Sensi Magazine - Orange County (April 2018)

OR A NGE C OUNT Y

THE NEW NORMAL

4.2018

SPECIAL

ISSUE

MUSIC SPECIAL REPORT

MARIJUANA

from Reefer Man to Method Man

ICONOGR A PHY of the FAN

LEAF

from Counterculture Symbol to Marketing Cliché

{PLUS} Remembering Dennis Peron 420 Events Listing Brew Hawg BBQ + More

dear BRADLEY

Tribute to Late Sublime Singer

Bradley Nowell

ISSUE 4 // VOLUME 1 // 04.2018

contents

FEATURES

26

SUBLIME TRIBUTE Memorial to LBC’s late music icon

16

Music & Marijuana: From Reefer Man to Method Man

22

Iconography of the Fan Leaf

26

Dear Bradley

SPECIAL REPORT

The combination of marijuana and music has a long history that’s worth exploring...and worth celebrating.

The pointy cannabis leaf, once a badge of the counterculture, may be in danger of becoming an overused marketing tool and cringe-worthy cliché in legal states.

An open letter to late Sublime singer Bradley Nowell from his former manager and friend Jon Phillips on what would have been his 50th birthday.

PHOTO CREDIT: BASIL CHILDERS

ISSUE

EVERY 5 Editor’s Note 6 TheBuzz 8 NewsFeed

REMEMBERING

DENNIS PERON

1 2 TasteBuds

BREW HAWG BBQ

ON THE COVER : SUBLIME SINGER BRADLEY NOWELL. IMAGE BY JOSH COFFMAN © JOSHPHOTO.NE T

3 2 {SoOC}

QUEEN MARY: ROYAL HIGHNESS

Sensi Orange County is published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC. © 2018 SENSI MEDIA GROUP LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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FOREFATHERS of

editor’s

420

NOTE

OTHER THAN IT’S ICONIC SEVEN-POINTED LEAF, THERE’S NO MORE UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED SYMBOL OF CANNABIS—AND THE CULTURE THAT SURROUNDS IT—THAN THE NUMBER 420.

Despite early confusion regarding its origin, the

nabis Buyer’s Club—the nation’s first cannabis col-

term 420 has been traced back over 40 years to a

lective, providing free medicine to those in need. It

group of teenagers known as The Waldos who would

was there that Peron, along with a cadre of patients,

meet each day after school at 4:20 to get high and

providers, politicos, and protestors drafted the his-

go hunting for a secret cannabis garden. This meet-

toric initiative called Proposition 215. In November

ing time quickly morphed into their secret code for

1996, after years of tireless effort by Peron and grass-

all things reefer-related. Over time, 420 was adopt-

roots organizations throughout the state, Prop 215

ed and propagated first by the Deadhead commu-

was voted into law—beginning the era of medical

nity and then High Times magazine, until eventually,

marijuana in America.

it evolved beyond the stoner subculture and into the

Sadly, Peron passed away earlier this year—mere

mainstream mindscape. That’s why, each year on April

weeks after the legalization that his dedication and

20, millions of cannabis enthusiasts around the world

sacrifices paved the way for went into effect. So regard­

gather together to toke up, speak out and get down.

less of how you choose to celebrate the high holiday,

Yes, believe it or not, it all began at a high school in

I hope you’ll join me in a moment of silence at 2 :15

San Rafael, California back in 1971.

p.m. to honor the memory of our community’s fallen

Meanwhile, around the same time as The Waldos were inadvertently birthing the greatest marijuana meme of all time, a gay Vietnam veteran named Dennis Peron was restarting his life as a hippie pot

founding father.

Happy 4/20 everyone.

Highest regards,

dealer just across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Peron transformed his apartment into a sort of cannabis commune, where like-minded people could socialize, organize, cop a lid and get high.

That space served as the inspiration for what would two decades later become the San Francisco Can-

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sensimag.com APR I L 2018 5

THE NE W N O R M A L

sensi

concert

CALENDAR A brief listing of some of the top shows in and around Orange County this month.

4/2 The Dickies, The Queers — The

Observatory

4/4 Arlo Guthrie — The Coach House 4/6 New Jack City Jam Feat. K-Ci & JoJo, Tony

Toni Tone, Color Me Badd, Al B. Sure — Long Beach Terrace Theater 4/7 The Breeders — The Observatory

4/8 Coastal Country Jam Feat. Toby Keith Huntington Beach Pier 4/12 Princess Nokia — The Observatory 4/13 In This Moment — House of Blues

Anaheim

4/13 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Feat. The Weeknd — Empire Polo Club, Indio 4/14 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Feat. Beyonce — Empire Polo Club, Indio

4/15 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Feat. Eminem — Empire Polo Club, Indio 4/14 Nightwish - City National Grove of

Anaheim

4/16 Migos — The Observatory 4/17 First Aid Kit — The Observatory 4/20 Saxon - City National Grove of Anaheim 4/20 Dashboard Confessional, Beach Slang —

House of Blues Anaheim

4/20 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Feat. The Weeknd — Empire Polo Club, Indio 4/21 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Feat. Beyonce — Empire Polo Club, Indio

4/22 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Feat. Eminem — Empire Polo Club, Indio 4/22 ZZ Top — House of Blues Anaheim

4/27 Stagecoach Festival Feat. Florida Georgia

Line, Jake Owen — Empire Polo Club, Indio

4/28 Stagecoach Festival With Keith Urban,

Kacey Musgraves — Empire Polo Club, Indio 4/29 Stagecoach Festival Feat. Garth Brooks,

Trisha Yearwood — Empire Polo Club, Indio 4/28 Black Uhuru — Tiki Bar 6 Orange County A P R I L 2018

the

buzz

HIGH HOLIDAY 4/20 FESTIVITIES

What began with a nerdy group of San Rafael teenagers calling themselves The Waldos meeting to search for a lost pot garden after school back in 1971 has since evolved into a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Today, the number 420 has become synonymous with cannabis, making 4:20 the preferred time of day to toke up and April 20 (4/20) the official day of education and celebration for cannabis lovers everywhere. As the legalization of both medical and recreational cannabis has continued to expand, so too have the 4/20 celebrations. The secret seshes of the past have fast been replaced by huge, sophisticated and legally permitted events filled with music, food, seminars, and, of course, designated smoking areas. And while each of these gatherings is different, there’s one aspect they all share: a countdown to that magical moment at precisely 4:20 p.m. when the cheers of revelers and billowy clouds of smoke fill the air.

What follows is a rundown of some of the more prominent gatherings taking place to mark the high holiday here in California. As well as in the rest of the country and the world. Regardless of where you decide to spend your 4/20 this year, we wish you a safe and stony good time.

- KEIKO BEATIE THE HIGH TIMES CANNABIS CUP Where: National Orange Show Fair Grounds // Lori Ajax.

San Bernardino When: April 20–22 // PSCFF.JACKALYST.COM What: High Times’ flagship event is back in Bernardino with A-List musical guests, a multitude VIP CANNASEXUAL COUPLES’ INTIMACY of vendors and a celebratory 420 countdown at WEEKEND 4:20 pm each day.

Where: Sacramento When: April 20–22 // CANNABISCUP.COM What: Presented by Dr. Shameless and CannaSexual Ashley Manta, this cannabis-filled HER ROYAL HIGHNESS sensual weekend will include two nights in a Where: Queen Mary // Long Beach historic bed and breakfast, an infused dinner, What: The historic ship hosts a 420 party for and intimacy building activities, workshops, and the first time, with education, food, vendors, exercises. and music. Sponsored by OC NORML. When: April 20–22 // ELEVATEDINTIMACY.COM When: April 20, 12 p.m.–11:30 p.m.

FB.COM/HERROYALHIGHNESS420 420 IN THE PARK Where: Hippy Hill // Golden Gate Park, San CANNABIS VILLAGE Francisco Where: EarthFair // Balboa Park, San Diego What: Sharon Meadows—a.k.a. Hippy Hill—is What: CannaVillage at EarthFair 2018 is one of the traditional site for one of California’s lonthe largest cannabis events in San Diego. Note: gest running public gatherings celebrating this is a non-consumption event. If you plan to 4/20. Food vendors, bathrooms, security, and medicate, do so discretely and respectfully. emergency medical personnel will be there.

When: April 22, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. // CANNABIS There’s also a Hippie Hill concert by rapper BerPROFESSIONALS.ORG/CANNABISVILLAGE ner happening at the nearby Bill Braham Civic Auditorium.

THE PALM SPRINGS CANNABIS FILM FES- When: April 20, 9 a.m.–Dusk TIVAL & SUMMIT 420HIPPIEHILL.COM Where: Camelot Theatres // 2300 East Baristo Rd., Palm Springs HEMPCON What: This new film festival seeks to erode ste- Where: Cow Palace // San Francisco reotypes and clichés around cannabis and pro- What: One of Cali’s biggest, most popular canmote positive discussion. The lineup features nabis festivals returns to the Bay Area with screenings of feature, short, and documentary vendors, performers, seminars, and of course a films, social gatherings, and educational panels medicating section. and speakers—including a keynote address by When: April 20–22, Hours vary California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control chief, HEMPCON.COM/2018-420

CINEMA BY THE SEA

For nearly 20 years now, the Newport Beach Film Festival has been bringing the glitz and glamour of Tinsel Town down to the OC, with epic opening and closing night galas, seminars and panel discussions with filmmakers, an awards ceremony and reception, and screenings of over 350 films at multiple locations around the city. Nicknamed “Cannes on the Beach,” the eight-day festival showcases some of the best new films of the year spanning a wide variety of lengths, formats, and genres—including international titles from up to 50 different countries, independent and student films, music videos and shorts, and even a few rom-coms and horror flicks. Past presentations have included acclaimed films such as The Illusionist, Mad Hot Ballroom, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, (500) Days of Summer, and even Oscar-winning docs like The Cove and Born into Brothels…not to mention the US premiere of Crash and the directorial debuts of Hollywood heavyweights like Russell Crowe and Alan Rickman. The Fest typically attracts over 50,000 attendees, as well as a number of well-known directors and stars, such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, John Waters, Alan Arkin, Katherine Heigl, and many more.

All in all, the Newport Film Fest is an exciting opportunity to educate yourself on the art of filmmaking and expand your understanding of diverse cultures, all while enjoying an escape to the movies.

—KB NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL When: April 26–May 3 Where: Main Box Office 957 Newport Center Dr., Newport Beach NEWPORTBEACHFILMFEST.COM

sensimag.com APR I L 2018 7

{newsfeed}

DAVID BIENENSTOCK is the former Head of Content for High Times and a former columnist/producer for Vice Media. He is the author of How to Smoke Pot (Properly): A Highbrow Guide to Getting High and co-host of the new podcast Great Moments in Weed History with Abdullah & Bean.

by DAVID BIENENSTOCK

A look back at the life and times of one of the cannabis movement’s most fearless and effective leaders, Dennis Peron—a.k.a. the godfather of medical marijuana.

On January 27, mere weeks after the adult use of cannabis became officially legal in California, America lost perhaps its best known and best-loved cannabis activist, advocate, and evangelist—Dennis Peron. De-

syndrome,” as he later put it—but there wasn’t much around in those days, and it was pretty low quality.

All that changed, however, when he deployed to Vietnam in 1967.

spite facing personal tragedy, police oppression, and

“Saigon was filled with the sweet smell of marijuana,”

relentless political opposition throughout his life, he

Peron recounted. “The day I arrived, I saw lots of Amer-

raised the banner for cannabis liberation during some

ican soldiers turning on, smoking pot all over the place.”

of the darkest days of that struggle and lived long enough to see the beginning of the end of cannabis prohibition worldwide.

Cannabis would prove to be the saving grace of a horrific situation.

A closeted homosexual and a committed pacifist,

“The city and the country have lost a leader,” Ter-

Peron found himself in the middle of some of the con-

rance Alan, a longtime medical cannabis activist and

flict’s heaviest fighting, at a time when the US military

member of San Francisco’s Cannabis Commission said.

suffered staggering casualties. Pressed into combat,

“He lived his whole life on the edge, and that’s what al-

he not only refused to carry a gun, he intimated to his

lowed [California] to lead in cannabis. Not many people

superior officers that he’d be just as likely to shoot them

would have had the courage at the time that he took

as “the enemy.”As punishment, they put him to work

up the mantle.”

for 30 days stacking bodies at the morgue.

Although he would live to become almost synon-

“I was 20 years old. I’d never seen a dead person,”

ymous with West Coast cannabis, Dennis Peron was

he explained to journalist David Downs many decades

born in the Bronx, in 1946. The Italian-American son of a

later. “That month I saw 25,000 dead people. I came

computer programmer and a homemaker, he first tried

out of my closet and found out who I was.”

marijuana as a teenager—to relieve “parental stress 8 Orange County A P R I L 2018

As the Tet Offensive raged on around him and the

© Craig Lemire

REMEMBERING D E N N I S PE R ON

death count climbed, Peron consoled himself with the

fundraisers and political gatherings. Whether you want-

region’s plentiful, potent local cannabis and lost his

ed to eat at The Island or score herb at The Big Top,

virginity in a bunker with a fellow soldier. After serv-

you had to prove you were registered to vote already

ing another year in the war, and managing to remain

or sign up on the spot.

in one piece, he was discharged in December 1969.

As a parting gift, he stuffed two pounds of the high-

For Peron, pot and politics would always go handin-hand.

est grade cannabis he could find in Vietnam into his Air Force duffel bag and smuggled it home without a hitch.

FREEDOM FIGHTER

The proceeds from selling off those two pounds

In addition to his work as part of the nascent can-

helped him get settled in San Francisco and start a new

nabis liberation movement, Peron was also deep-

life for himself in the American city best known as a

ly involved in San Francisco’s push for gay rights. He

stronghold for gays and hippies. Being a gay hippie him-

worked closely with Harvey Milk, who would eventual-

self, he felt right at home for the first time in his life. Deep-

ly become the first openly gay person elected to public

ly scarred by his experiences in Vietnam, Peron vowed to

office in California. In fact, during his run for San Fran-

live fearlessly and to pursue happiness with a vigor.

cisco Board of Supervisors, Milk—who also advocated

To that end, he set up a crash pad/commune in a two-bedroom apartment and used it as a base of op-

for cannabis legalization—set up his campaign headquarters in a smoke-filled back room at the Island.

erations for Big Top—a kind of cannabis-dealing salon

In July 1977, however, just months before that

where interesting people from all walks of life came to

historic election, the San Francisco Narcotics Squad

socialize, organize, get high and purchase a nice sack

showed up unannounced and in full force at Peron’s

of cannabis to go. By 1974, his operations had ex-

pot paradise, determined to shut it down. They seized

panded to include The Island, a vegetarian health-food

200 pounds of cannabis and $8,000 in cash. During

restaurant in the heart of the Castro—San Francis-

the raid, Peron was shot in the leg, shattering his

co’s famed predominantly gay neighborhood—where

femur. Arrested along with 13 others, he remained

each patron was greeted with a free joint before sitting

undeterred. After the horrors of Vietnam, he always

down to eat. Housed in a renovated old storefront, The

claimed the police couldn’t scare him. In fact, he re-

Island exuded “shabby chic” charm, and drew a hip, bo-

portedly continued to sell cannabis from his bedside

hemian, cannabis-friendly clientele.

while recovering at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

“It was the only restaurant in the world where mar-

During a break in the ensuing trial, Peron approached

ijuana smoking was not just allowed, but nearly man-

the officer who’d shot him. “Hey sweetheart, I like your

datory,” Peron quipped.

shoes,” he taunted the virulently macho narc.

While the restaurant hummed downstairs, the Big

The officer responded with a string of anti-gay

Top’s expanded retail space turned the upstairs into a

slurs, then told Peron he wished he’d shot him dead.

three-ring cannabis dealing emporium.

As a result of this outburst, the officer’s testimony was

“It was kind of one-stop shopping,” according to the

thrown out of court, and the charges were lowered.

Big Top’s ringmaster. “Baskets of pot. No Waiting. You

Still, Peron spent six months in prison. In a letter to High

could tell [the hostesses] what you wanted, and they

Times penned from behind bars, he remained ever op-

would give it to you: Colombian, Cambodian, whatever.

timistic and committed to the cause.

About 200 to 300 people a day came. I treated them with respect and gave them their money’s worth. It was like a dream. People loved it.”

“Watch the light from San Francisco,” he wrote, “it will light up the world.”

While still incarcerated, he began planning a cam-

Operating openly but outside the law for almost three

paign for a local ballot initiative that would stop San

years, this cannabis wonderland served as a kind of

Francisco authorities from arresting and prosecuting

stoned community space and organizing hub, hosting

people who “cultivate, transfer or possess marijuana.” sensimag.com APR I L 2018 9

The proposition passed by a wide margin. San Fran-

again. This time, 10 officers armed with sledgehammers

cisco Mayor George Moscone subsequently instruct-

performed a no-knock raid on Peron’s home in the

ed the city’s police force to ignore minor cannabis of-

Castro. As they searched his apartment for drugs, Per-

fenses, but this and many other reforms evaporated

on sought to protect his longterm partner, Jonathan

on November 27, 1978—the day Mayor Moscone

West, who was gravely ill with AIDS. After the raid re-

and Harvey Milk were assassinated by a homophobic

covered only four ounces of cannabis, one of the offi-

ex-police officer.

cers put his boot on West’s neck and taunted him with anti-gay jokes. Then they hauled Peron off to booking, THE BUYER’S CLUB

leaving his bedridden partner alone and terrified.

Throughout the 1980s, as the AIDS crisis spread

Sitting in a holding cell, Peron thought of Jonathan—

and grew more deadly, Dennis Peron worked tirelessly

scared and in pain, without any cannabis to quell his

to advocate for medical cannabis as a compassionate,

symptoms—and vowed to create a place in San Fran-

palliative response. With San Francisco’s gay commu-

cisco where anyone suffering from a severe illness could

nity reeling from the widening health crisis, and Peron

come, access cannabis, and form a community of mu-

still at the center of the city’s cannabis scene, he very

tual support. Jonathan lived just long enough to testify

quickly realized that the anti-nausea, pain relief, and

at Peron’s trial. Frail and in obvious physical agony, his

appetite stimulation cannabis provide can often literally

story moved the judge to throw out the case and ad-

be the difference between life and death. Not content

monish the arresting officers.

to merely advocate for legalization, he also worked to supply AIDS patients with cannabis directly.

Then, on January 27, 1990, the narcs came calling

10 Orange County A P R I L 2018

Public opinion also swung heavily in favor of medical cannabis at this time. Peron seized the moment by opening the San Francisco Cannabis Buyer’s Club. Al-

though he still risked arrest and prosecution, this time

nabis—all happened at the Buyer’s Club, where Peron

he had the tacit approval of City Hall to run a nonprofit

brought together medical cannabis patients and pro-

collective dedicated to supplying cannabis to the seri-

viders with academics, politicos, and activists eager to

ously ill for free or at a steep discount. Patrons had to

join forces on the historic effort.

produce photo ID and a doctor’s recommendation to

In 1996, Prop 215 made the ballot through a valiant

enter. The menu featured a wide selection of organic

effort of this core group and a grassroots movement

cannabis, plus edibles, tinctures, topicals, and health

throughout California. In response, just months before

food. In addition to the retail counter, there were plen-

voters decided on the issue, a hundred heavily armed

ty of places to make yourself comfortable and share

police officers raided the Buyer’s Club, busting open

some cannabis with friends or friendly strangers.

the front door with a battering ram. But their oppres-

“Marijuana is part of it, but a big part of healing is not being alone,” Peron explained.

sive action backfired, pushing many previously undecided voters to support medical cannabis.

The San Francisco Buyer’s Club also served as a hub

On Election Day, Prop 215 passed by a wide margin.

for the ascending cannabis movement’s political cam-

For another 20 years, the authorities—both state and

paigns. After passing a series of ever more ambitious

federal—would continue to push back against medical

local ballot initiatives, Peron at last set his sights on

cannabis, but the herbal resistance just kept fighting to

the big prize: A statewide proposition to make med-

defend and expand the rights of patients and provid-

ical cannabis legal and accessible for anyone with a

ers. And so, Dennis Peron’s legacy is a world where ev-

doctor’s recommendation. The earliest efforts to draft

ery adult in California can buy and consume cannabis,

what became Proposition 215—the California Com-

and support for legalization is higher nationwide than

passionate Use Act, allowing the use of medical can-

for almost any other political issue.

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{tastebuds}

by BOBBY BLACK with KEIKO BEATIE

CHEF MIKE COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF Brew Hawg BBQ’s Chef Mike Delao is a pit master with a pot pedigree.

Whether it’s a rack of fall-off-the-bone ribs, some

and baby back). For vegetarians, there’s faux beef and

seared beef brisket, or some spicy-sweet chicken

chicken, or tofurky kielbasa. As for sides, they have all

wings, the smoky, saucy allure of good Southern-style

of the classics here as well, including baked beans,

barbecue is hard to resist. Even if you don’t eat meat,

peanut slaw, tater salad, a coconut cream corn, and

odds are your mouth still waters at the thought of

one of the creamiest macaroni and cheeses you’ll ever

some slow-stewed jackfruit pulled “pork” or smoked

eat (see sidebar). In fact, best-seller “The Duke” even

pseudo-sausage. Hell, I bet your mouth is watering

has mac and cheese right inside the sandwich. As for

right now just reading this. If so, have we got the place

the “brew” in Brew Hawg, well, that’s the fresh root

for you: tucked away off Tustin Boulevard in the town

beer they brew—the perfect refreshment to accom-

of Orange is a thick slice of barbecue nirvana known as

paniment your meal (especially with a scoop of vanilla

Brew Hawg BBQ & Root Beer Co.

ice cream). With a menu like that, the restaurant had

Opened in 2014, Brew Hawg is a charming little

always had a solid clientele. But it wasn’t until 2016

eatery with a down-home feel—almost as if you were

when they brought in their new partner that the busi-

stepping into the kitchen of a farmhouse. The restau-

ness really started cooking. That man behind the meat

rant offers all of the usual staples you’d expect from a

here at Brew Hawg is Chef Mike Delao—an OC native

quality barbecue joint: for sandwiches and entrées,

who’s been combining his passions for cannabis and

there’s pulled pork, smoked and pulled chicken, beef

cuisine for the past 15 years.

brisket and tri-tip, smoked sausages and hot links, and

Delao studied culinary arts at Orange Coast College.

as three different styles of ribs (St. Louis, Angus beef,

After graduating in 2003, he worked as a protégé’ to

12 Orange County A P R I L 2018

and getting strung out on opiates.” Like many other new cannabis patients, he preferred edibles to smoked flowers or concentrates but couldn’t find any up to his standards. “As soon as I got my paperwork, I went to the first collective, OC Collective, and their cookies tasted horrible. They were using schwaggy Mexican bud. So I told them I’d work for free—for cookies, basically—if they would just let me make them.”

Delao began putting his culinary skills to use crafting a variety of medicated cookies and other small treats, using full-spectrum cannabis oil (a.k.a. RSO) he was distilling himself. At first, crafting these medibles was

RACK ‘EM UP

If Friday the 13 is an unlucky day in your mind, let your stomach do the thinking. The notorious day/month mashup is a very lucky day for meat lovers, because every Friday the 13, Brew Hawg holds a huge rib sale. All day, the mouth-watering, fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs are offered for less than half price—only $13 a rack. On Friday, April 13, Brew Hawg will be smoking around 750 racks for thrifty, hungry patrons, but plan on getting there early to get in on the deal. It’s only available on a first-come, first-serve basis and they will sell out. If you don’t get there before they do, it may be a very unlucky day after all.

just a personal side project—a way for him to help himself and other local patients in need. But everything changed in 2004 when he met his idol, legalization icon Jack Herer, at a NORML conference. The two hit it off, and Delao essentially became Jack’s cookie dealer—supplying sugar-free, medicated treats to his diabetic friend. After Herer’s heart attack in late 2009, Delao sent him cannabis oil to help with his recovery.

With Jack’s encouragement, Delao decided to start his own cannabis catering company. Delao quickly became very popular in the cannabis community, and found his services and expertise in high demand by several organizations and events. He began writing a food blog

celebrity chef Joachim Splichal of the Patina Group

for High Times and offering cooking demos at their

(named “Best California Chef” by the James Beard

events. He earned rave reviews from Women Grow of

Foundation in 1991), under whose tutelage he honed

Orange County, whose regular meetings at Weedmaps

his craft. After worked at a few of Patina’s properties,

he sponsored for close to a year. He served as an edi-

he went on to become the Lead Saute cook at Naples

ble judge for both the Cannabis Cup and Chalice. He

Ristorante in Downtown Disneyland, then executive chef

even contributed recipes to The High Times Cannabis

for an Embassy Suites in Irvine. What these corporate

Cookbook and The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook.

kitchens didn’t realize, however, was that Delao had

As Delao’s reputation grew, so did the media atten-

been secretly self-medicating with cannabis. After be-

tion he received. He’s been featured in the New York

ing diagnosed with a pinched nerve in his shoulder in

Times and the Wall Street Journal, and on both CNN and

2001, he was prescribed heavy doses of Vicodin and

ABC World News. But his most significant media rela-

Soma and began “eating them like candy.” Wary that he

tionship developed in 2009, when his connection to

was heading back down the destructive path of addic-

Herer helped get him the position of resident chef for

tion (more on that later), he chose instead to abandon

Cannabis Planet TV.

his prescriptions and instead try medical marijuana.

“It just made sense,” remembers Brad Lane, the

“I went to one of Orange County’s first [medical

show’s creator and executive producer. “I had always

marijuana] doctors, Doctor Denney, and he and gave

envisioned that Cannabis Planet was simply an exten-

me a recommendation,” Delao recalls. “He said I was a

sion of Jack Herer’s work to educate the masses about

perfect candidate because I was working 15 hour days

the uses of this plant as food, fuel, fiber, and medicine, sensimag.com APR I L 2018 13

and since Delao was already working with Jack, he was a natural fit.”

In fact, it was Delao’s devotion to Herer and his ideals that led him to leave his well-paying job at Embassy Suites to go all-in on cannabis cooking and take Cannabis Planet up on its offer.

“They said there wasn’t going to be any pay, but I couldn’t say no,” Delao states. “I promised Jack that I would help tell the world about hemp, and now I was being given this national platform to talk about what Jack had been teaching me. So, I risked my whole career and just said fuck it.”

Despite any hardships that decision may have cost him, Deleo swears he has no regrets. “I love my time on the show, and the feedback I get from people who appreciate the cooking and information we offer is so rewarding.”

“Chef Mike’s cooking segment shows our viewers how to fit cannabis into their daily lives, both with hemp and THC,” Lane adds. “It’s always been a very popular segment.”

According to Lane, Cannabis Plant TV currently has over 17 million viewers across the country and is ever expanding. Already available in

MIKE'S {Medicated}

MAC & CHEESE Chef Mike shares his personal recipe for one of the creamiest macaroni and cheese dishes ever, as served at his restaurant Brew Hawg. Delicious, either virgin or medicated. * 1 Cup Elbow Macaroni * 2 Tbsp Cannabutter * 1 Tbsp Butter * 1 Cup Heavy Cream * ¼ Cup Parmesan Cheese * ¼ Cup Cheddar Shredded Cheddar * ¼ Cup Shredded Gruyere * ¼ Cup Shredded Fontina * ½ Cup Milk * 2 Tbsp Minced Onion * 1 Clove Garlic, Minced * Seas Salt and Black Pepper (to taste) · Boil pasta according to the directions on your packaging. · As the pasta is boiling, add one tablespoon butter, minced onion and garlic to a sauté pan and cook until translucent. · Once the onion and garlic are cooked, add heavy cream and heat until it starts to boil, then turn down to medium heat and stir. (The goal is to reduce the heavy cream by half. Just take your time and stir it so it doesn’t burn.) · Once the cream is reduced, add the cannabutter and the four cheeses and whisk until smooth. · The sauce will get thick, so stir in the milk to gently thin it back down. Then add the pasta, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir until well mixed and hot. · Optional: If you like, you can bake the dish in the oven at 300 for 15 minutes to get the top crispy. · Spoon into bowl or dish and serve.

Tip: If you don’t know how to make your own cannabutter, don’t let that stop you. A quick online search will turn up a ton of instructional articles and videos, including the “How to Make Cannabutter” video on thecannabist.co featuring Ricardo Baca, current Sensi columnist and former editor in chief of the Cannabist.

14 Orange County A P R I L 2018

Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Palm Beach, the station is awaiting approval to extend its broadcasting into San Francisco, Las Vegas, Honolulu, and other major metropolitan markets. With that kind of media exposure, it’s no wonder why Brew Hawg’s business is booming. Ever since they began marketing to the cannabis community, they’ve frequently had lines out the door.

And without a doubt, a part of that success is due to the vibrant, tangy secret sauce Delao created—a cannabis-infused coulis he calls Sweet Jay’s BBQ sauce. Initially, a mediated version of Sweet Jay’s with an infusion of THC-A was available to patients. But unfortunately, since the new adult use regulations went into effect on January 1, Delao is no longer allowed to produce or sell his signature sauce or other medibles legally; due to circumstances beyond his control, he has been unable thus far to secure the necessary legal and financial backing to obtain a license. But with the rising successes of Brew Hawg and Cannabis Planet TV, Delao expects that to change real soon. In fact, he has even grander ambitions for the future.

“My goal is to have a ‘Bud and Breakfast’ where people can come stay, learn about cannabis, and enjoy infused meals,” he says with a smile. “If people are in need of healing, we could offer the right medication, information, and environment to help them get better.”

Delao believes that his heartfelt desire to help people springs from two sources: the first being a strong sense of empathy with others who are suffering. From that pinched nerve that first led him to medical cannabis back in 2001, to the severe hernia he suffered just last year, he’s endured a number of surgeries and health issues over the years and suffered great pain of his own. The second source is the sense of guilt he feels over the pain he believes he’s caused others in the past. What’s more, he views whatever hardships he’s faced as a form of karmic payback for what he perceives to be the sins of his youth.

“I was an asshole back in high school,” he confesses. “I abused the shit out of my body. I was a hard drinker, I was a tweaker, I was a raver, I used to sell ecstasy. I was the one all of the parents were like, ‘Stay away from this guy.’ All my life I’ve beaten myself up over it, which is probably why I want to help people. Now instead of ‘Stay away from this guy,’ it’s ‘Call Mike—he can save us.’ So yeah…this is all penance. It’s all the universe telling me, ‘You lived that life, so now you’re going to help people.’”

And help people he has. Delao’s kindness and compassion toward those in need are inspiring (and his food is damn good). For him, educating others about the benefits of cannabis and cooking—the two great passions that he credits with saving his life—is truly a labor of love.

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{ Phone} (718) 502–4053 // brewhawg.com // sweetjaysbbq.com sensimag.com APR I L 2018 15

MUSIC & MARIJUANA The Musical Muse: From REEFER MAN to METHOD MAN

#thenewnormal

by LELAND RUCKER

The combination of MARIJUANA and MUSIC is as old as time. There’s something about the elevating effects of cannabis that take LYRICAL APPRECIATION to new heights, and the combo has a long history that’s worth exploring. And worth celebrating.

Where there's MUSIC, there's often CANNABIS. GANJA AND SONG SEEM TO CROSS ALL BORDERS. TODAY MORE THAN EVER. THE OCTOGENARIAN COUNTRY ICON WILLIE NELSON (“ROLL ME UP AND SMOKE ME WHEN I DIE”) IS PEDDLING HIS BRANDED WILLIE’S RESERVE STRAINS JUST AS HE DOES HIS ALBUMS. YOU CAN PICK UP A COUPLE GRAMS OF KHALIFA KUSH TO ENJOY ALONGSIDE THE LATEST WIZ KHALIFA RECORD, AND SNOOP DOGG AND THE CHILDREN OF BOB MARLEY ALL HAVE THEIR OWN BRANDS. EVEN COUNTRY SUPERSTAR TOBY KEITH, THE BIG DOG DADDY HIMS E L F , L A S T F A L L R E L E A S E D “ W A C K Y T O B A C C Y ,” A N O T - S O - S U B T L E W E E D E N D O R S E M E N T .

16 Orange County A P R I L 2018

It’s really no secret. Musicians love marijuana. Always have. I have spoken with many of them about it over the years. Some love to perform while under the influence, others only for composing, and many like to do both. As guitarist and oud master Neil Haverstick, who uses it for creativity, puts it: “I surprise myself. And that is the key word: surprise. I am often able to create new shapes, patterns, something that did not previously exist. And I assure you that, for many artists, that's the greatest moment of all—the moment of discovery.”

Or as Louis Armstrong, and we’ll get back to him in a bit, told his biographer, “We always looked at pot as a sort of medicine, a cheap drunk and with much better thoughts than one that’s full of liquor.”

Not surprisingly, it’s not only musicians. Many people who listen to music like it even better after a little ele-

REGGAE {&}CANNABIS FOR MOST LISTENERS, REGGAE AND CANNABIS ARE A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN. Even more than jazz or rock or hip-hop, reggae music has always been associated with marijuana, mostly because of its association with Rastafari, a loosely defined religion and social movement developed in Jamaica in the 1930s that celebrates a god named Jah who lives inside humans. Many Rastas believe that Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian emperor from 1930-1974, was the reincarnation of God on earth.

More importantly in this context, Rastas consider cannabis as a sacrament. Its most famous musical disciple was Bob Marley, an ardent Rasta who became an international musical star and celebrity, who talked openly about his marijuana use and was often pictured with a large spliff between his fingers.

Americans caught onto the music in the 1970s, and there were plenty of ready/steady musicians on the island to accommodate the growing taste for the music. Reggae today is considered world music and still almost perfect for enjoying with cannabis. —LR

vation. And if you don’t, you know somebody who does.

Keith’s “Wacky Tobaccy” represents perhaps the

Besotho people who settled there:

complete mainstreamization of marijuana songs,

We smoke it and it reminds us of different things.

and the most recent example of how music about

We remember the miracles of the world.

cannabis has always reflected the culture in which

We remember those far and near.

it is created. Here’s a guy who’s as all-American as

We remember.

they come, who’s known for his patriotic songs, and on the video for “Wacky,” Keith and his boys are grin-

The Jazz Age: Vipers and Reefer Men

nin’ and tokin’ on the tour bus just like Snoop or Dr.

Perhaps the first popular song to be upfront about

Dre or Uncle Willie Nelson (who appears in the video)

cannabis in the United States was “Have You Ever

might.

Met That Funny Reefer Man?” The tune, a.k.a. “The

You can bake it in some brownies, smoke it through a bong

Reefer Man,” ostensibly about a guy, obviously stoned, who “trades dimes for nickels and calls watermelon

Roll up a great big fat one like ol’ Cheech and Chong

pickles,” was performed by Cab Calloway in the 1933

Burn it through a hole in a can of Budweiser

film “International House” and is still popular. Like-

If you can't take the heat, son, vaporizer.

wise, jazz violinist Stuff Smith, playing off the Har-

Before Recording: The Smoking of Dagga It hasn’t always been out in the open like that. Before sound could be recorded, there are, of course, no

lem term for a pot user, had a regional hit with his “You’se a Viper,” in 1936, and it became perhaps the best-known cannabis song after pianist Fats Waller became the first of many to record it in 1943.

concrete examples of pot songs. But to imagine that

What we know of the connection of jazz and can-

marijuana was first used by musicians after they

nabis in that period comes at least in part from the

started recording in the last 100 years sounds pretty

autobiography of Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, a white

unrealistic, right?

clarinetist better known for his pot dealing during

We know there was music for the Parisian elite

the 1930s than for his own musical prowess. Mez-

that included Charles Baudelaire and Alexandre Du-

zrow was an odd fellow who considered himself a

mas, who came to Club des Hashischins for séances

black man, even getting himself placed in the black

and hashish experiments. Cannabis historian Chris

prison ward after being arrested in 1937. But his writ-

Bennett has found written records of dervish sects

ing about how cannabis was intertwined with jazz

and African tribes with music dedicated to hashish.

reached far beyond his own generation.

A 1913 report, “The smoking of dagga (Indian hemp)

Mezzrow’s book included passages like this one,

among the native races of South Africa and the resul-

recounting a dancing woman at a party: “The rhythm

tant evils,” included a cannabis smoking song of the

really had this queen; her eyes almost jumped out of sensimag.com APR I L 2018 17

their sockets and the cords in her neck stood out stiff and hard like ropes.”

Lyrics like “The Reefer Man” and comments like that also drew the attention of Harry Anslinger, who, upon being appointed director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930, began waging a campaign of arrests and disinformation against cannabis that lasted several decades. By all accounts a nasty piece of work, Anslinger peddled the cockamamie story that jazz musicians on marijuana were creating extra beats in the music that were making listeners, like the Mezzrow woman depicted above, go crazy. As silly as this seems today, Anslinger was able to use it to harass black musicians, especially those who flouted him.

Then there was Louie Armstrong, who began using it in the 1920s and whose affinity for the plant became legendary. Though busted a couple of times, he somehow escaped Anslinger’s wrath—I even found a clip of him joking about getting high while a contestant on the 1960s TV quiz show What’s My Line.

“One reason why we appreciated pot, as y’all calls it now, the warmth it always brought forth from the other person—especially the ones that lit up a good stick of that ‘shuzzit’ or gage,” Armstrong once said. Anyone who has shared a joint at a concert with the stranger next to you surely can appreciate exactly what Armstrong was talking about.

But relatively speaking, during World War II and beyond there were few references to cannabis in popular song. General public acceptance for cannabis was at a low. But jazz culture, and Mezzrow’s book, caught the attention of others, like influential poet Allen Ginsberg, writer Jack Kerouac, and others of the socalled Beat Generation, who picked up on his language and style, which they found wasn’t that different from their fledging, marijuana-influenced writings.

The 1960s and Beyond: Everybody Must Get Stoned Perhaps the most important beneficiary of the Beats was Robert Zimmerman, who changed his name to Bob Dylan after moving to New York in 1961 and became close friends with Allen Ginsberg soon afterwards. (That’s Ginsberg hanging in the alleyway behind Dylan in his iconic video for “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”) One early song, “Mr. Tambourine Man,” seemed to many listeners to be about someone under the influence (“Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship/My senses have been stripped, my hands can’t feel to grip/My toes too numb to step”), especially after it became a massive hit for the Byrds in the summer of 1965.

Less than a year later, his own single, “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35,” with its leering, wheezing horn chorus screaming “everybody must get stoned,” reached No. 2 on the US charts, which, not surprisingly, most listeners took as an appeal to indulge. Interestingly enough, neither song mentions cannabis, but both were immediately and have been forever associated with it.

The floodgates opened, and as the youth counterculture embraced rock and roll as its music of choice, those musicians began writing and recording songs about cannabis. For anyone growing up then, there seemed to be a tune for every situation. Anyone growing up back then knew exactly what Commander Cody was talking about when he sang about being down to “Seeds and Stems Again,” or what an “Illegal Smile,” as described by folkie John Prine, looked like in the mirror. High-end strains like Panama Red and Acapulco Gold were celebrated in song, and titles like “Don’t Bogart That Joint” became buzzwords.

Country star Merle Haggard even penned a reaction to the hippies’ cultural dominance, and “Okie From Muskogee” (“a place where even squares can have a ball”) became a monster hit in 1969. Most listeners never realized that the song’s point of view was written tongue-in-cheek by Haggard, a user himself, who in 18 Orange County A P R I L 2018

2015 wrote and sang, with Willie Nelson, “It’s All Going to Pot.”

{high-minded}MEDLEYS JAZZ //Compiled by LELAND RUCKER 1 “Have You Ever Seen the Funny Reefer Man,” Cab Calloway and his Orchestra 2 “You’se a Viper,” Fats Waller 3 “When I Get Low I Get High,” Chick Webb & His Orchestra 4 “Here Comes The Man with the Jive,” Stuff Smith & his Onyx Club Boys 5 “Wacky Dust,” Ella Fitzgerald & the Chick Webb Orchestra REGGAE

Compiled by JOHN LJFRESH GRAY 1. “Easy Skanking,” Bob Marley 2. “Smoke Two Joints,” Sublime 3. “Come Around,” Collie Buddz 4. “Police in Helicopter,” John Holt 5. “Unda Mi Sensi,” Barrington Levy

HIP-HOP

Compiled by JOHN LJFRESH GRAY 1. “I Got 5 On It,” Luniz 2. “The Weed Song,” Bone Thugs ‘N’ Harmony 3. “The Recipe,” Kendrick Lamar 4. “Mary Jane,” Rick James 5. “Blueberry Yum Yum,” Ludacris

ROCK AND ROLL //Compiled by LELAND RUCKER 1 “Planet of Weed,” Fountains of Wayne 2 “One Toke Over the Line,” Brewer & Shipley 3 “Seeds and Stems (Again),” Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen 4 “Illegal Smile,” John Prine 5 “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35,” Bob Dylan Nelson is his own story, and except for perhaps Bob Marley, the most iconic marijuana character of all time. He worked the outside fringes of the country music industry for a couple of decades, living off a couple of standards he wrote while his career went nowhere, before finally chucking Nashville for Austin, where he hooked up with a nascent batch of other similarly minded, former Nashville has-beens and wanna-bes like Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson who became known as leaders of the Outlaw movement.

Today, at 84, Nelson is arguably the best-known musician espousing the new normal, a common-sense voice for cannabis, seniors, and sensible drug laws. As he puts it, marijuana won’t kill you “unless you let a bale of it fall on you.”

Hip-Hop: Snoop, Wiz and Cypress Hill With the ascendance of hip-hop as the dominant music form in the US, marijuana made the complete transition to the mainstream. Before hip-hop, there was generally always the wink and the clever turn of phrase to alert those in the know to what was going on.

That went totally out the door with hip-hop. Using the relatively new medium of video—which debuted on MTV in 1981—hip-hop musicians ran with it. Everybody was hitting the blunts and the bongs and celebrating the wicked weed in song and rhyme, all in front of the camera. Rappers and reefer became synonymous.

Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Method Man and bands like Cypress Hill built their songs, recordings and live shows around cannabis use. That hasn’t stopped, and today rappers who deny cannabis use are in the minority. The smell of cannabis can be detected at nearly every live music event—trance and EDM to country—especially in states where cannabis is legal. “Wacky Tobaccy” rules. The reefer man has become the method man. Cannabis and music have finally come full circle, and perhaps we have reached a time when they are just indicative of #thenewnormal.

“It has a lot to do with calming the nerves,” good old Louie Armstrong once said, “which makes the creative juices flow a little easier.” Snoop Dogg adds, “It makes me feel the way I need to feel.” May it ever be so.

sensimag.com APR I L 2018 19

20 Orange County A P R I L 2018

iconogr a phy OF THE FAN LEAF: FAN

Leaf?

NOT A

OF THE

by ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE

The pointy cannabis leaf, ONCE A BADGE OF THE COUNTERCULTURE, MAY BE IN DANGER OF BECOMING AN OVERUSED MARKETING TOOL AND CRINGE-WORTHY CLICHÉ IN LEGAL STATES—BUT IT’S OUR ICON, AND WE’RE STUCK WITH IT. LET’S LEAD WITH TASTE AND RESPECT.

I own two pieces of clothing with cannabis leaves

When I visit my family and friends in the conserva-

on them: warm, fuzzy socks that were a gift from a

tive Midwestern state where I grew up, I leave those

dear friend and a three-year-old Women Grow t-shirt,

items at home. I’m a sissy rebel—or maybe no rebel at

vintage in this young industry and soft from many

all—because I wear them only in legal states, where

washings. I love wearing both in Colorado and Califor-

cannabis leaves are a networking tool, not a counter-

nia, where they spark good conversation.

cultural icon. They’re so ubiquitous in Colorado and sensimag.com APR I L 2018 21

California these days, in fact, that I might not wear my

Jacquie Aiche Sweet Leaf jewelry and clutches featur-

socks and shirt to industry events because I’m slightly

ing that leaf.

embarrassed about what a cliché that pointy leaf has become.

But let’s face it: Mara and Margot weren’t breaking new ground. They’re all following Gram Parson, who

If you’ve been in the cannabis industry for a minute

had suits with cannabis leaves embroidered on them

or two, you can’t help but catch the yawn. It’s been

made for him and his Flying Burritos Brothers band-

three years since Mara Hoffman dressed her New

mates to wear on the cover of their first album in 1968.

York Fashion Week models in dresses and pants wo-

The mainstream fashion world may still get a little

ven with green cannabis leaves and two years since

titillated by the leaf’s countercultural edge—*so* Che

Alexander Wang worked them into a black leather

Guevara—but in the cannabis industry, we’ve all seen

skirt that Margot Robbie wore on Saturday Night Live.

that guy wearing a suit plastered with leaves at a few

We’ve all gotten used to seeing celebrities flash their

too many events. (Just because you can doesn’t mean

RESPECT: eat your leaves Fan leaves, still considered a waste product by industrial and home growers because they deliver very minimal THC, are coming into their own as a nutritional and medicinal powerhouse, largely thanks to the work of Dr. William Courtney. The physician credits cannabis leaf juice with putting his domestic partner into remission from lupus, interstitial cystitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. As food and medicine, the non-psychoactive leaves are finally getting the respect they deserve.

If you don’t or can’t grow your own cannabis, fresh fan leaves can be a hard-to-come-by delicacy. Here’s to seeing that change.

If you do grow your own, stop composting fan leaves when you remove them. Wash them in water and vinegar, then blend them into juices and smoothies, toss them into salads, sprinkle them into soups and over fish, and add them to pesto and tabbouleh. They add an earthy, slightly bitter taste and deliver vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

you should.) We’re classing up this industry, and as a friend recently pointed out, you don’t see people walking around wine festivals wearing leggings covered in grapes or earrings shaped like grapevines.

Our ennui is a problem of privilege—albeit one that should be a right for all—and I do know how lucky we are that we can display cannabis leaves as a universal symbol of pride, solidarity, and advocacy without fear of persecution. Because in the end, though there are more subtle ways of letting the world know we’re pro-cannabis—jewelry shaped like THC and CBD molecules make great gifts for friends in the Midwest— nothing says “I love weed” like the leaf.

It’s our icon, and we’re stuck with it. Let’s try to be tasteful.

Enemies of Society, Waiting for Our Emoji The cannabis leaf has history. The oldest depiction found so far dates to the Neolithic era (10,000–5,000 BC) and was painted on a cave wall on the coast of Kyushu, Japan. Many believe the pointy leaf often shown above the head of the ancient Egyptian idol Seshat, goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology, and mathematics, was a cannabis leaf.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, when cannabis was a common ingredient in over-the-counter elixirs, the leaf could be spotted on medicine bottle labels— though it wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as it is on cannabis products today. It went underground with the advent of prohibition in 1937, largely forgotten until it re-emerged, along with tie-dye and peace signs, in the 1960s.

Jerry Rubin, the flamboyant radical who told hippies never to trust anyone over 30, anointed the leaf when he said: “Smoking pot makes you a criminal and a revolutionary. As soon as you take your first puff, you are an enemy of society.”

In 1966, the Saturday Evening Post described college students who used marijuana as fitting into “a

22 Orange County A P R I L 2018

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general pattern of rebellion against society’s values.”

with animals (54.6 percent) and basketball teams with

The very fact that marijuana was illegal, according to

basketballs (52.6 percent) scored higher—and it’s not

a 1967 Life magazine article, was part of its appeal for

just about pictures. Think about how many cannabis

PEACE OUT

A HANDFUL OF YEARS BEFORE THE CANNABIS LEAF EMERGED AND BECAME FOREVER INTERTWINED WITH IT AS SYMBOLS OF REBELLIOUS TIMES, THE PEACE SIGN WAS INVENTED AS A BADGE FOR THE CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT. THE COLD WAR WAS ESCALATING WHEN BRITISH DESIGNER GERALD HORTON CREATED THE PEACE SYMBOL FOR A 1958 ANTI-NUCLEAR MARCH IN LONDON. HE BASED THE DESIGN ON HIS OWN PERSONAL DESPAIR, REPRESENTING AN INDIVIDUAL WITH HANDS STRETCHED DOWNWARD AND OUTWARD LIKE SPANISH PAINTER FRANCISCO GOYA’S DEPICTION OF TERRIFIED PEASANTS BEFORE THE FIRING SQUAD DURING THE SPANISH RESISTANCE TO NAPOLEON’S ARMIES IN 1808.

HORTON’S ORIGINAL DESIGN LOOKED MORE LIKE A PERSON, WITH THE LINES WIDENING TO MEET THE CIRCLE WHERE FEET, HANDS AND A HEAD WOULD BE, BUT THE LINES WERE STRAIGHTENED AND SLIMMED DOWN IN THE 1960S UNTIL HIS DESIGN BECAME THE BOLD, UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED ICON WE KNOW AND LOVE TODAY.

companies you know with the word “leaf” in the name.

the empty, materialistic striving of their parents, they

We could talk all day about the irony of baby boom-

turn the whole pot scene into a protest tool which they

ers exploiting the freedom leaf to make money as part

use to mock a middle-class culture they disdain,” the

of the very middle-class culture they once disdained—

article stated.

but let’s save that for a sesh.

We all know what happened next. Hippies became

The fan leaf is our icon, and

yuppies, Nancy Reagan told us to “just say no,” and can-

we’re stuck with it. Let’s try to

nabis leaves disappeared even from rolling paper la-

be respectful of its defiance.

bels and dorm room posters as the plant was forced

Those of us who get to experi-

deep underground. When Adidas attempted to unearth

ence the normalization of a

it by replacing its corporate logo with a cannabis leaf

symbol that once sparked con-

to market hemp sports shoes in 1998, US drug czar Lee

flict and controversy need to

P. Brown slammed the company for attempting to “cap-

keep working toward universal

italize on the drug culture” and implying that drugs are

acceptance, even as we fold it

associated with the “magic” of sporting achievement.

into our marketing materials.

Prohibition is ending. Despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions, attitudes are changing, and the leaf has nev-

We’ve come far, but we’re not there yet.

er been more popular. In 2016, a survey found that 44

We will have arrived when

percent of logos registered as trademarks for canna-

our phones come equipped

bis businesses included leaves—only veterinarians

with cannabis leaf emojis.

24 Orange County A P R I L 2018

Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook author Robyn Griggs Lawrence recently launched a company, Cannabis Kitchen Events, that includes a tiny turquoise cannabis leaf in the logo.

PHOTOGRAPHs © povy kendal atchison

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sensimag.com APR I L 2018 25

DEAR

BRADLEY SUBLIME

Josh Coffman © JOSHPHOTO.NE T

REMEMBRANCE

26 Orange County A P R I L 2018

An OPEN LETTER to late Sublime singer BRADLEY NOWELL from former manager and friend Jon Phillips.

Orange County has produced some fantastic musical artists over the years: from 1950s classics like Dick Dale and the Righteous Brothers to modern shredders like Fu Manchu and Avenged Sevenfold and everything in between. But there’s No Doubt (another great OC band, by the way) that one of the most beloved and influential groups to ever emerge from the area is Sublime. Their melodic mixture of ska, punk, reggae, and rock took the country by storm. Surfers, skaters, stoners, frat boys, Rastas, and rockers—everybody loved Sublime. And from early on, they were one of the few bands that weren’t afraid to sing about smoking weed and support legalization in their songs. They were innovative, raw, and tremendously talented—especially their charismatic lead singer Bradley Nowell. With his funky, soulful vocals and boyish good looks, he had the guys swinging and the girls swooning. But sadly, like too many other great artists of the day, Bradley fell victim to the dark allure of addiction. And on May 25, 1996, the world learned it had lost another brilliant artist to heroin. He was just 27—the same age that Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and many other rock stars have prematurely met their ends.

On February 22, on what would have been Nowell’s 50th birthday, Jon Phillips—the cofounder and CEO of San Diego’s Silverback Records, and who managed and helped sign Sublime—penned a touching letter to his long departed friend, explaining to him how his life and music have impacted his many friends and fans, and posted it on Facebook. To honor this fallen musical hero of the LBC, we’d like to present an excerpt from that letter. Rest in power, Bradley.

—BOBBY BLACK

Dear Bradley,

DAMN DUDE —YOU WOULD’VE BEEN 50

to go check out some vintage vinyl at the famous

YEARS OLD TODAY. HOLY SHIT ... IT’S HARD TO

local record store Albums on The Hill and ended up

BELIEVE THAT NEARLY 25 YEARS HAVE PASSED

walking through a little neighborhood by the campus

SINCE WE FIRST MET. I CAN STILL REMEMBER ONE OF THE FIRST TIMES SEEING SUBLIME P L A Y. Y O U B R O K E O U T “P O O L S H A R K” A T A UCLA FRAT PARTY IN FRONT OF AROUND 50 PEOPLE, MAYBE A YEAR A F T E R I F I N I S H E D

where, after taking a small toke of a vape pen (I’ll explain what that is later), I heard a loud bass line carrying from down the street. As I got closer, I heard “Don’t Push”—your little ditty from 1992’s 40 Oz. To Free-

dom—coming from a backyard keg party. It’s fucking 2018, and the college kids are still blasting Sublime—

COLLEGE THERE. I WAS 23, AND A RECENT

still waking the town, still pushing the envelope. The

COLLEGE GRAD JUST STARTING OUT IN THE

good vibes keep on playing. Fresher than ever, and

MUSIC INDUSTRY. I STOOD ALONGSIDE YOUR TATTERED AMP SHOT-GUNNING KEYSTONE LIGHTS (THE COLLEGIATE BEER OF CHOICE AT THE TIM E), AND I CAN STILL REMEMBER

almost 30 years from when you first dropped that shit in the LBC. And I started thinking because I forgot for a second, holy shit—it’s Brad’s 50th birthday this week! That’s why they’re playing Sublime!

I started to wonder what gets played more today in

THE FEELING OF MY HAIR STANDING ON END,

college dorms and parties, Sublime or Dave Matthews?

GOOSEBUMPS, WITH THE EERIE REALIZATION

Nirvana, The Grateful Dead, or Lynyrd Skynyrd? Can

THAT THE LYRICS IN YOUR SONG MIGHT

they measure that through Spotify and Pandora and

EVENTUALLY BE PROPHETIC OF YOUR OWN IMMORTALITY. I OFTEN THINK BACK TO THAT MOMENT: WE ALL INNOCENTLY STOOD IN THE PRESENCE OF GREATNESS, AND JUST A FEW O F U S K N E W . T H A T W A S A L M O S T 25 Y E A R S AGO —YOU WERE 26.

iPhones? Wait...what’s Spotify? What’s an iPhone?

Oh shit, Brad—didn’t you hear? People are no longer stealing 40 Oz. CDs out of cars. Most people don’t even have CD players. People don’t really buy albums anymore, and they don’t need to steal them. There’s this thing called “streaming” now, and no one really gives a fuck about albums anymore. Bottom line though, Sublime is still being played in every capacity, and it’s

So here we are, old man. What a long, strange trip it’s been. Take a look at your life: do you even know

still the soundtrack for a new generation—still “triple rectifying that son of a bitch.”

what you started? Just last weekend, I happened to

I mentioned that music is free now, but did I tell

be walking down the street in Boulder, Colorado, and

you that weed is LEGAL?!? No shit. In January 2018,

I ended up in the area on the hill by the university on

California became the sixth US state to legalize recre-

a beautifully sunny, rare, 67-degree winter day. I went

ational marijuana sale and usage, and more than half sensimag.com APR I L 2018 27

of the states have “medical” marijuana. Can you believe that? You can now buy herb from the store down the street. I remember when we all went to that little studio off La Brea in Hollywood, and you and Miguel

Sublime's Bradley Nowell with Skunk Records co-founder Miguel Happoldt and band manager Jon Phillips at Nowell's wedding, just one week before his death.

and Bud and Eric recorded that version of “Legalize It” for Capricorn Records’ Hempilation album for NORML Courtesy of Jon Phillips/Silverback Music

back in ’94. Well, that day has come. I know you didn’t always love smoking weed, but I think you would be intrigued by the movement this plant has ignited— the political disparity, the science and technology, and how much deeper the culture has become than simply, “Smoke two joints in the morning, smoke two joints at night.” There are medicinal uses starting to prove that this seed and its flower could be a redeeming miracle of nature with many industrial uses and healing properties. I gotta go dig out that version of “Legalize It” you

in our history, in a world that you aren’t here to see. I

did, it’s somewhere in the archive. I can probably just

wonder what you would’ve had to say about all of this.

go to YouTube and find it. Oh yeah, Brad—YouTube,

You were always quite the historian, and I can only

vape pens, iPhones—a lot has changed. If only you

imagine what impact this would’ve had on your worl-

were still around ….

dview and your music. But your music continues to

So in case you’re wondering, I’m still wading in this cesspool (insert Hunter S. Thompson quote here)

inspire us, remaining a positive light in dark times that’s more relevant than ever.

called the music industry. Still putting out records and

The Dub Allstars broke up shortly afterward. Things

managing bands for the music I love. For a few years,

were cool for a while, but eventually everyone went

I had a good run with your boys from the LBC: Bud,

their separate ways, and like all of those Behind the Mu-

Eric, and the Long Beach Dub Allstars. We traveled

sic shows on VH1 (you were on one, by the way), every-

the world, enlisted some of your world-class influenc-

one ended up suing everyone else, and the lawyers and

es (Half Pint, Barrington Levy, and others) and made

record labels made a shit ton of money while everyone

a couple of albums. On May 25, 1998 (the second an-

else got screwed. I don’t want to waste a lot of time on

niversary of your passing), we were in Germany while

the negative; I just wanted to make the point that you

touring internationally for the first time when Opie, in

and Sublime really made the music business worth the

a drunken rage, sucker punched me in the face. It was

fight for me. I tried to fight for you—I originally didn’t

a rough tour, but a rite of passage that I’ll never forget

feel it was right for anyone to use your name posthu-

and always treasure. On that trip, Opie coined me a

mously, so I became outspoken about the attempted

“Silverback” and made me a prototype business card

usage of “Sublime.” I didn’t think any band except one

with his art, and that was the start of what I still do

with Brad Nowell in it should ever be called Sublime.

now—Silverback Music. With all the ups and downs

I mean, there’s no Nirvana without Kurt. So, as a le-

and peaks and valleys of this existence in the music

gal exception, it became “Sublime With Rome.” They,

biz, I’m proud to say it’s mainly because of you that I’m

among others, are still playing those songs for throngs

still in the game and it’s now the 20th anniversary of

of people that tragically will never see the real thing.

Silverback. Thank you, Bradley.

You gave me some gifts as well. The first one was a

LBDAS toured until 2001 and made a second al-

little band from Ocean Beach, San Diego called Slightly

bum called Wonders of the World, which ironically

Stoopid. I remember the first time I met Miles. He was

dropped on 9/11/2001—the day the Twin Towers fell

16 years old. You brought him to my office on Wilshire

in New York City. I went to NY with the “Dubs” a cou-

in Beverly Hills (the Gasoline Alley headquarters), and

ple of weeks after while they attempted to tour the

you said, “Jon, this is Miles from Slightly Stoopid.” I

country in the aftermath of 9/11 (and amongst the

remember feeling the hint—like you were saying, “Hey

stress of their own internal substance abuse issues).

bud—I might not be here forever, so if you want some-

Upon arriving at Ground Zero, you could still smell

one to carry the torch, this guy can do it.” (How did

the stench of darkness. What a crazy, defining time

you know?) And man did he and Kyle do that and then

28 Orange County A P R I L 2018

some. If you ask anyone today, they’ll tell you that

that we will continue to grow old with—is your beau-

Sublime and Stoopid are the real deal. Unfortunately,

tiful son Jakob. I remember when you brought him

you didn’t get to relish in the success of the reaction

to the office as an infant fresh from the hospital. You

to your music, and Stoopid lost their older brother—no

were so proud…and you should be. What a beautiful

big tour to hop on, just the notion and the spirituality

kid and deep soul. We’ve become closer now that he’s

that Bradley and Sublime and Skunk Records had em-

older (he just turned 21 last year) and started to pur-

braced them and dropped some real knowledge their

sue music a little more seriously. He has an uncan-

way. And shit, those two little grommets not even out

ny resemblance to you—good looking, introspective,

of high school whose first notes I saw at Fake Niteclub

well-read, artistic, innocent, and talented. He conveys

(Sublime’s little ’94–96 makeshift studio on Anaheim

your energy and soul but is finding his own identity

Street) with you and Miguel at the boards are now two

musically. He has quite the shoes to fill, but he has a

decades and 10 albums deep into their careers with

bright future. You should be proud. I would do any-

no sign of slowing down. Thanks to you, we all became

thing I can for your kid, man—I owe that to you be-

brothers and partners—including my brother Matt,

cause you and your music have given me so much.

who became their manager. (You met Matt—he actu-

Don’t hold it against me, but I’ve never brought my-

ally smoked his first jay with you at my folks’ place in

self to visit your gravestone. I feel guilty about it, but

San Jose.) You’d be proud of these kids—they’re seri-

honestly, there isn’t a day I don’t think about you or

ous musicians, good dudes, and excellent songwriters.

feel your guidance and presence. I’m not perfect, but

They’ve cultivated a large legion of fans called “Stoop-

I’m passionate about the lineage of this music and the

idheads” and sell out 5,000–10,000 seat amphitheaters

future. Sublime laid the foundation and nothing ever

every summer. They continue to carry that torch with

touched it. Reggae music is still on the loose, and you

much respect and gratitude.

have your own 40 Oz. To Freedom beer now, so I’m

The other gift—aside from all of the indelible memories and timeless songs that will never grow old, but

tipping one of those to you. We are all still, and forever, “under your voodoo.” Happy Birthday, Bradley.

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sensimag.com APR I L 2018 29

S P E C I A L A DV I S ORY BOA R D S E C T ION AS THE CANNA B I S I ND U S TR Y G R OW S, SO DO T H E N UM BE R OF N I CH E E X P ER T S W I T H I N IT. FROM TOP-TIER DISPENSARIES AND EXTRACTION BRANDS TO EDIBLE MAKERS AND MARKETING SPECIALISTS, THESE COMPANIES ARE INCREDIBLE SOURCES OF INSIDER INFO ABOUT THE TRENDS AND ISSUES DRIVING THIS THRIVING MARKETPLACE FORWARD. THE SENSI ADVISORY BOARD IS COMPRISED OF LEADERS FROM A VARIETY OF FIELDS WITHIN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY. EACH ISSUE, ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS SHARE SOME OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE WITH OUR READERS IN THIS DEDICATED SECTION. THIS MONTH, WE H E A R F R O M E X P E RTS AT G R A N N Y B G O O D For a full list of Advisory Board Members, turn to the masthead on page 5.

Granny B Good: The Edible High Conundrum

By Eric Bingham, Granny-B Good HOW MANY OF YOU RECOGNIZE THIS STORY: YOU GET SOME TRIM FROM A BUDDY, COOK IT DOWN INTO SOME BUTTER, GRAB A BOX OF BETTY CROCKER BROWNIE MIX, INFUSE THE BATTER WITH THE BUTTER, AND BOOM—YOU’VE CREATED YOUR FIRST EDIBLE. WITH EAGER ANTICIPATION, YOU STARE AT THE OVEN—WAITING ANXIOUSLY FOR THAT BUZZER TO GO OFF SO YOU CAN CONSUME YOUR MASTERPIECE, THE MOST EXCELLENT WEED BROWNIES IN HUMAN HISTORY. YOU AND YOUR BUDDY HIGH FIVE OVER YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND EACH CONSUME A BROWNIE WITH RECKLESS ABANDON. Fast forward an hour, and your body begins to get a little

As a public service, here are some tips that may prevent

heavy, your eyes start to blur, your senses begin to heighten,

something like this from happening to you, or at least help

and your head starts feeling as if space and time no longer

you in case you find yourself in the unfortunate scenario just

exist. It’s the greatest experience you’ve ever had, and you

described.

question why you haven’t done this before. You can’t stop

1. Learn your tolerance level. Everyone’s cannabinoid toler-

smiling, and despite the fact that you haven’t left your sofa,

ance is different, especially when it comes to edibles.

you feel as if you’re suddenly living in a utopian society.

2. Have some cannabis CBD (not hemp CBD) on hand—pref-

But as time goes by in the world outside of your frame of

erably in smoke or vape form for fast reaction time. Smoking

mind, you suddenly start questioning everything—and I

CBD can cut your high down almost immediately by helping

mean everything—until you realize you’re way too high.

to put your body back in homeostasis.

That’s when your utopian society goes from happy green

3. Try some aromatherapy. Essential oils are reportedly very

fields of bliss to a post-apocalyptic scene out of Mad Max.

helpful in relaxing people. Lavender, Lemon, Orange are com-

Nothing is as it should be. Nothing feels right. Pretty soon,

mon essential oils that can help put yourself in a calmer state

you begin analyzing your vitals and making your own medical

of mind.

assessment that your heart is beating way too fast and that

4. Drink water. Water is always a great way to help bring

you’re certain to die at any moment—which, of course, fur-

yourself back down by flushing your system. Personally, the

ther increases your anxiety.

last thing on my mind is drinking water when I’ve had too

Now, we all know that’s never happened—but at this

many edibles, and it may feel like it’s taking forever before

point, facts have left the building, and you are sure you’re

you feel its beneficial effects, but it really does help.

going to make tomorrow’s headlines as the first to suffer an

5. And last but not least, rest. Find a comfortable place to lie

untimely death from bud-infused Betty Crocker. Eventually,

down, put on a Bill Murray movie, take a deep breath, and re-

you end up either huddled in a ball in the corner of your room,

mind yourself that despite how you feel, the high will wear off

or in a far more precarious spot, like in the clothes dryer. (It

soon enough, and when it does you’re going to be perfectly fine.

made sense at the time—it’s where warm, fluffy clothes

These are some basic methods to help you in case you

live.) Then, when you finally awake from your edible experi-

find yourself ingesting more edibles than your comfort level

ence, you swear to yourself, “I will never eat another edible

will allow. I hope this helps. If any of you have additional rem-

as long as I live!”

edies to share, we’d love to hear from you.

30 Orange County A P R I L 2018

{soOC}

by BOBBY BLACK

Queen

Mary:

For over a generation, the Queen Mary has remained an indelible fixture along the bustling Long Beach coastline. Built in Scotland during the 1930s, the RMS Queen Mary was once the world’s largest and most luxurious ocean liner. Brimming with top-of-the-line materials like marble, glass, steel, and 50 different types of woods, it was an art deco masterpiece in motion.

From May 1936 to September 1939, Mary served as the preferred means of transatlantic travel for some of the era’s most prominent personalities, including movie stars like Bob Hope, Fred Astaire, and Audrey Hepburn, as well as world leaders like British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and future US president General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Sadly, like most other citizens and enterprises at the time, the start of World War II saw the Queen drafted into the war effort. The ship was stripped of her art and amenities, painted a dull, navy gray, and commandeered to quickly and qui32 Orange County A P R I L 2018

Royal Highness

etly transport large numbers of troops around the globe—earning her the ominous new nickname "The Grey Ghost."

After the war, she was restored to her former glory and spent the next two decades sailing the seas in style before being retired in December 1967 and taking up permanent residence in Long Beach. Since then, she’s become a floating hotel, tourist attraction, and event center that’s home to some 346 staterooms, a dozen or so shops and restaurants, and 11 ballrooms.

On April 20, one of these ballrooms—the Brittania Salon—will host one of SoCal’s biggest cannabis events: Her Royal Highness. Sponsored by OC NORML, this upscale industry gathering features speakers, vendors, seminars, entertainment, and even a food competition. If you’re interested in possibly spending your high holiday at this historic venue, visit FB.com/ herroyalhighness420.