Sensi Magazine - Boston (October 2019)

BOSTON

THE NEW NORMAL

10.2019

Pot or Not? No one knows

Limed

E-scooters are coming

{plus}

EQUITY IN UPHAMS CORNER

SAVING

THE

WORLD

One trip at a time

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 3

Wicked Proud to call MASSACHUSETTS our home!

Visit Our Dispensaries!

Hanover | 2001 Washington St. Oxford | 425 Main St. Provincetown & Ware | COMING SOON!

Please Consume Responsibly | For use only by adults 21 years of age or older | Keep out of the reach of children | Marijuana should not be used by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding This product has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There is limited information on the side effects of using this product, and there may be associated health risks. Marijuana use during pregnancy and breast-feeding may cause potential harms. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. There may be health risks dela by two hours or more. In case of accidental ingestion, contact poison control hotline 1-800-222-1222 or 9-1-1. This product may be illegal outside of MA. associated with consumption of this product. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgement. The impairment effects of edible marijuana may be delayed

4 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 5

6 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

ISSUE 10 // VOLUME 2 // 10.2019

FEATURES 30

SP EC IAL R EP OR T

Pot or Not?

How the 0.3-percent THC rule is fraying the American hemp industry.

38 Psychedelic Feminism

Cosmic Sister is working to create balance and diversity through sacred plants—an earth-centered antidote to patriarchal malware in the matrix.

BOSTON’S BUMPER CROP Autumn recipes from the Cannabis Kitchen crew.

MENEMSHA ON YOUR MIND? Now’s the time.

50

16

every issue 9 Editor’s Note 11 The Buzz 16 TasteBuds

EYEING APPLES

22 LifeStyle

FACE FORWARD

26 NewsFeed

RIPPLE EFFECT

50 HereWeGo

MENEMSHA SUNSET

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

ON THE COVER: Photos by Tracey Eller. Editing by Josh Clark

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 7

sensi magazine ISSUE 10 / VOLUME 2 / 10.2019

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

EDITORIAL sensimediagroup

Stephanie Wilson stephanie@sensimag.com EDITOR IN CHIEF

Doug Schnitzspahn doug.schnitzspahn@sensimag.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Leland Rucker leland.rucker@sensimag.com SENIOR EDITOR

Robyn Griggs Lawrence CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Caitlin Moakley CONTRIBUTING WRITER sensimagazine

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

Rheya Tanner, Wendy Mak, Josh Clark em@sensimag.com DESIGN & LAYOUT

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BUSINESS & A D M I N I S T R AT I V E Kristan Toth kristan.toth@sensimag.com HEAD OF PEOPLE

Leon Drucker leon.drucker@sensimag.com PUBLISHER

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ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ASST. EVENTS DIRECTOR

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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 8 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

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THE ONLY CONSTANT

editor’s

NOTE

Right before I sat down to start writing this

note, I was out walking my dog (read: procrastinating) and there was that telltale snap to the air, the signal that fall has arrived to usher out the remaining days of summer whether we’re ready or not. I tell myself and everyone who will listen that I’m never ready for the autumnal equinox to put an official period on the end of the best season; I want more days by the pool in the sun. And I really believe I do. But then some innate part of my brain takes over, and I start to crave the comfort of chunky sweaters, orange-hued decor accents, and steaming bowls of ramen (my comfort food of choice last winter).

This time of year, our bodies are primed for change, cued not only by our natural surroundings but by something more instinctual. After college, I sprinted south to the tropics of Miami, where September and October don’t bring cool nights and crisp mornings; they bring hurricanes and humidity so stifling you feel like you’re swimming through it. Yet come mid-September, my reptilian brain would say it’s time to start layering up, and I’d find myself pulling on neutral sweaters over the bright tanks I wore like a uniform in June, July, and August.

This is all a long way of saying change is in the air this time of year. Literally, where foliage is involved. Crazy bright beautiful leaves painting the world with swaths of hues that define these months.

If you haven’t picked up on October’s theme yet: it’s change.

The only constant. The cover article is perhaps the best manifestation in this issue; a few years ago, plant medicine was just for the woo-woo. Today, it’s a standard part of life for people in the Aspirational Class—a category of individuals whose status is defined by cultural sophistication rather than conspicuous consumption. Think: yoga, meditation, Whole Foods, organic everything. Among this set (of which I’ll bet many of you reading this note are a part), CBD and THC are often wellness staples, old news. Microdosing hallucinogenic mushrooms to increase well-being isn’t taboo; it’s progressive. And ayuasca trips to Peru are the new spiritual wellness retreats. It’s a whole new world, and it’s constantly evolving. It won’t be long until someone opens the Canyon Ranch of cannabis—and I aspire to be there when it does.

You’ll probably find me lounging by the resort’s pool. Some things never change, even if wardrobes do.

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

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 9

10 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

E-Scooters are Coming

PHOTO BY MAREK RUCINSKI

They’re in Brookline and Salem.

Could they be in your neighborhood soon?

First they descended on San Francisco, then Austin, then much of the California coast. They tried to make inroads in Cambridge and Somerville—and were succeeding, until they were not-so-politely asked to leave.

They’re beloved as a cheap mode of urban transportation and berated as dangerous devices that end up as detritus littering city streets. They’ve been buried at sea and set aflame by haters, but their popularity has soared since they were introduced in 2017.

Now ubiquitous in cities across the globe, shared electric scooters are on trial in Brookline and Salem, and many believe Boston—seeking all solutions in its quest to become carbon-neutral by 2050—can’t be far behind.

The Town of Brookline is near the end of an eight-month pilot with micromobility companies Lime, Bird, and Spin that began April 1 to determine whether shared electric scooters contribute to the town’s mobility, equity, safety, and climate-action goals. The Town is seeking public feedback on the experiment, and the companies will be required to remove their scooters on November 15 as the Town evaluates whether to invite them back permanently.

In Salem, city leaders are hoping to ease brutal traffic congestion and parking shortages in a pilot program with Spin that launched in July and runs through May 2020. “As this is a new mode of travel in the City, we’re rolling it out slowly, and I think it’s safe to say, it’s going to take a little time for everyone to adjust and to determine if this

is something that will work effectively in our community— that’s why this is a pilot program,” Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll posted on Facebook.

Salem City Councilor Josh Turiel made his opinion clear in his own Facebook post about the alarming behavior of some e-scooter riders. “Riding against traffic, zipping through lights, going on sidewalks, and cutting off cars,” he wrote. “None of that promises safety or convenience. Some people are also still dumping them in bad locations, blocking sidewalks, accessibility ramps, and doorways.”

Complaints about the scooters and scooter riders appear to be part of the ride, and there have been fatalities—at least eight in the United States as of June, according to Consumer Reports. Riders are, for the most part, confused about which traffic laws they’re supposed to follow and whether they’re supposed to be on the sidewalk or the street. Almost no one wears a helmet, though the companies try to make them available (Bird will mail you one if you ask).

But many places are turning to the micromobility industry as a greener alternative to CO2-spewing cars and a solution to snarled streets. Lime, for instance, found that roughly one in three riders in 26 cities used its scooters instead of taking a car trip. “Micromobility could theoretically encompass all passenger trips of less than 8 kilometres (5 miles), which account for as much as 50 to 60 percent of today’s total passenger miles traveled in China, the European Union, and the United States,” management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. states. –Robyn Griggs Lawrence sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 11

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I GOT BAKED Fright Nights Get high on horror.

Forget pumpkin spice and everything nice. For horror lovers, fall is a time to relish all things freaky, creepy, and fear-inducing, which makes no sense to anyone who doesn’t love a good scare. But there are scientific reasons why some of us seek out unsettling experiences that deliver jolts of terror.

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When we’re scared, we achieve a weird kind of high. Fear triggers the natural flight-or-flight response, causing a rush of adrenaline to be released into the system, priming the body for action. That adrenaline is joined by dopamine, the hormone associated with pleasure. According to research at the University of Michigan, that neurological “reward” conditions the brain to respond to scary situations with consistent fight-or-flight reactions Our brains love getting dosed with dopamine, especially if the conscious mind knows there’s no real danger.

12 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

–Stephanie Wilson

Escape Reality

PHOTO OF JOHN WATERS BY GREG GORMAN

Explore your dark side at the Salem Horror Festival.

Salem Horror Festival Director Kevin Lynch believes we must understand fear to overcome it. From Thursday, October 3, through Monday, October 14, seekers will find plenty to explore during Salem Horror Fest—the self-proclaimed “SXSW of horror”— featuring film premieres and repertoires, parties, music, lectures, art exhibits, live podcasts, and more at venues throughout downtown Salem, the Halloween capital of the world.

“As we celebrate the Halloween season with much-needed distractions from the horrors of reality, I encourage you to fear as someone else would,” Lynch states. “Imagine your reaction to the bumps and shadows in another person’s night.

No killer, ghost, or monster could ever hold a candle to the trauma of having your deepest and darkest fears dismissed or diminished by an inhuman and heartless audience.”

Film legend John Waters, aka the Pope of Trash, will talk about his favorite horror influences (like tacky drive-in movies and burlesque performers) and his rocky introduction to making horror films during “This Filthy World: Filthier & More Horrible” on Wednesday, October 9, at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Rachel True of The Craft and HalfBaked fame will do private tarot readings on Saturday, October 12, at Witch Dr., a glass-blowing studio, gallery, and retail shop. True—who is featured in the documentary Horror Noire: A Black History of Horror, screening at the Peabody Essex Museum on Saturday, October, 12—will be hanging around for autographs and selfies on Friday, October 4, and Sunday, October 13, at the Salem Waterfront Hotel.

–RGL LEARN MORE: SALEMHORROR.COM

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 13

Get Lit

A non-scary alternative to the horror, the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular celebrates the beauty of every season while feeding every sense. From October 3 through November 3 at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, the Wetlands Trail will be lined with thousands of intricately carved jack-o-lanterns representing autumn’s beauty, winter’s swirling snow, spring’s first blossoms, and summer’s ocean breezes, as well as wizards, superheroes, and more, in an extravaganza complete with music and special effects. The Laughing Tree at the end is a trip, with hundreds of glowing jack-o-lanterns on the ground and in the trees, stone giants, creepy fog, and a light show.

For a true bird’s-eye view, you can hop on the Soaring Eagle Zip Ride and check out the pumpkins as well as Providence and Narragansett Bay from 115 feet up in the air.

Last year more than 125,000 people trekked through the Spectacular.

Proceeds from the show support the zoo’s animal care, environmental education, and conservation efforts locally and around the globe.

Learn more: RWPZOO.ORG/JOLS 14 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

–RGL

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROGER WILLIAMS PARK ZOO

Commune with thousands of glowing jack-o-lanterns at the Providence zoo.

Freshly Baked Fish Legal Seafood wants you.

Yeah, you saw that right. Those psychedelic commercials with the trippy throwback music and the stoner jokes are brought to you by none other than Legal Sea Foods, everyone’s favorite place for lobster rolls when it’s on the company card.

Playing off Legal’s baked, fried, herbed, and smoked menu items, the “Welcome to Legal” campaign is the restaurant chain’s way of celebrating cannabis legalization in Massachusetts, with TV ads airing at 4:20 p.m. and print ads in venues throughout the state.

Legal also plans to park its Chowda Van outside Boston cannabis dispensaries to offer free clam chowder to hungry patrons.

“It’s a celebration of a cultural milestone,” a company spokesperson says of the effort, “and a welcoming message to all who partake.”

–RGL

Veg Out

Feed your inner vegan at Boston Veg Food Fest.

Halloweened out? No worries.

Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or just veggie-curious, you are invited to taste free food samples, meet food producers, shop for the newest products, and learn about plant-based eating from top national speakers and chefs at the 24th annual Boston Veg Food Fest at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center on Saturday October 19, and Sunday, October 20.

Sponsored by the nonprofit Boston Vegetarian Society, the free show— the longest-running event of its kind in the US—offers cooking lessons and kitchen tips and brings together purveyors of natural vegetarian foods from across the region and the country, all offering free samples and discounts.

Founded in 1987, the Boston Vegetarian Society provides education community and outreach to encourage plant-based eating and compassionate, earth-friendly living.

–RGL LEARN MORE: BOSTONVEG.ORG/FOODFEST

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 15

{tastebuds }

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

EYEING APPLES Autumn in New England is apple time.

Boston, it’s time to pick apples—and the picking could not be better, with the New England Apple Association predicting a bumper crop this year. Massachusetts is home to more than 80 pick-your-own apple orchards, and some of the best are within an hour’s drive from Boston.

A small bag of apples (picked by you, or not) can be had for less than $20, and many orchards feature hay rides, mazes, cider, and cider donuts, too. Pack plenty of water, bug spray, and sunscreen, lace up your sensible shoes, get under that brilliant October sky, and get after those shiny red orbs.

Find a farm at NEWENGLANDAPPLES.ORG/ORCHARDS and check out these favorites on Instagram: Belkin Family Lookout Farm in South Natick: @LFBEERANDCIDER ; Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro: North Andover:

@PARLEEFARMS ;

@SMOLAKFARMS ;

Smolak Farms in

Westward Orchards in

Harvard: @WESTWARDORCHARDS If hard cider’s your thing, you won’t want to miss the second annual Celebration of Cider and Music Festival in Old Sturbridge Village (OSV.ORG/EVENTS/A-CELEBRATION-OF-CIDER-AND-MUSIC-FESTIVAL ),

offering hard cider

tastings and full pours from six favorite local cideries on Sunday, October 20. All things apple will be also be celebrated during the 25th annual Cider Days (CIDERDAYS.ORG ) November 1 through 3, with tastings and workshops in towns throughout Franklin County.

Once you’ve got your basket in hand, put your freshly picked red beauties to use in any (or all) of these three infused recipes. You’ll love them—and we’ll love seeing them on our Insta feed (@SENSIMAGAZINE ).

16 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

Ripe for the picking this month: Baldwin: Boston’s favorite apple, planted in America’s first orchard on Beacon Hill in 1623, is great for baking.

Braeburn: Tart yet sweet, this crisp apple is a favorite in pies.

Cortland: This sweet and slightly tart apple with white flesh is great in salads and beloved by bakers.

Crispin (Mutsu): In Japan, this juicy dessert apple is known as the “million-dollar apple.”

Empire: Developed at Cornell University in the 1940s, this sturdy sweet-tart apple is a mix of Delicious and McIntosh.

Fuji: This sweet apple stores well and holds up when roasted, sautéed, and baked.

Honey Crisp: This cross between Macoun and Honeygold is sweet, crisp, and juicy.

Jonagold: Another Cornell invention from the 1950s, this cross between Golden Delicious and Jonathan has a honey-like flavor.

McIntosh: Crisp, juicy, and slightly tart, “Macs” make great applesauce and cider.

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 17

Apple-Glazed Smoked Roast Pork Loin Recipe by Scott Durrah for The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook. Contains nuts. Serves 8

If you eat meat, you’ll find no better centerpiece to an autumn feast than this pork roast from Boston native Scott Durrah, a chef and restaurateur who owns the Simply Pure dispensary in Denver. If you grow your own, don’t throw away your fan leaves. You can chop them up and mix them into the stuffing included for this dish.

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INGREDIENTS • 6 lb whole pork loin, with a little fat • 1 cup infused butter or coconut oil • 1 cup brown sugar • ½ cup cannabis fan leaves, chopped • 1 tsp cinnamon • 1 tsp allspice

• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped • ¼ cup pure maple syrup • 6 sweet red apples, diced and peeled • ¼ cup raisins (optional) • kitchen string • roasting pan

INSTRUCTIONS

way through the pork loin. This is where you’ll place the stuffing.

STEP 2: Using about ¼ cup of butter, rub entire loin (top, bottom, and inside). Sprinkle with brown sugar and refrigerate for 3 hours minimum.

STEP 3: To make stuffing, combine cannabis leaves, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, walnuts, maple syrup, apples, and raisins in a warm skillet over low heat. Simmer on low, stirring occasionally, until sugar melts and apples soften.

STEP 4: Add remaining butter to skillet and simmer 10 minutes on low. Remove from heat and let cool.

STEP 5: Separate and remove any oil or butter that has solidified on top and place in a bowl for later. Refrigerate stuffing until completely cooled.

STEP 6: Preheat oven to 300°F. Stuff entire loin, starting in the middle and working outward. You may want to save a little stuffing to put on top before you place in oven or to pass as a topping when you serve it.

STEP 7: Wrap tightly with kitchen string and place in roasting pan. Pour remaining butter evenly over top. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

STEP 8: Roast for 60 to 90 mins, basting every 20 mins. Ensure loin is cooked completely to an internal temperature of at least 145°F. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

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RECIPE PHOTOGRAPHY BY POVY KENDAL ATCHISON/CANNABIS KITCHEN COOKBOOK

STEP 1: Completely wash pork loin and split down the middle on belly side, about half-

Apple Cannacrisp

Recipe by Leslie Cerier for The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook. Contains nuts. Serves 4 to 6.

Amherst-based Leslie Cerier, the Organic Gourmet, tops apples and whatever organic fruit looks great in her garden and at her local market with a protein-rich crisp for this light, sugar-free breakfast, snack, or dessert.

INGREDIENTS • ¾ cup almonds • 2 cups rolled oats • ¼ cup regular or black walnuts, halved • ¼ cup whole cashews • ½ tsp sea salt • ½ cup maple syrup

• ¼ cup infused extra-virgin coconut oil, melted • 1½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries • 1½ cups pears, sliced • 1 cup apples, peeled and sliced • ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries • 1 cup peach or other fruit juice

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Preheat oven to 375°F.

STEP 2: Place almonds in food processor and grind to a meal.

STEP 3: Transfer to large mixing bowl along with oats, walnuts, cashews, and salt. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

STEP 4: Add maple syrup and oil and stir until well blended.

STEP 5: Arrange raspberries, pears, apples, and blueberries in bottom of a 2-quart baking dish.

STEP 6: Cover with topping, pour juice on top, and bake 30 minutes or until fruit is hot and bubbly and topping is crisp.

STEP 7: Spoon into bowls and serve warm.

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 19

Cannabis Caramel Apples Recipe by Catjia Redfern. Yields about 12 servings.

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Catjia Redfern is a former New England Patriots cheerleader, but we would have included her cannabis-infused caramel apples no matter whose team she was on— they’re delicious and made with healthy raw honey instead of refined sugar. Honey is heavy, and it will eventually cause the caramel to sink and pool, so serve these right away. You may want to remove the sticks and cut the apples into slices.

INGREDIENTS • 12 chilled apples • 1 qt heavy whipping cream • 2 cups raw honey • 1 oz cured cannabis flowers or leaves, coarsely ground

• 1 tsp vanilla extract • pinch of salt • parchment paper or muffin liners • 12 short bamboo skewers • Cheesecloth or hemp cloth

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Stick skewers into the tops of the apples.

STEP 2: Heat cream in heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles just start to form on the edge of the pan. Add cannabis. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain through the cheesecloth, squeezing out all the liquid from the solids. Compost the solids.

STEP 3: Put cream back into the saucepan and bring to boil. Add honey and salt. Stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously, and let boil gently for about another 20 to 30 minutes. Mixture will thicken and start to look like caramel. Stir in vanilla extract and salt. Remove from heat.

STEP 4: Place pan in a large bowl of ice water to stop caramel from cooking. Let sit for about 10 to 15 seconds to thicken slightly. Dip and twirl apples in the caramel, coating them as quickly as possible. If caramel thickens, put back onto burner for another 10 to 15 seconds.

STEP 6: Place caramel apples on parchment or muffin liner to set. Serve immediately.

Y N O M E R E AWA R D C FEATURED AT S ' N N A C S S MA L 3 0 T H A N N UA M O D E E R F B O S TO N R A L LY T 2019 S 1 2 R E B M E T P SE

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 21

{lifestyle }

by C A I T L I N M O A K L E Y

FACE

FORWARD Prepare your skin for winter with hemp-based products made in New England.

22 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

I spent years vetting products for retail shelves in the natural products industry before starting my business, Soil and Spirit, which helps grow natural products brands with intention. As I was preparing for a recent talk about navigating personal care choices in this ever-evolving market, I realized just how far this industry has come.

Finding organic, plant-based facial and body care products—especially ones made locally—used to be tough.

Today, the hardest part is choosing from the plethora of natural products out there.

During this transitional season, I’m preparing my skin for the harsh Boston winter about to come. These hempbased products will help me put my best face forward.

brighten skin. This woman-owned company uses only organic plant-based ingredients, a lot of them grown in

CBD Roll-On Blends

The Healing Rose // Newburyport, MA // $25 THEHEALINGROSECO.COM // @THEHEALINGROSE

My skin reacts when I indulge in fall comfort foods and beverages. Secret weapon: The Healing Rose’s

Vermont.

Chocolate Heaven Face Mask Thesis Beauty // Somerville, MA // $30 THESISBEAUTY.COM // @THESISBEAUTY

roll-on blends with the anti-inflammatory benefits of

Hemp and chocolate—what could be better? Thesis

hemp-derived CBD. I apply a few strokes and massage

Beauty’s Chocolate Heaven Face Mask combines hydrat-

the moment I feel something working under my skin.

ing natural clay, organic hemp protein powder and raw

Relax & Restore has lavender, eucalyptus, and pink pep-

cacao powder for a mask that is light in texture yet fully

per; Awaken & Refresh has peppermint, clary sage, and

nourishing and breathable. It’s packed with ingredients

rosemary; and Focus & Balance has fir needle, atlas ce-

good enough to eat, like vitamin C-rich oranges.

darwood, and black pepper. The .35-ounce roll-ons with 100 milligrams of CBD are meant to be used on joints,

CBD Hydrosol

temples, forehead, back of neck, and pressure points.

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A dab on the tummy can help soothe the discomfort of post-indulgence food babies.

AZUL FACE SERUM

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Cordial Organics // San Diego (OK, it’s not New England. Sue me.) // $22

Cordial Organics has really done it with these CBD-infused hydrosols, which are literally good enough to eat. These spritzers are the most stylish way to spike your favorite drink and hydrate your

Heart Grown Wild’s herbal-infused hemp seed oil is

skin. When you do, offer to spritz the

a simple and versatile skincare staple in my bathroom.

folks around you. (They’ll probably

Operating as both a cleanser and a moisturizing serum,

ask, so don’t make it awkward.) Con-

Azul Face Serum is made with chamomile and calendula

sider this your random act of kind-

to fight inflammation, neroli to help skin cells regen-

ness. If you’ve got a hydrosol, you’ve

erate, and prickly pear seed oil to reduce redness and

got a friend in me. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 23

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From Left: Kevin Hart and Kobie Evans

RIPPLE EFFECT With plans to open Boston’s first adult-use cannabis shop in Dorchester this month, Pure Oasis aims to be a role model for small, minority-owned businesses in communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.

About four years ago, Dorchester native Kobie Evans, a real

to ravage that community and disproportionate numbers of

estate agent, read a Boston Globe article about a National As-

black men were going to jail on marijuana charges. “That cre-

set Scorecard for Communities of Color report with a statistic

ates a vacuum. There is no aspiration. You get this weird jux-

that stunned and disheartened him: the median net worth

taposition where you have people living in poverty, then you

for white households in Boston was $247,500 and for black

have million-dollar townhouses on Commonwealth Avenue.

households, $8. Yes, you read that right. Eight.

There’s a real tangible chasm.”

“Unfortunately, in Massachusetts, we don’t have a lot of

When Evans learned through his connection with Boston

people of color who have made it through the gauntlet, peo-

City Councilor Ayanna Pressley that Massachusetts was the

ple to look up to and aspire to be,” says Evans, who grew up in

first state to mandate prioritizing disenfranchised groups as

Dorchester’s Uphams Corner just as the war on drugs began

a way of helping people who’ve been disproportionately im-

26 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

PHOTO CREDITS: (LEFT) COURTESY OF PURE OASIS / (RIGHT0 BY ANDRE HUNTER VIA UNSPLASH

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

pacted by the war on drugs (based on wording that Pressley

Evans and Hart have financed Pure Oasis with their own

and others got included in Question 4, which legalized adult

money and loans from friends and family, and they’ve “learned

use of cannabis in 2016), he saw an entrepreneurial op-

the industry from the ground up at a 30,000-foot perspec-

portunity and a chance to provide a point of aspiration and

tive,” Evans says. They’ve “purchased, rented, and co-opped”

much-needed jobs in his home town.

industry know-how and intelligence and hired employees and

Evans recruited his friend, health care manager Kevin Hart—

consultants to bridge their own knowledge gaps.

who, like Evans, grew up in a neighborhood (in Virginia) where

“For lack of a better term,” Evans says of the cannabis in-

marijuana arrests were exceedingly high— to take advantage

dustry, “this is a weird community. It stretches from Boston

of the economic empowerment program created by the Can-

to Colorado, to Canada. But it’s a small community, and ev-

nabis Control Commission (CCC) to reduce barriers to entry into

eryone shares and understands that it’s about relationships.

the industry for disadvantaged entrepreneurs, including people

We’ve traveled the country meeting people, and everyone is

from neighborhoods with high cannabis arrest rates, with a

open, forthcoming, and sharing; they’ve helped us along.”

drug conviction or a spouse or parent with one, and with incomes less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

The most shocking part of the experience, Evans says, has been the belligerence he and Hart have faced at home in get-

As of September, the partners were on track to open Bos-

ting the Host Community Agreements (HCAs) from munici-

ton’s first recreational cannabis shop, Pure Oasis, in Dorches-

palities that the CCC requires before it will consider applica-

ter’s Grove Hall area. Two more Pure Oasis stores are in the

tions. Local politicians have adjusted a “clean ballot measure”

works in Medford and Mattapan.

to “make it that much harder for people like me to get where

“We opened in this community because it felt comfortable

I am,” Evans says. Of the 350 to 400 HCAs issued in the state

but also because we want to be role models,” Evans says of

so far, only two have gone to applicants from the economic

the Dorchester store. “There’s a very real ripple effect that

empowerment program.

happens when someone demonstrates success. It just radi-

“We’re a small, minority-owned business, so I can speak to

ates.” They plan to hire people from within the community, in-

other people of color,” Evans says. “Don’t give up. Keep fight-

cluding people with criminal records, and launch an incubator

ing. It all depends on your resolve, if you can have the forti-

so they can work directly with startup cannabis businesses

tude to keep pressing. The landscape changes; opportunities

from disadvantaged communities.

change. Perseverance is key.”

“DON’T GIVE UP. KEEP FIGHTING. IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR RESOLVE, IF YOU CAN HAVE THE FORTITUDE TO KEEP PRESSING. THE LANDSCAPE CHANGES; OPPORTUNITIES CHANGE. PERSEVERANCE IS KEY.” —Kobie Evans, Pure Oasis

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 27

28 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

The Canna Mom Show with Joyce Gerber

Great cannabis stories told by real cannabis moms Listen on

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 29

POT S PE C I A L R E PO R T

OR

HEMP IS NOW LEGAL ON A FEDERAL LEVEL, BUT LAW ENFORCEMENT STRUGGLES TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM CANNABIS. THE 2018 FARM BILL, WHICH LEGALIZED INDUSTRIAL

HEMP WITH LESS THAN 0.3 PERCENT THC, WAS HAILED BY THE US HEMP INDUSTRY AS CAUSE FOR INTENSE CELEBRATION. AN AGRICULTURAL STAPLE ONCE PRODUCED IN ABUNDANCE BEFORE WORLD WAR II, HEMP WAS, FINALLY, AGAIN TO BE TREATED LIKE ANY OTHER PLANT. The 2018 Farm Bill was lauded as the first step toward

nies on legal issues. “The hemp bill is clearly pro-farm-

giving farmers the chance to make the US a hemp na-

er and pro-cultivation. Let’s grow it, process it, create a

tion once more. “Congress clearly wanted to encourage a

thriving market, and in my opinion also turn it into in-

hemp industry. It couldn’t be more obvious,” says Frank

ternational commerce,” he says. “The language is clear

Robison, a Denver lawyer who works with hemp compa-

that it wanted to create a market.”

30 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

NOT? How the 0.3-percent THC figure is fraying the American hemp industry.

by L E L A N D R U C K E R

Some unexpected problems are threatening to under-

In January, a trailer carrying 7,000 pounds of hemp

mine this growth. And it all boils down to this: What is

was seized and the driver arrested by the Idaho State Po-

hemp, what is cannabis, and how is that determined?

lice. A truckful of hemp was apprehended in South Da-

Since the 2018 Farm Bill’s implementation, neither the

kota and the driver charged with cannabis possession

Federal Drug Administration nor the Department of Ag-

in August. A company whose shipment of hemp was

riculture have produced national rules and regulations

seized by Oklahoma police, who claimed it was marijua-

for hemp. And because most hemp is now being trans-

na, are suing the police, the county, and an attorney to

ported by trucks and trailers passing between states,

get their product back.

each with different rules and knowledge about the legality of hemp, it’s causing any number of hassles.

Police and district attorneys in several states are complaining they don’t have the equipment or knowledge to sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 31

Boston

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make the distinction, either. In Florida, the State Attorney’s Office has ruled that the sight or smell of marijuana can no longer be used as probable cause for search because they both smell skanky. Charges against University of Nebraska football players for possession were dropped because the state couldn’t prove whether what they had was cannabis or hemp. In Texas, the Austin district attorney said her office would stop prosecuting possession cases involving four ounces or less unless there was a lab test, and Houston’s DA dismissed 32 felony marijuana cases, estimating that it would cost $185,000 and take up to a year to implement the testing procedure and hire people to run it.

In a sign of the significance of the problem, the US Drug Enforcement Administration put out a request for information on private companies that might have the technology for field tests sensitive enough to distinguish between hemp and marijuana. The USDA’s William Richmond said in August that the agency is grappling with the Farm Bill‘s requirement for a national THC testing protocol. “We need to have testing procedures in place,” he said, but coming up with reliable testing methods is “as complicated as you think it is.”

IS IT REALLY THAT TOUGH? Not everybody feels it’s that difficult. Cannabis, or marijuana, and hemp are the same plant species, Cannabis

sativa. Though similar in appearance and odor, they are distinctly different in composition and the chemicals they produce. The national standard written into the 2018 Farm Bill for determining whether a crop is hemp or cannabis is that hemp must contain no more than 0.3 percent of the chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry-weight basis.

“And that’s just a very random, arbitrary number,” says Cindy Orser, chief scientific officer at Digipath, an independent cannabis testing lab in Las Vegas. “And you

good chance of coming in above that 0.3 percent delta-9 THC percent limit at maturity.”

THREE-TENTHS OF ONE PERCENT

know, it’s just not right to define a plant species based

In 1937, hemp and cannabis were both essentially

on a chemical that can fluctuate based on its growing

demonized and taxed out of existence. There is reason

environment and by its genetics.”

to believe that other industries—cotton, building—were

Hemp has been grown forever for its fiber and seed

behind the hemp ban, but at least one was because of

for use in a wide variety of products. “When people say

law-enforcement difficulties distinguishing between

hemp, they usually mean industrial hemp, which is also

hemp and cannabis. With both illegal, there was no need

called European hemp,” she explains. “It’s been bred for

to differentiate between the two, and no attempt was

centuries for its fiber content, and it has very low canna-

made. The number 0.3 percent delta-9 THC (3/10 of 1 per-

binoid content.”

cent) on a dry weight basis comes from a 1976 study of

Orser notes that there is also another hemp, what she calls American hemp, or resin hemp, which is grown for

cannabis taxonomy and was never intended as a legal distinction, Orser says.

its higher CBD content. “It’s not being grown for fiber,

While there are several different forms of THC, only one,

it’s not being grown for its flower,” she says. “It’s being

delta-9 THC, gets you “high.” The 0.3 percent legal limit

grown for oil, from either seeds or clones that have a

only applies to delta-9 THC. By law, this is the sole cansensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 33

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nabinoid that is considered when determining whether a cannabis plant is lawful hemp or unlawful marijuana.

The issue is that gas chromatography (GC), a primary testing method used by both law enforcement agencies and state departments of agriculture, heats up a cannabis sample in order to tease out and measure delta-9 THC levels.

THCa, another of more than 100 chemicals produced by the plant which is not mentioned in the statute, converts to delta-9 THC when heated. “In other words, the GC testing method actually creates the very same cannabinoid that is being tested,” says Asheville, NC, cannabis attorney Rod Kight.

Here’s what Project CBD says about the number. “The 0.3 percent THC legal limit is an arbitrary, impractical, euphoria-phobic relic of reefer madness. Although it lacks a scientific basis, it has become the latest lynchpin of cannabis prohibition, a dishonest, anachronistic policy that impedes medical discovery and blocks patient access to valuable therapeutic options, including herbal extracts with various combinations of CBD and THC.”

A POSSIBLE SOLUTION Farmers are uncertain, too, and for good reason. If any portion of a hemp crop comes up at 0.4 percent delta-9 THC or higher at harvest time, that entire crop would have to be destroyed. Orser is trying to empirically determine a representative value for THC that would enable farmers and not confuse law enforcement. She has done testing on American hemp and has found that more than half of the plant samples of CBD resin hemp, turn up “hot,” or above the 0.3 percent number. Digipath is currently beta-testing a molecular or DNA-based assay that distinguishes industrial hemp from resin hemp and drug-type cannabis within two hours.

Growing hemp for CBD is difficult enough, Kight says, and limiting the strains a farmer can use places an undue and unnecessary burden. “Aside from legal considerations, the reason that this issue is important is because widespread adoption of the total THC position would be harmful to the hemp industry—in particular hemp farmers,” Kight says. “Requiring total THC concentrations to remain within 0.3 percent, rather than just limiting delta-9 THC, severely limits the hemp strains a farmer can grow.”

Although the gas chromotography test is the most widely used, Kight and others argue that another test— high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)—does

“We’re talking about such minuscule amounts [of THC]. On or off the record, WHO CARES?”

not use heat to separate and measure delta-9 THC con-

—Frank Robison, Lawyer

be sold or used instead as recreational or medical canna-

centrations, which means it’s testing the actual amount of delta-9 THC in any sample.

The HPLC test doesn’t create higher concentrations of the same molecule that determines whether a plant is lawful or an illegal controlled substance. Because GC testing creates delta-9 THC, Kight says that using it to test hemp is contrary to law and can even amount to evidence tampering in the context of a criminal case.

One final thing to remember here is that we are talking about minuscule amounts of delta-9 THC. There are no concerns that a hemp crop that comes in at 0.4 percent, or 0.7 percent, or even 1.0 percent delta-9 THC, is going to bis. Most legally available cannabis begins at around 15 percent delta-9 THC and goes up from there. Nobody will ever get high using any hemp product, even if it comes in over the limit. And it’s the farmers, the ones who find out whether their crop is legal or not after it has grown to maturity, who are paying the price for such a fickle number.

“Farmers work on razor-thin margins. We should be giving them the most latitude possible and have this uniform from state to state,” says Robison. “We’re talking about such minuscule amounts. On or off the record, who cares? It doesn’t make any sense. Why not give farmers the chance?” sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 35

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With Cosmic Sister, Zoe Helene is working to create balance and diversity through sacred plants—an earth-centered antidote to patriarchal malware in the matrix.

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

DELIC FEMINISM TWELVE YEARS AND MANY JOURNEYS AGO, DURING AN AYAHUASCA

CEREMONY IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON, ZOE HELENE WAS CHALLENGED BY A POWERFUL, ANCIENT GODDESS ARCHETYPE TO STEP UP AND DO SOMETHING WITH THE PRIVILEGE OF HAVING GROWN UP IN A PLACE WHERE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRACEY ELLER / PHOTO EDITS BY JOSH CLARK

SHE FELT SAFE, WITH PARENTS WHO ENCOURAGED HER TO FOLLOW HER NATURAL CREATIVE TALENTS. Helene saw during this vision that she had turned inward and given up on her artistic dreams after being

cybin mushrooms, and cannabis, which she calls “nature’s evolutionary allies,” in a safe, legal set and setting.

sexually harassed by a graduate school professor. “We

A few years after she founded Cosmic Sister, Helene—

know now, with the #metoo movement, that what I sur-

who has worked in the arts, high tech, and the natural

vived happens to most females in this male-dominated

products industry—came up with the term Psychedel-

world,” Helene says. “It harms us into silence, which is

ic Feminism as a way to describe the feminism that

a type of censoring. Finding and freeing our voice is

embraces psychedelic plants as evolutionary allies for

something a lot of women deal with.”

women’s healing and empowerment and to popularize

Blown away by the power of her own transformation, He-

Cosmic Sister’s core educational advocacy work.

lene went home to Amherst, Massachusetts, and founded

A tireless and passionate environmental advocate for

Cosmic Sister, an environmental feminist collective that

decades, Helene is convinced that Psychedelic Fem-

advocates for women, wilderness, and wildlife and for hu-

inism is the key to saving the planet from patriarchal

mans’ natural right to work with “sacred” plants and fungi

malware fouling up the matrix. “The entire idea of Psy-

such as ayahuasca, peyote, iboga, San Pedro cactus, psilo-

chedelic Feminism, in a nutshell, is that we humans, as sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 39

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FROM LEFT: Dawn Musil, Shipibo Ancestral Healer Laura Lopez Sanchez, and Sabrina Pilet-Jones

a species, have survived male-domination for thousands

and post-psychedelic integration. She and her hus-

of years and that system has brought us to where we are

band, ethnobotanist Chris Kilham, who wrote The Aya-

today—destroying our own home and taking everything

huasca Test Pilots Handbook, have been taking groups

else down with us,” she says. “Cannabis and other plant

of pasajeros (journeyers) to experience ayahuasca with

medicines such as ayahuasca, peyote, iboga, and psilo-

Indigenous healers in safe retreat centers in the Pe-

cybin may help save us from ourselves.”

ruvian Amazon for more than a decade. In 2013, she

Helene believes it’s high time women took center

launched the merit-based Cosmic Sister Plant Spirit

stage, and psychedelics can help make that happen

grant, which provides support for women to experi-

by bringing them inspiration, clarity, and perspective,

ence ayahuasca ceremony in the Peruvian Amazon,

as well as liberation from old wounds, self-sabotaging

where ayahuasca is legal. She’s seen la medicina

thoughts and thought patterns, and disempowering so-

work magic on women whose superpowers had been

cial programming. “In the medicine space, women can

blocked by trauma or grief, often the result of a world

explore conditioning and wounds that stunt and si-

that is inherently harsh to women.

lence,” she says. “We can make sense of them, learn to live with them differently, or purge them altogether.”

“So many cases of PTSD from sexual misconduct and assault, ancestral trauma, and abusive relationships,

Psychedelic feminism has nothing to do with promot-

so much anxiety and depression, repressed rage, low

ing victim consciousness, Helene adds. “We’re about

self-esteem,” Helene says. “So many women living with

moving forward. Facing wounds and demons resulting

debilitating eating disorders and body image dysmorphia,

from having been victimized is an essential step to-

with addictions, with obsessive compulsive disorders. So

wards healing.“

much strength and so much needless suffering. Why?”

FINDING OUR VOICE AND POWER

Ayahuasca, a powerful blend of two plants native to the Amazon, is an intense psychedelic that can “help

Helene has worked with dozens of women in

us access and communicate with our subconscious

pre-psychedelic preparation, immersive journeying,

selves—our pysche—the wilderness within” through visensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 41

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sions, which Helene describes as “life-enhancing messages that show up in abstract, symbolic, archetypal, and universal poetic languages.”

Dawn Musil, a scientist and pollinator advocate who went to Temple of the Way of Light in Peru with Helene last March, says ayahuasca taught her to face fear, guilt, her rapist, family pain, and the loss of a loved one—all things she thought would kill her but actually taught her how strong she was. Raised in a family that valued women less than men and taught females to keep quiet, Musil came to a deep understanding while she was in the medicine space that her voice had as much value as men’s.

“Mama Ayahuasca taught me that my power and strength as a female reflects the feminine power of ayahuasca as a plant spirit and that through plant spirit, we will find our voice and power as females to lead the future of gender equality and human rights,” says Musil, who came home from Peru determined to work with plant spirit medicine. “The medicine taught me who I can be and to know that my voice has as much value as the voices of men in the plant medicine space.”

AMBASSADOR PLANT Cosmic Sister founder Zoe Helene sees cannabis as an “ambassador plant” that is moving the greater plant medicine conversation forward. She considers it a sacred (and sometimes psychedelic) medicine for journeying and an ally for post-ayahuasca integration work. “In the right set and setting, with the right medicine and the right dose, cannabis can get you there,” Helene says.

Whenever possible, she implements cannabis into the Temeno (an indigenous Greek word for “sacred space”) Talking Circles she conducts to explore the effects of damaging patriarchal programming and gender imbalance as well as women’s work in the medicine space.

Sabrina Pilet-Jones, an urban gardener who also traveled to Temple with Cosmic Sister last March, had a similar experience of tapping into the essence of all that she could be, empowered by the lineage of her ancestors—an entirely new perception of herself. “Ayahuasca is not a magical pill. It’s hard, deep, transformative shamanic work that forces you into the deepest, darkest parts of yourself to find the unique light we all hold,” Pilet-Jones says. “I left with a strong desire to expand my connection with plants and to continue my research into indigenous plant remedies and now psychedelic plants for healing.”

COEXISTING IN EXQUISITE DIVERSITY The Cosmic Sister Plant Spirit grant is part of an interconnected quartet of merit-based grants that support women’s voices in psychedelics and cannabis. Psychedelic Feminism grants make it possible for women from diverse backgrounds to be heard through writing, photography, and speaking engagements and media placements. Cosmic Sister will play a key role in the upcoming Spirit Plant Medicine Conference (SPMC) in Vancouver, BC, this year, sponsoring all seven of the female speakers, including Helene.

The Cosmic Sister Women of the Psychedelic Renaissance and Cosmic Sisters of Cannabis grants help get widespread media placement for women’s stories in support of cannabis liberation and responsible psychedelic use. Launched just last month in partnership with the Sleeping Octopus Assembly on Psychedelics (SOAP) conference in Pittsburgh and Vancouver’s SPMC the first

week of November, the new Emerging Voices Award supports talented newcomers who demonstrate potential in the field of psychedelics by strengthening their visibility and gifting them tickets to important conferences.

One of Helene’s goals with the grants is to help more minority women achieve name and face recognition in the psychedelic community because, she says, “the psychedelic scene is white, cis-gendered, and male-heavy— and our psychedelic culture is supposed to be leading in a more enlightened way.”

Helene’s also quick to point out that Psychedelic Feminism is about promoting gender balance, and she doesn’t believe matriarchy would be any better than the patriarchy we’ve had for thousands of years because “power over” naturally corrupts. Blaming men for everything is sexist, Helene says, and it’s important for the movement to welcome male allies who are interested in growing when it comes to their own archaic gender programming.

“Matriarchy would not be balanced, and it would not be healthy,” Helene says. “It’s all about working together and coexisting in exquisite diversity.”

ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE, author of the bestselling Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook and Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis, traveled to Peru on one of the first Cosmic Sister Plant Spirit grants in 2013

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 43

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TESS WOODS PUBLIC RELATIONS

Strategically Directing the Spotlight A SAVVY PR PRO PUTS CLIENTS ON A PATHWAY TO SUCCESS IN A CONSTANTLY CHANGING, MISUNDERSTOOD, AND SOMETIMES TURBULENT BUSINESS. Working media in the cannabis business has been

Tess Woods PR also has non-cannabis clients. “I still

a roller coaster ride for any journalist or press person—

have a foot in my other non-cannabis world of business

generally in a good way. Even a good-news write-up

publishing,” she says. “I am about 60/40 cannabis vs.

about shaking up state economies as a new cash crop

non-cannabis, and the seesaw keeps teetering higher to

comes in comes with the stigma of being about an

the cannabis side.”

illegal drug that, oddly, is one of the biggest industries on the planet today.

That’s where explainer, promoter, and storyteller Tess Woods comes in. Woods is the owner of Tess Woods Pub-

Woods prefers to be behind the scenes, promoting her clients rather than herself. “Promoting myself is really out of my comfort zone. Promoting clients is the nature of the job I do,” she says.

lic Relations, a full-service consulting firm specializing in

The industry is ever-changing and growing, Woods

media relations for businesses, publishers, thought lead-

says. Perceptions about the cannabis business have

ers, and cannabis entrepreneurs. Her job is to polish pos-

changed over the last few years, when everyone work-

itive perceptions, eliminate doubts, answer questions,

ing in the industry would hear jokes related to a stoner

and bring in business for her clients.

mentality, and every headline contained a bad pun. “I

When Woods started her public relations career in the

was having conversations daily during 2015 that this

mid-1990s, it was focused on business publishing and

business is not what you think it is. The stereotypes are

media relations. Then one day in 2015, she was intro-

diminishing. True professional business reporters and

duced to a business publication devoted to the canna-

investors are not giggling anymore.”

bis industry, Marijuana Business Daily, that was looking for the kind of help she could offer. “Nobody had cannabis-specific media relations experience back then,” Woods says. “But MJBizDaily wasn’t looking for expertise

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TESSWOODSPR.COM

in cannabis per se, but expertise and experience in business publishing.”

Woods jumped in. She knew she would be thrown right into the middle of an actual business case study in a brand new industry trying to find its footing. “And I haven’t looked back since,” she says. “I continue to grow more in this space.”

MJBizDaily remains her main cannabis client. Over the last few years, Woods has worked with other cannabis clients, including Ladyjane Branding, a company that provides unique archetype branding for cannabis entrepreneurs; Haleigh’s Hope, a USDA-certified organic CBD oils maker; and Cannabiz Media, which provides CRM and business development tools for cannabis companies. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 47

48 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

GREENHOUSE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

Getting to the Heart of a Tough Issue GREENHOUSE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS OFFERS BANKING AID FOR CANNABIS BUSINESSES.

The lack of banking in the cannabis industry is as dif-

he says. “So we will see how it goes. People want to

ficult for a cannabis business owner to deal with as it is

pay with their cards or their phones. People don’t carry

easy for everyone to understand: Businesses need banks.

around cash anymore.”

Nobody wants to tote around garbage bags of cash.

The new products have been a long time coming,

Congress recently held hearings on the Secure and

Mills says, but he believes in staying prudent. “People

Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 (SAFE) and get-

come and go in the payment and banking side of this

ting loans for cannabusinesses from the Small Business

business, and we have been here almost 11 years now,”

Administration. But it still seems as if the banking issue

he says. “We are here for the long term and not just to

is a long way from resolution.

make money. We try to stay cutting edge and have solu-

Chris Mills, CEO of GreenHouse Payment Solutions, says that the conundrum continues to confound bank-

tions that no one else has. Honesty, integrity, and service are at the heart of GreenHouse Payment Solutions.”

ers and bank-service providers, especially with so many CBD companies looking for guidance now. “The FDIC has not put in place any kind of information to the regulators,” he says. “The big banks that look at it and who

For more information, visit:

GREENHOUSEPAYMENTSOLUTIONS.COM

have the formula about percentage of assets and bank money on hand can facilitate having cannabis businesses. It’s all nice and dandy that things are getting discussed in Washington and all. But the banks still need direction.”

He thinks that medical cannabis will be legalized in all 50 states before banks make any real decisions. “The general business community is pushing their elected representatives, telling them that this is coming and asking them, ‘Do you want to regulate this or not?’”

GreenHouse is about to launch two new banking solutions for the industry, one this month and another later this year, both designed to avoid the mistakes Mills sees with other banking solutions. It makes it easy for the customer to use, it’s inexpensive for merchants to operate, and it won’t be shut down. “Those are our parameters.”

One is styled after a Google Pay app, where a user will be able to pay either online or use a credit card at dispensaries. “Both use bank accounts, but we won’t charge for the bank account, unlike some other banks,” sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 49

{HereWeGo }

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

October is the perfect time to visit an imperfect fishing village.

Menemsha, a fishing village in the northwest end of Chilmark, isn’t like the rest of Martha’s Vineyard. Weathered lobster and scallop boats, not yachts, are the norm. Glorious sunsets over Vineyard Sound, also the norm, are best viewed from Menemsha Public Beach, not a private dock.

Go catch one of those sunsets this month. The 100,000plus tourists who change everything about the Vineyard in summer are gone, but it’s still warm enough to swim, wander Menemsha’s quaint streets and shops, and enjoy a swordfish sandwich at The Galley. After a selfie under Jay Lagemann’s Swordfish Harpooner statue, head to the beach and watch the sun paint the sky with brilliance as it sinks into the horizon. Consider yourself blessed.

50 OCTOBER 2019 Boston

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM

MENEMSHA SUNSET