THE LIFE

Pie in the Sky

This infused pie crust recipe will elevate your dessert game.

According to the experts at San Diego’s March and Ash cannabis dispensary, cannabis is an extremely versatile plant, and one easy way to unlock its powerful effects is baking with cannabutter. Butter that has been infused with cannabis fl ower, also called “cannabutter,” is a simple do-it-yourself way to prepare edibles at home. Cannabutter has many uses in cooking, including cookies, sandwiches, desserts, and pasta.

Read on for a recipe to make your own cannabutter, which can then be incorporated into a pie crust recipe for the holidays … or really any time that’s appropriate for pie, which is the same as saying any time at all.

Cannabutter Pie Crust

Makes 1 pie crust

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2⁄3 cup cannabutter (see recipe above) 5–7 tablespoons cold water 1 egg white

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine flour and cannabutter into a mixing bowl. Use a knife to cut the cannabutter into the flour. Add salt and water, mixing until a dough forms. If not using immediately, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 24 hours. If ready to make your pie, roll out dough on a flat surface, between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper. Shape into a 9-inch pie pan, leaving a half inch of dough overhanging. Pinch overhang around edge of the pan and brush the dough with the egg white. Let chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. Fill your pie with your favorite filling: pumpkin, apple, pecan, or even a refreshing fruit blend—baker’s choice. Bake according to pie recipe instructions

Cannabutter

Makes about 16 servings / Recipe from March and Ash / marchandash.com

INGREDIENTS

10 grams flower 1 cup unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 245°F. Place 10 grams of flower on a parchment-lined oven tray. Bake for 40 minutes. Rake the flower after 15 minutes to ensure even heating. Coarsely grind baked bud into a slow cooker set to low (under 200°F). Add the unsalted butter, stirring the mixture every 15 minutes. Cook for 3 hours on low. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and strain into jar or container using cheesecloth and a funnel. Refrigerate until ready to use in recipe.

Potency

The exact potency of made-at-home cannabutter will depend on many factors. No two batches will be exactly the same. You may want to test your nal product by spreading ¼ teaspoon on some toast and wait two to three hours to see how that batch a ects you. Use that as a dosage barometer and increase or decrease the amount used in each recipe as desired.

Containing the Tropics Baby it’s cold outside, but these easy-breezy houseplants can add an instant island vibe to your home no matter what’s happening out there. TEXT DIANE BLACKFORD

Your dreams for a Caribbean getaway this year get dashed by a pandemic that closed the country’s borders, too?

While it’s not quite the same as frolicking on sugary soft beaches fl anked by palm trees and lapped by shimmering turquoise waters, I’ve done my best to turn my apartment into a tropical oasis with palm trees and verdant foliage growing out of every available space. You can do the same, and I highly encourage it. Plants provide oxygen, clean the air, and are shown to elevate levels of happiness. Not to mention if you get enough of them growing, you’ll raise the humidity in your place—something everyone needs. Trust me, your hair, skin, sinuses, and more will thank you for adding more moisture to the air.

My apartment’s large southern-facing windows deserve a lot of credit for helping to transform an empty apartment into a lush landscape, no doubt. But even if your place rarely sees any direct sunlight at all, you too can grow some palm trees a mile high.

Everyone can be a tropical gardener, and thanks to the houseplant-crazed millennials demanding more—and more exotic—greenery to grow in their homes, it’s easier than ever to cultivate a true island vibe indoors—even in the coldest of climates.

(Fun fact: the fi fth-coldest temp this country has ever recorded was in Maybell, Colorado, when it dipped to -61°F on February 1, 1985. As I write this, it’s 14 degrees outside and the temps are falling into the single digits tomorrow, making Denver one of the coldest places in the country right now.)

“It may be a little tricky at times, but adding that special warmth and color to your home defi nitely can be done,” confi rms Andrea Haywood, a certifi ed master gardener from South Florida.

While Jack Frost is not a friend to most greenery native to climates where temperatures hover above 75°F, we’ve rounded up some of the easiest tropical plants that you can grow indoors all year long. You can fi nd these varieties and others like them at your local garden center, where the staff can help you pick out the right type for your home’s light and off er tips to help you care for the tropical transplant. So take your green thumbs out of your gloves and get growing on your own tropical paradise.

Bird of Paradise (above)

This colorful plant species got its moniker from its uncanny resemblance to the feathered creature with the same name. The unusual shape of its fl owers makes the plant a superb conversation starter that adds a welcome burst of color to any household where it blooms, which doesn’t happen without a TON of natural sunlight. But even without the namesake fl ower, the large plant adds a ton of tropical fl air to any room, thanks to its glossy leaves fanning out.

Bromeliad (left)

There are over 3,000 species within this standout family of tropical plants. Most have bold leaves that are often colorful, but many bromeliads’ most distinguishing characteristic is an exotic fl ower spike. Given the long-lasting blooms

and ornamental foliage, you may assume these are high-maintenance houseplants, but you’d be mistaken. They tend to be among the easiest to grow, and you can fi nd varieties in all shapes and sizes with diff erent preferences for light and heat.

Dracaena Marginata (below)

Often called the dragon tree, the spiky houseplant is native to Africa. The tricolor cultivar, also known as the rainbow plant, adds an instant island vibe to any household with its pink, cream, and yellow stripes on narrow, green leaves.

Hibiscus (left)

Huge, dramatic blooms up to eight inches in diameter add terrifi c splashes of color (albeit short-lived) to this shrub. It needs plenty of water and well-drained soil to survive, and it needs lots of sunlight to bloom, which it can do from late spring through fall in the right conditions. You can fi nd versions with fl owers in a dizzying array of colors, making it easy to match your home’s color palette. If you don’t have bright, direct sunlight, don’t let that stop you from adding this stunner to your collection. Keep it indoors during the winter then move it to the balcony or porch when it warms up outside to enjoy its seasonal blooms.

EDITOR’S CHOICE: PONYTAIL PALM The cascading curls owing from the top of this plant just make it seem like all sorts of bubbly fun. It’s technically a succulent, not a palm tree, but we won’t tell if you don’t. A native of the dry desert states of eastern Mexico, it does well in low humidity, and its bulbous base stores water like a camel’s hump, making it a good choice for people who tend to neglect their plants.

Risk Management

What you don’t know can hurt you.

Every business owner knows about risk; it is a constant presence in their lives. The specter of risk drives critical business decisions, from funding and hiring to liability coverage.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the fast-changing and continually evolving cannabis industry. Cannabis is one of the most highly scrutinized industries in the country, so operators owe it to themselves to ensure that they have properly protected their investment. That’s where the National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) comes in.

As the nation’s only dedicated risk management association focused solely on cannabis, NCRMA brings a level of expertise to its members that enables long-term sustainability and success. It provides the education, support, and expertise necessary to mitigate potential threats and help cannabis industry professionals keep their businesses safe, compliant, and thriving.

NCRMA lives its mission statement: making our members better through education, support, and expertise.

“Our level of expertise spans from seed to the consumer with a team of consultants bringing a combined 75 years of experience in property and liability, risk, cannabis operations, occupational safety, compliance, and agriculture,” says NCRMA Chief Risk Management Offi cer Alex Hearding. “This culmination of experience and expertise allows us to offer one-ofa-kind tools and cannabis-specifi c solutions designed to improve overall business results, optimize daily operational effi ciencies, decrease unnecessary expenses, and increase the bottom line.” Through the use of the NCRMA’s proprietary cloudbased platform, CRP2 (Cannabis Risk Prevention Platform), its consultants are equipped to quickly identify potential threats through a scorecard and detailed report. These results allow the NCRMA to address risks in a holistic manner and create customized solutions that minimize the potential for business interruptions.

Recognizing the explosive growth in the cannabis industry, NCRMA has regional offi ces and vetted service partners across the country, which work directly with NCRMA members to provide knowledge, profi ciency, and support—and much more.

NCRMA’s Chronic Risk podcast offers detailed insights from cannabis industry leaders. Through its innovative association-owned captive model, NCRMA has a network of Appointed Brokers who offer insurance products and coverages. Then, there is NCRM Academy—an online learning platform that provides members access to over 30 different courses on all aspects of cannabis operations. All of this combined ensures that your business is prepared and your risks addressed.

“A common cannabis industry myth is that by having insurance, you are properly managing your risks. In reality, insurance is only a small part of the risk management framework,” says NCRMA Chairman Rocco Petrilli. “Having a fi rm grasp over risk management is vital to the success of any business.” “A common cannabis industry myth is that by having insurance, you are properly managing your risks, when in reality, insurance is only a small part of the risk management framework.”

—NCRMA Chairman Rocco Petrilli

National Cannabis Risk Management Association

The nation’s only cannabis risk management association ncrma.net

NOT DOWN AND OUT BUT THRIVING

IN LAS VEGAS

TEXT DEBBIE HALL

The Las Vegas cannabis vibe was off the charts during the week-long 10th annual MJBizCon, the largest cannabis trade show in the industry. Sensi had a prominent presence during the convention, including hosting one of the hottest parties, Sensi’s Sunset Soirée at The Strat. Guests enjoyed the Las Vegas sunset 108 fl oors above the Strip with unlimited cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, thrill rides, and an all-around excellent networking experience. The next evening, the sold-out Zodiac Party rocked the entire night as partygoers celebrated.

Down the street, Sapphire Las Vegas, the world’s largest gentlemen’s club and adult entertainment complex, hosted an evening fi lled with unforgettable 4-20–inspired décor and entertainment with an open bar. Platinum recording artist and rap sensation Mike Jones, infamous for anthems like “Still Tippin” and “Back Then,” performed as guests reveled in cannabis couture.

During the day, Daymond John—co-star of ABC’s Shark Tank and founder/CEO of Fubu— amped up attendees as the keynote speaker of MJBiz, while over 1,000 cannabis industry suppliers made deals on the expo fl oor. MJ Unpacked brought together passionate cannabis retailers, THC CPG brands, and accredited investors.

It was quite the week for all who attended! Sensi Media Group looks forward to 2022.

THRIVING

A Rich Legacy

Love, Loyalty, and Excellence in Cannabis

Southern Humboldt Royal Cannabis Company (SoHum Royal) is an example of ecological stewardship. A family farm, it’s nestled in the foothills 2,500 feet above the majestic Mattole River Valley in Honeydew, California. Because it is also a home, deep commitment to stewardship of the land and environmental resources is more than an obligation for the brand; it’s a way of life. Its head cultivator takes a craftsman’s approach to nurturing the growing medium and all of the life within it.

SoHum Royal produces pristine cannabis in Humboldt’s unparalleled soils—the world’s fi nest quality— while minimizing risks to employees and breathing life into the community through participation in the volunteer fi re department and active leadership in the local cannabis community. One of SoHum’s core beliefs is that cannabis users are entitled to products that are free of pesticides, micro-contaminants, and other adulterations. The company rigorously follows established practices to ensure that all of its products meet these high standards.

A proud second-generation Humboldt farmer, Sean Stamm is Southern Humboldt Royal’s founder and head cultivator. Stamm has carefully built an expert cultivation team with an emphasis on paying attention to the details. He is joined in his mission by his mother, Pamela Lane, who taught him to grow his fi rst cannabis plant 24 years ago. She spent years developing and optimizing holistic formulas that blend the medicinal cannabis oils with the fi nest ingredients including proprietary blends of essential oils, shea butter, emu oil, and full-spectrum cannabis oil to create a line of premium topical products that includes bath bombs, healing salve, lip balm, and massage oil.

In addition to breeding the most potent and terpene-rich strains, Stamm has developed a powerful Rick Simpson–style oil formula for treating chronic conditions like Alzheimer’s and cancer. Southern Humboldt Royal Cannabis refl ects the rich legacy of Humboldt cannabis cultivation. With a focus on quality and health, Stamm has grown a brand that represents the unique values and lifestyles found in California’s Emerald Triangle.

SoHum Royal

Premier Cannabis Brand sohumroyal.com

WOKE, NOT WASTED

They say they’re not alcoholics, and they’re certainly not anonymous. What is sober curious—and can sobriety really be uid?

TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE

Idrink badly, and I have a lot of fun doing it (when I remember). That’s a lethal combination, and when you throw in my unfortunate discovery of White Claw—I can drink as many as I want and never feel full!—I fl amed out with alcohol last winter.

On February 1, just as everyone else was celebrating the end of Dry January and just ahead of the Summer of the Claw, I swore off the seltzer. I fi gured I’d give myself one month (note: the year’s shortest) to reset. It wasn’t an easy 28 days, but when March 1 rolled around, I felt better than I’d felt in years. The chronic infl ammation I had attributed to everything from gluten sensitivity to genetics was clearing. I saw the light, and there was no going back.

I thought sobriety would be lonely, that every Saturday night would be Netfl ix. I forgot the Brett Kavanaugh generation isn’t in charge of culture anymore (thank God).

Millennials and Gen Xers aren’t interested in swilling beer until they black out like we did in the ’80s. Sober is sexy—or, as hipsobriety.com says, “sobriety is the new black.”

On Instagram, there are infl uencers such as @stylishlysober, @thesoberglow, and the darker @fucking_sober and hashtags like #soberliving, #soberAF, and #sobercurious. Millie Gooch, who posts as @sobergirlsociety, encourages her nearly 60,000 followers with inspirational messages like “Mocks not cocks” and “Sobriety: a surefi re way to improve your wellbeing and your Uber rating.”

Just like that, I’m a cool kid— with a huge range of new options on Saturday night (and beyond). I’m exploring elixirs made with raw cacao, maca, and horny goat weed at Tonic Herban Lounge just a few blocks from my home in downtown Boulder (I can walk home after imbibing, and it amuses me that I don’t need to). I can do yoga and shake it before dawn at a Daybreaker dance party (daybreaker.com) in Denver, one of 27 cities where the alcohol-free early-morning rave pops up and invites people

to “sweat, dance, and connect with ourselves in community.”

I’m surely not alone in this realization that life is better without booze. Worldwide, alcohol consumption fell by 1.6 percent last year. Led by young people, heavy-hitting countries like Russia, Canada, Japan, and the UK are seeing drinking rates as well as tolerance toward intoxication decline. An international survey found that about a third of people wanted to reduce their alcohol intake because of everything from sexual regret and embarrassment to physical health. A 2018 survey found that nearly 40 percent of global consumers want to drink less for health reasons.

In the U.S., CNBC reports, 52 percent of adults are trying to lower their alcohol intake, and underage drinking has steadily declined in the last 10 years. But only 21 percent of U.S. adults in a CivicScience poll said they had any interest in drinking less or not at all, and most of those were 21- to 34-year-old, vegan-leaning fl exitarians who practice yoga and consume cannabis daily. Women, especially those in their 30s and 40s, are drinking more than ever.

Booze still rules for most Americans, and “increased stress and demoralization” is actually pushing more women, minorities, and poor people to the bottle, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The national Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that 17 million adults in the U.S. are alcohol dependent, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one in six binge drink—defi ned as drinking four or more drinks over two hours or until blood alcohol reaches 0.08—nearly once a week. For this White Claw guzzler, that defi nition is, well, sobering. I called that happy hour.

Giving up alcohol isn’t a hashtag for a lot of people. It’s not

APPS FOR THAT

Loosid: Digital platform for sober dating, destinations, and meetups Sober Grid: “The world’s most popular mobile sober community” Twenty-Four Hours a Day: Inspiration through daily meditations

SPIRITS FOR NEXT-GEN PARTIERS

The joke goes that nonalcoholic drinks are like listening to porn on the radio, but times have changed. They’re the CBD of the alcohol world. Nonalcohol (NA) beverages are a bright spot in a declining alcohol market, and their sales are expected to grow 32 percent in 2022, according to a Bon Appetit report. Today’s creative, health-inducing craft beverages are a lot more than just alcohol-free.

BEER

Athletic IPA: Robust alcohol-free craft brew Heineken OO: The OG’s rst NA brew O’Doul’s: Anheuser-Busch’s classic has new limited-edition meantfor-Instagram cans by local artists in New York, Chicago, and LA.

WINE

Napa Hills: Blend of fruit- avored water and VitaRes (antioxidant blend with resveratrol, red grape skin, and red wine extract) with as many antioxidants as red wine O.Vine: Grape-infused wine water with “the health bene ts of the real thing”

SPIRITS

Curious Elixirs: Individually bottled alcohol-free craft cocktails High Rhode by Kin: “Euphorics” made from nootropics and adaptogens, including 5-HTP, rhodiola, and ca eine Ritual Whiskey: “As a veggie burger is to beef, or almond milk is to dairy, Ritual is an alternative to traditional whiskey.” Seedlip Spice 94: Gin-like blend of Jamaican allspice berry, cardamom, and citrus peel Stryyk: “Zero-proof spirits,” including Not Vodka, Not Rum, and Not Gin Three Spirit: “Social elixir” made from yerba mate, lion’s mane, damiana, and cacao

even a choice. As Sean Paul Mahoney writes on The Fix, a website about addiction and recovery, “I didn’t get sober to be cool. I just got sober to stop dying.”

A LITTLE BIT ADDICTED? “Sober curious” became a thing after HarperCollins released Ruby Warrington’s Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Limitless Presence, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of Alcohol in 2018. Warrington also has a podcast, runs Club Söda NYC (featuring sober events like Kundalini Disco), and stages events. Her take is that a lot of Americans might not have a “problem” with alcohol but see it as getting in the way of their healthy lifestyles. “We eat well. We exercise. We meditate,” the press release for Sober Curious states. “So, why do we…still drink?”

Warrington wants to know why the only people who don’t drink are the ones who can’t and asks, “What if I am just…a little bit addicted?”

Call me old school, but a little bit addicted sounds a lot like a little bit pregnant. I worry that people who shouldn’t will take the advice of John Costa, who writes on twentytwowords.com that being sober curious is like being bi-curious—you don’t always hook up with people of the same sex, and you don’t have to cut out drinking forever. “Be sober half the time,” he writes, “and sauced the other half.” He’s joking, but those are dangerous words for me. That’s the life I was living: sober by day + tanked by night = balance.

SOBERING STUDIES ALCOHOL ACCOUNTS FOR NEARLY 1 IN 10 DEATHS OF PEOPLE AGED 15 TO 49 AND IS THE LEADING RISK FACTOR FOR DISEASE AND PREMATURE DEATH.

Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

BINGE DRINKING RATES IN STATES WHERE CANNABIS IS LEGAL FELL TO 9 PERCENT BELOW THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND 11 PERCENT BELOW NONLEGAL STATES IN 2016.

Source: Cowen & Co.

Like all disorders (and pretty much everything in our culture), alcohol use runs on a spectrum. I was at the end that spent hours upon hours researching whether drinking while on this antibiotic would really make me projectile vomit and scoff ed at friends as they struggled through Dry January, Dry July, Sober September, and Sober October. I wasn’t interested in giving up drinking for any reason or any amount of time— until I had to give it up for life.

Warrington, who sees reducing alcohol intake as another step in the wellness revolution, is at the other end of the spectrum—and she is aware of the diff erence between recovering from alcohol addiction and feeling better during yoga. I hope all of her followers are, too, because the last thing most drinkers need is a loophole.

I want to believe the trend Warrington is leading toward spirits-free activities and thoughtfulness about alcohol’s role in our culture—where every ritual, celebration, loss, entertainment, and even sporting event is cause for a drink—is not a trend but a movement. That we’ll look back at “mommyjuice” like we shake our heads at “mother’s little helper” pills from the ’60s and ’70s. The infrastructure to support sobriety is being built, and public opinion is turning. After centuries of going hard, America is getting woke, not wasted.

Cheers to that.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Robyn Griggs Lawrence is the author of the bestselling Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook and Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis.

SOBERING STUDIES A BRITISH STUDY OF DRY JANUARY ABSTAINERS FOUND THAT 82 PERCENT FELT A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT, 62 PERCENT SLEPT BETTER, AND 49 PERCENT LOST SOME WEIGHT.