socal kush magazine march 2011

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78features inside

kush

16 Passing Gas Here are 10 clever ways to do it without putting up a stink.

24 This Month in Weed HistoryDr. Seuss, born March 2, 1904, tackled racism, environmentalism, and

fascism. Oh yeah…he wrote a few kids books too...

78 Overton Loyd : The Kush InterviewThe legendary P-Funk artist finally reveals the recipe to his tasty true

Funk Aesthetic OG.

84 The Boys of Summer are BackWho’s the best in the West? Depends. You want the coldest beer or

the biggest hot dog? Or just a great game of ball.

90 The Price of PotSupply and demand has taught us lessons on why cannabis prices

have changed over the years.

16southern california’s premier cannabis lifestyle magazine

12 | The Health Report: Allergies by J.T. Gold 34 | Unfairly Taxed by Luigi Zamarra 42 | Strain Review: King Louis XIII by Anne of Austria48 | March Madness by Jay Evans54 | Girly Ganja Gadgets by Cyree Jarelle Johnson58 | We Dig This: The Cheeba Hut by Bud Lee

60 | Hempful Hints: Hempcrete by Jay Evans 65 | Let There Be Light by Tyler C. Davidson 70 | SoCal travel: Ventura Beach by Heather Gulino 72 | LA’s Best Deli’s by Lisa Faye 74 | Steep Hill Lab by AnnaRae Grabstein 80 | Cocobolo Bill’s Wooden Pipes by Wasim Muklashy 82 | Living Well: Rec Sports by Julie Cole 86 | Medicinal Cannabis’ Health Imapct 88 | Patients Out of Time by Mary Lynn Mathre 94 | NORML Women 98 | Use Versus Abuse by Austin Hill Shaw100 | SoCal Live Music Preview by Dillon Zachara102 | March Madness Recipes by Chef Herb106 | Dailybuds.com Dispensary Directory

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Publishers | Dbdotcom LLC

Founder | Michael Lerner

Editor in Chief | Lisa Selan

Assistant Editor | Wasim Muklashy

Chief Executive Officer | Bob Selan

Business Development | JT Wiegman

Art Director | Robb Friedman

Director of International Marketing & Public Relations | Cheryl Shuman

Director of So Cal Sales | Cheryl Shuman

Advertising Sales Reps | Amanda Allen, Ed Docter,

Christianna Lewis, Denise Mickelson,

Quinn Micklewright , Charlene Moran, Kyle Ragan

Designers | Avel Cupla, Marvi Khero, Joe Redmond

Traffic Managers | Kevin Johnson , Alex Lamitie,

Ryan Renkema, Jordan Selan, Rachel SelanDistribution Manager | Alex Lamitie

Contributing Writers Chef Herb, Julie Cole, Tyler C. Davidson, Jay Evans, Lisa Faye, J.T. Gold, AnnaRae Grabstein, Heather Gulino, Cyree Jarelle Johnson, Jade Kine, Bud Lee, Mary Lynn Mathre, Wasim Muklashy, Mateo Ramirez, Austin Hill Shaw, Mike Sonksen, Dillion Zachara, Luigi Zamarra

Accounting | Dianna Bayhylle

Internet Manager Dailybuds.com | Rachel SelanDailybuds.com Team | JT Kilfoil & Houston

kushA Division of Dbdotcom LLC

from the editorssouthern california’s premier cannabis lifestyle magazinew

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no part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without the written written permission of Dbdotcom LLC.

hen I think of March Madness, I reflect on the excitement each year of

watching the young athletic stars of College Basketball play some of the best hoops we will

see all year. The young and hungry college teams fight it out toward the end of their regular

season to get a chance to play in the NCAA tournament. Some of the crazy fans like me

witnessed our own Colorado Buffs upset the Texas Longhorns just a few weeks ago.

In So Cal, March Madness has a completely different meaning. The “Madness” I am

referring to is the madness being created by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office and City

Council. They have attempted to amend the Ordinance passed in June 2010 controlling

Medical Marijuana Collectives in the City of Los Angeles pursuant to the Superior Court’s

ruling this past December stating that parts of the June Ordinance were unenforceable.

The newest amendment, which is a temporary urgency Ordinance (does this sound

familiar) sets forth that only collectives that were in business and can prove they were in

business before September 14, 2007 could file and intent to register so they can continue to

operate. While 228 registered, the city determined that not all of them could stay open and

in fact has sent letters informing 141 collectives to close. However, many of these 141 are

part of the original Superior Court Case that determined that parts of the ordinance were

unenforceable. So where does this leave these collectives?

In Long Beach, it isn’t much better. The Long Beach City Council keeps zoning out

medical marijuana collectives and growers by making the perimeter zoning stricter. The

council had already approved a law in March 2010 that outlawed collectives near schools,

in residential areas or near one another, but decided to make it more restrictive. The change

is expected to force 11 collective or cultivation sites to close, leaving 26 citywide, mostly in

the western half of Long Beach. There are already numerous lawsuits in Long Beach, with

more expected to come.

On a less dramatic note, in this issue are some great March Madness recipes (for the

NCAA tournament!!!) beginning on page 102 as well as an explanation of the science of

bracketology on page 48. We also include each month a listing of great music coming

your way (p. 100) along with an important article regarding the unfair taxation of medical

cannabis dispensaries under IRC section 280E on page 34.

So hopefully the only madness we all experience in March is related to great sports

and not a boxing match between the politicians who feel the need to knock our already

crazy world upside down.

Kush Editorial Board, www.dailybuds.com

In So Cal, March Madness has a completely differ-

ent meaning. The “Madness” I am referring to is

the madness being created by the Los Angeles City

Attorney’s office and City Council.

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Springtime iS a wonderful time of year - the drudge of winter finally liftS itS grip; all that waS dormant comes back to life and the outdoors beckon. unless, of course, you have spring allergies and then the season of rebirth is nothing more than a call to the medicine cabinet. allergies are worst in the spring and for those who are sensitive to the pollen, grass and everything else that helps make springtime beautiful, it’s hard to find reason to celebrate. thankfully, there is a natural regimen that can help lessen the agony of sinus pressure, multiple sneezing and watery eyes. follow these tips and you’ll no longer be afraid to breathe a breath of fresh air this spring. eat local honey. Bees collect pollen from local plants and therefore build your tolerance and immunity. nutritionists recommend eating 1-2 teaspoons regularly before the allergy season really kicks into gear. eat foods known to combat allergies. onions, garlic, citrus are all known to contain natural antihistamines. marshmallow root is a known decongestant and green tea contains antioxidants that may help your body’s reaction to allergens in general. wash your hair. if you use any sort of product in your hair, realize that you set a trap for pollen and dust. imagine that after a day of gel in your hair, it essentially becomes a sticky surface for all of those tiny, invisible particles to gather. rinse, rinse, rinse. Keeping your nose free of pollen is as simple as rinsing your nostrils out with clean water. the tiny hairs that act as a filter for things like dust and pollen need to be kept clean to do their job. prepare. if you know you’re going to be outdoors during days when the pollen count is high, take extra measures to keep yourself breathing easy. wear natural fibers that collect less pollen and wash your hands regularly. avoid sticky lotions on your hands that will collect everything you want to avoid. Sleep in. pollen is at its peak in the early morning hours. avoiding outdoor activity from 5-10 a.m is a smart way to avoid itchy eyes. the eyes have it. allergies can blind those of us who take it right in the eye. Some people sniff, others cough, but nearly all of us tear up when our bodies are reacting to springtime pollen. look for natural eye drops and keep one in your pocket, one in your bag, one in your car, one at your house, one at you parents’ house…

Being an allergy sufferer is just a plain old drag, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the outdoors during this spectacular time of year. if you haven’t had a skin test, it’s not a bad thing to know (what you’re allergic to). Keeping clean, eating foods with plenty of antioxidants and decongestants are a good place to start. happy spring!

Be well.

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The most trusted name in alternative medicine

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The most trusted name in alternative medicine

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ONE. If you have a smart phone, download a “gas app.” There are lots available, but I like GasBuddy because it’s free and simple to use. Another is Cheap Gas, (also free) which gives you precise directions to the closest, cheapest station. These are for the iphone, but no worries, there are plenty for you Android types too. TWO. Use cash when possible. Many stations charge a few cents less per gallon if you don’t flex the plastic at their pumps. THREE. What’s up with topping off with premium every time? The fact is most cars don’t need it, despite what it says in the owner’s manual. To be sure, ask a good independent mechanic if it’s safe to use regular or the middle-grade gas in that chick (or dude) magnet of yours. FOUR. Now this is sort of a no-brainer, but…consider carpooling, especially for shopping trips, a day at the beach, etc. Yup, there’s even an app for that! Download the Carpicipate App to find new friends and neighbors who also want to share a ride. FIVE. And speaking of shopping…do it online whenever possible. There’s actually a study out there that shows shopping on the net saves up to 35% in fuel consumption, not to mention ancillary items like parking, bridge tolls and that impulsive “gotta’ have it” latte. Ok, go ahead, have the latte, but don’t make it a special trip. SIX. Also in the no-brainer department, you can assume, if it’s ultra-convenient, then you’re paying through the nose. So, steer clear of gas stations located right off the freeway. Their rents are higher and they charge more, plus they know you want your fill-up to be fast and easy, so they mark it up to whatever the traffic will bear. SEVEN. Next, you’ve heard it before, “sometimes you’ve got to spend money to save money.” Sounds like an oxymoron. But in this case, it’s totally true. Keep your ride tuned up and you’ll get better mileage, and performance too. Clean filters, properly adjusted belts and hoses, good spark plugs and fresh fluids all count, and check the air pressure in those tires now and then. For every three pounds your tires are under-inflated, fuel economy drops by about one percent. It all adds up. EIGHT. And, try to control that lead foot. Aggressive driving, while it might be fun attracting the attention of potential girlfriends and boyfriends, not-to-mention traffic cops…it burns a lot more gas. NINE. How quickly you accelerate and how fast you go makes a huge difference. How huge? Well, for every mile per hour over sixty you drive, you’re spending an extra ten cents a gallon. And, according to Department of Energy studies, erratic driving and hard braking can waste an additional fifty cents per gallon. TEN. Last, do the math. Decide if venturing out on the highway is really worth it. Driving ten miles across town to buy sunglasses on sale probably won’t save you anything. In fact, as the price of petrol continues to rise, those new shades may be a lot more expensive than you bargained for.

IN THE END, THE pRIcE OF GAS mOVES Up AND DOWN bASED ON WORLD pOLITIcS AND EcONOmIcS, AND THAT pRObAbLy WON’T cHANGE. bUT ADOpT SOmE OF THESE STRATEGIES, AND yOU cAN SURVIVE THIS mESS.

it’s a crazy upside down world out there, especially if you drive a car. Just turn on the news; the middle east is in turmoil and dictators are dropping like flies, which is a good thing of course, but we’re paying for it at the pump. no matter where you are, the price of fuel is out of control.

gas is going up so fast even the government can’t get a fix on it. last month, the federal energy information administration announced the average price of regular gas in the u.S. is $3.19 per gallon. then, a day later, the aaa fuel gauge report said the national average at $3.22. that’s an increase of three cents per gallon in one day. at this rate, we’ll all soon be driving our kid’s little red pedal car to work....or not! maybe there are some things we can do soften the blow to our credit card statement and the dwindling stash of cash in our wallets. Here are ten proven ways to keep a jaunt to tHe grocery store from landing you in bankruptcy court.

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Dr. SeussBy Bud Lee

This Month in Weed History has shed light on many historical events and focused on many great icons. This month we want to take you back - waaaaay back. And when you get there…go back even a bit further…now turn around you just might remember this blast from your past: Dr. Seuss. Yes, the Green Eggs and Ham, Cat in The Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas Dr. Seuss.

Certain people have gifted this earth with their natural talents, others with their beauty, some with their earned intellect, and some with their whimsy. Dr. Seuss’ use of the latter helped him produce forty-four children’s books, of which there have been numerous adaptations to televi-sion, feature films, and Broadway plays. If Seuss’ characters had eluded you since childhood, you would have had to look no further than any Shakedown Street or rave party parking lot to find more than a single homage. Whether it was the Cat in the Hat, Yertle the Turtle, the Herk-Heimer Sisters, the Right-Side up Song Girls, Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz, Sam I am, or Bippo-No-Bungus & Bustard - this cast of characters will still keep your tongue-twisting, your imagi-nation flowing, and your moral conscience on guard.

Theodore Seuss Geisel (pen name Dr. Seuss) was born March 2, 1904, and thanks to him, many of us learned fundamental lessons through his characters and the poetic rhythm of anapestic tetrameter. While we all know Geisel as a writer, painter, and animator, what most don’t know is that Geisel’s start was through very mainstream mediums,

including creating ad campaigns for huge conglomerates such as Standard Oil, General Electric, and NBC, and serving as a political cartoonist for many major maga-zines. Additionally, his work for the U.S. Army led him to write Design for Death, a film that went on to win the Academy Award for Documentary Film in 1947.

Dancing around heavy social and political issues like racism, environmentalism, anti-consumerism, Hit-ler and anti-authoritarianism, materialism, isolation-ism, and the arms race, Dr. Seuss never shied away from controversy. Using a pen as his sword, he may have created magical characters, still widely popular with children, and pop sub-cultures, but look close enough and you’ll notice that while Dr. Seuss’ books are warm and fun, they’re also poignant, real-life lessons that still hold up today.

He was a lot deeper than first glance may convey - a cerebral activist at heart - and per-haps his work served as a way to simply the day’s toughest issues by breaking it down into digestable and entertaining formats. Some-thing many artists in our community can relate to, and a strategy most of today’s entertainment world has embraced. Let’s just hope the original message doesn’t get lost in all the pretty colors and funny names…

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by Luigi Zamarra, CPa

In the past several years, public opinion regarding the medical use of cannabis has been changing rapidly. So far, 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation legalizing the dispensing of cannabis for medical purposes and, according to Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a non-profit policy think-tank, 17 additional states recognize the medical value of cannabis, some of which are considering legislation to allow dispensaries themselves.

However, the Internal Revenue Code has yet to be amended to recognize the legitimacy of medical cannabis dispensaries, in large part because cannabis, or marijuana, continues to be treated as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, a federal law passed in 1970. As a result, Internal Revenue Code Section 280E disallows claiming otherwise completely legitimate business expenses that are incurred in a trade or business, simply because the business is associated with medical marijuana.

History of IRC Section 280EIRC Section 280E was enacted in 1982 during the Reagan

administration, long before the general public understood the medicinal value of cannabis. It was enacted largely in response

to public reaction to the Tax Court case of Edmondson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1981-623. The Tax Court ruled in this case that the taxpayer could deduct his telephone, automobile and other business expenses because they were “ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with the taxpayer’s trade or business” of selling illegal drugs. In fact, although the IRS challenged the amount of the expenses, it did not challenge the principal that such amounts were deductible.

Congress caught wind of this case and enacted IRC Section 280E in response. In the legislative history the Senate Finance Committee noted that:

“On public policy grounds, the Code makes certain otherwise ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in a trade or business nondeductible in computing taxable income. These nondeductible expenses include fines, illegal bribes and kickbacks, and certain other illegal payments.” The report went on, “There is a sharply defined public policy against drug dealing...such deductions must be disallowed on public policy grounds.”

Thus, it seems clear that Section 280E was enacted based upon public policy concerns at that time. Well, public opinion changes over time.

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Changing Public OpinionCalifornia passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Since then more

than a dozen other states have passed similar legislation to legalize medical cannabis dispensaries. Even the larger business community now recognizes the legitimacy of this new industry (see Fortune magazine, “is Pot already Legal?” September 28, 2009.) There are similar movements afoot in many countries around the world. The larger public has learned to differentiate, and it no longer lumps medical cannabis together in the same basket with cocaine and heroin usage. Few people dare to maintain the untenable position that cannabis has more detrimental social effects than alcohol. Public opinion regarding the medical use of cannabis is rapidly changing.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun to audit the tax returns of cannabis dispensaries that are legally operating under state laws. They are aggressively applying Section 280E to disallow many ordinary and necessary business expenses.

While changes to the tax law lag behind changes made by business enterprises and changes in public opinion, the tax law usually does eventually catch up. Now is the time to amend Section 280E.

Federal Internal Revenue Code Should Remain Neutral

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, cannabis is a Schedule I controlled substance, even though it may be medically recommended by a physician to benefit the health of the user. Thus, the federal law continues to assert a position that contradicts state law, at least with respect to the 14 states that have enacted medical cannabis legislation. Although the Supreme Court has supported this position (See U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Coop., 532 U.S. 483 (2001)), it continues to be the subject of debate among theorists on Constitutional law.

It cannot be denied that the Internal Revenue Code is federal income tax law. However, does this give the federal government the right to disallow valid business expenses to medical cannabis dispensaries that are operating legally under state law? That is just too “back door.” If the federal government wants to fight the medical use of cannabis, it should do so via the Controlled Substances Act and face-off against the states in criminal court.

It should not use IRC Section 280E to punish dispensaries with a hidden “fine.”

The Internal Revenue Code should remain neutral, and provide fair rules for taxpayers that are operating legally and legitimately. There should be an exception to the application of IRC Section 280E for any medical cannabis dispensary that is operating legally under state law. This change is clearly supported by the interplay between the legislative history of Section 280E and the change in public opinion that has transpired since its enactment.

To Change Administratively or Legislatively?It is not clear if this change could be made administratively. But even if it can be, it appears the IRS, the only party empowered to make this change this way, might be unwilling to do so, given the gusto with which it has wielded Section 280E against dispensaries under examination. Thus, it seems that this “technical correction” (a term-of-art used by tax professionals for a change in the tax law that is necessitated by changes in industry that have transpired since enactment of the original tax law) will need to be made legislatively.

Making this change to IRC Section 280E is the right thing to do. Medical cannabis dispensaries are legal and legitimate businesses; they are good corporate citizens who pay significant amounts of taxes to local and state governments as well (governments that have begun to depend upon these revenues). It is only fair that they be entitled to the same business deductions as other taxpayers. Denying them deductions because of public policy concerns does not comport well with favorable current (although recently changed) public opinion concerning medical cannabis.

Luigi Zamarra, CPa is the Chief Financial Officer of Harborside Health Center, recognized as one of the largest medical cannabis dispensaries in the united States. He has a BS in Commerce and an mS in accounting from the university of Virginia. He worked with the Big 4 accounting firms for twelve years, rising to the position of Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, before starting to work with regional businesses as a public accountant in San Francisco. Luigi now lives and works in Oakland, Ca. He can be reached at [email protected]

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T his is a joint review (no pun intended…ok maybe pun intended) of the royal strain, King Louis XIII, an amazing indica provided by one of the premiere cannabis dispensaries in So Cal. A bag full of golf-

ball sized buds was placed on my desk and we all swooned. Since strain reviews are mostly a single reviewer’s experience, we decid-ed to do a group review (all on our own turf) and compare notes. Hands down, King Louis XIII is a very elegant strain and quite true to its name. Here’s what the kingdom thought:

The Queen: Being the Queen of the group, I shared the loot and took my share of the ransom home to experience the King. The buds are dense and sticky, with a natural beauty accentuated by diamond sparkling Trichomes. I decided to smoke out of my Sheldon Black five-shooter water pipe. The bud was so fresh that when I broke off my first small nug, the moist nature of it al-lowed no more than a mellow drag, which definitely relaxed me. I proceeded to take my dogs for a hike in the hillsides, and the King definitely gave me an exaggerated feeling of being one with nature. But when I returned, I decided it would be better to grind up the bud to try to get a better hit. Wow, was I right. This was one smooth, sweet toke, with a great cerebral high. Later, before bed, I took one more hit and had a great night’s sleep. This is definitely a fine indica, worth seeking out.

The Court Jester: As the court’s jester, all the kings horses and all the kings men, watched me juggle the large nugs all the way home again. While, from the strain’s moniker, I would expect a dank dark grotto musty smell to permeate my membranes, it was nothing of the sort. It proved not an immediately overpow-ering smell, but once you squeezed the bud, broke a chunk off, and began to break it apart, the aroma of the dew from a fresh manicured misty garden took over my senses (and the sweet moist

sticky remnants on my fingers only added to the sensation). The high? Fit for a king! And allowing us to partake was nothing but a blessing. I was pleasantly surprised in the sense that it wasn’t very typical for an indica. I didn’t get couch lock, I didn’t fall asleep, I didn’t even get tired or groggy. Quite the contrary…it actually opened up my mind and found myself sitting and work-ing on my latest act with clear and focused direction. In fact, rather than getting locked, I actually, very ardently, fell into the zone (and was still satisfied with the results the next morning). However, when I stood up and tried to speak, that’s the only reminder I needed that this was truly an indica. I think, perhaps, we’ve found the reason for the King’s speech impediment…and the reason he still finds me so amusing.

Lady in Waiting: When I saw the buds I was initially impressed with the size of the nugs…the smell was rich and had that true smell of a dank OG flower. I couldn’t wait to get home to try the stuff, and as soon as I walked in the door, I packed a fat bowl in my Sheldon Black water pipe. I instantly had a head change, heavy eyes and a body high but not like I was going to get eaten by my couch or sink into the thing, I almost wanted to work out (which is bizarre to begin with). On my second evening with the King, I realized I did NOT get the munchies either time, but still felt high and “good.” After smoking it for the second time I headed to the King’s court to watch one of my favorite art-ists. Now normally for the sake of my friends I will refrain from taking back-to-back bong rips so I do not have to hear the ca-cophony of “you’re boring” comments, but last night, I did what I wanted and it worked out just fine…I was still uppity and ready for fun. I love the combination of the heavy eyes and true indica symptoms, yet leaving me the ability to be out and social. At the same time, I ended the night with another one-on-one with the King and was able to fall asleep like a little baby.

King Louis XIII

Strain Review

by Anne of Austria

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Cup Bearers: As the King’s Cup Bearers, we have served King Louis plenty of times before, but this time, King Louis was ‘nugged’ up pristine, and we were a bit nervous about the task that lie ahead. Initially, we thought that there could be nothing worse than breaking down your tree into fairy dust, however after breaking it down, rolling it up, and lighting it…we quickly realized we were mis-taken. A fluffy bud of King Louie XIII is a tale all its own. The aroma this flower produces reveals a scent of earth still breathing while the sweet smooth forest pine taste was definitely fit for the KING. Instantly it was the great flavor that jumped out at us. The high was great as well. It lasted for quite a while which is always a benefit and bonus. For the most part, the King affected our heads, but we unmis-takably felt a solid bit of a body high as well. King Louis is a Royal indica that made us feel like we were well settled on the throne, our bodies entirely relaxed. This is an all around great strain and just won a spot in our top 5 best strains all-time.Long Live The King!

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WheW, made it through the holidays! NeW year’s - survived it! Bowl games - wow, too many of those! the super Bowl was great - rodger’s got that belt! man, i’m still full - i gotta start that diet, and get to the gym. Poor tiger, still can’t find his stroke. all-star Weekend was awesome! Blake cruises for the slam-dunk crown, and Kobe lands the mvP. so now what? Well, melo’s finally a Knick - we’ll see if that pays off. the Celtics opened the door for the east, nice trade…ahh, it doesn’t mean shit ‘til the playoffs anyway…and regardless, these guys are all just overpaid entertainers. But not the college kids! thank god for college hoops. Possibly the last honest arena for true sport…oh baby!!! march madness is finally here again!!! this is gonna be awesome!!! Who’s gonna cut down the nets this year? What is it that makes NCaa Basketball, and the march to the Final Four so special? maybe it’s the chance for a smaller (Cinderella) team to shock the world? For david to beat goliath? Where else besides the olympics is a collegiate (or non-professional) athlete given the opportunity to step up to the world’s stage…raise themselves into the spotlight, and further yet, as a part of a team, where the collective actions of a group become one driving force, with one driving purpose…a championship. Not to say that this doesn’t take place within the professional realm, as there are plenty of great stories of driven, and determined teams, both favorites, and underdogs, but, there’s something about the NCaa Basketball tournament that creates insanely consuming passion. to hear the chants of 30,000 + fans, present students and alumni, all religiously wearing one color, or agreeing upon one particular way to throw off a free-throw shooter by waving their arms in a hypnotic way, or humming incessantly (only while the opponents have the ball), or dressing up as a giant teapot to hopefully distract the visitors enough to grasp that ever-so-slight edge that can end up being a determining factor…all taking place so close to the action that the student’s celebration more often than not pours onto the court. the rush is like no other in sports. With each team taking on their own unique, possibly game-swaying distraction, combined with all the different venues, histories of the particular schools, and the rivalries amongst them, locally, regionally, and nationally, it can get pretty heated. With thirty-two college conferences, each winner of that conference gets a berth in the tournament, previously leaving thirty-two other teams to be determined by a rating system, based on their scheduling, and statistical difficulty. With an opportunity for a smaller team, and/or smaller time player to grab attention in this tournament, the competition is often times nail-biting. this tournament proves that on any given day, one team can beat another. the daily coverage, and highlights can seem endless, keeping most junkies home with “esPN-itus,” that usually afflicts the nation around march. most people catch it around the office water cooler, trash-talking, or comparing “brackets” is from cubicle to cubicle. it also allows the most unknowing of fans to topple the most arrogant of flag waving, color-wearing, mascot-loving, school-touting collegiate heroes. Fill out your brackets, pull them in and out of your pocket in full oCd fashion for three weeks straight. this round by round elimination now starts with sixty-eight teams (jumping for the first time from the normal sixty-four), then, confusingly enough, back

down to sixty-four, then thirty-two, then to the “sweet 16,” the “elite 8,” to the “Final Four,” and of course, the Final Championship game. although the larger divisions such as the Pac ten, Big ten, aCC, seC, and Big east, will usually get their 2nd and 3rd teams in also, since every division, even the smaller schools have representation, it evens the playing field for all schools participating. With many of the top 25 overlapping in these divisions, there are more openings within the sixty-eight starting teams. this tournament truly does relish the smaller school’s fight, and determination to be noticed with the more popular, or dominant teams like duke, villanova, syracuse, ohio st., Pitt, uconn, and Byu. the tournament also allows for gambling junkies of all sorts, to sink their teeth into about three weeks of action. grab your brackets, head to vegas, and happily maximize your opportunities to go broke during march. With the tourney starting with multiple games, day after day, leading to one big night in early april, this championship game crowns another school King of the Court, and allows for one year of bragging rights. a team’s run in this tournament can not only determine water-cooler bragging rights, but can seriously encourage, and determine many schools recruitments. this of course leads to big dollars for the schools, much of which translates into scholarships. While many choose the tempting ride of the lucrative NBa, those that do stay in school have proven to be smarter players, and this is what makes the NCaa Basketball tournament so great. it is still pure, and untarnished. so as i pick my teams this year, and some of them are upsets, i’m reminded of something my old friend tommy used to say as he’d pick his underdog winners, “…remember, the ball is round.”

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The VSyndicaTeP r i c e : $ 9 . 9 9 - $ 1 1 . 9 9ava i l a b l e at t h e v s y n d i c at e . c o m

No bigger than a credit card, The VSyndicate is a clever alternative to the average clunky grinder. Breaking up has never been easier: just rub the bud on the design in the center of the card and the cannabis forms a neat pile beneath it. The innovative shape of The VSyndicate also makes it perfect for packing a swift joint. The edges are great for scooping and smoothing, which means there is no need to grab another straight edge. The VSyndicate comes in three varieties, all which provide different coarsenesses depending on your needs. The fine grinding card maximizes the benefits of vaporizing by providing a fine particle in a snap, while the coarse card is perfect for rolling blunts and packing a quick bowl. The VSyndicate can be cleaned with soap and water, or with alcohol and a soft cloth for that brilliant shine that is sure to complement your new manicure. Starting at $9.99, the price is right for divas on a budget, even after you splurge on that 1/4th of Purple Princess.

From Paris hilton to drew Barrymore, it’s no secret that cannabis is an essential addition to the medicine boxes of many divas and femme fatales. For the fashionable woman, there are plenty of high-class options for consuming cannabis in a style befitting of a princess, regardless of budget. cannabis has been used for eons as a cure for period cramps, an appetite stimulant for those suffering from eating disorders, and as an anti-anxiety medication for women living with the effects of Post Traumatic Stress disorder.

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KiVa cannaBiS conFecTionSP r i c e : b e t w e e n $ 1 0 . 0 0 - $ 1 2 . 0 0l i s t o f r e ta i l e r s ava i l a b l e at

k i va c o n f e c t i o n s . c o m

From the crisp packaging to the smooth taste, Kiva Cannabis Confection’s line of premium chocolate products is an original alternative to more traditional edibles. A lifesaver during that time of the month, Kiva Confections provides relief from menstrual cramps while allowing you to indulge that omnipresent craving for decadent chocolate. All of Kiva’s products are made in California, and at $10.00 - $12.00 retail, Kiva Bars feel like a splurge without truly breaking the bank. One bar delivers four sweet and creamy doses, great for late night gatherings and as an unexpected pre-meal appetizer. This line of fine chocolate uses cannabis extract from outdoor plants that are dried and slow cured especially for the process of chocolate infusion. The dark chocolate Kiva bar pairs perfectly with a bottle of red wine and your favorite romantic comedy.

ioLiTe PorTaBLe VaPorizerP r i c e : a r o u n d $ 2 0 0m y- i o l i t e . c o m

From the crisp packaging to the smooth taste, Kiva Cannabis Confection’s line of premium chocolate products is an original alternative to more traditional edibles. A lifesaver during that time of the month, Kiva Confections provides relief from menstrual cramps while allowing you to indulge that omnipresent craving for decadent chocolate. All of Kiva’s products are made in California, and at $10.00 - $12.00 retail, Kiva Bars feel like a splurge without truly breaking the bank. One bar delivers four sweet and creamy doses, great for late night gatherings and as an unexpected pre-meal appetizer. This line of fine chocolate uses cannabis extract from outdoor plants that are dried and slow cured especially for the process of chocolate infusion. The dark chocolate Kiva bar pairs perfectly with a bottle of red wine and your favorite romantic comedy.

Gone are the days when she-smokers were limited to harsh bongs, gigantic grinders, and boring stash boxes; the girly-girls of the present have plenty of sexy, discreet, and delicious ways to consume cannabis. So, ditch your brother’s hyper-phallic Sherlock for these pieces picked especially for the fairer sex. Whether you are looking for a birthday gift for that feminine significant other, or shopping for a grinder to match your new shoes, these toys are top picks for fabulous women and those hoping to spoil them rotten.

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just a couple of montHs ago, a friend told me about a ‘million-dollar idea’ he had, and how it was going to be his future path to easy Street. Before he would tell me the idea, he swore me to secrecy, and repeatedly made me promise not to talk to anyone about it. what did my friend have up his sleeve? the next pet rock? Being a dreamer myself (and never one to dismiss other’s), i complied with his demands, eager to hear his idea. “dude, imagine a place that had killer grub, with menu items named after different ‘weed strains,’ and it would basically be for college students, late night grub, for when they’re either partying or studying, or whenever…just a place that leans towards that culture.” i responded: “Bro, are you taking about Cheba hut? Cuz it’s already been done. i just went there…and their food is chron!” with disappointment in his voice, he exhaled “…well, i guess timing is everything.” we laughed and agreed that the timing is definitely right for a place like this.

at first glance, you might drive right by a Cheba hut, and not think much of it. But as you get closer, the name and logo start to lure you in. Cheba is just one of marijuana’s many nicknames, so right off the bat, they’ve got you thinking. then you might notice that the palm trees in their logo are closer to pot leaves…hmmm… and there’s smoke coming out of the cute little hut. Could this place be…yeah, you get it now - “toasted” subs.

Between its green motif, the array of rock‘n’roll posters, 420 emblems, the killer mural emblazoned with pot leaves, and the huge “home of the Blunt” blunt hanging on the wall, it may feel more like your local head shop or dispensary, but the smell of their quality food will instantly set you straight. the casual and inviting staff might greet you with “hey bro…?”, or “what’s happenin’ man? what can we get’cha…?” there are stoner salutations, sandwich sizes called “nugs” (4” sub), “pinners (6” sub), and “Blunts” (12” sub) and such food names like: humboldt, Silver haze, train wreck, pakalolo, afghani, Kush, Chronic, and of course, the Kind. these sandwiches are all made fresh and to your liking. and with desserts that include the ‘Sticky icky’ (peanut butter and jelly), and ‘goo-balls’ (rice krispies, peanut butter, honey, and cocoa…what!???), they offer nothing but beautiful compilations of the dankest delectables.

upon my first visit, i was instantly drawn to one of my favorite munchies, a Blt (or Cheba hut’s version, KuSh). this was perfectly fitting for me, and

just happened to have the same name as my favorite strain. the different menu items all sounded fun, exciting, and flavorful. with this combination of tasty food, marijuana innuendos, and direct iconography, Cheba hut has not only sunk its teeth into something great, but continues to keep the “spliff” lit.

Cheba hut - “toasted” Subs was founded in 1998 by Scott Jennings, near the campus of arizona State university, where he attended, and paid his way through college delivering food. given that most of his customers were college students, doing what college students do, Scott came up with this blazing concept. it’s turned into more than just college dreams, and bong loads - he now leads this growing franchise as president and Ceo. with locations in California, oregon, Colorado, new mexico, iowa, and arizona, it is clear that 420 friendly states are on-board. if only those uptight states knew what else they were missing.

it’s great to see that the marijuana culture has come this far…that this busy, and very legitimate, sandwich shop, with delicious, quality food can…and has, successfully used this image. it says a lot about our changing times that a franchise like the Cheba hut can raise a torch (or Blunt) to the testament of this booming culture. this restaurant not only plays up to, but relishes in the obvious - that lots of people enjoy marijuana, both medically and recreationally, and that the lingo and culture has made it to the doorstep of our daily lexicon, and is knocking on the door of political acceptance. this may have blown my mind ten years ago, but with today’s generation getting closer to the overall acceptance of marijuana, the Cheba hut should be commended - not just for their fortitude, and entrepreneurial qualities, but for their great sense of humor, and kind, killer, tasty grinds.

Check out their full menu, grab some gear, and even learn how to franchise one in your town at chebaHut.com

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by JAy EVANS

Hemp TecHnologies’

Hempful Hints

Hempful Hints is always thinking “green” and looking for every possible attribute of the natural gift of Hemp. It continues to amaze and astound us, and yet with every new product and use for Hemp, it seems the bal-ance of the scales tip towards its revival; its uses and redeeming qualities are too hard to ignore. Again and again, it’s been found to be stronger, healthier, and cheaper - certainly longer lasting, more efficient, easier to grow, with added profitability through industries across the gamut. Now there’s another adjective to add to its list - breathable. This is the premise for yet another great Hemp product, Hempcrete by Hemp Technologies.

What they have created is a thermally efficient, breathable form of insulated wall, created from Hemp and a Lime mineral based binder. This highly sustainable hemp-lime mixture becomes something called “shiv,” a mulch-like solid that replaces concrete. Constructed around a traditional wood frame, recycled plastic shutter-like panels are tight-ened together to form the cavity that will be filled with Hempcrete, the fibrous clumps which are pushed down and set to dry. The hemp-lime mixture leaves a zero carbon footprint, and will not mold, rot, dry out, or get termites. This has great health benefits for those with respiratory issues. Hempcrete’s insulating properties are exceptional, making it cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter. It has the ability to me-ter its own humidity, level off and release it back out - literally breathing. It also pulls Carbon Dioxide (CO2) out of the house naturally because of the Lime, making for an even healthier living environment, and while it pulls out dangerous carbons, it becomes an increasingly harder surface due to petrification, allowing it to outlast traditional woods and other construction materials, as well as all of its tenants.

With Hemp being grown across Europe, and imported for these great uses, it’s time the U.S.A. finally distinguishes between non-psychoactive Hemp and Marijuana, thus allowing Hemp to be one of our greatest farmable commodities. If all the Tobacco farmers switched to growing Hemp legally, we could save our agriculture industry, live healthier, more economically, and in stronger homes that cost less exponentially, using fewer trees, and lowering power usage. This all sounds rational and ideal, but the reality lies in the corporate interests of just about every industry: tobacco, medical, oil, agriculture, not being the least of them. However, there are many inroads that have been steadily leading us into that direc-tion. There are those investing in and building ”green” structures that have a longer life, healthier tenants, and less of a carbon footprint, cer-tainly showing a hopeful future. This wave of “Green” building could very well become the norm someday. Although it might seem out of reach right now in this economy, the future is bright that costs can be kept within reason, and over time the savings in energy bills could exponentially help save money across the board. Hemp, it’s already happening.

If you are building a home, or are interested in “Green” construction using Hempcrete and other products, head over to Hemp-Technologies.com

Hempcrete - GrowinG StronGer every Day

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by JAy EVANS

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Light powers the engine of growth for any photosynthesiz-ing creature, from microscopic phytoplankton in the sea to the tallest sequoia in California. The more light, the better- but don’t forget about the heat also generated by powerful indoor lighting systems. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to maximize useful light to your plants without breaking the bank on bunches of expensive light setups- and of course the necessary cooling systems to keep your grow room from going nova. The ideal light source will emit a broad spectrum of light energy from indigo and violet to orange- red wavelengths. An artificial environment of course needs the same, and many HID bulbs, ballasts, reflectors and other forms of lighting out there can do a great job. For de-tailed information about them, look at any of a range of cata-logs, brochures and publications with this data inside; no need to repeat it here. Rather, in this month’s installment of tips on how to get the most out of your indoor garden I’ll tell you how to get the most from your precious lights AFTER you’ve got-ten them home. So, faithful growers, here’s how to crank up your lumens on leaves ratio without jacking up your wallet! The central principle of indoor lighting, and the reason for being of many of these tips, is the fact that the intensity of light diminishes as the square of distance from its source. You’ve probably heard of this before; that light is only ¼ as intense at 2 units (feet or meters, or miles, for that matter) from the source as it is at one unit (foot or meter or mile; the important thing is to keep your units the same), and only 1/9 as intense at 3 units, etc. Among other things, this means that contrary to popular belief, painting the walls white in your grow room is useless- unless your plants are right next to them. No, where you really want these reflective surfaces is as close as you can get to your plants without actually shading them.

Sooooo… where is that, exactly? Good question- back to the source for a moment; the bulb and reflector. I’ve seen the slick brochures and diagrams where bulb and reflector makers love to show the light dispersion from their systems as a square. NOT TRUE! That square is designed to show the only the total surface area of adequate light lit by that source, not its actual shape. Don’t believe me? Grab a pencil and some graph paper, and make an accurate diagram of your grow room. Keeping the intensity principle above firmly in mind, draw a line around your light source at the furthest limit of useful light from your source. For example, using a 1000 watt HPS bulb, that works out to about 4 ½ feet. Funny how your line becomes a circle around your light, huh? Yes, yes, yes, I know most reflectors are squares (not to men-tion the engineers who designed them!), but that doesn’t change how light behaves! I bet you also noticed that line you drew cut the corners off your growing area, unless you have lots of (wasteful and costly) light overlap. It’s in these corners where I usually find the spindly, lanky plants that aren’t producing. The solution is to rearrange your growing space so that from above it looks like a circle, or at least a stop sign, centered around your light source. Use quality reflective materials such as mylar to ‘cut the corners’ and follow the line you drew more closely. This trick will save you from wasting valuable space, expensive nutrients and costly equipment on plants in dark corners. Even better, it can actu-ally increase the useable space under your light! Because the reflected light will make the edges of your garden per-form more like the center, you can push the edges out an additional six inches to a foot in every direction from your light source! And that is Free Growing Space you can use!

Indoor Cultivation [email protected]

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Here’s another trick I borrowed from fruit tree cultiva-tion. Fruit tree growers spend a lot of time carefully plat-ting their fields before planting fruit trees because they want to be certain they get as much productivity as pos-sible from a layout they’ll have to live with for many years. Simply arrange your plants on a hexagonal or honeycomb basis instead of in a square grid pattern. This trick is beau-tifully simple, and it can raise your grow room productiv-ity by about 17%. Fruit tree farmers copied nature and dis-covered this increase in productivity, and now we can too! I have seen the discussion about using many smaller watt-age lights to spread light more evenly over a given area in-stead of fewer big lights. It works, but my gripe with this ap-proach is that I just don’t feel like spending more coin on lights, ballasts and bulb replacements, etc, than I have to. Doubling the number of fixtures, bulbs and ballasts adds cost fast and it’s really unnecessary. Between the tips men-tioned above and this last one below, I promise you will never have to worry about whether you should have gotten more smaller bulbs instead of the bigger one you really crave… Move your lights. Yep, sounds simple- and it is. Aren’t the best tips usually simple? I don’t mean hauling up and re-hang-ing your bulb and reflector in a different spot every day, nor am I necessarily recommending any of the array of light mov-ers currently on the market, for reasons I will explain shortly. A widely known fact in plant biology circles about photosyn-thesis- yet all but unknown to the rest of us- is that while plants begin photosynthesizing within seconds of receiving adequate light, it turns out that they will continue doing it for anywhere between 3 and 5 full minutes AFTER the lights are turned off! Most light movers currently available market them-selves as merely emulating ‘the sun’s arc through the sky’ as the day goes by and so only slowly move the light in a period of some 20 minutes to several hours. While this helps reduce the effects of leaf shading and is better than nothing, speed DOES matter. Twenty minutes isn’t nearly fast enough to take advantage of this principle- all it really accomplishes is to move the shade around! I’ve built light movers that conform to this principle by completing a full cycle in a suitably short time period and I can help you build one, too- email me for plans. Finally, astute readers will remember last month’s col-umn about topping and training plants to best capture ar-tificial light by making them broad and flat across the top, and may be wondering if those techniques are compat-ible with these strategies. I assure you that they are, and you’re gonna love the results! That’s it for now, grate-ful growers, so until next month, safe and happy growing!

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Kush Breaking Bands | New Music

Back in January, I headed over to the Silverlake Lounge to check out Escalator Hill. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, this small, intimate dive bar, with a cash bar and a moderate cover charge, features some of the hottest up and coming music in the Southern California scene. This bar is no frills with black cloth walls, a bar on one side and some tables and standard stools along the opposing wall. The stage sits at the end of the club and although the sound can use a little (ok, a LOT of) work, the music always proves to be hip and upbeat, making it a local favorite with a sizable underground cult following. Escalator Hill, the headliner that night, did not disappoint, and actually made the sound sound…good! Escalator Hill delivers an effective and energetic performance of folk inspired New Americana filled to the brim with Nancy Kuo’s soul-warming violin melodies and Andrew Schneider’s down right porch-stomping electric guitar. The backbone of this outfit rests in the head-bobbing, finger-snapping rhythmic delight pro-vided by Ryan Selan (drums) and Taylor Lipari (bass). Atop the busy sound-scape rests Antony Benedetti’s vocals, with self-aware observations such as “I’d make a bet I’d never bet again, but how would I win?” (from The Wager), or “Shaking our hands while we make believe that we were better friends way back when,” from the track Clinking Cups, a heart-felt commentary on social frivolity. Between surprise trumpet player walk-ons, extended percussion jams and moody tempo changes, Escalator Hill is a good time that you feel priveleged to be a part of.

Escalator Hill formed in 2010 with roots in Arizona and Cali-fornia and now find themselves based in Echo Park, a recently christened creative center of Los Angeles. Up and comers in the New Folk music scene, the band has notched gigs at several Cali hot spots including the Fillmore, Hotel Café, and the Egyptian Theater. Their recent headlining gig at the Silverlake Lounge rocked for the entirety of the full-hour set and had the crowd dancing through the final chord. Escalator Hill’s live performance exhibits clever song writing and a host of talented musicians in a fashion that only complements their work in the studio. The band recently recorded their debut EP “Poplar Avenue” with Dave Newton at Rollercoaster Recording Studio in Bur-bank. Newton has produced and engineered records by The Little Ones, The Henry Clay People, You Me and Iowa, Kissing Tigers and The Lonely Wild to name a few. Keep an ear out for “Poplar Avenue” slated to be released later this spring. In the meantime, check out Escalator Hill live at one of these upcoming shows: March 29th – Silverlake Lounge – Headlining at 11pm – Los Angeles

April 26th – LaBrie’s Lounge – Glendale, CA

and keep abreast of their happenings and news at www.escalatorhill.com

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by Jude Collins

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Whoever said the best things in life are free said it while dozing off in a backpack chair on the sand on a summer afternoon with the waves crashing and the smell of suntan lotion in the air. Everything about the beach is good. It’s free and it’s the perfect place to go to celebrate, to mourn, to think, to stop thinking, to hang out, to exercise, to relax, to people-watch, to nap, to read, to explore, to marvel, to build, to talk, to swim, to play, to eat, to live. The beach you’re on in the greatest spot in the world at that very moment…every time.

The weather is shifting, winter is finally lifting her grip, and the trees and flowers are blooming. Every week a new day brings signs of summer and the mind starts to wander toward the surf and sand. We are blessed and lucky as southern Californians to have so many excellent beaches in our own backyard. While some people spend a year saving and planning for one trip to the beach, we can go any time we want. Ask anyone in Iowa, that isn’t something to take for granted. As spring evolves into summer, we will highlight a different beach for you, starting here with Ventura.

If you are heading north on the 101, Ventura is the first sign that you are getting out of town. If you’re heading south, it’s the spot where central California and southern California begin and end. No matter what direction you’re heading, Ventura feels like a vacation. It’s one of the real California beach towns complete with throwback nostalgia to the days of Gidget and longboards. The residents aren’t LA people and they aren’t Santa Barbara people; they are purely Ventura! And the pace of LA isn’t their custom so make sure you leave the city behind when you arrive.

Ventura is known for its excellent surf. County Line, which is a mile stretch of beach that separates Ventura and Los Angeles counties, is a favorite spot for experienced surfers. If you’re not a pro on the board, it’s also an excellent place to watch some of the area’s best rip and shred the perfect peaks. Summer is when the waves are the smallest, so if you’re not quite ready for a Billabong sponsorship, it’s a good time to go and practice, because in the winter, the local surfers own the break, so if you show up then, you better know what you’re doing.

Surfer’s Point at Seaside Park is surf heaven. The waves are consistent and usually fairly large. While the narrow, rocky beach of Surfer’s Point always attracts a lot of people, there is no better surf spot than Rincon Beach. Rincon is rated as one of the best surf spots in the world. Located on the edge of Carpenteria, just south of Santa Barbara and north of Ventura, Rincon has

been home to many a professional surfer. If you want to see the best of the best, grab a lunch and go sit and watch for a while, and unless you’ve already graced the pages of Surfer, hesitate before you paddle out into this one.

In the heart of Ventura, you will find San Buenaventura State Beach. It’s a 2-mile stretch of soft sand that is bustling with beachy activities. It’s also a camping beach so if you have the next day off, think about making it an all-nighter. On any given day you can find volleyball, biking, barbecues and swimming, and there’s even a rental shop where you can grab a bike or a board. Hit the Promenade on your cruiser and head to the snack bar on the pier. One word of caution…Ventura tends to be cooler than the beaches you might be used to so, as always, pack a sweatshirt along with your sunscreen, friends and an agenda to chill.

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Langer’s Deli704 South Alvarado St.Los Angeles 90057(213) 483-8050langersdeli.comLanger’s claims it has been serving the worlds best pastrami since 1947 and I would have to agree. Langer’s is a family run business, open Monday through Saturday from 8am til 4 pm. Located cattycorner to MacArthur Park, Langer’s is a busy deli servicing the downtown and mid-town Los Angeles area. It even offers curb service for pick-ups and provides overnight delivery for those that need their Langer’s, even if they’re nowhere near one. My first experience at Langer’s dates to my days as a law student at Loyola of Los Angeles. Feeling deprived and stressed, Langer’s was a culinary treat that always made me happy. My favorite, still offered today, is the No. 19, a sandwich piled high with the juiciest thick-cut pastrami you’ll ever taste, complemented by a slice of Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and homemade cole slaw. It may be the most delicious pastrami sandwich anywhere, and there’s only one way to find out for yourself - go to Langer’s or order from their website and be home when the FedEx truck pulls up…

Art’s Deli12224 Ventura Blvd.Studio City 91304(818) 762-1221artsdeli.comLocated in the heart of Studio City, close to many of the world’s most re-nowned movie and television studios, Art’s has been serving delicious food since 1957. Family owned and operated, Art’s slogan is “Every Sandwich is a work of Art,” and the deli is open daily from 7am til 9 pm. While many consider it to be a bit pricey, the food is abundant and consistently delicious. My favorite memories of Art’s were Sunday morning brunches in my days of living in Studio City. Photos of “Sky High” triple-decker sandwiches on the wall would make my mouth water while I waited for our table. And if you’re there for breakfast or brunch, try my favorite omelet, their sautéed onion and cheddar cheese filled with sweet, delicious caramelized onions and yummy cheddar. This omelet has a unique taste due to the way they slow cook their onions to perfection. For lunch, they serve an awesome hot pastrami or corned beef sandwich on perfectly warmed hot rye bread. The sandwiches are definitely big enough to share, served with pickles and either homemade coleslaw or potato salad.

Label’s Table23311 Mulholland DrWoodland Hills 91364(818) 222-1044labelstabledeli.comOne of the homiest delis around, Label’s is a small, quaint family owned res-taurant that has a true neighborhood feel. It’s been around for over 20 years and is run by Angelo and his son Jason. Label’s is reasonably priced and consistently good. Most of the waitresses have been there for years and Pam is definitely everyone’s favorite. As a regular myself, it is hard to go to Label’s and not run into several familiar faces and friends. Their breakfasts/brunch-es are great with a huge selection of omelets, pancakes, and the other usual suspects. My favorite omelet is their egg white omelet with onions, spinach and mushrooms. If you are there for lunch, all of their fresh deli sandwiches such as hot pastrami, corned beef, fresh roasted turkey, and especially their homemade tuna (best tuna in LA), are served on double baked hot rye. They also have a great selection of homemade soups including chicken soup with matzo balls and hot cabbage soup. So next time you’re in the mood for a great deli – go to Label’s. Just tell them Lisa sent you!

Brent’s DeliWESTLAKE VILLAGE NORTHRIDGE2799 Townsgate Road 19565 Parthenia StWestlake Village 91361 Northridge 91324(805) 557-1882 818) 886-5679 brentsdeli.comAnother great deli, Brent’s in Northridge, owned by the Peskin family since 1969, provides great food and service in both locations. Always crowded on the weekends, mostly with regulars, Brent’s has great sandwiches, soups, hand sliced lox, awesome breakfasts and delicious dinners. Open daily 6am to 9pm in Northridge and 7am to 9pm in Westlake, Brent’s is consistently serving yummy food. One of my favor-ite traditions for spring and summer BBQs is picking up their delicious hot dogs from the deli counter and cooking them up. Their hot dogs are like no other!

When I think of the best delis, I always think of a Jewish style deli, with hot corned beef and pastrami sandwiches piled high on warm crusty rye bread, or a steaming hot bowl of chicken soup with matzo balls, or a fresh soft bagel with

cream cheese, lox and onion. For many of you the best deli might be an Italian deli or Armenian deli, but we’ll save those for a later date. For now, I’m going to stick with my favorites, all of which have fond memories attached to them:

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Steep Hill lab

IT IS A PATIENT’S RIGHT TO KNOW

By ANNARAE GRABSTEIN

Political opposition to the compassionate use of cannabis has stalled the kind of research and testing that should be conducted to guarantee its safety. Patients in states with medical cannabis laws who rely on smoking medical cannabis or consuming cannabis edibles or concentrates - and who know

that the benefits they derive from it outweigh all of the reported side-effects and safety concerns - are left “holding the bag” of medicine of questionable quality.

In the past the illegal nature of the supply network did not encourage quality assurance. Now, there are third party independent quality control laboratories providing a means to implement quality assurance in a predominantly unregulated industry.

“Cannabis was an important medicine from ancient times until the mid-20th century, and has officially regained that status in Canada and Europe recently,” says David W. Pate, Ph.D., M.Sc., Former Senior Technical Officer, HortaPharm BV. “In addition, its primary active ingredient (THC) has been sold in the United States as an FDA-approved drug for approximately 25 years, at times earning

well into nine figures per year in sales. Therefore, any supposed controversy regarding the safety and efficacy of cannabis as a legitimate medicine is an obvious political fiction. What remains is simply a question of format and cost, along with issues of quality control. The herbal approach represents the most basic format at the lowest cost. However, the present completely decentralized system of production and distribution requires some form of third-party quality control if patients are to have confidence in their medicine, assuming that they are unwilling or unable to grow it themselves.”

Patients in states that have legalized medical cannabis

(continued on page 76)

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Steep Hill labare concerned about the quality of the product. They need medicine that is free of pesticides and safe from microbiological contamination, and they want to know its dosage. At the same time, opponents of medical cannabis have seized the opportunity to portray its quality in the worst possible light in order to suppress the distribution of the plant to patients who need it.

Collective medical cannabis dispensaries are poised to improve the perception that they are not showing concern for their patients. As health care providers, they can to improve procedures for buying and providing medical cannabis, and offer more detailed information about the medicine. Currently, no federal or state regulatory protections are in place, and the cannabis products provided by collective dispensaries are not subject to oversight. However, in California there are collectives such as Magnolia Wellness in Orangevale and Harborside Health Center in Oakland who are now testing all cannabis products they provide to their patients. The industry has yet to see legal cases involving contaminated cannabis, but unfortunately, they are likely to arrive as the use of medical cannabis continues grows.

Praiseworthy medical cannabis growers are promoting standardized, tamper evident packaging and testing of cannabis in order to dispel opinions that “crude” herbal cannabis, and especially its preparation, should not be considered medicinal. Inevitably, providing collective dispensaries with pre-screened products will quickly become an industry standard. Dave Spradlin, Director of Operations of Magnolia Wellness, says he requires all medicine for their patients be laboratory tested and certified SafeCannabis by Steep Hill Lab because he says, “My commitment is to provide the safest and highest quality medicine available to patients.”

Notably, medical cannabis has been shown to be effective in reducing the nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that cannabis reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders.

“Cannabis should be subject to rigorous quality control oversight, like any other medicine,” says Michael Backes,

Board Member of Cornerstone Research Collective, a leading cannabis dispensary with a reputation for providing scientific research and homegrown cannabis to patients suffering from cancer or other diseases.

The medicines you buy in a pharmacy have been run through a battery of tests to insure their quality. The potency of a drug is clearly stated on the label so one knows the correct dose. Patients can learn to administer an appropriate dose if armed with knowledge of the cannabinoid profile of their medicine, most commonly relayed as percentages of THC, CBD, and CBN. Unfortunately, this is not yet the norm in medical cannabis.

Patients also need medicine that is free of pesticides, which are sometimes used in growing operations. Pesticides are used to kill mites and other pests that thrive on cannabis plants grown both indoors and outdoors. Exposure to these chemicals can be harmful to patients; they are toxic at high levels and can be harmful even at lower doses. “Levels of these compounds can range from zero to massive, depending on cultivation practices,” says Dr. Pate. “Some of these compounds might potentially produce acute symptoms, but probably the greatest danger occurs with chronic exposure. Insidiously, the consumer will normally be completely unaware of this exposure until symptoms manifest. Hence, detection of potential chemical contamination is of paramount importance.”

Microorganisms, such as molds, bacteria and yeast, are found in small amounts in food and drink and the air we breathe, as well as in cannabis and other herbal remedies. Carefully cultivated and harvested cannabis harbors a minimum of hazardous microorganisms, but for added protection, material must be screened for contamination before it is packaged for use as medical cannabis.

In a recent Steep Hill Lab survey of 150 patients of California dispensaries, 103 very strongly agreed and 42 either agreed or strongly agreed that safety testing of medical cannabis for traces of mold, bacteria, and pesticides is a necessity.

annarae grabstein is CEO of Steep Hill Lab and is on the NOrmL Women’s alliance Steering Committee. For more information about cannabis analysis visit steephilllab.com or facebook.com/steephilllab

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Besides James Brown, Rick James or George Clinton, Detroit-born artist Overton Loyd is one of the few officially authorized to talk about the word “Funk.” Loyd’s cover art for seminal funk band Parliament aka P-Funk is the visual equivalent of P-Funk‘s music. His signature style is now known the world over as the “Funk Aesthetic” and his work retranslates funk music’s swagger and flavor into cartoons, comics, loose sketches, paintings and digital illustrations. For over 30 years Loyd’s art has worked symbiotically with P-Funk’s music to bring a powerful ‘multimedia’ experience before ‘multimedia’ even existed. Like many pioneers he has been too busy living the experience to realize how groundbreaking the work is. “Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that we were actually at the genesis of initiating contemporary urban branding,” he reflects. “I’m only now waking up to that wild idea.”

L.A. artist and publisher John Carr has published several of Loyd’s images in his book “Yo What Happened to Peace?!” and has some pretty flattering words about him. “I’d put him in the same category as a jazz virtuoso or your favorite hip-hop MC - crazy improvisation and freestyle while delivering a tightly crafted message,” emphasizes Carr. “His drawings and paintings ARE jazz, ARE funk, ARE hip-hop.”

Loyd’s work can rightfully be called a precursor to the urban art movement of West Coast graffiti and hip-hop. Arik Marshall, former guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers calls him “a truly gifted artist whose versatility with different styles and mediums is extraordinary—the man can paint like Monet money...make you marvel at his Marvel meets Richard Pryor comic book cartooning...sell you some surreal estate in the Daliwood Hills...silly, serious, classic, abstract, funky, high-brow...whatever’s clever...da bruthaz got it all!”

In order to understand why Loyd is so versatile it’s important to talk about De-troit. Loyd was born in the Motor City in the mid 1950s, a time when the city was still booming. Motown was still in Detroit until 1970, but as Vietnam began to set in, factories began closing down, and jobs became harder to come by. Motor City made way for Devils Night, and Detroit of the Civil Rights era was hot like Watts. The city’s 1967 riots were the biggest riots in American history until Los Angeles assumed that crown in ‘92.

Detroit’s climate of chaos and unstable socioeconomics made music of protest. The Chicago-Detroit Nexus was one of the centers of the Black Arts movement, and Broadside Press, founded by Detroit poet Dudley Randall, published Black Arts poets like Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, Don L. Lee, and Sonia Sanchez. Beside the black artists, some progressive white boys were also pushing frontiers. The band MC5 formed the White Panther Party in Detroit around the same time punk rock pioneers Iggy & the Stooges were coming to rise. Loyd soaked up all of this in his Detroit youth. And the rest? The rest was the beginning of history…

He began his epic journey as an artist in 1971. “Before I met George Clinton, I created an oil painting of Isaac Hayes in high school,” Loyd recalls. “A woman who worked with Hayes saw me doodling in a sketch book at a cafe, and invited me to Isaac’s birthday party, where I presented him with the painting.” From there, he got a gig as the in-house artist for Detroit’s Shelby Hotel. “I was painting a mural for a club that they had called JJ’s Lounge where I met a ton of performers, including Sun Ra and Martin Mull.”

Loyd has always had a golden touch of meeting the right person at just the right moment. “Comedian Martin Mull convinced me and my girlfriend to go to New York to try my hand at commercial art,” Loyd recalls. “I traveled to New York in 1976 where Mull introduced me to his wife at the time, Kristen Johnson - who was also working in the illustration field.” She introduced him to prominent illus-trator Robert Grossman, the artist that created the poster for the movie, “Airplane.” ”He saw me doing caricatures in front of the Guggenheim Museum one day and said he was looking for an assistant,” Loyd recalls. “Assisting for Grossman ignited my career as an airbrush illustrator for various magazine publications.”

And then came 1977. “A pal of mine from the Shelby Hotel, Joey Zalabak - was working on the road with George Clinton,” Loyd says. “He invited me to a listening party premiering the record ‘The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein.’ It was there that I re-met George just in time to scribble up the underground comic insert for his next album, ‘Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome.’ Before long, I was on the road

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helping to create the funkiest multimedia shows on earth!”Loyd’s cover for the 1978 Parliament album ‘Motor Booty Affair’ was an

instant classic. The pioneering style Loyd developed working with P-Funk is now known the world over as the “Funk Aesthetic,” or “Bop Art,” something Loyd laughs off:

”We never named the style that we were doing. We were too busy doing it!” He’s designed costumes for the band, illustrated P-Funk comic books, and his 1982 animated video for P-Funk’s “Atomic Dog” was awarded the “Best Use of Computer Graphics” award from Billboard Magazine. Creating their own mythology. “George has empowered us all to take the art of our minds and transform it into the art of this world!”

After several years of touring with P Funk, Loyd eventually landed in L.A. “For the last couple of decades I’ve been doing a little bit of everything,” he says, which is no joke! He

flourishes in dynamic environments like television or live concerts, and was the featured caricaturist on “Win Lose or Draw” for several seasons. ”Peek over his shoulder at one of his live sketching sessions at a nightclub, capturing the vital essences of his subjects, and you’ll immediately feel that you’re in the presence of an artistic giant,” John Carr gushes. “He draws with the same ease that most people have talking and using hand gestures. He’s got the ability to crystallize a story into a single frame, and a knack for “détourne-ment” - flipping everyday concepts into opportunities for mind-expansion, empathy or even just a good laugh.”

According to Los Angeles based artist Mear One, before the internet, kids looked to special effects in movies and album covers as inspiration, heavily influencing the young west coast artists of the 80s…Loyd’s work being at the forefront of it all. Loyd shares the love, “I’m really inspired by the generation of artists that P-Funk inspired. Upstart Art-stars from Mear to Murakami are impacting my creative sensibilities.”

Most recently, Loyd found himself featured as a guest art director for Cartoon Network’s “Class of 3000,” where he remixed the character designs of Outkast’s Andre 3000. Additionally, he animated a 2009 DVD for P-Funk and created the cover for “George Clinton and his Gangsters of Love,” a 2009 album featuring an unlikely combination of musical giants including Shavo (System of a Down), Sly Stone, The RZA (Wu-Tang Clan), El Debarge, San-tana, and Red Hot Chili Pepper’s John Frusciante & Anthony Kiedis. He’s also been painting skateboard decks, and even had a painting featured in Pershing Square, L.A.’s version of Central Park.

Yet despite this insanely rich history, Loyd insists he’s just getting started. “I’m hyped about the future,” he says. “I got a funny feelin’ that we’re once again standing on the verge of flippin’ the ol’ paradigm. I see a future in which I explore some of the over-the-top approaches to branding and exhibiting that Dali initiated, Warhol mastered and Murakami rede-fined. Only now, am I beginning to comprehend the true power of picture making. Transform the Norm.”

“I stand for the possibility that art can generate a breakthrough in com-munication that might allow us to shift our consciousness, embrace our humanity and access the eternal.” And therefore, Loyd insists on “standing for the possibility of a future in which we truly learn to ‘listen’ outside of our own internal filters. When humanity finally hears itself.”

He might be onto something here…do we have it in us to ‘listen?’

mike The Poet is a Spoken Word artist, Tourguide, Educator, Journalist, and Historian based in The City of angels. mikethepoetla.tumblr.com youtube.com/user/mikeThePoet1

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What do you do when you’re an accomplished war vet and the government forces you to piss on your medical benefits, a truck blows through a stop sign and smashes your wife’s car with your daughter in it, permanently injuring both of them, you lose much of the functionality in both of your legs, relegat-ing you to a wheelchair, and you’re forced to sell your 10 acre family hobby farm to pay for it all and simply stay alive?

Well…make pipes of course!

Or at least that’s what Bill Edming did.

On the surface, Bill is your good ol’ American boy. “I’m a na-tive of Wisconsin and grew up on a dairy farm. I’m a hunter, fisher, a veteran and a businessman,” he proudly proclaims. Beneath the surface, he’s even more so. You see, as a result of his combat and post-combat days, he now suffers from panic attacks attributed to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, not to mention the 4 herniated discs in his back. Due to these conditions, he was relying heavily on a cocktail of pills that

would make a bartender gag. “I was taking quite a few pain pills, about 180 a month,” he expresses non-chalantly.

180 A MONTH!!!

On top of that, just about 3 years ago, “my wife was on the way to see the doctor and a Seneca Foods truck blew through a stop sign and t-boned her little Pontiac Sunfire. That pretty much damaged both my wife and my daughter for the rest of their lives.” As if that wasn’t enough, it was soon after this that “my doctor retired, and my new doctor urine tested me for marijuana. She then tells me that she has to notify the police and cut my medical benefits.”

With his wife out of work after the accident, and he was out of his benefits due to the test, they fell behind on the mort-gage to the farm and had to sell it. At this point he began seriously considering fleeing his home state to a place where he wouldn’t be treated like an outcast or a criminal. “Wiscon-sin has taken the Nazi Germany stance,” he says. “They go

by Wasim Muklashy

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to the kids ‘tell on everybody. It’s better if you tell on ‘em.’ It’s the same thing Hitler did!” At the same time, “Michigan had just become legal, and I have a daughter in California and my wife’s sister in Colorado Springs, so I went on a year’s search to see what was the best state to move.”

The verdict? Colorado.

Now that he’s in a state where he doesn’t have to limit or hide his medical use of marijuana, “my panic attack medicine, which is Lorazepam, I don’t take anymore. I also used to take Cyclobenzaprine, which was for muscle spasms, and since being out here and using medical marijuana freely, I haven’t had to take those either. I don’t have to take any pills anymore whatsoever. Medical marijuana is alleviating all the symptoms the pills were supposed to be taking care of.”

“Hopefully stories like mine will help inspire other people. Just go ahead and make that sacrifice. The quality of your life is just going to be so much better. Yeah it’s hard to leave your home, but come try it, give it a chance. You can always go back. But if you never leave, you’re never going to know the difference.”

After all, knowing, and living, the difference has proved a huge relief to Edming; finally being able to come out from the shadows and use his extraordinary wood working skills to build a legitimate growing business. “I’m a full believer in let’s pay our taxes on this thing because the government can’t say no when they’re getting money in their hands.” Coming from a background where his grandparents owned a wood factory in which he spent a lot of time, Bill figured the next logical step would be to turn his talents (after all, he did once make spring loaded knives in which everything, including the springs, were made from wood) into his new work, and a new stream of income. He was going to make and sell pipes made out of wood.

Wood? Yes! But don’t knock it til you knock on it!

“When I first got here (to Colorado Springs) everybody was like nobody wants wood, everybody wants glass,” Edming admits. “But now that people are seeing these and I’ve been educating the city as I sell them, I’m seeing a pick up in them. People are tired of spending 60, 70 dollars on a pipe…it’s in their lap and the bowl is full, they get out of the car and smash, on the road it goes. You can take one of my pipes, throw that sucker under a truck and do a donut on it, pick it up and still smoke it.” Is that a claim from experience we ask? “Oh yes it is!!” he responds with his burly contagious laugh.

You see, the wood he uses isn’t the wood you would think or know. Chances are you’ve never even heard of them...exotic woods like snakewood, pink ivory, and ziricote, imported from places as far away as Africa and South America. “In the old hippie days,” he reminds us, “the pipes were made out of basswoods and soft woods, so when you smoke them they would burn out and you would get the taste of the woods.” But the woods Bill uses are hard to find and relatively expen-sive exotics. The reason? “These woods are so hard and so dense that they don’t burn up,” he explains. “It’s just like a gavel, you pass that pipe down to the next generation of family.”

And they really are quite spectacular. We were surprised when they arrived to the KUSH offices and the staff was found swooning over wooden pipes. They’re unbelievably smooth and just as tough as he described. As a matter of fact, the snakewood one I managed to pry from the discern-ing sideways glares of the office staff has quickly become my favorite piece. Time to put aside the glass for a while. Who would have thought?

If you’re interested in carrying Bill’s pipes or purchasing for your-self, call 715-630-5885, or check out thc.servebeer.com

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Spring is springing and other than January 2nd, it’s probably the time of year when health clubs and gyms see their highest spike in new member-ships. Everyone wants to look and feel their best for the warm months when every day is an invitation to play outside, have a barbecue, hit the beach or lakes and go for long walks or bike rides. Getting in better shape or losing some extra winter baggage doesn’t have to be routine, dull or painful. Remember when you were a kid and could play for hours and even though you were getting a ton of exercise, none of it felt like “working out”? Those days were glorious. There was no such thing as body fat or calories burned—just play. So why do we as adults, join gyms an stare at a television screen or wall while running nowhere on a treadmill when we could actually enjoy our time by getting back to basics and just playing? I’m not saying that the gym is a bad thing—not at all. But for those of you who need a little more action and camaraderie, the recreational sports league might be just the thing to start your spring off right.

Nearly every city has a parks and recreations department and you can almost always find them by locating your city’s website and searching for “parks and rec”. Depending on the size of your population, you should be able to locate a league either in or near where you live without prob-lem. One thing to note is that leagues of all kinds tend to fill up quickly, so even though it’s March, it’s a good idea to start researching summer programs now.

you can essentially find any group to perform any sort of athletic activity with through parks and rec. On one quick search for “spring activities’ on my town’s site and I discovered: flag football, softball, tennis, swimming, diving, golf, sailing, Frisbee golf, hiking, walking, jogging, squash and even table tennis. Whatever your interest may be, there is something to do and like-minded people who want to do it with you. If it’s been a while since you part of any sort of team, then you probably miss it but just don’t realize it. I was asked to sub for a co-ed softball league that was mostly comprised of very enthusiastic finance guys from a Japanese electronics company. It turns out that they have been playing rec-league softball together for 4 years. Their record to date at the time of my joining was 1-48. That record encompasses all that is wonderful about rec-league sports. Unless you really care, the whole point is to have fun, be on a team, get some exercise and relax. I promise you that the 1-48 softball team went out for beers after every game and enjoyed the heck out of it. It’s not whether you win, or even how you play the game if you don’t play at all. So put this magazine down and log on now to find your next recreational adventure.

On One quIck searcH fOr “sprIng actIvItIes” On My tOWn’s sIte and I dIscOvered:

Living Well

flag football,

softball,

tennis,

swimming,

diving,

golf,

sailing,

frisbee golf,

hiking,

walking,

jogging,

quash

and even table

tennis.

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Here We go, baseball fans. It’s tHat tIMe of year agaIn and every team has worked out the kinks in spring training, the ballparks are open for business and the smell of hotdogs and garlic fries is wafting through the air as we speak. It’s a new season, full of the hope and promise of a clean slate and a few new additions to the roster. It’s time to put the pain of your fantasy football loss in the past and look forward to the grueling pain and torture of 162 games. the national league West is a funny little division. the big east teams hardly notice that we exist it seems. esPn’s baseball coverage is always about the yankees or the red sox, with the occasional mention of a Dodger or a giant, in passing. someone did tell them that the Maybe it’s best this way. Maybe it’s good that the western teams fly under the media radar. a-rod can do 70 interviews a day while the rest of us play baseball. and this year, the nl West looks tough as ever. let’s take a look, beginning with the World series champs from the bay:

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The last time I checked, the Gi-ants still had Lincecum, Cain, Zito, Sanchez and Bumgarden-er hurling the ball and Buster Posey is still behind the plate. DeRosa is healthy and so is second baseman, Freddy San-chez. Andres Torres got himself a new full time job in center field and The Panda went all Biggest Loser this winter. The Giants are a team that finds ways to win and coming off of the ulti-mate coup, the land of misfit boys looks as magical as ever. Division Prediction: 1st place

The team may be still licking its wounds form the bitter divorce and the Manny situation, so it’s likely that 2011 could be a sea-son to build the clubhouse. The Dodgers pitching is excellent and with the return of Kershaw, Lilly and Billingsly, the starting rotation looks solid. The trouble they may run into again is run support. It’s imperative that Kemp, Loney and Ethier return to form if the Dodgers want to make a run for it. The addition of San Francisco hero Juan Uribe may be a good jolt to the lineup.Division prediction: 4th place

The Padres shocked every-one last year by leading the NL West for a long time. Their rough finish was like watching a car tumble down a cliff after skidding over the edge at high speed. This year presents new challenges with the most glar-ing being the loss of first base-man Adrian Gonzales. Gonza-les is expected to do big things in Boston and Padre fans hope that Brad Hawpe can step in to those very big shoes. San Diego always has a tough ro-tation that includes Matt Latos and Clayton Richard, two of the best in the league. San Diego’s biggest weapon is the outstand-ing management of Bud Black. Never count these guys out; he sure doesn’t.Division Prediction: 3rd place

The Rockies like to play good ball, then play great ball, and then win every game for weeks on end. This is always a danger-ous team. With Troy Tulowitzski and Carlos Gonzales as serious MVP contenders, the offense has the power to gain steam and gain it fast. Dexter Fowler, Ian Stewart and Seth Smith are all in a class of guys who are good on the verge of danger-ous. Rockies’ pitching will live and die with Ubaldo Jimenez, the phenom rookie who blew everyone away in his debut. This team just finds ways to win and once they get a taste of it, it’s hard for them to stop. Division Prediction: 2nd place

This team is under construction. Division Prediction: dead last

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medicinal cannabis and its Impact on Human Health

Medicinal Cannabis and its Impact on Human Health follows the research of over 15,000 scientific and medical trials and takes a look at specifically what conditions have been proven to benefit from medical marijuana. This game-changing documentary presents the most comprehensive synopsis to date of the medical science surrounding the world’s most controversial plant.

In this myth shattering, information packed documentary, physicians and leading researchers present modern scientific findings regarding the demonstrated effects of medicinal cannabis use for treating many kinds of cancers, auto-immune illnesses, neurological issues, chronic pain, and more…effectively illustrating the remarkable evolution of cannabis’ historical use as medicine, a history dating back over 5300 years.

Executive Producer James Schmachtenberger, a medical cannabis advocate and one of the founders of San Diego Herbal Alternatives (SDHA), a medical marijuana collective, sat down to discuss his film.

How did the idea first come about to film a documentary on Medical cannabis and its Impact on Human Health?

The idea came about in November of 2009, a few months after we opened the collective in San Diego. We met many patients who had never used cannabis until their primary care physician recommended it for them, and many of these patients were running into repercussions in their personal and professional lives, associated with the stigma and myths surrounding marijuana.

Although it was clear that medical cannabis was tremendously helpful to people with a wide range of medical conditions, there was still so much misinformation and false propaganda out there about it and very little presenting the real scientific information and evidence on the topic to help educate people.

I wanted to create a clear, authoritative video that could help better inform people who were not already well educated about the benefits of appropriate medical cannabis use and might still hold misinformed, negative views on the topic, (and I wanted to achieve this) by having the leading scientific experts in the field address the common myths and misconceptions, and present the real data on these topics, data that has emerged from a huge body of well-conducted, unbiased scientific trials.

How do you intend on using this documentary, and how do you hope that people use it?

The film will be distributed freely under the “creative commons license.” As filming went on and we interviewed more doctors, we realized that it had a much greater scope. We found that it could help educate families, friends, and coworkers of people who use this medicine and hopefully create a paradigm shift in their views. My hope is that people across the nation can use this film for education and to affect policy change. We showed portions of this film to the San Diego Planning Commission and have actually been asked to provide transcripts of some of the doctors’ interviews as expert evidence at criminal trials. People are welcome to reshow it, cut it, and use it to make as much of an impact as possible.

What did you learn from making this documentary?I learned a lot! The most significant thing was from Dr. Tashkin in

understanding how cannabis’ anti-tumor properties work. Most of us in the medical marijuana field know that the plant has tremendous healing properties but a lot of us don’t understand the actual science behind it. In the documentary Dr. Tashkin explains in depth exactly why THC suppresses tumor growth.

any plans for a sequel or part 2? If so what would you cover in it?

We already have a few other documentaries in mind. The most likely one that we will focus on next is specifically how cannabis affects different types of cancers, as well detailed information on how to most effectively use cannabis as a treatment. In the future we definitely want to focus on industrial hemp, our country’s failed drug war and the problem of prohibition, as well as full hemp legalization.

What are your plans in promoting or screening the documentary? Will you be holding screenings?

We are coordinating multiple screenings across the country and are teaming up with individuals and organizations to screen the film. In January of this year we held the first screening of the documentary in Hilo, Hawaii with almost 200 people in attendance.

If anyone is interested in finding out information about hosting a screening, all the details can be found at www.MarijuanaMovie.org, where a trailer and the complete film are also available for free.

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Mary Lynn Mathre

Patients Out of Time as an entity is a national nonprofit organi-zation dedicated to educating health care professionals and the public about the therapeutic use of cannabis. Founded in 1995, this organization was born out of a sense of urgency to end the unjust and unfounded cannabis prohibition that was causing great harm to patients. I’d like to describe a few key events that led to the creation of Patients Out of Time so you can understand the urgency of our mission as well.

The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 was passed to regulate

psychoactive drugs and gave the Drug Enforcement Administra-tion (DEA) the power to enforce these regulations. The act created five levels or Schedules to indicate the potential health risks of various drugs. Schedule I is the most restrictive category and a drug has to meet 3 criteria to belong in that category: not safe for medical use, has no therapeutic value, and is highly addictive. Marijuana was wrongfully placed in Schedule I (along with heroin and LSD) and the penalties for growing, possessing, consuming or distributing marijuana could be severe.

The National Organization for the Reform of the Marijuana Laws (NORML) was founded in 1970 because of the harsh penal-ties given to casual users of marijuana. At that time it was possible to get a life sentence in prison for possessing as much as a few joints in some states. Also around that time chemotherapy was a developing new treatment to fight cancer and the medicine was

quite toxic to the body causing extreme nausea and vomiting. Some patients discovered that marijuana could stop the nau-

sea and increase their appetite. NORML initiated a legal petition to the DEA to remove marijuana from Sched-

ule I and down-regulate it to Schedule II by demonstrating that it was safe and

did have therapeutic value. The DEA used its power to prevent or stall any formal consideration of the petition.

A few years after the petition was filed a glaucoma patient by the name of Robert (Bob) Randall had discovered that the use of marijuana could reduce the high intraocular pressure that was causing him to go blind. The reader is encouraged to read Bob’s autobiography, but here’s a quick review of what happened next: He was busted for growing a few plants in DC; he took part in a clinical trial at Stanford University demonstrating the efficacy of

marijuana for his glaucoma, and found a great pro bono law firm who won his case with a medical necessity defense. His lawyers were then able to get him into what was called the Compassion-ate Investigational New Drug Program (IND) that allowed him to receive free legal medical marijuana grown and supplied by the federal government.

In 1978 Bob was the only person in the U.S. who could legally use marijuana as medicine. In his research he learned that cannabis was a popular medicine before the “reefer madness” campaign in the 1930s that ultimately resulted in the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. He could not remain silent knowing that other patients could benefit from this medicine so he and his wife Alice O’Leary started the Alli-ance for Cannabis Therapeutics (ACT). Their goal was to educate the public about the therapeutic value of cannabis and help other patients gain access to this medicine. ACT joined NORML in the petition to the DEA. Finally in 1988, the DEA’s Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young, reached his decision that cannabis should be moved to Schedule II so that physicians could prescribe it. But, the Director of the DEA, John Lawn, decided to ignore the Judge’s ruling and refused to remove marijuana from Schedule I.

Bob and Alice continued their work with ACT and by 1990 there were 5 patients receiving their medicine from the federal

government. They were: Robert Randall (glaucoma), Irvin Rosenfeld (multiple congenital cartilagi-

nous exostosis), Elvy Musikka (glaucoma),

Patients Out Of time: Who Are They?

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Millet (glaucoma) and George McMahon (nail-patella syn-drome). By this time my husband, Al Byrne and I were on the Board of Directors of NORML and were on the planning committee for the 1990 NORML conference. I wanted to have a panel presentation by these 5 patients to let others know about the Compassionate IND program.

The patient panel was a huge success and to top it off, C-SPAN had filmed the program and showed it repeatedly on their network. Needless to say, this created an avalanche of applications for IND access to cannabis, most of which were for HIV/AIDS patients. And this was no easy task. First the patient had to find a physician willing to apply for a Schedule I license and complete the tedious application. The application went to the FDA to approve the pro-tocol, the DEA investigated the physician, patient and the patient’s family for security purposes and to warn against any diversion, and the patient received the medicine in canisters containing 300 rolled cannabis cigarettes that were grown and processed under the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) control.

By 1992, the FDA was flooded with applications for medi-cal marijuana. Rather than acknowledge that there was a real need for this program, the federal government decided to close the only legal access to cannabis. Fifteen patients were already in the program and they would continue to receive their medi-cine. However, more than 30 new patients were approved and hundreds of applications were awaiting review, when our federal government told them the program was closed and they would not have access to this medicine.

Al and I knew eight of the 15 patients left in the program and the seven others remained anonymous. In addition to the first five patients we also got to know Barbara Douglass, an MS patient from Iowa. Barbara learned about the use of cannabis from another MS patient named Ladd Huffman. She read about him in the paper when he was arrested for marijuana possession. Barbara contacted him as a fellow patient and as she proceeded to tell him that he shouldn’t be doing drugs, he informed her that it was his medicine. Both of them had applied for the IND access, but her family was well connected with their state legislators while Ladd had an arrest record. Barbara was allowed into the program fairly quickly, but Ladd was one of those whose application was approved, but he hadn’t been issued any medicine by the time the program was closed. So Barbara is legal, but her friend Ladd still has no legal access to his medicine.

Two other IND patients who we met were Kenny and Barbra Jenks. Kenny was a hemophiliac and became HIV positive after receiving HIV contaminated blood products to treat his disease.

He then unknowingly infected his wife and both of them developed AIDS. They were very sick and losing weight when someone in their support group suggested that they try marijuana. Kenny tried it first and he no longer needed the waste bin at his bedside for vomiting. Instead he was able to eat and care for Barbra who, after seeing the improvement in Kenny, began using it as well. They got caught using it in their home state of Florida and were found guilty in court. The judge realized how sick they were so he sentenced them to community service - to care for each other. Kenny and Barbra got into the IND program before it closed and like the other patients, they had the help and guid-ance with the application process from ACT. Despite his illness, Kenny began attending AIDS conferences and would distribute information about ACT and the IND access to cannabis. He was threatened by the DEA to keep quiet or he would be kicked out of the program. Kenny had no fear of the DEA, he was dying and he was on a mission to help others.

Now let’s move forward to 1995. By this time, Kenny and Bar-bra had passed away and Bob and Corinne’s health were failing. It began to seem obvious that the government was just waiting for the rest of the IND patients to die so it wouldn’t have to admit that the federal government actually supplied medical marijuana to a handful of patients yet continued to prohibit it from other patients by keeping it in Schedule I. Something had to be done. Patients needed this medicine. Al and I believed that health care professionals and patients needed to move this issue forward, so we decided to form a nonprofit organization that would focus only on medicinal cannabis. While playing with the acronym of POT, Al came up with Patients Out of Time and we instantly knew we had the right name. As the name implies, suffering patients who can benefit from medicinal cannabis need legal access to this medicine now. They do not have the luxury of waiting for years of clinical trials to prove that cannabis has medicinal value. They are patients out of time.Visit our website - www.medicalcannabis.com - and learn about the science behind cannabis and help support all patients out of time.

mary Lynn mathre, rN, mSN, CarN is President and Co-founder of Patients Out of Time. She is a qualified cannabis expert and the editor of Cannabis in medical Practice: a Legal, Historical, and Pharmacological Overview of the Therapeutic use of Cannabis and co-editor of Women and Cannabis: medicine, Science and Sociology.

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The Cannabis Movement is at an economic turning point. Shifts in politics and local regulations have created a massive influx of new growers and new dispensaries in re-cent years and a new generation of Cannabis consumers has evolved as well. These new consumers who came to know Cannabis through medical Cannabis dispensaries in the last 5 years have always known a market represented by storefront Cannabis shops, a wide selection of Cannabis products and relatively low prices. For those of us that have seen the transi-tion from the days of simply knowing “some guy” who had weed and the now flooded market of the “green rush”, it’s important to note what has changed and, perhaps more importantly, what hasn’t changed. Some economic principles are timeless and some overhead is fixed. As the old saying goes, “It’s not about what you spend, it’s about what it costs you”. Well, what we’ve spent is less and less. What it’s costing us is both quali-ty and genetic diversity. To discuss it plainly in terms of current market trends will undoubtedly irk a wide variety of people in the Cannabis industry. Still, my loyalties have always been to the plant itself and I’m not going to hesitate to call out anybody who is taking advantage of the plant or the growers. For now, let’s take a look at the last 10 years of Cannabis evolution from a totally different perspective. Sit back and take a few tokes, because we’re about to take a journey through the last decade – not through the eyes of the consumer or the dispensary or the grower, but from the perspective of the pot itself.

Life as a Pound of Pot: Looking Back at a Decade of Getting Smoked

Imagine, for our purposes here, that you’re a pound of wholesale marijuana in California in the year 2000. You live in a quaint, one room turkey bag with a constantly chang-ing view. It’s a very exciting time and place to be a pound of wholesale marijuana. It’s a time of acceptance and love. Everyone wants you and there is never enough of you to go around. You may be lighter or heavier, from good genetics or common genetics, but no matter what type of pound you are – you will fetch a good price. But the odds are – you’re either very good or excellent. You’ve most likely been raised by a grower that has been growing for many years, since most of the Cannabis on the market at this time comes from expe-rienced growers. Up until recently, you’ve found your final

retail home in the smoky living room of Mr. Some Guy. You’d go directly from the grower that raised you to Some Guy’s house. Some Guy would pay between $3500 – 4500 for you and then introduce you to lots of people who you would all make very happy. Your final retail price was typically between $50 and $60 per eighth depending on how late in the eve-ning the consumer called Some Guy looking for a hook up. But as times moved forward, your turkey bag traveled to storefront Cannabis cooperatives – we’ll call them “Canna-bis Stores” for economic simplicity. The view was slightly dif-ferent, but similar. No matter what your quality level, there was a home for you somewhere on the menu. When you looked your best and made people very happy, you still were valued at $4000+ per pound. There weren’t very many of these retail places yet, and because of that, you could still be valued ac-cording to the former market’s economics. Despite the fact that the Cannabis Stores had many more costs associated with them – labor, security, rent, legal fees, etc. - You still sold for your normal price of $50 – 60. The consumers were hap-pier with you than ever. Not only could they now get a variety of Cannabis, they could get it legally, in a safe environment, from knowledgeable staff, during regular store hours. Best of all, consumers didn’t even have to pay more for these costly features. Because the Cannabis Store could offer a better business than Mr. Some Guy, they could turn over more prod-uct faster and absorb the extra overhead costs in the process. Now let’s fast forward to about 2007. The so called “Green Rush” explodes onto the scene. Even before presi-dent Obama was elected, there was a major surge in Canna-bis Stores in California. Perhaps it was excitement for the end of the Bush dynasty and its anti- medical marijuana policies. Or maybe the exponential growth was inevitable and simply exploded because the movement crossed some critical thresh-old of social acceptance. Whatever the reason, the number of Cannabis Stores started to grow rapidly. Then the Obama Administration’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, expressed the administration’s reluctance to prosecute Cannabis businesses that were “unambiguously in compliance with state law”. The number of Cannabis Stores skyrocketed. The only thing that multiplied faster than the Cannabis Stores during this time was pounds of marijuana, just like you. Well, maybe not just like you.

GROWERS GROVE

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Many of the new pounds on the market were now coming from new growers. In many instances, they learned how to grow from other beginner growers who had barely started to get the hang of Cannabis growing when they started to teach their friends. The new pounds of Cannabis in the market look somewhat similar to other pounds, but now they often smoke harsh and are less potent – mere sub-par dop-pelgangers of the real deal. Despite the fact that you were a difficult but prized variety of Cannabis to grow and are of a higher quality than other pounds on the market, your value has now started its freefall. Over the coming few years, the price of wholesale Cannabis pounds like you will plummet. For many varieties other than a few high-yield hybrids, the prices will drop below the point where it is feasible to grow them. Sadly, the genetics at this time represent a peak in the diver-sity of excellent Cannabis varieties and many of them have been disappearing like rainforests. Newer growers eager to establish themselves in the market start to turn over low quality Cannabis for rock bottom prices. They grow only high yield-ing varieties or designer varieties (especially purples) and the new consumers in the market who have never seen high qual-ity Cannabis start to believe that the “top shelf” of the Can-nabis Stores is actually the highest quality level that can be obtained in the market. In addition, lower quality pounds now find a home before you do because you are the wrong color. But these new consumers in the market don’t just judge you by your color. Perhaps you’re a Sativa. Long flow-ering, lower yielding Sativas are now largely a thing of the past in most medical Cannabis markets. Replaced by short flowering hybrids with only slight Sativa characteristics, these outstanding Sativa plants produced flowers that are amaz-ingly potent with lots of cerebral characteristics but were loose and airy in their structure. What was once known as the most exquisite of Cannabis experiences is now simply pot that looks “too spindly” to many Cannabis buyers - some of whom have little clue what less common forms of Cannabis look like. Sadly, some young buyers have never even seen real 12 week Sativas because the growers simply don’t work with those varieties anymore. Displaced by an increasingly ig-norant market, many of these outstanding Sativa genetics are being lost to the world despite the many years of breeding and care put into developing them. Throughout history, hu-mans have payed the price for decreasing the genetic diver-sity of plants. In a particularly dramatic example, reliance on one variety of potato in Ireland led to the devastating famine that changed the course of both Irish and American history.

The Market Value of Risk

There’s a common belief that the current price of Cannabis is comprised mostly of compensation for the risk taken to grow it where it’s prohibited. The assumption then follows that if Cannabis is legalized, the price will drop drasti-cally. The amount of the price drop has been widely debated in the last year as California approached a vote on legaliza-tion. The RAND Corporation, a former cold war think tank that now does analysis of social issues, came in with an ex-treme low prediction of $38 per ounce. Now, they did say it

would be difficult to predict. One thing that is not difficult for me to predict is the fact that if there were $38 ounces, they would definitely not be a high quality medicine. That’s just a fact. You might get some mid grade commercial out-door for that price, but no fine, controlled environment prod-uct will sell for $40 an ounce anytime soon even if we do legalize it. I mean, not unless the cost of all resources and materials also suddenly decreases. Cannabis gardens re-quire a considerable amount of resources to produce good medicine: labor, hardware, energy to name just a few. In the last decade, the price of metal, plastics, fuel, electricity and just about every other tangible resource commodity has increased in price. The wholesale price of Cannabis, how-ever, has dropped dramatically and the profit margin on grow-ing Cannabis, once imagined to be quite lucrative, has been crushed between rising costs and falling wholesale prices. For consumers, the retail price has stayed relatively stable, but the availability, selection and ease of acquisition have all gotten much better than the days of the black market. De-spite these major improvements in the Cannabis industry, the consumers still pay the same amount for pot today as they did 10 years ago despite the overhead of storefronts now used to sell Cannabis. While compensation for risk is also part of the price, I think the price of physical resources and other self limiting factors will hold the price of medical grade Cannabis at values far above $38 an ounce, even in a legal environment. The idea that most of the price of marijuana is simply a fat lay-er of profit over a small amount of production cost is typically what non-growers imagine when they think of a pot grower. In fact, this is one of the fundamental assumptions that have fueled the demise of whatever margin the grower did have.

Everybody Wants a Piece of the Grower’s Pie

Over the last decade, one of the biggest misconcep-tions of the Cannabis industry is that Cannabis growers are wealthy by virtue of their trade. The idea is that the produc-ers of Cannabis get their Cannabis essentially “for free” and bask in the easily obtained financial rewards of an extremely profitable crop. Having been a part of many gardens over the years for large medical marijuana dispensary chains, un-derground growers and my own head stash alike, I can tell you this idea of the wealthy pot grower is now largely a story from the past and there’s a lot more work involved in good medicine than you might imagine. Outdoor growers can still enjoy a wider margin than indoor growers, but in the cur-rent market, there is less margin than ever before for grow-ers across the board. Over the last decade, the wealthy pot grower fable has spurred a massive influx of pot profiteers disguised as entrepreneurs that have flooded into the industry all looking for a piece of the grower’s margin. It started with the explosion of the hydroponics/indoor gardening industry – many manufacturers of hydro products increased their con-sumable product lines like nutrients and additives. The less scrupulous ones told growers they need to use 20 different bottles on every watering, hiked the prices, watered down the products, and increased the application rates. Plus, growers were told they’d need lots of high-tech, expensive gear if they wanted a good crop. No one was sponsoring information on

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do-it-yourself gardens or cost-effective methods to grow safe and potent medicine. With every grower and every product, the basic selling point always seemed to be some version of “You need it.” And lots of growers have been swept up in the overwhelming consumerism of the hydro industry ever since. But it’s not like the hydro industry was the only one gobbling up the grower’s margin. The rise of the modern Cannabis store has been built on the grower’s margin, not a passed along price increase. Again, consumers who once paid $50 - $60 per eighth of Cannabis from Some Guy where they had little if any selection, no security, no regu-lar store hours, no staff to support them are still only paying $50 – 60 per eighth. Despite the massive drop in wholesale prices, retail prices have changed very little. In essence, the growers have directly sponsored the rise and continued existence of dispensaries, since they have sacrificed much of their margin in order to sell to legitimate dispensaries in the hopes that it would also mean lower risk. This can be beneficial to the growers in many cases, but only if the de-crease in margin is proportional to the decrease in risk.

Even the doctors have started to get in on their piece of the grower’s margin. Doctors, who live comparably risk-free existences compared to growers have begun to sell ex-pensive “grower’s licenses” to new patients who aren’t yet aware of the fact that there is no such thing as a “grower’s license”. This product is one of fantasy, with no legitimate basis for its existence. Let me make this very clear: if you are a legitimate medical Cannabis patient with a doctor’s recom-mendation, you have the legal right to grow your own Can-nabis. You do not need to buy a “grower’s license”. In ad-dition to this, in California, a state supreme court case found that plant number limitations are unconstitutional. (Just google “Kelly Case Marijuana California” for more info.) That means that while there are terms used like “reasonable amount for the patients needs” to define the amount people could grow; there is no specific number that you are or are not allowed to grow. (The only consensus is to definitely stay under 100 plants per growing site to reduce the risk of federal prosecu-tion which typically only occurs at levels of 100 plants or more.) Now, there is a provision in the law that does allow doctors to specify that their patients can grow larger amounts of Cannabis if there is a need and the doctor specifies an amount. This little known provision is intended to allow termi-nally ill patients to grow larger gardens because of the nature of their ailment. Basically, it’s a way of saying that if you have something like cancer, grow a big garden. You shouldn’t need a green thumb to consistently produce your medicine. Just throw lots of plants at it and, even if you don’t have a green thumb or the nicest garden, enough of the plants should be-come medicine to meet your needs. The idea is that seriously ill patients shouldn’t be scrutinized on the number of plants in their garden. The doctor’s statement saying you can grow up to a certain number of plants is supposed to be some-thing that will help you in court by providing additional legal recourse. It does not actually authorize you to grow Canna-bis, your recommendation does that. This extra statement is supposed to make your case look even more legitimate. It’s

so the judge will recognize the severity of your ailment and your patient status without question. However, if the judge sees that your “grower’s certificate” was generated at some place that simply advertises and sells these products for a hefty fee, then it’s not worth the paper it’s written on and loses all legitimacy. Exploiting a loophole in such an obvious and flagrant manner is bad for the image of medical Cannabis. Not to mention it directly takes advantage of a legal exemption that was put there to ease the suffering of seriously ill patients. When people exploit these exemptions, the entire medical Cannabis community suffers and we risk losing important le-gal exemptions like this one because of these irresponsible abuses. New growers are better off investing those several hundred dollars in their gardens to grow better medicine.

In Part 2 of this no-holds-barred look at the price of pot, we’re going to delve deeper into the shifting economic landscape of Cannabis, both in the medical Cannabis mar-ket and in the re-surging underground market. Crop-specific limiting factors that influence the economy of scale will be discussed in relation to the recent “mega-farm” prospects. We’re also going to take a closer look at the Green Rush and some more of it’s unfortunate side effects for both grow-ers and consumers. To cap it off, we’ll dissect what really goes into those pounds of premium Cannabis. What’s inside might just surprise you. All this and more next month – the inside stories you can only find here in the Grower’s Grove.

Jade KineGrowers Grove writer Jade Kine is a former greenhouse manager for the medical Cannabis industry with over a million plants worth of experience. He is also the founder of Can-nAcademy, a trade school dedicated solely to horticultural training for growers.

Got a grow question for Jade? Drop him a line at [email protected] Complete bio at JadeKine.com

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one team one dream!

NORML Women: Nothing normal about ‘em!

In re

cogn

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of

Wom

en’s

Histor

y

Mon

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In May 1929, Pauline Sabin founded the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR). It was a platform for women who were demanding the repeal of the 18th amendment forbidding the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Known as the Sabin women, the leadership of the WONPR consisted primarily of the nonpartisan wives of leaders of American industry. In a little over a year, almost 1.5 million Sabin Women were publicly calling for an end to prohibition-inspired violence and political malfea-sance related to the illegal production of alcohol.

In 2011, concerned female scientists, politicians, mothers and working women all over America are fighting with equal passion to end the prohibition of marijuana. They are following in the foot-steps of Pauline Sabin, M. Louise Grosse (Founder of the Molly Pitcher Club), Mary T. Norton (the first female Democrat elected to serve in the house and member of the WONPR Advisory Council), and other female leaders of the 1930’s anti-prohibitionist movement. Like their predecessors, these women are the true change makers who are working to normalize, legalize, tax and regulate the use of a substance currently used by tens of millions of Americans. They are inspiring women from all social circles and political spheres to speak up and publicly support sensible, respon-sible cannabis policies based on science, reason and compassion.

In 2010, The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), announced the launch of the NORML Women’s Alliance, a non-partisan coalition of prominent, educated, successful, geographically diverse, high-profile professional women who believe that cannabis prohibition is a self-destructive and hypocritical policy that undermines the American family, sends a mixed and false message to our young people, and destroys the cherished principles of personal liberty and local self-government.

Says NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre: “The prominent role of women in the effort to end marijuana prohibition is pivotal, necessary, and long overdue. According to recent national opinion polls by Gallup and others, the dramatic rise in the public’s support of marijuana law reform is being driven primarily by an increase in support among America’s women.”The NORML Women’s Alliance Steering Committee convenes in Washington, DC to talk strategy for each coming year. Last month, the women met in the shadow of the White House to discuss new and innovative ways to move public opinion towards the legalization of marijuana. Ordinary women doing extraordinary things brought about the repeal of alcohol prohibition and NORML believes women will provide the final push needed to legalize cannabis. Historically, women support legalization at much lower levels than their male counterparts. It is the mission of the NORML Women’s Alliance to increase this base of support through addressing and vocalizing the concerns of modern, mainstream women.

Each year, at their various events, seminars, and conferences, NORML, which celebrates it’s 40 year anniversary this month (check out their site for some priceless artifacts they’re bringing back from the archives…including a 1976 PSA recorded by Peter Tosh), presents awards in recognition of extraordinary activism, academic study or political and cultural leadership in the field of marijuana and marijuana policy reform. This year, Kush Magazine proudly nominates and supports Cheryl Shuman for the Pauline Sabin Award, given in honor of and recognition for the crucial need and importance of women leadership in ending marijuana prohibition.Further information about the NORML Women’s Alliance is avail-able online at: http://www.norml.org/women. If you’re in the Colorado or California area and want to become involved, contact Cheryl Shuman at [email protected]

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The NORML Women’s Alliance Steering Committee is:

“We believe that there are multitudes of women who are opposed to national prohibition who welcome an

opportunity as a body to voice their opposition and work for such a change in the law.” —Pauline Sabin

Sabrina Fendrick: NORML Women’s Alliance (NWA) Chair/Director

Diane R. Fornbacher: Vice Chair NORML Women’s Alliance/Steering Committee

Cheryl Shuman: Director of Public Relations and Media,KUSH Magazines, KUSH Conventions & DailyBuds.com, Former Executive Director Beverly Hills NORML

Anne Druyan: NORML Foundation chair and film producer

Madeline Martinez: Executive Director of Oregon NORML

Debby Goldsberry: co-founder of the ARCH Collective

Anne M. Davis, Esq.: Executive Director of NORML NJ

Greta Gaines: Musician, television host and internationally recognized pro-snowboarder and fly-fisherwoman

Angel McClary Raich: Co-founder of the ARCH Collective

Anna Diaz: Co-founder of Oregon NORML

Kyndra S. Miller, Esq.: President and CEO of Miller Entertainment Group Inc., Law Firm

Carina Cialini: Pot Couture - Sales and Marketing, Cannabis Times - Multi-Media Manager and East Coast Sales Manager

Shaleen Aghi Title: Speakers Bureau Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)

Stacia Cosner: Outreach Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Cheyanne Weldon: Secretary/Board Member Texas NORML

Mikki Norris: Director of the Cannabis Consumers Campaign

Elisabeth Rodriguez: Co-founder, Dallas/Fort Worth NORML

Jessica Corry: Colorado attorney, former Director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, and Huffington Post guest columnist

Serra Frank: Founding Director Moms for Marijuana, Secretary Idaho NORML

Ms. Barbara Ehrenreich: Best selling author and columnist for Time magazine.

Nadine Strossen: President, American Civil Liberties Union and Professor of Law, New York Law School

Marjorie Russell: Professor and the chair of the Practice, Advocacy & Litigation Skills Department

Jeralyn Merritt: A television legal analyst (MSNBC and Fox News); creator and principal author of the weblog TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime

Tonya Davis: President of Miami Valley NORML & Ohio Patient Network; Host of a Public Access Television Show Medical Marijuana Common Sense; Medical Marijuana Director with Ohio NORML

AnnaRae Grabstein: CEO of Steep Hill Lab

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A man walks into a clothing store looking for a new pair of pants. He finds a pair that catches his eye and tries them on. He likes the way they feel and the way they make him look in the mirror. He takes them to the cashier, pays for them, and leaves.

Moments later, another man walks into the store, also looking for new pair of pants. He settles on the same exact style, tries them on, likes the way they feel and the way he looks in the mirror, takes them to the cashier, pays for them, and leaves.

From the outside, we have two seemingly identical situations unfold-ing in the exact same store. Inside, however, in the minds of each of the two men, the experience is remarkably different. The first man is shopping to enrich his life, using it as a means for obtaining a valu-able product to fulfill a basic need. The second man is a shopaholic, impulsively spending money to buy things that never really satisfy him.

The question of whether we are using something in a positive man-ner or abusing it is challenging. And it doesn’t apply exclusively to shopping, or to eating habits, or to controlled substances, it applies to everything. All human activities, even such sanctified activities such as education, fitness, and spiritual and religious practices, can be used in ways that improve the overall quality of our lives or abused in a ways that detract from it.

How can we tell the difference? What separates the diligent worker from the workaholic, the avid reader from the escapist, the perfor-

mance athlete from the exercise bulimic? What separates the user from the abuser? These are difficult questions, questions that require continuous assessment on a case-by-case basis. One possible answer, however, lies in exploring the nature of habits themselves.

Habits are patterns of behavior that become involuntary. Instead of exercising choice in a situation we react without thinking. This is not to say that all habits are bad. Such a reflexive, machine-like approach can be quite useful, allowing us to complete run of the mill tasks in an efficient manner. Habits allow us to lace up our shoes without ef-fort, make lunch while carrying on a conversation with a friend, and drive a car without being entirely consumed by the task. Our ability to relate habitually with the world can free us up, creating space for us to do more of what we want to do or to put our attention on more pressing issues. But this same habitual approach to life, robotically addressing the little things so we can put our focus elsewhere and distancing ourselves from our own direct experience, can also lead to boredom and discontent. This is because our habit of not focusing on tying our shoes, not focusing on making lunch, and not paying attention while driving in favor of seemingly more important ideas in our heads cuts us off from the life we are actually living. If we do this over a long pe-riod of time, we end up substituting some idea of life for the experi-ence of life itself, eventually finding ourselves cut off, suffering with a subtle or overt sense of isolation and lack.

Let’s take another look at our two shoppers, this time from the inside, this time seeing how habit plays a role in each man’s decision making.

by Austin Hill Shaw

By Austin Hill Shaw

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The first man walks into the clothing store because he wants to; the second man because he has to. Once inside, the first man maintains a broad awareness as he searches the store, balancing his tastes with what appears before him. The second man exhibits very little aware-ness and is at the mercy of the external environment, wondering what it is that may satisfy his internal sense of deficiency. The pants that catch the first man’s eye do so either because they meet some or all of the criteria he was considering ahead of time or because they delight him in some unexpected way. For the second, the pants he’s attracted to seem endowed with some special quality, a quality that may satisfy (at least in the moment) his more fundamental sense of lack. Once in the dressing room, the first man can evaluate the pants’ comfort and fit objectively, even having the power to say, “I like them on the hanger, but they don’t actually fit me very well.” The second man justifies the fit regardless of how they look or feel.

The two scenarios culminate at the cashier. The first man arrives at the cash register with perspective. He’s well aware of both the cost of the pants and his own financial resources, and has some underlying appreciation that he is part of interdependent world that benefits from interactions and exchange. With this understanding, he buys the pants. His shopping is not habitual; it reflects his choice to par-ticipate in the play of the marketplace.

The second man, however, has no such perspective. He is led to the cash register, driven by one fundamental desire: to possess, to take something from the world at large and make it exclusively his own. For this man, the world exists as something outside himself, which leaves him feeling isolated. At the time the money is exchanged and the pants are now his, however, he is afforded a glimpse of what the first man has: a sense of connection. But for the second man, it last for only a moment and then is gone, leaving him to search for an-other fix soon after. The second man consumes impulsively, engag-ing in something that ultimately fails to satisfy his underlying needs. His shopping is habitual; he lacks any real choice in the matter.

With regards to controlled substances, the underlying principle is the same: use based on choice can aid and enriches one’s life while use based on habit or compulsion leads to abuse. Controlled substances are unique, however, in that they significantly alter the perspective of the person who uses them. This means that if we choose to engage them, we must be extra vigilant about how they are affecting us, the reason being because controlled substances change the very way we experience the world, creating whole new perspectives we never thought possible.

When used appropriately, controlled substances can improve the quality of our lives, having at times the remarkable ability to relieve physical pain and the power to alter consciousness itself. When used skillfully, when used as tools to assist our underlying sense of well being, controlled substances can bring added vibrancy, perspective, and creativity to our lives. They can even be employed to break us out of other limiting habits, leaving us more intimately connected with the world around us.

The opposite, though, is also true. Controlled substances can easily be abused by those of us who employ them to avoid, escape, cope, or

reject other aspects of our lives that we don’t wish to face, detracting from our fullest potential as human beings, isolating us from the people around us, from our responsibilities, and in extreme cases, from reality itself. When abused, the power of these miraculous substances feed into our fears and insecurities, becoming agents that stunt our awareness, ultimately hindering our mind and body’s incredible potential.

What can we do to favor the useful benefits of controlled substances while avoiding habitual or abusive activity? Again, the subject is vast, but here are some possible starting places. First off, we need humility, the ability to admit that we don’t know everything, the recognition that the substances we consume always have something to teach us, and their lessons may or may not be appropriate for our particular constitutions. We may use them, but they use us, too, their unique molecular structures geared to dance with our rare and precious human consciousness. Humility also helps us to better evaluate our relationships to the substance and monitor its effects on us as time progresses.

Next is awareness, which is linked to our ongoing commitment to learn from our mistakes and to cut through our own self-limiting beliefs. Awareness is the opposite of habit, depending instead upon our willingness to examine again and again the motivations behind the choices we make. Is that new pair of pants really going to serve us? What about the substance that person just offered us? In this very moment, we ask ourselves, will it increase our awareness, or will bring in the fog so we don’t have to look at that problem we’ve been avoiding?

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is connection, our intimate relatedness with the world around us, including the people in our lives? Creating and maintaining connection—with friends, family, the built environment and the natural world - not only fulfills our fundamental desire for love and intimacy, it helps protects us from self deception. Furthermore, relating with others from all walks of life provides us with mirrors, mirrors through which we see reflec-tions of ourselves, mirrors that reveal the effects of the choices we are making, mirrors that can notify us should our use be sliding into abuse.

Use versus abuse is not determined so much by what we do but how we do it. Whether or not we engage controlled substances, choosing to pay attention to our activities, especially the little things, brings richness and vitality to all aspects of our lives. Checking out and moving through the world habitually, on the other hand, leaves us feeling isolated, impoverished, and with closets stuffed with unworn pants. By practicing humility, cultivating awareness, and by creating and maintaining connection, we hedge our bets, favoring the pos-sibility that our activities will bring us personal growth, expansive-ness, and joy, ever deepening our relationship with the miraculous world that surrounds us.

austin Hill Shaw is a writer, architectural designer, and mapmaker of creativity and the creative process. He specializes in helping others tap into and utilize the creative life force in everything they do. He can be reached at [email protected]

by Austin Hill Shaw

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Theophilus London 3.24.11 @ Key Club (West Hollywood)One of the hottest emerging hip-hop artists, Brooklyn’s Theophilus London, can rap, sing, and produce with the best of them. He’s a hustler in the purest form, touring the world with a persistence that has gotten him noticed by fans across the globe. Theo’s debut album, Strange Love, was released earlier this year, and it’s loaded with new wave hip-hop gems that will get stuck in your head for weeks. His live show is a real treat, and this date at the Key Club may prove to be his most prolific SoCal concert to date. theophiluslondon.net

Coachella 4.15.11 - 4.17.11 @ Empire Polo Club (Indio)Yes, tickets are sold out and they did so quite fast. But if you were on top of your game and got your tickets in time, you’ll be in for a real treat this year. Some big-time performances not to miss: Kanye, Robyn, Kings of Leon, Death From Above 1979, Lauren Hill, Cee Lo, Empire of the Sun, and Ratatat. Some less obvious shows you should really try to catch: Cut Copy, Ellie Goulding, YACHT, Tame Impala, Phantogram, Chromeo, Yelle, One Day As A Lion (Zack De La Rocha’s new band) and many many more. Do your research, and we’ll see you in the desert! coachella.com

This Page: Lady Gaga Right From Top: Theophilus London, Queens of the Stone Age, Röyksopp, Janet Jackson, G. Love and Special Sauce, The Naked and Famous

Kush Concert Calendar Southern california’s

Live Music Preview: March/april

Janet Jackson 4.09.11; 4.10.11 @ Santa Barbara Bowl (Santa Barbara)4.14.11 - 4.16.11 @ Gibson Amphitheatre (Universal City)The youngest of the Jackson children, Janet has had quite the career, including 10 albums and 5 Grammy awards. After Michael, she has certainly had the most outstanding career in the family. Signed to her first major label deal and releasing her debut album at the tender age of 16, Janet is still going strong (and hot) at age 44. Her voice and body are as strong as ever, and both the SB Bowl & Gibson are tremendous places to see this legendary woman perform. janetjackson.com

Röyksopp3.29.11 @ The Wiltern (Wilshire)Röyksopp, the Norwegian down-beat, trip-hop electronic duo from Tromsø has been melting ears since 1998. Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland’s project comes to the Wiltern in Hollywood for a night of HIGH quality electronic music that should get your pavement stoppers movin’ and your head bobbin’. Röyksopp has been nominated for a Grammy and has won seven of Norway’s Spellemannprisen awards, in case you needed any affirmation of their respectability. They’ve been touring around the globe and producing top notch, chart topping albums for years now, and this is really the place to be in late March for a tremendous, modern live music experience. royksopp.com

John Mellencamp 4.08.11 @ Nokia Theatre (LA Live)John Cougar Mellencamp (he should have left the cougar in the cage) owns a rock star career that’s seen 13 Grammy nods, 40+ million album sales, and a lil’ diddy about Jack & Diane. This man has more hits than you can shake a stick at. Totally worth the trip to LA Live for a chance to sing along with live classics like “Hurts So Good”, “Small Town”, or “Wild Night”... just to name a few. Get your tickets to this show early! www.mellencamp.com

The Naked and Famous 4.08.11; 4.09.11 @ Echoplex

(Echo Park)The Naked and Famous are an alternative rock

band from New Zealand with an indie/electro twist... some might call their sound a bit “dreamwave.” Their single ‘Young Blood’ debuted on the New Zealand chart at number one in 2010 and has received significant attention on music blogs around the world. Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith are the “creative force” behind the five-piece band, releasing their first studio album, Passive Me, Agressive You in September of last year. The kiwis come to the Echoplex in Echo Park, a venue that always has

amazing sound, for two nights in April. Get out to one of these concerts for a tremendous dose of live music. thenakedandfamous.com

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Lady Gaga 3.28.11 @ Staples Center (LA Live)3.31.11 @ Honda Center (Anaheim)Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, or Lady Gaga, began performing in the rock music scene of New York City’s Lower East Side in 2003 and quickly enrolled at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records soon after. During her early time at Interscope, she worked as a songwriter for fellow label artists and captured the attention of Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities, and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution. It’s been a while since a new pop artist made her win in the music industry the old-fashioned way, paying her dues with seedy club gigs and self-promotion. Through her music, Gaga is just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time. Her latest song “Born This Way” is another hit, and we will be watching this pop star for many years to come. Get your butt to one of these show for what will be an unforgettable production of epic proportions. ladygaga.com

Queens of the Stone Age 4.12.11; 4.13.11 @ The Wiltern (Wilshire)Led by Josh Homme, Queens of the Stone Age have been rocking hard since the late 90s. They formed in the SoCal desert around 1997, and have really been one of the few great hopes for rock ‘n’ roll music over the course of the last decade. Homme has spent a good amount of time with his other project, Them Crooked Vultures, over the past couple of years...which is a team-up of himself, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, and Dave Grohl. Homme also formed and plays drums for the Eagles of Death Metal, another great rock band with an amazing live show. Homme you could say, has made quite the name for himself. If there is a must see rock show in April, this is certainly it. qotsa.com

Ellie Goulding 4.20.11 @ The Music Box (Hollywood)Hailing from across the pond in England, Ellie Goulding brings her elegantly soulful voice to Los Angeles for just the second time in her career. Last time she was in LA, which was her first show in the US, Ellie played at the Roxy, and now she is moving up to the Music Box. I totally lost count of the number of instances during her first performance here that I got tingles down my spine from her voice. It’s soothing, powerful, intelligent, and consistently interesting. We Americans are quickly catching on, as her debut album Lights has been at #1 in the UK for quite some time. This is a must see show, and just happens to land on the perfect day for you KUSHites, 4/20.elliegoulding.com

More Great Shows!Girl Talk : 3.26.11 @ Hollywood Palladium

The Sounds : 3.29.11 @ Avalon

Talib Kweli : 4.04.11 @ Detroit Bar

G. Love & Special Sauce : 4.09.11 @ House of Blues (Sunset)

Mumford & Sons : 4.18.11 @ Santa Barbara Bowl

Slightly Stoopid : 4.20.11 @ Greek Theatre

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To learN More aBouT Chef herB &cOOk with herbgo To www.cookwithherb.com

here are some all day television snack recipes so you can graze your way through the upcoming college basketball tournament.

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DIRECTIONSPreheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Lightly grease a large roasting pan. In a large bowl, mix crispy corn and rice cereal, slivered almonds and toasted, chopped pecans. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the THC butter and mix with dark corn syrup and light brown sugar. Pour the mixture over the crispy corn and rice cereal mixture. Stir and shake to coat all the nuts and cereal. Pour the coated mixture into the prepared roasting pan. Stirring approximately every 15 minutes, cook 1 hour in the preheated oven. Cool on wax paper, and store in airtight containers.

Cheesy PoP CornINGREDIENTS:-1/4 cup THC butter, melted -1 teaspoon paprika -1/2 teaspoon ground cumin -1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper -10 cups popped popcorn -1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

PREPARATION:Combine melted THC butter, paprika, crushed red pepper, and ground cumin; toss with popcorn, coating evenly. Sprinkle with cheese; toss.Makes 10 cups.

Chef herb’s baked PretzelINGREDIENTS-1 cup all-purpose flour -2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese -1/2 teaspoon garlic powder -1/4 teaspoon dried basil -1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary -1/4 teaspoon dried oregano -1/2 cup THC butter -4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded -3 tablespoons cold water

DIRECTIONSMix the flour, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, basil, rosemary, and oregano in a large bowl. Cut THC butter into small cubes, and add to flour mixture. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives to cut the THC butter into the flour; continue until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over the flour mixture; mix lightly until dough is evenly moist and clings together. You may not use all of the water. Shape dough into a disc, and divide into 12 equal pieces. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). On a floured surface, roll one piece of dough at a time into an 11 inch long roll. To shape into pretzels: Curve ends of each rope to make a circle; cross ends at top. Twist ends once, and lay over bottom of circle. Place on greased baking sheets. Place pretzels, 2 inches apart, on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

sweet Party MixINGREDIENTS-1 (12 ounce) package crispy corn and rice cereal -5 ounces slivered almonds -6 ounces toasted, chopped pecans -3/4 cup THC butter -3/4 cup dark corn syrup -1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

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ParMesan ChiCken wingsINGREDIENTS:1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese2 tablespoons minced fresh flat leaf Italian parsley2 teaspoons crumbled dried Italian herbsFreshly ground black pepper to taste2 pounds chicken wings1/3 cup melted THC butter

DIRECTIONSPreheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside. In a large shallow bowl, mix together the cheese, herbs, and pepper. Dip each chicken wing into the THC butter and then dip into the cheese mixture and roll to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, then flip over. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until golden.

tortilla rolluPsINGREDIENTS:-12 (14-ounce package) flour tortillas -8 ounces cream cheese, softened-1/8 cup THC butter -1 cup sour cream -1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chilies -3 tablespoons chopped green onion -2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper -12 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated -1 cup salsa or picante sauce

DIRECTIONS In a medium bowl combine cream cheese, THC butter, sour cream, chilies, onion, red bell pepper, and Cheddar cheese. Mix thoroughly. Spread onto tortillas and roll up. Cover tightly and chill for 2 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, cut each roll into 1/2-inch slices. Serve with salsa or picante sauce. Makes about 8 dozen pieces of tortilla roll-ups.

QuiCk lasagna CasseroleINGREDIENTS-8 ounce dried miniature lasagna noodles, broken -12 ounce mild or hot bulk Italian sausage -2-1/2 cups desired red pasta sauce

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-¼ cup THC olive oil-1 egg, beaten -1 cup cream-style cottage cheese -2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese -3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 oz.)

DIRECTIONS1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. 2. Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe 2-quart square baking dish, crumble sausage. Cover with vented plastic wrap and microwave on 100 percent power (high) for 4 to 6 minutes or until sausage is brown, stirring once or twice. Drain fat. 3. Stir cooked pasta and pasta sauce into sausage in dish. Cover and microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through, stirring once. 4. In a medium bowl, stir together egg,THC olive oil, cottage cheese, and Parmesan or Romano cheese. Spoon mixture over pasta mixture. Cover and microwave on high for 6 to 7 minutes more or until heated through. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes before serving

Cheesy Potato bakeINGREDIENTS-2 lb. red potatoes -3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced -1-1/2 tsp. snipped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed -1/4 cup THC butter -1 cup buttermilk -4 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded (1 cup) -4 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely shredded (1 cup) -1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese -1/2 cup panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs) -1/4 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed -1 Tbsp. THC olive oil -Snipped fresh parsley (optional)

DIRECTIONS1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2-quart square baking dish; set aside. Scrub potatoes; cut in 1-inch pieces. In large saucepan cook potatoes in lightly salted boiling water 12 to 15 minutes or until tender; drain.

2. In a 12-inch skillet cook and stir garlic and thyme in THC butter over medium heat for 1 minute; add potatoes. Coarsely mash potatoes. Stir in buttermilk, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Fold in Fontina cheese, half of the Parmesan, and the blue cheese. Evenly spread in baking dish. 3. In small bowl combine remaining Parmesan, panko, Italian seasoning, and THC olive oil; toss with a fork to combine. Evenly sprinkle over potato mixture in dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and top is golden. Sprinkle with snipped fresh parsley

siMPle Peanut butter barsINGREDIENTS2 cups peanut butter* - divided use3/4 cup THCbutter 2 cups powdered sugar3 cups graham cracker crumbs 2 cups (12 ounce package) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels - divided use Beat 1 1/4 cups peanut butter and THC butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar. With hands or spoon, work in remaining powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Press mixture evenly and firmly into a greased 13 x 9-inch Pan. Melt remaining peanut butter and remaining chocolate chips in medium, heavy-duty saucepan over lowest possible heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Spread over graham cracker crust in pan. Chill for at least 1 hour or until chocolate is firm; cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

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Adams and Hill (centerfold)

Affordable Evaluations p 21

All Greens p 57

American’s for Safe Access p 83

Anaheim 420 Collective p 49

Anaheim Herbal Healing Center p 65

Anaheim Palliative Care p 13

Blue Planet p 31

Best Price Evaluations p 44

Bud Genius p 112

California Compassion Care Network p 36

California Herbal Healing Center p 69

Chef Herb p 87

Che Springs p 18

Chronic Pain Releaf p 63

City Compassionate Caregivers p 61

COI Evaluations p 30

Downtown Collective p 2 & 3

Dr. Green Meds p 20

Eden Therapy p 20

Evergreen p 37

Go Green p 51

Green Collective p 17

Green Horizon p 52

Green Miracle Healing p 114

Green Rush Delivery p 30

Green Victory p 4 & 5

Happy Medical p 40

Harbor Area Caregivers Club p 40

HCC p 77

HEZEKIAH INCORPORATED p 50

HLA p 77

Hollywood Medical Center p 25

Hollywood THC p 56

Inglewood Health Services p 30

Kelly’s Collective p 20

Kush House Caregivers p 53

Kush Korner p 40

LACA p 62

LA Container p 40

Lake Balboa p 45

LA Organic Pharmacy p 10

LA Wonderland p 14 & 15

Long Beach 420 Medical Marijuana Evalua-tions p 29

Marina Caregivers p 27

MedStop p 28

Montana p 46

NCIA p 71

NORML Women’s Alliance p 96

OC Medical Center p 47

Patients and Caregivers (backcover)

Patient’s Benefit Asso. p 87

Perennial Holistic Wellness Center p 45

PR Collective p 111

R & R Collective p 39

Rampart Discount Center p 32 & 33

Redmoon p 30

Reseda Discount Caregivers p 9 & insert

San Fernando Valley Discount Medicine p 59

Shamin p 97

Southgate Herbal Healing p 38

Steep Hill Lab p 75

Sunset Junction Organic p 43

SWHC p 11

The Bluegate Collective p 26

The Brothers Green Laboraties p 50

The Doctor p 25

The Gapp p 91

The Green Easy p 113

The Olive Tree p 41

The Rainforest Collective pp 22 & 23

True Healing Collective p 7

Valley Holistic p 115

Westside Discount Center p 19

Woodvic p 46

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socal kush magazine march 2011

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