Issue 29 - November 2017 by Freedom Leaf

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(S PE CIAL IZ E D IN TO PICS O F MA R IJ UA N A I N SPANISH.)

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CONTENTS

FEATURES

THE DIVERSITY ISSUE

THE COLOR OF ADDICTION Highlights from Michelle Alexander’s speech at the Drug Policy Alliance conference.

THE DIVERSITY ISSUE IMPACT LIST Get to know 10 industry leaders.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CORY BOOKER ALLEN ST. PIERRE The New Jersey senator receives high marks from cannabis activists.

DIVERSITY IN THE NEW MARIJUANA ECONOMY NGAIO BEALUM

MOVING BEYOND CANNABIS LEGALIZATION DR. CARL HART Diversity means more than just changing laws.

QUEER IN CANNABIS MIA DI STEFANO

THE AL SHARPTON EFFECT STEVE BLOOM The controversial reverend speaks out about cannabis. 4 FREEDOM LEAF

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MJ FREEWAY’S SOFTWARE DILEMMA DOUG MCVAY The seed-to-sale company has been riddled by hacks.

THE FINEST IN BREATHABLE VAPORS AND WHOLE-PLANT HEMP EXTRACTS

S H O P

OUR SELECTION OF ORGANIC HEMP PRODUCTS ONLINE.

MINT CBD OIL

ORGANIC CBD OIL

CBD PET TREATS

SHOP PRODUCTS ONLINE.

WWW.MYHEMPOLOGY.COM A W H O L LY OW N E D D I V I S I O N O F F R E E D O M L E A F I N C . (OTC Q B : F R L F ) NOVEMBER 2017 FREEDOM LEAF 5

CONTENTS

COLUMNS

WORD ON THE TREE MONA ZHANG

DERAILING ROGER STONE AMANDA REIMAN

NORML ACTIVISTS SWARM U.S. CAPITOL FOR LOBBY DAY MIKEL WEISSER

WOMEN GROW AND THE NEW RULES OF DIVERSITY GIA MORÓN

MAKING MARIJUANA EQUITABLE FOR EVERONE JAN FARIAS

EQUITY IN OAKLAND: GIVING MINORITIES A CHANCE DR. ASSEM SAPPAL FREEDOM LEAF

MINORITIES MAKING MOVES STEVE GELSI Meet Jesce Horton, founder of the Minority Cannabis Business Association.

NOVEMBER 2017

INTERNATIONAL CANNABIS CUISINE CHERI SICARD

THE HEMP/CBD ALTERNATIVE ERIN HIATT

BOOK REVIEW: CANNABIS FOR CHRONIC PAIN FRANK D’AMBROSIO

ALBUM REVIEW: PROPHETS OF RAGE ROY TRAKIN

PIZZA FELLA NEAL WARNER

NOV./DEC. EVENTS

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EDITOR’S NOTE THE COLOR OF DIVERSITY HERE AT FREEDOM LEAF, we like to be on the cutting edge of what’s happening in the marijuana world. When people ask me what the magazine is about, I say we focus on whatever’s in the zeitgeist—in other words, the “general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period or time.” That’s a perfect lead-in for the current issue of Freedom Leaf. Last November, we predicted that 2017 would be the year of diversity in cannabis, and we were right. Besides the presidency of Donald Trump and his swing back toward a hard-fought War on Drugs, no other issue has been more important in cannabis this year than diversity. It’s been said over and over, and I’ll say it again: The drug war has been primarily directed at people of color since Richard Nixon launched it in 1970. Black and brown people are about four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as whites. The new cannabis industry has yet to do its part: Just 1% of marijuana shops in legal or medical states are black-owned. For this issue, we’ve assembled a who’s who of minority leaders in the cannabis industry and movement. For the cover story, we couldn't think of any other political figure that has focused on legalization and equity in cannabis more than Sen. Cory Booker, whose latest legislation on Capitol Hill is called the Marijuana Justice Act. That just 8

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about says it all. Turn to page 30 for Allen St. Pierre’s take on “The Importance of Cory Booker.” And, on page 39, I offer my take on the Rev. Al Sharpton, who recently added marijuana legalization to his list of causes. Two of our strongest voices, Dr. Carl Hart and Michelle Alexander, respectively, discuss “Moving Beyond Cannabis Legalization” on page 34 and “The Color of Addiction” on page 42. The rest of the issue features articles by and about members of our community who are working towards creating greater diversity in cannabis: Queen Adesuyi, Ngaio Bealum, Grizzly Bocourt, B-Real, G. Malik Burnett, Ophelia Chong, Chuck D, Mia Di Stefano, Jan Farias, Kyla Hill, Jacobi Holland, Jesce Horton, Wanda James, Tom Morello, Gia Morón, Scheril Murray Powell, Dr. Assem Sappal, Deborah Peterson Small, Sirita Wright and Mona Zhang. On a completely different topic, Doug McVay’s investigation into hacking problems affecting MJ Freeway’s seed-to-sale software, on page 56, continued to evolve as this issue went to press. The latest news was delays in Washington State and new hacks elsewhere. Stay tuned!

Steve Blo m

Steve Bloom Editor-in-Chief

TODD HINDEN

Editor Steve Bloom (center, back) with members of High NY and the Cannabis Cultural Association.

FOUNDERS Richard C. Cowan & Clifford J. Perry

PUBLISHER & CEO Clifford J. Perry

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Steve Bloom

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER Chris M. Sloan

ART DIRECTOR Joe Gurreri

VP OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Ray Medeiros

SENIOR EDITOR Steven Wishnia

VP OF ADVOCACY & COMMUNICATIONS Allen St. Pierre

NEWS EDITOR Mona Zhang

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MARKETING Chris Thompson

SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR Paul Armentano

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Joshua M. Halford

CONTRIBUTORS: Ngaio Bealum, Dr. Frank D’Ambrosio, Mia Di Stefano, Jan Farias, Steve Gelsi, Dr. Carl Hart, Erin Hiatt, Mitch Mandell, Beth Mann, Doug McVay, Gia Morón, Amanda Reiman, Dr. Aseem Sappal, Cheri Sicard, Roy Trakin, Neal Warner, Mikel Weisser Copyright © 2017 by Freedom Leaf Inc. All rights reserved. Freedom Leaf Inc. assumes no liability for any claims or representations contained in this magazine. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without permission is prohibited.

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A ZHANG N O ’ M

NEW INFUSED-PRODUCT STANDARDS GO INTO EFFECT IN COLORADO COLORADO’S BIGGEST problem when it legalized marijuana was edibles. Reports of people eating doses they couldn’t handle made the news, and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd added fuel to the fire when she wrote about her frightening experience under the influence of a pot-infused chocolate bar in 2014. "We ran into a problem at the beginning with the over-consuming of edibles," Andrew Freedman, Colorado’s former marijuana czar, acknowledged in September. In a speech at the National

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Cannabis Summit in Denver in August, Freedman cited edibles regulations as something he would approach differently if he had the chance to do it again. As of Oct. 1, Colorado edibles manufacturers may no longer make products shaped like humans, animals or fruit. Geometric shapes, such as weed leaves, and fruit flavors, however, are still permitted. The legislation, which was passed in 2016, follows other regulatory mandates such as child-resistant packaging and a 10-mg THC limit per serving. Many Colorado manufacturers are already compliant, including Wana Brands, whose cannabis-infused gummies come in nondescript shapes, in part to take "every precaution to ensure our products are not enticing to children," co-owner Nancy Whiteman tells Freedom Leaf. Wana’s product line is now also available in Oregon and Nevada. "We can safely claim that between child-resistance, stamping, prohibited advertising of cartoon characters, opaque packaging and warning statements, Colorado infused-products manufacturers are doing more than any other industry to make edibles less enticing to kids,” she explains. A 2016 study, published by JAMA Pediatrics, found that the number of children who went to the emergency room in Colorado after accidentally consuming cannabis had increased. But last January, state publichealth officials said marijuana-related poison-center calls and emergency-room visits were on the decline.

CONGRESS BLOCKS ROHRABACHERBLUMENAUER MMJ AMENDMENT FOR A FEW days in early September, marijuana-policy reformers fitfully watched as Republican leaders in the House Rules Committee blocked a vote on the RohrabacherBlumenauer amendment. The legislation, which is cosponsored by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), has been added to the federal budget in some form since 2014 and protects state-legal medical-marijuana programs from federal interference. "By blocking our amendment, Committee leadership is putting at risk the millions of patients who rely on medical marijuana for treatment, as well as the clinics and businesses that support them," Rohrabacher and Blumenauer said in a joint statement on Sept. 6. "If a vote were allowed, our amendment would pass on the House floor, as it has several times before." Thirty states and Washington, D.C. have comprehensive medical-marijuana laws, and another 16 have limited CBD-oil laws.

That means 46 states could be affected by eliminating the amendment. Just two days later, however, Congress approved a three-month debt-limit deal that extended the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment through Dec. 8. Rohrabacher and Blumenauer, however, called for “permanent protections for state-legal medicalmarijuana programs, as well as adult use.” In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to oppose the amendment. He cited the usual prohibitionist talking points about violent crime, the opioid epidemic and the "significant negative health effects" of smoking marijuana. "I should not need to remind our chief law enforcement officer nor my fellow Republicans that our system of federalism, also known as states’ rights, was designed to resolve just such a fractious issue," Rohrabacher wrote in a Washington Post op-ed article on Sept. 5. "Unfortunately, my longtime friend Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, has urged Congress to drop the amendment." While the House version of the appropriations bill doesn’t include the RohrabacherBlumenauer amendment thanks to the Rules Committee, the Senate version does. It's still possible that the amendment will make it into the final legislation. NOVEMBER 2017

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TOM WILLIAMS/CQ ROLL CALL

Congressional Cannabis Caucus members Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (right) and Earl Blumenauer

FROM BOOKER TO HATCH: FOUR MAJOR MARIJUANA BILLS ON CAPITOL HILL SINCE LAST FEBRUARY, when a bipartisan group of legislators launched the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, lawmakers have filed a flurry of bills aimed at reforming federal drug laws. Here's a look at some of that legislation:

MARIJUANA JUSTICE ACT OF 2017

Introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in August, the Marijuana Justice Act is the most buzzed-about cannabis legislation announced this year. It would remove cannabis completely from the Controlled Substances Act, which now has it in Schedule I, prohibiting any medical use. The bill’s criminal-justice reform measures include expunging marijuana-possession convictions and restricting federal funds for states that have disproportionate arrest rates for cannabis offenses. It would also establish a "Community Reinvestment Fund” that would provide grants for job training, expunging criminal records and community centers. Several other bills, including the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act and the Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act, would also deschedule cannabis, but none go as far as Booker's to remedy the injustices caused by the War on Drugs.

STATUS: Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. VETERANS EQUAL ACCESS ACT

The Veterans Administration prohibits its doctors from talking to patients about medical marijuana, even in states where it's legal. The Veterans Equal Access Act, introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) in March, directs the VA to allow its doctors to recommend cannabis to veterans in those states.

STATUS: Referred to the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s health subcommittee. 12

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Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch sponsored the MEDS Act.

MARIJUANA EFFECTIVE DRUG STUDIES ACT OF 2017

Also known as the MEDS Act, this bill is notable because its sponsor is Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who reiterated his opposition to recreational marijuana when he introduced it in September. But Hatch also said he worried “that in our zeal to enforce the law, we too often blind ourselves to the medicinal benefits of natural substances like cannabis." The MEDS Act would remove barriers associated with researching a Schedule I substance.

STATUS: Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. SMALL BUSINESS TAX EQUITY ACT OF 2017

Long before any state legalized marijuana, a Minneapolis drug dealer tried to deduct business expenses on his 1974 tax return. The result: Section 280E, a tax-code amendment enacted in 1982 that prohibits illegal-drug dealers from taking business deductions, which in turn denies companies in the cannabis industry from doing the same. The Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2017, sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) in March, would exempt marijuana businesses from this ban, as long as they're complying with state laws.

STATUS: Referred to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. There are a few others: The Second Chance for Students Act would allow those who’ve been convicted of marijuana possession to receive federal student aid. The States’ Medical Marijuana Property Rights Protection Act would prevent property involved in state-legal medical-marijuana activity from being seized through civil asset forfeiture. Other bills seek to amend the Controlled Substances Act so states could set their own marijua-

na laws without conflicting with federal law. What are the chances of these bills passing? If history is any indication, the answer is "slim to none." While many have bipartisan support, the only federal legislation loosening marijuana laws passed since 2014 has been the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which prohibits the Department of Justice from spending money to prosecute medical-marijuana patients and businesses in compliance with their state’s laws. On Sept. 6, the leadership of the House Rules Committee blocked a vote on renewing the amendment. (For more, see article on page 11.)

AT ODDS WITH PRES. TRUMP AND AG SESSIONS, DEA HEAD CHUCK ROSENBERG STEPS DOWN CHUCK ROSENBERG, ACTING administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, resigned on Oct. 1. “I will continue to root for you now from the sidelines,” he told his staff. The DEA's deputy administrator Robert Patterson has been named the agency's acting administrator. He's been with the agency since 1988. Rosenberg, who had turned down serving as the DEA’s permanent head, disagreed with the Trump administration on several issues. In July, after Pres. Trump told police that they shouldn’t be “too nice” when putting criminal suspects into paddy wagons, Rosenberg sent DEA staff an email saying that the President had “condoned police misconduct.” He’d also served as chief of staff to FBI director James Comey, who Trump fired in May. Rosenberg found himself at odds with Attorney General Jeff Sessions as well over medical-marijuana research. The DEA announced in August 2016 that it would accept applications from cultivators to grow cannabis for research, intending to expand the sup-

Chuck Rosenberg

ply beyond what's grown at the federal farm at the University of Mississippi in Oxford—the sole source for nearly five decades. But the Justice Department has not taken action on the 26 applications submitted so far. Rosenberg was appointed in 2015 by President Obama to replace embattled DEA administrator Michele Leonhart. He got off to a rough start when he called medical marijuana “a joke,” contending that “smoking the leaf of marijuana has never been shown to be safe or effective as a medicine.” Meanwhile, drug czar nominee Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) withdrew his name after a report about him receiving $100,000 in PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry in return for passing favorable legislation. NOVEMBER 2017

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ATLANTA LOWERS POT PENALTIES, BUT THEY DON'T CALL IT DECRIM ON OCT. 2, the Atlanta City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to remove prison time as a punishment for possessing up to one ounce of marijuana. The ordinance, approved by a 15-0 vote, also decreases the fine from $1,000 to $75. Mayor Kasim Reed, who earlier in the year was unsure about backing the measure introduced by Councilmember Kwanza Hall, signed it into law on Oct. 11. Law-enforcement officials, however, are cautioning that rather than actually decriminalizing marijuana, it simply removes the possibility of prison time as a punishment for possession. “The ordinance doesn’t require anything different of law enforcement,” Po-

CALIFORNIA FASHIONS NEW REGULATIONS IN ANTICPATION OF ADULT-USE BONANAZA WITH JUST A few months to go before California's much-anticipated recreational marijuana market comes online, there's no shortage of apprehension from both the industry and the its regulators. "We all have anxiety," Lori Ajax, California's pot czar, told industry leaders at The State of Marijuana conference in Long Beach in September. "It’s not going to be perfect." On Oct. 7, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed two bills that would’ve narrowed what is permitted: One proposed a ban on smoking and vaping on California beaches and in some areas of state parks, while the other would’ve prohibited the sale of gummy-type edibles that allegedly appeal to children. Lawmakers have also proposed allowing multiple permits to be grouped together. That would let both medical and recre14

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lice Chief Erica Shields says. “It strictly deals with the city courts and municipal courts and their fining process.” Under the ordinance, it remains “unlawful for any person to possess one ounce or less of marijuana” within the city limits. The law also instructs the municipal court "to try and dispose of cases where a person is charged with the possession of one ounce or less." While the Atlanta ordinance doesn’t go as far as other local decriminalization measures (see “Kansas City and Houston Area Decriminalize Pot” in Issue 25), it's a step forward in Georgia, a state where possessing more than an ounce of cannabis is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. "I’m so proud of all the work we did, of the coalition and of all of our amazing volunteers," Peachtree NORML director Sharon Ravert tells Freedom Leaf. "We’ll continue the work that got us here and continue to work diligently to protect all of the citizens of Georgia.”

ational marijuana to be sold out of the same storefront if the business has licenses for both. Growers would be able to group their cultivation permits in one facility as well. Ajax said the state would issue temporary licenses to ensure the new market would launch on Jan. 2. But even with that, cannabis businesses need local approval first, and California's largest cities have indicated they’ll take their time with enacting regulations. Proposed regs in Los Angeles drew outcry from the industry, which fears that businesses would have to shut down while awaiting city approval. Advocacy groups worried that forcing current operators to close would disrupt the supply of medical marijuana to patients who depend on it. Meanwhile, San Francisco said it would not issue local marijuana permits until it passes regulations that also create an equity program, to ensure that people of color are not excluded from the economic benefits of the newly legal market. Mona Zhang publishes the daily cannabis newsletter Word on the Tree. Subscribe to WOTT at wordonthetree.com.

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DERAILING ROGER STONE

In the cannabis business, activism isn’t dead yet. BY AMANDA REIMAN FOR MANY ACTIVISTS like myself, the cannabis industry hasn’t felt like home for a long time. Conferences that used to focus on consumers, their rights, and the movement to change unjust laws have given way to business-to-business extravaganzas. Many of us feel like strangers in an industry that exists because of us. This came to a head in the run-up to the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo, held in Los Angeles Sept. 13-15. I was slated to speak at the event. But then I read that one of the keynote speakers would be Republican ally and former Trump adviser Roger Stone. I immediately felt nauseous. I was not okay with holding up someone like Stone as a hero and leader of our movement. I contacted the conference to confirm that this was indeed true, and then dropped out. It was an easy decision. The way Stone has spoken of women and people of color in public is not acceptable. In my mind, expecting my colleagues of color to listen to what he has to say was like forcing the oppressed to honor the oppressor. The boycott was on. I contacted SSDP’s Betty Aldworth and Lauren Padgett. We looped in Wanda James, who runs the Simply Pure dispensary in Denver, and also reached out

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to ComfyTree’s Tiffany Bowden and actress and Women Abuv Ground's Bonita Money. Together, we alerted all sponsors and speakers that Stone was going to be a keynoter. Mara Gordon from Aunt Zelda’s also dropped out as a speaker, and others followed. Media sponsors joined the boycott, and fiscal sponsors wrote letters to the conference. When Jesse Horton and the Minority Cannabis Business Association reached out to the Expo’s promoters for an explanation, their insensitive response went viral. Now they were on the defensive. As expected, Stone blamed the left-wing media for the boycott, never once acknowledging that a group of women and people of color from the industry was behind it. He claimed to be an avid supporter of drug-policy reform. This confused many of us. We’ve attended every drug-policy reform conference for the last decade, yet never saw hide nor hair of Stone and his back tattoo of Richard Nixon. Finally, with pressure from sponsors, speakers, cannabis organizations and others building, the Expo decided to disinvite Stone. I agreed to speak at the event after all. Chalk one up for us activists. Amanda Reiman is vice president of community relations at Flow Kana in California.

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NORML members meet with Sen. Cory Booker in Washington, D.C.

NORML ACTIVISTS SWARM U.S. CAPITOL FOR ANNUAL LOBBY DAY BY MIKEL WEISSER

ON SEPT. 7, the cannabis industry gasped in unison when the House Rules Committee leadership blocked the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment, the federal budget provision that protects state medical-marijuana programs, from coming to a vote. (See "Congress Blocks Rohrabacher-Blumenauer MMJ Amendment" on page 9.) But the next day, a funding compromise extended the budget, and the amendment, until Dec. 8. And three days later, 140 state and national leaders from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws assembled in the nation’s capital for the group's 2017 National Conference and Lobby Day. On Sept. 11, speakers discussed everything from the latest in medical research to strategies for winning ballot initiatives to what the future of cannabis might look like. That night, at an awards presentation, Kansas City NORML executive director Jaime Kacz was given NORML’s Outstanding Cannabis Advocate award for leading the campaign for decriminalization in Kansas City, Mo., which passed in April. Texas NORML and its director, Jax Finkel, won Chapter of the Year for their legislative efforts, while another Lone Star State activist, Ann Lee, received the Special Appreciation award for creating Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition. Philly.com writer and former Freedom Leaf senior editor Chris 18 FREEDOM LEAF 18 FREEDOM LEAF

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Goldstein got the Hunter S. Thompson Media Award and NORML founder Keith Stroup was honored for Lifetime Achievement. On Sept. 12, NORML activists descended on Capitol Hill, contacting more than 150 Congressmembers. When chapters coordinator Kevin Mahmalji bumped into Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a hallway and introduced himself, McCain pointed to the NORML gold pot-leaf emblem on Mahmalji’s lanyard and winked, “You guys are winning, you know.” Several Congressmembers participated in the events: Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.) was the conference’s keynote speaker and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) fired up the crowd at the awards ceremony. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) spoke to the assembled activists in the Veterans Affairs Committee hearing room about their amendment, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) huddled with more than 30 NORML board members and state directors to discuss his bill, The Marijuana Justice Act. “So far we haven’t created enough of a sense of urgency for all the [Congress] members to realize the importance of the issue,” he told them. “I need your help to create a sense of urgency to end prohibition once and for all.” Mikel Weisser is director of Arizona NORML.

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WOMEN GROW AND THE NEW RULES OF DIVERSIT Y BY GIA MORÓN THERE’S A DIVERSITY PROBLEM in the cannabis industry. Many have already experienced the lack of diversity in other industries, so this story is not new. But why is this so important now? People of color, women and LGBTQ communities have decided about the cannabis industry, “Not again, not this time. We’re going to change this narrative.” As a black woman of Afro-Latina decent, I’m unapologetic about entering a room and looking for color first. I’m seeking familiar faces, reflections of myself, a commonality and a welcoming nod that says, “I acknowledge you.” For far too long, whether in my professional or personal life, white people have ignored or overlooked me, so the nod lets me know I’m not alone. I also look for women and repreGia Morón sentation from the LGBTQ community. Yes, I conduct a tally, because I purposely want to know who’s in the room. The same is true when I attend conferences. I want to see who the speakers are and if they reflect our communities. A Fast Company article in 2015 stated that millennials view diversity as blended experiences, cultures and perspectives. I agree. Our diverse cultures and backgrounds certainly bring a unique richness to the table. That said, it’s our responsibility to hold 20

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people and businesses accountable when there’s an imbalance. Being diverse is smart business; just look at TV commercials, and print and digital ads. Society has forced big business into diversity and inclusion—which ultimately benefits consumers and businesses’ global reach. Many have asked me why I work for Women Grow. The simple answer is I saw where I could make a difference. Together with our CEO, Kristina Garcia (formerly Neoushoff), and our amazing market leaders, we’re committed to seeing change in the cannabis industry. This year, we’ve assembled the most diverse market-leadership and headquarters teams since our inception in 2014. We still have work to do, but I believe we will get there as a team. It’s never too late to change. This doesn’t apply to only women of color, but to a more inclusive business environment overall. Recently, Women Grow partnered with New Frontier Data on its first report on diversity in the cannabis industry. It’s FUBU (for us, by us). I hope you’ll take the time to review this important piece of research at womengrow.com. Gia Morón is Women Grow’s director of communications.

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MAKING MARIJUANA EQUITABLE FOR EVERYONE BY JAN FARIAS OVER THE PAST decade, marijuana legalization has become mainstream, with polls indicating that more than half of U.S. adults support it. While this shift in public opinion is greatly beneficial and could lead to a more compassionate and progressive health-care and justice system, there’s one aspect of legalization that is often overlooked. Historically, drug policies have disproportionately affected communities of color, although people who live in those communities use marijuana at the same rate as white people do. Even in states where it’s legal, this institutional oppression manifests as a lack of access for people of color to own and operate dispensaries and other cannabis businesses. Out of the 3,000 dispensaries in the U.S., less than three dozen are blackowned—about 1%. One of the biggest reasons for the lack of diversity in the cannabis industry is the difficult-to-navigate and often-expensive application process for licensees. In addition, in

many states, anyone with a prior conviction or history of incarceration can be rejected. For instance, in Washington, a scoring system rates applicants based on their run-ins with the law. A misdemeanor is worth four points; a total of eight points means automatic disqualification. Many potential business owners of color may also feel stigmatized or alienated from their community for trying to pursue a career in the cannabis industry. A history of mass incarceration, violence and prosecution has made many people in communities of color resist even considering allowing a cannabis dispensary to open in their neighborhoods. Vulnerability to prosecution is another issue, as the industry is still not legal under federal law. And although federal marijuana legalization would help repair and reduce the harm that the War on Drugs has caused, we need to stay aware of the institutional injustices that would remain. As a woman of color who’s been adversely affected by U.S. drug policies, I see the importance of shifting power into the hands of those who’ve been the most oppressed. If you don’t identify as a person of color but are concerned about diversity shortfalls in the cannabis business, seek out and support black and brown business owners, and talk to your friends and family about these issues. The more we learn and become aware of our own implicit biases and prejudices, the better allies we can become in dismantling systems that prey on minorities.

Scott Durrah (pictured) and his wife Wanda James own the Simply Pure retail cannabis store in Denver.

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Jan Farias is an SSDP alumna.

THE DRUG THEFAILED. DRUG WAR Start making sense™ WAR FAILED. Start making sense™

Start a chapter, join the Sensible Society, and learn more at Start a chapter, join the ssdp.org Sensible Society, and learn more at NOVEMBER 2017

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EQUITY IN OAKLAND: GIVING MINORITIES A CHANCE BY DR. ASEEM SAPPAL IT’S NO SECRET that the cannabis industry has a diversity problem. This is largely due to cities and states not allowing people with criminal records to work in the industry, hence shutting out many people from the racial and ethnic groups that have been disproportionately arrested and incarcerated for possession and sales. Oakland, California is tackling this issue head-on. Its Equity Permit Program, passed by the City Council last March, was designed to help the city’s black and Latino residents, granting them 50% of new cannabis business licenses for everything from cultivation to manufacturing. In 2011, 90% of all people arrested for marijuana in Oakland were black or Latino. People from these two groups are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than whites are, even though pot use is about the same in each group. The Equity Program was created to deal with this disparity and act as a kind of reparation. Two types of individuals can qualify: Those who were arrested and convicted of a cannabis offense in Oakland since 1996, and applicants who’ve lived in East and West Oakland, where most of the city’s marijuana arrests take place, for 10 out of the last 20 years. They also must earn less than 80% of the city’s median household income of $52,650. 24 24

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The program also created the Equity Incubator, which allows entrepreneurs to sponsor businesses run by Equity candidates. The Incubator benefits both candidate and sponsor because, if sponsors provide candidates with three years of rent or real estate for their new business, they get to speed up the applicationapproval process. Critics of the program say the qualifications are too restrictive, it’s hard for applicants to prove they’re eligible and the paperwork requirements are too difficult. Some potential business owners can’t apply because they were priced out of their homes in East and West Oakland due to gentrification, and therefor don’t meet the 10-year residency requirement. But despite the program’s imperfections, it’s still revolutionary, and is rolling out relatively smoothly. As of September 15, less than four months before adult-use marijuana becomes legal in California, 85 of the 178 applications for cannabis-business licenses in Oakland had come from equity candidates, close to the 50% requirement. Hopefully, other cities and states will follow Oakland’s lead and provide opportunities for those hit hardest by the War on Drugs. Dr. Assem Sappal is provost and dean of faculty at Oaksterdam University.

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• World’s longest standing cannabis college • Over 30,000 graduates from over 30 countries • Over 150 faculty members and subject matter experts • Business, medical and legal courses available • Certification available • Network with professionals & establish roots in the industry • Authors of the Prop 215, Senate Bill 420, MCRSA, Prop 64 • We don’t just teach the law, we helped write it

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Jesce Horton

MINORITIES MAKING MOVES

The MCBA seeks diversity in the budding cannabis industry. BY STEVE GELSI

EVER SINCE JESCE HORTON founded the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) in 2015, it’s been in the spotlight. In 2016, the group campaigned for the Portland, Ore. ballot initiative that reallocates 3% of city sales taxes on cannabis businesses to support women and minority-owned businesses with financial incentives and training, and create a fund to expunge criminal records for marijuana convictions. This past August, Horton, an engineer who owns two cannabis businesses in Oregon—Panacea Valley Gardens, a marijuana producer, and the Panacea adult-use shop in Portland—turned his attention to the controversy over Trump advisor Roger Stone’s scheduled speaking engagement at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo 26

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in Los Angeles in September. After several speakers withdrew from the event, the MCBA joined the boycott. “If we’re going to make this a better industry, we have to be careful about the compromises we make,” Horton said at the time. “To prop up someone with such a history of racist and misogynist rhetoric as a keynote speaker at this event makes it impossible for the Minority Cannabis Business Association to be involved.” Under pressure from MCBA and other groups as the event neared, the organizers dropped Stone. “As a result, MCBA has agreed to collaborate with CWCBExpo on focused content emphasizing decriminalization, entrepreneurship, investment opportunities, education and diversity at their upcom-

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“IF WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THIS A BETTER INDUSTRY, WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT THE COMPROMISES WE MAKE.” JESCE HORTON ing CWCBExpos,” the association explained on its website. (For more, see “Derailing Roger Stone” on page 14.) Horton has his eye on a bigger agenda for the cannabis industry. When asked by Freedom Leaf the point he’d like to drive home the most from all the attention the MCBA has received, he replies: “Diversity. It’s a moral argument. We owe something to the people that helped open up the industry.” Several industry surveys indicate there’s much work to be done. In 2016, BuzzFeed concluded that only 1% of storefront cannabis businesses in the U.S. were owned by African Americans. Overall, according to Marijuana Business Daily, minorities hold less than 20% of the jobs in the industry. Meanwhile, minorities continue to be disproportionately targeted by the War on Drugs. A 2013 ACLU study, “The War on Marijuana in Black and White,” concluded that a person of color is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person. Horton cites rules that make it more difficult for minority entrepreneurs to enter the cannabis industry. Barring people with prison records from starting a dispensary, as many jurisdictions do, is a major concern. The lack of minority-owned businesses makes legal cannabis less appealing in African-American neighborhoods—to the point, he contends, where customers would sometimes rather support the illegal market. Horton's farm and store are family businesses: His cousin cultivate the cannabis, and his parents also help out. He thinks legal pot is better option for consumers. Their buds are tested and the medical benefits are described for each strain. But serving an audience that grew up on blunts isn’t always easy, he says. “We never did bongs or joints. It was OG or Cookies rolled in blunts.” 28

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With these and other lessons under his belt, Horton recently visited Washington, to talk about the legal cannabis industry with the Congressional Black Caucus and other lawmakers. He urged them to fix Section 280E of the federal tax code, which prevents cannabis businesses legal under state law from claiming tax deductions from expenses associated with substances listed in Schedule I or Schedule II under the Controlled Substances Act. Similar restrictions on banking that have kept all but a few branches from granting basic savings or checking accounts to cannabis businesses are another concern. Access to capital to grow the businesses remains mostly closed off, as banks avoid lending to them because of money-laundering laws. In addition, Horton asked the lawmakers to look at federal measures to promote minority ownership of cannabis businesses. He’s particularly concerned about licensing fees that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, subjective licensing processes and, given the disproportionate way in which blacks and Latinos are arrested for pot, the rules that prevent people with cannabis-possession convictions from working in the industry. Horton says he’ll continue to push for diversity in the emerging industry as a way to help correct the racial wrongs committed by the War on Drugs. “I want to show that you don’t have to start with a million dollars to build a successful and responsible cannabis business,” he explains. “I want to see a trend shift in legal cannabis from a monopoly for the financial and political elite to opportunities for passionate, hardworking small-business owners. This will fuel the innovation the industry truly needs.” Steve Gelsi is a finance writer who lives in New Jersey.

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THE

IMPORTANCE OF

CORY BOOKER

New Jersey’s junior senator is the new leader of Congress’ effort to legalize marijuana. BY ALLEN ST. PIERRE

OR THE MODERN MOVEMENT to end cannabis prohibition, Sen. Cory Booker checks off all the boxes when it comes to being an all-star. The New Jersey Democrat, born in 1969, has lived a remarkable political arc, beginning with outstanding scholarship at Stanford University, attending Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship and graduating from Yale Law School in 1997. A year later, Booker, not even 30, was elected to Newark’s City Council. In 2006, he became the city’s youngest-ever mayor. Booker received national media attention for the innovative and successful public policies he championed, which put him in position to win a special election for the Senate in 2013 after the death of incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg. From his early days on the City Council, while addressing Newark’s then-rampant crime problems, Booker readily embraced “harm reduction” policies rather than the “arrest and lock them up” mentality long championed by police, prosecutors and prison officials. During his seven years as mayor, he worked with the Drug Policy Alliance to help Newark become a vanguard urban community. 30

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In succeeding Lautenberg, Booker replaced the author of one of the worst and most pernicious pieces of anti-cannabis legislation ever passed by Congress: the 1991 Solomon-Lautenberg amendment (a.k.a. “Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License”), which forces states to suspend the licenses of drug convicts for six months. The law doesn't require any proof that the offender was driving while impaired, unlike the laws regarding driving under the influence of alcohol. Almost immediately after he was elected, Booker introduced numerous criminal-justice reform bills, notably addressing prison sentencing and racial arrest disparities. He and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) sponsored the CARERS (Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States) Act in 2015, which would reschedule marijuana so states with medical programs wouldn’t have to worry about federal enforcement. It was reintroduced in June. “Federal marijuana policy has long overstepped the boundaries of common sense, fiscal prudence and compassion,” Booker stated at the time. “This bill will help ensure that people who can benefit from medical marijuana—from children

suffering from chronic illnesses to veterans battling PTSD—can do so without worrying about the federal government standing the way.” On Aug. 1, Booker took a more dramatic step, introducing the Marijuana Justice Act, a groundbreaking and farreaching bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, effectively “making it legal at the federal level,” according to a Senate press release. It would also “incentivize states through federal funds to change their marijuana laws if those laws were shown to have disproportionate effect on low-income individuals and/or people of color.” The bill would also expunge federal convictions for marijuana use and possession, and prisoners serving time for a pot offense would be entitled to a resentencing hearing. Those affected by a disproportionate racial arrest or imprisonment rate would be able to sue. A Community Reinvestment Fund would be established to “reinvest in communities most affected by the War on Drugs,” for everything from re-entry programs for prisoners to public libraries. “Our country’s drug laws are broken and need to be fixed,” Booker explained. “They don’t make our communities safe. Instead, they divert critical resources from fighting violent crimes, tear families apart, unfairly impact low-income communities and communities of color,

and waste billions in taxpayers dollars each year. “Descheduling marijuana and applying that change retroactively to people currently serving time for marijuana offenses is a necessary step in correcting this unjust system. States have so far led the way in reforming our criminal-justice system, and it’s about time the federal government catches up and begins to assert leadership.” Regrettably, Booker’s Marijuana Justice Act has virtually no chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Congress or of being signed by a decidedly anti-marijuana President. However, the very introduction of such a profoundly anti-prohibition bill into the staid and generally conservative Senate is definitely a bellwether for future reform legislation and the eventual end of America’s 80-year-long outlawing of cannabis. Booker says he's a complete teeto-

“

Descheduling marijuana and applying that change retroactively to people currently serving time for marijuana offenses is a necessary step in correcting this unjust system.

SENATOR BOOKER

”

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CORY BOOKER FOR PRESIDENT?

Sen. Booker with FL's Chris Thompson

taler. “I’ve never smoked marijuana,” he told Vice in October. “I’ve never smoked a cigarette. I’ve never eaten marijuana. I’ve never tried another drug. I've never drank alcohol. This, to me, is not an issue I come at through my own experimentation. I come at this as an issue of justice, as an issue of safety for our communities, as an issue of utter fairness. “This is the beginning of a journey,” he continued. “I don’t see the pathway to passage [of the Justice Act] right now. But I know that the first abolitionists that got together and started fighting for abolition didn’t see the likelihood of passage in Congress at that point. And that the first activists that started pressing for voting-rights legislation and civil-rights legislation didn’t see a pathway. “It’s going to be a far shorter journey than many may think. Millennials in this country, Republicans and Democrats, overwhelmingly believe in legalization. So we’re getting there, and as experiments in a dozen-plus states continue to forge forward on medical marijuana, and as decriminalization and legalization begin to show more instructive ways for dealing with marijuana, I think the momentum for our movement is going to continue.” NORML members got to rub shoulders with Booker and other pro-legalization Congress representatives during the organization’s Lobby Day in September. (For more on the event, turn to page 16.) A group photo was taken, and the senator posed for plenty of selfies. “Meeting Sen. Booker was an amazing opportunity,” says Chris Thompson, Freedom Leaf ’s director of digital mar32

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Asked on CNN in July if he would run for President in 2020, Sen. Booker commented, “I don’t know what the future’s going to bring. If I start thinking about the future like that or engaging in that stuff, I think it would make me less of a senator. I’m a guy that’s going to criticize policies that, frankly, in a lot of states that are important for presidential elections would find that very much of a threat. My loyalty is to the position I’m in right now.” Currently, the political figures considered to have the best chances of defeating Donald Trump include Booker; fellow senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); former Vice President Joe Biden; and former First Lady Michelle Obama. keting who attended both the NORML Conference and Lobby Day. “He was extremely genuine, listened to stories from NORML chapters around the country and explained his new legalization bill to us. "The Senator was very gracious with his time, offering to take selfies with everyone. When it was my turn, he asked me where I was from and made jokes with me while we took the picture. Overall, it was an awesome meeting, and I'm so thankful to NORML for setting it up.” Clearly, Sen. Booker is a favorite among legalizers across the nation. His support for the cause is a reminder of how the drug war has devastated minority communities. “There’s no time like the present to advocate for what’s right, to advocate for justice,” he says with the faith of a true believer. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the federal government shouldn’t be in the marijuana-prohibition business.” Allen St. Pierre is the former executive director of NORML.

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Dr. Carl Hart

MOVING BEYOND

CANNABIS

LEGALIZATION ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TIME TO GET RID OF RACIST POLITICIANS AND POLICIES. BY DR. CARL HART

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n September 22, arrested for cannabis violations. This is before an enthusidespite the fact that blacks, Latinos and astically cheering whites all use the drug at similar rates Alabama crowd, and they all tend to purchase the drug Donald Trump defrom individuals within their own racial clared in animated group. This is an unambiguous example fashion, “Get that of racism in drug law enforcement. son of bitch off the What’s worse, in these encounters field!” What would inspire such offensive with police, too often the black person language from a United States President? ends up dead. There have been several Was he angry with North Korean leader recent cases during which officers cited Kim Jong-un over his nuclear-weapons the fictitious dangers posed by cannabis program? Or perhaps his ire was aimed at to justify their deadly actions. On July Russian President Vladimir Putin for in6, 2016, in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon terfering in the 2016 U.S. election? Heights, Minn., officer Jeronimo Yanez Nope. It wasn’t any of the above. It shot and killed Philando Castile, a black, turns out Trump was angry with Colin defenseless motorist, as his girlfriend Kaepernick and other National Football and young daughter watched helplessly. League players who The smell of canhave silently nabis, Yanez protested— claimed, conby refusing stituted an to stand apparent for the imminent national danger. From anthem This past left, clockwise: in reJune, he Philando sponse was acquitCastile, Ramarley to racial ted of manGraham and injustices slaughter. Sandra perpetrated Of course, Bland by police offithis wasn’t the cers who are rarely first time (nor will it be held accountable. Like the last) a police officer many Americans, I has cited the “cannafeel Trump’s actions bis makes black peowere beneath the ofple homicidal” defense fice that he holds. Furto justify these deadther, rather than inflamly interactions. Michael ing racial tensions, Trump Brown, of Ferguson, Mo., in should use the vast resources 2014 and Keith Lamont Scott, available to him to fight the very of Charlotte, N.C., in 2016 were injustices that Kaepernick and others both killed by police who used some verhave highlighted. sion of this bogus defense. Both officers Eradicating the harm caused by racwere acquitted. ism in drug-law enforcement would be Ramarley Graham (New York, 2012), one good starting place. Last year, nearTrayvon Martin (Sanford, Fla., 2012), Ruly 600,000 Americans were arrested for main Brisbon (Phoenix, 2014), and Sansimply possessing cannabis. Even though dra Bland (Prairie View, Tex., 2015) all this number is down from its peak (more also had their lives cut short as a result than 850,000 in 2010), at the state level, of an interaction with law enforcement black people are four times more likely to (or a proxy) initiated under the pretense be arrested for cannabis than their white of suspicion of cannabis use. One way to counterparts. At the federal level, Latinos decrease these deadly interactions is to represent two-thirds of the individuals make cannabis legally available for adult NOVEMBER 2017

FREEDOM LEAF 35

CHANGING MARIJUANA LAWS DECREASES POTENTIALLY HOSTILE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BLACKS AND THE POLICE, BUT IS INSUFFICIENT FOR CORRECTING RACIAL INJUSTICES THAT ARE DEEPLY EMBEDDED IN OUR SOCIETY. consumption. Indeed, to date, eight states have passed such legislation. In Colorado, where since 2014 the law has permitted adults to use cannabis recreationally, they’ve seen a dramatic decrease in the number of cannabis arrests. This number has dropped by more than 50% for some demographic groups. Similar findings have been observed in Washington State and in the District of Columbia. Even after cannabis legalization, however, the racial disparities in arrests still persist. For example, black Coloradans remain three times more likely to be busted for cannabis violations than white Coloradans. The point is that changing marijuana laws alone is helpful—because it decreases potentially hostile interactions between blacks and the police—but is insufficient for correcting racial injustices that are deeply embedded in our society. In other words, it would be naïve to think that changing cannabis policy alone will alter the racist behavior of some Americans. California’s Proposition 64, which legalized recreational cannabis for adults in 2016, was touted as a racial-justice initiative that redresses previous discrimination in marijuana-law enforcement. Indeed, Prop 64 states that tax revenues generated from cannabis sales will be directed toward “communities disproportionately affected by past federal and state drug policies.” But, as Seattle University law professor Steven Bender eloquently noted, “The Proposition language neither identifies those communities nor overtly links their identity to racialized populations or racialized enforcement bias.” Stated another way, Prop 64 is not a racial-justice initiative. Nor are any of the other referendums that have legalized cannabis. So then, what is needed? In addition to legalizing cannabis at the federal level, law-enforcement agencies should 36

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be required to report and justify cannabis-arrest data. If racial discrimination is detected, then immediate consequences should be implemented. Consequences could include, but not be limited to, judicial oversight for the violating law-enforcement agency and/or a decrease in that agency’s budget. It’s remarkable how quickly behavior changes when appropriate and immediate consequences are imposed. Back in the 1930s, when there was little scientific evidence investigating the effects of cannabis on human behavior, we were vulnerable to exaggerated anecdotal accounts of its supposed tendency to induce aggression and violence. Law-enforcement types like Harry J. Anslinger, commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, routinely recounted gruesome stories such as this one: “[P]olice found a youth… with an ax he had killed his father, mother, two brothers and a sister… he had become crazed from smoking marijuana.” These fabrications were widely disseminated, facilitating passage of draconian policies, racial discrimination and incalculable human misery. More than 80 years later, I’ve given thousands of doses of cannabis to people as a part of my research and have never seen a research participant become violent or aggressive while under the influence of the drug. Hence, the reefer-madness myth should be dispensed with immediately. So too should politicians who encourage racism and policies that have the same effect. Carl L. Hart is the chair of the department of psychology and professor in psychiatry at Columbia University and author of High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society.

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THE

AL SHARPTON EFFECT The controversial New York clergyman is one of the new voices for diversity in the cannabis industry. BY STEVE BLOOM

T TOOK A WHILE for the Rev. Al Sharpton to jump aboard the legalization movement’s soul train. The founder of the National Action Network and MSNBC talking head had long protested pretty much every issue that affects people of color, except for the drug issue. I’ve known Sharpton since the late ’70s, when I was a young music journalist and he was one of the great R&B star James Brown’s best friends. After writing a cover story about the Godfather of Soul for the New York's Soho Weekly News in 1979, I had terrific access to Soul Brother No. 1. I met Sharpton on many occasions

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in the company of Brown, and wrote about it in my 1988 New York magazine article, “The Reverend and the Godfather.” That same year I started working for High Times. Marijuana had become my beat. About 12 years ago, I ran into Sharpton in New York’s Hilton Hotel. He was heading up an escalator and asked what I was up to when he saw me. I told him I now had a job as an editor at High Times. “That’s good,” he said, shaking his head up and down. “Real good.” That’s when I knew the Reverend was on our side.

He’d long been a controversial figure on the New York scene, often leading rallies over police brutality and housing concerns. But Sharpton’s insistence that Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old girl from the upstate village of Wappingers Falls, had been raped by four white men, including a police officer, in 1987, tarnished his reputation both locally and nationally. Her accusations were ultimately ruled false by a grand jury. It took nearly two decades for him to get back in the public’s good graces. By 2010, Sharpton began appearing as a pundit on MSNBC and soon had his own program, PoliticsNation. He’d lost a lot of weight and looked like a new man. Mainstream America was finally ready to embrace the Reverend. Though he’d not spoken on it, Sharpton was clearly watching as state after state began to legalize first medical marijuana and then recreational cannabis, starting with Colorado and Washington in 2012. While things were changing out West, New York City was in the throes of a marijuana-arrest epidemic, with as many as 50,000 busts per year under Mayors Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. Stop-and-frisk, it turns out, was the instrument for so many of those arrests. As ending the New York police’s stop-and-frisk policy became the new rallying cry in New York (it was ruled unconstitutional in 2013), the city’s sky-high marijuana-arrest totals became a major part of the discussion. This past June 17, Rev. Sharpton delivered a keynote address at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo at the Javits Center in New York. Diversity has deservedly become a buzzword in the marijuana world, and he was there to talk about it. Here’s what the reverend had to say: • “We at the National Action Network look at this as a civil rights, a human rights and a decriminalization issue. But none of the members of the group can benefit if we don’t all benefit.” • “A reporter asked me, ‘Do I smoke weed?’ That’s always the first question. Well, over a decade ago, I came out in support of same-sex marriage, and I’m not gay. I come here to say that weed

“ ’DO I SMOKE WEED?’ THAT’S ALWAYS THE FIRST QUESTION. WELL, OVER A DECADE AGO I CAME OUT IN SUPPORT OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, AND I’M NOT GAY. WEED MUST BE DECRIMINALIZED, AND I DON’T SMOKE WEED.” must be decriminalized, and I don’t smoke weed. We’re tired of seeing young black and Latino people disproportionately go to jail for possessing weed in small amounts, while the culprits that broke the economy walk away unscathed with no criminal indictments or prosecution.” • “Why do I support it? Because blacks and Latinos account for about a third of the population in New York, yet 85% of the people arrested for marijuana possession are black and Latino. Because possession of marijuana is at the top of the misdemeanor arrests in the state of New York. A lot of people do not understand that there are consequences that are almost unthinkable. You can lose your residence in city housing if you have a marijuana conviction. You can be held and detained by Immigration if you have a marijuana conviction. You can be denied employment if you have a marijuana conviction. You can be refused admission to certain colleges if you have a marijuana conviction. This disproportionately impacts people of color.” NOVEMBER 2017

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James Brown (left) and Rev. Sharpton were best friends for more than 30 years.

“WE DON’T NEED TO BE LOCKED UP BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AND LOCKED OUT BY THE INDUSTRY.” • “We cannot talk about civil rights and fair housing and fair immigration without addressing the criminalization of marijuana.” • “Let me also challenge the cannabis industry. The industry must be inclusive of blacks and Latinos and people of color. We can’t, on one side, have the disproportionate punishment and, on the other side, have a disproportionate lack of involvement and business opportunities in this industry. This industry last year went up to $7 billion, yet less than 1% of dispensaries are owned and operated by blacks. We need to raise the level of activism in the industry, but we must also raise ownership, management and participation on the business side. We don’t 40

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need to be locked up by law enforcement and locked out by the industry.” • “My message to you is that we must take on those that would try to shut the industry down, but we must also take on those in the industry that want to shut us out. This must be a people’s movement.” • “This is a call to action, for all of us to stand against reactionary criminal-justice policies, policies against those with medical needs and policies against those that would disproportionately suffer in communities of color. We also must deal with reactionary forces in the industry that want to use it as a private club to become oligarchs.” • “I stand with you. I will see you at the barricades.” Sharpton’s message was so well received that he spoke at the next two CWCBExpo events in Los Angeles in September and Boston in October. Interestingly, Trump adviser Roger Stone, who also spoke in New York, was booted from the L.A. and Boston events after an uproar in the cannabis community against him. Sharpton encouraged the CWC to cut him loose. On a personal note, after his speech in New York, I walked up to the stage and said hello to Sharpton. He greeted me warmly, then announced to anyone who cared to listen: “He was James Brown’s favorite music journalist!” Amen, Reverend Al, amen.

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THE

COLOR OF

ADDICTION AUTHOR OF THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BOOK THE NEW JIM CROW: MASS INCARCERATION IN THE AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS, MICHELLE ALEXANDER IS ALSO A LAWYER WHO’S WORKED FOR THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION. HER SPEECH AT THE DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE’S CONFERENCE IN ATLANTA ON OCTOBER 12 LARGELY FOCUSED ON HOW DRUG POLICIES AFFECT WHITE PEOPLE AND PEOPLE OF COLOR DIFFERENTLY. HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS.

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

“Clearly, the victories for marijuana decriminalization and legalization have benefited people of all colors, as arrest rates have declined dramatically in many states. Even though severe racial disparities do remain and discriminatory enforcement hasn’t changed much, at least the total number of people arrested and criminalized has declined. That’s a positive development for all people of all colors.”

THE PARADOX OF THE NOVEMBER 2016 ELECTION “The great legislative victories to legalize marijuana in sever42

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al states did not occur in a vacuum. They occurred on the very same night that Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, an election that was made possible in no small part by deliberate, explicit appeals to white racial resentment and anxiety. Some have said this is a very strange paradox: Progressive drug policy sweeping the nation at the very moment that Trump is elected President and a fierce drug warrior is named attorney general. Yet, from where I sit, there is no paradox, no mystery at all. There’s a common denominator underlining both the drug reform victories and the election of Donald Trump. It’s called whiteness….

Any victory that’s dependent on whiteness, in whole or in part, is truly not a victory for us all. Black and brown folks may benefit so long as the face of drugs is white, but the minute that changes, all bets are off.”

Michelle Alexander: “I don’t think we’re going to end racism in my lifetime, but I intend to end the War on Drugs.”

THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

“We face an unprecedented crisis in this country. Drug overdoses are at a record high. The crack epidemic seems somewhat mild by comparison…. Many experts predict we haven’t seen the worst of it yet. Yes, there is outcry over the opioid crisis, but it’s relatively muted considering the magnitude of the crisis at hand. I’m told that this newfound tolerance and compassion for white users and abusers of illegal drugs will translate into a permanent ceasefire in the drug war, and the shifts in law and policy will inevitably benefit people of all races and classes in the long run. I have my doubts about this.”

THE RACIAL SCHISM OF THE DRUG WAR

“People do change their minds when the victims of drug policy are white. That’s a fact. And people do become far more punitive when the face of drugs or crime is black or brown. That’s a fact… Taken together, these facts mean that so long as the progressive public consensus about drugs is rooted in compassion for white people, the consensus will not last for long. Why? Because sooner or later the face of drug abuse will change. It always has. No racial group has ever had a permanent monopoly on addiction. The minute the color of addiction changes, so-called consensus will begin to unravel, and we’ll be back to full-out war.”

ENDING RACISM AND THE WAR ON DRUGS

“I think we can win this War on Drugs without ending racism. I don’t think we’re going to end racism in my lifetime, but I intend to end the War on Drugs, with or without ending racism… We must be committed to placing race and racial justice at the very center of the drug-policy reform movement.”

THE STATE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

“This movement convened right here in this room stands at a critical crossroads. What path we take in the months and years to come will likely determine whether our movement succeeds or fails in the long run. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that the path we choose will have enormous implications for the success and failure of our democracy as a whole. Our democracy is in a state of crisis…. We must begin to think much bigger, beyond drug policy, and consider more carefully how drug policy fits into the bigger picture of American democracy.”

THE FUTURE OF DRUGREFORM POLICY

“We’re going to have to build a multiracial, multiethnic, multigender grassroots movement from the bottom up. There’s no way around it. We’re going to have to learn to reach across the lines that have divided us, not just for decades, but for centuries. We’re going to have to work together to build this sturdy foundation. And we’re going to have to listen and accept leadership from the people who’ve been most harmed, most stigmatized and most discarded in the wars that we have waged upon them. I hope you will eventually come to see this beautiful, vibrant, raucous movement as being about much more than drug policy, because it can, if we let it, become a movement that’s fundamental to the remaking of our democracy. Let the movement begin.” NOVEMBER 2017

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THE DIVERSITY ISSUE

LIST

IMPACT

TEN PEOPLE OF COLOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN CANNABIS

QUEEN ADESUYI POLICY ASSOCIATE DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE WASHINGTON, D.C. My impact has primarily been around federal legislation—from the inclusion of racial justice and reparative language in marijuana legalization to emphasizing the need to end collateral consequences of drug convictions and ease the burden for people post-conviction or incarceration. I worked closely with Sen. Cory Booker’s team on the Marijuana Justice Act, the first bill to legalize marijuana on the federal level that intentionally includes racial justice and reparative components. I also worked closely with Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s team on legislation that would lift the decades-old collateral consequence of having your driver’s license automatically suspended for a minimum of six months after any drug conviction. It was 1991 when Congress passed a law requiring states to automatically suspend drivers’ licenses for a drug offense, and the catch phrase then was, ‘Smoke a joint, lose your license.’ In the years since, the harsh impact on people trying to get back on their feet is shining a light on just how counterproductive the War on Drugs has been and continues to be.

DR. G. MALIK BURNETT PHYSICIAN JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOLOF PUBLIC HEALTH WASHINGTON, D.C. Over the past year, while completing a residency at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, I continued to advance the broader drug-policy reform agenda around the country. In the District of Columbia, I worked to pass legislation expanding the city's medical-cannabis program, establishing policies including universal reciprocity, independent laboratory testing of medical cannabis and allowing nurse practitioners to recommend cannabis. Additionally, I serve on the board of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, where I work with physicians across the country to ensure smart policies around public health and social justice are included in state and local legislation. I also worked on Maryland Governor Larry Hogan's operational response team providing strategic data analysis of the state's response to the opioid epidemic. 44

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JOHN KAGIA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/ INDUSTY ANALYTICS NEW FRONTIER DATA WASHINGTON, D.C. Working for a data-analytics company focused on the cannabis industry, I have the privilege of leading a team that tirelessly strives to understand the current state of the industry and where it’s going. This year, we’ve looked at issues like job creation, tax revenue growth and the surging demand for non-flower products. We've also dealt with the role of cannabis in reducing opioid abuse, an issue that’s dominating the public discourse right now. Since January, I’ve traveled to more than 20 cities around the U.S. and Canada to understand how the different markets are evolving, and to present our market insights at conferences and industry events. We've met with investors and entrepreneurs among the vanguard of the industry, briefed U.S. and Canadian cannabis regulators as well as Congressional lawmakers and their staff, and were even invited to speak at the White House about the trends we're seeing. We’re delighted that entrepreneurs and innovators who are shaping the future of legal cannabis are using our data to understand the industry, define policy, evaluate opportunities and measure impacts. Stay tuned for more groundbreaking insights in the year ahead.

OPHELIA CHONG OWNER STOCKPOT IMAGES LOS FELIZ, CALIF. In January 2015, I looked at a close relative and thought, “Wow, she’s a stoner.” After hearing that thought reverberate in my brain, I realized that I’d become that person that stereotypes minorities, someone who puts the “other” in a box out of fear, racism and small mindedness. That day, StockPot Images was born. I made StockPot’s mission to open minds like mine to the real faces and communities of cannabis. We’re now the largest cannabisphoto agency, with over 225 photographers, all active in the cannabis community and archiving the communities’ truths. In June, we created the Dennis Peron Collection, a library of images that’s an archive of his history and his leading contributions to the legalization of cannabis. All licensing profits go to the Dennis Peron Foundation. One of my favorite images this year that encapsulated our mission was of a young boy running through a garden of cannabis. His joy and lack of fear of the plant brought me hope for a future where cannabis is recognized as a healing plant. NOVEMBER 2017

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SIRITA WRIGHT COFOUNDER ESTROHAZE NEW YORK, N.Y. Last January, I was unhappy at work, restless and felt my life shifting. After resigning from my employer in mid-February, two colleagues of mine and I moved to Colorado to immerse ourselves in the cannabis industry there. We were accepted by CanopyBoulder. In 2015, I went on The Breakfast Club, one of the biggest radio shows in the U.S. When asked about what industries people should invest in, I said, “Cannabis.” I was invited back in 2016 and 2017, and each time I talked about the amazing opportunities in cannabis. I encourage people of color to learn more about the cannabis industry and to transition into the cannabis workforce using their existing skill sets. Along with my EstroHaze cofounders Kali Wilder and Safon Floyd, in less than a year we’ve created a media company and a safe space for multicultural women to learn about the cannabis industry—from health and wellness to career and business opportunities. We’ve become a bridge for multicultural cannabis connoisseurs, elevating the conversation beyond the stoner stereotypes.

KAYVAN KHALATBARI COFOUNDER DENVER RELIEF CONSULTING DENVER, COLO. This year we became one of only five vertically integrated operations in Pennsylvania, and the first to become operational, with Cresco Yeltrah. Our Nevada operations with Silver Sage Wellness maneuvered into adult use, while our Illinois operations grew, with Cresco Labs holding a 25% market share in the state. My offices also released a comprehensive California market report and took a controlling interest in High Times. I’m also co-executive producer for Super Troopers 2, which will be released in April. I was re-elected as a director with both the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) and the Minority Cannabis Industry Association (MCBA), and worked on the MCBA’s state model bill that was crafted to ensure minority participation in the cannabis industry and a reinvestment into the communities that have been most harmed by the drug war. I coproduced the 2nd Annual Cannabis Sustainability Symposium in partnership with the city of Denver in October, and attended my fifth NCIA Lobby Day in May. Perhaps most important, I cochaired the committee that brought Denver its first tiny-house village to serve people experiencing homelessness, sit on a board that is proposing supervised injection facilities in Denver and filed paperwork to run for mayor of Denver in 2019. 46

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JACOBI HOLLAND COFOUNDER JADE INSIGHTS AND CANNABIS TECH GROUP NEW YORK, N.Y. This year has been an incredible one for my career. After months of development, my partner and I built and successfully launched the beta for our cannabis data-analytics software, Jade Insights. It’s a software platform that helps cannabis businesses augment their process by providing insights for data-backed decision-making. In addition, I also had the pleasure of working with government and PR groups, national CBD brands, organizations like Women Grow, and companies like Mindful in Colorado. I continue to advocate for patient access to medical marijuana, and work with recreational legalization groups like StartsmartNY and Drug Policy Alliance that aim to take away one of the many tools law enforcement uses to lock up people of color, and to make sure we’re not pushed out of this industry. My team and I successfully hosted our first Cannabis Technology Summit in New York City in June. Our goal was to bring awareness of emerging innovation and opportunities to the East Coast regarding cannabis technology and to destigmatize cannabis.

WANDA JAMES COFOUNDER SIMPLY PURE DENVER, COLO. Not only did Simply Pure experience significant growth over the past year, we continued to fight for industry progress and equality. We opened the recreational side of the dispensary nearly two years ago, and that proved to be great for the overall business. With this steady growth, we added more than 20 new employees. In addition, our Simply Pure brand infused products are coming out next year. We started in the industry making our own edibles, so the return to infused products is very exciting. We’re committed to educating our patients and empowering them to make the best decisions for their lifestyles, and that includes a variety of ways to consume cannabis. Since we started in 2009, we’ve been vocal and active on local, regional and national levels, working to destigmatize consumption, decriminalize use and promote that, frankly, regulation works. Last spring, we helped lead an industry push with other Denver business owners to combat the city’s hard stop on sales, which was 7 p.m. We were successful and, as a result, cannabis retail shops now have the option to stay open until 10 p.m. While Simply Pure grows, we know it’s important to fight for the industry—from a legalization, regulation and diversity standpoint. 48

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“Cheech Marin is one of the biggest inﬂuences on my comedy and my marijuana advocacy. Whatever you do, do not smoke this book, read it!” —DOUG BENSON, COMEDIAN

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GRIZZLY BOCOURT FOUNDER A REBEL MINDED SOCIETY BROOKLYN, N.Y. As one of the voices for a community of rebels who’ve been negatively affected by the War on Drugs, I felt it was important for A.R.M.S. to aid in raising the public's level of consciousness as to what is happening, and to help them be part of the reshaping of the cannabis industry as it becomes legal nationwide. Our mission is to provide outlets and resources for creative expression through media, music, fashion and art, as well as a platform to discuss community issues. This year we formally introduced our Cannabis Awareness Society events, featuring panel discussions, live music, art and vendors, and in October, our first annual fundraiser for breast cancer. As we seek to raise awareness and funds, I felt it was important to shed light on cannabis’ impact in medical treatment by educating our community on how the endocannabinoid system can help fight off the disease and become an alternative option to conventional treatments. The future is looking promising for cannabis, and it’s our goal to ensure our community is properly equipped with the knowledge and tools to be part of the change.

DEBORAH PETERSON SMALL FOUNDER, BREAK THE CHAINS OAKLAND, CALIF. I propose that leaders in the cannabis industry pledge 1%-2% of their annual profits to establish a venture philanthropy fund that would be used to back projects in communities disproportionately affected by marijuana-law enforcement. To be eligible to receive monies from the "Fund for Growth" (funded by cannabis growers), an applicant would have to be a resident of the targeted community and a member of one of the local savings clubs. We would encourage communities to replicate the model of "sou-sous,” a popular savings strategy in Caribbean and African communities. I'm calling them Community Assisted Self-Help (CASH) clubs, where members would set aside a certain amount each month into the fund. The amount would be matched by the Fund for Growth. This would provide buy-in from both community residents as well as funders, giving all some “skin in the game,” as well as providing incentive for saving and investing. As an additional incentive to growers, we could incorporate a logo—similar to a “fair trade” logo—for the project that would be placed on the products generated by contributing businesses so consumers would know when they purchase certain products they’re also helping to promote restorative justice and community reinvestment. 50

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DIVERSITY IN THE NEW MARIJUANA ECONOMY BY NGAIO BEALUM

THERE HAVE BEEN plenty of stories, blogs and social-media posts about the “whitewashing of the Green Rush.” For years, the Minority Cannabis Business Association and other groups have sounded the alarms about how this new wave of ganjapreneurs is distressingly monochromatic. Is anything actually being done? Yes, things are being done. Oakland, California, which continues to be far ahead of any other municipality when it comes to cannabis, has approved a program that gives half of new city cannabusiness licenses to people with lower incomes or who live in the neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the War on Drugs. (See “Equity in Oakland” on page 24.) Massachusetts’ new adult-use pot law has a provision mandating outreach programs to the historically disenfranchised, and Boston City Councilmember Ayanna Pressley has introduced legislation that would direct 20% of unspent revenues from state and local marijuana taxes toward programs aimed at social justice and creating more opportunities for people of color. Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia have all enacted legislation designed to create more diversity in the cannabis industry. In fact, Pennsylvania requires businesses applying for medical-cannabis licenses to spell out their plan for ensuring a diverse workforce. Women are taking the lead in cannabis industry in terms of diversity. They fill 36% of the executive positions, according to a 2015 Marijuana Business Daily survey. That's significantly higher than the 22% national average in the non-weed world. Here's the thing: States and cities can only do so much. Just because people of color are encouraged to apply doesn’t mean they have the access to the capital needed to to start a cannabusiness. FYI: You can’t get a bank loan for a weed busi52

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Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley

ness, because marijuana is illegal under federal law. It’s up to the movers and the shakers in the cannabis industry to create a diverse workforce and investment programs, and maybe even micro-loans and grants for smaller businesses. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because studies show that diverse workforces are more profitable. Marijuana loves diversity. Hell, three of the biggest celebrity stoners of all time are minorities. Cheech Marin is MexicanAmerican, Tommy Chong is half-Chinese (and Canadian!) and Snoop Dogg is a Crip. All in all, it seems like the cannabis industry has noticed the problem and is taking steps to create positive change. Ngaio Bealum is a comedian and activist who regualrly appears at canabis events.

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FREEDOM LEAF™ AND WALLSTREET RESEARCH™ JOIN FORCES TO ATTRACT INVESTORS TO PUBLIC COMPANIES IN THE CANNABIS SECTOR Freedom Leaf Inc. (OTCQB: FRLF) has entered into a Joint Venture with WallStreet Research™ (WSR) to be the Financial Go-To organizations for public companies. The joint venture will offer Financial Research Reports and produce Marijuana/ Hemp Investment Forums in LA, San Francisco, Boca Raton, FL and NYC throughout the year. WSR has conducting Investment Forums for 20+ years all with vetted investors. WallStreet Research™ (WSR) is a top ranked independent research firm with a history spanning over three decades. WSR provides the global investment community with independent analyst research reports, corporate profiles and newsletters of selected quality emerging growth companies. Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTCQB: FRLF) is one of the leading go-to resources in the cannabis, medical marijuana, and industrial hemp industry. The company is involved in mergers and acquisitions in the marijuana industry, including incubation, acceleration and spin offs of new cannabis and hemp industry related companies. Freedom Leaf Inc.’s flagship publication is Freedom Leaf Magazine, “The Good News in Marijuana Reform”. The company produces a portfolio of news, print and digital multi-media verticals, websites, blogs and web advertising, for the ever changing emerging cannabis sector. NOVEMBER 2017

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QUEER IN

CANNABIS

LGBTQ INCLUSIVENESS HITS HIGH NOTES. BY MIA DISTEFANO AS A QUEER woman from New York who’s been involved in the cannabis industry for more than three years, I’ve met dozens of LGBTQ people, ranging from millennials to baby-boomers, activists to executives. As a new industry, cannabis benefits from growing in a time where there's more awareness of the value of diversity. “The medical part of this industry has deep roots [in the AIDS crisis] that has been forgotten about over the decades,” says Josh Drayton, director of communications and outreach for the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA). Drayton, who started his cannabis career in Humboldt County more than a decade ago as an out gay man, helped launch CCIA’s Diversity and Inclusion program, which focuses on mentorship for underrepresented communities. He’s also working on the launch of Sprout, an LGBT-inclusive space for the Bay Area cannabis industry. “I started to get concerned about the lack of LGBT representation when I went to some of the Cannabis Cups,” Drayton explains, “because of the extreme white male presence and advertising geared toward heterosexual men.” While many legal-cannabis companies have begun to focus on advertising that appeals across genders, the key to change is diverse leadership and a willingness to call out bad behavior. For Isamarie Pérez, moving from the tech world into the cannabis industry was a welcome change. “It was incredibly refreshing to meet so many more LGBTQ people and business owners than 54

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LGBTQ activist Isamarie Pérez: "We share a common sense of being othered."

I ever did in tech,” says Pérez, who’s actively advocated for LGBTQ inclusion as a speaker for Lesbians Who Tech and works at Meadow, a cannabis software start-up backed by Y Combinator, where she hosts free licensing workshops and panels, meets with regulators on the local and state level, and attends social-equity workshops to ensure representation within the industry for those who lack access to capital. “My sexuality may not be as obvious as the fact that I am a woman with brown skin,” Pérez adds. “They are very different experiences individually, yet we share a common sense of being othered, which I think anyone in the cannabis industry can relate to on some level. If we can all take a step back and realize that we’re stronger together than we are alone, the cannabis movement has the chance to be like no other industry before it.” Mia Di Stefano consults on marketing and digital strategy for cannabis companies under her brand High Growth NYC.

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FREEDOM FREEDOMLEAF LEAF 59 59

INTERNATIONAL

CANNABIS CUISINE

RECIPES BY CHERI SICARD • PHOTOS BY MITCH MANDELL Nowhere is diversity more apparent than in the kitchen. You can modify almost any recipe from anywhere with cannabis. Take a trip around the world without leaving your kitchen!

Mango Bhang Lassi India’s version of a smoothie is tangy with yogurt, and slightly spiced with cardamom and cannabis. • 1½ cups frozen mango pieces • 1½ cups plain whole milk yogurt • ¾ cup whole milk or buttermilk • ¼ gm. decarboxylated kief • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom 60

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Place frozen mango, yogurt, milk or buttermilk, kief and cardamom in blender or food processor, and purée until smooth. If it’s too thick, add additional milk or buttermilk as needed. Makes 2 servings.

Soulful Southern Shrimp and Ganja Grits Smoky ham, sweet shrimp, sharp cheddar cheese and creamy butter make these rich grits anything but bland. • 1 cup regular grits • 2 slices uncooked bacon, chopped • ¼ lb. diced ham • ½ cup green onions, chopped • 1 lb. medium raw shrimp, peeled • ½ tomatoes, seeded and diced • 2 large eggs • 6 oz. sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated • 2 tbsp. cannabis-infused butter • 1 tbsp. butter • 2 tsp. olive oil • 4 cups water • ¾ teaspoon salt • ½ tsp. hot sauce (optional) • Salt and pepper to taste

Grilled Flank Steak with Infused Chimichurri Sauce This classic South American sauce of parsley, lemon and garlic makes the perfect accompaniment to grilled meats. It’s also delicious on grilled chicken or fish.

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and chopped bacon, and cook until bacon begins to render fat. Add green onions and diced ham, and sauté, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until they begin to brown. Add shrimp and diced tomatoes to the skillet and cook, stirring often, for about 3-4 minutes or until shrimp are pink and not quite fully cooked. Set aside. Bring water and salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Whisk in grits until mixture is smooth. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in cannabutter, butter and grated cheese until melted and combined. Stir in hot sauce as desired. Beat eggs together and add into grits mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper and divide among 6 serving dishes. Top grits with shrimp/ham mixture, dividing among the 6 dishes. Serve immediately. • 1½ lb. flank steak • ¼ cup cannabis-infused olive oil • ½ cup olive oil • ¼ cup lemon juice • 1¼ cup Italian parsley • 2 tbsp. garlic, minced • 1 tsp. salt • 1 tsp. pepper • ½ tsp. crushed red pepper Combine all ingredients, except steak, in a blender or food processor, and process to purée. Set aside. Sprinkle both sides of steak with salt and pepper. Grill over medium-hot flame for about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve steak slices, cut against the grain, accompanied by chimichurri sauce and roasted vegetables. Serves 6. NOVEMBER 2017

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Blazin’ Baklava Using frozen phyllo dough makes this classic Middle Eastern dessert easier to prepare.

SYRUP • 1 cup orange juice • 1 tsp. orange zest • 1 cup sugar • ½ cup honey • ½ tsp. cinnamon

BAKLAVA • 1 lb. package frozen phyllo dough, thawed in the refrigerator overnight • 2¾ cups pistachios and pine nuts, chopped • ¾ cup cannabis-infused butter, melted • ¼ cup butter, melted • ¼ cup sugar • 1 tsp. cinnamon Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9” x 13” pan. Combine all syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside. Use a food processor to chop 2½ cups of nuts into small, evensized pieces. Stir sugar and cinnamon into

Szechuan-Style Tofu with Peppers and Mushrooms This easy and healthy Chinese-style stir-fry combines many satisfying flavors and textures. • 4 cups cooked rice • 1 lb. extra-firm tofu • 1 small yellow onion, chopped into 1-inch chunks 62

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the chopped nuts until well combined. Melt the cannabis butter and butter together. As phyllo dough dries fast, keep it covered with a damp kitchen towel while you’re working. Place a sheet of dough into the saucepan. Use a pastry brush to brush the phyllo sheet with the melted butter mixture. Repeat 7 more times, until the stack is 8 sheets thick. Spread a thin layer of the nut mixture over the dough. Cover with two more sheets, brushing each one with butter. Continue to repeat, adding a layer of the nut mixture, then a sheet, butter and another sheet, until the nut mixture is used up. Finish up with 8 more sheets, brushing each with butter as you add them. Take a sharp knife and cut the baklava into 24 pieces in the pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Spoon the cooled syrup over the hot baklava and sprinkle with the remaining chopped nuts. Let cool for at least 2 hours before removing to a serving dish. Makes 24 servings. • 1 small yellow bell pepper, in strips • 1 small red bell pepper, in strips • 1 tbsp. garlic, minced • 2 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil • 1 tsp. sesame oil • ¼ cup dry white wine • ¼ tsp. cider vinegar • ¼ cup soy sauce • ¾ cup water • 2 tbsp. honey or sugar • 2 tbsp. cornstarch • 2 tsp. dry mustard • ½ gram decarboxylated kief • Black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Cut brick of tofu in half horizontally and place the 2 large pieces flat on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Cover with additional towels and place another plate on top for weight. Let sit for a few minutes, change the paper towels and repeat; you’re trying to squeeze as much moisture out of the tofu as possible. Cut pressed tofu into chunks about 1 inch square. Set aside. In medium saucepan, combine wine, soy sauce, water, vinegar, honey, garlic, dry mustard and kief, and heat over medium-high until mixture almost boils.

Remove from heat. Place cornstarch in a small bowl and pour in a small amount of hot liquid, whisking until it dissolves. Whisk this back into the saucepan. Heat a wok or large skillet. Add oil and cook sauce, onion and tofu over high heat, stirring gently, for about 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, salt, and crushed red and black peppers. Cook for about 2 minutes longer. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the wok. Stir and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Serve over hot rice. Serves 4.

Apple Cranberry Kugel For the ultimate Jewish comfort food, rich egg noodles are baked with a slightly sweet, fruit-studded buttery sauce. • ¾ lb. egg noodles • ¾ cup apples, peeled and diced • ½ cup dried sweetened cranberries • ¼ cup cannabis-infused butter, melted • ¼ cup butter, melted • 1 lb. cottage cheese • 2 cups sour cream • 6 large eggs • ½ cup sugar • 1 tsp. cinnamon • ¼ tsp. nutmeg

for about 4 minutes (noodles should still be al dente) and drain. In a large bowl, mix cooked noodles with remaining ingredients and toss to combine well. Divide among the prepared ramekins. Bake until set and tops are beginning to brown, about 25-30 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 8 servings.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter eight ½-cup sized ramekins. Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling, add noodles and cook

Cheri Sicard is author of The Cannabis Gourmet Cookbook and Mary Jane: The Complete Cannabis Handbook for Women. NOVEMBER 2017

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THE HEMP/CBD ALTERNATIVE Two women of color are on a mission to teach people about the other cannabinoid. BY ERIN HIATT

BASED IN WASHINGTON, D.C., Kyla Hill created the Get Hemp Butter body-care line. She first came across hemp while working in marketing for a non-dairy milk company. "I was transitioning from being an omnivore to more of a plant-based diet,” Hill tells Freedom Leaf, and the ad campaign introduced her to the myriad uses of hemp, immediately piquing her interest. Scheril Murray Powell has an impressive list of cannabis-industry credits. The Palm Beach, Fla. lawyer is a hemp-legalization lobbyist, house counsel for CBD purveyor Green Roads World, and general counsel for the advocacy organizations Minorities 4 Medical Marijuana and Bud 4 Vets. She’s also a cohost on Cannabis Life Radio. Powell found her way to cannabis while working at a law firm reviewing real-estate contracts. “I had an affinity for contracts,” she says. Late last year, she went to senior partners at the firm and told them, “‘I want to add another area that’s not too different from what I’m doing,’ and it was cannabis law.” She believes hemp can reduce the stigma that surrounds cannabis in minority communities. “The only thing holding this back is really the info,” she asserts. “A lot of the stigma has to do with mass incarceration. The elders in the family are like, ‘No, it’s bad, you’re going to get in trouble, even if you’re talking about a hemp t-shirt.’ “But the beauty of the hemp space is that

“I FEEL LIKE I’M A REP OF ALL THINGS HEMP.” KYLA HILL 64

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it gives people the opportunity to be in the cannabis industry and not necessarily be on the THC. In the CBD space, you can be present at any arena. We can go to a health fair and they’re selling CBD.” Seeking natural products to use on her skin and hair, Hill decided on hemp oil after experimenting with many different carrier oils to create hair products. “That’s when the business opportunity really came to to life,"

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Scheril Murray Powell: "African Americans who suffer form sickle-cell anemia could benefit from hemp-based medicine."

she says excitedly. “I was going to make a hot new product adding hemp.” Hill also fights the cannabis stigma, continually informing the people she does business with that industrial hemp is totally safe and legal. “When they hear hemp, they automatically think THC,” she says, “and they think, ‘I’m not going to jeopardize my business over one product.’” Convinced that a lack of education is keeping people from industry opportunities, Hill envisions a cannabis curriculum to help shape young people’s views on hemp. "Everyone doesn't need to be face to face with the flower," she says, “For me, industrial cannabis is everything, and I think there should be more of a spotlight on it because it’s much more accessible. We can create other opportunities for ourselves in other spaces in cannabis.” According to a survey conducted by Marijuana Business Daily, 19% of ownership positions in the cannabis industry are held by minorities, and just 4.3% are African Amer-

ican. “I was being confronted with the reality that there are not that many of us,” Powell says about her quick rise through the ranks of cannabis-conference panelists. “When I first started, I would walk into rooms and it would be a sea of white faces in suits and not much representation of minorities.” Two barriers to entry into the cannabis industry, she adds, are the high cost of attending conferences and a lack of information filtering to minority communities. No one, she notes, is talking about how many African Americans who suffer from sickle-cell anemia could benefit from hemp-based medicine. “That’s a challenge I have to take up. Wherever I go, I have to raise awareness. Sickle-cell is a chronic condition that should be included when we talk about CBD.” Powell also thinks African Americans should capitalize on their culinary knowledge and start hemp-food businesses. “We’re seeing a lot more people cook with CBD, and beverages and food with CBD, kind of mixing it in with things that are already taking place,” says Powell, who’s also noticing more hemp being used in crafts and textiles. “We can stay true to our culture and preserve our cultural identity using these materials.” Hill agrees. “I feel like I’m a rep of all things hemp,” she says. “I try to relate hemp to how to change our environment and change our economy, as a tool in our health and wellness regimen.” She’s launching #HEMPtober, a grass-roots educational campaign to raise awareness about hemp’s environmental benefits. Her goal is to get 50 businesses and 300 consumers to utilize hemp daily. “My passion is hemp," Hill says. “My purpose is hemp. My greater purpose is to bring people around me so they’re enthusiastic and passionate about hemp too.” Erin Hiatt also writes for THC Magazine.

WEBSITES

Hempisnow.org

FREEDOM LEAF

cliferadio.com

NOVEMBER 2017

Minorities4medical marijuana.org

Gethemp butter.com

Greenroads world.com

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POT FOR PAIN

A new book looks at the plant’s medicinal properties. BY DR. FRANK D’AMBROSIO DR. RAV IVKER’S Cannabis for Chronic Pain: A Proven Prescription for Using Marijuana to Relieve Your Pain and Heal Your Life is a useful introduction to the medical applications of cannabis. It’s relatively accessible and easy to read, even for those who aren’t scientifically or medically trained, and is valuable for both patients and doctors. Dry and boring it’s not. Cannabis for Chronic Pain starts with Dr. Ivker’s account of how he used medical marijuana to heal from a severe case of shingles. In addition to pain, he discusses how cannabis can be used to treat anxiety, arthritis, insomnia, migraines, depression, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, menstrual cramps and Crohn’s disease. There’s a guide to dosages and cannabinoid and terpenoid concentrations, and what specific conditions they could be used for. He offers plenty of information on what phytocannabinoids do and how to use them properly. We learn that Dr. Ivker favors transdermal patches, tinctures and sprays to smoking, vaping or eating infused products. With that said, I have some issues with the book, some of which Dr. Ivker probably can’t do much about: 68

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• He covers cannabis laws in the book. These laws have changed so much in the past year that the section devoted to them is pretty much already out of date. • Most of the evidence presented is based on case studies. That’s because it’s immensely difficult to do any kind of objective, federally funded (or even independently funded) scientific research on cannabis. The plant is illegal, after all. • Due to the above, most of the information provided in the book is anecdotal and supposition. We can draw together these case studies and cross-reference them with other studies, but again, it still makes much of the work speculative. Because of the “educated guesswork” nature of cannabis research—various disparate studies, case studies and testimonials, cannabinoid and terpenoid analyses, detective work, and good old-fashioned logic—it almost feels like nothing can be stated about the medical benefits of cannabis for sure. Unfortunately, due to all the federal restrictions on studying it, it’s hard to be conclusive. Yes, there are plenty of observational studies and even a few double-blind and placebo-controlled group ones, but all Dr. Ivker has to work with is a series of experiences, as opposed to hard facts and data based on samples of thousands. For example, when he says the terpene linalool, which is also found in lavender,

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FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, ANYONE LOOKING AT THE MEDICAL BENEFITS OF CANNABIS SCIENTIFICALLY, BASED ON CURRENT KNOWLEDGE, IS ATTEMPTING TO FIT SQUARE PEGS INTO ROUND HOLES. could be a useful anti-inflammatory, sedative and analgesic, he’s basing this on nothing more than anecdotal information and observational studies. Cannabis has many moving parts, so to speak. There are a lot of variables to consider, like the environment the plant was cultivated in, how well it was grown and whether the plant being used by a patient is actually what it was advertised as. All of these factors are difficult to control, and could very well have a dramatic impact on which cannabinoids and terpenoids a patient is actually consuming. We need to consider how cannabinoids

and terpenoids interact with each other and what physiological effects they have, why these effects happen, how they act in the body, and why specific cannabinoid and terpenoid profiles work for specific conditions. For all intents and purposes, anyone looking at the medical benefits of cannabis scientifically, based on current knowledge, is attempting to fit square pegs into round holes. Sadly, this is the only thing Dr. Ivker and so many other doctors can do, at least for now. Dr. Ivker has more than 40 years of insight, and has treated patients with cannabis for a range of conditions for many years at his Fully Alive Medicine practice in Boulder, Colorado. In fact, Dr. Ivker is a bit of a trailblazer in the medical cannabis field: He’s used cannabis for its holistic health benefits for five decades, which is something not many doctors can say. Many of his experiences jive with mine and that of the thousands of patients who say, “Cannabis works for me.” As any doctor will be able to tell you, it’s hugely frustrating when patients ask how it works and you can’t answer specifically why. Cannabis for Pain, however, leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and it often just goes over familiar information. This isn’t any fault of Dr. Ivker’s methodology; federal law makes researching cannabis’ medical potential difficult. No hard and fast truths can be outright stated. I hope this will change, and Dr. Ivker can write another book with new information soon. Dr. Frank D’Ambrosio hosts the weekly podcast "Elevate the Conversation.”

Dr. Rav Ivker

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From left: Tim Commerford,Tom Morello, B-Real, Chuck D, DJ Lord and Brad Wilk

B-REAL, CHUCK D AND TOM MORELLO RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE BY ROY TRAKIN

IF YOU’RE ONE of those nostalgic counterculture revolutionaries wondering where all the protest music has gone, Prophets of Rage is for you. It’s an old-school supergroup formed by members of three of the most radical, politically outspoken acts of the ’80s and ’90s: Rage Against the Machine’s guitar-slinging Harvard alum Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk; Public Enemy’s Chuck D and DJ Lord; and Cypress Hill’s B-Real. The result marries Rage’s heavy-metal/ hip-hop hybrid, fueled by Morello’s turntable-esque guitar stylings, and the OG rap of East Coast rabble-rouser Chuck D and 72

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West Coast bud-banger B-Real. Multiracial (like Morello himself) and politically to the left, Prophets of Rage—the name comes from a Public Enemy track on their groundbreaking It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back album from 1988—hark back to both the ’60s rock’n’roll call for rebellion and the ’70s punk howl for anarchy. They first teamed up to make a political statement during the 2016 presidential campaign, touring from May to October. Without an album out or any new material, the tour featured a mix of Rage, PE and Cypress songs, with a few covers like the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep ’Til Brooklyn” sprinkled in. Now they have their eponymously titled debut album to play and promote. On Prophets of Rage, Chuck D and B-Real form a two-headed lead vocalist that recalls the give-and-take dialogue of Run the Jewels’ El-P and Killer Mike, with a similar eye towards the political zeitgeist. The album’s opening salvo, “Radical Eyes,” is a vehement call to arms, as Chuck D delivers the rallying cry, “If you need anything else to make me bleed/That you wanna blame me for what I read.”

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The band takes on hot topics like racism (“Unfuck the World”), marijuana (“Legalize Me”), homelessness (“Living on the 110”), Trump (“Hail to the Chief”), police brutality (“Fired a Shot,” “Hands Up”), government invasion of privacy (“Who Owns Who”), income inequality (“Strength in Numbers”) and even the presence of drones (the “Fame” meets “Mama Said Knock You Out” funk of “Taking Me Higher”). Given the stakes, Prophets of Rage prove more subversive than treasonous, their ap-

“LEGALIZE ME” LYRICS B-REAL: If you come down to SoCal Roll one, maybe two Fly to the Bay Come back to L.A. We can medicate tomorrow CHUCK D: Turntables, apple pie Cluster bombs, Kentucky fried Kill all the lights, out go the tide Need a break, legalize

PROPHETS OF RAGE LINEUP Tom Morello – guitar, vocals Chuck D – vocals B-Real – vocals Tim Commerford – bass Brad Wilk – drummer Chuck Lord - DJ 74

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proach better suited to ranting about grievances than necessarily offering workable solutions. But that doesn’t spoil the fun of hearing B-Real drawl on “Legalize Me”: “They smoke in Colorado/They smoke in Cali too/They smoke all night/But that’s all right/We still fight on tomorrow.” In other words, the battle is just beginning, even if the first step—legalization—is at hand, at least in a number of states. Chuck D paints a similarly blighted sentiment on “Living on the 110,” rapping: “There’s no end to the poverty, stopping me/ You pretend there’s democracy, hypocrisy.” B-Real chimes in, “This is the reality,” as Morello scratches his frets like a vinyl album. The thudding “Fired a Shot” begins with a Native American tom-tom war beat before Morello surrounds it with a circular police siren riff on the Public Enemy-style track that promises imminent conflict. “Who Owns Who” is all feverish paranoia and anti-xenophobia, with B-Real proclaiming, “Gasoline that rag,” and Chuck D insisting, “Burn that fuckin’ flag.” Not since 1969, when the Jefferson Airplane declared “Up against the wall, motherfucker” on “We Can Be Together” and the MC5 urged listeners to “Kick Out the Jams,” has a rock band sounded so defiant, so outwardly opposed to the status quo. Whether they can gain any traction is another story altogether. Still, these hip-hop/heavy-metal jammers are a kick, regardless of their efficiency in channeling that anger for real social change. Roy Trakin also writes for Variety.

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