Sensi Magazine - Southern Colorado (October 2019)

SOUTHERN COLORADO

THE NEW NORMAL

Peggy Markel embarks on a

CULINARY

JOURNEY Written in the Stars Mercury goes retrograde at the end of the month

{plus}

WHERE TO SEE THE GOLDEN ASPENS

10.2019

Trinidad's Friendliest Dispensary No Waiting Room Pet Friendly 33% Of Profits Go To Local Charities

www.FaragosiFarms.com 719-846-2310 118 Sante Fe Trail, Trinidad, CO 81082

It’s that time of year and Maggie’s Farm will be harvesting our Sun-grown, Outdoor, Clean Green™ Cannabis which is free of synthetic pesticides and hormones, fed from a natural on-site spring. You can always expect the best in organically- grown cannabis from Maggie’s Farm. Come in and feel the difference at any of our 7 Southern Colorado locations.

NEW LOYALTY MEMBERS, GET 10% OFF THEIR FIRST PURCHASE!

MANITOU

IS NOW OPEN LATER!

RECREATIONAL & MEDICAL LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT COLORADO

9:45pm

Manitou Springs (Recreational & Medical) | Pueblo North (Recreational) | Pueblo East (Recreational & Medical) Pueblo West (Recreational & Medical) | Cañon City (Medical) | North Colorado Springs (Medical) | S. Colorado Springs (Medical)

Colorado’s 1st Clean Green certified grower This Certification Mirrors USDA Organic Criteria

LEAFLY LIST BEST IN COLORADO

Winter 2016, Spring 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2018

@maggiesfarmmjcolorado

1234 5678 9101

2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

www.maggiesfarmmarijuana.com |

ATM

1ST PLACE - BEST OF COLORADO SPRINGS

2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019

1234 5678 9101

CLEAN GREEN

Available at all locations.

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 3

Celebrate the Season Try with your favorite recipe!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:

+\2 cups milk + 3 tbsp pumpkin puree + 2-3 tbsp sugar + 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spices + 1 tbsp vanilla extract

+ 1/2 cup hot espresso + Whipped cream + Garnish: incredibles Pumpkin Pie chocolate!

Directions:

Step 1. Mix the milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, pumpkin pie spice & vanilla in a saucepan.

Step 2. Warm over medium heat.

Step 3. Whisk milk mixture into a foam.

Step 4. Pour espresso into 2 mugs.

Step 5. Divide the milk mixture into the mugs.

Step 6. Top with whipped cream & a piece of incredibles Pumpkin Pie chocolate.

Step 7. Enjoy! Have an incredible day!

4 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 5

Introducing 1906 Drops: fast-acting enhancements for modern living.

A toolkit of six plant-based experiences to optimize every part of your day. Thoughtful formulations of THC and CBD, plus super effective adaptogens and herbs for energy, arousal, relaxation, sleep, focus, and a happy mood.

@1906NEWHIGHS — 1906NEWHIGHS.COM 6 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

ISSUE 10 //VOLUME 3 //10.2019

FEATURES 34 Psychedelic Feminism

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

40

SP EC IAL R EP OR T

Pot or Not?

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

22

GLOBETROTTING On a journey for exotic flavors

26

VAPE EXPECTATIONS What is the truth?

every issue 9 11 18 22

Editor’s Note The Buzz Horoscope NewsFeed

IS YOUR VAPE SAFE?

26 TasteBuds

THE FOOD ROAD NOT TAKEN

50 HereWeGo

STOPPING TO SMELL THE ROSES

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

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 7

sensi magazine ISSUE 10 / VOLUME 3 / 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

sensimediagroup

EDITORIAL 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 robyn.lawrence@sensimag.com EDITOR-AT-LARGE

sensimagazine

John Lehndorff ediblecritic@sensimag.com DINING EDITOR

Nora Mounce CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Mona Van Joseph CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

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

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

Amber Orvik amber.orvik@sensimag.com CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR

Andre Velez andre.velez@sensimag.com MARKETING DIRECTOR

Neil Willis neil.willis@sensimag.com PRODUCTION MANAGER

Hector Irizarry distribution@sensimag.com DISTRIBUTION

M E D I A PA RT N E R S Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy 8 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

A D V I S O RY B O A R D Agricor Laboratories // TESTING LAB Canyon Cultivation // MICRODOSING Dabble Extracts // MEDICAL CONCENTRATES The Daily Dose Radio Show // RADIO SHOW Faragosi Farms //

RECREATIONAL DISPENSARY

Green Generation, Inc. // CBD PET PRODUCTS

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.

Greenhouse Payment Solutions //

And I really believe I do. But then some innate part of my brain

PAYMENT PROCESSING

takes over, and I start to crave the comfort of chunky sweaters,

Herbal Healing // COMPLIANCE

orange-hued decor accents, and steaming bowls of ramen (my

Incredibles // WELLNESS

comfort food of choice last winter).

This time of year, our bodies are primed for change, cued not

Lux Leaf // EDUCATION

only by our natural surroundings but by something more in-

marQaha // SUBLINGUALS AND BEVERAGES

stinctual. After college, I sprinted south to the tropics of Miami,

Monte Fiore Farms //

RECREATIONAL CULTIVATION

Next Frontier Biosciences // BIOSCIENCES NuVue // LIVE RESIN The PAT Pen // CO2 VAPE PEN Pyramid // DISTILLATES Sharp Solutions // TRANSPORTATION

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, Slow Food (brought to Colorado by our cover star, Peggy Markel).

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 Southern Colorado

Be Aware

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her life-

time. The world is awash in pink ribbons right now—tiny reminders to book a mammogram everywhere you look. Book one. Now. October 13 is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. It’s also my mom’s birthday. She would have been 72 this year, but…metastatic breast cancer has no cure. It’s fatal, 100 percent of the time.

If you’re donating, marching, or buying pink-tinged products this month, do a little research to ensure your efforts go to organizations funding research for a cure, not just paying for awareness/ad campaigns.

Or just donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BSRF.ORG ), knowing your contributions will be well spent.

–Stephanie Wilson

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 11

Colorful Colorado

This fall is living up to the promise of the state’s welcome sign.

The epic winter of 2019 just keeps on giving.

All that snow melted into a wet spring, and then steady summer rains added to the abundant moisture—all adding up to make one of the most brilliant fall spectacles Colorado has seen in years. The leaf-viewing is great along all the Front Range’s classic looky-loo drives, but here’s a handful of our fall favorites.

To find more, visit CODOT.GOV/TRAVEL/SCENIC-BYWAYS .

Trail Ridge Road (US 34) Winding well above tree line through Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park to Grand Lake, the highest continuous paved road in North America climbs above 11,000 feet for 8 miles and peaks at 12,183 feet. The road closes for the season on October 14 and temporarily for snow.

Guanella Pass Scenic and Historic Byway This old wagon route for miners rambles along County Road 381 from historic Georgetown to Grant passing 14,060-foot Mount Bierstadt along the way. The newly paved road along the South Platte River is peppered with pockets of quaking golden aspen. The road closes for the season in November and temporarily for snow.

12 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway (CO 14) The drive through the rugged Cache la Poudre River Canyon takes you through Roosevelt National Forest and over Cameron Pass, with shimmering views of the Medicine Bow, Never Summer, and Rabbit Ears ranges.

Peak-to-Peak Highway Acre upon acre of brilliant yellow aspens make this threehour drive from Estes Park down through Clear Creek Canyon—Colorado’s oldest scenic byway—a favorite for locals and tourists alike. You’re sure to see elk. –Robyn Griggs Lawrence

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 13

Old Guys, Young Souls

Neil Young and Crazy Horse recorded Colorado, their first album in seven years, over 11 days and nights in a studio near Telluride.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse haven’t rocked Red

top Sessions, a documentary about making Colorado,

Rocks since 2012, but fans needn’t worry—the leg-

will be released alongside the album. “You will see

endary singer/songwriter and his roots band haven’t

the whole process just as it went down!” Young wrote

burned out or faded away. Young and Crazy Horse

“Warts and all! I don’t think a film about this subject

(bassist Billy Talbot, drummer Ralph Molina, and gui-

with the openness and intensity we have captured has

tarist Nils Lofgren, replacing Frank “Poncho” Sampe-

ever been seen.”

dro) were back together again last April to record

Colorado is available in high-resolution audio through

Colorado, their first LP since 2012’s Psychedelic Pill,

NEILYOUNGARCHIVES.COM . (Young’s just-released book, To

during an intense session near Telluride. An advance

Feel the Music: A Songwriters Mission to Save High-Quality

track, “Milky Way,” is already streaming.

Audio, chronicles his passion for bringing back the old-

“It’s old guys,” Young wrote on his blog at on

school sound.) A vinyl double album with a bonus 7-inch

NEILYOUNGARCHIVES.COM . “Old guys still alive in young

single with two additional tracks is available for $45; CDs

souls and the music they make together.” He also

are $19.

called Colorado “one of the most diverse albums I have ever made.”

Young and Crazy Horse won’t be touring for the

Young and the band hauled their 1970s analog

rest of 2019, but fans

equipment up to Studio in the Clouds, a mesa-top

should consider a Red

facility in the San Juans, and played for 11 days and

Rocks show in 2020 a

nights straight to record the 11-track album. Mountain-

very real possibility. –RGL

14 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 15

16 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

green generation

Fear Factors

Why we get high on horror.

Forget pumpkin spice and everything nice. For lovers of the spooky stuff, fall is a time to relish all things freaky, creepy, and fear-inducing, which makes no sense to anyone who doesn’t love

Ha pp y

a good scare. There are some scientific reasons why some of us seek out unsettling experiences that deliver jolts of terror.

When we’re scared, we achieve a weird kind of high. Fear triggers the natural fight-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 confront-or-run reactions. As a result, our brains love getting dosed with dopamine—especially when our conscious mind realizes there’s no real danger.

So, fear fiends, this is your time to shine. Go binge on that scarily addicting horror high all month long.

Scary Stat

–SW

$9 billion: Total amount Americans spent on Halloween in 2018.

Source: National Retail Foundation

How

l- o - we e

n

Whole plant CBD for pets & their humans • No artificial flavoring • No preservatives • Third-party tested to ensure potency • Handmade in Colorado

www.GreenGenerationCBD.com Greengeneration.inc@gmail.com sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 17

{horoscope }

by M O N A VA N J O S E P H

OCTOBER

HOROSCOPES

Las Vegas intuitive MONA VAN JOSEPH has been predicting her clients’ potential since 2002. She’s an author, columnist, host of "Psychic View Radio," and created the Dice Wisdom (DICEWISDOM.COM ) app for iPhone and Android.

your success will be procrasti-

the people for whom you care)

nation. Whether or not you own

your version of perfect. From

your own company, behave as

vacillation and boredom comes

though you are the owner. This

a new perspective.

is your month to be proactive, not to coast. The things and adventures you want are there for the asking…so ask.

LIBRA

Sept 23–Oct 22

yourself out there for what you want, but that’s precisely the

CAPRICORN

Dec 22–Jan 19

AQUARIUS

Jan 20–Feb 18

The fastest way to motivate you is to piss you off. That’s unfortunate for whoever has tapped into your ire because

This is not a month of initi-

vibration upon you this month.

Define your version of happi-

no one can hold a grudge like

ation for you; it is a month of

No one can live your life.

ness and success this month.

an Aquarian. This month, give

Do not look at what other

yourself the gift of forgive-

people are doing (or worse,

ness. People are pulling at you,

compare your life to theirs) to

and it’s time to decide. Ask

self-healing. October is a “one” vibration, and for you, that means taking care of health

SAGITTARIUS

Nov 22–Dec 21

issues. Consult your doctor

Start asking the questions that

define your happiness. Do not

yourself, “Have these people

about whatever you’ve been

show people how bright you

dwell on the unfairness of life;

been good or bad for me?”

putting off. Avoid using other

are and that you are paying at-

instead, notice that birds still

Step away from anyone in the

people as an excuse for not

tention. Prepare for something

fly, kittens and puppies are irre-

“bad” category and align with

taking care of yourself. You’ve

big to present itself next month.

sistible, and you are here for a

people in the “good” category.

been

assumptions

An opportunity for you to be all-

reason. Contemplate what you

Stop taking so many things so

lately about people and events.

in with your work will come, so

do have control over and do not

seriously. It’s time to get back

Stop that! Ask the question

have things lined up so you can

brood about things out of your

to where your genius resides:

and avoid assuming you know

respond. The only enemy to

control. Make your world (and

this precious moment.

making

what someone will tell you or

PISCES

how they will act, especially when it comes to your emotional and physical well-being.

SCORPIO

Oct 23–Nov 21

It’s not so much about the money anymore, but you’re making it about the money.

Feb 19–Mar 20

Libra, this is not a month of initiation for you; it’s a month of self-healing.

You’ve been fighting many egos lately. It’s time to withdraw from any issue that will cause a conflict, in romance and career.

It’s been a year of readjustment and finding the place that allows you to flow with the times.

You are making yourself stay

Unless your dream job comes

in a situation that no longer

along, don’t seek to change jobs

serves you by using it as an

until next year. Avoid romantic

excuse. If your work is too

conflict; you can’t control other

easy for you and you’re bored

people and have to accept their

with it, it’s time to find some-

nature as a reflection of who

thing you truly enjoy. Now is

they are. People’s dramatic be-

the time to prepare for your

havior isn’t about you; it’s about

next adventure, even if it’s on

them protecting their (alleged)

the side. It’s challenging to put

territory. Don’t engage.

18 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

ARIES

Mar 21–Apr 19 October vibrates to the number 1, which is Aries’s favorite number. “First at the buffet,” Aries will

Okay Gemini, stop putting off what you want this month. It’s time to be completely transparent with all your relationships.

say. In October, it is absolutely okay to be first in whatever you do. The first three weeks are success-driven, and any new projects started then will be meaningful. You must be willing to be totally committed and step into your limelight. Pursue any nagging projects and follow up with leads. Not necessarily a month for romance, but your charm will attract significant people. It’s okay to coast the last week of the month.

TAURUS

Apr 20–May 20 This is the month to explore partnerships and, more importantly, how you are regarded.

This applies to both your business and personal life. Make

October is your lucky month.

anything; you’re just irritating

be grateful you’ve earned the

sure you are exploring legal

You will be in the right place

people around you. Rediscov-

right to do what you love—

agreements thoroughly and

at the right time. There are all

er reading and old movies and

and it’s okay to be self aware.

not taking someone’s word

sorts of spiritual and human an-

creating magic.

for a deal or arrangement. Call

gels working in your favor this

in that favor with an attorney

month, so please pay attention.

friend who owes you and ask

Accept all social invitations.

for advice. Taurus is frequently reluctant to call in favors, but this is the month to do so.

CANCER

June 22–July 22

LEO

July 23–Aug 22

VIRGO

Aug 23–Sept 22 Finally, the catalyst year of

It’s time for you to learn to

struggle is over. You have

have fun again. I don’t care

been (or will very soon be)

what age you are because,

acknowledged for what you

What you do this month sets

Get out of your own way. It’s

as quoted by Ayn Rand, “All

bring to the table. It has been

up your freedom or limitations.

not about making anything

pleasures are personal.” Your

a personally challenging year

happen; it’s about letting

personal pleasure has nothing

of facing demons, protecting

things happen. No one is de-

to do with finding what’s “out

your family, and rejection. I am

liberately out to hurt you or

there” to make you happy; it’s

happy to report that you have

Okay, Gemini, stop putting off

betray you. Your big lesson

about that profound thing that

faced the firewalk, done the

what you want this month. It’s

this month is to learn to trust

you can lose yourself in the

right karmic thing, and evolved

time to be completely trans-

the process. Sincerely, thank

doing. It’s a creative month for

as an even better human as a

parent with all relationships.

the universe for even the sim-

you, Leo. Write that frigging

result. You didn’t need me to

You’ve been great at working

ple things, like toilet paper.

novel, throw paint on a can-

tell you this; you know this in

your environment to your favor,

Good news arrives by Octo-

vas, or learn to make the per-

your heart of hearts. Now the

but it’s time to state your truth,

ber 21…and until then? Do

fect soufflé. Do this to please

anchor is no longer holding

your worth, and what you want.

not verbally complain about

you. Everyone around you will

you back, and you can soar.

GEMINI

May 21–June 21

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 19

2ND ANNUAL

JASON MARGOLIES

CHARITY

GOLF TOURNAMENT

PER GOLFER

I

$420

LE SA $325 • MONDAY, OCT. 14TH 2019 • SHOTGUN START 8 AM

MERIDIAN GOLF CLUB 9742 S Meridian Blvd.

Englewood, CO 80112 $1Million Dollar Hole in One Shootout!

A $10,000 Putting Challenge!

MUSIC, FOOD, PRISES, RAFFLES For More Information

CALL (303) 801.2828 or www.KickinCancerAss.org

20 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 21

{newsfeed }

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

IS YOUR VAPE SAFE? Recent deaths and hospitalizations bring up important questions about vaporizer products. What can you do to protect yourself?

22 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

Vaping has become one of the most popular methods of

ported in states where adult-use cannabis is illegal, but

ingesting cannabis. Vaporizers, battery-operated devices

not all. Many seem to be tied to bootleg cartridges, which

that heat cannabis (and tobacco) oil and deliver it in the

can be perfect knock-offs of legitimate ones and sold on

form of vapor, have given many adults the opportunity to

the black market, but a recent case in Oregon seems to be

try cannabis without having to smoke it.

linked to a legitimate cartridge bought in a store.

In the legal era, vaporizers have become fabulously

Scientists are busy tracking down the cause. But what’s

popular. For good reason. For one thing, they are mostly

lacking in most of the early reports is any nuance—what

sleek and stylish, easy to conceal in purses and pockets.

the cartridges actually contained, whether they were

Recent models look like zip drives. They are an especial-

bought legally, and whether they might have been tam-

ly attractive alternative to smoking, which many people,

pered with after purchase. And there is no information

from baby boomers to Gen Z, simply detest. And for ev-

about the users, what their lung health might have been

eryone for whom the perfume of cannabis is a part of its

like before they used vaporizers, or what other factors

attraction, there is someone out there who hates the dank

could be involved.

odor emanating from a pipe or joint.

Because they create vapor rather than smoke, vaporizers are easy to use discreetly, an important consideration for many because there are few opportunities to smoke in public, even in legal states. Basically, the idea is that when a substance, in this case oil, becomes gaseous at a temperature lower than its critical point, it’s called vapor. Think of it like steam from boiling water.

Though we have historical evidence that the ancient Egyptians inhaled vaporous fumes extracted from plants, the first e-cigarette was introduced here in 1927. In 1963, Herbert Gilbert came up with the “smokeless non-tobacco cigarette,” and the first modern e-cigarette was introduced in the US in 2007.

Today there are dozens of models for every taste and style. And they are simple to use. All you need is a heating unit, a cartridge filled with liquid, and a rechargeable battery to operate it. Cartridges that can be refilled are called tanks.

Their effectiveness is not in question. But a rash of recent health incidents, including hundreds of hospitalizations and several deaths, have been linked to vaporized products. The symptoms include shortness of breath or trouble breathing, chest pain, cough, fatigue,

THE NUMBER OF VAPE-RELATED ILLNESSES—AND DEATHS—IN MORE THAN HALF OF US STATES HAS BEEN RISING. THAT SOMETHING IS GOING ON IS ABSOLUTELY REAL; EXACTLY WHAT IT IS IS PERHAPS LESS CLEAR AND HAS LED TO MUCH CONFUSION.

and possible fever.

The number of cases—and deaths—in more than half of US states has been rising. That something is going on is absolutely real; exactly what it is is perhaps less clear and has led to much confusion. Most cases have been resensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 23

There appears to be a link to chemicals and additives used in bootleg cartridges that when combusted could be causing the condition. Most people admitted to hospitals have trended younger, but there are no absolutes. Evidence is leading to the possible addition of Vitamin E, a substance used in many health products and lotions that can be dangerous when inhaled.

Dr. Phillip Lamberty of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who has cared for three patients who became ill from vaping, told the Washington Post that adulterated or contaminated products were likely suspects “because these products have been out there for some time, and we’ve not seen these cases until this summer.”

IF YOU’VE BEEN USING VAPE PRODUCTS FROM A LICENSED COLORADO DEALER AND HAVEN’T SHOWN ANY SYMPTOMS, CHANCES ARE YOU’RE NOT IN DANGER. HOWEVER, IF YOU’VE NEVER TRIED VAPING, NOW PROBABLY ISN’T THE BEST TIME TO START.

The outbreak has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a warning that people avoid using vaporizers until we learn more. In early September, the CDC said its initial findings pointed to similarities among those affected. “Patients report similar exposures, symptoms, and clinical findings,” and warned of the potential of lipoid pneumonia, a rare condition that occurs when fat particles enter the lungs.

CDC is working with the Food and Drug Administration and individual states to find out whether the illnesses are linked to specific devices, ingredients, or contaminants in the devices. And at least part of the reason for the confusion 24 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

Stay Informed To keep up with the latest information on this outbreak, bookmark the CDC (CDC.GOV ) and the Colorado Department of Health and Environment websites (COLORADO.GOV/CDPHE ).

You will find solid reporting on cannabis issues at the New York Times and Washington Post websites. Cannabis-oriented news sites that continually provide updated information include Leafly (LEAFLY.COM ), the National Organization for Marijuana Legalization blog (BLOG.NORML.ORG ), and Word on the Tree (WORDONTHETREE.COM ), a compendium of cannabis news.

is that vaping cartridges are, unlike other parts of the industry, poorly regulated by federal and state governments.

Here in Colorado, the Department of Public Health and Environment is monitoring the situation, with updates posted regularly on its website.

And though bootleg products—replacement cartridges that look exactly like legal ones can be reproduced down to the packaging so a customer might not even notice— proliferate, state officials are unaware of any bootleg products in Colorado.

So what do you do as a consumer? Whom do you believe? People have been vaping cannabis and tobacco for many years now. Why the sudden spate of illnesses?

If you have been buying vape products from a licensed Colorado dealer the last six years and haven’t shown any symptoms, chances are you’re not in danger. Everything we do, whether inhaling vapor or eating ice cream, has risks associated with it. (A recent study suggests that most diseases are caused by the foods we choose to eat.) If you’re curious about vaping, now probably isn’t the best time to start the experiment.

In any situation like this, the best thing to do is try to get the most accurate information. Which means knowing your news outlets. Try to avoid the many bogus online “news sources” pushing certain points of view rather than providing accurate information. And remember that people can and do use data to

PROEUD HOM OF

“prove” anything they want. Statistics aren’t facts. They are numbers interpreted by people. Treat them as such.

Know what you’re buying. To the extent that you can, ask your budtender, manager, or dispensary owner where the cartridges you’re buying came from, what are they made of, and what kinds of additives are being used along with the cannabis oil.

Expect much more regulation of cartridges in the future as this plays out.

The main thing for consumers, however, is simply to exercise common sense.

Never buy cartridges off the street, no matter how attractive the price. And if you’re doubtful about any product, follow your instincts and don’t buy it. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 25

{tastebuds }

by J O H N L E H N D O R F F

THE FOOD ROAD LESS TAKEN Relationships are the route a culinary pioneer took to soulful food travel.

26 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

“Without the usual distractions, you can regain your connection with yourself, your truth, and your food.”

–Peggy Markel

Markel has been going over there from here for 27 years, but becoming a travel entrepreneur was the farthest thing from her mind when she first went to Italy. She was there to study the art of mosaics. Instead, she ended up learning how to cook pasta with the brother of a friend at a 15th-century villa.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PEGGY MARKEL CULINARY ADVENTURES

“I loved that experience of connecting with the food, The most influential Colorado foodie that nobody has heard of pulls up on an old bicycle at a French bakery near

the people, and the place so much, and I wanted others to share it with others,” she says.

her home in Longmont. It’s a rare in-state sighting of the

Culinary travel may be a big business now—especial-

culinary travel pioneer who also helped introduce the Slow

ly after the late. Anthony Bourdain made it cool—but it

Food movement to the United States.

wasn’t a “thing” when Markel took the leap. She launched

The patrons don’t notice, but the gruff baker in his flour-dusted apron warmly greets Peggy Markel.

In an accent veering between Alabama drawl and Italian

her initial adventure, La Cucina de Foccolare (Cooking by the Fireside) in Florence and the Tuscan hills in 1991.

opera, Markel admits that when she comes home to Col-

Relationships are the Route She Follows

orado, going out is the last thing on her mind.

“It was all pretty magical. One connection led to another

“I just want to stop moving and eating. Friends will in-

connection. That’s how I started new adventures to other

vite you to do something. ‘You ran all over the world, but

countries. I wasn’t looking for them, but someone would

you can’t go out for dinner?’ Sometimes our spirits need to

say, ‘You have to go here and see my friend.’ So we would

catch up before they can move again,” she says.

start a program there,” Markel says. Next on her agenda is

Peggy Markel Culinary Adventures encompasses eight

starting an adventure in Mykonos, Greece.

current programs, so she is gone six months of every year.

“I don’t ever market this business. Guests are almost

“I started 2019 in India at Jaipur. Then to Morocco, then

always a friend or family member of someone who has

Spain and Portugal, and then back to Italy. Then I came

gone on a trip. It’s by referral, so you tend to get the right

home in July,” she says.

kind of traveler,” Markel says.

She is set to return to Europe, where she maintains a

From the beginning, she knew what her guided adven-

fourth-floor walkup in a 16th-century palazzo in Florence,

tures wouldn’t include. Guests wouldn’t be at a Marriott

in September.

that serves American-style breakfast, and they wouldn’t

“When I’m tired, I have my sanctuary. That’s where I restore myself in between trips over there,” she says.

spend the day on a bus. They wouldn’t be visiting the usual sights or the “English spoken here” tourist traps. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 27

Now Serving the

CANNABIS INDUSTRY “I’m pleased to expand our Security Services to Pueblo and Southern Colorado. I’m commited to keeping you and your property safe.”

lNTERNAL THEFT INVESTIGATIONS, SITE SECURITY, ARMED INTRUDER TRAINING, CONSULTING & MORE!

AFFORDABLE - INSURED - CONFIDENTIAL (O) 719.696.9208 (C) 719.671.5703 dan-corsentino@msn.com - DanCorsentino.com 1218 N. Main, Suite 101, Pueblo, CO 81003

28 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

seeing the fields and fishing waters, and also learning how to make the region’s defining dishes.

“We end up at the table at least three times a day, and there is always wine. You sit, you eat, and you talk. Without the usual distractions, you can regain your connection with yourself, your truth, and your food,” Markel says.

Slow Food Came to Colorado First While leading tours in Italy, Markel encountered a new and singular protest movement. “I remember sitting at a wine tasting listening to Carlo Petrini talk about Slow Food and why it was essential to reconnect people and food. He was like a preacher or a politician. I thought it was just like what I was doing,” Markel says.

A movement initially fueled by outrage that a McDon-

Why Having a Guide Matters

ald’s was opening at the foot of Rome’s iconic Spanish

There are tons of food and culture guide books, travel

Steps, Slow Food has grown into an international orga-

blogs, and You Tube videos as well as organized culinary

nization that stresses saving local food cultures and pro-

bus tours. “I do think there is something to having a guide,

moting sustainability.

somebody who knows a place. People even try to follow my itineraries, but it’s not the same,” she says.

Markel brought the novel Slow Food idea home to Boulder with her in 1995.

Markel famously functions almost as a travel therapist.

“I put my arms around the situation. It’s where guests sit at the table, what rooms they get. I think about the quality of the entire experience,” Markel says.

For a week, Markel’s adventurers do not have to decide anything. They are gently directed from one good thing to another. “There’s a rhythm to each day. It’s a very feminine

Slow Food in Colorado:

Denver: SLOWFOODDENVER.ORG Boulder County: SLOWFOODBOULDER.ORG Colorado Springs: SLOWFOODCOLORADOSPRINGS.ORG Western Slope: SLOWFOODWESTERNSLOPE.ORG

touch, doing it my way,” Markel says.

Simple curiosity has been her travel guide. “I go into a bakery somewhere, and I always poke my head in the

“The first official meeting of the Boulder Slow Food

back. What are you doing in there? Typically, the cooks

group was in a tipi with (American craft beer guru) Charlie

and bakers never see anybody, and they are thrilled to be

Papazian,” Markel says. That toast with homebrew was

asked,” Markel says.

one of the first Slow Food events ever in the United States.

The idea, Markel says, is for a small group to take a deep dive

Nearly 30 years later, Markel has proven to be prescient.

into a distinct culture’s relationship with food. “It’s an invitation.

The farm-to-table concept has become mainstream. Col-

Let me introduce you some people I know,” Markel says. After

orado is the epicenter of America’s Slow Food communi-

almost three decades, Markel knows the chefs, hoteliers, food

ty and the site for the past three summers of Slow Food

artisans, artists, and winemakers on a first name basis, as well

Nations, the organization’s premier gathering of American

as the boat captains on the islands off of Sicily.

and international foodies.

“The skippers all call me Peggy Peggy. I’ve met all their families,” she says.

Whether it’s Rajastan in India, Marrakesh in Morocco, or Seville in Spain, her guest are tasting, meeting the makers,

The Pluses and Perils of Perpetual Travel A life in constant motion has given Markel a certain clarity about the value of travel. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 29

2222 W COLORADO AVE, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80904

719.999.5934

On-Site Precision Cultivation

Complimentary Patient Consulations

Award-Winning Genetics

Personalized Cannabis Therapy Plans

Professional Approach to Patient Care

Member Loyalty Program

COME VISIT COLORADO SPRINGS’ PREMIER MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY AND RECEIVE 15% OFF YOUR FIRST VISIT

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PLEASE GO TO

www.luxleaf.com

ioVia™ offers the highest quality tinctures and True Transdermal creams in Colorado. Now with more product options and lower pricing.

Ask for ioVia™ at your favorite dispensary, or visit us online at ioVia.org.

Get Back to Your Best Life !

30 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

“I’ve learned that we all have a lot in common. We connect over food and family, even if we don’t speak the same language. We find we have more similarities than differences. In India, you can see diverse religions living and working next to each other. There is always a common denominator,” Markel says.

However, she has noticed one significant difference.

“If you ask an American what the greatest value is, they will say freedom. Ask almost any other culture in the world, and their primary value is family,” she says.

Being a professional traveler is one of those jobs we all think must be fun, but it is not without its occupational hazards. First and foremost is living life at home in absentia.

“I was out of the country when my home in Boulder got flooded in 2013. There are personal losses along the way and events you miss. I’ve had my ups and downs over the past 27 years with economic problems and terrorism,” Markel says.

“Travel brings out so many things in people. It exaggerates everything you’re going through and offers something beautiful and nourishing in return,” Markel adds.

“What is it With These Tomatoes?”

Looking back, Markel now understands the origins of her passion for connecting with cuisine, culture, and locale.

She was born in Alabama and spent a lot of time on a farm near Albertville, the self-proclaimed “Fire Hydrant Capital of the World.”

“My grandparents lived in the countryside. I remember the trees, the whippoorwills, the smells, and cooking with the season. It was very simple stuff,” she says of the original farm-to-table family cuisine.

“I go back and visit now and think, What is it with these tomatoes? Why do they taste so fantastic? I realized that this is what heirlooms seeds, old seeds saved year after year, really mean. It’s that red dirt clay, too. That’s terroir.

The taste gives a sense of place,” Markel says.

Markel’s 2020 culinary adventures will include Spain in April, Sicily and Portugal in May, and the Amalfi Coast in June.

JOHN LEHNDORFF writes Nibbles for the Boulder Weekly and hosts Radio Nibbles on KGNU.

Peggy Markel’s Pasta con le Vongole Veraci Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS • 1 lb dry spaghetti or linguine • 1 1/2 lbs fresh clams, cleaned • 1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped (save stalks) • 4 large garlic cloves, peeled • pinch of chile flakes • 1/2 glass white wine • Extra-virgin olive oil • Sea salt, ground black pepper, to taste • Lemon, zested DIRECTIONS

STEP 1: Put a heavy-bottomed pan on high heat and

let the bottom get hot. In a separate pot, bring pasta to a boil in lightly salted water.

STEP 2: Add clams directly into pan and stir for a minute. Add wine, parsley stalks, and two garlic cloves.

STEP 3: Cover pan with a lid and shake every now and again until all clams are open. Pour into a sieve with a bowl underneath to collect resulting stock.

STEP 4: In a large pan gently heat extra-virgin olive oil with remaining garlic cloves and chili flakes. When pasta is half-cooked, add to oiled pan, and add the clam stock. If it starts to dry out, add some pasta water.

STEP 5: When the pasta is properly al dente, reduce liquid until there is little left. Turn off heat, add a little pasta water and a drizzle of olive oil, and toss until creamy.

STEP 6: Add clams and parsley and toss again. Taste to check seasoning. Serve with a little lemon zest grated over top.

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 31

A Trusted Voice of the Industry Every weekday J and Paul bring you the latest news and info on the cannabis industry locally and globally.

Tune in to hear from industry leaders and take advantage of The Daily Dose deals on our webpage.

Broadcast live on Gnarly 101.3 FM Monday-Friday, 6-7am and 6-7pm So... tune in to the only cannabis talk show on the radio in Southern Colorado to get the 411 on the 420!

For more information or to listen LIVE, visit our website www.TheDailyDoseTalkShow.com 32 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

www.verrawellness.com

SUBLINGUALS • TOPICALS • VAPES

Scientifically formulated with simple ingredients for maximum effectiveness.

@verrawellness

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 33

34 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

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 35

WITH BIG GROWTH, COMES BIG CHANGES AND EVEN BIGGER OPPORTUNITIES. MJBizCon 2019 will bring more exhibitors, more speakers, more sessions and even more professionals in the industry together than ever before.

D E C E M B E R 11 -13 , 2 01 9 | L A S V E GA S REGISTER NOW AT MJBIZCON.COM/VEGAS Use Promo Code SENSIVEGAS50 to Save $50.00

36 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

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 37

38 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

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 39

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.”

40 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

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 41

3JsHiceCream.com 3JsHiceCream 42 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

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 43

Happy Halloweed!

Facebook: The Pat Pen

Check out our full product line at w w w.patpenproducts.com

44 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

Instagram: ThePatPen

Twitter: @thepatpen

For wholesale inquiries, contact sales@patpenproducts.com

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 45

MAKES SENSE TO

ADVERTISERS INCOME

AG E

E D U C AT I O N

$100K

103,840

60%

PLUS THE ANNUAL INCOME OF

25% OF OUR READERS

OVERALL

MONTHLY READERSHIP

35-75 YEAR OLDS 56.8% OF OUR READERS

$200K+ 24-34 EARN PER HOUSEHOLD 11.8% OF OUR READERSHIP

THE AGES OF OUR 2ND STRONGEST

MARKET WITH 25.1%

COLLEGE GRADUATES

THE MAJORITY OF OUR READERS

HAVE AT LEAST ONE DEGREE

27% OF OUR READERSHIP HAVE A MASTER’S DEGREE OR HIGHER

ADVERTISE WITH US

(720) 504-6557 INFO@SENSIMAG.COM 46 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

Numbers are based on a 2019 independent audit of the Denver/Boulder Edition from MEDIA AUDIT

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 47

NCIA’S

CONFERENCES & TRADE SHOWS SAVE THE DATE

For the cannabis industry’s only association-led business-to-business events empowering the industry through education and commerce. NCIA’s Conferences and Trade Shows embody the values of NCIA—education, advocacy, and community— to deliver invaluable insights and best practices to both the novice and experienced cannabis business owner.

OCTOBER 8-9, 2019 | LONG BEACH, CA

CALIFORNIACANNABISBUSINESSCONFERENCE.COM #CACANNABIZCON

FEBRUARY 19-20, 2020 | BOSTON, MA

NORTHEASTCANNABISBUSINESSCONFERENCE.COM #NECANNABIZCON

NCIA’S

CANNABIS BUSINESS SUMMIT &EXPO

JUNE 15-17, 2020 | SAN FRANCISCO, CA CANNABISBUSINESSSUMMIT.COM #CANNABIZSUMMIT

AUGUST 26-27, 2020 | DETROIT, MI

MIDWESTCANNABISBUSINESSCONFERENCE.COM #MWCANNABIZCON

A DVO CACY | ED U CATION | COM M U NITY 48 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

DABBLE EXTRACTS

Joint Forces DABBLE MERGES WITH MEDICINE MAN TO HELP CREATE A SUPERIOR LINE OF PRODUCTS. Dabble does have expansion plans in mind, but “have a lot in front of them right now,” he says.

One of the biggest plans for this year revolves around Dabble’s merger with Medicine Man Technologies. “They approached us,” he says. “I think we are going to team up to really ramp-up production and scale and be a much larger competitor in the state.”

Under terms of the deal, Medicine Man will gain access to Dabble’s unique manufacturing and extraction methods for production of shatters and waxes. Dabble Extracts has pending patent on proprietary shatter-making process.

Medicine Man will pay $3,750,000 for Dabble Extracts.

The purchase price will consist of $750,000 in cash and 996,678 shares of common stock priced at $3.01/share.

Andy Williams, co-founder and CEO of Medicine Man, said that Hindi’s background and mastery as an extraction technician will help the brand create, produce Business has been going well for Pueblo-based Dabble

and distribute a superior portfolio of products. As a mar-

Extracts over the last year or so, says company founder

ket leader, we believe it is incumbent for the company to

Josh Hindi. It’s products are available in 70 dispensaries

offer a comprehensive and exceptional product offering

across the state, including 18 medical stores in Colorado

in all market segments, and Dabble Extracts’ award-win-

Springs. But it just got even better.

ning product line and unique and proprietary extraction

Hindi started Dabble Extracts in a 900-square-foot

process certainly helps us meet this goal,” he says.

building in 2012, making edibles at first before switch-

According to Hindi, Dabble has essentially pioneered

ing to concentrates in 2013 after purchasing an Ex-

its own extraction process and has “grown through a

tractionTek Solutions 1200 closed-loop hydrocarbon

grassroots approach similar to that of Andy’s experience.”

extraction system.

Dabble products are well-known in the state, and awards include First Place Shatter, People’s Choice and

For more information, visit:

DABBLEEXTRACTS.COM

Best Tested at the 2015 THC Championship; Second Place Shatter and Third Place Budder at the High Times DOPE Cup, and several others.

Last year, Hindi talked about ramping up the distillates and oil-cartridge manufacturing, and perhaps moving into other markets. Those plans changed. “I decided to stay focused primarily on the Colorado market,” Hindi says. “Colorado is responsible for roughly 40 percent of legal marijuana sales nationwide, and we think strategically this is the best idea. We want to remain focused on our core competencies, like shatters, waxes, and budder, stay competitive, and make a great product.” sensimag.com OCTOBER 2019 49

{HereWeGo }

by N O R A M O U N C E

THE SCIENCE OF STOPPING TO SMELL THE ROSES Aromatherapy is an ancient practice for health and vitality.

When used as a tired idiom to combat stress, hearing

When experimenting at home, it’s important to remem-

“stop and smell the roses” from a well-meaning friend can

ber that essential oils are incredibly potent and should only

be annoying. Intuitively, we know that slowing down and

be used as suggested by the manufacturer. But with a wide

practicing gratitude for simple pleasures is at the heart of

range of applications, anyone can add essential oils to their

a happy life. But in practice… it’s hard. And even harder

life without booking an appointment. Could your digestive

to believe that a daily whiff of geranium oil will cure the

system use a tune-up? Try adding ginger, peppermint, and

sciatica, depression, or ________ (fill-in-the-blank) that’s

fennel to your daily regime. Essential oils can be applied

keeping you down. But with any holistic modality, an open

topically when using a carrier oil such as almond or sesame,

mind is the first requirement on the path to feeling better.

rubbed on the soles of your feet, or absorbed aromatically

In Colorado, a wide range of herbalists, estheticians, and

through a diffuser. Even easier, try adding few drops to your

massage therapists offer services with aromatherapy to

next hot bath or rub a few drops into your hands before

promote optimal health.

covering your face and breathing deeply.

50 OCTOBER 2019 Southern Colorado

The first. the original.

AWARD WINNING - AMAZING FLAVOR ASK FOR THE CLEARâ„¢ AT:

f

.

/TheClearColorado

www.ClearConcentrate.com

Follow us on social media for store locations and promotions!