Jul 2021 — NE Leaf

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THE ENLIGHTENED VOICE

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INDEPENDENT CANNABIS JOURNALISM SINCE 2010

the CONCENTRATES issue

JUSTIN L. STEWART

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SIMPSON SOLVENTLESS @SIMPSONSOLVENTLESS

TOPICAL OF THE MONTH SALVE IT LAVENDER 1:1 BALM/RUB

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EDIBLE OF THE MONTH LEVIA ACHIEVE INFUSED SELTZER

44 Exploring Hash History Did you know that hash has been used for centuries across cultures?

Leaf Nation’s Bobby Black dives into the amazing history of the world’s first Cannabis extraction tech, revealing the secret of how hash became beloved.

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jul. 2021

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WORLD OF CANNABIS MUSEUM

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Joey Doucette 7 EDITOR’S NOTE 10 N AT I O N A L N E W S 14 L O C A L N E W S 18 B U D T E N D E R Q & A 20 H I G H LY L I K E LY 24 S T R A I N O F T H E M O N T H 28 X T R A C T O R D E P O T 30 T H E H A S H A R T I S T 32 C O N C E N T R AT E S 1 0 1 34 H Y D R O C A R B O N 36 D I S T I L L AT E 37 C O 2 O I L 38 W H O L E P L A N T 40 C A N N A B I N O I D S 42 T O P I C A L R E V I E W 43 E D I B L E R E V I E W 44 C A N N T H R O P O L O G Y 46 S T O N E Y B A L O N E Y

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BAILEY JONSON

Xtractor Depot Founder & CEO Andrew Yoon created his Southern California-based extraction equipment supply company back in 2016. “Helping clients develop a clear vision for their business is one of the key objectives of the business,” says Yoon.

BAILEY JONSON

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#11

budtender of the month

ERIC SIMPSON

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JULY 2021

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N O R T H EAS T

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@thebotanist.ma Please consume responsibly. This product may cause impairment and may be habit forming. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug.

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

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A B O U T T H E C OV E R This month’s cover art came to life through the vision of Eric Simpson of Simpson Solventless LLC, who molded the center shape out of full-melt bubble hash, and the other shapes and letters out of solventless THC-A crystalline. You could dab the cover.

The creative photo was styled with the help of photographer and Content Director Tom Bowers, our hash expert Eric, Sales Director Nate Williams, and Creative Director Daniel Berman Zooming in from Leaf HQ in Seattle, to fully realize this aspirational image that spoke to the continued innovation of the California Cannabis industry.

PHOTO by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS ART by ERIC SIMPSON @SIMPSONSOLVENTLESS

CONTRIBUTORS

WES ABNEY | FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BOBBY BLACK, FEATURES JOSHUA BOULET, ILLUSTRATION TOM BOWERS, FEATURES EARLY, PRODUCTION MAX EARLY, FEATURES WYATT EARLY, FEATURES STEVE ELLIOTT, NATIONAL NEWS MIKE GIANAKOS, FEATURES BAILEY JONSON, FEATURES + PHOTOS BOBBY NUGGZ, FEATURES + PHOTOS JEFF PORTERFIELD, DESIGN MIKE RICKER, FEATURES MEGHAN RIDLEY, EDITING O’HARA SHIPE, FEATURES ERIC SIMPSON, COVER ART WEST SMITH, PHOTOS JUSTIN L. STEWART, PHOTOS CHARLES TAGGART, FEATURES + PHOTOS JAMIE VICTOR, ILLUSTRATION DAN VINKOVETSKY, FEATURES

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SENIOR EDITORS MIKE GIANAKOS | DAN VINKOVETSKY

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SALES DIRECTOR MICHAEL CZERHONIAK

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We are creators of targeted, independent Cannabis journalism. Please email us to discuss advertising in the next issue of Northeast Leaf Magazine. We do not sell stories or coverage. We can offer design services and guidance on promoting your company’s medicinal, recreational, commercial or industrial Cannabis business, product or event within our magazine and on our website, LeafMagazines.com. Email michael@leafmagazines.com to begin supporting and advertising with us!

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ABNEY

Editor’s Note Thanks for picking up The Concentrates Issue of the Leaf!

OUR CONCENTRATES ISSUE is my favorite of the year for one simple reason: I love dabs! My first dab was around 2011 – in the century old boiler room below the now closed Northern Cross Collective Gardens – and I remember feeling the oil touch the red hot nail as the vapor burst into my lungs with the force of a thousand bong hits. The world closed in around me and I felt the reverberation of raw THC as it pulsed through my blood and into my mind, sending me away for the next few hours, humming with a high that was unlike anything else.

Over the last decade of publishing and working in Cannabis, I have personally seen the concentrate world evolve from homemade Rick Simpson Oil and open-blasted butane hash oil, to highly medicinal mono-cannabinoid extracts and vaporizable concentrates of all kinds, to being the precursor to a new world of edibles, topicals, capsules and more. For our Concentrates Issue we sought out the best examples of the different types of extractions, to share how they affect the body and the science behind the scenes.

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FOR OUR CONCENTRATES ISSUE WE SOUGHT OUT THE BEST EXAMPLES OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXTRACTIONS.

Concentrating Cannabis means exactly what it sounds like: taking a full plant and using a process or solvent to extract the purest essence of it.

This makes it incredibly important to only consume high quality, pesticide tested concentrates.

Quality concentrates have the ability to impart healing value that Cannabis flower alone cannot replicate, delivering a pure flavor and experience that captures the taste and effect of fresh Cannabis in a perfect dab. Look closely and you’ll see that concentrates cover every aspect of Cannabis – every product beyond flower – from medical to recreational uses and benefits.

Our comprehensive Concentrates Issue covers the different extraction methods, terminology, ways to consume and much more. So take a dab, flip through this beautiful and informational issue, and learn something new that you can share with someone in need of Cannabis – as both a plant and a medicine. And as always, thanks for reading and sharing the Leaf!

-Wes Abney JUL. 2021

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Marijuana products may be purchased or possessed only by persons 21 or older. This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit-forming. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgment.

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of reach of children.

national news

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legalization

MIDWEST

east coast

NEW BILL WOULD REVOLUTIONIZE FED DRUG POLICY

MEDICAL CANNABIS PATIENTS IN MINNESOTA SEEK GUN RIGHTS

VIRGINIA’S CANNABIS LEGALIZATION LAW KICKS IN JULY 1

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ast month marked the the 50th anniversary – on June 17 – of when President Richard Nixon declared the “war on drugs.”

Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Cori Bush (D-MO) observed the occasion by unveiling the Drug Policy Reform Act (DPRA).

The bill would end criminal penalties for drug possession at the federal level. It would shift the regulatory authority from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Additionally, the DPRA would expunge records and provide for resentencing, and reinvest in alternative health-centered approaches.

The bill also eliminates THE BILL ALSO many of the lifelong ELIMINATES MANY consequences associated with OF THE LIFELONG CONSEQUENCES drug arrests and convictions.

ASSOCIATED WITH These include the denial of DRUG ARRESTS AND employment, public benefits, CONVICTIONS. immigration status, drivers’ licenses and voting rights.

The DPRA also incentivizes state and local governments to adopt decriminalization policies.

Last week, DPRA – in partnership with the ACLU – released a national drug policy poll that found 66% of American voters support removing criminal penalties for drugs and replacing them with health-centered approaches.

AMAZON WILL STOP POT DRUG TESTING FOR JOB APPLICANTS

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taunch conservatives and advocates of legal marijuana have formed an unlikely alliance in Minnesota to pressure the Legislature to allow medical Cannabis patients to own guns, reports KIMT 3.

The more than 35,000 patients in Minnesota’s program can’t own guns as the law now stands because the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, on par with heroin.

Gun-rights supporters and pro-legalization groups are lobbying for Minnesota to petition for an exemption.

If they succeed, the Star Tribune reports, Minnesota would be the first of 36 states that allow medical marijuana in some form, to appeal directly to the federal government on behalf of enrollees.

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LOUISIANA GOVERNOR SIGNS DECRIM BILL

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mazon will no longer test most job applicants for Cannabis use in the latest sign of America’s changing attitudes toward weed. Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the U.S., also says it now backs legalizing marijuana nationwide.

“In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use,” the company said in a blog post in June.

“However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course.”

Marijuana users and advocates are cheering the news, but it may also bring relief to Amazon’s hiring managers: The company operates – and is rapidly expanding into – places where marijuana is legal.

Amazon’s home state of Washington was among the first in the country to legalize marijuana for recreational use, back in 2012. The company is now building an East Coast headquarters in Virginia, where weed will become legal on July 1. It has also been expanding in New York, which legalized marijuana at the end of March.

overnor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana has signed into law House Bill 652, taking away the possibility of jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana. It’s the latest shift away from Louisiana’s historically harsh stance on the herb. Edwards is a conservativeleaning Democrat who often moves in lockstep with the state’s sheriffs, and has long opposed legalizing marijuana. Gov. Edwards hailed it as a criminal justice reform effort. The decrim bill kept gaining strength in the two month legislative session that ended last week. Some viewed it as a make-good, after a GOP-sponsored bill to legalize Cannabis narrowly failed in the state House. The push indicated a growing willingness by the conservative Louisiana Legislature to look at loosening the state’s punitive laws surrounding marijuana.

tarting July 1, people in Virginia can smoke marijuana in the privacy of their home, but it will still be illegal to do that in a public space. It is also still banned on school property and in vehicles.

Adults who are 21 and older will be allowed to have up to an ounce of Cannabis legally. That is about the weight of a pencil.

Anyone caught with more than an ounce could face up to a $25 charge. Users will also be allowed to grow up to four plants per home. Virginia is not an open marijuana market, so people will need to be careful.

When the law goes into effect, it will still be illegal to buy and sell marijuana until January 1, 2024, at which point retail sales are expected to begin.

FLORIDA’S SUPREME COURT BLOCKS INITIATIVE FOR THIRD TIME

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or the third time in three months, the Florida Supreme Court dashed the hopes of Floridians who want to see expanded access to Cannabis.

In a 5-2 ruling on June 17, the state’s highest court found a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana to be misleading. The initiative, titled “Regulate Marijuana in a THE STATE’S HIGHEST Manner Similar to Alcohol to Establish COURT FOUND A BALLOT INITIATIVE TO Age, Licensing, and LEGALIZE MARIJUANA Other Restrictions,” TO BE MISLEADING. would have also allowed Floridians to grow Cannabis at home. Had it reached the ballot, the initiative would have needed the approval of 60% of voters to become a part of the state Constitution.

Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the court to weigh in on the ballot language in September 2019. It took the court the better part of two years to issue its ruling.

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CONNECTICUT LAWMAKERS

LEGALIZE IT!

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Photo by PixaBay

onnecticut’s General Assembly has approved a marijuana legalization bill. On June 17, the state Senate passed a version of the bill amended and approved by the House one day earlier. The 16-11 Senate vote sent the legalization bill to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk.

As we go to press, the governor has yet to sign the bill into law. However, Lamont supports marijuana-law reform and even introduced his own legalization measure earlier this year. Shortly after lawmakers passed the legalization bill, Gov. Lamont released a statement that read in part, “I look forward to signing the bill and moving beyond this terrible period of incarceration and injustice.”

Assuming the governor follows through and signs the bill, Connecticut’s adult-use law would allow possession of up to an ounce and a half of Cannabis beginning July 1, 2021. While the bill doesn’t specify an official launch date, sales could begin as early as May 2022.

Home cultivation would also be allowed under the law, with medical pot patients getting the first crack at growing, followed eventually by recreational consumers.

The new law includes several criminal justice reforms as well. Automatic expungements for minor marijuana convictions will begin in 2023. And starting next year, requests can be made for expungements of other pot-related convictions, including for sales and possession of paraphernalia.

Connecticut’s adult-use law offers protections for workers, tenants, students and people in need of medical care, as positive tests for pot or proof of recreational Cannabis use can’t be used against them. Additionally, police

JUL. 2021

would not be allowed to use the smell of marijuana to justify a search.

Social equity was the biggest legislative hurdle lawmakers faced in creating the state’s adult-use law. However, feedback from advocates helped legislators strengthen the bill’s equity program. Under the new law, qualified equity applicants would receive 50 percent of industry licenses, including for growing, retail, manufacturing and delivery. Social equity applicants would also receive a 50 percent discount on licensing fees. Once awarded a license, equity business owners would only pay 50 percent of licensing fee renewals for the first three years.

Additionally, a large portion of retail pot tax revenue would be reinvested in communities disproportionately impacted by prohibition.

Lamont’s signature on the adult-use bill would bring an end to a tumultuous effort to legalize Cannabis in Connecticut. During his State of the State address in January, the governor pledged to work with the General Assembly on a tax and regulate plan in 2021. However, his own pot proposal was widely criticized for emphasizing pot sales tax revenue the state badly needed to help close its budget gap, and failing to establish an equity program that would benefit residents most affected by the war on drugs.

For his part, Lamont maintained that the bill was a starting point and not a finished product. His office worked with lawmakers and the bill was amended to include stronger social equity elements. While the proposal ultimately advanced through separate legislative committees, advocates favored a competing Cannabis measure introduced by Rep. Robyn Porter, which focused on equity and criminal justice reform.

The current bill, SB 1201, is a compromise measure introduced by House Speaker Matt Ritter and Senate President Martin Looney. The measure includes elements of the bills put forward

by Lamont and Porter.

Yet despite the compromise, the bill required a special legislative session and multiple amendments to pass both chambers of the General Assembly.

Lamont even threatened to veto the measure if language expanding social equity eligibility wasn’t removed.

The governor’s office released a statement criticizing the equity amendment, which they believe “allows just about anyone with a history of Cannabis crimes or a member of their Photo by Mike Von family, regardless of financial means, who was once arrested on simple possession to be considered with the same weight as someone from a neighborhood who has seen many of their friends and loved ones face significant penalties and discrimination due to their past Cannabis crimes.”

After the governor weighed in, lawmakers removed the amendment that expanded equity eligibility and added a provision that prevents legislators, elected officials and marijuana regulators from entering the legal pot industry for two years after leaving office.

The latest version of the bill, now nearly 300 pages long, passed the House and the Senate and currently awaits the governor’s signature. Lamont has indicated his intention is to sign the marijuana measure into law.

With the governor’s signature, Connecticut would become the nineteenth state to legalize Cannabis (if you include South Dakota and Montana) and the fifth state to pass an adult-use bill in 2021, as lawmakers in New Jersey, New York, New Mexico and Virginia all approved recreational marijuana legislation earlier this year.

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small Cannabis business based in Taunton, Massachusetts had the distinction of making the state’s first-ever recreational marijuana delivery in early June.

Freshly Baked was awarded the first adult-use delivery license by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC). And while the inaugural delivery was a test run sent to the business’s co-owner, Freshly Baked received approval to begin delivering pot products to the public within a 15 mile radius of Taunton.

The CCC began accepting applications for courier delivery licenses last year.

Businesses granted a courier license are permitted to partner with existing pot producers and charge a fee for delivering those products.

However, earlier this year the CCC introduced a second delivery license type that allows businesses to purchase pot products wholesale and warehouse an inventory that can be sold and delivered.

Both delivery license types were created in an effort to encourage inclusion in the legal Cannabis industry and the licenses are only available to qualified social equity applicants for the first three years of the program.

The second license type angered some established Cannabis retailers and a group of dispensary owners brought a lawsuit against the CCC. However, the suit faced backlash as it was viewed as an attack on equity, and was quickly dropped.

MAINE SETS RETAIL RECORD

Photo by Kym MacKinnon

The CCC began accepting applications for the second license type on May 28.

Freshly Baked received a courier delivery license, meaning it must partner with pot producers to deliver Cannabis. Co-owner Philip Smith was accepted into the state’s social equity program in 2019. He must retain 51 percent ownership of the company for Freshly Baked to qualify for the delivery license.

The CCC is currently processing seven additional courier licenses, which will expand delivery options across the state.

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egal Cannabis sales are soaring in Maine as the state has set records for retail in back-to-back months. Pot shops brought in nearly $5.4 million in sales in the month of May, besting the record set in April by more than $1 million.

After an inauspicious start to retail sales, Maine’s marijuana market has steadily increased. When adult-use sales launched in October 2020, six licensed shops serviced the entire state. Consumers also faced limited supplies and high prices. The first month of legal sales brought in just over $1 million.

Since then, the program has expanded, supply has increased and prices have dropped. The state now boasts 34 licensed retailers and the average eighth costs around $49, compared to $56 in October.

During Maine’s record setting May, pot businesses made nearly 72,000 transactions and the resulting $5.4 million in sales brought in around $536,000 in tax revenue.

Since the start of retail sales in the fall of 2020 – four years after Maine voters approved an adult-use program in 2016 – the state has taken in over $2.2 million in tax revenue from approximately $22.7 million in legal sales.

While recreational Cannabis sales are on the rise, the program is still dwarfed by the state’s medical marijuana sales, which topped $22 million in October 2020 alone. The medical pot program has helped Cannabis become Maine’s most valuable crop.

In addition to increased access to retail locations, consumers in Maine have more options than ever when it comes to purchasing pot products. At the start of sales, flower accounted for 76 percent of the market but in May, made up only 59 percent as concentrates and new infused products grabbed a larger share of sales.

Mainers are embracing legal marijuana as no jurisdiction has chosen to entirely opt out of the industry. And as the market continues to grow and sales hit all-time highs, retailers are hopeful that the state has a record shattering summer, with lots of out-of-staters visiting Vacationland and picking up some pot.

Photo by Rodnae Productions

STORIES by MIKE GIANAKOS @MIKEGEEZEEY

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ew Jersey’s attorney general is cracking down on crafty companies taking advantage of a loophole in the state’s recreational weed law.

A provision in New Jersey’s adult-use law allows marijuana to be gifted to those 21 and older. Some companies in the Garden State have drawn the ire of law enforcement by offering “free” pot products with the purchase of ordinary food and snacks at exorbitant prices.

For example, one company’s website lists a bag containing nuts, rice crisps, an almond bar and water for $165. Of course, the purchase comes with a “free gift” selected from a list of pot products.

While New Jersey voters approved a legal Cannabis industry in November 2020 and Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation establishing the industry earlier this year, the state has yet to implement retail sales of recreational pot.

In fact, lawmakers have yet to create licensing regulations for retail shops.

While there is clearly demand for legal Cannabis, New Jersey doesn’t currently offer the supply. That situation will lead to schemes like free marijuana with the purchase of a $100 t-shirt.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has sent cease-and-desist letters to four companies his office is investigating for the pot gifting scheme.

AG Grewal explained, “Today we’re making it clear that we will not permit these entities to undermine the regulated Cannabis marketplace the Legislature created or to compete unfairly with properly licensed Cannabis businesses.”

Of course, he didn’t mention that, at the moment, there are no properly licensed Cannabis businesses in New Jersey.

OPTING OUT IN NEW YORK

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ew York towns intent on banning retail sales of marijuana are on the clock, as the Empire State’s new pot law gives municipalities until the end of the year to opt out of the legal Cannabis industry.

Like most states that have approved recreational Cannabis, New York’s adult-use law includes a provision that allows jurisdictions to opt out of the nascent marijuana industry. Opt out rules vary by state, but most require an ordinance banning pot to be passed by a predetermined deadline.

While some legal Cannabis states require residents to approve the ban, others allow local officials or the city council to pass an ordinance outlawing the industry without approval from the public. Montana is the only state thus far to consider requiring jurisdictions to opt in to the marijuana industry.

New York towns that wish to bar retail pot sales must do so by December 31, 2021. In order to opt out in New York, jurisdictions need approval from voters, meaning towns must create an ordinance banning sales and the measure must pass by direct referendum by the end of the year.

In New Jersey, where opt outs are becoming increasingly common, jurisdictions don’t need voter approval. City councils and committees are ignoring the will of the voters and making the decision to ban the Cannabis industry, despite the widespread support for pot seen on Election Day 2020 and in numerous polls before and after.

New Jersey’s adult-use law set the deadline to opt out at 180 days from the date the bill was signed into law. That date, August 21, 2021, is fast approaching. If a jurisdiction doesn’t have a ban in place by the deadline, it will be governed by state law for a period of five years.

In both New York and New Jersey, towns are only allowed to opt out of the marijuana industry, prohibiting sales, cultivation and manufacturing.

Municipalities cannot ban other aspects of the adult-use law like personal possession, home cultivation or even Cannabis deliveries.

JUL. 2021

Photo by Dinesh Boaz

HALL OF FAMER PAULTRUTH PIERCE UNVEILS POT LINE THE F

ormer NBA player and Boston Celtic great Paul Pierce is giving fans in Massachusetts something new to cheer about – his own brand of Cannabis products. The pot line, which includes flower, edibles, lotions and more, is dubbed “The Truth,” after Pierce’s nickname from his playing days.

Pierce is teaming up with Massachusetts-based The Hub Craft for the Cannabis line and Truth-branded products are expected to hit shelves later this year. Pierce’s own pot strain will be available in 2022.

“I’m excited to bring the brand [to Boston] first and educate people on the plant – how it can help in everyday life and also in sports and recovery,” Pierce told The Boston Globe.

Rhode Island Makes Marijuana History

Despite NBA restrictions on Cannabis consumption, Pierce acknowledges using pot during his playing days. He found it particularly effective in helping him recover from a stabbing incident that nearly claimed his life in 2000.

For Pierce, choosing Cannabis over addictive opioids was worth the risk.

“I was dealing with a lot of depression and anxiety and sleep issues … So I really leaned more on Cannabis. … I took an edible or smoked a joint just to get some sleep, and had to deal with the consequences.”

When it comes to his new line of pot products, Pierce says, “My name, my reputation is on the line and I just want … the best product out there to help who are in need.”

Pierce has had an eventful year thus far. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in May, a month after losing his job as an on-air analyst at ESPN. Pierce was fired after streaming video of himself smoking a blunt and drinking while playing poker surrounded by scantily clad women.

Pierce spent 15 seasons with the Boston Celtics, during which he made 10 All-Star teams, won a championship in 2008 and was named Finals MVP. Pierce is also known for an infamous incident during those Finals when he appeared to suffer a serious injury that required him to be taken to the locker room in a wheelchair. However, he quickly returned after just over a minute of game time looking no worse for wear. The sudden return led to a slew of scatological conspiracy theories.

Eleven years later, during the 2019 NBA Finals, The Truth told the truth. It wasn’t an injury, but rather an emergency. “Something went down. I just had to go to the bathroom,” Pierce explained on the ESPN broadcast.

The Truth isn’t the only former player to launch a pot brand through The Hub Craft, as the company recently announced it’s also partnering with The Glove, Hall of Famer Gary Payton, on a new Cannabis line.

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awmakers in Rhode Island made history in June when the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a marijuana legalization bill. The committee approval marked the first time a recreational legalization bill ever advanced in Rhode Island.

Both Gov. Dan McKee and Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey introduced competing adult-use proposals. Yet despite those proposals being weighed by legislators, legalization in Rhode Island appeared to be in limbo just last month when House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi told reporters that lawmakers were not happy with either of the two bills.

And even worse, Shekarchi hinted that legalization would be put off until the fall, or might not happen at all this year.

Nonetheless, the Judiciary Committee passed Majority Leader McCaffrey’s bill with a 6-2 vote. And, as unlikely as it seems, the Senate is suddenly anxious to put the bill to a floor vote, which could happen before the end of June.

McCaffrey’s bill was amended to put a hold on approving new cultivators and earmark a third of retail licenses for social equity applicants before it passed the committee.

The adult-use measure would allow for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. It would also allow personal cultivation of up to six plants.

The bill includes an option for expungements of past Cannabis convictions. The revised version of the measure increases the possession limit for expungement from one to two ounces.

Photo by ArtHouse Studio

STORIES by MIKE GIANAKOS @MIKEGEEZEEY

interview

NORTHEAST LEAF BUDTENDER OF THE MONTH

JOEY DOUCETTE HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING FOR PINE TREE GLASS ART? For around two and a half years.

We’re located in the beautiful mountain town of Bethel, Maine. The area is home to Sunday River Ski Resort, countless hiking trails, swimming holes, and a worldfamous gem museum.

PINE TREE STARTED AS A GLASS GALLERY. WHAT ARTISTS DO YOU CARRY AT THE SHOP AND WHO HAS BEEN THE MOST POPULAR? We carry many famous New England glass artists, including Chemdog Glass, Jerry Kelly, Coyle Condenser, KGB and Digger Glass. Our most popular featured artist is David Colton.

Colton is a close friend of our owner, and we have a vast selection of his pipes for sale. He also recently made history when the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, acquired one of his functional Cannabis pieces.

This piece was recently selected to be put on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND IN THE INDUSTRY? I’ve been consuming Cannabis for over 20 years now, and I’ve gained a passion and respect for all aspects of the plant. I moved to Maine three years ago to pursue my lifelong dream of working in the medical Cannabis industry. At present, I’ve done everything from cloning and transplanting to harvesting and extraction. Having experience in so many different aspects of the industry helps me be a better budtender, and my love and passion for the plant shine through when working with patients. I feel very fortunate to work with such amazing people and growers in the industry.

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YOU’RE ALSO A LEAD SOLVENTLESS EXTRACTOR FOR PINE TREE. CAN YOU GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE PROCESS AND STRAINS THAT YOU GET TO WORK WITH? We focus on small batch, single source, solventless, full spectrum live rosin. We have the privilege of running our own flower, which makes us really focus on the best producing strains. So far, the strains we have been working with are Chemdog D, Chemdog 91, Chem Sister, Snowdog, and Las Vegas Purple Kush. The most popular strains for our patients so far have definitely been Chemdog D and Chemdog 91.

WE WERE GREETED AT PINE TREE GLASS by their head budtender and manager, Joey Doucette, better known as Joey D. Joe’s been passionate about Cannabis for most of his life, so it’s easy to see him smiling, even behind his facemask when greeting new customers. Joey is clearly doing what he loves for a living – eating, sleeping and breathing Cannabis and glass art! After overstaying our welcome, we really got to the bottom of what keeps Joe’s clock stuck on 4:20 every day.

PINE TREE GLASS ART 284 MAYVILLE RD, BETHEL, MAINE PINETREEGLASSART.COM @PINETREEGLASSART @JOEYDOO | @THATGUYFROMMAINE

jul. 2021

t “NO MATTER WHAT THE PATIENT IS LOOKING FOR, WE HAVE THE STRAIN FOR THEM.”

HOW DO YOU HELP PATIENTS FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY NEED? With most of our strains being from the Chemdog Family, each strain is amazing at doing what it’s supposed to do … for example, if you’re looking for an uplifting sativa that you can smoke all day, we have Chem Sister and Snowdog. If you’re looking to fall asleep or sink into the couch with an indica, we have Las Vegas Purple Kush and Scott’s OG X Cherry Pie. And then if you’re looking for something right in the middle of indica and sativa, we have Chemdog D and Chemdog ‘91. No matter what the patient is looking for, we have the strain for them.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE STRAIN AND FAVORITE WAY TO CONSUME CANNABIS? My favorite strain by far is Chemdog D. It is the right mix of a body high and mental stimulation that works every time without fail. My favorite way to consume Chemdog D and all Cannabis is through low temperate dabbing. I like to keep the temperatures low, so I can fully experience my medicine. Give me a David Colton rig, a Joel Halen round bottom banger and a One Trick Pony spinner cap, and I’m a very happy guy.

INTERVIEW by BOBBY NUGGZ @BOBBYNUGGZ_OFFICIAL for NORTHEAST LEAF | PHOTO by BAILEY JONSON @BADMSBAILEY

PAX DOES NOT PRODUCE, MANUFACTURE OR DISTRIBUTE CANNABIS © 2021 PAX Labs, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PAX, X, ERA, and ERA PRO are all trademarks of PAX Labs, Inc. US and International Patents Pending. Complete list of Patents and Trademarks: www.pax.com/intellectual-property-list

FIND IT @THISISSTRANE THISISSTRANE.COM

Please Consume Responsibly. This product may cause impairment and may be habit forming. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. This product has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There is limited information on the side effects of using this product, and there may be associated health risks. Marijuana use during pregnancy and breast-feeding may pose potential harms. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. The impairment effects of Edible Marijuana Products may be delayed by two hours or more.

In case of accidental ingestion, contact poison control hotline 1-800-222-1222 or 9-1-1. This product may be illegal outside of MA.

highly likely

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Highly Likely highlights Cannabis pioneers who paved the way to greater herbal acceptance.

david crosby

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young performing in 1974.

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Singer-songwriter David Crosby is one of the most recognizable music celebrities of the ‘60s and ‘70s – with his long hair and bushy mustache, he’s long been a prototype of what it means to be a hippie in the United States. As one of the founding members of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, as well as the Byrds, he’s also a living legend in music – one that’s still active to this day. And, according to Crosby, all of his songs were written under the influence of Cannabis.

Crosby is still a frequent smoker of the plant (these days

opting more for vaporizing than smoking outright) and also grows his own backyard plants each year. When asked how ROSBY’S RELATIONSHIP with our favorite plant is over 50 years old. His public image Cannabis affects his creativity, Crosby responded, “Cannabis is somewhat synonymous with weed both because of the time he came onto the has been an important part of my creative process for years. public scene, and because of his celebrity inside the hippie movement of the ‘60s I’ve been enjoying Cannabis for 50 years now. The creativity and ‘70s. Behind his public-facing image, though, was a person who was was always there, the Cannabis just brought it truly respected for their knowledge (and access) to high quality Cannabis, out. I smoke, pick up the guitar and write songs.”

While on tour in or as Crosby likes to put it, a “pied-piper of weed.”

As you can imagine, all of this makes Crosby a England, he was one Case-in-point: While on tour in England, he was one of the first people celebrity advocate for legalization at the federal to introduce The Beatles to the finer aspects of quality weed. In a podcast level. “It’s inevitable,” he said. “Legalization of the first people to interview with “Under the Canopy,” Crosby noted that the Fab Four (like many everywhere is going to happen – all over the U.S. introduce The Beatles in England at the time, and even now) had been making joints with tobacco and and around the world because of the money. to the finer aspects of hashish. “They gave me one of those and I said, ‘Not in your life. I ain’t smoking All the posturing the politicians do, waving their quality weed. no damn tobacco. You’re crazy. Now try this!’” he explained. “I gave them that and hands in the air saying we have to regulate this they had to sit down. That was quite funny. They never had weed like that. It upped and that, is all BS. It’s going to come down to the my stock with them quite a bit.” money. Anyone that looks at the money flowing in where it’s Of course, Crosby also integrated his love of Cannabis into his songwriting as well. The legal knows what the truth is. That’s why I believe it will be Byrd’s song “Eight Miles High” is a pristine example of an early weed smoker’s anthem. And legal within a couple of years. Not because it is like beer and inside the long list of songs Crosby has written over his storied career, you’ll certainly find wine. Not because people should not be getting arrested for more hints and nods to the culture. it. Not even because the police and the courts and the penal Like many California-based celebrities, Crosby is looking to start his own Cannabis brand. system would be relieved of an enormous pressure if we However, ‘The Mighty Croz’ brand is taking a different approach than most – deciding to legalize. The states will legalize Cannabis to get tax dollars wait for full-scale federal legalization rather than going state by state. At 79 years of age, that they control separately and need very, very badly.”

C

jul. 2021

STORY by PACER STACKTRAIN for LEAF NATION

Danny Danko teaches you everything you need to know to get growing now!

YOUR SOURCE FOR CULTIVATION INFO, INTERVIEWS, NEWS, ACTIVISM AND PRODUCT REVIEWS! Grow Bud Yourself podcast is available on all streaming platforms and whereever you get your podcasts!

Send questions to info@growbudyourself.com

Past Special Guests Include

Follow along! @dannydankoht @mikecheckg @growbudyourself

Jorge Cervantes, Kyle Kushman, Tommy Chong, Aaron from DNA Genetics, Jenn Doe, Milo/Big Buddha Seeds, Swerve/The Cali Connection, Ed Rosenthal, Chemdog, and Adam Dunn!

Growing your own marijuana can be both a liberating and political act.

Former HIGH TIMES Magazine Senior Cultivation Editor and author of the book “Cannabis: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Marijuana” Dan Vinkovetsky (Formerly known as Danny Danko) and cohost former HT Editor-in-Chief Mike Gianakos provide news, activism reports and cannabis cultivation tips for connoisseurs, aficionados and medical patients alike. Bonus: Interviews with expert growers and professional seed breeders, ‘Strain of the Fortnight’ and ganja growing questions & answers.

STRAIN OF THE MONTH

NORTHEAST

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22.69% TOTAL ACTIVE CANNABINOIDS HAPPYVALLEY.ORG | (978) 515-5600 38 GREAT REPUBLIC DRIVE GLOUCESTER, MA jul. 2021

GRAPE DIAMONDS The best hybrid crosses of indica and sativa genetics reflect the positive attributes of both distinct types of Cannabis plants.

Grape Diamonds is a perfectly balanced 50/50 blend of Pink Grapefruit and Member Berry strains, named for her gorgeous purple hue and sweet grape soda flavor. The small and tight plum-colored nuggets of this visually stunning variety virtually glisten with shiny trichomes.

The growers of Happy Valley insist that all of their flowers are hand-trimmed and cured for at least two weeks, and their extra effort shines through in the preservation of fragrant terpenes. Upon cracking open Happy Valley’s thick and sturdy sealed glass jar, the strong scent of ripe stone fruits wafts forth, followed by notes of lilac and propane gas.

The stimulating effects hit almost immediately upon lighting up. The initial onset had us feeling giddy – laughing almost uncontrollably and ready to take on the tasks of the day. The giggly kickoff made way for a more pleasurable and subdued feeling that lasted for hours.

Grape Diamonds is a strain perfect for treating anxiety and mild depression. A few more puffs and the blissful high returned even stronger, revealing a cerebral buzz with no “ceiling” and some hunger pangs. So wipe away your stress, increase the pleasure level of your mood, and stimulate your appetite with this wellbalanced hybrid providing the best of both worlds.

grown by

HAPPY VALLEY

STIMULATING EFFECTS HIT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY UPON LIGHTING UP.

REVIEW & PHOTO by DAN VINKOVETSKY @DANNYDANKOHT/ NORTHEAST LEAF

Are you

Interested in fighting against the racist legacy of cannabis prohibition?

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For $30 per year, members receive * A MassCann T-Shirt * Membership and voting rights within the organization * The ability to participate in MassCann Committee Meetings * Volunteer opportunities through the calendar year (both digital and in-person, if allowed) * Participation in steering groups to help prepare for and run the annual Boston Freedom Rally * Access to educational programming related to the cannabis plant and cannabis reform (lawmaking and regulations)

JOIN THE ORIGINAL GRASSROOTS CANNABIS ACTIVIST ORGANIZATION IN MASSACHUSETTS, 31 YEARS ON THE GROUND AND STILL GROWING TOGETHER!

Join MassCann today at MassCann.org

the concentrates issue

“Having an honest approach to our business and helping our customers is our key to success.”

Founder & CEO Andrew Yoon

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XTRACTOR

DEPOT jul. 2021

DURING THE GOLD RUSH, as so many intrepid fortune seekers journeyed west to find the gold in them thar hills, their trailblazing softened the soil for entirely new sectors of the economy to sprout. Ancillary businesses popped up to support the endeavor and countless fortunes were made, not on striking gold, but on selling the equipment to furnish the seekers.

It was such a novel and lucrative approach to capitalizing on the Gold Rush hype, it birthed a nickname for the segment of industry that exists to sell equipment to those seeking their fortune in a new, hype-driven sector – “selling the picks and shovels.”

Fast forward to 2021, and California is once again the hub for another get-rich-or-bust movement: the Green Rush.

And companies like Xtractor Depot are aiding the cause by selling the picks and shovels.

Are clients looking to build their own brands? Are they looking to get into toll processing, creating customized bulk product to sell to those who want to build their own brands? These are the types of top-level questions Xtractor Depot looks to help clients answer before drilling down into their capital investment, market research and other aspects of their business plans. With all-in buildouts getting up into the seven-figure range, and equipment-only orders ranging from $200-$500k, it’s crucial to ensure that customers are ready to swim once they jump in.

“That will be the key information that we need on our end to provide the right type of equipment,” Yoon said.

Xtractor Depot isn’t simply trying to sell each client whatever they can pile on. Their goal is for their customers to succeed, so they can keep CLOCKWISE FROM TOP-LEFT: Luis Martinez, a scientific glass blower, works on a glass distillation head in the glass blowing workshop; the relationships going. Yoon Stacie Smith, Assembly Lead, works on top manifold parts in the warehouse; The Xtractor Depot core values hang on the wall; invests in building his industry Various extraction equipment rests in the Xtractor Depot showroom. knowledge in order to pass it on to his clients.

“The people in this EARLY STAGES OF GROWTH tars, including locations industry will tell you Xtraction Depot Founder and CEO Andrew Yoon in San Bernardino what you need to do knew he wanted to work in a Cannabis-related busiand Montebello. He to succeed,” he said. ness at a fairly early age – his mission started when he focuses on equip“You just have to enwas at university in St. Louis. ment engineering gage with them and “In college, I had an import business, selling conand supply, and has be knee-deep in it to tainers for oil and torches, and stuff like that,” Yoon an in-house glass be successful.” said over a call in June. “It was called Butter Blocks. … fabrication division.

“Having an honest That kind of brought me out to California, meeting a Yoon also maintains a approach to our bunch of people in the industry.” licensed toll-processing business and helping Once he got to Cali, he saw a need for more extraction facility in the our customers is our processors to handle the immense amount of cannabiregulation-heavy juriskey to success,” he noid-laden biomass coming out of the state’s rediction of Long Beach said. “… They don’t nowned cultivation sector. Yoon immediately expanded to keep the extraction (always) struggle with beyond packaging and implements and went to work side of his business manufacturing the building out an extraction facility. moving. product. It’s more so It was then, during the buildout phase, that he saw “That has helped the distribution and the true opportunity in front of him. us develop a better understanding of what the most sales of all this product. Do we have a “During that equipment search, I realized that stringent jurisdictions are going to require, and create market for all that product we’re going to nobody was doing this professionally, and the person a robust process,” Yoon said. “So, when the customer make?” that I bought my system from was doing it out of his is setting up their lab, it isn’t going to be a confusion of The way Yoon sees it, selling the picks garage,” he said. “... The system was missing all kinds red tape.” and shovels is the perfect way to help the of parts, and it was a nightmare experience.” greater industry succeed, while building his Naturally, the savvy entrepreneur saw the opportunity SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS own success at the same time. Just like the to fill that niche.

Yoon understands that the best path to future stability, Gold Rush, it’s a hard path to success and for the industry and for his company, is to help enfor every gold strike, there’s someone who STRONG GROWTH PATTERNS sure that his clients celebrate recurrent successes and struck out.

Yoon founded Xtractor Depot in 2016 and began healthy growth. Rather than simply selling equipment, “A lot of people come into the market building out the equipment supply chain in order to Yoon’s team consults with extractors on their business with money and no knowledge at all,” help would-be extractors avoid the negative experience plans, their scaling models, and their visions for the Yoon said. “We’re trying to educate our he had when setting up his own lab. future. clients, so that they can stay afloat.”

“It was a segue from being an extractor to being an “Helping the clients develop a clear vision for their extractor provider, providing the equipment,” he said. business is one of the key objectives of the business,” Now he operates significantly sized brick and morYoon said.

XTRACTORDEPOT.COM

STORY by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS/LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by JUSTIN L. STEWART @JUSTNLSTEWART

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jul. 2021

the concentrates issue

THE HASH ARTIST

Passion, practice and study led him down a path that started with the basic hair straightener tech, scaling up to a tee-shirt press, all the way to his current tool of choice – the Long’s Peak Pure Pressure rosin press.

SIMPSON SOLVENTLESS MAKING GREAT HASH is an art. Making art from great hash even more so. That’s exactly what Eric Simpson of Simpson Solventless, LLC, does in his lab in Northern California.

You may have seen Eric dropping some niche rosin pressing knowledge on YouTube with Pure Pressure, or you may have seen his Instagram @simpsonsolventless, where he has helped to re-popularize hash art with his incredible solventless formulations and artistic molding.

A NORTHERN CALIFORNIA NATIVE, Eric is a self-

taught solventless guy that has been working in and around Cannabis since he was 16, helping to pioneer some of the earliest evolutions in the Cannabis industry. If not for the open blasters and tee-shirt pressers of decades past, we would likely not have the cache of extraction knowledge we do today – and Eric is one of those early adopters who got into the industry and developed a passion during a wave of Cannabis innovation.

Like many of us, he started his love affair with Cannabis as a grower in small, intimate set-ups.

However, after a little experimentation, Eric quickly jumped into the newly developing world of extracts – which at the time consisted mainly of open blasting BHO and pressing flower with a hair straightener. Passion, practice and study led him down a path that started with the basic hair straightener tech, scaling up to a tee-shirt press, all the way to his current tool of choice – the Long’s Peak Pure Pressure rosin press, where he is now

pushing the envelope for quality solventless.

Today, Eric has turned his knowledge into a consulting business where he helps farmers and companies produce the highest quality products possible, using state-of-the-art solventless techniques. This ranges from helping to pick out the best cultivars for production, all the way to producing and formulating novel products for the market.

Always generous with his knowledge, he has also earned a reputation as a high quality, dedicated educator in the space.

His other benchmark – stamping, sculpting and molding hash – is not a new practice. Indeed, most of the hash producing world has traditionally stamped their hash product with a family seal or brand image, and this practice is still maintained to this day. Eric is helping to bring this tradition into the American solventless space by taking it to a whole new level — not only by branding his products with signature shapes, but creating straight up pieces of art to delight Instagram followers and

ERIC SIMPSON

hash connoisseurs alike. He also plays with temperatures and various types of solventless products to create new consistencies and exquisite product pairings that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are robust and flavorful.

Working with everything from full melt hashes to solventless crystalline isolates to cold cured rosins, Eric utilizes all the tools in his arsenal to concoct tantalizing creations like two-toned THC-a crystalline donuts, and mushroom and skull shaped full melt sculptures I can only describe as Willy Wonka chic.

Strictly utilizing the finest cultivars from the finest growers, Eric is quick to shout out his cultivators because he deeply adheres to the mantra of “fire in, fire out” for hash/oil production.

The best hash maker in the world cannot produce a quality product from poor flower, and every quality resin worker knows this. When asked if he had a favorite grower, Eric humbly replied, “I can’t even shout out just one because they are all so quality, it’s just too many. I am really grateful for the growers I get to work with.” This excellent relationship with his cultivators and his self-made learning journey, combined with his commitment to education and passion for self expression, make Eric Simpson a name worth knowing anywhere in the Cannabis world – and synonymous with the forefront of the solventless industry. @SIMPSONSOLVENTLESS

STORY by TAYLOR MARTIN @MDCANNAISINSIDER for LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by SIMPSON SOLVENTLESS | PORTRAIT by TOM BOWERS @PROPAGATECONSULTANTS

the concentrates issue

CONCENTRATES 101 DATING BACK TO THE LATE 11TH CENTURY, the original usage of Cannabis concentrates was for oral ingestion purposes, but since then, a lot has changed. Over the years, extract artists have continued setting the bar higher and higher by constantly pushing themselves to produce innovative ways to experience hash in different forms. These days, you can commonly find forms of extracts incorporated into topicals, pre-rolls, and of course, edibles. But the main question is: What defines something as an extract or a concentrate? These terms refer to a broad spectrum of products that contain higher levels of cannabinoids than are encountered in the Cannabis plant.

They can be as solid as a rock like diamonds, or a liquid like honey – with some extracts getting their name from their appearance or consistency, such as badder, honeycomb and shatter. Below, you will find a guide to help you maneuver around the wide world of all things hash-related.

SOLVENTLESS

SOLVENTLESS CONSISTENCIES

BUBBLE HASH

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Utilizing water and ice, extract artists take their starting material, either cured plant matter or fresh frozen flowers, and carefully wash with a paddle in large buckets of ice water. This liquid is poured through a set of micron filters, meticulously separating the trichome heads. The extraction artist carefully removes the trichome heads from the filters to avoid breaking or damaging them. From there, the end product is either put into a freeze drier or air-dried to perfection.

SIX-STAR BUBBLE HASH Six-star bubble hash is the raw and unadulterated microns of trichome heads that provide the highest quality smoking experience. Six-star will usually be the higher microns, such as 73-120u, and looks like beach sand.

jul. 2021

HASH ROSIN After the bubble hash has been freeze or air-dried, the product is placed in another micron filter specifically micronized to produce hash rosin. Using a high-pressure heat press, a micronized screen is used to refine the hash with pressure to secrete what is known as fresh press rosin.

FRESH PRESS

BADDER

ROSIN JAM

Fresh Press rosin is pure and unmixed, coming straight off of the rosin press into your jar, without any additional steps added. This product often looks very clear and transparent.

Badder has a texture that usually imitates cake batter, soft and palatable.

Cold cure and heat cure techniques are applied to achieve this type of consistency.

Rosin jam is a saucy combination of both THCa diamonds and terpenes. By utilizing a combination of heat and pressure, extract artists have further developed a new way to smoke solventless.

FULL PLANT EXTRACT/RSO (RICK SIMPSON OIL) With the purpose to produce more minor cannabinoids such as CBG and CBN, full plant extracts were originally created by the pioneer Rick Simpson. This process was done by simply soaking Cannabis for long periods in hexane or ethanol.

Once this process is completed, the hexane or ethanol is removed with heat or evaporation, leaving a full spectrum product containing many more cannabinoids than traditional concentrates. Innovators have since created a new version of FECO, utilizing advanced CO2 extraction equipment.

STORY by MAX EARLY @LIFTED_STARDUST/LEAF NATION | PHOTOS by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

HYDROCARBON BHO/PHO

Using the hydrocarbon known as butane, BHO or butane hash oil, was one of the first products to hit the common hash market.

Propane is also used in this process, either in a mixture with butane or on its own. Working with highly evolved closed-loop extraction systems, the extract artist takes either cured or fresh frozen starting material and places it inside large steel columns for processing purposes. The gas is run through the material multiple times, extracting the terpenes, along with the plants’ fats and lipids. Once processed, this raw material is dewed to remove the undesirable components. From there, the product is dumped out in liquid form and then placed inside of a vacuum oven to purge and remove all solvents.

RECREATIONAL & MEDICAL DISPENSARIES

EVERYDAY LOW PRICES

CO2

CO2 extraction uses highly sophisticated machinery that pulls high levels of terpenes amongst a broad spectrum of cannabinoids.

Under controlled circumstances, supercritical CO2 dissolves substances into fractions that can be separated and removed. The end product is ideal for cartridges, edibles and dabbing purposes.

DISTILLATE

Cannabis distillate is created by using a combination of extraction processes. All distillate starts as final processed terpenes and THC. Different extract artists have their unique approaches, but most utilize a sequence of steam, pressure and heat, further refining the extract by removing any last impurities. This process is usually repeated until the final product is a light golden color. Ordinarily, distillate ends up making its way into edible products and cartridges.

HYDROCARBON CONSISTENCIES SHATTER

DIAMONDS

Shatter takes after its name, as this consistency of BHO is often very fragile and will break easily at the touch.

Its appearance is clear and almost looks like glass.

Often dazzling and dancing with gleaming clarity and sometimes accompanied with colorful terpenes, THCa diamonds are as hard as a rock or, in this case, a diamond.

BADDER

HONEYCOMB

BHO Badder is a homogenized product combining cannabinoids and terpenes, that provides a very simplistic smoking experience. Similar to rosin badder, BHO badder appears soft and provides an effortless smoking experience.

Usually using cured material, honeycomb and crumble BHO look exactly how they sound. Both are whipped and can appear very soft, but disintegrate effortlessly when touched.

EXCLUSIVE FLOWER YOUR FAVORITE STRAINS FOR LESS. PRE-GROUND FLOWER THAT’S READY TO ROLL.

WORCESTER (REC) • ALLSTON (MED) mayflowermass.com @mayflower.mass

@mayflower.stores

This product has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There is limited information on the side effects of using this product, and there may be associated health risks. Marijuana use during pregnancy and breast-feeding may pose potential harms. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. The impairment effects of Edible Marijuana Products may be delayed by two hours or more. In case of accidental ingestion, contact poison control hotline 1-800-2221222 or 911. This product may be illegal outside of MA. Please Consume Responsibly. For use only by adults 21 years of age or older. Keep out of the reach of children. Marijuana should not be used by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

the concentrates issue

HYDROCARBON Hydrocarbon extracts are the most common and popular form of Cannabis concentrates on today’s market.

This method of extraction utilizes solvents such as butane and propane to remove the desirable components – cannabinoids and terpenes – from the plant material. These extracts are then purged to ensure the removal of any residual solvent and that nothing but pure Cannabis oil is left over. Hydrocarbon extracts are highly diverse and can exist in a wide variety of consistencies and textures, as well as made from both cured or fresh frozen material – the latter of which is classified as “live resin” when in its final form.

ORIGYN ALIEN BERRY SHATTER Extracted by Sira Naturals | 72.6% THC

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TK91 CURED RESIN CARTRIDGE Extracted by The Botanist | 75.1% THC

Extracted by Sira Naturals | 72.2% THC

Cured resin cartridges are meant to retain the aroma and flavor of the original flower material and this one represents the best of the TK91 variety. Lemony with a hint of cedarwood and cinnamon spice, this indica-dominant powerhouse tastes amazing and hits hard.

Available from The Botanist in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

The classic San Fernando Valley OG strain shines through in this relaxing yet euphoric, sativa-dominant shatter.

The shatter doesn’t smell much but the taste is more complex, starting piney and turning more earthy on the exhale.

Available from Mayflower Medicinals in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

E1 LABS SFV OG SHATTER (EHO)

TANGIE BADDER

Extracted by Kind & Co. Tangie Badder was highly recommended by the manager at Kind & Co Dispensary and won a High 95 Cup Award a few years ago. The sweet citrus smell upon opening the container was an absolute joy. A few slow cold-start hits and I found my anxiety slowly dissipating. The taste lingered like the remnants of hard candy on my tongue. Tangie badder makes a great daytime concentrate that will relax you and give you the comfort needed to do creative work. Available from Kind & Co. in Windham, Maine.

Review & Photo by Charles Taggart @kindbud.photos

jul. 2021

LARRY LOVESTEIN LIVE BUDDER Extracted by The Botanist

Made from a strain created to honor the late Mac Miller, the hybrid cross of Chem 4 and Larry OG results in the flavorful and inspirational Larry Lovestein live resin. The intense initial citrus smell resembles Lemonhead candies or a lemonade slushy, giving way to the scent of tropical fruits such as perfectly ripe mango. The smooth creamy texture pleases the eye and the palate. The flavor is subtle and fruity with a hint of sweet clover, and the relaxing effect inspires contemplation. Available from The Botanist in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

Packing quite a punch, this shatter made from an indica-dominant hybrid helps treat insomnia and muscle pain with ease. All potent cannabinoids with little terpene content, it’s a nononsense dabbable concentrate that’s super stable with a long shelf life.

Available from Pure Oasis in Boston.

Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

EARLY LEMON BERRY SUGAR WAX (BHO) Extracted by 253 Farmacy | 77.3% THC This Kosher-certified wax tests at a moderate 66% THCA, but is also high in CBG. Early Lemon Berry sugar has more of a dark amber orange look to it, rather than a bright yellow color, but the texture is on point with a glossy juiciness from the terpenes. Its flavor is subtle and earthy, with a hint of bitter orange. Available from Caroline’s Cannabis in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.

Review by Bobby Nuggz @Bobbynuggz_official Photo by Bailey Jonson @Badmsbailey

GMO X CHEMDAWG LIVE ROSIN BADDER Extracted by Jasper Extracts

Jasper Extracts is a craft Cannabis caregiver in Central Maine who had some GMO x Chemdawg live rosin badder that knocked my socks off. A nice mix of garlic and diesel aroma filled the studio as I opened the container.

Digging the dabber in revealed tiny crystals in an oily amber sauce, glistening under the lights as I took photos and edited them. A few puffs and the old muscles and tightness in my lower back started to relax, and my anxiety level dissipated like the weight of the world being lifted off my shoulders. Available from Jasper Extracts in Maine.

Review & Photo by Charles Taggart @kindbud.photos

This cold cured, full spectrum live rosin made from a cross of Purple Afghani and Hindu Kush comes in simple packaging, but brings complex scents and flavors. Upon first examination, I was struck by the powerful smell of skunk and candy, with an undertone of lavender. A dab delivered significant flavor and a pleasurable aftertaste, leaving you craving more. Available from Pine Tree Glass Art in Maine.

Review by Bobby Nuggz @Bobbynuggz_official Photo by Bailey Jonson @Badmsbailey

Extracted by Happy Valley | 75.42% THC This ice-water extracted bubble hash coming out of Happy Valley’s state-of-the-art extraction laboratory, made from GMO Zkittlez flower, has a grainy texture that allows you to see the individual glandular trichomes. The 90u bubble hash has a generous allium aroma with an underlying tropical fruit funk. The flavor brings forth a brighter top note, slightly gassy and aromatic. It leaves you with a truly relaxing, almost sedative high. Available from Happy Valley in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Review by Pete Thompson | Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

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X-TRATES STAR BREATH ROSIN

LAS VEGAS PURPLE KUSH LIVE ROSIN Extracted by Pine Tree Glass Art

GMO ZKITTLEZ BUBBLE HASH

Extracted by Revolutionary Clinics | 81.8% THC

PAPAYA CAKE FULL MELT Extracted by High Street Farm Co. | 75.42% THC The color and consistency of this organic 90u-120u hash are spot-on for a live rosin.

The aroma out of the jar is sweet and citrusy, with a heady gassy overtone. Once dabbed, this creamy badder exposes an underlying sweet cookie dough flavor. The high is calming and mellow, but without any couchlock or sleepiness. Available from High Street Farm Co. in Maine.

Review by Pete Thompson | Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

SOLVENTLESS

This rosin made from kief (dry sift) is darker in color than I had hoped, but the cake batter texture is quite pleasing and the terps are well preserved. Mixing it around with your dabber as it comes to room temp, strong aromas of kush shine through. StarBreath’s flavor is really nice, with hints of sour and gas. I’d also note that there’s a very hashy flavor, which probably comes from the kief starting material, over ice water hash. This is a great strain to start the day and for me, had an inspiring and motivating effect. Available from Caroline’s Cannabis in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.

Review by Bobby Nuggz @Bobbynuggz_official Photo by Bailey Jonson @Badmsbailey Solventless extraction methods are as old as the tradition of Cannabis consumption itself. The first form of Cannabis concentrate, charas, was hash that was removed from one’s hands after harvesting the plant.

Today’s techniques are far more sophisticated, but still utilize very basic principles to create flavorful and potent Cannabis extracts. The two most popular styles of solventless concentrates are the old school bubble hash, which is primarily used as a bowl topper, and hash rosin, which has skyrocketed in popularity over the last year.

REVIEWS & PHOTOS by NORTHEAST LEAF CONTRIBUTORS

the concentrates issue

DISTILLATE Distillate is distilled Cannabis, usually in oil form, that has been stripped of waxes, lipids, chlorophyll and other compounds in order to concentrate a single cannabinoid, usually THC or CBD. Distillate can be made from various types of concentrates, but is most often refined with ethanol.

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ENTOURAGE SFV OG FULL SPECTRUM CARTRIDGE (EHO)

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PURE TINCTURE

STONEFRUIT VAPE CARTRIDGE (EHO) Extracted by Fernway | 88.34% THC With a name taken from the German fern-weh and meant to be a flavor-forward product, their secret-sauce formulations of natural terpenes (5%!) in the Stonefruit brought flavors of fresh chilled peaches dunked in lemon-lime sparkling water, and then consumed sitting in a wildflower patch. Smooth and zero burn or harshness, and a soft shimmering vibe to the overall experience. Bonus points for the battery and its heat modulation for controlling terpene preservation, the surgical grade steel and borosilicate glass on the cart. Available from Canna Provisions stores in Lee and Holyoke, MA. Review & Photo by Dan McCarty @acutalproof

jul. 2021

96.75% Delta9 THC | 1.04% CBG 0.63% CBN | 0.97% CBC

88.34% THC | 3.0% CBG 0.10% CBN | 0.80% CBC

This almost-100% pure THC tincture delivers a strong dose of healing Cannabis plant-based medicine.

Patients with immediate pain relief needs will appreciate the fastacting absorption of this tasteless sublingual extract. Available from Happy Valley in Gloucester, MA. Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

This cartridge boasts flavor and pain relief with a sativa-dominant effect perfect for treating stress, fatigue and tense muscles. The piney citrus taste gives way to a pleasant and relaxing feeling that can only be had from a full spectrum extraction.

Available from Pure Oasis in Boston.

Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

COCONUT MCT OIL TINCTURE Extracted by Cultivate Massachusetts 0.44% Delta9 THC Coconut MCT (medium-chain triglyceride) oil mixed with Cannabis distillate provides an easily digestible oral tincture that can be imbibed under the tongue or added to smoothies, salad dressings and coffees.

Easily digested, the calming effects are felt throughout the body almost instantaneously.

Available from The Botanist in Shrewsbury, MA. Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

CO2

CO2 extracts are considered one of the cleanest forms of concentrates because by nature, CO2 is a gas at room temperature – meaning your end product is guaranteed to be residual solvent free.

CO2 extracts generally retain a fuller and more complete profile than their hydrocarbon counterparts.

CHERRY GAR-SEE-YA CARTRIDGE Extracted by Happy Valley | 82.52% THC Made using CO2 distillate oil infused with Cannabis-derived terpenes, the cartridges from Happy Valley provide an authentic strainspecific flavor profile, along with an ultra potent vaporization experience. The Cherry Gar-See-Ya tastes like the famous ice cream named for the Prominent Terpenes famous Jerry. Available from Happy Valley in Caryophyllene: 1.74% Gloucester, MA. Review by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht Myrcene: .64% Photo courtesy Happy Valley Humulene: .39%

ENERGIZE DISPOSABLE STRAWBERRY COUGH VAPE PEN Extracted by Rythm | 77.9% THC A strain we love that was “born” in New England continues to soothe and heal with sativa-dominant flavor and energy. Perfect for waking and baking, this convenient 300mg CCell-powered vape is ready to use right out of the box. Processed using CO2 and Ethanol. Available from Mayflower Medicinals in Worcester, MA. Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

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CRESCO LIQUID LIVE RESIN CARTRIDGES 92.55% Total Cannabinoids and 7.47% Terpenes These cartridges from Cresco are among some of the terpiest on the market, delivering a consistently flavorful and potent rip.

The bright citrusy flavor of these pens give off a taste like gasoline mixed with freshly squeezed orange juice. I felt a strong sense of calmness and relaxation when smoking the strains Mandarin Cookies and Greatest Hits. Found at Seagrass in Salem, MA. Review & Photo by Wyatt Early @errlywyatt

REVIEWS & PHOTOS by NORTHEAST LEAF CONTRIBUTORS

the concentrates issue

WHOLE PLANT + RSO When Rick Simpson first developed a process to reduce all of the elements of the Cannabis plant down to a supremely medicinal extract, he introduced an unparalleled concentrate to the world. Originally dubbed “Rick Simpson Oil” (RSO) by its devotees, Full Extract Cannabis Oil (FECO) provides exceptionally therapeutic effects for patients looking for pain relief, help with sleep and appetite stimulation, among other manifold benefits believed to be provided from consuming this uncut version of the plant and all of its compounds. These extracts are not traditionally associated with recreational use and it’s definitely recommended that the uninitiated follow the guidelines on the packaging when sampling these products for the first time.

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X-TRATES FULL SPECTRUM RSO (RICK SIMPSON OIL) Extracted by Revolutionary Clinics | 69.3% THC 3.3% CBG | 0.4% CBN 0.1 % CBD

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Highly concentrated Cannabis oil made from the entire plant is used to treat many medical conditions, including Parkinson’s, MS, cancer and much more.

The full spectrum extraction taken orally (typically a piece no larger than a grain of rice) contains all of the therapeutic cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids that combine to provide benefits to our endocannabinoid system. Available from Caroline’s Cannabis in Uxbridge, MA. Review & Photo by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

SERENITY RSO CAPSULES Extracted by Liberty | 19.1% THC This full plant extraction made using ethanol treats and relieves a wide variety of symptoms and ailments. The beneficial compounds combine to provide what’s called “The Entourage Effect” – a potent blend of healing properties that attack pain and disease. At 25mg per capsule, these powerhouse pills administer longlasting relief. Available from Nature’s Medicines in Fall River, MA. Review by Dan Vinkovetsky @dannydankoht

jul. 2021

REVIEWS & PHOTOS by NORTHEAST LEAF CONTRIBUTORS

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

the concentrates issue LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

40

ALT. CANNABINOIDS WHEN IT COMES TO CANNABINOIDS, it’s safe to say that most consumers recognize the plant’s two most common: THC and CBD. But as the industry develops, so does our access to a growing array of options.

Getting to know how each compound influences the endocannabinoid system can help you choose the most appropriate product for your needs. We won’t overwhelm you with all 100+ cannabinoids, but here you’ll find a few less common compounds that are starting to catch consumer attention.

jul. 2021

THCA

THCV

THC-O-ACETATE

Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid is the precursor to THC. It is primarily found in live or raw Cannabis and is mostly converted during the drying and smoking processes. This compound is technically non-psychoactive, but has displayed similar anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties to THC.

Tetrahydrocannabivarin is another naturally formed compound that varies in amount across cultivars.

While much less abundant than THC, this cannabinoid has been shown to act as an anticonvulsant, neuroprotectant and appetite suppressor.

Tetrahydrocannabivarin acetate requires lab intervention to produce.

This synthesized prodrug is converted from THC or THCa with the help of a few additional chemicals and is said to be up to 300% more potent than THC.

CANNABINOL

CANNABIGEROL

CANNABICHROMENE

Cannabinol (CBN) is a product of THCa/THC oxidation.

It has a relatively weak effect on the central nervous system but is widely reported by consumers to cause sedation.

Research suggests that this cannabinoid may even offer immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties.

Cannabigerol (CBG) is non-psychotropic and primarily found in high CBD varieties. This promising molecule has shown scientific potential in reducing cancer cell growth, easing inflammatory bowel diseases, and treating intraocular issues like glaucoma.

Cannabichromene (CBC) is one of the most abundant non-psychotropic compounds in Cannabis. Like many other cannabinoids that influence the CB2 receptor, CBC has a strong anti-inflammatory effect. It also possesses the ability to augment effects when co-administered with THC.

STORY by AMANDA DAY @TERPODACTYL_MEDIA for LEAF NATION

TOPICAL of the month

REVOLUTIONARY CLINICS MA

SALVE IT LAVENDER 1:1 THC SHEA BUTTER BALM/RUB

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42

A professionally packaged balm with highly medicinal benefits.

YOU MAY THINK you’ve seen all the lavender topicals out in the market today, but this THC-infused shea butter concoction matches its friendly presentation with strong, long-lasting ingredients. Lavender is an age-old flower used for its relaxing properties, and in this balm, the linalool terpene does not disappoint. Calming and pleasing, the aroma is divine.

In the heat of the summer sun, muscles and joints can become tired much faster – and by applying this balm after strenuous activity, you can help prevent summertime fatigue. I used the balm for seven days straight after June sun exposure, along with SPF 30, and found it to be incredibly beneficial. After playing in the sun all day, my normally tired body felt more invigorated and ready to keep going. If you have occasional back pain like I do, this rub can also work wonders.

This topical also contains nerolidol, which can be pleasantly sedating. The ingredients are quite gentle and there was no residue left on the skin. I really like the fact that the packaging is unassuming and doesn’t stand out too much as a Cannabis product – being similar to a make-up tin style package, complete with a professional matte sticker covering it entirely in light blue. I noticed that the canister was recently upgraded by the manufacturer and the changes are totally gorgeous. Get your hands on this shea butter rub for summertime relief – or year-round!

jul. 2021

$25 — APPROXIMATELY 100MG THC/1.8 OZ CONTAINER AVAIL. FROM CAROLINE’S CANNABIS 640 DOUGLAS ST UXBRIDGE, MASS. CAROLINESCANNABIS.COM

REVIEW & PHOTO by BAILEY JONSON @BADMSBAILEY for NORTHEAST LEAF

LEVIA

SELTZER

SUMMERTIME is all about sipping on ice-cold refreshing beverages and relaxing at the beach or by the pool. Originally an alcoholic drink made with gin, the Rickey eventually evolved into a sweet and sugary libation that continues to evoke warm weather and good times. Now, that dreamy drink has yet again transformed – this time into a sugar-free and zero calorie concoction called Achieve from Levia – available in dispensaries throughout Massachusetts. Infused with five milligrams of THC,

this fizzy combination of raspberry and lime flavors added to sparkling water hits all the right tasting notes. The Achieve is a sativa blend with what they describe as a “fast and predictable onset of effects.” Pour this seltzer over some ice and prepare for some intense outdoor activities.

The effects of a full can of Achieve were mild but pleasant.

We immediately felt uplifted and inspired, with an intense desire to create some art or play outside with friends. This delicious drink quickly became our “go-to” summer thirst-quencher, with a pleasant and insightful buzz, and lacking the added calories and debilitating hangovers of other available choices.

We can’t wait to try Levia’s Celebrate Lemon-Lime sativa and Dream Jam Berry indica blends as well.

EDIBLE OF THE MONTH

ACHIEVE CANNABIS-INFUSED L EV IA.BUZ Z | @L EV I A B R A N DS

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AVA I L A B L E F R O M S T E M H AV E R H I L L 124 WASHINGTON ST. HAVERHILL, MA (978) 212-9760 STEMHAVERHILL.COM @STEMHAVERHILL

REVIEW & PHOTO by DAN VINKOVETSKY @DANNYDANKOHT/NORTHEAST LEAF

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

This fizzy combination of raspberry and lime flavors added to sparkling water hits all the right tasting notes.

Cannthropology

WORLD OF Cannabis PRESENTS

HASHistory 44

When it comes to the history of hashish, the facts are as fascinating as the folklore.

Hashish Smokers (1887) GAETANO PREVIATI

ISLAMIC ORIGINS

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It’s believed that the word hashish derives from the Arabic root word hasis, meaning dried grass or herb. The first historical records of hashish date back to the “Golden Age of Islam” in ancient Persia – sometime between the writing of the Koran in 632 and 900 CE. Unlike alcohol, which was forbidden by the Koran as a khmar (intoxicant), Cannabis was originally considered a medicine and therefore not prohibited.

The earliest written reference to hashish appears to be in “The Book of Poisons” – a toxicology/astrology treatise by Iraqi alchemist Ibn Wahshiyya published in the 10th century. In it, Wahshiyya refers to a toxic concoction containing Cannabis extract and other aromatic herbs, which he claimed was lethal when inhaled. Another, more famous text from that period in which hashish is mentioned is the fabled “1001 Arabian Nights,” which even includes a story entitled “The Tale of the Hashish Eater.”

Sufi monks viewed hashish as a sacrament.

jul. 2021

THE SUFI The earliest group to embrace hashish were the Sufis – a mystical branch of Islam that arose during the 8th century. Once called “the hippies of the Arab world,” Sufi monks believed that hashish assisted in elevating consciousness to achieve communion with Allah.

For them, eating hashish was, according to one Muslim critic, “an act of worship.”

One Sufi legend even claimed that it was one of the sect’s founders, Shayk Haydar, who

first discovered hashish. According to the story, after 10 years of reclusivity in his mountaintop monastery, Haydar ventured into the desert, where he discovered a “sparkling” plant and ate it. He returned to the monastery in a euphoric state, shared the plant’s magical properties with his fellow monks, then swore them to secrecy about it. While there’s no evidence that Haydar actually made or used hashish, the Sufis did eventually embrace it as a sacrament.

THE HASHASHIN Though Cannabis resin was referenced centuries earlier, the word “hashish” wasn’t reportedly seen in print until 1123 – in an Egyptian pamphlet accusing a group called the Nazari of being “hashish-eaters” (a derogatory term used to denote undesirables). Another mystical branch of Islam founded in 1090, the Nazari were based in a mountaintop fortress in northern Iran called Alamut Castle and ruled over by their founder, Hassan-i Sabbah – a.k.a.

“The Old Man of the Mountain.”

Sabbah created an elite squadron of warrior-spies called the Fidai, who he sent out on covert espionage and murder missions. The Fidai were allegedly so devoted to him that they’d Hassan-i Sabbah (above), and The Fidai at Alamut.

sacrifice their lives at his command. Sabbah allegedly brainwashed his fanatics by feeding them copious amounts of hashish – a practice that supposedly earned them their notorious nickname: Hashashin (Arabic for “hashish users”), from which we derive the modern word “assassin.” In fact, no evidence exists that they ever used hash; nevertheless, the legend stuck – thanks in part to the writings of Marco Polo.

Though Genghis Khan’s armies killed off the Hashashin in 1256, they didn’t kill hashish’s appeal; on the contrary, many Arab historians credit the Mongols’ invasions – and the resulting Sufi refugees – for spreading hashish throughout Iraq, Syria, and Egypt during the 13th century.

INTO EGYPT The first record of hashish in Egypt comes from a Spanish-born Muslim botanist named Ibn al-Baytar, who in 1227 observed Egyptian Sufis swallowing charas balls in Cairo.

There was a park there called the Gardens of Kafur where Sufis and other poor stoners congregated, grew Cannabis and made hashish – that is, until 1266, when King al-Zahir Babar outlawed hashish, destroyed the gardens, and threatened anyone caught with it with prison and “de-teething.” Eventually, concerns over moral decline led Sunni authorities to declare hashish illegal under Islamic law, essentially condemning the Sufi as heretics. Regardless, hashish use continued to expand; it wasn’t until four centuries later, however, that it would make its mark on Europe.

ENTRÉE FRANCE In 1798, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt. Since alcohol was banned in the Muslim country, his soldiers had no access to wine and instead adopted hashish as their intoxicant of choice. Hashish smoking among the troops became such a problem that in October 1800, General Jacques-François Menou banned Cannabis across Egypt. But when the French troops were driven out by Anglo-Ottoman forces in 1801, they brought the hash back home with them.

By that time, most French citizens had heard of hashish, thanks to Antoine Galland’s translation of “The 1001 Arabian Nights” published a century earlier. The stories sparked a romantic fascination with hashish in France’s collective imagination.

Over the next two centuries, that love affair only grew – fueling a creative explosion that culminated in the formation Grand meeting room at Les of the infamous Club Club des Hashischins. des Hashischins.

Founded in 1844, Les Club des Hashischins was a private social club in Paris where the literary, artistic, and intellectual elite of the day would gather to get high. Dressed in Arabic attire, they’d hold séances and drink coffee laced with a green paste called dawamesk made with butter, nuts, spices, and of course, hashish.

FROM PRESCRIPTION TO PROHIBITION During the 19th century, medical research and experimentation with Cannabis flourished across Europe. Studies were written, compounds were extracted, and a number of hashish-derived remedies were formulated. But most medical professionals, still operating under old misconceptions that it

The counterculture movement of the 1960s introduced hashish to the New World. induced violence and insanity, avoided studying hashish. This kind of misinformation helped bring an end to the burgeoning medical marijuana field and usher in the new age of global prohibition instituted in the 20th century.

While most associate America as the architect of pot prohibition, it was actually Egypt that originally led the charge for its international embargo. Both Egypt and the US attempted (unsuccessfully) to add hashish to the list of prohibited drugs outlined in the League of Nations’ International Opium Conventions of 1912 and 1925. Nevertheless, by the late 1920s, nearly 60 countries had outlawed hashish.

THE HIPPIE TRAIL The counterculture movement of the 1960s introduced hashish to Eden Hash Center—a popular the New World. Starting in the late ‘50s, thousands of beatniks and stop on The Hippie Trail. hippies embarked on pilgrimages to the great hashish capitals of WORLD OF CANNABIS MUSEUM the East in search of primo smoke – rechristening the old Silk Road as “The Hippie Trail.”

Some, like Travis Ashbrook of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, smuggled tons of hash back to the US to power the psychedelic revolution. Others brought the art of hash making into new areas, like Morocco; though Cannabis had been grown in the region for centuries, until then it had only been smoked with tobacco. In the decades that followed, however, Morocco’s Rif Valley would become the world’s largest producer of hashish.

Just as the Hippie Trail was subsiding, Amsterdam – which had recently undergone its own social revolution – became the new hub for hashish.

Hash from all over the world was smuggled in and sold at the city’s hundreds of Cannabis coffeeshops. It was amidst this happening hash scene that another former Hippie Trail traveler by the name of Mila Jansen invented a revolutionary new resin collection method that used ice water rather than hand-scraping or dry sieving – creating the first ever “bubble hash” (aka ice hash, full-melt) and earning her the honorific “Hash Queen.”

Hashish assortment lithograph (1970).

HASHISH TODAY Though still widely popular in WORLD OF CANNABIS MUSEUM Europe, demand for hashish in the US has declined dramatically over the past few decades – due largely to the rise of the more potent hydrocarbon concentrates (dabs). In fact, you’d be hard-pressed (pun intended) to find any traditional hash for sale in US dispensaries, with one notable exception: the old-school hashish made by Frenchy Cannoli. Like those old Hippie Trail pilgrims, Frenchy spent his youth traveling to many of the world’s great hash centers and mastering the classic techniques, which he now teaches to a new generation with his “Lost Art of the Hashishin” workshop series. Thanks to the passion of master hashishin like him, hashish’s history will undoubtedly live on for centuries more.

Demand for hashish in the US has declined dramatically over the past few decades.

For more on the history of hash, listen to Episode #13 of our podcast at worldofcannabis.museum/cannthropology.

Story and photos originally published on worldofcannabis.museum and reprinted with permission.

STO RY b y B O B BY B LAC K @ CAN N T H RO PO LO G Y for LEA F NAT IO N

MORAL DILEMMAS

T

46

LEAFMAGAZINES.COM

by Mike Ricker

here she was, standing over a fresh dog poop, looking down upon a thin strip of sidewalk grass along a quiet suburban road holding her only bag, bulging and tied off. The Rhodesian Ridgeback at the end of the leash, quite unfortunately, just unleashed an unexpected second helping.

To leave or not to leave – that is the question that I ask of Steve. Maybe she has a favorite uncle named Steve, I don’t know.

It rhymed. Is there anyone in America who doesn’t know someone named Steve?

It doesn’t matter.

Regardless, she is faced with a conundrum.

You find a small stash on the bathroom floor. You scan the room, concluding that six of them are potential contenders. The nugs are juicy. Do you announce to the patrons of Patron that one of them has potentially lost their imperative sack, or do you hightail it out of the parking lot and fill your coughers? You scan the motley crew for bloodshot eyes while the dank scent effervesces through the pants pocket to the nostrils like a trail from Pepe Le Pew’s tail.

It is as if the universe itself is checking your pulse to determine if the moral compass is deserving of her positive karma, and worthy of continuing to inhabit her fruitful loins of perfect symmetry.

Every one of us, at least once in our lives, has been apprised to this test.

You clutch the bag and address this reckoning by announcing to the entire venue that someone has lost their weed and you are ready to bestow it to the rightful owner. A man comes to you and admits that he, indeed, had dropped the bag and hadn’t noticed until that moment, upon realizing that his pocket is empty. He takes the Cannabis gratefully. He offers to smoke a bowl with you outside, to which you politely accept. You have made a new friend.

His name is Steve.

jul. 2021

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Please Consume Responsibly. This product may cause impairment and may be habit forming. For use only by adults 21 years of age or older. Keep out of the reach of children. This product has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There is limited information on the side effects of using this product, and there may be associated health risks. Marijuana use during pregnancy and breast-feeding may pose potential harms. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. The effects of Edibles may be delayed by two hours or more. In case of accidental ingestion, contact poison control hotline 1-800-222-1222 or 9-1-1. This product may be illegal outside of MA. License #s: MR281796 & MR281778