Ganja, Maryjane, Pot, if you are of a particular age, you no doubt recall, with some shah grin, perhaps, the movies of Cheech and Chong. Tommy’s “Yeah, man,” spoke more than a simple affirmative. I was in high school during the Nancy Reagan “Just Say NO!” campaigns, and Cheech and Chong were as much a statement against the establishment as it was an identity for a subculture.
Depending on who you listen to, we’ve come vast distances from that mindset in culture and science and tolerance, or, if you are Jeff Sessions, we’ve not moved an inch.
To some portion of the citizenry, I think cannabis, pot, man, is still a polarizing issue. I posit that is now just a position of being willfully uninformed. A tragedy of the times seems to be a tolerance for cannabis is tacit sanctioning of drugs and you just want people to die.
No sane person wants people to die. Interestingly, what I learned from Josh Wilcoxson is that cannabis may well hold solutions to problems we currently have which will prevent people’s deaths, or, in the extreme cases, help manage their pain. How does that sane person who really doesn’t wish people dead find it okay to withhold treatment to ease pain?
In my own progress through this information, I’ve concluded, for myself, that the benefits are very worth having that opposing legalization might mean people really might die in pain.
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I’ve seen on job boards in Oregon cannabis jobs for cutters which require marijuana handling permits. What is the cost of that permit? What is entailed to obtain a permit and why does anyone need a permit in the first place to cut a plant?
$100. One must pass an exam on all of the regulations as well as a background check. The same permit covers all OLCC cannabis workers, so it’s much broader than a single aspect of horticulture. I’m thankful for the opportunity to live relatively freely in Oregon. Some of the fears are legitimate. This permit is a relatively small imposition in the grand scheme. And it’s good for five years.
I remember in school the various names of, I guess, strains or varieties of pot. Does OR, or the cannabis industry, grow a variety of strains?
Leafly.com is a good source to explore these. Our strain Jericho Haze was recently added. It was an honor for us. But also continued validation for Leafly. These genetics and their legacy clearly belong in the book of strains.
I’ll admit a plebian knowledge of cannabis. To me, smoke tastes like smoke. Do various strains have various flavors or is the benefit of the variety in the amount of THC?
This is where cannabis gets really interesting. Besides THC there are a couple hundred other cannabinoid substances that create an entourage effect in the presence of THC. Both this entourage effect and the “flavor” of which you speak are dominated by chemicals called “terpenes” that create the essential oils in plants. These terpenes combine in various ways to create various effects and correspond to recognizable scents.
Without getting too technical, I’ve noticed finding strains dominated by lavender, pine, and spice essences more relaxing/pacifying. While citrus-dominant strains are typically energizing and euphoric. This speaks to personal experience alone. The effects do seem to vary based on the physiology of the individual’s endocannabinoid system. Most people seem to notice and accept that the entourage creates more dramatic effects with less THC than pure THC on its own.
Is THC the reason the medical community uses cannabis? Are there other compounds which are sought and only grow in cannabis and THC is just there?
The medical community is only beginning to see effects from cannabis that will soon prove miraculous for a wide variety of conditions. We can still think of medical cannabis in terms of two main substances. THC is the controversial component that causes the changes in perception we think of as getting high.
In addition, a molecule called CBD is an uncontroversially beneficial substance renowned for a wide variety of pain management, anti-inflammatory, and even cancer-fighting capabilities with no overdose or impairment or negative side effects to speak of for virtually everyone. Due primarily to CBD, the opioid epidemic as we know it would not exist right now if cannabis had not been banned 100 years ago.
CBD is the only substance that ever helped the aches and swelling in my body. It eliminated both summarily. This allowed me to lose 70 lbs last year and get (however briefly) in the best shape of my life.
THC as well has important medicinal benefits to many people. Its presence seems to increase the effectiveness of CBD in at least some applications. Multiple friends of mine attest to a THC/CBD topical mixture shrinking then killing cancerous skin tumors. On it’s own I have watched THC cure chronic social anxiety and allow a patient to not only function at work but outperform in a sales position.
Like THC, CBD seems to vary in effect and effectiveness for most conditions based on the entourage of terpenes and other cannabinoids. CBD is located on the trichomes on the flowers, just like THC. Different strains have different ratios between the two.
Is there an interest among growers to move toward a hybridized plant or plants, if this is not already happening?
I’ll offer an opinion that’s not the only valid viewpoint. A pure grower is distinct from a pure breeder. The two careers are almost opposites in several ways. The irony is that the countryside is littered with growers who are talented yet destined for mediocrity specifically because they thought mastering both skills would make names for themselves. Most growers who never stand out are running too many strains to ever master even one of them. The best breeders are committed to the strains they are working on and don’t have time to run commercial grows. Even at a huge seed bank growing the actual seeds is effortless compared to growing top sinsemilla flower. A final dynamic here is that less-than-expert growers end up breeding because they can’t keep ace mother plants healthy indefinitely.
Can growers or researchers control the level of THC in the plants? If so, how do they do that?
A quick example: One might feel incentive to manipulate THC upwards in order to get a better test result. This could be done by starving the plant of water. The resulting buds would be tiny, airy, and completely unviable commercially but would test extremely high in THC and terpenes by weight. Typically a grower is trying to maximize the weight and the THC content of the strain being run.
Are there various plants for various uses? That is, do recreational users buy the same thing as medical users?
Yes, I think various strains effect different people differently but often in large clusters. I largely find the distinction between medical and recreational to be a legal distinction. We’re all trying to feel better. If cannabis makes you feel better, that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you to begin with. The stigma around “recreational” use merely taps our Puritanical heritage to demonize and criminalize millions of good people. If people felt so strongly opposed to recreational television watching, the social pressure might do some good.
It was suggested to me the benefits of canna honey which is something I hadn’t heard of. Quick research on my part, to learn about canna honey, revealed that no bees are required for cannabis pollination. What is special about canna honey?
Cannabis-infused honey is very popular right now. I’ll give you an exclusive: Vidl will be releasing our own artistic take on this trend in a couple weeks. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
What can you tell me about the medical properties of cannabis? Is smoking it the only way for the desired effects to affect the patient?
So think about this dynamic as three groups: Smoking and vaping are by far the fastest ways to feel the effects.
They work within seconds. The effects last the shortest time with these methods—typically 45 minutes to a couple hours.
In the middle bucket are the sublingual tinctures and topical creams. These absorb within minutes (5-30ish) and last a couple hours.
Edibles are in their own category. They take 45 minutes to an hour and a half to digest and take effect, but the effects last several hours.
How do you address the “Don’t Do Drugs” propaganda? Certainly there exists some very addictive and dangerous drugs. Why do you think cannabis is singled out when it doesn’t fit either of those categories? The current state of the DOJ makes this seemingly more salient than maybe otherwise it would be.
The history of cannabis prohibition seems pretty clear from the reading I’ve done. After alcohol prohibition there were a lot of hammers looking for nails. Cannabis was rebranded “marijuana” to associate it with Mexican immigrants.
Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman openly admitted the war on drugs was a movement targeting political suppression of African-Americans and antiwar activists. It was extremely successful.
The answer is simple. Anyone who believes cannabis should be illegal should be rioting in the streets to make alcohol illegal. Anyone who thinks prohibition had vaguely positive outcomes in either case should be cordially educated or ridiculed as further from contact with reality than the most delusional drug addict.
Cyanide is a naturally occurring poison but is in very small levels in the seeds of fruit. Oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves is toxic and I don’t see measures to eradicate wild rhubarb. Fruit and rhubarb are well used ingredients in cooking-and not banned. How is cannabis used in cooking?
We can think of eating cannabis in two ways. We can ingest the cannabinoids from the flowers for their psychoactive or body effects, or we can eat the leaves for their comprehensive nutritional and antioxidant value and distinctive flavor. The flavor of the leaves is grassier but also spicier than many other greens. I’ll drop another exclusive on you: The flavor combination of cannabis leaves and black cherry will be common household knowledge at some point. I used to make a delicious and super healthy ice cream in the Blendtec. Throw the leaves in with frozen black cherries and condensed milk or plain yogurt, a bit of frozen banana, and/or chia seeds. You will love it!
Does cooking alter the affect the THC produces on the diner? Do different 
strains have different flavors? We are all familiar with “brownies, man” but what of savory uses?
So this is where some interesting trade-offs come into play. THC and CBD must be heated to drop their bases in order to be able to bind to our bodies and activate. They need a minimal amount of heat and time to activate in this way. If this heat is too great or too long the THC/CBD will burn away themselves. Far before the THC and CBD are fully active in this way, the terpenes will boil off in significant quantities. So the time and method of cooking are critically important to the flavors and therefore effects. This applies to chefs at home. Labs don’t face this trade off exactly the same.
What do you think the general public gets wrong about cannabis and what are your refutations to those concerns?
The general public is largely in support of legalization. What they get wrong is treating the opposite viewpoint as an acceptable opinion. Cannabis prohibition is clearly the greatest domestic policy flaw today. No matter what you think the big problems in America are, cannabis freedom has a huge positive impact:
- If you are worried about economic and public budget issues, we are wasting over a trillion dollars outright plus demolishing the productivity and prospects of millions of our fellow citizens to compete where theirskills are needed. Instead they further depress the unskilled labor market.
- If you are concerned with social justice issues, cannabis prohibition disproportionately persecutes the most vulnerable people in our society: women, ethnic minorities, and the mentally ill.
- If you are concerned with the trajectory of health care costs, then for God’s sake you should be a huge cannabis advocate.
- If you are afraid of terrorists, you should staunchly advocate reallocating law enforcement activity away from cannabis and towards violent crime and conspiracy.
- If you are concerned with gun violence, allow the cannabis trade the core government services of contract adjudication rather than street justice as well as normal banking instead of stacks of cash defended by an arsenal of guns.
- If you are troubled by the social effects of the degradation of the nuclear family, you should be outraged at the effect on children of ripping fathers from homes and putting them in cages.
- If you are bothered by the opioid crisis, cannabis is the answer.
- If you are unnerved by the rate of veteran suicide, normalized cannabis access would prevent much of it.
- Industrial hempcrete has the capability to house the homeless. Soon 3D printing it will be no big deal.
If people want cannabis legalized in their state, how should they start to make that happen?
- Embrace the attitude that there is nothing shameful or regretful about cannabis use. This nonsensical “shame” was the tool that kept women, black people, and homosexuals subjugated for so long.
- Get serious about activism. This should be fun, but it’s also serious business that needs efficiency and effectiveness. Recruit at least 2 friends. This is imperative. We each appeal to a different personality type of potential activist. Find your niche and rush them in. Use interests and talents to create micro-communities of cannabis activism.
- Cannabis prohibition is so engrained that it needs to be thwarted and overturned at every level of society and government. The local police and county management need to know it’s not a priority. Many federal legislative and executive actions need to be overturned. And everywhere in between. Find where you fit in, and find help.
Is there something about cannabis you think I should know that I haven’t asked?
The only other point I’d like folks to consider is that concentrates made in laboratories are the current bulk of industry growth. But that should not overshadow the fact that when talking about plants that are used for medicinal purposes, the strain and quality of the underlying plant used are vitally important.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts on cannabis and its uses!
You can visit the web store at Vidl.Club
Here is the link for you to hear Josh’s appearance on the Tom Woods Show.
5.9.18
This is a link to an article about the 9th Circuit Court’s decision about CBD, Big Pharma, and the law. Very much not a surprise and an equal measure of great disappointment. I’ve not asked Josh about this yet, but here’s that link.
Robyn Griggs Lawrence, author of The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook, now in paperback, spoke with me on the Culinary Libertarian podcast.
