Apr. 2023 - NW Leaf

THE GLASS ISSUE

OUTTA THIS WORLD.

4.20.23

25% OFF STOREWIDE!

DJ • PRIZES • VENDORS

DAILY DEALS • LOYALTY PROGRAM

Conveniently located seconds off of I-5 at exit 210

This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Cannabis 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 the reach of children.

WES ABNEY CEO & FOUNDER wes@leafmagazines.com

MIKE RICKER OPERATING PARTNER ricker@leafmagazines.com | advertising sales

TOM BOWERS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER tom@leafmagazines.com

DANIEL BERMAN CREATIVE DIRECTOR daniel@leafmagazines.com

KATHERINE WOLF CONTENT DIRECTOR kat@leafmagazines.com

MEGHAN RIDLEY COPY EDITOR meghan@leafmagazines.com

ASHLEY HIRCHERT SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD ashley@leafmagazines.com

THE ENLIGHTENED VOICE

On the cover of Northwest Leaf’s always eagerly awaited Glass Issue is the stunning work of Aaron Swanson, better known as Swan Glass @swanglass. Bornandraised inthe Emerald City,hegothisstartblowing glassbackinhighschool!“Swansoncallsthe designonthisorangeandblueHydrantBlooper his‘lacepattern.’Thiscomplexmethodlayers colorstogether,pullingthemintoatwisted latticinocanethat is used to build up the wall of the piece.” You can read more about his innovative techniques in Content Director Katherine Wolf’s profile on pg. 42.Besure tostopbyoursiteatLeafMagazines.com to see even more glass art and each of our six magazine’s unique cover photographs.

COVER & INTERIOR PHOTOS BY JAMIE ZILL GLASS PHOTOGRAPHY @JLZILL

CONTRIBUTORS

WES ABNEY, FEATURES

DANIEL BERMAN, PHOTOS BOBBY BLACK, DESIGN + FEATURES

JOSHUA BOULET, ILLUSTRATION

BORO PHOTOGRAPHER, PHOTOS

TOM BOWERS, FEATURES

AMANDA DAY, FEATURES

EARLY, PRODUCTION

STEVE ELLIOTT, NATIONAL NEWS

MATT JACKSON, FEATURES JESSE RAMIREZ, DESIGN

VICTORIA NIKOLAUS, PHOTOS

MIKE RICKER, FEATURES

MEGHAN RIDLEY, EDITING SCOTT SOUTHERN, PHOTOS TERPENE TRANSIT, DISTRIBUTION

DAN VINKOVETSKY, FEATURES JERRY WHITING, EMERITUS CONTRIBUTOR KATHERINE WOLF, FEATURES JAMIE ZILL, PHOTOS

WES ABNEY

Editor’s Note

Thanks for picking up The Glass Issue of the Leaf!

Glass holds a special place within Cannabis culture, as it both defines our movement through artistic expression, and provides the tools necessary to consume our plant. Without glass pipes, bongs and dab rigs, we’d be stuck smoking joints and out of apples in a return to pre-legalization shenanigans.

“PICKING THE RIGHT TOOLS CAN TRANSFORM AN AVERAGE SESH INTO AN EXPRESSION OF ART AND ELATION.”

HIGH ESTABLISHED 2010

Only with Cannabis is the method of smoking equally as important as the flower or dabs themselves. From hitting a Hitoki Laser Bong full of tasty flower to taking timed and temperature controlled rosin dabs from a custom rig with perfect percolation and a terp slurper banger that’ll blast you to the moon and back, picking the right tools can transform an average sesh into an expression of art and elation. As Dale Carnegie poignantly said –“The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure” – and this can be no better applied than to the artists who make glass to get us high.

CONNECT WITH NORTHWEST LEAF!

It’s through the beautiful amalgamation of fire and borosilicate that an artist shapes both how we smoke and how we perceive the act of smoking, and this issue of the Leaf is dedicated to celebrating the artists and art that shape the visual arm of our industry. I hope that this issue inspires our readers to find a new appreciation for high end glass, to follow new glassblowers on social media, and to consider investing in a piece of artistry for their daily smoking habits.

Today, glass pieces regularly sell for five to six figures – and a single piece has the power to define a stoner’s personality the way a cool car or shoes can. This representation of Cannabis culture is unique to consuming our favorite plant, as I’ve yet to see custom beer steins being brought to bars by drinkers, or heady pipes bejeweled for smoking illegal street drugs. With many of the highs outside of Cannabis being a function of necessity, and oftentimes addiction, it explains the lack of investment into accoutrement.

-Wes Abney

POT COMPANIES SUE NYC REGULATORS

A COALITION that includes some of New York’s medical marijuana companies sued state Cannabis regulators in March in an effort to open up licensing to all retail dispensary applicants immediately.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in Albany, claims that state Cannabis regulators exceeded their legal authority when they opened the initial application pool in August only to people with past pot convictions or their relatives, instead of to everyone.

The lawsuit names as defendants the state’s Cannabis Control Board and Office of Cannabis Management, as well as top officials, reports AP.

The state’s equity program, which offered first dibs to individuals with past pot convictions or their relatives, was an attempt to create opportunities for those who have been most adversely affected by pot policing, which resulted in Black and Latino people being arrested at disproportionately higher rates.

26

Kentucky state senators voted in favor of a bill allowing possession but not smoking of Cannabis.

apR. 2023

37

states have legalized medical marijuana use, and only 13 states have no legal or MMJ laws.

OKLAHOMA VOTERS REJECT LEGALIZATION

OKLAHOMA VOTERS in March soundly rejected a ballot measure that would have legalized adult-use Cannabis for people over the age of 21. It was a setback for advocates who have seen the conservative state warmly embrace access to the herb for medicinal purposes. Across “Tokelahoma,” 2,890 licenses have been approved for medical marijuana businesses. Oklahoma City, the state capital, is home to more than 400 dispensaries. But in a state where 10% of residents have a medical marijuana card, 62% of Oklahoma voters rejected the proposal to legalize adult use.

“Across Tokelahoma, 2,890 licenses have been approved for medical marijuana businesses. Oklahoma City, the state capital, is home to more than 400 dispensaries.”

40

employees – about 20% of its workforce – were laid off last month by Leafly, the Cannabis guide and classification website.

282

old marijuana possession tickets were dismissed last month in Madison, Wis., where Cannabis use & possession remain illegal.

NO RISE IN CANADIAN TRAFFIC INJURIES

THE IMPLEMENTATION of adult-use Cannabis sales in Canada didn’t result in any increase in traffic injuryrelated hospitalizations, according to data published in the journal Addiction – where investigators assessed rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations in the years before and immediately following legalization.

“Overall, there is no clear evidence that RCL [Recreational Cannabis Laws] had any effect on rates of ED visits and hospitalizations for either motor vehicle or pedestrian/cyclist injury across Canada,” authors concluded.

The findings agree with those of a 2021 Canadian study. That one “found no evidence that the implementation of the Cannabis Act was associated with significant changes in post-legalization patterns of all drivers’ traffic-injury ED visits or, more specifically, youthdriver traffic-injury ED presentations.”

$1.3m

in untaxed Cannabis products were seized in Los Angeles County in March, in one of the biggest raids on black-market pot in recent history.

$102.9m

was the total of Cannabis sales (both medical and adult-use) in Missouri in February, the first month it was allowed, putting it on track to break $1B annually.

STORIES by STEVE ELLIOTT | THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF MARIJUANA

EXCLUSIVE

SEEDS:

RILEY SESSIONS

NORTHWEST LEAF BUDTENDER OF THE MONTH

Euphorium is a “Cannabis lifestyle” shop selling serious heat and heady accessories with locations in Covington, Lynwood, Vashon and Woodinville. This month we chatted with Riley Sessions from the Woodinville location – a self-proclaimed sneakerhead and hashhead – about her smoke stash, glass collection and custom shoe art! Check out Riley’s rad creations at @weednerd!

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS ON SHELVES AT YOUR SHOP RIGHT NOW?

Fugu Farms, PNW Roots, Torus and Gabriel Cannabis are some of my favorite brands we’re carrying right now. Rosin in some form or another will always be my favorite product on the shelf. They will probably be sold out soon because they’re both limited drops, but right now, the Malibu Marsha rosin by House of Cultivar and the One Piece by Svin are the current favorites in my headstash.

WITH THIS BEING THE GLASS ISSUE AFTER ALL, WHEN YOU’RE SMOKING, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF PIECE TO PACK? Anything with solid water function.

SPEAKING OF, WE HEAR YOU HAVE QUITE THE GLASS COLLECTION. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE GLASS BLOWER? That’s such a hard question because I want to say all of them! Out of the artists in my personal collection, I’d have to say Northern Waters. Her work is just absolutely gorgeous. Overall though, I think Buck Glass makes some of the most jawdropping pieces and Stormin Norman makes some of my favorites when it comes to form and function.

AND YOU’RE ALSO AN ARTIST YOURSELF, CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM SNEAKERS AND BAGS! CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THAT? Well, my sneaker habit was getting a little out of hand and at the time I felt like Nike had done a disservice to the female sneakerheads by not dropping any good pink Jordans. So I decided to start making my own!

WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE BUDTENDER? TELL US WHY! EMAIL NOMINATIONS TO RICKER@LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

“I THINK BUCK GLASS MAKES SOME OF THE MOST JAWDROPPING PIECES...”

“The job of an advocate is never complete, so they are currently working on putting on a clothing and food drive in Seattle with some big non-Cannabis corporations.”

FORBIDDEN CANNABIS CLUB

CAPITOL HILL COOL

STAFF PICKS

FLOWERS

Cloud 9 Farms White Truffle - Austin

K Savage Lilac Wine - Holly

Cookie Jar Cannabis Lavender Cookies - Tim

Joints

PICC Diamond Back Gorilla

Super Lemon Haze - Austin

Green Haven Pink Lemonade - Holly

American Hash Makers Stripes

Raspberry Julep w/ Huckleberry Rosin - Tim

CARTS

Skunk Processors Tropic Truffle - Austin

OMNIPRESENCE

A dude named Sony Bassi started the first shop in Carson, and followed with Okanagan before making his way west into Lacey, then Olympia, Mt Vernon and now the newcomer … this little prize here in the Central District. From the top down, he’s built a culture of Cannabis greatness by listening to what his people want out of a shop: value and positive experiences. “You want to leave with a smile, feeling appreciated,” says Sony. So, this company is built on return clientele. It isn’t brain surgery!

CONTAGIOUS CONFIDENCE

The showcase is all about big shop selections with mom-and-pop shop vibes. You won’t take a number here, then wait in line like you’re at the doctor’s office. With all these shops strewn across the state, they have the swagger to command the best products from the best companies, which allows for more breadth for your budtender to tailor to your specific needs. And once you’re feeling that high level of communication, you’ll find yourself coming back on the regular.

MOTIVATED MINDSET

The job of an advocate is never complete, so they are currently working on putting on a clothing and food drive in Seattle with some big non-Cannabis corporations. The objective is to raise food, clothing and toys for women’s shelters, transitional housing for children, and the Domestic Violence Leave Act. In fact, Sony’s partners run food banks through local churches in the Kent/Renton area, so they have the experience in how to do it the right way that results in results. We need more of this, please!

Fire Bros French Toast Crunch - Holly

Harmony Farms AiroPro Strawberry Cough - Tim

DABS

Svin Garden One Piece Rosin - Austin

Skunk Processors Blueberry Muffins - Holly

Skunk Processors Hippie Crasher Rosin Jam - Tim

EDIBLES

Ray’s Lemonades Huckleberry Drink - Tim

Dank Czar Rosin Vials

(technically a topical) - Austin

Journeyman Sour Jellies - Holly

FORBIDDEN CANNABIS CLUB

2413 E. UNION ST. SEATTLE, WA

OPEN 8AM-11:45PM DAILY | (206) 420-2180

FORBIDDENCANNABISCLUB.COM | @FCCSEATTLE

FCC CARSON 1171 WIND RIVER HWY

FCC LACEY 6326 MARTIN WAY E SUITE 103

FCC MOUNT VERNON 3818 OLD HWY 99 SOUTH RD

FCC OLYMPIA 1123 SLEATER KINNEY RD. SE

FCC OKANOGAN 2108 ELMWAY S

OLEUM EXTRACTS

When it comes to Oleum, to say that it’s “just oil” might be the understatement of the year. Rooted in Seattle’s early medical Cannabis program and pushing the limits today with technology and passion for concentrates, Oleum is celebrating a decade of dabs with a new brand Neon, and continuing their commitment to leading by example with consistently top shelf extracts.

Long before Cannabis was legal, the early medical Cannabis program attracted innovators and risk takers to grow a plant that had landed many in prison – but was also helping cancer patients and freethinkers seeking relief from pain or illness that rejected the dominating pharmaceutical dogma.

It’s from those rebel roots that Owner/CEO Graham Jennings and Owner/Head Scien tist Aaron Palmer began experimenting with processing hash underneath their dispensary on Seattle’s Rainier Ave in the early 2010s. At that time, most dispensaries were limited to flower and canna-butter edibles – the vape cartridge had yet to be invented, and people were still extracting Rick Simpson oil with Naptha. It was Jennings and Palmer’s creative minds that pushed them to innovate and find ways to extract the essence of the plant using science and solvents that kickstarted the concentrate movement in Washington.

Oleum is a classic Latin word meaning oil, which makes sense given the brand's motto of “No additives, just oil.”

As one of the first brave processors using butane to open blast BHO, the duo were not satisfied with the early technology or risk of explosions, and set their minds to creating their own systems and learning how to apply already existing chemistry to the world of Cannabis. Together, Jennings and Palmer created and

Justin Marsh, Aaron Palmer and Graham Jennings in their Tacoma extraction facility.

Candyland Honey Crystal

launched the brand Oleum in 2013 with the help of Director of Sales Justin Marsh – who made the first medical sale of the brand and still leads the sales division today, providing concentrates in a variety of tasty formats to over 300 recreational stores in Washington state.

Fast forward a decade and Oleum stands at the forefront of Cannabis concentrates, with accolades including the first company to create THCA in Washington (then called Wizard Stones), which paved the way for diamonds and sauce and other unique, high terpene and potency concentrates that were previously unheard of.

“None of this is new science, but it’s new to us and the industry! We’re always striving for more information and innovation,” Jennings shared when discussing the fast pace of Cannabis tech. “Aaron is still researching 10 years after fabricating his first extractor, and that’s what keeps us excited. The curiosity and knowledge to innovate is what drives our lab forward.”

As with any heritage company still in Cannabis, Oleum has grown in multiple phases – building out labs and applying the growth in technology to innovate each iteration, which has led them to a custom built facility in Tacoma with the capacity to process 500 pounds of material into oil each day. Utilizing new technologies and techniques, Oleum is known for putting quality first as they process flower and trim from 50-plus farms around the state.

“What used to take us two or three weeks to process, only takes us two or three days now,” Jennings explained excitedly. “We would have to operate 17 full farms to run the facility with our own material, which isn’t possible – so we focus on relationships with farms and collabs for each run. Last year we ran 1,100 different strains from nearly 50 farms, and every single run is strain specific at Oleum.”

Keeping batches between 500 and 1,000 grams of strain specific concentrate allows Oleum to have a consistently rotating menu, but also adds expenses in testing – a cost that the team is willing to pay to maintain the integrity of each product. Oleum currently processes live resin, cured resin, honey crystals, diamonds and sauce, and variations of these concentrates in both dabbable form and in disposable vaporizers. There’s also their award-winning Sugar Cones infused joints, and

a commercial kitchen opening soon to add edibles and other new products to the expanding menu.

Inside the facility is a giant container sized cryogenic freezer that requires a space suit to walk inside when turned on, with the space to store nearly 15,000 pounds of fresh frozen material. With farms getting three or four crops a year in light dep or greenhouse, plus the indoor partnerships, the freezer is constantly filling and emptying with a steady flow of material. “We try to keep the organic, hippie-style circle of growers alive with collaborations, and we love to work with the most recognized growers to process their material,” Jennings explained.

“Working with brands like House of Cultivar, Tranquil Forest, K Savage and many more pumps up both our brands and allows consumers to try the flower and concentrate, and get the full experience of the plant.”

While the brand has long stood for purity and a lack of outside additives or flavors, the team recognized that consumers want a clean and potent, flavored vape cartridge option … and the new brand Neon was born. Delivering quality input to create potent distillate paired with botanical terpenes, Neon blends flavors like Melon Head and Sour Pebbles with a potent high for a flavored cartridge buzz that’s fun and without harmful artificial flavors.

“We stopped making distillate flavored cartridges about five years ago because we’ve always maintained ‘no additives’ as a brand at Oleum, but we have heard from stores and consumers that they want a high quality flavored cart from a brand they can trust,” Marsh said passionately. “We launched Neon to have a $20-$25 cartridge option with natural botanical terpenes and a potent, clean distillate with easy to understand sativa, hybrid and indica options.”

Oleum is still the strain-specific, additive-free brand that dabbers statewide know and love, paired with Neon to deliver options for everyone who loves concentrates. There’s no B brand or lower grade version of Oleum – the idea is that Neon and Oleum can exist together to serve both the heads and soccer moms concentrates that are processed with care for the plant and the end user, in a mission that goes back to the early days of medical Cannabis.

“The market has changed so much,” Marsh said pensively.

“Over the years we’ve had to adjust to the demand as the consumer base has grown larger, and the market decides whether we think it’s right or wrong. At the end of the day, you have to give people what they are asking for – clean, tasty concentrates in a variety of forms. And we’re dabbers too, so we want fire dabs and the variety ourselves … that’s a connection we have to our products that others do not.”

Keeping batches between 500 and 1,000 grams of strain specific concentrate allows Oleum to have a consistently rotating menu

RICJAMES ROSIN & FLOWER

Whenever the strain Ric James comes up, I think of the original slap heard across culture – and I don’t mean Chris Rock and Will Smith at the Oscars. While that petty act of bullying is now immortalized on Rock’s Netflix special (which is extra funny after a fat dab of Gold Leaf rosin), this Rick James x Charlie Murphy slap came from Chappelle’s Show, along with the infamous tagline: “I’m Rick James, bitch!”

It’s fitting that the outrageous vibe of that moment is reflected in the subtly name-changed Ric James strain, which is a combination of Raspberry Ice Cream Cake and Do-si-dos. Grown and processed as a single-source flower to oil by Gold Leaf Gardens and Polar Icetracts, it offers the unicorn experience of smoking in flower form and dabbing as a delicious solventless concentrate. Gold Leaf grows their flower in living soil with organic-style practices and a lot of mahalo – providing the perfect environment for happy plants to produce tasty terpenes and lots of trichomes for the rosin heads.

Opening the jar of gorgeous purple nugs releases a wave of skunky-sweet truffles and earthy citrus and berry notes, creating a complex and mouth-watering flavor profile. The buds are perfectly shaped and cured, with deep purple flower that’s contrasted by the white trichomes that cover every bit of bud structure. First tokes deliver a smooth and sweet smoke that dances in the lungs before exhaling with a berry cobbler kush flavor that lingers on the palate. Effects build from the chest outward, warming the body and relaxing muscles while sending a stoney sedative rush to the frontal lobes … twisting the mind into a baked pretzel of looping pleasure that’s perfect for the munchies and entertainment.

After a snack and a few minutes lost in stoned wonder, we remembered the dessert to our main course flower: the delicious Ric James rosin. Light golden in color with a greasy shimmer, the beautiful oil bursts with notes of raspberry jam, rose petals and a pastry-esque baked tart with an earthy-kush frosting that teases the senses. Hitting at low temps on our Leaf HQ Focus V, the rosin melts into a smooth vapor that exhales with a grip on the nose, tickling with pungent terps as effects slapped frontal lobes in a hit worthy of the Oscars.

Experience your own double feature with this flower and rosin combination from Gold Leaf Gardens, and look for other strain-specific matchups featuring rosin and rosin cartridges from Polar Icetracts at your favorite dispensary with a hash fridge.

DIVE INTO NOSTALGIA with a dab duo that’s a celebration of the stickiest of the icky pressed into tasty rosin, courtesy of the single-source flower and hash team at Gold Leaf Gardens.

“After a snack and a few minutes lost in stoned wonder, we remembered the dessert to our main course flower: the delicious Ric James rosin.”

CULTIVATED BY GOLD LEAF GARDENS

PROCESSED BY POLAR ICETRACTS

Stay true to your roots.

Dutch Treat

Northern Lights x Haze

with the finest hand crafted for you by

Blue Roots Cannabis

Limonene Linalool

Caryophyllene Myrcene

Relaxing Calming Creative

Uplifting

Warning: This product has intoxicating e ects and may be habit forming. Cannabis can impair concentration, coordination, and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery while under the in uence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with the consumption of this product. For use only by adults twenty-one and older. Keep out of reach of children.

BONG BY MYBUDVASE MYBUDVASE.COM @MYBUDVASE

Mobius Drinks & Patches

Mobius is well-known for delivering delicious nano-emulsified Cannabis drinks that pack a potent punch, so it’s no surprise that they took home a Leaf Bowl award for the Best Cannabis Beverage in Washington. With 100mg THC and 1:1 THC and CBD options in flavors like Blood Orange, Strawberry and Pineapple, these drinks are perfect on their own or used to make a custom mocktail or cocktail to kick off an edible experience. Tasty enough to drink uninfused, our favorite is the Tropical Punch – hitting like an adult version of a juice box with real flavors of citrus, pineapple and a touch of guava – it’s a tropical vacation in a bottle, even if it’s a rainy spring day here in the PNW.

While their drinks are definitely on the hot list right now, what really has the Leaf review team excited are their new cannabinoid patches. Transdermal patches deliver consistent levels of cannabinoids to the bloodstream and are perfect for those avoiding smoking or the calories that come with edibles. They’re also discrete, easily transportable in a purse or bag, and have been shown to be helpful for a variety of ailments that people use medical Cannabis for.

For most consumers, the idea of a patch might seem different, but the effects and ease of use are undeniably great. The patches come in beautiful mylar bags and look like a bandaid, peeling off with a roll of the finger to be placed on an area like the wrist, back or abdomen. Take it from this writer though: Avoid any area with hair!

Mobius has developed several different options in the patch department and we tried them all. The Dab Patch is 100mg THC that delivers results over eight-plus hours, and is marketed as a way to enhance your dabbing experience. It’s like being high on edibles but without the fog, with a great mental euphoria and chillaxed body high. We also loved the Happy 1:1 patch with 50mg each of THC and CBD, which erased pain and stress while elevating our mood, and the Recovery patch with 50mg CBD and 5mg CBG was wonderful after a long workout at the end of a stressful week. The CBD-only version was non-intoxicating but pleasantly relaxing and imparted a sense of wellbeing, while the Delta 8 version delivered a giggly, fun high that’s perfect for the weekend.

With options to deliver specific cannabinoid blends in drinkable and wearable formats, Mobius continues to lead the way in Washington with products that can fit any lifestyle and need for Cannabis – from a desire for health and wellness, to getting totally ripped with a Dab Patch and Pineapple 100mg drink that’ll light up your next weed adventure.

[The patches are] like being high on edibles but without the fog, with a great mental euphoria and chillaxed body high.”

BLACK CHERRY PUNCH

Enjoy your dessert first this 4/20 with the Black Cherry Punch – a sweet purple treat that stuns senses with a stoney high and dazzling good looks that’ll have you dancing to your own beat with each fruity bowl.

We love flavors that invoke memories of soda fountains and classic pop music, transporting the mind and body to happy times with each toke of delicious Cannabis. Created as a cross between Black Cherry Pie and Purple Punch, the strain has kept the sweetness of the Punch while adding the powerful indica buzz of the Cherry Pie, resulting in a cross that delivers top shelf flavors and effects.

Grown with love by Sacred – a family-owned and operated small-batch Tier I producer in Port Townsend – the flower showcases the attention to detail and care for the plant that can only come from a craft scale operation.

Peeling open a bag of Black Cherry Punch is like opening a shaken can of cherry soda,

spraying fizzy terps that blast out of the bag, coating the senses in an effervescent and fruity rush that smells like a freshly poured fizzy drink. Deep and rich, grapes and red berries melt into a creamy funk that tantalizes taste buds as the perfectly cured flower is broken up for smoking, coating the fingers in a slightly sticky layer of trichomes. This strain smells good enough to lick the fingers and the empty bag, but the real pleasure comes from ripping into a fat bowl of the frosty purple buds.

First tokes deliver a soft and luscious smoke that dances in the lungs before exhaling with a syrupy-sweet berry frosting flavor that lingers on the palate, delighting the senses before sending effects rushing to the mind and body. The smoke refreshes like sips of a drink on a hot day, with repeated tokes building a tidal wave of stoniness that engulfs the entire self – slowing time and enhancing sensations in a wondrous indica high.

Truly the best of both parent strains, the Black Cherry Punch by Sacred is a ‘one-bowl wonder’ that makes everything better … even a ‘90s Spotify playlist with the other type of one-hit wonders.

“Like opening a shaken can of cherry soda, spraying fizzy terps that blast out of the bag, coating the senses in an effervescent and fruity rush.”

1st place: Lemon Jet - Pull ‘n’ Snap/Shatter

2nd Place: grapelicious - Pull ‘n’ Snap/Shatter

2nd Place: Lemonder x Lemon Jet - INFUSED Joint

LOCAL TALENTS

Washington is a heady hotbed for innovative glassblowers and top-shelf toker accessories - check out some of our favorites!

VALENTINE GLASS

LINTZ GLASS

@VALENTINE.GLASS

“He’s known for his Acorn and Capsule Caps that crush terps!”

Born and raised in Washington, Keegan Lintz started working with glass at the Boro School in 2014, learning from local legends Erin Bourguignon and Nate Dizzle. He did mainly sculptural pipe work until he took a lathe class from Ben Belgrad in 2017, and has been addicted to lathework ever since. His style has been described as, “Like a mad scientist…accurate, precise, well-planned out, complex and scientific” – and he’s known for his Acorn and Capsule Caps that crush terps! Lintz tells us, “Some huge inspirations for my work are definitely my teachers, my local Seattle peeps I grew up with at the Boro School, and my shop mates at Pipe Place Market.” Don’t miss his hand-blown insulated mug in this month’s Coffee & Cannabis pairing on page 58.

“If you need a good binge, you can also watch him on season one and the holiday special of “Blown Away!””

Growing up in the Tacoma/ Seattle region, Edgar Valentine said he was, “Bound to cross paths with glass art at some point.” Thanks to the Hilltop Artists program, he started working with hot glass at the young age of 12 – and what started as an afterschool activity soon transformed into an absolute obsession with 16 years of furnace glass now under his belt. Valentine has spent the past three years bridging the gap between his soft glass and borosilicate skills, studying pipe making and slinging out some incredibly unique, hyper-detailed flameworked sculptures. If you need a good binge, you can also watch him on season one and the holiday special of the Netflix series “Blown Away!”

@LINTZ.GLASS

PHOTOS BY @LINTZ.GLASS

PHOTOS BY VALENTINE GLASS

“...a lineup of six unique quartz designs and a ton of flawlessly functioning accessories.”

LIL DABBLE’S BANGERS & GLASS X INNERG GLASS

Husband and wife duo Mike and Becky started Lil Dabble’s Bangers & Glass out of Seattle in January of 2023 with a mission to bring modern dab technology to the masses. They said they were tired of seeing overpriced, low-quality import quartz, so they set out to do something different. Using their platform to promote American glass artists who are making high-functioning pieces that aren’t going to break the bank, they currently have a lineup of six unique quartz designs and a ton of flawlessly functioning accessories – from pillars and terp pearls to caps and marbles. Lil Dabble’s latest drop also included this epic dumper with encased opal from InnerG Glass, another Washington local known for his fume work and function.

@LILDABBLEDOYA I LILDABBLES.COM I @INNERG_GLASS

WEIL GLASS

Jacob Weil was born in Spokane and started blowing glass in 2015 after watching a YouTube video on how to make a bong with a friend. “We took a bunch of Pyrex beakers and mixing rods from our high school lab to try making our own, which just sort of spiraled into me finding whatever glass I could and melting it.” Now, Weil Glass (pronounced why-ill) is known for his super sick quad skull bubblers and highly detailed crystal catacombs. With stunning blue and green hues, these collab pieces with fellow Washington artists Walmot Glass and Hondo Glass show out for the PNW and will absolutely shred your face off.

Hondo Pinzon started blowing glass in New Mexico in 2007 before moving to Washington in 2009 to go all in on his art and focus on creative fuming – a technique using vaporization to release fumes that travel up the flame and bind to the surface of the glass. Hondo now works out of his home studio on Vashon Island and is known for his signature “Pineapple Pattern” fume work with incredibly intricate designs that dazzle under natural light. He says he is “inspired by the natural world and draws ideas from the desert landscape and the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest.” Using silver and gold to produce vibrant yet organic colors and Fibonacci-inspired patterns, we love Hondo for taking the tropics to the PNW and making pineapples heady again!

PHOTO BY JAMIE ZILL @JLZILL

PHOTOS BY LIL DABBLE’S BANGERS

PHOTO BY @HALEYHILLSPHOTOGRAPHY

“Using silver and gold to produce vibrant yet organic colors and Fibonacciinspired patterns...”

WEIL X HONDO

“...known for his super sick quad skull bubblers...”

WEIL X WALMOT GLASS

PHOTO BY JAMIE ZILL @JLZILL

SWAN GLASS

Swan Glass is spinning some serious heat out of Seattle! Born and raised in the Emerald City, Aaron Swanson started blowing glass at Sammamish High School and was always interested in crafting and glass as an art, long before he started making pipes. Now when he’s not holed up making headies at Pipe Place Market, he works part-time at the Seattle Glassblowing Studio and teaches lampworking classes at Pratt Fine Arts Center.

SWAN SAYS his style is all about, “Capturing the best colors of the glass and utilizing flowing, curving shapes influenced by ornamental filigree scrollwork.” You can see this highly detailed technique showing out on his collab with Walmot Glass, another Seattle-based artist known for his bloopers and recyclers. The filigree scrollwork is done using glass with silver-reducing properties, which change the color of the surface once blown. Then, Swan sketches out the design by hand, carefully carving away with a diamond-tipped Dremel to reveal contrasting colors.

With a few styles up his sleeve, Swan calls the design on this orange and blue Hydrant Blooper his “lace pattern.” This complex method layers colors together, pulling them into a twisted latticino cane that is used to build up the wall of the piece. With rich color palettes inspired by the Pacific Northwest, intricate designs unique to each piece and function that absolutely shreds, you don’t want to sleep on Swan Glass!

You can see more of his work or reach out about customs at @swanglass. We also gotta show love to Jamie Zill, a badass female photographer who took these shots and is also based in Seatown.

@WALMOTGLASS COLLAB

@SWANGLASS

“With rich color palettes inspired by the Pacific Northwest, intricate designs unique to each piece and function that absolutely shreds, you don’t want to sleep on Swan Glass!”

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION TO START GLASSBLOWING?

I’ve always thought glass was a super fascinating material, and I had a chance to be one of four students to take a scientific glass blowing class at the University of Idaho. From the first moment I sat behind the torch, I fell in love with it. I knew I could do this all day, every day, forever!

WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC GLASS, AND WHY WAS IT OFFERED AS A COLLEGE COURSE? Scientific glass is clear! It’s really common for universities to have a scientific glassblower on staff, so anytime a researcher needs a specific piece of glass for distillation or other lab work, they can take a drawing to the glass blower and have them create it. Basically, any intricate scientific glass piece in a lab is produced by a scientific glass blower.

WERE YOU ALREADY A CANNABIS USER WHEN YOU STARTED WORKING WITH GLASS? I didn’t smoke until I was 21, and with Cannabis I was never exposed to the glass industry. I went to DFO in 2019 and I was completely blown away! I had no idea that all the insane, amazing artists were out

Andrew Chanski is an engineer by day and glass blower by night, utilizing his skills to create custom chains for glass enthusiasts around the world. Along with his wife, Jordan, the Regional Manager of Floyd’s Cannabis Retailers, and their new child, the couple is a true cannafamily success story that began forging scientific glass in Idaho.

there and the wild stuff they produce. It was eye opening to me that there was a booming industry making amazing artwork.

WHAT LED YOU TO MAKE GLASS CHAINS AS YOUR SPECIALTY? My wife and I went to a Canadian music festival in 2016 and camped with some people who were really great, and we went back for the next five years. They were very giving and one year, they gave us a necklace made from soda can lids. Mine has cat food lids that are gold and it's a really cool chain and I was super touched by that. Shortly after that, I got everything I needed to blow glass at home and I thought it would be cool to make a glass chain!

WHAT A PERFECT STORY! HOW MANY CHAINS HAVE YOU MADE TO DATE, AND WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE TO HAVE THEM GAIN IN POPULARITY?

I’ve made 891 as of this interview, and apart from a few duplicates, they’re pretty unique in size and color. It started as a thing for friends until the Floyd’s Pullman one-year anniversary party, where my wife, Jordan, is the regional manager. I was talking with @dabwithg and complimenting his dabbing pendants … he mentioned a chain a budtender was wearing that I had made. He asked me to make a

chain for him and he blew me up on Instagram. I owe so much of my notoriety to him because he gave me such a massive boost and is such an amazing guy … from there it took off!

WHAT MAKES A GLASS CHAIN SO DIFFICULT TO MAKE? There’s only a few people making these in the country because making the links symmetrical and consistent with proper lengths is tough to get down. I’m pretty detail-oriented and like the precision of it, and it can get monotonous obviously, but I love the different sizes and colors and variations – like wigwagging links or twisting links. There’s so much flexibility to what you can do with a chain, and they have so much fluidity to their structure. You can roll them between your hands and the noise and feel is very unique.

“There’s so much flexibility to what you can do with a chain, and they have so much fluidity to their structure.”

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE FUTURE AS AN ARTIST? I love working with glass because I’ve never been an artist to draw or paint, but glass is a really unique material that’s like a liquid that you can pull out of flame, and in an instant it's rock hard. I would love to turn this into a career – to quit my day job and do glass full time. I want to make as many chains as I can and be the best chain maker in the world. If someone sees a glass chain at a sesh or on Instagram, I want them to ask, ‘Is that a Chanski chain?’

@CHANSKIGLASS

CHADD LACY & ADRIENNE DISALVO

Chadd and Adrienne started their professional journeys in academia, both earning Bachelors of Fine Art before moving on to further their careers. While Chadd taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Adrienne began as a master goldsmith in the same city. It was here in Ohio that their paths joined, but it wasn’t until moving to Florida together that their respective careers in glass grew. Chadd’s work in pipe culture seemed to take off shortly after opening his first studio in the Sunshine State, and Adrienne applied much of her knowledge and skill with metalworking to hone her main craft of carved cameo glass. Today, they live and work in West Palm Beach, making glass pipes and art together. Chadd’s work follows whimsical and nautical themes incorporating marine life, and Adrienne’s work portrays anatomy while focusing on the idea of Memento Mori. Their creations feature Adrienne’s elegant spin of death and decay on Chadd’s marine life, and their carved cameo collaborations can be found in various private and public collections around the world.

Where do you find inspiration for your unique collaborative efforts? Adrienne’s main inspiration comes from her personal medical experiences. Pulling from X-rays of her own skeleton and old anatomical engraved prints, she shows the inside of Chadd’s creatures in imaginative ways. Chadd’s inspiration comes mainly from sea life and ocean themes. Old prints of nautical scenes and animals are among his favorite places to draw ideas from.

Does Cannabis play a role in your artistic creativity? Initially most of our pieces were about form over function, where the Cannabis aspect takes a backseat. Increasingly over the years though, the function of pieces and the culture’s thirst for new accessories has fueled a whole range of inspiration directly related to how Cannabis interacts with the work we make.

What is the significance of the aquatic themes represented in your pieces? Much of the impetus for our work started from ‘Moby Dick.’ The prints within the book, the imagery in the writing, and the concept of the white whale were the starting point. As time went on, our work evolved to encompass more sea life, and to embody a beauty that wasn’t just about the epic story of the white whale. Living in South Florida, the ocean has become a huge part of our lives. We spend significant time in the water, snorkeling and looking at sea life, taking in inspiration that fuels our work.

Where can people find your glass art online and in-person, and how can people purchase your works? Much of our work is available through our network of resellers around the country and the world. We work with galleries and smoke shops in almost every state, as well as selling jewelry and accessories on our own websites. CHADDLACY.COM

“...the ocean has become a huge part of our lives. We spend significant time in the water, snorkeling and looking at sea life, taking in inspiration that fuels our work.”

MICRO WHALE

MUNCHIES WHALE

YOSHI KONDO

Yoshinori Kondo, known as Yoshi, grew up in the port city of Osaka, Japan before moving to Arizona for middle school at 15. By age 19, he was fleeing the states with two open warrants for his arrest – one for a car chase in Tucson after a paranoid mushroom trip comedown, and the other for a minor Cannabis possession charge along the highways of California.

AT 48, Kondo is now one of the most beloved glass artists in America with a cult-like following for his pieces … all without having stepped foot on U.S. soil since 1997. But let’s back up a bit, shall we?

It’s 10:00 a.m. in Seattle when Kondo’s face appears in a tiny box in the top corner of my phone screen. He looks a little sleepy, but after all, it is nearly 3:00 a.m. in Japan as we begin our FaceTime interview. “My life has been one crazy story. Like I’ve been in a movie,” Kondo laughs as he reminisces on his unconventional journey back home to Japan –one that ultimately led him to the art of glassblowing.

“I was so stupid and so young. After my arrests, I didn’t want to go to jail. So instead of trying to fight at trial, I decided to pack up everything and take off,” he tells us. Five years later, Kondo thought he’d try his luck at getting back into the U.S. through Washington D.C. by way of Amsterdam. Unfortunately, he didn’t exactly fly under the radar.

“As soon as they scanned my passport, the flag went up and they handcuffed me. I stayed in jail for three nights, then went to court,” recalls Kondo. “They let me out because I said I’d come to try to handle the cases and work with a lawyer. Instead, I left again. But getting off the airplane back in Amsterdam, two officers were already waiting for me.”

After failed attempts to get into Amsterdam and then London, he decided to return to Japan voluntarily rather than be deported. By 2001, Kondo had a job at a clothing store in downtown Tokyo making handmade jewelry out of hemp rope. He was looking for something to put on the end of the ropes for decoration, and after noticing a guest artist in the shop selling pendants made with borosilicate glass, Kondo was inspired to try making his own.

He wanted to use boro, too – but lived in a small apartment in the city, which meant no way to handle that type of material and no space for the necessary equipment. Plus, Kondo didn’t have the time or resources to learn from a professional and there was only one glassblowing studio around that cost nearly $3,000 for classes. Instead, he figured out how to make non-functional beads for his necklaces and chains out of soft glass on his kitchen grill.

Surprisingly, the makeshift grill setup was a success. Fast forward to 2008, and Kondo had made such a name for himself from his marbles that he was able to move to rural Chiba and expand his capabilities. Things were going well enough, but in his typical fashion, Kondo was itching for a greater adventure.

“I was actually able to make some money from selling the soft glass beads, so I could finally move to a spacious area and get my hands on blowing boro. But I wanted to be able to truly make a living off my art and show my work everywhere in the world,” he explains. “I like to smoke weed, so I wanted to make more pipes and bongs. Unfortunately, the demand for that was not in Japan at all at that time.” Between the limited local market for functional glass pieces and his inability to travel, Kondo knew one thing: He’d need to set up an international sales pipeline to take the next step as a glass artist. What he didn’t know quite yet was how he would do it.

So, perhaps it was fate that led Kondo to participate in a show at You-Yuusya Gallery, where American marble master Josh Sable traveled to Japan for the event, stumbled upon his work, and knew there would be a market for it in the states. “Sable was truly my angel at that time. He helped me set up a network for overseas distribution, and that changed my life. Still even now, he is my top priority whenever he comes to Japan,” Kondo says. And Sable certainly isn’t the only one hopping on a plane to see Kondo these days.

Since that You-Yuusya show, his work has garnered the global recognition it deserves in exhibitions from Tokyo to Toronto and Vancouver to New York City. There are even dedicated trade groups and fan forums online, where heady collectors are willing to pay top prices for one of his elusive pieces.

Even with thousands of miles of travel required, it’s no wonder why a slew of highly sought-after artists have jumped at the chance to go to Japan and collaborate with Kondo.

“I can’t even express how appreciative I am that there are American artists who want to come out here to work with me since I can’t travel there,” he expresses. When asked if he ever thought this could be his reality as a fugitive over 20 years ago, Kondo had this to say: “When I left Japan for Arizona, I never thought I’d come back home. But you never know what’s going to happen in your life. I fucked up, and I cannot fix that, but I am happy now.”

“I wanted to be able to truly make a living off my art and show my work everywhere in the world.”

SNIC BARNES COLLAB

MIKE GONG

Marbles. Your great grandfather might have played games with them for pennies out in the street, but a good one nowadays can cost you thousands of dollars. It’s no surprise really … in the 1800s, glassblowers in Lauscha, Germany became so renowned for their marbles that these masterworks are still considered prize collectibles today.

THE DEMAND for mind-blowing marbles is thriving throughout art galleries from the Wooklands to the Hills of the Heady, and you need look no further than Oregon’s own Mike Gong as a perfect example of why. You might have even seen his work on the viral video where @boywhocriedterps is photographing one of his pendants on the beach, when a wave crashes in and snatches it away. It appears even the ocean wants to own one.

Taking the artform to another universe, his solo works are like snapshots of fantastical psychedelic experiences frozen in glass –each one tied together by the presence of a starry-eyed face that gave his “Acid Eaters” series its name. Tongues outstretched, the marble seems to show those moments where the world opens up and blossoms in color. Like Tolkien’s seeing stones, each one is a portal into a world of intricate shapes and patterns. And once you drop on that UV light, it’s like putting on the one ring and seeing things from a whole new perspective. Playful but also dripping with pure craftsmanship, you can find examples of this style in his work dating all the way back to 2014. Demand for his pieces has increased through a series of collaborative glassworks, as well as events like the recent 11:11 show at Main Circle in Portland – where the smallest marble from that collection would cost you around 3K.

“Taking the artform to another universe, his solo works are like snapshots of fantastical psychedelic experiences frozen in glass – each one tied together by the presence of a starry-eyed face that gave his “Acid Eaters” series its name.”

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This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Cannabis 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 the consumption of this product. For use only by adults over the age of 21. Keep out of reach of children. We are a legal recreational dispensary in Washington State.

THE TERPINATOR

Fans of the classic sci-fi films will immediately recognize this badass bust of the T-100 Terminator robot skeleton dubbed “The Terpinator” – a three-way collab between Carsten Carlile (Bend, Ore.), Joshua “JOP” Opdenaker (Philadelphia) and Adam “Hoobs” Whobrey (Huntington Beach, Calif.), who came up with the concept.

“I picked the idea for us,” says Hoobs. “I’ve been exploring a robot theme body of work recently and had always wanted to try the Terminator. Jop, Carsten and I have all done a lot of skull and mechanical style pieces previously, so the idea was a natural blend of all our styles.”

This killer collab was specifically created for last year’s Champs Glass Games in Chicago.

“We were allowed to make as much of the piece as we wanted before arriving in Chicago,” Hoobs explains. “The rules stated we just needed to leave two days of work to complete live during the trade show.”

The trio first got together at Hoobs’ Classic 33 Studio in Huntington Beach in April 2022, where they spent several weeks designing and sculpting out about 90% of the piece. They divided their labor into three main sections: JOP was in charge of the chest area, Carsten was in charge of the mechanical base, and Hoobs was in charge of the head and shoulders.

“It was a very complex build,” says Hoobs. “Every component was going to need to be scaled perfectly for it to work, and all the components were being made at the same time, so we had to hope that they would all fit together in the end.”

Luckily for them, they did … and in the end, their 400-plus hours of hard work paid off: The Terpinator won 1st Place in the People’s Choice category at Champs.

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“It was an honor to be chosen,” Hoobs tells the Leaf. “We definitely treated it as more of an exposition than a competition, but it’s always nice to bring home the victory.”

ADAM “HOOBS” WHOBREY | CARSTEN CARLILE | JOSHUA “JOP” OPDENAKER

@HOOBSGLASS @CARSTENGLASS10 @J_OPDENAKER_JOP

“It was a very complex build. Every component was going to need to be scaled perfectly for it to work,” says Hoobs.

K SAVAGE X GHOST NOTE COFFEE X LINTZ GLASS

COFFEE AND CANNABIS are truly two of my favorite things (I basically sustain myself off hash rosin and lattes alone) and The Glass Issue is always one in our editorial calendar that excites me – so it only felt right to do something special for our Coffee & Cannabis pairing this month.

My first stop was Ghost Note, a shop I’ve been absolutely dying (no pun intended) to try. With a curated menu of seasonal specials featuring bitters and aromatics, I felt like I was getting my drink from a mixologist at a boujee cocktail bar rather than a barista. But hey, I’m all about making coffee terpy!

I ordered the Lush Life – a mix of espresso, almond milk, orange blossom honey and grapefruit aromatics, shaken over ice – a perfect match for a spring day in Seatown. Taking my caffeine fix on the move, it was time to head to the sesh spot: the ORB. Considered a staple of the Seattle glass scene and home to some of the most talented artists in the PNW, this collective of studios are tucked away in the Old Rainier Brewery. One of them is Pipe Place Market, and if you’re hanging here you’ve gotta be repping a heady – so I ditched the to-go cup for this insulated mug blown by Lintz Glass. I absolutely love the Lattacino Heliopot pattern on the bottom half, and the top half is

made using a technique called silver fume. Back in 2020, Lintz actually bought out what used to be Bowman’s studio in the ORB, taking over the space to keep the communal shop alive. You can learn more about his background and see what he’s up to now in our Northwest Glass Spotlight on pages 40-41.

Now that I’m situated with my mug in hand and Lintz is set up on the torch, he gives me a demo of how he makes one of his infamous Acorn Caps as I roll up.

For this pairing, I had to go with the signature strain in the K. Savage lineup: Lilac Wine. A 21.53% THC cross of Oreoz x Gelato 25 bred by Obsoul33t Genetics, the frosty, deep violet nugs smell sweet, kushy and herbaceous. Notes of lavender, guava and earthy pine create a funky, floral flavor profile that complements the orange blossom honey and grapefruit aromatics in the coffee. Sipping my latte, smoking my joint, and getting a behind-the-scenes look into Lintz spinning at the ORB … my Glass Issue goals are definitely achieved. Cultivator @k_savage_supply_co

“Notes of lavender, guava and earthy pine create a funky, floral flavor profile that complements the orange blossom honey and grapefruit aromatics in the coffee.”

Lintz Glass at The ORB.

DIPT LABS BLUEBERRY MUFFIN

Dipt Labs uses superior precision extraction equipment from Detroit with powerful German chillers to make quality extracts in Tacoma. This Blueberry Muffin was grown by Painted Rooster Cannabis, a pesticide-free, naturally sungrown Cannabis cultivator out of Moxee. A rip off this all-in-one cartridge (don’t forget to recycle the packaging!) is discreet, convenient, and truly tastes like the crunchy top of fresh baked blueberry muffin. First notes are all about those ripe, juicy berries followed by an exhale that is smooth and creamy like vanilla streusel. As an indica-dominant strain, this cartridge would be our pick for chilling during a movie marathon or winding down before bed.

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LEGENDARY LABORATORIES

MT. GELATO

Legendary Laboratories out of Spokane is all about clean Cannabis with a lineup of pesticide-free flower and high-quality, single-source extracts. The brand works with leading breeders nationwide to bring an exclusive lineup of exotic genetics to Washington, and this Mt. Gelato is an absolute banger! Crossing Thin Mint GSC x Sunset Sherbert, she has a sweet cookie scent stemming from the Girl Scout Cookies genetic and an aftertaste of candied fruit from the Sunset Sherbert. As a pretty evenkeeled hybrid, this strain creates an elated, energized high that can provide a pick-me-up any time of day. Whether you’re getting up on a groggy morning or getting creative on a late work night, we definitely recommend grabbing your Mt. Gelato cartridge for the journey.

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0.5 GRAMS | 81% TOTAL CANNABINOIDS

PACIFIC & PINE ORANGE FRUIT SNAX

Pacific & Pine’s family owned and operated farm is out in the high plains of Washington’s Upper Columbia Basin – and this newer brand on the block has finally made its way west over to us at Leaf HQ. Their array of single-source solventless products are made from flower that is pesticide-free and organically cultivated – “like nature intended” – with clean water, healthy soil and sustainable inputs. A cross of Orange Tree x (Orange Tree x Fruity Pebbles OG F2), this Orange Fruit Snax cartridge has unique and complex notes of burnt citrus peel and sweet cream – a welcome surprise from the typical Tangie terps we see so often. With a zesty aroma and uplifting effects, this strain is made for on-the-go puffs between tasks on your to-do list. The bright scent and flavor profile are just in time for springtime here in good ol’ Seatown!

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0.5 GRAMS, 85.72% TOTAL CANNABINOIDS

Carts can be an easy place to hide fillers, fake terps and bottom shelf bud material – but not around the Connoisseur’s Corner! This month, we’ve rounded up three picks for solventless rosin cartridges offering all of the convenience without sacrificing any of the quality.

The Origin of 420

This month, stoners around the world will be celebrating our high holiday – April 20th, or 4/20. But how exactly did 420 become the official number of Cannabis? Over the years, there have been several myths circulated: that it was some police code related to weed, or that it’s the number of chemical compounds in the plant … but the truth is, the ultimate marijuana meme was actually started over 50 years ago by a group of teenagers in Marin County, California known as The Waldos.

MEET THE WALDOS

The story of 420 begins in 1970 at San Rafael High School with a group of five stoner buddies – Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz and Mark Gravitch – who, due to their penchant for hanging out at a particular wall, came to be known as “The Waldos.”

“In the middle of campus, there’s a wall in the lunch quadrant right against the main building,” explains Waldo Dave. “We would meet there almost daily, hang out, do impressions of people walking by, and try to crack each other up.”

Eventually, these “comedic desperados” grew bored hanging out at school and decided to start venturing out on weekly expeditions they called ‘safaris.’ They’d all pile into Waldo Steve’s green ‘66 Impala (a.k.a. the Safari Mobile), crank up some Santana or Bob Dylan on the eighttrack, fire up a few joints, and hit the road in search of adventure. When it came to a Waldo Safari, there were only two rules: They had to be going somewhere new and they had to be stoned. These escapades included jumping in the painter’s nets beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, infiltrating Hamilton Air Force Base, and showing up unannounced at a holography lab in Silicon Valley. But it was one safari in particular involving a treasure map that first planted the seed for the term “420.”

STONER SAFARI

In the fall of 1971, a classmate named Bill McNulty approached them with an intriguing offer: He claimed that his brother-in-law, a Coast Guard Reservist stationed in Point Reyes, had planted a clandestine patch of weed somewhere on the Peninsula but had grown paranoid about getting busted. He abandoned it, but drew up a map so that someone else could harvest it – a map that McNulty was now giving them.

A treasure map leading to a secret weed garden? Naturally, this was an offer The Waldos couldn’t refuse. They made a plan to embark on their expedition that very day after school. Classes ended at 3:00 p.m., but Waldo Jeff and Waldo Larry had football practice afterward, so they all met at the statue of French chemist Louis Pasteur near the school’s entrance at 4:20 pm, got high, then headed out to hunt for the weed. They

didn’t find it, but they kept searching for weeks – each day reminding each other about their afterschool plans with a new code they’d developed:

“We’d see each other in the hallways during the day, and we’d smile and say, “Four twenty, Louis,” Waldo Steve explains.

COVERT CANNABIS CODE

After several weeks, The Waldos abandoned their search, but not the terminology; dropping the “Louis,” they now had their own covert code for Cannabis: 420.

“We realized we had a secret code we could use to talk about weed in front of our parents, cops, teachers … whoever.”

At a time when a single joint could get you a decade in prison, a secret code for weed was a useful thing indeed – especially considering that Waldo Jeff’s dad was one of the highest-ranking narcotics agents in Northern California!

The Waldos’ “Safari Mobile.”

The Waldos (Mark, Larry, Dave, Jeff, and Steve) in front of the Louis Pasteur statue at their alma mater, San Rafael High School.

“His dad used to bring home samples from the busts he made and kept them in his trunk,” says Waldo Dave. “Jeff would get his keys, get some of the weed, and we’d smoke it. One time, his dad caught us … but he never did figure out what 420 meant.”

THE DEAD CONNECTION

Unlike Jeff’s dad, Waldo Mark’s dad was a real estate broker – and as it turned out, one of his biggest clients was The Grateful Dead.

“The Grateful Dead had a big organization based in San Rafael,” says Waldo Steve. “They needed office space, rehearsal space, places to store equipment … Mark’s dad found them all those places.”

Mark’s dad wasn’t The Waldos’ only connection to the Dead, though – Waldo Dave’s brother Patrick also happened to be good friends with bassist Phil Lesh. Thanks to these relationships, the Waldos got to hang out with the Dead quite a bit.

“I was backstage a lot of the time with these guys like Phil and David Crosby – getting high and using the term 420, and they were all chuckling at it and thought it was cool.”

Before long, 420 was spreading through the Deadhead community like wildfire.

HIGH TIMES

The Cannabis code also trickled down to the next generation of students at San Rafael High, who began holding their own celebrations on April 20th –including one at the top of Mt. Tamalpais. In December 1990, a flier for that gathering (one that explained, albeit incorrectly, the meaning of 420) was making the rounds at a Dead show parking lot in Oakland when it found its way into the hands of High Times news editor Steve Bloom. Bloom was so intrigued that he published the flier’s text in the May 1991 issue.

In the years that followed, 420 made several more appearances in the magazine and was even adopted by the HT staff, who began making it a point to take a smoke break at 4:20 each day and holding private celebrations on April 20th.

By this time, The Waldos were seeing 420 everywhere: carved into trees, spray-painted onto walls, and in a multitude of merchandise and media. At first, they were reluctant to claim ownership of it due to Cannabis’ illegality. But eventually, as Cannabis became more accepted, they decided to come forward and take credit for the phenomenon they’d started. So in the spring of 1998, Waldo Larry called High Times editor-in-chief Steve Hager, who agreed to fly out to San Rafael to investigate. After meeting The Waldos and seeing their evidence, Hager was convinced.

“He went back and wrote his article [“420 or Fight,” December 1998], and then he went on ABC News and proclaimed us the creators of 420,” Waldo Dave remembers. “And that was the beginning of everything.”

PROOF VS. PRETENDERS

Soon media outlets from around the country began covering the Waldos: A front-page article in the LA Times, an investigation by the Huffington Post … hundreds of interviews and articles were published about 420 and its originators. Of course, the media attention also brought a cadre of would-be usurpers out of the woodwork – claiming that they, not the Waldos, had created 420.

“All these people saying, ‘Oh, we started this’ – they’re full of shit,” Waldo Dave states. “None of them have a shred of proof to their claim.”

So what proof do The Waldos have? Quite a bit, actually: copies of their school newspaper and several postmarked letters from the early 1970s, all containing references to 420, and a tie-dyestyle batik flag emblazoned with “420” and a pot leaf made by their friend Patty back in 1972 (along with school records to verify its origin). They keep all this evidence inside the vault at Wells Fargo’s world headquarters in San Francisco, located at – if you can believe it – 420 Montgomery Street.

To verify the authenticity of their narrative, they even hired a private detective to track down the guy who allegedly planted the patch and drew the treasure map. In 2016, after six years of searching, they finally found him –former Coast Guard reservist Gary Newman, who signed a notarized affadavit confirming the whole story and even granted them access to his military records to prove he was indeed stationed at Point Reyes at the time.

CULTURAL IMPACT

Since being acknowledged as the rightful originators of 420, The Waldos have started their own company and licensed some 420-related merchandise of their own, including a line of glowing 420 watches and a “420 Waldos 1971” vape cartridge (with Oakland-based Chemistry) – donating proceeds from both to the Drug Policy Alliance. On April 20, 2018, they partnered with neighboring Lagunitas Brewing to release The Waldos Special Ale – a seasonal triple IPA billed as “the dankest and hoppiest beer ever brewed” and packaged with a little comic that tells their story. And in 2021, they enlisted legendary poster artist Stanley Mouse to create a limited edition NFT/poster de picting them as skeletons cruising along the Point Reyes Peninsula in their Safari Mobile searching for that lost weed patch.

From television and movie references (like the scoreboard in “Dazed and Confused,” the clocks in “Pulp Fiction,” and the many contestant bids on “The Price is Right”) and stolen mile marker signs to actual legalizations bills and countless celebrations going on every day and every year around the globe, 420 has become ubiquitously and irrevocably synonymous with Cannabis – and we owe it all to 420’s founding fathers: The Waldos.

Thanks, fellas … and happy 4/20, everyone!

To read the full, unabridged version of this story and listen to the interview on our podcast, visit worldofcannabis.museum/cannthropology.

The Waldos abandoned their search for the weed patch, but not the new terminology; they now had their own clandestine code for Cannabis: 420.

Waldos Mark (front right), Larry (middle) and Dave (back right) take a break from playing frisbee to smoke a joint, (Dominican College, circa 1972-1973).

Original flyer for the 4/20 gathering on Mt. Tamalpais that explains the meaning on 420.

First article about The Waldos was published in HT’s Dec ‘98 edition (also a Glass Issue!)

420 Waldos NFT by poster art legend Stanley Mouse. The original 420 flag (1972).

without a heavy price

100% Flower - Live Resin + 97% THCa 100% Flower - Live Resin + 97% THCa 100% + Crystal Infusion Crystal Infusion

100% Flower - Live Resin - HTE 100% Flower - Live Resin - HTE 100% Flower - Live Resin - HTE Batter Infusion Batter Infusion

2x 0.5g Infused Joints 2x 0.5g Infused Joints 2x 0.5g Infused Joints 2x 0.5g Infused Joints

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 judgement. 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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YOU’VE WALKED INTO A ROOM and seen mounted animals peering downward with glazed eyes, yes? Maybe it was a hawk with flared wings and a curved beak, frozen in a statuesque moment. Or a snarling bear, mid-growl, caught in a pose when the hair spiked from the back and the drool dripped over the fangs.

This fantastic plaque is a feast for human curiosity, reminding us that although this beast would rip and mangle our bodies if mistakenly confronted in the woods, evolution has befitted us with the advantage of being properly armed in the wild.

Keeping surveillance from atop the fireplace, the emotion captured from the creature’s expression brings a chill that challenges your love for beauty with fear. It informs you that although it may have been a savage battle, the one with the shotgun walked away unscathed. For a moment, your imagination lands you in the woods where the wind swishes through the evergreens to create the only sound other than your breath and moving feet. Then you hear a fast-approaching, bloodthirsty monster with the scream of a thousand banshees…

The cubes rattle while a swallow of scotch lightly burns down your throat. Arrogance and vulnerability intersect in this moment, a parallel to the juxtaposition in this room – that of the feared predator on showroom display amongst the high cedar ceilings and soothing, lapping flames.

The thought enters your periphery that there is something noble about retaining that pose ad-infinitum over the dreadful alternative of exile to the cold dark earth in a beautiful box … where your existence is quantified by a weathered headstone that marks the day the worms and fungi began to slowly feed upon your bones.

I personally see this choice as a no-brainer.

There’s only one thing I ask: Please place a smile on my face, a joint in my mouth, and a lighter in my hand. Just in case I ever come back to life.

The Pre-roll. Perfected.