Sensi Magazine - PREMIERE ISSUE Emerald Triangle (February 2019)

EMERALD TRIANGLE

THE NEW NORMAL

PREMIERE

2.2019

IS SUE

SPEC I AL R EPOR T

Hemp

The World’s Most Misunderstood Vegetable

Plant Power

Healthy Herbs to Make Part of Your Diet

{plus}

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE AND MORE!

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 3

4 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 5

LOVE LOYALTY AND EXCELLENCE IN CANNABIS

Our Prerolls come in a variety of strains.

Extra Potent, Full Spectrum Salve, with our Proprietary Blend of Essential Oils.

Serene Green Body Oil, heals as it enriches your senses.

Full Product Line soon to be in Dispensaries Everywhere

Eighths in FIVE flavors

sohumroyal.com 6 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

@sohumroyal #sohumroyal

LCA18-0001962

ISSUE 1 // VOLUME 1 // 2.2019

FEATURES 28 A Budding Wine Industry

A fresh crop of local wineries have popped up around the region, creating a lot of buzz for California’s newest viticulture destination.

36 Plant Power

Get to know your adaptogenic herbs and how to enjoy them.

42

A Cannabis Plant by Any Other Name SP EC IAL R EP OR T

Hemp and “marijuana” come from the same plant. So, if hemp is now legal, shouldn’t “marijuana” be, too?

EAT YOUR GREENS For health’s sake

42

every issue

28 TASTE THE BOUNTY California’s newest wine destination

9 Editor’s Note 10 The Buzz 16 CrossRoads

COMING OUT

20 TasteBuds

HIGHLY EDIBLE

50 HereWeGo

CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE PIG

Sensi magazine is published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC. © 2019 SENSI MEDIA GROUP LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 7

sensi magazine ISSUE 1 / VOLUME 1 / 2.2019

EXECUTIVE FOLLOW US

Ron Kolb ron@sensimag.com CEO, SENSI MEDIA GROUP

Tae Darnell tae@sensimag.com PRESIDENT, SENSI MEDIA GROUP

Alex Martinez alex@sensimag.com CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

sensimediagroup

EDITORIAL Stephanie Wilson stephanie@sensimag.com EDITOR IN CHIEF

Leland Rucker leland.rucker@sensimag.com SENIOR EDITOR

Robyn Griggs Lawrence CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ricardo Baca, Nora Mounce CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

sensimagazine

A RT & D E S I G N Jamie Ezra Mark jamie@akersmediagroup.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Rheya Tanner, Wendy Mak Josh Clark, Deb Matlock akers@sensimag.com DESIGN & LAYOUT

sensimag

BUSINESS & A D M I N I S T R AT I V E Lelehnia DuBois lelehnia.dubois@sensimag.com PUBLISHER

Tad Sarvinski tad.sarvinski@sensimag.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Amber Orvik amber.orvik@sensimag.com CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR

Andre Velez andre.velez@sensimag.com MARKETING DIRECTOR

Hector Irizarry distribution@sensimag.com DISTRIBUTION

M E D I A PA RT N E R S Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy

8 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

THE WAY TO THE HEART ADVISORY BOARD Coldwell Banker Sellers, Sandi DeLuca // REAL ESTATE

Canna-Envy //

DIY CANNABIS

Forever Found //

EMERALD TRIANGLE CULTURAL EXPERT

Humboldt Patient Resource Center // DISPENSARY

Humboldt Redwood Healing // Humboldt SWAG //

COMMUNITY

BRAND MANAGEMENT

Kathleen Bryson, Attorney // KC Financial Services //

LAW OFFICE

ACCOUNTING

Magna Wealth Solutions // BUSINESS MANAGMENT

Mountainwise Farms // Redwood Roots //

TOPICALS

DISTRIBUTION

Southern Humboldt Business & Visitors Bureau // TOURISM Sunnabis //

SUN GROWN CANNABIS, HUMBOLDT

Talismans Analytics // Wildseed, LLC. //

LAB TESTING

CO2 EXTRACTION

editor’s

NOTE

It is such an honor to write this note for the premiere issue of

Sensi Emerald Triangle, no doubt the most significant market in the cannabis industry, and a region where “the new normal”—our magazine’s tagline—is put into practice every day by people who put their lives on the line to help the country progress to where it is today. Emerald Triangle is the epicenter from which it all emerges, and for that, we are all grateful.

In this magazine, every month we will be telling the stories of a region so rich with history, natural resources and beauty, a sense of community, and significance in the American culture. As the transition from black market to legal industry continues to progress, so too do the lifestyles of the people who call the region home. We want to tell the stories of those people.

It is with humble love that we bring Sensi to the Emerald Triangle—where our team, led by the warrior-in-chief Lelenhia Dubois, has been working tirelessly for quite some time to launch—to spread the new-normal message that Sensi is founded upon throughout the region.

We are rooted in cannabis culture; our name is partly derived from the term sensimilla. It also is a nod to the warrior spirit that those veterans in this community, ravaged by the ill-fated war on drugs, have had to suffer. This noble fight is so ingrained in the culture of this region—a culture we plan to honor on these pages.

And because at our heart, we are a lifestyle magazine, we will focus on telling stories from the full spectrum of local culture: arts, design, dining, history, people, adventure, travel, and more. We will strive to show the full spectrum of the region’s beautiful, multifaceted lifestyle in all its glory.

For this premiere issue, we opted for the age-old route of ingratiating ourselves with you, the reader, through the stomach, with what will become our annual food and dining edition. While focusing on the budding wine region in the area may seem like an unusual choice, it was a natural one. The entrepreneurs leading this viticulture charge are your neighbors, working day in and out to elevate the wine region to a destination of its own accord, and showcasing the breadth of the land’s bounty. There’s just so much to love.

We hope this issue is the feast for your eyes that helps earn Sensi a place in your heart—or at least a piece. We are honored to be a part of the magic that permeates the region. Thank you for welcoming Sensi to the magical place you are lucky to call home. We will work tirelessly to continue to earn your trust, to tell the stories of your community, and to continue to grow (with your support).

I welcome any feedback on our inaugural issue, and look forward to many more.

With humble appreciation,

Stephanie Wilson E D I TO R I N C H I E F SENSI MAGAZINE

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 9

Cultural Radar Humboldt Collects! 2019 Exhibition

Where: The Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka

And why do you do it?

When: Feb. 2 to Mar. 17

Kim

A.

Herzinger,

English

professor,

Pushcart

What: Come see what your neighbors are passion-

Prize-winning author, and collector, sees the practice

ate about. A new exhibit compiled by the Humboldt

as primarily a personal passion, no matter the medium

Arts Council celebrates the “art of collecting,” showing

being acquired. “Collecting, like most passions, has the

off unusual and interesting collections compiled by

capacity to let the collector live in another world for a

people in the community. The weird, the wonderful,

while. The collector is experiencing a kind of sensory

the wacky: it’s all on display, with a focus on art and

transcendence that we most closely associate with re-

definitely-not-art items of all types. The exhibit is in-

ligion and love.”

spired by the museum’s role as a collecting institution,

For more info: HUMBOLDTARTS.ORG.

–Stephanie Wilson

and seeks to answer the question: what does your collection say about you, about your community?

Everything’s Bigger in…

Trinity?

Did You Know? Trinity County’s total land area is 3,178 square miles of undulating mountainous terrain. But according to people who know these things, if those hills were ironed out flat, Trinity would be the size of Texas.

10 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

Breakup Left You Broken? Mend.

Need to heal your heart? There’s an app for that.

The tired-yet-ubiquitous message that “February is for lovers” can cause anyone in a newly-single-but-not-by-choice state an added layer of post-relationship anguish. If that’s you, chin up. Or not—you do you, keep crying it out if you need to. This time of year is full of romantic triggers, adding a notso-sweet layer of pain to fresh wounds. Breakups are tough, they hurt, and your anguish can last way longer than your friends are willing to listen to you analyze the GIF choices in your ex-lover’s Instagram stories.

Good news: you don’t have to put the emotional brunt of your post-breakup breakdowns solely on your besties. There’s an app for your angst: Mend.

The New York Times described Mend, founded by ex-Googler Ellen Huerta, as a personal trainer for hearbreak, designed to help users feel better, faster.

Instead of helping you drop physical lbs, Mend’s trainers help you drop the emotional deadweight of your ex. It provides the essential self-care you need after a breakup through daily audio trainings, practical tips, and community support, tracking your progress over time. Topics covered: what to do if you see your ex on dating apps, how to stop social media stalking, and what to read/watch/do to keep yourself from contacting an old flame.

Mend is free to download from the App Store, and you can start the healing process with a 7-day trial period. After that, it’s $9.99 a month, but your friends may be willing to chip in if it means they don’t have to look at another screen shot of your ex’s Insta. Talk to the app: maybe it’ll help. Maybe it won’t.

But it will keep you busy, and when you’re busy, you aren’t stalking social feeds. Happy healing.

–SW

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 11

A Porsche Racecar After Your Own Heart Hemp + Super-Performance Street-Illegal Porsche = This Sexy Beast

bile and thought, “Some day”?

hemp-enhanced Porsche is gorgeous, ridiculously unnecessary (but when has owning a super race car been

Have you ever looked at a high-performance race

anything else, really?), and totally awesome even if it’s

car made by Porsche, maybe something with monster

just a pipe dream. If it’s not so much pipe dream and a

wheels, an 80-liter fuel cell, handheld fire extinguishers,

doable reality with some details, observe the following:

rescue roof hatch, jet cockpit six-point harness able to

“The power of the engine has increased considerably”

withstand the hard breaking of the 380mm discs, and

in the new hemp built Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Club-

said, “I can actually buy that”?

sport, Fritz Enzinger, Porsche’s head of motorsport, told

Finally, have you ever been through both of those options? Have you thought, “You know, if Porsche would just

car-enthusiast blog VWVortex, and he says this guy has “more racing genes than its successful predecessor.”

get off its ass and create the 718 Cayman GT4 with panels

Swell. If you got the cash, the want to fuse your love

made of natural fiber composites comprised of hemp and/

for high-performance supercars with your love of hemp

or flax—making the material weaker than carbon fiber but

and what it’s doing for the planet—and don’t mind a car

in the end creating a super insane racecar that will bring

that isn’t even road legal—then hey, they begin shipping

Paul Walker back from the Fast and the Furious beyond?

in February.

Well, that car would be so badass—made from the glorious gift to the world that multi-use hemp should be, is slowly becoming, or in some cases now is the best choice for a climate-change wary car culture, as much as a thing exists”?

Then damn, just sit back and check out the combination of all three of those things. Because this new 12 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

–Dan McCarthy

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PORSCHE AG

Have you ever looked at a high-performance automo-

Love and Chocolate (and Wine) Three times a year, the Taste of Redwood Valley group of wineries and distilleries come together to host events showcasing the bounty of the region. This month, they’ll be showing the love of wine and chocolate (and whiskey, of course) during the one-day-only event, aptly titled “I Love Redwood Valley.”

There’s a whole lot to love about the festival that California Wine Advisor says helped put a “bucolic Mendocino County enclave on the map 20 years ago.” First, it’s free—just bring your own wine glass to the festival. Next, it’s a rare chance to sample an array of local bounty; these venues aren’t always open to the public. Plus, chocolate and sweets are served at each stop.

But they are all from one of California’s oldest viticulture areas. Featured purveyors include Frey Organic Wine, Testa Vineyards, Giuseppe Nesse Vineyards, American Craft Whiskey Distillery, Toxqui Wines, and Graziano Family of Wines—all located just off HWY 101 in the inland Mendocino County grape growing region. Print off the handy map and spend the day meandering the valley, learning about the land, meeting the farmers, winemakers, and distillers, sipping and savoring your way through the day. As an added treat, if you visit all seven locations and get a stamp on the special card, you’ll earn 50 percent off purchases at the venue of your choice.

–SW When: Sat., Feb. 16, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. // Where: Redwood Valley, right off HWY 101 // More Details: TASTEOFRV.COM

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 13

EMPOWER Have you ever wished you had a trusted friend who knew all about CBD and could help you figure it out?

Butterfly CBD only offers reliable, carefully vetted products, as well as an educational platform to empower you on your journey.

Find us on:

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{crossroads }

by R I C A R D O B A C A

COMING

OUT

16 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

Opening up about your personal cannabis use to the people in your orbit can be a scary step—and it’s one worth taking.

At first I was slightly baffled when the overly familiar Uber Eats driver standing on my front porch gave me a

relationships with cannabis—with our friends, our families, and our neighbors.

confident fist-bump and a knowing wink. The older gen-

And this is a unique part of the normalization conver-

tleman, rocking greased-back hair and a Led Zeppelin

sation, communicating with our neighbors about our

T-shirt, had left his car running and double-parked on the

personal consumption patterns. In a way, it can be more

street, the driver’s side door flung wide open and blaring

daunting than opening up to your own family.

a classic rock jam into the dark and otherwise quiet night.

Think about it: Your house represents the biggest finan-

“The delivery dude just winked at me,” I told my wife a few

cial investment you’ll ever make. So you’re spending hun-

moments later as we excitedly unpacked our favorite Chi-

dreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) on this property

nese take-out onto the kitchen counter. “It seemed friendly

that shares boundaries with people you’ve never met be-

and all, but I still don’t know what that was all about.”

fore moving in. (Even if you’re renting instead of buying, it’s

And that’s when my lady solved the mystery: “Do you think he noticed the doormat?”

not like you were able to pick your neighbors in the process.)

Some of us are lucky enough to have quality neigh-

Of course the delivery driver saw the doormat—a du-

bors—people with whom you can communicate on im-

rable coco mat emblazoned with the word WELCOME

portant and often complex issues. But others aren’t so

underneath a large, green cannabis leaf. But the mat has

lucky, and those strained relationships with the folks liv-

been sitting outside our front door for more than a year

ing in the closest proximity to your home can complicate

now, so it was I who had forgotten it was there.

matters quickly.

You know you live in a normalized state when you flaunt

Me, I’m a lucky one. My longstanding neighbor to the

your affinity for a Schedule I substance at your home’s

north is a kind-hearted older woman who loves gardening,

very entryway. An even greater sign of normalization: You

maintains a beautiful yard, and is the block’s de facto neigh-

actually forget about the larger-than-life cannabis leaf in

borhood watch. My neighbors to the south are a young Lati-

your front yard—an eye-magnet many passers-by see on

no couple who have lived next door for more than a decade;

a daily basis. And perhaps the greatest sign of this cra-

I’ve watched their son grow up, and we have each other’s

zy-normalized world we live in: I impulse-purchased that

backs—even while our Chihuahuas noisily raise hell each

doormat last year at the Bed, Bath & Beyond down the

time they’re in our abutting backyards at the same time.

street as I was refilling my SodaStream CO2 carbonators.

These are only some of the luxuries we’re afforded by the legalization of cannabis. We can walk into shops and purchase edibles as if they were a six-pack. We can at-

The first time my gardener neighbor and I talked cannabis was pretty straightforward.

“I don’t like it myself,” she quipped. “I prefer to get high on my walks. I feel so great after a good walk.”

tend luxe marijuana-infused dinner parties with open

Our conversations since then—usually spurred by her

consumption. And we can be more open about our own

hearing me interviewed on NPR or seeing my writings in the sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 17

Denver Post—usually follow the same path. I don’t preach

got home from work, I ate some edibles and put on some

to her, or anyone else for that matter. But I do step in to

music, and three hours later here I am.”

correct any of her outdated notions about cannabis as they

I must have looked like a crazy person—sweaty,

occasionally surface. Still, these over-the-fence back-and-

filthy, stinky, and smiling. And while I was immediate-

forths are significant. Here we are, neighbors of 15 years,

ly nervous about my admission as soon as the words

talking about something so complicated as cannabis use.

“I ate some edibles” escaped my mouth, when I told

I took that conversation a couple steps further one night with my other neighbors, the young couple. It was a Fri-

my dear neighbors, whom I adore and respect, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

day evening, and I was sweaty and covered in dirt while

And I felt even better when my admission spurred an

(appropriately) weeding our front yard. I was about 15

awesomely normal conversation with the neighbors

milligrams into some energizing edibles and finishing my

about cannabis legalization, about its known effects on

second ice-cold water bottle when the couple pulled up

our city and populace, and about my own personal con-

and started chatting me up.

sumption habits.

After a few pleasantries about their night (margarita

They laughed when I told them I didn’t smoke marijua-

happy hour at a favorite Mexican resto) and my night (yard

na, that I only eat it. And as they went inside their house

work while the wife was out with friends), they compli-

for the evening, I lingered in my front yard for another

mented my hard labor and apologized for the way I was

hour, packing the disheveled weeds into trash bags and

spending a beautiful Friday evening.

cleaning up the mess I’d made. As I surveyed my handi-

“Oh, I’m actually having a blast right now,” I told them,

work, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

inspiring a confused stare back in my direction. “When I

Sure, my yard looked so much better than before, but I

18 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

also felt better and more transparent about my newfound openness with my neighbors.

As soon as I felt myself say the words

“I ate some edibles” to my neighbors, whom I adore

and respect, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

I found that night—and it’s something that remains true to this day—that opening up about my own relationship with marijuana to the people closest to my personal orbit has been nothing but a good thing. It helps us understand one another on a deeper level, and it helps us build a better and more honest community.

This newfound depth of openness is certainly a byproduct of legalization, and something that isn’t as commonplace in prohibition states. And like the marijuana sales that have recently become so normal, this newfound ability to be more forthcoming with our opinions on cannabis—with our neighbors, with those delivering our favorite Chinese takeout, and with others—isn’t something we should ever take for granted.

RICARDO BACA is a veteran journalist, thought leader, and founder of The Cannabist. His content agency Grasslands works primarily with businesses and individuals in the cannabis and hemp industries on thought leadership, publicity, and marketing projects via thoughtful, personalized marketing campaigns.

Business Law (Contracts & Compliance) ■ Intellectual Property ■ Cannabis Defense ■ DUIs/DMV Hearings ■ All Felonies & Misdemeanors ■

FREE CONSULTATION FOR DEFENSE WORK ONLY

Kathleen Bryson Attorney

Former Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Member of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Member California DUI Lawyers Association Voted North Coast Journal’s Best of Humboldt - Attorney & Law Office (2015-2018)

732 5th Street, Suite C Eureka, CA 95501 info@humboldtjustice.com www.humboldtjustice.com

707.268.8600 Working in Association with

Shay Aaron Gilmore Business Law

www.shaygilmorelaw.com Phone/Text: 415.846.6397 sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 19

{tastebuds }

by N O R A M O U N C E

HIGHLY EDIBLE A Humboldt County chef takes on exploring cannabis cuisine from her own kitchen and discovers a journey filled with so much more than bong rips.

As a graduate student at Humboldt State, all I wanted to

serving it alongside hot mint tea as a refreshment for ladies’

read and write about was food. After years of waiting tables

bridge club. The recipe lists ingredients one might collect on

and tending bar, I used anthropology—the study of human

a trip to the spice market: whole nutmeg, a cinnamon stick,

culture—to get off my feet and explore deeper meaning

peppercorns, and a handful of dried fruit and shelled nuts.

in what we feed our minds and bodies. I wanted to under-

Toklas then instructs adding “a bunch of Cannabis sativa,

stand why the food-health connection is interpreted so

pulverized,” before rolling the fudge into balls and eating

differently across cultures and make sense of America’s in-

with care. “Two pieces are quite sufficient,” she writes.

sipid and bizarre culinary history (tuna Jello salad, anyone?).

Two pieces? Slow down there, Alice. If I popped two of

Contextualizing such questions within the unique his-

every edible served at bridge club, I would have never finished grad school.

bitious, yet as my advisor often reminded me, too unfo-

Since the time Bohemians fled the conservative culture of

cused to employ traditional research methods. Psht psht,

mid-century America to smoke hashish and discuss commu-

I thought to myself, and turned to Gertrude Stein’s Tender

nism in Europe, the potency of US homegrown cannabis has

Buttons and M.F.K. Fisher’s The Art of Eating for inspiration.

skyrocketed. Today, farmers cultivate female plants separate-

“First we eat, then we do everything else,” wrote Fisher.

ly from males, preventing the flowers from going to seed and

Agreeing entirely, I made myself a snack and pressed on.

concentrating THC levels. The science behind cannabis cuisine

Stein and her lover, Alice B. Toklas, both American writ-

has grown more sophisticated as well, yet common knowl-

ers, lived in Paris for 40 years, hosting at their salon a

edge remains murky thanks to a federal prohibition on canna-

parade of famous expats, including Hemingway and Fitz-

bis that likens baking a batch of brownies to criminal activity.

gerald. Though Stein was the bigger name, Toklas made

Deep in the Emerald Triangle, cannabis is grown on back-

her literary mark when she published The Alice B. Toklas

country roads and in your neighbor’s spare bedroom. Le-

Cookbook in 1954, famously including her recipe for Hash-

gality has never been a limiting factor. After Alice’s hash-

ish Fudge—the original pot brownie.

ish fudge recipe caught my eye (I couldn’t help but notice

Though mysteriously containing no chocolate, Toklas

it resembled a paleo-style protein bite), I told my friends

called the fudge “the food of paradise” and recommended

my idea to reconstruct the pot brownie for modern pal-

20 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

PHOTO BY ANDA AMBROSINI

tory of Humboldt County, my graduate thesis was am-

ates. Within days, a girlfriend had stocked my pantry with

Well, yes and no. While you can literally stir cannabis into

a pound of trim (excess plant matter collected while man-

anything—with no risk of toxicity—the flavor, texture, and

icuring cannabis flowers), and I was measuring pinches of

potency can turn unpleasant rather quickly. You might re-

weed into melted coconut oil in my trusted yellow soup pot.

member your college days, too? I certainly do. As an un-

After my recipe for Paleo Bites—walnuts, eggs, dates,

dergrad at Berkeley, getting stoned was always an option;

coconut flakes, sea salt, and cannabis-infused coconut

freshman year in the dorms, my resident advisor made a

oil—was published in 2016, my editor wanted more. Alice

standing offer to trade me bong rips for doing his laundry.

couldn’t help me anymore. I needed to learn a bit more

By the time I graduated, I’d learned how to roll a decent spliff

about cannabis and cooking quickly. I mentioned the new

but accepted that getting high AF was not my thing. Still a

side gig to my father, whose college pics from the ‘70s

girl from NorCal, I loved the grassy smell on my boyfriends

show off his flowing red hair and short denim shorts. Dad

(all of them) and firmly believe that cannabis is better for

reassured me: “You can put weed in anything.”

whatever ails you than anything Big Pharma has to offer.

Fast-forward 10-plus years, I surprised myself by falling in love with the stunning beauty and open-minded culture of Humboldt County and moved to the area. As I was settling in up north, I privately feared the tired clichés of a hippie monoculture—the classic stoner stereotype— but instead found a wonderfully diverse community of artists, hipsters, professionals, and even squares. Lots of my friends grew weed; others wouldn’t touch it with a 10foot pole. Like many locals, I kept one foot in each world, paying for grad school with side work as a trimmer (sorry,

22 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY BY NORA MOUNCE

Blackberry Basil Canna-Shrub

Netflix, I’m not missing) and writing stories about food, culture, and cannabis.

Still, it surprised me how weird people were about weed—the Emerald Triangle is equally divisive and scenic—but I took people’s opinions with a turkey bag of salt and kept cooking.

By exploring cannabis cuisine from my own kitchen, I’ve pinpointed my “nut” (the perfect amount of THC for me), sampled an array of craft edibles and tinctures, and interviewed kind and ambitious cannabis sommeliers, candy makers, farmers, lawyers, advocates, and patients. It’s been a journey filled with so much more than bong rips.

Since 2016, the line between worlds has grown fuzzier at the hands of legalization. Amid rapid cultural change, the public’s interest in edibles has escalated sharply. In a 2018 report from BDS Analytics, the US and Canadian market for edibles is projected to reach over $4.1 billion by 2022.

And why not? Ingesting cannabis offers a safe delivery system of beneficial cannabinoids without the risk of inhaling carcinogens or producing second-hand smoke. Edibles are approachable and inclusive for professionals, parents, and aging baby boomers with aches and pains. With the cultural stigma around cannabis lessening every day, every Californian over 21 wanting to reduce anxiety or add simple pleasures to their life can shop for infused marshmallows and chocolate-covered blueberries from licensed dispensaries.

Jicama Orange Salad with Pepitas

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 23

An even better option: Make your own. Not everyone has weed growing through the floorboards like we do in Humboldt, but purchasing raw ingredients better suits the health-conscious and culinary-minded among us. In the past few years, I’ve made cannabis-infused dishes from a rosemary rack of lamb to Meyer lemon tarts to Bulletproof coffee and spicy watermelon margaritas. With a few simple guidelines, making your own edibles should be affordable, fun, and good for the mind, body, and soul. And whether the experience reminds you of college is entirely up to you.

In the small kitchen of my Victorian home, Mason jars of infused olive oil are nestled next to cans of diced tomatoes and jars of capers; I see no need to discriminate between food and medicine. As more and more Americans discover the holistic benefits of cannabis, stocking the pantry with herbal infusions offers endless variety in flavor and utility. In your 2019 culinary adventures, I hope your kitchen yields pleasant surprises that bring joy and wellness into your life every day.

WANT MORE? We’ve got you covered. Find recipes, tips, and other deliciously elevating info at SENSIMAG.COM.

Radish Avocado Toast 24 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 25

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28 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

BUDDING

WINE REGION A fresh crop of local wineries run by mom-andpop entrepreneurs with a passion for the land have popped up around the region, creating a lot of buzz for California’s newest viticulture destination.

PHOTO BY JESSIE BELL

by N O R A M O U N C E

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 29

WHETHER ON A KITCHEN TABLE OR A RESTAURANT MENU, CALIFORIANS WANT AGRICULTURE THAT —WITH DEFERENCE TO ORGANIC STANDARDS—

expresses a sense of place.IN THE

FAR NORTHERN REACHES OF THE STATE, HOURS OF HIGHWAY MILES AND GIANT REDWOODS HAVE

MADE LOCAVORISM A FUNCTION OF SURVIVAL OVER FASHION. BEST KNOWN FOR OYSTERS, CRAFT BEER, AND CANNABIS, THE EMERALD TRIANGLE FOODSCAPE ALSO INCLUDES WINE. Mendocino County, a beloved destination for romantic

back-to-the-land cannabis culture. In recent years, a flur-

weekenders, has long been known for its sophisticated

ry of mom-and-pop wineries have emerged, kickstarting

pinots, full-bodied chardonnays, and even some French-

a new California wine region and welcoming visitors to

style bubbly. Along with the naturally verdant landscape

taste their way north.

and rustic charm of Mendocino’s coast, the quality of the wine attracts thousands of tourists.

Back to the Roots

But penetrating further into the Emerald Triangle—

Humboldt County native Pat Knittel found herself

known colloquially as “behind the redwood curtain”—

driving through Napa Valley’s famous vineyards one

Humboldt County rarely enjoys the same repute. A rug-

day and thinking about home. A seasoned winemaker

ged country framed by the Pacific and tooth-picked by

with experience crushing grapes from Sonoma to New

redwoods, Humboldt is famous for its natural beauty and

Zealand, Knittel’s mind first ran to Humboldt’s legacy

30 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

of apple farming. In the early 20th century, renowned plant breeder Albert Etter put Humboldt on the map by patenting unique cultivars like the Pink Pearl and the Waltana in the Mattole Valley. Knowing this heritage, Knittel imagined how her expertise in fermentation might translate from wine to cider. She packed up her dogs and headed north to her childhood home in Freshwater, a farm town with more orchards than people, to start bottling

HPRC

"Cultivating Well Being Since 1999"

Humboldt County fruit.

“Cool climate versus warm climate is a huge factor in viticulture,” says Knittel, who makes syrah, carignan, pinot, petite sirah, and vermentino under her own label, North Story Wines. Like many winemakers, Knittel prefers the subtlety of cool-climate wines.

For those unfamiliar with the binary of styles, grapes grown in hot regions (California’s Central Valley, Washington State, Australia, and much of Napa and Sonoma) generally yield extremely fruity, high-alcohol wines, depend-

Humboldt County's Longest Operating Cannabis Dispensary

ably enjoyed by mainstream consumers. Meanwhile, cool-climate wines (Oregon, France, Germany, and coastal California) are known to be more expressive, a function of moderate temperature that allows bright acidity and non-generic flavors to develop freely. “Those are the wines that really flip my switch,” says Knittel.

Under her Wrangletown label—the historic name of Freshwater—Knittel also produces craft cider, including three orchard-designate ciders, a barrel-aged, and her original “farmhouse” dry. Lately, she’s been playing around with extended maceration (leaving the juice on the skins), allowing more complex flavors to develop, a technique typically reserved for red wine. The

LANDSCAPE PHOTO COURTESY OF TRINITY RIVER VINEYARDS / WRANGLETOWN SIGN PHOTO BY NORA MOUNCE

quality of Wrangletown ciders is a direct reflection of Knittel’s winemaking experience and intimate relationship with Humboldt County fruit. “You make what’s best for the area,” she says.

In House Product Lines Exceptional Staff Service Oriented HPRC Arcata 980 6th St. Arcata, CA

www.HPRCHumboldt.com A12-18-000025TEMP sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 31

LOCAL GUIDEBOOK:

How to Savor the Flavors.

North Story Wines WRANGLETOWNCIDERCOMPANY.COM

You can try all the varietals in the tasting room at the Wrangletown Cidery in Arcata (1350 9th St., Arcata).

Septentrio FACEBOOK.COM/SEPTENTRIOWINERY

To order cases or find out about upcoming tastings and pairing dinners at local restaurants, head to Facebook.

Flor d’Luna FLORDLUNA.COM

A McKinleyville tasting room is open by appointment. You can also catch the team of two pouring at The Griffin during Arts! Arcata on the second Friday of the month.

Trinity River Vineyards STARGAZERBARN.COM/WINERY

The estate vineyard wines from Willow Creek are sold online and ship nationwide.

Written in the Stars Around the corner from Knittel’s tasting room in Arcata’s historic Creamery District, Jared Sandifer opened his own “micro-winery” in 2014, naming the label Septentrio after the old Latin term septentriois, which loosely translates to both a constellation of stars and the direction north.

Sandifer learned to appreciate good wine at a young age. Later, an opportunity to scoop up discount grapes fell in his lap while he was visiting his mother in Napa.

After hauling the slightly overripe fruit back to Eureka, he crushed his first harvest and made pinot and tempranillo in his garage.

Like many Humboldt entrepreneurs before him, Sandifer wears every hat at Septentrio, managing his vineyards and building his winery with a classic DIY Humboldt mentality. “Humboldt County is filled with brilliant people who moved here for the quality of life,” explains Sandifer. “But there’s not a great economy, so people have done creative things to get by.”

Sandifer is quick to stress there’s also science fueling the growing crop of North Coast wineries.

“We get that cool fog that creeps at night,” he explains.

“It’s great because pinot noir is a thin-skinned grape and can’t handle too much heat.”

As Humboldt’s reputation for craft beer, wine, cider, and food continues to grow, so too does interest in visiting the region’s wineries, and Septentrio is getting ready. In 2019, Sandifer and his wife plan to open a tasting room in Arcata featuring wine tasting, a Euro-Asian fusion food truck, and their newest release, a sparkling brut rose. The expansion goes hand-in-hand with the philosophy behind the label: enjoying the good life and showing off Humboldt’s artisan side.

As Boutique as Can Be Further north, Sonja Shaw and Jason Smith are the winemaker/proprietor duo of the boutique winery Flor d’ Luna. Shaw and Smith started making wine at their home in the apple orchards of Fieldbrook to satisfy their appreciation for good varietals.

Shaw is the winemaker, building on her lifelong love of gardening and four semesters at the University of California, Davis’s extension program for enology and viticulture. Smith serves as Flor d’Luna’s assistant winemaker and manages the winery’s marketing and operations.

Focused expressly on winemaking—the couple does not own a vineyard—they have found key advantages to making wine in Humboldt. The moderate temperature and higher humidity al32 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

low for gentler processes in the winery, Shaw explains, helping to keep the wines from being over extracted. “Our cooler nighttime temperatures help to keep acids high,” she says.

Striving to change the stereotype around Humboldt wine—namely, that there isn’t any—Flor d’Luna produces a small portfolio of wines from grapes grown from eastern Humboldt and as far south as Amador. “Access is challenging,” says Shaw, citing competition and scale as the main challenges to expanding production. “As a winemaker, my job is to find good fruit and not

PHOTO BY JESSIE BELL

mess it up,” she adds with a laugh.

In Humboldt County, the region’s cultural identity has often been smoked, but rarely bottled.

Character, Tradition, Terroir Rounding out the crop of newcomers, Wil Franklin is the winemaker at Trinity River Vineyards and vineyard manager at farms throughout the Willow Creek AVA (American Viticulture Area), a mountainous region east of Arcata. Thanks to a few visionary farmers, the Willow Creek AVA was established in 1983, long before many of California’s world-famous wine regions were granted the same recognition.

Franklin believes the challenging aspects of farming in rural Humboldt are simultaneously what gives the region such potential. He cites the steep terrain, which must be harvested by hand, as a built-in function that protects fruit quality and promotes small-scale, sustainable agriculture. And despite Humboldt’s reputation for gray weather, the Willow Creek AVA regularly sees triple-digit temperatures each summer, allowing red-skinned varietals like cabernets to reach phenolic ripeness while maintaining acidity. “What I think will emerge is a really unique, boutique wine industry,” says Franklin.

A product of culture and geography, the French concept terroir describes how a place is expressed through soil, agriculture, and flavor. In Humboldt County, the region’s cultural identity has often been smoked, but rarely bottled. In 2019, visitors behind the redwood curtain can experience a taste of Humboldt County that’s no longer a secret. sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 33

34 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

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36 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

IN THE 1940S, WHEN THE SOVIET UNION WAS VYING TO DOMINATE THE UNIVERSE, MORE THAN 1,200 SCIENTISTS WERE TASKED WITH STUDYING HOW PLANTS LIKE GINSENG AND SCHISANDRA— STAPLES IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE, NATIVE AMERICAN, AND AYURVEDIC MEDICINE—COULD HELP WORKERS, SOLDIERS, ATHLETES, BALLERINAS, CHESS PLAYERS, AND COSMONAUTS ADAPT TO PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL STRESS FOR ENHANCED

Plant Power Could you use a few more edible plants (in addition to cannabis) that protect you from stress, trauma, and fatigue? Get to know your adaptogenic herbs and how to enjoy them.

PERFORMANCE AND SPEEDIER RECOVERY. In 1947, pharmacologist Nikolai Lazarev rebranded the plants, all but forgotten in Western medicine, as “adaptogens” and defined them as nontoxic herbs that protect the body from damaging physical and emotional stress while improving many of its systems and functions. The Soviets kept their research top secret for many years because of the advantage the plants gave their soldiers and citizens in worldwide competition. Soviet scientists continued to tweak adaptogen regimens, and by 1976, the nation’s athletes were dominating the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

Adaptogens are pretty miraculous. They create and maintain homeostasis in the body, continually restoring its natural balance by slowing systems down when they’re overheating and speeding them up when they’re sluggish. (They can even do both things—calm and energize—at the same time.) The plants fight fatigue and reduce stress—in an age when stress is rampant and

by ROBYN GRIGGS L AWRENCE

linked to the six leading causes of death.

Dr. Joseph Cohen, an osteopathic physician who integrates cannabis into his functional medicine practice in Colorado, says adaptogens do far more than most people realize because bringing the body to homeostasis protects the entire neuroendocrine system and the adrenal glands, where valuable hormones such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine are produced.

Is Cannabis an Adaptogen?

Does Maca Make You Horny?

In his upcoming book, The Cannabis-Friendly Guide to

Wellness, Cohen writes about how cannabis works as an adaptogen. He calls the cannabinoid CBD “an adaptogen within an adaptogen” because of its ability to mitigate some of THC’s unwanted side effects. “Cannabinoids do a multitude of things we’re just beginning to understand,” he says.

Cannabis is not officially an adaptogen (according to people who think officially), but it meets all the requirements: nontoxic, stress-reducing, balancing. “It does (story continued on page 40)

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 37

Green and Golden Coconut Milk Nightcap

Cannabis-Infused Coconut Milk

You’ll use only a teaspoon of the herb and

* 32 ounces organic coconut milk * 1⁄2 gram cannabis flower or trim

{ SERVES 1 }

spice blend in this recipe, so you can store the rest in an airtight container and combine it with cannabis-infused coconut milk for a healthy warm drink. You can also make this with nut milk.

{ MAKES

ABOUT 4 CUPS }

* Double boiler * Fine mesh strainer

* Cheesecloth or paper coffee filter

· Break cannabis into small pieces using your

* 1⁄4 cup powdered ashwagandha root * 1⁄4 cup powdered schisandra berries * 1 cup rose petal powder * 1 tsp cinnamon

* 1 tsp nutmeg * 1 cup cannabis-infused coconut milk * Maple syrup or honey, to taste

· Blend together ashwagandha, schisandra,

rose petal powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. · In small saucepan, gently heat coconut milk until warm but not boiling. Pour into a mug and stir in 1 tsp of herb mixture.

· Add sweetener and enjoy.

fingers or a knife. Combine with coconut cream in a saucepan over a double boiler and heat over medium heat, stirring often. · When it nears a boil, reduce heat and simmer gently for 45 minutes. Do not let it boil. · Remove from heat and let cool. · Place cheesecloth or coffee filter in fine mesh strainer and place over a jar or bowl.

Pour coconut cream through to catch solids. You may have to pour through a couple times before cream runs clear.

Squeeze out last drops of coconut cream and discard or compost cannabis and cheesecloth.

EDIBLE ADAPTOGENS American Ginseng

Asian Ginseng

FLAVOR: Bitter, slightly sweet

FLAVOR: Sweet, slightly bitter

{Panax quinquefolius}

BENEFITS: Antioxidant, anti-inflammato-

ry, boosts energy, lowers blood sugar, reduces stress TREATS: Autoimmune disorders, bronchitis, asthma, jet lag, metabolic syndrome, adrenal deficiency, diabetes, immune depletion, sexual dysfunction (male) HOW TO EAT IT: Eat the root raw, steamed, or slightly cooked; add powder to smoothies or yogurt

38 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

{Panax ginseng}

BENEFITS: Calming; boosts mood, memo-

ry, focus, and performance; aphrodisiac TREATS: Stress, depression, insomnia, diabetes, cachexia, erectile dysfunction HOW TO EAT IT: Make into tea, tonic or tincture; chop root and add to soup, stew, or stir-fry

Goji Berry

{Lycium barbarum} FLAVOR: Tart cherry, cranberry, tomato

BENEFITS: Anti-inflammatory; strength-

ens weak muscles; tonic for heart, kidneys, liver, and blood; improves vision, focus, energy, and sexual performance; strengthens immune system TREATS: Muscle soreness and spasms, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome HOW TO EAT IT: Substitute dried berries for raisins; add hydrated dried berries to rice, sauces, stews, or salsas; add to salads and smoothies

Holy Basil {Ocimum sanctum} FLAVOR: Bitter, spicy

BENEFITS: Antioxidant, neuroprotective, reduces stress, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, diuretic, stabilizes blood sugar; improves respiration, aphrodisiac TREATS: Acne, PTSD, bulimia, hypoglycemia, arthritis, bronchitis, vomiting HOW TO EAT IT: Fresh or dried leaves as tea or a tincture; add fresh leaves to salads

Eleuthero

{Eleutherococcus senticosus}

FLAVOR: Sweet, slightly bitter

BENEFITS: Antioxidant, mild anti-

Š HARI PRASAD NADIG

inflammatory, nervine, immune support, lowers blood sugar, improves memory TREATS: Bone marrow suppression, angina, insomnia, appetite loss, joint pain, mild depression, chronic fatigue HOW TO EAT IT: Use ground root to make tincture, tea, or tonic; steam and slice roots and add to stir fries or drizzle with honey

Maca {Lepidium meyenii}

FLAVOR: Malty, caramel, butterscotch

BENEFITS: Boosts energy and stami-

na, aphrodisiac, improves sperm count, relieves stress TREATS: PMS, menopausal symptoms, anemia HOW TO EAT IT: Add powder to beverages and yogurt; roast or boil root; use maca flour to make bread; eat leaves in salads

Schisandra

{Schisandra chinensis}

FLAVOR: Sweet, salty, spicy, sour, bitter

BENEFITS: Anti-inflammatory, astringent, cardiotonic, improves gastrointestinal health, boosts memory, protects liver TREATS: Respiratory or digestive illnesses, heatstroke, frostbite, exhaustion, urinary incontinence, diarrhea, asthma HOW TO EAT IT: Make a tea, tincture or syrup from dried or fresh berries; add powder to smoothies or yogurt

Ashwagandha {Panax quinquefolius} FLAVOR: Bitter, sweet

BENEFITS: Anti-inflammatory; balances mood; antioxidant; astringent; normalizes blood pressure, general health, and vitality; uterine and fertility tonic; rich in iron TREATS: Fatigue, insomnia, ADD, anxiety, chronic fatigue, spasms, fibromyalgia, mild Tourette’s syndrome, osteoarthritis, anemia HOW TO EAT IT: Make into tea, tincture or tonic; add powdered root to smoothies and yogurt

ask for us at your local dispensary www.mountainwisefarms.com @mountainwisefarms

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 39

40 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 41

SPEC IAL REPORT

A CANNABIS PLANT BY ANY OTHER NAME

42 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

Industrial hemp and psychoactive “marijuana” are the same plant, Cannabis sativa, bred and cultivated in very different ways. So, if hemp is now legal, shouldn’t “marijuana” be, too?

by R O BY N G R I G G S L AW R E N C E

Perhaps the most remarkable thing ABOUT THE US CONGRESS LEGALIZING HEMP LATE LAST YEAR WAS HOW UNREMARKABLE IT WAS. LEGALIZATION OF HEMP AND ITS NON-PSYCHOACTIVE CANNABINOID CBD SAILED THROUGH THE HOUSE AND SENATE WITH RARE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT AS PART OF THE 2018 FARM BILL, WHICH PRESIDENT TRUMP SIGNED INTO LAW WHILE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE BORDER WALL. (TRUMP TURNED DOWN SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL’S OFFER TO LOAN HIM HIS HEMP PEN FOR THE OCCASION.) For hemp farmers and entrepreneurs in the Unit-

hemp foods and demand for CBD surged, more and more

ed States, it was a watershed moment. Already, 77,000

states established hemp programs, and production

acres of hemp are being cultivated under state protec-

soared in the United States.

tions (half of them in Colorado, which legalized hemp

For all that, the Farm Bill opened up a tangled and con-

in 2014), and 750 hemp-derived foods and supplements

fusing conversation when it put the US Agriculture De-

have flooded the $2 billion CBD market. Now, this na-

partment in charge of industrial hemp, which it defined

scent industry can operate under the full protection of

as cannabis with less than 0.3 percent THC; removed the

federal law, with access to critical infrastructure such

non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD from inclusion in

as insurance, banking, and tax write-offs it had been de-

the Controlled Substances Act; and continued the Food

nied under prohibition.

and Drug Administration’s oversight of products con-

“It’s time to figure it out and see where this market will

taining cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds.

take us,” McConnell, a Republican who hopes hemp will

Hemp cultivation had been illegal largely because au-

replace tobacco as a revenue source in his home state of

thorities in the United States couldn’t tell it apart from

Kentucky, told CNBC. “I think it’s an important new devel-

psychoactive “marijuana.” Before the bill passed, all

opment in American agriculture. There’s plenty of hemp

cannabis plants—even those that could not get anybody

around; it’s just coming from other countries. Why in the

high—had effectively been outlawed by the 1937 Marijua-

world would we want a lot of it to not come from here?”

na Tax Act, which was rammed through the House Ways

In 1999, the United States began allowing imports of

and Means Committee before members understood

hemp products with less than 0.3 percent of the psycho-

what they were doing. Most had not been informed that

active cannabinoid THC, and in the 2010s it began al-

marijuana, the scary “new” drug they’d been fed so much

lowing limited domestic cultivation of industrial hemp,

propaganda about, was in fact hemp, which people all

which was used to make everything from food and body

over the world had used as food and fiber for centuries.

care products to insulation. As consumers embraced

“That knowledge,” Robert Deitch wrote in Hemp: Amersensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 43

ican History Revisited, “would have killed the Marijuana Tax Act dead in its tracks.”

THE WORLD’S MOST MISUNDERSTOOD VEGETABLE “Surely no member of the vegetable kingdom has ever been more misunderstood than hemp,” David P. West wrote in a special report for the North American Industrial Hemp Council in 1998. “And nowhere have emotions run hotter than the debate over the distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana.”

Though they serve vastly different functions, don’t look alike, and are often referred to as “cousins,” industrial hemp and psychoactive “marijuana” are actually the same plant, Cannabis sativa, bred and cultivated in very different ways. For centuries, cannabis farmers have understood that when cannabis plants grow close together, they get less sunlight and produce longer fiber-producing stems and no psychoactive resin. To produce plants full of sticky flowers, farmers sow seeds farther apart to give each plant more sunlight and force them to secrete more resin to protect themselves from drying out.

When distinguishing between the two types of cannabis plants became important as stricter drug laws were enacted worldwide in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Canadian researcher Ernest Small somewhat randomly tossed out a formula—hemp has less than 0.3 percent THC—that, for no real reason other than his authority as a renowned ethnobotanist became the internationally accepted standard written into most legislation outlawing marijuana.

Small was merely continuing a taxonomical conversation that dates back to Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, who in 1753 introduced Cannabis sativa, a resilient, prolific plant species he named after the Greek word kannabis, meaning “hemp,” and sativa, meaning “cultivated.” When Linnaeus recorded the plant, he documented one species with five variants, launching a debate that rages to this day.

Thirty years after Linnaeus recorded C. sativa, French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck introduced what he described as a second “very distinct” species, C. indica, based on plant samples from India. Unlike the tall, lanky

C. sativa (hemp) common in Europe, Lamarck described C. indica as smaller and more densely branched, with consistently alternating leaves and a woodier stem that made the plant unsuitable for making fiber. Lamarck believed there were two separate species of cannabis,

Chanvre cultive (“cultivated hemp”) and Chanvre des Indes (“Indian cannabis”), which he believed was valued more for its psychoactive effects than its fiber.

44 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

A Nutritional Powerhouse Through the Ages Traditionally eaten as a staple food by people in the lower classes, nutritious hemp seeds carried Chinese peasants through times of famine and were the foundation for a gritty peanut butter-type preparation that carried Europeans through long winters. Every Russian and Polish household kept a store of hemp seeds and hemp seed oil in the pantry. Russians commonly bruised and roasted the seeds, mixed them with salt, and spread them onto slabs of crusty bread. When major famines under the Soviets made beef and pork nearly impossible to come by, people survived on hemp seed oil as a major source of edible protein. In Poland, stewed hemp seed porridge was subsistence food in monasteries, military barracks, and among poor people.

The soft, white kernels inside cannabis seeds’ hard shells produce high-protein oil high in essential fatty acids (EFAs), phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, carotene (a precursor to vitamin A), tocopherols (major antioxidants that include the vitamin E group), 30 thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin B6, chlorophyll, sulfur, phosphorus, phosphosolipids, and phytosterols.

Cannabis is the only current natural food source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which affects vital metabolic roles ranging from control of inflammation and vascular tone to hormone balancing.

Cannabis seeds have extremely low THC content and taste creamy and nutty, without the bitterness of the plant material. They can be shelled and eaten like sunflower seeds or ground into a powder for snacking and cooking.

They’re high in roughage and easily digestible edestin protein, which is likely why they became a staple for healing digestive issues in Traditional Chinese Medicine and other healing modalities.

The seeds’ ideal 1:3 ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs provides more of these compounds—which are called “essential” because they must come from a source outside the body—than fish.

Cannabis seeds are high in linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, which are difficult to come by in Western diets and act as raw materials for cell structure and as biosynthesis precursors for many of the body’s regulatory biochemicals.

“The principal effect of this plant consists of going to the head, disrupting the brain, where it produces a sort of drunkenness that makes one forget one’s sorrows, and produces a strong gaiety,” Lamarck wrote, making him the first to suggest a distinction between two separate cannabis species based on C. indica’s psychoactive effects.

In a Cannabinoids 2014 article, Jacob L. Erkelens and Arno Hazenkamp explained that Lamarck’s purpose in classifying C. indica as a separate species was to provide a more generally acceptable description of cannabis. “Unfortunately, the long-term effects of his publication would turn out to do the exact opposite,” they wrote, “and well over two hundred years later we are still left in confusion.”

ONE SPECIES OR TWO? In 1893, the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission conducted one of the most thoroughly investigated, comprehensive studies of cannabis use and culture ever, and commissioners spent considerable time and energy investigating the long-burning question of whether the narcotic-yielding plant (later known as “marijuana”) was identical to the non-narcotic fiber-yielding plant (later known as “hemp’). They surmised, quite presciently, that inquiring into the longstanding argument about wheth-

sensimag.com FEBRUARY 2019 45

er C. indica and C. sativa were one species or two would

ernment has bestowed its blessings upon C. sativa and

be important in the future because of the possibility that

suggest that the plant is legal, regardless of how it grows

“the restriction of the production of the narcotic by lim-

and what it’s grown for? I’m pretty sure we could find a

iting the cultivation may affect a product and an indus-

few botanists who would stand behind that.

try which are above suspicion.”

The commission based its findings on studies by botanical researcher Dr. J.M. Watt, who concluded, “With

Cannabis indica differing in so marked a degree according to the climate, soil, and mode of cultivation, it was rightly concluded that its separation from the hemp plant of Europe could not be maintained.” Watt compared the hemp plant to potatoes, tobacco, and poppies, all of which “seem to have the power of growing with equal luxuriance under almost any climatic condition, changing or modifying some important function as if to adapt themselves to the altered circumstances.”

His opinions were replicated by Dr. D. Prain, who observed: “There are no botanical characters to separate the Indian plant from Cannabis sativa, and they do not differ as regard the structure of stem, leaves, flowers, or fruit. … Hemp, therefore, as a fibre-yielding plant in no way differs from hemp as a narcotic-producing one.”

Well, hello. Couldn’t we—shouldn’t we—take this debate to its next logical conclusion now that the US gov-

46 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle

It’s time to revive this debate.

ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE’S new book, Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in May.

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by S T E P H A N I E W I L S O N

CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE PIG The traditional Chinese New Year celebration comes to Weaverville this month.

In 2019, Chinese New Year officially begins on Tuesday,

What: Chinese New Year Celebration

February 5, a day that marks the beginning of the auspi-

Where: Joss House State Historic Park, Weaverville

cious Year of the Pig, and runs through February 19. The

When: February 23, 11 a.m.

annual Spring Festival, celebrated around the world, marks

More Info: VISITTRINITY.COM

the end of the coldest days, ushering in the warmer days ahead. It’s a period for praying to the gods for a good planting and harvest season.

The Emerald Triangle has a rich Chinese history dating to the 1848 Gold Rush, which brought thousands of Chinese immigrants to the region—particularly Trinity County.

In the small mining town of Weaverville (about 105 miles east of Eureka), the Chinese residents erected a small Taos “joss” house—a temple of worship—and named it Won Lim Miao. The Taos tradition aims at serenity through harmony with nature.

While that first joss house was lost to fire (as was its replacement), the third iteration—circa 1874—still stands today as a perfectly preserved artifact. The colorful “Temple Amidst the Forest Beneath the Clouds” stands out among the town’s signature brick buildings, painted bright blue to replicate the color of the sky. The interior of the oldest continually used Chinese temple in California remains unchanged since 1874 (although electricity and protective railings were added), and the space displays artworks, artifacts, and altars. It became part of the California State Parks system in 1956.

On February 23, visit the landmark to watch history come alive during the annual Chinese New Year’s Celebration, complete with a traditional Lion Dance said to showcase the balance between yin and yang. As part of the free celebration, the colorful lions wander through the town, stopping at businesses to spread good luck to the community.

50 FEBRUARY 2019 Emerald Triangle