Sensi Michigan November 2021 by Sensi Magazine

PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS Ram Dass and ambient vibes

MICHIGAN NOVEMBER 2021

THE 2021 CANNABIS LIFESTYLE GIFT GUIDE Aesthetic accessories they’ll want to show off

CANNAGASMIC

oOYes shakes up the sex space

SHINE A LIGHT

Pharmacist fights for plant medicine

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MICHIGAN SENSI MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2021

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FEATURES

The 2021 Sensi Holiday Gift Guide

From classy, odor-blocking stash boxes to single malt scotch to lowdose edibles, our annual gift guide rounds up the best stuff to make the holidays a little happier.

Hacking The Feast

Here’s how the hippies hijacked Thanksgiving.

DEPARTMENTS

15 EDITOR’S NOTE What’ 50 THE SCENE s hot in the world of cannabis. 16 THE BUZZ HONEY, HONEY Get to News, tips, and tidbits to keep you in the loop TUNE IN Jon Hopkins’ new album puts the spiritual teachings of the late legend Ram Dass to music. COLOR ME IMPRESSED

The Creative Thinking Journal will help you tap into new ideas. SENSIBILITIES There’s a need for cannabis conviction expungement. THE MINCING MOCKINGBIRD Check out this

postcard art.

37 LOCAL Regional editor Tracy Ross outlines the whos, wheres, and whens of Michigan.

know Tanya Griffin, the groovy, sex-positive woman behind oOYes, a new line of “cannagasmic” products created by women who enjoy sex. WISH LIST Slade highlights some of the uplifting items he’s currently coveting. STYLE FILES A new campaign for Jay-Z’s Monogram cannabis brand reimagines iconic photos through a contemporary lens.

58 THE END

ON THE COVER

‘Tis the season to think about the perfect gifts for the cannabis fans and cannicurious in your life. Our annual guide will help you shop. Product: GRAV Labs Wedge Bubbler in Amber PHOTO BY BCFC, ADOBE STOCK PRODUCT PHOTO COURTESY GRAV LABS

Dr. Lola Ohonba understands the relief cannabis provides to people with disabilities.

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ADVISORY BOARD

NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD NCRMA Risk Management COLORADO Agricor Laboratories Testing Lab Aspen Cannabis Insurance Insurance Services Canyon Cultivation Microdosing Cartology Corporation Cartridge Filling Equipment + Hardware Colorado Cannabis Company THC Coffee Concentrate Supply Co. Recreational Concentrates Emerald Construction Construction Green Edge Trimmers Trimmers Higher Grade Boutique Cannabis Hybrid Payroll Staffing & HR Benefits Jupiter Research Inhalation Hardware Lab Society Extraction Expert + Lab Supplies marQaha Sublinguals + Beverages Monte Fiore Farms Recreational Cultivation Northern Standard History of Cannabis PotGuide Cannabis Culture Source CO Wholesale Consulting Terrapin Care Station Recreational Dispensary Toast Mindful Consumption Uleva Hemp Products Wana Brands Edibles Witlon Inc. Payroll Processing

MICHIGAN Aronoff Law (Craig Aronoff) Licensing Law Firm Cannabis Counsel Cannabis Law Firm Etz Chaim Attestations Grapp Lerash Accounting/CPA Services Great Lakes Natural Remedies Lakeshore: Provisioning Center Kush Design Studio Cannabis Facility Design & Build MRB Solutions Human Resources Northern Specialty Health Upper Peninsula: Provisioning Center Oh, Hello Branding Promotional Marketing Perry & Drummy Inc. Commercial Insurance Pure West Compassion Club Caregiver Connection & Network Rair Medical Flower Solutions by Dr. Dave West Michigan: Hemp CBD Helping Friendly Hemp Company Hemp Topicals NEVADA Eden Water Technologies Water System Technologies Green Leaf Money Canna Business Finanacing GreenHouse Payment Solutions Payment Processing Ideal Business Partners Corporate Law & Finance Jupiter Research Inhalatation Hardware Matrix NV Premium Live Resin Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Rokin Vapes Vape Technology This Stuff Is Good For You CBD Bath and Body

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 365 Recreational Cannabis Dispensary: Recreational, Santa Rosa Green Unicorn Farms CBD Hemp Flower Humboldt Grow Tech Smart Ag Tech Red Door Remedies Dispensary: Cloverdale Southern Humboldt Royal Cannabis Company Mixed Light Farming Sonoma Patient Group Dispensary: Santa Rosa Strictly Topical Inc./Sweet ReLeaf Pain Relief Topicals Uleva Hemp Products Vaper Tip Vape Supply & Consulting Wana Brands Edible Gummies SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Accucanna LLC Desert Hot Springs: Dispensary EventHI Events Flourish Software Distribution Management Helmand Valley Growers Company Medical Infrastructure Specialist HUB International Insurance Hybrid Payroll / Ms. Mary Staffing Staffing & HR Benefits Ikänik Farms Cannabis Distribution Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Wana Brands Edible Gummies Witlon Payroll

NEW ENGLAND Corners Packaging Packaging Green Goddess Supply Personal Homegrown Biochamber The Holistic Center Medical Marijuana Evaluations Revolutionary Clinics Medical Dispensary Royal Gold Soil Tess Woods Public Relations Public Relations Vantage Builders Construction

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EDITORIAL

Stephanie Wilson Co-Founder + Editor in Chief stephanie.wilson@sensimag.com Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor Tracy Ross Managing Editor, Michigan Emilie-Noelle Provost Managing Editor, New England Debbie Hall Managing Editor, Nevada Jenny Willden Managing Editor, California Will Brendza Managing Editor, Colorado Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large Radha Marcum Copy Editor Bevin Wallace Copy Editor

EXECUTIVE

Ron Kolb Founder ron@sensimag.com Stephanie Graziano CEO stephanie.graziano@sensimag.com ADVERTISING

Toni Tardif National Sales Director Jade Kolb Director Sales Operations and Global Recruiting PUBLISHING

Jamie Cooper Market Director, Michigan Richard Guerra Market Director, New England

DESIGN

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Richard Guerra Director of Global Reach Amanda Patrizi Director of Marketing Neil Willis Production Director MEDIA PARTNERS

Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Nancy Reid Market Director, Florida MEDIA SALES

COLORADO Liana Cameris Media Sales Executive Amanda Patrizi Media Sales Executive Tyler Tarr Media Sales Executive FLORIDA Anthony Mckenzie Media Sales Executive NEVADA Pam Hewitt Media Sales Executive NEW ENGLAND Jake Boynton Media Sales Executive MICHIGAN Eric Lutey Media Sales Executive Kyle Miller Media Sales Executive Leah Stephens Media Sales Executive

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Cannabis Done Right Whether it’s our expert budtenders or unique loyalty program, we strive to create a welcoming environment that makes cannabis approachable for all. Tawas | Lansing | Kalkaska | thebotanical.co

EDITOR’S NOTE

Magazine published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC.

I have to admit, I’m

feeling a little resentful

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at the month of November for forcing me to be grateful. It’s October as I write this and I made the questionable decision to try Sober October with a few friends of mine. The weather outside is perfect: crisp and bright, with the leaves on our many aspen trees threatening to burst into fire. Meanwhile, inside, we’re already adding more pumpkin (or pumpkin flavor) to our family meals, desserts, and hot drinks. It’s football season, which I love only because it’s a perfect excuse to christen Sunday afternoons do-nothing time. But I have to be honest: getting altered has always been one of my favorite do-nothing activities. I’m not the hugest cannabis smoker. Give me a beer, a cocktail, or a few glasses of wine and I’m happy. But I’ve been drinking one or multiple of these daily for most of my life. So this sober experiment I’m engaged in is difficult. Every evening starting at somewhere around 5, I question why I’m doing it. I stagger around (at least that’s how it feels), trying to find something besides booze with which to entertain myself. A week ago, my husband brought some alternative treats home: kombucha (yum, but it smells slightly of feet), nonalcoholic beer (tolerable, although the flavor stays in the front of the palate), ginger beer (a good Moscow Mule substitute with lime Waterloo and ice in a wine glass), but all are ultimately unsatisfying. Because one thing I’ve noticed so far is that I drink to get a buzz, out of boredom. Which may be the hardest realization I’ve made yet, because my life is so full of riches. Just take what I wrote earlier, about the trees and the dinner, desserts, and hot drinks in my pantry. What’s boring about having choices of what to eat and the money to buy fancy desserts? I guess if there’s one thing I can be thankful for this season, it is that I do have these options. And now, I’m grateful for forcing myself into a clearer-minded state that’s allowing me to count more of my blessings. In this issue, we bring you many things to be grateful for in Michigan. May you enjoy them and count your own blessings.

The weather outside is perfect: crisp and bright, with the leaves on our many aspen trees threatening to burst into fire.

Tracy Ross @writertracyross

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Jon Hopkins’ new album is a meditative experience that puts the spiritual teachings of the late legend Ram Dass to music. In light of the recent psychedelic resurgence (a COVID-19 silver lining: free time many among us used to expand our minds), techno auteur Jon Hopkins hopes his new album Music for Psychedelic Therapy, set to release on November 12, will take listeners on a new kind of meditative musical journey. It’s the English artist and producer’s first full-length release since 2018’s Singularity, an album Pitchfork.com said was “pitched between heat-seeking acid 16

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house and ambient bliss” and a “beat-music odyssey that thrums with spiritual resonance.” More ambient bliss thrumming with spiritual resonance than heat-seaking acid house, Hopkins’s new album grew from the artist’s expedition to Tayos Caves in Ecuador. “Music for Psychdelic Therapy is not ambient, classical, or drone but has elements of all three,” he says. “For me, it’s a place as much as it is a sound. It works for the sober mind but takes on a new

dimension entirely when brought into a psychedelic therapy.” To make the album, Hopkins began working with researchers in the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London who were exploring experiential therapy using psychedelic drugs. The department was investigating the importance of music in positive therapeutic outcomes, and Hopkins began suggesting tracks for the accompanying playlists. But Hopkins soon noticed an

NEBULA PHOTO BY AGSANDREW, ADOBE STOCK; ALBUM PHOTO COURTESY OF DOMINO RECORDING COMPANY

Sounds Like Psychedelic Meditation

PHOTOS (FROM TOP) COURTESY OF PILGRIM SOUL; BY STEVE GULLICK

incongruity: The playlists used in the Imperial research were made up of pieces of music written by many different musicians—“disparate pieces of music for what really are quite long, coherent experiences,” he explains. “And that will take the patient somewhere very different, suddenly. There aren’t cohesive single bodies of work.” And with that, Music for Psychedelic Therapy was born. “Sit Around The Fire,” the album’s closing track, is one that will make spiritual seekers “om” so hard, a collab between Hopkins, producer and ceremony guide East Forest, and legendary spiritual teacher the late Ram Dass, whose iconic book Be Here Now celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. “‘Sit Around The Fire’ exists from one of the deep synchronicities that ushered this thing—Music For Psychedelic Therapy—into being. I was contacted by East Forest, who had spent some time in Hawaii with Ram Dass. He was given access to several [of Dass’s] lesser-heard talks from the ’70s and asked to set them to music.” Hopkins took East Forest’s vocals, added his own, and began to play Ram Dass’s talk in the studio. Its place at the end of the album, Hopkins believes, brings a sense of release. “If you’ve had a very intense experience listening to this album, when Ram Dass’s voice comes in, it’s such a relief because his voice is embedded with all that knowledge, and all that spiritual experience, and where he’s been, and what he’s been through. It’s all in the peace in his voice.”

BY THE NUMBERS

62 TONS Weight of weed the DEA seized from an illegal 22-acre grow with 160 greenhouses in Nevada in September*

PERCENT Of Americans working from home during the pandemic were consuming cannabis. SOURCE: Poll conducted by AmericanMarijuana.org

NOV.

Happy Legalization Day! In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first two states in the US to legalize cannabis for adult use. *Somewhere on federal land in Douglas County, NV, state and local authorities buried those 123,900 pounds of seized marijauna, unwittingly creating the perfect treasure-hunt setup for the next great stoner comedy plot. Writers, start your screenplays now.

Highly Creative

You like art, you like thoughts, you like pot: buy this book. Creative thinking is a competitive edge that separates the good from the great in all aspects of life, so light up a joint and think about thinking. This guided journal is designed to engage your imagination to help uncover new ideas, build more productive habits, and inspire creative thoughts. Bonus: you’re supposed to use it while you’re high. It’s not your basic coloring book, although there are pages for coloring plus a set of colored pencils for you to use on them. Nor is it a puzzle book for stereotypical “stoners” too blazed to think thoughts at all. Refreshingly free of clichés, the Original Creative Thinking Journal by Pilgrim Soul is packed with more than 50 engaging prompts that are neither incredibly boring or stupidly zany. The book asks you to make up and define new words and to complete abstract analogies (“Being in a relationship is like cleaning the bathroom. How So?”), write a Tinder bio for Oprah, and fill out the famed Proust Questionnaire. (What is your most marked characteristic? What do you regard as the lowest depth of mystery? Which words or phrases do you overuse most?) One exercise instructs you to go to a public place and invent a narrative for two strangers you encounter. The people at Pilgrim Soul say the goal of the journal is to “get people to look at problems in entirely new ways, get out of their comfort zones, and tap into what makes them uniquely creative.” Get the book, get high, and spend a few hours losing yourself in the mental playground. You’ve already seen everything on Netflix anyway. $30 / pilgrimsoul.com

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THE BUZZ

BILITIES THE MINCING MOCKINGBIRD

BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF

What’s on our editor in chief Steph’s mind this month: the importance of cannabis conviction expungement. Things you can’t do* if you’ve got a felony conviction on your record—even if that felony is for the possession of a plant that’s now legal in all sorts of states:

1 VOTE. 2 HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE or be a candidate for office. 3 SECURE HOUSING. 4 BECOME AN ELECTOR (someone who votes in the Electoral College—which you probably weren’t going to ever do anyway but now that you can’t, don’t you want to just a bit?) 5 OWN A FIREARM. 6 SERVE ON A JURY. 7 TRAVEL INTERNATIONALLY, depending on where you’re go-

The Mincing Mockingbird is artist/writer/designer duo Kim Bagwill and Matt Adrian, the married couple responsible for the products on themincingmockingbird.com. Among them is the amazing postcard featured here. If you read it and find yourself wondering, Who is “she?”, she is you and you totally need this postcard. Possibly the magnet version, too. Bagwill and Adrian are “she” too. “Since 2008 we’ve been having an almost criminal amount of fun creating things that delight us,” Bagwill writes on the company’s site, “and the recent relocation of our studio to the wilds of Joshua Tree has upped the inspiration level by an order of magnitude.” Want to see even more of their criminally delightful creations? Check out their respective websites: mattadrian.com and kimbagwill.com. Saint “Troubled Birds” Card, $4

ing. (Canada makes it difficult for anyone with even a DUI conviction on their record to cross their border.)

8 GET CERTAIN JOBS with a felony conviction on your record.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MINCING MOCKINGBIRD

Just ask anyone who’s been subject to a background check by a potential employer.

9 GET A PROFESSIONAL LICENSE or permit from state boards that require applicants be of “sound moral character,” never convicted of a “crime of moral turpitude.” Those licenses and permits apply to doctors, lawyers, architects, private detectives, guards, acupuncturists, massage therapists, barbers and hairdressers, midwives, major contractors, public accountants, pawnbrokers, interior designers, real estate agents, and so many more professions. 10 RECEIVE SNAP (food stamps) and TANF (cash) assistance. 11 GET FEDERAL ASSISTANCE for higher education. *Laws vary by state.

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1, 8, 9 COURTESY NORDSTROM

1. Spice Beauty’s Peppermint Heel Stick with CBD ($49, nordstrom.com)

2. Bearaby Cotton Napper knitted weighted blanket ($199, bearaby.com) 3. Otto Gold electric smart grinder ($199, bananabros.com) 4. Candescent 5 Pre-Roll Variety Pack. Available in CA only. ($45, weedmaps.com) 5. MXXN Kentucky Oak, with 100 mg THC Notes of charred oak, vanilla, and demerara sweetness are reminiscent of Kentucky’s famous barrel aging—perfect for a new kind of old fashioned. CA only right now, like so much of the good stuff. ($80, enjoymxxn.com)

6. Mandem Pro Se Bluntflip ($300, wolfandbadger.com) 7. Mavrans Heightened Senses Swim Short ($99, mavrans.com) 8. Les Derrières by Caiyu Candle ($40, nordstrom.com) 9. Good Thoughts Candle by Drake’s Better World Fragrance House ($48, nordstrom.com) 10. Pacific Cannabis Eau de Parfum by Baxter of California ($98, baxterofcalifornia.com) 11. Cannabinoid-rich BeeFused Honey by Uh Huh Honey ($49, uhhuhhoney.com) 12. Fjällräven Kånken waterresistant backpack ($80, fjallraven.com) 13. Volcano Hybrid Onyx Edition by Storz & Bickel ($699, storz-bickel.com) 14. High on Design: The New Cannabis Culture by Gestalten ($60, gestalten.com) 15. Puffco Budsy ($50, puffco.com)

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2021 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

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8 6 1. Mae & Joe Doucet – The Ashtray ($95, mae.la) 2. Shinola The Middle Child Detrola watch 43mm ($395, shinola.com) 3. The Bouqs flower subscription (from $36, bouqs.com) 4. Artet cannabis apertif ($47, artet.com for stores) 5. GRAV Small Wide Base Water Pipe in Smoke ($135 grav.com) 6. Fat Buddha Glass Giraffe bong, ($64, fatbuddahglass.com)

7. Stashlogix Silverton odor-blocking lock boxes ($64, stashlogix.co) 8. Olympia Le-Tan Marihuana strapped mini book clutch ($1075, olympialetan.com)

9. Sitka Hash House Sikarillos ($36, sitkagold.com) 10. Seed & Smith 1 Gram Dart in collaboration with Big Gigantic CO only. ($55, seedandsmith.com) 11. The Armoire, a complete easy-to-use grow system from Green Goddess Supply ($1,595, greengoddesssupply.com)

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2021 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

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9 6. DO Drops low-dose edible Available in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Michigan. (price varies by state, dodropsedibles.com) 7. Macallan Edition No. 6 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky ($160, argonautliquor.com) 1. Element Apothec Calm Cool Collected 8. Prismatic Plants Mini Set Starter tincture, Rest Relax Recover tincture, Kit for Day & Night Nourish lotion with 1000 mg CBD + ($35, prismaticplants.com) 1000 mg CBG, Relief Balm with 9. MoMA Design ceramic Raawii 500 mg Broad Spectrum CBD + 50 mg Strøm Jug CBG + 50mg CBN + Botanicals ($116, store.moma.org) (from $50, elementapothec.com) 10. Sanctuary Medicinals Spellbound 2. Cookies CBD Gio Cartridge with a edibles. FL (med) and MA (rec) only. terpene profile inspired by London ($29, sanctuarymed.com) Pound Cake 75, to be paired with 11. Zeno tablets, each with 0.4 mg G Pen’s ceramic wickless Gio THC microdose balanced with batteries ($43, gpen.com) L-Theanine. CA only. (60 tablets for 3. Vibes collage long-sleeve tee $60, grassdoor.com/brands/zeno) ($45, vibespapers.com) 12. The Sean Dietrich Art Box grinders of 4. “Wind, Blue Color Study” a collection that includes a Mushroom Handcrafted, papier-mache mirror Lounge tapestry, rolling tray + lid, a by Tuesday Winslow Mushroom Lounge silicone mat, die(Around $400, mirrorsdecorated.com) cut stickers, Orchid Hat pin, 3D lug5. Higher Standards large match bottle gage tag, Cheshire patch, and a Toker ($30, higherstandards.com) Poker. ($225, seandietrichart.com)

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HACKING THE FEAST How the hippies hijacked Thanksgiving and hosted a celebration that can’t be beat. TEXT JOHN LEHNDORFF

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ack before football and the Black Friday frenzy came to dominate the day, Thanksgiving was the stodgiest of the big American holidays. The national feast day was mostly a quiet family home meal with the same turkey, boxed stuffing, and green bean casserole. It was traditional, but not necessarily that much fun. I come from Massachusetts where Thanksgiving was always a big deal. The Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians got together for a three-day harvest feast in 1621 about 50 miles from where I grew up. More importantly, I was just down the turnpike from Stockbridge, the town where folk singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie and a friend dumped trash over a cliff in 1965. That seminal moment sparked a folk song that would change Thanksgiving history.

Polish relatives who contributed ethnic side dishes. The bird was always filled with mashed potato and Italian sausage stuffing. However, the title track of Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant album describes a holiday with friends that sounded much more like a party than the sometimes nerve-racking family feasts we knew at home. Because of the epic, 16-minute talking blues track by the son of folk icon Woody Guthrie—the singer-songwriter behind classics such as “This Land Is Your Land”—nondenominational Thanksgiving Day soon became the hippies’ unofficial national holiday.

“Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago.”

I was an American student at McGill University in Montreal in the early 1970s when our household decided to host the hippest “This song is called ‘Alice’s Thanksgiving ever. We recorded a Restaurant’ and it’s about Alice and soundtrack on a reel-to-reel tape the restaurant, but Alice’s Restaurant deck of our favorite songs—some is not the name of the restaurant.” early Springsteen like “RosaliWhen Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restauta,” lots of country rock includrant Massacree” debuted in 1967, ing Emmylou Harris’s “Bluebird the song immediately became Wine,” and, of course, “Alice’s an underground hit. For young Restaurant.” The tunes were supmales like me approaching the posed to fit the various stages of age when we could be drafted the festivities, including digestive into the military to fight in Viettunes for the aftermath. Some of nam, the song about questioning the memories are a tad foggy, but authority was a call to action as it was a great time. well as a cautionary tale. It was also about the communal nature “Had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat.” of Thanksgiving. We were antiestablishment, so we “My friend and I went up to visit kept the parts of Thanksgiving we Alice at the restaurant.” liked—the wine and the pies—and I grew up loving Thanksgiving got rid of the parts we couldn’t with our large, overextended stand, such as the need to dress family of Austrian, Sicilian, and up. Long before it caught on with N OV E M B E R 2021

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Long before it caught up with the mainstream, the counterculture hosted vegetarian Thanksgivings that welcomed dishes of all denominations. What mattered was gathering like-minded members of your tribe. mainstream, the counterculture hosted vegetarian Thanksgivings with a big-tent approach that welcomed side dishes of all denominations. What mattered was gathering like-minded members of your tribe. Besides, Thanksgiving with friends was also the one holiday bash other than New Year’s Eve when we could enjoy highly illegal cannabis along with beer and wine.

“You may know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar situation.” It is a fairy-tale feast complete with unreasonable expectations, because stuff always happens. No wonder folks end up making reservations at a restaurant instead of hosting an elaborate meal. I feel their pain.

“I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all kinds o’ mean nasty ugly things.”

“And everything was fine, we were smoking cigarettes and all kinds of Turkeys have been overcooked things, until the sergeant came over.” and undercooked when I’ve hostOver the years, I’ve hosted Thanksgiving or helped stage the feast dozens of times, but not without combating the prevailing paradigm. Magazine covers and TV shows show perfect birds, oh-so-easy side dishes, and 126 things you can do to decorate your home for the happy feast day. You must remain the relaxed and gracious hostess or host. 32

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ed. I’ve burned dishes that only needed to be warmed. Once the fridge was packed, and I was tired on Thanksgiving night so I left the turkey carcass on the back porch on a near-freezing night. I awoke to a brutally attacked turkey scattered across the porch and back yard after an alley gang of obnoxious raccoons broke in. I mourned the lost meat and soup.

Another year, I knew that slicing the turkey in the aluminum pan was a really bad idea, but I went ahead anyway. I sliced through the pan, and the hot, fatty, delicious collected juices started pouring out on the cutting board, counter, and floor. The thing is: we all get anxiety over hosting Thanksgiving. I’m getting nervous even as I write this, because this year everybody’s coming to eat at my house. I figure it’ll be worth it for the leftovers.

“Kid, have you rehabilitated yourself?” In a 2017 feature on feast dishes for 50 states in the New York Times, cannabis got special attention. “It’s difficult to assess exactly how much legalization… may have changed the Thanksgiving menu. But it has indubitably increased the snacking that goes on afterward,” the esteemed publication noted.

PHOTO BY NATALIE PEREA, UNSPLASH

We would remind the Times that cannabis and Turkey Day have been intersecting for many decades in many places. And If I’m going to bust my buns pulling off Thanksgiving, then I want enough goodies so I can relax and enjoy the meal in the days that follow.

cubes that I bag for later use in sauces, soups, and such. A month (or three) from now, I’ll dig into the freezer and smile when I find carefully packaged gravy, cranberry sauce, turkey, and side dishes for a comforting, easy dinner.

in the song, that they lived through in the late 1960s to the early ’70s. It wasn’t all peace and love, either.

“If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.”

Is hosting a Thanksgiving feast really worth the hours of prep, the “You can get anything you want at cleaning, the shopping, the cookAlice’s Restaurant, excepting Alice.” ing, and commotion of inviting “Had another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat.” Ironically, our antiestablishment others into your home for a dining I look forward to turkey breast counterculture ended up creating experience fraught with so many BLT’s, dark-meat turkey in French rituals that are followed annually. possible disasters? dip sandwiches with gravy replac- Many radio stations have made it My answer is still yes. What I reing the au jus, and turkey tacos traditional to play the 16-minute member best about Thanksgiving in chocolate-chile mole sauce. I protest song on Thanksgiving Day, dinners is not food or faux pas, polove making waffles out of leftover sometimes several times. litical tiffs or football games. I am bread stuffing, and serving latkes If Grandpa and Grandma get a thankful for the funny, argumentamade from Italian sausage and po- silly gleam in their eye when they tive, and heartwarming moments tato stuffing topped with eggs. hear “Alice’s Restaurant” playing, shared among the folks who filled I turn that precious turkey into a they may have been hippies. There the circle around the table on evehearty broth that becomes frozen were challenging times, chronicled nings in November.

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YOUR CANNABIS LAW ATTORNEY PROVIDING TRANSPARENCY & DELIVERING RESULTS At Aronoff Law we simplify the complexity of regulations to ensure your cannabis business is protected. Representing individuals and businesses with licensing, compliance, real estate and business formation under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act and the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act.

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Fabulous festivities to fall in love with fall again

Must-dos before winter locks the door

Cannabis advocates throughout the state

The perfect style for the perfect pot party

Comfort foods to help you power through November

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EXPERIENCE W H AT M A K E S U S

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local

experience Fun times in Michigan,

Cross-Country SKIING Once snow begins to fall—either this month or next—Michigan’s 3,000 miles of dirt trails transform into pathways of sparkling white. Head up to Marquette and check out the Noquemanon Trail Network (if you time it right you can schuss under the Northern Lights). Or hit the Swedetown Trails in Calumet, with 35 kilometers of groomed trails, including 5 that are well lit for skiing at night. noquetrails.org; michigan.org/property/ swedetown-trails

Honor the SNOWBOARD

Snowboarding was born in Michigan, so honor its heritage with a trip to Mt. Bohemia. Billed as “extreme skiing in the Upper Peninsula,” it has the longest runs with the highest vertical and deepest powder in the Midwest. If you’re unskilled at bombing blower powder, stay at the Aqua Log Cabins and visit the Nordic Spa, a restorative experience with “hot and cold water exposure, followed by a relaxation period,” say the owners. mtbohemia.com

Winter WATERFALLS

FROZEN Road Trip Yes, the temperature can be 20 below zero; yes, it can dump snow; and, yes, highways can shut down. But if you like driving through a wonderland of white—at a time when there are far fewer people on the road than in summer—to see some of Michigan’s most scenic spots shrouded in ice, take a nice cold, February drive.

They’re just like waterfalls in summer, only frozen. And prettier. Head to Laughing Whiteﬁsh Falls at Laughing Whiteﬁsh Falls State Park in Rock River Township, Wagner Falls at the Wagner Falls Scenic Site in Munising, or the Tahquamenon Falls at Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Paradise. www2.dnr. state.mi.us/parksandtrails

Eat Pancakes in a FLANNEL

Don your fave flannel for a bacchanalia of flapjacks, craft beers, and cocktails. OK, it’s more Mayberry than Rome in 200 B.C., but Traverse City’s Flapjack Flannel Festival is sure to be a party. fb.com/ flapjackflannelfestival

Start Christmas

EARLY There really is no place like a home with a fresh Christmas tree in it for the holidays, so get to Linderlink Tree Farm in Belmont and cut your own. Linderlink opens on November 23, a couple of days before Thanksgiving. Take the family and choose a tree, cut it with a handsaw, sip free hot cocoa, go sledding, and start caroling, because the season is always too short. lenderinktreefarm.com

Hit up “AMERICA’S Thanksgiving Parade”

Actor Tim Allen (Home Improvement) served as grand marshal in 2015; Jim Nantz (American treasure/sportscaster) in 2018. We’re not telling who is the emcee this year, but plan to cheer on the ﬂoats in this 95-yearold tradition in Detroit. theparade.org

Turn Junior into a FOODIE

Master Chef and Master Chef Junior are coming to Devos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids on November 17. No telling if Gordon Ramsey will be there, but if he is, your kid can watch other kids perfecting crepes while reveling in the sound of a grown man cussing in a British accent. devosperformancehall. com/events/2021/ master-chef-jr

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Take the High Road with Cannabus! Cannabus Detroit is the newest concept to hit the streets. We are the only company offering unique tour experiences. In addition, we rent out our bus as a stationary smoke spot.

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local

explore Cozy up in Detroit’s First Bud and Breakfast

Copper House Bud and Breakfast is queer-owned, black-owned, rooted in equity, and alive in activism. Opened for its first customer in 2019, it’s owned by Jess and Clara Jackson, who we profiled last January. Their B&B, built in 1932, is their home. And it’s located within walking distance of the Livernois area, with fashion boutiques and delicious eateries including their favorites, Kuzzos Chicken & Waffles, Good Times on the Ave, and Table No. 2. Starting at $80 a night, you can cozy up with your significant other or friend with benefits, smoke or eat some of your favorite cannabis, and watch winter start to chase fall down the quiet residential street, just 15 minutes from downtown Detroit. budandbreakfast. com/properties/thecopper-house

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meet

Q&A with Denavvia Mojet, founder of the Black and Brown Cannabis Guild What prompted you to found the Black and Brown Cannabis Guild? There was a blaring lack of diversity in the cannabis industry in Michigan. I wanted to see more of the people who I had watched be impacted by marijuana criminalization growing up get into the regulated market, and I wanted to help reverse some of the negative impact that I saw disproportionately plague people of color.

Why should people know you and your work?

I am just another young Black mother, entrepreneur, and nonproﬁt administrator who loves this plant, this industry, and this opportunity to practice equity and advance justice. In my opinion, I’m one of the more boring compliance and policy people, but I 42

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I get to help people get their lives back. I watch enthusiasts turn into entrepreneurs through robust social equity programming that I get to design and create.

think the work I get to do is remarkable and exciting. I get to help people get their lives back. I watch enthusiasts turn into entrepreneurs through robust social equity programming that I get to design and create. The results make me proud, and that is the kind of thing I believe people need to see, to know that it’s possible.

Is there a lesson you’ve learned that you want to pass on to others?

I’ve learned that your gifts always make room for you. I couldn’t have dreamed that I would be happy and successful in this industry years ago, but I’ve arrived at the intersection of my joy and purpose, and my career and my life are better off because of it. Everyone should learn to trust that they “ﬁt” somewhere.

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meet

Skilled Guild

The West Michigan Cannabis Guild (WMCG) develops and promotes West Michigan’s legal cannabis industry through education, community, industry organizing, and support of legal cannabis causes. As a nonpartisan PAC, it supports candidates in local and state races who commit to correcting the problems and inequities caused by decades of cannabis prohibition. The WMCG is currently working to expand regulations in the city of Grand Rapids to allow for licensed consumption lounges and licensed events for cannabis consumption and sales. “WMCG is a great resource when it comes to creating places for consumers to buy cannabis from the regulated market,” says Sensi’s Jamie Cooper.

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for Cannabis

You know folk singer Melissa Etheridge for her confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and smoky vocals, but you should also know her for Etheridge Botanicals, which she says was “founded on compassion” and “advocates for wellness as a human right.” She goes on to say “exploring our consciousness is a naturally mystic experience that should be as pure as nature intended.” Find her “Morning, Noon, and Night” ﬂowers and her Queensize Pre Rolls at select dispensaries. etheridgebotanicals.com

A Muslim-American Activist

Zahra Abbas became politically involved in cannabis activism after the plant showed itself to be an effective medicine for her epilepsy. As she writes on Facebook, “I was officially diagnosed with epilepsy almost 21 years ago, a month after my 14th birthday, and we had trouble getting my seizures under control.” After a vagus nerve stimulator implant, brain surgery, and many medications, her doctor suggested she try medical cannabis. With it, she attained seizure control and went off all of her pharmaceuticals. She now serves as a 12th district Michigan Democratic Party State Central Committee delegate, the vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Cannabis Caucus, the vice president of Motor City NORML, and the secretary for the Young Democrats of Michigan. Watch for her testifying on cannabis growers’ rights and working with MISolidarity, which seeks to build a democratic wing of the Democratic party. N OV E M B E R 2021

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At Boomerang in Marquette, you can “feel fabulous with quality of-the-era fashion” like the red travel slippers and red-and-gray shift dress that deﬁnitely won’t be available when you look, because we’ll have purchased them. boomerangretro.com

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taste vegans need comfort food, too have some hash with your browns

Fleetwood Diner, in Lansing and Ann Arbor, boasts Hippie Hash, a dish consisting of hash browns topped with grilled tomato, green pepper, onion, mushroom, and broccoli, and Feta. Apparently hippies smoke a lot of cannabis. If you’re reading this, you probably are one. If so, it seems you love this 24-hoursa-day specialty. theﬂeetwooddiner.com

Sona’s Mobay Restaurant in Detroit is a Jamaican soulfood vegetarian-lovers dream. Watch its Facebook page for “vegan soul food day,” when the delicacies include BBQ chik’n platter with rice & beans, cornbread, and yams with vegan marshmallows. fb.com/sonasmobay

elevate your social standing

Sensi Michigan’s go-to for catering is Elevated Social. Chef Treyson Patrick whipped up infused dishes for our Summer Golf Scramble and Canna Cantina Lake Michigan Beach Party. During the pandemic, he offered takeout meals that were incredible, says publisher Jamie Cooper.

down the best baklava in detroit

It’s the dessert for which the Motor City is best known, and those in the know say get it at Astoria Bakery in the heart of Greek Town. Super sticky sugary ﬂaky yum. astoriapastryshop.com

sip wine, in a bar, in marquette

Why eat artisan cured meats sliced to order on a ﬂywheel from Italy while you sip one of 140 different wines, each tasted and assessed before landing on the list at Zephyr Wine Bar + Cafe? Why not? zephyrmqt.com

soak your burger in a beer

Fun facts about Albion Malleable Brewing Company: 1. Albion brews its own Belgian beer, including saisons, doubles, and tripels. 2. MLive recently named it the numberone burger joint in Michigan. 3. All burgers are ground in-house from brisket, sirloin, and chuck. Get one. With poutine. albionmalleable.com

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Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll: oOYes

Get to know the groovy, sex-positive woman behind this new line of “cannagasmic” products created by women—for anyone who enjoys a good f*cking. Founded in 2018, oOYes isn’t just another lube company—it’s a whole sex-positive lifestyle. “The focus is on creating sex-forward experiences that open communication and remind people that sex is fun and good for 50

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you,” says Tanya Griffin, whose love affair with sex runs deep. A badass businesswoman based in Denver, Griffin spent the last 30 years opening retail stores, restaurants, and dispensaries, creating products

focused on women’s and family health while she hopped continents and industries, working in everything from cannabis to financial services to software development— all while raising four kids. With the launch of her

latest venture, oOYes, she can add an “ecstatic sex, experience-driven lifestyle brand” to her list of entrepreneurial ventures. “I like to say that I’ve gone from colostrum to cannabis to cum,” Griffin says with an easy laugh.

PHOTO BY BINGHAM X

TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON

PHOTO BY BINGHAM X

Colostrum is a type of breastmilk, and Griffin was a lactation specialist early in her career. She transitioned into cannabis in 2014, joining The Green Solution to help build the first vertically integrated cultivation, manufacturing, and retail national franchise opportunity in the industry—a highly successful effort. The multistate dispensary chain was bought by Columbia Care in 2019 for $140 million. Which brings us to the third C in that triple alliteration: cum. The oOYes line of sex products is created to help you do just that; and they’re formulated with cannabis-derived terpenes and cannabinoids, so oOYes combines two of the Cs into a brand that exudes a 1960s mod-hippie sex-drugsand-rock-n-roll vibe. It’s a whole mood—and it’s a good one, if not a little bit forward. There’s a sex quiz featured frontand-center on the oOYes homepage that calculates your kink score by asking whether you’d be down to try sex acts that range from the basic (oral sex, sensual massage) to the extreme (foot jobs, swinging, anal fisting, so much more). Have your partner take the quiz as well, and find out where your kinks align, perhaps

opening both your eyes (and other orifices) to experiences you hadn’t realized were on the proverbial table. The whole thing is very sex positive, as are the products, all of which feature a rock-nroll theme and a groovy 1970s-inspired branding. Created and formulated by women, oOYes sex lubricants and wellness products have a subtle orange blossom flavor and feature plant-based botanicals, active terpenes, and minor and major cannabinoids including cannabigerol (CBG), cannabidiol (CBD), as well as patented BeeFused Superhoney. While cannabis sexual product lines grow in popularity, the brands behind them tend to play it safe, with vibes that are clinical, possibly sensual. But fun? Heavens, no! That’s not how they roll baby roll at oOYes, as evidenced by the products themselves: Roll Baby Roll is a sex oil with BeeFused Honey and CBD. It’s oral friendly, vegan, gluten free, and safe to ingest. “The bottle has a roller ball that you roll right onto your clitoris—and it feels so good,” Griffin says (she’s not lying). Going Down is an oral sex elixer that combines sunflower oil, BeeFused honey, and orange blossom with CBD that tastes

delightful. Love Me Too, a sensual moisturizer “for your other lips,” features CBG and cannabinoid-rich honey. Start Me Up is a lickable glide that, according to the product description, is “crafted to rock your world while your partner gets to taste a subtle yet sweet orange blossom flavor. Made to encourage licking, sucking, and f*cking.” Many of the products feature the brand’s Bee Wild tantric honey, which uses BeeFused patented technology where freerange bees organically feed on nectar made from hemp-derived cannabinoids, cannabis strains, and superfoods to create highly bioavailable, cannabinoid-rich raw honey. “Bees do all the work!” Griffin says. “Nothing is added, nothing is made in a lab. This is nature doing what it does best.” Griffin says, “oOYes is sex forward and by no means shy.” And if it’s not clear yet, neither is she. The Denver-based entrepreneur loves sex, and she loves talking about sex—not in a sterile, clinical way, but not in an omg-TMI-please-stop way either. She just enjoys it, and she’s passionate about helping others enjoy it too. For her, it’s about creating experiences for people. “That’s why all the products are travel sized,

that’s why everything is tied to rock-n-roll. It’s all designed around how you feel, it’s about getting your mind in the right place, and—yes—using drugs to do it. Having fun with it in a nice way.” And it all comes down to basic biology: sex is fun, and having more of it is good for you. Science backs this up: There are a ton of emotional and psychological benefits of getting busy, and sex is strongly linked to a better quality of life, offering both mental and physical benefits ranging from better self-image and higher rates of happiness to enhanced brain function. “I freaking love sex,” Griffin continues. “I think it’s like eating and sleeping and everything else. oOYes founder Tanya I think everybody should Griffin is having fun in be having lots of it.” the sex space.

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THE SCENE WISH LIST

Most Wanted

Lift Off A custom modular bong with out-of-this-world form and function? That’s a piece dreams are made of. And Stone’s dreams are built on a classic beaker base, a large honeycomb percolator for increased filtration and diffusion, and a UFO mouthpiece—a distinguished percolator topped by an hourglass ice catcher for the coolest of hits. Vitae Glass Voyager Bong, $330, vitaeglass.com

Stone Slade, the host of the upcoming docuseries Hittin’ the High Road, highlights some of the uplifting items he’s currently coveting. TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON

’Tis almost the season for cheer—and finding the perfect gifts to give and to get. So we asked TV personality Stone Slade—you may know him from the A&E series Modern Dads; you will know him from the upcoming Hittin’ the High Road series Sensi is producing (don’t mind our shameless self-promotion)—to help us set the tone for the upcoming holiday season. Here are his top choices for products that can transform your smoking ritual into a private retreat. Hold Tight and Statement Piece Never lose another lighter with Chen and Kai’s Serpent holder, designed to wrap snugly around a Mini Bic, keeping it tethered to your keychain. Serpent Lighter Keychain, $38, shop-tetra.com Designed in 1924 by the late Bauhaus design icon Marianne Brandt, the classic ashtray was recently reissued by Alessi to mark the famed design school’s 100th anniversary. It stands on small feet, has a removable lid for cleaning, and has a small stand on top to hold rolled smokes. Marianne Brandt Ashtray by Alessi, $215, shop-tetra.com

Box, Set Strong, durable, odor resistant, and beautiful, this sophisticated stash box holds a full herb organizational system complete with glass jars and humidity-control lids for your flower, dab containers for your concentrates, a removable rolling tray, a topnotch grinder, a padded interior to keep your glassware safe, and other high-end accoutrements a modern smoker demands. Original Apothecarry Case, $275, theapothecarrycase.com

Give It a Spin With compartments for all smoking accessories, plus rolling areas and a silicone slap for concentrates, this highly functional centerpiece is something all smokers should give a spin. Blazy Susan Rolling Tray, from $90, blazysusan.com Flower Power Leave it to Jonathan Adler to bring on a surge of color when we need it most. His new Sinsemilla line includes includes this stash box with real gold accents, a hand-beaded pillow (price: $248!), and a rolling tray— all perfect presents for any rich hippie host. Sinsemilla Stash Box, $68, jonathanadler.com To Have and To Hold Crafted in silvertone brass and covered in croc-embossed Delaunay Lapis leather, this luxe pocket ashtray doubles as an on-the-go stashtray. House of Puff Poche Pocket Ashtray, $79, houseofpuff.com

Freakin’ Laser Bong Part smoking device, part magic trick, and a total crowd pleaser, this first-of-its-kind laser-powered luxe bong is sleek, opulent, and guaranteed to spark some conversations. The Trident by Hitoki, $500, hitoki.com

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The Life and Times of Shawn Carter

PHOTO COURTESY OF MONOGRAM

A new campaign for Jay-Z’s Monogram cannabis brand reimagines the iconic photos of mid-20th-century American photographer Slim Aarons through a contemporary lens. This is a scene from the Life and Times of Shawn Carter, Volume Two. (Volume One, if you missed it, was that hard-knock life you heard Jay-Z —Carter’s public persona—rap about in a track that samples the famous line from the 1982 Annie movie.) It’s a good life, a high life, and the people depicted living it are good and high on cannabis. The image is the first installment of a threepart campaign for Jay Z’s (also known as HOV) new Monogram cannabis line, which launched this spring in California. The campaign is a modern take

on the legendary work of Slim Aarons, a midcentury photographer who built his fame by photographing “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places,” as he famously described it. The photographs Aarons captured during the Rat Pack era have become synonymous with midcentury luxury, beauty, and leisure. Carter’s Monogram tapped legendary hip-hop photographer/ director Hype Williams to reimagine a series of Aarons’s most notable vignettes. Shot at the stunning Frank Sinatra House

in Palm Springs, the series has been cast with a diverse group of creative talents like Grammy nominee Chika, Ghetto Gastro, Curren$y, designer Aleali May, and model Slick Woods—all styled by High Snobiety fashion director Corey T. Stokes. The creatives are seen lounging on floats with Monogram product in hand, basking in outdoor opulence. The resulting imagery illustrates the dynamic, expanding landscape of modern luxury, and how it intersects with a new chapter in cannabis culture. “The percep-

tion around cannabis has shifted a lot since the 20th century. If you were to ask me and my peers how we’d define the good life today, weed would definitely be a part of it. Whether we’re smoking to inspire creativity or to celebrate an achievement, cannabis has a rightful place in modern-day culture,” says Williams. “HOV has a vision for the industry that he’s bringing to life through Monogram. His focus for this campaign was to showcase how beautifully cannabis fits into the good life today, and I am honored to be a part of it.” N OV E M B E R 2021

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P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E CANNABIS COUNSEL

The Lawyers On Your Side Michigan’s Cannabis Council law firm works to bring justice and fair representation to the industry.

ith over a century of combined experience drawing from five industry-leading cannabis attorneys, Michigan’s Cannabis Counsel is America’s first cannabis law firm and a leading activist firm dedicated to supporting small businesses and individuals alike. While these passionate attorneys— Matthew Abel, Ann Cisco, Thomas Lavigne, Julia Gilbert, and Sean Myers—focus on providing clients with exceptional legal representation and expertise across all aspects of the industry, their specialization lies in in marijuana business licensing, regulatory compliance, and government relations services.

access, cannabis businesses, and safe communities. As new cannabis legislation moves into the courts, the team under Abel and Lavigne will continue to advocate for fair laws in Michigan, remaining steadfast in its goal to “help small businesses and regular, everyday folks get into the cannabis industry,” says Jeffries. To find out more about the Cannabis Counsel Law Firm or seek legal advice from one of its qualified attorneys, visit cannabiscounsel.com.

Among many initiatives currently underway, the boutique firm is working to tackle issues facing Michigan cannabis professionals that range from proposed changes to state caregiver regulations to assisting small businesses and communities in navigating the industry as a whole. “We like to try to help local municipalities understand cannabis laws and create legislation that will work for their residents and them,” says Jared Jeffries, government and public relations lead for the Cannabis Counsel. “[Our] partners are very involved in the activist community and work to support Michigan NORML, Americans for Safe Access, and Students for Cannabis Counsel Sensible Drug Policy.” This work will Legal Services help ensure a balance between patient cannabiscounsel.com

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THE END

Shining a Light A trained pharmacist and chemist, Dr. Lola Ohonba understands the challenges that people with disabilities face and the relief cannabis can provide.

Growing up in the crowded, vibrant metropolis of Lagos, Nigeria, Dr. Lola Ohonba suffered from a disability that limited the movement in her leg. She found relief in traditional plant medicine, and even though she headed to the U.S. to study Western medicine and chemistry—and then launch an über-successful career in pharmacy—she never forgot what she had learned at home. Her knowledge of both traditional healing and science spurred her to forge off on her own and found WCI Health with the mission of teaching dispensaries, practitioners, and other interested parties how to safely and effectively use canSHARE YOUR STORY nabis, psychedelics, and other plants as medicine. “I Has cannabis helped you am very passionate about decriminalizing this plant, heal? Show us, tell us, and tag us on Instagram. and I use my platform to talk about that,” she says. “I am a practicing clinical pharmacist. A lot of my @sensimagazine colleagues think I’m crazy, risking my license, talking publicly about cannabis. Well, I’m proud of what I’m doing. This is necessary. When clinicians like me come out and put a face to this plant, it helps move the work a little bit forward.” To that end, Dr. O, as she is known, has become a prominent voice in the effort to de-stigmatize plant medicine as a public speaker as well as the author of the bestselling book A Pharmacist’s Guide to Cannabis: Perspectives of a Non-conformist Clinician and the host of the podcast Let’s Talk Plant Medicine: Cannabis, Psychedelics, and Pharmaceutics. Through it all she draws on her experience living with a disability to find compassion and solutions for others who face physical challenges and seek relief.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DR. LOLA OHONBA

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

“I have a physical disability,” she says. “I know what we go through, the stress that we go through to get medicine, to get things done. So I want to shine a light on that aspect of what I do and we we can get done.” wci-health.com

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