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aug. 2019

THE WOMEN’S ISSUE

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11 Editor’S Note 12 NATIONAL news 14 hempfest do’s & don’ts 16 bring it to bonnie 18 artisan hemp’s future 20 ac braddock/edens lab 24 budtender of the month 26 women of weed vs. high times 28 highly likely 32 lucky leaf spokane 36 strain of the month 40 the women’s issue special 41 Bailey burroughs Hypeherbally 42 amanda mac Bellingham Budfest 44 jeanette horton NuLeaf Project 48 leila ali Herban Adventure 50 sharon whitson Seattle Hempfest 52 randa shahin Homegrown Apothecary 54 samyra jefferson Marijuana Madams 58 Cannabis recipes 62 CONCENTRATES 66 on the road 70 stoney baloney

INTERVIEWS by NORTHWEST LEAF STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS | PHOTOS by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

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HOW EDEN LABS CEO AC BRADDOCK INNOVATED SEVERAL EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGIES AND KEPT THE PASSION TO CHANGE HER INDUSTRY.

stoner owner AUG. 2019

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#110 | AUGUST 2019

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The Women’s Issue We are pleased this month to celebrate the achievements of Women in the Cannabis industry with this very special edition. Be sure to check out the other Leaf magzines online to see more profiles and exclusive stories! ART BY 8TH DAY CREATE for Northwest leaf

7/22/19 2:05 AM

CONTRIBUTORS

PUBLISHER

Steve Elliott National News

WES ABNEY | founder & editor-in-chief Wes@nwleaf.com 206-235-6721

Bonnie Fong Opinions Danielle Halle Features Brandon Palma Illustration Jeff Porterfield Design Mike Ricker Features Meghan Ridley Editing

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Daniel bermaN | photography & design daniel@bermanphotos.com

Pacer Stacktrain Features TerpTalk.tv Photography Jerry Whiting Hemp Laurie & Bruce Wolf Recipes

ADVERTISING Shane vancamp | ADVERTISING SALES shane@nwleaf.com 253-561-6837

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Editor’s Note The Cannabis Industry is brimming with feminine energy and talent, and it’s driving innovation and setting a positive example for how Cannabis is viewed. Our community is a diverse group that melts across all races and genders, and women deserve an equal place in the industry that should provide opportunity for all. 11 Ownership is statistically dominated by wealthy white men, and is trending further that way as legalization favors those with wealth over experience when balancing resources like licenses along equitable lines. MY GOAL FROM THE This issue affects people of color as BEGINNING OF THE significantly as women, but the core issue is the LEAF WAS TO SEE same. The plant was meant for everyone, and AND HELP SHAPE THE business opportunities should not be limited to those with money or based on gender or race. INDUSTRY IN SUCH A I’ve heard too many horror stories to share WAY THAT I WOULD of unreported sexual harassment, workplace FEEL COMFORTABLE violations, and general discomfort at situations WITH MY DAUGHTERS where women are treated incorrectly in the PARTICIPATING IN IT, industry. We as a community and industry need to recognize that Cannabis is no different from AND I AM POSITIVE AND the mainstream business world, and that the EXCITED FOR THE FUTURE same rules apply within the world of weed. OF THE AMAZING In order to make progress and make change, WOMEN IN WEED. we must hold Cannabis to a higher standard than any other business environment. My goal from the beginning of the Leaf was to see and help shape the Cannabis industry in such a way that I would feel comfortable with my daughters participating in it, and I am positive and excited for the future of the amazing women in weed. Over the last decade the Cannabis industry has gone from sexualized sales and misogyny to a growing industry with Women in every step in seed to sale, from CEOs to creatives, managers to activists, attorneys to growers and so much more. We are honored to highlight a few of the great many who are making positive change, and helping the community and industry grow in every sector. Please enjoy these profiles and the spotlights into the various forms of the industry, and make sure to ask for women owned products at your local dispensary. There’s more to support than most realize!

-Wes Abney

aug. 2019

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N O RT H W E S T L E A F / O R EG O N L E A F / AL AS KA L E A F / M A RY L AN D L E A F

ABNEY

cannabis news

west coast

WASHINGTON STATE’S CANNABIS TRACING SYSTEM UPDATE BREAKS DOWN; COSTS BUSINESSES THOUSANDS

EAST COAST

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION MUST INCLUDE CANNABIS JUSTICE: BALTIMORE STATE’S ATTORNEY Declaring that “the debate over whether we should legalize marijuana is essentially over,” Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby traveled to Washington, D.C. to testify before Congress as part of the first-ever hearing to discuss Cannabis legalization. “The question is no longer if or even when we legalize marijuana nationally,” Mosby said. “The question policy makers must grapple with is: How should we legalize marijuana?” According to Mosby, any legislative proposal must make sure it “repairs the damage done by marijuana prohibition and creates opportunities for those communities most adversely impacted.” “I have seen first-hand the damage done by marijuana enforcement,” Mosby wrote. “Black people and their communities suffer the brunt of marijuana arrests despite studies showing that blacks and whites use marijuana at the same rate.” For those reasons, on January 29, Mosby’s office became one of the first in the country to decline to prosecute marijuana possession cases regardless of the weight involved, or the holder’s criminal history. Unfortunately, the courts denied her request to right these past wrongs. “So for now, members of our community are living with the scarlet letter of a criminal record for an offense the city no longer prosecutes,” Mosby wrote.

Washington state’s seed-to-sale marijuana traceability system has been shaky, at best. Past outages of the system have cost Cannabis businesses dearly, and now a planned update of the system has resulted in costly outages once again. The issue actually involved two separate outages, according to MJ Freeway, which provides the Leaf Data Systems software companies use to document the marijuana supply chain in Washington state. The outages stopped hundreds of retailers, processors and producers from conducting business-to-business transactions for a period of days in mid-July, reports Marijuana Business Daily. “People are losing their minds over what’s happening,” said Vicki Christopherson, executive director of the Washington Cannabusiness Association (WACA), before the outages were repaired. “People are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a business that they don’t have to lose.” A survey about the outages was conducted by a nonprofit, The Cannabis Alliance, and asked Cannabis business owners to estimate what the outage cost them. Respondents’ answers ranged from $1,000 to as much as $80,000. Eight of the businesses reported losing more than $25,000 in sales.

legalization

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THREE REPUBLICANS ARE BLOCKING FEDERAL CANNABIS LEGALIZATION With bipartisan support for Cannabis legalization finally here, we still have a problem. Unless the legislation can get past a small, conservative group of GOP senators, the bills won’t become law, according to Rolling Stone magazine. Senators like Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, in 2017 claimed that voters don’t care about marijuana legalization. He was, of course, wrong then and even more wrong today in 2019. More than 60 percent of Americans now favor full legalization. Eleven states and D.C. have legalized adult use, and 36 more have some form of medical use. All that public support has finally started to translate into Cannabis-related legislation in Congress. But public, bipartisan support for legalization aren’t enough, according to Saphira Galoob, a Democratic Cannabis lobbyist. “We are still in a situation where the temperature within the Republican Party conference — within the leadership — is not yet signaling it’s okay,” she said. The three names continually listed by lobbyists, advocates and lawmakers as those blocking any federal Cannabis legalization are GOP Senators Mike Crapo of Idaho, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

aug. 2019

STUDY: WASHINGTON STATE #1 IN WORLD CANNABIS USE Washington is number one on the planet when it comes to cannabis consumption, and now there’s data to prove it, reports Leafly. A new study from the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington indicates that the Puget Sound area, including Seattle, has the highest level of marijuana consumption in the world, beating even Amsterdam in that regard. “We are part of an international study ... with 60 to 80 other cities around the world,” lead researcher Dr. Daniel A. Burgard said. “And according to wastewater, the Puget Sound area has the highest Cannabis use per capita, even over Amsterdam.” Researchers conducted the study by analyzing sewage from a Western Washington city’s public wastewater from 2013 to 2016, looking for metabolites of THC. By measuring THC-COOH in thousands of samples of raw sewage, scientists aimed to track weed consumption levels and to try and determine if the legal I-502 market has displaced the black market. Washington began legal retail sales in August 2014, so researchers were very interested in learning how legalization affected Cannabis use. Consumption did go up with legalization, according to the results, “suggesting a doubling” in THC consumption among residents between 2013 and 2016. STORIES by STEVE ELLIOTT, AUTHOR OF THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF MARIJUANA

rehashed

SEATTLE HEMPFEST AUG. 16-18, 2019

For many of us, Hempfest has become as much of a tradition as Bumbershoot or Folklife. But the festival isn’t free to produce, and actually costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours to make it happen.

nwlEAF.COM

Last year the festival received only a few cents per attendee in donations. That is ridiculous! Hempfest spans three days, features multiple stages and bands, and gives access to some of the best vendors in the world of hemp and Cannabis themed products. If you value Hempfest, and want to continue to enjoy it for years to come, please donate at the gates and online at Hempfest.org.

aug. 2019

Do’s & Don’ts

VISIT NORTHWEST LEAF @ THE BIG DOME LOCATED

BY HEMPFEST MAINSTAGE DONATE TO HEMPFEST

DRINK LOTS OF WATER BRING A FRIEND BRING A BACKPACK/PU RSE SMOKE SOMETHING NEW READ SOMETHING NEW SHARE THE LOVE RESPECT THE PARK & OTHERS HAVE FUN!

Sell illegal drugs Steal from anyone Be rude to police, or anyone else Make graffiti, or any vandalism Bring torches Bring alcohol or other drugs Discriminate against people’s choices/self expression Litter anywhere forget to donate to hempfest Myrtle Edwards Park Forget cash for food and vendors Get so high that you act a fool

STORY by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX @NWLEAF | PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

OPINION

BY BONNIE FONG NORTHWEST LEAF CONTRIBUTOR

BRING IT TO

BONNIE DEAR BONNIE, I have been wanting to establish a trademark on my Cannabis company. However, I have been told I cannot because Cannabis is not federally legal. Since hemp was recently federally legalized, can I obtain a trademark for CBD products?”

NO, nwlEAF.COM

you cannot obtain a trademark on a federally illegal product such as Cannabis.

To obtain a trademark, you have to choose a classification under which you register your trademark. Since there is no classification of Cannabis, many Cannabis companies obtain a trademark under other classifications such as clothing and apparel, glass products, paraphernalia, etc. But some companies run the risk of a similar trademark already registered for that classification, making it difficult for Cannabis companies to ultimately obtain their trademark. Hemp was legalized in 2018 at the federal level through the Hemp Farming Act. This opens up an entirely new avenue for Cannabis companies to obtain their mark. There is a classification for agricultural products, which is likely the best fit for a hemp trademark. I think obtaining a trademark for CBD and hemp products is a great idea. It’s a closer fit to Cannabis than clothing and apparel, glass products, or other tangential classifications. Additionally, when Cannabis is federally legalized, it may provide some protection of your mark as an agricultural product.

aug. 2019

moking lounges, or consumption lounges, are not permitted in Washington. In fact, it is a Class C felony to operate a Cannabis club where the direct or indirect purpose is to hold, store, or consume Cannabis under RCW 69.50.465. Since it is illegal to smoke in public and it is also unlawful to smoke inside under the Clean Indoor Air Act, Cannabis consumers are placed in a difficult position when deciding where to smoke their Cannabis. While this is the law as it currently stands, I hope one day this law is changed so Cannabis consumers can enjoy their Cannabis in consumption lounges. I strongly believe one day Washington will get there. Until we do, I keep wondering how we can move our state in the direction of accepting consumption lounges. I recently took a trip to Greece where the CBD industry has really taken off. CBD stores are all over the country, especially the well-known company, Hempoil. Hempoil had every kind of Cannabis product that you can find in a retail store in Washington, but just made with CBD. They had CBD flower, CBD joints, While the law CBD shatter, CBD crumble, CBD currently does not topicals, CBD edibles, etc. Hempoil even had a CBD vending permit Cannabis machine in Athens, until they had to smoking lounges, remove it due to identification and CBD lounges would verification issues, according to the be a completely employee I spoke with. legal way for In addition to the impressive array Cannabis lovers of CBD products, Hempoil had a very to get together European feature: a smoking area in and consume CBD front of the store. In Europe, where products in a cigarette smoking is rampant and social atmosphere. ubiquitous, patrons smoking in front of retail stores is not surprising. But the difference with this smoking porch was that patrons were permitted, actually encouraged, to smoke the CBD products they had just purchased. While I sparked my CBD joint in front of the store, I asked myself, “Where are the CBD consumption lounges in Washington? CBD consumption lounges are an ideal legal way for products to be consumed out of public view. CBD products have recently become extremely popular in mainstream culture. I recently waited for two hours for a CBD cocktail in Los Angeles. I went to a CBD coffee shop in Texas. CBD products have crept their way into the lives of the general public, and have earned a reputation of not only being socially acceptable but in fact, healthy. So, why has the Cannabis industry not hopped on board with CBD consumption lounges? Lounges could have an outdoor area where patrons could smoke their CBD flower so long as it is 25 feet from any entrance. CBD lounges could have a dab station where patrons could dab CBD shatter or crumble. Lounges could offer CBD coffees, teas, waters, smoothies, and countless other beverages. Pastries and snacks could be infused with CBD, and other CBD food products could be sold at the register. CBD flower, CBD shatter, CBD crumble and other oils could be sold at these lounges. Beer and wine could even be sold at these lounges, and maybe even cocktails if a liquor license is obtained. CBD lounges could be Washington’s path toward normalizing consumption lounges. While the law currently does not permit Cannabis smoking lounges, CBD lounges would be a completely legal way for Cannabis lovers to get together and consume CBD products in a social atmosphere. And when Washington finally lifts its ban on Cannabis consumption lounges, CBD lounges would have already established their branding as Cannabis cafes. So, I ask the question again. Where are the CBD consumption lounges?

The information contained in this column is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established.

SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO BONNIE@C3.LEGAL

PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN

EXPERT OPINION

BY JERRY WHITING LeBlancCNE.com/podcast

ARTISAN

I’d rather be a small farmer with a high quality harvest year after year, than a new farmer on a tractor struggling to grow 50 or more acres. I’d like to be a small farmer with hemp as part of my crop rotation. There will be hemp only farmers and farmers who grow hemp too. The former lends itself to monoculture, the latter leans towards sustainability. Soybean, wheat and corn farmers have a learning curve with hemp. 4H didn’t prepare them and their county agent is of little help. Large amounts of mediocre hemp won’t bring strong prices. With hemp legal across the country, each and every farmer is competing with every other farmer. Those that grow high quality hemp, CBD or otherwise, can get a higher price for their crop. The hemp supply chain favors organic plant matter without pesticides or heavy metals. This is counter to what conventional farmers have been doing. Small organic farmers with a high quality product can compete against larger players on this fact alone. One of the challenges facing all hemp farmers is finding the cultivars (strains) that work best for them. Hemp genetics are new and lack extensive field trials. The genotype/terroir matchup is a crap shoot. Small farmers can experiment and adjust what they grow faster than large corporations. Neighboring farms can cooperate and share It’s no news that hemp is big and getting bigger. cultivation tips. Just like wine grapes, regions will focus on specific types All the headlines, tweets and media hoopla focus of hemp. Imagine hemp and Cannabis appellations. Regional tastes will almost exclusively on CBD. It’s fair to assume that determine what sells, and what’s grown locally will mold regional tastes. Think about apples. Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and McIntosh are the hemp-derived CBD market will consolidate of no use if you’re making cider. Everyone is rushing into industrial hemp quickly, not so much based on who has the best grown for CBD extraction. There’s an underserved market for smokable products, but who has access to the retail supply hemp, both pre-rolls and trimmed flower. This is just the kind of product that can be grown, processed and chain. Established national brands have the inside packaged by small companies and then sold locally and online. Bulk track to drugstores, grocery stores, the big boxes hemp flower can be sold at farmers markets and by CSAs (Community and every mall in the land. CBD is today what Supported Agriculture). Some farmers will specialize - nurseries with clones, those that grow probiotics was yesterday. seed crops, hemp grown for on site use (animal bedding), etc. If family farms grow sheep to make wool, why not grow hemp for handmade paper? I met a farmer in Wisconsin who grew sunflowers, pressed the oil and heated her home. She wanted to try hemp for the oil to see if it was a more efficient fuel. The pressed meal she used as animal feed. Farmers Some of us don’t shop at malls or mainstream grocery stores, are resourceful if nothing else. If they grow hemp, they’ll figure out how and don’t buy multinational brands. I’m a food co-op, credit union, to sell it or use it on site. farmers market, microbrewery kinda guy. So is there a place in the As more and more people throw themselves into industrial hemp, many hemp economy for small local farmers and producers, local brands aren’t thinking ahead. Yes, CBD today, but what’s next? Bulk biomass is and family businesses? Will there be an artisan hemp economy the pot of gold everyone’s chasing now, but my guess is that 2020 will moving forward? Yes and yes! see a thinning of the herd. I don’t worry Why was Montana the third largest industrial about the well-financed big players, it’s the hemp producer in 2018? Because people J US T L I K E WI N E G R A P E S , mom and pop operations I worry about. own large tracks of land. Not because the R EG IO N S WI L L F OCUS O N Many have heard me say that it all climate or soil was ideal, or there was a strong begins with the plant. Lose sight of this S P EC I F IC T Y P E S O F H E M P . Cannabis culture full of experienced growers. It and risk success. Big Ag has no interest in was about land, not culture. R EG IO NAL TAS T E S WI L L maintaining a large and diverse genetic Those who’ve grown Cannabis have an D E T E R M I N E WHAT SE L LS , portfolio. Scale, volume, and consistency are advantage growing hemp compared to those the way to risk-free profits. who haven’t grown pot before. Sorry, but just AN D WHAT ’ S G ROWN Outlier strains may be the key to the because your grandparents grew tobacco or LOCAL LY WI L L M O L D next market opportunity. Small farms even hemp doesn’t mean you can grow and R EG IO NAL TAS T E S . can maintain diverse genetic collections, harvest a high quality product. preserving valuable hemp genetics. As states issue hemp licenses, pay attention My advice? Grow your brand, grow your business. Sell direct, bond to places with a preexisting Cannabis culture, either recreational, with your customers. Dr. So, my acupuncture teacher, says, “Don’t chase medical or black market. Who better knows Cannabis’ soil and the dollar and the dollar will chase you.” nutrient requirements, how to prune, the transition from veg to flower, Do what you love, follow your passion, and stay close to the plant. and most importantly how to harvest, dry and store a crop?

HEMP?

(YES IT’S A THING)

nwlEAF.COM

aug. 2019

PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

STONER OWNER

ACBRADDOCK

CEO | EDEN LABS

nwlEAF.COM

AUG. 2019

How did Cannabis come into your life?

The quintessential teenage experience. Skipping school to try it out and then playing frisbee.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START EDEN LABS? Eden Labs was

Founded by Fritz Chess in 1994. He was inspired by wide variety of plant medicines and that knowledge base is constantly building. The number of botanicals he knows how to extract for varying components is staggering and exciting. I was inspired by what I saw him doing in 1999, as we shared a strong interest in bettering human health through naturally occuring medicinal plants and lifestyle choices. Because of this shared interest and the success in my career at the time, he asked me to come run the company in 2004. However, I loved the luxury Built Green project I was working on and declined, so I could have a couple more years to complete it. In the meantime, I actively advised Eden until 2008, when I took a more active role and then became a full partner and CEO in 2009. It’s been a wild ride since and with providing solutions for the hemp industry and further medical research, it’s not slowing down anytime soon.

WHY DO YOU CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON CO2 & ETHANOL EXTRACTION?

This is not a short answer, but this is industry history based on Eden’s 25 years in Cannabis extraction. First and foremost, Eden is an R&D company that works with many industries and solvents. Eden innovated CO2 technology for Cannabis and kava kava, installed the first commercial ethanol systems in the mid-90s and developed the first closed-loop systems. Around the time Colorado and Washington legalized for more than medical (I like to use conscious consumption or lifestyle use), we simply stopped promoting the fact that our CO2 systems could be used with co-solvents. Why? About 2011, it became perfectly clear to me that all concentrates were under attack from mainstream media and we were at a tipping point for the slow roll or fast track to medical legalization. At this time, the media was having a field day with “dirty and dangerous drug operations” that were exploding up and down the West Coast, from open blasting in the unregulated market. This was a significant problem because the media was lumping all concentrates into their frighteningly effective messaging. Concentrates were seen as “druggy” and so were the people who made and consumed them. On top of that, there were some greedy, uneducated early players who knew nothing about proper purging and didn’t care when provided proper post-processing techniques. So we asked ourselves, how on earth were we going to fast track legalization with that kind of propaganda and lack of desire for self-regulation from these bad players? How do we help create a pathway that is unquestionably safe in production and consumption? We used our experience in the production of nutraceuticals, food, biofuels, essential oils, etc, knowing that the industry would eventually need to establish a self-regulated platform for facilities from the viewpoint of fire departments, police, OSHA, etc. At the time, most of the unregulated industry just wasn’t ready to implement and/or could not afford these kinds of SOPs and facilities, so we provided immediate

alternatives that no one outside of the industry could argue against. And they tried, believe me, they tried. It was fun telling a fire department that CO2 is not explosive, you actually use it to put out fires. As far as ethanol goes, it has been utilized for thousands of years in medicinal use, and while it was unpopular for a number of years, we knew it would come back and come back it has! We also knew that building this industry would lead to the need for industrial scale systems, and both CO2 and ethanol are proven solutions for efficiencies in large scale production.

“MY FAVORITE PART IS KNOWING WE ARE HELPING SICK PEOPLE, HELPING CHANGE SOCIAL BIAS AND ADDING TO THE POLITICAL POWER OF THE WAVE OF CONSUMERS WHO WANT TO BUY FROM ORGANIC, SUSTAINABLE, MISSION DRIVEN, SMALL BUSINESS.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU BE A CANNABIS BUSINESS OWNER WHO CONSUMES THE PLANT?

It means I support and understand its use and potential. It means I can call BS on misinformation and disinformation on the plant and how it is produced and why. The underlying dedication to what I do stems from the science of one system treating another system. It stems from the desire to recreate our medical system. What we are doing in this industry is treating illness and promoting health and wellbeing through the endocannabinoid system, as well as curing political and social ills around prohibition and the mechanisms that create such horrible and destructive cultural biases.

HAS IT BEEN HARD TO BE A WOMAN IN THE INDUSTRY?

It’s complex. In some ways it’s easier because it is a health and wellness industry, and because social issues like sexism are constant topics. We went from an industry that was exclusively marketed to men, and in particular men under 30, to an industry that calls out companies that abuse the use of women and sex to sell what is essentially a health product. We had the highest number of women owned businesses and C Suite in any U.S. industry in 2014. The downside is the slide since from health and wellness based business to same old, same old business, and we have lost that momentum. It’s harder for women in business in any sector, period. An example - it was easier in the beginning of the regulated market because no one had access to funding. Entry into a craft industry is more accessible. Now there is a significant decline in women owned business because data says for every $58 million men get in funding, women get $1 million - according to the NY Times. It’s very difficult for anyone to compete with big business coming into the industry, but especially difficult for women and people of color.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE AND FAVORITE PART ABOUT OWNING A CANNABIS BUSINESS? My favorite part is knowing we are helping sick people, helping change social bias and adding to the political power of the wave of consumers who want to buy from

organic, sustainable, mission driven, small business. I enjoy the political work I have done in NCIA, The Cannabis Alliance, Stewardship Partners, Women of Weed, etc. Being a part of political action and market development alleviates the frustration of watching bad regulation, stigma, racism, sexism and prohibition which is still very much alive and kicking.

WHAT KIND OF CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FOR THE INDUSTRY OVERALL? We need to diversify. We need legal

pathways to medical, nutraceutical, food, building materials, textiles, etc. As Dr. Ethan Russo likes to point out, if you had to take one plant to a desert island, this would be the one that could sustain, clothe and shelter you. If we allow the molecularization of the plant to be the only pathway to legal use - and I mean legal personal use - we have failed on so many levels and as humans we will pay a significant and devastating price in this lost opportunity.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE STRAIN AND WAY TO CONSUME?

LOL. I don’t have any favorites for multiple reasons. The biggest reason is I am currently going through 45 concentrate entries from the Terpestival! I am not looking at strains, but rather combinations of terpenes and cannabinoids. I am making my way through them with my nose and other senses. It’s fantastic. I strongly believe we should be cultivating and extracting specific cultivars for our individual endocannabinoid needs. It’s a very personal journey that I am enjoying. As far as consumption, I was just gifted a Puffco Peak, which has been a delight. And I like full spectrum tinctures and vaping.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME?

Anything that consumes my awareness and is nature oriented, but especially yoga, gardening, surfing, skiing, music and spending time with my feisty as hell friends and colleagues. So good. All of it. E DE N LAB S . CO M

@ EDENLABS

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

INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX | PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

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THEJOINTLLC.COM

BUDTENDER OF THE MONTH

WHY DO YOU LIKE WORKING AT APEX CANNABIS? It’s so funny because when I first started selling to Apex, I told GLW and Apex if I would ever leave working for the farm, the only pot shop I would work in was Apex. Starting off the vibe was instantly great. It’s full of amazing humans and has an amazing structure and company mindset. I also knew that working here I could hopefully make a difference. It’s been a great journey so far! I miss the farm for sure, but I get to experience the best of both worlds. Plus Apex’s motto is ‘Welcome to the Top’ - so that’s always a good statement to put in. To me, it means being the peak. We can’t go anywhere else but up right now. And that’s how I’m seeing life right now. I’m glad I can be at the top - hopefully I can keep on flying. WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES WHEN YOU AREN’T WORKING AT THE DISPENSARY? I’m a rollerblader, so I like to blade a lot and be active in general. I also have two grown puppies who need to stay active, so I run with them daily. I’m also a family girl, so when I’m not at work I’m hanging out with them a lot - which I love!

nwlEAF.COM

JASMINE LEIGH BETHELY Jasmine Leigh Bethely is a passionate Cannabis lover who started her Cannabis career working with GLW farms in the Spokane area. After working sales and seeing a variety of stores and tons of flowers, she decided to give budtending a try and hasn’t looked back. Full of energy and passion for finding the best Cannabis for a customer, she is a great budtender to help navigate the Spokane Cannabis scene!

can you describe what your First EXPERIENCE WITH Cannabis was like? I was probably like 16, and my cousin and I smoked out of one of his pretty marble rainbow bongs. I took one hit and I remember it was like going on the best adventure, like Mickey Mouse. From then on it became part of my daily medicine. Prior to smoking I was never actually for Cannabis. I dated a guy that was always smoking weed and I sat there judging him like a hypocrite. Once we broke up I started smoking, and ever since then it has been my woosah!

like to know what this one tastes like, what that one feels like, because I feel like when I dab it’s always the same effect. With flower I love getting to know each strain, and that’s the farm side of me from watching all the beautiful strains grow and seeing what’s next, to being on the budtender side where you get to taste all of them.

FAVORITE STRAINS AND PRODUCERS? I’m loving Soulshine, especially their Loopy Fruit, which is super tasty and has a nice hybrid high. I’m usually more of an indica “I LOVE GETTING TO girl, so when HOW DID YOU BECOME A KNOW EACH STRAIN, I find a nice BUDTENDER? AND THAT’S THE FARM hybrid it means I actually started SIDE OF ME FROM something. I love off as a sales rep WATCHING ALL THE GLW’s Silver Tip, for GLW, which BEAUTIFUL STRAINS that’s a good is a great farm, GROW AND SEEING hybrid as well. I but the first store WHAT’S NEXT, TO BEING like Khush Kush I actually got into ON THE BUDTENDER SIDE and their Gelato, was Apex. As time WHERE YOU GET TO that’s one of went on with the TASTE ALL OF THEM.” my favorite farm I wanted indicas. And I to do something wish we had their different. I love dealing Bellringer back, with sales, but I wanted that heals my to see a different Apex cannabis body and aches. I view in the Cannabis downtown like Lilac City right industry. When Apex 1325 N Division St #104 now, they always opened downtown I Spokane, WA have great strains tried budtending part(509) 443-4654 in general, and time, but went full-time ApexCannabis.com their Gods Gift is this spring and have one of the best indicas to get me been loving it ever since! to sleep. Those are my top farms I’m smoking right now. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB? Making the customers leave HOW DO YOU FIND THE RIGHT strains and with a smile. They come in with cannabis products FOR A CUSTOMER? expectations of what they want, It’s all about asking the right and I love letting them leave with questions, knowing what the exactly what they wanted. customer wants and what they’re Getting them the top products looking for - energy, relaxing, for them is my goal for the day, for or even making some love. And the right reason, and having them you’d be surprised how often I get come back with a smile is what I asked that. I always like to ask the love. It’s fun to see that side of the basic questions. counter, to help them learn about You don’t want to push, but the products, because everyone is you want to get to know them learning still. enough to know what their taste Cannabis is growing every day preferences are, the price range and there is always something new and what their daily usage is. to get into people’s mindsets. And I’m not gonna lie, I feel like I do a pretty good job each FAVORITE WAY TO CONSUME cannabis? time. Customers expect us to I’m a flower girl. I used to know their products, so you prefer joints, now I’m more of a wouldn’t want to feed them blunt or a nice bong sometimes something you wouldn’t want to - depending on how I’m feeling. eat. So I sell people weed the way I just love flower, the smell and I want to buy weed. taste. I try each flower out and I

KNOW A GREAT BUDTENDER? NOMINATE THEM FOR BUDTENDER OF THE MONTH: NWLEAF@GMAIL.COM

aug. 2019

INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX | PHOTO by MICHAEL THOMPSON @TERPTALK.TV

/ NWLEAF @NWLEAF

EXCLUSIVE CANNABIS JOURNALISM SINCE 2010 Seattle Police handed out bags of Doritos with instructions on staying legal under new recreational laws after I-502 was passed in 2012. PHOTO BY @BERMANPHOTOS

FEATURE

A C A N N A B I S F A M I L Y F E UD

WOMEN OF WEED VS HIGH TIMES My name is Ah Warner, and I’m the founder of Cannabis/Hemp Basics, as well as the founder of Women of Weed. I am a proud U.S. Air Force Veteran and an almost 25-year veteran of the Cannabis and hemp movements. I am most known for evangelizing about hemp, producing world-class Cannabis health and beauty aids, and for lifting up and celebrating my Cannabis sisters. Nothing can change these truths. Together with our Cannabis brothers, we are rocking the foundation of Cannabis prohibition and will eventually watch it crumble to dust. High Times Magazine et al. is like my edgy, super smart but often inappropriate 40-year-old brother, sometimes acting as mature as his mostly 15-20 year-old audience. High Times has been my supportive big brother with an outlaw’s nature and unprecedented nostalgic value - how could a little sister not only trust, but also idolize him? My personal business relationship with High Times/Hemp Times Magazines spans over 20 years. I received the 1997 “Bioneer Award for Outstanding Achievement in Body Care” from High Times’ sister magazine, Hemp Times. My products have been featured, articles have been written about my activism and business efforts, and I am honored to have spoken on expert panels and judged multiple High Times Cups. I also enjoy personal relationships with many of the amazing people that made High Times what it is today. All of this is exactly why this story is so painful to pen. As the legal owner of the Women of Weed federal trademark, I am compelled to speak out my truth, no matter the outcome. I will not be quiet and let anyone with money steal what we have built, strategically protected and rightfully, legally own. The official birth of Women of Weed was May of 2013. As my business and activist efforts started to take over my world, I felt the need to create a space just for fun. The great by AH WARNER

green state of Washington was the perfect setting for a private social club for women in the hemp and marijuana space. I wanted to cultivate a safe space where we could come together, smoke weed, eat beautiful food, and share our love and respect for the plant and one another. Women of Weed was never designed to be a business association or activist group. Our only agenda is to have no agenda. At its inception, many of us were already involved in CCSE (now Cannabis Alliance), the HIA and NCIA. I was also personally devoted to Norml Women of Washington, Hempfest, was working on hemp/marijuana legislation and orchestrating the Washington State Cannabis Health and Beauty Aids Law or CHABA, RCW 69.50.575 - the first of its kind in the country. Word spread like wildfire about our special group of weed women in Washington state, and we started getting requests to start state chapters. Respectfully declining all requests, as this would turn into work and headaches, I reminded myself that this was supposed to be just for fun. To this day, we encourage anyone to start a social, activist or business club around Cannabis - but please name it something besides Women of Weed. This was early on in 2013, before adult-use marijuana and Women Grow. Cannabis women were thirsty for a safe place to be heard and belong. We had all been in the closet for so long, isolated from our community, and have carried an unfair share of the burden and stigma of prohibition. We love being a private, but not secret, society. Most of our events are for signed WOW only, but at some events, female guests are welcome, and once a year we have a holiday mixer with significant others and our Cannabis brothers. Although media is never allowed in our actual gatherings, we have been written about as early as October 2013 in MMJ Magazine, were the centerfold of Northwest Leaf in December of 2013, and listed as #2 on Leafly’s Top 5 Things in Cannabis that same year. We made the cover of DOPE in March 2014, and in January of 2016 I penned an article “Women of Weed, A Grand Social Experiment,”

WOMEN OF WEED FOUNDER AH WARNER which was published in the Colorado, Oregon, California (north and south), and Washington issues of DOPE Magazine (now owned by High Times), attempting to clarify the confusion around our mysterious group. The aforementioned breakdown is meant to illustrate that our journey is well-documented and nationally recognized. At maximum capacity we will have 300 signed members. This includes the 100 original Washington, the second 100 cherry-picked and sponsored by the originals, and lastly, 100 of the most

“AS THE LEGAL OWNER OF THE WOMEN OF WEED FEDERAL TRADEMARK, I AM COMPELLED TO SPEAK OUT MY TRUTH, NO MATTER THE OUTCOME. I WILL NOT BE QUIET AND LET ANYONE WITH MONEY STEAL WHAT WE HAVE BUILT, STRATEGICALLY P ROTECTED AND RIGHTFULLY, LEGALLY OWN.” —AH WARNER AUG. 2019

impactful Cannabis Women from around the country and world - The Honorary Women of Weed. To date there are still 130 open spots, so we are not a closed group, but potential members must be sponsored by a signed WOW member. Today, there are so many incredible Cannabis women doing big things, it is possible that an invitation to be a part of the group hasn’t made it to them yet. My goal was to reach out to as many who have had ten or more years of dedication to the plant, before we rounded out the maximum 300 with the youthful energy of newly passionate hemp and marijuana devotees. So, if you are kicking ass in either the industry or the movement, it’s still possible to be an officially signed member. The deep relationships forged from WOW are evident to its members all over our industry and movement. You can be sure if you have been in this movement for more than five minutes, that you know several signed Women of Weed. Among us are patients, activists, naturopaths, nurses, herbalists, extractors, hash makers, entrepreneurs, political analysts, agronomists, inventors, scientists, graphic designers, and nationally published writers and photographers. We are CEOs, COOs, and CFOs, legal producers, processors and retailers, lawyers, lobbyists, international Cannabis experts, policy advisors and law influencers. It didn’t take long before realizing that what we have is so special - that being a part of Women of Weed gave us something many of us didn’t even know we needed. Overwhelming advice was to protect this thing of value we were building. The plan has never been to make money off WOW, but I knew based on the level of intense curiosity, that I needed to file a federal TM registration. We filed our first TM registration for Association Services #86588440, filed April 6, 2015. This filing documented our first use as May 1, 2013. Next filing was #87511633, for apparel protecting our brand from anyone using it. First use on this registration was June 6, 2018. We filed for our third Women of Weed TM registration, #88134328, covering charitable fundraising on Sept 27, 2018. Women of Weed Gives, est. May 2018, had become the philanthropic arm of Mother Earth’s Green Services, the umbrella structure for Cannabis Basics/Hemp Basics, my Cannabis topical company established in 1995. We filed for our most recent Women of Weed registration on March 20, 2019 for goods and services and charitable fundraising, #88348369. What had become more abundantly clear was that people wanted to be a part or own a part of Women of Weed. To answer that demand for inclusiveness, after five years, we launched Women of Weed Gives at the 27th annual Seattle Hempfest in August 2018. Now, anyone female or male can buy Women of Weed merchandise and know that 100% of the profits will be going back into the community to support nonprofits in the Cannabis and hemp space, owned or run by women.

The first three recipients of block grants will be Students for Sensible Drug Policy in honor of Honorary WOW#7 Betty Aldworth, Hempfest in honor of WOW#78 Sharon Whitson, and Norml Women of Washington in honor of its director, WOW#10 Danica Noble. What started as a social club just for fun has turned into an intense labor of love, with vast potential A 2013 WOMEN OF WEED GROUP PORTRAIT FOR NWLEAF through branded merchandise for fundraising. PHOTO BY DANIEL BERMAN Infringement of our mark brand for their own gain, but they are also sellconfuses the marketplace and lowers our ability to do ing seats at the table to share the goodness of good with our legally owned intellectual property. our Women of Weed brand. On April 10, 2019 Our issue with High Times is that it has chosen to my lawyer sent the third cease and desist to eight knowingly infringe upon the Women of Weed federalHigh Times board members, three of whom are ly protected TM registrations. I want to be clear, this is female and major share holders. Still silence! a trademark, not copyright issue. On April 24, 2019, determined to be heard, The story I’m about to tell has me and anyone conI penned an open letter to the Editor of High nected to Women of Weed asking High Times, WTF? Times and sent it to over 100 of my media conWhere are your manners? Where is your respect? tacts. The story was picked up by MJ Business Did integrity walk out the door when you sold yourDaily, Marijuana Venture, Weed Week and self to the highest bidder? Or did it leave the building others, but the biggest coverage was the Forbes when all of those amazing writers, editors and event article published on May 15, 2019. producers left because they could no longer tolerate That article shed light to many specifics from the new ownership’s culture? How dare you? For your 27 our perspective, but also added the perspective profits? And while we are at it, how dare you sexuof the previously mentioned model. She tells how alize us or any legitimate Cannabis women for your for the March 29th party under our name, withgreedy purposes, under our federally trademarked out her permission, they blew her image up to name, in the guise of celebrating us? life size, cut her face out, made her butt bigger, and used her as a photo prop. THE WOMEN OF WEED Objectification at its clearest definition. conflict with High It was only after this powerful Forbes article, Times started in early with all of these unfortunate details, that we February 2018. I was finally heard from High Times legal on April 26, sent a piece of artwork 2019. Since then, there has been a back and that included an image forth between lawyers and I am still hoping for a of what most of my positive resolution. friends thought was As of mid-July, there has been a casual offer me - long red hair and by High Times legal to instead use Women in my signature orange Weed moving forward, which could be part of lipstick - that was an acceptable resolution. being used for the first But there is yet to be a written agreement, no Women of Weed event, acknowledgment of wrong doing, and certainly presented by High no apology or offer to give the money they made Times on March 1, 2018. On Feb 8, 2018, I sent the under our name to the women-owned, nonproffirst cease and desist, which was met with disregard. its we fundraise for. In mid-September 2018, I received a piece of I am not surprised that I am fighting for my artwork with a naked girl laying on a bed of weed, rights as a female Cannabis activist/business that was shot for the cover of High Times’ Women owner, after all, the Equal Rights Amendment of Weed issue. Ultimately, the image was not used has still not been passed in this country. Howfor the cover, but to promote yet another High Times ever, I am shocked, saddened, and disgusted Women of Weed event on Sept 26, 2018. that I have to fight an entity that I have admired The second cease and desist was sent from my and given so much love to over so many years, lawyer’s desk on September 21, 2018. It was again considering them my family. met with utter disregard for our request to stop use. Regardless of the outcome, I am certain that Up to this point they were gathering under our name, High Times will stay busy partying, selling thoubut there was no evident money-making structure. sands of dollars in sponsorships to fatten their It was February 2019 when I received the media bottom line. All the while, Women of Weed will kit being used to promote now a third party that most certainly continue to do the work necessary happened on March 29, 2019 in Los Angeles - comto move the culture forward to true emancipation plete with a $65,000 sponsorship structure for brand of the Cannabis plant and all who love her. exposure. So, not only is High Times utilizing our

nwlEAF.COM @ nwleaf

HOW THE OUTSPOKEN MUSIC ICON SHARES HER LOVE FOR CANNABIS WITH THE WORLD

RIHANNA

nwlEAF.COM

A S O N E O F T H E WO R L D ’ S WEALTHIEST FEMALE M US IC I AN S , T H E M US ICAL P H E N O M K N OW N S I M P LY A S R I H A N N A L I K E LY N E E D S L I T T L E I N T R O D UC T I O N . In brief, she was born in Barbados, moved to the U.S. in 2005 as a signee with Def Jam Records, and scored a big hit with the song “SOS” in 2006, helping her burst onto the international R&B scene. And with it all she brought her unmistakable swagger and powerful self-confidence. Her sometimes controversial, but ultimately humanizing approach to celebrity, has won Rihanna adoration from fans and the media alike. Throughout it all, Rihanna has done celebrity her way – with little regard for what people think. Perhaps that’s why, even before it was legalized, Rihanna has been outspoken - or at the very least - never tried to hide her relationship with Cannabis. While many celebrities recoil from the public spotlight when it comes to consuming herb, she is often found smoking out in the open, and very often it’s on social media. The first time Rihanna made Cannabis related headlines was due to getting kicked out of a hotel in 2010 for setting off the smoke alarms in her suite due to smoking blunts. A year later,

AUG. 2019

RIHANNA HAS BEEN SPOTTED IN THE PRESS USING PLENTY OF CANNABIS, OFTEN ROLLING BLUNTS DURING INTERVIEWS AND HER PHOTO OP’S...

“SHE’S OUT THERE TOASTING LIFE’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND SPECIAL MOMENTS LIKE SO MANY OF US DO, WITH CANNABIS MORE OFTEN THAN ALCOHOL.“

the cover of her album “Talk That Talk” featured her blowing out a massive puff of smoke, thus announcing to the world that Cannabis was an integral piece of her creativity, style and personality. But it wasn’t until social media outlets like Instagram became the modality by which we corrode our social structure that we truly found out how many blunts Rihanna actually smokes. Here, instances abound. There was the time that she rolled a blunt on her bodyguard’s head while seated on his shoulders in the audience at Coachella in 2012, and more recently at Coachella 2018 - minus the epic rolling performance. There’s also the widely publicized photo of her smoking yet another blunt dressed in renaissance garb, shot by Terry Richardson for CR Fashionbook. And while these photos are just the tip of the iceberg for this hyper-celebrity, what

truly makes following her on social media interesting is how casual she is about smoking given her stature in the world as an international celebrity. She’s out there toasting life’s accomplishments and special moments like so many of us do, with Cannabis more often than alcohol. At the end of the day, people love Rihanna because she’s authentically herself - and of course, the music that comes along with this embodiment. This is refreshing, because while Cannabis is more legal than it has ever been in America, the world as a whole is still catching up. An international celebrity like Rihanna is helping with that, but it’s also an insight into the fact that Cannabis gives us the opportunity to see our reality in a different light, a way to adjust our own perspectives and to be open to the moments as they come to us. That’s the freedom this herb provides, and perhaps that is what attracts celebrities like Rihanna to it. Thankfully, she’s not hiding it.

STORY by PACER STACKTRAIN

Michelle Andonian

highly likely #48

Highlighting Cannabis pioneers who paved the way to greater herbal acceptance.

LEADERS IN CANNABIS LAW SINCE 2013

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Leaf Life Podcast is an entertaining exploration of All Things Cannabis For All People.

Join Ricker and The Bearded Lorax for insightful discussions with Cannabis industry influencers. THIS MONTH:

Show #24: Counter-Culture Apparel w/ Grassroots California Show #26: Cannabis Fine Dining Show #27: Cannagar Superstar

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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 judgement. 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 twenty-one and older. Keep out of reach of children.

shop review

LUCKY Whether you’re local to Spokane or passing through for a fun adventure, a stop at Lucky Leaf should definitely be on the agenda. From the quality selection, to the friendly staff that starts with a female owner who is in the shop daily, there are so many reasons to find a great buzz or medicine at this medically endorsed store. Stop by for the weed, enjoy the art, and make your day a little luckier with some tasty fire to brighten up your summer!

ENVIRONMENT

Walking into Lucky Leaf is a friendly and welcoming experience full of Cannabis and art culture. Much more than a simple pot shop, it combines the elements of a well developed Cannabis boutique with a unique art walk display that changes artists each month. From the fun music to the vibrant art around the store, shopping at Lucky Leaf is an experience that stands out in Spokane’s mixture of Cannabis shops and styles.

PRODUCT SELECTION The best Cannabis stores have owners who consume and care about the products being sold, and Lucky Leaf stands out as a Stoner Owner approved store. We found quality options from three dollar grams up to the top shelf. Staple brands like Refine and NWCS share space with smaller companies like Khush Kush (try their Mendo Breath), Fifty Fold, Lilac City and Root Down. There’s a big selection of topicals, FECO and a ton of edibles as well. Our favorite was the Blue Roots Cake Bites!

HISTORY & VALUES

nwlEAF.COM

Owned and operated by Shilo Morgan and her husband, Lucky Leaf opened its doors in downtown Spokane in March of 2016. Shilo is in the shop daily with her adorable English Bulldog Nova, who greets customers and vendors between naps underneath Shilo’s desk. A Cannabis lover and edible aficionado, she cares about the products being sold, making sure to have something for everyone, and personal recommendations for the best on the shelves!

BUDTENDERS & SPECIALS The budtending team at Lucky Leaf is a big part of what makes the store such a gem. Energetic and passionate about Cannabis, the mix of men and women behind the counter truly enjoy finding the best Cannabis for a customer, and education is a cornerstone of the store. There are also great daily specials, and a loyalty program that rewards customers with points towards discounts on products!

AUG. 2019

LEAF 25.2% THC

THE DODO BY FIFTY FOLD

FLAVOR 5/5 EFFECT 5/5 PKGNG 5/5 VALUE 5/5 TOTAL 19/20

Beautiful and frosty, The Dodo is a tasty and tempting cross of Gelato #4 and Dosido. The flower comes in a glass jar sealed twice for freshness, and the bud is clearly loved, hand-trimmed and full of tasty flavors. Rich and earthy with sweet and sugary Gelato flavors, this heady indica is perfect for relaxing and enjoying a blissful sesh on a hot summer day. Look for more delicious strains from Fifty Fold at Lucky Leaf today!

100mg Major

VOLCANIC ORANGE MANGO

ENERGETIC AND PASSIONATE ABOUT CANNABIS, THE MIX OF MEN AND WOMEN BEHIND THE COUNTER TRULY ENJOY FINDING THE BEST CANNABIS FOR A CUSTOMER, AND EDUCATION IS A CORNERSTONE OF THE STORE.

FLAVOR 5/5 EFFECT 5/5 PKGNG 5/5 VALUE 5/5 TOTAL 20/20

We majorly love the Major drink line by Sorse, which tastes like the proverbial nectar of the Cannabis gods! Perfectly sized and dosed, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard not to crush this delicious drink in two or three big gulps. But be careful! The supreme tastiness is seconded only by a heady, heavy high that will leave you glued to the couch, trying to remember why you gulped it down so quickly!

1111 W 1ST AVE | SPOKANE, WA 99201 | LUCKYLEAF.CO | @LUCKY.LEAF.CO

REVIEWED by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX @NWLEAF | PHOTOS by MICHAEL THOMPSON @TERPTALK.TV

STRAIN OF THE MONTH BLUE BASTARD BEGAN IN THE MEDICAL CANNABIS ERA OF WASHINGTONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S POT MARKET, OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE SAME FAMILY TEAM THAT RUNS IT TODAY.

nwLEAF.COM

AUG. 2019

FROM THE LEGENDARY HINDU KUSH MOUNTAINS IN AFGHANISTAN TO THE TIP OF THE PACIFC NORTHWEST ON CAMANO ISLAND, THIS EARTHY AND AROMATIC STRAIN DELIVERS FLAVOR AND LOVE WITH A SKY HIGH BUZZ.

Grown by BLUE BASTARD

HINDU KUSH

Grown in a supplementally lit greenhouse by a family of Stoner Owners, this is both humble and beautiful Cannabis in a perfect representation of natural light and handheld care. Opening a jar delivers upfront lemon and ginger notes with strong flavors of salty soy sauce and candied orange peels on the finish. Like a majestic Asian inspired weed sauce with an extra helping of earthiness, this is a flavor profile worthy of the kush gods. Lightly touching a bud leaves fingertips coated in sticky resin, hinting at the terpy-gooey deliciousness inside. Broken up and put in a bowl, the flower burns smoothly with sugary-earthy tokes that are easy on the lungs. Effects begin with a calming and stoney buzz that kisses the cerebral cortex before dropping heavily into the body. Calming, heady, and euphoric effects make this indica a perfect treat to go sky high with. The standout aspect of Blue Bastardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultivation is the greenhouse, which combines state of the art heating and cooling with the natural light from the sun, and high powered Gavita lights when the clouds make it necessary. This combination of natural and controlled environments allows the plants to remain stable year round, and receive the full benefit of daily sunlight. Cannabis plants naturally react to true sunlight and fresh air by producing excess terpenes, which are a natural pest resistant for the plant. Lucky for us, this means more flavor, and a plant that is happy under the sun. As a company, Blue Bastard began in the medical Cannabis era of Washingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pot market, owned and operated by the same family team that runs it today. Charlene and Jason Bohbot own the farm, and both husband and wife play a major role in delivering the Cannabis to market. They also make an extra effort to hire local women for the supporting roles in the company, and stand out as a female-driven garden and brand. Ask for this heritage company and their wonderful flower or infused joints under the Holy Smokes brand at your favorite retailer today! (20.2% THC)

REVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX | PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

feature

CANNABIS POTPRENEURS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES

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THE WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ISSUE AUG. 2019

Bailey Burroughs is the co-owner and manager of Hypeherbally, a heritage medical Cannabis company that launched into the recreational market in January. She blends a passion for medical Cannabis with a flair for customer service, working alongside a strong group of female employees to bring a unique vibe to a store that delivers more than just Cannabis. Punny and with a distinct speakeasy vibe, Hypeherbally is a great stop for pot and education in Lynnwood.

bailey burroughs HYPEHERBALLY

C O - OWN E R & M A N AG E R

HOW DID CANNABIS COME INTO YOUR LIFE?

I became involved with Cannabis when I turned 18. That’s when I saw the healing properties from it. I remember being friends with an older lady whose husband owned a pharmacy, and she had terrible hip pain, so he would bring home anything under the moon pharmaceutically. But nothing worked for her and she always wanted Cannabis! That’s when I realized it wasn’t just about getting high, but something that was medicinal and spiritual.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY?

Through Justin Ruiz, who was my resource of getting weed when I was younger. We formed a bond where we worked together and ended up starting a relationship years before medical Cannabis got started. I watched him open up the first Hypeherbally in 2012, and I was managing coffee stands and decided to step away from that to help run Hype and take it to a whole new level and to put my touch on it.

WHAT IS HYPEHERBALLY KNOWN FOR AS A DISPENSARY?

We are definitely known for our knowledge and our customer service, and having powerful females running the shop. We come from a time when the dispensaries were first opening and female budtenders really weren’t a thing. People don’t overstep us at all; we are equal budtenders as women and I feel like a lot of the patients and customers feel more comfortable when they are talking to a more feminine vibe. I also feel that women can be a little more detail oriented on certain things, and small details in a shop make the bigger picture what it is.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR WOMEN THINKING ABOUT WORKING IN WEED? I say do it if you are passionate about

Cannabis. There’s nothing more rewarding than working a job where you feel like you’re helping people and talking about what you love.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS WITH HYPEHERBALLY?

Our goals are to get it back to where we were in medical, to be having fun again in the industry. Transitioning from medical to 502 almost took all the fun out of the industry for a second there, and I’m excited to start enjoying it again and having fun.

FAVORITE CANNABIS STRAIN AND WAY TO CONSUME?

“There’s nothing more rewarding than working a job where you feel like you’re helping people and talking about what you love.”

My favorite way of consuming Cannabis would definitely be smoking flower. I also like to dab and use vape cartridges, especially live resin ones. I honestly just like the flavor of weed, so as long as it’s flavorful, I’m probably going to go for it. My favorite strain is a hard one to say, but I definitely like the diesel and gassy and kushy flavors. Sour Diesel has always been my favorite and in the last two years I’ve really liked GMO. But hands down my favorite strain of 2019 is Butterscotch Wedding Cake from Fire Bros, that is totally my thing right now.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME?

It might sound pathetic but I love hanging out with my cats. I have three and am completely obsessed with them, and I wish they could always be by my side. I do have one that goes out with me on adventures. I’m a homebody with the cats and love to do yoga - that’s me in a nutshell. I’m kind of a crazy cat lady!

INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX @NWLEAF | PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

THE WOMEN’S ISSUE

Amanda mac “There’s nothing more rewarding than working a job where you feel like you’re helping people and talking about what you love.”

BELLINGHAM BUDFEST

nwLEAF.COM

EVE N T FOUNDER

Amanda Mac is a woman with a vision for Cannabis that took her from the desert environment of Arizona to Bellingham, all in a search of involvement in the Cannabis industry. Four years after arriving in the Pacific Northwest she is making waves, working at Confidence Analytics as their marketing manager. She also founded and threw the first ever Bellingham Budfest in July, laying down roots for future events and a new way for Cannabis and tourism to connect!

AUG. 2019

HOW DID CANNABIS COME INTO YOUR LIFE?

I first smoked it at age 12 when playing capture the flag, so I was definitely an early dabbler. But when I went to college I didn’t smoke at all. Years later, I had a corporate job and my health was slipping, contracting valley fever from the area I was living in Arizona. So I was very sick and exasperated, and decided to quit my corporate job and move to the PNW where weed was legal. I wanted to help the movement, but I also knew I needed it personally for my own health. When I was a kid I’d watch MTV news and see the Hempfest coverage, and think that the people in that area were doing things differently to push legalization. Even as a kid I knew that I would one day move to Washington and be involved.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS WITH THE EVENT IN THE FUTURE? We want this to be a

tourism draw for Whatcom County as well as a local event. We believe Cannabis tourism is right here at home, and we have the support of the Port of Bellingham, the Police Department and City Council members. We even had five political figures speak at the event this year! It’s by no means a Hempfest replacement, but we are trying to be different than Hempfest. We don’t allow imported or mass distribution, are a zero waste festival and want to make moves towards helping the environment. And our real goal is for this to turn into a Sundance Festival for Cannabis, with a week of various activities in town. It’s a labor of love like no other, and I can’t wait to see where the festival goes in the future.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY?

HAS IT BEEN HARD TO BE A WOMAN IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY? Absolutely.

By a chance meeting! I was freelancing, building websites trying to get my way into the industry after a bad budtender interview, and I gave up on trying to find a weed job. Then I met somebody that told me to meet Danielle Rosellison, and I didn’t know who she was but she agreed to meet with me, and a few weeks later I was trimming weed to see if I wanted to be around the growing environment. I trimmed for the summer and then got the offer to go into the marketing department for Trail Blazin’ Productions!

WHY DO YOU CHOOSE TO WORK FOR CONFIDENCE ANALYTICS?

“We are stewards of this plant, frontrunners in a way at the very beginning of recreational Cannabis, and I’m thinking about the potential disasters we need to avoid.”

From day one as a customer, they’ve always shown a great amount of integrity and transparency. They once took a Nightfire OG sample from us at Trail Blazin’ and it tested at 31% THC, and since Confidence Analytics has really conservative numbers, the CEO of the lab couldn’t believe it. They retested it four times, found the same results, and then drove to Bellingham to pull their own samples to retest. They were insisting on confirming the high THC number - they really do walk the walk and you can be confident in what they tell you. And now that I work there I couldn’t be more pleased. The company truly does care.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START BELLINGHAM BUDFEST?

I had been living here a week and realized this place needed a Cannabis event, and it came to me as a miraculous idea. I’ve been throwing events since I was a small kid and been obsessed with event production, all the while upping the ante with what kinds of events I put on. I came up with the name Bellingham Budfest and bought the .coms, and held onto them because I couldn’t afford to put on the festival. I started recording my radio show with Stacy Bloch, and last summer we were driving and he said we should host a Cannabis festival in Bellingham. I said it’s funny you mention that, told him I owned the .coms, and that’s how it came out.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RADIO SHOW! Our show is “Bloch Off,” an opinion show that covers Cannabis politics, music and opinions. We interview Cannabis advocates, but also other guests like local law enforcement, nonprofits, or bands and rappers. Its on 94.9 live on Thursdays at 7pm, Sunday mornings at 9am, and Monday/Wednesday at 4:20 for the Weed Report! Stacy is a long time activist, and with me having a political international relations background, it makes for a good combo act for our show.

There’s a lot of conversation that happens between women in the industry behind the scenes, and there’s some really horrendous things that go on that we don’t know what to do about. I try my best to put females in positions of power when I have the ability to do so, especially women of color. The industry is male dominated and white male especially, which is fine, but where are the others? So it’s kind of disheartening when you hear certain things like sexual favors being asked for budtender interviews. That’s just abhorrent behavior. Stories that bad including Dan Blizerian calling us fat and ugly, and only using bikini-clad marketing is disrespectful to the plant. The plant is female and we should honor her!

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SEXUALIZED ADVERTISEMENTS IN CANNABIS? Cannabis is a

new industry with the world’s eyes upon us, and it’s an opportunity to be a voice for the plant. Cannabis doesn’t need that image. It’s just not necessary. Maybe vodka needs that kind of assistance, but Cannabis needs zero sexualization. I look at it from a PR or marketing standpoint. We are stewards of this plant, frontrunners in a way at the very beginning of recreational Cannabis, and I’m thinking about the potential disasters we need to avoid. We need to avoid cancers from pesticides in recreational weed because testing and requirements were not in place, on top of image issues. We are all in this together, and we need to be thinking about this in the long term. We’ve gotta set a good precedent.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE STRAIN AND WAY TO CONSUME?

Cinex is my favorite and dabs are my favorite. My medical issues make a quick dab perfect, or I have to smoke 3-4 bowls of flower to get where a dab gets me in 30 seconds. There’s a lot of benefit to dabs for patients, and value for someone who needs potency for medical issues.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME?

In the winter I like snowboarding a lot, and I volunteer with the Mount Baker Ski Resort event department. And in my spare time I throw more events. I love throwing events on the mountain, and otherwise hiking and camping - things away from my telephone and laptop. I also do monthly trivia now for the Cannabis Alliance in Bellingham, and am the co-chair of their education committee.

INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX @NWLEAF | PORTRAIT by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS | EVENT PHOTO by DAVE WALKER

THE WOMEN’S ISSUE

JEANETTE HORTON

N U LEA F PROJ EC T

E X E C U T IVE D I R E C TO R by SIMONE FISCHER @SIMONEFISCHERR

“NuLeaf Project PDX was started in 2018 to grow the local Cannabis market in a way that is inclusive of the communities most targeted by Cannabis prohibition,” Horton said. “Our goal is to build intergenerational wealth for people of color through the legal Cannabis industry. We do this today primarily by investing Cannabis tax revenue from the City of Portland into minority-owned Cannabis businesses via grants and zero-interest loans. We also get funding from Cannabis businesses who believe in this mission.” The corporatization of the Oregon Cannabis community has further removed people of color from the ground floor of the industry. Here, Horton works on fundraising to secure capital from the state and other companies who believe in her cause, and plans on throwing a fundraising gala to honor grantees and business partners.

nwLEAF.COM

Jeanette Horton is the enterprising co-founder and executive director of NuLeaf Project PDX. Nuleaf has already helped secure funding for businesses like Greenbox, a company that specializes in delivery and providing consumers with a curated Cannabis subscription box with different products from around the state. Horton created NuLeaf to help diversify the Cannabis industry by providing businesses with access to funding to ease prohibitive start-up costs.

AUG. 2019

“The capital gap in Cannabis is widening between white business owners - who traditionally have more access to capital through personal wealth and personal networks - and minority business owners who on average have 10% of the personal wealth of whites, and significantly less access to venture capital funding,” Horton said. “Data tells us that black founders receive less than 1% of VC funding. We can do much more than we think with micro-loans to minority-owned Cannabis businesses.” NuLeaf Project’s loans ranged from $15,000 to $30,000 in its first year. “We saw a high rate of return from these investments, including sustained sales growth, job creation, increased profitability, and new product lines introduced for the funded businesses,” Horton said. “The challenge we face is having access to enough capital to do more. There are many licensed Cannabis business owners of color right here in Oregon, and we need more financial resources to make an impact on more businesses.”

PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

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THE WOMEN’S ISSUE

leila ali

nwLEAF.COM

SHOW ME SEATTLE’S HERBAN ADVENTURE

C A N N A B I S C U LT U R E TO U R G U I D E

I took a quick weekend trip back to Seattle amidst the height of Washington’s tourist season, and had the opportunity to interview Leila Ali - the lover not the fighter - while we explored one of her favorite hidden vape spots. West Seattle’s Schmitz Preserve Park was a balmy 80 degrees and climbing as we made our way down the short path through the old growth park. Stopping briefly for a vape break atop an ancient-looking fallen giant, Leila told me her story of how she became involved in the tourism industry and working on Cannabis tours.

AUG. 2019

STORY & PHOTOS by DANIELLE HALLE @SWEET.DEEZY for NORTHWEST LEAF

“I’m a Cannabis culture tour guide and I fell into the position quite by accident, through a series of serendipitous events,” recalled Ali. “A few years ago in the spring of 2016, I was looking for a tour guide position in the city when I came across a Craigslist ad for tour guides wanted. There was a description of the duties and responsibilities, but no mention of the company name. Coincidentally, earlier that winter I had been in a show about Cannabis. I MC’d the event. The producers knew that I did spoken word throughout the city, so they invited me to write a piece for the show. At that point I didn’t know a thing about Cannabis. As a performer I never smoked, and while I wasn’t anti-Cannabis, I stayed away from anything that could potentially compromise my voice.” Feeling compelled to expand her knowledge of the plant, Ali decided to do a bit of research. Here she found the Kush Tour and visited Dawg Star, a local grow operation in SoDo. “I remember standing in this massive room staring at row upon row of female Cannabis in their flowering stage,” said Ali. “All these ladies growing these gorgeous juicy flowers, doing their best to attract someone, anyone, not knowing that they were due to be harvested within the week. I thought ‘Wow, that’s the story of my life. I too shall die before ever meeting the one.’ I quickly wrote a piece from the point of view of a subjugated female plant. Needless to say, when I went into that tourism interview and it was revealed that the company was Kush Tourism, I was already very familiar with their tour and product, and I’ve been a Cannabis advocate ever since.”

While Ali has been in hospitality for ten years, the innovation in the Cannabis space is a new and inspiring angle to approach the trade from. “It’s an exciting time in Cannabis tourism and as more states come online, we’ve managed to stay on the forefront of the industry by continuing the pioneering tradition of innovation and expansion,” said Ali. “We’ve got a larger fleet of vehicles with higher capacity, more guides and tour partnerships. The schedule alternates daily so that each day we visit a different garden, processor and retailer. More variety, more opportunities to get different perspectives of a fast-paced and truly innovative industry.” “The very act of going on a Cannabis tour is an act of activism. It’s taking a stand. It’s being open-minded enough to educate oneself on this hotbed topic that the whole nation is buzzing about,” said Ali. “When we learn new things, we tend to share that knowledge with our pals, our family, our grocery store clerk. We are extremely limited in the ways in which we can market this tour, due to the strict compliance laws of the WSLCB, so essentially all we’ve got is word-ofmouth - and that word is spread through the power of good storytelling. When Kush Tourism started, Colorado and Washington were the only states in the recreation biz. Now five years later, there are nine states plus Canada, too!” Now that Leila has fully immersed herself in the world of Cannabis, I asked her what her relationship with the plant is like these days. “I started experimenting with oils and concentrates, mostly hitting the vape pen in the beginning,” she explained. “I like that certain vape pens allow for temperature control, which means I can consume at a much lower temperature and thus save my voice and throat from too much stress. After about a year of that, I became interested in flower when I smoked my first infused pre-roll at a party and noticed that the burn simply was not there. Later, I learned that high quality weed, smoked in moderation, didn’t have adverse affects on my ability to project [my voice] or perform my job at all.” Amidst all the work being done by Ali, perhaps one of the most important commitments she makes is to that of elevating the opportunities for all females in the Cannabis movement. As she summarized, “One of our partnered

concentrate labs has a sign on their CO2 extractor that says, ‘Female plant. Female conversation.’ That about sums it up for me. Four out of six of our tour partners are all women-owned. That is by design. I quickly went from tour guide to tour director at Kush Tourism because I already had experience owning my own entertainment company. Show Me Seattle acquired Kush Tourism earlier this spring. I spearheaded the transition and lead the new team in developing a new tour program complete with a rebrand to The Herban Adventure Tour with expanded partnerships within the industry. We’re still in the start-up phase of a start up industry and it was very important to me to make sure to include women’s voices and highlight their contributions to the cannabis industry in Washington State. We are proud to be in partnership with Craft Elixirs Heylo, Ganja Goddess, The Bakeree just to name a few. The cooperative style women bring to the work force has helped elevate the entire industry. The Cannabis industry within the state of Washington has stayed woke from the beginning with regard to women, and I believe this example of inclusion accounts for at least one of the reasons why Washington state is at the forefront of a billion dollar start-up industry.”

“The very act of going on a Cannabis tour is an act of activism. It’s taking a stand. It’s being open-minded enough to educate oneself on this hotbed topic that the whole nation is buzzing about.”

20% OFF YOUR NEXT HERBAN ADVENTURE

Show Me Seattle is over the moon to be included in this issue of NW Leaf and to celebrate and show their love, they have created a promo code for readers! Buy now, go later! This is a great deal if you’re looking for a fun activity with friends, family and Cannabis enthusiasts! -

Go to ShowMeSeattle.com/tour/herban-adventure Enter promo code NWLeaf 19 at checkout Receive 20% off your next Herban Adventure Offer good through the end of August 2019. Cannot be combined with other promotions. Must be 21+ to participate. See website for details!

THE WOMEN’S ISSUE

sharon whitson SEATTLE HEMPFEST

C H I E F E X E C U T IVE O F F I C E R

nwLEAF.COM

Sharon Whitson is the CEO of Seattle Hempfest, the largest free speech gathering of Cannabis consumers in the world — happening again Aug. 16-18 at Myrtle Edwards Park. With a 28 year legacy, Hempfest helped pave the way for Seattle’s medical and recreational Cannabis movement, but is facing bigger hurdles each year to make the event happen. We sat down to talk with Sharon about the history of Hempfest, and why it is more important than ever!

AUG. 2019

WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH HEMPFEST? In 2004 a friend invited me to volunteer. I went to my first in 1997, but I had my son the next year and that kept me away. So I decided I’d go volunteer, and what I found was a group of people working in common towards a goal with a passion I had not felt before in my life. It was that passion I found and everyone coming together to put this festival on that endeared me to it, and from that point on I was hooked.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU AS AN ACTIVIST TO PUT ON THIS EVENT?

It’s realizing that while at this point in my activism I enjoy the commercially regulated market that we live in - but that this is not legalization - and I want true legalization. So that is what motivates me.

TELL US ABOUT THIS YEAR’S ACTIVISM FOCUS. This year’s Hempfest is especially near and dear to my heart because we hooked up with Freedom Grow, another advocacy organization working for drug war prisoners and reform. Our theme this year is “Bring Them Home - No More Pot Prisoners!”. It’s important to us that while we enjoy this regulated commercial pot market, that people are being arrested at the same rate for Cannabis now than before legalization, and that number should be going towards zero. Everyone should be alarmed by that news. This year is all about the people in prison for Cannabis.

ON TOP OF ACTIVISM, THERE’S ALSO A GREAT VIBE AT HEMPFEST! THE VIBE IS WHAT BRINGS THE REAL MESSAGE OF THE PLANT, RIGHT?

The music, the vendors, everything creates the vibe - but the important thing is the people talking on the stage to educate the attendees about what is going on. We are getting soft and cushy and need to remember that we live with commercial weed, not true legalization. We don’t have homegrow or consumption. Hempfest is even facing a ticket for letting people consume Cannabis in a private residence at a private party. This is not the legalization we wanted or voted for, but it’s what we have. We were the first state to legalize, so of course we don’t have the best system. But with 26 states decriminalizing, something has to start giving. We’ve hit the tipping point and are getting really close to our goals, and it’s exciting!

nation. So you really are hitting a huge market there by having your name out, and there’s really no place where you can touch more consumers and start to gain that brand recognition to differentiate your company.

TELL US WHY HEMPFEST IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER.

WHY SHOULD LEGAL POT BUSINESSES SUPPORT HEMPFEST?

Because it’s important to remind people that we are not living in legalization, we are in the commercialization of Cannabis and people are going to prison as often as before. Also, Hempfest is one of the only consumer focused organizations in the state. And we are the world’s largest annual free speech event, a gem here in Seattle’s backyard, and we should all be celebrating that fact! There is no place on earth where you will have a larger concentration of Cannabis consumers and end in a single marketplace - that’s what makes Hempfest unique. Who’s attending and vending? The Cannabis industry and consumers from all around the

It’s important to remind people that we are not living in legalization, we are in the commercialization of Cannabis and people are going to prison as often as before.

First of all, we’ve given the LCB a nice little black eye with the injunction calling out how illegal the ad restrictions are now on legal businesses. While we have an injunction, we are not stopping because it extends to commercial speech and we want to win for the businesses, to earn them commercial advertising rights. 502 companies should support us because we can fight for them! We laid the groundwork for legalization to happen. Without Hempfest we would not have legalized Cannabis first in Washington, and the writers of I-502 would agree. So support us! A booth is only $599. And we only ask a ten dollar donation for three days. So that’s a real bargain! And it’s just plain fun to be in downtown Seattle with the Space Needle and Puget Sound in the background. And 120,000 people over three days peacefully showing the world what the Cannabis community is made of, that’s a spectacular thing.

HOW CAN CONSUMERS HELP SUPPORT THE EVENT? It’s real simple. Make a donation when you come in the gate. If we got $1 from each person, we’d be significantly strengthened in our ability to produce the event. We are getting only 30 cents per head currently. If you love Hempfest, please donate!

WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED FOR THIS YEAR?

Hempfest is like a family reunion. I’m looking forward to seeing my Cannabis family from around the world, the annual reunion of volunteers, speakers and attendees who make the mecca journey each year. They’re what do it for me. It’s a family reunion and I love it!

INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @NWLEAF | PORTRAIT by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS | ARCHIVE PHOTOS by SHARON WHITSON

THE WOMEN’S ISSUE

RANDA SHAHIN HO M EG R OWN A POT H ECA RY

C O - OWN E R & O P E R ATO R by SIMONE FISCHER @SIMONEFISCHERR

nwLEAF.COM

Randa Shahin has been the co-owner and operator of Homegrown Apothecary since opening the doors in 2014. HGA is a women and minority-owned dispensary focused on organic health and wellness, helping people navigate Cannabis holistically in combination with non-Cannabis herbs. Shahin is a humble pro that credits the hard work of her team for the business’ success. In an industry lacking diversity and original creativity, Shahin breathes new life into what a dispensary can be.

AUG. 2019

“My team is very small and we each have our strengths. I set the moral tone and image of what I wanted the company to hold.” Here, HGA has blossomed since legalization in 2015 and Shahin experiences regular growing pains of a successful business. The combination of Cannabis and a full herbal apothecary has been well-received by Portlanders, especially as people explore alternative treatment options. “Our growth rate has been quite significant this year and we need to start thinking outside the box to maximize our ability to help everyone. It is important for us to give people the focus, attention, and knowledge they deserve.” “We’ve had many other kinds of challenges in the past, but having a year where your main challenge is handling how fast you’re growing isn’t such a terrible challenge.“ Despite the progress Shahin and her team have made, she is constantly looking to the future to further improve and accommodate the community. HGA’s location is a darling shop complete with a “Our plan for growth hand-painted flower is to remain authentic sign on the building. Authenticity oozes and stay true to what from the welcoming we believe in.” environment Shahin has worked hard to provide the public. “At the end of the day our plan for growth is to remain authentic and stay true to what we believe in. We’ve maintained a philosophy that cares about the environment and sustainability, as well as providing an honest attempt to help people with alternative wellness through plants, Cannabis and non-Cannabis. This philosophy and authenticity resonates well with Portlanders. The support we get from our customer base is amazing and they in turn tell their friends. Word of mouth is the best marketing you can have and we have an overwhelming amount of that.”

PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

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THE WOMEN’S ISSUE

samyra jefferson Samyra Jefferson is the founder of Marijuana Madams, a social empowerment group focused on community outreach and ending the stigma of the lazy stoner. A midwest transplant in Spokane who followed a dream of working in the legal weed industry, this mother of four is a strong voice for women and Cannabis in her local community. Marijuana Madams has monthly meetups to clean up parks and trails, or donates time for charities, with a fun sesh at the end. Check them out on social media @marijuanamadams, and see how you can get involved!

nwLEAF.COM

HOW DID CANNABIS COME INTO YOUR LIFE? I’ve always grown up around Cannabis, but I’m from Missouri where it’s completely illegal. I remember my Dad shooing me upstairs as a kid and it always had a certain smell. When I got older, I tripped out and realized it smelled like my Dad! The first time I smoked was at age 14 in my cousin’s car. I hit a joint and thought - this is lame, I’m not high at all. Then I got out of the car, taking these big moonwalk steps and I asked everyone, “Why are these steps so high?” They all started laughing because there were no steps! So, apparently I got pretty baked. HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY? I didn’t really start smoking until I got older. I had migraines and my boyfriend who sold weed always said he had “I was tired of searching for Cannabis something for that. I finally tried pictures on Google or Instagram, and it and it did help, and now that I’m in the industry I know it was the was always a naked white girl in a bikini indica strains that helped. Later in smoking weed, or with big nugs on her life, my husband and I were living butt. I felt that a lot of people were not in Lincoln, Nebraska, and he had represented, so I started posting pictures the opportunity to move to either Texas or Washington. I said the only of everyday women - saying we smoke too way I would move would be to work and are just as beautiful.” in something I loved, and that was Cannabis. We moved to Spokane in June of 2016 and I reached out to farms and stores, and Buddy Boy Farms hired me, having since become like my family. My husband works on the farm still today, doing sales!

AUG. 2019

MARIJUANA MADAMS FOUNDER

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START MARIJUANA MADAMS? I was tired of searching for Cannabis pictures on Google or Instagram, and it was always a naked white girl in a bikini smoking weed, or with big nugs on her butt. I felt that a lot of people were not represented, so I started posting pictures of everyday women - saying we smoke too and are just as beautiful. So that turned into me wanting to smoke with likeminded people, women in particular, and I started thinking about ways to bring people together to smoke. And do something in the community to break the stigma of the lazy stoner. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE MARIJUANA MADAMS? A community enrichment social group. At first I would have said a women’s group, but my husband has been super involved. I shortened it to MXM, because it can be men of marijuana as well. I want anyone - men or women over 21 - to come smoke. Those under age are allowed to come and help clean up, but not smoke. WHAT TYPES OF EVENTS DO YOU DO? We had our first event in September 2017 called Sesh & Service, and we still do it monthly. Usually we do a hike clean up, and at the end we break and smoke. We’ve cleaned up several local parks and trails! We also work with Second Harvest to donate food to low income families, and feminine hygiene drives for the YWCA, or direct to women on the streets. YOU HAVE MADE IT A POINT TO HAVE YOUR KIDS INVOLVED IN THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH. WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU? I like to have my kids involved. They know that I smoke, and I want them to see that Mom smokes - but is very prevalent in the community. I feel good when I help other people and I want them to see that, and to share in that feeling. WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS WITH MARIJUANA MADAMS? It’s two parts. We make shirts and I would like to see the branding take off, so people can purchase them and represent us even if they can’t participate. And I would really like to see more people involved in our activities. We’ve had big groups at events, but sometimes it’s just me and my core friends. So more involvement would be awesome! HAS IT BEEN HARD TO BE A WOMAN IN THE INDUSTRY? Yes. Coming from the middle of the country, to where people have been around Cannabis their whole lives, has been different. And I’ve found myself in situations where I would have ideas or things I wanted to say - and I wouldn’t necessarily be shut out by the men but they would always question my questions. Now I work at Cinder as a budtender, and I get a lot of men who want to come in and undermine me. I’m sure this is true for all women in the industry. But it’s like whatever, next! It’s lame but I just laugh at it. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE STRAIN AND WAY TO CONSUME? Lately I’ve been smoking on the strain Mimosa, a cross of Clementine and Purple Punch. It’s a really nice wake and bake for me. I get really high with low eyes and all smiles, to where I don’t feel like getting up, but I could if I wanted to. That’s my jam! And Blueberry is my all-time favorite indica. And I’m a big blunt smoker! WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME? I honestly don’t have much free time between work, kids, and being a wife to keep my relationship strong. And planning for Marijuana Madams! But Cannabis helps me have fun, and I love my family and kid time - especially hiking and being out enjoying life and nature in this beautiful area. I’m still in awe at the beauty of this place!

INTERVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX @NWLEAF | PHOTO by MICHAEL THOMPSON @TERPTALK.TV

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RECIPES

HIGH-DRATED!

THESE SUMMER DRINKS ARE INFUSED with the delightful strain Curious Jorge from Phresh Cannabis. The flavors of candy, citrus and banana from this Banana Kush-Loud Sour cross lend themselves to these refreshing summer libations. My new go-to with smoothie making is freezing all the fruit, even if it’s fresh, until solid. I put everything in the blender with the fruit still frozen, and get it into the glasses immediately. Skip the ice so it doesn’t get watered down, resulting in a frosty, creamy texture, with an uplifting high that relaxes the body and mind. #DontFearTheEdible

VEGAN ORANGE MANGO MADNESS Serves 2

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen mango chunks 1 small banana, sliced and frozen 1 cup coconut milk ½ cup orange juice 2 teaspoons canna-oil 1-2 tablespoons agave, optional

*Blend ingredients on low to start, then crank up to medium high to finish.

RED ALL OVER

Serves 2

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen berries, sliced 1 cup seeded watermelon chunks 1 cup apple juice 2 teaspoons canna-oil 1-2 tablespoons agave, if needed *Blend ingredients on low to start, then crank up to medium high to finish.

PEACHY YET BLUE

Serves 2

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1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries ½ cup vanilla ice cream/frozen yogurt ¼ cup milk, any kind 1 teaspoon canna-oil 1 cup peaches, peeled and sliced ½ cup vanilla ice cream/ frozen yogurt ¼ cup milk, any kind 1 teaspoon canna-oil

**MANGO, WHICH IS FULL OF THE TERPENE MYRCENE, IS KNOWN TO WORK IN CONCERT WITH THE MYRCENE IN SOME CANNABIS STRAINS TO ENHANCE YOUR HIGH!

aug. 2019

1. Place frozen blueberries, ice cream or yogurt, milk and canna-oil in the blender. Blend until smooth. Place into container and the freezer. 2. Place the frozen peaches, ice cream or frozen yogurt, milk and canna-oil in the blender. Blend until smooth. 3. Remove the blueberry mixture and take turns pouring the two different flavors into the glasses.

RECIPES by LAURIE WOLF | PHOTOS by BRUCE WOLF

Photo Â© Genna Martin MARIJUANA PRODUCTS MAY BE PURCHASED OR POSSESSED ONLY BY PERSONS 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER. THIS PRODUCT HAS INTOXICATING EFFECTS AND MAY BE HABIT FORMING. MARIJUANA CAN IMPAIR CONCENTRATION, COORDINATION AND JUDGEMENT. DO NOT OPERATE A VEHICLE OR MACHINERY WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE. THERE MAY BE HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. FOR ADULT USE ONLY. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.

A TRIBALLY-OWNED CANNABIS STORE

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10 5 tr af fi c d ea th s in 20 17 in vo lv ed a d ri ve r w ho te st ed p o si ti ve fo r ca nn ab is .

When it comes to cannabis, safety is essential. Driving under the influence is illegal—and it’s also dangerous. Cannabis can impair judgment, alertness, and reaction time. And driving while under the influence could lead to harmful— possibly deadly—collisions. Which could mean significant legal penalties for you. By choosing a safer ride, you can keep yourself—and others on the road— out of harm’s way.

For more on safe driving, visit KnowThisAboutCannabis.org * Source information for statements can be found at KnowThisAboutCannabis.org/Sources

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For true Cannabis concentrate connoisseurs, hash rosin is the gold standard of dabs. Period. End of discussion. We could debate solvents and purging, benefits of hydrocarbons and even THCA diamonds, but why bother? The best hash is never touched by anything more than ice water and pressure, with a little heat to bring out the fire within to naturally extract trichomes and terpenes. But it all begins with starting materials! Which is why the Northwest Leaf team got so excited when we heard Treehawk Farms was branching out into solventless extracts. Created on a multi-generational family dairy farm, Treehawk is the creation of Jason and Samantha Olsen, who left their mainstream jobs to raise children and grow the best Cannabis possible. With a combination of indoor flower, controlled environment greenhouse and full term outdoor, the farm delivers the best of what Western Washington and Chimmacum have to offer. We had the pleasure of sampling the Cherry Mazar first - a Sherbet cross and the Candyland Cookies in rosin form to end our day of sampling, complete with a trip to Dick’s Burgers this summer. Yes, we were stoned. The Cherry Mazar brought dark and creamy vanilla kush notes balanced with bright citrus-kush-terpentine flavors, smacking you in the face with a high that slows down time and increases drooly Uber Eats menu scrolling vibes. The Candyland Cookies brings opposite effects and flavors, with a sativa buzz that almost balanced the heady effects of our first dabs. Salty-sweet caramel notes dominate before sharp, piney kush flavors vaporize, blending with campfire marshmallows to take over in a high that rushes to the forehead and fills the body with stoney fun energy. Perfect for cleaning the house poorly or doing nothing at all well, this is a euphoric and unique sativa worthy of dabbing. The best part of these concentrates is the cleanliness! With nothing but the plant represented, each dab delivers the full flavor, effects and love from this female and family owned garden. Dabbing with consciousness matters! Spend your dollars where they have the greatest impact!

aug. 2019

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REVIEW by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX @NWLEAF | PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

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ON THE ROAD WITH JONAH TACOMA

MIAMI

I twisted my wedding band in circles subconsciously as we waited in the lobby of the SLS Miami Beach hotel, turning to give a glaring look to Jeremy Jacola, Dabstar CEO and my traveling companion for the event. I got engaged to Jess on the mainstage of last year’s Boston Freedom Rally - we weren’t married yet, but I wore the ring for protection on the road and it looked like I was going to need it. “ DI D N ’ T YOU SAY T H I S WAS A CAN NAB I S B US I N E S S CO N F E R E N C E ? ” I asked quizzically, motioning to the large

banner behind the front desk proudly announcing “The Cons” - a three day, three part event taking place at the hotel. Cannabis Con had slightly edged out Ink Con, but had lost the battle for top billing to Cam Con. Jeremy grinned in reply patting me on the back. “It is?” he said laughing. I raised a critical eyebrow, imagining what a Cam Con would look like. Florida itself was a battleground and the fight for legal marijuana in the sunshine state had been long and arduous. Residents had only recently won the right to purchase smokable flower through the medical system and had been resigned previously to breaking their flower out of ceramic pods, a legal loophole allowing the usable product to be sold as an edible. We had been out last summer for the Cannabis Business Awards, held aboard a mega yacht as it sailed across the harbor wafting the smell of good Cannabis into the air. The people of Miami seemed ready, but there were still too few opportunities for Cannabis brands to stand out in Florida’s emerging scene. The Cons as I would learn, had been one of the few to pull something off, establishing themselves in the years previous as an up and coming event in spite of their unorthodox approach to the demographic. The rooms at the SLS were well appointed and a large picture window looked out over the pool to Miami’s South Beach. I quickly set to work stretching a shower cap over the only smoke alarm, and draping a rolled up towel across the threshold of the door before blazing to life the oversized blunt that dangled from my lips. Inhaling deeply I fell back onto the bed exhaling a cloud of smoke towards my reflection on the mirrored ceiling. “You’re getting older,” I thought to myself, blowing another hit towards the mirror. These last six years on the road had been a crazy beautiful blur and gone was the fresh faced kid that had volunteered at the Cannabis farmers market all those years ago, replaced by the man who now stared back at me through clouds of smoke.

nwlEAF.COM

AUG. 2019

I FOUND JEREMY BY THE POOL BAR which had been emblazoned with giant Porn Hub logos. The logos themselves seemed to be permanently adhered to the countertop as if they had always been there, in fact much of the hotel’s prominent advertising for the event seemed to be permanent, though it couldn’t possibly be. The sun was starting to set and a team of hotel employees busied themselves inflating pool toys of all shapes and sizes for the festivities to come. “Not your typical Cannabis event,” I joked taking the empty seat. Florida itself was Spanish for ‘land of flowers’ - and Cannabis being a flowering plant, had always thrived here in spite of the legal turpitude. Medical marijuana had arrived in the state in 2016, allowing limited access to terminally ill patients. The scope eventually broadened by a barrage of ballot initiatives, written and lobbied for by citizens and business interests, fed up with sitting on the sidelines. A glaring yellow sun woke me the next morning as it shone through the open curtains and I groaned at my lack of foresight, fumbling to close them before grabbing a water from the mini fridge. There were several talks scheduled for later that day, including one from Gringo Loco at Highly Questionable Travel that I was particularly interested in. After last night’s pool side debauchery, it was time for something more traditional to a Cannabis event. I found the rest of the stoners gathered around a large cabana that Mammoth Nutrients had rented for the weekend. “Good morning, sunshine!” shouted Billy from Gold Coast Extracts. I waved, grunting in reply before sliding into a shaded seat. The Miami heat was no joke for a Colorado boy and the temperatures were already climbing into the 90s. THE EVENT WAS DIVIDED INTO THREE DAYS,

with Cannabis taking the stage on the third and final day, leaving us to fill our time on the beach - dabbing and relaxing in the sun while we waited for our turn to shine. We were a small crew but several canna brands had turned out for the show and the unique format had cliqued us all together, creating a sort of haphazard tribe with Gringo Loco at the lead, acting as de facto tour guide. As the sun peaked in the sky, Gringo announced the beginning of the panels, mobilizing our motley crew. Shaking off the sand we began the short trek back to the venue. The talks were held in small air conditioned conference rooms adjacent to the pool and we filed in filling the empty seats. The topic was Alternative Advertising and a heated debate quickly broke out around the pros and cons of advertising on major porn sites. Weedmaps had recently started advertising on RedTube and I was listening with interest as Billy from G.C.E.

questioned the potential negative effects of associating your business with porn, to much rebuke from the panel. The remainder of the day was slotted for a series of pool parties, the themes of each explained in a small handbook and backed up by full color portrayals of last year’s event. With nothing better to do we retired to the cabana, drinking and smoking long into the night, venturing out only for street tacos, of which Miami was famous for. I ROSE EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, ordering a large breakfast to the room. It was game day and I was ready. We had spent most of the weekend wondering just what it was we were doing there. Today it was time to show them what our scene was about. Grabbing my gear I took off for the lobby, ready for battle. Stepping out of the elevator I looked around in shock. Gone were the giant banners announcing the event, the laminated prints that covered the windows and doors were also missing. I hurried through the lobby towards the pool bar. Gone were the Porn Hub logos that had adorned its surface the night previous.

I quickly set to work stretching a shower cap over the only smoke alarm, and draping a rolled up towel across the threshold of the door before blazing to life the oversized blunt that dangled from my lips. EVEN THE PEOPLE HAD CHANGED. The mix of tattooed cam girls and porn stars had been replaced by traditional tourists. It was as if someone had erased all signs of the event overnight. Retreating to the back pool I found an equally bewildered looking group standing around a denuded cabana. The hotel had apparently pulled the plug blaming edible sales and excessive smoking in the days prior. While Cannabis was moving forward by great leaps and bounds, the public perceptions still needed some shaping. As I stared out the window of the Boeing 747 bound for Seattle it hit me, event or no event, ultimately the climate around Cannabis was changing. These were the times we would look back on in fond retellings with our grandkids. This was our revolution and as states like Florida slowly fell like dominos, you could tell that we were winning...

STORY by JONAH TACOMA FOR LEAF NATION

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STONEY BALONEy

Party Injuries

nwlEAF.COM

It happened in the co-ed dormitory at college. There I was chatting it up outside of someone’s room in the hallway, when I heard the words splattered out in a high pitch cheer. “Mikey!” It is one of my buddies who is twice my size. He comes charging down the hallway with what I think is going to be a loving bear hug. Which is indeed the case. Until midway through when he spontaneously decides to apply a World Wrestling Federation Standing Guillotine Drop, finished with a ripe, moist kiss on the cheek. My knee has never been the same. My girlfriend was floating the river with some friends. They came upon a 60-foot cliff ledge that people were climbing to and jumping from. What ensued for her, having had zero experience in this particular field of expertise, was an extremely painful seated landing that resulted in severe, dark purple bruises that led from the bottom of her feet, up the backs of her legs, to the cusp of her buttocks. She sat on an inflatable donut for two weeks. My childhood friend Brad disappeared at a Kenny Chesney concert, completely blacked out, and no one could find him anywhere. He was wearing an American flag bandana around his head, which made picking him out of the crowd difficult. His phone was going straight to voicemail. Then the show ended, and everyone was at the car ready to go home when suddenly he appeared like Charlton Heston as Moses returning from the mountain with the Ten Commandments in tow. He’d spent the entire set sitting cross-legged with his knees resting on the stage-right amplifier, so he could “really feel the bass.” His hearing has never been quite as acute. Please note that none of these episodes occurred while under the influence of Cannabis.

aug. 2019

More episodes at stoney-baloney.com

PHOTO BY @KMAESTUDIO STYLING BY @MALINALOPEZ

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