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S PA R K O K L A H O M A SEPTEMBER 2021

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FEATURE

16

Welcome to the Renaissance

Artist Rube Zilla is on a mission to show us hope in the ashes of the pandemic.

DEPARTMENTS

11 EDITOR’S NOTE 23 LOCAL Managing editor Debbie Hall outlines the whos, 12 THE BUZZ wheres, and whens of News, tips, and tidbits

the Sensi lifestyle across the country.

EXPERIENCE Dolphins and cannabis tours EXPLORE Festivals and campfires CANNABIS’ COOL KIDS MEET MJBizCon, Pay attention to these ExpoEast, and more brands on the rise.

SHOP COOKIES, hemp SENSIBILITIES Our editor fi ber, and more shares her thoughts and—surprise, surprise— TASTE Brunch, CBD, and goats bong carts are high on her list.

HIGH 5 A fistful of stuff THE SCENE you need to have Have you heard? The bong ON THE COVER cart is the new bar cart— Rube Zilla but better. Here’s why you Spirit of the Zodiac, 2021 Original artwork for have to have one.

to keep you in the loop PRETTY AND HAPPY Edie Parker is the first brand to fully merge the worlds of fashion and flower.

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Sensi magazine 24" x 36" Acrylic on canvas

38 THE END A yoga teacher tells how her tattoos helped her feel right in her body.

PHOTO BY MARIO MASITTI

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ADVISORY BOARD

NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD NCRMA Risk Management COLORADO Agricor Laboratories Testing Lab Aspen Cannabis Insurance Insurance Services Canyon Cultivation Microdosing Cartology Corporation Cartridge Filling Equipment + Hardware Colorado Cannabis Company THC Coffee Concentrate Supply Co. Recreational Concentrates Emerald Construction Construction Green Edge Trimmers Trimmers Higher Grade Boutique Cannabis Hybrid Payroll Staffing & HR Benefits Jupiter Research Inhalation Hardware Lab Society Extraction Expert + Lab Supplies marQaha Sublinguals + Beverages Monte Fiore Farms Recreational Cultivation Northern Standard History of Cannabis PotGuide Cannabis Culture Source CO Wholesale Consulting Terrapin Care Station Recreational Dispensary Toast Mindful Consumption Uleva Hemp Products Wana Brands Edibles Witlon Inc. Payroll Processing

MICHIGAN Aronoff Law (Craig Aronoff) Licensing Law Firm Cannabis Counsel Cannabis Law Firm Etz Chaim Attestations Grapp Lerash Accounting/CPA Services Great Lakes Natural Remedies Lakeshore: Provisioning Center Kush Design Studio Cannabis Facility Design & Build MRB Solutions Human Resources Northern Specialty Health Upper Peninsula: Provisioning Center Oh, Hello Branding Promotional Marketing Perry & Drummy Inc. Commercial Insurance Pure West Compassion Club Caregiver Connection & Network Rair Medical Flower Solutions by Dr. Dave West Michigan: Hemp CBD Helping Friendly Hemp Company Hemp Topicals NEVADA Eden Water Technologies Water System Technologies Green Leaf Money Canna Business Finanacing GreenHouse Payment Solutions Payment Processing Ideal Business Partners Corporate Law & Finance Jupiter Research Inhalatation Hardware Matrix NV Premium Live Resin Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Rokin Vapes Vape Technology This Stuff Is Good For You CBD Bath and Body

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 365 Recreational Cannabis Dispensary: Recreational, Santa Rosa Green Unicorn Farms CBD Hemp Flower Humboldt CCTV Smart Ag Tech Kushla Life Sciences Cannabis Formulation and Products Red Door Remedies Dispensary: Cloverdale Southern Humboldt Royal Cannabis Company Mixed Light Farming Sonoma Patient Group Dispensary: Santa Rosa Strictly Topical Inc./Sweet ReLeaf Pain Relief Topicals Superbad inc. Premium California Cannabis Uleva Hemp Products Vaper Tip Vape Supply & Consulting Wana Brands Edible Gummies SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Accucanna LLC Desert Hot Springs: Dispensary EventHI Events Flourish Software Distribution Management Helmand Valley Growers Company Medical Infrastructure Specialist HUB International Insurance Hybrid Payroll / Ms. Mary Staffing Staffing & HR Benefits Ikänik Farms Cannabis Distribution Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Wana Brands Edible Gummies Witlon Payroll

NEW ENGLAND Corners Packaging Packaging Flourish Software Seed to Sale Green Goddess Supply Personal Homegrown Biochamber GreenHouse Payment Solutions Payment Processing The Holistic Center Medical Marijuana Evaluations Revolutionary Clinics Medical Dispensary Royal Gold Soil Tess Woods Public Relations Public Relations

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EDITORIAL

Stephanie Wilson Co-Founder + Editor in Chief stephanie.wilson@sensimag.com Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor Tracy Ross Managing Editor, Michigan Emilie-Noelle Provost Managing Editor, New England Debbie Hall Managing Editor, Spark Jenny Willden Managing Editor, California Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large Will Brendza Contributor, Colorado Radha Marcum Copy Editor Bevin Wallace Copy Editor DESIGN

Jamie Ezra Mark Creative Director jamie@emagency.com Rheya Tanner Art Director Wendy Mak Designer Josh Clark Designer BRAND DEVELOPMENT

Richard Guerra Director of Global Reach Amanda Patrizi Director of Marketing Neil Willis Production Director MEDIA PARTNERS

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

EXECUTIVE

Ron Kolb Founder ron@sensimag.com Stephanie Graziano CEO stephanie.graziano@sensimag.com Jade Kolb Director Global Recruiting ADVERTISING

Nancy Reid Director, Team Building, Sensi East PUBLISHING

Jamie Cooper Market Director, Michigan Abi Wright Market Director, Nevada Richard Guerra Market Director, New England Nancy Birnbaum Market Director, NorCal Diana Ramos Market Director, Oklahoma Rob Ball Market Director, S. California Angelique Kiss Market Director, S. California

MEDIA SALES

COLORADO Liana Cameris Media Sales Executive Amanda Patrizi Media Sales Executive Tyler Tarr Media Sales Executive FLORIDA Anthony Mckenzie Media Sales Executive NEVADA Pam Hewitt Media Sales Executive NEW ENGLAND Jake Boynton Media Sales Executive MICHIGAN Kyle Miller Media Sales Executive Leah Stephens Media Sales Executive

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O

EDITOR’S NOTE

Magazine published monthly

by Sensi Media Group LLC.

© 2021 Sensi Media Group. All rights reserved.

Oh hey there. I’ve

missed you. We’ve missed

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

FAC E B O O K Like Sensi Media Group to infuse your newsfeed with more of our great cannabis lifestyle content.

TWITTER Follow @sensimag for need-to-know news and views from Sensi headquarters.

I N S TAG R A M Pretty things, pretty places, pretty awesome people: find it all on @sensimagazine

you, but perhaps none more than me. I am a total magazine zealot; I subscribe to close to two dozen monthly titles, and one of the first projects I tackled when everything shut down in the spring of 2020 was organizing my massive mag collection—alphabetically and chronologically, thank you very much. It was how I exerted a sense of control over a world gone off kilter.

At Sensi, we had 15(!) different editions ready to ship to print for April 2020, including our inaugural Metro Maryland edition, when we decided to hit pause on production. We did so because the future was uncertain. We didn’t want to burden our advertisers with continuing monthly bills when facing a shut down. Given that our main point of distribution tends to be dispensaries (because laws surrounding cannabis advertisements require that we guarantee the majority of our readers are over the age of 21) and dispensaries were no longer accepting stacks of magazines for their customers in their (then shuttered) waiting rooms, halting production seemed like the best idea at the time.

Then cannabis was deemed essential. Getting Sensi back to print became essential to us, too. It took a little while, but here we are. Seventeen months after we printed our last magazines, Sensi is back in print in four markets—Colorado (our flagship and homebase), California, Michigan, and New England. Plus, we will continue to cover Nevada, Florida, and Pennsylvania in the monthly digital edition of Sensi Spark, which also expands our reach into Oklahoma.

In the edition you’re holding in your hands (OMG, yess!), you’ll see some of the same departments and articles as you did before we took our digital-only hiatus. But we couldn’t come back the same way we went out. The world has changed and so have we, which is why we launched a whole new Sensi Local section, unique to each regional issue, designed to give you actionable information to help you see, do, meet, taste, shop, and explore more—the topics and insight sourced not just from the minds of our local editors and contributors but also from the minds of our community.

To honor the milestone, we asked Rube Zilla, an artist whose distinct style has become synonymous with the cannabis community, to create the cover art for this special edition. I felt our first magazine back in print deserves to be a work of art, and I can’t thank Rube enough for making that dream come true. It’s as if I wished upon a star and Rube’s zodiac-themed artwork came true and brought us back.

I hope you enjoy this magazine. We’ve got a whole lot more on the way.

I felt our first magazine back in print deserves to be a work of art, and I can’t thank Rube enough for making that dream come true. It’s as if I wished upon a star and Rube’s zodiacthemed artwork came true and brought us back.

Steph Wilson @stephwilll

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Pretty Things to Make You Happy

The first brand to fully merge the worlds of fashion and flower, Flower by Edie Parker is the line of cannabis and smoking accessories that portray the same clever, fashion-forward wit as its namesake, Edie Parker—the accessories brand known for its signature acrylic clutch handbags. (We’re partial to a pink one emblazoned with a cursive “weed” in big, bold letters—subtlety is overrated.)

“Edie Parker is all about surprising and delighting and displaying your accessories— showing them off, whether it’s a handbag or an ashtray,” says the brand’s founder Brett Heyman. Under her direction, Edie Parker launched Flower by Edie Parker in early 2019, not just as a cannabis-adjacent accessories line but as an actual cannabis line with Edie Parker Flower THC products available in California and Colorado (Michigan and Massachusetts on the way).

The progression into cannabis came naturally for the Edie Parker team. Riding the high of the successful launch of its home collection in 2016, the small, all-female group knew there was still so much more they could do. The fashionable women with refined-yet-playful sensibilities began talking about “the lack of considered—and frankly pretty—cannabis accessories,” Heyman shares. “Everything in our experience has been either something you buy in a 12

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PHOTO COURTESY OF EDIE PARKER

Flower by Edie Parker’s colorful mid-century-inspired collectibles are made for friends in high places.

PHOTOS (FROM TOP): COURTESY OF SUPERETTE, EDIE PARKER

headshop or something extremely masculine, or something that felt very medicinal or like things you hide away in your drawer.”

The line is cheeky in the best of ways, with nary a fan leaf marring any of the offerings. “We’re accessory designers,” Heyman laughs. “We would never do something that obvious. We are used to marketing products that can infer something. You know what it’s for—you know it’s end use— but it doesn’t have to be hitting you over the head.” (The limited-edition “This is How I Roll” t-shirt collection that dropped earlier this year exemplifies this sentiment. See the one picturing two fried eggs and the phrase “these are your boobs on drugs” for proof.)

Elsewhere in the very giftable Flower by Edie Parker line are stash jars, hard-edge lighters, grinders, rolling trays, joint clips, doob tubes (“supHerb storage containers”), “Weedie Parker” smell-proof stash bags, and a bunch of other colorful covetables. But what we covet the most are the tabletop lighters, which start at $450 and come nestled inside their own ashtrays—because that’s how they roll.

BY THE NUMBERS Sup reWork Sweet Nature Crewneck ($120), Superette & 4ye Vintage garments made modern with handdrawn illustrations depicting cannabis culture make every item in the Superette + 4ye collab a win.

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MARKETS The number of markets across the U.S. about to publish print issues of Sensi in April 2020. Then COVID-19 hit

∞ LOVE For everyone who kept the faith and kept us going—yes, you included.

We couldn’t have done it without you: our team, our clients, our friends, our families, our readers, our cannabis community.

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MAGAZINES The number of digital-only Sensi magazines we’ve made since April 2020. No, really!

You can read them all at sensimag.com.

So. Much. Good.

Content.

[HIGH] FASHIONFORWARD While we were away, we kept our eyes on these brands—the coolest kids in cannabis right now. Except for the grannies.

They’re the hippest grannies in the game.

Fleur Marché is the one-stop-shop for rigorously vetted, top-tier CBD products and brands. Tokyo Smoke, the hip Canadian shop for the sophisticated and curious cannabis explorer, is for “those who embrace high design and alternative states of mind.”

Mister Green is a lifestyle brand and retailer that distinguishes itself through “a minimalist design sensibility and dedication to a new cultural perspective.” Miss Grass is a brand on a mission to make the world good at weed. (We’re obsessed with the “Good at Weed” sweatpants.) Designer Adam Lippes is a partner in the LGBTQ-owned and led Farnsworth Fine Cannabis in the Berkshires, where the luxury dispensary is stocked with vintage accessories, including an old lighter of Jack Kerouac. Sundae School is where cannabis meets casual streetwear collections. House of Puff makes luxury smoking accessories for the modern woman and was founded by a former art mag editor—and we're obsessed. Superette is a retail brand dedicated to “creating moments of delight” and making buying cannabis and accessories as enjoyable as consuming it.

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BILITIES

BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF

1 BONG CARTS ARE THE NEW BAR CARTS. It’s gonna be the hottest home decor trend of 2022, just you wait...as long as we can get people over their hang-up about the word bong. The whole bong cart concept: fire. Getting people to call their newly transformed bar cart into a holder of bubblers and bud by its obviously awesome name, the bong cart: not so fire. Let’s troubleshoot. My Insta DMs are open, @stephwilll.

2 POSHMARK TIP: Never buy an item outright. Hit the heart, like the item, and sit back and let patience be a virtue. Typically within 24 hours, the seller will offer you a discounted price and boom!

You’ve saved money and you are a proud consumer supporting the circular fashion movement, breathing new life into a used item.

Everybody wins.

High 5

After a full year of enduring the same old, plain old things day after day, we all deserve a break from the ordinary. These items elevate your consumption ritual to an art.

1

2

3

3 APPARENTLY THERE’S A POSHMARK FOR GEN Z and it’s called depop, but I cannot confirm or deny whether there’s a heart for you to like to potentially save money because I’m the most elder of the millennials and only just learned about depop via New York mag earlier today.

4 PELOTON’S GOT NOTHING ON SOULCYCLE, and this is a stance I will ride until I die. Sure, I’ll be riding a Peloton, but I’ll be doing it to the beat of the music playing from my iPad where I’m streaming one of Ross’s motivational movement therapy classes from the Equinox app.

Products 1. Crack is Wack Rolling Tray ($60) by K. Haring Glass Collection D.A.R.E. was right in this case: crack is wack indeed.

2. Cookies X Stündenglass Gravity Hookah ($600) A work of engineering art in a sleek design that can send you to the moon: this thing offers a full 360° of “woah.”

3. Nude With Attitude Matches (three for $12)

by Higher Standards x Rogue Paq These retro matches will quite literally charm your pants off.

4. Gucci Swirls Resort Collection Rolling Papers ($28 for the kit) by Papers + Ink Spark an abstract ode to the cruise collection with these customprinted organic papers.

5. CBD Ritual Wild Berry Gumdrops ($45) by Lord Jones Hand-crafted confections with natural fruit essences and 20 mg hemp-derived CBD in each must-taste morsel. Gwenyth Paltrow and Oprah Winfrey approved.

4

5 BUT THE EQUINOX APP has absolutely nothing on any class taken at any studio IRL. Real humans bring real energy into a room that can’t be replicated even in the best virtual setting. There’s no digital substitute that measures up to the human connection.

6 “TIE-DYING” IS NOT A EUPHEMISM for recreational drug use. Long story, but a funny one. I’ll tell you it the next time I see you in real life.

5

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AFTER THE PLAGUE CAME

THE RENAISSANCE Even if you haven’t heard of him, Rube Zilla is already watching you through his ubiquitous art in the cannabis space and beyond. And the Scorpio is on a mission to show us hope in the ashes of the pandemic.

TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON PHOTOS MARIO MASITTI

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A

even notice them in New York at a Buffalo Bills game, in Miami at Art Basel, in Los Angeles at the LA Art Show, in a still-in-development-andso-cool immersive space planned for Las Vegas. You’ll see the eyes on public artworks commissioned by the city of Denver and even on the walls of a Colorado middle school.

You’ll see the cannabis artist’s unmistakable style everywhere...but you won’t see a fan leaf in any of it.

“I don’t have cannabis motifs in any of my work,” Rube explains when asked what makes him a cannabis artist. “But I feel like at this point in my career, I’ve made my faces synonymous with cannabis culture.” And what lies within that association of art and cannabis is the power to propel the societal rebirth Rube believes art can drive.

A former marine with Puerto Rican roots and a Buffalo, New York, upbringing, Rube is a bit of a dichotomy—but he’s not a Gemini. He’s a Scorpio, which means according IT’S ALL IN THE EYES Look around, and you’ll notice Rube to astrology.com that he travels in a world that is black and white with litZilla eyes staring at you from all tle use for gray. The black and white sorts of places—from large-scale that covers most surfaces in Rube’s murals in cities across the country, world represents the illusion that we from Timbuk2 bags, from custom-commissioned shoes. They look are individuals separate from others.

The straight lines and the compleout from the Zilla Charter tour bus in Denver, in which top street artists menting curves stand for a necessary balance in structure and creativity, like Dinkc lead cannabis-friendly male-female energy, and emotion. tours to discuss their works around “Since the beginning, black and the city. You’ll find those eyes on a white has always represented the tin of full-spectrum rosin gummies duality and polarity of reality,”

by Dialed In, in his coloring book he says as he sketches the first

by High Times, and on carb caps, faces on what becomes the zodibangers, rolling trays, and pipes.

Rube’s illustrations cover dispen- ac-themed canvas. It’s late July sary waiting rooms across Colorado 2021, and we’re at his friend Jereand adorn the Buddy Buddy Indoor my’s place in downtown Denver.

Jerm, as he’s known, was the first Natural in San Francisco (the Calperson to ever buy one of Rube’s ifornia cannabis producer has even pieces, cementing a friendship and created a Rube.Zilla Kush). You’ll ccording to astrology, rebirth and revival are written in the stars. According to Ruben Del Cabrera (Rube for short), they are also written in the Zodiac-themed artwork Sensi created for the cover of this magazine. The piece invites viewers to get lost in a solar system of faces while trying to discover and interpret the 12 signs of the zodiac illustrated among the astral elements—subtle details depict the completion of a cycle, a return to our societal roots.

Hidden amid a black-and-white maze of emotions depicted in Rube Zilla’s signature style are symbols representing a restart. A slogan of hope is becoming popular as so many try to make it through COVID-19: After the plague came the Renaissance. Looking at the world with Rube's vision, you see a modern renaissance has already begun.

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kicking off a collaboration/representation relationship between the two. Rube’s son, Remy, watches his father work intently.

“There’s always someone watching,” says Rube, who laughs as he draws another face. The eyes specifically are inspired by a recurring scene in Scooby Doo, one of his favorite cartoons growing up, when the only things seen on an otherwise dark screen were sets of glowing eyes peering out from the dark. “It was the creepiest thing in the world!”

Rube laughs. “Just knowing that people in the dark are watching.”

WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU REALLY LOOK? It’s fun to watch Rube work. He doesn’t plan out his pieces; he just picks up the pen (or marker or can of spray paint, depending on the project) and gets started. He’s a

thinker, a dreamer, as well as a makeshit-happen doer. It’s easy to like him; it’s easier still to see why people like to be around him. He’s got the best interests of his communities in mind. He has been envisioning a more utopian future for quite a while now, and he’s doing what he can to make it happen.

Make no mistake: Rube is a badass on his way to being the badass, the guy who doodled his way into the zeitgeist and then sketched out the defining spirit and mood from within. He’s expressing himself through a defined visual identity that’s a relatively recent development. (Scroll back to the start of his @rube.zilla Instagram page for the visual proof.)

What’s surprising is that he’s relatively new to the whole art thing.

After spending 10 years in the military, he settled in Denver and began working in finance. He was bored

out of his mind. He had been doodling since he was a child, and he made the risky decision to pursue art full time rather than stay miserable in a more stable career. He took a job at a hotel in downtown Denver, “just working overnight security, hours to burn,” he says, “and I would doodle, I would draw.” The position afforded him the opportunity to just create, to see where his mind took his markers on the paper.

Rube Zilla's now-signature style soon began showing up—the faces—in his drawings. The motifs struck him as “hauntingly beautiful,” so he began working on their structure and form. He had only been at it for a few days when one night as he was arriving for work, he had the traumatic experience of witnessing a man jumping to his death.

“A moment like that will change you,” Rube says.

Rube Zilla Spirit of the Zodiac, 2021 24" x 36" Acrylic on canvas

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“I relived that moment every day for a year,” Rube says, feeling trapped in the trauma—and it was through drawing mazes of augural faces depicted by the stark black lines and curves of a Sharpie that he mapped his way out. The night of the incident, he stayed at the hotel.

“I just grabbed a stack of computer paper and a box of Sharpies and I just kept drawing faces over and over,” he says. “In a way it was to just process emotion—just to find a way to move through it. It’s funny how if you follow these patterns—follow grooves and stay the course—it’s like seeking a new plan, finding your weed and holy shit you talk to god, you go paint on walls. Now they call flow. And it ends up creating these it hieroglyphics—cave dwellings once-in-a-lifetime moments.” and whatnot.” Rube feels that we are at the start of a second renaisBRINGING EVERYTHING TOGETHER sance. “Real talk though: ‘After the Cannabis has been a part of the healing process as well. The night of plague came the Renaissance.’ It was the artists who gave life back to the incident, Rube smoked a joint the world. People came out to see with “the valet kid,” a young guy named Jerm (see above). Jerm now the murals, they couldn’t wait until Michelangelo was done with the runs Enigma Projects, representSistine Chapel.” ing a community of artists, includRube is a walking, talking art hising Rube Zilla. “We went from this tory lesson, focusing on the Medici thing that happened—the birth of these emotions—and we were able family, which first attained wealth and political power in Florence in to ride that energetic transition to the 13th century. It was the family’s the light in a sense.” support of the arts and humanities Jerm commissioned a custom in the 1400s that made Florence the piece by Rube, asking him to deck cradle of the Renaissance, accordout a Timbuk2 bag with his illusing to History Channel editors. trations. While in San Francisco a Rube’s lesson is a little less forshort time later, Rube wore the bag to an event attended by the brand’s mal: “There was a family that was CEO, and it caught her eye. “Shout- like, ‘Yo, we got all the gold and jewels on this side of the world. out Patti Cazzato!” Rube says.

We got money. So, we control now.

“That night, she said to me, ‘I’m We want to control then and the going to change your life tonight, future.’ So how do you control hisyoung man.’ And she didn’t lie.” tory? You tell the story. The Medici Rube seeks a communal relationship between art and cannabis. family understood that they needed to tell the story, so they asked “Cannabis and art have always had themselves, ‘How do we support a connection,” Rube says. “Smoke

Rube with his son Remy

the people who will carry on for the next generation?’ So they supported the artists.”

In the renaissance we are entering now, Rube suggests that the arts can be supported not by a single family but by an entire industry that’s already focused on changing the world.

“The cannabis industry can be the Medici family,” Rube says. What if we’re able to support and uplift the people who are telling the story about why cannabis is important?

Then we control the history of it.”

A successful cannabis industry “can’t be why we have more space billionaires,” he says. “It needs to be why we have more community sustainability. It’s all about passing the joint, passing the kinetic energy, the success, and bringing it back to our circles at the end of the day.”

We’re collectively hungry for art, culture, and connection. Rube cites Crush Walls’ urban art event that took place September 2020 amid COVID-19. “What did people do? They pulled up to the streets, smoked weed, and looked at art.

That didn’t stop. That happened in the renaissance.”

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experience

explore

meet

shop

taste

Dolphins and cannabis tours

Festivals and campfires

MJBizCon, ExpoEast, and more

COOKIES, hemp fiber, and more

Brunch, CBD, and goats

local I SPARK

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local

experience

FLORIDA

Get Your

NEVADA

Effect of the

Entourage

Whether you’re a local or tourist, you’ll enjoy Las Vegas Cannabis Tours’ behind-thescenes look at Sin City’s legal cannabis industry.

Considered one of the most vibrant and exuberant cannabis locations in the nation, Las Vegas has grow houses, and top dispensaries. Guests will develop their knowledge of an expanding industry while enjoying a unique, informative, and trippy tour fully escorted by a Cannabis Concierge. lvcannabistours.com

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Feet Wet

Experience the Intracoastal Waterway through picture-perfect scenes with Florida Water Tours. Based in St. Augustine, the eco-tourism company offers cruises for locals and tourists year-round. Dolphin and Wildlife Adventure, Wine Tasting Cruise, Full Moon Cruise, Nights of Lights, and Sunset Nights of Lights Cruise are just some of the adventures to join. A percentage of every ticket purchased is donated to its educational outreach nonprofit program, Florida Water Warriors. floridawatertour.com

PENNSYLVANIA

One-Two Punch of

Culture

It is hard to believe it’s been 45 years since Sylvester Stallone ran up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The museum houses world-famous Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works by Renoir, Monet, Manet, Degas, and Cézanne in the New European Galleries. Swing by the galleries of arms and armor and spot the dragon on a rare horse armor. Visit architectural settings worldwide including a Japanese teahouse, a French medieval cloister, a Philadelphia parlor, and a Gilded Age drawing room. philamuseum.org

OKLAHOMA

Set in

Stone

The No Man’s Land Historical Society has been preserving the Oklahoma Panhandle’s heritage since 1934. The 10,000-square-foot No Man’s Land Museum devotes four rooms to items from early ranchers and homesteaders who endured the Great Depression and the Dustbowl. Check out displays of chipped stone tools, grinding stones, pottery, and other items used by the region’s Native Americans.

There are also exhibits of paleontological and geological items, history, economy, and ecology. Best of all, admission is free. nmlhs.org

local

experience

FLORIDA

Kava Good Time

CBD Café & Kava Bar is the perfect location to enjoy a variety of coffees, a CBD drink bar, a kava menu, and an oxygen bar. Open mic nights feature comedy, jazz, rap, poetry, scripture, and karaoke. Feel the inner beat and let loose during the Kava Kava Drum Circle. Laugh out loud during Comedy Night. Groove to the freestyling Rap Around the World open mic night—pass the mic, spit some beats, and jam along with the house band. Bring some friends and live out loud. cbdcaferoom.com

OKLAHOMA

PENNSYLVANIA

Located in Downtown Tulsa’s Arts District, the groundbreaking Eufloria is a dispensary in the former “pillow room” of the Gypsy Coffee House. The full spectrum cannabis café experience features live entertainment, a heated smoking patio, an interior lounge, edibles, and sandwiches, along with gourmet coffee. Share your voice—lyrics, music, poetry, comedy—during Tulsa’s longest-running open-mic night on Tuesday. Cheer during Ru Pauls Drag Race watch party, and add the café to your First Friday Art Crawl.

Enjoy live music performed Friday and Saturday nights while hanging out. eufloriameds.com / gypsycoffee.com

Immerse in the days of Olde England, steeped in the allure of bygone days and nights during the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire at Mt. Hope Estate & Winery, which runs through October 31. Get ready to live the excitement and adventure of jousting knights and royals with colorfully costumed villagers and merrymakers. Weave a day with theater and musical performances, stunt performers, magic acts, and comical mud beggars—just a few of the many daily shows. Well-behaved dogs are welcome to join their human companions for the revelry. parenfaire.com

PHOTOS (FROM TOP) COURTESY OF CBD CAFÉ & KAVA BAR,; BY GUI AVELAR

Gypsy Vibes

Merrie Olde Fun

NEVADA

Keep Earth Happy

Happy Earth Market is a hub for diversity, artistry, and community for those “Being the Change” by living and working to heal the Earth. The market hosts open mic night, Comics Helping Comics, Back to Dance, Songwriters Helping Songwriters, and Arts & Crafts. Yoga, support groups, and Soberoake promote health and wellness. Entrepreneurs sell unique products, artisans share their art, and community advocates host events at the space. happyearthmarket.com

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explore PHOTO (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) BY BY VONECIA CARSWELL; SYDNEY MARTINEZ FOR TRAVEL NEVADA

FLORIDA

Celebrate for

CHANGE

OKLAHOMA

CAMP + FIRE

Harvest Fest, held at Camp Copperhead, supports the state’s cannabis culture while shifting public opinion on medicinal cannabis use. Live entertainment will include 18 artists on three stages; about 65 vendors; and numerous community camps. Camp Copperhead’s 200-acre campground boasts RV sites and primitive camps, plus a bathhouse, bars, an onsite dispensary, a pool, UTV trails, hiking trails, spring-fed ponds, and many shade trees. campcopperheadspavinaw.com/harvest-fest

PENNSYLVANIA

ROOM TO BLOOM

Longwood Gardens is so much more than a botanical garden. Covering over 1,077 acres, the gardens incorporate dazzling seasonal displays that elevate the art of horticulture. During their Festival of Fountains, enjoy vibrant blooms with dancing fountains and check out Fireworks & Fountains shows. The arts at Longwood are alive and inspiring, with live performances, including Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi and the 62bell Longwood Carillon concert. Get cool with the Wine & Jazz Festival and hot with the Latin fusion band De Tierra Caliente. longwoodgardens.org

NEVADA

OLD-TIMEY GOOD TIME ­

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all wom g n i all o love cannab

CONNECT WITH YOURSELF AND OTHERS IN CITIES AROUND THE GLOBE

TOKEATIVITY.COM/CONNECT

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Factory Obscura

PHOTO (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) BY BULJAN; COURTESY OF FACTORY OBSCURA, MJBIZCON

Oklahoma / factoryobscura.com Founded in 2017 as a collective of artists, thinkers, creators, inventors, and makers, the “factory” is a collaborative effort to awaken wonder and build community with more than 6,000 square feet of hand-crafted immersive art. The space’s newest exhibit, “Doorways,” is an immersive art experience by artists Amber Rae Black and Teddi Fokas created in collaboration with Factory Obscura.

Check out the Mix-Tape experience, too, a 21st-century take on the classic audio autobiography.

SEPT 18–19

10th Anniversary Brazilian Festival Florida / brazilianfestival.org Celebrate a decade of arts with an inclusive and trendy multicultural entertainment experience. Pop icons Smash Mouth will perform both days of the event, singing hits like “All Star” and “Walkin’ on the Sun.” The festival is expected to attract about 20,000 people and will include global foods from local restaurants, dozens of fun exhibitors, and live performances by artists, musicians, and dancers.

SEPT. 22-25

Natural Products Expo East

Pennsylvania / expoeast.com According to a Million Insights report, the global CBD skincare market will reach $1.7 billion by 2025. The Natural Products Expo East will showcase this trend with vendors offering topical creams and other beauty products containing CBD, CBG, and other compounds derived from the hemp plant.

Connect during in-person education and networking events for the natural, organic, and healthy products industry.

OCT. 19-22

MJBizCon

Nevada / mjbizconference.com The 10th annual MJBizCon, the largest cannabis trade show in the industry, will return as a live, in-person event in Las Vegas in October. Keynote speaker Daymond John, co-star of ABC’s Shark Tank and founder and CEO of Fubu, will amp up attendees.

Join others exploring 1,000 cannabis industry suppliers on the expo floor.

Sensi Media Group will be hosting several parties during this epic event.

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THE MOST ANTICIPATED AFTERPARTY OF MJBIZ CONFERENCE 2021 To learn how to be involved email info@farechild.com

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shop

NEVADA, OKLAHOMA, FLORIDA

PHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) COURTESY OF DR. FEDORENKO TRUE ORGANIC PRODUCTS, COOKIES

Just One Bite

COOKIES can now be found on the famous Las Vegas Strip, as well as in select Oklahoma dispensaries and soon in Florida. COOKIES’ top-shelf cannabis products began with two visionary founders: grow expert Jai and entrepreneur Berner, whose Girl Scout Cookies (GSC) remains one of the most sought-after cannabis strains globally. Innovative strains include Cereal Milk, Berry Pie, Pancakes, Gelati, Sweet Tea, and Sticky Buns. All of their products are seed-to-sale with in-house cultivation of global varieties and a full lineup of strainspecific products. cookies.co

safe skin ON A STICK

NATIONAL

PENNSYLVANIA

LOOKS THAT don’t kill

Hemp fiber is stronger, better insulating, and more durable than cotton while draping beautifully over the body’s natural contours. In addition, hemp fabric combines natural quality with organic luxury. PlanetHEMP Eco-Fashion’s use of organic blends and certified-sustainable fabrics ensures premium comfort, with the satisfaction of knowing that cut-and-sew manufacturing was completed in the US. Select from casual and athletic styles, including hoodies, tee shirts, shorts, and dusters. planethemp.cool S E P T E M B E R 2021

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taste

NEVADA

Picturesque Brunch Shannon and Ryan Matson, mega-friendly coffee lovers, opened Bungalow Coffee Co. in downtown Las Vegas. Bungalow handcrafts favorite drinks while listening to their guests, making them laugh, and enjoying music. Sip on a signature Rosemary Latte (a flavor that pairs excellently with oat milk) or a handcrafted pour-over featuring beans from a rotating menu of roasters. They also offer a delicious charcuterie board. Bungalow cares about positively impacting the community, investing in one another’s dreams, creating openness to untraditional ideas, raising awareness, and creating change while serving coffee brewed from ethically sourced beans. bungalowcoffeeco.com PENNSYLVANIA

PHOTOS (FROM TOP) BY BETHANY PAIGE PHOTOGRAPHY, COURTESY OF HEMP CAFE & CBD LOUNGE

HEMP Hangout OKLAHOMA

GET YOUR GOAT

Located in the heart of downtown Tulsa’s East Village inside the historic Hamilton/Kelly building, The Goat Bar & Kitchen is a posh restaurant with a cannabis-friendly deck. Enjoy fabulous Mediterranean-inspired dishes and other international eats, craft cocktails, and live DJs or music.

The restaurant concept combines modern, urban ambiance with new and old influences in its decor. Ready to meet some people? Sensi Media Group will be hosting brunch networking events here. thegoattulsa.com

Try uniquely infused coffees, espresso, smoothies, and refreshers at Hemp Cafe & CBD Lounge. Newly renovated, it is the perfect place to relax and enjoy a beverage while hanging out with friends, watching TV, or browsing the web with free Wi-Fi. Looking for something infused to enjoy at home?

Stock up on Hip Hemp Cafe CBD Hot Sauce, Hip Hemp Café Vinaigrette, Hip Hemp Cafe Olive Oil, and Hip Hemp Café Cocktail mixes. hiphempcafe.com

FLORIDA

Your New Main Squeeze

Tallulah CBD + Juicebar, started by a mother who is a former high school teacher, is not the typical CBD store or juice bar. The family-friendly environment includes a kids’ play area and is petfriendly. For a bit of decadence, try the Heavenly Hash Creamery Protein PLUS, a perfect treat that still enhances a healthy lifestyle with nutritious protein and CBD. Beverages include CBD-infused tea, coffee, water, lemonade, seltzer water, juice, kava drinks, and matcha. tallahasseecbd.com S E P T E M B E R 2021

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Heart the Cart Bong carts are the new bar carts. You need one.

PHOTOS & TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON

In May, dining website-meets-community Food52 asked the question that’s been on interior stylists’ minds for a while now: Are bar carts on their way out?

To which I say, um, do you really have to ask? If there’s a question about the continued longevity of any trend’s lifespan, it’s safe to assume that it’s on its way out.

Sure, the author posed a question to her Instagram crowd about whether bar carts were “out” or “still cool,” and 84 percent of the responses came back in favor of the bar-on-wheels-as-openstorage, but that’s not surprising. Lots of people thought hanging wooden carvings of “live laugh love” on their walls would be the writing on the wall that told the world just how deep and spiritually sound they are. They 34

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lived. They laughed. They loved. And to this day, some of them keep right on loving.

Side story: During the early days of the pandemic lockdown, memes kept my spirit alive. You could say that because of memes, I lived. I certainly laughed. And, my god, some of them I loved—especially the one that just showed a wooden carving of the word “gather”

hung on a beige-gray wall. The simple caption: “That’s illegal, Karen.”

I died. I lived. Laughed.

Loved. I still do. Perhaps I am the lowest common denominator?

Either way, I’ve never had a bar cart. I did purchase a wheeled two-shelf unit in a mid-century modern style that could to the untrained eye be confused for a bar cart, but it’s not a bar cart. No,

no, no. Bar carts are out even if home decor sites are hesitant to declare the trend dead quite yet. Perhaps there’s been enough death this past year, or perhaps they worry that the plebes who embarked on home improvements while spending so much time in said homes would revolt if they read that one of the trendy, musthave pieces they just incorporated into their

got my Jane West Beaker on my bong cart, too! #twinning.

And if you’re somewhere in between, I encourage you to take your smoking accoutrements out of whatever hiding place they’re stashed.

Bong carts aren’t just for bongs, you know. Pipes, stash jars, grinders, rolling trays, dab rigs, and all of the other objets d’art cannabis accessories can live on the cart, too—just as long as they’re nice and clean. Put them on display unless you’re living with rambunctious kids, or decor was suddenly as that says “humble & kind” jumpy cats, or any other taboo as gathering with hanging on the door creature that could knock unvaccinated strangers in above my home office. them over. Then proceed close quarters while not I picked it up one day at with caution. Always keep wearing a mask. a Home Goods where it the stuff you put into the Let them revolt, I say. was on clearance for $10.

Or let them in on the Although the message secret that surely isn’t made me shudder, I going to be a big secret for thought I could use the much longer because— canvas and turn it into you heard it here first, something cool. I never folks—it’s going to be the got around to attacking it hottest home decor trend with some paint, but I did of 2022. Whether you’re tack two oversized Postgetting one brand new or Its on either side of the updating your existing message. The first reads, bar cart into one of the “If you think you’re,” and bong varieties, you too the latter wraps it up with will get to say you helped “you’re confused.” It’s spark the latest rage in now perfect.) interior styles.

But if you’re like, omg, If you’re wondering I’ve already been storing my smoking devices secured why you would want a Jane West Beaker on my old safely away from any bong cart, maybe it isn’t bar cart but hadn’t realized minors or pilfering roomfor you. Keep gathering.

I should stop calling it my mates who shouldn’t have Keep on living, laughing, old bar cart yet! Well, access to your stash. and loving. (Confession: now you know! You and If you consume canI do have a wooden sign I should be friends, I’ve nabis, there’s no need to

hide it away in a cabinet or drawer as if it’s something you’re ashamed of, no matter what you may have been told in D.A.R.E. But there’s still a whole lot of stigma surrounding it today, even as more Americans than ever are in favor of its legalization.

After legalization comes normalization. The bong cart (or bud cart, or cannabis cart if you must, but I like bong cart because it’s a better play on the “bar cart” phrase— that’s what we’re going for here) is a statement. If you’re not quite ready to admit that bongs—with water filtration and the ability to deliver a cool, smooth hit—are a superior way of consumption,

that’s OK. You’ll get there. And when you do, I’ll have tons of recommendations for products that will look right at home on the bong cart in your home.

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Fighting for freedom is Join the revolution at norml.org

P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E BLAZE DELIVERY

Enhanced Experience The delivery-based cannabis market is here to stay—and Blaze is making it all easier.

T

he massive rise in delivery-based business during the pandemic has transformed how customers interact with their favorite brands across the United States and the world.

Consumers now expect everything from alcohol to toiletries to be available at their doorstep. As legalization spreads across the country, that expectation of seamless delivery is extending into the cannabis industry. Currently, 14 states permit regulated cannabis deliveries, but that number is expected to rise over the next few years.

For most dispensaries, however, the idea of quickly implementing online

Blaze’s software addresses backend logistics and the tracking and managing of drivers. It also creates a delivery service that will pass each state’s regulatory status, avoiding legal headaches. Designed by industry veterans, the delivery software integrates directly with a store’s POS system to allow accurate inventory tracking. It features signature capture and ID verification, and it provides delivery drivers with a complete manifest and inventory ledger.

To enhance the consumer’s experience, the Blaze Delivery app easily captures customer signatures, verifies IDs, and tenders orders—customers can even pay ahead. Plus, it offers the ability for drivers to communicate securely with dispatch or with the customer for last minute changes.

A recent report from Uber showed that delivery revenue grew 103% in 2020, a number that is expected to continue to rise moving forward. There is no reason why cannabis businesses cannot get in on that trend and expand too. They just need the proper framework in place to make it happen.

purchasing and delivery is daunting, to say the least, if not downright impossible to navigate safely, efficiently, and legally. That’s where Blaze can step in, offering state-of-the-art delivery software and POS systems designed to provide seamless solutions to cannabis purveyors.

“We feel that delivery is going to be a key piece for retailers who are looking to grow their businesses,” says Chris Violas, the CEO of Blaze.

“We think it’s here to stay and we’re doubling down on that market by continuing to develop new features BLAZE Delivery to streamline and scale delivery Delivery POS Systems operations.” blaze.me S E P T E M B E R 2021

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THE END

Enlightened Ink Colorado yoga teacher and spiritual guide Bri Leonard found a way to love her body through her tattoos.

Leonard swears by the work of her artist Danny Boy at Landmark Tattoo (landmarktattooing.com) in Denver. “He's a kind, warm, talented soul,” she says. “That place feels like home.”

“I am someone who comes from trauma and humble beginnings,” says Colorado-based yoga teacher and tarot reader Bri Leonard, whose body is a canvas of tattoos: a dagger down her chest, a fortune teller on her arm, a scorpion on her back. “Yoga and occult practices have saved my life and given me tools to face the challenges of this world.” She cultivates a practice that is beautiful and powerful both physically and emotionally. Her classes combine creative, challenging movement on the mat with deep introspection (and the occasional dose of Prince or classic metal in the music mix).

Through a podcast and members-only classes with Healing House (healinghousepodcast.com), which she co-founded, Leonard encourages students to dig into the past and shuck off the pain and negativity that keeps them from personal evolution.

“Our goal with Healing House is to give back and support anyone on the path to holistic healing— with a little touch of humor and magic,” she says.

Leonard’s tattoos are an important part of her identity and ground her in her teaching. “They have helped me love my body,” she says. “Before I started getting tattooed, I never liked what I saw in the mirror. I felt like a visitor in my own body. As my collection of art began to grow, I noticed an evolution in my self-perception. I began to feel strong, confident, like me.”

We want to see your tattoos and know the stories and passions behind them. Post them to Instagram and tag us @sensimagazine.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRI LEONARD

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

HIGH FASHION

Weed’s mid-century makeover

C O LO R A D O

CALIFORNIA

SEPTEMBER 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021

NEO-RENAISSANCE

Rube Zilla’s post-Covid vision

CART NOUVEAU

Bong carts > beer carts

SPARK JOY Introducing House of Saka’s newest cannabisinfused beverage

HIGH FASHION

Weed’s mid-century makeover

NEO-RENAISSANCE

Rube Zilla’s post-Covid vision

CART NOUVEAU

Bong carts > beer carts

MICHIGAN

NEW ENGLAND

SEPTEMBER 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021

THE REAL DEAL Oak Cannabis founder Jason Tueni built a brand by staying true to his Michigan roots

SEE ALL THE SEPTEMBER EDITIONS NOW AVAILABLE!