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Noah "40" Shebib

ALSO FEATURING: RACHAEL RAPINOE TOMMY CHONG JAY BARUCHEL ROSS REBAGLIATI AND MORE!

THE OVO PRODUCER AND TWO-TIME GRAMMY AWARD WINNER SITS DOWN WITH KIND TO REFLECT ON 2020, TALKS IMMERSING HIMSELF IN MELODY AND THE MOMENT AND CELEBRATES TWO YEARS OF LEGAL WEED

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CANADIAN COUPLE @THELOSTTWO TAKE US TO HEAVENLY WINTER GETAWAYS AND EPIC MOUNTAINS

MENTAL HEALTH

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SURVIVING THE TIMES WITH 6X JUNO AWARD WINNER SERENA RYDER

ARTS & CULTURE

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FORMER DRAGON MICHAEL WEKERLE PASSIONATELY RE-OPENS THE ICONIC EL MOCAMBO TO A WHOLE NEW WORLD

FIRST HIT

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ISSUE Nº4 — OCTOBER 2020

KINDMAGAZINE.CA

L E G A L C A N N A B I S AT T W O

PUBLISHER & CEO Joshua Nagel

Everybody picking up this issue—folks shopping in a legal retailer, budtenders helping consumers pick what’s right for them, people who work in the cannabis industry and are on the frontlines manufacturing cannabis products—deserves a round of applause. No one is doing what Canada has done and today, on the second anniversary of legalization, it is a time to celebrate. And for that, kind magazine presents our new issue as a tribute to cannabis leaders from the past, present and future.

The cannabis industry in Canada certainly existed before October 17, 2018. All of the activists and medical patients and people of all stripes on the frontlines who lobbied the government and pushed for legalization did the heavy lifting before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau eradicated prohibition and Canada became the first G7 country to make smoking pot allowed under the law. No other country has a federal program where you can buy joints and gummies, vapes and prerolls. Canada is not only representative of progressive laws and an effective way to fight the so-called War on Drugs, but we legalized weed and have shown that it can be done as an economic engine while keeping people safe and our world not succumbing to anarchy. The legalization experiment by almost every important metric has been a success. We’re eliminating the illicit market. We’re creating jobs. And we’re giving adults a new way to recreate—legally—while improving upon our products, from a price perspective, quality perspective, and range of choice.

500,000 Canadians, according to Cannabis Amnesty, have criminal records for cannabis possession which also disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous people. These wrongs are systemic, entrenched, and should stoke outrage amongst all of us in the cannabis bubble.

Together, we have a responsibility to create a global blueprint for what legal cannabis should be: inclusive, progressive, and fair.

Weed is a wonderful thing and we think we can all agree that our world has been improved since October 17, 2018. This issue is a birthday party and we want to sincerely thank all of you for showing up. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, we hope you stay safe, stay positive, and stay kind.

BEN KAPLAN

AT T E N T I O N A L L BUDTENDERS: KIND 2020 PRODUCT AWARDS WILL BE PUBLISHED TO OVER 1.2 MILLION CANADIANS NEXT EDITION. OUR OPINION IS THAT YOUR OPINION IS WHAT MATTERS MOST—EVERY WINNER WILL BE DETERMINED 100% BY THE CONSENSUS OF THE CANADIAN BUDTENDER COMMUNITY. PLEASE EMAIL US AT KINDAWARDS@KINDMAGAZINE.CA TO BE VERIFIED WHERE YOU WILL THEN BE SENT AN AWARD FORM TO CAST YOUR VOTES.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ben Kaplan HEAD OF OPERATIONS/ PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Vanessa Dumais DESIGN DIRECTOR Kyle Nielsen LEAD DESIGN Brenna Preston ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Jenn Sanasie INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER Kate Robertson LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Tyler Anderson ASSISTANT EDITOR Madison Makepeace KIND COLUMNISTS Chef Merch – Food, Drink & Music Jacqui Childs – Love & Advocacy Edgy Veg – Food & Drink The Lost Two – Travel & Adventure Madison Makepeace – Nutrition Jen Newton – Women & Weed Elias Theodorou – Health & Wellness SOCIAL MEDIA Room + Wild DIGITAL Reflektor Digital For advertising inquiries, please contact advertising@kindmagazine.ca For editorial inquires, please contact editorial@kindmagazine.ca

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Noah ‘40’ Shebib is a Toronto-based producer responsible for much of the sound of the last two decades of hip hop. As the de rigeur producer for Drake, 40—who came by his moniker for his work ethic, spending 40 days and 40 nights in the studio—is a star in his own right, a cofounder of the OVO empire and an entrepreneur and influencer, a Grammy winner who helped Drake put the owl on the map. Also: he really, really loves weed. He’s a

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK BLINCH

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lifelong cannabis connoisseur who first toked at ten years old, and this month—coinciding with the second anniversary of Canada ending our cannabis prohibition—he’s lighting up the legal market with BLLRDR, a cannabis strain that he’s crafted and produced with Jef Tek, a strain hunter of world renown. We conducted an email interview with 40, after taking pictures of the 37-year-old at his palace in downtown Toronto.

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kind: Suffering from MS, which is an autoimmune disease, obviously you had to be extra cautious during the pandemic.

How are you personally holding up?

40: Living with Multiple Sclerosis is a pretty interesting thing. MS can affect a wide range of things as it’s a disease of the nervous system which pretty much includes all of the systems in your body. With COVID, there are definitely concerns as my immune system is compromised and I have asthma. But you should always be mindful. It’s an ongoing thing to be careful and conscious of your health. All things considered: having MS in a pandemic isn’t fun, having MS never is—but it’s not the end of the world.

kind: Do you miss being out on the road?

kind: 2020 has been one hell of a year. What was your experience during the lockdown and have there been any positive or unexpected outcomes from the pause?

40: 2020’s been interesting, to say the least.

During lockdown, my sister, niece and nephew came to stay with me at my house so I was very connected to family and had that love around me—it was incredible.

I’m in a privileged situation, but there are also the general stresses and pressures that come with the pandemic that I think affect everyone—fortunately I was lucky to be in a good position to deal with them.

kind: Do you think there will be an emergent COVID-19 sound?

40: I think we all saw an increase in the consumer electronic space of music, because more people were at home with more time to create. I would assume there would be a plethora of producers and artists who come out of this lock down and that a number of albums that were made during it.

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40: Touring is an incredible experience, especially to step out and connect with your fans and communicate with them in an intimate and personal way. It can also be overrated, it’s a lot of travelling and a massive carbon footprint to move that much equipment around the world. I think there are other ways to do it and that’s part of this new normal post-pandemic—forcing us to learn how to do things a little bit differently so it’s ultimately better and more efficient.

is a real testament to the integrity of the characters involved—especially Drake’s.

Ultimately our work is driven by our creativity and our product and that’s what ties us all together. It’s not about egos and relationships, it’s much more about how we get the best product. When we come together, we each contribute our strongest skills to make something really special.

kind: What makes you a good leader and founder and what have you learned since starting OVO? 40: The value of presentation. I’m somebody who has always been focused on content— the music, the songs, the lyrics, and what we are saying. What I’ve learned is that the presentation of all of those things is arguably just as important—it’s how you’re going to deliver your message, sell the product, and touch base with your audience. Once you get them through the door, yes, the content has to be there—it’s all in vain if the content isn’t strong. But there is value in the presentation and I can admit I had a hard time understanding that when I was first starting out.

kind: “Successful” by Drake was one of your first jams to get global recognition. What’s the ultimate metric, for you, for success?

kind: What do you mean?

40: “Successful” as far as a song had hints of irony in it, right? So, my marker for 40: Sharing that live energy with people success comes from a more of a spiritual, is important and so I will miss that part. karma-based place rather than financial.

Watching that translate in those rooms is Obviously, we all want financial success, probably the most incredible experience of security and safety for our family, loved this entire journey. Hopefully this is a period ones and ourselves. But ultimately that’s not in time we work through and we can get back how I gauge it. My world is measured by my to that original experience one day. giving and caring and if you do those things enough, I believe you’ll reap the benefits and find your success that way. kind: You work with your childhood friends. Can you talk about the value you place in loyalty?

40: All of our team within the realm of OVO and Drake have been connected from the beginning of all of this which I would say

“ I don’t want to be influenced—there is a difference between being inspired and influenced.”

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kind: How did you and Jef first get connected?

40: Jef and I share a mutual friend here in Toronto so I was lucky to have a direct connection to him. We started our journey to bring BLLRDR to the world in 2018 and we both share a deep appreciation for the strain. Our Ontario release actually coincides with the 10-year anniversary of his late wife Michelle Rainey’s passing. She was an incredible medical marijuana advocate who also strongly believed in BLLRDR, so this launch also has an important connection to her legacy.

causes harm—not someone’s opinion.

I fundamentally have a problem with penalizing people for the possession of marijuana, especially considering alcohol and tobacco are managed and taxed. I make my decisions based on what I feel is morally correct and true—not on what somebody tells me. If I thought that way, then I probably wouldn’t have tried smoking marijuana in the first place.

kind: Over the past 10+ years you’ve been constantly evolving as a producer, always creating new soundscapes and innovating your style. Where do you find your inspiration?

several sisters and have them to thank for introducing me to a variety of genres. My one sister, who is a decade older than me, played a lot of 80’s hair bands like Mötley Crüe and Skid Row. I had another sister bring me into the world of punk and ska, as well as Sade and Prince. I can also remember being five or six at my best friend Chris’s house and his brother introduced us to N.W.A. and Salt-NPeppa—that was really the start of my early rap influence.

kind: How old were you when you first fell in love with rap?

40: Ten or eleven years old.

kind: When did you first try weed?

40: Everywhere, I guess that’s what inspiration is. I listen to a lot of older music; 40: I was ten years old. My sister’s friends I really try to stay away from new music. decided it would be a great idea to get me I don’t want to be influenced—there is stoned. I grew up in a house that was pretty a difference between being inspired and accepting of marijuana and culturally for me, influenced. I try to find those places and it was just always a part of my lifestyle and those spaces for sounds and just see where neighborhood. That might sound bizarre, my brain takes me. I immerse myself into but that environment formed me and my a melody, chord structure or key and I stay politics at a very young age. I knew it was there for a month until I’ve created the wrong that the government could penalize best piece that I can and then I might try people and put them in prison for smoking a to switch it and go in a different direction. plant. That really defined me as a person.

I'm a pretty eclectic person. I throw things at the wall and keep throwing it until it sticks and I like it. Sometimes that’s a long, kind: What are your thoughts, then, on tedious process, but it yields things that the second anniversary of legalization most people wouldn’t think of or it gets the in Canada? reaction of like, ‘Oh wow, that’s brilliant.

How did you think of it?’ I just kept working 40: I think it’s fantastic we’ve reached the until I’ve figured it out and that’s part of my second anniversary of legalization and I’d process. I then use my music knowledge like to think Canada is leading the charge and experience to bring it back into a more there. That said, I do think we still have a digestible space for the rest of the world. ways to go when it comes to the penalties around cannabis related offences. kind: What kind of music was played in your house growing up? kind: Do you think there will be a day when cannabis is legal all over the world?

40: All kinds of music in my house. My mother listened to artists like The Beatles, 40: I’ve never understood how something Paul Simon and Tracy Chapman. My father that was put on this earth as a plant could played everything from Van Morrison and be controlled. It breaks down the logic Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, to fifties doo-wop of law and justice for me because I feel and Dick Dale, a surfer guitar player who was those systems should be focused on what actually Lebanese, funnily enough. I have

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kind: Who were you listening to as a kid growing up?

40: I grew up in the heyday of 90’s hip hop.

In my neighbourhood we played basketball at a school yard called Garden Avenue and it was the who’s who of 90’s rap: Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, ’Pac and Big. I loved Wu-Tang Clan; 36 Chambers changed my life. Mobb Deep and Nas were also major influences.

kind: You have a specific favourite early music memory?

40: On my thirteenth birthday, my sister’s boyfriend gave me Mobb Deep Hell on Earth, and basically said I could listen to it only after I’d listened to all five Tribe Called Quest albums—an excellent start to my rap music education.

kind: If you had a time machine, what artist(s) who are no longer with us would you love to collaborate with?

40: Aaliyah.

kind: You’ve always been supportive of the next generation of music stars and have done some amazing records like the super

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underrated PYRX track “Mixed By 40.” Are you currently working with any future stars?

40: I enjoy helping future artists, especially those from Toronto and obviously the artists we work with on our record label. But for the most part I don’t work with a lot of people. I work with Drake. I always take the position that we are in a band together. I am the guitar player in the band and I don’t play the guitar for any other band.

kind: What are you most looking forward to as we enter 2021?

40: I think as you get older in life, you start to take a step back, look at your accomplishments, your health, and try and see how to move forward with a clear mindset. That way you can actually enjoy yourself, live in the present and acknowledge the things that are happening to you when they’re happening.

kind: What else?

40: Maybe spend some of the money I’ve made.

kind: Cannabis at two years of legalization.

What do you want your cannabis brand to stand for?

40: Something that’s different. I want people to see it as a separate entity within the cannabis space. It really is like nothing else, it really smells, tastes, feels, and affects you like nothing else. I’ve said this before, I got involved with the cannabis space to deliver this product to people – only BLLRDR, this very specific strain by Jef Tek. That’s what I want the legacy of this venture to be. We’re out here to help people and to change their lives.

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A BREAT H OF F RESH AI R B Y

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There's an angle cut into the bottom edge of the PAX Era Pro that's barely noticeable with the naked eye.

It's small enough to go unnoticed and yet that tiny chamfer is designed so the vape eases into pockets and sleeves without getting caught on the way in. Design features, such as an aluminum finish, slipstream mouthpiece, and lines more reminiscent of a Jaguar than a

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PAX dimestore knockoff, make products like the PAX Era Pro and PAX 3 luxury items—gear designed for indulging in a product we love.

“My point of view is that cannabis products deserve to be of the same quality as the other best things in your life,” says Jesse Silver, senior vice president of product for PAX, a former Stanford course instructor equally at home both at Burning Man, IDEO and San Francisco’s Omada Health Offices, where the woodworker and kinetic artist ran product innovation and design. “We get so much enjoyment out of cannabis and it adds so much to our lives that it feels weird that many

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products aren’t there to add that same level of enjoyment. There’s so many great cannabis producers and growers—your delivery system ought to exist in that same realm.”

The PAX realm is increasingly occupying both a physical and digital space, with Bluetooth capabilities locking in temperature control, which can manage precise hits—the machine remembers if you burn hot (have a high THC threshold) or cool (a more measured, microdosed drag). In a disposable culture, the PAX 3 has a 10-year limited warranty.

In a climate of anxiety, the PAX Era Pro mitigates scent emissions and has dual

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sensors, turning your battery off when your device is not in use. In all, Silver—a cannabis enthusiast, technologist, and self-described “fidgeter,” who makes each PAX product to feel good in your hand—says he believes the cannabis culture has been slandered and misrepresented. Prestige goods belong hand-in-hand with prestige oils and flower.

Cannabis is designed to heighten, he says.

It only follows that the PAX products are equal to the craft industry norms.

“Everything we design is created with the sense of getting all the terpenes and cannabinoids, all the flavour, from the

cannabis you choose,” Silver says. “We’ve been around a long time and we’ll be here— far after any gimmicks or trends. We believe, quite simply, that people deserve nice things in the cannabis space.”

Q U I C K

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• The PAX 3 provides best-in-market control and potency • Each is UL-certified for a safer battery experience • PAXSmart™ pods remember your favourite temperature and dose settings

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• It also gives strain information and allows a place for writing notes about your cannabis experience • PodID™ delivers instant access to pod testing results (COA's) • ExpertTemp™ suggests pod temperatures to the extractor's recommendation • PAX 3 is now available in four new colours: onyx, sage, sand and burgundy • SimpleClick™ leak-resistant, dual-wick PAX pods mean no mess and no fuss

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>>>

IN C HONG WE TR U S T On the eve of the second year anniversary of legalization, Tommy Chong welcomes EVERYONE to a new world of weed

Tommy Chong really needs no introduction.

When you think of weed, you think of Cheech & Chong, and you smile. A lifelong cannabis crusader from Edmonton, Chong, at 82, has done as much for the legalization movement as anyone, and he’s still a vocal advocate today. Jenn Senasie spoke to Chong—who spoke and spoke—over Zoom (the interview is edited and condensed because our magazine only has so many pages). To read the whole interview, and see video of the man, please visit kindmagazine.ca.

JS: October 17th marks the two-year anniversary since cannabis was legalized in Canada. Talk to me about the progress that you’ve witnessed in this space throughout your lifetime.

Legalization is a sleeping giant waking up.

Legalization just means that people have woken up from their dream, from their alcohol, partying, and now we're finding the substance that people have known about for eons, for forever. We still got a long way to go.

But it's a step in the right direction.

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JS: It’s so interesting you talk about this intergenerational popularity, you resonate with many different generations. Before this interview, I asked on my Instagram if anyone had questions and someone in her early 20’s said, “What does it feel like to be an absolute legend?”

TC: I was at a boxing match, Sugar Ray Leonard, the champion is a friend of mine.

He lives down the street from me. So, he invited me to this boxing match, and I’m watching it, and every celebrity in the world was there. And so, halfway through the fight, I get up to go to the bathroom. I come out of the bathroom and a guy grabs me. He says, “Tommy Chong, I’ve always wanted to meet you. I’m Eddie Murphy.” Eddie Murphy!

JS: What role do you think cannabis has in the world?

TC: The Bible was written on hemp paper.

And the burning bush that they talked about in the Bible, that was weed, that was a pot

plant that told Moses to take up and leave his people. Now you got to remember back in the day, Moses was a prince. See back in the day, and today too, only the elite gets the education. And it’s only knowledge that lifts you out of poverty. But Moses was taken, and he became part of the royal family. That’s where he got his education. When he tried marijuana, he was enlightened.

JS: Moses smoked weed?

TC: I’m like Moses. All I had was the glimmer of the truth. And I hung on to that glimmer.

I was just out in my yard. And I’m sitting on the tree and I had to clean up the furniture.

The furniture was filthy. And what was it filthy with, seeds. Seeds of the plants, the trees. And it was the ivy that was growing up the trees, they’re so beautiful. So there’s something about awakening in knowledge.

JS: I think in many ways lockdown has forced us to look inside of ourselves and look at what’s happening around us, and

TC: That’s the whole thing, getting along with yourself. When I went to prison, I had a choice. I could have fought it, I could have won, but then it would have caused troubles for my wife and my son. And so here again was this moment where I could really show my training. You know, all the religious books, all the spiritual books I’ve been reading. Now I got a chance to prove it to myself. So I chose prison. Because I wanted the experience.

Why? Because Trump made me realize that, well, our system of government is kind of cool. Don’t forget, Canada had children’s allowance. If it wasn’t for children’s allowance, I wouldn’t be talking to you.

That’s what kept my family eating for at least a couple of years and dressing clothes and everything else. So, we’re blessed. And the beauty of the country is unmatched anywhere. This pandemic has stopped tourism. And that’s cool because it’s allowed the Canadians to go check out their own backyard.

“ The Bible was JS: You wanted the prison experience? written on hemp paper. And the TC: I only wanted to save my son and my wife. There was no way I was gonna let burning bush that them suffer for my sins. So I went to prison with a great attitude, and it was all, “Hey, they talked about Chong’s here!” All you have to do if you in the Bible, that ever get into a situation, think about these promises. Because that’s what the Bible gives was weed, that was you, directions on how to live. And if you follow the directions, which I’m learning a pot plant that to do, especially with all the iPhones and televisions, Googles and Alexas. First thing told Moses to take my son taught me how to do is read the up and leave his directions before you start just hitting buttons and pushing stuff. people.”

JS: Very important!

JS: What’s your favourite place in Canada?

TC: A lot of us that are going through different karmas, different life things. Like Trump, for instance. I’ve been bashing Trump for four years, but then someone, I was on a show and they said, “What do you think we should do with Trump after he’s done?” And I said, “Forgive him.” If it wasn’t for Trump, we wouldn’t have had legal weed the way we got it now. But he was like a diversion. Then the legal weed snuck in. Now it’s taken off all over the world.

TC: I haven’t been there yet, but Tofino in British Columbia—Vancouver Island. I had a house for a while in Qualicum. That’s where my folks retired and my brother too. But my son now, he’s moved to Tofino, and so right now Tofino is my favourite place.

JS: I heard there’s great surfing in Tofino.

TC: Yeah, it’s cold, but pretty soon it’ll be the tropics—global warming.

JS: Do you see the world through the eyes of a Canadian?

TC: Man, I’m so proud to be Canadian.

JS: So you briefly brought up your time in prison, and I have to ask you, what was it

like being cellmates with the Wolf of Wall Street (Jordan Belfort)?

TC: Well, because I’m older, they put us in just a two-man cubicle, and because we’re celebrities. Jordan was a celebrity, too. At the time, he was involved in mortgages, which he wasn’t supposed to be. But you know, once a criminal, always a criminal!

So I was writing a book, and so he’d come in from tennis and look at me and say, “What are you doing?” And I told him, writing a book. And he’d tell me, “You know what, I’m gonna write a book.” And so he wrote a couple of pages, and he handed the pages to me like I’m a teacher. And I read them and right away I recognized, he was copying Tom Wolfe, The Bonfires of the Vanities, almost verbatim. So then he was stunned. And then he said to me, “What do you suggest?” I said, “Well, if you’re writing about getting high, get higher than anybody’s ever gotten in the world. Just like what we did with Up In Smoke.” We had a big joint. I wasn’t gonna hand Cheech a tiny little joint, this is the movies! So I handed him a joint that looked like a big Led Zeppelin! That’s what makes literature, that’s what makes entertainment bigger than life.

JS: And so he wrote The Wolf of Wall Street?

TC: Yeah, and one day Jordan pulled up in his car convertible outside my house and he yells, “Hey! Hey, Chong!” I come to the window, he goes, “I wrote the book! They're gonna make a movie out of it! Martin Scorsese is gonna direct it! Thanks to you, dude! Thanks to you.”

JS: When you think about all of the iconic experiences you've had in your life, what's your most memorable?

TC: On set? Let's see. Well, the first day when we shot Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, that was my first day as a director.

The first day, we did something like 42 setups. Now, usually the first day you do two or three; five would be crazy. We did

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really think in the same way that you’re speaking about right now, which is very, very cool.

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TC: I was trying my best to get those guys so stoned. See, I'm a lousy guy to have a competition with in anything. So, the thing is I never was one for doing big bong hits ever. It hurts! One time, Snoop Dogg, one of his first tours, he had Tommy Chong, he had the Up in Smoke tour. And he said, “Tommy Chong, on stage! You gotta smoke out of the six-foot bong!” And so, I answered the challenge and the thing is, when you're smoking out of a big bong, you have to not only take the big toke, but you have to take it in your lungs.

JS: Is that what you called on in your battle with Ricky?

I were smoking, and the third guy, we look over, it's Wally! So, I took a joint. George took a hit, I took a hit, and I look, “Oh, it's Wally!” and I handed the joint to Wally. I was gonna say, “Hey, Dad's gonna be really mad at you, Wally.”

JS: Oh my gosh, my cheeks hurt from this interview. I'm laughing so much.

TC: That's good.

JS: Okay, everyone wants to know what your favorite snack is for when you have the munchies.

TC: Anything and everything. I don't get high until it's almost supper time. And then I get TC: You have to really do it. If you're high. And then I try not to make a fool of cheating, like I did with the Trailer Park myself, and my wife is very smart. She cooks guys, you do little tokes. You just use your very small portions, so that when I'm finished, mouth. You don't have to use your lungs.

I’m finished. But I'm learning to cook, and But you know where I learned that? Way my wife's cooking too. There's a Chinese dish before, this is in the 60’s. I was in LA. I was made out of salted turnip root and it's called a songwriter, just writing songs and going to chung choi, chung choi yop yung. And yung is the gym every day. And I went to Gold’s Gym, chopped up meat, so you get the chung choi and I hung out with all the biggies including with the chopped up meat, and you steam it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger. And the only I'll have that. It’s the Chinese in me. You know, substance they would do—this is back in the I have to have my rice at least once, twice a late 60’s—and the only substance they would month. Have to. Other than that, I don't feel do was pot. And they smoked out of a bong, like I'm Chinese anymore.

40! We were on such a roll because we just and this one bodybuilder, he was legendary. wanted to get it done.

He invited me to this big bong party. And so, the trick was, put almost an eighth into this JS: Okay, another one from Instagram. bowl, and then light it up, and then toke on What's your favorite stoner movie of JS: That’s crazy. it so hard that you suck the coals into the all time? water, and it explodes. That was the trick, TC: And Cheech and I, when we did our and all those guys could do it except me.

TC: My favourite movie of all time could be records, we never did any more than two or considered a stoner movie, although they three, four takes. We'd get it almost the first didn't smoke in the movie. But me as a or second take. Sometimes because of your JS: Who is your most memorable celebrity stoner getting high, I learned more off this first impulse. So, the first take, that was the to smoke with? Bob Marley, Snoop Dogg, movie than any other movie ever. And it secret of that. We tried it again after, but our Jimi Hendrix… actually inspired me to direct because I called hearts and souls were in the first two movies, the director and tried to get him to direct like Up in Smoke and Next Movie.

TC: Well, I smoked with Snoop Dogg. But I Up in Smoke, and he told me, “If you wrote it, guess the celebrity that I always talked about you direct it.” I took his advice. The movie is was George Harrison of The Beatles. George, called Badlands with Sissy Spacek and Martin JS: I have to ask you, this is another him and I were kindred spirits because he was Sheen. It's one of the most classic movies question that came through on Instagram a guitar player, and I was a guitar player. And I've ever seen in my life. That and Shawshank about the smoke off you had against Ricky we were both pot smokers. Remember that Redemption is another stoner movie that's on Trailer Park Boys. show, Leave It to Beaver? It was a sitcom with not a stoner movie, you know? But as far as Wally, the older brother. One time, George and stoner movies go—Up in Smoke.

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L G B T Q 2 I A + : W H AT THE LEGAL CANNABIS WORLD NEEDS NOW IS MORE INCLUSION The legal experiment is only successful if every voice in our community gets heard B Y

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The intersection between cannabis culture and the LGBTQ2IA+ community has a long-winded and impassioned history. Long before legalization, boutique dispensaries and widespread acceptance, the cannabis industry was built on a foundation of diversity, inclusion and—most importantly— equality. The BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ experience cultivated that culture and

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created a safe space for people to come together around cannabis. Today their seat at the head of the table has been usurped, but that doesn’t mean they’re getting any quieter. Culminating in the margins of society and eventually gaining rights in mainstream policy, both cannabis culture and queer people have always been advocates for human rights and equitable

accessibility. Today, cannabis has moved from a grassroots movement and legacy market into a multi-billion dollar industry.

But sometimes it almost feels like one has absolved the other leaving little space for the pioneers to get an adequate slice of the pie.

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Jordan Smith, VP of Project Management of Hexo Corp. started using cannabis as a means of coming to terms with his sexuality. “I used it in high school for the social aspect of it.

Obviously I was in the closet at the time. I got teased a lot for being gay even though I didn’t fully accept it, so if I was able to smoke a joint with people, I was able to make friends that way,” says Smith.

“ At the end of the day, companies are soon gonna’ realize that boys in heels sell weed just as much as girls in heels.”

The lack of accessibility for cannabis consumption in the medicinal and recreational realm is carried out through similar practices in business. For people in the queer community, especially BIPOC and queer cannabis brands, this means unequal representation in the market. Even cannabis conglomerates that promote active Transgender and other LGBTQIA people corporate social responsibility (CSR) and who suffer from mental health and physical inclusivity campaigns are not doing enough illnesses are not given the same treatment, to hire, promote and uplift members of the even in the cannabis community, which LGBTQ2IA+ community. “The industry has used to be a safe haven for non-pharma and more naturopathic remedies. The adversarial too few equity and justice initiatives, and is replete with performative allyship. Executive relationship between doctor and patient can level CSR positions are now a rarity, removing make legal cannabis even more inaccessible a real seat at the table for communities facing for the transgender community. “For many trans people, they view doctors as a roadblock oppression,” says Zmuda. or a gatekeeper,” says Zmuda.

This has been an on-going issue with queer representation becoming a token of CSR Cannabis has also been a huge gateway for instead of a vested interest. “A lot of gay many LGBTQIA people to find ways to selfpeople have money, a lot of gay people don’t medicate in a safe and informed way. “I think “Its very harmful that methods of access are being catered toward the white cisgender community,” says Ivy Zmuda, VP of Regulatory Affairs at Tantalus Labs and a transgender woman.

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when you're marginalized it forces you to look outside the box. I think that’s why there’s such a great amount of usage in the queer community because most queers are suffering from PTSD, growing up different and experiencing what its like to be ostracized,” says green queen Laganja Estranja. “I think people of colour, different religions, we can all relate to that in some way, but ultimately cannabis should be bringing people together”.

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The herb as we know it would never have become as widely accepted if it weren't for the legacy work of the BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ communities who advocated for cannabis rights long before it was the hip thing to do.

“When cannabis was first brought to the gay community it was a medicine, it helped people that were dealing with HIV and AIDS,” says Jay Jackson, better known as choreographer, cannabis advocate and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Laganja Estranja. “That’s why my Queer brothers and sisters fought to get Proposition 215 or the Compassionate Act (1996) passed here in California.” The activists he’s talking about were people like Harvey Milk and Dennis Peron who created safe spaces like San Francisco’s Cannabis Buyers Club, which helped queer people gain access to cannabis as an alternative medicine to treat symptoms of HIV. This work would lead to a trajectory of legalization in many other states and countries, and a go on to create a global industry projected to reach over $70 billion by 2027 (Grand View Research Analysis Report).

The issue with the industry today is that so many of the early advocates that fought for the legalization of cannabis have been pushed out of the equation. The reality is that most of the dominant power structures that make up so much of our economy are built on oppressing BIPOC and LGBTQIA voices that first gave cannabis its platform.

have kids, a lot also have more expendable income. You know I’ve just found it quite silly on a business level, besides the personal level, besides the human level, why have these men not tapped into that?” says Estranja.

As more companies plaster rainbows on their social media as a symbol of allyship, they forget to consider the weight that holds to the LGBTQ2IA+ community and the responsibility it entails for their brand.

“All you have to do is look at who is running the majority of the LPs, retailers, brands, the OCS, who are the lottery winners, who is included in advertising? Where are all the people of colour? Out and proud queer folks? Women, especially women of colour?

Trans people? People with disabilities?” says Edward Kehyayan, Category Manager, Cannabis & Promotions, Friendly Strangers Holdings Corp.

The misrepresentation of cannabis consumers in the market is especially evident when speaking about the BIPOC and LGBTQ2IA+ experience. “There’s no diversity, there’s no social equity in Canada. So a lot of what we have tried to do is call the industry in to realize that there’s more that needs to be done with making equity and inclusion a part of this space. It’s a non-negotiable at this point,” says Mary Pryor, co-founder

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In order to reevaluate the market and the identity of the queer community within it, many LGBTQ2IA+ advocates and business owners are trying their best to mentor and uplift members of their community and promote growth from within. “I think mentorship on the whole is always a good idea, but specifically for LGBT people who go through experiences that only another person that’s a part of the community could relate to,” says Smith.

“ Consumers have more power than they want to give themselves credit for. And you have to give consumers more opportunities on what they want to purchase and people are becoming more and more choosey, justifiably so.”

At Peak Extracts, Stem is also trying to promote internal growth, “It’s very important for me to mentor our employees, moving forward in the industry within us. Because when you go to higher a management positions, there’s just not a lot of women and Queer people that are qualified because they weren’t promoted from within.”

On the consumer side, there has been a call to action by many small organizations and businesses to create transparency within their brand. Initiatives like Cannaclusive’s Accountability List and Cannabis for Black Lives are just a few integral assets cannabis of Cannaclusive and Chief Marketing Officer why it's here, shouldn’t be promoting it in any users need to digest before they can make at Tonic CBD. In order to hold cannabis way,” says Estranja. This notion of sales by and educated decisions about where and who businesses accountable for their equity to the cisgender straight white community is to buy from. “Consumers have more power initiatives, Pryor and the rest of the team at cutting off companies’ access to the extremely than they want to give themselves credit Cannaclusive have created the Accountability diverse market of cannabis consumption. for. And you have to give consumers more List, which lists the CSR actions and activism “At the end of the day, companies are soon opportunities on what they want to purchase Canadian companies have committed to gonna’ realize that boys in heels sell weed and people are becoming more and more and publicly holds them accountable. “I do just as much as girls in heels.” choosey, justifiably so,” says Pryor. In order think that the pathways to ownership, the to turn up the volume of minority voices pathways to having this space in the industry Katie Stem, who founded Oregon’s Peak that represent well over half of cannabis are not clear and they’re mostly gate kept.

Extracts and now runs it alongside her life consumers in North America, consumers So, strategically we want people to be more partner Kate Black, also feels somewhat must understand their purchasing power. aware of what they can do and how they can pushed out by the heteronormative advertising “This cannot just be the work of BIPOC do it; to secure more and more opportunities and promotion of cis values in cannabis. “I communities and LGBTQ2IA+ communities, across the board, to not only appeal to more want to empower all women, but sometimes but at some point White people have to admit audiences because it’s just the right thing to I don’t feel particularly welcome in the that this game is rigged. That when it comes do, but inclusion, diversity, understanding subsets of women in cannabis, because my to equity and inequality, it takes white people all the different facets of marketing and gender identity does not perfectly align with giving something up to justify that gap.” understanding what that all means,” says Pryor. traditional femininity,” says Stem. She argues that by marketing to cis men with out-dated Critics argue that cannabis culture has been campaigns, cannabis is becoming less and less stripped out of the industry and whitewashed accessible for consumers. “You lose half of your to create a more for-profit, aesthetically audience when you do that. Not to mention driven market which is truly alienating its it’s demeaning to women, but in terms of our consumers. “I think people in charge who brand, we want it to be for everyone.” don’t love the plant, understand the plant, get

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HIGH FASHION A Stoner Style Renaissance B Y O F

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Fashion is a weapon.

It’s through our style and sartorial choices that we tend to tell our stories to the world: express a mood, capture an essence, declaring our selves outwardly (boldly, or otherwise).

In truth our daily wearables are some of the more tangible, tactile choices we make in telling the world who it is we are. How we feel that day. Our point of view on the matter.

The vibe inside.

It should come as no surprise then that we’ve seen cannabis crop up within the world of mainstream fashion and style by way of the weed leaf; elegant expressions of the plant peeking through to the mainstream cultural pulse over the past few years, as societal temperament around the plant begins to shift.

From that undeniable visual symbol (that this stoner once swore she’d never wear) to the utilization of the hemp plant as a garment’s raw material (which we can expect all the more of after the 2018 Farm Bill), weed’s presence in the realm of high fashion is contributing to the overall cultural reframing of the plant as part of a luxur life/style experience.

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Fashion is as fashion does, and just like the flower—this shit’s cyclical. However, it’s not the styles of Cheech, Chong, Nelson nor Marley that represented cannabis’ first roll-up onto the cultural fashion scene.

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“ The cannabis lifestyle is an attitude; a true style of expression directly related to activism.”

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The leaf actually makes it's first notable appearance in a stylistic and symbolic sense adorned atop the crown of the Ancient Egyptian Goddess Seshat, thought to be the goddess of the written word, scribe and record-keeper. Through it’s often referred to as a ‘seven-pointed star’ in texts, the hieroglyph looks curiously like a pot leaf to many cannabis enthusiasts.

That same infamous fan print pops up in more recent years on high fashion runways as the muse of Mara Hoffman’s S/S 2015 collection, which was fully devoted to the weed leaf and brought to life using hempbased textiles. It bloomed again in iconic black & white print in Alexander Wang’s F/W 2016 presentation (made all the more mainstream when donned by Margot Robbie on SNL, and later by lovable David Rose on award-winning Schitt’s Creek). And most recently the flower crept up in Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf’s SS 2019 nod to their Holland

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homestead by way of an Amsterdamthemed, electric green weed leaf-emblazoned ballgown. This is high-high fashion.

self-expression, happiness, love and healing for the wearer - and hopefully ultimately the collective. A sureness, non-conformist kind of attitude. Sounds like a cannabis lover to me.

But the wearing of the weed leaf (and other And in this new iteration of our reality (where 420-proud gear) stands for more than simply our mouths are mostly masked, forced to say the symbolic waving of one’s own stoner flag. less than ever as we witness leaders weaving Symbolism is all about subtext, after all. stories so well-removed from the truth) it feels more important than ever to use our choices “The cannabis lifestyle is an attitude; a true with intention. To say more with our motives, style of expression directly related to activism. our money, and perhaps even our style about It looks and feels like: freedoms from the what it is we stand for - and the type of world norm” says Toronto-based trend forecaster and we’d like to help to grow. cannabis enthusiast Carly Stosjic. “Designers who cue cannabis as inspiration use the Freedom, self-expression, happiness, love fashion arts as a uniform to depict newness, and healing. diversity, transformation and sustainability.

These are key elements to cannabis as they Florals for spring may not be groundbreaking relate to fashion in our collective.” but the weed leaf very well may be.

As it has for decades, if not throughout the ages, cannabis-as-style has come to symbolize and conjure feelings of freedom,

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01 – JACQUIE AICHE’S SWEETLEAF

02 – DEL TORO SLIPPERS

LA-based Jacque Aiche is an original trailblazer in the cannabis as style movement, as one of the first luxury brands to boldly and unapologetically present cannabis in the fashion space. The collection now reads like a chic stoner’s dreamscape, with gold and diamond leaf jewelry and body-jewelry, snakeskin and leather doobtubes, lighters and carrying cases, plus a range of style-forward, cozy sweats and wearables worthy of wearing on the daily.

Anchoring the leisure-luxury notion is footwear’s move to high-end slippers and houseshoes. True comfort knows no price, after all. Italian men’s footwear designer Del Toro (known for their symbol-adorned velvet slippers) delivered some European flavour to the cannabisfashion landscape, offering weed-leaf emblazoned lace-up chukkas and hot-pink velvet slippers for the boys. Talk about gas slippers.

03 – ART OF MARINA KIMONOS

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"Leisure Luxe" is inevitably set to become the key trend for the rest of 2020 and beyond - so finding ways to infuse elegance, indulgence and perhaps a dash of extravagance into our daily lives and self-care rituals will be a vital aspect of feeling lifted and empowered.

Founded in 2010 in NYC by a woman named Brett Heyman, Edie Parker began as a line of acrylic bags born from the designers’ obsession with thrifting handbags in the iconic 1950’s/60’s style.

The brand took off, as did Brett’s vision for how it could express itself in our daily lives. Inspired by that same aesthetic, the brand’s lineup of glass pipes, smoking tips, ashtrays with tabletop lighters (and even their lovable pink and green flowered papers) lend a romance to stoner tabletops everywhere.

The silk-kimono expressions of Canadian artist Marina Billinghurst of Art by Marina struck a chord deep in the heart of my inner style muse. The cannabis-printed kimonos are this ganja girl’s clear favourite, adding an excellent dramatic elegance to outfits and stoned sessions alike.

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JA M ON IT! Jenn Sanasie offers a salute to Honey Jam, an influential female-centric live music showcase that has helped nurture some of our country’s brightest stars

“We’re only going to turn 25 once!” Ebonnie Rowe exclaims as she talks about her decision to move forward with Honey Jam’s 25th anniversary celebrations amongst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rowe founded Honey Jam in 1995, after recognizing the need for exposure, support and promotion for female-identifying artists in Canada. Today, the non-profit mentorship

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organization is credited with launching the careers of Nelly Furtado, Jully Black and Melanie Fiona, among many more Canadian stars.“I was very stubborn, I wasn’t going to throw away the year,” Rowe says, as she explains her determination to not take the concert and celebrations online. “Nothing will ever take the place of live music, besides: I don’t want to be reminded we’re in this horrible situation.”

thought she would not be able to give it the 25th birthday it deserved. With restrictions being lifted in Ontario for staffed businesses, Rowe was able to secure the El Mocambo in Toronto for a concert that hosted 50 people and was live streamed for those not in attendance. The concert featured women in music doing cover songs by other iconic female artists. It’s a celebration of a lineage worth fighting for.

A lot of people told her to just throw away 2020, which made her think, “Where’s your passion and drive and creativity and imagination?” She describes the organization and mentorship program as her baby, and says she cried everyday at the

Honey Jam has become known as a right of passage in Canada for female-identifying musicians and a celebration of what it means to be an artist. JUNO Award-winning artist Serena Ryder, led a talk ahead of the 25th anniversary celebration. She called it, “the

Speaking to Rowe, you can hear the passion in her voice. It’s a passion driven by the desire to not only uplift Canadian female artists, but to give them a platform and present opportunities that can help jumpstart their careers. It’s not about an artist with a hot single. It’s about a musician she believes that can stand the test of time. Meanwhile, the year started off with a bang for Rowe—she surprised a young musician named BLUE WILL with a trip to the Grammys.

When it comes to moving forward for Rowe, she says she’d like to see more femaleidentifying artists like Tracy Chapman. “I’d like to see more female artists not having to fit into a certain box, not having to be all glossy and shiny,” she says. By continuing to do what she does, but better, Rowe is committed to providing more opportunities

for young musicians to travel and perfect their craft. She is dedicated to amplifying and elevating what Honey Jam has already achieved and is tirelessly committed to giving a stage to deserving women across the country.

“Honey Jam has been an essential and instrumental platform for the development and encouragement of female talent in Canada,” wrote Grammy award-winning musician and Honey Jam alumni Melanie Fiona, in an email to kind. “As alumni, I am grateful to have been able to share my experiences and expertise with the aspiring talent of the Honey Jam family in the past.

Cheers to 25 more years!”

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BLUE WILL, a 2017 Honey Jam alumni, got to attend Grammy Week and the Grammy Awards Ceremony in January this year. Rowe describes her as someone who is extremely dedicated to giving back to young artists, from mentoring to volunteering at events and everything in between. Rowe was extremely excited to reward BLUE WILL for her contribution to the development of her peers.

It’s about women raising up other women, and it’s been working since Nelly Furtado first took her stage (Furtado, her most famous alumni, even gives Rowe a shout-out on her debut album, Woah Nelly!, crooning, “I’ll always remember the Honey Jam”).

“ Honey Jam is one of those things that, if you can get there, you know you’re moving forward.”

Rowe says that her last 25 years feel like a dream, and she laughs as she admits when she hears people talk about Honey Jam, she thinks to herself: “Wow! It would be great to meet the person who started that!”

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Her hard work and perseverance have not gone unnoticed, with alumni and female artists all across the country praising the initiative. Nigerian-Canadian artist Flana says in a press release, "Honey Jam is one of those things that, if you can get there, you know you're moving forward," says NigerianCanadian artist Falana."

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most inspiring time I’ve had all year.” Ryder, who released her debut album in 2005, ten years after Honey Jam began, says, “I was blown away by what Ebonnie has created!”

Thinking back to when she was coming up in the industry, Ryder says promoters didn’t even want to put two women on the same bill because they didn’t think it would sell. Little did they know what Rowe always believed: it’s the women leading the way.

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R OS S RE B A G LIATI I S HI S RO YA L H IGHN E SS A look at how the world’s changed since Canada’s most famous snowboarder scored a gold medal—first for himself, then for weed B Y

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The most famous Canadian snowboarder of all-time is also one of the country’s best advocates for cannabis legalization, making 49-year-old Ross Rebagliati, 1998 snowboarding gold medalist, a hero to many of us across the country and across the world.

“I knew cannabis was good and I knew legalization would come to pass if we stayed true to the plant, but I also knew that the end of prohibition would take forever and even the most entrenched activists in the late 80’s didn’t think recreational legalization would happen in our lifetime,” says Rebagliati, today a father of three and still shredding, a regular on the slopes of his adopted hometown of Kelowna, BC. “Weed turns the mundane into adventure and anger into compassion and introduces you to yourself. I truly believe knowing who you are is a valuable asset across the life spectrum.”

felt so differently—this was something just for me. Our riding styles became expressions of ourselves, our personalities. Floating through powder snow in a way skiers could only dream of (in those days) was and is an incredible experience.”

Back in the early 90’s, Rebagliati cut his teeth on the junior ski circuit, but soon came to identify with the outlaw nature— the unbridled freedom—of snowboarding.

Being 15 years old and rebellious, Rebagliati strapped on his board and describes learning to fly.

As Rebagliati advanced as a professional snowboarder, he also was introduced to cannabis. He says it was the extreme endurance athletes on the mountains who first exposed him to pot, and it made sense to him on a personal level as he found the plant less volatile than alcohol.

“No one knew much about weed back then except that it was illegal, but I found it more fun and less punishing than booze,” says Rebagliati, adding that his friends would go on 2-day treks in the backcountry of Whistler and ride in the trees on the weekend, when the tourists would come to their slopes. He was amazed at their creativity. And their humanity. He was home.

“I learned you could use cannabis and do high-intensity sport and maintain a level of sharpness,” he says. “Weed made me feel humble and helped me to connect better with my environment outdoors.”

“I wanted to break free,” he says, and talks about wearing his clothes baggy and playing Nirvana on his walkman, loudly, and beginning to see the world in a new light, as a confident young man with an edge.

“With skiing, I was really being groomed by coaches and parents and snowboarding just

The apex of Ross connecting with his environment outdoors occurred in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 at the Winter Olympics.

Calling upon all of his powers, when the lights shined most, the snowboarder answered the call. He became the number one snowboarder in the world.

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“It was epic, no-holds-barred—every turn a disaster waiting to happen,” says Rebagliati, awe still in his voice. “I couldn’t have gone any faster; it was exhilarating, unreal—I had been waiting for this moment my whole life.”

Rebagliati says he had no intention of becoming a global cannabis superstar after his snowboarding 1998 Olympic gold medal.

All through his training, he quit smoking weed even though cannabis wasn’t on the ist of banned substances from the World Doping Agency. Ross wanted to compete for his country and show the world what he could do. Instead, he ended up becoming the most famous stoner in history. He tested positive for trace amounts of THC in his system.

His medal was taken away the morning after his win.

“There was a moment at my hotel when I was by myself where I seriously considered pushing a hole in the ceiling, stashing my medal and escaping from Tokyo to Costa Rica, hiding in the jungle and surfing for the rest of my life,” says Rebagliati, who was 26 at the time and facing a huge media scandal on the opening day of the Olympic Games.

Unprepared and scared, 24 hours after the highest highs, Rebagliati was facing a nervous breakdown. “I ended up losing my sponsors and becoming a stereotype and victim of stigma,” he says. “Even people I knew back in Whistler, suddenly didn’t know me anymore overnight.”

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Ross did the best he could with the media attention, and even appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, while also having the International Olympic Committee overturn their judgment and give him back his gold medal win. He’s the first and only athlete in Olympic history ever to be reinstated for losing a medal in his sport. Still, the proceedings had been painful and today he acknowledges suffering from PTSD from the entire episode. After 9/11, he was on a no-fly list to the United States. There were many false starts into the cannabis industry. The years weren’t easy. Only now, as the CEO of his own cannabis company, Ross’s Gold, and becoming immersed in his newfound passion as a grower, is the snowboarding king acclimated to his role.

“Now the stigma and stereotype is peeling away from cannabis, I’d like to think in the last 22 years I’ve done my share of work to be part of a healthy cannabis lifestyle,” he says, and mentions he’s working on his line of Ross’s Gold gel caps, topicals, craft cannabis, edibles and the beloved horticulture of his own homegrown plants.

“Weed connects you to the earth and all living things. It’s a plant and it grows out of the ground. I’m proud of the journey I’ve been on and the work I’ve done.

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T HE AI R U P TH E R E Scott Serfas has spent 25 years photographing the world’s best snowboarders from around the world. Here’s four shots the Vancouver-based lensman loves, which he hopes encourages each of us to find our passion this winter

“Travis Rice slashes a snow wave near the end of the day in the Tordrillo Mountains of Alaska while filming for the Art of Flight movie in 2011. This was the last image I took after more than four weeks of shooting and sleeping in the mountains. The light is moody and cool.”

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“ It’s in Alaska that the best snowboarders in the world travel with the hopes to ride the world’s most extreme and challenging lines. After spending so many years flying these athletes around and watching them perform, some of the helicopter pilots start to perform extreme maneuvers themselves.

I’m on an opposing ridge shooting with my long lens—I love taking pictures.

But I also love getting out and riding as much as I can.”

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â&#x20AC;&#x153; The Tordrillo Mountains are a small range in the south central region of Alaska. They lie approximately 120 kilometres northwest of Anchorage and are primarily volcanic, which may be what makes them so perfect for snowboarding. Accompanied by two of the best riders in the world, I was able to photograph the most progressive backcountry snowboarding to date. Here, John Jackson jumps a massive cliff.â&#x20AC;?

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“ It can be dangerous, and so a lot of these rides are me guiding the rider to their lines. It’s a personal relationship, and practice,” says Serfas, of this picture of Jake Blauvelt photographed in the backcountry of Whistler.

“Olympians are like gymnasts, but it takes something different to ride the backcountry.

Everything is dramatic, huge— sure, I’m attracted to the romance of it all.”

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T HE LOS T TWO Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard not to fall in love with the lifestyle of kindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest travel columnists, @thelosttwo, Claudia and Kaan, as they jump into turquoise seaside pools in the Maldives, relax in overwater villas in Bora Bora, and summit the peaks of the Canadian Rockies in Alberta.

For those looking for romantic and travel inspiration, or to just escape the hard times that many of us face even just for a moment.

We thought we would include our bucket list for this winter, in hopes it would inspire domestic tourism.

Our bucket list for our Canadian Winter Getaways includes: Seeing the Northern Lights in the Yukon Territory Doing a Polar Bear Safari in Churchill, Manitoba Staying at the Ice Hotel in Quebec Dog sledding in Banff, Alberta Ice Skating on Lake Louise Staying at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler and hitting the slopes Experiencing the Scandinave Spa in the Blue Mountains

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BOOST YO UR I MMUN IT Y T H I S F AL L T W O O F C A N A D A’ S L E A D I N G H E A LT H & W E L L N E S S E X P E R T S C O M E T O G E T H E R T O C R E AT E A H O L I S T I C E X P E R I E N C E T O L I V E Y O U R B E S T L I F E B Y

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Clara Geffriaud is a cross training instructor and former elite gymnast with an expertise in Electric Muscle Stimulation, which uses electric pulses to further stimulate muscles for a fast, complete workout. Madison Makepeace is a Certified Nutritional Practitioner and Television and Film Set Nutritionist.

She's an anatomy expert with a background in both sustainable health and alternative healing. Together, the two have combined their expertise to form a unique program called the Suited x Makepeace Nutrition Reset, designed to present 360-degree wellness solutions, from what you eat, to how you breathe, to your individual workouts and nutrition choices. We asked them how we can boost our immunity this fall.

now more than ever is the time to boost our immune defence through healthy and clean eating choices and strategic movement to build strength, increase healthy blood flow and lower stress levels.

CG: Most of us are still learning how to navigate our new normal. We’ve had to adopt new routines and change the way we do things. With that comes the greatest opportunity: the chance to assess and think about our habits and build a lifestyle that gives way for the things that make us happy and healthy inside out. So before you settle into new habits, make a list of three things that you’d like to commit to or change in your life. Ditch drastic and time consuming plans. Adopt the simple 21/90 rule.

kind: What is that?

CG: Tackle one at a time and dedicate 20 minutes to it daily. After 21 days, it will become a habit. Stick to it for 90 days and it will become a lifestyle.

kind: What about this moment makes it the perfect chance to understand our immune system and bolster our immunity?

kind: What made you guys decide to team up?

MM: After months of confusion, abrupt change in schedule and a world of uncertainty, it’s not unusual to feel sluggish, and in need of a reset. Nutrition and movement can take a natural backseat when we find ourselves in survival mode. However,

MM: Clara and I are bringing our programs together in a curated and complimentary way to optimize and create sustainable results. So many people find themselves eating the newest superfood and following a new fad diet or workout that the wellness

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industry is pushing without taking into account whether or not it’s right for them specifically. Healthy food and exercise looks different for every person.

CG: Absolutely agree. The Suited x Makepeace Nutrition Reset starts with you.

We realize that a complete overhaul of your life is unrealistic, unsustainable and, to be honest, unnecessary. By tweaking your daily habits and adding wellness hacks, you won’t ever feel like you are dieting or on a cookie cutter workout plan. Our mission is easy to adopt by offering you ultimate convenience.

kind: So how do we begin?

MM: From a nutritional standpoint I like to start by focusing on an individual’s microbiome, which is the powerhouse of gut flora (housing both good and bad bacteria) that governs many health systems in the body and plays a massive role in the immune system. It's important to get a grasp on how vitamins, minerals and overall nutrients are being absorbed in the gut! I like to start my clients off with a nutritional reset to rid the body of excess inflammation, excess hormones and set a baseline to be able to identify food sensitivities and intolerances. I will also often compliment a nutritional plan with a supplement protocol specific to the clients health concerns and goals.

CG: Suited offers Electric Muscle Stimulation

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training which is a revolutionary form of workout. Active exercise is performed while wearing a medical graded high tech suit to augment and amplify every muscle contraction. The suit guarantees maximum results in minimum time without the use of heavy weights or cardio machines.

kind: What are some quick tips from both of you that we might try right away, like put down this magazine right now... and do what?

hot water whenever you’re in need of an immune or digestive boost (check out the recipe at the end of the article!).

kind: Winter's get long in Canada and I understand you have systems in place to help boost health and stamina. How does that work, and can that help us build resiliency as fall creeps in the holidays?

MM: Turn your kitchen into an extension of your medicine cabinet. Eating immuneboosting foods like vitamin C rich citrus fruits and brightly coloured leafy greens and vegetables is so important. Try adding anti-inflammatory and immune boosting aromatics, like ginger, turmeric and garlic to your fall and winter meals.

CG: You’ve probably heard this quote before, “movement is medicine.” Studies have demonstrated over and over again the benefits and power of exercise to promote health. Exercise can be defined as any activity requiring physical effort. Even if it’s walking around your neighborhood, prepping your yard for the winter or cleaning Kind: Anything else we can do? out your fridge to make way for all the goodies from Madison, just get up and go.

MM: I would strongly suggest taking a shelfstable probiotic daily—feel free to mix up MM: Revving up your immune response. A the strains—to promote good gut flora and simple way that I like to incorporate immune for it’s immune-boosting properties. Also, a boosting ingredients into my routine is by good source of daily vitamin D. It’s crucial replacing a second coffee or tea with my for preventing infection, strengthening Immune Boosting Fire Cider. It’s an immune your immune defence and Canadians are boosting twist on hot apple cider with the notorious for being vitamin D deficient, addition of antimicrobial and gut loving especially in the colder months! apple cider vinegar and anti-inflammatory turmeric. Give this warming elixir a try or even make a large batch and freeze in ice kind: Madison, what should we stock in cube trays and pop a cube for 2 into boiling the fridge?

MM: Colour! A wide range of colourful fruits and vegetables that you can enjoy raw or add to soups, stews, smoothies or simply roast with herbs and sea salt gives you no choice but to get in those phytonutrients. I also encourage my clients to go for produce that is seasonal. Our bodies thrive when we eat the foods grown and picked around the time they're consumed.

kind: And what should we go to our fridge right now and find, then throw in the trash?

MM: I’ve never been a fan of throwing away any food, but I would be so happy if people got rid of anything in their kitchen with the word “diet” in front of it. Diet pops, diet food, and low fat food products more often than not contain artificial or altered ingredients that we often can’t pronounce and that our bodies process as foreign. Artificial preservatives, colours and flavours wreak havoc on your gut health and can also be hormone disruptors!

kind: And Clara, if I want to feel better, are there some things I need to buy? Like, for instance, a skipping rope or a yoga mat?

CG: With a couple light dumbbells and a yoga mat, you can pretty much do anything.

There are a multitude of resources available online and I find it super fun to go check out trainers all over the world. With travel being

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so limited, it can feel like a little escape from your home as some of them are held in the most gorgeous settings. You can even hear the waves crashing sometimes. It's also more cost efficient and an added bonus if you're able to buy local!

kind: What can we do to better get through these long days?

CG: Get up and walk for a few minutes or go up and down the stairs every hour to get your heart pumping and your blood flow circulating.

kind: I'm also interested in blood circulation and how that works. Can you break down that concept and why it's important?

CG: Your heart and blood is the pipeline of your immune system. Through your vessels, the blood supplies every part of your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function properly. Hence why cardiovascular circulation is so important.

kind: Can you explain what that means?

CG: When we talk about circulation as it relates to the immune system, it is crucial to mention the lymph circulation. This circulatory system works directly with your cardiovascular system to keep blood clean and flush toxins out of the body. It is also this system that carries immune cells throughout the body to help defend against potential infections and diseases. Exercise is so important because it promotes good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently. Suited and Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is your perfect ally to boost these benefits without even leaving your house. The combination of cardiovascular and strength training increases the efficiency of both the cardiovascular and lymph circulation.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an all around win.

kind: We really appreciate your help you two.

With the COVID-19 pandemic making all of us anxious, your work is truly important,

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F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N O N T H E S U I T E D X M A K E P E A C E N U T R I T I O N R E S E T P L E A S E V I S I T W W W.S U I T E D F I T N E S S.C O M

especially right now. Take us out of here with full of uncertainty for so many. Be gentle with a few reassuring words. What should we all yourself and try to make small and sustainable be doing to get strong, to stay safe? shifts in your life like eating nutrient dense whole foods, staying hydrated, eating high MM: This is a strange and challenging time sugar content foods in moderation and making

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sure to move your body! These shifts along with washing your hands, wearing a mask and practicing social distancing will help give you the strength you need to navigate whats ahead and most importantly thrive and live vibrantly.

CG: We spoke a lot about physical strength and nutrition as it’s our expertise. However, I’d like to wrap by saying a few words about mental health. Be kind to yourself and to others. We are all in this together. Don’t forget to reach out to your friends and family. Bottom line: chill.

When things get overwhelming, just take a few deep breaths.

> > > INGREDIENTS

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1 litre of organic unsweetened apple cider 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 cup of organic grapefruit juice 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, powder or grated 2 tablespoon grated ginger pinch black cracked pepper pinch sea salt 1 tablespoon cinnamon 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary OPTIONAL: for the hardcore immune boosters add 1 clove of grated garlic

I MM UNE BOOSTING F I RE CID E R INSTRUCTIONS 1

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Add all ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes and serve.

Pro Tip: Freeze left over fire cider in ice trays and pop some out when you're feeling the need to rev up your immune system, metabolism and give your gut some love and thaw enough for an immunity shot!

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>>> FAL L IN G F A C E FIRS T IN T O PL A N T- B A SE D COM FO RT Hi! I’m Candice, Chef and creator of “The Edgy Veg.” Since turning to a vegan lifestyle 10 years ago, I truly believe I have been put on a mission to revolutionize how we think about food, eco-conscious living, and feminism. I was not a fan of the vegan food I came across, and so, I taught myself not only how to cook, but how to make vegan food more appealing to the masses. I am an entrepreneur and an author (The Edgy Veg: 138 Carnivore-Approved Vegan Recipes), run a disruptive and delicious food blog and YouTube channel, and that girl with the fiery hair you see on Instagram.

Welcome to sweater weather, betches! The most basic of seasons is finally here. Grab that pumpkin spice from the back of your pantry, put on your favourite chunky knit, and get ready to eat your feelings, because I have 3 enticing recipes you will be cooking on repeat.

Fall embodies what comfort feels like, don’t you think? It brings with it coziness, security, and the joy that comes with traditions. If someone can figure out how to put that in pill form that’d be great, thanks. It is the time of year where all we want from our meals is warmth, indulgence, and heart. A hug from the inside if you will. Each dish is stick-to-your-ribs delectable, and quick and easy to prepare for yourself with enough for leftovers (score!), your family, or a socially-distanced potluck with pals. Bon appetit!

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E L E VAT E D P L A N T- B A S E D MAC & CHEESE Everyone needs a mac and cheese recipe in their arsenal. Bonus points if it’s fancy like this one. It’s the perfect comfort food for whatever life throws at you. Dress it up, dress it down—it’s a creamy dreamy dish to say “Eff this!!!” when you don’t get an invite to Zoom game night, or “Hello, please like me” when you meet your quarantine boyfriend’s parents for the first time.

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INGREDIENTS 4 cups macaroni 2 tbsp non-dairy butter or margarine 2 yellow onions, finely sliced 3 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour 4 cups unsweetened soy milk 3 tbsp melted non-dairy butter or margarine 1 tsp dried or 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley 1 cup breadcrumbs 1½ plant-based sausages, chopped or crumbled (optional) 2 cups plant-based cheddar style shreds, divided 1 cup plant-based soft-style cheese 1 tsp German mustard 1 tsp mango chutney 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce reserved pasta water

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Serves 4-6

In a large pot, melt the non-dairy butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, tossing occasionally, until they are golden, about 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Add the flour and coat onions completely and cook for 1 minute.

Slowly, stir in the soy milk in batches, and simmer for about 15 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a second large pot, bring salted water to a boil, and cook macaroni for 5 mins (they will continue to cook in the oven). Drain the macaroni, saving some pasta water, and set aside.

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In a small bowl add 3 tbsp melted butter, breadcrumbs, parsley and plant-based sausage, and toss to coat. Set aside.

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Stir 1 cup of both the plant-based cheddar and soft cheese to the sauce mixture, stirring continuously until they have melted.

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To the cheesy sauce, stir in the mustard, mango chutney and vegan Worcester sauce. Begin slowly adding in some reserved pasta water until you end up with a velvety, pourable cheese sauce.

Add your pasta and gently stir to coat with the cheese sauce. Transfer into a casserole dish and top with 1 cup of cheddar-style cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove mac and cheese from the oven, and top with the breadcrumb/ sausage mixture. Place back into the oven and bake for another 15 mins, or until the breadcrumbs and sausage are golden brown, and mac and cheese is bubbling. Remove the mac and cheese from the oven and enjoy!

I like to serve it garnished with fresh parsley, and a side of lightly-dressed frisée or Boston lettuce.

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PUMPKIN SPICE PA N C A K E S We all know that there really are only 3 seasons in Canada; spring, summer, and pumpkin. Think of these pancakes as the autumn cousin of the classic fluffy breakfast cake, and guess what? There’s actually real pumpkin in them! (...shady side eye to a certain corporation).

INGREDIENTS 1¼ cups unbleached flour 2 tbsp coconut sugar 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice 2 tbsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk of choice 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 cup pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix) 2 tsp vanilla extract plant-based butter or margarine, as needed

INSTRUCTIONS

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In a medium-size bowl, combine milk and vinegar and whisk well.

Set aside to sit for 10 minutes.

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Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt.

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After 10 minutes, whisk together the milk mixture, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract until smooth.

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Pour pumpkin mixture into the dry mixture, and mix until smooth, and clump-free.

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Heat some plant-based butter on a griddle or large pan, over medium-high heat.

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Scoop a ¼ cup of batter onto the cooking surface. Place as many pancakes as you can fit in the pan, without touching or overcrowding.

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When you see the bubbles in the batter have stopped opening and closing, flip the pancakes carefully. Continue to cook for another 3 minutes, or until the pancake is cooked through.

Repeat until no batter remains.

Serve with plant-based butter, maple syrup, coconut flakes, chopped nuts, or whatever your heart desires.

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THE LAST WORD

“W E CA N ’T G O B ACK TO TH E WAY T HIN GS WERE.” As the global pandemic continues wreaking havoc on society and exposing the cracks in our systems, the Canadian Women’s Foundation offers solutions to a better world

Andrea Gunraj, Vice President of Public Engagement for the Canadian Women’s Foundation, speaks quickly and forcibly, an author and a lightning rod for the urgency of her cause: gender equality, both in the work force and in our homes. Founded in 1991 by a consortium of feminist philanthropists and pioneers, the Canadian Women’s Foundation has fought tirelessly for empowering girls, inclusive leadership, and ending the cycles of violence and poverty, for all women, including, of course, members of their LGBTQ+ family. We caught up with Andrea as she plotted our way out of the pandemic and into equality for all.

kind: What gear has the Canadian Women’s Foundation had to find to address equality in the time of COVID-19?

is at a record low and gender-based violence is potentially on the rise and we’re seeing greater risk among marginalized women—racialized women and women with disabilities, for instance—unequally impacted by the pandemic. And by the way, this isn’t just a Canadian situation. The global pandemic is hitting women harder than men.

to organizations that focus on women and girls. You have to understand: a lot of talk around recovery from our decision makers, particularly federally, doesn’t directly do enough for gender equality. I’m talking about a national childcare plan, a national action plan on gender-based violence, modernizing EI and making in-roads towards a basic income, for everybody.

kind: What can we do?

kind: Aren’t we currently doing this?

AG: Increase gender equality. And it’s up to Canada to push the envelope, we need policy—now—to show the world what gender equality looks like.

AG: We are, but if you don’t apply it through the gender lens, women tend not to get the benefits, and that’s the case for everything.

And this is something for our leaders to consider right now as they canvas the country for votes: what are you doing for gender equality? This is important for everyone because never forget that when women do well, everyone does well.

kind: Gender equality is something everyone agrees on, but it’s harder to put AG: The pandemic has brought a lot of cracks into practice. What does it look like to you to the light in the way our systems and on the ground? communities work and it’s clear our gains over the past 30 years are at risk.

AG: We give money across a great variety of organizations in our communities doing great work, but only a slice of them focus on kind: Like what? women, and by that of course I include trans people, and non-binary people. So what we AG: Women's labour force participation ask for is people to give their time and talent

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kind: I think you see that now in the COVID-19 responses in women-led countries like Germany, New Zealand and Finland versus the number of cases in countries like India, Italy, Britain, and of course, the Trump-led US.

equality. Look at the anti-black racism movement and the call to raise our voices that applies to all communities. You can hear their voice in the street.

AG: We’re at a special moment—it’s in times of crises where we prove ourselves. kind: How dire are the current pandemic crises?

AG: Let’s not blame the pandemic for our problems. It shows the cracks that are already there, just intensified. I’d love to say our problems are the virus, but we’ve been on a negative track and our gains have reversed because the gains weren't deep enough to begin with. When they’re deep, they’re shockproof. We need a shockproof mentality so we’re strong, tomorrow, and a hundred years from now. We can’t go back to the way things were.

kind: It’s a gift getting to speak to you and share your message. What brought you to your work?

kind: Give us your instruction manual, before we sign off, for a more civil world. kind: Be specific.

AG: The gender pay gap is improving at a glacial pace. And though we’ve seen greater recognition of gender abuse and sexual harassment, led by feminists, women’s organizations and activists sounding the alarm, every other violent crime is statistically going down while sexual violence has flatlined. This is where we need dire change.

AG: There’s a lot to feel positive and excited about, but it doesn’t necessarily come from the people in power, it’s people raising their voices from the margins—that’s where the excitement is. We all need to listen and pay attention to them. They know the answers because they live it every day and I feel positive and hopeful because of the work they do. I just wish they didn’t have to work so damned hard.

kind: In the midst of the struggle, what heartens you about the journey?

AG: The things people are doing to promote

To learn more about the Canadian Women’s Foundation, please see CanadianWomen.org.

AG: I had vulnerabilities in my family and my community and from a young age I thought about how to make things better for women. My family is from Guyana and I have intersecting vulnerabilities, being from an immigrant family and a woman of colour, I’ve experienced life through a focus on gender. I do, however, think it’s important to mention that I’ve had great examples of powerful women in my life, but also wonderful men doing great things. Everyone needs to fight for gender equality—from there we move forward.

kind: Where are we currently, as a country with regards to our treatment of women and girls?

AG: People don’t want to see violence, but violence is high: one in two women experience some kind of sexual violence; every six days a woman is killed by her intimate partner. We’ve always had an emergency, but knowing this I still believe in the power of systemic change.

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kind: Ok, so help us turn this around. How do we get out of this trauma?

T H E

AG: I think accountability is important and it’s not a partisan issue. Leaders reflect what their communities prioritize.

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O UT O F T H E D AR K N ESS, IN TO T H E LIG HT After a lifetime of learning about her own mental wellness journey, Serena Ryder arrives with a new album perfect for our times B Y

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Six-time JUNO awardwinning musician, Serena Ryder reflects on life in isolation: “I can’t stop checking my phone!”

An artist who describes herself as an introvert, Ryder’s dream is to not have to go out into large groups of people. While it would seem like her dream has come true due to unforeseen circumstances, it has forced her to be introspective.

“In this time, we’re all on social media, constantly online, looking at things and trying to find reflection of what’s true because we’re trying to search for something that we can hold on to,” she says, as she makes sense of life during a pandemic.

“It’s so fucking easy to numb out.”

As a musician, her career is virtual right now, and it has made her acutely aware of just how addictive social media can be, admitting that she compares herself to other people online.

Ryder grew up in a town of under 1,000

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people in Millbrook, Ontario. She had a manager by the time she was eight years old, and was discovered at 15 after performing in a local production of Gone With The Wind.

Her career would take off from there. Five years after that local production, a 20-yearold Ryder was touring internationally, and growing her star power. Since then, she has released eight studio albums, gone threetimes platinum, co-hosted the JUNO Awards and toured with the likes of Melissa Ethridge.

The album is a musical version of her keynote speech that has the same name, The Art of Falling Apart. The talk unpacks her journey from mental illness to mental wellness with the intent to serve anyone who can identify with her story and learn from it.

“ It’s the second step in my wellness journey, it has to do with the Ryder’s openness and vulnerability make her real medicine behind the artist she is today, and these qualities crying.” come through in her latest single, “Candy,” the first single from her upcoming album, The Art of Falling Apart. The song has shone a light on mental health when it seems the world needs it most.

“There’s nothing worse than being misunderstood, ya know?” she tweeted on September 18th. “Behind my seemingly chill vocals and heart thumping bass line - there lies vulnerability.” Candy has an incredibly catchy chorus, “Everyone’s got edges/ Build them to survive/ But I wanna open up and show you my softer side.” The line is a hook to an entire album dedicated to mental wellness.

“In holding our shit together, it becomes impossible to be an authentic person,” says Ryder, who talks about the vices she developed in her early 20’s as a means of “constantly trying to fix herself.”

Ryder’s second single comes out in October, and she says she’s excited to share this track with the world. “It’s the second step in my wellness journey, it has to do with the real medicine behind crying.”

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> > > The University of Pennsylvania says crying releases toxins and hormones that contribute to elevated stress. While crying is one of Ryder’s medicines, she says performing is one of her others. “It really helps me in my life,” she says.

Her genuine fervour and vulnerability transfers to the audience. Emily K. commented on Ryder’s music video for “Candy” on YouTube, “I can't wait ‘til concerts are allowed again. Seeing you perform at the Danforth Music Hall a couple years ago was such a great experience. You bring sincerity and passion to the stage!”

Ryder had the opportunity to take the stage once again on September 19 at the Northern Lights Festival in Sudbury, the city’s first drive-in concert. kind spoke to Ryder before the concert, she said, “I feel like it’s going to be weird!” She explained the logistics behind the concert being broadcast via a radio station that people listen to in their cars while they watch the performance. While she felt the experience might be strange, the inflection in her voice told us that she was happier than ever to be able to take the stage again, sharing her medicine—and journey—with the world.

Ryder’s upcoming album, The Art of Falling Apart, is expected to drop later this year.

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LI VE F R OM T H E NE W DR A G O N’S DEN Michael Wekerle is among Canada’s most well-known entrepreneurs. Here, he tells kind why his heart has been in refurbishing the El Mocambo B Y

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On Dragon’s Den, Michael Wekerle did everything large—big responses, big laughs, big investments. The larger-than-life Canadian business mogul has been involved with everything from film studios to investment banks and everything in between, including the Canadian franchises with Mark Wahlberg of his Wahlbergers chain. Setting his sights on the iconic Canadian rock club El Mocambo last March, Wekerle aims to restore live music royalty, even as he battles social distancing and the second wave of COVID-19. We caught up with Wekerle the morning after Big Wreck soft launched the club in September. We could still hear the ringing in his ears.

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“ The British Invasion MW: It was the second or third liquor license came right through in the city of Toronto and Joe Brown wanted to create a Latino vibe for ballroom dancing. here. The Rolling In the early days, it was very interesting and Stones in 1977. then Ronnie Hopkins came in and it became very famous for rock ‘n’ roll—it was the place U2 played their for rockabilly in the late 50’s, early 60’s. first show ever in North America, kind: It’s wild how such a little place took March 1980—the El up so much historic real estate.

Mocambo. I can go MW: The British Invasion came right through here. The Rolling Stones in 1977. U2 played on and on.” their first show ever in North America, March 1980—the El Mocambo. I can go on and on.

kind: That was the dream?

kind: Billy Idol.

MW: Yeah, and I wasn’t good enough to play the El Mocambo. I had to buy it instead.

MW: Stevie Ray Vaughan. kind: After the deed was done, did you get up onstage?

MW: They came out as The Cockroaches. It was a surprise show and back in those days, you could smoke in the theatres. Of course as soon as the lights went down, the puffs of smoke came out, which is funny, because now that we’re opening, cannabis is finally legal. Plenty of people will be walking around outside for a smoke.

kind: So you’re good with the cannabis legalization?

MW: Pot is just the same as drinking. As long as you have a responsible way of getting home after the show, cannabis legalization is excellent, yeah.

kind: I can’t believe you successfully pulled off a show last night during the pandemic.

MW: This is a big part of what we’re doing, bringing the live party back to your house.

kind: The industry is being decimated and it’s so sad to see.

MW: The thing about us is we have incredible technology so we can also do amazing live streams. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the pandemic, but we were wiring for livestreams before COVID. And last night, if you streamed it, it was epic.

kind: Blondie.

MW: The Cars. Listen, we can do this all day.

I love it.

kind: Why this place on Spadina Avenue?

What made it so great?

MW: I would say between 1965 to 1985, those 20 years, it was just unparalleled in terms of its excellence, and we wanted to keep as much of it as we could. But of course it was

MW: After I closed the deal I actually brought kind: Does it feel like you have big my mother with me and I did it—I played a platform shoes to fill? few covers of The Rolling Stones.

MW: We’ve created a new model for the industry. I think there’s even some kind: Let’s talk about The Stones. Let’s talk things from the past—sound, technology, about the 70’s. sightlines—that we can improve. Besides, when Mick Jagger took the stage at the El MW: I remember going there to see Foghat Mo, he said, “This ain’t no dress rehearsal. in 1981. I was 18-years-old and working in a This is the real deal here. We’re at El restaurant and it was just like, "I love this." It Mocambo!” We have to honour the words was the best place in the world. of Mick.

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kind: Of course the big act tied to the venue is headlined by Mick and Keith.

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a lot smaller in those days, the ceiling was kind: The El Mo first opened in 1948 and has lower and it was just impossible to get into. hosted everyone from The Rolling Stones to And I know this because I tried!

Stevie Ray Vaughan. How do you think last night compared? kind: You’re kidding me.

MW: It felt like a real show and let me tell you, being COVID-compliant and these MW: I’m not. I tried numerous times before harrowing times? Big Wreck sounded finally making it in 1979. I had to sneak in, amazing and it felt like everyone needed a but as a young kid growing up and loving really great night. music, it was always the holy grail. Can you imagine, getting up onstage at the El Mocambo and playing guitar? kind: Can you talk a bit about the history of the space?

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kind: Let’s honour them. What more can you tell me about their ‘77 show?

MW: They were the biggest band in rock ’n’ roll at the time and this concert came in unannounced. April Wine opened up and the Stones were so impressed with their performance that they released it as a live album. Live at the El Mocambo was the original title of their live record, and the guy working the sound that night is still working with us today.

“ Of course as soon as the lights went down, the puffs of smoke came out, which is funny, because now that we’re opening, cannabis is finally legal.”

kind: I understand Margaret Trudeau was at the show.

MW: I heard that the green room was more than green—it was a gong show in there.

kind: Man, to be a fly on the wall.

MW: They were staying at the Royal York and took a whole floor. Overall, it was a cool 1970's experience. You have to remember that in 1977, oil prices were up and we’d come through Watergate. This show was the Stones creating this vibe that was love.

kind: Obviously that’s a vibe that you want to keep up today.

MW: No way you take on something like the El Mocambo and do the vibe any other way.

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LIT The kind magazine roundtable summit on legal cannabis at two years old—the wins, the losses and some of our greatest hits around the monumental legislation ending the prohibition of Canadian weed P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y J A D E N D. , E L M O C A M B O

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Elias Theodorou: professional mixed martial arts fighter, Theodorou, a kind columnist, is the only professional athlete in the world with an exemption to use medical cannabis to compete in his sport.

Trang Trinh: After working in M&A at Deloitte, the 34-year-old TREC Brands’ CEO left consulting for legalized cannabis, where she runs her CPG-like house of brands as one of the few female Canadian cannabis CEOs. Ben Kaplan: Editor-In-Chief for kind magazine and moderator.

Shawn King: Former host of the influential cannabis podcast Turning a New Leaf and The Amazing Race Canada contestant, King is head of marketing at PAX Labs Inc., and a kind columnist.

John Fowler: Founder of the Supreme Cannabis Company, which had a billiondollar valuation in 2018, Fowler’s a lawyer, and race and cannabis advocate. He runs

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Blaise Ventures, a legal cannabis business consulting firm.

George Smitherman: Former Toronto mayoral candidate and first openly gay Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario, Smitherman is CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada.

Jacqui Childs: Influencer, advocate and model, Childs uses her heavily followed social media platforms to promote kindness and cannabis, tolerance and unity. She is a kind columnist.

Abi Roach: One of the nation’s foremost leaders of the Canadian cannabis underground, Roach, founder of the Hotbox Cafe in Kensington Market—which she sold to Friendly Stranger thus pivoted from illicit to legal market—now works as a Senior Product Manager at the Ontario Cannabis Store.

Tyler James: Community Coordinator for Cannabis Amnesty. James is an advocate for the expungement of cannabis possession

records and the inclusion of the legacy community into the legal cannabis market.

This physically-distanced conversation was moderated by kind editor Ben Kaplan at the El Mocambo in Toronto on September 9, 2020 (Shawn King zoomed in from Halifax, Nova Scotia). This interview has been edited and condensed for space.

BK: What are we raising our joints to as we celebrate this anniversary in Canada?

George Smitherman: A fairly courageous act has moved forward and the sky hasn’t fallen.

I’ll be raising a joint to that.

Trang Trinh: The objectives of legalization were protecting our youth and combating the illicit market and the illicit market has decreased in market share by about 30%,

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“ All of us in this room, all of you reading this story, we’re part of change. We all add to the history of cannabis.” which equates to about $2 billion—and the Jacqui Childs: We’ll always be complaining child-resistant packaging is sometimes adult- about that. resistant as well.

JF: We had a retailer in Toronto last week that Abi Roach: We’re the first G20, G7 country in the put their entire store at fifty-percent off. It’s world to legalize cannabis. We paved the way for such a wild concept. Your drug dealer would the war on drugs to end—because we’re going to never call you, ‘Half off! Come on down!’ keep pushing for other drugs as well.

before we could get through a meeting without someone cracking a joke. It was the weirdest concept because the cheques were real and the people writing them didn't take the industry seriously.

AR: When I had Roach-O-Rama in Kensington Market in 2000, people thought the cops had cameras on our street corners and they’d be using heat sensors on roofs to find grows.

My whole thing was about normalization, promoting the concept that smoking a joint with your friends is no different than having a beer or a glass of wine. It wasn’t for cannabis consumers. I mean, it was for their enjoyment, but I worked for non-cannabis consumers to show them that it’s OK what’s happening. No one is being murdered, no one is being stabbed.

BK: I know—but to what?

BK: Jacqui, earlier you told me a beautiful story about you and your son. Why don’t you talk about legalized weed in terms of being a parent.

JF: To the fact that we can even do this.

There's 30 million people who can walk into a store and buy legal pot, walk right up to a cop, spark a joint and go along with their day.

That is a novelty that will take a very long time to wear off.

JC: I have two grown boys in their 20’s and raised them in the Nancy Reagan “this is your brain in the frying pan” bullshit. Until two years ago, I was on nine medications a day just to function like a normal person. I wasn’t able to have a real human relationship with my child.

BK: And now you work for the government.

BK: How did cannabis change that?

BK: George, you as our politician—

JC: I’m now almost three years pharma-free.

And my son works at Tokyo Smoke and he brings home cannabis and I bring home something, and we have these amazing conversations about the world around us, our parents, and his future, and what cannabis has done for my life personally and for my family—I owe a ton of gratitude and an amazing debt to the community.

JC: I’m getting good vibes off him.

John Fowler: I’m raising a joint.

Shawn King: Cannabis circumstances in Canada will never be worse than the first few weeks of legalization. Since then, we’ve only gotten better. I still can’t believe we pulled this off, but we did. I raise a joint to that almost every day.

BK: Elias, while the rest of us hang out with stoners, you hang out with professional athletes. Do your opponents call you a pothead?

AR: Proudly, and in 20 years, I’ve seen people move from being afraid of buying rolling papers to me creating a strategy of what kind of papers do we need the province to carry.

GS: I should leave while I’m ahead. It wears out fast.

BK: Do you get slack from your friends that are still MPPs for being the face of legal weed?

GS: I’m like the Rodney Dangerfield of lobbyists.

Elias Theodorou: I’d kick their ass.

BK: Is there much stigma still in professional sports?

ET: Many athletes would prefer plants over pills. Not only in MMA, but also the NFL, NBA and NHL—usually right after guys retire.

BK: I remember when I started writing about weed, even from people assigning me stories, BK: Does that piss you off? they’d be almost laughing at the industry.

GS: No. Colleagues tell me the government is JF: When I left my law firm to run 7ACRES, I had a like that to everyone, but I do worry that lost partner call me in and he goes, “Fowler, how will in this is the idea that a producer's license is you not get cheesy stains all over your work?” a license to print money. These businesses are start-ups and it’s years of expenditure before there’s revenue. There’s lots of stigma BK: I bet when the money started rolling in generationally in political Ottawa, but I’m glad things all changed. to be in the job.

Tyler James: We’ve moved the yardstick so much that in another five years anything is possible. We’re getting to the point where the only thing we’ll be complaining about is quality. JF: We probably raised over $100-million

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BK: Why? GS: Because I’m going to expense cannabis.

I liked to smoke weed. If I made one wrong turn multiple times—and I’ve been stopped by police and not arrested—but if I was darker, I would’ve been arrested—no being a lawyer, no running a company.

JF: Your first cannabis expense report is a lifetime achievement unlocked.

leaving a legacy. I want to pave the way for other women—this is still a male-dominated industry. I want others to see that I can be a woman and be Asian and be a lot younger than a lot of our older male colleagues.

JF: Why are you looking at George?

BK: So how’d you put being woke into action?

GS: Fair target.

BK: Trang, George says he feels stigma in Ottawa. Do you feel stigma amongst your former colleagues at Deloitte?

TT: If you talked about cannabis prior to 2016, you’d be shunned, but growing up in the professional services it’s my responsibility to empower people to share their stories. That’s the only way to break down stigma.

JC: My first six months of coming out of the cannabis closet saw all of my bread and butter clients walk away from me. It was, ‘She’s gone to pot,’ and I received letters from lawyers. So in the beginning, the stigma was awful, but now? Now I don’t give a shit. We’re building something spectacular in Canada—you get cannabis from the Canada Post!

JF: Everyone told you you can’t hire people with records in cannabis, that’s false. So we started hiring people with cannabis convictions and they turned out to be some of our greatest employees. From there, it’s relatively easy to make the leap from a cannabis conviction to all people with criminal records. If you could sit in the chair across from us and explain how you’ve been rehabilitated, people deserve the chance.

BK: So where do we go now after two years, what’s next for legal weed?

SK: A year ago I would’ve answered it wrong with a lens on marketing and say, ‘loosening some of the marketing restrictions.’

SK: It’s saving Canada Post. But there are some GS: Never use the word ‘loosen’ with a negatives and somethings that we never want regulator. I tell people to say, ‘evolve.’ to brush over, like Cannabis Amnesty.

SK: Maybe we’ll see some ‘evolution’ like we’ve TJ: Cannabis Amnesty feels that the cannabis seen with bylaws on where you could and industry would be well served to adopt some can’t smoke cannabis. My goal for 2021 is to of the socially progressive practices of other see cannabis more accepted and for all of us to industries, other companies, like Ben & Jerrys, keep sharing what we’ve learned. What do you like Patagonia, where their progressiveness guys all love about weed? didn’t hurt their bottom line.

GS: My children recommend it to me.

TT: The other thing is to give back to our communities and putting ideas into action.

We give 10% of all of our profits to causes that put people and the planet first.

ET: I’m a fighter, literally. In a cage against an opponent or in a courthouse against prohibition. But Canada moved from the darkness and into the lightness with prohibition, and I helped serve the knockout punch for cannabis prohibition in sports.

Other athletes won’t have to go through what I did.

JC: I celebrate cannabis for my own sobriety.

People say, “Sobriety? Jacqui, you’re high all the time!” It’s that California sobriety, but it keeps me grounded. I’m a great mom and a great wife on cannabis—this is my second marriage and I wasn’t smoking pot then—it was red wine and pills.

SK: My dad is a military vet. I’ve watched him with pills and patches for years. One day I said, “Dad, why don’t I take you down to the cannabis medical clinic and see if you can try this?” He wasn’t feeling good. But he experimented and tried capsules and I asked him how he’s doing. “I haven’t slept better in 25 years,” he told me. “Now, when I go to BK: So what do we do?

JF: I like smoking weed because I’m good at it. my shed and look for my tools, instead of throwing things around, I just kind of look TJ: Right now, no one has brand loyalty. But if AR: I smoked my first joint at a Black Crowe’s for them.” That’s what happens when we more companies supported the community, concert. Some hippy said, “Hey man, want to try share the knowledge. you’d get organic growth. If you want to this?” That was it for me. I don’t drink alcohol. I hit the cannabis demographic, if you want quit cigarettes. Cannabis is just my thing.

GS: I love meeting an older person who’s people to transition from their dealers to the become enlightened. Canada is a global government-sanctioned online store, it’s not JF: My dad has been using medical cannabis, and cannabis leader and we will be welcoming just convenience, you want to believe in the one of the best moments was watching my dad more newcomers for years. ethos of the brand. The one company that did load a vape and get so fucking stoned around a it best was John at Supreme. kitchen table with my mom and my sister and TJ: If cannabis is going to be a legal thing, there he is, eating and feeling good, and the next I want to be an active participant and an JF: I’m very aware of the fact that from 13 day he goes, ‘I don’t think it did much. . .’ agent of change. All of us in this room, all of years old to October 16, 11:59, 2018, 24 hours you reading this story, we’re part of change. a day I was at risk of getting arrested because TT: Cannabis is about making an impact and We all add to the history of cannabis.

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HOW SOON T O ‘SHRO O M S ?

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T E R O B E R T S O N I N V E S T I G AT E S T H E T R E N D AT H A S R E C R E AT I O N A L C O N S U M E R S, M E D I C A L T I E N T S A N D I N V E S T O R S E X C I T E D : L E G A L I Z I N G Y C H E D E L I C M U S H R O O M S

Toronto shop A Good Mushroom isn’t exactly hidden, but it is mysteriously placed.

Friendly-looking signs direct wanderers on a residential side street near the city’s Little Italy neighbourhood halfway down an alleyway, and into a dark doorway that opens up into a minimal-but-beautifully designed space. It sort of looks like a coffee shop, only a biology lab-themed coffee shop—or a humansized terrarium.

Glass jars filled with shockingly orange cordyceps and soft white, stringy lion’s mane mushrooms adorn the wall behind two masked baristas. Bottles of mushroom stock and fungi-infused tomato cocktail sit on the counter, and the menu offers items like mushroom tea ($3.50), made with dried chaga, cordyceps, reishi or lion’s mane—all purported to help with things like the appearance of aging, stress, and some are even purported to contain anti-cancer properties.

Similar to Tokyo Smoke’s initial iteration—a thoughtfully designed coffee shop that sold high-end cannabis accessories as a way to start open, destigmatizing conversations to dispel the stereotypes dogging weed culture

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before legalization—A Good Mushroom is about destigmatizing the medicinal properties of fungi. Many species have been utilized by ancient cultures for centuries, and by simply placing the still prohibited psilocybin, a.k.a. magic mushrooms, among them. While there aren’t any psychedelics on the premises, books about ancient psilocybin rituals and the 60’s counterculture movement are for sale, and barista Philip O'Shaughnessy is a recent transplant from Amsterdam where mushrooms are legal.

He says microdosing—taking small amounts of psilocybin on and off through the week— improved his life.

“When I did my Masters in Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development, I got into microdosing psilocybin,” he says, as he heats some mushroom broth for me to sip.

“I thought it really helped me kick into gear for writing my thesis. I found myself practicing pilates more and what I wanted and what my body wanted were more in sync. I wasn't smoking when I was doing it. I was eating healthier. I just felt better about myself.”

There aren’t any magic mushrooms here, but they’re not far from mind.

Backed by Lorne Gertner, founder of the Tokyo Smoke cannabis brand, and brought to life by restaurateur Jimson Bienenstock, A Good Mushroom is the latest signal that a

handful of Canadians are leading the “Shroom Boom.” On the heels of Michael Pollan’s bestseller How To Change Your Mind, which highlighted the well-documented health benefits of psilocybin to treat mental health conditions like depression, magic mushroom companies are now popping up and going public on the stock market. Field Trip Health, which has clinics in Toronto, New York and L.A., is launching an app to guide people on their next therapeutic magic mushroom trip, and government policy is showing signs of loosening as well: This past summer, with the help of psilocybin therapy advocacy group TheraPsil, four people in palliative care qualified for an exemption by the federal government from drug laws so they could try psilocybin treatment to improve their mental health as they near death.

But will Canadians see a chain of magic mushroom dispensaries opening across the country in the same way Tokyo Smoke evolved into a cannabis retail chain? There are parallels to the policy changes that led to the medicalization and then legalization of cannabis, according to Steve Sadoff, who heads up psilocybin research company Sansero Life Sciences. But there are also differences.

“With the recent news of the health minister in Canada granting exemptions for a few individuals with terminal illnesses

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to consume psilocybin to help overcome their end of life anxiety, we saw similar activity in the early days of cannabis when it was petitioned to be available for medical purposes as well,” he says. “So with this news, I suspect there will be charter challenges, again, which was similar to the path that cannabis took, which will require a legal access point for patients to have it provided and potentially administered.”

But psilocybin—particularly macro dose therapy—also has some promising clinical evidence supporting its benefits for those with chronic depression and PTSD. That already makes it different from cannabis in two ways. Conventional medicine is still waiting on non-anecdotal evidence supporting cannabis therapies to treat many ailments including mental health, so many Canadians are self-medicating, and/or accessing medical cannabis through private clinics who take kickbacks from sales. And because macro doses require supervision by a doctor (or at least that’s what western medicine recommends) that therapy will likely move from private clinics to public medicine without as much resistance because the necessary clinical evidence is already existent or underway. And because of that, it will also likely stay within the medical community, rather than become legally available through

retailers for recreational purposes.

Lorne Gertner says he also sees parallels when it comes to the stigma associated with prohibited substances, but the conversation is a little easier this time around.

“When I first used to go in to talk to people about cannabis, they would laugh and they would refer to their stigma and there was a joke, right? And it was a long conversation to get them to where they would think about medical cannabis,” he says. “In the case of psychedelics, there's the same kind of stigma. But you get over it much quicker because we shift really quickly into mental illness and mental health. And right now, the world we're living in, the number one concern of people is COVID. Number two is mental health and mental wellness.”

Both Sansero and A Good Mushroom fall under the CannaGlobal Wellness umbrella, which also includes Rise Wellness, a microdose therapy retreat in Jamaica that is now expanding to Canada. It’s a reminder that psilocybin therapy may be new to a lot of Canadians, but it’s been legal in Jamaica and the Netherlands for a long time. It’s also a reminder that when it comes to medicinal or therapeutic mushrooms of all kinds, there’s a long history that includes community-based practices and ancient

“ It’s a reminder that psilocybin therapy may be new to a lot of Canadians, but it’s been legal in Jamaica and the Netherlands for a long time.”

rituals that were gentrified by western counterculture in the 60’s, and which are now undergoing the corporate treatment.

Canadian community-based practices also exist. Vancouver advocate Dana Larsen has been selling microdoses of psilocybin online since cannabis was legalized at Mushroom Dispensary. And recently Toronto’s Jess Nudo launched Psilo & Spice, so far a visual-only platform showcasing mushrooms in a new, Instagram-friendly light. Soon, she’ll populate the site with more content about microdosing, selfmedicating and its potential benefits, but with a more spiritual side, and incorporating some information about adaptogens and how combining them with psilocybin can be beneficial.

She says that rather than only legalizing the medical side of psilocybin through clinical settings, psilocybin should be decriminalized on the whole.

“I think cannabis legalization was very experimental,” she says. “Not to say that this isn't, but we saw how that went. And I'm hopeful that because of the pandemic, and just where we are now in our new normal, that decriminalization would be something that the Government of Canada would consider. Legalization takes a long time to do, it takes a lot. If they were to choose to decriminalize psilocybin and eventually, other psychedelics, that would just make the most sense. Hard drugs is a completely other category. But we're talking about plant medicine. To have that considered criminal, I believe is criminal.”

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INFUSED JERK CHICKEN R I G AT O N I W I T H

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Simple to make, but takes some patience to fuse all the ingredients. We add some flare to the dish by substituting the Alfredo sauce for coconut milk. Please pay attention to the balance of spices; that's the key to making your guests clean their plate! Always serve hot off the pot!

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INGREDIENTS 8 oz chicken breast or chicken thighs 2 cups of cooked rigatoni 1 cup of diced vegetables - a mix of zucchini, peppers, and onion ½ cup coconut milk ½ season chicken stock 2 tablespoons dry jerk seasoning 2 tablespoons coconut oil ¼ cup grated Parmesan Reggiano 1/8 cup diced basil/parsley/thyme 1 teaspoon CannaOil (made with coconut oil)

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Makes 2 servings | 5 mg THC per serving

Clean chicken by disinfecting with vinegar. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut chicken into ¼ inch strips and season with 1 tablespoon of jerk seasoning. Place in a food-safe container and let it marinate for 60 minutes.

Grill or brown chicken at medium to high heat in a skillet using 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Chicken should take about 2-3 minutes to cook thoroughly. Remove and set aside.

Add one tablespoon of coconut oil to medium-high heated skillet. Add vegetables and sauté for 2 -3 minutes or until onions are translucent. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of dry jerk seasoning, coconut milk, CannaOil and chicken broth. Let it simmer on medium-low till sauce begins to thicken up.

Add cooked pasta noodles, then throw in parmesan and fresh chopped up basil, parsley, or thyme. Add chicken and mix well.

Remove from heat. Serve hot and enjoy!

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INFUSED CARROT CAKE W I T H

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CAKE INGREDIENTS 2 cups cake & pastry flour 1 ½ cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 3 cups grated carrots 1 cup Cannabutter melted 4 eggs

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FROSTING INGREDIENTS 1 brick of cream cheese at room temperature ½ cup Cannabutter at room temperature 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 4-6 cups icing sugar

YOU'LL NEED Mixer Pan or cupcake pan Medium bowl

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Makes 24 servings | 10 mg THC per serving

Preheat oven 350°F. In a mixer, add all dry ingredients, add carrots, Cannabutter and eggs one at a time.

Beat on high for about 2 minutes, until thoroughly mixed.

In your greased pan or cupcake pan with liners, add your batter.

Bake for 40-60 minutes for cake pans, or 25-30 minutes for cupcakes.

Check with a toothpick.

Allow cooling before frosting.

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Beat cream cheese, Cannabutter and vanilla, with a mixer until thoroughly mixed.

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Gradually add icing sugar 1 cup at a time until smooth and creamy.

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4 cups of icing sugar for thinner icing, 6 cups for firmer icing. Start with less and add until you have a consistency to your liking.

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ON E OF A KIND I N S I D E H O W C B D C A N L I V E U P T O I T S H Y P E A N D T H E S P O R T S - M I N D E D N E W C O M PA N Y F R O M R A C H A E L R A P I N O E

Rachael Rapinoe is a former professional soccer player, trainer and coach, who studied biology and medicine and has an obsession with performance and recovery.

Based in Portland, Oregon, and starting her company on a foundation of inclusion and equality, Rapinoe is a major force in America’s cannabis legalization movement and her CBD-advocacy has gotten support from many professional athletes, including her sister, Megan Rapinoe—one of the most dynamic, outspoken American athletes of the past 20 years. Mendi, her new CBD company, aims to become a data-driven and research-based destination in a burgeoning, sometimes confusing, field. “The number one driver of this industry is education,” she says. Ben Kaplan caught up with Rapinoe from her Portland home.

much of their life is about testing and THC, specifically, so it’s either you know or you’re interested in being educated or else you’re RR: Not until much later in my life, but completely miseducated. And with the what I realized four years ago with Kendra miseducated, I mean—the fear is visceral.

[Kendra Freeman, cofounder], was that there You can’t do anything about that. was a need for proven high-quality sport recovery pills in the CBD space. We thought: let’s create a brand in this space that stands BK: Tell me about your evolution from for something beyond our product line— soccer star to CBD magnate. advocate for the industry and be inclusive of all people.

RR: I come from a sports science background, got my undergrad in biology, and built a training business in Portland, BK: You have a famous name. Were you wary where we stress the importance of recovery of getting into weed, even if it’s just CBD? for performance. But my entire academic and professional career has been built RR: It’s one of those things that people around health and wellness, how do you be either understand—hemp and cannabis and your best self through movement, nutrition the difference between CBD and THC and and sleep? what gets you high and what doesn’t—or they just don’t get it and don’t want to. And that’s also fine.

BK: That led you to CBD?

BK: Why did you start Mendi?

BK: CBD in particular can be confusing.

RR: I had been on a journey as an athlete and taken every pill under the sun and started seeing other athletes in my network using this stuff—CBD—and they didn’t have a trusted brand. They just kind of bounced around.

RR: A lot of people don’t even know that hemp is legal in the US and that you can buy CBD online and get it shipped to your doorstep. I understand, of course, the nervousness. Especially with athletes, so

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BK: Were you familiar with the cannabis world?

RR: It’s absolutely in the health, wellness and performance space, but also for me, there has to be that heart box—I lead with my heart and there has to be meaning behind my work and I think Mendi can impact the industry.

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RR: Hopefully, change the world.

BK: And what would you change?

RR: There are other great CBD brands, but our supply chain is all natural, from start to finish. We know where our cannabis is grown and what’s in the soil. Our products are all organic and a lot are vegan, and we work with chemists on proprietary blends that meet the needs of athletes.

RR: I’ve learned there’s much healing power in the plant and it’s so much better for you than the drugs Big Pharma are feeding the world.

BK: I’m a huge sports fan and your sister is one of my favourite athletes. When she scored her goals against France in the BK: You gonna take down Big Pharma?

World Cup I hung her picture up on our corkboard for my daughter to see. It’s cool RR: I very much wouldn’t mind disrupting them. to see her advocate for CBD.

BK: Tell me about how CBD is sold in the States.

RR: You can buy CBD products anywhere.

Sporting good stores, outdoor retailers, just not in cannabis dispensaries, but it’s pretty much everywhere else.

BK: So what’s the number one problem right now facing the CBD industry?

RR: People with money have come in and tried to commodify the hell out of it and that loses our integrity. They’ve oversold CBD and moved it from a scientific conversation to a magical cure-all, which scared off the consumer base. The number one driver of maturity in this industry is education.

RR: I actually started using cannabis because of Megan and the athletes she was hanging out with. That spawned my interest in cannabis as a recovery tool. I had only seen people using cannabis as “stoner culture,” as fun and at parties, but she used it for recovery. She didn’t want to put other pills in her body.

“ I had only seen people using cannabis as 'stoner culture,' as fun and at parties, but she used it for recovery.”

BK: Does Megan smoke weed?

RR: She used to a little bit, but she doesn’t smoke at all. It’s gummies, gel caps and tinctures— healthier ways to ingest.

BK: Where do you see CBD research going?

RR: Controlled studies with data and science to back up what the hemp plant can do so cannabis plant consumers understand what they’re putting in their bodies, like Advil. But until we have controlled medical studies, we can’t point to data. Let’s get the science.

BK: Do you see Mendi making all sorts of other products?

RR: We won’t ever have vapes or anything like that, but back to Megan, you know, she was stoked about our company. She had been using Mendi for awhile, and there were other CBD brands wanting to sign her, but it was a no-brainer to go with us. She’s not cheap.

BK: What makes Mendi different from other CBD companies?

BK: That’s cold. Your own sister is negotiating you hard.

RR: She’s an endorsed athlete. We pay her for sure, and both Meg and Sue Bird have equity in the company. We want them to have skin in the game, and we lucked out to come to market with Megan. It’s given us a ton of traction.

BK: I feel like the moment is right for a company—whether it’s CBD, cannabis or even our own magazine—to stand for something, like Megan has and like you do.

You sort of have to in 2020, or else you’re almost complicit in the racist, misogynistic system.

RR: I obviously had the inside scoop on how athletes work hard to build their own brand and more athletes every day are being very choosy about who they align with. With so much inequity in female sports, they’re using their platform beyond just the product pitch. That’s why we came to market during the World Cup with Meg and Sue, and with Nneka, who’s about disrupting the status quo of sports ownership, now more than ever there’s a huge appetite for standing up for the right things.

BK: And for you guys, what is it?

RR: Levelling the playing field. And for us, when we looked into the market, it was the perfect opportunity to not only tout cannabis and its benefits, but to champion these athletes—whether gay or Black or Indigenous or trans—this is the time for representation and to truly celebrate and amplify their voices.

BK: Take us out of here with a look into your crystal ball. Do you see America legalizing cannabis anytime soon?

RR: With a new president in office, and a new speaker of the house, and hopefully that will happen very soon, I think legalization can happen soon. I’d like to reimagine a whole new world.

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THE A L M I GH T Y J AY Canadian actor, director and writer, Jay Baruchel, has done his part for cannabis legalization. Here, the horror film fanatic waxes poetic on scary movies, weed, Cronenberg and Halloween B Y

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Jay Baruchel is 38 years old and immediately recognizable to anyone who’s come of age to his stoner comedies like Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder and This is the End. Alongside fellow Canadians Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Rogen’s writing buddy who scripted Pineapple Express and Superbad), Baruchel normalized weed smoking on film and placed it in the context of normal people growing up and pursuing jobs and romance.

It’s not lost on him that he and his buddies may have contributed something to the legalization of cannabis in this country.

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“Before Knocked Up, I would always get yelled at by my managers for mentioning pot in an interview, but after that movie made a bunch of money, lo and behold, it became this cool thing,” says Baruchel, who still lives and makes films in Canada, like his last two directorial efforts, Goon 2 and Random Acts of Violence. “Marijuana had occupied a pretty specific real estate in cinema up to Knocked Up and I’m not saying we split the atom, but we might have contributed towards a more nuanced, reasonable understanding that being a pothead isn’t a gateway to becoming a junkie.”

For Baruchel, the voice of Hiccup and star of the beloved animated franchise How to Train Your Dragon, image is important, at least as far as it goes for not sullying something he loves. So when he makes stoner comedies and is also able to be the face of a billion-dollar franchise—the eleventh highest-grossing animated franchise of all-time—it says something about the normalization of weed.

“I have a sincere respect and reverence for those movies and would hate to do anything that took away from it, but people, ultimately, didn’t think of it as an issue,” Baruchel says.

“I think it kind of speaks to where people’s heads are at and the evolving evidence, and just look at the cast of How to Train

Your Dragon (Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig and Christopher Mintz-Plasse from Role Models and Superbad)—that says it all.”

Baruchel is an avid comic book fan and Random Acts of Violence, his new film, which he wrote, produced, acts in and directed, takes viewers on a demented cross-country American journey into serial killers, and enough creepy set pieces to appease any Hitchcock fan. Psycho, he says, Hitchcock’s masterpiece, is his earliest favourite horror film, and his most recent Halloween films recommendations are Kill List, by director Ben Wheatley, and The Host, from Bong Joon Ho, who would later win the Oscar for Parasite. However, there’s no talking about suspense motion pictures with the fiercely patriotic Canadian without mentioning Toronto’s master of horror, David Cronenberg.

“He’d be the G.O.A.T. regardless of where he’s from, but the fact that he’s Canadian and not just reps here, but doesn’t try and erase that from his voice and set his shit in a fake American world, makes him one of my absolute heroes,” says Baruchel, who worked with Cronenberg on Cosmopolis. “I will spend my life trying to trigger five percent in an audience of what Videodrome triggered in me.”

and also look to homegrown films to help bolster our culture, we can do a lot worse than saluting the almighty Jay. “I think legalization is something that every Canadian, whether or not you consume cannabis, should be proud of—that we live in a country where this happens,” he says. “I was raised to be patriotic and believe I was living in and growing up in the best country in the world and I have lived to see that belief be something meaningful, practical and true.”

“...I would always get yelled at by my managers for mentioning pot in an interview, but after that movie made a bunch of money, lo and behold, it became this cool thing.”

These days, as we approach the second anniversary of Canada’s cannabis legalization

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KNO CKO UT P U NCH Elias Theodorou charts his return to the ring and the momentous occasion that is October 17, 2020 P H O T O G R A P H Y

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When I last checked in for the previous issue of kind, I shared my endless miles of running to stay in shape during the COVID lockdown as well as the countless “new normals” we all now face with in order to do simple stuff, like get stocked up on toilet paper and dumbbell weights.

For myself as an athlete, having gyms completely closed down really hindered not only my ability to show up to work—because preparing for fighting isn’t really Zoom

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accessible—but I tried, like many other athletes and health conscious individuals to stay as motivated as possible. Finally, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been able to plan my next fight. Hopefully, I get back into the cage on October 17 in a pay per view fight.

But first, let me explain how we got here.

During the lockdown, my love for running was reignited, both metaphorically and literally as I would “double dose” each runner’s high with cannabis and countless kilometres.

At this point I’ve nearly ran myself to and from Florida, which of course isn’t actually possible with the US-CAN border still closed and just another example of our new normal for the foreseeable future…

Still, as winter turned to spring and then to summer, some sense of normalcy has begun to return. The biggest “back to normal” moment was getting myself back to the gym. Rather, getting back to my own office as the new home office workout routine certainly had its limits. It was during this time I connected with Geordan Thomas, trainer and owner of Toronto’s United

Boxing Gym (UBC), which was one of the first gym’s back up and running in the city safely during COVID. I am extremely grateful he has opened his doors to me as a fighter to get back to work. This clearly wasn’t an easy task, as strict health and safety protocols are not just suggested, but mandatory to be implemented and approved for any gym to get back up and running.

For many, I recognize the struggle to stay in shape. Especially for those early morning workout warriors that would get in a session just before work, shower and then head to the office. Can’t really put on a tie and suit after a 6 a.m. boxing class. This is just one of the many obstacles facing both gym owners and gym members trying to jump right back into a consistent workout routine. Also, with these new limits of capacity of facilities, 10 people per class might not even cover paying the rent, never mind turning a profit.

Thankfully, as mentioned, my new home gym, United Boxing Gym, is up and running.

It even has its very own MMA room, where my training partners and coaches can all

“ This will include my next fight, which will be streamed exclusively on Imagine BC as I look to make history as the first sanctioned cannabis athlete.”

With that in mind, I have been quietly—yet ferociously—working behind the scenes to get back in the cage and compete. Along the

way, I realized, it’s not only the athletes, but also the organizations and leagues that also find themselves in a loss of next steps during a pandemic. For example, many sports leagues rely heavily on ticket sales, but with large gatherings all but (by-law) illegal, there goes most of your revenue (not to mention the six months of lost revenue during the lockdown). It’s a difficult time in sports, and that doesn’t even scratch at the amateur and youth sports, which have also suffered throughout this pandemic.

However, not being one to sit on my hands and wait for something to “just happen” on it’s own, I’ve been working on seeing how to navigate this new sports landscape. In my search I was extremely lucky to connect and then partner with Imagine BC—a safe and equitable platform for all users and creators. This will include my next fight, which will be streamed exclusively on Imagine BC as I look to make history as the first sanctioned cannabis athlete. Both as a fighter and a promoter for the historic event! This platform, unlike many current social media industry standards, does not “shadow ban” content because of an outdated view on cannabis. Moreover, the Imagine BC team is highlighting my PPV event as part of their own media roll out, as we look to make history together.

Of course, with this being 2020, my professional COVID life is very much in limbo until final approvals for competition.

We had planned to have our event October 17, 2020, the second anniversary of cannabis legalization in a jurisdiction of Canada that recognized my medical cannabis rights. This would have been almost too perfect of a date to kick off this event, but either way, we are ready and waiting to kick down the doors of prohibition in professional sports and lead the way as a safe and profitable organization for all Canadian sports to use a blueprint for their own return. Until then, I’ll happily continue to train at my new gym, ready to trailBLAZE my return for not only for myself, but all athletes moving forward: fighting the stigma of medical cannabis, both in and out of the cage.

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Now a few months back in the gym, ready, willing and hungry to fight, that has been the newest obstacle placing a wedge in my 2020 timeline. Originally, the plan was to fight 4/20, a distant memory now, but this 4/20/20 was a decade in the making and would have been “HIGH” class advocacy as I looked to make history as the first sanctioned cannabis athlete. Instead, this very important event was sadly pushed further and further down the line. Now, fast track past our first six months in the pandemic and heading into fall with a possible looming “second-wave,” this could mean even more rollbacks and more confinement to flatten the curve.

For athletes, this has meant more uncertainty for not only one’s next competition, but a whole competitive season. Poof! Just like that an entire year

might be gone. You can ask the many national athletes who planned to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics, which has been tentatively moved to summer 2021.

Again, assuming our global pandemic is “cured.” And once again, unfortunately for us athletes, our competitive days are numbered as everyone has an athletic expiration date.

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come to get back on that fighting grind.

And that’s exactly what we are doing.

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SE X,PL ANTS & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL J A C Q U I C H I L D S R E V I S I T S H E R M I S B E G O T T E N Y O U T H A N D M O U R N S T H E G R E AT A R T I S T S W E L O S T

It was the summer of ‘69... just kidding, I wasn't born until the 70’s, and my groupie shenanigans didn't start until the late 80’s.

I grew up in a home with a rich and diverse love for music. It ranged from Charlie Pride and Kenny Rogers to Yo-Yo Ma, Hendrix, Juice Newton and a family favourite Michael Jackson. However, my family were very proud Reagan supporters and the War on Drugs was all the talk around our dinner table.

When the conversation was too heavy, I'd run off to my bedroom to practice the twist, the mashed potato and the moon walk. I would lip sync into my hairbrush for hours while listening to 45’s or AM radio.

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helped make him who he was. Cannabis was immersed in the culture that helped shape the nation, a movement and the sounds that we still enjoy today—especially, at least for me, while smoking a blunt.

I guess I'm jumping around a bit, pardon, I’m a little buzzed, but while I reminisce and the memories come flowing back, I feel so incredibly sad and a bit ripped off that we weren't given the truth. The cannabis plant is a plant of peace and healing, used to create and inspire. Unfortunately, religion and racism didn't allow cannabis to grow to her full potential—until now.

While writing this, and taking a long trip down memory lane, I can't help but wonder, if cannabis was legal and the War on Drugs was actually about doing the right thing and taking opioids off the streets, would some of these musical geniuses still be alive today?

I guess I came by this honestly without sharing secrets that aren't mine to share— my father was quite a performer himself, and my mother styled hair for some of the Legends that made their way through our town. Her favourite to work with was none other than Ms. Diana Ross.

On spring and summer break, we would visit the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. I was blown away at how tiny Jimmy Hendrix stage outfits were. More pilgrimages would be made: off to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee to visit the home of Elvis Presley. The jungle room and the shiny Cadillacs were my favourite. I remember watching video clips, and wondering why he was always so sweaty. Again we lost this beautiful human to opioids prescribed by his doctors. Could cannabis have helped alleviate the pain and pressure Elvis was dealing with?

On my first family trip to Jamaica, we visited "9 Mile," the parish where the iconic artist Bob Marley was laid to rest, and at the time I thought cannabis killed him (I was pretty young and still thought Nancy Regan had all the answers). Now, however, I know cannabis

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Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose, perhaps cannabis could have helped her with her anxiety and depression.

Kurt Cobain died way too soon, he took his own life. I’m no doctor, but I would say the over prescribed Valium definitely had a hand in it.

Unfortunately, there's a long list of talented humans that used drugs to ease the pain, the same pain that is so often used to write, create and inspire so many.

I’ve felt that inspiration too. Fast forward to me leaving home at a very young age and taking my "talents," as previously discussed in past editions of kind, on the open road to growth and discovery I became what some might call a groupie—my parents must be so proud.

I have been fortunate enough (or unfortunate) to have "partied" and tour with some incredibly talented and creative humans throughout my life. I wish I knew then what I know now.

I remember being backstage (actually in a tented area side stage) at Lollapalooza in 1996, the partying was out of control. They

call it "partying," but is it really? I guess some were actually medicating? In order to get on stage in front of thousands, travel the world performing night after night, almost all mere mortals must use something other than fresh air and good vibes.

I remember smelling a skunky odor coming from a deck where Wu-Tang Clan were hanging out on their own, and I marvel that, at the time, cannabis charges were just as serious as crack cocaine.

Now in my 40’s and popping backstage to say hello to some friends in the industry, things have changed a lot. It's usually me that asks: "What, no hookers and blow?"

Maybe we're finally learning from the past, maybe legalization is actually going to save and change what we think of when we hear the phrase "party like a rockstar."

When I started to write this piece, I was going to talk about my all access pass and my backstage experiences, but there's a much bigger story here. I could go on about the "groupie life" and name drop, but that's for another day. (I promise). This story is really about what we've lost to opioids, alcohol and prescription pharmaceuticals.

Amy Winehouse sang: "they tried to make me go to rehab," then at the height of her career died of alcohol poisoning. What if, like me, she lost the wine and picked up the weed?

I hope I've left you thinking about how you too can help end the stigma and celebrate cannabis as we approach the second anniversary of Canadian cannabis legalization.

Finally, no Canadian cannabis and music fan could forget that October 17 is the anniversary of the late, great Gordon Downie's passing. Since Mr. Downie's death the remaining members of The Tragically Hip have become public figures in the cannabis community. We salute them, and Gord, every day.

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