Kind Magazine Fall Edition 2022 with David Ortiz

DIVING FOR PEARLS

This fall, Indiva introduces Pearls by Grön to Canada, bringing a unique edible alternative from a new, female-run cannabis line

A gluten-free edible with seven different cannabinoid ratios including the buzzy and buzzworthy combinations of CBG, CBN, CBD and THC, Pearls are designed to disrupt the marketplace. Debuting this fall in Canada and produced by Indiva, the Canadian Licensed Producer behind Wana and Bhang, the most popular edibles in the country, the newest edible products are value priced and designed to enhance the active cannabis consumer’s lifestyle: Pearls make sense from sunrise to sunset.

“I want people to know that if you love Bhang and Wana, you’re going to really love Pearls by Grön,” says Leah Thiel, the Vice President in charge of marketing all of the delectable Indiva brands. “Pearls have been a huge success in the US, receiving great reception in the markets it’s been introduced to.”

The quality people making the quality products - which combine the healing cannabinoids from cannabis in unique formulations and tasty flavours - originally come from Portland, Oregon. Started by Christine Smith, an architect who sold her company shares to set out on her own, Grön has an ethos behind it that stands for original recipes and decency towards their employees and a razor-sharp focus on making the edible that they would choose for themselves. Grön is female-owned and operated which helps create a unique look and feel for the cannabis brand.

In the States, Pearls have redefined the possibilities of the edible category, elevating a product that, since Woodstock, has been misunderstood. Through science and experimentation, the new cannabinoid formulations of Pearls are a unique experience in a homegenized legal cannabis world.

“The rise of minor cannabinoids is exciting in Canada and we believe that by offering five Pearls in a package we have created great value,” says Thiel, mentioning Pearls are just one part of Indiva’s house-of-brands offerings, including Indiva Life, which will premiere on shelves, and in KIND for the holidays. “Consumers are looking for minor cannabinoids beyond CBD and THC, such as CBN and CBG, and it’s an exciting time for real innovation. Pearls, we believe are the best edibles on the market.”

The Pearls flavours include Blue Razzleberry 3:1 CBG/THC, Sour Apple THC, Cherry Limeade THC, Pomegranate 4:1 CBD/ THC, Sparkling Peach 1:1 CBD/THC, Blackberry Lemonade 1:1:1 CBN/CBD/THC and Strawberry Melon 4:1 CBN/THC, each designed for their own need state. Whether it’s an assist getting to bed or a buzz for a concert, a chance to reduce anxiety or just a

sprinkling of relief—and KIND, performing our due diligence, has tried them all and enjoyed each unique vibe—the portfolio from Pearls by Grön are consistent, great tasting and vitalizing.

There’s a reason the brand’s tagline is: “Pearls go with everything.”

“The Indiva product team scouts for the best products to bring to Canada, and the products by Grön are too special not to be here,” says Thiel. “You can’t have the best cannabis products on earth without having Pearls.”

“The product is too good not to bring to Canada.”

“You can’t have the best cannabis products on earth without having Pearls.”

STEWART FARMS IS DOPE INNOVATION

Values meets science in New Brunswick to create ethical bath bombs

The best CBD & THC infused bath products in Canada are made in Atlantic Canada next to the legendary Bay of Fundy. There, in St.Stephen New Brunswick, you’ll find a team of cannabis and wellness enthusiasts, led by Tanner Stewart, an innovator, science geek, and lifelong entrepreneur.

Stewart felt compelled to find deep meaning in his work after his wife conceived their first child. “My son, Clark, was on his way, and I wanted to do something I felt would benefit people. Something that my kids would be proud of someday,” says Stewart. In 2013, that mindset propelled him into Alberta’s sustainable agriculture subculture. There, he discovered a farming practice called aquaponics.

“When I saw this indoor system that combined land-based fish farming with hydroponic plant production, I saw the future,” he says. “Waste free farming systems, producing clean, chemical free, protein, vegetables, and medicine.”

Aquaponic farming of leafy greens and Tilapia in Alberta led Stewart back to his other home province of New Brunswick and, in 2018, he decided to apply the same farming principles to cannabis.

“I noticed there was a lack sustainabilityfocused companies entering the Cannabis space,” he says. “To fund our research and development in sustainable farming tech, I wanted our path to sustainable profits to be short. Swapping to cannabis and getting back to food crops later, was a no brainer. ”

Thus, on 4-20-2020, the Stewart team moved their genetics into the farm and started their journey to market.

“Everything Genevieve Newton, our awardwinning director of cultivation grows, is in living soil,” Stewart says. “We use the water from our Tilapia farm to run research trials.

We are looking at the microbes and nutrients in both the fish water and living soil to understand what biological magic is taking place.”

The Stewart Farms line of wellness products were created by Stewart’s COO and product designer Catrina Jackson. Like the gap Tanner saw in agriculture, she saw a gap in CBD & THC infused wellness products, free of synthetic chemicals, alcohol and perfumes.

Catrina went to work, creating products that would make people feel great, with the most natural and botanical ingredients available. Since thier product launch in early 2021, the Stewart Farms team has produced and sold

over 200,000 moisturinzing, blissful, bath bombs nation wide.

“We’re not just selling bath products and relief balms, we’re providing wellness,” says Stewart.

Stewart Farms bath bombs, salt soaks, and relief balms, under their wellness brand “rebound by Stewart Farms” are available, or will soon be restocked, in Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchwan, Atlantic Canada, and the Yukon.

If you’re looking for something to help you unwind from chaos of your upcoming Thanksgiving feast, perhaps it’s the perfect time to stock up on some Stewart Farms wellness products.

“We’re not selling weed, we’re selling mental health: me time.”

ONTARIO WELCOMES THE WEED ME GRIND

Quality meets Value and Fire Bud

Benny Presman and Terry Kulaga, founder and CEO, started Weed Me in 2016 and they’re not only partners, but cannabis consumers. They’re part of the culture they work in and that’s why they’re able to create something at Weed Me that other companies miss.

Variety, they say, is a cannabis connoisseur’s spice of life and it’s the Weed Me mission to create premium cannabis brands at affordable prices.

No one in Canada matches Weed Me for quality and value.

“The equation of a good cannabis strain doesn’t work if it’s not awesome weed that an everyday smoker like myself can afford all the time. You need both—great product and honest value,” says Presman, a marketing expert with a science degree who’s created a company with a culture attracting the industry’s top minds. Presman says his life’s experiences have all come together in shaping his cannabis company: it’s about doing something original with integrity and delivering on consumer trends.

“When Canada passed the Cannabis Act, a lot of people rushed into the industry for the wrong reasons,” says Presman. “This created a glut of terrible products and dicey companies, but we knew that if we honoured the true cannabis smoker, we could not only stand out, but stand the test of time.”

Weed Me makes pre-rolls, gummies and vapes, but it’s the Weed Me Grind where the brand cuts its teeth. Launched during the pandemic

and unrolling this month in Ontario, Weed Me Grind is a milled cannabis house of strains sourced from growers across Canada. The licensed producers often can’t move their milled weed, but Presman, Kulaga and their team have perfected the art of transforming the cannabis into fire flower. Since the milled product can be purchased for less, and since Weed Me can render the flower into premium products, the company has become renowned in the industry for great prices, and great weed.

“We don’t care if the flower is fluffy, we aren’t paying for jar appeal, all we want is high potency, great terps, awesome taste and smooth smoke,” says Presman. “We saw a

need for cheaper cannabis with great smoking potential, and we’re always on the hunt for new strains.”

Presman and Kulaga’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Some 500 tonnes of cannabis has been destroyed since Canada legalized the flower in 2018. Weed Me Grind is a solution that’s win-win. “While other companies are destroying cannabis, at Weed Me, we keep buying more great products from suppliers,” says Kulaga. “Working together, we’re weaving the fabric of the industry and laying the groundwork for success for all our partners, of which there are many.”

Consumers have responded and the company has experienced unprecedented growth. With different sized formats and product lines—including flower, gummies, infused pre-rolls and vapes—Weed Me, which recently purchased the buzz brands WINK, Thumbs Up and Blissed, is a company on the rise. With two strains over 30% THC coming out this fall, innovation priced fairly is rushing out the door.

“Cannabis is natural for me, Terry and our whole team because our whole team loves and consumes our product,” Presman says. “Weed Me Grind becoming a success story makes me happy, but premium cannabis at discount prices just makes sense.”

“There’s no need to discard good weed.”

Weed Me curates and produces the most potent products at the best value.

Partnering up with key growers coast to coast who’s cultivation methods and cultivar’s promise align with Weed Me’s offering. We are expanding our ecosystem; connecting and empowering more than 50 unique growers Canada-wide to bring you the best in the market.

Weed Me founders are personally involved in the selection process, testing and assessing the products if they are a match to the Weed Me standard. We always stand behind our products and offer exceptional retail support and consumer satisfaction.

BY BEN KAPLAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN MINICUCCI

OF THE GREATEST PLAYERS IN THE HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE

HALL OF FAMER DAVID ORTIZ SAYS CANNABIS ADDS TO HIS OVERALL HEALTH AND FITNESS ROUTINE

There are few accolades that David Ortiz hasn’t received in his professional baseball career. He’s won the World Series three times, been the World Series MVP and is a ten-time All-Star and the sixth leading home run hitter in the history of the American League. In addition to what he does with his bat, Ortiz, known as Big Papi and hailing from the Dominican, is a charitable icon who has raised millions of dollars for children both at home, in Boston, and around the world. David Ortiz also smokes weed. As the face and oftentimes flower selector of Papi Cannabis by Revolutionary Clinics, Ortiz is arguably the athlete of the highest stature to come out of the cannabis closet in support of the flower. Reached at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, Ortiz spoke with KIND editor Ben Kaplan about anxiety and stress, blunts and Scarface, and his belief that not only should no one be behind bars for cannabis, but that it should be allowed all over the world and in all professional sports.

BK: What is it between you guys that remains, even after retiring from the Show?

DO: Me and Bautista, we were partners at Marucci, the bat company, but we were friends way before that. He’s a great guy and you know he loves business. He’s down for whatever.

BK: But he doesn’t smoke weed.

DO: He doesn’t. Someday maybe, we’ll see.

BK: You’re speaking to a Canadian publication and that means Blue Jays fans. What was your response when the Red Sox came to Toronto?

DO: Toronto is my favourite place to be.

Ben Kaplan: David, we were told about you and Papi Cannabis from our friend José Bautista, who offered to put us in touch with you. How close are you with other people who play the game?

David Ortiz: That’s my boy.

BK: Really? And you’ve been all over the world. Why Toronto?

DO: I don’t know, man. The city is beautiful and the people are really beautiful up there, so nice. And everywhere I went I just got love, man. I always had a great time. Matter

of fact, next year I’m going to come back in the summer. I’ve been busy with things and that shows because I haven’t been in TO as much as I like. Next summer I’ll be back.

BK: In 2013, you hit a grand slam in game two of the Championship Series to take down the Tigers and you’d already been a World Series champion, but hadn’t yet scored the World Series MVP crown. After that hit, the Red Sox announcer said, “Ortiz is clutch. Maybe more clutch than any hitter in the game.” Can you talk about stepping up in big moments?

DO: I’m not afraid of anything. That takes the pressure off.

BK: Roger Clemens? Roy Halladay? The psychopathic Red Sox fans?

DO: Nothing. And when you have that mentality and you’re prepared, you can do anything. But you want to know the secret?

BK: Absolutely.

DO: I took it personally when I got to the plate.

BK: What do you mean?

DO: Let me make it simple: When I was facing someone, I always thought I was better than him.

BK: I love that.

DO: In baseball, I got to play against a lot of guys. I give credit to the opposition. You mention Roy Halladay. He was the best pitcher that ever pitched for the Blue Jays. I had teammates that were like, “Oh, shit. We have to deal with this guy.” Let me tell you, Roy was one of the best pitchers I ever faced. But “oh shit” wasn’t my mindset. My mindset was: “let’s go.” You know what I’m saying? That’s the way I looked at everybody.

BK: Like what?

DO: Like when I step to the plate with my baseball bat, I like my chances.

BK: Baseball is obviously in the cannabis news because not only isn’t weed on Major League Baseball’s list of banned substances but now teams are even allowed to accept CBD sponsorships, which is huge. What do you think about baseball’s policy towards weed?

DO: Cannabis has nothing to do with baseball. When it comes down to playing the game, when it’s time to perform? I don’t think there’s one athlete that’s going to go up there smoking cannabis. It doesn’t enhance performance. It only helps recovery and helps you relax and helps get you off that pharmaceutical shit.

BK: The thought of facing a head high fastball inside after smoking a blunt is the stuff of nightmares.

DO: You don’t want to face Roy Halladay high.

BK: Who’s the best Major League Baseball player to get high with?

DO: Rickey Henderson.

BK: The worst?

DO: I get along with everybody.

BK: What’s your favourite stoner movie?

DO: Ace Ventura. But Scarface is my favourite movie of all time.

BK: So why do you think professional athletes use weed?

DO: For after the game. For all the pain and inflammation. Athletes dealt with their pain through alcohol, but cannabis is better than alcohol and professional sports leagues are taking note. Their stars are making them.

BK: So many athletes used to have drinking problems. It just seemed like part of the culture of professional sports.

DO: Alcohol affects your systems and corrupts your systems. Now, I like alcohol, but let me tell you—since I started smoking cannabis, I use alcohol less.

BK: Talk to me about your relationship with weed.

DO: It’s just a great type of feeling. You don’t have to rush it. Cannabis doesn’t make you aggressive, it’s more like you use cannabis and become aware of things. Totally the opposite of alcohol. Of course, not everyone functions the same way, but I think almost everyone will notice a better type of feeling, and better behaviour, when you’re stoned and not drunk.

BK: I’m much, much better off stoned than drunk.

DO: If you’re drunk, everyone runs away from you. They run to you if you have weed.

BK: Can we talk a bit about the stigma of cannabis in sports?

DO: I remember when Ricky Williams came out in the NFL back in the day and everyone made such a big deal, but I think lots of people in sports now know he was right.

BK: We spoke to Ricky for this issue and he was super inspiring.

DO: Everybody is different. I don’t need as much as some people. I’m busy all day but my pains are way better with cannabis, even just from inflammation and the running, and when I use cannabis oils or gummies, you name it, there’s just so many ways cannabis helps.

BK: So how do you incorporate cannabis into your day?

DO: For me to do it during the day I need to know that my day is completely off from everything. Then I go out and smoke. But on a regular day, I like to do it at night when I’m chilling at home and hanging out with family. For me, it’s the part of my day that gets me off of everything.

BK: Gets you off of everything? You mean like stress?

DO: Exactly. Releases stress. I have a lot going on and I’m the centre of my family. I have to deal with everybody’s situations and that’s not easy to do. I look forward to those breaks and let me give you an example—right now my dad is going through cancer.

BK: Oh man, no. I’m so sorry. Fucking cancer seems to be coming for everyone.

DO: Dad’s had prostate cancer for 20 years, but not too long ago, it spread. He’s going through chemo now—the thing he has to look forward to is edibles.

BK: Was your dad always cool with you smoking pot?

DO: Not at all. In the DR, weed is absolutely illegal and my dad was raised thinking that cannabis was just like any drug. But with this chemo, I got him taking edibles and now he says the edibles help him with the pain.

BK: Are you noticing a difference?

DO: Noticing a difference? He’s completely a different guy. I really think people should know that. People should be aware.

and when we first met, and later on, after we got married, she told me about it. I told her I wasn’t into it because of my dad, but when the pain started kicking in and I started puffing? It was a different game.

BK: How so?

DO: It eased the pain and my anxiety. Let me tell you a story about what happened in my career. If I was struggling, my anxiety would take over and if I was doing well, my anxiety would take over.

BK: So it was impossible to find peace.

DO: My mind wouldn’t shut down. If I was doing well, I wanted to continue memorizing what I was doing, that battle and anxiety of keeping it going. But if I was home chilling, some cannabis would get me off—time to sleep, big guy. That was what I used it for. And a lot of cream for the joints. That THC is unbelievable. It’s unreal.

BK: It’s such a pleasure spending time with you. Bautista doesn’t smoke weed, but maybe I’ll buy him a beer (at least until he changes his mind). Last thing: tell us about your children’s charity.

DO: I grew up with nothing, man. I come from nothing. And being able to give back to the community and help people is my biggest home run.

BK: Bigger than that grand slam that sent you towards your second ring?

DO: I brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people and helping the community is something that comes from God. God gives us the chance to help people—not for our own benefit, but for the opportunity to give back. And especially when it comes to helping children. My boy José Bautista supports me on that and we’ve had more than 10,000 kids benefit from our foundation.

BK: That’s why we’re making this issue. It takes Hall of Fame athletes and bigticket performers and folks people admire to come out of the closet and tell people that weed doesn’t make you lazy. That weed doesn’t make you dumb.

DO: I like natural things. I don’t like chemicals. And there’s something special about cannabis that works for athletes, the inflammation, the pain. That’s why you see athletes popping pills all day long but then, all of a sudden, you have inflammation on your liver because that’s what chemicals do. I went in for that, when I started, but not anymore. And I think a lot of athletes will do the same thing.

BK: How’d you first start smoking pot?

DO: I was in my 30s. A friend of mine living in the Dominican heard me complaining about pain and he said, man, you need to get into weed. I knew about weed because my ex-wife used to smoke when she was younger

BK: I know with Rev you’re involved with the weed selection for Papi Cannabis. How do you work with your company?

DO: Alex Pryor, their master grower, is my boy. He loves what he does. Loves growing flowers. He sings to them, and listens. I love that enthusiasm and I’m always in touch with him and see him whenever I’m back in Boston. I go to the grow room and I’m like a kid in the candy store. Alex is like, “Papi, check out this flower!” He knows what I like and everything is beautiful.

BK: It’s incredible. You guys are literally saving lives.

DO: If I had to choose between that or baseball, I’d go with that. That’s what’s up.

KIND

“I WAS IN MY 30 s . A FRIEND OF MINE LIVING IN THE DOMINICAN HEARD ME COMPLAINING ABOUT PAIN AND HE SAID, MAN, YOU NEED TO GET INTO WEED.”

SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS

What happens when 993 budtenders get together at KIND Gardens, Canada’s first legal cannabis sampling event ever to take place? They all got 26 grams of educational samples, interacting with more than 35 different brands. After the event, budtenders met up with over 3,500 cannabis consumers, walking out to the KIND Summer Fair. It was a smoking one of a KIND party that broke stigmas, introduced brands to their frontline workers and created such a media sensation that generated more than 13-million impressions and zero hangovers. Playing carnival games, enjoying incredible eats, listening to tunes and consuming weed freely at the Spinach Consumption Zone and the Nugz Barge, we all came together as a community and created the most joyful vibes possible.

“I feel like this is the event the cannabis industry has been waiting for since legalization,” a budtender said.

With a mix of representatives from licensed retailers across the country, and leading cannabis licensed producers like Spinach, 7 Acres, Versus, Back Forty, Wildlife Cannabis Co and XMG, plus entertainment from Kirk Diamond and Dwayne Gretzky, the legal cannabis community finally had a chance to get together, and have fun. But it wasn’t only a party. 92% of the budtenders who attended the two-day festival said they’d feel more likely to represent a brand they met at the Fair. “It was a great event that exceeded expectations, but now the bar is high for what KIND does next,” said another bartender.

Never backing down from a challenge, and always appreciating the opportunity to bring everyone together with people who grow legal weed, KIND is pleased to announce our next event: the KIND Winter Fair coming to Toronto this December.

We look forward to getting back together again and spreading KIND vibes.

“IT WAS AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE TO ATTEND THE EVENT,” ONE BUDT ENDE R TOLD US. “I’LL BE EXCITED TO DO IT AGAIN.”

THE KIND GUIDE TO NEW HEALTH & WELLNESS CANNABIS PRODUCTS FOR FALL

Cannabis does a lot more than get you high. It can reduce stress, help you sleep, relieve joint pain, become your next favourite bath balm or sex lube and so much more to elevate your life. These are a few of our favourite new things.

1 2

1. MONJOUR, BARE CBN BEDTIME BLUEBERRY LEMON GUMMIES

A sleep aid that actually works, these yummy gummies each contain 20mg CBD, 7.5mg CBN and 2.5mg THC, with a dreamy blueberry taste that complements lazy lemon with just the right balance, pairing well with a soothing evening. Portable, discreet and tasty, plus sugar-free and made with natural flavours.

2. MEDIPHARM LABS, CBN CBD RELAX FORMULA

A pharma-quality high-CBN Relax Formula containing 10mg/mL of CBN and 20mg/mL of CBD made using refined CBN material; packaged in a pharmaceutical-grade amber glass bottle with a 1mL syringe for consistent dosing.

3. WYLD, REAL FRUIT PEAR

1:1 THC:CBG GUMMIES

A next level edible, the Wyld Pear Hybrid Enhanced THC:CBG gummies are a 1:1 mash-up featuring a balanced dose of CBG. Made sustainably with real fruit, botanical terpenes, natural flavours and compostable packaging.

with fruit, our sugar-coated gummy Pearls are available in a variety of ratios with CBG, CBN, CBD, and THC. They’re perfect to enjoy from home, at your weekend getaway, or while watching the sunset from your favourite patio with friends.

4. MEDIPHARM LABS, CBN NIGHTTIME FORMULA

My ride-or-die cannabis health product, this formula—containing 10mg/mL of CBN and 20mg/mL of THC made using refined CBN material—cured my insomnia, and promoted such a unique, healing sensation, that it’s the goods we most proudly recommend.

5. PROOFLY, NATURAL CHARCOAL CBD FACE MASK

This all-natural face mask contains 500 mg CBD, and the CBD counterbalances the stripping process by soothing and hydrating your skin (not possible from a conventional charcoal mask). Formulated with a velvety smooth texture, and it is easy to rinse off, leaving your skin feeling soft and silky.

6. PROOFLY, WATERBASED UNISEX LUBRICANT

This latex-compatible and fragrance free waterbased personal lubricant contains 125 mg CBD, 6.25 mg THC, reduces pain and dryness and is effective in increasing longer and intense orgasms while promoting pelvic relaxation.

7. ACE VALLEY DAYLIGHT CANNABIS-INFUSED SPARKLING WATER

A zesty, uplifting beverage that’s perfect for daytime, Ace Valley Daylight bursts with natural citrus flavour and a hint of ginseng, which is known to promote focus and energy—plus 2.5 mg of THC and 5 mg of CBD per convenient 222 mL can. So fresh and so clean.

8. DOSECANN HOT AND COLD CREAM

Infused with 1500mg of CBD per jar and formulated with superior ingredients such as Meadowfoam and Arnica oils, Dosecann’s Hot and Cold Cream provides a high dose of relief. Applied to the skin, the cream’s cooling sensation is followed by a warming sensation. Dosecann is a wellness brand built on pillars of quality, safety and efficacy.

9. PINNRZ, 7G SIGNATURE BLUE BLEND

Milled from top-quality whole flower, and hand-selected from premium growers. Roll your own PINNRZ or smoke it your way to enjoy the loaded gassy flavours and high-THC of PINNRZ Blue—a smoke loved by all.

10. MADGE AND MERCER, BONNE NUIT CBD CBN APOTHECART

MADGE AND MERCER MODERN

APOTHECARY introduces the first of it APOTHECARTS series of purposefully created 510-thread cartridges with industry-leading CO2 extraction and refining processes; and interior hardware made from stainless steel, with a matte and tactile exterior. Free of impurities, lipids, fillers and waxes.

11. TRUSS, XMG ALT— 0G SUGAR / 0 CALORIES

A cannabis beverage with no sugar and no calories that’s lightly carbonated and seriously delicious. A perfect way to start your Thanksgiving holiday.

12. GREEN ORGANIC DUTCHMAN, GOLD BUTTER MAC

A certified organic Indica dominant hybrid, grown in living soil using natural sunlight and purified rainwater and this Tendu Leaf Wrap is a 1-gram pre-roll made with whole flower and no sugar leaves.

13. NORTHBOUND CANNABIS CBG CBD THE WHITE X APPALACHIA

High CBG, high CBD vape cartridge is a The White X Appalachia (Lucky Charms) hybrid formulation with a terpene blend dominated by citrus zest and berry aromatics, containing 20-28% CBG, 4553% CBD and <2% THC. Dominant in Limonene, beta-Caryophyllene, Nerolidol

and beta-Pinene, Northbound individually sourced terpenes for this formulation with known euphoric, uplifting effects in combination with the CBG and CBD, to create a unique vaping experience.

14. DYNATHRIVE PRO

Designed for those who benefit from incorporating both major and minor cannabinoids in their day to day routines, these Asian Pear CBG soft chews are perfectly balanced with 10mg of CBG and 10mg of CBD per soft chew and with 30 pieces per pack and contain a total of 300mg of CBG and 300mg of CBD. The first large format CBG soft chew to market in Canada, launching in BC, AB, MB, and SK mid September, and in Ontario in November.

CHANGI NG

THE

G AME

These athletes are Heisman winners and NBA icons, Olympians and television personalities, and all of them have reinvented healthy living their own way

As a running back for the Texas Longhorns, Ricky Williams won the Heisman award. Quick and strong and built like a bullet, Williams led the NFL in rushing in 2002 and followed his coach’s instructions. A former NFL all-star, Williams said he wanted to fit in, until fitting in didn’t work for him any more. “I think we’re all looking for meaning and I looked at fame, women and cars, before I ultimately found my meaning in cannabis,” Williams says, adding that, between

his suspensions and bad press, he probably lost between fifty and one hundred million dollars for his beliefs that cannabis should be legal and that athletes should be allowed to medicate with weed the same way they’ve been medicated themselves with alcohol or pharmaceuticals since the beginning of pro sports. “I look around at Western culture and see we don’t have elders, someone people can look up to and say, ‘I want to be like that person.’ As I get older, I want people to know

I live an authentic way and set an example for the next generation by honouring my path.”

Williams’s path, including a stint with the Argos in the CFL, has led to him today as the founder of Highsman, a company based in Southern California, where he lives. Williams, who also works with the cannabis data company Hoodie Analytics, says the whole culture of college and professional sports needs to change.

“The attitude of a warrior is that we don’t think about pain or else wear it as a badge but that can be really toxic,” Williams says. “Are you doing something to heal? I did intense damage to my body but today, so much of my work is in recovery. Everything I do today is about trying to heal.”

Williams didn’t even smoke weed until he was in college. He said it was after a rough

patch—a few bad games, an ex seeing his quarterback—that he took his roommate up on his offer to share the bong.

“My mind was in a really dark place. I was trying to break a bunch of records and just felt felt honestly like crap but when I took a couple of hits, it was first time in two weeks I wasn’t obsessing about my poor performance and I let it all go and

my mind expanded,” Williams says.

“The next day I started busting ass and had back to back 300 yard games and that subverts certain lazy stereotypes. Cannabis helps me lead a meaningful life and sometimes it helps me to see things differently. It’s hard to be successful if you don’t connect the dots, on the inside, with what lights you up.”

“I did intense damage to my body but today, so much of my work is in recovery. Everything I do today is about trying to heal.”

“

We’re outraged by what Russia’s doing to Brittney Griner, but we’ve been doing the same thing to people of colour right here for 70 years. If we want to talk about Brittney Griner, we need to look in the mirror because we do the same thing right here.

RICKY WILLIAMS ON BRITTNEY GRINER, THE 31-YEAR-OLD WNBA PLAYER SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS IN RUSSIA FOR POSSESSION OF A MEDICALLY PRESCRIBED HASHISH OIL.

TO JOIN THE WNBA IN THEIR PETITION TO THE WHITE HOUSE, SEE CHANGE.ORG/P/ SECURE-BRITTNEY-GRINER-S-SWIFT-ANDSAFE-RETURN-TO-THE-U-S

AL HARRINGTON, THE BALLER

Al Harrington played sixteen seasons in the NBA and then, after retiring, started Viola Brands, a cannabis company he named after his grandmother. Harrington, who appeared at the KIND Summer Fair and sat down onstage for an inspiring conversation with our managing director Shahbaaz Kara-Virani, spoke again with Kara-Virani about his role in the ongoing cannabis conversation between stigma, health, weed and sports.

SKV: Tell us about your story: Why cannabis after the NBA?

AH: It all started with my grandmother. She came to watch me play and was complaining about all of her aches and pains, including glaucoma, and I had just read that cannabis could be used to treat it. At first she refused, saying “Reefa? I ain’t smoking no reefa.” The next day she was in so much pain that I was able to convince her. A few hours after trying it, I came downstairs to check on her and she was crying because she was finally able to read her bible for the first time in three years. It really wasn’t a question after that.

SKV: You’re pioneering the advancement of cannabinoid-based products with sports and athletes with re+PLAY, can you tell us a little bit about that?

AH: I know first-hand what we as professional athletes put our bodies through to perform at that level and wanted to create something to help with that. We’ve worked with our partners at

Avicanna on formulations that have been thoroughly tested to ensure we have the most advanced and scientifically backed products that the medical community can approve of. Since it’s still so new, we want to be the example for standardizing CBD-based products.

SKV: You recently signed an exclusive agreement with the NBA Players Association. What does that encompass?

AH: It feels great to have the support of the NBPA and know that they see and understand the vision that we have for re+PLAY. As our partner, they just want us to succeed.

SKV: How can re+PLAY’s role as a leader in sports and cannabinoid therapy influence other professional organizations to follow suit?

AH: We just have to continue to create great products that people trust. Since we’re the first, we want to set the standard for the industry. Education plays a huge role and

now that people understand products are THC-free, there’s already progress being made with the NFL and MLB, so it’s only a matter of time before other organizations are on board.

SKV: What can cannabis retailers, budtenders and consumers expect from the re+PLAY and Viola brands in Canada?

AH: A lot of the same things they see in the US, just closer to home. We’re excited to diversify our products for both brands. With Viola we’re going to be focusing on convenience items that our customers have been asking for that make it easier to consume, and with re+PLAY we’re working on bringing some products with exciting new technology to market.

SKV: You dropped knowledge at KIND Gardens to almost one thousand budtenders. What was your favourite part of the event?

AH: Just seeing the fans here in Canada. I love when I get a chance to come and visit. They always show so much love.

“There’s already progress being made with the NFL and MLB, so it’s only a matter of time before other organizations are on board.”

CASSIE DAY, THE TV STAR

“Over the last twelve years, strength training has made me more resilient to handle things like grief, made me adaptable to handle the pandemic with a small business, taught me how to love my body, and given me a community who motivates me to be a better human every single day,” says Cassie Day, founder of All Day Fit, which encourages workouts and positive body messaging, anti-bullying and so much more. Instead of just a fitness club, Day’s workout studio is also a place where people of all types can come together and feel good. She says her platform on Amazing Race Canada helped her live out her dreams.

“I’m on a mission to help others improve their relationship with fitness, nutrition and their body through inclusive and intelligent strength training programs. Allowing everyone to live longer, happier and healthier lives! That’s what it’s all about right?”

Day’s positive messaging and inclusive, intelligent fitness, breaks down barriers and brings people together in a way that promotes health over appearance, rewards over punishment and love over anger or shame. “Being on this season of Amazing Race Canada has given me the opportunity to share my mission nationwide,” she says. “I truly think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg for where we’re headed.”

“I truly think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg for where we’re headed.”

Don Jackson, 29, is from South Sacramento, California, and calls his hometown, “Just your average everyday ‘hood.” As a kid, Jackson says he “dabbled in the everyday bullshit,” but found a way out through playing sports. First basketball, then football, which eventually brought him to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL.

“I think about my journey as a lot of heartbreak and a lot of love,” says Jackson, who also records rap records when he’s not rushing for TDs. “A lot of people call me a late bloomer, but honestly? I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Since his teenage year, Jackson has used cannabis, and he says that he’s tried every pharmaceutical drug imaginable but, especially after a near career-ending concussion in 2019, nothing has worked as well as weed.

“During my senior year of college, I noticed that cannabis helped me deal with the pain and stress of my past experiences of being an athlete and I never understood everyone’s gripe against it,” he says. “It helped to heal my damn brain, man. I’ll be honest with you—cannabis is what kept me alive.”

Today, Jackson, whose latest record is called Thiedus Jr., wants to help other athletes know they can follow their own path. “I don’t smoke weed so I’m walking around feeling high all day,” he says. “I smoke so I can feel like myself.”

TYLER MOSHER, THE ADVOCATE

After breaking his back in nine places while snowboarding, resulting in paralysis, Tyler Mosher competed for Canada in two Paralympic Games. More recently, he helped launch Kinloch Wellness, a CBDentourage effect focused company in Abbotsford, British Columbia. “For me, CBD reduces anxiety, inflammation and enables alternative medicine that helps me live with my spinal cord injury,” he says, “Without the side-effects of the traditionally prescribed pharmaceutical drugs.”

For Mosher, the journey in legal cannabis was mind expanding. “I’m a big believer in the cannabis plant, whether protein from the roots or CBD from the flower and everything in between,” he says. “Cannabis is a worldwide new industry with unparalleled growth potential to any other commodity I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

At 50-years-old, Mosher is now retired as a professional athlete but he still cross country skis and snowboards and works out

every day. The people he knows, lawyers, doctors and business leaders from all walks of life, use cannabis and he says a negative stereotype against cannabis, in 2022, is absurd. “Stereotypes are lazy and antiquated and totally offensive,” he says. “It’s time that we accept this plant for all of its wonders, and if anyone has any questions about what life’s like on CBD and other terpenes, they can just look at me.

LANNI MARCHANT, THE HEROINE

Marchant, a two-time Olympian, was Canada’s fastest female marathon runner of all-time. A lawyer by trade who ran both the marathon and the 10,000 metres events at the Olympics in 2016, Marchant suffered afterwards from sepsis, kidney stone surgeries and endometriosis, along with mental health struggles associated with her work-life balance and devotion to sport. Today, racing marathons again and listening to her body,

Marchant is bullish on the effects of CBD. “CBD saved my life,” says Marchant, currently based in Denver, Colorado, where she says that most professional runners on the circuit use CBD.

“Since 2019, if I want to feel calm or dialed in during a workout, I’ve been using CBD,” Marchant says. “I now realize how much of an anxious person I’ve been—or was—until I started using CBD.”

Marchant is one of Canada’s most popular runners and she knows that she’s occupying rarefied air endorsing CBD in her life. But she says that it’s greatly enhanced her quality of life and if there’s negative repercussions, she’s willing to handle the heat.

“It’s never easy being a trailblazer, I know that, but I think everybody should try CBD,” she says. “It changed my life.”

“I now realize how much of an anxious person I’ve been— or was—until I started using CBD.”

IS GOOD FOR YOU

I can’t teach you any new ways to give a blowjob. I think the innovation in that conversation has peaked pretty hard, and has been covered by sex educators and penis connoisseurs alike since the dawn of time. If you need to learn about the pepper grinder or the citrus swirl, head to Cosmo, Glamour or Google. Meanwhile, sex tech is evolving at a rapid pace—with an estimated 30 billion valuation in 2021—and the innovation of teledildonics is inevitable and thrilling. People are always finding a way to fuck better—but why, and how? It can’t just be because “sex is fun.” There has to be more behind why sex is everyone’s favourite pastime. I think it’s because of how it impacts our mental

health. You’ve heard the aphorism “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and, when it comes to mental health, I believe an orgasm a day keeps the stress away. The best part about being a Clinical Sexologist and Psychotherapist is that the “medicine” I “prescribe” is often about different ways to have sex and engage in dynamic forms of intimacy and self-discovery.

What’s a common problem I’m asked to address? It’s what to do when people stop wanting sex, intimacy or relationships. Honestly, people like to pretend the rest of their world is vibrant as long as they’re still having sex; but when the sex stops, calling out the lack of sex or sexual desire

feels like a substantial metric to cause alarm and report to a therapist. For you, it sounds like, “we’ve stopped having sex.” “I’ve stopped wanting sex.” “I’m no longer interested in sex.”

Want to have better sex? Carlen Costa says the first step is loving yourself.

>>>

“An orgasm a day keeps the stress away.”

Because that’s what sex is for so many people: it’s the vibrancy of life. It’s the one space your body and mind occupy simultaneously, for even just moments of peace, calm, exaltation, relief, power and zen. Sexual health is mental health.

We like to think of sex as something our bodies are doing, when in reality, a lot of our sex life takes place in our brains. It’s important to recognize that for all genders, our thoughts and feelings about sex, about our partners and our sexual self-confidence play a vital role in getting us turned on and staying that way.

The struggle with mental illness is that it inevitably affects our self-esteem and can make us feel unworthy of sexual attention. Sex is where vulnerability meets power and that can feel like a lot to show up for if you’re already struggling. The best sex includes creativity and laughter, but also clumsiness, random body fluids and varying intensities of desire. Sex isn’t perfect and neither should we strive for sexual perfection, rather when we can create a space in our intimacy to include the not-so-sexy stuff, we end up making it harder for anxiety and negative thoughts to undermine our sexual well-being. For example, let’s stop being so orgasm-focused. It’s messing too many of you up. Orgasms happen, and sometimes they just don’t, for so many reasons. By changing the “end point of

sex” to be less about orgasms and take the anxiety-inducing focus off erections or penetration, we end up allowing ourselves to explore and expand a variety of intimate experiences for how we sensually relate to another human being.

Also, when we talk about why sex is good for your mental health, I think it’s important to add how a lack of sex or, more specifically, physical intimacy and connection can have an effect on you. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that being in isolation for too long and without human contact can turn anyone a little loopy. Essentially, what I’m saying

to you is that a lack of sex or desire within you or your relationship is a symptom of a bigger problem. Sex isn’t just about sex, it’s also a predictive symptom of your mental health. Bad sex is something you can relearn how to do and figure out quickly with a “hot tips to spice up your love life” internet search, but no sex or a lack of desire tells me, as a mental health professional, that there is something bigger going on in your life and that’s the work we address when you come and chat with me in therapy.

“

Because that’s what sex is for so many people; it’s the vibrancy of life.

IT PROMOTES HORMONE ACTIVATION

During sex your body releases endorphins, oxytocin and serotonin which creates feelings of happiness, closeness, relaxation and intimacy. A lack of sex can cause your self-worth and confidence to plummet and bring you into more reactive states of anxiety and/or depression.

IT’S A CONFIDENCE BOOSTER

When your body is feeling good, so is your mood! Everyone wants to be wanted and what’s a better way to feel desired in your relationship than having an active sex life?

IT’S A FORM OF SOMATIC THERAPY

Somatic therapy is a body-centered therapy that connects the mind and body using psychotherapy and physical activation to heal you. Sometimes, it’s not enough to talk about feeling good or wanting to feel good. Sometimes you have to move your body to let it in on what your mind is already thinking.

Carlen Costa, pictured, DHS, MPH, RSSW, ACS is a Clinical Sexologist, OCSWSSW Psychotherapist, cannabis educator and CEO of The Everyday Goddess® lifestyle brand, elevating your self-love with style.

IS GOOD BUT DID YOU ALSO KNOW IT WAS

YOU?

Turn over a leaf...

HOW NUVEEV IS REDEFINING CBD BEAUTY IN CANADA

There are so many empty promises in the beauty industry – how many times have you heard ‘’use this new miracle cream and you will wake up looking 20 years younger’’; or watched as influencers with an entire behind-the-scenes beauty team tried to pitch some new product as their skin’s ‘no effort needed’ saving grace. With so much noise from so many different sources, it can get impossible to feel confident getting the best for your skin. Our mission at Nuveev is to simplify skincare for you, helping you feel confident and comfortable in everything your skin has to offer. We want everyone to fall in love with the way their skin looks today, five years from now, and fifteen years from then too.

We knew that we wanted to make special products and we quickly realized that would require using special ingredients. We began to look deeper into this revolutionary ingredient called CBD, finding out what role it could play in the Nu skincare journey. From there, the choice to partner with a lab in Israel to lead product research and innovation felt like a natural one. As a nation on the forefront of not

only skincare and beauty innovation, but research in the cannabis industry as well, Israel felt like the perfect place to begin our CBD skincare journey. Our partners have been researching the benefits of cannabis and cannabis extracts across both medical and wellness spheres for the last decade. They helped us create products that harness the natural skincare wonders of CBD and amplify it with some of nature’s finest ingredients: jojoba oil, shea butter, grape seed extract and argan oil; allowing us to develop balanced, powerful, and effective skincare products.

One of the other core motivations driving the creation of Nuveev was our desire to break down barriers in the beauty, skincare, and wellness industries. To do this, we had to not only create effective products, but design an education program around them. This really helped consumers understand their own skin, their skincare products, and the way the two interact.

Skincare lovers are following us on social (@Nuveevwellness) and joining our community online (Nuveev.com) as a way of not only staying up to date on the brand and

our products, but gaining knowledge and self-confidence in their own skincare practices. Through some of The Nu Beauty Community offerings, like joining our masterclasses, following our tips and trends, or meeting up with our skincare specialists in person, our community works to increase their skincare knowledge while empowering them to better understand their own skin and what it needs.

We appreciate that it can all be a lot to take in and while everybody shares the same goal of having healthy skin, not everyone shares the same time or interest when exploring what’s new in skincare. For some, simply knowing that CBD is a top-trending ingredient in skincare is enough for them to try a new product from a trusted brand in the space.

#1 TRENDING INGREDIENT IN SKINCARE

For others, exploring the ingredients and their efficacy helps better inform their decisions. Regardless, we want all our customers to have this empowering information available at their fingertips. We want them to understand what we put in Nuveev and why. We want them to feel comfortable with this newly uncovered ingredient.

A full-time beauty lover, professional makeup artist, skincare specialist, college educator, and the co-founder of Nuveev, one of Canada’s first legal CBD skincare and wellness brands.

SAMANTHA Marchione, Co-founder and Brand Manager, NUVEEV. THE NUVEEV COMMUNITY PROMOTES:

that is

it isn’t so

down

in the beauty industry

BY VICTORIA DEKKER

Ketamine was never my favourite drug.

The first time I tried it was in a coat check room at an after hours party around 2002. Immediately disorienting, profoundly antisocial, and with an irritating side of forgetting how to string words into sentences, I couldn’t understand why anyone ever wanted to do it in a party setting.

But fast-forward twenty—gulp—years later, and, following two rounds of ketamine therapy at Field Trip Health, ketamine has officially earned its redemption.

Spoiler: taking ketamine at Field Trip is completely different than taking a bump off the key to some guy’s Honda at 2 a.m.

If you’re new to ketamine or don’t know much, here’s a little background: ketamine is an NMDA receptor agonist that’s been used as an anesthetic in humans and animals since the 1970s, and beloved by partygoers ’round the globe for about as long. In Canada, it was approved for off-label use for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in 2020. Its efficacy for treating mental health conditions is at the centre of a great deal of research and has given new hope to patients stuck in ineffective SSRI prescription loops, or for whom traditional therapy alone just doesn’t cut it.

I’ve been interested in trying ketamine again as an adult navigating my own mental health issues, and by assessment standards, I fit the criteria for TRD (mainly being a person of earth in 2022, amirite?). After a handful of screening sessions and questionnaires, I was greenlit for treatment at Field Trip Health’s Fredericton clinic, one of a growing number of providers offering ketamine as an adjunct to therapy.

If you live in an urban centre, it’s likely you’ve seen or heard about ketamine therapy by now. Clinics and specialty practices have been emerging steadily coast-to-coast since the drug was approved. Next to Field Trip, the Canadian Rapid Treatment Centre of Excellence and Toronto Ketamine Clinic are among the more familiar names, and in the U.S., Novamind and Ketamine Wellness Centers are among the leaders, but a quick Google search returns hundreds of global providers.

There are a handful of different approaches and protocols used to

deliver ketamine for depression. While some programs are delivered in sterile medical environments with no psychotherapy involved, taking ketamine at Field Trip is akin to taking your brain to the Nordic spa for the afternoon. Treatment rooms are outfitted with plush throw pillows, moss accoutrement, salt lamps and ambient music, intentionally designed to make the experience gentle and comfortable. The staff at Field Trip are emphatic about the necessity of dosing in specific environments, following the golden rule of quality psychedelic experiences: careful tuning of set and setting.

Preparation includes preparation of clean eating, meditation and intention setting in the days leading up to the session (and laying off cannabis, which can mute the effects); dosing in the company of a trained facilitator, followed by integration to discuss and find relevance of the experience. Practitioners stress that while ketamine is a powerful drug, it’s not a panacea, nor is it a fast track to a better life. It’s a tool that can stimulate your “inner healing intelligence,” they say.

It’s worth mentioning that ketamine isn’t a classic serotonergic psychedelic like LSD or psilocybin, and in some psychedelic circles, it’s considered a faux pas to call it a psychedelic at all. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic, but thanks to its hallucinogenic effects, it’s been lumped in with psychedelic drugs under renewed interest for treating a myriad of health conditions. While it can produce visual hallucinations and “ego death” at the right dosage, the dissociative nature of ketamine often results in effects far more abstract and sensation-focused than traditional psychedelics.

And while science is still trying to determine exactly how ketamine works in the brain, compelling clinical evidence suggests it is likely more than placebo when used to treat depression. Animal trials have shown ketamine can rapidly increase neurogenesis, repairing pathways in the brain thought responsible for depression-related stress. And new brain-scanning tech has begun to reveal major connectivity between regions of the brain in subjects under the effect of the drug.

At Field Trip, a nurse practitioner monitors each patient’s vitals while under the effect of the drug, on the chance a person should go into some kind of medical distress. Patients lay supine in a zerogravity chair, equipped with a weighted blanket, blackout eye shades

and noise-canceling headphones with an atmospheric soundtrack by Wavepaths, designed specifically to the peaks and valleys of a psychedelic trip.

The ketamine is administered sublingually. After the powdery white tablets dissolve under the tongue, the patient swishes the medicine around in their mouth for 15 minutes. It feels excruciatingly long, especially as the ketamine begins to numb your mouth and your body begins to slip away at about the 10-minute mark.

But how does it feel?

My first two trips—powered by 250 MGs—were highly psychedelic. Eyes closed, laying motionless for about 45 minutes, I flew over peaks of crimson velvet and dove into valleys of shimmering aquamarine. In the earliest and most powerful parts of the trips, I couldn’t form coherent thoughts and nothing made logical sense. That kind of loss of control has made me really anxious historically, but I tried hard to surrender and focus on my breath. Soon, I felt strong sensations of safety, peace and that everything was OK. It was like being held in a gigantic set of hands. Complete emotional homeostasis achieved.

“LIKE BEING HELD IN A GIGANTIC SET OF HANDS.”

psychedelic therapy, experts say. If a person is considering ketamine for the novelty or with recreation in mind, there are cheaper and faster ways of getting high. Real mental and emotional work in therapy sessions is required, and for those unwilling or unable to confront challenging feelings, their mileage will likely vary significantly with ketamine therapy.

There are financial barriers, too. Ketamine treatment is expensive in Canada, with treatments at most private clinics averaging around $750 per session. Most private insurers don’t cover the costs, forcing patients to come out-of-pocket to cover it. The federal government covers veterans, and some caregivers are calling on provinces to provide funding for civilians, too.

My therapist warned me prior to treatment that I may not take much from my first few doses; the average course of treatment at Field Trip is about six sessions, and it can take a few appointments to find the sweet spot for therapeutic benefit. I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but the trips were surprisingly pleasant and powerful.

In conversation with my therapist post-trip, I realized that I couldn’t remember ever having felt so safe and at ease as I did on ketamine, and that maybe, I never actually feel safe, truly safe, in my everyday life. It was a profound takeaway for me. I’ve been actively recalling that sensation of safety when I start to get anxious in the weeks between sessions—and it’s been working. The memory of what safety feels like allows me to bring it into the present moment.

Continuous maintenance and integration are key to deriving durable emotional benefit from

And support for greater access to the treatment seemingly can’t come soon enough. Ketamine therapy is growing in popularity around North America, as more patients and practitioners seek to try it and become trained in it, says Psychedelics Today director of training and clinical education, Kyle Buller. The psychedelic education and media company has trained over 9,000 students through its Psychedelic Education Center, and recently launched a course devoted to ketamine for the treatment of trauma.

While more research is needed on efficacy, Buller said, what’s apparent is ketamine’s ability to help give the nervous system a short break. For trauma and depression sufferers, who often live in a constant state of heightened anxiety, that break alone can provide relief (even if temporary).

As for my new relationship with ketamine beyond the coat room? I decided to keep it going. I’m curious to see how it might benefit me longterm, and how I can get more miles out of each trip.

Victoria Dekker is an award-winning Canadian journalist, communications and public relations strategist, who chronicles the ongoing history of psychedelic research, regulation and culture for KIND.

JORDAN WAGMAN’S

Thanksgiving is Lit

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARLOS OSORIO

Nothing’s more important than community and there’s no time better to appreciate your loved ones—whoever they are— than the Thanksgiving break. Jordan Wagman, the KIND chief culinary whizz, sparked a joint, cooked a feast, then reported back on how you can do the same.

Roasted Chicken, Lemon, Maple

classic

home.

INGREDIENTS

3 White onions, halved 1 Whole chicken (about 4-5 lbs), trussed 2 Lemons, cut in half 6 Sprigs fresh thyme 1 tbsp (15 mL) Maple syrup

½ tsp (2 mL) Sea salt

½ tsp (2 mL) Freshly ground black pepper 2 cups (500 mL) Green peas (see tips)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place onions in the centre of a roasting pan and set aside.

Squeeze the juice of half a lemon in a bowl and combine with maple syrup. Set aside.

Place remaining lemons and thyme into the cavity of the chicken. Brush the lemon and maple mixture over the entire surface of the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken into the roasting pan directly on top of the onions and transfer to a preheated oven.

Roast for 15 minutes and lower the temperature to 350°F. Basting the chicken every 20 minutes, roast for approximately 1.5 hours or until breast meat is firm to the touch and the juices run clear when piercing the leg meat.

Remove from heat, add peas

the pan,

rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Braised

INGREDIENTS

Smoked Turkey “Stuffing”

A cross between French Toast and

stuffing,

to be a hit at

version

time!

1-1/4 cup (300 mL) Coconut milk 2 Eggs 1 loaf Challah bread (about 12 cups (3 L) diced)

1 cup (250 mL) Smoked turkey, shredded ½ cup (125 mL) Celery, finely diced ½ cup (125 mL) Red onion, finely diced 1 tbsp (15 mL) Fresh thyme, finely chopped ½ tsp (2 mL) Sea salt ½ tsp (2 mL) Pepper

Large mixing bowl

dish

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut milk and eggs and whisk well to combine. Add diced challah, smoked turkey, celery, onion, thyme, salt and pepper and fold well to combine.

Transfer mixture to a baking dish and set aside for a minimum of 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the coconut milk mixture.

Place baking dish in a preheated oven and bake until stuffing has puffed and the top is crisp and golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Keto

Margarita

2oz

water soluble

To the Jungle

I DON’T THINK KANYE WEST IS BETTER THAN ME

TAI VERDES CAME OUT OF NOWHERE TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD

BY BEN KAPLAN

The 26-year-old Tai Verdes has more than a billion streams and was discovered on TikTok. Affable, entertaining and hypnotic, the singer who raps, or rapper who sings, blew up seemingly overnight. He was working at a Verizon store during the pandemic and sleeping on a friend’s couch when, in August 2020, he released Stuck in the Middle, and enjoyed his first viral success. “I just have taste and try to impress myself,” he says, downplaying his success as if it was a foregone conclusion. “I don’t make songs for other people and for my next album, I don’t care if anyone listens to it

because I know it’s really fucking cool.” Verdes is really fucking cool and his words, which can sound arrogant, and indeed are arrogant, are also backed up by his own pristine production and unmistakable earworms all underlined by the performer’s unmistakable swag. He’s the first to tell you that he’s an entertainer and his use of every available platform—Instagram reels, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok—has taken his music to where his fans are. Without a record label and without radio play, Tai Verdes has become one of pop music’s brightest stars.

“I’m a child of the internet,” he says from a hotel room in London, where his girlfriend lies asleep in his bed and the singer talks to KIND in the dead of the night. “I saw Justin Bieber go from a kid on YouTube to JUSTIN BIEBER. I saw Shawn Mendes go from Vine to SHAWN MENDES. I saw DJ Khaled go from Snapchat to DJ KHALED. I’m not a TikTok artist, it’s how society works.”

girlfriend sleeps in his hotel room, Verdes says the record’s big theme is love.

“I think I’m going from the physical side of love that’s not meant to last to finding someone you can be life partners with,” he says, and describes the record’s first single, ‘How Deep’, in love’s mystifying terms: “It’s about not knowing anything and I hope that when people hear it, they feel lost, but also found, but also lost. Love has a tendency to make you feel like that.” Verdes says the new disc, which plays for twenty songs, is patterned after The Life of Pablo by Kanye West, and during our conversation he mentions many popular artists, from Bruno Mars to Chance the Rapper to Andre 3000, Jay-Z, Tyler the Creator and Kanye West. He has an eye on history and wants to sit on the pantheon of music’s all-time greats. The thing is, and this is important, he’s not bragging about his supernatural skills. He’s highlighting his work ethic and dedication. He doesn’t want to work at a Verizon store again.

creativity and I’m definitely not scared to work, physically and mentally, at always improving. It’s a competition to me.”

The competition, of course, is 24/7, but Verdes, as followers of his social media accounts or fans of his records already know, also includes the finer things. Tai Verdes likes to smoke weed.

“Sometimes I do drugs

Not hard ones, just ones that change my mind up Drugs, can’t find us?

If you think I’m gone, I’m just doing drugs

Not hard ones, just ones that change my mind up Don’t mind me if I light up Only need it sorta kinda.”

The singer behind ‘Last Day on Earth’ and ‘Drugs’ says that gatekeepers tend to put labels on artists who find their fanbase online before record company intervention. There’s a tendency to make these musicians seem disposable. Tai Verdes says he’s part of the generation of musicians who are bucking this trend. “There’s this weird notion that if you hear a song on TikTok, that it’s going away. But Doja Cat isn’t going away. She’s a number one artist. Megan Tha Stallion isn’t going away,” he says. “Lizzo, with ‘About Damn Time’, that’s all TikTok. It’s the beautiful production and her personality and skill, but that’s just half the story. The other half is marketing, and if you give me an inch, I’m going to take a mile.”

The mile Tai Verdes has taken is evident on HDTV, his second album, which came out September 16. Like his debut record, TV, featuring ‘A-OK’, which went platinum— unheard of in today’s music world—the new disc tells a front-to-back story. If the first album introduced the artist, the second one goes deeper into his personal life. While his

“I won $50,000 on a reality TV show. I wasn’t the only one to get that money, but I was the only one who made it last two years and lived in a living room in L.A. and paid $500,” he says of his experience on Are You the One, one of the multitudes of auditions the young singer pursued in his salad days. He also tried out for The Voice and American Idol, but when those doors wouldn’t open, he found a different thing. What remained consistent is the hustle. “Some people spend $1,000 on shoes, but I’ve been to the club less than twenty times in my life,” he says. “There’s a reason I’m here right now: I’m looking at longevity and investing in myself, that’s the whole goal.”

The goal, which began on his first live stage at Lollapalooza in front of 30,000 people, is to win the Best New Artist Grammy and then release ten records. He admires the catalogue of Miles Davis and respects his peers, but is also gunning for them.

“I don’t think Kanye West is better than me. I don’t think Andre 3000 is better than me— they’re worth more because they know how to market themselves and set up a business,” he says. “I’m not scared of the business aspect of being an artist. I’m trying to emphasize my

“I’m not even the biggest weedhead, I know people that smoke way more weed than me,” he says, with the kind of laugh a cannabis user knows generally comes from someone that’s stoned. After all, it’s the middle of the night in England and he’s got his girlfriend in his hotel room and he’s come from nowhere to become one of pop music’s biggest stars. He just said he was better than Kanye West. “My whole thing is telling stories,” he says. “The sweetest part of my story, honestly? It’s that I found something that worked.”

Tai Verdes is currently on tour through November. For dates, see taiverdes.com.

“

I hope that when people hear it, they feel lost, but also found, but also lost. Love has a tendency to make you feel like that.

Fefedobson is back

The post-punk art rebel from Scarborough has a new record, same attitude and a whole new generation of ravenous, weed-smoking fans

BY ALEX NINO GHECIU

Nature is healing. Pop-punk is cool again, guitars are high up in the mixes of mainstream hits, and Gen Z idols like Olivia Rodrigo and WILLOW are reinventing the genre with more emotional maturity and fewer dick jokes.

(Though some occasionally still slip by thanks to Machine Gun Kelly, pop-punk’s jester prince.) But the biggest sign Mother Earth is on the mend? Fefe Dobson is back.

When the Scarborough singer dropped her self-titled debut in 2003, she was a breath of purified air amid the dorm room stank of the white male-dominated rock realm. As one of the few Black pop-punk singers to go platinum in the aughts, Dobson brought much-needed representation but confused a music industry that couldn’t fathom a rocker girl who didn’t

look like Avril. Over the next decade, she had a turbulent relationship with her label Island/ Def Jam, releasing two more albums before going radio silent.

But it’s a new day. The young outliers Fefe resonated with have grown up to start their own three-chord revolution, and she’s ready to join them at the front lines. At 37, Dobson’s got a comeback single (“FCKN IN LOVE”) a forthcoming album, and more angst in her yet. We chatted with her about where she’s been, her new chapter and the “turmoil” in her marriage to rapper Yelawolf.

ANG: So Fefe. I’ve gotta ask the burning question on everyone’s

mind: Are you a weed smoker?

FD: Well, my mom grew her own weed. So that’s pretty cool. She made her own beer, too. My mom’s gangster. But I’ve only smoked a few times, and all I heard was “dooooo.” Like a dial tone. And that was it. It scared the crap out of me. But, I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it. Maybe I just smoked the wrong stuff. I don’t know!

ANG: Hold up, your mom grew her own weed? Like in the house?

FD: Yeah, yeah. I was maybe, like, eight. So I don’t know what [kind of weed] she was growing up in there. I don’t even know if her

beer was good because obviously I wasn’t drinking, but my sister would know. She’s older than me. She probably stole some…

ANG: So your mom was a smoker?

FD: Big time. She’d paint beautiful murals on the wall and listen to Bob Marley and just be smoking.

ANG: Amazing. So what sparked your love for rock ‘n’ roll?

FD: A lot of the rock ‘n’ roll definitely came from my household. My sister was listening to Nirvana and Guns ‘N’ Roses. It was that perfect grunge time, when teens were really trying to have a voice and rebel, which reminds me a lot of now actually. And then my mom was playing everything from Phil Collins to Depeche Mode to Bob Marley. Janet Jackson was a big one for me with “Black Cat.” I think rock has always felt right to me because growing up I needed and wanted to be seen and couldn’t be seen and couldn’t be heard. And I didn’t have a voice. And that genre helped me express myself and realize I didn’t have to be so perfect and proper. I could rebel and almost say “fuck you” to my childhood.

ANG: It’s dope you found your sound so early on in life, even though when you came out in 2003 labels struggled to find a place for you. There’s a story that the first label you signed with, Zomba, dubbed you as “Brandy Spears.” Which is so wack.

FD: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love Brandy and I love Britney Spears, but I am not that. It was just messed up because it was based on the sound of my voice and the colour of my skin.

ANG: Did you face any pushback when you decided to drop a rock record?

FD: Yeah, that was the other side of it. Then I decided to do what I wanted to do, but even when I came out, it was like, OK now we got this project and rock radio doesn’t know [what to do with it]. I was too soft for rock and too hard for pop, which was the biggest problem with [the label]. And then it was just like one thing after another.

and it felt like there was very little progression. And instead of trying to keep pushing something that didn’t feel like it was working, I decided to reevaluate and take time to grow and make sense of the last 20-odd years. At that point, I had been in the industry for quite some time. So I went through this transition period and put that album on the backburner and went to Nashville and just started living. I got married and then I had an issue with my relationship and I was going through that, and I was experimenting musically.

ANG: Why is now the right time to return?

Well, I got my team back because we took some time apart. And when I wasn’t making music, or when I was stepping back and writing for others and just living in Nashville, I didn’t really have my team. You kind of just realize who you love. And for me, I really had this moment of clarity of who I am as an artist and who I am as a human, as a woman. And maybe because of COVID, maybe being by myself and having to really reflect might have helped with that. But yeah, it was just time. I was ready.

ANG: Pop-punk is having something of a resurgence. What do you make of it? You alluded to this earlier, but do you think there’s more rebellion and angst in the air lately?

ANG: Despite all that, you went on to have an epic run. You had bangers. Which leads me to the other burning question on everyone’s mind: Where have you been for the last decade?

FD: I just kinda took some time to myself. After “Legacy” and “In Better Hands” came out in 2014, I just felt like I wasn’t really ready to put out a third single and proceed with that album. I felt like I needed to take a step back. I wasn’t happy with the way things were going

FD: Yeah, I mean, in general after COVID and everything that happened in the last three years with George Floyd and all of that, hopefully we were shaken enough to make real change. But I personally felt like, “Fuck this shit.” I might not be a teenager anymore, but I felt that. Like, “No, I want to be more honest. No, I’m not going to say sorry for them. I’m not going to be apologetic for speaking my truth.” And I think a lot of teens feel that way, even with women’s rights and everything that we’re going through. It reminds me of that grunge period for sure, because teens were like, “Screw it.” For real.

“WE WANT TO CREATE THINGS THAT PEOPLE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE”

Pheno hunting is an obsession at MSIKU, the east coast cannabis brand founded by CEO Christine Halef—the industry experts at creating new strains. Based in Halifax and operating out of a multi-million-dollar indoor grow, Anthony Giardino, cultivation expert responsible for cultivation production, product and genetic development at MSIKU, likens his quest for new cannabis strains to an explorer seeking out rare species in the wild kingdom crossed with a scientist using beakers to create new forms of life in a laboratory.

Art meets science with ethics and strength to create a superior legal cannabis product.

“Bringing out flavour profiles and creating new offerings is my passion—the idea at MSIKU is to produce genetics that don’t exist anywhere else,” says Giardino, mentioning that hand-trimming, hang-drying and handpackaging flower are just some of the small details the company takes to ensure the freshest, kindest products reach legal cannabis shelves. “Our products are created for the cannabis connoisseurs, for the ones who know the difference and who have tried different varieties and appreciate cannabis presented in its truest form.”

Creating cannabis in its truest form

happens at MSIKU because they have high cannabinoid, terpene-rich genetics. With an in-house breeding program and a laboratory for examining plant tissue, strains like The Wedding Singer and Cushman’s 11 are unique creations pollinated through MSIKU’s exclusive pheno-hunting and years-long experimentation. Giardino says he’s after high-density trichomes and diverse terpene profiles. He knows rare breeds are exciting to consumers who appreciate quality.

never seen before. At MSIKU, we’re creators— and leaders in flower.”

MSIKU currently makes diverse and different terpene profiles in industry leading strains, including Star Struck, Frozen Lemons, Bucket List and ICC x Kushmints 11. In addition to The Wedding Singer, MSIKU has new drops scheduled in January, and then summer 2023. Exploring tissue culture to create new cannabis strains isn’t for everyone. But Giardino says it’s what makes MSIKU stand apart.

“It’s not the cheapest or easiest way to produce a cannabis product, but it’s the way we believe honours cannabis,” says Giardino, adding that his expertise in genetic development, backed by his amazing team, creates not only a differentiation between MSIKU and other legal licensed producers, but also offers a leg up for the entire legal cannabis system.

“We want to create things that people have

“People joke that I kill more plants than I grow, but it’s because we’re trying to find that unicorn in the clouds and the COA plays a critical role in selecting a genetic to put into the market. We put so much work into our pheno hunts and it can take hundreds of seeds and thousands of flowers and at least two years to produce a single strain,” he says, not complaining, but instead sounding proud of his dedication to craft. “You get attached to the strains and you become like a parent—creating something so special and unique and beautiful in the world.”

To learn more about MSIKU and see their full list of products, please see atlanticann.com.

How the pheno-hunters at MSIKU are elevating cannabis around the world

“Our products are created for the cannabis connoisseurs who know the difference.”

YOUR BOB MARLEY POSTER’S NOT ENOUGH

CEDELLA MARLEY TALKS TO KIRK DIAMOND,

FAIR,

BY CARLOS OSORIO

Cedella Marley was in Toronto for the launch of the Bob Marley One Love Experience a few days before the KIND Summer Fair and when we met she was adamant that hanging a Bob Marley poster in your basement isn’t enough to help out everyone in the struggle.

“It feels nice to know that Daddy is loved wherever we go, but I want people to not only just love him, but listen to him and act upon his words,” says Cedella, a member of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Maker’s, her brother’s Grammy Award-winning band. “For a lot of people living in the world today, the future’s not so bright and we have some work to do—dready’s got a job to do, know what I mean?”

The job that all cannabis lovers need to perform, according to Cedella, and myself, is to ride for those people still incarcerated for cannabis, while other people—generally white people—are free to profit from the flower. Cedella, whose son is Skip Marley, another Grammy Awardwinner, hails from the First Family of Music, and she’s seen up close the ravages inflicted upon communities, in Jamaica and abroad, from cannabis persecution.

“Legalization? It’s about time. Why do we have to hide the good things when the guys doing the bad things are doing them out in the open?” she says. “I don’t have time to mix words about the past. What I want, right now, is people to pay attention to the human rights struggle that’s happening all over the world where people are locked up for a little bit of herb, while other people, the people in power, are thinking about how to make dollars off it.”

Growing up, I listened to Bob Marley, naturally. And meeting his daughter, and having her meet my own daughter and my wife, feels like a thrill. The Bob Marley One Love Experience features all kinds of Bob memorabilia, handwritten setlists, his blue denim shirt, acoustic guitar, football trainers. Walking through it alongside Cedella and hearing her

stories about “Daddy,” as she refers to Bob, is inspiring. You can feel Bob’s presence at the show, and in Cedella’s golden words. “Daddy’s gone going on 41 years,” she says, “I had him for 13 years and what I keep to myself you’ll never know, that’s not on exhibition.”

Cedella says that her parents didn’t want her to follow in her footsteps and she had the same advice for her own kids. “Every single Jamaican has to have at least five jobs, you know that,” she says, “It’s a Jamaican thing.” I told her that she hails from the most musical family of all time, and she laughed. “I want some of the family to be lawyers,” she said. “My dad wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer, but, well, here I am.”

The Bob Marley One Love Experience motivated me for my performance at the KIND Summer Fair and Cedella Marley speaks deep truths echoing her father when it comes to weed. Don’t just hang up a Bob Marley poster and listen to Legend. Get involved in the struggle and eradicate the criminal records of anyone, anywhere, imprisoned for weed. “Everything to its time, but now that legalization is really here, the time has come to listen to Daddy, to actually listen to Bob Marley’s words, and let everyone be really, really free that’s associated with the ganja bush.”

“

Why do we have to hide the good things when the guys doing the bad things are doing them out in the open?

PET: LOLA OWNER: PETRINA

That’s gonna be CBD for me, dog.

Why CBD products are taking over the animal world.

BY GREG HUDSON

Setting aside the countless, obvious exceptions, humans love to share, especially with our friends and family. It’s basically the story of humanity. So ingrained is this desire for communal experience that we’re even compelled to share things with our loved ones that we know are objectively bad. “Here, smell me,” we say to our nearest loved one, “I stink, right?” We recommend restaurants, movies, self-care regimes, religions and probably— hopefully—cannabis products.

The same is mostly true when it comes to our furry friends and family—though some pleasures just don’t translate. Dogs don’t get much mileage out of restaurants or religion recommendations. They are, however, very interested when we share bacon, and our undivided attention. We can also share cannabis products

with our pups, so long as the cannabis product in question is CBD.

Because the distinction is important.

As even the most casual cannabis consumer will tell you, there are basically two ingredients (not the right term, but we’ll get into that) in cannabis that make it cannabis: CBD and THC. THC is toxic to dogs; CBD isn’t.

More than that, actually. According to a growing pile of research, CBD can be very, very good for your fur-baby. Not that this is news to the cannabis industry. But before you share your favourite CBD product with your, let’s face it, favourite family member, it might be prudent to ask a few questions. Which we have helpfully done for you.

How does this CBD stuff work again?

Do you mean in humans or in dogs?

Maybe start with humans.

Actually, that was a trick question. CBD works in us the same way it works for dogs and most mammals: via our endocannibinoid system. We have receptors tailor-made for the cannabinoids found in Cannabis, with different receptors effecting different results. And the endocannibinoid system has its fingers in all your body’s major business: your brain, stomach, skin, eyes, mood. That’s why cannabis has such a wide range of uses.

The two main cannabinoids in weed are THC and CBD. CBD doesn’t attach to all the same receptors as THC does. Specially, that’s why CBD isn’t psychotropic. You can get CBD from hemp. Reliable old, harmless hemp.

And so CBD is legitimately good for dogs? Why do I always feel cryptobro energy when I hear about CBD?

We get what you mean. When there isn’t a lot of regulation, things can get out of hand. Promises are made that can’t be backed up by the product. In the US especially, there is a wide range of quality and purity. And because there are so many uses for CBD, it can seem like snake oil, or a multivitamin.

Clinically, CBD has shown to be an effective pain treatment for dogs. It decreases inflammation and aids digestion. Anecdotally, it also seems to help dogs with anxiety, though more research is needed.

MELISSA L’S BEST

Can it cure cancer? Did I hear that about CBD, or am I thinking of something else?

There has been some positive results in that area—some people swear that a little CBD oil completely cured their pup—but nothing conclusive.

What should I look for when getting CBD for my dog?

Has the product been tested? Does it state how many milligrams of CBD it contains? Also, some CBD products are called full-spectrum, and others are termed CBD-isolate. Although the latter sounds more technical, full-spectrum products tend to be more effective, as they also contain other micro-cannabinoids that increase CBD’s effectiveness.

Do I have to give my dog CBD specifically formulated for dogs, or can we share a bottle of oil between us?

Because our endocannibanoid systems are so similar, your CBD won’t hurt your pup, but it might not be as effective as some that have been prepared with doggies in mind.

GH: What’s the legal status of CBD for pets...and is it all pets, or mostly just dogs?

JK: In Canada, the current cannabis regulations apply to ‘persons’ (humans) only. As such, veterinarians cannot legally prescribe or dispense medical cannabis to their patients. Recreational cannabis products are intended for human consumption only and are not approved for use in animals. Cannabinoids sold outside of these regulated medical/recreational pathways would be governed by the Food and Drugs Act, and therefore require approval from Health Canada. There are currently no prescription drugs containing cannabis that are approved for animal use in Canada,” says Dr. Justyna Kulpa, Senior Scientist, Human and Animal Research Program at Canopy Growth.

PET: BACON OWNER: TIANA BREED: MINIATURE SCHNAUZER

GH: Dr. Kulpa, do you think that will change anytime soon?

JK: Recently Health Canada’s ‘Science Advisory Committee on Health Products Containing Cannabis’ launched a veterinary subcommittee to review the scientific evidence for whether cannabis health products might be safe and

effective for animals. Their report suggests that while there is evidence to support the safe use of CBD in dogs at doses of 0.2-2 mg/kg orally twice daily, CBD administration should occur following consultation with a veterinarian. Data in other pet species (cats, horses) are limited. Whether these recommendations will be incorporated into future iterations of the Canadian cannabis regulations remains to be seen.

Kind

Elias Theodorou

BY JOSHUA NAGEL & BEN KAPLAN

Elias Theodorou was a kind soul, incredible athlete and a very special cannabis activist. He gave his time and energy to anyone and everyone in the cannabis community, while never asking for anything in return.

When we started KIND, Elias was always happy to help. He was the cover of our second edition, and helped us get off the ground, and come to round table discussions. Last year, when we made our first Health & Wellness guide, we gave Elias another spread. On the day of the shoot, passing joints around, he charmed everyone. He cited Muhammad Ali as his hero and had time for everyone. He was gracious, determined, fun-loving and just a cool guy to everyone lucky enough to cross his path. Elias was a giant, a trailblazer, and a stoner who subverted what that word even means.

We last saw Elias Theodorou in Las Vegas at a cannabis party and he was smiling from ear to ear. He looked great, as always, and we hugged. “I’m kind of high,” he said, and we laughed. “You look like a million dollars,” we told him, “Do you

ever get tired of fighting my friend?”

“I do,” he said, “But not until I finish my work.”

The “work” of Elias Theodorou was being the most beloved and hardworking cannabis activists in Canada. The first professional athlete to receive a medical exemption, he worked hard, not only in the gym and the ring—where he was a veteran of the UFC— but also in educating athletic commissions and athletes, and fighting for people’s rights and health. “With cannabis, hopefully I’ll be able to open the door for other athletes,” he once said. “I want to knock down the barrier between cannabis and sports.”

This issue is dedicated to Elias Theodorou, our friend, who helped us, who helped everybody, see the light.