Sensi New England July 2021 - Digital Edition by Sensi Magazine

POT IN PANS

A history of eating cannabis

NEW ENGLAND JULY 2021

THE ART OF CONSUMPTION A sensual photo experience from Bingham X

WEED MAN

The activist’s origin story

ROLL A BUNT

MLB fans and cannabis

AB N N

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

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THERE MAY BE HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONSUMPTION OF THIS PRODUCT. FOR USE ONLY BY ADULTS 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. PLEASE CONSUME RESPONSIBLY. This product has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA). There is limited information on the side effects of using this product, and there may be associated health risks. Marijuana use during pregnancy or breast-feeding may pose potential harms. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the inﬂuence of this product. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. There may be health risks associated with the consumption of this product. Marijuana can impair concentration , coordination, and judgment. The impairment effects of Edible marijuana products may be delayed by two hours of more. I case of accidental ingestion, contact poison control hotline 1-800-222-1222 or 9-1-1. This product may be illegal outside of MA.

NEW ENGLAND SENSI MAGAZINE JULY 2021

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FEATURES

Consumed by Desire

The discerning content creators at Bingham X capture the seductive side of consumption.

The Weed Man

The story of how cannabis superhero Landon Bartley found his power.

DEPARTMENTS

11 EDITOR’S NOTE 18 THE LIFE Contributing to your health and happiness 12 THE BUZZ POT IN PANS Why the News, tips, and tidbits to keep you in the loop CANNABIS VACATION Hike, bike, or swim at this cannabis-friendly camping resort in Maine. CLINICAL CANNABIS STUDY

An anonymous study of medical providers in the US and Canada BAD TO THE BONE The Museum of Bad Art PRO PARTNERS Cannabis meets professional football GREEN CONSTRUCTION

Learn how to build with sustainable hempcrete.

history of eating cannabis matters HOROSCOPE What the stars hold for you.

50 THE SCENE Hot happenings and hip hangouts around town CULTURAL CALENDAR

ON THE COVER

Live music and warm-weather fun

Bingham X captures the many faces and forms of consumption—in every sense of the word.

56 THE END

PHOTO BY BINGHAM X

A 12,500-year-old natural phenomenon, just minutes from the beach

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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, NorCal Dawn Garcia Managing Editor, Southern California Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large Mona Van Joseph Contributor, Horoscopes Radha Marcum Copy Editor Bevin Wallace Copy Editor DESIGN

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Magazine published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC.

Although I’m really

not a fan of hot weather,

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I’m pretty excited that summer is finally here. Now that we’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19, my husband, Rob, and I are looking forward to visiting some of our favorite New England summer haunts again. Among the places we’ve missed most is Maine, with its picturesque coastline, broad sandy beaches, endless hiking trails, and fresh lobster rolls for sale on what seems like every corner. (It’s also much cooler in Maine than where I live in Massachusetts.) When I was working on this issue, I came across an interesting place in Freeport called the “Desert of Maine.” It’s not a real desert, of course—it gets the same weather as everywhere else along Maine’s southern coast—but a 40-acre glacial sand deposit that dates back more than 12,000 years, home to shifting dunes up to 65 feet tall. The “desert” is open to the public, so Rob and I plan to check it out on our next trip north. (See The End in this issue to find out more.) You’ll find other things to do and see this summer in this issue’s Cultural Calendar and in The Buzz. Read about a cannabis-friendly campground in Maine, a Massachusetts museum that’s home to some of the world’s worst art, and an in-person workshop in New Hampshire where you can learn how to build with sustainable hempcrete. No matter what your plans are this summer, I hope you’ll have the opportunity to visit some of your favorite places again, too, and perhaps even discover a few new ones along the way. As Beat writer Jack Kerouac, who was from my hometown of Lowell, wrote, “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” Happy summer,

No matter what your plans are this summer, I hope you’ll have the opportunity to visit some of your favorite places again, too, and perhaps even discover a few new ones along the way.

Emilie-Noelle Provost @Emilie_Noelle

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Cannabis Vacationland With its lush forests and picturesque coastline, Maine has long been a favorite summer vacation destination for New Englanders. Camp Laughing Grass, a 17-acre cannabis-friendly camping resort located in Harrison, Maine, is home to four—soon to be five—cheerful cabins, and two “glamping” sites that come with fullor queen-size beds, linens, air conditioning, smoking apparatuses, indoor and outdoor seating areas, fire pits, and grills. Laughing Grass also offers three prim12

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itive tent sites where pets are welcome. Campers have use of an onsite bathhouse. Canoes and kayaks are available for paddling on the resort’s river. The property is also home to several hiking trails. A light breakfast is served daily between 8 and 11 a.m., and all guests are welcome to attend a happy hour gathering beginning at 4:30 p.m. daily. All guests at Camp Laughing Grass must be age 21 or over. camplaughinggrass.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAMP LAUGHING GRASS

Hike, bike, or swim at this cannabis-friendly camping resort in Maine.

CONTRIBUTORS

Emilie-Noelle Provost, Stephanie Wilson

BY THE NUMBERS

2.5M PEOPLE The approximate number of residents living in newly independent America on July 4, 1776 SOURCE: US Census Bureau

56 SIGNERS

The number of men from the original 13 colonies who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

CLINICAL CANNABIS STUDY All medical providers can participate. The nonprofit Cannabis Center of Excellence and UMass Dartmouth Charlton College of Business are conducting an anonymous study of medical providers in the US and Canada to collect information about their experiences with medical cannabis, medical cannabis knowledge, and interest in future education on the topic. Healthcare providers who complete the 12-minute online survey, available through August 2022, will be entered into a lottery to win a $100 Amazon gift card or a free pass to CannMed 2021, an event hosting experts in medical cannabis research and clinical care, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2021, in Pasadena, California. cannacenterofexcellence.org

SOURCE: history.com

PHOTOS (FROM LEFT) COURTESY OF MOBA; CANNABIS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Bad to the Bone This art is too awful to be ignored.

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA), with locations in Somerville and Brookline, Massachusetts, is dedicated to bringing “the worst of art to the widest of audiences.” Home to a collection of more than 800 works of, um, art, the museum is a one-of-a-kind gem, as it celebrates the labor of artists whose stuff would likely not be shown anywhere else. MOBA hosts traveling exhibitions and events at both of its locations, and it even has an online museum shop that sells mugs, t-shirts, and calendars featuring the worst of its collection. museumofbadart.org

“THE 150M ADVANCEMENT HOT AND DIFFUSION DOGS OF KNOWLEDGE IS THE ONLY GUARDIAN OF TRUE LIBERTY.” The approximate number of frankfurters eaten in the US on the 4th of July each year SOURCE: National Hot Dog and Sausage Council

—US President James Madison

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PLEASE CONSUME RESPONSIBLY. IF YOU FEEL DIFFERENT YOU DRIVE DIFFERENT

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This product has not been analyzed or approved by the FDA. There is limited information on the side effects of using this product, and there may be associated health risks. Marijuana use during pregnancy and breast- feeding may pose potential harms. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. The intoxicating effects of edible products may be delayed by 2 hours or more. In case of accidental ingestion, contact poison control hotline 1-800-222-1222 OR 9-1-1. This product may be illegal outside of MA.

THE BUZZ

VOX POPULI

Question: What is your favorite thing about summer in New England?

ANNE EASTER SMITH

MEG WILLIAMS

ADRIENNE MACKI

DAVE POOLE

ANNETTE LANGKOPF

Author Newburyport, MA

Financial administrator Nashua, NH

College professor Canton, MA

UX lab manager Dedham, MA

Dental assistant Dracut, MA

___________________

The snow piles may finally have melted.

Cool evenings when you Enjoying fresh seafood is Raspberry lime rickeys can have a backyard fire my favorite summer ritupit and s’mores al, from lobster rolls to clam plates and steamers. It’s not truly summer until I’ve checked them off my list.

Pro Partners

Cannabis, meet professional football. The Massachusetts Pirates, a Worcester, Massachusetts-based professional indoor football team and member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), has partnered with Reinstate, an adult-use cannabis retailer with dispensaries in Worcester and Northampton, Massachusetts. Resinate will be the presenting sponsor of the Pirates’ website and social media, and of the team’s after-parties, which follow all home games. The first-of-their-kind partners will also co-host five community service events per calendar year for the length of their partnership. reinstate.com; masspiratesfootball.com

People watching at an outdoor table on Commercial Street in Provincetown

True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.” —Clarence Darrow, 19th and 20th century American attorney and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union

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THE BUZZ

BILITIES BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF

1 GETAWAY CAR: Parking space is the new personal space. Pinterest Predicts, the brand’s “not-yet-trending report” prognosticates that in 2021, cars will become the new “third space” for everything from date nights to man caves—which I can totally see happening ... for people who drive something larger than a Fiat.

2 FIFI THE FIAT: My car didn’t come with an owner’s manual; she came with an app. And the first time I opened it up, it greeted me with this statement/question combo: 85% of Fiat owners name their cars. What’s your Fiat’s name? 3 FIFI. Her name is Fifi. 4 I BROUGHT HER HOME ONE DAY IN AUGUST ALMOST EIGHT YEARS AGO, and she still makes me smile when I see her. She’s just cute, and her name fits her.

5 NOT MUCH ELSE FITS IN HER THOUGH, WHICH BRINGS ME BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POINT: Fifi doesn’t offer much space inside, but she can get me to places where space abounds. I am forever grateful for her tiny little engine that struggles a whole helluva lot trying to get up Colorado’s mountains. (Fifi’s more of a Florida girl at heart—#same. And also #soon!

PHOTO COURTESY OF MILL HOLLOW WORKS

6 AS IN: As soon as cannabis becomes legal for recreational use in the Sunshine State, expect to see Fifi cruising back to the tropics. If you tag or send us an Insta of your and your (named) car (@stephwilll), we’ll be sure to wave if we see you when we’re out there on the road again.

“PATRIOTISM IS SUPPORTING YOUR COUNTRY ALL THE TIME AND YOUR GOVERNMENT WHEN IT DESERVES IT.”

Hemp Construction Learn how to build with sustainable hempcrete.

From soap, to fabric, to plastics, hemp can be used to make a lot of products. But few people realize that hemp can be used as a building material. Hempcrete, made from hemp hurd (the wood-like core of the hemp stalk), lime, and sand, is lighter, less brittle, and cheaper than traditional concrete. It can also act as an insulator and helps regulate moisture. The Craft School at Mill Hollow Works in East Alstead, New Hampshire, is offering an eight-day workshop where you can learn to build with hempcrete beginning on July 18. Camping and dinner options are available. millhollowworks.org

—Mark Twain, 19th century American author and humorist

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Pot In Pans

Why the history of eating cannabis matters. From ancient India and Persia to today’s explosive new market, cannabis, the hottest new global food trend, has been providing humans with nutrition, medicine, and solace— against all odds—since the earliest cavepeople discovered its powers. We write history books, in part, so we don’t repeat our mistakes. The history of cannabis food, rich and deep, is marred with the stains of prohibition, propaganda, and persecution— abysmal mistakes we’ve only just begun to rectify. This history is a long way from being written— though many like to say we’re now on the right side of it as centuries of fearmongering finally start to unravel. Finally, but still painfully slowly, cannabis is taking its rightful place as a unique culinary ingredient that has proven through the centuries that food is medicine.

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Locally, nationally, and globally, we’ve reached a pivotal moment in the history of a plant that has been beloved by the masses, reviled by the elite, and shrouded in conflict and secrecy for centuries. Cannabis has been outlawed and demonized since the powers-that-be first realized they could control the commoners by prohibiting a plant that they relied on for food, fiber, medicine, and mind and mood alteration. For the hard-working classes, who often lived in hopeless poverty, cannabis was magical for its ability to act as both stimulant and soporific and its promise of gentle relief from the drudgery and humiliations of daily life—a far cry from the sinister reputation foisted upon it by centuries of propaganda. We are reaching the end of a centuries-long story, born in the Mazanderan mountains in ancient Persia

in the 12th century and used throughout history in racist campaigns to prove that cannabis makes people violent, insane, and uncontrollably horny (parents, hold onto your white daughters!). The legend of Hassan-ibn-Sabbah, the Old Man of the Mountain who plied his disciples with splendid food, fine women, and a hashish confection so they would assassinate his enemies— popularized in the West by explorer Marco Polo— would forever associate hashish with assassins and sinister business. In the 1930s, during his successful drive toward cannabis prohibition, US Federal Bureau of Narcotics chairman Harry J. Anslinger masterfully fomented Americans’ racist and increasingly moralistic national mentality with a propaganda blitzkrieg that included a book and motion picture titled

Marihuana: Assassin of Youth—based upon his discovery of the Old Man of the Mountain legend. In testimony before Congress and in newspaper interviews, Anslinger said marijuana, a frightening “new” drug used primarily by Mexicans and African Americans, could turn upstanding, middle-class kids into helpless victims and raging monsters. His campaign resulted in cannabis being effectively outlawed through draconian taxes and regulations in the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Down through the ages—through multiple prohibitions on every continent, imposed by sultans, colonialists, and a pope—cannabis had managed to somehow survive, and even thrive. But never had it faced an enemy so formidable or iron-fisted as the United States in the mid-20th century. When

ILLUSTRATION BY ECATERINA SCIUCHINA, ADOBE STOCK / OTHER PHOTOS VIA ADOBE STOCK

TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE EXCERPTED FROM POT IN PANS: A HISTORY OF EATING CANNABIS FOOD

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THE LIFE

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Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis Food Rowman & Littlefield / $34

US Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon appointed Anslinger and tasked him, for whatever reason—and speculation is rampant—to wipe out cannabis, he intended the war to be global. Throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st, the United States used its considerable influence to force cannabis prohibition around the world, leaving people in countries where it had been used and enjoyed for centuries scratching their heads in confusion—and finding ways around the laws. In Canada in the 1930s, when Royal Mounted Police officers told an elderly woman they had to eradicate the hemp plants she grew to feed her canaries, she chased them away with a broom. In Indonesia, cannabis continued to be a key ingredient in the traditional “happy” soup served at weddings and celebrations, just as it always had. India managed to keep on the right side of the United States while quietly allowing people to drink bhang, a traditional holy drink made from cannabis. By the 1970s, the Netherlands had adopted a policy of tolerance toward retailers and users while making cannabis cultivation and production

illegal, creating a “back door” problem that no one wanted to replicate. It was more than clear by the 1970s that the global war on drugs was a failure. Violent cartels were ravaging South and Central America, and heroin, cocaine, and cannabis remained readily available to those who wanted them. In the early and mid-1970s, several countries and US states decriminalized cannabis, but this attitude change was short-lived, squelched by marijuana’s association with dirty hippies and the counterculture. The Nixon administration doubled down, sending military helicopters to scorch cannabis farms from Orange Hill, Jamaica, to the mountains of Colombia’s Cauca region and declaring cannabis a Schedule I drug with no medicinal value, alongside heroin and LSD. For a century now, cannabis has existed in most parts of the world only because humans’ love for it is so great that they’re willing to sacrifice being persecuted, imprisoned, having their teeth pulled out, and even being put to death for cultivating and nurturing it. The irony of prohibition, of course, is that the lucrative black market made it worth

For a century now, cannabis has existed in most parts of the world only because humans’ love for it is so great that they’re willing to sacrifice themselves to cultivate it.

the risk and only drove breeders to develop ever-mightier plants delivering whopping amounts of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. In the face of adversity, cannabis was no shrinking violet. The plant grew stronger, better, faster, and more potent—unstoppable, no matter how much paraquat the DEA threw at it. If the history of cannabis proves anything, it is that you can’t keep a good plant down. A cabal of global elites is no match for this one, which in its cunning evolved to provide humans with nutrition, fiber, medicine, and, if you believe many ethnobotanists, the ability to make huge mental and spiritual leaps as a species. Had it not been for the latter—all due to the presence of that THC molecule—this would be a boring tale about a multifaceted, utilitarian plant that served humans in many different capacities for centuries. This is not that. This is a story with many layers, spanning many continents, held together by the thread of an Islamic confection created to inspire a band of 12th-century fedayeen, which was ported throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, and beyond, invoking hilarJ U LY 2021

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THE LIFE

ity and hostility wherever it went. Inspired by this legend, Western intellectuals and literati, and then the masses, discovered and enjoyed cannabis, hashish, and majoun (a Moroccan candy mixed with cannabis) for much of the mid19th century and into the 1930s, when Anslinger shut that down. This is the story of how Brion Gysin, an ex-patriot artist and writer in Tangier, discovered majoun, typed up a recipe, and sent it to Alice B. Toklas, an ex-pat writer in Paris, to include in a cookbook published in New York and London, causing a minor scandal in the mid-20th century and leading to a major mix-up in a major motion picture that morphed majoun into the pot brownie, and turned the pot brownie into a Western icon forevermore. It’s the story of the rowdy band of artists, rebels, and intellectuals who partook of majoun’s charms and an activist who made the pot brownie a symbol of compassion. Down through the ages, the cannabis plant has gathered about it a charismatic and eclectic assortment of protectors and advocates, from the Hindu lord Shiva, who was said to sustain himself for long periods

by eating cannabis, to Brownie Mary, whose insistence on baking cannabis-laced brownies as medicine for AIDS patients in San Francisco, despite several arrests, drew huge public sympathy in the 1990s and eased the way for California to legalize medical marijuana in 1996. And that, really, may have been the beginning of the end of the pot brownie. Several states and countries followed California in approving cannabis for medical use, and in 2012, Colorado and Washington voters took the game-changing step of legalizing all adult use. More states followed, then Uruguay, then Canada. Cannabis-infused edibles grew into a robust and well-regulated industry with no room for crumbly chocolate cakes that had miserable shelf lives and were impossible to imprint with the new THC warning stamp some states began requiring. In most cases, pot brownies have evolved into shelf-stable, easier-to-dose chocolate bars, one skew in a wildly popular category of cannabis-infused products that no one saw coming in the early 2010s. In addition to a range of chocolate products from gourmet truffles

to peanut butter cups, today’s cannabis consumers can enjoy infused potato chips, gummies, hard candies, raw cacao butter, soda pop, caramel corn, coffee, tea, cookies, pies, and nuts—all readily available at cannabis stores in legal states. They can buy water-soluble cannabis-infused liquids and powders to stir into beverages or add to any recipe for immediate gratification. With such a wide range of culinary opportunities and resources literally at their fingertips, only the laziest or most unimaginative eaters are choosing the brownie. We stand on a precipice. Once criminalized, cannabis is now being rapidly commodified, and there’s no putting that genie back in the bottle. Analysts predict cannabis will be a global industry worth $57 billion by 2027—investment fi rm Cowen and Company suggests that will reach $75 billion by 2030—numbers that are respectful enough to prevent cannabis haters like US Attorney General Jeff Sessions (the 21st-century’s answer to Anslinger with legislative power) from prosecuting companies working within legal state infrastructures. Money talks.

Money’s talking. Scotts Miracle-Gro and Monsanto are circling. Food conglomerates are dipping toes, preparing to jump in when—and everyone now agrees it’s a matter of when— federal cannabis prohibition ends in the United States. Hemp is legal, and a bill has been submitted to Congress to legalize psychoactive cannabis. Cannabis is now the second most valuable crop in the United States after corn. Chefs, foodies, and nutritionists are playing with this new functional food ingredient, finding creative uses for every part of the plant, as the world’s attitude toward cannabis normalizes. This may sound farfetched, particularly to people who live in places where cannabis remains illegal, where citizens— inordinately, people of color—are rotting in jail because of a plant. It will never be okay that (mostly) white men in suits rake in millions of dollars on cannabis and cannabis products while others go to jail over the very same plant. As we celebrate the strides we’ve made toward liberating cannabis, we must never forget that this progress has been made on the backs of those willing to pay the price before us. J U LY 2021

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mona Van Joseph is a professionally licensed intuitive reader in Las Vegas since 2002. Author, radio host, and columnist, she created the Dice Wisdom app and is available for phone and in-person sessions. mona.vegas

HOROSCOPE

JULY HOROSCOPE What do the stars hold for you? TEXT MONA VAN JOSEPH

very aware of coincidence. Ac- NOV. 22-DEC. 21 CANCER cept all random invitations, es- SAGITTARIUS The truth is that you cannot pecially if you’re placed in the Not all decisions have to be sustain toxic relationships. spotlight to help in some way. yours, and you don’t have It’s time to step back from to have all the answers. You people who are so self-abare not responsible for the SEPT. 23-OCT. 22 sorbed that they will sacri- LIBRA world, only your world. Defice their relationship with It’s time to claim expertise fer choice to the person it you to succeed. most affects, and enjoy the in your craft this month. A deep dive into your creativ- release and peace. JULY 23-AUG. 22 ity is the path to personLEO al happiness. The mantel of DEC. 22-JAN. 19 Move away from emotionthis new identity leads you CAPRICORN al investment in people who to important relationships. You will be set free this month but not necessarily in the way have deserted you. Instead, you want. You’ll want to stay focus on what you know you OCT. 23-NOV. 21 where you are with “the devils do well. Allow the people SCORPIO who really care about you to You don’t want to be where you know.” Please consider the devils you have yet to meet— step forward. you are anymore—bored, it’s a better arrangement. stressed, out-of-sorts. The AUG. 23-SEPT. 22 challenge is that you’re goVIRGO ing to have to be willing to JAN. 20-FEB. 18 Stay centered this month, con- move if you want something AQUARIUS Take care of the people who trol impulsiveness, and be better or different. JUNE 21-JULY 22

CANCER, IT’S TIME TO STEP BACK FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE SO SELFABSORBED THAT THEY WILL SACRIFICE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU TO SUCCEED.

have taken care of you. Express gratitude to those who have encouraged you and kept you focused. It’s pragmatic and appropriate to reward to those who’ve helped you shine.

parisons of others (their jealous energy) will undermine your efforts, especially those that don’t serve them. Enjoy your secrets.

FEB. 19-MAR. 20

Watch out for the cheap people this month. A man in your circle has the nerve to think you’re supposed to keep serving him. Just stop and see what (if anything) comes back to you.

PISCES

APR. 20-MAY 20

TAURUS

Now that you’ve realized your potential, it’s time to act on situations you’ve earned. List five things that you want in your life and relax into vibrational attraction. You now have the ener- MAY 21-JUNE 20 gy and the credentials: act GEMINI on your wants. Your talents are more diverse than you typically adMAR. 21-APR. 19 mit. Invest in those talents ARIES for yourself this month. ReBe quiet about your success- start a project that should es. The small-minded comhave been yours all along. J U LY 2021

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CONSUMED BY

DES

The discerning content creators at Bingham X capture the seductive side of consumption. PHOTOGRAPHY AND STYLING BINGHAM X

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Once upon a time, Landon Bartley worked as the city planner for Grand Rapids, Michigan. When the cannabis industry came to town, he tried to help working within the system. But he learned that to really make a difference, he had to go out on his own. This is the story of how a cannabis superhero found his power. TEXT TRACY ROSS

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PHOTO CREDIT

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n the days before he became Weed Man, Landon Bartley’s job was policy researcher for the state of Michigan. In that role, he focused on creating innovative ways for cities to better their economies in order to keep people from leaving. That was pre-2008, when Michigan legalized medical marijuana and the opportunity for Michigan residents to become caregivers for those in need. When it did, Bartley recognized an opportunity. At the City of Grand Rapids Planning Department, he told his bosses, “Hey, we should allow this in some form or at least make sure the caregivers can grow at home without getting nailed,” he says. The 2008 legislation—the

Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, which was passed by voters statewide through a ballot initiative— legalized caregivers and patients, but not commercial growers (or processors or retailers or safety testing labs or transporters). The commercial industry didn’t become legal in the Wolverine State until 2016 with the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, which was passed by the legislature and not voters. Medical grows were now legal in the state and in cities, but the language of the bill did not address zoning. An amendment allowing caregiving to be a home occupation was in the ordinance for several years, and Bartley wanted to get zoning off the ground. But a series of court challenges determined that a city couldn’t regulate such a thing.

A TOUGH PROCESS Fast forward to 2018 when Michigan legalized adult recreational use. Legalization passed by a wide margin on a ballot initiative, and state government began to create a framework within which the cannabis industry could operate. Individual cities had the opportunity to opt in or out. By then, Bartley had been planner for the city of Grand Rapids for over a decade. “Among staff we raised the question,” he says. “Should we be introducing land uses for the commercial cannabis industry? At the time, the city council said, ‘no thanks.’” There are approximately 1,773 municipalities in Michigan, and currently, only about 150 have opted to allow the medical industry, and about 80–90 allow the adult use (recreational) industry. In 2018, Grand Rapids opted

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in for medical marijuana and, in 2020, for adult use. But, similar to other cities, Bartley says, it created its own rules for zoning. The West Michigan Cannabis Guild, a lobbying group for cannabis-interested individuals, approached the City looking to coordinate. The city was concerned that the ballot language would be overly permissive and wanted to have some reasonable land-use controls—like keeping retail stores in commercial areas and grows in industrial areas. Some at the city seemed to take it as a threat, but Bartley says the staff thought a zoning amendment would be a good compromise position. “In retrospect, I think that was probably true, but I think the rules are pretty onerous,” he says. Bartley remembers hearing conversations about what was in the guild’s proposal, and his sense was that they thought it was too open. Zoning is meant to protect public health, safety, and welfare, so Bartley understood the council’s reaction. The city drafted its own language after a few months of community engagement and discussions with Commissioners. The outcome was opting in for medical. Ultimately, the city opted in to allow adult use in 2020. “I wouldn’t say I was an advocate when I started working with marijuana operators, but I became one as I began to understand the industry better,” Bartley says. “We did what we thought was best for everyone—including operators, customers, and the general public—when we wrote the zoning language allowing the medical cannabis industry. When we went 46

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through the application process, we identified some items that seemed to be problematic, at least for applicants. Although the adult use zoning language was adopted after I left, I think staff did a similarly good job trying to balance things for everyone involved. Some later changes to the code, though, made it harder on the industry and I think worked against some of the City’s social equity goals.” Bartley went to work getting to know many of the players who

“I WOULD REMIND MUNICIPALITIES, THOUGH, THAT

CANNABIS ISIT’S BEEN HERE; HERE; AND IT’S GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE HERE.” —Landon Bartley

wished to be part of the local industry; there were no people of color or locals. However, outsiders were flocking to town. Grand Rapids is a big-market city in a big-market state. Michigan has the second-biggest cannabis market in the U.S., so people were watching it closely and announcing, “I want to be there.” Bartley’s issue with the ordinance was that it was quite restrictive, and resulted in 25 to 30 stores being approved across the

whole city. There was very high demand for property but very limited supply because of the ordinance, which resulted in significant increases in land costs. That shut out a lot of locals—regardless of skin color—because they simply weren’t as well capitalized as some of the other players. Certain properties increased in value tenfold overnight. For some enterprises, bringing a local on provided incentives, by giving application priority to groups that

had a higher percentage of ownership by city residents. The entrepreneurs would involve them through various means, and make them part owner, and the city “had to be very careful—is this actually meeting the intent of the law?” Bartley says. That was a tough process. He and some other staffers privately wondered why regulators were making cannabis business development so hard on themselves. “What it usually came down to

was fear,” says Bartley. Government officials are elected, of course, and there’s a lot of misinformation about cannabis in the world. But the industry wanted to keep coming in, and, it turned out, Bartley became the man to help it. SUPERHERO ON THE SCENE Then something unexpected happened: Bartley became known around town as the “Weed Man.” He’d walk down the street and get two kinds of reactions: People

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who supported his work would say he was looking out for them, and that they didn’t feel that too much from government. Those who didn’t would make passive-aggressive quips, like the man he passed on the street who pulled his mask down to say, “You were supposed to protect us.” Bartley says he was still a planner, though, still covering all aspects of land use, still looking at the best ways to “make a city work from a systems approach.” But he found cannabis industry planning so interesting that in July of 2020, he stepped out from his 14-yearlong role as city planner and became a planning consultant—working with, among others, cannabis operators, most of which are based in Grand Rapids. Since he made that move, Bartley says his career has been in constant flux. He’s now a board member for the West Michigan Cannabis Guild and is trying to help bridge the gaps between the local industry, the government, and the general public. “There are groups in the City who have fought against the cannabis industry, but there are also a lot of people who are open and willing to consider that the cannabis industry is just like any other,” he says. “I’m very excited about some conversations that we’re just getting started between myself, a couple of cannabis operators, and some members of the local religious community, facilitated by some elected officials.” One silver lining when it comes to tough cannabis regulations is that cannabis operators have to be really good neighbors if they’re going to succeed. The ones in Grand Rapids are motivated to

“I DON’T BLAME ANYONE FOR BEING WORRIED ABOUT CANNABIS…THE PROBLEM IS WHEN

GOOD OPERATORS ARE VILIFIED SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE INDUSTRY IN WHICH THEY’RE TRYING TO OPERATE.” —Landon Bartley

work with neighborhoods, keep their buildings and properties looking good, and do what they can to support the surrounding community. “Many of them are moving to the city, and they’re certainly hiring from the surrounding neighborhoods. Many of them have also made significant commitments in regards to social equity, whether it’s paying a living wage or supporting their employees with education, good benefits, et cetera,” Bartley says. Over his years in the industry, Bartley has seen a “sea change” from where it was just a few years ago. “Heck, the Governor of Alabama just signed a medical cannabis bill into law today, with overwhelming support,” he says. “I didn’t see that coming for a while. But, change is incremental, and this is really uncharted territory for a lot of governments. I don’t blame anyone for being worried about cannabis. There’s been so much disinformation, and so little research, and there’s so far to go. The problem is more when good operators are vilified simply because of the industry in which they’re trying to operate.” “There’s nothing inherently evil about this plant; I think we just need to respect it. It’s a legitimate medicine that can be good for some people and bad for others. I would remind municipalities, though, that cannabis is here; it’s been here; and it’s going to continue to be here,” Bartley says. “The question we’re really dealing with is, do we want to allow a legal industry to produce, process, test, and sell it? And do we want our laws to make it harder for that industry to succeed, or easier?” J U LY 2021

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July 6-7 Westville Music Bowl, New Haven, CT westvillemusicbowl.com

Summer concerts and warm-weather fun are on Old Crow Show their way during July’s sunny days and sultry nights. Medicine July 7-8 TEXT EMILIE-NOELLE PROVOST

Whether you’re in the mood for live jazz, sampling new craft beers, or are thinking about a quiet walk in the woods, these summertime events will help you make the most of everything July in New England has to offer.

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River Rock Music Festival

Berkshires Arts Festival

July 2-3 Sunday River Resort, Bethel ME riverrockfestival.com

July 2-4 Ski Butternut, Great Barrington, MA berkshiresartsfestival.com

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NorthEast ComicCon & Collectibles Extravaganza July 2-4 DoubleTree by Hilton, Westborough, MA necomiccons.com

Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT shelburnemuseum.org

Healing with Nature: Forest Bathing July 9 Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, MA nenft.com

Peel the layers of stress away and encourage healing by experiencing the medicine of the forest. The walk

covers a distance of 1.5 miles on a well-maintained trail.

Green State Gardener Block Party July 10 Green State Gardener, Burlington, VT greenstategardener.com

IPA5K July 11 RiverWalk Brewing Co., Newburyport, MA riverwalkbrewing.com

Walks in the Vineyard Series: Mid-summer July 11 LaBelle Winery, Amherst, NH labellewinery.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW ENGLAND NATURE & FOREST THERAPY CONSULTING

Cultural Calendar

Tedeschi Trucks

LEFT: HEALING WITH NATURE: FOREST BATHING RIGHT: NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL BELOW: BOSTON LIGHTS: A LANTERN EXPERIENCE

Anna Popovic July 10 TCAN Center for Arts, Natick, MA natickarts.org

Brewer’s Ball 2021

The Ska-talites and Third World

Street Fair and Sidewalk Sales

July 17 Bad Sons Brewery, Derby, CT badsons.com

July 23 Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis, MA melodytent.org

July 24 Wilton Center, Wilton, CT wiltonchamber.com

Luke Bryan: Proud To Be Right Here 2021

Drag Diva OMG 90s Brunch

July 10 Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA livenation.com

July 17 House of Blues, Boston, MA houseofblues.com

40th Annual Logging Festival & Parade

Summer Farmto-Table Dinner

July 16-17 Maine Forestry Museum, Rangeley, ME maineforestrymuseum.org

Roxbury Unity Weekend & Parade July 16-18 Malcolm X Park, Boston, MA roxburyunity18.weebly.com

The Blue Dahlia Bastille Day Party July 17 Pot au Feu Bistro, Providence, RI potaufeuri.com

July 17 Nezinscot Farm Store, Turner, ME nezinscotfarm.com

Hyannis Summer Arts & Craft Festival July 17-18 Hyannis Village Green, Hyannis, MA castleberryfairs.com

Building with Hempcrete July 18-25 Mill Hollow Works, Keene, NH millhollowworks.org

Boston Lights: A Lantern Experience July 23-Oct. 11 Franklin Park Zoo, Boston, MA zoonewengland.org

Experience the wonder of more than 60 displays comprised of hundreds of beautifully crafted lanterns spanning Franklin Park Zoo’s 72 acres. Walk through glowing corridors of lotus and sunflowers, cranes, and cherry blossoms, and a towering 87-footlong Tyrannosaurus Rex tunnel.

T.H.C. The Hammerhead Circus July 23-25 Charleez Hill Museum & Events Venue, Lebanon, ME facebook.com

Lady A July 29 Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT mohegansun.com

Newport Jazz Festival July 30-Aug. 1 Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI fortadams.org

moe. July 23-24 Veterans Memorial Park, Vineyard Haven, MA livenation.com

Lowell Folk Festival July 24-26 Virtual lowellfolkfestival.org

For 33 years, the Lowell Folk Festival has brought together tens of thousands of people in celebration of the richness of American culture. To keep the tradition alive, the festival partners have created a virtual celebration.

Michael Ray July 25 Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, NH casinoballroom.com

Enjoy live music performed by jazz greats Wynton Marsalis, Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Andra Day, and others at this three-day outdoor festival featuring intimate concerts and surprise collaborations.

Millville Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival July 31 Marty’s Liquors of Millville, Uxbridge, MA martysfinewine.com

Oxbow Music Festival July 31 Oxbow Riverfront Park, Morrisville, VT emtcbd.com

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Growin g the Industr y.

Upcoming shows are: Detroit, MI June 25-26 Chicago, IL August 6-7 New York, NY January 7-8 2022 Oklahoma City, OK March 31-April 1 2022

Shop, Learn, and Network at the Nations Leading Cannabis Conference and Expo. Tickets at CannaCon.org

P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E VA N TA G E B U I L D E R S

Custom-Built Cultivation Cultivation is complex, and it takes the right construction.

he most crucial part of the cannabis industry is one that most consumers never see: cultivation facilities. Complex and highly engineered, with intricate systems that rival laboratory buildings, each cultivation facility must be custom-built to meet the exact requirements of the grow team. Cultivation facilities needs to match their specific program and approach to cultivation. Vantage Builders understands this, having brought its commercial construction expertise to the cannabis industry in 2016 when it built one of the first cultivation facilities in Massachusetts. The firm’s cannabis construction team has the experience to get cannabis entrepreneurs from “seed to sale” as quickly as possible,

while staying on budget and adhering to government regulations. Building a successful facility starts with assembling a design team and detailed planning meetings where all cultivation areas are mapped. Floorplans are based on the flow of product and people to ensure no cross contamination between strains. The design team ensures that plants move in an efficient path from cultivation in a mother room, propagation, and vegetation room to a flowering room, and then to areas for drying, processing, packaging, storage, and shipping. During the build-out, each room is outfitted with state-of-the-art systems needed to support the grow process, including intricate lighting—and mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fertigation, and CO2 systems—all

calibrated to create optimal growing conditions. Advanced lighting systems mimic the sun’s natural light. Cultivators often utilize building management systems (BMS), which integrate and automate the control of electricity and HVAC systems, to create the perfect environmental conditions for each individual room, including temperature ranges, light schedules, RH percentages, CO2 levels, and irrigation events. Fertigation systems allow growers to deliver nutrients carefully and efficiently to the growing plants at the soil level. Recognizing that utilities, chiefly electricity and water, are among a grower’s largest expenses, Vantage Builders can incorporate sustainable systems into each design, including solar energy and water collection and re-use that maximize every drop. “There is something very simple, very humble about the idea of growing any plant,” says Margaret Cachel, Vantage Builders’ director of cannabis. “But it’s certainly not that simple with cannabis cultivation facilities! We enjoy working with every grower to determine how to create a unique facility that carefully supports their method of cultivation.” Commercial cultivation is a complex and complicated business. It’s a fun business, no doubt, but it demands a serious environment to maximize yield, ensure consistency, and deliver the highest quality cannabis. So let Vantage Builders worry about tiered growing systems, whether to use LED or metal halide lighting, and how to integrate the BMS with the fertigation system properly. You’ll enjoy the results.

Vantage Builders Facility Construction vb-inc.com J U LY 2021

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P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E N AT I O N A L C A N N A B I S R I S K M A N AG E M E N T A S S O C I AT I O N

Risk Management What you don’t know can hurt you.

very 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 ex-

pertise 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 Officer Alex Hearding. “This culmination of experience and expertise allows us to offer one-ofa-kind tools and cannabis-specific solutions designed to improve overall business results, optimize daily operational efficiencies, decrease unnecessary expenses, and increase

the bottom line.” Through the use of the NCRMA’s proprietary cloud-based platform, CRP2TM (Cannabis Risk Prevention PlatformTM), 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 offices and vetted service partners across the country, which work directly with NCRMA members to provide knowledge, proficiency, and “A common support—and much more. NCRMA’s Chronic Risk podcast cannabis offers detailed insights from cannabis industry industry leaders. Through its innovamyth is that tive association-owned captive model, by having NCRMA has a network of Appointed Brokers who offer insurance products insurance, you are and coverages. Then, there is NCRM Academy—an online learning platform properly that provides members access to over managing 30 different courses on all aspects your risks, of cannabis operations. All of this when in combined ensures that your business reality, is prepared and your risks addressed. “A common cannabis industry myth insurance is only a is that by having insurance, you are properly managing your risks, when small part in reality, insurance is only a small of the risk part of the risk management framemanagement work,” says NCRMA Chairman Rocco framework.” Petrilli. “Having a firm grasp over risk management is vital to the success of —NCRMA Chairman any business.” Rocco Petrilli

National Cannabis Risk Management Association The nation’s only cannabis risk management association ncrma.net J U LY 2021

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THE END

Downeast Desert This 12,500-year-old natural phenomenon is just minutes from the beach.

If you’ll be heading to the Maine coast this summer, you might consider taking a side trip to “the desert.” Located in the coastal city of Freeport—more well known for its outlet shopping than an arid climate—the Desert of Maine is a 40-acre expanse of sand deposited by the retreating Laurentide Glacier, which covered New England with an ice sheet nearly two miles thick for thousands of years. The sand was buried beneath a layer of topsoil 56

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and vegetation until the late 1800s, when the land was cleared for farming. Over time, deforestation, overgrazing, and agricultural activity led to erosion, which revealed the shifting dunes. Today, the Desert of Maine is a popular tourist attraction. The site is home to a museum, a campground, nature trails, a café, and a gift shop. The desert’s largest dune is 65 feet tall. desertofmaine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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