March 2014 — Issue #45

NORTHWEST LEAF the patient’s voice!

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March 2014

Issue #45

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*How to green up your St. Patrick’s Day

INSIDE:

how we all must help medical marijuana stay alive and well

Why Whatcom County’s oldest collective was told to pay a tax bill

Obama strain offers up an executive order for stoniness and wonder

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contents

MARCH 2014

28

40

56

Profile

PROFILE

34

F o r lyd ia e n sle y, marijuana was nothing she would have ever considered for her longterm body pain, that is

if she hadn’t exhausted every option doctors threw at her —including opiates she said made her feel even worse.

Now, Ensley, operations manager at the CPC in Seattle, recognizes the true impact MMJ has in her life and others.

12

The News on I-502

50

Green up St. Patty’s Day

20

8 Questions For....

52

Tasty Reviews

34

Lydia Ensley’s Journey

74

Know Your Nutrients

46

Drug War Prisoners

78

Behind The Strain

License limits among changes

John Novak of 420leaks.com A long road to Cannabis acceptance

Our country’s troubled legacy continues

52

March means testing out two fun recipes

A treat not much bigger than a penny

i-502 updates.....................12 8 questions......................20 choice wellness.................24 lydia ensley profile..............34 drug war prisoners............46 tasty recipes.........................50 tasty reviews........................52 Concentrates..................56 Ginger power........................64 Probiotics........................68 Know your nutrients............74 behind the strain..................78

Dr. Scanderson’s Important Growtech Getting to know Sour Tangerine

COVER photo illustration & CONTENTS PHOTOs by Daniel Berman/Northwest Leaf

contents

28

ta xed!

Martin Nickerson has owned Northern Cross Collective in Bellingham since 2011, which makes it the longest-running access point in Whatcom County. That longevity has attracted attention from the Washington state Department of Revenue, which asserts that Nickerson owes more than $50,000 in unpaid taxes related to the sale of marijuana. He couldn’t help but repeat “This is medicine, you can’t tax medicine.”

Alas, the state sees it differently.

Photo by Daniel Berman

NORTHWEST LEAF

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editor’s note Thank you for checking out the 45th issue of northwest leaf!

T

his month features a wide variety of awesome stories sure to make your rainy spring days a little brighter.

Our cover this month is a photo illustration by Daniel Berman, and is capped by the awesome Obama strain of the month.

This is one special flower- check out the review in the center of the magazine.

An a more serious note this month’s issue explores the case of Martin Nickerson, owner of Northern Cross. He has been put in a Catch-22 situation between a criminal case out of Whatcom County and the Department of Revenue. If he pays his taxes he’ll go to jail, and if he doesn’t pay he could go to jail. Learn more about his story and the overall tax problem in Washington with this article.

This month also features the second month of our new collective garden review model, a tasty concentrate of the month and interesting product reviews. Dr. Rose has an interesting article about probiotics, and how what’s going on inside you can impact your day to day life.

Tyler Markwart sits down in this month’s issue with John Novak, a patient activist who is truly working hard to protect our community.

With tireless passion he has fought to keep our heads off the chopping block, and words alone don’t seem like enough to thank him and all the activists in this state. Without grassroots influence our MMJ laws could look very different indeed.

On a special note, please make sure to contact your district Senator and Representatives and tell them to protect MMJ & RCW 69.51a from bad legislature. Just go to leg.wa.gov to find out who to contact, it’s easy and it will make a difference.

This is written at time of print, so I don’t know whether the Cody bill or any others will have died in session, but I am praying for their demise. The patients of Washington deserve better than to be registered, over-taxed and marginalized into second class citizens.

Please raise your voice as a patient and stand up for our medicine before it is too late!

MARCH 2014

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 Stephanie bishop Steve elliott kirk ericson tyler j. markwart bob montoya Dr. Scanderson dr. Scott D. rOSE

Department of Corrections

Last month’s Behind the Strain for Burgundy omitted the lineage: (Raspberry Bubba Kush) X (Eastcoast Sour Diesel x Hashplant-13).

MAR. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

/9

northwest

Steve Elliott is the editor behind tokesignals.com, an independent blog of Cannabis news and opinion

Iowa MMJ Bill Lasts Less Than One Day In Legislature

Preventing seizures means getting better access & research

IN

a groundbreaking statement on February seizures should not be determined by one’s zip 20, the Epilepsy Foundation called for incode,” the strongly worded statement reads. “Our creased medical marijuana access and recurrent situation as an epilepsy community is not search to treat epilepsy. acceptable. Families looking to access medical mar“The Epilepsy Foundation supports the right ijuana as a treatment are facing terrible decisions. of patients and families living with seizures and One parent may move across the country to live epilepsy to access physician directed care, includwith a child to seek this treatment. Other families ing medical marijuana,” reads the statement, from may uproot entirely, including leaving their job, to Philip M. Gattone, president and CEO of the Epmove where they can access CBD oil.” ilepsy Foundation, and Warren Lammert, chair of the Epilepsy Foundation Board of Directors. how they want to do it “If a patient and their healthcare professionals feel that the potential benefits of medical marijua“As parents and as advocates, we feel an urgency to na for uncontrolled epilepsy outweigh the risks, respond and take action on an issue that has been then families need to have that legal option now -brought to the Epilepsy Foundation from individunot in five years or 10 years,” the strongly worded als we serve across the country -- the use of marijuastatement reads. na to treat epilepsy,” wrote Gattone and Lammert.

“The Epilepsy Foundation calls for an end to The Epilepsy Foundation will be doing the folDrug Enforcement Administration (DEA) relowing to support improved access and research strictions that limit clinical trials and research into into medical marijuana: medical marijuana for epilepsy,” the statement 1. Calling on the Drug Enforcement Adminreads. “We applaud recent decisions that have alistration to implement a lesser schedule for marlowed trials of Cannabidiol (CBD) ijuana so that it can be more easily oil, to begin in several states. accessible for medical research.

The Epilepsy “Certain components of medi2. Supporting appropriate changFoundation believes cal marijuana, including CBD, have es to state laws to increase access to that an end to shown effectiveness in animal studmedical marijuana as a treatment seizures should not ies, and there have been encouraging option for epilepsy, including pedibe determined by anecdotal reports from patients,” the atric use as supported by a treating one’s zip code, statement reads. “But further research physician. and unbiased clinical trials are need3. Supporting the inclusion of ed to establish whether and in what epilepsy as a condition that uses medical mariforms medical marijuana is or is not effective and juana as a treatment option where it is currently safe. Restrictions on the use of medical marijuana available. continue to stand in the way of this research.

4. Supporting research on multiple forms of “The Epilepsy Foundation believes that an end to cannabis and seizures.

10/MAR. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

M

edical marijuana died on February 18, in the Iowa Legislature the same day it was introduced in the capitol.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Joe Bolkcom (D-Iowa City), would have allowed patients with certain medical conditions to use medical marijuana with a doctor’s authorization, report Brian Wellner and Mike Wiser at the QuadCity Times. Sen. Bolkcom said he wasn’t able to get any help from Republican legislators, who he said have shown “little interest” in endorsing the legislation.

“There’s disappointment we were not able to recruit bipartisan support for a very narrow bill to help these families with children suffering from seizures as a result of epilepsy,” Bolkcom said. “We’re not going to be successful creating a program until we have bipartisan support for it. so we have a lot of education work to do ahead here.”

Senate File 2215, Bolkcom’s bill, was referred to Human Resources for assignment, but won’t be assigned by the “funnel week” deadline, in which all bills have to make it through the committee process by Friday in order to be continued this session. “It’s dead,” Bolkcom said.

Advocates, including Tina McDermott of Davenport, were devastated by the news. Her son suffers from Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy with severe seizures. “I could cry I’m so disappointed,” McDermott said.

“There’s not even a chance for our kids,” McDermott said. “Unbelievable. I know I”m not going to quit, but today was a big day.”

Maria La France of Des Moines, whose son Quincy also suffers seizures, said she felt “shafted” by Iowa’s lawmakers.

“Other parts of the country are recognizing the medical benefits of cannabis, so at a minimum, I think the rescheduling bill should pass,” La France said.

Quick Hits!

42.5 117 30 424 184 18 2 4 9

Amount in pounds of Cannabis seized from a storage unit rented by Son Manh Ngo, 30 of Southern Pines, N.C., reports The Fay Observer.

Number of boxes of Dulce de Leches and Tagalong Girl Scout cookies sold by a very enterprising 13-year-old Girl Scout during a two-hour stint selling her wares outside The Green Cross pharmacy in California.

Percent of drivers under the influence of THC that fail a roadside sobriety test, according to a 2012 study in the Journal Psychopharmacology, reports NYTimes.com

OREGON SENATE & ACTIVISTS LOOKING TO GO LEGAL

A

mitting adult recreational marijuana use, posbill that would ask Oregon voters if they want session and cultivation. to legalize marijuana while leaving the reguInitiative 22, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act lations up to the Legislature passed its first 2014, creates a commission to regulate the committee on February 13. cultivation, processing, and sale of marijuana, Senate Bill 1556 passed the Senate Judiciary generating hundreds of millions of dollars for Committee on a 3-2 vote, with all Democrats supthe Oregon General Fund, helping to pay for porting it and all Republicans opposing. The bill schools, roads, and social services. now goes to the Senate Rules Committee.

The groups HEMP in Oregon (Help The measure was amended before passing to End Marijuana Prohibition in Oregon) and lower the amount of cannabis that adults 21 and CRRH (Campaign for the Restoration and older would be allowed to possess in private.

Regulation of Hemp) have kicked off a vigorThe amount was lowered from eight ounces and ous volunteer and paid petition four plants in the original bill to drive to get the initiatives on the six ounces and three plants in the As the Oregon legislature ballot for November 2014, said amended version. considers a legalization director Paul Stanford.

Cannabis activists are already bill, organizers of Initiative “Marijuana prohibition does gathering signatures for two legal21 woant to end criminal not work and is expensive to ization initiatives. penalties for pot and permit maintain.

We must move forInitiative 21 would amend the recreational marijuana use, ward on a better path for hemp Oregon Constitution, ending crimpossession and cultivation. and marijuana in Oregon.” inal penalties for cannabis and per-

Number of plants found in a Ecorse, Michigan home on the 4200 block of Seventh Street, which resulted in two arrests.

Million dollars expected by Colorado state in tax revenue from the first 18 months of recreational marijuana sales.

Number of estimated months until the Maryland MMJ program will be started, though patients and critics alike agree that it might not ever get off the ground.

Millions of dollars annually Arizona will add to its coffers thanks to medical marijuana tax revenue, which’ll go to help fund programs to discourage use by non-patients.

Number of high school students arrested in Portland after attempting to make a controlled buy of Cannabis from a 20 year old supplier, according to the Associated Press.

Age in months of Joey Wertman whose parents want to treat with medical Cannabis. The infant has a form of epilepsy which can result in hundreds of spasms a day.

Quoted

‘‘

We have secured rooms, and within those secured rooms we have secured locking safes and sometimes within those safes we have money safes,” Ruden said. “That won’t stop someone from coming in and trying to rob us.”

-Brian Ruden of Starbuds, a collective in Denver, responding that they need the ability to deposit cash in regular banks to stay safe from burglars.

Many banks are refusing to allow banking by marijuana businesses despite a new guideline to do so issued by the Department of Justice in February.

northwest

Steve Elliott is the editor behind tokesignals.com, an independent blog of Cannabis news and opinion

ment of Justice required states to ensure a tightly regulated and controlled market to prevent diversion of product to other states, sales to minors and other concerns.

The Board used available consumption data supplied by its consultant, BOTEC Analysis Corporation, to craft production limits in its rules to meet initial consumer demand without over-supplying. The rules are based on BOTEC’s input that the state can capture just “13 to 25 percent of the overall market in the first year of recreational sales.”

“Additional production is likely necessary for the state to capture an increasing percentage as the market refines and matures,” the Board drily noted.

“Agency rules allow for flexibility to meet an evolving controlled market.”

liquor control board spits out new changes Legal pot remains way behind Colorado in implementation

T

he Washington State Liquor Control Board (Board) on February 19 approved staff ’s recommendations to limit the number of individual marijuana producer licenses to one (from the previous limit of three) and initially limit production to 70 percent of potential grows, clearing a path for it to begin issuing producer and processor licenses.

“Today’s Liquor Control Board action clears an obstacle and allows the agency to begin issuing marijuana producer and processor license in the coming weeks,” said Board Chair Sharon Foster. “We believe this is the most fair and equitable way to get the market up and running.”

Single Production Licenses Limited to 70 Percent Agency rules (WAC 3214-55-075 (8)) state “if the total amount of square feet marijuana production exceeds two million square feet, the Board reserves the right to reduce all licensees’ production by the same percentage or reduce licensee production by one or more tiers by the same percentage.”

Extrapolating production data from the initial 1,500 applications, the LCB estimates that the canopy of marijuana licenses would be about 35 million square feet. The issue is the total production canopy must be reduced from 35 million square feet to 2 million. This is why each licensee will be limited to one license and to “70 percent” of the production for which they’ve applied.

The Board closed a 30-day application window for marijuana licenses on December 20, 2013. During that period the agency received 2,858 marijuana producer applications.

“The plant canopy of these applications far exceeds a manageable plant canopy set by the Board in its rules,” the WSLCB stated in a Feb. 19 press release.

In its enforcement guidelines issued August 29, 2013, the U.S. Depart-

12/MAR. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

One marijuana License Per Applicant The I-502 rules had until now allowed for up to three licenses per licensee; many prospective license-holders have already filed for the (then-) maximum number of three licenses. Washington’s absurdly low cap on marijuana cultivation (2 million square feet of canopy space, which translates to about 46 acres of weed) means that just 22 growers, each applying for three “Tier 3” licenses of up to 30,000 square feet, could have used up all the state’s allotted grow space.

After this absurd situation -- in which just 22 growers could control the entire state’s legal supply of marijuana --got some publicity, the Board was practically compelled to respond.

“In an effort to meet a manageable plant canopy for marijuana production, the Board will file an interim policy that limits any qualified entity or principals within any entity to one marijuana producer license,” the WSLCB’s Wednesday press release reads. “If any entity or principal has more than one marijuana application pending, staff will contact the applicant and offer them the option of withdrawing their additional applications for a refund or having their additional applications held up to one year or until the Board determines more marijuana producer licenses are needed.”

Bans and Moratoriums As if worrying about the total supply of weed in the state -- and the prospect of marijuana-store shelves quickly emptying -- wasn’t enough, marijuana users in Washington, including seriously ill medicinal cannabis patients, have to worry about safe access.

Several communities and jurisdictions across Washington have enacted local bans or moratoriums on recreational marijuana businesses. In a formal Attorney General Opinion issued January 16, 2014, Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Office concluded that “I-502 left in place the normal powers of local governments to regulate within their jurisdictions” and that “…nothing in I-502 limits that authority with respect to licensed marijuana businesses.”

“While the law is silent on the issue of local bans, there is also nothing with the law which allows for the Board to deny licenses to qualified applicants,” the WSLCB tells us. “If an applicant meets the state’s criteria for licensure, the Board will issue a state license. Like any other type of business, a licensee must be in compliance with local laws and regulations.”

It sounds like they plan to go ahead and issue licenses to qualified applicants, regardless of local bans. The line for attorneys to queue up for impending litigation starts here.

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national

Steve Elliott is the editor behind tokesignals.com, an independent blog of Cannabis news and opinion

Minnesota intense legalization debate happening in the gopher state

J

ust more than half of Minnesotans believe that marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes, according to a new poll.

A Star Tribune Minnesota poll showed that 51 percent of state residents support medical marijuana, while 41 percent oppose it, reports Jennifer Brooks at the Star Tribune.

Twenty states plus the District of Columbia allow doctors to authorize patients to use cannabis for a range of medical conditions, from cancer to epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.

A bipartisan group of legislators is pushing for Minnesota to adopt its own medical marijuana law when they return to work at the end of this month, but it’ll be an uphill battle.

Opponents -- including just about every law enforcement group in the state -- claim that medical marijuana will somehow hurt the public, but by all appearances, cops are mainly worried about the fat anti-marijuana grants they get from the federal government going away.

14/MAR. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

The poll found that 63 percent of Minnesotans oppose the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. Only 30 percent felt the state should legalize for all adults, as did Colorado and Washington in 2012. Minnesota decriminalized simple cannabis possession years ago.

The proposed legislation would legalize medical marijuana dispensaries, allowing one per county and more in large urban areas, where patients could go for safe access to cannabis if they didn’t want to Just about every law grow their own plants at home. enforcement agency A number of Republicans in in the state opposes the Legislature have lined up to medical marijuana. support Democratically spon63% of residents are sored marijuana legalization opposed to legal pot. ideally be left to patients and bills in the House and Senate, but Gov. Mark Dayton has their doctors. Rep. Melin says expressed “strong reservations” about legalizing that since Gov. Dayton invited law enmedical marijuana as long as law enforcement forcement to the table, it would be very opposes the idea. helpful if he asked them to negotiate in Meanwhile, state Rep. Carly Melin (D-Hibgood faith, saying she’s run into a “brick bing) questions why law enforcement is invitwall” with top law enforcement repreed to the table, when medical decisions should sentatives.

Arizona Poll Finds Majority In Favor of Marijuana Legalization

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lmost four years after Arizona’s voters legalized medical marijuana, a new poll suggests that a narrow majority favors completely legalizing the herb.

The Behavior Research Center’s Rocky Mountain Poll found that 51 percent of respondents said the sale of cannabis should be legal, while 41 percent were opposed and eight percent were unsure.

The poll found that support for cannabis legalization is strongest among adults younger than 35, with 61 percent in favor. A majority of those 35 to 54 -- 54 percent -- were also in favor. Among those 55 and older, 52 percent opposed legalization.

Fifty-four percent of self-identified Democrats supported legalization, compared to just 40 percent of Republicans. Among those calling themselves independents, 59 percent favored legalization.

The results show changing attitudes toward marijuana use among Americans, especially young people, according to research director Earl de Berge.

“It reflects a growing trend across the country,” de Berge said. “Half of Americans have smoked it at some point.”

Two cannabis advocacy groups are gathering signatures in attempts to get legalization on the ballot in Arizona, one aiming for this November and the other for 2016. “I do think it will help our efforts and build more confidence in people,” said Dennis Bohlke, treasurer for Safer Arizona, a pro-legalization group trying for this November’s ballot.

The Marijuana Policy Project, which led the successful campaign for medical marijuana in 2010 in Arizona, has said it hopes to get a legalization initiative on the state ballot in 2016.

54 percent of self-identified Democrats said they supported Cannabis legalization compared to 40 percent of Republicans. Of those 35 and younger, 61 percent want it legal.

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PROFILE

8

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John Novak is a vocal member of the Cannabis Action Coalition and a frequent speaker before the Legislative committees deciding on marijuana issues.

Questions for the patient JOHN NOVAK

on 420leaks.com and why he keeps talking to Olympia

BY TYLER J. MARKWART FOR NORTHWEST LEAF Photo by Daniel Berman

#1 Why is the cody bill so damning for medical?

The real main concern, of course, is the registry.

Realistically, the DEA and the guidelines that have all been issued over the years from the federal government have basically all said that they are not interested in individual patients and for the most part, that’s held true.

Now, patients who were acquiring assets, that’s a different story. So, the registry is a concern for patients, but the more concerning thing is that it’s a concern for doctors as well. A lot of primary care physicians are willing to write referrals, but they are not actually authorizing patients because of fear of losing federal funding or having their medical license pulled. The Cody bill also forces patients to document all attempts at treatment before the use of Cannabis is administered. Why are we leaving Cannabis as a last resort? It doesn’t make any sense. The doctors are key, because if you can’t find a doctor to write an authorization, you won’t have protection under the law.

#2 You operate a website called 420leaks.com.

Can you explain to us more about the site?

‘‘

We don’t want to treat this like plutonium,

‘‘

but at the same time society is not ready for us to treat it like oregano.

420leaks basically started out of the board of directors of the Cannabis Action Coalition. Arthur West, Steve Sarich and John Worthington have been doing public records requests for a long time, basically since the beginning of the medical marijuana act in Washington. I got the idea of putting together the website of documents as an offspring of wikileaks, so we ran with it and started posting information. We consider it a government and now an industry watchdog, because we have not only uncovered documents from government officials but there is a lot of stuff from lobbyists and industry people as well.

#3 What are your thoughts on regulations and oversight or the lack thereOf in the current mmj industry?

I think there should be minimal regulations that allows for the most free market interactions. There’s a lot of people getting away with things that they shouldn’t really be doing and it’s giving a lot of people a bad name. We all know there are a lot of dispensaries and growers who are providing crap.

On the same token, nobody is killing anybody with it. Which should be taken into consideration when we move forward with regulation. We don’t want to treat this like plutonium, but at the same time society is not ready for us to treat it like oregano. So I think some basic regulations and business licensing for those who want to engage in commercial sales, I don’t see any problem with. As long as its not restrictive of innovation.

#4 sOME in the Legislature ARGUE THE medical marijuana industry is not regulated. How do you see thIS industry as a patient?

They say were not regulated, but that’s untrue. We really are regulated, you have to go to a doctor, you have to have a business license, you have to stay within your plant limit. It’s going to be hard to figure out a system of verification that doesn’t comprise the HIPPA laws.

If Cannabis was descheduled and there were no criminal laws around it, I wouldn’t mind going on a registry at all. The ideal situation I think would be to have a medical law where anybody under the age of 21 needs a doctors authorizations and anyone over the age of 21 can have 15 plants and 24 ounces over the counter.

#5 THE Legislature seemS HYPERfocused on the sales tax from recreational marijuana sales. what else should they LOOK AT? Industrial hemp, getting that through to be honest you will make more tax money off that in the long run. The ancillary businesses that will be popping up around it that will help change a lot of minds I think on the plant itself.

Industrial is pushing the debate faster than recreational and medical.

Support is on both sides to pass it and its seems that they are going to do it. The legislatures are starting to say that they are now getting to the point where they know that they don’t know. It’s a big a step, a month ago they didn’t even know, what they didn’t know.

#6. what IS the DEPartment OF HEALTH’S role in Implementing i-502 and Medical marijuana regulation?

They have talked about deincentivizing the medical act to favor the taxation of the I-502 model. One of the ways that they said they would do that is by reducing the amount of doctors and their ability to write authorizations. One of the best way to do that in this state since we don’t really have a registry is to establish a registry and to know exactly who’s writing what. They also want to quantify how much cannabis would be required for the average person with cancer, they are trying to turn cannabis into the pharmaceutical model and that doesn’t work.

#7 Veterans have been pushing hard for PTSD to be added to the list for qualifying conditions will the Cody Bill make it easier for people like Veterans?

The Cody Bill eliminates the ability to add new qualifying conditions, for the use of medical Cannabis — you have to go directly to the legislature and then you have to lobby them to pass a bill to put it in there. Their not doctors, why are they doing that? Their reasoning was because the Medical Quality Assurance Commission stated that they don’t have the background and education in order to make the decisions that they need to make so they decided to pass it off to the Legislature.

#8 How can patients help protect their access and rights?

The number one problem we have is the lack of education to the legislatures, so we need patients to contact legislatures. The more of us who do it, the faster this thing is going to change. I hate to bring up other movements like the gay rights movement, because I don’t really like to compare the two.

If enough of us are out of the closet, change is going to be a lot easier. Because instead of just dealing with the “Cheech & Chong” now they have real faces, real people, hard life stories that were telling them.

That’s the key, sending them emails is great, but face to face discussions really makes a huge difference and continually following up with them.

mar. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

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access

choice wellness pLUSHBERRY KUSH // INDICA Plushberry Kush had a pleasant scent and at first glance had a good look, but the buds were airy, not manicured and tasted metallic when smoked. It was as though the plant wasn’t flushed and cured properly. The effects came on quickly and were nice for pain relief but it was hard to get over the metallic taste to finish the entire bowl. The donation was a bit steep at $15 a gram, $9 or $10 would have been more reasonable because of the airiness and the lack of flush/cure. Plushberry Kush also was one of the better looking and smelling strains available that day.

The Score

ar om a : den s i ty: cur e : appearance: fl avor : effect: total:

12/30

Strains 2/5 With two shelves of buds in a display case, the lower for indica and the upper for sativa, CWC did not have a huge selection. With just 12 strains overall, some were mostly empty, with only shake at the bottom. Nothing really stood out except the smell from the Plushberry Kush. Other strains that smelled good were airy and denser strains tended to have a more commercial, chemical smell. The donations were a bit overpriced for the quality, and the strain count was low -- that’s why this category didn’t do well.

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Reviewed

By tyler J. markwart for NORTHWEST LEAF | photos by dANIEL bERMAN

LSD STRAIN // HYBRID With a subtle earthy smell, LSD didn’t overwhelm the senses, which is nice if you don’t want to attract attention while holding your medicine. The smoke was smooth and the effects were nice for a good morning smoke or midday use. The flavor was subtle with no major flavorings. While the buds were mostly small popcorn-style nugs, they had hints of purple strewn about them. At a $10 donation, LSD was reasonably priced and seemed like one of the better options available to patients.

The Score

aro ma: den s it y: cure: appearance: f l avo r: ef f ect: t o tal :

raspberry brownie // $5.00 The Raspberry Brownie was recommended by Hannah and she was spot-on with her suggestion. With an excellent flavor and zero taste of green plant matter, the Raspberry Brownie not only tasted fine but helped me stay asleep longer than three hours, which is always a plus.

At $5 per brownie, it’s a terrific value. If the quality stays true throughout its brand line, I would suggest checking out Soma Edibles.

The Score

19/30

Edibles 4/5 I asked Hannah what her recommendation was and she said the Raspberry Brownie was her favorite. Dawn said to try the Coconut Bombs, but to be careful because they were heavily medicated for those with higher tolerances. The edibles worked well.

I would like to try more of Soma’s edibles just on the deliciousness factor. They also were an excellent value.

P RE SE N TATIO N : TA STE : G REEN F LAVO R: INTENSITY: to ta l:

18/20

Concentrates 1/5 CWC leaves patients short when it comes to its selection of concentrates. If you are looking for shatter, wax, oil or anything to dab with, keep on moving because the only options when I walked in were keif and bubble hash, and neither looked appealing to me nor were they recommended.

Choice Wellness does have easy access (it’s on the edge of Green Lake), but there are problems to solve to bring it up to the standards of other collectives in the area. With a small lobby and a pawnshop-style vibe, it felt more like a head shop or a bodega than a safe access point for patients.

Environment 2/5 Along with some positive elements, Choice Wellness does have easy access -- it’s on the edge of Green Lake -- but the business also has problems to solve to bring it up to the standards of other collectives in the area. With a small lobby and a pawnshop-style vibe, it felt more like a head shop or a bodega than a safe access point for patients. When I first walked into the poorly lit area for patients, paperwork was strewn over the counter, covering the medicine. The sign outside said “organic” in large black letters, but none of the products were tested or labeled by a third-party certifier. (MMJ can’t get a USDA organic agriculture label because Cannabis is a federally and state Schedule I substance.

Call your representatives and ask them to remove Cannabis from the Controlled Substance Act both on a state and federal level.) Three sickly clones were off to the side of the counter with other plants for sale, including basil. The provider behind the counter, Hannah, was very pleasant, knowledgeable and honest about the selection, as was operator Dawn Darrington.

choice wellness CENTER

8600 Aurora Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 682-3015O www.choicewellnesswa.com

Overall 2.5/5 If customer service is a must and you need to grab some quick medicine, CWC will help you with a smile.

Its stock of edibles and topicals is plentiful, and I did appreciate the free cookie they included with my visit, but the store needs to improve its internal and external appearance, stock quality and pricing before I suggest any patients stop in who are looking for a connoisseur-type experience.

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Martin Nickerson, owner of Northern Cross Collective and Samish Way in Bellingham

$$ $$ $$ $$ $$

$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$ taxeD! $$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$ access

By Wes abney | photos by dANIEL bERMAN

he t en com h s w hat cal n pe ter W edi p ha s af st m ve? t a e e ti Wh te go s old ollec ’ sta unty na c Co rijua ma

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access

By Wes abney | photo by dANIEL bERMAN

taxeD! Continued from p. 29

The unusual legal position of Martin Nickerson

has eyebrows and red flags rising across the state, and could well decide the fate of whether medical Cannabis will be taxed here in Washington.

Nickerson opened Northern Cross Collective Garden in Bellingham April 1, 2011, in a much different environment than what MMJ businesses work in today.

“Declaring sales was not an option when we first opened,” Nickerson said. “Medical Cannabis was and still is illegal federally, and I listened to my attorneys about what to do and what to do differently.

A lot changed when we got raided, but the federal and state laws did not.”

Nickerson has been facing 14 felonies since March 15, 2012, when Northern Cross was raided by a drug task force. Police also raided Nickerson’s home in separate Skagit County, and that of his father, taking anything of value. The resulting charges ranged from sales of a controlled substance to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

On the surface, it looks like a terrible spot to be in, but it gets worse.

On December 16th, 2013, Nickerson received the latest in a series of letters from the Department of Revenue demanding that he pay retail sales tax on the donations for medical Cannabis at his shop.

At print time, the bill is a mounting $51,409.06 and the Department of Revenue has issued a tax warrant for Nickerson’s potential arrest if the bill isn’t paid.

A major problem exists with this scenario, and it all hinges on nuances in his criminal case and the

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14 felonies. The legal argument that has kept him out of prison is that his collective provides medication to sick patients and takes donations as a nonprofit. Admitting to sales and paying the tax would be the legal equivalent to pleading guilty to the felonies, a move that could bring 20-plus years in prison.

“We are having a hard time understanding where this tax issue has come from, and where the DOR can tax a product that does not have a tax code that has been put in place by the state Legislature. This has escalated over the last year, and it is disturbing,” Nickerson said passionately.

“With my lawyers telling me not to pay the bill, it’s frustrating. I feel like I have a gun to each side of my head, and my options are not good.”

Seeking clarity The fundamental issue is a lack of transparency from the state. The Department of Revenue sent out educational letters in February stating that all medical Cannabis sales are subject to retail sales tax, but they did not reference a tax code -- it doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, our senators and representatives are trying to destroy MMJ with ill-considered legislation. In many ways, the state is like a bouncer kicking people out of a bar

while shaking them down for every penny on their way out.

“I want some clarity from the feds, the state, the Department of Revenue and my lawyers. I would pay tax on a reasonable level that wouldn’t hurt patients,” he conceded. “But it cannot jeopardize my freedom.”

“How am I going to pay sales tax now when they continue to raid and steal money and assets? When we were first shut down, we lost everything, and I am still living with the felonies while being sent a tax bill for the year in which they raided me. It’s confusing about what they want.”

As the state moves to build a recreational Cannabis system, its decisions have shown a complete disregard for medical Cannabis patients and the collective gardens that support them.

“This is not like Colorado. They chose to work with already established businesses, and to respect medical Cannabis patients,” Nickerson said. “Here, the system is broken and overtaxed, and is going to force recreational consumers and patients alike into

a lucrative black market situation. The only market for 502 will be pot tourism, and the Liquor Control Board has done everything they can to stifle businesses from catering to out-of-state users. Plus, Washington is surrounded by pot, literally. Not like Colorado, which has dry states and draconian drug laws driving users into the state to get high.”

Rather than end MMJ, Nickerson says Washington should follow the steps of Colorado.

“I would love to show the state the 300-plus collective gardens already open, and explain that if they simply regulated them and passed a tax bill, the industry would run perfectly. It’s already established,” he explained. “Instead, they issue me three tax warrants, and throw the felonies at me at the same time.”

There is a lot of pressure locally and nationally for easing drug laws and for the establishment of both MMJ and recreational systems. If Washington is to be the example, people and patients alike should be concerned.

“I have no choice but to fight it. I will not submit to their misdoings without this situation being fixed.”

With my lawyers telling me not to pay the bill, it’s frustrating.

I feel like I have a gun to each side of my head and my options are not good. mar. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

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profile

By Wes abney | photo by Daniel Berman

Lydia Ensley, a WA patient since 2009, shares her perspective as a vocal MMJ activist and what led to her long, at times, difficult path to accepting and being helped by medical Cannabis.

A JOURNEY OF HER OWN “I decided that I wasn’t going to give up...”

#1 What was the experience of becoming a patient like for you?

#2 Why did you decide to start using medical cannabis?

It was scary. I’d had a trifold kept in a bottom drawer for six months. It was a Sentry Medical ad, when they were in Kirkland. Going there was a whole new world. I had been around recreational users, but never seen anyone so open about Cannabis. People from different ages, cultures, all walks of life ...

I had no idea that so many people would want the same things as me.

I was born with severe multiskeletal birth defects. I had eight invasive surgery procedures before age 13, and at that age they wanted to fuse my spine. I have a corkscrew spine with 51 percent curvature. I spent much of my childhood in a body cast, and was in a wheelchair off and on until 13.

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#3 What was that like to deal with so much at such a young age?

They told me that if I didn’t have the procedure, I would be back in a wheelchair by age 50. I had always been strong-minded, and pain causes you to go into your own head a lot, and I knew the risks. They don’t always sound like risks on paper, but a .03 percent chance of full paralyzation felt like Mount Everest. I knew other patients who’d had the procedure from being in the hospital constantly, and I saw some go back with complications or even having to re-do the whole surgery.

#4 Did you move forward with the fusion procedure?

I decided that I wasn’t going to give up and take the risk just to avoid a wheelchair later in life. If they were going to give me 40 years to walk, I was going to walk. I’d already been in a wheelchair for a lot of my childhood, and I could deal with whatever comes later.

#5: After choosing to skip the fusion, what was your life like?

I skipped through the next three to four years, learning how to be a kid. But it was hard to explain yourself to peers when you’ve seen so much. I didn’t have the normal worries of a teenager. It was more about finding the right clothes to hide surgery scars than picking the right shade of pink. But high school was good overall. I was a thespian in drama club and got good grades.

#6: But you were still in pain. How did you manage that?

At 16, I was still taking nothing for pain and I didn’t like pot — I had a very narrow view about using any type of drugs. But I finally hit a point where I couldn’t function like I could before, and I knew I had to go back to the doctor. I had suffered in silence, and didn’t talk about it to anyone. It changed me in ways I couldn’t understand, and my motivation for normal things dropped off.

#7: What did the doctors prescribe?

All the therapy, all the massage and chiropractics, it helped for a day or so and then did nothing. So when I turned 18, they started me on opiates. But they didn’t really work, and they left me feeling jittery and counteracted my ability to sleep. Soon I was taking pills for sleeping too, waking up groggy, and having to take more pain pills immediately to function with the pain.

I was working two jobs at the time, and paying more in medical bills and prescriptions a month than I was in rent.

#8: What tipped you toward Cannabis use?

Right about that time in my life a lot of my friends were getting arrested for possession. My boyfriend at the time had been arrested four times before age 20 for Cannabis. This was a small town in Eastern Washington, and once they knew you, they knew you. I used recreationally myself, but at the time I had a super-low tolerance and didn’t like the feeling of giving up control while being “high.” I didn’t know Cannabis as medicine yet.

#9: What changed for pot to become medicine to you?

When I had my son at 21, my health was deteriorating and I could hardly

move my body with the amount of pain I was in. The doctors put me on methadone and I spent a week on it. By the end, I felt like a junkie — I couldn’t stand the idea of treating myself with methadone. Finally, the doctor said, “We don’t know what we can do -- you should try acupuncture.” I’ll never forget that. My boyfriend saw the pain, and one day he said I should just smoke pot. I’d taken the worse of the worse, so what did I have to lose?

#10 And that is what led you to get authorized?

Yes. I saw Dr. Jason at Sentry, and he was the first doctor I felt ever actually cared about my situation. But when I became a patient, I saw I had no access. I’d moved to Bellingham, where there was no such thing as a dispensary. I bought on the black market and made a Craigslist ad for a designated provider, and we grew some really bad pot in a closet trying to learn anything we could about pot. I took a trip to my first dispensary about three months later, and it was in the back room of a Turkish smoke shop with only two strains. It was creepier than buying from college kids, and I left without getting any meds.

#11: What was your next step?

I started getting fed up, seeing how harmless the plant is. I threw a rally in Bellingham and decided I was going to talk to everyone I could about my story. I lo I got linked up with Sensible Washington, and then became a paid signature gatherer for 1068. From there, I started an advocacy center in Bellingham, which morphed into a small clinic seeing five or six patients a week. But when my financial backer turned shady, I chose to pull out.

I looked at my son and promised myself if I was going to be missing part of his life while working I had to help people the right way, not just sell pot.

#12 Since then, you have had a lot of different access point jobs. What were the jobs like for you, and did they change your view of MMJ? Even back then, I hated the in-fighting between dispensaries most of all.

I wanted to be effective. One of my first collectives lasted three days before the partners fell apart and closed the store. I also did a lot of different consulting, using my knowledge to help people start grows and businesses.

I’ve worked at some dispensaries that pushed you hard for your 40 hours a week, and others that were more focused on helping patients. I also got to work with the 280E tax awareness campaign, which was a really cool experience. Overall, I have seen that a payable wage in this industry is low, and it makes it tough. I have to pay the bills, but my focus is to put patients before profits. Now I work at the CPC and its mission makes the collective a place where I can do what I do best and help patients one on one.

#13 what do you think the future holds for MMJ, and what advice could you offer the industry?

I believe medical Cannabis has been the roadway for social acceptance for recreational use. For too long we have perpetuated recreational Cannabis as less harmful than alcohol while we have forgotten to tell people about how medical Cannabis saves lives. If people can set ego aside and remember the people that have come before, and those who walk after, we have a chance to save medical Cannabis.

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profile

Story & Photos by Bob Montoya for Northwest Leaf

‘‘

It is wonderful

what strength of purpose and boldness and energy of will are roused by the assurance that we are doing our duty. ­—Sir Walter Scott

Why Kitty Chose Locks of Love

C

ompassion, generosity and being proactive will always define the medical Cannabis community. Kitty Bell is a wonderful example of the kind of people that make this possible, through actions and example. Imagine you get the word that you have a possibly fatal disease, what goes through your mind? Visions of your family living on without you? Having to say goodbye to your friends and your very existence.

Kitty had beautiful long hair. It would be devastated by chemo and she knew it. Instead of wallowing in that sorrow she sought out Locks of Love. I got the call to capture the process. It was a Sunday, the shop where she would donate her hair was open just for her. She was nervous, but brave in the face of saying goodbye to a facet of her identity. Her hair was combed and separated into pony tails and the donation bags were laid out.

The cutting began. Kitty did not want to look in the mirror as the scissors made a distinct crunching sound biting through one

36/mar. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

long bundle of beautiful strands after another. Bagged and tagged the hair went into the shipping envelope and the hairdresser set out to salvage what was left. It was a great look for her, a reward for the sacrifice she had made.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

As a Cannabis patient, she was aware of the dangers of chemo as opposed to a straight Cannabis Oil Treatment. She opted for a combination of both. It has been almost a year and Kitty is finally having the last pick line removed, the cancer is gone, the healing has begun.

It is our responsibility as people to help people. Boldly going forth in the face of danger is an honorable trait; we often expect it in soldiers and first responders. Be inspired by this wonderful act of love and kindness.

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In the case of this presidential OG, inhaling the smoke is nothing to frown at.

Fermented lemon rind and sour chem flavors ooze

out of this dense bud, which mixes nicely with a distinctly cinex scent. Also detectable is a hash plant presence, which accounts for the massive amount of resin that covers the sticky buds.

The flower is quite dense and has a nice developed

bud structure, even if it is sometimes smaller than average in size. Perfect out of a pipe or bong, this one takes a lot of effort to roll up but is definitely worth it. The smoke is powerful but light on the lungs, with minimal expansion and an easy taste on the lungs and throat. It has a earthy chem taste that has to be experienced to fully appreciate.

In the effects department, this is an extremely heavy

and fun Indica. It delivers an instant body high that takes away pain without any sluggishness, and might have you feeling like you suddenly are 20 pounds lighter. Effects last upwards of two hours, making this a great medicine for almost every condition.

Afternoon/evening use is recommended, but if you

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FEATURE

By STEPHANIE BISHOP for Northwest Leaf

broken dreams In the War on Drugs, serving your debt to society is the start of the nightmare

46/mar. 2014 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF

in non-combat situations were using drugs while stationed in Vietnam, the Nixon administration asserted that the drug problem had “assumed the dimensions of a national emergency,” and enacted mandatory drug tests for soldiers returning to the United States. The War on Drugs began with fund appropriation to combat the drug problem expanding rehabilitation centers for returning soldiers, research for chemical eradication campaigns and extended law enforcement training.

In 1973, Nixon merged the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement and other Federal agencies into one centralized agency whose mission would be to enforce federal drug laws and coordinate the Government’s drug control activities. The Drug Enforcement Administration was created when the Reorganization Plan No 2 was signed into law on July 1, 1973. In the years following, incarceration rates remained the same, however, drug arrests increased rapidly in 1980.

Before Reagan took office, about 50,000 people were incarcerated for non-violent drug related charges. Reagan’s administration expanded the War on Drugs in response to the inundation of crack cocaine in America’s poor ethnic communities and awarded the first contract to operate a prison to Corrections Corporations of America beginning with a facility take over in Hamilton County, Tennessee in 1984, according to a 2001 publication by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

In 1986, Reagan enacted mandatory minimum sentencing leaving judges no choice but to sentence individuals to the maximum prison time in the law

ARTICLE CONTINUES NEXT PAGE

istockPHOTO

IN

May 2009, Gil Kerlikowske, speaking as the National Director of the Office of Drug Control Policy conducted a media tour through the Pacific Northwest in which he declared the “War on Drugs” was officially over. At that time, Kerlikowske announced the intent of the Obama administration to change the language used with regards to policing drug related activity, claiming the current language is counter-productive to current prevention and treatment policies, according to a May 14, 2009 article in the Wall Street Journal. Drug-related arrests in the US were at an all-time high.

According to the US Department of Justice annual arrest statistics, more than 1,663,582 arrests were made in the United States in 2009. This number does not include traffic stops for DUIs or the number of people arrested for violent crimes, but represents the number of people arrested for personal drug use, The Seattle Times reported.

Today, the Federal Bureau of Prisons houses 2.3 million prisoners. Almost half of the prison population is incarcerated for drug related crimes. The path to the current statistics is long, twisted and riddled with bad decisions made by politicians being lobbied and bought by corporations focused only on profits.

If the condition of prison systems were a measure of civilized society, what does America’s prison system say about our society?

The War on Drugs was declared by President Nixon in 1971. At the time, the Vietnam War saw soldiers returning from deployment addicted to heroin.

After a report done by two congressmen alleging 15 percent of servicemen

One of the first steps towards prison reform would be to release those currently imprisoned for the use of the Cannabis plant on any level.

FEATURE

By STEPHANIE BISHOP for Northwest Leaf

BROKEN DREAMS Continued from pg. 46

If the condition of prison systems were a measure of civilized society, what would America’s prison system tell the rest of the world?

regardless of the circumstances involved in the alleged crime. Drug users with no more than small personal amounts in their possession were given the same amount of prison time as dealers in possession of large amounts with obvious evidence supporting intent to sell, according to National Public Radio.

C

orrection Corporations of America is the company operating most of the Federal Prisons in America today. Our government is contractually bound to do two things for Corrections Corporations of America, guarantee a 90 percent occupancy rate in each prison and pay $36,000 per prisoner per year to cover the cost of housing prisoners, according to a 2008 article in The Phoenix. Currently the cost of America’s private system of incarceration is more than $51 billion — mostly paid by American taxpayers, according to Alternet.org Federal Prison Industries, also known as UNICOR is a US Government Corporation created in 1934 to provide vocational training to citizens serving time in federal prisons as a form of rehabilitation. Funds were appropriated to expand prisons to include factories and manufacturing facilities. In the beginning, the company’s work contracts were restricted to manufacturing goods for the US Military. The private sector was not allowed access to prison labor until Keep Reading the Prison Industries Act of 1995 which “provides for the The New Jim Crow: employment of inmate labor Mass Incarceration in the Age of in State correctional instituColorblindness by Michelle Alexander tions and in the private manufacturing of certain products THE PRISON Reform Movement: under certain conditions.”

Forlorn Hope by Larry E Sullivan Additionally, the Prison Industries Act set up loop Cannabis Criminals: The Social Effects of Punishments holes allowing for interstate of Drug Users by Patricia G Erickson commerce of goods made by prisoners. Third party compaPrison Activist Resource Center nies purchase these goods and www.prisonactivist.org store them in warehouses for future shipping so consumers ACLU: Prisoner’s Rights are unaware the goods were www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights manufactured by prisoners, The Nation magazine reported in a 2010 piece.

Prisoners currently serving time in State and Federal prisons are required to hold jobs either for UNICOR or work administrative positions in the prisons.

Prisoners are paid anywhere from $0.14 to $0.23 per hour for their work and are required to pay most of what they make back to cover their own living expenses and health care costs. California inmates process beef and chicken products, milk, bread and eggs. Washington State inmates package Starbucks Coffee, Microsoft and Nintendo products and cut metal airplane parts for Boeing, according to a 2008 interview reported by Mother Jones Magazine.

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Texas inmates manufacture household goods including sinks, mattresses, brooms, furniture and more. What started as a vocational work program for prisoners working for the United States Department of Defense military has become a system generating mass profits in the private sector on the backs of non-violent drug offenders, according to Mother Jones.

The legality of stripping a citizen’s constitutional rights comes from the 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. In order to guarantee a 90 percent occupancy rate in federal prisons, the US government declared a war on the personal use of a long list of “drugs” and made them illegal on a federal level for the purpose of incarceration.

These tactics legally strip citizens of their right to vote, receive public aid services, enjoy grants or loans for educational programs and more. Through such draconian policies as mandatory minimum sentencing, probation and the three strikes rule, the government can ensure those entrapped by the system remain in the system. Asset forfeiture laws where law enforcement liquidate the assets of those accused of drug crimes make it impossible for those accused of a federal crime to defend or even sustain themselves.

Life doesn’t get easier for someone who has “served their debt to society” upon release. Those convicted of a federal crime are forced into essentially a lower caste system, whereby they are ostracized by a society conditioned to label released prisoners as criminals. Employment opportunities are almost impossible to find when one is required to disclose criminal status on each application and most employers will not hire anyone convicted of a federal crime. In addition, federal convicts are denied access to housing assistance, food stamps and medical coverage leaving individuals without any opportunity to develop a livelihood strategy for self sufficiency.

The time to take a hard look at America’s privatized prison system and decide the morality of enslaving more of its citizens than any other Country in the World is now, on the eve of marijuana regulation in the United States.

One of the first steps towards prison reform would be to release those currently imprisoned for the use of the cannabis plant on any level. Further steps would be to reverse any contracts binding the US Government to guarantee occupancy rates or pay the cost of incarceration for the sake of profits made from prison work contracts.

Many non-profit organizations are currently engaged in reforming the prison system on all levels from making legislative change to supporting prisoner reclamation into society. Many employers have programs providing employment to those previously convicted of a Federal crime, others offer apprentice opportunities for prisoners to learn specialized trades.

Recently, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Obama Administration’s intent to reform mandatory minimum sentencing including not imposing harsh sentencing on low-level, non violent drug offenders without ties to larger organizations, gangs or cartels. “We need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter and rehabilitate,” Holder said in a prepared report provided to NPR. “Not merely to convict, warehouse and forget.” This is most certainly a step in the right direction with hope of more reform in the very near future.

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compiled by northwest leaf

Recipes

Green Up Your St. Patrick’s Day

Email your recipes nwleaf@gmail.com It might just be in our next issue!

guinness cake Prep Time: 35 min.

Total Time: 1 hr. 25 min.

Yield: 1 cake, 9 servings

Ingredients 6 ounces plain flour 4 ounces medicated butter 10 ounces dark brown sugar 2 medium eggs, beaten 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 7 fluid ounces Guinness stout (or other Irish stout)* 2 ounces cocoa powder

Icing ingredients 4 ounces chocolate 2 tablespoons Guinness stout 2 ounces medicated butter 4 ounces icing sugar, sifted 1 ounce walnuts, finely chopped

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1. grease & line two 8-in. cake pans.

Preheat oven to 350 °F degrees.

2. CREAM butter and sugar together.

Gradually beat in the eggs. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

3. STIR Guinness into the cocoa and

then alternate folding in the flour mix and the Guiness cocoa to the butter/ sugar mixture.

4. spread mixture into pans and bake 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pans for five minutes before turning out.

5. for the icing melt chocolate with the Guinness then beat in butter and leave to cool a little before beating in icing sugar. Set aside ¼ of icing and stir in the chopped walnuts.

6. When icing has cooled to a

spreadable consistency, spread it out on one of the cakes, then top with remaining cake, and use rest of the icing for the top and sides.

7. decorate with remaining walnuts &

a copious helping of grated chocolate.

ULTIMATE IRISH APPLE CAKE

INgredients 4 tablespoons medicated butter, softened ( room temperature) 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg, beaten ( room temperature) 4 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and diced (about two cups) 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 cup all-purpose flour

1. PREHEAT OVEN to 350°F and generously grease up an 8-in. square cake pan.

You really don't want it sticking.

2. in a large bowl cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy.

3. add the apples, eggs, nuts and vanilla and stire well to combine all ingredients.

5. sift in the dry ingredients and mix well.

6. pour the batter into the prepared pan

and bake about 45 minutes, until cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Remove from oven and let the cake set in the pan 5 min. then remove from pan.

8. serve warm or at room temperature

with fresh fruit and/or vanilla ice cream.

Photos by Flickr/GASTRONAUTADV & flickr/missteee

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Reviews Coco Canna Granola Bar $8

Serving = 1 bar, 55.18 grams

“CONSISTENCY OF A NUTRIGRAIN...“

We think the folks at Coco Canna deserve a pat on the back for making the first across-the-board 5-star medible we have reviewed here at Northwest Leaf.

Coco Canna is one of the only medible companies that offers savory and non-sweet options for patients, and this granola bar adds a lot of credibility to its line of products. Made with all-natural ingredients and 100 percent USDA organic Nutiva extra virgin coconut oil and medical grade Washington Cannabis, this is a healthful and tasty treat for patients.

The consistency of the bar is similar to a Nutri-Grain bar, though it seems to have a little more give The Score when bitten and a natural taste that can’t be beat.

Valu e: With 60 mg of THC mixed Tas te: in, the effects are strong, though the green taste from most mediEffect: bles is absent in this bar.

Packaging: It is one of the few edibles Overall: we have eaten that didn’t make us calorie-guilty, and it can fit in on the hiking trail or the office without messing up your daily diet.

Besides the taste and potency, the best part about Coco Canna is its attention to detail with packaging. All warning labels are included, along with full ingredients and an expiration date. This makes us feel confident in recommending the brand, and ensures a fresh product each time you pick one up.

1.89mg CBG-TOTAL•60.58mg THC-TOTAL•0.72mg CBD-TOTAL•3.33mg CBC•65.46mg ACTIVATED-TOTAL

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$4

by northwest leaf staff Photos by Daniel Berman

420 Mini Bar Serving = 1 bar, 5.53 grams

By Evergreen herbal

This little candy bar is one of the funnest medibles to hit the

collective scene in a long while.

Reminiscent of a holiday chocolate sampler, these mini bars can brighten up a soggy day. They come in four flavors: Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt, Dark Chocolate with pop rocks, Milk Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Toffee.

We had the pleasure of trying all four, and the pop rocks version was definitely the most fun. The chocolate tingles in the mouth, settling into the stomach and delivering quick medicating effects.

The toffee version also was extremely tasty and covered the green flavor of the bar well. The Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt was the only version that seemed to be trying a little too hard, with a heavy salty flavor that didn’t quite cover the green taste.

The best part about this medible is the size. Period. Roughly the size of a quarter, each piece is packed with 30 mg of THC, and we also find a nice amount of CBG/CBD mixed into the product.

The terpenes are there too: 1.46mg of Alpha-Pinene, 0.63mg The Score of Humulene and Va l u e : 2.09mg Terpene-Total. These mini-bars are Ta st e : easy to transport, keep E ffe c t: their consistency well, Packaging: and provide the punch of a solid medible with Ove ra l l : only one bite needed.

0.88mg CBG-TOTAL•0.66mg CBN• 0.74mg CBD-TOTAL • 0.91mg CBC• -0.74mg CBD 33.15mg THC-Toal • 33.93mg ACTIVATED-TOTAL

FEATURE

By wES aBNEY

10 WAYS

TO GREEN UP

YOUR ST. PATRICK’S DAY Ditch the green beer for something a little less dangerous. Blend up your favorite loose leaf tea and mix in medicated honey for a relaxing beverage, or try adding tincture to a traditional drink recipe minus the alcohol.

1

Bring some green into the kitchen!

Almost any good St. Patrick’s Day recipe can be spiced up with Cannabis. Check out our recipes section on pg. 50 for more info!

2 3

Swap a drinking game for a smoking

game! Example: Pot Potato....For this mission you will need: a single potato of any shape, color and size, multiple smoking devices locked and loaded, and Irish music. How to play: If you have every played hot potato as a child you will know how to play this game. If not there is no need to worry as it is pretty easy to understand. All you need to do is start passing the potato around a circle of people whilst the Irish music is playing in the background. You will need to put someone in charge of hitting the stop button at random points. Whenever the music stops the person who is left holding on to the potato has to take a toke. Pretty simple see!

Put on a scary movie! Might we recommend the Leprechaun series. Yes, there was a series, and they made four films in all. The best one? Leprechaun 4: In Space.

4

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5

Change Irish sayings to surprise

6

Pick up a local Cannabis friendly

friends and random people with statements like “Top of the Cola to you this morning” and “Kiss me, I’m medicated!” Hmm..the list could have just been fun phrase replacements.

clothing item or glass piece that has some green in it! Shouldn’t be hard!

Make someone special a St. Patrick’s Day gift basket or gift. Hit up your fave local farmers market and give some green this year! Don’t leave anyone out.

7 8

Instead of a Pub Crawl get a group

9

Learn to Irish Dance, and practice

together and try a Collective Crawl. You’ll have more fun, do far less stumbling and actually remember those great memories next year!

it whilst medicating! The results may be frightening at first, so relax, and have fun.

Instead of pinching everyone not wearing green this year, give them a pinch of green bud! Share the flower, and please don’t drink (or smoke) and drive!

10

If your idea of a treasure

is a pot of Acapulco Gold Cannabis this list is tailored just for you! At Northwest Leaf we want everyone to have a safe and productive St. Patrick’s Day and to begin shifting the transition from alcohol abuse to Cannabis celebration! Without further ado, here are our top suggestions for a THC-filled holiday you can remember.

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Terpenes: 16.53% Linalool 0.67% Caryophyllene oxide 1.00% Myrcene 7.28% limonene 2.73% alpha-Pinene 1.56% Caryophyllene 17.20% TERPENE-TOTAL Residual Solvency: 150ppm

18.92% THC-Total • 38.19% CBD-Total • 2.25% CBG-TOTAL • 0.64% cbc

C

ashy’s Honey BHO looks and smells like Editor Note: Cashy’s Honey is named for Cash nectar from the gods, Hyde, a little boy from not just bumblebees.

Montana, who passed away This highly medicinal from complications of brain strain features a 2:1 ratio of Cancer at only age four in 2008. His spirit lives on CBD to THC, making it one through those that share his of the best concentrate options medicine, which helped to available in Washington at this keep Cash with us for years time. The consistency is light longer than was expected. and fluffy for a more shatterCashhydefoundation.org like consistency and globs onto a dabber quite easily without leaving behind excess medicine.

Taking the oil and stretching it releases a fuzzy pine smell that is complemented by underlying sweet herbal tones. This is an exciting strain to dab, both for the taste and the effects. The vapor produced when dabbed is sweet in both start and finish — with light expansion and a tingly feeling that lingers in the sinus and throat.

The effects settle like a warm blanket fresh out of the dryer, which is enhanced with a light feeling of euphoria that eases in over the first five to ten minutes after medicating. The CBD content makes this concentrate very relaxing and calming, leaving my body feeling loose in the joints.

I felt light on my feet and ready to get right back to work.

The terpenes are also phenomenally high in this oil at a whopping 29.77 percent. This is the highest tested terpene level we have ever published and we are honored that it is attached to such a strain.

available from Sonshine Organics Network 3211 Yelm Hwy SE, Olympia, WA 98501 (360) 742-3669 www.sonshineo.com

The effects settle like a warm blanket fresh out of the dryer, which is enhanced by a light feeling of euphoria that eases in over 5-10 minutes.

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Tested By

ANALYTICAL 360 Cannabis Analysis Laboratory

Gallery

STORY AND strain 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 we saw

two common strains grown to the patient’s specific needs. This time we will see how a different curing method can make the same plant perform very different tasks. Most everyone is aware that Cannabis is hung for extended periods to properly cure it for consumption or production. This can take many weeks when properly done. It allows for full development of the terpenes that give it an appealing aroma.

Water curing

is a different approach to preparing the plant for application. Water curing allows the plant to keep on developing as it is being purged by osmosis of all the water soluble chemicals that we don’t want to smoke. A week in the bath, submerged, changing the water completely every day, then hung as per normal air curing. The affect is very mature trichomes almost entirely amber, an indication of pain killing and sedative properties. The dried flower has much less aroma, but its potency is undeniable.

Pineapple express 18% THC Air-cured

So why do this at all? Imagine you are Anna Swanson, a Licensed Massage Practitioner using Cannabis topicals. It has long been a practice to “anoint” the body with Cannabis oils to achieve al level of wellness that overcomes pain and stress. Anna has developed a method for getting a dual use out of a single strain. She has learned water curing eliminates the green color and “ganja” smell in her medicated topical medicines.

Patients generally know

what strains are good for which ailments, so it makes sense then for Anna to grow and produce those varieties, not only because it will work for that one person, but because you never know if it will work for someone else.

This is a Micro application of Pineapple Express, a plant that can produce 18 percent THC but only 0.25 percent CBD, which provides a normally pure euphoric and very couchy, comforting effect. cannabis massage practitioner Anna Swanson

Learn more at her website www.abserenety.com and in person every Saturday at her booth at the Sonshine Organics Washington Farmers Market in Olympia,

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Pineapple express Water-cured version

The white crystal-like trichomes are about half the width of a human hair — Seen in this 500x close-up.

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T H E F L AV O U R O F S C I E N C E .

health & science A B O T AN I C A L M O N O G R A P H

THE SECRET POWER OF GINGER

By Northwest Leaf special contributor sCOTT d. roSE

Description Shoots grow above ground up to 1 meter tall out of a below-ground rhizome or swollen stem. It’s knobbed and fleshy with ring-like scars. Flowers spike from rhizome, up to 30 cm, and are purple with a cream-blotched base. Red fruits, black seeds.

Parts used:

The rhizome. It’s used fresh, dried, powdered, juiced, concentrate, by tincture and topically, internal and external use.

Active constituents:

Contains several constituents and active ingredients. Active gingerols are the major pungent compounds -- ginger oil contains a high proportion of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Fresh ginger has small amounts while larger amounts can be found in dried or extracted product.

(Zingiber off icinale) is found in China, India, tropical regions, and recently in Africa & Jamaica.

Photo by flickr/heymrleej

Drug interactions:

No drug interactions are known. Some concern exists with blood clotting, so those on anticoagulant therapy should be cautious with use.

Side effects & toxicity:

Listed on U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s list of GRAS, generally recognized as safe list.

Dosage:

Typical daily dosage is 1 to 4 grams daily. For pregnancy-induced nausea, boiling the fresh herb in water seems to work best. Dilute with water to taste.

Medicinal uses:

Motion-sickness prone people may find ginger can help with nausea, or delaying the onset of nausea and shortening the period of recovery. Studies have shown ginger to be as effective as traditional anti-nausea medications.

Morning sickness from pregnancy typically occurs in the first trimester. In one research study, 20 percent of the placebo group improved versus 77 percent of women treated with 1 tablespoon of a ginger syrup who reported marked improvement.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea is also helped by ginger. Ginger is also used for other stomach issues ranging from upset stomach to diarrhea.

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Contraindications:

The use of ginger during pregnancy for morning sickness has raised some controversy.

Historical uses:

Medicinal use dating back 2,500 years in China and India for conditions such as headaches, nausea, rheumatism and colds. In foods and beverages, ginger is used as a flavoring agent. In manufacturing, ginger is used as a fragrance in various soaps and cosmetics.

Other uses include pain relief from arthritis or muscle soreness both internal and external, menstrual pain, upper respiratory tract infections, cough, and bronchitis. Ginger is used for chest pain and low back pain.

Ginger is known for its immune-boosting properties. Chinese medicine considers ginger a hot and spicy herb, good for ridding the body of the cold damp induced by certain climates and dietary practices.

Cold damp invasion causes disease such as the common cold, digestive problems, muscle spasms and soreness, menstrual cramps and arthritis.

Recipe for ginger tea: www.tinyurl.com/makegingertea

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health & science

gut feelin’

By Northwest Leaf special contributor sCOTT d. roSE

Probiotics are the healthful bacteria and fungi

that live in and on our bodies. We have more cells of these microorganisms than we do cells of our body.

And we can’t live without them.

M

ore than 500 species of bacteria can populate the human gut. A virus differs because it doesn’t have a cell wall -- it is noncellular, much smaller and infects cells with no benefits.

Beneficial bacteria help digestion, elimination, and the manufacture of certain vitamins and fatty acids. Many bad actors can directly contribute to disease of the body, but research is showing a positive interplay between these beneficial bacteria and the immune system.

Most people carry a negative view of bacteria and fungi. Those organisms are often associated with diseases of the body. Sexually transmitted diseases and most fungal infections occurring on the surface of the body are due to bacteria.

Systemic fungal infections are more common in immunocompromised people, including those who have HIV/AIDS, have had organ transplants and are on anti-rejection drugs, and those being treated for autoimmunity. So yes, many bacteria and fungi can cause disease in the body.

Probiotic organisms, however, are beneficial and necessary.

On the skin, in the mouth, in the lungs and down the esophagus and through the intestines to the anus and vagina, these microorganisms are arranged in biofilms that spread over and coat tissues, including the skin and the gut wall, that serve

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as the barrier to the outside world. These healthful organisms that have a symbiotic relationship with our bodies are called normal flora. The microscopic organismal flora of the body is known as the microflora. The beneficial bacteria establish the balance of the microflora in the gut.

The fetus is sterile until moving through the birth canal. The normal flora is first established while moving through the birth canal -- with C-section rates higher than 30 percent in the United States, many babies are missing out on this important step.

The healthful bacteria coat the intestines and keep unhealthful bacteria from growing. As a population of a certain bacterial strain takes root and proliferates, it might inhibit or even promote other bacterial populations.

The healthful bacteria are involved in the diges-

tive process, and they capture free radicals that are at the root of the oxidative process of diseases such as cancer. The microflora also neutralizes toxins in the gut and keeps fungal organisms in low number. Those bacteria aid in the synthesis of B vitamins for energy and metabolism, vitamin K for proper blood clotting and butyrate, which is a fatty acid that keeps the intestinal cells healthy.

Much in the modern world can alter the gut microflora, including a diet with overly processed nutritionless food, high stress levels and medications. Antibiotics, which only target bacteria, are a medication type that has been abused for a long time. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are often used because the specific bacteria targeted are seldom identi-

Yogurt is the most well-known source of probiotics.

The product must say “active” or “live cultures.” Acidophilus (Lactobacillus acidophilus) and bifidobacteria are the two major players to look for. Other food sources include fermented foods such as cheese, kefir, Korean kimchi, soybean tempe, honey and even pickles.

Photos by Flickr/8skeinsofdanger Flickr/Alandd & Flickr/Emagineart

fied -- it’s often a viral infection, which antibiotics do nothing for. This type of antibiotic lays waste to many of the beneficial bacteria in and on the body.

This opens the door to unhealthful bacteria and allows the fungal organisms to gain a stronghold, which throws the normal flora out of balance.

Unhealthful bacteria are known as dysbiotic flora and are known to cause disease. The first time an antibiotic is used, that person’s flora is never the same again.

It is now known that an interaction and influence exist between the microflora and the immune system. Basically, when probiotics are abundant, it is harder for bacteria and other organisms that cause disease to enter. They also play a role in food allergies, too. The microflora are constantly sampling the food stuff that goes by them in the gut.

They take in the food stuff and then display cellular markers on their cell walls to communicate to the immune cells what they have found. When this information is seen as a foreign invader, then a response might be mounted.

The use of supplemental probiotics have been helpful in immune issues such as chronic urinary tract infections and allergies.

Probiotics and prebiotics come in many flavors. Prebiotics are fibers found in foodstuffs that are food for the healthful flora. Yogurt is the most well-known source of probiotics. A quality yogurt

Much in the modern world can alter the gut microflora, harming digestion and nutrition intake, including a diet with overly processed nutritionless food, high stress levels and medications.

with strains of beneficial bacteria that will stay and populate your gut is necessary. Many brands use inferior-quality strains of bacteria to ferment the dairy or heat has been used in the process, killing the bacteria.

The product must say “active” or “live cultures.”

Acidophilus (Lactobacillus acidophilus) and bifidobacteria are the two major players to look for.

Other food sources include fermented foods such as cheese, kefir, Korean kimchi, soybean tempe, honey and even pickles.

Supplemental probiotics and prebiotics are easily accomplished through nutritional supplementation of beneficial strains. It is quite likely that we might not be able to consume adequate amounts from dietary sources.

A whole industry is built around pro/prebiotic supplementation. Many strains are proprietary -- good quality is usually not cheap -- and most should be kept refrigerated.

There might be a strain identifier listed, including Lactobacillus acidophilus EEX-1, and levels are labeled in CFU (colony forming units). Often, people discover probiotic supplementation through the support or treatment of a specific disease, but one could build a strong argument that regular supplementation might be a good

part of the wellness plan for anyone.

Our bodies are made of 10 trillion cells (give or take a few trillion) and 100 trillion cells of the microflora are in and on our bodies. That is 10 times more bugs in and on our bodies than we have cells of our bodies.

The healthful normal flora should be established from the moment of birth. We are doing a lot in modern society to interrupt our relationship with the healthful microflora, including high cesarean rates, improper diets, sterile diets or a lack of traditional fermented foods, high stress, alcohol abuse, antibiotic use, IBS and chronic fatigue syndrome, to name just a few.

We have a mutually beneficial relationship with our healthful bugs. They might be microscopic organisms, but they do outnumber us even on a cellular level. We should pay homage to our healthful bacterial and fungal organisms and cater to their health as they cater to ours.

Dr. Scott D. Rose is a naturopathic physician, acupuncturist specialized in combining naturopathic medicine and Chinese medicine to treat a variety of complaints. www.msih.biz

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Know Your Nutrients

Giving your garden the right mix means all the difference for producing healthy plants

F

ar and away the most popular category of questions I receive is in the nutrient/feeding schedule category. Very often the questions come in the form of a what should I feed? When? And how much?

Understandably so as there lies the greatest variables of products, feeding schedules and opinions.

Among many other reasons this is why I so consistently recommend gardeners use a True Living Organics growing environment. If you choose to control the nutrients your plants use you are automatically starting out at a disadvantage and you should know that going in. If you choose to brave the journey you are abandoning the living environment that exists in the soil and replacing it with a living, evolving, relationship between the nutrient schedule you administer and the plants you are caring for.

Obtaining the nutrient formula and administering procedure of the best growers you can find and duplicating it may seem like a great place to start.

Nothing led me to greater folly. Starting out with my mentor’s formula led me to frying my plants heavily. It wasn’t until I stripped the formula down to what I thought was essential and started to build and test from that standpoint that I was able to begin to understand what the plants wanted, how they communicated these needs and how to properly account for them. Each time a round makes a notable improvement in some area I scour the data to try and extract what variable(s) accounted for the improvement and include it in my next cycle. This produces steady improvements for me over the long term.

The pervasive lesson I continue to be most enamored of is the topic of this month’s piece. Namely,

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the life-like quality that I consider my nutrient schedule to exist in as my relationship with the plants and ability to allow them to achieve optimal health improves. By understanding that the nutrients you administer will not become a fixed regiment but a slowly evolving mechanism that can improve through small shifts, you will allow your plants to achieve greater and greater actualization of their genetic potential.

why Healthy plants are happy plants Happy plants are required to maximize genetic potential. The happier your plants are the more impressive the result. I find this is expressed in the growing phase largely through pace of development. Few things are as impressive as being able to notice significant progress in a short period of time. Get your Veg room dialed in and see 1-3 inches of growth in all directions, leaves and shoots coming out overnight and doubling in size in the first 24 hours. Flowering cycles can develop surging plants opening sites at every node 4 days into 12/12. 2-4 inch overnight growth, stacked connected bud sites on day 14, resin glands standing at attention to the leaf tip by day 20 and trichomes layered to the white by day 32. Just about all popular hybrids these days are capable of these characteristics when dialed in.

How to start getting dialed-in results But what if you are newer in the garden, or just haven’t been able to achieve results like that?

There are a few areas that are most important

By Northwest Leaf special contributor Dr. Scanderson

to gauge and assess in your nutrient schedule to ensure your schedule matches your plants’ health.

The first area is Nitrogen administration and depletion. N is very important to supply in vegetative stage of development. When it comes to flowering however your plant’s need for nitrogen decreases as it progresses through the flower cycle. Many nutrient schedule advocate switching from a vegetative formula to a bloom formula as soon as you transition your plants to flower. Supply too much nitrogen during flower however and you risk decreasing potency of your medication, flaccid stems and N toxicity.

Deplete plants too early and you may suffer inadequate growth and structural development, premature chlorophyll evacuation and overall slower growth and development.

I found that when I transplanted, moved plants to 12/12 and moved them into the flower room all in one step my plants benefitted from maintaining a high N vegetative formula sometimes into week 3 of flower. It was a consistent test and result. Leave the N in longer and I got better yields of higher quality medication and was able to note overall improved plant health throughout all the flower cycle.

This was a rule I hung fast to as other areas of my methods improved. I was shocked to discover that this “rule” became a limitation as transitions from veg to flower improved from 7-10 days to half that time. The rule was only beneficial as long as transition times remained consistent to when the high N method was

ARTICLE CONTINUES P. 76

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Know Your Nutrients

discovered. The improvement in transition time meant that the plant’s demand for other nutrients increased more dramatically than when transitions took longer.

Understanding p & k after working with N Two things were needed to fully improve the schedule. First, P and K needed to be added earlier in the flower cycle. As soon as this step was incorporated, a notable improvement was evident. Blooms were getting bigger faster and with more resin produced earlier. But this was only the FIRST step. As a result of this improvement, blooms were becoming more mature earlier on in the flower cycle. This made the amount of N, now, detrimental to the flower development. The initial change was adding in more P and K earlier on in the flower cycle to account for faster transitions. The secondary change was decreasing the N earlier to account for the benefits that the earlier P and K were now creating. I’m a slow learner so this took four cycles (8 months) to be able to test and improve on consistently.

What I was NOT seeing is the ripple effect that ANY change made to one part of the garden has on affecting many other areas. Improving one area means that the current status quo (assuming it was balanced) will no longer support the improved pace of your garden. Being aware that the lessons learned in the garden are signposts, indicators of how to achieve overall plant health and are very much dynamic in their nature was essential and initially missing from my effort.

getting a feel for bloom enhancers Another example of this effect is incorporating flower bulking agents. Properly dialed in plants will transition almost immediately and get right to building beautiful blooms in hopes of being pollinated. By adding in bloom enhancers once your plant has fully shifted from stretch to bud building you generally get larger, heavier blooms. Add them in too early and you can forgo essential building time and end up with a reduced yield from blocking essential elements your plant’s need by saturating them with things they don’t yet need. Don’t add them in at all and you’ll still have an outstanding harvest. Add them in properly and at the right time and you will see flower sites visually swell in diameter and measurable frost will engulf leaf tips in a few days from application. But don’t forget about the butterfly effect.

These larger, faster developing blooms are heavy and can stress and snap branches. Without ac-

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Continued from pg. 74

Any time an issue is encountered it can be helpful to think of it along three main steps...

1) What is needed to fix this issue this time?

2) What results do I need to account for as a result of this issue being resolved?

3) How can I avoid this issue next round and what other results will I need to account for by forgoing the issue altogether?

The nutrient schedule is one part of the overall plant’s life experience.

As certain results are achieved through different methods the nutrient schedule will need to be adjusted to account for these results, which in turn will produce other improved results that need to be accounted for and so on and so forth.

By being aware of how improving some areas will beget improvements in others, the answer to what to feed when will largely depend on the type of garden you are working in and what type of garden you are actually working towards every single day.

Happy Gardening!!!

counting for the additional support your plants will likely need BEFORE they need them can create stress and damage and decrease from your plant’s overall health. If you forgo additional support your plant may need to shift the focus of energy on building or repairing stems, now trying to support unusually heavy fruit. This can result in slower rates of bud development rendering the bulking agents just about a mistake, damage to your crop and nutrient deficiency/ build up.

As optimal health is reached the amount of progress that the plant makes at each stage of development improves both in the result AND the time it takes to obtain that result. This means during the one and only time your plant has to open flower sites, it opens more flower sites in a shorter period of time.

Stacking happens earlier in the cycle and faster leaving more time for bud development and bulking. The plant will achieve a higher weight and quality earlier leaving the last few weeks dedicated to the production of essential oils and ripening rather than finishing the bud set or whatever previous stage took longer because optimal health was not maintained.

The finish line is fixed however and so are the stages of flower development with some variation. You get as much as you can get from that stage and move on. Trying to compensate for errors in one stage by hoping to get performance of that segment during another is a mistake in my experience. You must account for the flush and finishing time. Maintain optimal health through the majority of the flower cycle and you will be left with large, full, resin-coated flowers in the early 40 days, making flushing the natural next step.

Encounter an issue before this period and you may be thinking more food will be needed in order to achieve the results you were hoping for.

This leads many gardeners to feed their plants much longer than I believe is necessary. It’s true that compared to beginning the flush earlier it’s definitely possible to increase the yield, however, the increase in my experience is marginal and completely negated by the fact that the product you are left with is not usually medicine and is best suited for the “i-50fooledya” market.

If you have questions

or something you want to see in next month’s column, email me at thegreengardengroup@gmail.com

BEHIND THE STRAIN

BYY DR. SCANDERSON FOR NORTHWEST LEAF

questions?

Never hesitate to email me at thegreengardengroup@gmail.com.

See a wide range of useful growing videos and tips at Youtube.com/ Y DrScandersonGt

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