Maryland Leaf — Jan. 2020

THE ENLIGHTENED VOICE

F R E E / L E A F N AT I O N M D . C O M

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INDEPENDENT CANNABIS JOURNALISM SINCE 2010

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Medical cannabis is for use only by a qualifying patient. There may be health risks associated with the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products. There may be additional health risks associated with the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

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IN THIS ISSUE 7 editor note 8 national news 11 highly likely

JAN. 2020

12 14 16 18

cannabis law budtender otm greenhouse wellness pediatric cannabis

20 bee well cbd interview 22 harvest garden otm 24 strain of the month 28 history of cannabis

30 32 34 36

Botanical medicine cannabis after the nfl mental health herbology q&a

38 cannabis & desire 40 cannabis recipes 42 concentrate otm 44 stoney baloney

PHOTO by KETI CHIKHLADZE @KETI.PHOTOGRAPHY | STYLING by MALINALOPEZ @MALINALOPEZ

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E S TA B L I S H E D 2 0 1 0

T H E E N L I G H T E N E D VO I C E

ABOUT THE COVER

This month’s cover celebrates the health and beauty of Cannabis for daily life. We hope you will take a relaxing soak into this issue and enjoy a variety of stories, from the historical uses of Cannabis for 10,000 years, to enjoying Cannabis for yoga, and of course: much, much more!

Photography by @Keti.Photography Props & Styling by @MalinaLopez CBD Bath by @TheHempressUK Model @DeathDabforCutieee

CONTRIBUTORS

FOUNDER & EDITOR

Tom Bowers, writing

WES ABNEY Wes@nwleaf.com 206-235-6721

Keti Chikhladze, photos Alaina Dorsey, writing

PUBLISHER

Ally Dull, writing

EARLY Early@LeafNationMD.com

Wyatt Early, features Steve Elliott, writing

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Ariana Foote, writing

Daniel bermaN | photography & design daniel@bermanphotos.com

Malina Lopez, styling Taylor Martin, writing

AD SALES / PRODUCER/PROCESSOR/RETAILERS

Matthew Newton, writing

wyatt early Wyatt@LeafNationMD.com 410-961-8779

Jeff Porterfield, design Mike Ricker, writing Mike Rothman, writing Pacer Stacktrain, writing Laurie Wolf, writing Bruce Wolf, photography

We do not sell stories or coverage.

We are happy to offer design services and guidance on promoting your company’s recreational, commercial or industrial Cannabis product or upcoming event. We are targeted and independent Cannabis journalism.

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WES

ABNEY

Editor’s Note Thanks for picking up The Health Issue of Maryland Leaf!

THE CLASSIC SAYING that health is wealth has never rung truer than in 2020. I find it has great meaning when looking inward, and at our American lifestyle as a whole.

Life in our modern society is so fast paced that health is often ignored, especially mental and emotional wellness. Attention is commanded by devices and people in an everincreasing hybrid of communication that connects us AS WE HEAD digitally, but not literally. Our ability to live in and for INTO THE NEW the moment seems to be slipping, especially when glued to our phones. We all accept that change is ROARING 20S, needed. But how do we attain it?

100 YEARS AFTER Now let me be clear. I’m not talking about a two week aborted gym membership, or a crash diet of edibles and protein shakes for the new year. When I speak of change, there is only one acceptable type: long term change. And it starts with a simple choice. To celebrate the moment and enjoy the gift of life.

ALCOHOL’S HEYDAY, WE HAVE A NEW FAD SWEEPING THE COUNTRY. CANNABIS!

As we head into the new Roaring 20s, 100 years after alcohol’s heyday, we have a new fad sweeping the country. Cannabis! And the best benefit of Cannabis is the ability to help bring relaxation, peace, and enjoyment of life without the toxic aftereffects of alcohol or pharmaceuticals. So what is my new year’s resolution for 2020? To put my phone down, pick up a bowl of Cannabis, and allow myself to appreciate the little moments of life as it happens. To enjoy life is the most freeing form of self health care I have found.

I have long evangelized that all use of Cannabis is medicinal, even if it’s simply to feel better on a rough, rainy Monday. If it makes you feel well, it becomes a wellness product, which is the basis for medicine. Cannabis definitely makes people feel better - to put aside politics, stress, fear and even hatred, and replace the negative energy with a wonderful feeling of wellness. That is a gift, one I intend to share in the new decade.

As an honorary Lorax doctor, I recommend that the American people rip a double bong toke of 1:1 CBD and THC, stat! After all, you can’t spell healthcare without THC.

-Wes Abney

JAN. 2020

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NATIONAL NEWS

TEEN WEED VAPING DOUBLES IN JUST TWO YEARS

Buckle in, folks. This is the kind of study that often precedes a crackdown. Twice as many teenagers reported they had vaped Cannabis in 2019 as in 2017, even as weed use itself remained steady, according to new government figures.

The findings were released December 18, 2019, with stats from the federal “Monitoring the Future Survey” produced by the University of Michigan.

Public health officials are still dealing with the latest panic after an apparent outbreak of serious lung illnesses linked to vaping in 2019.

According to the government survey, 20.8 percent of 12th graders reported they’d vaped Cannabis during the past year. Tenth graders were close behind at 19.4 percent, with seven percent of seventh graders reporting they’d vaped weed as well. Each of these figures was more than double what they were in 2017.

The trend was called “very worrisome” by notoriously anti-weed Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Volkow claimed teenagers were increasing their chances of an “addiction” (yes, she actually said that) by inhaling high THC vape products.

WHY OREGON COPS APPARENTLY CAN’T DISTINGUISH BETWEEN HEMP AND ACTUAL MARIJUANA

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NO CANNABIS DELIVERIES FOR WASHINGTON STATE RESIDENTS

Cannabis has been legal for more than seven years now in Washington state. But residents of the Evergreen State, saddled with an unfortunately weak legalization law, still don’t have weed delivery services - and they won’t have them anytime soon.

If you’re looking for help from the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA), you’re out of luck. In December WACA unveiled its list of 2020 legislative priorities. You might be surprised to know that among their recommendations is that Washington State “is not yet ready for direct-to-consumer delivery.”

Claiming “the system should not be loosened to allow Cannabis delivery,” the group - which ironically counts as its members and financiers, many of whom would be in direct competition with delivery services - cast the business of pot deliveries as being quite dangerous.

“There are a lot of question marks around structuring delivery and what to do with cash and handing payments,” WACA executive director Vicki Christopherson told The Tacoma News Tribune.

“There are safety concerns for drivers.”

Hemp is a problem for Oregon law enforcement officials. It seems that they can’t tell the difference between it and THC-rich marijuana - and that means it’s also a problem for Oregon’s adult-use Cannabis industry, reports Willamette Week.

The federal government legalized hemp in December 2018. The legal definition of hemp means it can only contain trace amounts of THC. But the move created mass confusion among law enforcement agencies trying to stop unlicensed pot grows. The Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division, which had provided testing of plant samples suspected by law enforcement of being marijuana, announced in July it won’t do that anymore - as the tests “could not quantify THC, which is the difference between hemp and marijuana,” said Timothy Fox, OSP spokesman. “So we stopped doing the test, as their was no scientific or evidentiary value in the test.”

Local sheriffs’ offices are left hanging. Oregon cops, already frustrated by the state’s thriving illegal market, complain that hemp provides more cover for unlicensed growers. Some claim illicit marijuana is being grown and exported as “hemp.”

ALCOHOL RELATED CAR CRASHES DROP IN IDAHO AFTER NEIGHBOR WASHINGTON STATE LEGALIZES

MARYLAND COULD SOON SEE CANNABIS EDIBLES Maryland, which legalized medical Cannabis in 2013, didn’t launch its program until 2017. The state still doesn’t allow recreational weed, but marijuana-infused edibles are specifically allowed - it has just taken a while to write their regulations.

The state is in the process of writing the edible regulations, according to Maryland Matters. Tight rules will be enforced. Edibles will reportedly have to be contained in plain, opaque packaging that are tamper-evident and child-resistant. The packaging won’t be allowed to contain cartoons or other graphics that could “influence minors.”

Shapes of edibles can only be “geometric,” with no forms, designs or flavors “appealing to children” allowed.

“These findings are consistent with increased access to marijuana leading to substitution away from alcohol to marijuana,” the paper concluded. The research is the first to look at whether cross-border shopping has an indirect impact on public health. In this case, that was found to be true, since accidents that are the result of alcohol misuse were found to decrease after Cannabis legalization nearby.

Study author Benjamin Hansen, of the University of Oregon, confirmed that searches for the term “dispensaries” increased “dramatically” in Idaho after Washington legalized Cannabis. The author also found that access to recreational Cannabis was associated with a 21 percent decrease in accidents involving alcohol in Idaho counties directly bordering Washington.

NEW SPENDING BILL QUASHES PLANS FOR RECREATIONAL CANNABIS SALES IN D.C.

WEED BEATS TOBACCO IN SEATTLE

Hopes for legalization of marijuana sales in the District of Columbia were dashed in December, as a $1.3 trillion federal spending bill will continue to prohibit D.C. from passing any bill legalizing or regulating the sale, reports WAMU. The prohibition, first put in place in 2015, will now extend through at least September 2020, reports the DCist.

The prohibition, which had been left out of the version passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, was re-inserted by the Republican-controlled Senate. It remained after both chambers hashed out a compromise spending bill to avert a government shutdown.

“Ridiculous,” tweeted DC Mayor Muriel Bowser on December 16.

“We should have the right to implement #SafeCannabis just like other jurisdictions to promote safety for their residents.”

JAN. 2020

After Washington State allowed Cannabis sales in 2014, drunk driving accidents in next door Idaho dropped, according to a new study. Not only was there an association, but it was also strongest in counties closest to the Washington border, the study found, according to the paper from Utah State University’s Center for Growth and Opportunity.

Seattle is one of just three cities in the United States where marijuana use exceeds the use of all products containing nicotine, according to market research firm Nielsen.

More than 700,000 people 18 and older in the greater Seattle area have consumed Cannabis in the past 30 days, reports The Seattle Times. That’s about 17 percent of the population.

About 16 percent used nicotine products, including cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

Adults in the Seattle area who consume Cannabis have a median income of about $78,000. Those who smoke cigarettes or use other tobacco products average around $59,000. Cannabis users are also much more likely than nicotine consumers to be college graduates, according to Nielsen.

By STEVE ELLIOTT, AUTHOR OF THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF MARIJUANA

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MEZZMEZZROW FAMED JAZZ ARTIST AND 1930S-40S ERA CANNABIS P ROPONENT

By PACER STACKTRAIN for LEAF NATION

JAN. 2020

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connection between Cannabis and creativity, especially when improvising.

In his 1946 autobiography ”Really the Blues” - cowritten with Barnard Wolfe - Mezzrow eloquently described his first experience with Cannabis as happening at a gig, just before taking the stage: “The first thing I noticed was that I began to hear my saxophone as though it was inside my head…Then I began to feel the vibrations of the reed much more pronounced against my lip…I found I was slurring much better and putting just the right feeling into my phases - I was really coming on. All the notes came easing out Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow was an American jazz of my horn like they’d already been made clarinetist and saxophonist who affiliated himself up, greased and stuffed into the bell, so all with some of the greatest muI had to do was blow a little sicians in history, including Fats and send them on their way, FROM EARLY ON IN HIS Waller, Cab Calloway, Sydney one right after the other, CAREER, MEZZ MEZZROW Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and never missing, never behind many more. He was both an time, all without an ounce UNDERSTOOD THE SACRED impresario and a producer for of effort. . . I began to feel CONNECTION BETWEEN jazz recordings, primarily in happy and sure of myself.

CANNABIS AND CREATIVITY, With my loaded horn I could Harlem in the 30s and 40s.

ESPECIALLY WHEN From early on in his career, take all the fist-swinging, evil Mezzrow understood the sacred things in the world and bring IMPROVISING.

IT’S BEEN ALMOST 100 YEARS SINCE CANNABIS WAS MADE FEDERALLY ILLEGAL IN THE UNITED STATES. AS WE WATCH THE TIDE BEGIN TO TURN AND CANNABIS NORMALIZATION (SLOWLY BUT SURELY) TAKE HOLD IN THE U.S. AGAIN, WE CAN LOOK BACK TO THE HISTORY OF THE JAZZ AGE TO SEE WHAT OUR LONG LOST CULTURE LOOKED LIKE BEFORE IT WAS FORCED TO GO SUBTERRANEAN.

them together in perfect harmony, spreading peace and joy and relaxation to all the keyedup and punchy people everywhere. I began to preach my millenniums on my horn, leading all the sinners to glory.”

Lead them to glory he did. Mezzrow wasn’t content to just consume Cannabis, he wanted, it seemed, to extol its virtues to the world. Problem was, the herb had just been made federally illegal in 1937. Because of this, and many other factors, Mezzrow became perhaps the first celebrity Cannabis dealer in history. Although, due to the differences in time and culture, he might just be considered the first Cannabis celebrity.

Apparently, he achieved this status by establishing himself as the (white) jazz musician reported to have the best “golden leaf muta,” due to his relationship with a Mexican syndicate smuggling it into the United States. His weed was so good, it seemed, that some of the hottest musicians of the time were clamoring for it.

Soon, songs referencing “The Mezz” were being played on radio stations around New York, and then around the country.

Ultimately, Mezzrow was so famous that he started to attract attention from the law and was arrested while trying to enter a jazz club at the 1939 World’s Fair with 60 joints.

After playing a festival in France in the late 40s, Mezzrow decided to make his home in the country and he remained there until his death.

His name still graces the jazz club, Mezzrow, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.

But it was how Mezzrow saw the role of Cannabis in a musician’s life (who he referred to as vipers) and culture that truly stands out: “Us vipers began to know that we had a gang of things in common…We were on another plane in another sphere compared to the musicians who were bottle babies, always hitting the jug and then coming up brawling after they got loaded. We like things to be easy and relaxed, mellow and mild, not loud or loutish, and the scowling chin-out tension of the lush-hounds with their false courage didn’t appeal to us. Besides, the lushies didn’t even play good music their tones came hard and evil, not natural, soft and soulful…We members of the viper school were for making music that was real foxy, all lit up with inspiration and her mammy.”

highly likely

H i g h l y L i ke l y h i g h l i g h t s Ca n n a b i s p i o n e e rs w h o p a ve d t h e wa y t o g re a t e r h e r b a l a c c e p ta n ce .

CANNABIS LAW

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DOES CANNABIS PROMOTE HEALTH & WELLNESS? While avid consumers of CBD continue

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transplantation, medical devices, and animal drugs and feed. Cannabis could rightly be determined to be a drug in its raw form or a food in its component form. Not surprisingly, the FDA has a regulatory mandate to test CBD to determine whether it can be used safely and effectively as a drug.

This includes a testing protocol to determine whether a drug is effective for its intended use, what the proper dosage might be for the drug, how the drug might interact with other FDA-approved drugs, and whether there are dangerous side effects or other safety concerns for the general public regarding the drug.

The FDA must also approve the manufacturing methods of any CBD product to assure the drug’s identity, strength, quality, and purity.

If a drug is permitted to be prescribed under state and federal criminal laws, the drug must have been approved by the FDA and placed within one of the permissible Controlled Substances Act (CSA) Schedules. Thus far, only one CBD product has been approved as a prescription human drug product - Epidiolex - an oral solution for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare forms of epilepsy.

Which brings the discussion back to where it originally started: Does Cannabis promote health and wellness? It depends on who you’re asking.

The FDA is the federal regulator for food and drugs in the United States.

Food and drugs are only approved for manufacture and distribution if they have been deemed safe and effective by the FDA. Cannabis has been designated by Congress and the FDA as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (with a high potential the public demanded increased federal regulations for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in matters pertinent to public safety. in treatment, and cannot be safely used under Two years later in 1906, President Theodore medical supervision).

Roosevelt signed into law the Food and Drug Act. Pursuant to that designation, no prescriptions The Act prohibited the interstate may be written for Schedule I Only one CBD product transport of food which had substances, and those drugs are has been approved been “adulterated,” colored to not readily available for clinical as a prescription conceal “damage or inferiority,” or use. However, according to human drug product formulated with additives “injurious the political will of the States, - Epidiolex - an to health.”

Cannabis does have an accepted oral solution for the The Act also applied similar medical use. treatment of seizures penalties to the interstate marketing Thirty-three states and the associated with two of “adulterated” drugs, in which District of Columbia have enacted rare forms of epilepsy. the “standard of strength, quality, laws that permit the use of or purity” of the active ingredient Cannabis for medical purposes. was not either stated clearly on the Eleven states and the District of label, or listed in the United States Pharmacopeia Columbia have enacted legal use of Cannabis for or the National Formulary. The Act also banned adults 21 and over. Given the fact that over two“misbranding” of food and drugs. thirds of the states have enacted medical use laws Today, under the Federal Food, Drug, and and two-thirds of the country’s population live in Cosmetic Act, the FDA is responsible for ensuring medical Cannabis states, the FDA may one day the safety of all food except for meat, poultry and soon be forced to abandon its political leanings some egg products - as well as ensuring the safety and acknowledge the science that Cannabis and effectiveness of all drugs, including biological and all its component organic compounds - can products such as blood, vaccines and tissues for indeed promote health and wellness.

In November 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a second set of warning letters to companies across the country for illegally selling products containing cannabidiol (CBD) as dietary supplements. In its letters, the FDA warned that based upon the lack of scientific data supporting the safety of CBD in food, it could not conclude that CBD was generally recognized as safe for its use in human or animal food.

to dispute the FDA’s conclusions, those same consumers cannot fault the FDA for pursuing its mission to ensure that the food and drug products consumed by humans and animals are safe and effective. In fact, these warning letters highlight the dual nature of the FDA’s long history of protecting the public’s health and safety from products marketed or sold to the public as food or drugs.

Before the 20th century, there were few federal laws regulating the contents and sale of domestically produced food and pharmaceuticals.

A patchwork of state laws provided varying degrees of protection against unethical sales practices, such as misrepresenting the ingredients of food products or therapeutic substances.

During this period which became known as the Progressive Era, the public became concerned about the hazards of the marketplace. Spurred on by books such as Upton Sinclair’s, “The Jungle,”

Since 2008, Mike Rothman has counseled clients regarding Cannabis laws and regulations as the founder and principal of the Medical Cannabis Law Group and the Law Office of Mike Rothman in Rockville, Maryland. Mr. Rothman has testified on Cannabis laws and regulations before the Maryland House of Delegates, taught classes, and lobbied the federal government on behalf of patients and businesses. Mr. Rothman’s Law Office focuses on criminal defense, including use of the medical Cannabis defense.

JAN. 2020

COLUMN by MIKE ROTHMAN, ATTORNEY & PRINCIPAL | MEDICAL CANNABIS LAW GROUP | PHOTO by @NATEW415

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interview

G OT A FAVO R I TE B U D TE N DE R ? TE L L US WH Y ! WYAT T @ LEA F NAT IO N M D . CO M WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE THE ONLY DISPENSARY IN CENTREVILLE?

It’s unique to serve such a broad market - we serve a good portion of the eastern shore. I feel like being the only dispensary in Centreville gives us a bit of a closer relationship with the patients. We get a really nice mix of different people with wonderful personalities, and I like to get to know them all. It’s like if you come in and I know you love Air Force One, I will be sure to pull that out first for you to see.

“I LOVE TO COOK AND DO SO WITH CANNABIS REGULARLY - INCLUDING EVERYTHING FROM LATTES TO BISON BURGERS INFUSED WITH CBD AND THC.”

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR SCIENTIFIC CANNABIS KNOWLEDGE FROM?

While I was earning my degree, I was also tutoring people along the way, which further fueled my passion for learning. When it came down to learning about medical Cannabis, I had to take it into my own hands. I have been personally studying Cannabis for about 10 years, since I was 19 years old. There are always new things to learn, such as different cannabinoids and flavonoids.

HOW DO YOU FIND THE RIGHT MEDICINE FOR A PATIENT?

If they have no product knowledge, I like to learn about a patient’s lifestyle before making any recommendations. I like to gauge what could be causing patients pain or creating stress for them, and work with them on setting goals.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what the patient is trying to accomplish with using Cannabis as medicine. I have trained all of the budtenders to make recommendations and build off of those. I am a huge proponent for flower, even if you are not interested in smoking or vaporizing it. I also endorse patients making ingestibles themselves, versus buying pre-made capsules, tinctures, etc.

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WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE STRAINS AND METHODS TO CONSUMING CANNABIS?

Jeremy Felton maryland leaf budtender of the month

ASH + EMBER | 202 COURSEVALL DRIVE, SUITE 108, CENTREVILLE, MD | (443) 262-8045 ASHEMBERCANNABIS.COM @ASHEMBERCANNABIS

HOW DID YOU BECOME A BUDTENDER?

Before this, I had a career in information security and database management, which were high stress gigs. I kind of wanted to get into a field that was giving back more directly to people, versus working away on a keyboard every day.

When this program first came to Maryland, I had this spark inside me. I thought to myself - I’m

JAN. 2020

in my mid-20s and if I’m going to make a career change, then this is when I should do it. When Ash + Ember came to Centreville I met with the owners, they offered me a position, and I was able to blend my IT knowledge with patient care. I create all the digital displays and menu systems for the dispensary as well.

When I first started using Cannabis I was not interested in smoking flower, so I began experimenting with different vaporizer companies. In the last ten years, I have probably bought almost a dozen-and-a-half different brands. So my favorite way to consume Cannabis is by vaporizing, even sometimes mixing in concentrates with the flower. I love some of the old school genetics, so I always look for things coming from the Chemdawg and Sour Diesel families. One of my favorite seed banks is Top Dawg Genetics, with popular strains like Hash Plant 13.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR HOBBIES?

Outside of Cannabis I am a huge photography buff, shooting everything from macro Cannabis photography to nature and outdoor shots.

Every time I get a new strain in, I like to shoot macro photos of it and show the patients closeups. I also love to cook and do so with Cannabis regularly - including everything from lattes to bison burgers infused with CBD and THC. There are so many things that can be infused with Cannabis, so I like to play around with that a bit.

STORY & PHOTO by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT/MARYLAND LEAF

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SHOP REVIEW

DISPENSARY ROOM

MPX FRUITYPEBBLES Live Resin Cartridge A new product to the Maryland Market, MPX has come out with a live resin or “sauce” cartridge. This combines a mixture of full spectrum live resin with 100% pure Cannabis distillate. Upon exhale, I immediately recognized a flavor reminiscent of taking a fresh dab of MPX sauce through a water pipe. It’s very nice to be able to get this kind of flavor through a cartridge without adding botanical terpenes into the mix. I found this to be a nice

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daytime product, not bogging my

GREENHOUSE

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WELLNESS You may have heard of Greenhouse Wellness, a powerhouse ran by two extraordinary women, here to help patients find their footing in the cathartic Cannabis industry.

Conveniently located in the medical park of Howard County, and between two of the biggest metropolises on the East Coast, this dispensary is surely shifting the way people correlate Cannabis and health, no matter where they’re from.

Many patients struggling with chronic conditions are finding that over time, traditional medications aren’t effectively treating their ailments, and are recommended by practitioners in the area to explore an alternative route.

What better place to get started than Greenhouse Wellness? They recognize the curiosity people have in Cannabis, what it could do for their health, and how it should be available to anyone who wishes to obtain it for medical use. They are for the patient.

By valuing education, product selection and honesty, they’ve been able to

JAN. 2020

create a lane for normalcy everywhere.

In addition, legalization across the nation would also provide greater opportunity to explore this magical plant through testing and research. For instance, Dr. Apgar delivered babies for a good chunk of her career, but due to the lack of proven evidence stating whether or not Cannabis impacts women during pregnancy and/or postpartum - in either a good or bad way - for now, she doesn’t recommend it at all. But there is some testing they do have control over.

As we all know, the vaping incidents have caused many headaches for people, especially patients. So it’s always important for people to know that Greenhouse holds themselves, their processors, and growers to a higher standard when it comes to the products they produce. There aren’t any additives, harsh chemicals, or anything else that would raise any eyebrows in their vape selection and beyond. While they don’t deter anyone from any means of consumption, they

believe the best way to get the full spectrum of benefits other products may miss, is by smoking flower.

As a dispensary that promotes the use of all cannabinoids, CBD included, it’s also important to debunk the myth that hemp is not the actual Cannabis plant. It may not be the cultivar we’re used to, but with trace amounts and compounds equally as beneficial as what the dispensary carries, it’s safe to say hemp is moreso Cannabis’ healthy cousin. No matter the form or how you choose to medicate, everything they offer is high quality, safe, and affordable.

But the women behind Greenhouse Wellness have been able to pave the way for weed far beyond consumption.

Owners Gina Dubbè and Dr. Apgar’s new book “High Heals” depicts how two women from totally different backgrounds can stand as one on a cause that’s impacting health for the greater good through business, medicine, and education. For readers who want to dive in and get the full experience, they encourage using a strain that makes you feel comfortable and cozy, like Sunmed’s Lemon Meringue. If that isn’t quite your speed, don’t worry. They’ve demolished the recent shortage with over 45 tasty strains from trusted growers to choose from. It’s impossible not to find one that fits you!

work day down and keeping the creative juices flowing.

THC - 13.93% THCA - 59.81% CBG - 1.96% CBGA - 1.04% Total cannabinoids: 78.44% a-pinene : 0.48% b-pinene: 0.361% B-myrcene: 1.519% Limonene: 1.587% Ocimene: 0.178% Terpinolene: 3.131% B-caryophyllene: 0.457% Total terpenes: 8.782%

Greenhouse Wellness has been able to pave the way for weed far beyond consumption.

GREENHOUSE WELLNESS 4801 DORSEY HALL DR SUITE 110, ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21042 GREENHOUSEWELLNESS.COM 410 910 8702 MON.-FRI. 10-8 SAT.-SUN. 10-6

STAFF

PRE-ROLL BAR

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INVITING ATMOSPHERE STORY by BRIA PRICE @BRIACPRICE | PHOTOS by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT/MARYLAND LEAF

PATIENT OF THE MONTH leafnationmd.com

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“OUR FAMILY SAW AUTUMN WAS A BRIGHT, BUBBLY CHILD AGAIN AND THEY COULD TELL IT WAS WORKING. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE UPSET ABOUT HER USE,” ASHLEY SAID. PARENTS ASHLEY & JEFF WITTMYER

JAN. 2020

There are fewer than 50 pediatric Cannabis patients in Maryland and four-year-old Autumn Wittmyer is one of them. She was born with EhlersDanlos syndrome, a rare condition and chronic disorder that affects the skin, joints, and blood vessels. Shortly after she was born, Autumn’s parents realized there would be complications with her health.

W

hen Autumn was almost two-years-old, she had to have a craniectomy performed on her to remove a tumor found in her skull. Her surgery was successful and recovery was easy, but Autumn was often in pain with many sleepless nights.

Autumn would constantly be lethargic due to only getting about two hours of sleep a night and would constantly have a running fever.

Her parents began to look for answers to help Autumn feel more comfortable, but they were met with an unpleasant solution when her doctors recommended that she begin oxycodone at the age of four. Her mother, Ashley Wittmyer, knew that she had to find an alternative solution, and she immediately turned to medical Cannabis.

Autumn’s doctor approved of her CBD and Cannabis use in conjunction with her physical therapy. Ashley began making tinctures and gummies at home for Autumn to ease her pain, help her sleep, and enhance her mood.

When the medical program began, she was one of the first pediatric patients to be certified. Being certified meant more access to Cannabis products than those that are readily available.

Her progress and medication are all being documented in a journal for her and her parents to refer to whenever needed.

Luckily, this family has never received any pushback from family or friends for using Cannabis in Autumn’s daily life.

Pediatric use of Cannabis is a controversial topic, but as Ashley said, “Our family saw that Autumn was a bright, bubbly child again and they could tell it was working. It was impossible to be upset about her use.”

Ashley quickly saw results in Autumn’s daily life and continued to press on with creating more tinctures and edibles for her.

Autumn began her Cannabis use at the age of three and has been consuming it daily for about a year-and-a-half.

She only consumes Cannabis in the form of edibles, and will occasionally wear a transdermal patch. She rarely doses during the day, and at night she’ll typically have 2:1 troches from Verano to keep her pain regulated and help her sleep.

They’ve concluded that Autumn does best with items that have a 1:1 THC:CBD ratio.

Autumn now averages five hours of sleep each night, a huge improvement from her two-hour average before using Cannabis.

She hasn’t made the connection that she’s using Cannabis, and sees it as any other medication that she must take.

Asked how she feels about her medicine, Autumn said, “It helps my pain, silly.”

Since she will soon have to go to school, her parents have recently opened the discussion about her medical relationship with Cannabis.

Cannabis is federally illegal, so it cannot be brought into her classroom.

In order to stay medicated during the day, she will have to be driven off campus and then return to school after her dose is administered.

We often discuss defeating the stigma in Cannabis - usually referring to the fact that people from all different walks of life partake in the use of it.

However, the discussion about pediatric use is often excluded from the conversation and forgotten.

Autumn’s journey is a testament to medical Cannabis and how it can change lives for anyone, regardless of age. Autumn will always be able to feel the benefits from Cannabis and in her world, there is no stigma.

STORY by ARIANA FOOTE @INDICAWIFE for MARYLAND LEAF | PHOTOS by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT

stoner owner

STEVE BUMBRY BEE WELL CBD CO-FOUNDER

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JAN. 2020

Bee Balanced Therapies cofounding partner Janice Ingson Bumbry with her husband, Steve Bumbry.

BEE WELL CBD ALONG WITH BEE BALANCED THERAPIES are two separate companies that are operating cohesively in Maryland. These brands were built on the personal experiences of Steve Bumbry, his wife and founding partner in Bee Balanced Therapies, Janice Ingson Bumbry, and his co-founder, Molly Walden.

Together, the trio is providing a wellness-based platform for individuals to overcome their realities of pain, stress, anxiety, depression and disease.

TELL US HOW YOU GOT TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY? I played baseball in college and for the Baltimore Orioles in the minor leagues, during which I was hurt for all seven years. So I had injuries where I had missed time, and baseball ended for me a lot sooner than I anticipated. Baseball is played year round, and you are using your body to the maximum of its ability. In 2014, I had a concussion.

Before that in 2013, I herniated a disk in my lower back, and in 2011 I was playing with a broken hand the whole season, finally having surgery at the end of the season. In 2010 I had a torn oblique, and 2009 - the year I was coming out of college - I had a torn groin that was slow to heal. My goal was to get drafted, and playing through the injuries got me there. Once baseball ended, I had another goal of working with my doctors to take care of myself in a different way. I wanted to have a family and be sustainable and healthy in my 40s and 50s. This led me down the path of wellness and exploring the healthiest options available.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE BEE WELL NAME? Yoga, meditation, and massage were things I was doing on my own in the home, and it started to make a big difference on how tension in my body felt. I realized I wanted to share this with people and asked myself - how do I become legitimate? I took yoga teacher training and started a massage therapy school, becoming certified in both of those so I could work with people directly using natural, non-invasive things. This helps people to be well and be balanced.

The “bee” part of the name is significant because of my father’s long career with the Orioles. His nickname was “The Bee,” so I’m carrying on his legacy into the wellness world with these products.

“HOLDING OUR PRODUCTS TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD IS THE ONLY OPTION, AND ALL OF OUR PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN RESEARCHED AND TESTED.”

TELL US ABOUT SOME OF YOUR PRODUCTS… Two years ago when we got started, we asked ourselves what the most acceptable and effective consumption methods would be for consumers.

We came up with capsules, tinctures and topicals, and through extensive research started working on water soluble products. Concentration obviously affects absorption and how well you feel the medicine, so we go for high doses in small packages. Our tinctures are 50mg per milliliter. We have a 10ml tincture bottle with 500mg CBD and a 30ml bottle with 1,500mg CBD. There is a daytime and nighttime tincture, both with terpene profiles that reflect it. We list certificates of analysis on our website for anyone who is interested in seeing lab testing.

WHERE DO YOU SOURCE THE HEMP? For the last two years, we have been bringing our products over from our production facilities in Colorado and Oregon. Holding our products to the highest standard is the only option, and all of our products have been researched and tested. We have a relationship in place with a hemp farm here in Howard County that will hopefully be producing our hemp and hemp oil locally starting in 2020.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT SOME OTHER THINGS YOU ARE DOING IN THE COMMUNITY? We do our best to try and raise as much money as we can for two charities in particular. The National MS Society is one of them - both my sister and brother have MS (Multiple Sclerosis), so it is very close to our hearts. We do yoga classes where a portion of our proceeds each year will go to either the National MS Society or HOLA (Helping Orphans Latin America). HOLA is actually based out of Virginia Beach, but their service work is in Nicaragua.

The operator of the organization is a good friend of mine from college, whose parents sent him on a mission trip to Nicaragua after misbehaving as a kid.

That trip changed his life forever and he fell in love with the people there, wanting to make a contribution. He has been back and forth from Nicaragua for the past 20 years, and we’re working on building a learning center for underprivileged kids. My role is to develop a wellness and sports program, as well as helping to build a sports facility for them.

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B E E W E L LC B D . CO M INFO@BEEWELL-LIVING.COM

A Stoner Owner is a Cannabis business owner who has a relationship with the plant. We want to buy and smoke Cannabis from companies that care about their products, employees and the plant. You wouldn’t buy food from a restaurant where the cooks don’t eat in the kitchen, so why buy corporate weed grown by a company only concerned with profits? Stoner Owner approval means a company cares, and we love weed grown with care. Look for the Stoner Owner stamp when purchasing fine Cannabis, and let’s retake our culture and reshape a stigma by honoring those who grow, process and appreciate the best Cannabis possible.

INTERVIEW by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT/MARYLAND LEAF | PHOTOS by BEE WELL CBD

garden of the month leafnationmd.com

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HARVEST Harvest has made a powerhouse reputation for itself by producing some of the highest quality and most affordable Cannabis on the market, as well as being one of the biggest players in our blooming new industry.

H

ancock is home to one of the cleanest and most efficient grows in the state, Harvest. There is no doubt that their well-earned reputation was born from their quietly passionate cultivation manager, Kurt Dyer and the hyper-efficient plant production model he brought to the company, not to mention the strategic partnerships and initiatives they’ve designed to support the local community.

Harvest have done everything they can to embody their mission statement “Improving Lives Through Cannabis” - by producing affordable, consistent, quality medicine, while also providing local jobs with great benefits, partnering with their local community, and sponsoring several nonprofit initiatives.

But let’s start with their facility. Tucked away in rural Hancock, down a back road and behind a large barbed wire fence perimeter, is a common enough looking warehouse that could be home to any number of industrious activities.

As we pull our car through the security checkpoint, the full scope of the warehouse is revealed: a massive 100,000 square foot building. While they haven’t finished filling out the full space, as their reputation and our market continues to grow, they are surely set up to expand to meet whatever needs Maryland medical patients may have.

We were greeted by the Harvest team and given full-body sterile suits, and wiped our shoes on cleaning pads at every door we went through. Most grows have similar sterile practices to prevent spreading pollen or contaminates into flowering rooms, however, Harvest went above and

JAN. 2020

beyond to ensure that every door, room, I always love to look at moms and compare and walkway was kept pristine and sterile, how their respective cuttings grow strain to both by maintenance of the facility itself strain. Almost as soon as I had the thought, and the day-to-day habits of employees.

I turned to the end of the room and saw As Kurt walked us down a hallway, I some significantly larger plants in a darker commented on his cleanliness and he was corner of the room, and then realized they quietly appreciative and commented that effectively created a hybrid veg/mom room he really has his patients’ needs at heart. on a massive scale. I was actually super We all want clean medicine, but Kurt really excited by this variation on a grow because makes sure to maximize the sterility of his it allowed me to compare mother plants with operation, specifically with the most fragile their juvenile clones in the same room, among us in mind. side-by-side!

Kurt Dyer is an interesting Cannabis Both flower rooms were as large as the grower in that he did not get his start in veg room, and I cannot express to you the growing Cannabis until he was hired by joy that is the symphony of smells. Here I Harvest straight out of college. He is a saw every cultivar in full flower, just before horticulturist who got involved in some harvest, where the breadth of color and of his university’s medical Cannabis smell really showcases Harvest’s cultivation networking events, where his expertise and varieties. Cinderella 99, a back cross of passion for high quality plants was noticed Jack Herer, was a true standout. by the Harvest execs. He The live plants was recruited by Harvest exceeded my expectations over two-and-a-half and I could almost feel The live plants years ago when they the energetic headspace were first getting their of Cindy 99 from the exceeded my start in Maryland, and aroma wafting around expectations and he has been refining their tables. his method and process All in all, Harvest has I could almost ever since. set themselves up to feel the energetic Again, his emphasis be one of the biggest is on ensuring that producers of Maryland headspace of the highest quality medical Cannabis, Cindy 99 from standards are upheld but they have made it not just for regulations a priority to give back the aroma wafting and not just for the and grow their local around their tables. vast majority of us community along with that deal with chronic their company. One pain or mental health really unique initiative issues - but for those that they’ve done was that are so ill even a small amount of mold to partner with the town of Hancock itself or pesticide could make them sick or kill - offering them 5% equity in the company them.

- which makes sure that the local township First up was our stop in the clone benefits with the growth of the company room, which was a standard size with all itself. Harvest has set out to be not just one of Harvest’s 30 strains in trays on racks, of the best Cannabis businesses, but one pleasantly starting their lives. The clones of the best businesses in general, period. were very healthy and I noticed a thicker They have donated over $600,000 to stem on them, which indicates cuttings organizations like the American Cancer are taken from relatively more mature Society, Bosom Buddies, and Ryan House plant nodes, increasing the viability of the which specializes in addressing many of the clones. medical Cannabis core communities like Next we were led into the vegetation cancer, PTSD, and seizure disorders. room which was honestly shocking. It is Harvest is definitely committed to always exciting to walk into oceans of providing the most social good with their healthy growth, and believe you me, this profits as possible, setting a great example was an ocean. Down the room was long of how the Cannabis industry can pave a table after long table filled with various path for patients over profits. Thanks so cultivars at various stages of vegetation much to the Harvest team and Kurt Dyer for - almost an assembly line of Cannabis producing some high quality medicine for growth stages.

Maryland patients, and for taking the time I paused as I was inspecting the plants to make a difference - not just in the lives to wonder why we skipped the mom room. of patients - but in the community as well.

STORY by TAYLOR MARTIN @MDCANNAINSIDER | PHOTOS by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT/MARYLAND LEAF

HARVESTHOC.COM

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STRAIN OF THE MONTH

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OKAY, I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING. SMALL BUDS...REALLY? YES, REALLY. THE CAKE N CHEM SMALL BUDS ARE A GREAT EXAMPLE OF PREMIUM MEDICINE ON THE LOWER END OF THE PRICING TIERS IN MARYLAND, WHERE TRIM AND SMALL BUDS DEMAND A LOWER PRICE, BUT DON’T NECESSARILY SACRIFICE QUALITY. AT $50 A QUARTER - OR LESS THAN A LOT OF EIGHTHS - YOU ARE ABLE TO INCREASE YOUR QUANTITY AND STILL RECEIVE GLITTERY, WELL-CURED, SPICY SMELLING CANNABIS TESTING AT 30.2% THCA. I knew Cake N Chem was a cultivar that would work for me before even checking the terpenes because it had the distinctive light, spicy, and sweet aroma I have come to associate with a good caryophyllene and limonene balance in the profile.

Caryophyllene is itself extremely anti-inflammatory and helps to relieve all types of bone, muscle, nerve and brain pain. This terpene binds to our CB2 receptors, which lends a strong synergistic effect similar to CBD. Limonene acts on our serotonergic system to produce mood elevation, and by virtue of being in a better mood, a patient typically experiences a higher energy headspace. Limonene and caryophyllene encompass the goal behind a hybrid cultivar search. It is something that will help target pain without being sedating, and help energize while not inducing racy or anxious effects.

leafnationmd.com

Cake N Chem from Strane has the bulk of its profile in an amazingly effective 1:1 ratio of limonene to caryophyllene, with so many sparkling trichomes that I didn’t need the test results to tell me that this was a high potency flower! I was able to make this my daytime smoke for clear headed relief, for double the amount of time and half the amount of money I would usually need to spend to buy premium eighths at the same potency tier.

As patients, we don’t have to sacrifice quality for quantity, we just need to do a bit of bargain shopping.

A really big thanks to Strane for producing so much bang for our buck! I highly recommend picking up some Cake N Chem to use for your daytime relief, as it was tremendously useful for my own.

CAKE N JAN. 2020

grown by

STRANE CAKE N CHEM HAS THE DISTINCTIVE LIGHT, SPICY, AND SWEET AROMA I HAVE COME TO ASSOCIATE WITH A GOOD CARYOPHYLLENE AND LIMONENE BALANCE IN THE PROFILE.

N CHEM REVIEW by TAYLOR MARTIN @MDCANNAINSIDER | PHOTO by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT/MARYLAND LEAF

THISISSTRANE.COM

Eric MacLeod, M.D. Chairman

When the worldwide green rush sparks an adrenaline rush.

Welcome to the boom.

Our Chairman tackles every challenge like he does every climb — as if his life depends on it. The global demand for pure, premium CBD products is sky high, and while many are struggling to keep up, Eric is determined to crown GreenFarms king of the mountain. Planting, growing and harvesting the healthiest, highest-quality hemp plants is our passion and our life’s work. But what really sets GreenFarms apart is our unmatched vision: we intend to cultivate relationships with like-minded people like you to fulfill our mission to harness the healing power of hemp for the health and wellbeing of our planet and the people who live on it.

Let’s grow together.

GreenFarmsCBD.com

THE health ISSUE

CANNABIS USAGE THROUGHOUT HISTORY

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CHINA // 10,000 YEARS AGO

NETHERLANDS // 4,500 Y.A.

EGYPT // 3,500 YEARS AGO

The mind reels trying to think this far back into history.

To our time-bound minds, 100 years seems like a very long time. But there is evidence to suggest that Cannabis and hemp were incorporated into daily life by the ancient Chinese.

The first written history we have of the ancient use of Cannabis in China comes from the pharmacopeia of the shaman Shennong, who describes its usage in medicinal and spiritual practice, typically as ‘juice’ or tincture.

The Beaker culture existed sometime around 2500 BCE in what is now the Netherlands.

In 2007, a Neolithic grave site was found containing an unusually large concentration of Cannabis pollen, along with the indigenous herb meadowsweet.

Meadowsweet was used for its fever reducing properties, so it is likely that the person whose grave was discovered was seriously ill and using Cannabis for its pain relieving properties.

In ancient Egypt, the Ebers Papyrus describes the usage of medical Cannabis as through suppositories for relieving the pain of hemorrhoids, and through a ‘paste’ applied to treat sore eyes. The goddess Seshat (goddess of wisdom) is portrayed with a Cannabis leaf above her head. There are also many hieroglyphs that portray Cannabis being used in religious ceremonies.

ANCIENT INDIA // 1,000 BCE

GREECE // 2,500 YEARS AGO

MIDDLE EAST // 1,000 Y.A.

Surviving texts from ancient India demonstrate that the psychoactive properties of Cannabis were recognized and respected by physicians for treating insomnia, headaches, gastrointestinal disorders, and pain management - sound familiar? Indians utilized bhang, which is finger-hash combined with milk, to cure these hosts of ailments.

Ancient Greeks used Cannabis to dress the wounds on their horses. For humans, Cannabis leaves were used to treat nose bleeds, and Cannabis seeds were used to expel tapeworms. Green Cannabis seeds were also steeped in tea or wine and used to treat earaches. Cannabis was also used in steam baths, which drove participants to a frenzied state.

1,000 years ago in the medieval Islamic world, Arabic physicians used Cannabis for a range of reasons, including its antiepileptic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic properties from the 8th-18th century. Most of these treatments used dry-sift hashish applied to different formulations.

Cannabis has been prized throughout human civilization for its therapeutic properties.

While the last century saw the plant vilified by mainstream society - mostly led by prohibition in the United States - that has not always been the case for Cannabis in the rest of the world, where it has been used in sacred, healing, and ritual practices for eons.

JAN. 2020

STORY by PACER STACKTRAIN for LEAF NATION

THE health ISSUE leafnationmd.com

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Q&A | Dr. ShenaVander Ploeg “I want to help revolutionize holistic healthcare and destigmatize the use of Cannabis as a therapeutic.�

We connected with Oregon-based naturopathic physician Dr. Shena Vander Ploeg to learn more about her approach to wellness, and her thoughts on the role Cannabis has to play. Though plant-based medicine predates all other forms of treatment, it has encountered varying degrees of acceptance since the dawn of westernized medicine.

With the growing success of the Cannabis legalization movement, people are becoming increasingly curious about the potential of this plant, as well as many others, to treat ailments and enhance quality of life.

Further Reading MerkabaNaturalHealth.com AANMC.org | OANP.org Protanicals.net

JAN. 2020

How did you begin your journey with naturopathic medicine? Why did you choose to get involved in naturopathy?

Undergraduate studies in biology, chemistry, and psychopharmacology created the foundation of my inquiry into health and medicine. At first, I thought I would make my way into pharmaceutical research and design methodology. My education and experience led me to botanical medicine, nutrition, and yoga. I soon realized that a more integrative, sustainable, and holistic approach was my preference.

I explored graduate programs in naturopathic medicine that seemed much more in alignment with me, my values, how I wanted to live my life, and what I wanted from my career.

I love that naturopathic medicine affords people options! Naturopathic physicians can offer conventional treatments, as well as time-honored naturopathic supportive therapies.

Where do you feel naturopathic medicine fits into the overall pursuit of personal wellness, as compared to pharmaceutical and westernized medicine?

Naturopathic medicine guides patients in pursuit of holistic personal wellness, prevention, and health optimization - mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This individualized approach allows the practitioner to meet the patient where they are. Conventional medicine, alternatively, is best suited to manage acute health issues, trauma, or injury.

I find it best integrated with conventional medicine where appropriate. Naturopathic medicine empowers people to partner in determining their course of treatment. Pharmaceutical interventions may be indicated, while simultaneously providing naturopathic supportive therapies and developing other lifestyle practices to best support health goals. This scenario offers an opportunity to remove obstacles so that new lifestyle practices/ habits can further contribute to their desired health outcomes.

I like to think that this multivariate approach offers synergistic support that can be more restorative and regenerative in the long term.

Naturopathic medicine seems to be growing in the public’s consciousness, and it’s approaching new levels of mainstream acceptance. In what ways can conventional westernized medicine and naturopathic medicine coexist?

You’re absolutely right. Every year more states adopt licensing for naturopathic physicians. I think this is due to public demand. People want wellness care to improve their health, to prevent disease, and to minimize their reliance on pharmaceuticals by being more active in their health and ultimately in their lives.

I think integration is the future. We are seeing these two areas of medicine coexist more now in the developing field of functional medicine.

Ultimately, providing holistic healthcare services to support wellness will reduce primary care visits and prevent chronic diseases.

Over the past five years, Cannabis therapeutics have become an integral part of my practice.

With the passage of Measure 91 and pre-exI don’t think people realize the options availisting medical programs, there is increased able to them. A common misconception is that demand for educated professionals willing to naturopathic physicians cannot offer the same discuss these topics with their patients based on “level of care” as a conventional medical doctor. existing research and evidence.

The scope does vary from state to state (which is Botanical medicine was instantly a passionate confusing), but in Oregon and Washington, for interest of research, one which I delved into fully. example, we have the ability to prescribe and act In 2008, I was personally looking for an alternain the capacity of a primary care physician. tive to prescription medication, so I began forIt is our responsibility as naturopathic physimulating botanical and Cannabis combination cians to educate the public on our training and products. Then once licensed, in 2014, I worked expertise. Naturopathic physicians train in botanunder a medical doctor at The Aurora Clinic ical medicine, pharmacology, nutrition, biomein Portland, serving many chanics, IV nutrient therapy, Oregon Medical Marijuana and complete a four-year Patients. Working with this rigorous accredited medical patient population was program including clinical so rewarding; I was so internship and licensure with inspired by transformational prescriptive authority. stories about relinquishing dependence on pharmaDo you believe ceuticals and attaining a cannabinoids and much-improved quality of other Cannabis-derived life (with Cannabis alone). compounds have a role My experiences and clinito play in the pursuit of personal wellness? cal work inspired PROTANYes, absolutely. The EndoICALS™, the first physicannabinoid System (ECS) cian-formulated Cannabis My dream is to pioneer is well researched, and it is and botanical product line one of the most prolific and that is medically minded, the use of Cannabis integrated systems of the offering therapeutic options and botanicals as body. As it turns out, Cannafor the Cannabis consumer therapeutics bis, many other botanicals, here in Oregon. and lifestyle factors influMy dream is to pioneer ence the ECS. Cannabinoids offer many people the use of Cannabis and botanicals as theraalternative sustainable treatment replacement peutics. My goal is to create products that I can for stronger conventional treatments that have recommend confidently. It is time that we have unwanted side effects, secondary effects, or products that address cannabinoid tone, so it withdrawal symptoms. becomes a pillar of support and a cornerstone of holistic healthcare approaches.

What challenges do you face as a naturopathic physician?

What role, if any, do hemp or Cannabis derived compounds play in what you do at Merkaba Natural Health?

Botanical medicine is a pillar of my practice.

Regarding Cannabis, I want to be very clear that I cannot and do not prescribe cannabinoids.

No doctor can according to federal law because it is a Schedule I substance.

Personally, I want to help revolutionize holistic healthcare and destigmatize the use of Cannabis as a therapeutic.

My question is, “Can we integrate Cannabis into botanical medicine where it belongs?”

For Cannabis curious patients, some have read, heard, tried CBD/Cannabis products, and/ or want to learn how to optimize their experience. This is where the naturopathic principle “doctor as teacher” comes in.

We discuss the endocannabinoid system, distinctions between Cannabis and hemp, how to assess growing practices and products, how to access resources relevant to their exploration of Cannabis, dosing strategies, sensitization breaks, and harm reduction. This provides support in making well-informed decisions in a rapidly changing supplement market.

What advice do you have for people who want to employ a naturopathic approach to their own health?

It all starts with finding a naturopathic physician that is a good fit, as I think is true of any healthcare provider. Creating an open and honest dialogue is key, so your doctor can best understand your healthcare goals and your current level of motivation.

Like conventional doctors, naturopathic physicians may have particular areas of expertise and preferred methods of assessment and treatment.

It is important that their methodology works for you. I think naturopathic medicine is best suited for those looking to actively participate in their health process, while being offered holistic options in their healthcare.

Insurance companies provide limited coverage for naturopathic medical services (policy dependent), so be prepared to invest in your health. I think this is actually an upside, because people who invest in themselves are committed to participating in the process.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

INTERVIEW by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS | PHOTOS by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

THE health ISSUE leafnationmd.com

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Lofa Tatupu

>>>>

ZoneIn CBD Chief Evangelist & Co-Founder

Lofa Tatupu played six years in the NFL as a Seahawk and went to three Pro Bowls before leaving the NFL as a result of injuries during his celebrated career. CBD had a big role in Tatupu’s journey of healing, which he credits for bringing him back into the zone. The brand ZoneIn is a tribute to the benefits he found in full spectrum oil, which is the basis for products that can now be found in Bartell Drugs around the country.

We interviewed Tatupu to hear how CBD gave him a health resurgence, and became his new mission to share with others around the world.

JAN. 2020

How did your journey with the plant begin?

I enjoyed Cannabis when I was younger, when it was very frowned upon and people hated on the plant, both Cannabis and hemp. Being an athlete I knew that ingesting smoke was not the way I should go about it, so I let it go towards my later years of high school to really focus on sports. Honestly there was a lot of misinformation. Obviously smoking is not good for you, but the alternatives we were given as medicine are not good for us. Fast forward and I had left Cannabis for my first love, football, and I was blessed to go to college for it and call it a job in the NFL. Your football journey led you to Seattle, where Cannabis was first legalized! How did your time in the NFL affect you? After six wonderful but

hard years, physically, mentally, and emotionally I was trending into decline. I started out really good, went to a couple Pro Bowls, but I didn’t realize that even then I was going through trauma. Both mind, body and soul. So continuing on the best path I knew how, I took the medications I was prescribed and kept going about

my daily grind. Eventually that’s what led to my career being short, in terms of the injuries. I was never able to correct the injuries or heal — it felt like massive pain. I’m still grateful for every opportunity I had and couldn’t have asked for a better organization than the Hawks, but when I got out of football I still felt those injuries. Even though you’re done playing ball, those injuries stay with you.

How did you end up working with Cannabis?

Me and [former Seahawk] Matt McCoy got into the recreational business with 1937 Farms, and even though I had been away from Cannabis for so long we got into it because we realized the healing it was doing for other people.

With great purpose and good intentions we got into this, and while I was not smoking I was hearing a lot about CBD. And I had heard about it towards the end of my career, but thought it was going to be like THC, the stuff I wasn’t allowed to have. Again, all misinformation and miseducation. So I started experimenting after hearing all these stories and testimonials, and tried isolate and broad spectrum oils,

we don’t need CBD everything. And with 60% of products mislabeled or without CBD at all, we want to focus on solid products and fight the misinformation that exists in the industry.

Do you wish you’d had access to CBD in the NFL? I swear that I would just

and then finally came across full spectrum oil.

It was eye opening, like being reborn.

How has CBD changed your life? It was like all

of my opportunities started coming back. I was clear headed for the first time in a long while.

I’ve had 10 surgeries, 15+ concussions, and there was a lot of disconnect going on between my mind and body. So I was looking for a real solution, and I’m grateful to have found it in full spectrum oil. That was in 2017, and for three years I was giving it to friends because I started to make this miraculous recovery. I went from 280 pounds down to 230.

It wasn’t overnight, but it was me being able to recover quickly enough to go to the gym. And it just started this positive change of reaction, and everything started falling into place.

“I get up What was the tipping point for starting ZoneIn CBD?

When the Farm Bill passed in 2018 I made it my purpose to help others and create a national brand. It takes a team, because nobody does anything by themselves, and we partnered with a lab and have what I believe to be one of the best formulations that seems to resonate with a ton of people.

Where does the name ZoneIn come from? A big differ-

ence in our product is that

while others say CBD is for sleep or anxiety, we say ours is for performance enhancing, for life enhancement. I think everyone can attest to wanting to be in the zone, which is where the name comes from. ZoneIn is a play off the zone, which in positive psychology is flow state, which is what full spectrum oil has brought me to. Where I don’t have to think anymore, I just do. I get up and go to the gym and don’t think about being sore, I conquer it. Then I go about my day and have a work day that I crush, and when my kids come home it’s family time. And I’m in every single one of those moments. Being in the zone is being in those moments, and it’s cleared up a lot of noise in my life and I’m grateful for it.

and go to the gym and don’t think about being sore, I conquer it.

Then I go about my day and have a work day that I crush, and when my kids come home it’s family time. And I’m in every single one of those moments.”

You have focused on two products, capsules and a tincture, along with a sore muscle cream coming out in the new year. They can now be found at Bartell Drugs, local retailers, and online. Why did you keep it simple when it came to the product line?

We call our product Balance, because some people need to come down and some people need to come up, which brings you into homeostasis. So we have the same product, two different delivery methods as tincture or capsules. And we have a muscle rub coming out in Q1. We only have a couple products because you only need a few,

be finishing my career if I had this six years ago when I retired. My title is Chief Evangelist and I know people can hear it in my words. I’m excited for our nation and the world, and for everybody to be a little nicer - not only to each other - but to themselves. All too often we are too hard on ourselves, being our own critics, and life is tough and even harder when you are fighting yourself. I feel like this has given me cognitive benefits that are what allowed my body to fall into place in terms of correcting and managing pain while moving effortlessly.

Since you’ve had concussions I want to ask about CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease from repetitive brain trauma) which is a national conversation surrounding football. Do you feel CBD can help other athletes like it helped you? I always want to pay homage to

the NFL, they are doing a tremendous job with the Players Association of reaching out and making sure guys get the help they need. I can’t definitively say, because you don’t know if you have CTE until you pass away and donate your brain, but there were cognitive issues I was having when I left the game.

My short term memory was slipping, it was tough.

My attention span and focusing on everyday tasks was hard. CBD seemed to bring back that clarity, everything making sense and no cloudiness or fog taking over my mind. It brought me back to a young mindset, and when you get older these are issues that everyday people face.

So even though ZoneIn is brought to you by athletes and doctors, it’s for the everyday person.

I’m grateful that this will help somebody, and you can’t make claims according to the FDA, but my story is my testimonial and there are more and more stories coming out just like it.

What excites you the most about the future of ZoneIn? My circle of friends saw me go from 280 to

230 pounds and my health resurgence, and they all asked what I was doing. As I shared CBD my friends all said wow, this is real. It’s that snowball effect and it takes some time, but it’s going to lead to a healthier and happier world and I could not be more excited about that. ZoneInCBD.com @ZoneInCBD

INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX | PHOTOS by ZONEIN CBD

THE health ISSUE

HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD

leafnationmd.com

34

JAN. 2020

Exploring Cannabis & Mental Health Whether we like it or not, the truth about Cannabis as a brain medicine is that we don't really know the full extent of its effects.

We don’t know how beneficial or detrimental it might be over the course of a lifetime. We don’t yet know what factors increase or detract from the efficacy of the plant and its derivatives. And we don’t truly know what causes one individual medicating with Cannabis to feel relief and another to feel no benefit at all - or even feel worse.

One of the least understood areas of the plant’s effects surround mental health.

From government sponsored propaganda misinforming people that Cannabis kills brain cells, to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services owned patent 6,630,507 on cannabinoids as protectants from brain damage and degeneration, it’s easy to understand why there’s a lot of confusion around using Cannabis to promote mental health.

The reality of the situation is that we won’t gain the thorough, technical understanding of these factors until we see Cannabis rescheduled to a different classification or de-scheduled all together, which would allow legitimately qualified research and development companies greater access to the plant.

While the majority of the industry and its consumers continue to self-educate without the benefit of significant scientific research, trial and error, community agreement, and word-of-mouth recommendations remain the method with which we prescribe Cannabis to ourselves and others.

Anecdotally, we have an overwhelming amount of evidence that Cannabis can help alleviate symptoms caused by depression, anxiety, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, cancer, Crohn’s, glaucoma, schizophrenia, PTSD, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, nausea, and pain. With time and further legalization, scientists will be able to study and truly quantify some of the bigger unknowns, like proper dosage and which strain(s) to prescribe for which ailment.

Mental Health in the Industry

Take time for yourself, trust your gut, and put your foot down for your personal health when you need to.

There is more to life than being a professional, and without your health, you'll have no career in any industry.

In an ironic twist of fate, mental health issues are common throughout every sector of the Cannabis industry. In large part, this is thanks to a nominal percentage of businesses offering any benefits to their workers at all, much less those of the mental health variety.

Many businesses answer only to the margins and the bottom line is the most important aspect, despite any branding or marketing conveying otherwise.

In addition, there is a laundry list of factors at play that challenge the mental health of both owners and workers alike all across the industry.

These factors include, but are not limited to: financial risk or difficulty due to association with

a federally illegal industry, desire of ownership, to scale and resulting pressures levied on workers as a result, as well as physical safety.

The high stress nature of owning or working at a startup business in any industry is well documented, but it’s pretty difficult to truly comprehend what hurdles fledgling Cannabis businesses must clear in order to survive. The side effects of this is an industry that’s rather cut throat, difficult to navigate, and difficult to succeed in - as it pushes those who work in it to their max.

Turnover is frequent and loyalty is low as well qualified individuals are often poached by rivaling businesses. Laws change regularly, often challenging business owners to come up with four to six figures to become compliant with them. Other times a business owner will invest that amount to become compliant, only for that rule to be repealed or amended shortly thereafter.

Finding Health in Chaos While it’s easy to get excited about a career in Cannabis and jump in full force, don’t forget balance and diversity are key to health and happiness.

Take time for yourself, trust your gut, and put your foot down for your personal health when you need to. There is more to life than being a professional and without your health, you’ll have no career in any industry.

There are many individuals who have left stable, mainstream careers to pursue a passion for the plant and have been able to make it stick.

Many others were hustlers, growers, trimmers, and backyard open blasters for years before legalization, and are now making an oddly similar - yet opposite - transition.

Everyone brings something different to the table.

And in the short term and likely in the long run, each company will need people with both types of experience to succeed. While younger companies will demand more from fewer, generally speaking older and more established businesses will have more allowance for individuals to focus on a single job. The flip side to this is that younger companies will almost always have more opportunity for ownership than established ones.

As this freshly legalizing industry is forming, to get ahead, remember that essentially every single Cannabis business in existence is a startup. Startups have lots of holes that need to be filled and if one can identify areas where growing companies need help, it can be a relatively easy process to making oneself invaluable to that company. This industry was built on communication and trust, and owners who aren’t part of the Green Rush still rely heavily on their gut instinct to make business decisions.

Proving loyalty and value should be at the top of the list for anyone looking to secure steady, profitable work in the Cannabis industry.

Finding the sweet spot between your work-life balance, income stability, and career growth potential in this industry isn’t easy - but if you truly love the plant - then all the hurdles you clear to get there will be unquestionably worth it.

STORY by NATE WILLIAMS @NATEW415 | CALIFORNIA LEAF STATE DIRECTOR

THE health ISSUE

Interview

HERBOLOGICAL SYNERGY Maxwell Goldman is the lab director and chemist for Fairwinds Manufacturing, a Washington based company that creates herbal based products in THC and CBD versions. Goldman is the lead product formulator at Fairwinds, where he

36

combines a degree in chemistry with years of training in a Buddhist monastery in the ancient art of herbology. After recording an episode of Leaf Life Podcast on the topic of herbology, we sat down to talk about the historical connections and benefits of combining herbs and Cannabis.

leafnationmd.com

How did your Cannabis journey begin?

When I first tried it, I was maybe 15 with some buddies in high school. I’ve struggled with health problems my whole life and believe I was born with an endocannabinoid deficiency.

Dr. Ethan Russo has proposed the theory that a whole class of diseases are caused by ECS deficiency, with the three main issues being fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, and mental disorders like depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. I have had migraine headaches from birth - some of my earliest memories are struggling with the pain - and have battled depression and anxiety. So, I tried Cannabis in a park late at night and it was almost like a religious experience. It was very powerful for me and liberating. I suddenly felt healthy in a way that I had never felt before.

Did you always know Cannabis was going to have a big impact on your life?

It became a really big focal point in my mind and a point of contention. Back in 1995 it was illegal everywhere and the idea of Cannabis as medicine was unsubstantiated. For a long time I was thinking, maybe I’m just a drug addict. So I felt conflicted because I knew it was improving my health when I used it frequently. Then California passed MMJ and I began getting really serious into herbal medicine.

You got a degree in chemistry but went all the way to India for your herbology education. How did your time in India shape your view of life? For three years I

lived in an ashram with a guru and his disciples, like a monastery but not an official building in the Himalayan Mountains. When I first went out I had a lot of existential questions - like why are we here - and those questions got answered early on for me. Not directly, but by listening. And the Bhuddist type of thinking and speaking really cleared up how I view reality and my life.

“Modern medicine doesn’t acknowledge ancient medicine.

That’s why it has been lost and why there’s a huge opportunity to bring it back into society.”

JAN. 2020

Do you consider Cannabis to be an herbal medicine?

It’s probably one of the first herbal medicines.

Cannabis is really powerful medically and is probably one of the best spiritual medicines on Earth. It’s an excellent tool for enhancing your connection with the divine and medically - it’s powerful in both ways.

How are modern medicine and herbology connected? What’s exciting to me

about the Fairwinds mission and products is what Cannabis is doing for humanity. Because Cannabis and herbal medicine have been suppressed for the last 100 years, big pharma has put an iron grip on medicine and wellness. They’ve kind of brainwashed society into thinking that to treat diseases, you have to use synthetic drugs. And intentionally or not, natural medicine has been completely suppressed.

A lot of people don’t know that most drugs are derived from plants. Drug companies would go out to a village and find a tribe that was treating one of their illnesses with a particular medicine, some ancient tradition, and researchers would sample and isolate molecules, testing them until they found the one molecule that works. They then patent it and make money by making it more potent. Nobody was isolating molecules from herbal medicine or studying them except pharmaceutical companies, and all the research was private. So some companies knew about the benefits of herbs, but they buried it because they couldn’t make money off them.

Broad-Spectrum CBD Oil w/ Terpenes

Broad-Spectrum CBD Oil w/ Terpenes

Fairwinds Release CBD Tincture

Fairwinds Deep Sleep CBD Tincture

Essential Oil Blend

Herbal Extract Blend

Essential Oil Blend

Herbal Extract Blend

Sweet Orange, Bergamot,

Passionflower,

Bergamot, Lavender,

Magnolia Bark,

Neroli, Lavender, Ylang Ylang,

Magnolia Bark

Chamomile, Pepper-

Passionflower,

mint, Vetiver Root

Skullcap Root

Frankincense, and Copaiba

Combining Cannabis with a host of beneficial herbs is the special recipe for the incredible product lineup from Fairwinds Manufacturing Why does this excite you?

What is exciting for me is that Cannabis is like a crowbar cracking a door open into the world of herbal and natural medicine, and people are starting to see that there is a lot of power there.

And it’s totally safe and very cheap, which is what we really need in medicine. I think a lot of people have thought herbs were useless, old wives tales. I think Cannabis is changing that view as it’s seen as a powerful medicine, and so understanding is pulling Cannabis along with a similar view of other herbs.

How can the entourage effect of combining herbs and Cannabis help make them both more effective?

Traditionally holistic medicine uses Cannabis along with other herbs to enhance effects.

Herbal synergy can be best explained through modern medicine with the endocannabinoid system, which is so wide reaching in the body that it regulates almost every system - enhancing herbs that work on the same system that Cannabis works on.

If you have an herbal formula for joint pain from arthritis, adding Cannabis to the formula will immediately make it work better. The entourage effect is a real thing, not just in Cannabis, but in Cannabis and other herbs.

“What is exciting for me is that Cannabis is like a crowbar cracking a door open into the world of herbal and natural medicine.”

FairwindsManufacturing.com FairwindsCBD.com Listen to Max on the Herbology episode of our Leaf Life Podcast:

Fairwinds Flow

CBD Pain Relief Cream

Purified Water, Essential Oil & Terpene Blend (Bergamot, Lemon, Turmeric, Nutmeg, Clove, Wintergreen, Cinnamon, Peppermint, Linalool, Eucalyptol, Borneol, Menthol, Caryophyllene), White Willow Bark, Canna Vera, Avocado Oil, Oregon Hemp Extract, Docosanol, Ceramides 1,3,6-11, Hyaluronic Acid, Lactylate, Comfrey Extract

What advice do you have for people considering combining Cannabis and herbal remedies, or pharmaceuticals?

I’d say this is a very good thing, and there’s really no danger with normal use. Cannabis interacts with a lot of herbs and pharmaceuticals in a positive way.

Some people would say there is a risk, but I would say that the risk is really just that it makes the drugs work more. And sometimes that’s a good thing, like with opiates. They are very dangerous with overdoses and dependency, and other health problems. If you can use Cannabis to take less opiates and get the same benefit, that’s huge. And Cannabis is clinically proven to cut opiate doses in half or less.

What is your mission with herbology?

Big pharma doesn’t want you to know about herbal treatments or to treat yourself for free. I’m excited about changing that. Pushing medicine to the next step of evolution, which is the convergence of ancient traditional medicine with modern medical science, based on chemical analysis. Those are both super powerful, but modern medicine doesn’t acknowledge ancient medicine. That’s why it has been lost and why there’s a huge opportunity to bring it back into society.

How does the product lineup at Fairwinds tie into the mission?

Overall we have over 40 products with THC and CBD versions, from our suppositories to capsules and tinctures that combine Cannabis with herbal treatments - all of which people depend on, love, and have changed their lives. This is really a humanitarian mission. Of course we are all in this to make a living, but the main driver for us is helping people and delivering on the potential of Cannabis and herbal medicine.

Leaflifepodcast.com INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX

THE health ISSUE

CANNABIS

leafnationmd.com

38

From couples with chronic pain to libido-seeking lovers, more and more people are ingesting Cannabis before intercourse.

JAN. 2020

&

DESIRE Cannabis and sexuality have a long and complicated history. Their relationship can be traced all the way back to the seventh century in India when tantric use arose “in practices of Shaivite Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism.”

Educator and Cannabis historian Dr. Michael Alridrich explored these origins in a 1977 volume of the Journal of Psychedelic Drugs.

In its darker historical moments (flashback to Reefer Madness), Cannabis was depicted as a dangerous substance used by predacious and sexually promiscuous people.

Harry Anslinger, fierce pursuer of prohibition and former commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, publicly campaigned against Cannabis, declaring that use encouraged “...sex crimes and insanity.”

From Mexican immigrants to African-American jazz musicians, Cannabis has been widely associated with populations unjustly profiled as a sexual threat to white America. Eric Schlosser - investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author - reveals Anslinger’s influence and explores other historical connections to Cannabis prohibition in his book, Reefer Madness.

We now understand that the connection between Cannabis and sex stems from how our brains perceive pleasure - a human feeling that has been religiously and politically demonized through history for its association with sexual behavior. Today, access and information have shifted public perception and allowed more Americans to experiment freely.

From couples with chronic pain to libido-seeking lovers, more and more people are ingesting Cannabis before intercourse. Cannabis lubricants have become a dispensary staple, and some strains are even marketed as an aphrodisiac. But what do we really know about how Cannabis interacts with our sexual functions?

Dr. Becky Lynn, a gynecologist in St. Louis, wanted to offer a better explanation when women came to her about Cannabis use and sexual health. In an interview with Global News Canada, Dr. Lynn told reporters that she tried to read up on the topic, but there was almost no research, so earlier this year she started a study.

The sample size was small (with only 373 participants), but what she found after adjusting for race and age verified her own experience with patients: Women with frequent marijuana use, regardless of use before sex or not, had 2.10 times higher odds of reporting satisfactory orgasms than those with infrequent marijuana use.

But the connection between Cannabis use and orgasm is difficult to quantify. So for a closer understanding, we can look at something measurable - like THC’s effects on the brain.

Cannabis and sexual desire both spark a similar reaction in the mesolimbic-mesocortical system, the part of our brain responsible for things like arousal and reward. According to a study by Dr. Bernard Brodie at the University of Cagliari Department of Neuroscience, the dopamine receptors also play a “major role in the control of male sexual behavior.” Dopamine is a chemical most commonly associated with happiness, but this neurotransmitter/hormone has a long history of scientific instability when it comes to Cannabis.

For years, studies were funded and designed to look specifically for a connection between Cannabis use and psychosis - an event generally associated with an imbalance in dopamine functions. Many concluded that Cannabis use interfered with dopamine neurotransmission and in the spirit of this research, dubbed it the cause of abnormalities like schizophrenia.

In 2015, the European Neuropsychopharmacology journal provided a “systematic review of all studies” that had previously examined the effects of THC on the dopamine system.

They found “little direct evidence to suggest that Cannabis use affects acute striatal dopamine release.”

But their findings did suggest that “chronic Cannabis use blunts dopamine synthesis and release capacity.”

What does this mean for your sex life as a Cannabis consumer?

Theoretically, Cannabis can make you feel good, and often in a way that benefits our sexual functions, but our individual use varies greatly.

If you feel Cannabis has negatively affected your sex drive, consider your consumption frequency and dosing.

Dr. Brodie’s “Dopamine and Sexual Behavior” study provides a peek into the relationship between dopaminergic activity and sexual behavior.

Like many substances, an influx of cannabinoids can upset this chemical balance, sometimes resulting in effects like reduced libido.

STORY & PHOTOS by AMANDA DAY @TERPODACTYL_MEDIA for LEAF NATION

39

RECIPES THE TERPENES from the Grape Dosi #4 and the Peanut Butter Pie by Noble Farms begged to be turned into a cookie. And a fine wheat-less cookie it is. The dried fruit in the cookie pie makes the inside chewy, quite satisfying and even feels a bit healthy - though it really isn’t. The macaroons are just so easy, and there’s nothing like a dipped cookie. For these rainy and snowy days of January, you deserve these treats! #Indulgeresponsibly #Dontfeartheedible

40

GETTIN’ BAKED NOTHING LIKE A DIPPED COOKIE

BAKING SPRAY 1 ¼ CUPS SHREDDED SWEETENED COCONUT ¼ CUP SUGAR 2 TABLESPOONS FLOUR 1/8 TEASPOON SALT 2 LARGE EGG WHITES 1 TEASPOON VANILLA 8 OUNCES SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE, CHOPPED OR CHIPS INSTRUCTIONS 1. Heat oven to 325˚.

Spray two baking pans with spray. In a small bowl combine the coconut, sugar, flour, and salt. Mix well.

2. Drop by two rounded teaspoons onto baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

3. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate at 30 second intervals. Check each time, stirring, as sometimes it’s melted but you can’t tell by sight. Place in a narrow bowl.

leafnationmd.com

4. Dip half the cookie into the melted chocolate and lay on parchment to set.

PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

INSTRUCTIONS

FRUITY COOKIE PIE

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 340˚. Place parchment on two baking sheets.

1. Preheat oven to 340˚. Spray a 10-inch round baking pan.

1 LARGE EGG, ROOM TEMPERATURE 1 CUP JIF SMOOTH PEANUT BUTTER 2 TABLESPOONS CANNA-BUTTER, SOFTENED ¾ CUP LIGHT BROWN SUGAR ¼ CUP GRANULATED SUGAR 2 TEASPOONS VANILLA ½ TEASPOON BAKING SODA ¼ TEASPOON SALT 2 OUNCES CREAM CHEESE, SOFTENED 2-3 TABLESPOONS GRAPE JELLY

2. In a large mixing bowl cream together the egg, peanut butter, canna-butter, sugars and vanilla.

BAKING SPRAY 5 TABLESPOONS UNSALTED BUTTER, SOFTENED 3 TABLESPOONS CANNA-BUTTER, SOFTENED 1 TEASPOON VANILLA EXTRACT ¼ TEASPOON ALMOND EXTRACT ½ CUP GRANULATED SUGAR 3 TABLESPOONS LIGHT BROWN SUGAR 1 LARGE EGG, ROOM TEMPERATURE 1 ½ CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR 1 TEASPOON CREAM OF TARTAR ½ TEASPOON BAKING SODA 1 PINCH SALT ½ CUP DRIED CHERRIES ½ CUP DRIED BLUEBERRIES ½ CUP RAISINS

MAKES 12 COOKIES

JAN. 2020

3. Add the baking soda and salt and blend to combine.

Chill for 30 minutes.

4. Place in heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet. They should be at least two inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

5. Combine the cream cheese and jelly until smooth and divide between the cooled cookies. Spread the cookies with the cream cheese frosting. Dot with jelly if so inclined.

2. In a large bowl, blend the butter with the extracts until light and fluffy.

3. Add the sugars and mix until well incorporated.

4. Add the egg and stir until well incorporated.

5. Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into the dough. Combine with a spatula until evenly mixed.

6. Spread the cookie dough, as evenly as possible in the prepared pan. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, then bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden.

7. Let cool for 20-30 minutes and cut into 12 slices.

RECIPES by LAURIE WOLF | PHOTOS by BRUCE WOLF

concentrate OF THE MONTH

With 75.14% available THC and only 1.66% total terpenes, this profile might inspire a patient to write off this dab as something not particularly special. However, I chose this shatter not for its profile, but because it is one of the rarest forms of shatter available - so much so that there is barely a classification for it.

leafnationmd.com

42

CORLEONE KUSH SHATTER

by VERANO HOLDINGS

Experienced dabbers will easily spot the differences between extracted oil products, but for those still learning the landscape, the type of dab is typically classified by the viscosity of the oil.

Simply put, a shatter is rigid and breaks apart, whereas a wax is creamier and thicker, a sugar is more crystalized, etc.

This is where Verano’s Don Corleone Kush shatter stands out, displaying the rare characteristics of what is known as a butter shatter.

The fact that this shatter started to get creamier and cloudier - as opposed to forming crystals means that the trichome heads of the Don Corleone contained an above average waxy coating.

So much so that even after it went through the normal dewaxing process, a small amount of residual waxes/lipids remained.

Not enough to be a wax or a butter, but just enough to cure into a creamy butter shatter - essentially demonstrating a rare breeding quality of the Don Corleone cultivar that bursts out of Verano’s typical production line.

Each dab was robust and echoed the balanced 1:1 ratios of the terpenes in a way that really felt true to the flavor profile of the flower itself, but instead of tasting like a faint whiff of Don Corleone (as the 1.66% would suggest), it invaded my sensory perception with the same ferocity of a 10% terpene profile.

The pronounced linalool, myrcene, limonene, and caryophyllene flavors mingled together and lingered long after the exhale, much the same way a creamy hash rosin or extra terpy butter would. The right balance of components has the ability to dramatically enhance the experience of a dab and this is evidenced by Verano’s Don Corleone shatter, hereby known to be a unicorn of a find on the Maryland medical market.

Verano.Holdings @Verano.Holdings

“EACH DAB WAS ROBUST AND ECHOED THE BALANCED 1:1 RATIOS OF THE TERPENES IN A WAY THAT REALLY FELT TRUE TO THE FLAVOR P ROFILE OF THE FLOWER ITSELF.”

JAN. 2020

REVIEW by TAYLOR MARTIN @MDCANNAINSIDER | PHOTO by WYATT EARLY @ERRLYWYATT

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46

by Mike Ricker

Tuesday is my Friday People have been attempting to place identifiable descriptors to the days of the week for as long as there have been calendars.

And as technology has advanced and created more demand for higher yields outside of the once standard nine-to-five workday, our schedules have fluctuated, signifying that we are now officially a 24-hour society. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the timetable that was made commonplace for the past two thousand plus years is now completely out of whack.

But we, as those who work best within the stability of organization, still find it necessary to hold true to a particularly standardized schedule in order to effectively compartmentalize our lives and bring the highest level of productivity. And productivity ultimately equates to more movement of machines and people working on Saturdays and Sundays.

Of course, that’s assuming you like Saturdays and Sundays. Because believe it or not, some people actually like Mondays. And for some, Mondays are really Fridays.

And for others, Saturdays are actually Mondays. I know, trying to rationalize this concept makes your head spin.

Saying that we’ve complicated things is an understatement. Instead of stating, “I have the next two days free from having to be at my job,” people will apply what they know as the easiest shortcut to describe the meaning they are attempting to convey.

Jan.2020

“Today is my Saturday.”

“But today is Wednesday.”

“Yes, I know, but for me it’s Saturday.”

“Congratulations?”

It’s true, the days of the week have become as interchangeable as the heads on your electric toothbrush.

Do you know what it’s called when you start partying hard on Friday night and eventually find you’re watching the Sunday morning sunrise, having not slept a wink in 40 hours because you love booze and cocaine? That’s called Fraturunday.

By the way, that never happens to a stoner.

Get the audio version and every episode at Stoney-Baloney.com

@RickerDJ