BOSTON
4 / 2 0 S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
Get the door, it’s
Doug Benson. He’d like a word.
THE NEW NORMAL
4.2019
Electric Boogie Boston-NYC via Tesla Chariots
Scene Pics
Grasslands NCIA After-Party
King Gonzo
Interview with new Hunter S. Thompson biography author
Packaging Waste In Cannabis
How local companies are addressing a growing problem
sensimag.com APRIL 2019 3
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8 APRIL 2019 Boston
ISSUE 4 // VOLUME 2 // 4.2019
FEATURE 34 Doug In
Doug Benson plays the Wilbur on 4/20 and you can bet this feature talks about weed and movies.
BOSTON TO NYC VIA TESLA? Boston to NYC via Tesla.
HEMP BILL TALK Let’s Begin
17
50 every issue 11 Editor’s Note 14 The Buzz 20 NewsFeed
PACKAGING PREDICAMENT
26 LifeStyle
HUNTER S. THOMPSON REVISITED
30 HighProfile
BOGGS JAMMIN’
48 The Scene
SEED TO SALE 2019 PARTY
50 HereWeGo
FARMING LEGISLATION
Sensi magazine is published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC. © 2019 SENSI MEDIA GROUP LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
sensimag.com APRIL 2019 9
sensi magazine ISSUE 4 / VOLUME 2 / 4.2019
EXECUTIVE FOLLOW US
Ron Kolb ron@sensimag.com CEO, SENSI MEDIA GROUP
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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 10 APRIL 2019 Boston
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Stalk & Beans // DELIVERY Tess Woods Public Relations // PUBLIC RELATIONS Vicente Sederberg, LLC // LEGAL SERVICES Dan McCarthy
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For Those With The Dancing Jones Fall in love with dope beats on 4/20 (and get ready to boogie all summer). Back in 2009, a happy little party aimed at attracting
her own independent party project, LoveStruck, for
a diverse collection of denizens hellbent on busting
the winter months in order to deal with the bummer
moves for the good of the soul launched: Dancing on
of DOTC season (ie: good weather), is once again giving
the Block.
way to months of cold and darkness. And she’s got a
Helmed by Rose Krueger and partner Randy De-
banger coming on 4/20 this year.
shaies, as a block party, it got to be too big—and too
Considering it’s at the American Legion Marsh Post
fun—and needed a new space to hold the monthly se-
442 in Cambridge, the off-the-beaten-path venue
ries. A couple years earlier, beloved local DJ-producer
highlights the focal point of the event: dancing and
duo Soul Clap had birthed its riverside party Dancing
fun. Period.
on the Charles (DOTC) and decided to let the minds
“People who come to these events tend not to focus
behind Dancing on the Block into its dance-brand or-
on drinking and getting wasted, stumbling into the
bit to keep regular boogie down productions happen-
party,” Krueger says. “They make the trek to our venues
ing, all while carrying on via the DOTC name.
because they want to dance. I wanted to create an in-
Confused? Don’t be. It’s another way of saying
clusive party that brought the house music and [Burn-
Krueger, who pulls the still-partying DOTC party to-
ing Man] scene together…A party that focused on the
gether and four years ago decided to branch out with
music and falling in love with it.”
14 APRIL 2019 Boston
LoveStruck, Krueger says, was designed to bring a radical inclusion philosophy into the spaces between the beats, as it were. Yes, of course that means welcoming all walks of life and sexual orientation, but as she puts it, the boundaries of self-expressionism at these events are those of the Burning Man sort. (Depending on your side of the Burning Man debate, that may or may not be a draw.) But if you’re a fan of free-spirited dancing, art, and “bringing people together to be their unique self, make new connections, smile, dance, and love,” as Krueger frames it, it’s hard to knock a uhn-tss uhn-tss bash so stocked with local and reginal talent. Think: Punisher, D-Lux, Erlon, Dustin Rosata, Rufus Gibson, David Paglia, Lonely Boy, and more, especially now that LoveStruck is hosting outdoor summer events PHOTOS BY NICK MINIERI AND MATT MODICA
starting in June. “I want people to come let their freak flag fly, an inclusive dance party that brought the house music and Burner scene together focusing on the music and falling in love with it,” Krueger says. She adds, “My other tagline is, ‘I want people to come fall in love…to some dope beats.’” – DAN McCARTHY Visit WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/LOVESTRUCKLETSDANCE for more info.
sensimag.com APRIL 2019 15
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Colleges Add CANNABIS
As stigma continues to fade and the gaping hole of research, training, and education in the legal professional cannabis space slowly backfills with each new business and pro-cannabis piece of legislation passed in the US, it’s only right that higher education gets in on the Great Green Rush. The Washington Post reported in early March that research points to a large swath of cannabis jobs on the horizon, from “greenhouse and dispensary operators to edible product developers, marketing specialists, quality assurance lab directors, and pharmaceutical researchers.” Now that Northern Michigan University is the only college offering the “closest thing to a marijuana major at an accredited US university” in terms of a recognized four-year degree, there was indeed a buzz on the interwebs. The program has reportedly drawn nearly 300 students from 48 states, and with a similar program launching at Minot State University in North Dakota this spring, you can bet the concentrated collection of higher education schools in the Bay State are paying attention, given what is very quickly taking root and foreshadowing a powerful new engine for job creation and revenue for the Commonwealth. If they’re not, they should be: Arcview Market Research, a data firm looking at cannabis industry trends, projects there will be over 450,000 cannabis jobs in the US by 2022. –DM
Boston To NYC Tesla
Any Hub dwellers who travel via car between Boston and New York City
know at least two undeniable facts. One: The Merritt Parkway is superior to I-95 in terms of road-trip aesthetic and time-to-destination (provided no one breaks down in Connecticut and screws up everyone else’s plans). And two: It may be a bit more enjoyable as a ride if you didn’t have to drive. And didn’t have to pay the insane Amtrak ticket fees or deal with Logan Airport. And maybe, just maybe, if one could swap it all in place of a (mostly) personal valet vis-a-vis a spiffy new Tesla. Well, there’s an app for that (or rather, a website; the app is coming soon). Meet Bound, the only Boston-New York long-range Uber, if you will. Basically, travelers can reserve one of three seats in a Tesla Model S, or one of four in a Tesla Model X sedan. And yes, there are discounts for people choosing the way way back seat (less leg room). A one-way will run you $79, cars arrive within about 30 mins, and the quiet, all-electric, class-leading design and general Elon Musk fervor will be worth its weight in Fung Wah busses that didn’t break down or catch on fire between here and Gotham. So, yeah–Tesla Uber-ish thing. Nice.
–DM
Check out WWW.RIDEBOUND.COM for info and booking.
sensimag.com APRIL 2019 17
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{newsfeed } IMAGES VIA CALYXCONTAINERS.COM AND SUNGROWNPACKAGING.COM
by J A M E S O N V I E N S
PACKAGING PREDICAMENT As retail operations get going in the Bay State, consumers and producers are already tuned in and ready to phase out the growing monster of waste in weed packaging.
20 APRIL 2019 Boston
Have you happened to notice a growing pile of weed bags
a dispensary. As state regulators claim to be cracking down
in your trash or recycling bin over the past few months?
on the need to use these childproof bags, producers aren’t
Cannabis is experiencing a bit of a waste problem. As the
necessarily motivated to create tamper-resistant packag-
green wave rolls across the country, ancillary industries like
ing, thinking it will all go into an exit bag anyway.
packaging have had to play catch up to the rest of canna-
In addition to researching packaging alternatives, SIRA
bis production. The environmental repercussions of tam-
announced its partnership with Pax Labs in late February.
per-proof packaging and Mylar “exit bags” has sounded the
Pax’s Era vaporizer utilizes small concentrate-filled pods
alarm on a market and culture that has historically been
with a much more reliable battery. Marketed as a fully de-
linked to environmentalism, reduced carbon emissions,
veloped device rather than a simple 5/10 thread battery,
and, like…overall positive vibes for Mother Earth, man.
the Era’s discrete design comes with Bluetooth function-
The ever-increasing threat of pollution impacting daily
ality, a year warranty, and a temperature-control phone
life is all too real, as a rash of depressing articles focusing
app, making it inherently more sustainable than unreliable
on the impact we’ve left on the environment have flood-
nameless battery options.
ed recent news cycles. The February 2019 issue of The
“We have gone through different types of battery solu-
Atlantic featured disturbing reports that in the deepest parts
tions, and unfortunately, they can be wasteful and not
of the ocean, the Mariana Trench, almost seven miles be-
work well. They’re even priced so that it’s almost okay to
neath the ocean’s surface, is rife with plastic. So much so
throw them out and buy a new one. This partnership with
“It’s kind of a nightmare. How do you come up with post-consumer waste paper that’s childproof, to then throw it in a Mylar bag, which only costs a buck and will probably decompose in the year 10,000?” —Tom Schneider, Revolutionary Clinics CMO that 100 percent of the biological specimens found in the
Pax has a true environmental impact, as people will go
trench had trace elements of plastic, or polychlorinated bi-
through fewer devices.” Knowles said.
phenyls (PCBs), which were banned in the United States over
The need for compliant yet sustainable products has
40 years ago. It seems there’s no place where plastic can’t
ignited the creativity of packaging developers across the
reach, as images of polar bears and plastic Coca-Cola bottles
country to create more sensible options. Companies like
in the North Pole aren’t just for Christmas ads anymore.
Colorado-based Sana Packaging are addressing the entire
The plastic hand of doom stretches into the cannabis
life cycle of consumer-packaged goods head on. Estab-
industry as well, as the state mandates tamper-proof
lished in 2016, Sana specializes in designing containers
child-resistant packaging.
for pre-rolled joints and flower made from hemp and re-
“The industry itself is Mylar heavy. For one, it’s child re-
usable plastic fished out of the ocean. According to a 2015
sistant, and it’s extremely cost effective, but it’s also ex-
report in Science magazine, an estimated 4.8 to 12.7 mil-
tremely unsustainable,” said Spencer Knowles, vice presi-
lion tons of plastic enters the ocean every year, with not
dent of sales and business development at SIRA Naturals,
one, but six garbage gyres. The need for remediation has
a dispensary company in the Boston Metro area.
never been greater. States with more developed cannabis
Known for its high tensile strength, affordability, and
marketplaces are beginning to see similar companies open
odor-blocking ability, Mylar has become the go-to packag-
with the explicit intent of remediating the overwhelming
ing option in the cannabis industry, despite its inability to
waste issue. Yet everyone still struggles with the issue of
be recycled. Even when packaging is more environmentally
Mylar exit bags.
friendly, flower, concentrates, and edibles must be sealed in
Plastics aside, Oakland’s Sun Grown Packaging shows
an “exit bag” or a “go bag” as the last step before they leave
great progress when it comes to recyclable childproof sensimag.com APRIL 2019 21
containers. Its patent-pending paper tab-locking system meets all child-resistance standards and is already seeing success with emerging brands like 1906 and Kushy Punch edibles in California. Using domestically sourced materials, including soy-based inks, Sun Grown has also managed to upcycle recycled and post-consumer waste back into its packaging options. Here’s hoping we’ll be seeing this sort of innovation hit the market soon, before we have another plastic straw or K-cup crisis on our hands. But what about a local option, you may ask? Calyx Containers, headquartered in Boston, offers packaging for flower and edibles that’s not only childproof, recyclable, and industry approved, but is also sleek, elegant, and looks at home in at any dispensary. Named after the base of the cannabis flower that produces those sought-after trichomes, Calyx containers are made with FDA-approved plastics designed to break down faster in landfills. “We’re all environmentalists at heart. Not only do we feel bad, but our customers bring up this issue as well,” says Tom Schneider, chief marketing officer of Revolutionary Clinics in Somerville, Massachusetts. Dispensaries selling multiple packs of pre-rolled joints like Revolutionary often offer paper cartons, similar to a pack of cigarettes, but the issue of waste and unrecyclable packaging quickly turns to a matter of childproofing and observing state regulation. “It’s kind of a nightmare. How do you come up with post-consumer waste paper that’s childproof, to then throw it in a Mylar bag, which only costs a buck and will probably decompose in the year 10,000?” Schneider says. To ensure everyone obeys the law, Schneider says Revolutionary is trying to find a happy medium. With its two locations and a third on the way, it was the first company to invest and use Calyx’s containers for flower, as well as offering a dollar discount incentive for reusing exit bags. As the Massachusetts market heaves forward with legislation, packaging, and increased adult-use locations, companies make due where they can, including
production
efficiencies.
Schneider mentions an almost $500,000
rebate
check
from
Fitchburg utility company Unitil for efficient use of natural gas and electricity. “We are doing everything we can at the time to not be a part of the problem. I’m not going to be easy on us. Right now, I’d give us like a C+, but we will probably be at an A+ in about a year,” says Schneider.
22 APRIL 2019 Boston
sensimag.com APRIL 2019 23
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{lifestyle } by DA N Mc C A R T H Y
ALL HAIL
THE KING
An interview with the author of a ripping new biography of Hunter S. Thompson focuses on the mission behind the man.
For wised-up fans of counterculture icon and steely journal-
reality of our democratic republic. Which is: It’s easy for
istic iconoclast Hunter S. Thompson, an intro is hardly required.
a leader to use the processes of our democracy to attain
The peak years of his prodigious Gonzo output of work
power and then pull up the ladder behind them as they as-
between Hell’s Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Fear
cend and make sure others can’t follow.
and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, and his years of re-
“When you’re a writer, you’re never not a writer,” says
portorial work for The Nation, Rolling Stone, and many oth-
Denevi. “You’re never not registering the motivations of
ers, cemented his place in the pantheon of standouts from
people around you, asking why someone made the decision
the New Journalist movement (think: Tom Wolfe, Joan Didi-
they did, noticing details that betray contrived perspectives.
on, Thomas Pynchon, Norman Mailer).
And Thompson was always in that position and frame of
And while many newbies may be impressed with wild
mind. He made his world smaller by fighting the bastards.
tales of wanton drug and alcohol use and abuse or can only
To try to understand what they want and what motivates
picture Johnny Depp’s rendition of his great mentor (Depp
those leaning to abuse of power and fascism and then beat
played Thompson in the seminal cult classic film adapta-
them politically.”
tion of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, directed by Monty
He adds: “Democracy is a train to get to your destination,
Python’s Terry Gilliam), there is no time like the one we’re
and HST was terrified by people like Trump, who, without
living through to revisit Thompson’s canon of work while he
any compunction, right from the start, manipulate the most
was at the height of his powers.
open aspects of our democratic process: free speech, hold-
Which makes the new release Freak Kingdom: Hunter S. Thompson’s Manic Ten-Year Crusade Against American Fascism
ing an open and fair primary, the ability to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”
by Timothy Denevi all the more timely. The MFA assistant
The parallels between Nixon and Trump have not been
professor at George Mason University and contributor to
lost on the mainstream press since Trump took office, but
New York Magazine, Time, and The Paris Review, who grew up
Denevi’s book goes deeper than that. Because that’s where
a fan of Thompson’s mythology as well as his journalism,
the real teeth of Thompson’s work and conscious crafting
says the political tenor and extreme polarization we’re living
of his targets resides.
through is not unlike the jarring events that rocked the American tapestry from the 1960s through the early 1970s.
“Thompson understood those who build a platform on that assumption that they can convince the public that they
Denevi says Thompson understood more than other
weren’t born to advantage to rise within the halls of power
writers of his era about the dangers facing the idea and
are the quickest to confine themselves in the highest ech-
26 APRIL 2019 Boston
elons of government and then run that government in an undemocratic manner,” Denevi says. “Nixon tried to pretend that wasn’t the case. Trump doesn’t even care.” In order to gain the proper vantage point to frame the book’s main conceit, Denevi read everything Thompson ever wrote–from his famed Gonzo Papers compiling his obsessive lifelong habit of lengthy written correspondence with everyone from former and once-hopeful US presidents to angry diatribes fired off to deserving debt collectors–and listened to raw tapes and recordings (many of Thompson’s archives are in an air conditioned vault in Southern California run by Johnny Depp). Denevi also visited every place mentioned in the book and spoke to everyone he could, especially those who knew Thompson personally. “I have a creative writing background and I’m autodidactic as a journalist, so I had to learn as I went along. In non-fiction I can’t change what happened or the facts, but I can dramatize or capture the setting and the locality of the place around me in the story,” says Denevi.
“We live in a jungle of impending disasters, walking constantly across a minefi eld.” —Hunter S. Thompson, 1969
The result is something of a tour-de-force overview of Thompson’s work, and anyone with even the slightest interest in the good Doctor will be quickly absorbed by the structure and research (as well as allusions to Trump’s America
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on almost every page). For someone going in blind, it will be one hell of an introduction to Thompson’s canon. For superfans, the contextualization to some of Thompson’s best work using historical facts and reconstructed events through hundreds of hours of interviews and source material forming a well-developed argument that Thompson was a caliber of writer still being understood against the backdrop of our truly trying, tumultuous political times will be like getting Thompson’s voice back in the mix at a time when we need it most. Even though you can’t repeat HST’s stylistic choices today, Thompson’s moral compass holds up particularly well in current times. Thompson’s focus and voice filled a void, and then as now, the choice is to go beyond objective journalism (which we’re already beyond). Denevi says he’s acutely aware of that now more than ever, especially after this project. Everyone is telling a narrative about why they support or are a part of this toxic administration, but that narrative is ultimately self-serving. “More and more,” Denevi says, “we see politicians using that narrative to advance their own self-interests at the expense of the democracy they claim to be serving.” “When you’re unsure about how you’re supposed to respond when the people running your democracy aren’t playing by democracy’s rules anymore, what then?” he adds. “As Thompson himself wrote, ‘What to do when the fuckers ar-
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{highprofile } by DA N Mc C A R T H Y
BOGGS JAMMIN’ The pied piper of viral Commonwealth cannabis content has social consumption and pot education on his mind. Chances are, if you are active on social media, tuned into the
and lawyers pave that way for guys like me. Until then, I go
MA cannabis culture, or spend enough time around the State
to events and exhibit products I’m working on, and I’ve been
House, you have seen or at least been made aware of Rusko
doing some merch and promoting some local events.”
“Weed” Boggs. The 39-year-old former teacher and quality systems analyst for a local medical device company has turned becoming
One of those events is a “dab school” for the older segment of the growing cannabis-consuming population around the Bay State. And yes, there will be a PowerPoint presentation.
a living meme into memetic gold in these parts. But the road
“The older crowds need to understand what the community
from Rusko to Weed hasn’t been paved in any one direction to
was dabbing and working with concentrates 10 years ago is
get to where he is now.
not what we’re dealing with today,” says the dab master. “It’s
“I worshiped Wade Boggs growing up, and my buddies and I
much better quality, and I’m trying to show them how far the
started mimicking his drinking prowess a few years ago, drink-
scene has come by showing them hot knives and the stuff like
ing 64-plus beers every time we drank, three to four times a
that that they’d never see in today’s market, the difference be-
week,” says Boggs with his trademark Seth Rogen-esque,
tween shatter, diamonds, hash rosin, things like that. Then I’m
guttural, braying laugh. “I did a lot of stupid stuff, so one of my
going to show them the tools while heady boys show them
buddies told me to slow down and channel some of this ener-
what to do. Basically, showing retirees how to dab and why.”
gy to weed and put it up on the web.”
In addition to his weed work, Boggs is a notable profession-
Enter one of the first Weed Boggs public persona videos, with
al Santa, getting done up like the jolly fat man for “rich people’s
the hulking bearded bud bard doing gravity bong hits on a hotel
house parties” and corporate events. But for now, Boggs fills
balcony in Puta Cana. The video caught on, and a meme was born.
the surrounding months leading lectures, pulling pro-cannabis
“At first I set up Weed Boggs as a meme page to look at
stunts, promoting his 420-milligram Boggs Bah edibles (“I don’t
other people’s content, then after I attended the Northeastern
want to have to eat four chocolate bars to get the milligrams I
Institute of Cannabis in Natick, it helped me figure out how to
need in a day, so I made one big strong one,” he says), and work-
go public more, as I was afraid to show my face because of my
ing his way towards his goals of setting up a social consumption
job at the time. Then I talked to HR at my work, who said if I
spot while educating others on weed, and working to embolden
had my medical card, I was all set in terms of public displays,
a locals-first cannabis space at a time when he feels like the war
so it took off from there.”
is quickly being lost to community bickering.
And where “there” is could be called “static excitement”, as Boggs has some big plans in the pipeline.
“Five years from now, hopefully I have a lounge and will be helping to keep craft weed alive in MA,” he says. “There’s a lot
“I eventually want to get into the social consumption space
of infighting in the grey market, and its unnecessary. The local
and create an establishment where people can grow, get high,
market needs to come together to monitor the out-of-state
and hang out in a safe environment,” he says. “Right now, I’m
entities trying to plant a flag here, and with all the infighting,
just letting the bigger companies and groups with money
that’s not going to happen.”
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Doug Benson understands what his crowds want from him, and he’s happy to oblige. by DA N Mc C A R T H Y
Doug Benson has a great problem.
HE GETS TOO MUCH
WEED WHILE ON THE ROAD. THE 56-YEAR-OLD COMEDIAN, ACTOR, ACTIVIST, AND PODCASTER– KNOWN FOR HIS LOVE OF THE LEAF (AS WELL AS POP CULTURE, MOVIES, AND CANADA)–IS REGULARLY INUNDATED WITH SUPPLIES WHENEVER HE FLIES INTO A TOWN OR STATE FOR A GIG. “I’ve been very lucky; people give me weed all the time
on Comedy Central’s The High Court, a show where Benson
at my shows, so I’d often have too much weed before
oversees people’s court beefs, Judge Judy style, with bai-
leaving town, so it became almost like a Price Is Right
liffs who are stoned sideways and often giggling heartily
game involving smoking as much as you can before the
while deliberating their joint-filled sense of justice—com-
airport,” he says with a chortle. “Valets were usually the
bines affable stoner wit and approachable pop culture. He
lucky recipients; those guys always smoke weed.”
brings his brand of sensibility to the Wilbur Theatre this
He adds, “You can give weed to almost anyone, and chances are, they won’t turn it away.”
month for a special 4/20 one-night show. As a seasoned comedy warrior with devoted fans,
No argument here.
Benson brings glittering collaborators –including Adam
Benson’s work–be it his “Doug Loves Movies” podcast
Scott, David Cross, Edgar Wright, Mark Wahlberg, Zach
filmed with a live audience at LA’s Upright Citizen’s Bri-
Galifanakis, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Silverman, Patton Os-
gade Theatre; his film work (see: Super High Me); his cul-
walt, Jon Hamm, Reggie Watts, and Aubrey Plaza— on
tural explorations, “Getting Doug With High” (which airs
the podcast, demonstrating the different paths a range
around 4:15 p.m., allowing him to invite viewers to join him
of interests filtering life through hazy stoned eyes can
in a communal decentralized digital 4:20 blaze); or his stint
take for a working comic in the 21st century. sensimag.com APRIL 2019 35
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as a staunch pro-cannabis activist, Benson’s half-moon
Were you serious when you told that guy in Vegas to just fly home with his parcel?
eyelids and cheery demeanor regularly pop up at indus-
Doug Benson (DB): I just got to North Carolina and flew in
But it’s not all laughs for Benson. Okay, it is mostly. But
try events, parties, trade shows, and media events as evi-
with a bunch of stuff yesterday.
denced by the sheer girth of clips and content to be found
Ballsy.
online. As the new legal status takes root across the country, one of Benson’s favorite moments on the road is when he’s suddenly in the proximity of a stranger who a) doesn’t know who he is or that he’s associated with weed, but b) gets down with a joint and basks in the freedom of being able to procure and consume cannabis legally. “I had a guy in a balcony next to me in Vegas, he was from somewhere where it wasn’t legal, but he was just so happy to be able to visit a dispensary and be at a hotel legally smoking weed,” he says. “He talked about how he had to smoke with everything before he flew home, but I said, ‘Dude, just fly with it.’ He didn’t know who I was; he just thought I was a cool guy in the next room smoking weed. Weed makes making friends easy.” A fine point. So now that the sixth-place finalist for Last
Comic Standing is taking his routine and stockpile of Big
DB: Well, LAX just made it (quietly) official that you can
fly out of California with up to an ounce. They’re basically like, we can’t tell you what’s going to happen when you get where you’re going, but… I’ve never seen anyone searched for weed when they get off a plane, so chances are you won’t have issues. Can someone quote you on that? DB: (Laughs) I hate talking about it or seeing it in print like
I’m an authority, and I really don’t want someone getting busted and then saying “Hey, Doug Benson said it was fine!” Sort of makes those weed “amnesty” boxes some airports in legal states have put in place for people to discard their goods seem pointless. DB: I hope those are all empty because they’re a joke. I
think it’s just for streamlining air travel.
Fun to the Wilbur, we caught up with Benson to talk social
What do you mean?
media and comedy, booze crowds versus weed crowds,
DB: Like recently, I went to a concert with my girlfriend,
and why, if you’re going to suffer the noise and racket of
and on the website where we bought tickets to the ven-
a common supply store leaf blower, it may as well be one
ue, it said “no purses allowed.” And when you got there,
jerry-rigged to blow pot smoke into someone’s face.
people were showing up with purses anyway, and they
PHOTO BY MARISSA GALLANT
[LEFT TO RIGHT] Doug Benson, Ian Karmel and Taylor Rizzo on “Getting Doug with High”
38 APRIL 2019 Boston
let people with purses in. That’s how I think it sort of
But now you can tell long stories on Twitter.
shakes out. You have a box out front that says, “Hey,
DB: Yeah, and what amazes me is they increased the
throw this in here so there’s nothing left for security
number of characters you could write, so now the rants
to find,” but nobody will stop you in security for a lit-
are super popular, with a thread of, like, 280-word posts
tle weed. When was last time you read an article with
connected seven or eight times. It’s bizarre; why didn’t
someone getting caught with a little and being arrested
the thread concept happen when we were forced to keep
at the airport as if they were moving weight? I mean,
it shorter? Now that they got more words and letters it’s
people have all sorts of random pills in their bags and
like. “Shit, let’s write a novel on this thing!”
carry on. TSA can’t police that, they’re really looking for items that could cause death and destruction on a plane. Not cannabis. But my girlfriend and I went to the Emerald Cup, and between the two of us, you should
Are you addicted to it? DB: I spend way more time on Twitter than I should. On
Instagram I can just shut the comments off, because I’m
have seen how much shit we flew back to LA with.
compelled to read them (and you shouldn’t). I just post
Well, that’s also California.
shows and stuff. People will DM me, like, “Why you turn
DB: Yeah, it’s easier to feel comfortable flying in-state.
Has legalization changed your act or caused the weed edge to lose a bit of its sheen? DB: I’m doing what I do as usual, but I don’t want people
to think all I talk about on stage is weed. I have things I’m passionate about, and I have things I’m unhappy about that I have material about. So the perspective is the same, then.
pics about my gigs, cannabis, jokes, publicity shots from off the comments? People need to comment!” I’m like, “No. They don’t.” Everyone’s voice doesn’t count. Makes you miss the fun internetting of yesteryear. DB: I used to spend so much time listening to dial-up nois-
es, which were a part of going online in those days. Remember how patient you got with that? Which is weird, because once you got online there was much less going on.
Do you lean into or away from politics and Trump?
And yet so much information still gets distributed if you know how to prune your radar. Who’s in your orbit as far as comedy or even cannabis activism?
DB: It’s been my feeling as a comic you’re in the unique
DB: I love to retweet news
situation to just give everyone a good time. Once in a
of every city and state that
while, you have to make them suffer for it, but for most
makes a move to legal-
part, the idea is to make them laugh, and that makes you
ization—medical or rec. I
feel good. You have to find that line between being real
like Marijuana Policy Proj-
and in the moment and honest, but also, hey we’re just
ect, they’re really good at
here to have fun. Nobody is coming to see me to hear
keeping me updated on all
about politics. But they’re going to occasionally, because
the latest good and bad things
I am a person in the world right now (laughs). I recent-
happening in weed.
DB: Yes, it’s still always going to come from the perspec-
tive of a man who just got high before coming out on stage.
ly said to a crowd, “Would you rather I not talk about Trump?” but they say, “No no, talk about him!” I think it’s cathartic to have someone else discuss issues and reflect aspects of their own thoughts and ideas. You’re pretty active on social media. How has that been for a comedy or even activism platform? DB: I liked the brevity of 140 characters on Twitter, and
the challenge of it. On stage, unless you’re Steven Wright or...well, Steven Wright...you can’t just do one-liners for 45 mins. You gotta talk to your audience. Those short jokes are a great writing style, but it’s not a story.
“I don’t want people to think all I talk about on stage is weed… [But] it’s still always going to come from the perspective of a man who just got high.” —Doug Benson sensimag.com APRIL 2019 39
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On “Getting Doug With High,” we have a news girl that
you. I feel like by waiting until my twenties, I theoretical-
comes on and does all the latest pot news while me and
ly dodged a bullet if there’s any truth to it. So I say start
other stoned people try to follow what’s happening.
around 24 and light up, because that worked great for me.
That must go well. It’s not like there’s a lot to pay attention to or anything.
Flower or Concentrates?
DB: There’s so much news about cannabis. Every day. So
much is changing. Probably as good a reason to keep it a part of your general persona. DB: It’s impossible to imagine weed becoming an irrele-
vant topic in our lifetimes. Legalization and social justice, reversing bullshit weed charges, all of it. That’s happen-
DB: Flower. I’m not great at dabbing yet, but I like and ap-
preciate both. We do dabs on every episode of my show at the end, and some guests just don’t, they’re scared of them or just not into it. But concentrates are exciting to me because I’ve been smoking flower for a long time so being able to take it up a notch. …I just don’t have the tolerance for dabs. So when I do them it’s…exciting (laughs). West Coast or East Coast comedy fans?
ing in small ways already, but we have a long way to go.
DB: East Coast, but with an apology to the West. It’s a very
Let’s take it back a second. Did I hear that you didn’t even really get into weed until your mid-twenties?
slight difference, but I just think when people live in ex-
DB: (Laughs) I definitely got into it via other comedians. There
which is why they’re fun crowds. But I prefer warm
was one week that was a turning point. I was a middle act,
treme cold six months a year, they need to laugh more, weather, which is why I live in California. Thankfully,
“GETTING DOUG WITH HIGH” has run for 220 episodes and counting, with such celebrity guests as [LEFT TO RIGHT] Kelly McInerney and Reggie Watts; Bree Essrig and Trevor Moore; Mike Cannon and Kyle Kinane; Adrienne Airhart and Pete Holmes; and so many more. You can find every single episode archived on YouTube, user DougBensonVPN. ON-SET PHOTOS BY MARISSA GALLANT
and Greg Proops was a headliner. We were all working for a weekend in one club. Hanging out with those San Francisco comedians back then, they thought it was strange that weed wasn’t a priority in LA. I had never become a weed smoker at that point, but only because of my aversion to smoking in general. I had never done cocaine either, as putting something up my nose is gross to me. No heroin, needles.
wherever I go, my crowds show up as movie trailer nerds and pot heads and comedy fans. We all have a great time. Worst audience member: a drunk or a stoner? DB: I prefer weed people at my shows because it’s nice
for everyone be on the same page as me (laughs), but I do also drink, so I don’t mind the booze folks. When someone is too high, they’re too quiet as an audience member.
At least nobody can say you didn’t wait.
When someone is too drunk, they’ll be loud and distract-
DB: They keep moving the number, but they say your
ing. You want it to come together in the middle.
brain isn’t fully formed until you’re in your early 20s or developed, there could be problems. Which is just a claim,
I know you’ve been to events where someone has a gas-powered leaf blower showering people in smoke. Any take on that as a final note?
of course. Due to full Schedule I narcotic status, there’s no
DB: Regular leaf blowers are a waste of time. So if you
something, and if you smoke too much before you’re fully
real research on that yet. But science keeps changing its mind on everything in life that may/may not be bad for
have to put up with the noise they make, I say it may as well have weed smoke coming out of it. sensimag.com APRIL 2019 41
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CLOUD CREAMERY
Ending the SideEffect Cycle for True Body Harmony A FORMER EXECUTIVE CHEF ADDS A NEW KIND OF HEALING EDIBLE, PUSHING ASIDE A PILE OF PILLS IN THE PROCESS. David Yusefzadeh, CEO and founder of Cloud Creamery, makers of cannabis-infused ice-cream, is a sick guy. Medical science could not help. He finally turned to cannabis.
scientists to develop new products, ended up making his own edible products at home. Instead of creating products with cannabis butter, a
Yusefzadeh was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a
common method of making edibles, he made a dec-
painful inflammatory bowel disease, in 2011, which
adent, artisanal edible cannabis product that took ad-
meant he had to be careful about everything he ate
vantage of cannabis’ fat-soluble nature.
and ingest a growing handful of pills that followed the
His choice? A high-fat ice-cream made with local
usual post-diagnosis medical-treatment path: take this
grass-fed cow milk, organic cane sugar, and no artifi-
one pill, then take this second pill to counteract the
cial ingredients.
side effects of that first pill, etc. Opioids became part of the pile of pills he was prescribed.
In September, 2017, Yusefzadeh started Cloud Creamery, operating out of a 2,000-square-foot stand-
“I blew through those pills pretty quickly, and my body
alone building in Framingham, Massachusetts, in the
became used to them to the point where they no longer
greater Boston area, with a staff of one other person
had the prescribed effect,” Yusefzadeh says. “They were
and a group of contractors to take care of photography,
killing the little bit of immune system I had left.”
social media, and the digital platform.
He started to explore options for treating his illness,
The business is structured with some high-powered
read about cannabis research, and discovered that the
professionals, including Janice Bissex, a registered di-
cannabis research funded by the federal government
etitian nutritionist; and Jim Borghesani, former director
was generally anti-cannabis.
of communications for Paul Cellucci, Massachusetts’
So he talked to his doctor in Boston, who gave him a
governor in 2001, and director of communications for
medical card and helped him explore what would work
the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the
for him. “I would go to dispensaries and look through
state’s successful 2016 legalization ballot initiative.
their edibles,” he says. “A lot of them were just trash that
Yusefzadeh says he is working on other products,
I just didn’t want to eat. And there were only gummies,
such as sorbet and ice cream sandwiches. “I am more
lozenges, and brownies. That was about it.”
interested in making something for someone with my
Yusefzadeh, a former executive chef from Chicago
condition,” he says. “I think that what I have had with
with a background managing a team of chefs and food
this ice cream is something that doesn’t seem like medicine. I want it to be a go-to cannabis product for people who want something with little to no side effects, that helps then get through everyday issues.” Cloud Creamery is just getting up to speed on building potential sales and getting the word out about its ice cream. “We have done plenty of private events and dinners, and we are booked through the end of January,” Yusefzadeh says. For more information, visit:
CLOUDCREAMERY.CO
sensimag.com APRIL 2019 45
46 APRIL 2019 Boston
BOSTON GREEN HEALTH
Serving the Community through Personal Goals Fueled by Passion and Conviction ONE ENTREPRENEUR BELIEVES IT’S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO SELL CBD PRODUCT, BUT TO BE GUIDED BY WHAT THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE NEEDS. There are times in any business development where someone takes a different path, one designed not just
and where the product is made,” he says. “We source locally and give back to the community that way.”
to push products and make money but to change both
Boston Green Health products are affordable to help
the perception of the industry they serve and the way
build a community and a following rather than just a
business should be done.
place where consumers buy another CBD brand. “I want
One shining example is Boston Green Health and
to be honest and transparent in this industry. And that is
founder Kevin Hoang. “I am trying to build a brand and
what is going to grow this industry in the right manner. I
community to follow that is popular for the community
am trying to set a precedent and some standards for this
to get behind,” Hoang says. “We want to present a better
industry here in Massachusetts.”
image of who the members of this industry truly are.”
The company has also put its money where its mouth
Hoang first looked at getting into the cultivation side of
is. Boston Green Health was one of the first cannabis
the cannabis industry with his former partner, but then
companies to raise $10,000 to a local cancer research
took a step back to analyze what he really wanted to do.
cause–unusual for a startup in its first quarter of opera-
“It really comes back to three things about why I started
tions.
this company: cancer, addiction, and mental health.”
Hoang says that Boston Green Health is planning to
His mother is a cancer survivor, and the fact that nearly
expand in Miami–Miami Green Health–where he was
everyone knows someone suffering from addiction has
born, using Boston Green Health as the base of an evolv-
also guided his business interests.
ing network of operations, each with a unique connec-
Hoang worked for a hedge fund before developing his
tion to its location.
cannabis business two years ago. “Money’s cool,” he says. “But there wasn’t that intrinsic reward I wanted. It’s like a wake-up call, making it seem that there is more to life than working for something that you are not happy for.”
For more information, visit:
BOSTONGREENHEALTH.COM
As Boston Green Health continues to create and sell new products–it currently offers CBD-infused edibles, extracts, and topical products–Hoang says he wants to get involved in more manufacturing and cultivate proprietary strains of CBD flower through its affiliated hemp farm. To that end, he and five employees are working directly with a hemp farm now in Ashby, Massachusetts, where 50 acres of hemp are being developed. He says he likes to follow a farm-to-table approach. “We like to know our hemp is grown organically, know where it is tested sensimag.com APRIL 2019 47
SEED TO SALE 2019 PARTY
When a massive industry conference rolls through town, like the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA)
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ANDY COLWELL, AND GRASSLANDS: A JOURNALISM-MINDED AGENCY
Seed to Sale 2019 show—which saw thousands of attendees, informational presentations and discussions, and loads of networking during its run in February—it’s wise to find the parties in town where all the marquee names and business cards gather. One of those parties was this one. And these are the pictures of that party. So there.
48 APRIL 2019 Boston
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{HereWeGo } by E L I D U P I N
FARMING LEGISLATION The Ins and Outs of the 2018 Farm Bill.
As cannabis legislation gets sorted out, is rewritten,
a truly legitimate agricultural business and industry.
amended, rewritten, passed, amended, and on and on,
The passage of Section 280E in the Farm Bill allows up to
staying in the loop about exactly how the laws and bills af-
0.3 percent of THC in dry weight form and is now referred
fect you is paramount. In 2018, the Farm Bill was passed,
to as industrial hemp, allowing for businesses to write off
de-scheduling industrial hemp and its derivatives. While
related expenses to be used toward federal tax credits
this was phenomenal news for anyone working in the in-
and accelerated tax deductions, which wasn’t the case a
dustry, learning the fine print stipulations is like being asked
few months ago. While these laws do not apply to can-
to read War and Peace—for fun. So now that Section 280E
nabis companies that are not a hemp business, they are
Internal Revenue Code has been lifted from hemp cultiva-
still a huge turning point. One of those tax credit possibili-
tors being subject to its restrictions, it has altered the way
ties is the Solar Investment Tax Credit. If hemp businesses
hemp cultivators and CBD manufacturers do business.
use solar, there is a 30 percent federal solar investment
That said, should the pending bipartisan bill STATES Act—
tax credit. The bonus being those environmental practic-
Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting
es also result in reduced energy costs, saving businesses
States—also be passed, cannabis will finally be treated like
even more money in the short- and long-term.
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