THE ENLIGHTENED VOICE
F R E E / L E A F N AT I O N M D . C O M
# 2 6 | F E B . 2021
INDEPENDENT CANNABIS JOURNALISM SINCE 2010
GROWN.
Our greenhouse expansion is all grown out. Tripling in size to 250,000 sq.ft., our state-of-the-art, “Dutch-style” greenhouse is ready to deliver the natural sun-grown medicine Maryland’s patients deserve.
SUNLIGHT MEETS STATE OF THE ART. SUNMEDGROWERS.COM Medical cannabis is for use only by a qualifying patient. There may be health risks associated with the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products. There may be additional health risks associated with the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
feature
Harvest of Rockville’s resident rapper Alex Chike
ERIC KAYNE
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30 Connor Sheffield
Tetragram
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ADOBE
Otha Smith
feature
WYATT EARLY
shop review
WYATT EARLY
stoner owner
Teenage NASCAR hopeful driven to fight for widespread access to Cannabis medicine.
42 Eddy Lepp | Cannthropology Maryland Leaf chats with Cannabis growing legend Eddy Lepp on the early days of his career, befriending Jack Herer, and founding The Multi-Denominational Ministry of Cannabis and Rastafari.
photo by mg imaging
FEB. 2021
EDITOR’S NOTE N AT I O N A L N E W S PHARMACEUTICAL POT LEGAL PERSPECTIVE BUDTENDER Q&A PAT I E N T P R O F I L E STONER OWNER RITUAL DISPENSARY STRAIN OF THE MONTH THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE CONNOR’S COURAGE MOVING FOR THE PLANT T H E E V O LV I N G L O U N G E CBN AND SLEEP WELLNESS M P X G U I C E L R B AT T E R A LT E R N AT I V E M E D I C I N E CANNTHROPOLOGY STONEY BALONEY
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KAMRIN MILLS
THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE
#26
budtender of the month
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issue
Wellness is an evolution CURALEAF SUPPORTS THE JOURNEY You're determined to feel your best. We're determined to help. Along with an impressive range of cannabis products, Curaleaf Maryland has the expertise it takes to ensure you make just the right choice—for you. Your Curaleaf Maryland experience offers: • An on-site, accessible Clinical Director • Convenient curbside pickup • Up-to-date sanitation and safety protocols To schedule a consultation, contact our Clinical Director, Dr. Travis Poonai, at: Travis.poonai@curaleaf.com
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Wellness is at the heart of your happiness True Wellness takes your happiness to heart. We’re here to provide you with the highest quality, third-party tested medical cannabis for comforting relief and elevating your state of well-being. Learn more about us and becoming a medical marijuana patient at mdtruewellness.com. We’d love to be your partner in staying happy and well.
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E S TA B L I S H E D 2 0 1 0
T H E E N L I G H T E N E D VO I C E
N O RT H W E S T L E A F / O R EG O N L E A F / A L AS KA L E A F / M A RY L A N D L E A F / CA L I F O R N I A L E A F / N O RT H E AS T L E A F
A B O U T T H E C OV E R What is more essential than Cannabis? At the heart of our magazine this month is the utility knife-like nature of this miracle medicine. We looked to Massachusettsbased illustrator Mike Curato to bring to life our concept for a Swiss Army amalgamation of tools one might need for their Cannabis world. Curato is an illustrator and author of children’s books and is most well known for his Little Elliot series. “The cover artwork,” says Curato, “was drawn with pencil and paper and colored digitally (while perhaps having an edible).” His recently released debut young adult graphic novel “Flamer” has been met with critical acclaim. Learn more at mikecurato.com.
ART by MIKE CURATO @MIKE_CURATO
FOUNDER
CONTRIBUTORS
WES ABNEY | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
KELLY BJORK, ILLUSTRATION BOBBY BLACK, FEATURES JOSHUA BOULET, ILLUSTRATION TOM BOWERS, FEATURES MIKE CURATO, ILLUSTRATION EARLY, PRODUCTION STEVE ELLIOTT, NATIONAL NEWS ERIC KAYNE, PHOTOS TAYLOR MARTIN, FEATURES KAMRIN MILLS, PHOTOS BAXSEN PAINE, FEATURES JEFF PORTERFIELD, DESIGN MIKE RICKER, FEATURES MEGHAN RIDLEY, EDITING O’HARA SHIPE, FEATURES JESSE STALEY, PHOTOS MIKE ROTHMAN, LAW COLUMN DAN VINKOVETSKY, FEATURES NATE WILLIAMS, REVIEWS BRUCE & LAURIE WOLF, RECIPES
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WES
ABNEY
Editor’s Note Thanks for picking up our first Essential Issue of the Leaf! 2020 WILL go down in history for a lot of reasons, but one shining moment is the day that San Francisco declared Cannabis as essential business during the first COVID shutdown. Out of all the highs and lows in my decade of Cannabis publishing, that was the first moment I truly believed Cannabis would become completely legal in my lifetime.
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To understand this sentiment, let me unpack the statement: Being deemed essential means that Cannabis is necessary for tax revenue, jobs, medicine and recreation. It also paves the way for the right to grow Cannabis as a constitutionally protected liberty – the right to pursue happiness and health, as intended by our forefaFROM MY DESK thers who crafted the laws that govern our great country. IN SEATTLE, POT IS STILL
ILLEGAL From my desk in Seattle, pot is still illegal to grow without a TO GROW commercial license. It’s also a felony to have more than 40 grams of flower in Washington state, and there are no protections for pa- WITHOUT A COMMERCIAL tients, parents, employees or drivers who choose to use Cannabis LICENSE. safely. To me, that is not legal – it’s simply regulated and taxed for the purpose of control, not part of an essential liberty that citizens intended when they voted for “legalization” without reading the fine print.
Having lived under the shadow of fake legalization for years, hearing that pot was being declared essential gave me hope that it would lead to people standing up for their rights – and working together to free our plant for all purposes and backyards. And since that sunny day in the Bay when dispensaries were allowed to reopen the Cannabis industry, we’ve seen huge growth and newfound acceptance, as well as five new states joining the recreational and medicinal movement to bring much needed relief to their citizens in the 2020 elections. Cannabis is essential to so many lives, in so many ways, that it really is the Swiss Army knife of plants. Even if you aren’t in pain or struggling, go smoke a fatty and you will likely feel better. And feeling better is essential to us emerging from the pandemic as a more grateful, connected and stoned society. I hope you enjoy our exploration of how Cannabis is essential, and how we see change that brings it closer to legal with each passing day. Thank you for reading and sharing our special plant!
-Wes Abney Feb. 2021
NATIONAL NEWS
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northwest
OREGON SALES TOP $1 BILLION IN 2020
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regon adult-use Cannabis sales soared in 2020, peaking despite a challenging summer of COVID-19 lockdowns and racial justice protests, reports the AP. The state’s marijuana merchants logged a record year of business, according to numbers from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which oversees Cannabis sales in the state. Total marijuana sales in Oregon jumped from $795 million to more than $1 billion – $1,110,520,723, to be precise – for the year 2020. Adult-use Cannabis sales skyrocketed in March when Gov. Kate Brown instituted a pandemic-related stay-at-home order and other restrictions. Sales numbers spiked 20 percent that month and stayed robust all year. In May, Cannabis sales in Oregon topped $100 million for the first time ever. Sales then topped $100 million in each of the three months that followed as well, peaking at $106 million in July. west coast
CALIFORNIA SEES NO RISE IN FREQUENCY OF CANNABIS USE BY YOUNG ADULTS POST-LEGALIZATION
leafnationmd.com
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dult-use legalization in California isn’t associated with any increase in the frequency of Cannabis use by young adults, according to data published in the scientific journal Addictive Behaviors, reports NORML. Researchers with the University of California at San Diego examined Cannabis use patterns among 563 young adults (18-24) in California in the years immediately prior to and following enactment of legalization. “Contrary to our expectations, frequency of marijuana use did not change significantly after legalization and was stable throughout three years of observation,” the study’s authors wrote.
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years passed between the federal legalization of hemp and the finalized federal regulations on the crop.
FEB. 2021
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medical marijuana bills were introduced by Neb. lawmakers in the January session.
east coast
MARYLAND CANNABIS WORKERS WILL RECEIVE COVID-19 VACCINE PRIORITY GOV. CUOMO
LEGALIZATION
NEW YORK EYES LEGAL CANNABIS
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ov. Andrew Cuomo has announced a proposal to legalize Cannabis for adult use in New York as part of the 2021 State of the State address he began on January 11. “IT WOULD HAVE A BIGGER New York would join 15 other states to IMPACT ON THE UPSTATE legalize adult-use marijuana, including ECONOMY THAN THE neighbors Massachusetts and New Jersey, CRAFT BEER INDUSTRY DOES,” and Vermont in the Northeast. “It would have a bigger impact on the upstate economy than the craft beer industry does,” said Allan Gandelman, president of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association. “If this is done correctly, we will see a billion dollars in total revenue for the adult-use program in the first full year of operating in New York state.” According to Gandelman, the biggest factors will be the types and number of licenses was added, acreages allowed for cultivation and taxation levels.
sports
UFC’S KNOCKOUT BLOW FOR POSITIVE CANNABIS TESTS
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percent more Cannabis was bought by Americans in 2020 than in 2019.
east coast
NEW HAMPSHIRE ADVOCATES CONTINUE LEGALIZATION EFFORT
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FC announced on January 14 a formal change to its anti-doping policy, making Cannabis OK for in-competition fighters, reports CBS Sports. The only time athletes would be punished for using Cannabis or cannabinoids would be if “additional evidence exists that an athlete used it intentionally for performanceenhancing purposes.” “While we want to continue to prevent athletes from competing under the influence of marijuana, we have learned that urinary levels of carboxy-THC are highly variable after out-of-competition use and have poor scientific correlation to in-competition impairment,” said UFC Senior Vice President Jeff Novitzky. “The bottom line is that in regard to marijuana, we care about what an athlete consumed the day of a fight, not days or weeks before a fight, which has often been the case in our historic positive THC cases,” Novizky said.
percent of all drug arrests between 2010 and 2018 in Indiana were for Cannabis possession.
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annabis workers in Maryland will be placed at the top of the list for COVID-19 vaccinations, alongside healthcare providers, reports Ganjapreneur. The move further underlines the “essential” designation that Cannabis businesses and employees received when the pandemic began last year. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission alerted the more than 130 licensed Cannabis companies across the state that their workers will be eligible for Phase 1A of the state’s tiered vaccine distribution plan, reports the Baltimore Business Journal.
annabis advocates are continuing their push to legalize adult-use marijuana in New Hampshire, but the effort faces a forbidding path in the GOP-controlled Legislature, reports The Center Square. A bipartisan bill filed in the N.H. House of Representatives in January would, if approved, legalize adult-use Cannabis for those 21-and-older and set up a system of regulation and taxation that would allow retail sales. “The battle continues,” said Rep. Rebecca McWilliams, a Democrat from Concord who is a primary sponsor of the bill. “We keep refining it and negotiating it and trying to come up with something that could potentially get to the two-thirds vote needed to override the governor’s veto.” Republican Gov. Chris Sununu is a firm opponent of legalization.
2,392 new Cannabis cultivation permits were issued by Oklahoma, surpassing California by 88 licenses.
$18.4m was the amount of money paid to Irwin Simon of Aphria, the highest-paid Cannabis CEO in Canada, in 2019.
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JOINT/COUNTERJOINT
PERSPECTIVES
THIS MONTH, THE LEAF DEBATES...PHARMACEUTICAL POT
Counterjoint? Are you with Joint or the issue of on Where do you stand and style ale -sc cal pharmaceuti methods? d an g win gro s Cannabi #JointCointerjoint
Each month, we task two Leaf Nation contributors to debate both sides of a controversial subject. As with all debates, these are assigned positions that are being defended for the sake of an argument and education, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the writer, our staff, or our organization.
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leafnationmd.com
While the average stoner is drooling over the Weedmaps menu in legal states, big pharma has been plotting their profit-driven takeover of pot for the last 20 years.
Should we turn our natural plant over to the same big JOINT BY WES ABNEY pharma companies that poisoned our country for profit with opiates and massive overprescription of pills? I say no!
The future of Cannabis medicines will certainly involve science – so don’t take me for a “whole plant and nothing but the plant” type of activist. After all, I love getting scientifically processed and purged concentrates that are tested for harmful pesticides and chemicals, which produces a much tastier product than the open-blasted BHO of my Cannabis youth. But we must not let our quest for safer products lead to handing control of our plant over to either government regulators or big pharma. Cannabis has been consumed by humans for thousands of years, and many states are still fighting to have access to Cannabis medicine, let alone getting baked recreationally. While the average stoner is drooling over the Weedmaps menu in legal states, big pharma has been plotting their profit-driven takeover of pot for the last 20 years. Need proof? Google Sativex – GW Pharmaceuticals’ attempt to patent and control Cannabis medicine in the UK and beyond, with a terrible synthetic version of a tincture that can be made in any home kitchen. There’s also the Phylos BioScience betrayal of thousands of growers – who submitted their genetics to learn about their plants’ lineage – but later learned Phylos was harvesting information to submit patents and had ties to big pharma money. Their goal? To create genetically modified plants that can be grown with minimal human contact. Personally, I want to smoke GMO (Grandpa’s Mouth Odor) flower, not genetically modified garbage from a mega-grow. We’ve proven in the last decade that Cannabis provides incredible benefits naturally, whether by smoking the flower, vaporizing concentrates, eating edibles or extracts like FECO, or through topicals and transdermals. There are thousands of high-end products that are produced naturally, with love, by a human being paid to get their hands dirty as they grow our favorite plant. Do we need big pharma to change this? Absolutely not. We should free the plant for all people to grow and share, not regulate it further and take it out of the soil and the hands of farmers. You can make nearly every product necessary for a medicinal treatment in your kitchen, and anything you can’t is readily available from a focused, local craft producer. That is freedom – choosing our own medicine, who makes it, and with an intention to heal – not just profit.
FEB. 2021
COUNTERJOINT BY TOM BOWERS There’s a simple beauty in being able to plant a seed and grow your own medicine.
As homegrown, plant-based therapy, Cannabis provides safe, clean relief for millions of people. But not everyone can grow their own Cannabis plants. In fact, most people can’t – and those people rely on increasingly larger companies to produce their medicine. Cannabis continues to transform from homegrown medicine into large-scale industry, and as more and more consumers come to rely on its benefits for their lives, it’s a foregone conclusion that the modern pharmaceutical and medical industry will play a role in this growth. It’s already happening. While this development will bring its share of complicated downsides – these are the same people accountable for the opioid crisis, after all – there are upsides to the situation. When it comes to When it comes to medicine, a few indispensable traits come to medicine, a few mind: It needs to be clean. It needs to be consistent. It needs to be indispensable traits precisely dosed. It needs to be widely available. come to mind: It needs to The modern pharmaceutical industry already has the infrabe clean. It needs to be consistent. It needs to be structure, distribution channels, standards and processes to meet precisely dosed. It needs these criteria. Their labs are among the most clean, controlled to be widely available. environments on the planet – and they are accustomed to producing and distributing billions of precisely dialed doses of their medicines globally, with an efficiency so ingrained that it almost seems effortless. Imagine what that level of organization could do for bringing Cannabis medicine to people all over the globe... Sure, there are glaring downsides. In a bloodthirsty quest for shareholder value, the pharmaceutical industry will attempt to patent genetics and processes, seek to outlaw home cultivation, and will no doubt try to force their own, proprietary synthetic cannabinoid blends on the public. It’s like that person you work with who’s amazing at their job, but is also a complete asshole. We will have to learn to work with the modern medical industry before we get to where we’re going – that’s unavoidable. We need to be creative and unwavering in our fight for the plant and the rights of the people who rely on it, and at the same time, try to reap the benefits of infrastructure provided by a monolithic global capitalistic behemoth – without being destroyed in the process. Easy-peasy.
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A DEBATE by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX & TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS/LEAF NATION
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Cannabis LAW
Essential Industry
The Impact of Cannabis Across Maryland
On
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March 23, 2020, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued an emergency “shut-down” order declaring that a catastrophic, statewide health emergency existed within the state due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The order closed all “non-essential businesses” to control the spread of the disease – effective immediately. But tucked into the Governor’s order prohibiting the public from attending large gatherings and events was a curious exception to the list that had never before been mentioned as critical infrastructure. Indeed, the order permitted Maryland Medical Cannabis growers, processors and dispensaries to remain open during the pandemic and serve the public. While it should not come as a complete surprise that Cannabis was listed as an “essential” industry under the order, it is noteworthy how quickly and dramatically its public reputation had changed. One might recall that less than six years ago, during the heart of the war on drugs, Maryland introduced its first legislation seeking to decriminalize Cannabis and create a medical recommendation system for patients. Less than six years later, Cannabis in Maryland has transcended its “street-drug” label. It is no longer considered in Maryland to be an illegal, highly addictive, Schedule I drug with no known medical benefits that is unlawful to possess. Now it’s considered part of Maryland’s critical public health sector. But the Cannabis market around the country (or Maryland’s market, for that matter) did not begin its ascendence as a commodity by virtue of a change in law alone. Rather, the Cannabis industry began its rise to prominence due to a corresponding development of companies that saw the opportunity to support the industry through technology, software and business processes. These companies can be best categorized by their business’ function as it relates to the Cannabis plant. Not surprisingly, companies in the Cannabis industry are termed to be either “plant-touching” or “ancillary.”
Plant-touching businesses handle the Cannabis as growing media, lights and packaging do not have plant itself, either cultivating, distributing, processing the same problems associated with interstate commerce, or selling it. These tend to be the businesses most banking or legal liability. They can conduct business people think of when they imagine the Cannabis across state lines, while plant-touching businesses cannot. industry. Plant-touching businesses are generally Cannabis products produced in legal state markets subject to the strictest regulations and must navigate cannot be shipped to other legal states, as crossing state complicated licensing processes before they can boundaries constitutes interstate commerce and falls begin manufacturing, processing or distributing. under federal jurisdiction. On the other hand, ancillary businesses support Finally, banking remains one of the last impediments to the growth, processing and sale of Cannabis prodnormalizing essential businesses that serve the mediucts throughout the supply chain. These businesses cal Cannabis market. This problem primarily plagues include data platforms, agriculture-technology complant-touching industries, because Cannabis remains illepanies, point-of-sale systems, payment processors, gal under federal law, and is currently labeled a Schedule digital marketers, attorneys, accountants and more. I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. As a result, They are the same types of companies that would any bank that provides services to a legal Cannabis support business processes in any other industry. business faces possible criminal prosecution for aiding Some examples of ancillary and abetting a federal crime, as well as companies include developers of money laundering. By next year, compliance software like METRC Banks may choose to service a legal experts believe or BioTrackTHC, manufacturers Cannabis operator, but the government that the revenue developing packaging for products requires them to file a suspicious activity from the ancillary report for every transaction involving a from dried flower to concentrates, the providers of cultivation equipCannabis business. These rules extend Cannabis market ment and supplies such as Scotts beyond the Cannabis operator itself to will exceed the Miracle-Gro’s subsidiary Hawthorne any company it interacts with, from acmarket for medical countants to cleaners, resulting in mounGardening Company, and the point-of-sale software and analytics tains of red tape and expense that most and adult-use firms like Baker Technologies and banks simply choose to not deal with. Still, Cannabis products BDS Analytics. By next year, experts most Cannabis business owners cannot combined. believe that the revenue from the accept credit cards, pay their payroll taxes ancillary Cannabis market will exby check or make wire transfers to other ceed the market for medical and adult-use Cannabis businesses because of the federal prohibition. products combined. As a result, medical Cannabis may have made the Beyond what these sales numbers suggest, leap to becoming an “essential” industry during the panancillary businesses are essential for a number of demic due to Gov. Hogan’s order – however, due to its other reasons also. First, they do not carry the risks traditionally disfavored status, the industry still has a long associated with plant-facing businesses. Fundamenway to go before it can enjoy the same benefits that other tally, businesses built around ancillary products such businesses enjoy under the law.
Since 2008, Mike Rothman has counseled clients regarding Cannabis laws and regulations as the founder and principal of the Medical Cannabis Law Group and the Law Office of Mike Rothman in Rockville, Maryland. Mr. Rothman has testified on Cannabis laws and regulations before the Maryland House of Delegates, taught classes, and lobbied the federal government on behalf of patients and businesses. Mr. Rothman’s Law Office focuses on criminal defense, including use of the medical Cannabis defense.
FEB. 2021
COLUMN by MIKE ROTHMAN, ATTORNEY & PRINCIPAL | MEDICAL CANNABIS LAW GROUP
GROW BUD YOURSELF IS YOUR SOURCE FOR CULTIVATION INFO, INTERVIEWS, NEWS, ACTIVISM AND REVIEWS!
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Growing your own marijuana can be both a liberating and political act. Former HIGH TIMES Magazine Senior Cultivation Editor and author of the book “Cannabis: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Marijuana” Dan Vinkovetsky (Formerly known as Danny Danko) and co-host former HT Editor-in-Chief Mike Gianakos provide news, activism reports and cannabis cultivation tips for connoisseurs, aficionados and medical patients alike. Bonus: Interviews with expert growers and professional seed breeders, ‘Strain of the Fortnight’ and ganja growing questions & answers.
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INTERVIEW
G OT A FAVO R I TE B U D TE N DE R ? TE L L US WH Y ! WYAT T @ LEA F NAT IO N M D . CO M
H A RV E S T O F R O C KV I L L E D I S P E N SA RY 12 2 0 0 R O C K V I L L E P I K E , R O C K V I L L E , M D | H A RV E ST H O C.C O M | # H A RV E ST R O C KV I L L E | ( 301) 678- 4744
AS A RAP ARTIST, WHAT INSPIRES YOUR MUSIC? Honestly, life and Cannabis
inspire my music. I get all my inspiration by just living life and smoking weed. It makes creating music easy when I just rap about what I do on a day-to-day basis. It’s awesome man!
“THIS PLANT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING AND I BELIEVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY IN IT!”
HAVE YOU AND OTHER ARTISTS LIKE YOURSELF ADAPTED TO COVID-19, IN TERMS OF DOING SHOWS, ETC.?
Most definitely! Shows are a big thing to me as an artist with my music. I like to rage and turn up on stage! No feeling like that in the world! With COVID happening, it stopped all performances and gigs, which was a blower. One thing I can say is it gave me time to create and even dig deeper into my artistry. I’m just ready to rock out on every stage, in due time!
WHAT ARE YOUR MUSICAL GOALS FOR 2021? My music and Cannabis go hand in hand. I just want to push the culture out here in Maryland to the entire world, from my point of view. Do it big my way. The hexalite (slang for awesome) way.
HAVE YOU BEEN FOLLOWING YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION? I try not to set
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ALEX CHIKE
leafnationmd.com
MARYLAND LEAF BUDTENDER OF THE MONTH
resolutions to be honest. I enjoy working hard and I love what I do. So my only focus day in and out is to get better. Doesn’t matter the year, date or time – I’m always looking to improve as a human being overall. Aye yaungs dat!
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CANNABIS REVIEW SHOW. I have a YouTube/IGTV show
called WEEZ. I interview rising stars in the area or people that are established in their field of work, and allow them to tell their story. Everyone has a story and what better way to tell it than over a nice blunt? All ‘weez’ means is ‘weed’ – but me and my friends have our own lingo, so we call Cannabis ‘weez.’ Shoutout to the aye yaungs hexalites out there! Make sure y’all like, comment and subscribe!
YOU’RE A SUPERSTAR AT HARVEST – WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT WORKING THERE? Just gaining knowledge every day at
Harvest. I grew up in Rockville, so it’s good to see folks I know come and greet me. Patients ask me about my music, so that’s cool. My managers and co-workers really got me on point from day one. I came from cultivation, so I really didn’t know what to expect. From the first day everybody has been so clutch to me gaining knowledge on Cannabis. I for sure have to shoutout everyone on the Harvest staff. We work really hard and I mean REALLY hard, day in and day out. Those guys deserve a lot and are awesome!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO CONNECT WITH PATIENTS? I enjoy talking
Cannabis with patients and meeting their needs. This plant is a beautiful thing and I believe wholeheartedly in it! A big plus is knowing these people came to get stoned! Everybody loves a little Cannabis – in my case, I love it a lot! Dopest job ever.
BUDTENDER AND MUSICAL ARTIST ALEX CHIKE, known in the music industry by Chiiikeee, is all about the culture. Alex is proud to represent Maryland’s Cannabis industry, and is a prime example of how good a budtender can be. From his podcast, to his music, to his daily interactions with patients, he is constantly doing what he can to push Cannabis culture forward and impact the lives of the patients he serves. Follow him @_chiiikeee
FEB. 2021
STORY by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT/MARYLAND LEAF | PHOTO by KAMRIN MILLS @KAM_SHOOTS_
PATIENT OF THE MONTH
CANNABIS FOR ANXIETY & ENDO
ciara dubbé The Cannabis industry attracts people from all walks of life and former esthetician Ciara Dubbé is no different. The 30-year-old marketing director of Greenhouse Wellness previously made her profession in the beauty industry. The world of glitz and glam provided refuge to a teenager looking to rebuild herself after years of school-aged bullying.
“At the end of high school, I had to regain my
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confidence,” said Ciara, a 2012 graduate of Von Lee International School of Aesthetics. “So I started to teach myself how to do makeup and put on a nice outfit. I realized how much those simple things boosted my confidence and I really wanted to help other people feel this way.” A hard worker by nature, Ciara moved beyond the daily tasks of chemical peels and facials, earning her stripes as a spa and marketing coordinator in Columbia. In 2017, she opened up her own business – a boutique firm called Zia Integrated – with the hopes of empowering other women. “It grew into more of a passion,” she said. “It was something that I felt really good about.” That summer, her mother Gina Dubbé also provided Ciara with a chance to carry the torch for women as they endeavored to open a female-owned medical Cannabis dispensary in Ellicott City. “Growing up, my parents told me to stay away from [Cannabis],” Ciara said. “They didn’t know enough about it and at the time it was illegal. I was a total rules follower and in our household, we didn’t do things that were illegal.” Though she admittedly dabbled as a recreational user in college, Ciara’s medical relationship with Cannabis grew substantially when she went all in on the industry. Here she began seeing Cannabis as a way to deal with anxiety that had followed her since pre-teen years – a bi-product of an OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) diagnosis at the age of 12. The benefits of the plant also helped combat severe inflammation stemming
from endometriosis – a uterine disorder that results in pain and menstrual irregularities. The “Sativa Diva” has found a 1:1 THC/CBD ratio to be the perfect daily complement, resulting in a lessening of pain, while allowing her to maintain a high standard of work as she balances her own business, as well as the daily demands of Greenhouse Wellness. “Growing up, my parents told me to stay away from [Cannabis],” Ciara said. “Whether it’s been sitting up front “They didn’t know enough about it and at the time it was illegal.” in our lobby to check patients in, working behind the bar as a wellness consultant, running educational “It’s about achieving balance,” Ciara said. “As events or even helping receive orders and sticking females, we’re multifaceted and have to be a lot of product in the back, I’ve done it all,” she said. things. Our Blissiva pens give me a pick-me-up and Greenhouse Wellness has certainly made an imlevel you out. It’s like a glass of wine without the pression since joining the Maryland market. calories.” In 2018, Baltimore Business Journal awarded the Greenhouse has created a strong culture of womEllicott City dispensary as one of the Best Workplaces, anhood that has some traveling the extra mile to and in 2020, Cannabis Dispensary Magazine also visit the Route 29-based dispensary. Helping those acknowledged the culture of Greenhouse Wellness women to a better place has given Ciara purpose – designating it as the best dispensary to work for and a giant sense of pride. in 2020. The dispensary was even featured on “The “It’s really been one of the most fulfilling experiToday Show.” “It’s hard to verbalize how proud I am ences I have ever had and brought my family closer of our team,” she smiled. in a weird-ass way,” she said, fighting back tears. “But I wouldn’t change a single thing. Whether it As the dispensary’s day one be the patients I’ve cried with, the connections I’ve marketing director, Ciara made, the community we’ve created – it’s all been has been there for it all. She worth it.” has also helped grow the Empowering women through beauty and Cancompany’s personal brand, nabis – that’s an homage Ciara says she happily Blissiva – a brainchild of endorses. gynecologist and co-founder “I want this to be a mainstream thing,” she said. Leslie Apgar. The Blissiva line of “There’s no rules that say what someone who uses products, now available in 12 Cannabis is supposed to look like. I’ve had some states, was “specifically made success and I own my own business, but at the same for the complexity, beauty, time, I have struggled like everyone else and I don’t and power of the female have it all figured out. Cannabis has helped. You body” – helping women who can use it, you can be a good person, you can work visit Greenhouse looking for hard and still be really successful. It’s about being relief from “breast cancer, confident in yourself and knowing that you are more ovarian cancer, menopause, than enough.” endometriosis, and insomnia.” GREENHOUSEWELLNESS.COM
Greenhouse has created a strong culture of womanhood that has some traveling the extra mile to visit the Route 29-based dispensary. Helping those women to a better place has given Ciara purpose and a giant sense of pride.
FEB. 2021
STORY by BAXSEN PAINE @BAXSENPAINE | PHOTO by JESSE STALEY @__JESSESTALEY
grow tour stoner owner
owner
Otha Smith
Tetragram
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Tetragram is an app that’s here to change the way Cannabis patients interact with their medicine, built on a dream of empowering patients to be able to track their use and find the products or terpene profiles that work best for them. This dream was started by an entrepreneurial pioneer named Otha Smith, born of a family of business-minded people from a farm in southern Anne Arundel County.
O
tha started his first venture while still in high school – a car detailing business that went on to work with multiple car dealerships and kept him employed throughout college. He went to Bowie State, which is Maryland’s oldest Historically Black University, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Otha spent the majority of his career working his way up through BGE and Constellation Energy. So how does a professional and hard-working man end up creating an app for Cannabis users? Well, stoners are everywhere! ALTHOUGH OTHA used Cannabis recreationally in his youth, in 2003 he was in a life-changing car accident that ejected him over 100 feet from his car and landed him on his head and neck. Thankfully, he was rushed to the hospital where he had surgery, leaving him with a huge scar on his head. After being prescribed painkillers for post-surgical pain, like so many others, Otha ended up feeling uncomfortable with his relationship to opioids. He turned to Cannabis to help relieve his pain from this traumatic brain injury. When medical Cannabis was available in Maryland, Otha jumped at the opportunity to enroll in the program. Like so many patients, he spent the first year-and-a-half trying to figure out what was going to work for him, and realizing he knew a lot less than he thought he did after smoking for so long. He had a complex set of issues: pain in his back and neck, in addition to headaches, which were side effects from his accident. Even in his travels to other states with recreational markets, terpenes weren’t on peoples’ radar. This lit a spark in his business brain and he began to gather as much information as he could. He went to conventions and tradeshows, and it only reinforced what he already knew: The gap between patients and doctors was miles wide.
FEB. 2021
Like all smart business people, he saw a need and figured out how to fill it. He saw dispensaries selling or handing out paper journals telling people to track their usage, but knew that the world was moving towards preferring to interact with the computer in our pockets instead. The idea was an app where you could track what you used, while storing information like the batch number and terpene information. You can track how you used it, what your dose was, what symptoms you’re trying to treat and what dispensary you got it from. This revolutionary idea started with a mission to be patientcentric and help people take true control over their Cannabis use as a treatment for specific ailments, but it’s proving to be a goldmine for all participants in the Cannabis business ecosystem. Whether you are a doctor who is trying to make specific recommendations to a patient about local products, or a budtender trying to help a patient find something to treat their ailment, this data is immensely helpful. On a larger scale, this can be a data analyst’s dream because you can track trends of use that can help vendors dictate what strains to grow, or how to best market products.
This data advocates for patients in a variety of ways, and it could be used to further prove in a legislative setting that thousands of real people are using Cannabis to help them with very serious medical conditions all across our state. That is not to say Maryland is the only place you can use Tetragram – you know Otha thought bigger than that. You can interact with over 40 dispensaries in the app, across states like Ohio, Illinois, Florida and Maryland. If an app like Tetragram existed before Otha, maybe it would not have taken him almost two years to figure out that the Verano Mandarin 1:1 troches can alleviate his back pain and relieve headaches almost all day. He may have learned from other patients that a moderate dose of CBD and THC is a great tool to combat the pain involved with traumatic brain injuries. Otha took something that he was passionate about, mixed it with a solution to a problem, and after years of hard work and plenty of trials and tribulations, he ended up with Tetragram. Improvements and new additions will be made with a new update coming soon, but hopefully, you’ve already decided to switch over that paper journal or spreadsheet you’ve been using – because there’s an app for that.
tetragramapp.com | @thetetragramapp
STORY by SARAH POSTLETHWAIT @SATIVA.SARAH for MARYLAND LEAF | PHOTO by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT
“This revolutionary idea started with a mission to be patient-centric and help people take true control over their Cannabis use.”
A Stoner Owner is a Cannabis business owner who has a relationship with the plant. We want to buy and smoke Cannabis from companies that care about their products, employees and the plant. You wouldn’t buy food from a restaurant where the cooks don’t eat in the kitchen, so why buy corporate weed grown by a company only concerned with profits? Stoner Owner approval means a company cares, and we love weed grown with care. Let’s retake our culture and reshape a stigma by honoring those who grow, process and sell the best Cannabis possible.
SHOP REVIEW
RITUAL DISPENSARY SETTING & VIBE Ritual takes pride in the experience and expertise of their budtenders and staff. Everyone on the team is able to educate patients about products and the different compounds in them. This allows them to connect on another level with experienced patients, and be there for the ones who need help.
FLOWER This dispensary has a wide selection of flower strains from every grower Maryland has to offer. From the CBD and CBG-high flower to the 30%-plus THC content strains, they have something for your personal ritual. They also do Cookies drops on a bi-weekly basis!
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CONCENTRATES The concentrate section at Ritual can be referred to as a live resin heaven. Many of Maryland’s medical Cannabis patients rightfully take pride in high terpene content in their concentrate and flower – and the live resins here are all pushing close to or above 10% terpenes.
EDIBLES Every edible you can imagine, from every producer in Maryland. The dosage range was truly impressive, from 14:1 CBD to THC tablets with less than 1mg of THC, to chews with 50mg THC per chew. They even had honey sticks formulated with RSO.
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BACKGROUND Many of us know how difficult it can be to start a business during this pandemic. Manager Michael Gooding says opening Ritual Dispensary in March 2020 actually gave them an advantage – where starting out only serving patients curbside allowed him and his staff to get a solid footing for their day-to-day operations. And now that we are allowed back inside, this has led to a top tier patient experience. Also, make sure to keep an eye on their really nice and open field space right across from the dispensary, as it is planned for events once COVID restrictions are eased.
RITUAL DISPENSARY
7609 ENERGY PKWY STE 901 CURTIS BAY, MD MON-SAT 10AM-8PM, SUN 10AM-6PM RITUALDISPENSARY.COM
FEB. 2021
A WIDE SELECTION OF FLOWER STRAINS FROM EVERY GROWER MARYLAND HAS TO OFFER.
PRODUCT R E VIEW
MOTOR BREATH #15 LIVE BUDDER BY GRASSROOTS
Grassroots has been steadily bringing fire strains and concentrate products to the Maryland market. Opening this jar filled my nose with a smell reminiscent of gasoline and pine needles. At 5.61% b-myrcene, this budder was a perfect tool for nighttime use, allowing me to get in a comfortable mood to fall asleep with ease. 82.3% Total Cannabinoids,12.65% Total Terpenes
STORY & PHOTOS by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT/MARYLAND LEAF
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grown by
STRANE
FEB. 2021
MAC &CHE
STRAIN OF THE MONTH
STRANE’S MAC AND CHEESE IS A TERPINOLENE DREAM AND OUR FEATURED STRAIN!
EESE
(Miracle Alien Cookies crossed with Alien Cheese) P E R F E C T LY C U R E D AND SUPER DANK.
2021 has shown itself to be every bit as stressful as 2020 was, and we all need to find a cultivar that works great as a self-care Cannabis strain. With terpinolene in the driver’s seat and caryophyllene in the copilot’s chair, this profile is heading in the positive mental health direction all day, every day. This Mac and Cheese is bred from the incredible Miracle Alien Cookies (MAC) line crossed with Alien Cheese, with this batch boasting a 2.74% terpinolene dominant profile, exquisitely balanced across the board. Additionally this Mac and Cheese profile is tempered by a small amount of caryophyllene and myrcene, snowballing the anti-anxiety effects without crossing the couch-lock threshold. Playing the delicate balancing game of terpenes is always a challenge when selecting the best Cannabis for you, but it becomes radically easier when the majority of the profile comes out with even ratios of terpenes. Here, the balance between ocimene, pinene, limonene, humulene and linalool rounds out the profile to touch on every symptom the entourage effect is capable of interacting with – making it a highly versatile and useful cultivar. This balanced terpene ratio is what really makes Strane’s Mac and Cheese an excellent, allaround achievement toke. We all need cultivars to provide us direct symptom relief while keeping our mood up and sedation down, at least for us daytime/ working tokers, and Strane delivers with this strain – perfectly cured and super dank. The nugs are dense and conical with an orange leopard-spot pattern TESTING dotted with a blanket of 20% thca sparkly trichomes, visually 2.74% total terps whetting the appetite. .55% terpinolene .3% caryophyllene While there is a distinct .2% myrcene skunky cheese aroma, .18% ocimene the sour fruit smell really .18% pinene stands out in the cultivar’s .17% limonene aromatic bouquet. The .15% linalool flavor of the smoke .13% humulene .78% terpenes comes together into a not on label more sour-earthy palate, but is distinctly easy on the lungs. The Strane growers did an excellent job of growing and curing this flower so that it reached the market with a preserved profile. This medicine is a fabulous toke to keep the spirit uplifted and the work flowing, regardless of what 2021 is going to send our way. I look forward to many more joints of this tasty cultivar and a big thanks to Strane for producing such useful medicine.
THISISSTRANE.COM | @THISISSTRANE
REVIEW by TAYLOR MARTIN for MARYLAND LEAF | PHOTO by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT
YOUR RELIEF IS HERE. The only medical cannabis facility in St. Mary’s County is open and ready to help you stay centered.
ONLINE ORDERING & CURBSIDE PICKUP A R E AVA I L A B L E AT S O M D R E L I E F. C O M
A woman-owned and well-trusted medical Cannabis dispensary promoting the health and wellness of the Baltimore area for over two years.
With daily deals, online ordering, knowledgeable team members, and all the necessary health precautions to keep staff and patients safe, it’s never been easier to get relief.
ORDER AHEAD & IN-STORE P I C K U P AVA I L A B L E . W E E D M A P S .CO M | P U R E L I F E B A LT I M O R E .CO M M O N D AY– S AT U R D AY 10 a m – 8 p m | S U N D AY 1 1 a m – 6 pm
S O M D R E L I E F. C O M
Medical cannabis use is for certified Maryland patients only. Must be 18 or older.
35 E Cross Street Federal Hill, Baltimore, MD • 443.708.5683
Essential!
the ESSENTIAL issue
ABOUT THE SPECIAL
Shortly after the COVID crisis careened into our lives like a flaming truck packed with irradiated skunk carcasses, something happened that no one could have predicted: Our fearful leaders declared the Cannabis industry essential to the survival of our society. Essential. That word carries weight. It shoulders everything it touches with necessary gravity.
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For those whose lives are impacted by the plant, it can be a matter of the quality of life, and even the difference between life and death. FEB. 2021
But what does it mean to be essential? And why does the Cannabis community – until recent years the green-clad parolee at the family dinner table – suddenly merit the classification from the same governmental bodies that once sought to destroy it? Let’s start with easily measurable metrics. In 2020, the estimated employment statistic for the adult-use Cannabis industry neared 300,000, according to a July report by MJ Biz Daily. That’s up from 211,000 in 2019. That same report models those stats to hit more than half a million legally employed, tax-paying workers in the Cannabis sector by 2024. It’s a staggering figure, when you consider it only accounts for legal-market states, and doesn’t take into account employment in the unregulated Cannabis market, which is exponentially greater, but much harder to track. That’s a lot of bills paid and people fed – something this country needs, desperately. For more easily identifiable proof of the indispensability of indica, look at the money. In its first year of adult-use, Cannabis hit $1billion in combined sales in Illinois, according to figures from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. And that’s on a base of only 82 licensed dispensaries. If that seems like a huge number, look at California during the same timespan. The state clocked more than $1 billion in Cannabis tax revenue alone, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, from total sales estimated to exceed $5 billion. That’s a lot of cabbage. But the concept of essentialism goes beyond mere money. For those whose lives are impacted by the plant, it can be a matter of the quality of life, and even the difference between life and death. In the following pages, we explore the concept of Cannabis essentialism by taking a close look at fine details in the fabric of the grand tapestry. We speak with a teenage racecar driver and NASCAR hopeful from Maryland whose life was literally saved by Cannabis, and who pushed for legislation that improved the lives of patients all over his home state. We share the stories of individuals and families pulling up stakes and moving across the country for the promise of a career and a paycheck in the legal market. We explore the past, present and future of public consumption and the concept of cannabinoids as medicine. In this, our first Essential Issue, we attempt to identify and define some of the ways in which Cannabis has become indispensable in all of our lives.
STORY by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS/LEAF NATION | PHOTO by ADOBE/WOLLERTZ
Be Safe. Be Well.
Have Your Cannabis Delivered. Order online at
gLeaf.com
or call
1-800-208-WEED (9333)
Order Online and Pick Up In-Store at Either gLeaf Location 808 Hungerford Drive Rockville, MD 20850
4606 Wedgewood Blvd. Frederick, MD 21703
(301) 917-3665
(301) 662-2222
MON–THUR 9am–8pm
◊
FRI & SAT 9am–9pm
◊
SUN 10am–6pm
Medical cannabis use is for certified Maryland patients only. Must be 18 or older.
the ESSENTIAL issue
Connor’s Courage Three years ago, teenage racecar driver Connor Sheffield was in a sprint for his life. Plagued since early childhood with a progressive disease that rendered him unable to digest food, Sheffield approached his 13th birthday at a withered 74 pounds.
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But his is not a tragic story. The tale of 16-year-old Sheffield is one of a young man driven to win against overwhelming opposition. It’s a story of survival, of the strength of family, and of beating the odds. It has racecars, heroic budtenders, inspiring speeches – and more racecars. And at the center of it all is Cannabis.
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DRIVEN BY A DIAGNOSIS
Sheffield and his family spent his childhood struggling with the fact that he simply couldn’t eat. “We thought it was just normal,” said Tricia Sheffield, Connor’s mom. “You know, like someone has acid reflux or something. But as Connor got older, things just kept getting progressively worse.” Connor wasn’t thriving and despite their best efforts, the experts at esteemed medical facilities couldn’t offer hope. The doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital diagnosed him with Gastrointestinal Motility Pseudo Obstruction and Dysphagia, a progressive disease that has no cure or treatment plan. In and out of the hospital, he underwent several procedures and had to have portions of his bowels removed. He had to be put on a feeding tube and when that stopped working, he had to be fed intravenously. Sheffield couldn’t find hope. Then, at the age of nine, his parents suggested racing. “When I was younger, I played baseball, I played football, I was going to get into lacrosse,” Sheffield said.
FEB. 2021
“But because my medical conditions were getting worse and worse, I couldn’t perform. I couldn’t participate. We didn’t know that racing required a lot of strength and endurance – so we got into it, and then we found out.” In a life marked by fatigue and struggle, racing drove Sheffield forward. “I love the speed, the competition, the people you meet – everything,” said Sheffield. “I even love the stress that comes with it … There’s something about going to the track.” LIFE-SAVING MEDICINE
Though driving a racecar helped, hope sustains the mind, not the body. Racing, which was far more physically demanding than the Sheffields predicted it would be, started to take its toll. Connor considered quitting. “We thought that if he gave up on racing, that he would give up on himself,” Tricia said. It was then that a friend named Bobby Windsor directed them to his medical Cannabis dispensary in Perryville, Maryland – aptly named Nature’s Care and Wellness. “She had come to her wits end,” Windsor said of Tricia. “I just said, ‘You have to come in. You have to give it a try.’”
The Sheffields were doubtful. “At first I was against it,” Tricia said. “I didn’t think it was medicine – I thought it was a way to get high.” After Windsor’s urging and a little research, they paid a visit to the dispensary. “Connor was so sick that day, he could barely keep his head up,” Tricia said. “He was falling asleep at the table. They had someone who worked at the dispensary who also used Cannabis for (gastrointestinal) issues. They told me, ‘This is going to help him, and he’s going to get better.’ And I was like, ‘You can’t tell me that. Because he’s dying on me, and you can’t tell me that. We’ve been to hospitals and doctors all over, and they couldn’t help us. So how can you help us?’” The budtender answered their questions and the Sheffields procured a Cannabis tincture from Windsor’s shop. To hear the Sheffields and Windsor tell it, the change was miraculous. “After about 25 minutes of him taking it, he started pepping up,” Tricia said. “He was like a wilting flower and he just started coming to life. He told me he was hungry and wanted to eat.” Sheffield’s first solid meal in years was a cheeseburger. “I don’t want to say we saved his life, but it’s a good feeling,” Windsor said. “I cry every once in a while, thinking about it.”
Off the track, Connor strapped in for another contest. This time, he was fighting to allow Cannabis medicine in schools.
SURPASSING THE STIGMA
For the first month of Cannabis treatment, the Sheffields kept Connor’s medication a secret from everyone – including his doctors, for fear of backlash. “At 30 days, we brought him in and they were like, ‘Wow, he’s doing great,’” Tricia said. “And that’s when we decided to tell them that he was using medical Cannabis. They said, ‘Wow! Really? Well, whatever it is that you’re doing, we’re going to tell you to keep doing it.’” It was a turning point. “For the first three months or so, I didn’t want to believe that it was working,” Connor said. “But I felt the improvements and I saw the weight gain. And I went and saw my doctors, and then I saw them less and less, and now I only see them every six or seven months if I have issues.”
After a while, people stopped giving him sideeye at the track. The crowds and other racers have even been supportive, and Sheffield’s Crew Chief, Kris Reardon, says Connor has never been stronger. “People even secretly ask me about Cannabis and ask me how they can use it to help their medical condition,” Connor said. KEEPING CANNABIS IN THE SCHOOLS
Off the track, Connor strapped in for another contest. This time, he was fighting to allow Cannabis medicine in schools. “Whenever I felt as though I needed my medication, I would text my parents,” Connor said. “They would drive to school, take me out of class, and I’d need to walk off of school property completely, down the street, take my medication, walk back to the school, and walk back to class. It was a lot to THE WRECK THAT NEVER CAME do. It’s even a mouthful to explain.” After years of racing dirt sprint cars, Connor The situation was untenable. The Sheffields came on as a developmental driver on the CMI connected with Maryland State Senator Brian FeldMotorsports team in the NASCAR Advance Auto man, a former lawyer for the Department of Justice Part Weekly Series (late model cars). who sits on the Marijuana One would think that Cannabis could Legalization Work Group complicate Connor’s NASCAR dreams. for the State General Early on, the Sheffields recall a race Assembly. Sen. Feldman in Texas where they were forced to tape started working on MD over all of the logos for their primary HB331, a bill nicknamed sponsor, a dispensary. “Connor’s Courage,” “We just felt like people were just which would allow the waiting for Connor to wreck,” Tricia staff at public schools in said. “All eyes were on Connor that Maryland to adminisShown here racing for Mindbuzz ter Cannabis medicine weekend.” at Hickory Motor Speedway in Sept. Connor laughs, “I actually ended during the schoolday, as 2020, Connor was recently named up doing pretty well. They didn’t know they would with any other Cannabis Patient Advocate of the what to expect. They thought I was legal medicine. Year by Explore Maryland Cannabis. going to wreck people. They thought I “Finding a way to help was going to be high.” these kids out was the Ever since starting with Cannabis, Sheffield’s primary motive for getting into it,” Sen. Feldman strength and skills have improved significantly. said. “Connor is one of the kids to beat in the dirt Sen. Feldman introduced the Sheffields to Gil series,” Tricia said. “They come to try to beat ConGenn, a lobbyist whose office is covered with picnor. To have people look at him and think, ‘I hope tures of him rubbing elbows with the most powerful I can beat him tonight,’ that’s a great feeling.” U.S. politicians of the past 50 years.
“So I got the call from Tricia,” Genn said, “and she described Connor’s Courage, Connor’s Law, and she said, ‘We need help.’ I said, ‘It would be my honor.’” At the outset, school officials opposed the bill because they worried it would endanger their federal funding. They came up with excuses. “They said, ‘Aside from all of the Connor and Lobbyist liability issues … We have no idea Gil Genn helped pass and no training on how to give this Connor’s Law. medicine,’” Genn said. “They needed to have a task force to train on how to give drops of a tincture.” Genn said that during the hearing, he provided a list of the various medications school staffers were permitted to administer on school grounds. Then, Genn finished with a flourish – he brought in a bottle of simulated Cannabis tincture and stood there, cheekily explaining to a roomful of adults how to use a dropper. “I had people slapping their desks and laughing. It just blew them out of the water. That was the turning point, I think.” Sen. Feldman recalls another tide-shifting moment during the hearing, when a young epileptic Cannabis patient started having a seizure. “His mother put something under the child’s tongue and he calmed,” Sen. Feldman said. “It wasn’t about smoking, or pulling out a bong.” In the end, the bill passed both the House and Senate with nearly unanimous bipartisan support. “At heart, these kids had severe ailments,” Sen. Feldman said. “There was a way to help them go to school. And why would we not allow them access to something that was legal in our state?” Now, Connor and patients like him in Maryland have safe access to their essential medicine during school hours. And to think it all started with a family taking the advice of a budtender. “I am so glad that we did,” Tricia said. “I don’t know what would have happened to Connor, if I didn’t just forget what I’d been taught my whole life about Cannabis being horrible, and just try it. Because now, Connor’s surviving – and he’s thriving.”
STORY by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS/LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by ERIC KAYNE @PHOTOKAYNE & COURTESY SHEFFIELD FAMILY
the ESSENTIAL issue
uprooted ON THE MOVE FOR THE PLANT
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Whether searching for compassionate policy, seeking industry opportunity or fleeing persecution, Cannabis has people pulling up roots and planting new seeds all over the country. ORIGINALLY FROM Salt Lake City, Jenn Doe fled the archaic and prohibitive Cannabis laws of Utah to Washington to ply her trade as a grower and hash-maker. She thrived under the medical marijuana program and eventually won the High Times NorCal Cannabis Cup in 2014, becoming the only woman to win the award for solventless hash – made by her from plants she grew herself. The offers should have rolled in for a “The amount of money champion extract artist, and yet she felt it takes to have a stifled by the restrictions that had been business there, versus imposed on caregivers after recreational being a functioning legalization passed in 2012. caregiver business Jenn promptly moved to Massachuhere in Maine is setts for a year to grow and wash her changing significant, and it’s not flowers in peace, until the laws there policies nearly as saturated of changed as well. A business opportunity a market.” arose and once again, she wound up back in Washington working for Gavita Lighting. Upon their acquisition and the subsequent restructuring of the company, Utah to Washington she decided to again relocate – this time to the state of Maine. to Massachusetts to Why Maine? Jenn tells me, “I couldn’t do anything in the Washington to Maine Pacific Northwest without serious investment, due to the laws, or I would have to work for someone else – which I’d rather by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht not. The amount of money it takes to have a business there, versus being a functioning caregiver business here in Maine is significant, and it’s not nearly as saturated of a market.” As recreational legalization sometimes guts medical patient protections, Jenn finds the caregiver laws to be more reasonable for the mom n’ pops and small businesses, and the irony doesn’t escape her. She laughs as she tells me, “Each of my moves corresponds to the shift from medical to recreational. … All I know is I will continue to seek favorable conditions for farming and hashmaking on a boutique scale, because that’s who I am and that’s what I want to do!”
JENN DOE
FEB. 2021
industry opportunity
GIDDYUP Oklahoma to Colorado to California to Nevada to Oklahoma
by Bobby Black @bobbyblack420
AS THE founder of Emotek, Jayson “Giddyup” Emo is the mohawked marijuana mogul behind 2012’s groundbreaking OBE-DOS closed-loop butane extraction system that immediately became the industry standard. He’s also the co-creator of live resin – the wildly popular style of concentrate that has taken the market by storm (and that his machine made possible). Giddy originally hails from Oklahoma – a state that, just a few years ago, had some of the strictest pot laws in the nation. Over the past decade, Giddyup “When you move has moved from state to state to a new state with several times, always for reasons big plans, all that shit related to Cannabis. First, in 2010, typically goes out the he moved from Oklahoma City to window when you get Longmont, Colorado with the idea there,” he chuckles. of growing weed for dispensaries, but that plan didn’t quite pan out. “When you move to a new state with big plans, all that shit typically goes out the window when you get there,” he chuckles. Building on the success of his extractors, in 2015 he launched his own brand of concentrates: Giddyup Extracts. After having established himself as an industry leader in Colorado, Giddy set out to bring his equipment and expertise to other legal states. First, he spent a few years in Nevada setting up licensing deals and selling to that market. Then in 2017, he moved to Hollywood to consult in the California market, which he described as a nightmare. In 2018, Giddy moved back to Oklahoma and established a 20,000-square-foot greenhouse grow, followed by his own dispensary named Giddy’s OKC, which opened in January 2019. According to Giddy, states that are new to legalization are a smarter move for those seeking employment in the Cannabis industry.
industry opportunity
RYAN SMITH
CHECK OUT LEAF LIFE EPISODE #97 Cannabis MIGRATION ON ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS AND LEAFLIFEPODCAST.COM
California to Alaska by O’Hara Shipe @shipeshots
fleeing persecution
THE STADLERS Texas to Colorado
by Bobby Black @bobbyblack420
MIKE STADLER used to live in the small town of After returning home from Copperas Cove, Texas with his wife Sheena and the Denver Cannabis Cup their five-year-old son Kayden. An HVAC tech by in April 2014, they learned trade, Stadler sold weed on the side, as well as plainclothes police had growing a few plants for personal medicinal use. been snooping around Stadler also made an effort to set a good example their property. and help his community by starting a community vegetable garden in a vacant lot he called Grow Your Own. The garden was a hit around the neighborhood, but ended up drawing scrutiny from law enforcement. First, City Hall changed local ordinances forcing them to shut down the garden. Next, after returning home from the Denver Cannabis Cup in April 2014, they learned plainclothes police had been snooping around their property. Then police tried bullying Sheena into letting them search their home without a warrant. A few days later, eight cop cars returned, accompanied by Child Protective Services. Luckily, she was out shopping at the time. After being advised by their lawyer that they could likely lose custody of their son, the couple made a fast and fateful decision: They hurriedly packed a few bags, got in their car, and fled to Greely, Colorado. “I don’t regret it at all,” says Stadler of the move. “I don’t have sleepless nights anymore, where I’m worried about whether a noise I hear is the police at my door, or if I get pulled over that I’m going to go to jail.” Though CPS in Colorado was obligated to pay them a follow-up visit, Stadler had no trouble getting the accusations dismissed. “I told them the whole story and they said, ‘We’ve had other families move here for the same situation … if anybody calls from Texas with any more complaints, we’ll tell them to screw off because you live in Colorado now.”
FORMER PRO-SNOWBOARDER Ryan Smith has had his fair share of adversity to overcome. Whether it was the end of his athletic career or a tragic accident while firefighting, he has found ways to exemplify the Japanese proverb, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.” But Cannabis has challenged the California-native in ways he never anticipated. “I am completely self-taught and I have made a lot of mistakes over the years,” says Smith. “You know, it’s kind of been just trial and error – and Nothing could have screwing up a lot.” prepared Smith His dedication to his craft paid off for what he would when he relocated in 2018 to take encounter on June 16, over the position of Lead Cultivator 2019, when a devasat Wasilla-based grow Scorpion tating fire engulfed Grass. “I always wanted to live in the farm in flames. Alaska, so when the opportunity came up, I jumped and haven’t looked back,” says Smith. But nothing could have prepared Smith for what he would encounter on June 16, 2019, when a devastating fire engulfed the farm in flames. With nothing left to do but watch as his hard work went up in a cloud of smoke, Smith says he felt the pangs of despair. The next day, the flames extinguished, Smith walked through the gardens to see if anything could be saved. It was in this devastation that Smith saw a small glimmer of hope. “I had to walk through [the garden] and take cuttings of some of the plants so we could save the genetics. And then I saw a piece of my favorite strain – Ice Cream Cake – literally growing out from underneath these old burned trusses from the roof. It was this real sentimental moment when I took that clone,” says Smith. The clone has since developed into one of Scorpion Grass’ signature strains, Attic Fire, and is the living representation of Smith’s moxie.
STORY by LEAF NATION CONTRIBUTORS | ICONS by THE NOUN PROJECT Air travel Olena Panasovska | Moving Luis Prado | Cannabis KonKapp | Fire Vladimir Belochkin
the ESSENTIAL issue
The evolution of socializing will include consumption in public meeting places.
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LOUNGING AROUNd T
he moment is seared into my memory. It was the mid-’90s and I was a bright-eyed 25-year-old in Amsterdam for the first time. I stepped into a “coffeeshop” and was immediately transported to a magical realm – one where I could order Cannabis from a menu and be treated like a customer instead of a criminal. Compared to what we went through back home to “score weed,” it all felt so … civilized.
FEB. 2021
I SAT DOWN and rolled myself a joint while watching people ride by on their bicycles outside, and I knew that things would never be the same. I couldn’t go back to the way things were in the United States without doing everything I could to change it. I vowed that one day we would see consumption lounges all over the world, so that everyone could know the true feeling of freedom. The first social consumption of Cannabis dates back to ancient times. Shamans of various tribes in Central Asia, India and the Middle East burned the flowers in rituals meant to induce a trancelike state. Hashish lounges have been a staple of Nepal and Afghanistan, as well as throughout the Middle East for centuries.
s
haring a pipe, bong or joint with others has been a natural way to mix and mingle for as long as people have been getting together in groups. There were even “tea pads” for legal smokers established in the United States during alcohol prohibition. Soon however, worldwide crackdowns on Cannabis put a serious damper on social use. Fear of arrest and prosecution drove users and providers underground, and for many years, anyone wishing to share their stash with others measured the risks and proceeded with extreme caution. It wasn’t until the early 1970s, when Dutch hippies tested their country’s newfound “tolerance” to soft drugs, did a scene emerge in which Cannabis was openly sold and smoked in designated areas. The coffeeshop culture thrived in Holland and over time, Amsterdam became a destination for anyone seeking to sample a new way of Cannabis and hashish consumption. In the ‘90s, the scene spread to Spain under the guise of nonprofit In late 2019, three members private social clubs deigned for of the The Leaf team had members only. Inevitably, as laws in the opportunity to visit the U.S. and Canada were reformed, Amsterdam and enjoy in lounges sprang up in North America, the historic Cannabis coffeshop culture. including the New Amsterdam Cafe Check out the rehashed trip down in Vancouver and the HotBox Lounge memory lane in the Dec. 2019 issue: & Shop in Toronto.
Cannabis consumption lounges have flourished around the world.
The HotBox Lounge & Shop in Toronto
tinyurl.com/leafgoestoamsterdam
The New Amsterdam Cafe in Vancouver, BC
The Summit Lounge in Worchester, Mass. ADAM GLANZMAN
Though how we share Cannabis has certainly changed due to COVID-19, our desire to socialize amongst like-minded compatriots will only increase over time.
IN 2009, The World Famous Cannabis Cafe, run by Executive Director of Oregon NORML Madeline Martinez, opened up in Portland, Ore. as the first state-authorized lounge for medical cardholders. Sadly, they closed their doors in 2016, but places like Flight Lounge and Kaleafa Social Club continue the tradition, welcoming private members to consume flowers and dabs to their hearts’ delight. Longtime California activist Richard Lee launched Coffeeshop Blue Sky in Oakland, even enduring a raid by Federal law enforcement in 2012, but which opened the door for places like Moe Greens, Bloom Room and Barbary Coast Dispensary. The passage of Colorado’s Amendment 64, also in 2012, brought about clubs such as iBAKE Denver and The Speakeasy Vape Lounge, which allow members to consume Cannabis but do not permit sales. Since then, many other spots nationwide have opened their doors to patients and customers yearning for connection. In Michigan, places like Vehicle City Social in Flint and D’Mirage in Detroit create safe spaces for Cannabis consumers to relax and enjoy their buds with friends. New England staples like Tetra Hydro Club in Wakefield, R.I. and Summit Lounge in Worcester, Mass. provide a respite from the bars and nightclubs. I even visited a unique spot in Las Vegas called NuWu on Native land, which is a dispensary with a smoking lounge attached. In states where Cannabis remains illegal, lounges tend to be movable “seshes” that shift from location to location and provide makeshift booths with Cannabis products, entertainment and consumption on site. Worldwide, along with the Netherlands and Spain, there are now social clubs in New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany and elsewhere. They are all under attack in one form or another from authorities, and the precariousness of their existence is fragile. Though how we share Cannabis has certainly changed due to COVID-19, our desire to socialize amongst like-minded compatriots will only increase over time. As responsible Cannabis consumers, it’s our obligation to continue to change the laws and push to legalize social use and consumption lounges so that we can get together and enjoy our pot in peace.
STORY by DAN VINKOVETSKY @DANNYDANKOHT/LEAF NATION | ILLUSTRATION by KELLY BJORK @KELLY_BJORK
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CBN& sLEEP CURIO WELLNESS’ INNOVATIONS
Curio Wellness’ Good Night Pulse Released Tablets are one of the first medical Cannabis products to hit the market specifically formulated to address chronic sleep conditions. While many current products are marketed as sleep aids, it is hard to determine exactly what about a given product makes it sleep specific. Indeed, many products out there are essentially just a generic THC product with a label on it that says something sleep-related, without any real rhyme or reason as to how it targets sleep. Good Night on the other hand is not generic and has been clinically validated as a product for sleep.
Curio Wellness’ Good Night Tablets
FEB. 2021
It is definitely true that THC helps with sleep symptoms, but it also helps with all symptoms under the therapeutic umbrella of the endocannabinoid system, so for a lot of patients using sleep products, it’s hit or miss as to whether or not they feel a true drowsy effect, or just general relief that leads to a better night’s sleep overall. Since both outcomes will work for a patient to varying degrees, this discrepancy in the market hasn’t been fully sussed out.
Curio, however, did notice and came in to fill the gap with a specifically formulated product designed to do one thing, and one thing only: help you get to sleep and stay asleep. There are some sleep products that utilize CBN, a known soporific cannabinoid, or compounds like melatonin and valerian root, to snowball the entourage effect in the direction of sleep – but none of these products have done a good job at explaining the research (if any) that led them to formulate their products the way they did, which inevitably leaves the patient confused about what does and does not work for them. For example, if a patient uses one product and finds that it does improve their sleep symptoms, and their local dispensary sells out of that particular product, it becomes very difficult to match a product from another company to achieve those same effects. Or the opposite can happen, wherein a product doesn’t have anything but just a THC
dosage, in which case a patient can choose virtually any product in the same dosage range/ product category for the cheapest price, eventually leading to a decline in overall quality in the market. The truth of the matter is that we all must develop our own Cannabis regimens catered to our own personal biochemical needs, and that has a lot to do with the product formulation itself, the dosage of the product, the tolerance and lifestyle of the patient, and the nuances of sleep-related disorders themselves. Curio has addressed these gaps in knowledge with their Good Night Tablets in two major ways. First, they utilize Pulse Release Technology that allows for targeted dosages at targeted times to interact with the patient’s system, and second, they base all their formulation off independent third party sleep studies that mimic a clinical trial. Curio relied on data around specific cannabinoid formulation ratios in relation to their target patient demographic, and specifically to the symptoms they intend to target, to provide a true sleep aid based on the latest Cannabis research, as well as their own independent third party research study. The company partnered with SleepScore Labs to conduct an observational sleep study with 35 certified Maryland medical Cannabis patients with sleep disorders and their new Good Night Tablets. Their formulation is a 2:1 THC:CBN ratio with each tablet containing 10mg THC and 5mg CBN.
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Participants completed a six-week comparative study, where for the first three weeks their sleep was monitored in accordance with their existing sleep routine, including any sleep aids they already used. In the second three weeks, patients replaced their routine with use of Good Night according to the independent study protocol.
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Across all phases of the study, participants’ sleep was monitored via the SleepScore Max Device and the completion of self surveys via the SleepScore research app. Participants were also required to stop using any other Cannabis product within three hours of bedtime, to avoid clouding the data while trialing the Good Night product. The results were successful, and patients showed marked improvement in their objective sleep metrics when using Good Night Tablets as well as participant’s subjective feedback indicating improvement in overall sleep quality. For me, it’s in the staying asleep aspect that really helps this product stand out from the crowd. My rule for Cannabis is that if you get high enough, you will eventually get drowsy. But with all the Cannabis products and profiles out there that cause a drowsy high, none of them address the longevity of the high itself. Eventually your body will process all the cannabinoids and the effects will wear off, which translates to some sleep patients waking up in the middle of the night. Indeed, a large portion of the sleep-affected community has tremendous difficulty staying asleep and gaining the benefit of a full night’s rest. Falling asleep may be difficult, but staying asleep is what prevents A large portion of many of us from reaching our REM sleep the sleep-affected and achieving a well-rested body. community Curio’s Pulse Release Technology enhas tremendous sures that several hours after ingestion, a second wave of effects enters the body to difficulty staying help keep the patient asleep. So by takasleep and gaining ing one dose, you are getting the initial the benefit of a full drowsy effects to help you fall asleep, as night’s rest. well as a second targeted release of the cannabinoids several hours after ingestion to help you stay asleep – greatly increasing the probability of a patient sleeping through the entire night. Everything with Cannabis is dose-dependent around an individual’s tolerance, but once you know which dose works best for you, Curio Good Night Tablets promote an improved night’s sleep with science backed data, a differentiator from any other Cannabis sleep aid on the market. I really appreciate when a company puts this much thought behind their formulation and takes the time to test it out before finalizing. Curio is setting an industry standard that other companies are sure to follow and they aren’t stopping there – look out for two new products coming out in 2021 that are targeted specifically for pain and digestive health, using similar observational studies!
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GUICE LIVE RESIN BATTER MPX is staying true to their reputation of excellence with their iteration of the Guice live resin batter, earning them another Concentrate of the Month! This exquisite example of Cannabis chemistry has captured my mind, body and soul by being nothing short of an absolutely delicious, full-bodied, well-rounded, incredibly robust concoction of cannabinoids and terpenes. My first dab of the Guice instantly invigorated my senses and cleared my mind. I felt my body unclench and my mind awaken...
FEB. 2021
TESTING 63% thca 29.64% total terps 8.22% terpinolene 5.4% caryophyllene 2.9% humulene 2.4% myrcene 2.1% pinene 1.5% limonene 1.8% terpinene 1.28% ocimene 1.6% carene .54% linalool
When the terpene profile of a dab rivals the cannabinoid profile of flower, you know the extraction team did a top notch extraction – preserving and concentrating the essence of the cultivar into a delectable, dabbable batter. The challenge now is deciphering the nuances of the profile, since it has a decent chunk of just about every terpene you could want in your medicine. Starting at the top of the profile, we see 8.2% terpinolene and 5% caryophyllene, which drives the profile towards a relaxed, calm and energized – but not racy – headspace. Humulene, myrcene and pinene come in the 2-3% range, while terpinene, ocimene, limonene, and the rare carene appear in the 1-2% range, with just a .54% smidge of linalool rounding out the bottom of the profile. When it comes to the aroma and flavor, terpinolene comes through with its well known freshness, but not in an overpowering way. In fact, the predominant notes I get are herbaceous and floral, similar to a wildflower garden and fruit trees in bloom. The amalgamation of smells come together into a robust sense of natural freshness that is as appetizing as it is invigorating. Indeed, the aroma alone is enough to improve my mood – definitely a hallmark of a top quality dab. The inhale and exhale reveal a soapy and floral spectrum that is dotted with hints of cherry blossom and the best parts of industrial adhesives – a statement of any Glue genetics. My first dab of the Guice instantly invigorated my senses and cleared my mind. I felt my body unclench and my mind awaken – leaving my spirit calm and in a beautiful, harmonious unity that could only have been orchestrated by a fully activated endocannabinoid system. The symphony of pain alleviation, mental calm, clarity, gastro-intestinal relief, mood elevation and focus shot through every perception mechanism my body had to offer. Everything felt better, and I can offer no greater praise than that.
REVIEW by TAYLOR MARTIN for MARYLAND LEAF | PHOTO by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT
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Brain Blend Lion’s Mane Tincture Immune Blend Chaga & Reishi Tincture With the constant tension and uncertainty that we all currently face, we can likely agree that we could all use a more natural and holistic way to replenish our bodies and take a load off these days. For our first-ever feature on Alternative Medicine, we seek to open your minds to the world of adaptogens and plantbased medicines that aim to help with mental clarity, relaxation and overall health.
HYPHAE WELLNESS
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daptogens are natural herbal pharmaceuticals that work to prevent the negative consequences of stress in the human body. Reishi, Chaga, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps and Red Belted Conk are just a few of the adaptogenic mushrooms that are completely legal to cultivate and consume here in the U.S. In fact, some of these mushrooms, such as Lion’s Mane, have also become very popular to cook with due to their desirable taste. While these mushrooms do not contain the psychedelic effects that psilocybin mushrooms do, these contain numerous advantageous properties and health benefits that have proven to strengthen the functional capacity of those who consume them. Eugene, Ore.-based company Hyphae Wellness is solely dedicated and focused on developing functional mushroom products to help bring these types of incredible benefits to their customers, and have developed an enchanting line of mushroom tinctures geared to improve daily productivity and other functional capacities. •Promotes mental clarity, focus, and memory Their Brain Blend tincture •Cerebral and Nervous System Support contains a Lion’s Mane •Optimizes nervous and immune system mushroom extract, which has •Supports cognitive function been proven to promote nerve growth in the brain. It also contains Yerba Santa to assist with anti-inflammation, •Promotes antioxidant and immune support Ginkgo Biloba for increased •Improves blood flow blood flow to the brain, and •Supports healthy digestion Saffron for many beneficial mood-enhancing qualities. This tincture is an exceptional tool to help your mind recover after a stressful workday. Their Immune Blend tincture contains both Reishi and Chaga mushroom extract, allowing consumers to receive a clinical dose of essential antioxidants and extensive immune support. It also contains ginger and nettle leaf to help with digestive health. For anyone interested in improving the preventative steps they are taking to protect their general health, the Immune Blend is for you! Keep an eye on this column to continue learning about the groundbreaking alternative medicines that exist. We hope that Hyphae Wellness products can help you alleviate some stress and get you to that next level in life, both mentally and physically. GETHYPHAE.COM
Brain Blend
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Immune Blend
An enchanting line of mushroom tinctures geared to improve daily productivity and other functional capacities. FEB. 2021
REVIEW by MAX EARLY @LIFTED_STARDUST/LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS
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WORLD OF Cannabis PRESENTS
42
Lepp’s legendary garden circa 2003.
Eddy Lepp is a medical marijuana POW whose courage and compassion have secured him a place in Cannabis history.
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Reverence for the Reverend Born in Illinois in 1952, Charles “Eddy” Lepp was the son of a soldier who spent his childhood moving around before eventually settling in Reno. In 1968, he enlisted in the Army alongside his brother, and was shipped off to Vietnam. After returning home, he spent the next two decades struggling with addiction, depression and PTSD – self-medicating with drugs and alcohol and engaging in self-destructive behavior. But when his father got cancer in the 1980s, he decided to get clean; the only intoxicant he didn’t give up was Cannabis. “I used marijuana for years to keep from killing myself,” confesses Lepp. “I was using Cannabis to treat myself, but I didn’t realize that I was medicating because we didn’t have the information.” That information came after Lepp met Dennis Peron and his future hero/ mentor Jack Herer, and his life changed forever. “Back in the ‘80s I met Dennis and Jack, was very interested in what they were talking about, and got to be friends with them,” he recalls. “After that, I
FEB. 2021
was kinda fucked, because you can’t be best friends with Dennis Peron and Jack Herer and not devote your life to marijuana.” After his father died in 1988, Lepp checked himself into the National Center for PTSD in Palo Alto, Calif. It was there that he met his future wife – a young woman named Linda Senti. With the help of Linda, the Center and Cannabis, he was finally able to get sober and begin to heal. “Cannabis was critically important in shaping my recovery and the man that I was going to become,” Lepp attests. “It allowed me to heal myself physically and mentally, and get back in touch with God as I understood him.” CALLED TO ACTION Eddy and Linda got married and eventually settled in Lake County, Calif. They became heavily involved in the legalization movement – helping to gather signatures for the Compassionate Use Act, then setting out to fulfill its promise by supplying medicine to patients … starting with Linda herself who, like Eddy’s father, had contracted cancer. In 1996, with Peron’s help, Lepp planted a garden of 132 plants for her – which he was arrested for later that year. When his case got to trial in 1998, he cited Prop 215 as his medical marijuana defense, and it worked – making him the first person ever acquitted under the aegis of the new law. At the time, few doctors were willing to recommend Cannabis, so the
Lepps began shuttling patients down to Dr. Tod Mikuriya’s office in San Francisco each week for recommendations. Then in 1999, they purchased a 25-acre farm in Upper Lake and began hosting mobile clinics – bringing doctors and patients together for consultations on their property. Within a year, the Lepps had registered a third of the approximately 100,000 legal Cannabis patients in the state. But many patients were unable to procure, afford or grow medicine for themselves, so once again the Lepps stepped up – offering to grow some plants for a few patients they knew. Over the next few years, it became six patients, then a dozen, then 30. That’s how Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens came to be.
In addition to the garden, Lepp also founded a religious ministry: The Multi-Denominational Ministry of Cannabis and Rastafari. Lepp with his late wife Linda, Dennis Peron, and Jack Herer.
CRAIG LEMIRE
JASON DUNLAP
THE HEALING FIELDS It was a simple idea: create a haven where patients could all grow their medicine in one secure, well-tended garden – reducing costs and avoiding countless possible thefts, busts and other calamities. Lepp charged $500 per 10-foot plot, from which patients received all of the Cannabis harvested. And for those who couldn’t afford a plot, medicine was often provided free of charge. In addition to the garden, Lepp also founded a religious ministry: The Multi-Denominational Ministry of Cannabis and Rastafari. Identifying strongly with both the Native American and Rastafari religions, he became an ordained minister in 2000, adopted the title of Reverend, and began providing spiritual support. Until that point, the farm had operated with relative impunity thanks to an understanding between Lepp Eddy’s Medicinal and the Sheriff’s Department. But that accord ended Gardens sign. one afternoon in 2002, when the Lake County Narcotics Task Force raided the farm – confiscating around 400 plants and arresting She started crying and said, ‘We can’t say no to any of them.’ four people. Surprisingly, they ended And we never did.” up being released the next day and The DEA raided the farm again on February 16, 2005 – “You can’t be best friends no charges were ever pursued. seizing another 6000 plants, re-arresting Lepp, and charging By 2003, the Ministry was servicing him with cultivation and possession with intent to distribute. with Dennis Peron and 100 patients and growing nearly He wasn’t released until two months later, on a $500,000 Jack Herer and not devote 10,000 plants. Lepp made no atbond (thanks in part to a $10,000 donation from comedian tempt to hide what he was doing – in Joe Rogan). your life to marijuana." fact, he actually sent a letter stating His lawyers planned a two-pronged For more on Eddie Lepp, listen - E D DY L E P P his intentions to local and state medical and religious use defense, both to Episode #9 of our podcast officials, but never received a reply. of which were ultimately rejected by at worldofCannabis.museum/ Emboldened by the lack of legal repercussions, they doubled the judge. Lepp was convicted in 2007, and after several unsuccessful podcast. down on their efforts – purchasing property across the road appeals, returned for sentencing in May 2008. and expanding their gardens up to 40 acres, which soon With the total charges against him, Lepp was facing an incredible contained nearly 4,000 plots and 30,000 plants. four life sentences, plus 40 years and $17 million in fines. Luckily, the Published originally on Unlike other outdoor grows, which were typically small and judge sentenced him to only the mandatory minimum of 10 years. worldofCannabis.museum secret, Eddy’s Gardens could be seen (and smelled) while He served eight and a half of those years before being released on and reprinted with permission. cruising down Highway 20, which now ran straight through parole in December 2016. While he was behind bars, both his beloved the middle of his farm. That summer, Lepp even invited High Linda and best friend Jack Herer passed away. Times magazine out, who then recognized the garden as the largest medical marijuana grow in the world – and Eddy RELEASE AND REVERENCE himself as their Freedom Fighter of the Year. Since his release, Lepp has mostly tried to stay out of trouble: spending his time creating art, hosting a podcast, and attending Cannabis events in CONVICTED FOR HIS CONVICTIONS California. Sadly, in October 2020, he announced that he too is now batUnfortunately, though, all of that attention brought about tling cancer, which has metastasized into his lungs and brain; his new wife their undoing. On August 18, 2004, the DEA swarmed their Sandra has created a GoFundMe page to help cover his medical costs. property, arresting Lepp and 14 residents and workers at Eddy Lepp is a modern-day marijuana martyr whose bravery, conviction gunpoint. It reportedly took authorities two days to chainsaw and sacrifices helped pave the way for the freedoms we enjoy today. down the 32,524 plants, which they valued at around $80 Regardless of whether he chooses to use the title or not, our reverence million. It was the largest medical crop seizure from an inditoward the reverend remains. vidual in U.S. history. “Linda said to me, ‘I just wish sometimes it wasn’t so overwhelming,’” Lepp remembers. “And I replied, “Well, I’ll do Eddy and his wife, Sandra. Donate to Eddy’s medical fund at GoFundMe.com/eddyleppneedsyou. whatever you want … you pick the first person we say no to.”
STORY by BOBBY BLACK @CANNTHROPOLOGY for LEAF NATION | MAIN PHOTO by MG IMAGING
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#99 THE WORD DIET #100 LET’S CELEBRATE: SHOW 100! #101 INSURING YOUR WEED
#102
THE FALL OF CELEBRITY CULTURE NOW ON LISTEN ON:
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Marijuana products may be purchased or possessed only by persons 21 or older. This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit-forming. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of reach of children.
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SOCCER MOMS ARE THE BESTEST
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leafnationmd.com
by Mike Ricker
et’s all raise our flutes of infused lemonade for a big cheer to those intrepid Dodge Caravanners who make up the backbone of America! You do it all, ladies. You keep the whole tribe in order like the Chief Executive Organizer of the Taylor family, bringing home the bacon, frying it up in a pan, and never letting dad forget he’s the man. You captain the crew with equestrian hands, directing the grocery-getter through the avenues and lanes, school zones and sports practices, rattling cat calls from the stands that urge the victories while softening the losses. And all with impeccable punctuality. You value the respect this earns amongst the other mothers with whom you chronicle scenes inside the home, reporting the events with an omniscient eye, desperately aware that these days will evaporate as quickly as your own youth. You are a conductor, orchestrating the chaos into a seamless symphony with the patience of a glacier – through teen shouting matches over clothes swapping and philosophical differences in social image managing. Then, when the evening wanes and the flurry settles into a mindful moment on the couch, a good glass of red and the guilty pleasure of a naughty reality show are a great way to calm the nerves while rubbing the aching dogs. “How do you do it all?” The audience insists to know your secret as these words echo in your thoughts. The purse lies before you on the coffee table. You unfasten the hinge that conceals your essentials. Where there used to be a prescription bottle that rattled like the tail of a diamondback, there is now a vape pen in its place. You push the button, sneak a toke, and the voices of the madding crowd saunter into oblivion, creating open space that will soon again be filled with the sunrise.
FEB. 2021
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