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California Cannabis Laws and Growers

California Cannabis Laws and Growers

by | Jun 4, 2018 | 420, 420 News, Blog, Culture, Growing

The majority of Californians celebrated the passing of Proposition 64 on New Years which officially legalized cannabis use for adults 21 and older. For some, it’s causing serious problems.

The main parties affected by these new laws are the small-time growers and farmers that have been growing cannabis in an under-regulated market for years. These farmers must now meet new standards in pesticides, chemical levels and more regulations for their plants.

California Cannabis Laws: too strict?

Some are starting to claim that these standards are so strict that even organically grown cannabis is unable to meet certain standards. The other issue with these chemical limits is that pesticides and chemicals can drift from other farms that don’t have the same restrictions, contaminating cannabis farms in the area.

While these other crops are allowed to use fungicides and pesticides, cannabis growers cannot use any due to the plant’s Schedule 1 status on the federal level. Due to these new California cannabis laws, pesticide manufacturers, whether organic or synthetic, cannot register their products for use for a commercial cannabis crop.  

More harm than good?

The fear for many is two fold; that these new California cannabis laws and regulations will either force growers to conform to the new standards, spending copious amounts of money to comply, or force them back into the private market. Due to this, the California market will likely still see a decrease in “clean” cannabis. Prices may rise in the legal market, and continued access to the private market will remain steady.

Growers in California are now working to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for everything from inventory and quality control to transportation, security and cannabis waste disposal. All of these procedures and regulations must be met by July 1, 2018 to ensure a smooth transition into a newly regulated market.

It is too soon to say what affect these new California cannabis laws and regulations will have on small growers, but we are already starting to see changes. Demand for cannabis is increasing every day, and with the new regulations, supply will decrease. That sounds like potential market share and profit to me.

Listen to Craig Nejedly of Talking Trees Farms in Humboldt talk with Chip about California laws and the changing industry in the new episode of The Real Dirt Podcast! You can listen right here on The Real Dirt website, or go to iTunes and subscribe to get notifications of new episodes every week.

What is CBD?

What is CBD?

by | Jun 1, 2018 | 420, 420 News, Blog, Broscience Mythbusters, Culture, Science & Technology

If you walk into a dispensary or a smoke circle, you’re more than likely going to see or hear about CBD, and rightfully so.

This wondrous compound has gained a lot of attention recently, mainly for its aid in fighting seizures in children and adults, but its uses are broadening. Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found largely in hemp, known for its excessively low THC levels. But it is also found in the everyday psychoactive cannabis you might find at a dispensary.

What is CBD?

The difference between the two types of CBD is mainly that of where it comes from. Not necessarily the genetic makeup of the cannabinoid. In order for hemp to be legal, it must have THC contents lower than .3%. Compared to the cannabis you might find in a store with THC levels surpassing 20%, one can see where the difference starts to show.

Hemp is known to have much higher levels of Cannabidiol compared to its sister plant, making it perfect for pure CBD products like cosmetics, creams, and medications like tinctures. Female cannabis is known for its potent THC, but it does not lack CBD altogether. While still much lower, almost all cannabis has this chemical in it in some quantity.

However, in today’s rising hemp industry, hemp is overwhelmingly supported for its CBD content over it’s sister plant.

The Entourage Effect

THC may potentially increase the effects of Cannabidiol when used in combination, leading many organizations to promote “full plant medicine”, which utilizes all of the different cannabinoids within cannabis to provide a full range of medicinal and psychotropic effects. However, the jury is still out on whether THC and CBD in combination provide a more complete medicinal effect compared to each cannabinoid on its own.

For those that want medicinal benefits without the high that comes with THC, Cannabidiol from hemp is the solution. The benefits of CBD are becoming more well known as access becomes easier, and most dispensaries will have products in stock.

Be careful when you search for CBD products, and if you can’t consume THC for any reason, ensure you’re CBD comes from hemp and not from female cannabis flower to avoid potentially higher THC levels.

Oregon Cannabis Overload

Oregon Cannabis Overload

by | May 17, 2018 | 420, 420 Culture & Travel, 420 News, Blog, Business, Culture

Oregon is facing an issue that a lot of people never though would rise in our time. They have too much cannabis.

There is currently over a million pounds of unsold Oregon cannabis sitting idle. Just for fun, that million pounds breaks into over 120 million eighths, or over double the amount of Oregon cannabis consumed in 2017. With the overflow of product and lack of demand, prices are noticeably dropping.

All supply, not so much demand

The average cost of a gram in Oregon has dropped to just $4, compared to another legal state such as Colorado, where the cheapest gram averages around $10. While Colorado has been experimenting with legal cannabis since commercial sales starting in 2014, legal Oregon cannabis is still new, only taking effect in 2015.

While it was slow to pick up at first with just 99 licensed recreational dispensaries at the end of 2016, new regulations propelled the industry through 2017, seeing that number rise to over 260.

The best Oregon cannabis

With so many stores opening so fast, competition is fierce. Breeders and retail stores have to compete with dozens of other businesses in their area, and it has quickly become a race to the bottom.

While more people try to get involved in the Oregon cannabis industry, those already with their hands in the pie are beginning to wonder if they should take them out. Coupled with the inevitability of big business coming into the industry with investor backing, those already involved either have to beat out the competition to stay in business, or bail.

It’s too soon to say what might happen with the Oregon cannabis industry. After all, it’s young, and Colorado went through a similar stage in its legalization infancy in which the bad business models were quickly filtered out.

While for the consumer it might seem like a great time to move to Oregon for super-cheap cannabis, there’s no way to know how long the low prices will last, and if the quality will still be maintained with the inflation. For now, we can just watch and see who the top Oregon cannabis producers are as they compete to stay alive.

Hear first hand what one of the top breeders in Oregon is facing on The Real Dirt Podcast. Fletcher Watson works at Archive Seed Bank and Archive Portland, and he shares his experience in the Oregon cannabis industry.

The Resilience of John Newmerzhycky

The Resilience of John Newmerzhycky

by | May 7, 2018 | 420 News, Blog, Culture, Stranger Than Fiction

What started as a questionable traffic stop turned into lengthy legal battle about forfeiture.

 

John Newmerzhycky was travelling through Iowa with his friend William Davis after playing some poker at a casino when they were pulled over by a member of the Iowa state police interdiction team. With reports concerning a red vehicle, the police officer followed John and William for ten minutes before pulling them over for failing to signal when passing another car.

 

After being pulled aside and questioned by the officer, John began to show signs of breathing rapidly and fidgeting, which increased the officer’s suspicion. After telling John he was free to go with a warning, the officer asked if there were any drugs in the car.

Without a direct response, the officer called in a K-9 unit.

John and William told the officers there were no drugs or currency in the car. This would turn out to be untrue when the officers found Davis’ $85,000 packed inside a locked briefcase. The police also found a grinder and a very small amount of cannabis, but enough to charge John with a misdemeanor. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

Police Overreach

The state of Iowa confiscated the duo’s money and called California authorities where the men are originally from, leading to both of their houses being searched. Despite both John and William having medical marijuana cards, the searches led to felony charges in California.

Jump to today, and every charge has been dropped, and the original sum of money confiscated has been returned.

There was more of a reward for John and William than just money however. The case of these two men resulted in a stringent analysis of the forfeiture tactics used by Iowa police, and the eventual disbandment of the interdiction team that originally confiscated the money.

A bigger problem than John

The counter lawsuit from John and William led the state to find that Iowa police more often than not (86% of the time) pulled over drivers with out-of-state tags, showing a clear bias on behalf of the department. The two are also expected to receive additional compensation for lawyer fees, plus damages.

This case represents a national trend, and an overarching problem where authoritative figures use their power to confiscate private property with no justification. This places the burden of proof on the defendant to get their own property back. John came out on top of his case, while many other are still stuck in the courts fighting for what is theirs.

Hear John’s full story when he sits down with Chip on The Real Dirt Podcast!

YouTube Goes After Cannabis Accounts

YouTube Goes After Cannabis Accounts

by | May 4, 2018 | 420 News, Blog, Business, Culture, Opinion, Science & Technology

YouTube is cutting cannabis content. But you can still learn how to build bombs, so don’t worry.

 

It doesn’t make any sense, yet it isn’t all that surprising. YouTube has been taking down popular cannabis accounts over the past couple weeks with no explanation whatsoever. Some accounts had millions of subscribers, and were still taken down without any notice.

YouTube’s responsibility

You may not be a big YouTube watcher, but millions of people are. Add to that the billions of views that the platform’s videos get on a daily basis, and you get a massive online community with varying opinions, ideologies and the chaos that comes along with it.

Social platforms haven’t been known to manage their communities in the best way — just look at Twitter or FaceBook — but YouTube has taken it to a new level.

 

Cannabis content creators have faced their share of issues in the past, but mostly with resolve. A video would be taken down, they would appeal, and it would later be put back up. If it made it to the extreme of an entire channel being taken down, even then it could be appealed rather easily.

YouTube supposedly runs on a “strike” system, consisting of three strikes for channels. The first strike bans the channel from live-streaming for 90 days, the second prohibits the channel from posting content, and the third strike is channel removal. Yet, for these accounts that have been removed as of late, there were no strikes.

YouTube’s Failure

The issue with this is two-fold. Many people rely on YouTube cannabis channels for information, news updates, and other cannabis related issues they can’t find elsewhere due to its already negative stigma. With these channels removed, people are losing valuable information which can have dangerous consequences.

We all know how the D.A.R.E. program worked out. It is better to teach about safe and controlled, legal drug use than to hide the facts about them and tell them to “just say no”.

The second problem comes when YouTube has taken these channels down with no strikes, no warnings, and no explanation. This sets a dangerous precedent when a global giant like YouTube can pick and choose what content it allows without explaining its reasoning.

While YouTube has every right to restrict certain content (as they should), it makes no sense that the most popular cannabis content creators on YouTube who have built massive, overwhelmingly positive and vibrant communities would be removed while channels showing how to make pipe bombs stay active.

The Future of YouTube

It would actually almost make sense if YouTube’s reasoning was that of safety concerns. I get it, some of those YouTubers take some huge dabs that would knock out a normal person. So take down all the videos of people chugging bottles of whiskey too, because that’s way more dangerous.

Maybe their explanation will be that it isn’t federally legal, so take down the other accounts that inform people on the safe use of LSD, or DMT or Psilocybin. Oh wait, but they didn’t.

So as we wait to hear which accounts might be un-banned and why they were banned in the first place, we should all be wondering what this means. If YouTube can take down content without any explanation and there is no backlash, it will only continue. The channels that don’t YouTube enough money might be next, then the channels that have an opinion they disagree with.

People need these cannabis YouTube channels. They inform, teach, enlighten, inspire, and connect the cannabis community through an online platform that was built on creativity and innovation. Don’t let YouTube start going backward.

The Real Dirt on Cannabis Strains

The Real Dirt on Cannabis Strains

by | Apr 20, 2018 | 420, 420 Culture & Travel, 420 News, Blog, Broscience Mythbusters, Culture, Science & Technology, Stranger Than Fiction

It is a highly debated fact whether or not music can help cannabis strains’ growth.

 

It is undeniable, whether it’s classical, hip hop or death metal, certain strains just like certain music. Maybe it’s just their personalities, the result of flowering teen angst, or some unique terpene profiles. Either way, these strains like to jam out to their favorite tunes.

Check out some of the cannabis strains we have extensively researched to discover their unique musical tastes. Maybe you’ll be as surprised as us with some of them.

Blue Dream

Somewhere over the Rainbow by Iz Kamakawiwoʻole

We suspect the song helps to promote Blue Dream’s uplifting and light-headed effects that Iz was definitely feeling when he wrote this song. Bluebirds, dreams, flying…The song might as well be called Blue Dream.

This sativa hybrid will have you up and about on 420 while you drift somewhere over the rainbow.

 

OG Kush

O.G. by Ice T

There’s imitators and then there’s the OGs. The original gangsters that made their own unique sound that ended up paying out big. OG Kush is a classic strain that will never be outdone, only imitated. You can usually see most of the OG varietals bumping in the back corner of the room while they talk about how strains were way better “back in the day”.

While it may be hard to find true OG Kush these days, at least we have its favorite jam to connect us.

Do-si-Dos

The Fiddlestix Dosido

It’s rare that a strain loves a song so much it actually requests to be named after it. Do-Si-Dos is the exception. You can taste the sense of irony in this strain, as you most certainly won’t be up dancing all about after a joint of this stuff. Just Do-Si-Don’t hurt yourself if you try (it’s 420, we’re all a little spacey).

Ironically this strain will most likely lock you into the couch instead of get you up dancing, but you can dance in your head while your nugs dance to the Fiddlestix on your table. Yes, you’re starting to trip a little.

Sour Diesel

Semi-charmed Life by Third Eye Blind

Sour Diesel has always lived a semi-charmed kind of life. It burst onto the scene in the 90s and quickly became a favorite, which led to its hybridization and cross-breeding. After a consultation with the band, Third Eye Blind agreed to be the sole music provider for Sour Diesel. So even though it has gotten split up into god knows how many hybrids, it’s still living the good life. Though it might be regretting signing Third Eye Blind right now.

This gassy bud will help you see the greener side of things, and you’ll start see the charm in the song. Just prepare to have it stuck in your head for the next week.

Cookies

Bad and Boujee by Migos

There’s something about mentioning the strain’s name repeatedly that helps build rapport and plant confidence. Blasting Bad and Boujee at full volume for at least 3 hours a day has shown to make Cookie strains much more resinous, as well as arrogant and flashy.

It’s been through plenty of controversy, from lawsuits with the Girl Scouts to shooting it out with competitors, but Cookies ain’t no strain to f*** with.

Purple Haze

Purple Haze by Jimmy Hendrix

Purple haze was one of those cannabis strains lost in the world. Unknown, unpopular, and songless. That is until Jimmy Hendrix gave it a puff. The two then entered into a mutual business agreement where Jimmy would promote the strain through his music, and Purple Haze would listen exclusively to Jimmy Hendrix. Their relationship had its ups and downs, and the strain officially settled on Purple Haze after Hendrix’s death. 

While you’re sitting back as the purple smoke billows up and hazes, you may notice yourself kissing the sky. In fact, you’re body is unconsciously gasping for air because you’ve been in the hotbox too long. TAKE A BREAK!

 

Happy 4/20 from The Real Dirt Podcast! We hope you liked our take on some of cannabis’ favorite songs, but we’d love to hear you’re strain’s favorite tune! Share it with us on Instagram or Facebook @therealdirtpodcast!