Buzz kill

OCTOBER 2019

THE ULTIMATE MEDICINAL CANNABIS RESOURCE Extract is circulated at its designated distribution points free of charge to readers for their individual use and by mail to subscribers.

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4

Peter J. Brzycki

EDITORIAL

OPERATIONS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brittany Pickering bpickering@okgazette.com

OPERATIONS & MARKETING MANAGER Kelsey Lowe

MANAGING EDITOR Matt Dinger

MARKETING ASSISTANT Kendall Bleakley

CONTRIBUTORS Chad Crow Tony G. Freitas Sr. Matt Patterson Dr. Steven Ross, MD Kaimbri B. White

ACCOUNTING/ HR MANAGER Marian Harrison

PHOTOGRAPHER/ VIDEOGRAPHER Alexa Ace

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CIRCULATION MANAGER Chad Bleakley

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The statements in this publication have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Therefore the information listed is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Copyright © 2019 OKC Next Media, LLC All rights reserved.

CONTENTS LEGAL new licensing requirements

BUSINESS 7

cannabis farming

CONSUMERS

8 medical vaping pros and cons 10 COVER vaping illness 13 naming strains 14 cannabis and religion 17 infographic anatomy of the cannabis plant

LIFESTYLE

16 recipes Tony Freitas 18 your grows

Photo provided

VAPING ILLNESS, P. 10 21 supporting dispensary listings

Each month, Extract explores trends in the CBD and medicinal cannabis business, from new treatments and products to emerging companies, but its primary focus is on this new world of medicinal treatment and how it affects readers and consumers.

EDITOR’S NOTE In recent months, the country has suddenly been afflicted by a mysterious illness known by many names or none at all, but most commonly referred to as “vaping disease,” that has resulted in more than 450 cases across the United States and a number of deaths. Until the end of September, the state of Oklahoma had gotten by unscathed, but Oklahoma State Department of Health has now identified at least four cases. While the cause is apparently blackmarket THC cartridges, the appearance of this disease

has reverberated through not only the legal cannabis market, but the nicotine vaporizer market as well.

Extract takes a look at what doctors and officials currently know, while Dr. Steven Ross has tackled the issue from his perspective as a physician. We will continue to cover this issue until it is identified and resolved (which we all hope happens sooner than later). Kaimbri White also gives us her thoughts on new Oklahoma medical cannabis licensure requirements and Chad Crow shares his experience as a (very) temporary worker in GrOKC’s Oklahoma City grow facility, while Matt Patterson reveals to readers how all these strains get their funky, colorful names.

Tony Freitas also returns to our pages with a soothing smoothie recipe and his thoughts on raw cannabis and hemp and how it fits into our nutritional plans.

Readers will notice two new features this month: a growers’ page showcasing photos of your Oklahoma cannabis grows, whether personal or commercial, and also the first piece resulting from a recently formed partnership with Leafly. We hope these new

additions pique your interest. Next month, Extract shines a spotlight on a few of the activists (some of whom were outlaws or prisoners at one point in time) who have jumpstarted the booming legal cannabis markets in this country (whether medicinal or recreational) as well as another mysterious disease afflicting cannabis users. A final reminder: We will continue to be publishing photos of your beautiful plant ladies in our pages, so please keep sending them to the email address below along with the name of the strain pictured.

Matt Dinger Managing Editor Extract mdinger@okgazette.com

OCTOBER 2019

3

LEGAL

INVITING NONCOMPLIANCE

A new slate of laws has recently gone into effect in Oklahoma, causing a myriad of problems for the cannabis industry at a crucial stage in its development.

By Kaimbri B. White Rather than copy and paste another state’s more developed cannabis policy, Oklahoma has insisted upon building its fledgling program from the ground up. As such, the ideology guiding the legislative progression has primarily been reactive to the developing market — fighting fires rather than taking proactive steps to prevent them. Industry players and legislators alike want to make sure there is a credible industry to serve our population, which necessarily means reining in control from seed to sale. After all, whittling away at the liberties present from the birth of a maturing market is all part of the process of achieving the ultimate goal, economic stabilization.

The advantages of a regulated system are not to be scoffed at. Namely, the indirect law enforcement savings due to decreased illegal activity and direct economic benefits from taxation are factors supporting regulation from the state’s position. From the patient perspective, higher testing standards mean safer products on shelves. To be clear, the industry not only appreciates but shares the state’s goals of legitimacy and safety. However, the recent string of legislation aiming to modify House Bill 2612, known as the “unity bill,” evidences nothing more than good intentions but poor execution. Frankly, the new licensure requirements pose a logistical nightmare for business owners.

One new headache-inducing requirement is any new or renewing business must provide documentation certifying compliance with local zoning classifications, municipal ordinances, and applicable safety, construction and building specification codes. This requirement results in polar opposite effects once applied. Because most counties do not have their own independent codes, businesses falling outside city 4

OCTOBER 2019

limits are generally receiving blanket approval without inspection of the premises to ensure safety. On the other hand, businesses inside city limits must not only comply with extensive city codes, but must also deal with long wait times for these inspections as cities generally are home to a higher number of licensees and the inspection channel is currently flooded. While the intention behind requiring safety certifications is to lend credibility by upping compliance standards, secondary effects cannot be ignored.

The most prevalent secondary effect of this new requirement is the license lapse for renewers who cannot obtain inspections, much less certificates in such a tight time frame. Many familiar brands in our state broke ground shortly after the passage of State Question 788 last summer, which means loads of these folks are now up for renewal one year later. The problem is that city inspection wait times can make an otherwise wholly compliant business illegal. City officials are estimating the compliance check inspections have about a threeweek delay. Thus, the 30-day grace period referenced in a recent email from OMMA to all businesses up for renewal is likely in direct response to the state’s realization that local authorities were simply not prepared to carry their burden under the new laws.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of all is that had Senate Bill Kaimbri B. White | Photo Alexa Ace

1030 not amended 63 O.S. § 427.14’s allowance for applicants waiting on “necessary [local] permits” to receive a conditional one-year license so long as they had “fulfilled all other obligations required,” the inability to obtain timely renewals would have been solved before it ever became an issue.

An upshot for new license applicants is that it is more advantageous than ever to choose rural areas for business location.

Conceivably, legislators m ight have unk nowi n gly

created a windfall of people relocating their cannabis businesses to rural areas. If the result is stimulation of rural economies, it could prove to be a happy accident. However, when coupled with SB 1030’s allowance for cities to ban processing and growing inside city limits altogether, it feels like purposeful penalization rather than regulation. Instead of having viable banking, taxation, testing and regulatory solutions, cannabis is being treated as if it were still illegal. What other American business could survive if it were completely prohibited from deducting business expenses, blacklisted from federally insured banking, yet still required to pay a 7 percent excise tax on top of traditional sales tax? The answer is none.

With competing policy interests at play, the most progressive solution available is compromise. Advocates for public justice and safety want to eradicate the black market while also being able to make products accessible, affordable and safe to consume.

Businesses are worried that aggressive regulations would prevent a sustainable business model in our highly competitive market—especially for small business owners. OMMA’s temporary grace period for renewal applicants is a small step toward protecting compliant businesses from losing revenue during the renewal review process.

However, it is not enough. If cities are not prepared to meet the demands of OMMA, then how can businesses be expected to comply? Something has got to give.

K AIMBRI B . WHITE Kaimbri B. White is a cannabis industry attorney at Overman Legal Group. While in law school at University of Oklahoma, White founded her own cannabis industry consulting firm that was acquired by CLIMB Collective. White consults with businesses of any size and variety in every sector of the cannabis industry.

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BUSINESS

DIRTY WORK Extract contributor Chad Crow put his green thumb to the test working a shift inside GrOKC’s Oklahoma City growhouse.

By Chad Crow

On a hot August day, I had the chance to finally tick a box off my bucket list — working in a fully organic cannabis grow-op.

Forewarned to dress for the heat and avoid clothing I had previously gardened in (wouldn’t want to crosspollinate or bring in strange bugs), I arrived at GrOKC bright and early, showered and in thoroughly laundered clothes.

Following a warm round of welcomes from the team, I kicked off my shift with the watering pros. We all know how important water is to plants, but in a cannabis grow operation, this life-giving compound also functions as a conduit for key nutrients. After being piped in from the city, the water at GrOKC undergoes a multistage purification scrub before it is stored in a pair of 500-gallon reservoirs. For distribution, the water team fills several 40-gallon plastic trash barrels and rolls each to water the plants, on average moving 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of water a day, one barrel at a time. Since water pH is critical for correct nutrient absorption, each barrel is aerated and individually tested for correct base before use.

Most of the plants on this indoor farm are on a 10-week cycle, fed with nutrients three times a week before being flushed on the off days. This flush keeps the plants from locking up and rejecting further nutrients.

From feeding the plant to stem development, each of the more than a dozen carefully measured nutrients serves a specialized function. Luckily, I showed up on a flushing day, so I only had to worry about watering the plants and not mixing up nutrients.

This particular grow is set up in two basic stages. Plants in the vegetative (or bed) room, where we started our detail, get watered by hand, a

gallon pitcher at a time. About the time I felt like I was truly mastering the double-fisted, two-pitcher handwatering technique, we ran out of thirsty plants, so we moved on to the more mature plants in the flower room. In this part of the grow, each plant is hooked to a watering system, feeding two beds at a time and significantly speeding up the watering chore. The procedure here was pretty straightforward: Fill and check a barrel, move it into place, hook it up to the system, turn on the water pump, check each plant was watered to saturation and move on to the next bed.

After getting my hands wet, next up was a bit of pest management and repotting. As a completely organic operation, GrOKC takes the IPM (integrated pest management) approach to handling invasive critters, combining an organic pesticide with a timed release of three different species of beneficial mites. My workday coincided with the scheduled release of the neoseiulus fallacis predatory mites, so I got to spend a half hour or so walking around the veg room, sprinkling 10,000 bugs from a tiny spice jar.

The morning was just half over, and I felt like I’d already put in a full day’s work. A short coffee break and it was time to get my hands in the dirt, transplanting clones from grow cups into full-size buckets. For this duty, we filled what seemed to be hundreds of gallon-sized pots with high-caliber soil then transplanted a tiny army of burgeoning clones into each. Now that I’d really gotten my hands in the dirt, it was time for lunch.

Over a relaxing lunch of communal tacos and burritos, I enjoyed some laughs and personal anecdotes of cannabis’ impact on the lives of the staff before the owner received an urgent call and had to dash off to jump

the battery on one of his team’s cars.

While waiting on his return, I caught the grow’s extraction specialist working his magic. He had spent most of the morning carefully straining and sorting the fruits of his coldwater extraction, and it was time to hydraulically press that handiwork.

While the press rolled, their extraction specialist — who got his start in cannabis as a way to medicate his mother’s dementia — explained they only use fresh frozen flower for their process, with each batch being labtested and certified before heading out the door.

After a successful car rescue, I sat down with one of the grow owners to trim clone cuttings from a White Walker Kush mother. The hypnotic motion of the scissors felt strangely comfortable, like popping pole beans in granny’s kitchen. As the leaves piled up on the folding table, we fell into a relaxed, meandering conversation, chatting about a range of topics from plant bonsai to Oklahoma City’s exploding restaurant scene. Finally, we talked about the history of GrOKC, about its bootstrap start, how the owners hit the ground running on day one after the passage of State Question 788, cleaning out a warehouse full of defunct, greasy restau-

Chad Crow at work at GrOKC’s Oklahoma City facility. | Photo Alexa Ace

rant equipment while fighting back a veritable army of roaches. We cut plants and talked about milestones — popping seeds on 207 autoflowers the first allowable planting day — and industry challenges, like Federal tax law, never having enough dehumidifiers for an Oklahoma grow in the summer and how new growers should just go ahead and double whatever they think their budget is. With a pile of leaves in front of me and a jar full of clean cuttings, it felt supremely satisfying to place each one of those baby White Walkers in its individual home on the cloner, ready to blossom into someone’s medicine.

For the last hour of my day at the grow, I learned the basics of pruning.

While we sculpted an Inzane in the Membrane strain mother, I reflected back on my day working with the team at GrOKC. Thinking about each team member and how they came into the medicinal cannabis world, it felt like they found their place, working passionately to produce the finest quality organic product.

Visit instagram.com/grokc _ medical.

OCTOBER 2019

7

CONSUMERS

MEDICAL MYSTERY

A sudden wave of vaporizer-related illnesses have hit the United States. A physician weighs in on the knowns and unknowns.

By Dr. Steven Ross, MD When patients ask what the best method to take cannabis is, I cannot really answer. I tell them that the reason there are so many ways to take cannabis is that there is no perfect way to take cannabis. Each method has plusses and minuses. With education and a little bit of trial and error, each cannabis patient can decide which method works best for the symptoms being treated, fits into their lifestyle and has acceptable levels of risk.

One somewhat recent entry into the battle of methods is vaporizing.

Vaporizers have been around for many decades but really hit the U.S. marketplace in 2007. Vaporizing is the process of heating a substance, but not to the point of combustion, in order to inhale the vapors that are created. There are many different types of vaporizers on the market.

The primary difference in them is either using a vaporizer to heat the actual cannabis flower (dry herb) or using a vaporizer that heats a liquid that contains cannabis or cannabis extracts, often in cartridge form.

Vaping entered the scene and quickly became a contender as one of the popular methods. Like smoking, by using the lungs, the medication can enter the bloodstream rapidly. The user can control this effect with the number of puffs taken; because of the rapid onset, the effect can be easily titrated. For new users, this helps to avoid guessing a dose and hoping it was correct later when the effect starts, as with other methods. It is cleaner than smoking. By not actually combusting the Dr. Steven Ross | Photo Alexa Ace 8

OCTOBER 2019

product, the user avoids inhaling combustion particles and tar. The user is inhaling a vapor with the active molecules along for the ride.

Despite those benefits, there has been an ongoing concern. We simply do not have any long-term studies showing how safe it is as a method.

Medicine is riddled with history of things seeming like a good idea until a period of time shows us the error in our ways that was not apparent at first.

For vaping, this is possibly happening right now.

Case reports of vaporizer-related illnesses have been published occasionally in the medical literature for severa l years.

However, over the past few months, an out-

break of these respiratory illnesses linked to vaping has occurred. This is beginning to be called vaporizer associated lung injury (VAPI), although it is not yet a recognized syndrome. To make matters worse, these illnesses are attacking otherwise healthy young people and can be very severe. As of Oct. 1, 18 deaths have been reported so far, and there are still many more questions than answers. We’ll look at what is known thus far to allow those of you using vaporizers to decide if this risk is worth taking.

We are all finding it frustrating that there are so few answers, but there are reasons for this. Unlike many outbreaks, this has not been attributed to a single product, manufacturing process, location or contaminant. In fact, the issue appears to be occurring with nicotine and cannabis products, although more commonly with cannabis. It appears to be more likely in illegally obtained or adulterated products but is not exclusive to those. It seems to be happening more frequently in new users who rapidly increased their use, but not all are new users. Vaporizers adulterated with vitamin E have been blamed as a pos-

sible culprit, but again, not all have been found to contain vitamin E. Compounding our confusion with the cause of this illness is the fact that the symptoms and clinical findings are also different. Most start with a nonproductive cough, shortness of breath and sometimes chest pain.

Some have gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea first.

A few only develop mild symptoms that resolve. Many get severe symptoms, drop their oxygen levels and require being placed in an intensive care unit with a ventilator. Doctors are finding that the presentations can vary, with four different types of noninfectious pneumonia being found.

Some have hemorrhaged into the lungs. Others have lipoid pneumonia, which is characterized by lipid (fat) globules within the cells. Others have eosinophilic pneumonia similar to what can sometimes be seen with parasitic illness. Finally, others have an organizing pneumonia. This just reflects inflammation in the small airways of the lungs, which can occur with a wide variety of causes.

In summary, at this point, all we really know is that we have a severe disease that affects young healthy people in several different ways with no distinct cause found other than the use of some type of vaporizer in the past 90 days. How frustrating for the medical and vaping communities.

There has also been a rapid escalation in cases after several years of vaporizer use. Pinpointing one reason has thus far been unsuccessful.

With incomplete information and an escalating report of cases, the current recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is for people to “consider not using e-cigarettes.� An editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine went a step further and made blanket statement that physicians should recommend that patients not use e-cigarettes at all. All guidance is recommending that people avoid buying from the streets/ illicit sources, not to alter the product and not to start using if not already a user.

The CDC has reports from 48 states, including four Oklahoma cases.

There are more than 1,000 potential cases at the current reporting time.

The small number of cases in Oklahoma, given the enormous increase in the medical cannabis industry since State Question 788 passed, is a pleasant surprise. Whether this is because of Oklahoma’s somewhat re-

appears to be increased incidence in certain geographic areas. These facts make me suspect that a change in processing or some type of adulteration has occurred. Hopefully that can soon be sorted and the issue resolved.

If not and this issue continues to spread and vaporization becomes considered too risky, other methods will become available because inhala-

These illnesses are attacking otherwise healthy young people and can be very severe. strictive laws that require Oklahoma residency to process cannabis in the state or simply luck is not known.

There also have not been any cases in Canada or the United Kingdom despite extensive vaporizer use in those countries. It’s a true medical mystery.

What do I tell patients at this point?

Much like I treat nearly all areas of controversy in medicine, I explain the facts as well as I can and let the person make their own decision. If somebody is using a vaporizer and is happy and stable on their therapy, it might be unwise to change due to this risk. After all, 1,080 cases have been found, yet millions have been using vapes for many years without this issue. Four have occurred locally. On the other hand, being that it seems to occur more prominently in new users, this might not be a wise time to start use.

How big is the risk? Honestly, at this point, it is small but growing.

There are approximately 10 million adults in the US that vaporize THC. For people using vaporizers for relief of symptoms like severe pain, disabling anxiety or inability to sleep, that risk is probably reasonable. Another way to avoid the risk is the use of a dry herb vaporizer, as all the cases thus far have been with concentrate or vaping liquid.

The understanding of this process is certainly still in evolution with new information trickling out daily.

Vaporizers have been in use for several years, and these conditions were not widespread. There also

tion as a method of ingestion has benefits over oral use. Cannabis inhalers would be the likely replacement.

While they lose some of the cool factor that a vape has, inhalers are starting to hit the market and would be readily available to deliver the medication.

In addition, they have a long history of safe use for other indications.

At this point, the mystery continues, but the public health authorities are pretty incredible at their jobs.

Most likely, we will have a better answer in the near future.

DR. STEVEN ROSS, MD Dr. Steven Ross is a physician who has practiced and taught medicine in several countries worldwide and is now a practicing cannabis clinician and founder of MMDOKC in Oklahoma City. He has a passion for assisting patients with cannabis recommendations and guidance for medical use.

OCTOBER 2019

9

CONSUMERS

VAPORIZED STATE

While counterfeit cannabis cartridges have been a blight on the industry for years, a recent spate of severe lung illnesses have brought vaping into a harsh spotlight.

By Matt Dinger and Chad Crow

Late this spring, young adults began filling emergency rooms in Wisconsin and Illinois with complaints of an acute but puzzling respiratory illness. By mid-summer, enough clinicians had reported cases of the mystery illness that health authorities had launched a coordinated public health investigation, and the first reported Oklahoma case was announced the last week of September. The common denominator?

Recent usage of e-cigarettes or “vapes.”

In a report filed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this outbreak of “lung injury associated with ecigarette usage — more commonly called “vaping illness” — has continued to spread, resulting in 1,080 cases across 48 states by Oct. 1. Eighteen deaths have been confirmed: two in California and Kansas and one each in Alabama, Delaware Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey , Oregon and Virginia While symptoms vary a bit, many victims of this mystery illness report a gradual onslaught of respiratory symptoms, from breathing difficulty to shortness of breath that can sometimes advance into moderate gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting and nausea. Doctors and researchers are working around the clock to determine the actual causes; however, a common obvious factor in all cases is the usage of e-cigarettes — a large percentage of the e-cigarette used contained blackmarket THC concentrates.

Oklahoma opened its medicinal cannabis market last year with dozens of vaporizer cartridge brands available on dispensary shelves. It should be pointed out that there has been no link 10

OCTOBER 2019

between licensed Oklahoma cannabis companies and this mysterious illness.

OSDH officials continue to review medical records, gather data and conduct patient interviews.

“We are committed to working with our state and federal partners to learn everything we can about this investigation in order to prevent further injury and potential death,” commissioner of health Gary Cox said in a news release.

“E-cigarettes are unregulated, and of great concern is the significant number of young people using the products. The public is advised to consider refraining from using all e-cigarette and vaping products while the investigation is ongoing.”

Nationwide, about 77 percent of victims reported using THC-containing products and 36 percent reported exclusive use of THC-containing products, while about 57 percent reported using nicotine-containing products and 16 percent reported exclusive use of nicotine-containing products, according to the CDC. A study compiled by The New England Journal of Medicine determined all affected patients had a history of ecigarette usage within the 90 days before the onset of their symptoms.

“Most patients … reported at least daily e-cigarette use,” the study said.

“Of the 41 patients who were extensively interviewed, 61 [percent] reported use of nicotine products, 80 [percent] reported use of THC products, and 7 [percent] reported use of CBD products.”

While the surveyed patients reported using a variety of THC brands and flavored nicotine products, “the most common THC product that was reported was marketed under the ‘Dank

Vape’ label,” the report stated.

In addition to its rapid rise, another frightening aspect of this vaping illness is how it largely targets young people, with two-thirds of the victims aged 18 to 34 years old. By the end of September, the number of national cases involving minors accounted for 16 percent of all cases.

“In the case series presented here,” the study said, “the population was generally young and healthy, yet acute severe pulmonary disease developed and resulted in critical care and respiratory support. Given the disparate nature of e-cigarette–associated illnesses that have been reported in the literature, it is notable that case patients in Wisconsin and Illinois presented with similar clinical findings and progression of disease, which suggests a similar pathophysiological mechanism of lung injury.”

Dubious packaging What makes it particularly difficult to trace the source of the cartridges responsible for the majority of these vaping illness cases is that brands like Dank Vapes are not actually sourced from a single manufacturer but rather are packaging available to purchase online.

A Google search revealed a number of Chinese websites that offered the packaging, some offering it for as little as 14 cents per package. They are still available, though more reputable retailers like Amazon have deleted sale listings.

Further complicating matters, additional brands like Mario Carts, Exotic Carts and many others are also available online, though the sources of these are dubious as well.

“Dank Vapes was just some packag-

Vaping is one of the most popular forms of cannabis ingestion in both legal and black markets. | Photo Alexa Ace

ing that showed up early on, for people who were trying to get quick, fast packaging or just package their black-market stuff. It’s all riddled with famous Nabisco and Kraft icons. I would imagine that they don’t have the trademarks or licensing for any of that stuff,” said Derek Kern, co-owner of Mammoth Processing in Oklahoma City.

The only way most cannabis patients and consumers can know that they are purchasing vape cartridges that are unlikely to cause vaping illness is to purchase lab-tested products from companies doing business in the states in which they reside, like Mammoth.

“When we extract, our methodology is really quite simple,” Kern said.

“It goes through the CO2 machine. I run it at its parameters, using a little bit of heat and a little bit of pressure.

The oil comes out. It does have lots of fats, lipids and waxes. So I winterize it, filter off those fats, lipids and waxes, and then that oil, 100 percent, just goes right into a cartridge or into a syringe.”

While Mammoth uses a process that does not destroy terpenes, many distillate companies do and then reintroduce “food-grade” terpenes back into them before sale.

“Most of the distillate cartridges have never been OK’d by the FDA to vaporize ever. Most of these food-grade terpenes too, and most of these companies who are now cannabis terpene companies, they were selling limonene and stuff like that to industrial cleaning companies before,” Kern said. “That’s how these foodgrade terpenes were being used, and so now they’re in your vapes. Is that safe?

Probably not. Same thing goes with these

people who are steam-distilling cannabisderived terpenes. Terpenes are a very, very light molecule, so riddle me this.

How are you taking steam and distilling it and keeping the molecular integrity of a terpene? That’s not a terpene anymore.”

Another big concern for Kern is inhaling oils or distillates that have not been winterized.

“We should be all worried about lipoid pneumonia from the dab culture, and that also goes for live rosin cards or any of these carts with sauce and where they don’t actually winterize the product and then you just smoke it,” he said. “When we smoke flower, it has fats, lipids and waxes in it, obviously.

The plant naturally does, but in the flower form, we’re talking about parts per million. Once people like myself concentrate it down, now we’re talking about parts per thousand. That’s a way different scenario. Now you’re coating your lungs with fats, lipids and waxes.”

tially saving countless lives.

“While it is too soon to be sure, these lipid-laden macrophages may turn out to be useful to confirm or rule out this disease,” said the study’s senior author, Scott Aberegg, M.D., a critical care pulmonologist at University of Utah Health.

“They may also be helpful in understanding what is causing this illness.”

Tests commissioned by NBC News

Potential cause After a summer of hand-wringing speculation among vape users, a potential culprit emerged this September when researchers were able to isolate the presence of vitamin E acetate used to dilute the THC in many of the tainted cartridges. While this has been theorized as one potential factor in the illness, a wide range of tests from U.S. Food & Drug Administration has questioned the theory, stating in a report that, “No one substance has been identified in all of the samples tested,” but the report went on to state the agency was committed to hunting down all potential leads, “including the presence of vitamin E acetate found in many of the samples containing THC.” Even though the jury’s still out on vitamin E acetate and other potential causes, researchers at University of Utah might have hit on a promising diagnostic tool. A recent report from the university revealed that researchers have been able to isolate a previously unrecognized trait in the lungs of all vaping illness victims: large immune cells containing numerous oily droplets called lipid-laden macrophages. Being able to quickly locate and identify these macrophages could expedite the diagnosis and treatment of victims, poten-

in late September found, in addition to vitamin E acetate in 13 out of the 15 black market brands tested, that 10 of 10 brands tested for fungicide containing myclobutanil, which can turn into hydrogen cyanide when burned.

Placing blame Nicotine vape companies, many of which have been in business for years without any such negative side effects, are being caught in the crossfire of the vaping illness outbreak. Without knowing a precise cause of the illness, many entrepreneurs feel like they are caught in the middle of a scare campaign that is being used to unjustly target their businesses.

Ryan Vicedomini founded and sold Vapor World before launching CBD Plus USA. He said vaping illness is being used as another excuse to crack down on the nicotine vaping industry.

“It’s the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard of because it’s still all about big tobacco,” Vicedomini said. “They basically found a reason to exploit the flavors somehow and pushed on it, and now this is this is what you’ve got.

They’re going to win either way. Juul or Marlboro is going to win either way.

Juul took away their flavors six months

ago. They knew this was coming. All they needed was something to start, and now all they’re doing is pushing it to the finish line. It’s a scary thought that you can make something and end up inhaling cutting agent that could affect your life. … They’ve isolated it, they’ve addressed it and now what they want to do is use it as a scapegoat to take out the vape industry.”

Examples of black-market vape cartridge packaging. The majority of cases of vaping illness have been tied to carts in Dank Vapes packaging. | Photo provided

The owner of Liquid Vapor Lounge, 6608 N. May Ave., feels the same way.

Craig Majors said that — not accounting for other factors like the Oklahoma State Fair — his business has been down approximately 20 percent in the latter part of September when vaping illness became daily news.

“Now everybody associates vaping with people who want to quit smoking, and they’re using regular, traditional vape products. So when they say vaping is killing, they may throw in every once in a while the three letters THC. It’s just killing us,” Majors said. “They’re leaving it very murky for a reason, I feel. The CDC hates vaping. The FDA doesn’t hate vaping, but they have a whole bunch of influence from other outside parties that do not care for vaping at all. So the FDA has come out with a little bit more clear of a message than the CDC. I would say one out of five customers come in very concerned. Two out of five customers mentioned something about it, but one of them is, like, ‘Legitimately, I don’t even know if I should be here right now.

I just need some information.’”

Some states have already used this

illness as a reason to crack down on nicotine vaping preemptively.

Majors feels like his industry is being dealt blow after blow, with more regulation upcoming.

“We get a whole lot of flack about not being FDA-regulated and so forth, which in fact, is complete, utter bullshit. We are very, very regulated by the FDA,” Majors said. “Matter of fact, August 8th of 2016, we were stymied. We were now no longer able to put new e-liquids on the market. Now, what a lot of companies did is whenever it was August of 2016, they registered a whole bunch of recipes. They may have even bought some old recipes from a company that went out of business, but they registered that shit and put names to it. And then they had to upload their labels, they had to upload any kind of advertising that had been done with that brand or that name. They also had to later upload an updated label that had FDA-suggested warnings on it, which we all had to comply to, then we had to give them every one of our proprietary recipes. …

We don’t want a company that is in bed with big tobacco and big pharmacy having our recipes.”

CDC recommendations For now, the CDC has recommended that people refrain from using e-cigarettes or vaping products. While this is good advice, practically speaking, for those continuing to vape, it offers the following advice: Anyone who uses an e-cigarette or vaping product should only purchase tested, regulated medical cannabis products from legal stores, avoid purchasing any off the street and should not modify or add any other substances to these products.

If you are an adult who uses e-cigarettes because you have quit cigarette smoking, do not return to smoking cigarettes.

The center further recommends that users experiencing an abnormal cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever or abdominal pain should see a health care provider immediately and call the poison control center at 1-800-222-1222.

OCTOBER 2019

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CONSUMERS How a cannabis strain receives its name is largely up to the grower. | Photo Alexa Ace

cross between Girl Scout Cookies and Chemdog. Other times, it’s a direct result of the appearance, smell and bag appeal.”

Dodson said an indica like GMO Cookies, also known as Garlic Cookies, is an example in which appearance drove the naming process.

“It’s weird-looking and super funky-smelling,” Dodson said.

NAMING RIGHTS It is apparent from smell how some strains got their names, but others, while quite obscure, usually have a story behind them.

By Matt Patterson What do you get when you cross GSC (Girl Scout Cookies) with Gorilla Glue?

It sounds like the start of a really lame dad joke, but the answer is Gorilla Cookies. That’s just one of a galaxy of colorful, funny and sometimes weird cannabis strain names patients who visit Oklahoma’s medical dispensaries encounter.

Strains get their names in ways sometimes only known to the person who invented them. Other times, the name comes from something about it that reminds the creator of something else. And in some instances, they get their names from their physical appearance and aroma.

“There’s an art to it,” Rooted Zen grower Brandon Phelps said. “It comes down to what the originators were inspired by. Sometimes like with Girl Scout Cookies, it’s the way the plant smelled, which reminded them of cookies.”

While some might sound silly or nonsensical, they have meaning.

“To the average person, the names might seem kind of made up or comical, but for cultivators and people in the industry, they often tell a story,” said Dave Dodson of Norman-based ALTVM. Colorful names do stand out on

shelves. Often, patients decide what they’re going to purchase because the name sounds cool.

“When people see something called Alaskan Thunder Fuck, they’ll probably want to try it out because of the name alone, even without knowing much about it,” Phelps said.

Phelps recently created Brodie in honor of the nickname former Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook gave himself. The way it smokes reminded Phelps of one of Oklahoma City’s most beloved sports legends.

“You have to sit down and think of what you want to achieve with the name,” Phelps said. “We wanted something that would connect with Oklahomans but at the same time have our own twist and style on it.”

So what’s the Brodie like? In Phelps’ eyes, it’s a lot like Westbrook’s frenetic style on the court.

“It’s a very heavy sativa,” he said.

“You’re not going to get couch-locked with it.”

Sometimes it’s as simple as combining the names of older strains.

“They’ll get their names as homage to the parent strains,” Dodson said.

“Chem Cookies is one example. It’s a

Brand appeal Some strain names have more brand appeal than others, especially in an era when new strain combinations are coming onto the market frequently.

Acapulco Gold was wildly popular in the 1970s and ’80s but has given way to more modern names.

Haze, a once popular strain 20 or 30 years ago, is hard to find in its original form. Robot Pharmer Gardens head grower Josh Wheat found some and grew it for customers at his Broken Bow-based dispensary.

“We had some veterans with [post -traumatic stress disorder] asking for Amnesia Haze,” Wheat said. “It’s not really out there anymore, but it’s something I wanted to do for the community, so I found some seeds and grew it.”

Wheat, who comes to Oklahoma from the Pacific Northwest, said he has his own favorites.

“I like Cookies and Cream and Wonka Bars,” he said. Some other cool names are Hazmat OG. It’s a really foul-smelling material and something I look forward to growing.”

The letters OG are often attached to some strain names. Skywalker OG and OG Kush are a couple of examples.

It’s not shorthand for original gangster.

“It stands for ocean-grown,” Wheat said. “Lava rock is a really good soil to grow. It produces smaller buds that have a really loud nose to them.”

Some strain names have taken on almost legendary status. Fruity Pebbles is one. Now referred to as FPOG because of a copyright issue with the cereal maker, the strain was a limited time offering from Californiabased Alien Genetics. FPOG is a mix of Green Ribbon, Grandaddy Purple and Tahoe Alien. It has a fruity flavor,

which is where it gets its name.

“That’s a very hard strain to get your hands on,” Phelps said. “It had this cult popularity on the West Coast, but I haven’t seen a lot of people who grow it locally.”

Pop culture also plays a role in how strains get their names. Pineapple Express combines Trainwreck and Hawaiian, but it takes its name from the popular 2008 comedy.

“You can go back into the 1960s with Purple Haze and Jimi Hendrix,” Phelps said. “Wiz Khalifa has Khalifa Kush. There are strains that get their names through pop culture in movies, art and music.”

Some strain names are almost universal. Blue Dream, a sativa-dominant hybrid that originated on the West Coast, is found in many Oklahoma dispensaries. It’s a combination of Blueberry and Haze. It gets its name from its full-body relaxation effect and “cerebral invigoration,” according to Leafly.

But can patients be sure the same Blue Dream they purchased years ago in places like Colorado will smoke the same as Blue Dream grown and purchased here? Not necessarily.

“It’s not as easy as taking seeds and throwing them into the ground and expecting it to grow in the exact same color and smell,” Phelps said.

“Everything from nutrients and overall level of TLC given to the plant can influence how it turns out. Some strains can have the same name, but each grower might put something out there that differs a little bit.”

So how do patients decipher what the names mean and not just pick one that sounds cool? There’s an app for that.

Leafly and Weedmaps explain strain origins. If more information is needed, a budtender can often provide it.

“That’s what they’re there for,” Wheat said. “We do get some requests from strains that people have seen on social media. We try to find out more about them, and if it’s a good fit for us, we may try to grow it. But there’s a lot of information out there, more than ever before, for people to learn about how their favorite strain got its name.”

OCTOBER 2019

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CONSUMERS

GOD’S GIFT?

Cannabis has long been part of human civilization, and each religion offers a different take.

By Natan Ponieman Editor’s note: A slightly modified version of this story originally appeared on Leafly.

Is consuming cannabis a sin, haram, not kosher?

For many, it is a serious question. In the Judaic tradition, scholars still debate the question of whether God meant Moses to use cannabis as part of an anointing oil when he spoke of a plant called kaneh-bosem in Exodus 30:22-30.

In the more conservative Christian traditions, cannabis has often been denounced as a sinful indulgence or a tool of the devil. The notorious propaganda film Reefer Madness was originally produced by a Christian church group.

Even today, some Christian leaders fight to keep all forms of cannabis illegal — as evidenced by the Mormon Church’s public stance against Utah’s medical legalization measure last fall.

But what does each religious tradition actually say about the plant and its consumption? Entire books could be written about the issue, and we are not religious scholars. But we do know enough to get the discussion started.

Here’s an introduction to the treatment of cannabis by some of the world’s major religions.

Christianity One of the widely accepted tenets of Christian faith is the idea that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (Corinthians 6:19–20). Drugs used with the purpose of healing the body and relieving pain might be seen as a natural part of the Christian way of life.

Luke, an apostle of Jesus who wrote one of the Gospels, was a physician who prescribed medication (Colossians 4:14).

It’s stated in Psalm 104:14 that God created herbs for the service of humanity.

Using these biblical verses as a guide, the medicinal use of non-psychoactive cannabinoids (like CBD) can be seen as more than accepted under the Christian tradition.

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What about recreational use? Here, it’s helpful to look at one of Christianity’s favorite psychoactive drugs: alcohol.

Alcohol is such an integral part of the Christian liturgy that Jesus’s first recorded miracle was turning water into wine (John 2:1-11). To this day, wine remains one of the most sacred substances of the Christian rite, and while its abuse — getting really drunk — is clearly frowned upon (Ephesians 5:18), its psychoactive and recreational effect is celebrated, as in this phrase from Psalm 104:14–15, which holds that that God has gifted “wine to gladden the heart of man.”

Moderation seems to be the key to the enjoyment of non-medical cannabis in the Christian tradition. The Bible encourages us to remain alert and clearheaded (1 Peter 5:8) in order to serve our neighbor and spread God’s love. So while Christianity might likely frown upon getting full-on baked, there’s nothing in the Bible that condemns the use of cannabis to help us get in a better mood while staying in focus or staying productive throughout the day.

Buddhism Buddhist doctrine is not as strict as that of the Abrahamic religions since its spiritual tradition does not include a path to salvation through faith or any type of “higher authority.” The religion itself is more focused on the follower’s own spiritual development.

In that sense, there is nothing preventing Buddhists from using cannabis responsibly since Buddha’s teachings are not meant as strict rules but as guidelines toward achieving Nirvana.

However, Buddha did lay down the Sila, a code of conduct comprised of Ten Precepts for “right speech, right action, and right livelihood.” The fifth of these precepts calls Buddhists to abstain from taking intoxicating substances that can cloud the mind because a clear mind is needed for seeing the “true nature of all things” and intoxicants can lead to

carelessness, which can cause the user to overlook the other precepts Since medical forms of cannabis that include only CBD or other nonpsychoactive cannabinoids (like CBG) are not intoxicants, there’s nothing in Buddhist scripture recommending against their intake.

Some Buddhist traditions, especially the ones rising in the West, have praised THC’s relaxing effect as a helpful tool for meditation. No Buddhist authority is bound to censure a follower for consuming THC, cannabis’s psychoactive and intoxicating cannabinoid.

However, it’s up to each practitioner to judge whether getting high is helping their practice or whether it’s preventing them from attaining true focus.

Islam There is no explicit prohibition of cannabis in the Quran or in the Sunnah.

However, many scholars might argue that just because the scriptures are silent on the subject, it doesn’t mean the plant is halal (allowed).

Let’s first have a look at non-psychoactive components in medical cannabis, like CBD. When taken alone or without any THC, CBD’s therapeutic effect might be considered halal in the same way that Islam allows a wide number of medications within a medical context.

The main issue with cannabis and Islam lies in the plant’s intoxicating effect. Most arguments that support Islam’s prohibition of cannabis are based on verse 219 of the second Surah and verses 90/91 of the fifth Surah. Those hold that wine should be forbidden because it’s considered a tool of Satan. Islamic jurists have interpreted these verses to mean that, by extension, every intoxicant should fall under the same category.

But is THC truly an intoxicant in the same sense as alcohol? In the Sunnah, Muhammad forbids wine because its abuse can “impair the intellect.” THC’s

effect can vary largely from user to user and strain to strain. So it’s within each believer to honestly consider whether cannabis consumption is affecting their judgement, in which case it would be haram (forbidden), or if it has a positive effect on the way they perceive reality, in which case, it would be halal.

Judaism The relation between cannabis and the Jewish people dates back thousands of years. Some scholars hold that God meant Moses to use cannabis as part of a recipe for anointing oil when He spoke of a plant called kaneh-bosem, in Exodus 30:22-30.

The Talmud includes an explanation of how to grow cannabis. The most important Torah scholar of the middle ages, Maimonides, described how to use it to help with respiratory ailments. Cairo’s 16th-century spiritual leader, Rabbi ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra, talked positively of the plant’s uplifting effects.

Kosher certifications for cannabis medication have already been granted by rabbis both in the U.S. and Canada, which clears the way for medical cannabis consumption in Judaism.

Traditional intolerance of nonmedical cannabis use by Jewish authorities has been based on the premise that the plant affects the user’s judgment and ability to focus. They have maintained that Jews are expected to cultivate a balanced mind in order to positively help their communities and to focus on the study of Torah.

But since there’s nothing inherently wrong with the cannabis plant within Jewish Law (as stated by God in Genesis 1:29: “I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth…”), using cannabis for therapeutic reasons, like reducing stress or helping concentration could be considered perfectly acceptable within the Jewish tradition, as has been stated by a number of contemporary rabbis.

CANNABIS ANATOMY COLA FLOWERS The flower is the reproductive structure of the cannabis plant.

Female plants produce large, resin-secreting flowers that are trimmed down to round or pointed buds. The male plants pollinate the females to initiate seed production, but the flowers needed for therapeutic and recreational use come from the seedless female plants.

The world ‘cola’ refers to the flower that develops right at the end of any branch. While smaller colas occur along the lower branches, the main cola (sometimes called the apical bud) forms at the very top of the plant.

TRICHOMES

SUGAR LEAVES These are tiny leaves that hold cannabis buds together. They’re called sugar leaves because of the high concentration of trichomes that cover the leaf with a sugarlike appearance. Because of their high concentration of cannabinoids and terpenes, sugar leaves are typically trimmed off of the plant after harvest and are then used for the production of concentrates.

Tiny, mushroom-like, resinfilled glands that cover the surface of calyxes and contain the vast majority of cannabinoids.

NODE Nodes are found on the stalk of the plant and are the launch pad for leaves and stems.

PISTILS CALYX The calyx (also known as the bract) covers and protects the female organs.

Once pollinated, it serves as an ovary to the seed.

The pistil is the female organ of the flower. They resemble small hairs which emerge from the calyx and collect pollen, and turn orange and brown as they mature.

POLLEN SACS Male cannabis plants produce clusters of small sacs filled with pollen.

FAN LEAF Fan leaves are the largest leaves on the plant and act as solar panels to capture light.

STALK The main stem from which branches, leaves, and flowers grow.

FEMALE

MALE OCTOBER 2019

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LIFESTYLE

SUPERFOOD SMOOTHIE While millions are learning the medicinal qualities of the cannabis plant, very few are incorporating the raw matter into their diets.

By Tony G. Freitas Sr.

The proper name is cannabis sativa, but this particular plant has been popularized and demonized by so many other names.

“Marijuana” is the most common name. I now refer to it as “the M word” in an attempt to remove it from my vocabulary because its origins are both racist and derogatory, intended to induce fear in American people. Not only did the name and plant demonization result in prohibition in the United States, but most of the world followed suit.

As the names and attitudes toward this amazing plant begin to shift faster than an Okie twister, I think it is important we stop to consider another name: superfood. We should all be considering our own phytonutrients (plant nutrition) levels and realize cannabis can play a big role if we use it as nutrition.

I have had the pleasure in the last 12 months, with the passage of State Question 788, to roll out my vision for cannabis as a superfood. The response has been astounding as groups like Green Grow Expo have supported this and other important education aspects with the plant. America is ready to embrace this theory because as we look around, most of us are surrounded by sick friends and family. Both physical and mental illness has been on the rise, and I fear we have not yet reached the pinnacle.

I believe cannabis is both partially responsible for these illness increases and will also be a potential fix for many people. Both sides of that statement will be hard for many to accept because proponents are now wondering, “How can cannabis be attributed to any of this illness?” The reality is that hemp, another varietal of cannabis sativa, used to be planted across agricultural fields throughout America. This plant helped clean and detoxify our fields as it also put trace cannabinoids back into the soil. This plant’s secondary benefit was 16

OCTOBER 2019

for cleaning up our soils and helping protect beneficial microbes in our ecosystem.

The direct benefit of consuming hemp has the same potential outcome in the body through cleansing and detoxification. When cannabis was removed through prohibition, no cannabinoids were available to feed our endogenous endocannabinoid system (ECS), our body’s internal series of receptors that are dependent on cannabinoids for healthy production. These ECS receptors control crucial functions through things like mood, pain, stress and immune system with the goal of obtaining homeostasis, balance and stability in our body. These are all common issues most of us can point to as problems with our loved ones or ourselves.

Everything I share is all a direct result of my patient story, all things I learned through the trials and errors of my illness. I am neither a medical professional nor a nutritionist, and nothing here is intended to be medical advice. However, as a chef and a patient on a mission for healing, I discovered a few priceless truths about cannabis that I love sharing with my friends.

First, cannabis is a potential superfood when used properly. Some of you might be asking a common question: “How can I eat this without ending up more elevated than a giraffe and drooling all over my dinner table?” These types of questions lead to so many new truths in light of what we thought we knew about cannabis, and we should all consider testing, replacing or experiencing the power of Oklahoma’s new favorite form of greens.

Secondly, cannabis has been recently approved federally as a food when in the correct form. This comes in the form of hemp protein, seeds,

Tony Freitas | Photo Alexa Ace

stalks and oils derived from these parts of the plant. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has now approved these, and you will begin to see the proteins, seeds and hemp oils in your local grocery stores more often. Over the last few years, I have moved to a completely chemical-free nutrition plan (no food, pills or lotions and potions that are unclean with chemicals), and it has included multiple daily eating options of hemp protein. It has a beneficial energizing and cleansing effect on my body, especially particularly helpful for my gut health. I was surprised to discover that our gut functions as a second brain and, possibly more important, it is more responsible for both physical and mental health than any other part of our body. I believe hemp protein can help so many replace what might be missing in their body for better health and wellness.

Ultimately, I used full-spectrum cannabis oil for healing as a patient.

My biggest concern was why sometimes the plant worked for me and not so well, if at all, for others. This struggle and personal point of major research led me to the final priceless truth: When cannabis is used regularly as a food, one might not need it as a medicine. I discovered this truth through my personal healing protocol that I used to get my body into remission from chronic pain/inflammation, depres-

sion/anxiety and fatigue/brain fog. I have since talked to many people who have shared common results.

The reality is that cannabis provides a healthy dose of omega-3s and other important fats and fibers while providing a potential detoxification and cleansing for our bodies, qualifying it as a “superfood.”

Ultimately, I have found better and more consistent results from this plant when I use it as food compared to a medicine or drug. I now incorporate it into my daily nutrition plans to improve results and goals. It has been a blessing (and a curse at times, but that is a completely different story) to share this information with many people and see the results firsthand. I want to challenge anyone who will listen so we can all start changing our views around the world’s most misunderstood plant. Go green and get clean, guys. It really does work.

This smoothie packs a superfood punch of antioxidants; healthy fats from omega-3, -6 and -9 acids, which are thought to reduce LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol; and a good balance of proteins and carbohydrates.

I recommend everyone adjust this to your nutritional goals and taste preferences. Overall, we should all target two to three servings of hemp protein daily as a great starting point. The best part perhaps is that with only seven ingredients, this is something you can throw

together quickly. It makes a great breakfast, meal replacement or snack on the go and provides important minerals, including potassium, iron and magnesium, and utilizes plant compounds that are widely considered to be anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer by protecting the body from free radical damage as well as containing healthy proteins and fats promoting healthy heart, skin and brain.

T O N Y G . F R E I TA S S R .

As the executive chef at Green & Clean Gourmet Chefs, Tony Frietas seeks to help people with proper information and forward-thinking solutions when it comes to clean nutritional planning.

Learn more about his mission on Facebook (facebook.com/greenandcleanchefs) and Instagram (@greencheftony).

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SUPPORTING CANNABIS INDUSTRY LISTINGS DISPENSARIES APCO Med 313 NW 23rd St. Oklahoma City, OK 73103 213-454-1856 apcocure.com 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon-Thu 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri-Sat Closed Sun

Buddy Green’s Cannabis Co.

8017 W. Reno Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73127 405-470-0546 fireleafok.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sun

2810 SW 104th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73159 405-676-8479 fireleafok.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sun

8805 S. Western Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73139 405-900-5668 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sat Noon-8 p.m. Sun

9606 N. May Ave. The Village, OK 73120 405-286-4900 fireleafok.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sun

Canna South

Green Hope Rx

1221 SW 59th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73109 405-429-7570 cannasouth.net 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon-Sat Noon-6 p.m. Sun

CBD Plus USA 60+ locations 420 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73139 833-4-CBD-PLUS cbdplususa.com 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat Noon-5 p.m. Sun

Craft Cannabis Company 151 E. 33rd St., Suite 102 Edmond, OK 73013 405-697-3939 ccannabisco.com 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun

Dab & Go 5 SE 89th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73149 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri-Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun

Fire Leaf Dispensary 751 S. Canadian Trails Drive, Suite 120 Norman, OK 73072 405-310-2433 fireleafok.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sun 7876 S. Western Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73139 405-600-6527 fireleafok.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sun

2301 S. Interstate 35 Service Road Moore, OK 73160 405-676-5826 greenhoperx.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sat Noon-6 p.m. Sun

Herbology 718 N. Broadway Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73102 405-440-3947 myherbology.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun

Key to Nature’s Blessings 8282 NW 39th Expressway Bethany, OK 73008 405-603-8200 keytonaturesblessings.com CBD Only 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Sat Closed Sun

Lotus Gold 60+ locations 420 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73139 833-4-CBD-PLUS lotusgold.com 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat Noon-5 p.m. Sun

The Medicine Man 5917 S. Sunnylane Road Oklahoma City, OK 73155 405-225-1323 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun

Midwest Cures

Sage Wellness

200 W. Danforth Road Edmond, OK 73003 405-906-2113 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun

4200 N. Western Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73118 405-601-9560 sagewellnessokc.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun

Mr. Mack’s Cannabis Co. 7220 S. Western Ave., Suite 109 Oklahoma City, OK 73139 405-600-7994 onlymrmacks.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Sat Noon-4 p.m. Sun

Okie Kush Club 13801 N. Western Ave., Suite 205 Edmond, OK 73013 405-252-4193 okiekushclub.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Thu 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri-Sat Closed Sun 825 SW 19th St. Moore, OK 73160 405-237-3471 okiekushclub.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Thu 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri-Sat Closed Sun

Painted Nurse Apothecary

Steve’s Greens Cannabis & Wellness 6715 N. May Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73116 405-608-8010 stevesgreens.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon Closed Sun

Stellar Herb 11925 NE Interstate 35 Service Road Oklahoma City, OK 73131 405-406-2563 stellarherb.com 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Sun

Strainwise 2600 S. Meridian Ave., Suite A Oklahoma City, OK 73122 405-673-4424 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon-Sun

The Greens Bakery

3017 N. Lee Ave., Suite A Oklahoma City, OK 73103 405-971-4201 Closed Mon Noon-8 p.m. Tues-Thu Noon-10 p.m. Fri-Sat Noon-6 p.m. Sun

6444 S. Western Ave., Suite 200 Oklahoma City, OK 73139 405-208-8229 thegreensbakery.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun

Planet Hollyweed

1609 N. Blackwelder Ave., Suite 1 Oklahoma City, OK 73106 405-738-2633 thepeakok.com Closed Mon 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tue-Sun

3121 Pennsylvania Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73112 405-225-1104 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri Noon-9 p.m. Sst Noon-6 p.m. Sun

Ringside Medical 14201 N. May Ave., Suite 205 Oklahoma City, OK 73134 405-242-5325 ringsidemedical.com 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon-Sat Noon-7 p.m. Sun

The Peak Dispensary

15 E. Fourth St. Edmond, OK 73034 405-546-8598 thepeakok.com 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Sat Closed Sun 903 N. Main St. Noble, OK 73068 405-887-0404 thepeakok.com 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri-Sat Closed Sun

OCTOBER 2019

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LISTINGS CONT. 510 S. Telephone Road Moore, OK 73160 405-676-8550 thepeakok.com 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon-Sat 1-5 p.m. Sun

UWD 33 W. 15th St. Edmond, OK 73034 405-696-5354 uwdok.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri-Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun 1304 Lindsey Plaza Drive Norman, OK 73071 405-310-6100 uwdok.com 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon-Thu 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri-Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun

DOCTORS

LAWYERS Climb Collective 809 NW 36th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73118 405-605-6720 climb-collective.com

GROWERS & MANUFACTURERS GrOKC info@GrOKC.net

Nature’s Key 405-355-8111

LABS Cannabest Labs 4619 N. Santa Fe Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73118 405-488-2400 cannabestlabs.com

Bloom Healthcare 10717 N. May Ave., Suite B The Village, OK 73120 405-310-8420 bloomdoctors.com

Green Hope Wellness 2309 S. I-35 Service Road Moore, OK 73160 405-543-7200 greenhopewellness.com 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat Closed Sat-Sun

Natral Choice Urgent Care 5929 N. May Ave., Suite 500 Oklahoma City, OK 73112 405-608-6820 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat Closed Sun

GROW SUPPLY STORES Cultivate Garden Supply 1101 N. Meridian Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73107 405-415-9480 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat Closed Sun These businesses support us and make it possible to publish Extract and Oklahoma Gazette.

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OCTOBER 2019

Voted Best Dispensing Branding potent Firm Named creative After the for local TV Show + regional ‘Futurama.’ brands

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