out just like the Be aware of the temperature and humidity of that exhaust on a car. Exhaust systems for indoor gardens air. Introducing this exterior air will likely be the
Quick Tips Indoor Keep heat between 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit using as much wattage as possible, while evacuating excessive heat and ensuring that humidity levels stay consistent day andnight.
400 Watts Humidity is usually within the proper range. At night, levels humidity can be managed with a simple oscillating fan.
600 Watts Account for excess heat from wattage using air-cooled lighting fixtures. Apply a fan to the lamp’s hood duct to blow out heat through an exhaust. This can help remove 80 percent or more of heat generated by lamps. Apply 200 to 250 cubic feet per minute of fans per 1,000 watts, spaced at least one fan per three lights. Us carbon filters to scrub odor from air exiting the exhaust. Consider installing a HEPA filter treatment for any air entering the garden to avoid mildew and other diseases.
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growtech
BY DR. SCANDERSON FOR NORTHWEST LEAF
> > g u i d e C o n t i n u e d f r o m P. 7 3 main component in cooling your garden in an open system and controlling humidity at night. The cooler the temperature and dryer the air, the easier it is to run your garden efficiently. Warmer intake just means your garden will take longer to cool down. Damper air means controlling humidity in the evening might require supplemental heating.
Outfitting the garden with ionic humidifiers with an internal humidistat or have them integrated into the environmental controller(s) is often a necessary step. It’s important to choose adequately sized and powered fans and ducting, use efficient runs free from 90-degree bends, and ensure everything is tightly sealed.
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To determine the number of CFM’s it will take to cool It’s for that and many other reasons that it’s imporyour garden, determine the amount of time you want tant to choose adequately sized and powered fans to exchange all the air in your room. Depending on and ducting, use efficient runs free from 90the temperature of the air you bring in, I recommend degree bends, and use lots of quality ducting tape as little as 30 seconds and never more than two min- and duct collars or zip ties to ensure everything is utes. To determine the time you want, you have to tightly sealed. Choose hard ducting in place of flexdetermine its cubic feet, which is accomplished by ible, when possible. Even with the best choices for multiplying the length of your room by its width ducting, it’s possible your garden will need supplethen by the height. mental humidity, especially at the start and very end A room 10 feet long, 5 feet wide and 8 feet high of bloom. This can be accomplished by several is 400 cubic feet. Assuming that the filter and duct- methods, including adding buckets of water spaced ing attached to the fan decreases efficiency by 15 throughout your garden to humidifiers combined percent to 20 percent, select a fan that will move 400 with a timer. cubic feet once per desired time interval. For Controlling humidity at night in an open example, if you find that your intake air temperature system is usually fairly easy. While most people run is, on average, 10 degrees lower than the temperature their lights at night to take advantage of the cooler you want to run your garden at when the lights are ambient temperatures at night, daytime temperatures on, you probably only need to exchange the entire here in the Northwest rarely reach levels where volume of air in your room once ambient daytime heat for indoor every minute or so. If you find a gardens in a dark cycle is an issue. fan that delivers 450 CFS’s, then As a result, the No. 1 The No. 1 concern you’re set. The final efficiency of concern is generally humidity, is generally humidity, the fan should be around 360 to which can often spike in the 400 -- after deducting 15 dark period. This happens bewhich can often spike percent to 20 percent for the cause a significant amount of in the dark period. filter and ducting runs. That transpiration can occur during means it moves 360 to 400 cubic the dark period and because the feet of air every minute and lower air temperature of the therefore should change out all the hot air in your dark period contains less water vapor. Humidity in garden with fresh cooler air in about one minute. the dark period can be a nightmare if not addressed. This system needs to evacuate heat, but Simple passive intake and exhaust is usually adequate remember that the longer it takes for the system to to evacuate this humidity. In circumstances where accomplish that the higher the likelihood is that the system isn’t properly dealing with the humidity humidity will fluctuate. If it takes your system 15 or needs to run for too long or too frequently in order minutes to cool off, it’s replacing a huge amount of to maintain the range, adding in a forced air heater air. Depending on the quality of that new air, you brings the night temperatures up and infuses the might be pulling humidity down rather quickly room with the generated dry air -- both of which to while temperatures are falling. By the time the sys- lower humidity. Be certain that any light that your tem brings the temperature back into range, the heater emits can be covered completely if you intend humidity has been out of line for the to run it in bloom. majority of the time and now is too low. Even in open systems, assuming you are It might be the case that the system will need running air-cooled lights, it’s likely that you will to turn back on to evacuate more heat before the need to add in an air conditioner when you run plants’ natural systems of transpiration infuse the more than 2,000 watts. If you plan to run 4,000 or surrounding air with adequate water vapor. Here’s more air-cooled lights, I recommend you not mess where it can get dizzying. Without enough around and get a ductless mini split air conditioner. moisture in the air, the plants have to work extra Not only are they more efficient, cheaper to run and hard at staying properly hydrated and growth rates effective to use, but if you are running more than slow, further decreasing the amount of water in the 4,000 watts, have heat problems and are not air. That will increase the heat that needs to be producing enough to justify the higher upfront evacuated even more frequently, making it almost costs, go back to the drawing board if you’re impossible for the plants to produce enough water unhappy with your results. to support themselves.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the amount of water the unit might need to remove from the air each dark period. Depending on the size plants you intend on growing, I feel it’s safe to estimate a quarter to a half gallon of water per dark cycle per plant in determining the total volume of water you’ll be evacuating daily. The continuous drain feature allows you here) to direct the collected water where you choose. And speaking of continuous drain features, I HIGHLY recommend you take advantage of what some researchers report on plants ability to transpire 97% of the total volume of moisture they absorb. This is especially easy in a sealed room as For those willing to brave the additional resources the gardener alone is entirely responsible for required and who find themselves on the other side removing the moisture from the air, assisted only with sufficient cooling, all that’s left is dealing with by the heat the lights generate. What this means is excessive humidity. Many of the higher end mini that the same calculation for total water collected split units also include heating daily can also be applied, if not features which, if your room is increased slightly during the small enough, might allow the day light period as collected by The water collected by both entirety of the humidity spike any ductless mini split air conyour dehumidifiers AND that occurs in a sealed room ditioner, yet another benefit. during the dark period to be All the water collected by both your air conditioner is the absorbed without the humidyour dehumidifiers AND very best water I can find. ity falling out of range. In your air conditioner is the very most cases, however, heating is best water I can find. Not only not sufficient and a nighttimehas it been through nature’s only de-humidifier fitted with a continuous drain most perfect filtration system, a plant, it again was feature is likely required to control humidity in the collected through condensation, technically reverse dark period. Many environmental controllers will osmosis, and is now available to you. The water I offer a nighttime feature that either reads the light collect from ac and dehumidifiers is consistently timers or has a photosensitive cell that allows lower in PPM’s then that which I get through my operation of a desired piece of equipment to be five stage RO filter and is enough to supply the turned on or off based on the lighting period. entirety of the water needed to both top off my This feature is perfect for controlling the higher flower reservoir until a full nutrient change AND levels of humidity that occur during the cooler tem- supply all the water, both initially and daily for veg; peratures of the dark period. If your intention is to talk about efficiency!!! That means it takes only use this feature of your primary environmental con- about 500 -700 gallons of water TOTAL (clone to troller, select from the few available dehumidifiers harvest) per 10-12lbs of dried medication. How fun that offer analog controls. Most provide only digital is it trying to INCREASE grams per watt and controls. The problem is that buttons need to be DECREASE gallons per gram? REAL FUN!!!! pressed on the digital units upon power up for the dehumidification start. Because you are relying on your controller to turn on and off your dehumidifier, it must be able to be left in the “on” position, a feature nicely covered with analog controls.
IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO SET UP A CLOSED SYSTEM AND DON’T PROVIDE ADEQUATE AIR CONDITIONING, (insert “South Park” ski instructor voice
YOU’RE GONNA HAVE A BAD TIME. Closed systems handle heat a little differently. You need air conditioning. Then you need to add some more air conditioning and lastly, a closed system needs … just a little more air conditioning. I like to run 5,000 to 6,000 BTU’s of industrial ductless mini split per 1,000 watts of nonair cooled lights. Keep in mind that this figure at least doubles for portable or window units because they are that much less efficient in my experience. For lights being cooled according to the recommendations above, I find myself getting away with half that. Using these levels as opposed to just a little bit less allows significantly more control over your environment by providing enough cooling to lower the temperatures, not just remove all the heat your room produces. If you take the time to set up a closed system and don’t provide adequate air conditioning, (insert “South Park” ski instructor voice here) you’re gonna have a bad time. Sounds simple enough, but these units are expensive and often need to be installed by a licensed professional. These extra upfront costs, and the more advanced levels of equipment and experience needed, paired with fact that most gardens don’t need closed systems to perform, makes setting up closed systems often a second choice. Lastly in closed systems, the “simple” solution of trading BTU’s of heat for A/C carries with it the property of drying the air out, often significantly. While closed systems often have the problem of too much humidity, it’s not uncommon throughout different stages of the plant’s life for humidity to fall slightly below ideal levels when heat is at its highest. Outfitting the garden with ionic humidifiers with an internal humidistat or have them integrated into the environmental controller(s) is often a necessary step.
If you have questions about controlling your environment in an open or sealed garden, don’t hesitate to email me at thegreengardengroup@gmail.com. To see both open and sealed gardens on display, visit Youtube.com/DrScandersonGt >> As always, Happy Gardening!!!
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questions?
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Lineage Jazzberry Jam was one of the first strains Cannaventure Seeds released that helped establish him as a breeder with an international distribution presence. Combining the Jazzberry Jam, which well represents the purple and berry Cannabis families with arguably the highest yielding, most potent cuts of Chem Dawg established a wonderful fruity alternative to a long loved classic Chem Dawg. HOW IT GROWS
No doubt
DAWG
JAM ‘91 >> Be prepared for a quick consultation with the backs of your eye lids when using this particular medication.
Bag appeal
smoke report: So the smell, the smell, the smell! Piercing red berries all with lemon cleaner in the background!!! This is sure to give the Jack The Ripper Pink Lemonade pheno, Super Lemon haze all a run for their lemon money eh? The flowers erupt into combustion, burning evenly and providing a thick layer of smoke. I’m so in expectation of these lemon terpenes flavors, I’m almost at a loss when they are starkly not present. Almost as quickly as I exhale I find my lips pressed tightly to the bong’s mouth piece, for nothing else if out of only morbid curiosity for the missing taste I was certain must be contained within. Alas, after much searching I have finally come to a place where I can appreciate the flowers for what they are without imposing my decisive will unto them. Even with all that the Dawg Jam brings in the way of unique berry scents, it provides a simple yet premium, robust, chemy, glue flavor smoke, with massive lung expansion and ultra hard-hitting chem Dawg effects. Relax your body and quite your mind; just be prepared for a quick consultation with the backs of your eye lids when using this medication. The Genetics: VA Chem ’91 clone x Jazzberry Jam [worked selection of DJ Short Blueberry or worked selection of Matt Riot’s Blue Blood (Double Purple Doja x Doja Berry)]
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these two plants are completely dominated in every way by classic indica growth characteristics. Short, stocky, a bit slower in veg, but responding extremely well to topping. They grow uniform, with well-spaced side branches and tight intermodal spacing held up by sturdy fat branches. Little to no staking is required. Food? Yes! Which one(s)? Yes! How much? Yes! Feeling too hot or too cold? Never felt better! I’m thinking it’s a bit dry for you? Actually I was enjoying the lower moisture! Doesn’t matter what you do, this plant is determined with only two to three rounds of topping to grow into a symmetrical bush of large, large, large, stink factor-10 kolas with what seems to be any temperature, food schedule and environment. In testing out this strain, I used a brand new nutrient schedule that produced an acute magnesium deficiency that EVERY PLANT in the garden showed a major physical characteristic from and a reduced yield of about 10% EXCEPT the Dawg Jam ’91. While other plants were showing a deep leaf claw, pink petiole and rolling leaf edges, the Dawg Jam was busy packing on size. In 58 days she yielded over a gram per watt in less than ideal growing conditions. The results of the plant were so good I ended up featuring it in the preview video on my Youtube channel.
‘‘
alas, after much searching I have finally come to a place where I can appreciate the flowers for what they are
If you’re a patient that likes oversized fatter than fat rounded
nuggets covered in frost…well, then you’re nothing special and you too will at very least enjoy the smell and look of the Dawg Jam. The flowers are simply put, very large and packed densely with small calyxes each accompanied by a multitude of fine red hairs. The frost is of the fine confectionary sugar-type. It pops against some of the darker purple tones present in many of the blueberries and chem Dawg cuts when allowed to ripen for a full term. What’s easily most amazing about these blooms is their smell. An EXTRA potent waft of blue raspberry lemonade seizes my scents. It has that lemon cleaner quality chem is so notably famous for, reliably delivering the potency of ammonia-strength smells but delightfully wrapped in this dark red and purple sour berry package. This is one of those plants that absolutely reeks from day 10 in flower all the way on, becoming more potent and complex as it cures. The final cured product develops into a kind of odiferous burnt rubber and glue, but stays about the same on through harvest.
Sour OG Blue Afghani
Grape Ape NYC Diesel
Blue City Diesel
Dream Twilight Blue Blue Sour Diesel
Hawaiian
Jack's Cleaner
Purple Arrow
Space Queen
Purple Diesel
The White
Sour Cheese
Vortex
Sour Tsunami
CinexCheese Plushberry
Orange Kush
Lambs Breath Mango
DJ Short Blueberry
Lemon Skunk Greenberry
Obama
BlueTrainRhino Wreck
Unicorn Horn
Bubba Kush White Russian KG Elephant God Bud
Diesel Maui
Hours of operation Weekdays 12 – 8 Saturdays 12 – 4 Closed Sundays
206.402.3957 FusionMMJ.com 1602 Dexter Ave N Seattle, WA
Check out our menu or place an order online at fusionMMJ.com/cannabis-menu
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