Sensi Magazine - Metro Maryland - October 2020

PARTY LIKE IT’S 2019

COVID-proof social gatherings

CBD IN BEAUTY

Is it more than skin-deep?

M A RY L A N D OCTOBER 2020

FUEL TO THE HIRE Your guide to achieving a cannacareer

CANNABIS AND RACE

The systemic roots of weed law

ELEVATING THE STANDARD. MARYLAND'S TOP QUALITY CONCENTRATES

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Must be 18 years or older to view content. Medical cannabis is for qualifying patient use only.

MARYLAND SENSI MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020

sensimediagroup @sensimagazine @sensimag

FEATURES

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Breaking In

36

Parties for the People

42

How to get hired in cannabis at a time like this

The new challenges and rewards of Covid-era catering

The Muse

Does cannabis really make you more creative?

DEPARTMENTS

9 EDITOR’S NOTE 20 THE LIFE Contributing to your health and happiness 12 THE BUZZ CBD IN BEAUTY Is it more News, tips, and tidbits to keep you in the loop R U HIRING? How NOT to get a job in cannabis ‘SHROOM ZOOM Coffee with cordyceps for an extra jolt SELF IMPROVEMENT

Apps that keep you productive UPCYCLED SPECS Shades made from ocean litter STEPS TO SUSTAINABILITY

Recycled shoes (and more) from All Birds GO GRILL Portable, smoke- free fire pit from BioLite

than skin deep?

HOROSCOPE What the stars hold for you

52 THE SCENE Hot happenings and hip hangouts around town JUSTICE What does cannabis law have to do with racism?

DIET A gluten-free recipe for everyone to enjoy

ON THE COVER

A career in cannabis is more elusive thanks to COVID-19—but it is not out of reach.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH CLARK

60 THE END Exploring the everchanging artistic artery that is Baltimore’s Graffiti Alley

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ADVISORY BOARD

Charm City Medicus Responsible Healing Columbia Care Educational Dispensary Comfort Keepers Coordinated In-Home Care Curaleaf Veterans Cannabis Project Dr. Z Green Therapy Total Wellness Addiction Medicine Embrace CBD Wellness Center CBD Education & Quality Control Georgetown Hemp CBD Quality Assurance Expert Green Matters, LLC Supply Chain Green Point Wellness Cannabis Wellness Greenhouse Payment Solutions Payment Processing

Grow West Integrated Cannabis Company Kannavis Cannabinoid Experts Matthew L Mintz, MD, LLC Physician Melting Point Extracts Extraction Expert Pain Arthritis Relief Center Natural Pain Relief Peake Releaf Maryland’s Medical Dispensary Remedy Columbia Cannabis Culture Shulman Rogers Cannabis Law Starbuds Community Wellness WOW Wellness Health and Wellness

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA FAC E B O O K Like Sensi Media Group for the parties, topics, and happenings we’re obsessed with right now.

TWITTER Follow @sensimag to stay up-to-date on the latest news from Sensi cities.

MEDIA PARTNERS

Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy

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I N S TAG R A M @sensimagazine is home to exclusive photos and content.

Magazine published monthly

by Sensi Media Group LLC. © 2020 Sensi Media Group. All rights reserved.

EXECUTIVE

F

Ron Kolb Founder, CEO ron@sensimag.com Stephanie Wilson Co-Founder, Editor in Chief stephanie@sensimag.com Mike Mansbridge President mike@sensimag.com Fran Heitkamp Chief Operating Officer fran@sensimag.com Lou Ferris VP of Global Revenue lou@sensimag.com Chris Foltz Director of Global Reach chris@sensimag.com Jade Kolb Director of Project Management jade.kolb@sensimag.com Kristan Toth Head of People kristan.toth@sensimag.com EDITORIAL

Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor doug.schnitzspahn@sensimag.com Leland Rucker Senior Editor leland.rucker@sensimag.com Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large robyn.lawrence@sensimag.com Jada Calypso Brotman, Andrew Deangelo, Mona Van Joseph, Rheya Tanner Contributing Writers

DESIGN/PRODUCTION

Jamie Ezra Mark Creative Director jamie@emagency.com Rheya Tanner Art Director Wendy Mak, Josh Clark Designers Neil Willis Production Director neil.willis@sensimag.com PUBLISHING

Tyler Tarr Publisher tyler.tarr@sensimag.com

EDITOR’S NOTE

“Fight for the things you care about, but do it

in a way that will lead others to join you.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s inspiring words have been shared countless times since the world learned the icon had died on September 18. As I’m writing this, the news is still fresh and I’m still actively mourning our collective loss.

Even before she achieved celebrity status on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg successfully litigated against gender discrimination, making our lives today a reality. Take, for example, my life in 2020: I’m a single 39-year-old woman living alone in an apartment that I leased with no cosigner, writing this note on a computer I bought with my credit card to do work for a company I cofounded. If we were living in a pre-Ginsburg era, none of this would be possible, because I am not a man.

As a woman, I mourn our loss. As an American, I try to remain optimistic about our country’s future, although I’ll admit to moments when optimism seems like a quaint relic of the past. As the daughter of a fierce women’s rights activist who fought until the day she died to protect and advance the rights of women and other groups of people who have been treated as less-than by society and the government, I am ready to continue the fight.

My mom considered Justice Ginsburg her hero. Both women are my heroes, and I’m dedicating this issue to their memory, and to the memories of people who’ve battled or are battling the injustices of inequality, discrimination, and bias. I, along with Sensi, commit to being better advocates for and stronger allies to all marginalized groups. Not committing to actively working against inequality is not an option.

We must do what we can with what we have. At Sensi, we have a platform that allows us to reach audiences who trust us to inform and entertain, to shine our spotlight on people, places, and ideas that matter to all members of the community, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual identity, body type, or any other characteristic. We believe that publishing this magazine is a privilege that we must earn by amplifying the voices of people in our communities, including those most affected by the country’s racist War on Drugs.

We do so because we believe in what Justice Ginsburg once said: “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

We must do what we can with what we have.

Stephanie Wilson @stephwilll O C TO B E R 2020

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And we acknowledge that. We are firm believers in the idea that the first step to fixing any problem, to spur any change is to admit there is a problem to begin with.

As media attention shifts away from the racial problems our society continues to face, it would be easy to sweep this under the rug, to not address it because the topic no longer trends nightly, despite the ongoing protests, despite the president inciting violence and blaming it on the opposing political party and candidate.

But there is no denying there is a problem—parts of our society are broken. We see it play out on video after iPhone video, news report after social media post: People in positions of authority and power murder black men and women without repercussion.

It’s a huge problem that we as a society must commit to changing. It is not going to be easy, and it is not going to be quick. But it won’t ever happen unless we take whatever steps we can now and continue to push forward, to push back, to create space and lift up the voices long silenced.

We must do what we can with what we have. We at Sensi have a platform, and we intend to use it to lift up and amplify the voices of the people who have been most adversely affected by the prohibition of cannabis and the ongoing, racist War on Drugs.

In Sensi’s culture and values statement, we outline the virtues we wanted to grow our company upon—humility, growth, giving spirit, fun-loving focus. It was not until this summer, after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were murdered and the racial disparities in our so-

5-STEP COMMITMENT TO CHANGE 1. We want more team members of color, especially in leadership.

While we have always been an equal opportunity employer because we know that working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds makes us a stronger company, Sensi will be adding a diversity and inclusion-focused leader to our core team as soon as financially possible as part of a formalized commitment to creating a diverse environment.

2. Following the lead put forth by industry-leading publications like Cosmopolitan, we will ensure that the visual components of our content, the creators of our content, and the voices featured in our content, across all platforms, reflect the diverse and inclusive world we want to live in. This includes not just race but also gender identity, sexual orientation, body type, and ability.

3. We will continually audit our editorial content to ensure coverage is diverse and inclusive across the board—on covers and in articles. We will make a marked effort to highlight businesses and organizations led by people of color in stories we publish across all platforms.

4. We will develop a specific style guide to inform our writing about race, racism, and racial issues, as well as appropriative language— again following Cosmo’s lead.

5. We will be holding required diversity and inclusion training for all existing and new team members, with details in development.

ciety were in the spotlight, that our blinders lifted, and we saw that what we did not say in our company’s cultural outline is perhaps more important than what is in it.

Nowhere in the document do we discuss diversity or inclusion.

That was a mistake, and it is one we are changing now.

Diversity and Inclusion is now the eighth pillar of Sensi’s culture.

The specific language that will define it is currently being developed, but the gist of it is that Sensi is the sum of its communities, and we must represent the perspectives and reflect the experiences of the people within those communities.

It’s easy to write any company’s cultural pillars off as nothing more than corporate bullshit. But at Sensi, they are more than that—they guide us as we navigate business decisions both minor and major. To not have any mention of diversity and inclusion as part of our culture is a glaring omission that does not reflect our values. We commit to do better, and we will begin by formalizing our commitment.

These are not new tenets for Sensi; they are expanding on and formalizing our commitment to being stewards of the communities in which we operate—our homes. We can do better, and so we must. And we will.

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Weed Works

In honor of our feature on getting to work in the booming cannabis industry, let’s look back at some tips on what NOT to do to get hired.

Write “looking for work” or “seeking opportunities” as your main identifier on LinkedIn or other career networking sites. Let people know what you’re great at and be specific about what you want.

Call yourself anything resembling Dank or Dabby. Another no: posting a cannabis leaf instead of your photo as your profile pic on any of your socials.

Parade your problems, personal or otherwise, in front of professionals on social media. It’s alarming how often this happens in the emerging industry. Don’t overshare.

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Relentlessly stalk potential employers and mentors online and in person. If and when you do meet your prey, for the love of god don’t bitterly tell them, “I emailed you and didn’t hear back.”

Call yourself a “lifestyle brand.” Nobody knows what that means, neither do you.

Show up for an interview wearing flip-flops and/or smoking a joint. It happens surprisingly often, says Wanda James, owner of Denver dispensary Simply Pure. “Would anyone go for an interview at Coors with flip flops and a beer in their hand. You wouldn’t do it. So why would you come to us thinking, ‘they get high, they’ll be cool with it?’ No, I am not.”

Use slang terms for cannabis. The word marijuana was introduced by the U.S. government as a racially motivated tactic to bias people against the plant. There’s no excuse for still using the word in an industry built on activism against the drug war.

PHOTO BY ZAKOKOR, ADOBE STOCK

Get in it for the money. “There’s a perception that we’re all printing dollars in the back room and that’s going to flow through to everyone we hire,” says Nancy Whiteman, founder of leading edible brand Wana. “The truth of the matter is, we have to watch costs and margins like any other business—perhaps more so.”

CONTRIBUTORS

Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Doug Schnitzspahn, Stephanie Wilson

GREAT THINGS ARE NOT ACCOMPLISHED

BY THOSE WHO YIELD TO TRENDS AND FADS AND POPULAR OPINION.” —Jack Kerouac

BY THE NUMBERS

$79 Cost of a standard ticket to the Oct. 3 Cannabis Science + Therapeutics Provider Education Forum created by CannabizMD.

5.3 HOURS

Average time Baltimoreans spent commuting each week prior to COVID-19—that’s 11.9% of the typical work week reclaimed by working from home.

SOURCE: CoPilot

FUNGAL JOLT

Historically, cordyceps mushrooms were grown on the backs of rare caterpillars that live in Tibet’s high mountain ranges. The fungus lays claims to providing everything from long life to a boost in male sexual prowess. Coffee is that jolt you can’t live without. Combine coffee and cordyceps mushrooms in this mix, and you get a morning drink that really gets you, um, pumping. The mix of the shrooms and the caffeine means you get that energy boost without feeling jittery.

16 SEPT

Self-Improvement Starts Now

While the school of thought for decades was that it took 21 days to form a new habit, recent studies have shown it can take anywhere from 15 to 254 days to integrate a new behavior into your routine. So, if you want to make a change during COVID quarantine, start working on it now.

Developing any new habit starts with routine, and there are so many apps out there designed to help you integrate new behaviors into your daily life. These are three of the top-rated options.

Productive Habit Tracker This app helps you build a whole routine of life-changing habits. It’s fully customizable, making it easy to stick to it. Set goals, watch your progress, get reminders based on location, build streaks for motivation, and celebrate victories with a swipe.

Done: A Simple Habit Tracker What sets this free app apart is the ability to set a goal and track it multiple times a day. Because if your goal is to drink more water, drinking one glass and checking it off the to-do list isn’t gonna cut it.

StickK Developed by behavioral economists at Yale University, StickK is based on the science-backed idea that you are 300 percent more likely to achieve your goal if you put money on the line. So this app is based on a Commitment Contract you make with your future self, and allows you to bet real money on whether you will reach that goal. Lose that bet, and the money you’ve committed goes to the person or organization of your choice. The StickK developer suggests choosing an Anti Charity—an organization with a mission you oppose—for an extra layer of motivation.

The date the Baltimore Museum of Art re-opens to the public, with a new timed-entry pass program limiting the number of visitors to 15 people every 15 minutes.

Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee $15 for 10 packets / us.foursigmatic.com

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THE BUZZ

Untangled Cool An estimated 640,000 tons of discarded fishing nets and gear clog up the seas. Florida brand Costa del Mar found a smart solution to this mess: Make its sunglasses for sport anglers and ocean lovers out of some of that plastic. Costa’s Untangle Our Oceans program takes discarded fishing nets, turns them into plastic pellets, and then uses that material to build its frames. The resulting shades, which are available in five styles, are durable, and the polarized glass lenses cut glare on the water. $199–$219 / costadelmar.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALL BIRDS

Walk This Way

Sustainable shoes may seem a little out-there, but All Birds in Venice Beach would have to disagree. Hellbent on getting Carbon Neutral Certification, All Birds footwear, socks and underwear are certified environmentally sound and sustainably made. The shoes are made using recycled bottles in the shoelaces, castor bean oil in the soles, cardboard in the packaging, and wool fabric. All Birds gives new meaning to intentional climate consciousness. Making running and everyday footwear that you can wear with a clear conscience, you will also have complete comfort, arch support, and everything you need in a well-made shoe. They also make undies and socks for both men and women. Buy local and support green brands every chance you can. allbirds.com

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THE BUZZ

BILITIES

BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF

1 ADD TO PLAYLIST: “Overwhelmed” by Royal & the Serpent. The catchy-as-hell beat gets ya grooving while the of-the-now lyrics get ya moving. This is an anthem of the times: “All of these faces / Who don’t know what space is / And crowds are shut down / I’m overstimulated…”

2 FACE IT: Emerald CBD + Adaptogens Deep Moisture Glow Oil by Herbivore ($48; herbivorebotanicals.com). The women behind the clean skincare brand are advocates for the legalization of cannabis, and they say their goal is “to enlighten and educate on the many wonders of cannabis for everything from chronic disease and pain management to its incredible skincare benefits.” $1 from every Emerald Deep Moisture Glow Oil sold goes to Americans for Safe Access, an organization that supports safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.

3 DRESSING DOWN: I don’t remember the last time I wore pants with a zipper, and my platform Converse are now considered a dress shoe. Will I ever wear heels to work again? Heel no!

4 FRESHEN UP: Some might consider fresh flowers a frivolous indulgence amid a pandemic that’s decimated my bank account, but I consider each stem an investment in self-care. Tip: Find a local wholesale florist open to the public for ridiculously low prices and an incredible selection. At Denver’s Associated Wholesale Florists (on Mississippi between Federal and Santa Fe), I picked up a few hydrangeas stems last week for $1.80 a pop.

Art, freedom, and creativity will change society faster than politics.”

Smokeless Fire Everybody loves a campfire—but it’s not always easy to have one. Fires take work to maintain, they can be tough on the natural surroundings, and they can be dangerous—not to mention how you always seem to be sitting directly in the line of that column of smoke. Forget about those problems: BioLite’s FirePit Climate Neutral Edition, which holds four logs or charcoal, is portable and smokeless. That means you can haul it out to any spot where you want to park your camper van or just set it up on the back porch on a chilly night. It converts into a grill as well, ideal for those skewer meals. You can adjust the flames by hand… but why? It’s far easier to do it via Bluetooth.

The good vibes don’t end there either. BioLite is not only a carbon-neutral company, spending cash to offset any carbon it creates, its founder helped spearhead the nonprofit climateneutral.org, which helps other brands offset their carbon use. Ten percent of sales on this portable campfire go to that worthy cause.

—Victor Pinchuk

BioLite FirePit / $199 / bioliteenergy.com

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Medical cannabis products can only be used by a qualifying patient in the state of Maryland. Consumption of medical cannabis may impair your ability to drive a car or operate machinery. Please use extreme caution. Additionally, there may be health risks associated with cannabis use, especially during pregnancy or breast-feeding. Accidental consumption of cannabis by children or animals may result in severe adverse reactions. Keep cannabis out of the reach of children and animals. All content intended to be viewed by medical cannabis patients 18 years of age or older.

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CBD The Beauty of

The “it” cannabinoid is the hottest ingredient in skincare, but will it really make you hot?

PHOTO CREDITS (FROM LEFT): JACOB LUND, ADOBE STOCK / COURTESY OF SAINT JANE

TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON

The CBD beauty market is on track to reach $25 billion globally in the next 10 years—a mind-blowing figure when you consider that five years ago, most of us hadn’t even heard of CBD. I hadn’t. Then I did, and soon it was everywhere, being sold as a potential cure for everything, hawked by everyone—the gas station attendant pushing CBD gummies; the elderly neighbor talking about the CBD tincture that got him back on the pickleball court; and even the

girl from high school who stumbled into my DMs reciting practiced MLM scripts and urging everyone in her orbit to join her marketing mission, to get in on the ground level of the cannabinoid craze.

I think about that girl often, especially as I click through my inbox, which received an average 11 unsolicited emails related to CBD every day of 2019, many of those pitching stories on the latest and greatest and most innovative, game-changing CBD product to hit

the (already saturated) marketplace. She’s got a whole lot of competition.

And it grows by the day.

The “it” cannabinoid roared onto everybody and their grandmother’s radar in 2018, and today’s infused offerings run the gamut from awesome to abhorrent. Sometimes it’s not easy to tell the difference between the two, but fret not: We’re here to help. CBD is a beautiful thing with plenty of potential in the beauty industry. Many readers have asked me about CBD beauty products,

so I put together this tutorial for you all. If you like it or if you’re new here, don’t forget to click “like” and subscribe and let me know in the comments. Appreciate you!

First, the Legalities In late 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) federal law, changed the definition of “marijuana” to exclude hemp—a type of cannabis sativa that contains less than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.

Any CBD derived from hemp is A-OK with DEA.

Saint Jane Luxury CBD Beauty Serum With 500 mg of fullspectrum CBD, plus 20 potent botanicals, this antioxidant-packed superblend promises to hydrate, calm redness, detoxify pores, and restore your natural glow. $125 / saintjanebeauty.com

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THE LIFE

D O N ’ T T RY T H I S AT H O M E

PHOTO CREDITS (FROM LEFT): JACOB LUND, ADOBE STOCK / HUMBLE FLOWER

CBD pillows exist. The science behind the maker’s claims that sleeping on one delivers any cannabinoids to your system, however, does not. Buyer beware.

Oversight of the popular cannabinoid now falls under the purview of the Food and Drug Administration, which retains authority to regulate products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds (hemp included).

That said, the FDA doesn’t do much regulating of the cosmetics industry in general, only stepping in to prevent

products from maiming or killing consumers. The FDA defines cosmetics as “articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced to, or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and articles intended for use as a component of any such articles.”

Basically, anything you’d find at Sephora.

So to recap: cannabis + cosmetics = legal. But are cannabis cosmetics beneficial, or are companies just capitalizing on the hype, snake-oilsalesman-style? Ingesting cannabis is known to have benefits, but does it do anything when it’s just slathered on your skin? Does it have any beauty benefit?

That’s subjective, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all. The science behind these cannabinoid-laden skincare and beauty products is definitely not full coverage.

To use another makeup analogy, it’s more Alicia Keys than Ariana Grande.

But you can find worthy products that fit your needs: do some research, ask friends for recommendations, and read up on the products and the companies you’re considering. And do as any Sephora VIB (Very Important Beauty, of course) would: check the customer reviews, which more often than not offer more insight about whether a product is right for you than any marketing campaign ever could.

Talking Shop Most department and specialty stores have a growing number of cannabis-related prod-

ucts in their portfolio of offerings. But to find the high-end products worthy of your attention and your dollars, start with the high-end stores employing discerning buyers whose job it is to vet products before agreeing to sell them to their customers. You’ll find top-quality lines with price tags to match at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and so on.

At Sephora, you’re likely to find the most robust number of cannabis-derived beauty boosters for your perusal.

Sephora’s lineup includes items such as Herbivore’s Emerald CBD + adaptogens deep moisture glow oil ($58), made with full-spectrum CBD oil, plus hemp seed oil. Farmacy makes the Better Daze Ahead CBD moisturizer ($68); Kiehl’s has a cannabis sativa seed oil herbal concentrate ($50); and Milk Makeup has KUSH mascaras and lip glosses made with hemp-derived cannabis seed oil.

It’s worth noting here that cannabis sativa seed oil, cannabis seed oil, and hemp seed oil are the same thing, and that thing is very different than CBD oil. You’ve likely used hemp seed oil before—it’s been around for centuries, and it’s often used as a base in-

370% The increase in online searches for “CBD beauty” after the US legalized hemp-derived CBD in 2018 SOURCE: Allure

Humble Flower Jasmine & Rose Body Lotion With 500 mg CBD, botanicals, and pure essential oils, this silky cream delivers instant hydration. $75 / humbleflower.com

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THE LIFE

Check This List Thinking of adding some CBD to your skincare routine? Look for quality products that mention these components or practices on the label: • Full- or broad-spectrum CBD, with the quantity clearly listed. Some companies are adding trace amounts to justify jacking up the prices. No official dosage recommendations exist, but if it’s more than a single serving, expect triple digits.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PRIMA

• Organic cultivation practices, free of pesticides, herbicides, and other harmful materials • USA-grown hemp: Imported hemp may have been exposed to chemicals banned by the US. • Third-party lab testing, with results available online

gredient. It’s inexpensive; it’s a good moisturizer; and it doesn’t clog pores (so it’s unlikely to cause breakouts).

CBD oil, on the other hand, comes not from hemp seeds, but from the plant’s stalks and stems. Because it comes

from the whole plant, it contains the same valuable vitamins, minerals, and nutrients found in hemp, as well as the cannabinoids. This magical combo is thought to be why CBD oil may calm irritated skin and combat acne. CBD has antioxidant properties more powerful than vitamins C and E. It’s antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, and it has conditioning/lipid-producing properties that makes it a great moisturizer.

Dr. Cheryl Bugailiskis, a board-certified pediatrician and cannabis specialist with HelloMD, spoke with online magazine Bustle about why our skin can potentially respond very well to CBD. Turns out, the skin has the highest concentration of cannabinoid receptors, to which cannabinoids like CBD bind upon application, working with our endo-

cannabinoid system to help the body reach a state of balance.

Bugailiskis says when CBD is used for therapeutic purposes tied to the skin, it’s believed to work by impacting our skin’s cannabinoid receptors “to better regulate pain, inflammation, bacteria, lipid production (which can lead to acne), the release of histamine, as well as skincell proliferation (which causes psoriasis). While more research is needed, some studies indicate CBD could be effective in calming irritated skin and reducing redness, helping to lessen visible signs of aging, and as a potentially powerful way to combat acne.”

Clearly, there’s a lot of goodness packed into one plant. And our bodies are basically designed to reap its benefits, so slather on a liberal application and reapply as needed.

Clean wellness and beauty brand Prima uses hemp-based CBD in its award-winning line, which is now available at Sephora stores nationwide. $16–$96 / prima.co

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THE LIFE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mona Van Joseph has been an intuitive since 2002. She is an author, columnist, and the host of Psychic View Radio. She created dicewisdom.com, which also has a smartphone app. mona.vegas

HOROSCOPE

OCTOBER HOROSCOPE What do the stars hold for you?

TEXT MONA VAN JOSEPH

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22

LIBRA

Doors opening are meant for you. Accept all invitations because they are leading you to the next step in something important. It’s time to create your network.

made an incorrect assumption about someone (or something), so it’s time to do your research and get the real story. Avoid those with stinking-thinking.

this vibration by choice, and it may be time to take care of that one thing to finally free yourself.

DEC. 22-JAN. 19

Recommit to personal discipline. It could be diet, exercise, avoiding negative people, reconnecting with spirit, going on a fast, or taking a class. Pick something to do every day in October.

CAPRICORN

Communicate and release SCORPIO your perceived failures this You can’t do what you want month. Recognize that they all by yourself right now. are actually lessons in disIt’s time to allow others to guise. It’s supposed to be a help you get what you want. month of freedom for you, Open most conversations and the last tether is these with, “I need your help,” and old issues. then be grateful that they can and will.

JAN. 20-FEB. 18 OCT. 23-NOV. 21

AQUARIUS

A long-standing situation SAGITTARIUS gets addressed this month.

Give people the benefit of You are tired of feeling the doubt this month. You’ve trapped or limited. You’re in NOV. 22-DEC. 21

FEB. 19-MAR. 20

PISCES

MAR. 21-APR. 19

ARIES

Be totally committed to your work. Whether that is to find a job or rededicate to a current one, this month is all about you being “all in.” You are the king or queen of cooperation this month.

APR. 20-MAY 20

TAURUS

LIBRA, ACCEPT ALL INVITATIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE LEADING YOU TO THE NEXT STEP IN SOMETHING IMPORTANT. IT’S TIME TO CREATE YOUR NETWORK.

Stay in control of your emotions because it’s time to reevaluate your relationships in an almost businesslike way. It may be time to cut your losses and let go of what’s not working.

MAY 21-JUNE 20

GEMINI

the people who don’t. Your connection with spirit will be stronger than ever and will send you signs to guide you.

JULY 23-AUG. 22

LEO

You are magic this month because spirit is guiding you toward the life you’ve always wanted. Look at every single human as though they are conspiring for you to be happy and successful.

All the crap you’ve been going through in 2020 will make a great screenplay.

But that will shift if you pre- AUG. 23-SEPT. 22 pare in October for forward VIRGO movement in November.

This will be your luckiest month of the year. While JUNE 21-JULY 22 that doesn’t necessarily CANCER mean you’ll win Megabucks, More than ever, you’re discov- it does mean your hard work ering your priorities, the peo- is about to yield some pretty ple who align with you, and amazing results.

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So, you want to get a job in the cannabis industry?

Better sharpen your digital networking skills. The competition is fierce.

TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH CLARK / ORIGINAL IMAGES VIA ADOBE STOCK

c

w

is

en

l l a w g o n m i l la love cann ab o h

CONNECT WITH YOURSELF AND OTHERS IN CITIES AROUND THE GLOBE

TOKEATIVITY.COM/CONNECT

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSH CLARK / ORIGINAL IMAGES VIA ADOBE STOCK

C

OVID-19 has turned the cannabis job market on its head. Before the pandemic hit, employers were struggling to find and retain talent in the lightning-hot cannabis industry, which boasted one of the country’s fastest-growing job markets, with a job-creation rate of 110 percent from 2017 to 2020 and a median annual salary of $58,511 (11 percent higher than the national average), according to Forbes. Cannabis companies competed mightily for quality workers amid record low unemployment. In Canada, the shortage was so dire that companies were importing workers from the US (those were the days, eh?).

Then in March, it all came to a screeching halt. “For the first time in five years, we had zero job openings for a week,” says James Yagielo, CEO of HempStaff, which does hemp and cannabis recruiting and dispensary training.

For a moment, no one knew what would happen. Denver experienced the shortest prohibition in history when Mayor Michael Hancock closed dispensaries and stores, then opened them a few hours later after dangerous crowds swarmed, looking to stockpile reserves.

Unlike the travel and hospitality industries, cannabis bounced back in an extreme-V recovery as soon as it was deemed an essential business in most states where it’s legal. Sales have soared throughout the lockdown and beyond, and New Frontier Data predicts they could reach $13.1 billion by 2025.

By the end of April, Yagielo says, job listings were back up to about half of what they were pre-pandemic. After the Fourth of

July weekend, when people began to realize their federal unemployment benefits were about to run out, far more resumes than job listings began flooding in.

Recruiters say a lot of resumes are coming from people who have been ousted from jobs in other industries, people who might have considered cannabis too risky or controversial before but couldn’t help but notice that dispensaries and cannabis stores remained open—and quite busy—while the rest of the world shut down. Being deemed essential did a lot for the industry’s reputation.

“What COVID-19 has done, really, is address the stigma around cannabis on the broadest scale,” says Brian Sekandi, founder of Careers Cannabis, a smart-search platform that connects talent with companies in the global cannabis industry. “Everybody was confronted with the fact that cannabis is an essential business

across North America, and that really confronts the idea that cannabis is bad. It’s no longer this nasty underground industry.”

“When it was deemed an essential business, that was a big mindshift for a lot of people,” says Kyle Arfsten, client relation director for Kforce (kforce.com), which builds and manages technology, finance, and accounting teams for top employers, including cannabis companies, nationwide. “People who typically wouldn’t attempt to get into the industry are now open to the idea.”

TOP JOBS The highest-paying jobs in the cannabis industry are consultant (unlimited), COO and CFO ($125,000+), extraction technician ($75,000 to $125,000), grow master ($80,000 to $100,000), and edibles chef ($40,000+), according to Investopedia.

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All that means “a lot of people are trying to transition into the industry right now,” says JR Hindman, founder of Marijuana Resumes, which has been providing job seekers with resumes and cover letters coded for the industry since 2016. “They’re unemployed, sitting at home, and thinking, ‘what is my next move? Why not switch gears and pursue a career I never thought possible?’ These are weird times, so why not get weird with it?”

QUANTITY DRIVING QUALITY In July, HempStaff advertised a customer service job in Los Angeles. More than 1,600 people applied. “Companies are running into the issue where they have an abundance of people applying for jobs, and they have to sort through them,” says Arfsten.

“There is definitely an increase in the talent pool—like the old saying goes, quantity drives quality.”

In addition to all the newcomers from shuttered restaurants and retail hubs, the cannabis industry was already accumulating a stable of experienced workers laid off as the young industry went through some necessary reality checks in the months leading up to Covid.

After being out of work for upwards of six months, Yagielo says, these professionals are willing to take a pay cut if it means steady employment. He has seen master growers’ salaries drop from upwards of $100,000 to $80,000.

“I used to tell people it would take six to eight months to break into the industry,” Yagielo says.

“Now, who knows how long it’s going to be. We’re seeing people with industry experience take six to eight months to find a job.”

“EVEN THOUGH THERE’S TONS OF OPPORTUNITY IN CANNABIS, IT HASN’T BECOME EASIER TO GET IN.”

LEAN OPERATIONS Industry recruiting platform Vangst surveyed 39 US companies about their hiring intentions this year and found that 36% reduced headcount while another 33% used temporary employee furloughs in response to the pandemic.

SOURCE: 420 Intel

—Brian Sekandi, cofounder of Careers Cannabis

LOW AND SLOW Wildly uncertain economic times certainly aren’t helping job seekers right now, as a lot of companies take a more conservative approach and slow down on hiring until they have a better sense of what the future holds. “Unfortunately for individuals in this market, even though there’s tons of opportunity in cannabis, it hasn’t become easi-

er to get in,” says Sekandi.

On top of all the barriers to entry, the type of jobs available and how much they pay have both been diminished since the pandemic hit, Yagielo says. Budtending jobs, which pay between $12.50 and $18 an hour, are the most abundant and available. Budtending has been the most common way of breaking into the industry since the beO C TO B E R 2020

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ginning, but budtenders are more in demand than ever as cannabis retailers open their storefronts back up while maintaining curbside pickup and delivery (which became way too popular during lockdown to let go).

Reviews of budtending as a career starter are decidedly mixed.

It is, after all, a retail job. You have to be able to deal with the public and, sometimes, managers with dubious if not nefarious leadership skills. You may have to throw out a few people who refuse to wear masks in your store, but you’ll also get to be an ambassador for people who have never experienced cannabis before.

“The pay is shit, but the perks are great,” is how one Redditor recently summed it up. “I love getting

free samples all the time. Brands and growers are always kissing our asses with free stuff, and that makes the lousy pay worth it.”

“The folks who stand out in this environment are the ones who do a little bit extra, put in a little more effort,” says Sekandi. “Put yourself out there. Be willing to EXPERT ADVICE learn and listen. Engage without Standard advice for job seekers getting something in return. The in any industry is to get out and key is to get on people’s radars.” network, but as Hindman points Sekandi says his own network out, “it’s not like you can go out has exploded now that he is no and shake hands and kiss babies longer limited by physical boundthese days.” aries. He’s constantly online taking In this age of social distancing, classes and participating in Tech Hindman says, networking has Stars programs and conferences, shifted to LinkedIn and social mewhere he finds ample opportunity dia—so you better get savvy there. to meet and connect directly with Taking an online training or cerparticipants and speakers. tification is another way to meet “In chaos, the world becomes people (while also beefing up your flat,” he says. “I now have access resume), he adds. “People have to so many people who were just to start thinking outside the box if too busy pre-COVID-19. Today they want a career in this industry.” they’ll take the time.”

SCISSORS OUT Want to be a grower?

You may have to start as a trimmer. It’s the most common entrylevel position in cannabis cultivation, according to Cannabiz Team.

HIRED.EXE

Start your online job search with these nine cannabis-centric career aggregates: 420Careers / 420careers.com Full- and part-time jobs and gigs

HempStaff / hempstaff.com Hemp and cannabis industry recruiting

Cannabiz Team / cannabizteam.com Places talent in all areas of the cannabis industry

Marijuana Resumes / marijuanaresumes.com Helps job seekers write resumes and cover letters coded for the industry

Cannajobs / cannajobs.com Jobs in growing, technology, and more

PHOTO BY SPAXIAX, ADOBE STOCK

Careers Cannabis / careerscannabis.com Smart-search platform connecting talent with companies Ganjapreneur / ganjapreneur.com Searchable job board

Ms. Mary Staffing / msmarystaffing.com Dispensary recruiting agency THC Staffing Group / thcstaffinggroup.com Boutique recruitment firm for the cannabis industry Vangst / vangst.com Cannabis industry job board and more

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PARTIES FOR THE PEOPLE COVID-19 makes serving cannabis dinners a little more challenging and a lot more meaningful.

TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE

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F

ebruary was an incredible month for my young business, Cannabis Kitchen Events, which provides private cannabis-infused dinners and cooking classes at people’s homes and short-term rentals in Denver. We catered our first wedding on February 22, and our upcoming calendar was packed with bachelorette and birthday parties well into the summer. We were ready. It was go time.

And then, as we all know too well, it wasn’t. When we suspended operations in mid-March and postponed all events until further notice, I had no idea if we would ever serve Canna-Mango Mules again.

Would anyone be willing to invite possible COVID-19 carriers into their homes or to gather around tables to share meals? Who would get on an airplane or rent an Airbnb?

We held out hope, taking the pause as an opportunity to refine and improve some of CK Events’ systems and develop stringent COVID-19 safety practices based

on everything we could learn from Dr. Fauci, the City of Denver, and the State of Colorado (the most trusted sources we could find).

Food service is all about food safety, so we were already well-versed in handwashing and disinfecting, and we had plenty of boxes of gloves in our inventory. Adding masks to the equation was easy enough.

In June, as Colorado began to open back up, we had our first rescheduled event, a birthday party for 10 that was held on the patio of a private home. Soon we had another, and then another, as Colorado continued to flatten and decelerate the curve. Turns out a lot of people are more willing to eat a meal prepared for them in the safety of their own home than they are to venture out into a restaurant. By July, we were back to where we started— and then some.

People were ready to party. In a July 3 New York Times article, Harvard Medical School infectious disease epidemiologist Julia Marcus summed up how all of us

“WE’RE JUST TELLING THAT DOESN’T RECOG BEHAVIOR AND BASIC —Julia Marcus, Harvard Medical School infectious disease epidemiologist

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were feeling when she said: “Why can’t the message be: ‘We understand you want to gather with friends. There are ways to do this safely.’ We’re just telling them not to gather. That doesn’t recognize basic human behavior and basic human needs.”

DEEP RESPONSIBILITY Catering has never been an easy business. Nurturing happy clients takes some physical and mental heavy lifting. But it’s worth every minute of the labor and stress when we get to watch diners sigh with pleasure as they enjoy a delicious, perfectly dosed meal and share some deep laughs with their favorite people. We get to help people create occasions they’ll never forget, experiences they may never have again. We take that responsibility seriously.

We sell our clients a lot more than a cannabis-infused meal. We sell them safety. When they sit down to dig into Grilled Colorado Tri-tip with Cannabis Chimichurri, they can be certain they will consume just the right amount of

cannabis—never too much. We’re vigilant about this. And now, we’re just as vigilant about making sure none of our clients gets COVID-19.

Has it made things more difficult? For sure. We have to constantly monitor the staff for any symptoms or potential contacts with the virus and train everyone

in the new COVID-19 protocol.

We have to be happy and never whine about cooking in masks (it’s harder for some of us than others).

Prepping and events take longer than they used to because of all the extra cleaning, and the exact ingredients we want aren’t always available. But we always make it work.

[PEOPLE] NOT TO GATHER. NIZE BASIC HUMAN HUMAN NEEDS.” O C TO B E R 2020

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SAFETY DANCE

Throw a dinner party without becoming a super spreader by following these guidelines.

• If possible, hold your dinner outside.

Indoor spaces have less ventilation, and it can be harder to keep people socially distanced.

• Have one designated server handle all serving utensils.

• Keep food covered when it’s not being served. Bring back those old-school cloches, the dome-shaped ceramic or glass covers for your serving dishes— easy to find at thrift stores.

• Give everyone their own straw that they can slip under their masks to sip.

• Keep the music down so people don’t have to shout, which expels more respiratory droplets.

• Require all food preparers and servers to wear masks and gloves at all times and to change gloves frequently.

• Serve beverages in open tubs of ice • How you handle mask-wearing in the and segregate them by type so people privacy of your home is up to you, but don’t have to go rooting around for the make sure all your guests are on the bottle or can they want. same page. For guests with underlying conditions, it’s just as important to • Set up hand-washing stations for know if masks won’t be required as it guests and staff. to know if they will.

• Disinfect all surfaces, including serving areas and guest tables, before, during, and after the event.

In the end, it makes us a better company. We communicate more than we did before, and we’re all genuinely concerned about each other’s health. We’ve learned to be more creative in the kitchen and with our menu planning.

Sometimes the substitutions we make for impossible-to-find ingredients are better than the original.

Most of all, after weeks off and facing the potential of never cooking for people again, we have a lot more appreciation for just getting to do what we do—make people happy.

The pandemic may have driven us into isolation, but cannabis is bringing us back together.

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Canna-Mango Mule Makes 1 mocktail

I N F O R M AT I O N

Made with freshly squeezed citrus, the best ginger beer you can find (it’s worth spending a little extra), and water-soluble THC or CBD, CannaMango Mules were the runaway hit of Summer 2020 and promise to remain CK Events’ most popular mocktail for the rest of the year.

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces mango nectar ½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice (preferably key limes) ½ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 ounces ginger beer 1 packet Stillwater Ripple or other water-soluble THC or CBD product 1 lime wheel, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

• Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add mango nectar, lime juice, and Ripple.

• Shake well. Strain into ice-filled glass or cup.

• Pour ginger beer to fill cup.

• Garnish with lime.

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The

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PHOTO EDITS BY JOSH CLARK / ORIGINAL IMAGE BY ALEXANDRE ZVEIGER, ADOBE STOCK

Muse “Cannabis helps my creativity.”

How many times have I heard this over the last four decades?

Big thinkers like Carl Sagan and Steve Jobs are on the record as a scientist and CEO, respectively, who used cannabis. Musicians from Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday to Willie Nelson and Nicki Minaj swear by it. I have never said that cannabis causes me to be creative, but I have argued, like the painter on Sanjay Gupta’s first CNN Weed special, that “It's my favorite way to work.”

But is there anything to this?

Is there really a connection between using cannabis and being creative, and if so, what is it?

Does cannabis actually stimulate people to be more inspired, TEXT LELAND RUCKER imaginative, inventive or artistic?

There are no easy answers, as is the case with much we are still learning about cannabis. It is generally believed and understood

Everybody from Carl Sagan on down swears by the ability of cannabis to influence creativity. Is there anything to it, or is it just an illusion?

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READ MORE ABOUT IT

PHOTO EDITS BY JOSH CLARK / ORIGINAL IMAGE BY LEIKA PRODUCTION, ADOBE STOCK

Creativity & Beyond: Culture, Values and Change.

This penetrating look at how cultures throughout history have viewed creativity and consciousness was written by R.P. Weiner in 2000.

that cannabis and THC stimulate activity in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is where dopamines (sensitive neurons generally associated with reward, attention span, and short-term memory) are located. Beyond that, trying to even quantify creativity is a sticky wicket. Psychology researchers can’t define it. Is creativity the end product of creative work, or is it reflected in the personality of the person?

More interesting is whether creativity might have something to do with the differences between convergent thinking, which is the ability to follow logO C TO B E R 2020

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ical steps to a conclusion, and divergent thinking, which centers around a less linear process to come up with answers.

Most research on the subject relies on tests, generally done against time constraints, to measure “creativity.” One, for example, asked the subject to name as many words as they could in 30 seconds. Though that might be an appropriate scientific way to approach it, I’m unsure that it helps us understand anything about the process. And some of the research seems biased. A 2012 study admitted that little is known about how drugs affect the mind, but suggested that cannabis use might stimulate the sections of the brain (i.e. the frontal lobe) that lead

to divergent thinking. A different test two years later denied those conclusions vehemently. “The improved creativity that they believe they experience is an illusion,” Dr. Lorenza Colzato of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University said about his study. “If you want to overcome writer’s block or any other creative gap, lighting up a joint isn’t the best solution.

Smoking several joints one after the other can even be counterproductive to creative thinking.”

Those methods don’t even hint at what’s going on when I write under the influence, especially since I’m never being asked to come up with as many words as I can to describe something in 30 seconds to test my creativity. And

they do nothing to explain why so many creative people still use cannabis to produce outstanding, innovative work.

So I began to talk to cannabis users to find out what they see as the link between cannabis and creativity. Most find it hard to accurately describe their experience, but all mentioned some variation on the “divergent thinking” concept.

“I like a ton of input and jam it into my brain,” says Sebastian Vidali, founder of Arcana, Inc, a cannabis-focused brand development group. “Smoke allows an almost Tony Stark thing, or

READ MORE ABOUT IT The Natural Mind: A New Way of Looking at Drugs and the Higher Consciousness.

Andrew Weil’s groundbreaking 1972 work offered a different way to look at consciousness at the same time that cannabis was designated a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

“I like a ton of input and jamming it into my brain.”

—Sebastian Vidali, Arcana Inc.

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that’s the way it feels, anyway.

It connects things together in a fluid way and helps create a new picture. I feel less held back by other factors. I’m always running multiple strains of thoughts, and it feels to me that I can dive into one thread and make connections.

It clears the noise in a way.”

“It’s hard to explain, but it opens up the creative river, gets those creative juices going,” says Patrick McGregor, a painter and muralist who works in a lot of different media. “I’ll be uninspired, take a lunch break, smoke a little, and it’ll bring me back into the painting.”

Neil Haverstick is a master at almost any stringed instrument.

He says cannabis is more common than you might imagine in the music biz. “I would say I’ve know many hundreds of musicians that smoke pot; in fact, I’ve only known a few that haven’t.

Of course, I’ve also seen a lotta alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and cocaine sniffing over the years in my field, but fortunately, not much usage of heroin.” he says.

He doesn’t really like playing live while elevated, but cannabis is an important part of his writing process. “When I start to play my guitar (or oud), I find that I often start doing things that I have never done before.

I have ideas that take me beyond the things I usually play— different melodies, rhythms, concepts,” he says. “I surprise myself. Sometimes, I think, ‘where did that come from? Never played that before.’ And that is the key word: surprise. I am often able to create new shapes, patterns, something that did not previously exist.”

Everybody I talked with says cannabis makes them see and think things in a different way.

Sebastian Marincolo is a neuroscientist who lives in Stuttgart, Germany, and has studied the positive potential of cannabis for the last decade. His most recent book, What Hashish Did to Walter Benjamin: Mind Altering Essays on Cannabis, looks into how cannabis was used positively by historical figures like Sagan, Rudyard Kipling, and Miles Davis, among many others, and tries to explain how judicious use of the marijuana high helped them and can help others.

Marincolo began looking into the connections between cannabis and creativity while working on his doctorate in philosophy and neuroscience. His roommate was studying toxicity, and they began to research marijuana as it related to mind enhancement.

They weren’t interested in the medical aspects. “We started looking into how it can help cognitive enhancement of episodic memories,” Marincolo says.

“People have reported, and I have experienced, an enhanced episodic memory—like for instance, you remember events from childhood in greater detail.”

Another fundamental element they found was a hyperfocus of attention. “Whatever you tend to be thinking about is more in focus,” Marincolo says. “Because of that you have an intensification of experience. Things seem to be more detailed and intense because you’re more focused and have the ability to imagine things. Imagination is crucial for creativity. And it’s not just images, it’s also im-

“That’s the key word: surprise. I am often able to create new shapes, patterns, something that did not previously exist.”

—Neil Haverstick, Instrumentalist

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portant for people who compose music or for a chef who is imagining a taste for a dessert.”

He says that many people experience a mind acceleration that is generally associated with a slowdown in time perception. Haverstick mentioned “new shapes and patterns,” and Marincolo corroborated that musicians seem to be especially tuned to this. Using Miles Davis as an example, Marincolo says some artists “can see patterns and similarities between patterns and better understand musical patterns.”

Marincolo also found that many users experience an enhancement of body perception. “Some describe how they can feel cold water going down their throats,

or that they have better touch or sex experiences," says Marincolo.

Users report the ability to understand and connect better with the emotions and moods of friends, children, and partners. “They see patterns in the behavior of other people and understand them better. There can be an enhancement of language understanding, to get into flow of other languages.”

Nobody I spoke with seemed to be of the opinion that you just hit the bong, and boom, the creativity gong hits you in the head. “My conclusion is that I think there is abuse in countries with prohibition, where people have access only to poor quality, black-market product, and they can abuse it as a form of escapism,” says Marinco-

lo, who offers online classes that include hands-on advice for personal growth, introspection, and dealing with personal relationships and sex. The classes emphasize how strains, terpenes, and ingestion methods can influence your creativity. “We all have different needs, and cannabis has a lot to offer—especially now that we are learning about the cannabinoid system and how different terpenes have different chemical profiles.

We need to have this knowledge.”

I think we’ll be waiting a long time for science to catch up with the connection between cannabis and creativity. Until then, Marincolo’s studies and my discussions with other users make sense to me in ways that traditional methods and research don’t.

First, of course, cannabis has to be decriminalized, legalized, and de-stigmatized throughout the country and around the world.

“It’s a cliché of sorts that musicians use ‘drugs,’ but I don’t think of marijuana as a drug,” Haverstick says. “I believe it has many useful properties, and now that it’s becoming legalized for both medical and recreational usage, we’re starting to see just how helpful it can be in a wide variety of situations.”

“We need to consider it as a tool,” Marincolo says. “But only if you know how to use it.”

READ MORE ABOUT IT What Hashish Did To Walter Benjamin: Mind-Altering Essays on Marijuana.

Sebastian Marincolo’s 2015 series of essays looks at significant figures in history and their connection to cannabis.

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What Does Cannabis Law Have to Do with Racism?

The story of cannabis law in America is one of injustice, with people of color bearing the brunt of a system weighted against them.

PHOTO BY RAWPIXEL.COM, ADOBE STOCK

TEXT ANDREW DEANGELO

As with many things in America, the cannabis experience for white people has been different from the cannabis experience for people of color.

White citizens have used and traded cannabis at nearly the same rates as Black and brown people, but Black and brown people have been arrested nearly four times as often. In most cases, people of color have done jail time while people like me were able to accumulate wealth in the cannabis industry—both underground and, more recently, legally. There is no doubt that the color

of my skin has given me untold advantages others do not enjoy.

The racist history of federal cannabis prohibition in the United States is the subject of Fab 5 Freddy’s Netflix documentary masterpiece Grass Is Greener.

With his cast of musical icons, the filmmaker exposes the story of how mid-level bureaucrat Harry J. Anslinger ascended to be the nation’s first drug czar on the backs of Black jazz musicians and Brown citizens, a tale both shocking and unsurprising for 1930s America.

For 30 years Anslinger promoted racist propaganda and policy that resulted in much higher rates of drug-related arrests and imprisonment for people of color. Then in 1970, President Richard Nixon, another racist in a position of great power, launched the Controlled Substances Act—famously classifying cannabis as a Schedule I drug so he could go after his two biggest enemies, Blacks and hippies—and the DEA was born. Old Anslinger even came out of retirement for the ceremony.

“It was never about the cannabis,” Freddy O C TO B E R 2020

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THE SCENE

M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE WILSON

Read the full article on Playboy www.playboy.com/read/the-dopetutor-answers-what-does-weedlaw-have-to-do-with-racism

tells me, “but about the people who were using it, plain and simple.”

Cannabis prohibition was really just a war on people of color, another way to rob them of opportunity and justice.

Ronald Reagan rode a wave of conservative promises to the White House in 1980. With the launch of the “Just Say No” campaign promoted by First Lady Nancy Reagan, mandatory minimums and racial sentencing disparities proliferated. Widespread workplace urinalysis testing arose in the 1980s, further putting pressure on communities of color as jobs were lost, income obliterated and children removed from families due to a failed drug test or a weed possession charge. As funding for the drug war skyrocketed, even public schools began to embed police

“The fight is trying to clean the American house of this evil infection called racism that is the root cause of everything from drug wars to lack of ownership in the legal cannabis industry, or any other industry.”

—Fab 5 Freddy, director of Grass is Greener

and practice urinalysis screening. The so-called school-to-prison pipeline that haunts some Black and Brown communities to this day is due in large part to the unjust cannabis policies and over-policing that targeted those communities.

So how do we right these wrongs now?

“The fight is trying to clean the American house of this evil infection called racism that is the root cause of everything from drug wars to a lack of ownership in the legal cannabis industry, or any other industry,” says Freddy.

Today, Black Americans own just 4 percent of the legal cannabis industry, while whites own 81 percent. Those in the cannabis business have a moral obligation to commit to social equity (not least because that aligns with the values

the plant teaches us).

Given the gross injustices of the past, Black and Brown people must be empowered in the legal cannabis industry to have ownership, equity and wealth created for and by themselves. This is the true promise of cannabis law reform.

Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, put it simply in Grass Is Greener: “The solution has to be more comprehensive than the damage that has been done.”

Most importantly, social equity represents a sacred promise that our industry must keep to right the wrongs of the past and begin to heal the inequities that permeate our society. That promise cannot be kept until more people of color attain positions of power and ownership in the legal cannabis industry.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew DeAngelo is the cofounder of the Last Prisoner Project. This article is the first installment of DeAngelo’s new Dope Tutor column for playboy.com, an early advocate for cannabis rights

BELOW: Protestors march in downtown Denver on June 4, 2020, in response to the killing of George Floyd.

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THE SCENE RECIPE

Hold the Gluten Whether you’re gluten-intolerant or allergic to conversations about gluten, socca is a quick and delicious dish for everyone to enjoy.

PHOTO BY PROSTOCK-STUDIO, ADOBE STOCK

TEXT JADA CALYPSO BROTMAN

My friend Marla Brown has never been diagnosed with celiac disease. Until she hit about 28 years old, she could eat all the bread and pasta she wanted.

After cutting out gluten in an effort to lose a little weight, Brown was

astonished at the change in how she felt. Not only did she find losing weight easier, but her sinuses cleared up and her complexion improved.

“I hated the idea of cutting out such a huge food group,” says Brown. “But I couldn’t

get over how much better I felt. No more stuff y nose; my energy level improved. It just wasn’t worth it to go back to eating wheat.”

Why has the United States seen the huge uptick in gluten-free diets? Is it gluten itself

or the pesticides in Big Ag conventional wheat?

Is it all psychosomatic?

Whatever the scientific truth of the matter, it seems undeniable that a lot of people (primarily women who have enough money to make such conscious eating O C TO B E R 2020

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THE SCENE

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RECIPE

choices) report that they feel better when they avoid gluten.

Personally, I’m not gluten-intolerant, but with so many people avoiding it these days, it’s a great idea for the home cook to have a few solid gluten-free recipes in their repertoire.

As someone who often cooks for others, I was overjoyed to realize that gluten-free chickpea flour, which is always in my pantry, is available in bulk and organic at our local natural foods stores. A number of fabulous gluten-free dishes can be made with chickpea flour, but socca is my favorite.

I absolutely love-love socca, or farinata, as it’s known in Italy—or faina in Uruguay. My pop calls it socca, which is the French word. The fried flatbread hails from Nice, but the concept is found in various Southern climes. Whatever you call it, it’s a simple delight. Socca is especially helpful in the contemporary cook’s repertoire because it has nothing to which your allergic-to-everything friends can object. Hard to mess up and cheap to make, socca is a tasty weapon in your supper arsenal, whether you are pro- or anti-gluten.

Socca

Makes two 12-inch soccas / Servings: 4–6

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

• Mix the flour, water, salt, • Move whole pan to broiler.

1 cup checkpea flour and oil well. Let the batter Keeping a close eye, broil 1 cup + 3 tablespoons rest for at least an hour, up it until the top is goldenwater to overnight. brown and the edges are crisp. The underside will 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher • Turn on broiler, and be well browned by then. salt remix batter. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron pan on a • Remove the pan from the 3 tablespoons olive medium flame, and add a oven. Sprinkle the top oil tablespoon of olive oil. with lots of freshly ground Freshly ground pepper and a generous • Pour in batter to cover the black pepper sprinkle of olive oil. pan, no more than 1/8-inch Additional olive oil deep (roughly half the batter • Remove the socca to a if using a 12-inch pan). cutting board and slice it like a pizza. Serve and eat • Leave to cook until immediately. socca is dry and set, about two minutes.

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GO THERE

THE END

Graffiti Alley Located in the Station North Arts & Entertainment District Baltimore, MD graffitiwarehouse.com

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Maryland breathes art. It bleeds into its culture and pulses through the veins of its cities. One of these veins is Graffiti Alley, the only place in the state where graffiti is legal.

In Maryland and most other states, the crime 60

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of graffiti is punished with hefty fines and prison time. But Graffiti Alley is an example of the positive impact street art can have on a city. Fifteen years ago, the area was plagued with dangerous criminal

activity. It wasn’t until the Graffiti Warehouse opened across the street that it became a space for self-expression.

Today, street artists from across the US gather to create and collaborate, frequently covering

what was there before.

These creators from all walks of life turn every inch of the L-shaped alley into a living canvas, an ever-changing reflection of the inspired and unconventional spirit of Baltimore.

PHOTO BY JONBILOUS, ADOBE STOCK

TEXT RHEYA TANNER

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PENNSYLVANIA

F LO R I DA

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