WEEKLY ZINE VOL 99

CULTURE

TRADITION

PASSION

#99

magazine

uplift the people, uplift the plant

HOTBOX luann sun mark nelson

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cannabis culture welcomes us all

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ASK A NEUROSCIENTIST rn collins b is m e di

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vertical cannabis strawberry jambi photo by paola tello

Weekly Digital Magazine designed by Erin Cullison and Dustin Hoxworth

june

Weekly zine vol. 99

all faces of cannabis photos taken by derrall peach

Pg. 4: Pride, Mental Health, and the Plant by dustin hoxworth

Pg. 26: set, setting, and structure in psychedelic therapy spaces by rn collins

Pg. 34: hotbox with luann sun by dustin hoxworth

Pg. 8: cannabis and sleep by rn collins Pg. 44: cannabis in nature by rn collins

Pg. 16: cannabis and grief by rn collins

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Pg. 52: hotbox with mark nelson by dustin hoxworth

Pride, Mental Health, and the Plant by dustin hoxworth

June is an interesting month. It's Pride Month. It's also Men's Mental Health Awareness Month-thanks to the Beard Bros for reminding me on a call the other day.

At first glance, those might seem like two completely separate conversations. But when you dig a little deeper, they share something important in common: both are about people who have spent far too long being told to stay quiet.

For generations, men have been taught to suppress emotions, hide pain, and carry burdens alone. The result has been devastating. Depression, addiction, abuse, loneliness, and suicide continue to impact millions of men every year, often because they never felt safe enough to ask for help.

The LGBTQ+ community knows something about that silence too. For decades, LGBTQ+ individuals faced discrimination, criminalization, rejection, and stigma simply for being who they are. During the AIDS epidemic, entire communities were forced to fight for compassion, healthcare access, dignity, and survival while much of society looked the other way. And woven into that history is a story many people forget.

Long before cannabis became a billion-dollar industry, before legalization campaigns became politically popular, and before dispensaries appeared on Main Streets across America, cannabis was helping AIDS patients manage pain, nausea, appetite loss, and quality of life. Many of the earliest and most influential medical cannabis activists were members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, particularly in California during the height of the AIDS crisis.

People were fighting for access because they were suffering and dying and compassion mattered more than some dumb politician and their beliefs driven by campaign donations (bribes). That legacy deserves to be remembered.

Today, cannabis continues to play an important role in conversations around wellness, trauma, stress, sleep, anxiety, chronic illness, and overall quality of life. While cannabis is not a cure-all and mental health treatment looks different for everyone, the broader conversation is ultimately about the same thing it’s always been about: helping people live better lives.

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Whether we're talking about Pride Month, Men's Mental Health Awareness Month, or cannabis advocacy, the underlying message is very similar.

People deserve dignity, support, community, and the freedom to seek the care, connection, and understanding they need without shame or imprisonment. We deserve to live a life where the wealthy ruling class brainwashed ways of thinking don’t interfere with freedom, justice, healthcare, and basic human rights.

As an industry, we spend a lot of time talking about products, regulations, business challenges, and market trends. Those conversations matter, but this month is a good reminder that cannabis has always been about people first. The plant may bring us together, but compassion is what keeps us together. And in a world that often feels determined to divide us, that might be the most important thing we can remember.

Love, help, and support each other.

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cannabis medicine

vertical cannabis cheetah photo by paolo tello

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verdant cannabis grape ape photo by derrall peach

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vertical cannabis integrity photo by paola tello

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vertical cannabis double up photo by paola tello

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southern herb co sun cake photo by baleigh stephens

vertical cannabis glazed apricot gelato photo by paola tello

southern herb co gator breath photo by baleigh stephens

pretty chill these days

glazed

vertical cannabis strawberry zoap photo by paola tello

shangri-la - black marshmallow - photo by paola tello

cannabis culture welcomes us all