NUGL Magazine Issue 1

Volume 1, Issue 1

April 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS NUGL MEDIA GROUP 6170 Forest Hills Drive Asbury IA 52002-9349 Phone - 563.557.7571 www.NUGLMagazine.com

PRESIDENT NUGL MEDIA GROUP Robin Nichols robin@nugl.com

PUBLISHER

Bob Waters bob@nugl.com

EDITORIAL STAFF Melissa Rondon Eric Hopper

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Ryan Bartlette Char Thumser

ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL INQUIRIES Phone - 563.557.7571 Email - magazine@nugl.com

NUGL Magazine is published by NUGL Media Group, a division of NUGL Inc. The publisher makes no representation concerning any product or service advertised in this publication or any of its electronic mediums. NUGL Magazine serves only as a medium for sellers to reach potential buyers and does not warrant the accuracy of any advertisement.

NUGL Magazine makes every effort to eliminate any typographical errors and assumes no responsibility for misspelling names of people from handwritten copy.

All editorial items submitted are subject editing and alteration at the discretion of the publisher. Publisher reserves the right to refuse any item for publication at the sole discretion of the publisher. Design and format of this magazine and its related electronic mediums are protected by copyright laws of the U.S.A. Reproduction of this publication or any of its electronic mediums in whole or in part is prohibited.

This magazine and its related websites and other electronic mediums contain information on marijuana, a controlled substance in much of North America and across the world. The possession, use, and cultivation of marijuana can carry heavy penalties. The publisher does not condone the use of any illegal substance. Readers should educate themselves about the laws in their jurisdictions before employing this scheduled substance.

The authors and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personally or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

This magazine and its related websites and other electronic mediums contain the opinions and ideas of its authors. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the authors and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional services in the magazine or any of its related websites and other electronic mediums. If the reader requires personal assistance or advice, a competent professional should be consulted.

POSTMASER: Please send address changes to NUGL Media Group, 6170 Forest Hills Drive Asbury IA 52002-9349

4 NUGL Magazine

8

THE EVOLUTION OF HIP HOP & THE 420 WORLD

TESTING FOR SUCCESS

DIGIPATH LABS

14 NEVER GROWING UP

WHY GROWERS STAY UNDERGROUND 20

14

A CLINICIAN FOR CANNABIS

MEET DR. SHAH

24 A HISTORY OF

CANNABIS IN AFRICA 29

26 EDITOR’S NOTE ............................. 6 NUGL: INDUSTRY INTERVIEW JAMIE EVANS .............................. 26

-

diverse network of distributors, e-retailers, dispensaries and smoke shops.

NOTE FROM THE

EDITOR

As cannabis prohibition continues to weaken in the United States, the pulse of the community is quickening. The status of cannabis is changing, and the community is changing with it.

States like California, Washington, Oregon, and Michigan are paving a way forward for legal recreational cannabis markets, while other states are sorting out medical access programs or creating provisions for CBD use. A cursory examination of the state of American cannabis will tell you that the tide of public opinion is turning toward legalization, and quickly.

As the legal cannabis and hemp markets expand and grow, the landscape of cannabis culture will shift and change with them. Our goal at NUGL Magazine is to keep you, the community, informed about all things cannabis, from emerging research and industry trends to dispensary spotlights and celebrity strain reviews. We’ll sit down with cannabis activists, industry professionals, musicians, and innovators to discuss the undercurrents of the cannabis community -- and how they might affect the future.

We’re excited to bring you engaging, informative content that celebrates cannabis culture and challenges preconceptions about the community and its members. We’re here to inform, entertain, and educate our readers, of course -- more than that, though, we want to connect people with ideas, organizations, and movements that can change our world. We believe in the power of the cannabis community, and we’re honored to serve it.

May you have a delightful 4/20 -- we’ll be seeing you again real soon!

Melissa Rondon Melissa Rondon, Editor

6 NUGL Magazine

&

THE EVOLUTION OF

HIP HOP

THE

420

WORLD

BY MELISSA RONDON PHOTOGRAPHS BY SLY VEGAS

In Part I of a new series, we sit down with OG rapper BiggA to take an intimate look at the coevolution of hip hop and cannabis culture, the early days of hip hop, and how cannabis has influenced creators and the community at large.

NUGL Magazine is kicking off a special series examining the relationship between hip hop and cannabis culture.

Over the next few months, we’ll be talking to hip hop and rap legends about the evolution of the genre over the years, and how cannabis culture influenced that evolution.

We are lucky to have with us BiggA, our guide on this journey through music and cannabis history. Over the next few issues, we’ll be bringing you with us as we explore the impact of cannabis on the evolution of hip hop through the eyes of some legendary musicians. Be sure to check back with us as we travel to Compton, California to hear firsthand from some incredible members of the rap and hip hop communities.

First, we’ll be diving into the early years of hip hop, back when it was first coming up as a force within the music industry. We’ll take a look at its origins and infancy, the cannabis connection, and how it evolved into the music we hear today.

There are countless stories out there that have attempted to describe the evolution of hip hop over the years. We find 8 NUGL Magazine

THE EVOLUTION OF HIP HOP & THE 420 WORLD PART I – ARNOLD “BIGGA” WHITE that many of these perspectives become removed from their context, so we decided to take a different approach. We’re bringing you the diverse perspectives of the hip hop icons that defined a genre, in their words, to trace the connection between the music and the context that it was born of.

We decided the best way to start was to go directly to the source. So, we packed a carryon and headed straight to the streets of Compton, California.

For the uninitiated, Compton is the birthplace of West Coast Rap, NWA and the Eazy–E legacy.

We started by meeting up with BiggA, a Compton OG known to tell it how it is. He graciously agreed to be our 10 NUGL Magazine

host on this adventure and help guide us, and our readers, on this journey through the history of hip hop.

We asked BiggA to take us back to the 1980’s and give us an idea of what hip hop and the 420 scene looked like then. He began by making an important distinction: East Coast hip hop and West Coast rap were very, very different entities back then.

“At that time, Afrikabambatta and that house stuff from the East Coast is what we called ‘hip hop,’” he says. “Our type of music on the West Coast was considered Gangsta Rap. We was dark, we were real. We weren’t all hoppy. It was reality, ‘bang bang, shoot ‘em up,’ youknowwhatimean?”

Then, he shifts his focus to the relationship he and other creators had with cannabis. “As OGs, we looked down on anything that was other than smoking that Chronic. That is where your creativity came from. It was flowing.”

He paints a picture of the drug scene during that era: “During that time in Compton, heavy drug use was rampant. What we saw growing up was drugs like PCP, angel dust, sherm sticks, and crack cocaine was everywhere. As far as weed went, we were smoking that brick weed.

The dry, red hair kind, full of seeds. It wasn’t until years later that we saw weed like Acapulco Gold, Maui Wowie, and Colombian Red ‘Fire’”

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This new herb was a game-changer, according to BiggA. “As things progressed, we wanted to find more of the bionic, … that’s we called it.

Others called it sinsemilla, but we called it bionic … We didn’t want anything to do with any product that had seeds,” he says with a laugh before continuing,“ You know, you needed a little money to get that high quality sinsemilla.”

Then, he explains how Dr. Dre coined the phrase, “the chronic,” essentially evolving from the bionic to the chronic. “We were done with crack,” says BiggA. “We were done with angel dust, we was done with smoking that embalming fluid. We were out of the dark ages and we had become … stoners.” Chronic changed the hip hop scene from then on out. “It was cool to have that big bag of that chronic,” he says. “Matter of fact, catch you bringing something less than that to the studio, and you might get your ass kicked!”

Over time, chronic became a part of the reality that influenced the West Coast rap scene. “We were putting reality into our music,” says BiggA, “and once Dr. Dre and some of the others put the weed smoking in the music, it became cool to be a part of that.” This doesn’t really surprise BiggA, who points back to the historical connection of cannabis to music in general. “If you looked back to 60’s … with the hippies, it was cool to smoke -- at least, until the acid trip thing hit them,” he says with a grin. “But it still goes back to a deep connection of music and smoking cannabis.”

12 NUGL Magazine

BiggA makes a specific point about local cannabis at the time, saying, “One thing to know is, the West Coast was known for the quality of its weed. We would have people coming from the East Coast just to get that chronic.” He describes Compton in particular as a community that embraced marijuana in the wake of the destruction caused by the hard drugs of the 80s. Public consciousness shifted, and cannabis became the favored drug of choice, displacing hard drugs.

This late 90’s was a period of healing within the Compton community. “We were done with that hard stuff,” he says with a bit more gravity.

“We were done with those chemical agents. If you were dealing with that stuff and came around us you were dealt with accordingly. If you was hangin with us you were drinkin’ gin and juice or Hennessey and smoking that chronic,” said BiggA. He also acknowledges that medical use of cannabis was growing back then. “Even back as early as the late 90’s people were using cannabis for medicinal purposes,” he says. … next issue will talk to BiggA about the rap music industry and how cannabis has a very long and important connection to it.

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DIGIPATH LABS

TESTING

FOR SUCCESS

Over the last decade, a new cannabis economy has emerged amid staggering legislative change and a near total sea change in public attitudes about cannabis. New grows are blooming at record rates, harvest yields are expanding, and the ever-expanding array of cannabis products seems limitless.

The growing cannabis community is experiencing rapid innovation and change, but that change cannot go unregulated. Written into the laws liberating cannabis consumption is tightlyworded doctrine with stark compliance obligations. Cannabis, however, is a complex plant vulnerable to a wide variety of toxins, pests, 14 NUGL Magazine

environmental adversities, and, perhaps most troublesome, general incompetence (often by “green rushers� eager to cash in on the burgeoning industry).

Digipath Labs is one of the Founding Fathers of cannabis testing in Nevada and provides a much-needed barrier between substandard (or even potentially harmful) cannabis products and the general consuming public. As an ISO 17025:2017 Certified laboratory, Digipath Labs provides essential cannabis testing in their state-of-the-art Nevada facility.

Virtually every state that has legalized cannabis, whether for medicinal or recreational purposes, has implemented a reciprocal requirement that products be tested before going to market. These measures are intended to protect consumers from substandard products and ensure pure, potent cannabis products.

Digipath is committed to furthering this mission by building a rich, diverse database on every possible sample -- from domestic mar-

Digipath Labs is one of the Founding Fathers of cannabis testing in Nevada and provides a much-needed barrier between substandard (or even potentially harmful) cannabis products and the general consuming public.

kets like Oregon to international growers in Colombia -- creating a thorough and ever-evolving understanding of the science of cannabis applied to product development. Digipath plans to use this database to help expand knowledge of cannabis, helping producers understand what works and what doesn’t when it comes to cannabis products.

GroSciences, a subsidiary of Digipath, was created to refine this data into effective formulations for new cannabis businesses, helping them create potent, safe products and, ultimately, to better serve cannabis consumers worldwide. By providing companies with the Science to Succeed, Digipath is effectively building the industry standard for cannabis products through datadriven practices and derived from a diverse and ever-growing sample set.

Because of the relative newness of vaping technology in particular, careful testing of cannabis and CBD vape products is essential for both providers and the communities they serve.

Because of the lack of federal guidance and regulation of the industry, independent laboratories like Digipath are a crucial part of the legal cannabis ecosystem.

By working closely with growers and manufacturers to ensure the safety and efficacy of their products, Digipath hopes to better serve both their clients and the medical and recreational consumers they provide for. This is especially true of THC and CBD vapor products, which don’t have the same wealth of available data about their long-term effects as, say, cigarette smoking. Therefore, it is important to Digipath (and to us at NUGL) to pay close attention to the evolving science of vaping cannabis -- and to help consumers make safe, healthy product decisions accordingly.

According to Dr. Cindy Orser, PhD and Chief Science Officer of Digipath, there are several concerns with cannabis and CBD vapor products: for one, she says, heavy metal contamination is a common problem, both from the vape [CONTINUED ON PAGE 18]

NUGL Magazine 15

[CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15]

liquids themselves (usually contaminated by sloughing from the stainless steel vessels used during the extraction process, but residual pesticides or other compounds could also be a factor) and the cartridges used to vaporize them (generally, this type of contamination comes from a metal heating element within the vape).

Additionally, the cartridges themselves can release toxins from plasticizers, solvents, coating agents, and other compounds during the vaping process. In essence, we don’t know how many of the compounds commonly used in vaporizers and vape products work in the long term, and there’s evidence to suggest that vaping may not be as safe as we think.

To Dr. Orser, this is the single most important issue facing vapor product manufacturers today.

With time, she says, those long-term health effects will become apparent, and if there are adverse health outcomes and illnesses that can be traced back to a vapor product, the company could find itself embroiled in a class-action lawsuit. “Very few studies have been conducted over vaping and vape pens in general,” says Dr. Orser, and the long-term effects (“if there are any,” she qualifies) are, at this time, a bit of a question mark.

With this in mind, Dr. Orser emphasizes the importance of being a conscious consumer when it comes to THC and CBD vape products.

“Taking responsibility for their own wellbeing,” 18 NUGL Magazine

she says, is crucial -- so don’t fall for the flashy packaging and really do your research. Dr. Orser’s advice: “Always [ask] for the Certificate of Analysis. The CoA describes, in detail, what exactly is in the products [you] buy.”

The information on that CoA isn’t just dry data, it offers you, as a consumer, the opportunity to learn the exact details of the composition of a product before you purchase it. Furthermore, says Dr. Orser, “Testing offers a chance to bring awareness of potential dangers in various products.”

In that way, she says, “Testing labs are really the gatekeepers of the cannabis and hemp industry because we determine what the actual potency is and if it is safe to consume. Also, the data we collect from conducting all of these tests will surely be valuable in the future for products that we haven’t even thought of yet.”

Dr. Orser puts it this way: “Everything we consume as humans have regulations and standardization. Shouldn’t cannabis products be held to the same standard as anything else we put in our bodies?” Through her work at Digipath, Dr. Orser hopes to help build the knowledge of what works in cannabis science and create better, safer products for consumers everywhere.

For more information call 702.209.2429 or visit DigiPathLabs.com.

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WHY GROWERS STAY UNDERGROUND Expanded legalization efforts have made it possible to make a living growing cannabis for profit -- provided, that is, that you obtain a license to grow professionally, which subjects you state regulations and can potentially set you back quite a bit of money. This is a sticking point for some growers, who started their careers growing underground and don’t see any reason to change now. We wondered what it is that makes the threat of prosecution under continued prohibition worth the risk, so we talked to an expert to see what the draw is.

Our source, who we’ll call Kevin (not his real name), has been growing marijuana underground for over 20 years. “I love marijuana,” he says with an obvious affection in his voice.

“Just smoking it … I was always fascinated by it … I was always obsessed with it” Kevin started in high school by growing marijuana in his parents’ backyard, without their knowledge.

He then began growing indoors when he moved into his first house at age 24.

What began in a garage moved to warehouses, then to entire buildings devoted to his grow op. He moved his product, but things really took off when Prop 215 passed in California 20 NUGL Magazine

and dispensaries began to open underground.

It was those first dispensaries that helped Kevin’s career take flight.

Kevin has considered himself a legitimate grower since he started selling his product to those original dispensaries and realized they liked what he was growing. “When they started purchasing my product and would call me for more, that’s when I felt like I was legit, like I’m doing something right, like I could take it to the next level.” Kevin had achieved consistency in his product, and people were taking notice.

He’s maintained that consistency, and to great success, too: “The lifestyle is great,” he admits, and he looks like he means it.

Perhaps this sense of accomplishment is part of the reason Kevin hasn’t felt a need to go “legit” in the eyes of the law. He’s knows his work is good, he trusts his methods, and he doesn’t feel that the drawbacks of getting his grower’s license are worth that extra layer of “legitimacy.” The fact is, he’s already making a living doing this, and getting a grower’s license doesn’t offer him any tangible benefit, at least not the way he sees it.

Pride is certainly not the deciding factor; Kevin has plenty of reasons why he believes that getting a grower’s license would actually hurt his business. “With the license, you’re under somebody else’s umbrella,” he says, “and you’re always going to be watched. And I feel that you’re not going to be able to make the maximum profit that you can, and should, for what you do.” This statement reflects the independent (if sometimes defiant) spirit that’s so characteristic of the cannabis community, as well as Kevin’s own suspicion of legal authorities’ ability to regulate effectively.

It’s that suspicion (shared by plenty of people in Kevin’s position) that is the biggest sticking point. “They’re not ready. They don’t know what they’re doing … It’s just - pardon my language - a shitshow,” he says, and he’s got a point; with prohibition still being effective at the federal level, states where cannabis has been legalized face a number of challenges, and laws are often confusing, with their applications unclear until their eventual interpretations by the courts (and it’s anyone’s guess when that could happen).

Kevin’s also kept his ear to the ground, and he’s not keen on the stories he’s heard from growers who are trying to go the legal route.

“There’s so many loops through it, and most people that have their licenses and are trying to do do it right are losing money.” He has a grim prediction for many of those growers: “I guarantee they’ll be out of the business soon,” he says soberly.

It sounds like Kevin is dead-set against getting a grower’s license right now and he is.

However, he acknowledges he may not feel that way forever. To him, the issue isn’t the regulatory laws themselves; it’s the integration of those laws with the business of growing cannabis in a way that benefits both entities. “I feel they just don’t know how to do it quite yet,” he says, adding, “They’ll have it figured out in the next five years.” When that happens, he’ll reevaluate his position on a grower’s license. “At that time, I would see myself in that type of industry,” he says, “but until then, I would be doing this.”

Ask Kevin about the harder things he’s faced, and he’ll tell you about not just problems with law enforcement, but from his colleagues.

There were “a lot of scares, a lot of threats,”

made by law enforcement toward Kevin’s landlords and property owners when he was growing in rental property, but fortunately he’s never had a personal run-in with the law for cannabis.

“It felt like a get-out-of-jail-free card,” he says.

When it comes to professional relationships in his line of work, Kevin has been burned before. “Criminal side is always there. There’s always a risk of getting robbed, which has happened to me,” he says. “A lot of snakes out there, a lot of liars, a lot of cheats.” It’s clear from his tone that he’s met encountered quite a few of them over the course of his career. “You need to have the right people and not bullshitters,” he says. I ask him what percentage of people he believes are bullshitters, and he’s candid: “I would say maybe 10% are legit and the others are all bullshitters.” He pauses, then qualifies himself by adding, “In my experience.”

It might sound like Kevin is soured on people, but ask him what the biggest attribute of his success in the industry is and he’ll tell you immediately, “The team that’s been built, the people around me.” He keeps his internal network small, presumably in part to minimize the bullshitters, and it seems to work for him.

Kevin believes you need to surround yourself with good people in order to achieve and maintain success. In fact, his only real business regret was a business associate (a “f*A!ing idiot, who blew probably the biggest deal ever,” according to Kevin) losing a phone number that could have facilitated a deal so huge that, “I’d be retired by now.”

Kevin relishes the fact that his work allows him to be a “family man,” giving him the ability to pick his kids up from school, drop them off in the mornings, and “always be there.” There’s tenderness in his voice when he says it; it’s clear that this is one of the biggest benefits of the flexible nature of Kevin’s work.

Talking to Kevin, I admit I can see why he faces the potential dangers he does. It’s clear he loves his family and the life he’s built, he loves his work, and he doesn’t want to compromise any of that with a license. Until he’s absolutely sure it’s the best thing for his business, he’ll continue his underground way of life. I ask him if it’s all worth it, the secrecy and caution and the threat of getting arrested or robbed. He replies without hesitation: “100 percent,” he says.

NUGL Magazine 21

MEET DR. SHAH, A Clinician for Cannabis

Meet Dr. Sayed A. Shah, practicing physician and co-founder of Mandala Integrative Medicine in Davenport, IA. Here, he talks about the role of cannabis in healthcare and how he’s changing the way we view wellness Dr. Sayed A. Shah is an experienced physician board certified in internal medicine. He recently completed a fellowship in functional medicine, a type of practice that focuses on treating the underlying causes of disease, rather than temporarily alleviating symptoms. In 2014, he and his brother-in-law founded Mandala Integrative Medicine to change the way we treat chronic illness.

In his fifteen years of medical practice, Dr. Shah has learned that Western medicine, while 24 NUGL Magazine

great for acute, life-threatening illness, sometimes neglects long-term wellness for short-term symptom relief in chronic diseases. In hospitals and clinics, Dr. Shah saw most of his patients being treated symptomatically, without addressing the cause of the disease. This led him to take a more integrative approach with his patients, shifting his focus from the symptoms to their underlying causes.

The most powerful illustration of the power of integrative medicine, though, came from his son, Roshaan. “My son is on the autism spectrum,” says Dr. Shah. When Roshaan began to have difficulty in school, Dr. Shah and his wife, Ambreen, gave him the Ritalin he was prescribed -- and the results weren’t good. “He was getting

angry, he was getting agitated,” says Shah. “He had no appetite. He just stopped eating.” As Roshaan’s condition worsened, Dr. Shah knew they needed to do something different.

Dr. Shah and Ambreen made changes to Roshaan’s diet and began giving him CBD, along with a few other herbal supplements. It took rigorous and sustained effort, but the results were incredible. “We were able to take him completely off Ritalin. His focus is so much better -- he’s getting As and Bs in school,” Dr. Shah says with a note of pride in his voice.

After seeing the changes in Roshaan, Dr. Shah realized the powerful role of cannabinoids in treating chronic illness. As part of a holistic health regimen, Shah believes, “Cannabis has unlimited potential.” That said, he qualifies, “the secrets are still closed.” What we do know, ac-

cording to Shah, is that cannabinoids possess anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, neuroprotectant, analgesic, and immune-boosting properties, making cannabis potentially effective at treating an exceedingly broad range of illnesses.

Armed with that knowledge, Dr. Shah is helping patients change their lives with cannabis and eagerly awaits the expansion of medical cannabis in Iowa, which recently became legal.

Dr. Shah currently uses cannabis to help his hospice patients, as the approved conditions for which cannabis can be prescribed are still quite limited. That said, Dr. Shah looks forward to a day when he can prescribe cannabis more freely to his patients. “I hope that sometime in the near future … I can use it for people with so many other problems, like my son,” he says.

NUGL Magazine 25

NUGL: INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

JAMIE EVANS: CHANGING THE CBD GAME Meet Jamie Evans. He survived cancer, uprooted his life to escape prohibition, and is making waves in the cannabis industry by growing hemp strains that look, smell, and smoke just like their high-THC counterparts, from Silver Haze to Purple Gas. Hemp, marijuana’s genetically similar and yet wildly different cousin is extremely low in THC (less than .3 percent, according to federal regulations) and high in nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, meaning it won’t get you high no matter how much you smoke.

While recreational cannabis consumers may not find the idea of weed that doesn’t get you high groundbreaking, it’s very significant for the vast community of medical cannabis patients who can benefit greatly from other cannabinoids, such as CBD, CBN, and CBG. While further research is necessary, there is abundant anecdotal evidence and a handful of studies indicating the benefits of cannabinoids for a vari26 NUGL Magazine

ety of conditions, from drug-resistant epilepsy to chronic pain and inflammation to, in Jamie’s case, cancer.

Jamie is a longtime cannabis consumer, but his diagnosis with leukemia in September of 2015 changed his relationship to the herb. After being told that he would need chemotherapy for the rest of his life, Jamie got tired of “being filled up with narcotics [and] taking a pill for a pill for a pill” and started experimenting with cannabis again, this time not as a recreational consumer, but as a patient. He left his home state of Utah in 2016 for Colorado, forced to leave behind his family in order to pursue continued cannabinoid therapy free from threat of prosecution.

Shortly after arriving in Colorado, Jamie got his medical license and began working with a doctor and the person who would become his business partner, using high doses of cannabinoids in the form of Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) to

treat his leukemia. “It really started working for me after about six months, and it’s worked so well for me … I’m doing really good. I’m really healthy, I’m able to eat now, and I’m feeling a lot better.” And, by all measures, he is: Jamie has put on over thirty pounds, including ten pounds of muscle mass, and keeps up regularly with his physician to monitor his continued progress.

However, Jamie’s experience with the RSO was mixed. “I started realizing that all that THC is really, really good medicine, but it’s very intoxicating.” We should note that no one, least of all Jamie, is trying to downplay the significance of THC to the medical community: “I think you need that intoxication to heal and to put your body at ease” he says. However, the intoxicating effects of THC made taking it at the high doses he needed difficult to manage at times. Jamie grew curious about the role of other, nonpsychoactive cannabinoids in his recovery.

Through testing the RSO he had been taking, Jamie and his colleagues noticed that the oil had high concentrations of CBD, CBG, CBN, “all different cannabinoids, and I’m a firm believer that you need lots of CBG, lots of CBC, so full spectrum.”

It’s this full-spectrum philosophy that lies at the heart of Jamie’s mission: to produce strains of hemp that are identical to their marijuana counterparts except for one crucial difference — their cannabinoid composition.

After doing some hemp farming and “realizing what this plant can do, I really got into the hemp side of it because of the CBD profile and the CBDs — you can really get everything out of it.”

Jamie had found a way to produce different hemp strains with varying cannabinoid content, and therefore the potential to target a variety of symptoms and ailments. Canna Comforts, the company Jamie founded to bring his work to market, is focused not on THC (which continues to dominate the market), but on the lesserknown cannabinoids that pack a therapeutic

punch despite their relative lack of press. Jamie’s strains have had an impact on the medical cannabis community, helping everyone from children suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy to elderly patients with chronic ailments and everyone in between, including his own mother and father.

So just how similar are Jamie’s hemp strains to their corresponding marijuana cousins? Well, so far Jamie has had multiple shipments confiscated by law enforcement, only to be returned after they were proven legal through testing.

“The flower looks just like the very high-THC flower.

It’s got the same nose, the same aromas, the same terpene profile, the same look, the stickiness, the trichomes — it’s all there.” Short of laboratory testing, Jamie’s hemp is indistinguishable from marijuana flower, and that’s a point of pride. “That’s what we’re really good at is our hemp flower,” he says before listing a plethora of top-shelf strains he grows, from Electra to Silver Haze.

Jamie is a believer in consumption of whole cannabis, which is why his hemp strains are so important to him, to his business and, he hopes, to medical cannabis consumers everywhere. “Everybody’s so hyped up on isolate,” he says, “and it is great, it is a great product. It’s obviously an isolated product so it’s pure CBD — you’re getting the good stuff.” However, he says, “I think you need the other profiles. You need something to get rid of the inflammation and you need to be able to stimulate the CB1 and the CB2 receptors.”

Consumption of the cannabis plant as whole flower or full-spectrum extracts instead of pure isolates, Jamie believes, is the most powerful way to reap the maximum benefit from canNUGL Magazine 27

nabinoids. For this reason, it’s important to Jamie that his hemp retains the terpene profile of its corresponding marijuana strain; there’s evidence to suggest that terpenes, the class of chemicals responsible for cannabis’ famous skunky aroma, may help “prime” CB1 and CB2 receptors, making them more responsive not just to THC, but to cannabinoids in general.

While Canna Comforts focuses on its flower, they also carry a variety of topical products that can be applied directly to the skin to alleviate pain and inflammation. From bath bombs spiked with cannabinoids to soothing herbal CBD salves to hemp-infused lip balms in such mouthwatering flavors as pumpkin pie and cheesecake, Jamie has plenty of options to choose from. He also stocks pure CBD extract, as well as a full-spectrum oil that contains a variety of different cannabinoid profiles. While he strongly believes in his hemp flower, he’s ensured that there’s a suitable hemp product avail28 NUGL Magazine

able for everyone, including those who cannot or don’t enjoy smoking. His products are available at dispensaries across the country, but they also ship to your home anywhere CBD is legal (meaning it can legally go just about anywhere).

When asked what he thinks the future holds for cannabinoids, Jamie keeps a level perspective while maintaining his characteristic enthusiasm. “We’re doing pure CBG extraction right now, and it’s pretty exciting … Everybody thinks CBD is so great, and it is so great, but there are all these other profiles are coming out and we’re seeing different applications and uses, and I really don’t believe we know how to use this plant yet.” Jamie believes in his product and its ability to impact lives for the better, and for that reason he’s committed to continuing his contribution to the cannabis community.

To learn more about Jamie’s company call 720.460.1055 or visit CannaComforts.com.

A History of Cannabis in Africa Five hundred years ago, some white men found themselves in the jungles near the Cape of Good Hope. They were “discovered” by the aborigines who took them to their chief. After the greeting ceremony that required genuflection and perhaps even prostration, and after the chief had made his position of authority clear; these men were entertained. They were offered food, and bangue – an intoxicating drink made of the leaves and flowers from a plant that was being cultivated in and around the Cape of Good Hope, and which, the foreigners realized, was marijuana. (Source: Marijuana – The First Twelve Thousand Years.)

This is Important for two reasons: 1. Cannabis isn’t native to Africa – and yet, these tribes that were focused on getting almost everything they required from their immediate environment, didn’t just use marijuana, they also cultivated it.

2. The name they used for it was bangue, which sounds almost like “bhang” which is the common Indian name for Cannabis.

Around 1700 A.D., the Khoikhois who were then known as Hottentots (a term now considered derogatory) and who were the original inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope; were already using hemp as a recreational drug. They called it Dagga. They had been ingesting it for almost a century before the Europeans arrived, but the Europeans taught them the art of smoking it.

Another interesting find that tells us about Africa’s historical connection with cannabis are the Ethiopian smoking-pipes. Archaeologists have found two ceramic smoking-pipe bowls containing traces of cannabis, in Ethiopia – a country situated near the horn of Africa.

These artifacts date to the fourteenth century, and they are possibly the earliest evidence of cannabis smoking in Africa.

All these facts raise an interesting question: How did Cannabis, which wasn’t a native African plant, arrive in Africa? There are many possible answers to this question: 1. It’s highly probable that cannabis was brought into Africa around 1300 AD – by either the Arab Merchants or by the Chinese traders, or by both. The term “bangue” or “bang” (in Swahili) indicates an Indian connection, which of course, tilts the scales in favor of the Arab Merchants bringing it to the African continent.

2. Around 1300, the Sufi saints (the nomadic breakaway group of Islam that had already been using cannabis for almost 200 years,) had also begun journeying into the Mediterranean, the Egypt, and the African East Coast. They, along with the Arab merchants may have brought cannabis to Africa.

3. Ancient Egypt boasts of a very long association with cannabis. About four thousand years ago the Egyptians were already enjoying the benefits of Marijuana. Upper Egypt that spread through today’s Sudan, could possibly be held responsible for the two smoking-pipe bowls that were discovered in Ethiopia, which shares its northern border with Sudan. It’s possible that the spread of Marijuana began in Africa through Ethiopia, and that it began a lot earlier – perhaps during the time of the New Kingdom?

While all of this is possible no one can be sure. What we definitely know is that when Europeans turned their attention to Africa, the natives of the South-Eastern Africa were not only cultivating and consuming cannabis but they were also referring to it as bangue.

In Africa, cannabis use wasn’t restricted to recreational use it was also used for medicinal and spiritual purposes. Medicinally, it was used to help treat diseases like Malaria and also as an anesthetic.

Background information for this article was provided by MJLinks.com.

NUGL Magazine 29

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