‘Easy To Roll’ W/ Mike Every Sunday @ 4:20 EST

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Can you roll a joint? In today’s legal cannabis culture, being able to twist up a respectable doobie is “essential,” according to Curved Papers founder Michael O’Malley.

Inventor, entrepreneur, MIT Grad and longtime pot smoker, O’Malley invented a new kind of rolling paper whose patented curved edges make it “Easy To Roll.”

As a public service, O’Malley has been invited cannabis industry professionals to join him on a ZOOM meetup, “Easy To Roll With Mike O’Malley’ every Sunday at 4:20 EST.  On the call, participants share tips, tricks and joint rolling stories…and much more!

WANT TO JOIN IN ON THE FUN? DM @curvedpapers or e-mail info@curvedpapers.com for the Zoom Info. All are welcome. #easytoroll #easytolearn #NORMLtoroll #fourpack #toyourdoor

This Year Make Raw Cannabis Part Of Your Healthy Plant-based Lifestyle

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By Pam Dyer

Most of you who read the MJ News Network are very familiar with cannabis in its smokable, vapeable, topical, edible, and suppository forms, but have you tried it raw?

This week on my blog Butterfly Sessions I’m discussing treating raw marijuana like a vegetable.  Once you go raw, you’ll never go back!

Join me in my “wellness with weed” campaign as we support and motivate people who want to live a more healthy, plant-based lifestyle. 

Wink-In-Weed: Cannabis Class Is In Session

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By David Rheins 

Class is in session for participants in Washington’s legal cannabis trade.  Coming off of the collegial CCC show in Portland, Team MJBA is back in Western Washington this week continuing our quest to provide professional education and promote best business practices for our nascent industry.

Collaboration was the theme of CCC 2016

Collaboration was the theme of CCC 2016

On Tuesday, February 13th,  6-8:30 at the Factory Luxe  in Seattle, MJBA and NWMJ Law will present,“Managing Your 502 Business,” a 2-hour bootcamp designed to review essential business basics, tools and best practices that every I-502 licensed business should follow.  Attorney Anne Van Leynseele, NWMJ Law, will lead the this 2-hour interactive bootcamp, aided by a VIP Panel of cannabis business experts, including Norm Ives, Mosaic Insurance, CPA Dani Espinda, and business consultant Debbie Whitlock.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mshbd7MS3E&w=560&h=315]

Seating is limited, so reserve your place today!

Thursday, February 18 is the start of CannaCon,  a 3-day celebration of all things canna-business at Pier 91 on Seattle’s waterfront.  This year marks MJBA’s fourth CannaCon.   It has been truly amazing to witness as the show and the industry develop together. CannaCon founder Bob Smart was one of MJBA’s first business members, joining us back in the fall of 2013!

In preparation for the show, Bob, Dave Mesford and I paid a visit to KLAY 1180 AM last week, appearing on “The 411 on 420” talk show, hosted by Amy Ansel and Darrel Bowman.

The 411 on 420, hosted by Amy Ansel and Darrel Bowman

The 411 on 420, hosted by Amy Ansel and Darrel Bowman

Billed as “the world’s largest cannabis marketplace for products, services and ideas” the 2015 Seattle event claimed more than 11,000 attendees, over 200 exhibitors and 50 educational sessions, with over $6 million in business conducted on the floor.”  This year’s CannaCon promises to be even bigger, with a complete sell out of exhibitor booths, and an all-star lineup of speakers.  The event seminar schedule features three separate tracks: Cultivation, Technology and Business Development, and includes some of the industry’s top voices, including Ed Rosenthal, Ah Warner, Megan Schwarting, Farmer Tom Lauerman, Aaron Pelley, Don Wirtshafter and Kyle Kushman. 

Canna Con 2016

I will have the honor of playing moderator for much of the Business Track sessions on Thursday and Friday.  We’ll cover a host of important topics. I’m particularly excited about our “Town Hall” session Thursday at 1PM with Washington’s top cannabis regulators: WSLCB Director Rick Garza, Washington Department of Agriculture’s Steve Fuller, and the Washington Department of Health’s Kristi Weeks.

MJBA’s Morgan will be moderating and participating on a Women in Cannabis Panel, along with Crystal Oliver, Danielle Rosellison, Sharon Whitson and Shawn DeNae.

Marijuana Channel One will be capturing all the excitement. Look for our live streaming and tweets, and our exclusive interviews with industry thought leaders here.

Wink-In-Weed: Cannabis Collaboration, Fun and Games

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By David Rheins

This week’s column is dedicated to the importance of collaboration, fun and games in the cannabis industry.  Now for me, marijuana has always been experiential –  a mind expanding, humor producing, cosmic giggling good time. Long before it was medicine or big business, pot was fun.  Our cannabis counter-culture has morphed into legal industry, and our local community is evolving into broader coalitions: disparate factions all working together towards a common goal of raising the awareness and acceptance of the political, medical and commercial possibilities that the end of prohibition brings.

Moderating the ancillary businesses panel at CCC

Moderating the ancillary businesses panel at CCC

At canna-gatherings great and small, collaboration is taking center stage. So much so that CCC (formerly Cannabis Creative Conference) changed the name of last week’s trade show in Portland to ‘Cannabis Collaborative Conference.”  There,  at the Portland Expo Center, straight-laced regulators from the OLCC joined former-NBA basketball stars turned pot-entrepreneurs, wonky economists and well-heeled canna-technologists in emphasizing the possibilities that are possible for the new industry if we can only learn to work together cooperatively.

NBA Star Cliff Robinson, aka "Uncle Spliffy" delivers keynote at CCC 2016 in Portland, February 4, 2016.

NBA Star Cliff Robinson, aka “Uncle Spliffy” delivers keynote at CCC 2016 in Portland, February 4, 2016.

Working and playing together. Participating at cannabis industry events — as speaker, panelist, exhibitor or attendee —  while certainly not all ‘fun and games’, does mean being a part of a small, tight-knit collegial community.  One tends to see a lot of the same faces on the cannabis trade show circuit.  As a rule, most of us truly like being with each other, commonly greet each other with hugs and kisses, and frequently sneak off together to share a toke and a smile.

Farmer Tom Lauerman and friends

Farmer Tom Lauerman and friends

Cannabis is a community sacrament that leads to shared activities. Cannabis is a business and social lubricant, and an enhancement to our favorite activities. Forget Coca-Cola, things go better with cannabis: nature, sports, sex, music, video, and games.

Speaking of fun and games, imagine my delight when I arrived back in Seattle to find two separate packages on my doorstop: both cannabis games!   Now that pot is legal to purchase and consume for adults in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and DC, a consumer demand is quickly developing for “things to enjoy while legally high.”  One new product seeking to fill that need is ‘Cannabis The Card Game’, from Weed Games. Cannabis TCG is a fill-in-the blank Q&A card game designed to be fun and educational.   “After consuming Cannabis, lab mice are known to begin______.”  teases one card.

Now that pot is legal in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and DC, a burgeoning cannabis consumer demand is developing for things to enjoy while legally high!

Now that pot is legal in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and DC, a burgeoning cannabis consumer demand is developing for things to enjoy while legally high!

To play ‘Cannabis The Card Game’, you’ll need your own legal cannabis, rolling papers (included with the game)/ blunt wraps, a bong/pipe or vaporizer, munchies, a grinder or all of the above!  Add paper and pen if you are attempting to keep score (completely unnecessary).

In a separate package I uncover another addition to the canna-games category, ‘Roll a Bong’, a board game dedicated to the community of marijuana smokers, who enjoy smoking while playing board games.  Billed as a “rolling and smoking game for the whole joint,” all players are encourage to contribute weed to the “Community Dish” at the start of the game.

‘Roll a Bong’, a board game dedicated to the community of marijuana smokers, who enjoy smoking while playing board games.

‘Roll a Bong’, a board game dedicated to the community of marijuana smokers, who enjoy smoking while playing board games.

Things to do in Oregon when you’re stoned: Both of these pot-smoker games would find an ideal home at Portland’s NW Cannabis Club, which I had the pleasure of visiting last Tuesday before the CCC show.  The members-only private club offers daily, monthly and annual memberships (beginning at $10/visit). Membership entitles you access to the expansive club room, the dab bar, where you are welcome to use their dab rigs, and a very cool landscaped outdoor patio area, complete with fire pit and local art installations.

The members-only private club offers daily, monthly and annual memberships (beginning at $10/visit).

The members-only private club offers daily, monthly and annual memberships (beginning at $10/visit).

MMJ activist Don Skakie has found a second home at the club, traveling regularly from his home in Renton, Washington since most of his local mmj farmer’s markets have shut down.  He summed it up his love of community for me while we were enjoying the crisp February night air, “Some people collect antiques, but for me this is a hobby. Whenever I can, I like to get together with my cannabis family and just hang out.”

TwiceBakedinWA: 2015: My Lifestyle In Cannabis

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By TwicebakedinWA

WASHINGTON: Adventures With The MJBA: Seriously, it is never boring at the MJBA. For a year and a bit I have happily worked on their social media team and captured videos for Marijuana Channel One.  Around the fall I needed to change my schedule and stepped away from the daily social media work I was doing on MJ News Network. Really though, my adventures with MJBA continue on and 2016 looks like a bright year for all of us. Many thanks to David, Morgan, and Roxann for making this one of the most fun jobs I ever did have.  

Meeting Jerry Whiting From LeBlanc CNE. If you don’t know Jerry Whiting, let me just tell you that he is a thunder and lightning storm of vibrant positive energy in the cannabis world. After being introduced to his CBD rich tincture earlier this year and trying a few different batches it quickly became one of my favorite go-to medicines for inflammation, migraines, back pain, and muscle spasms. Without a doubt his tinctures and liniments have provided me me a higher quality of life in this body. Thank you so much, Jerry, for spreading your knowledge, kindness, and generosity, my way.  

Dr. Ethan Russo and TwiceBakedinWA

Meeting Dr. Ethan Russo. I initially met Dr. Russo by randomly striking up a conversation about raw cannabis juice at a Vimea event on Vashon Island. While I didn’t realize who he was until he handed me a business card, I was tickled pink to have met a neurologist who also knew so much about cannabis. Over the summer I got to see him speak multiple times about terpenes and cannabinoids and learn from his decades of research. Dr. Russo showed me what I should seek out in cannabis for my conditions and reminded me to always take the smallest dose of THC necessary rather than looking for the highest dose tolerable. Meeting him was definitely a treasure for me in 2015.

The Depression And The Migraines.  I really struggled in 2015 with what seemed like moremigraines and deeper depressions  than I have seen for a long time and while that may not seem like a positive thing it pushed me to study. I learned so much this year about sleep, the brain, immunity, and gut health that despite all the pain and anguish, I came through alive, wiser, and more equipped to continue life in this body for another trip around the sun.

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The Women of Cannabis. I found myself at over a dozen female only cannabis professional and social events this year. One standout favorite was the MJBA Women’s Alliance Retreat last July in Hoodsport where a small group of big thinking women spent time in nature brainstorming ways to make the cannabis world better and then went off and started following through. The beauty of these women is that they are full of life, down to earth, they work hard, and they know a lot about cannabis. One of my goals this year was to spend more time with women in the industry and I would say that is a continued goal for next year as well. This uplifting community of women is a beautiful part of the cannabis movement and one that I am grateful to be part of.

Cannabis 101: Harsh Smoke And The Importance Of Curing

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By Sue Vorenberg
Cannabis Daily Record

Fall is a great time for cannabis enthusiasts – the big outdoor harvests start to come in, the array of strains at local shops expands almost exponentially and prices drop due to the large amount of flower entering the market.

If you’re not a fan of harsh smoke (Are there people out there who actually like harsh smoke?) than there’s an important question you should ask your budtender before parting with your money: Has this product been cured properly?

Curing isn’t rocket science, but it is time consuming. When a plant is harvested, growers typically trim off the larger leaf clusters and hang the buddy branches over wires to let them dry for four to 10 days.

Once the buds feel dry, they’re removed from the branches and trimmed more closely. Then they’re placed in some sort of storage container and dried for another few weeks until they’re sticky but not brittle.

Opinions: Stigma Remains In Las Vegas Young Cannabis Scene

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By Sue Vorenberg
Cannabis Daily Record

NEVADA: I’ll admit it. As a gourmet cannabis enthusiast I’m utterly spoiled living on the Washington-Oregon border.

I’m surrounded by two states that – while not perfect – could be considered marijuana utopias compared with most of the rest of the country. And I was reminded of that on a recent trip to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Don’t get me wrong. Nevada is making good progress, including the opening of its first medical marijuana dispensary, Euphoria Wellness, in August.

And signs point to the state – or perhaps just the city of Las Vegas – legalizing recreational marijuana in the near future.

But roaming the Vegas strip is still anything but marijuana friendly – despite the area’s rampant enthusiasm for alcohol and binge drinking.

 

Opinions: Every Medical Marijuana State Should Be Fully Reciprocal

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By Sue Vorenberg
Cannabis Daily Record

Traveling with medical marijuana is always a nerve wracking experience, filled with worry that your medicine will be seized or worse – you’ll wind up in jail.

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With any other prescription drug – including highly addictive things like Oxycodone – it’s easy enough to travel to another state and fill your prescription while you’re there.

But since cannabis is federally illegal, the same rules don’t apply.

It can be challenging enough to find a prescribing doctor, because HMOs and other traditional medical organizations forbid them from prescribing a federally illegal substance. But even after you go through the process of tracking one down and getting a prescription, you still can’t get that prescription filled in most other medical marijuana states because only seven of them have reciprocity.

To date, the states that allow medical marijuana card holders from other states to fill prescriptions are: Arizona, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

 

Exercise, Scoliosis, And Cannabis: There Is No Space For Ego

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By TwicebakedinWA

Remember the things you were able to physically do a decade ago? Can you still do them? This week I rediscovered an old photo album of a yoga photoshoot I did a decade ago. It was beautiful but it was also eye opening because I no longer lived in the same body that could do those poses.

The scoliosis I have been dealing with since age 10 told me back then that it would be wise to capture my spine movement I was able to physically do because one day I may not be able to do them. I never imagined that day would seemingly come so fast.

As I was looking at these old photos, I realized that I could now only do about half of the poses the way they looked in the pictures. Major ego check.

Then I started thinking about how different it was when I used cannabis way back then. I would smoke weed before I exercised to enhance my workout and be able to focus and feel on a whole new level.

Ego check number two…

These days I’m using cannabis not to enhance my workout but to actually be able to do the workout. When I get up early in the morning my back doesn’t want to workout and will protest by being sore and tight. I usually apply a cannabis topical to my torso, take some kind of CBD edible or tincture, and vaporize flower when I have it. Having to modify my intention with why and how I use cannabis is a reality check.

My morning workouts themselves have changed and are rarely high energy because my spine doesn’t want that. It wants gentle, low-key, and mellow first thing in the morning so I usually end up doing stretches and core work.

This whole experience of having to maintain a scoliotic spine is a humbling one. I have only so much control over it but it is still my job to care full-time for this little body while I live in it and be able to learn from the lessons that it provides me. Tuning in with cannabis and exercise allows me to keep the relationship with my body a positive one although that remains a major task.

If you are dealing with scoliosis or back pain I encourage you, as I do myself, to just keep moving. Respect the messages your body is sending you in its pain. Use cannabis with positive intention so you can live a higher quality of life and wellness. And then release your ego as soon as possible.

-TwiceBakedinWA

Investor-Driven Legalization: A Bitter Pill To Swallow

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By Keith Stroup

NORML Endorses the Ohio Legalization Initiative

The NORML board of directors voted to endorse Issue 3, the Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative, a proposed constitutional amendment that will appear on the ballot on November 3rd. The proposal would end marijuana prohibition in Ohio, legalizing both medical and recreational use, so NORML’s endorsement came as no surprise.

But our endorsement — made at a meeting recently in Portland, Ore. — came with a caveat: The board expressed concern over investor-driven initiatives where the investors will profit from the passage of the initiative. And because of that concern, the endorsement was less than unanimous; a couple of board members abstained, and one flatly opposed the endorsement, to register their displeasure with the self-enrichment aspects of the Ohio proposal.

NORML is a single-issue, public-interest lobby. We focus on ending prohibition and the practice of treating marijuana smokers as criminals, and the establishment of a legally regulated market, so there was little doubt that we would endorse Issue 3 in Ohio once it had qualified for the ballot. But we also felt we should acknowledge that this specific version of legalization – in which the investors alone would control and profit from the 10 commercial cultivation and extraction centers (where marijuana-infused products would be produced) permitted under the proposal – is a perversion of the voter initiative process available in 24 states.