Learn About Cannabis Dabbing 101

As an OG Emerald Triangle cannabis flower fan, I've recently schooled myself on dabbing. Dabbing delivers a high that hits harder. Great for those with raised tolerance levels like me. 

VAPE = Cannabis oil

DAB = Cannabis wax

At first I was turned off from cannabis vaping & dabbing because of my preference for flower FLAVOR (created by terpenes that can be lost in vape oil & dab wax). The tech has come a long way, though! Live Rosin delivers incredible and accurate flavor from their actual cannabis flower terpene derivative.

Dab wax is usually heated with a special cannabis dabbing device (which started, believe it or not, as a blow torch but has since evolved into battery powered coil technology heating a ceramic bowl). The device heats the wax and the consumer inhales the "smoke", actually vapors similar to vape pen, not smoke like a cannabis pipe or joint. Although, I have also spread dabbing wax on a bowl for a more potent smoking sesh (better in the middle of the bowl than on top to avoid torching wax directly). It works!

Dab wax you see above was $86 at the dispensary. It will last me about a month (in combo with other cannabis products). Slightly pricier than the average $58 bc I wanted to try cold press (cleaner process) version.

The personal size portable dabbing pen shown below is made by Puffco and sells for around $85 at my local dispensary. It is convenient for travel but requires some patience in waiting for it to heat up properly, and also needs cleaning after every use or it will get clogged (different than a vape pen that way), which is somewhat INconvenient. Still, it's fun and delivers a good high so I'm happy with it until the technology improves. Puffco also makes a larger dabbing device that looks similar to a bong. My friend that has one loves hers!

What Is The Difference Between Indica and Sativa Cannabis?

Indica & Sativa Visual Contrast

If you're a visual learner, like me, this handy infographic will help you better understand the key differences between Indica and Sativa cannabis, the two main types of cannabis. They share common DNA but have very different effects on one's body. 

  

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The Great Sugar Prohibition

 

Cannabis = no big deal / Sugar = 😱

As I've mentioned before, "sugar was my gateway drug. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing." It's the first line of my upcoming book, The Cannabis Confidential: 99 Stories of My Weed Friendly Childhood & Life. As promised, I'll use this blog to share some of those stories. This is Story #1. 

The Great Sugar Prohibition

I remember being insatiable to sugar as a child, at its mercy whenever it was near. My mom was convinced I had a sugar addiction. I knew sugar as something forbidden and heavenly tasting. White sugar was not allowed in our hippie household when I was little. But in my childhood, aside from my mom no one really cared about sugar until later, around the mid-80’s. Quite the contrary in the 70’s, sugar was often used to market foods! Cereals were branded with sugar in the name! (i.e., Sugar Smacks, Sugar Corn Pops)  

The first word I remember learning to read was “sugar”. My mom insisted that I be allowed the freedom to choose what kind of cereal I wanted, as long as “sugar” wasn’t one of the first three ingredients. As a result, at the ripe age of 3 years old, I understood what “ingredients” were, where to find them on the box, and how to review that list of data for “sugar”, like a word search I always felt hopeful to win (by finding it way down the list). 

Little did I know the game was rigged. And my mom knew it. But she was teaching me to fish, as the saying goes. She wanted me to experience the lesson rather than just being told “no” …a true hippie perspective in raising kids.

Back then, even Cheerios—yep! toddler-friendly, heart healthy Cheerios!—relied on sugar as their third ingredient, making it ineligible for representation in our cupboard. Any cereal I wanted and aisle researched, from Corn Flakes to Cheerios to Wheaties, was not allowed in my sugar-free household. Nope. I got Grape Nuts. God, how I hated them! I couldn’t even wrap my head around the name—Grape Nuts--being they were neither grapes nor nuts. Come to think of it, I never really knew what, exactly, Grape Nuts were…?

If I wanted them to taste like anything at all, I had to pound the block of brown sugar from our pantry on our tile kitchen floor to break it up enough to sprinkle some on my cereal, only to watch it immediately sink to the bottom... disappearing until those last couple sips of milk when it would suddenly reappear thick and confident, like a strapping super hero an hour late to the crisis. 

My mom’s sugar prohibition continued for years. Eventually she would become consumed with juggling work and duties at home so she lightened up a bit over time. And when my parents split up when I was 7, I quickly realized my sugar loving genes come from my dad. Oh, how I relished the freedom of Trix and Lucky Charms for the first time in my young life!

The contrast between the cannabis-friendly/anti-sugar household went totally unnoticed by my family until recently when I started realizing just how these contrasts have shaped me into who I am today. Looking back it seems so odd, though! 

My mom was right, I do have a sugar addiction. But she taught me well ...to pay attention, read labels, cook at home, listen to my body. Dad taught me that ice cream is one of life's necessities, non-negotiable.

I have not eaten Grape Nuts since I was a kid. I know my palette has developed, and I may like them as plenty of others do. I. Just. Can’t. 

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It’s Marty Party Time!

Breaking The Stoner Stereotype...

Having been raised around weed, I’ve consciously chosen it over alcohol over the years due to its efficacy, harmlessness, and familiarity. Along with sharing snippets (stories of my childhood) from the book I’m currently writing, this blog will serve as a way for you to ride along with me in my discovery of the cannabis industry in California, particularly highlighting the smaller, boutique farmers with outdoor grows in the Emerald Triangle.

No doubt my passion for equal rights and justice will come through in my writing, it’s part of who I am. I think I can safely speak for the industry when I say: We’re done with the stigma and stereotypes.

I want to shine a spotlight on talented small farm “cannaculturalists” (growers), who compete against bigger, more industrial, farms selling in bulk. The big industrialized farms easily buy their way onto dispensary shelves (marketing/representation) and who can blame them?! That’s the name of the game of capitalism, right? Thankfully there is room for everyone in the industry… boutique and industrial, indoor and outdoor, street quality and top grade. My focus will always be boutique, outdoor, sungrown, highest grade.

Bringing small farmers of the finest grade cannabis closer to consumers who appreciate a first-hand experience is an enriching education for everyone. Boutique marijuana farmers usually want to know more about their end-users. And, much like a winemaker, consumers appreciate hearing directly from the creator.

 

Martyjuana Farms

In the spirit of that community, I’d like to thank Marty Clein of Martyjuana Farms for sharing some time, stories, and insights with me recently. Martyjuana Farms is a major league player in the game of outdoor, sun grown, boutique-style cannabis in the Emerald Triangle (representing from Mendocino County, CA).

Marty successfully protected his marijuana harvest
against fires in recent years using several methods,
including changing the way he waters his plants.

Marty is careful to play by the rules, keeping meticulous records and hiring a handful of experts to navigate every part of the compliance and regulation side of his business. For Marty, it’s the only way to go because compliance is not his passion. 

Growing is.

Lubricating The Brain 

The perfect example of people who are inadvertently breaking the stoner stereotype, Marty’s not trying to break it… he’s just being who he is, doing what he loves. Goals and vision are a big part of the way this CEO and long-time consumer keeps things tightly focused. Marty discovered at a young age that weed helps his ADHD and allows him to think more clearly and, as a result, be more productive. He calls it “lubricating the brain”.

Interesting perspective coming from such a high achiever. Marty Clein has always been the kind of guy who enjoys excelling at any task he willingly takes on (emphasis on the “willingly”).

Good intention is a part of Marty’s core character and it is in everything he touches, and in an inexplainable way, is very contagious! Maybe that’s why Marty is a founding member of the Round Valley Cannabis Co-op, a small growers association in the Emerald Triangle.

Organizing sooner than later makes sense since federal legalization may mean the end of tight restrictions imposed by Prop. 64 that have prevented farmers like Marty from reaching the end-user of their top shelf product. It would allow him to connect with his customers on a more personal level, which is in his nature and understandably extends into business life.

The Experience of Weeducation 

The (pre-Covid) social educational gatherings he affectionately calls “Marty Parties” are a glimpse into the community into which Marty (+ now myself!) and millions of others find themselves… craving camaraderie, connection with intellectual, like-minded peeps. Our tribe! Marty used these party forums (mostly in SoCal) to educate people about the differences between indoor and sun grown cannabis, answer their questions firsthand, get to know their needs and tastes. And, in a world that worships alcohol like a deity, interested party goers were suddenly surrounded by their own kind—those who love weed.

Finding a “safe place” for cannabis consumers to commune and share product, information, resources, etc. has been ruled by everything EXCEPT literal safety… geography (legal/illegal)… career choice… reputation (small towns, or local clubs where alcohol or a cigar is fine)… court/custody battles… parenting reputation (with school, other parents)…

The stigma and stereotype game is still strong.

People like Marty remind us to step into who we are. Let’s stop hiding in the basement! 

If gays are now empowered to come out of the closet (holla and love to the proud LGBTQ? peeps!), we cannabis lovers should feel empowered to come out of the proverbial basement where we’ve been hiding to smoke bowls, blunts, and bongs for the last 50 years.

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

Craft cannabis growers are an integral part of both agricultural and small business economies. Once tourism enjoys seasonality in the marijuana market legally the way it does in the wine industry, businesses like Martyjuana Farms will have opportunities to connect directly with consumers. Currently, Prop. 64 prevents these direct relationships between farms and consumers.

Yesterday’s stigmas are a sign of ignorance. 

Being a stoner does not make one lazy, stupid or irresponsible. Some people use weed to help them focus clearly. The freedom to be who an individual WANTS to be is directly related to the daily joy that person feels. That freedom is an inalienable right.

We’re here. We’re high. Get used to it. 

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Same Year, Same Town: The Birth of Cannabis Kerry and 420

 

Cannacoincidences...

When they met in 1968, both my parents lived “across the bridge” as we often say in the Bay Area. Across the bridge can be any number of options in and around San Francisco. In this case, it meant north of the Golden Gate in Marin County. Both my parents were raised in San Francisco.

My family’s history in SF spans several generations. My great-grandfather was a gardener in Golden Gate Park. And my Gramps survived the 1906 earthquake at three years old. He also walked across the Golden Gate Bridge the day it opened. Gramps (dad’s dad) was a strong, proud, Irish-Catholic San Franciscan and in the Hurley family, there is a certain legacy in that. He would tell us cousins (his grandkids) stories of prohibition… how his uncle made gin in the bathtub for neighborhood sale and trade, and how the cops would look the other way for a price, or regular delivery. Being Irish during a prohibition? Gramps probably felt some sort of deep-seeded duty in the silent, sloshy revolt.

My mom and dad were both San Francisco 1960’s hippies in their own right before they met through mutual friends. Whatever you’re picturing when I say “San Francisco 1960’s hippies” is probably about accurate… hairy armpits and legs, minimal clothing and haircuts (although they both had shorter hair, the 60’s was more about functionality than aesthetics), sugarless/meatless household, anti-censorship of the arts, many protests, music festivals and craft fairs, and yes, marijuana.

Dad even lived on hippie-friendly Haight Street during its heyday in the 1960’s before starting his teaching career and family, and settling down in Marin County.

My Boomer parents have been the epitome of reliability, compassion, structure and responsibility. If they signed a contract, they honored it precisely. If they agreed to volunteer, they showed up on time and recruited friends and kids to join.

1971 would mark the year I was born, and the first of a number of oddly foreshadowing events revolving around weed in my life. That year, in 1971, a group of high schoolers in San Rafael, the city where we lived, coined the term “420” to mark their meeting time to smoke weed after school. An interesting connection, albeit completely “coincidental”.

There is not a time in my life when weed wasn’t around, even as a kid. My parents were cautious, didn’t leave joints out for us to stumble upon or anything. They didn’t smoke bong rips (bongs gained popularity with GenX in the 1980’s). In general, they were not big partiers. But they would enjoy a joint as much as, and as often as, a glass of wine or cocktail in the evening. It was so normal in our house, I never thought anything of it! Neither of my parents smoked cigarettes but some of their friends did.

To this day when I walk into a room filled with marijuana smoke, it takes me back like opening a file cabinet of memories…

Just to help break another stoner stereotype, I’d like to point out for the record that although we moved to Sonoma County when I was 3 years old, I have A TON of memories of living in San Rafael. Who says stoners forget everything? 

~ ~ ~

Thank you Sparc.co for the great reference article on the origin of 420!  

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NorCal Weed Gal, Cannabits :: INTRO

Sugar was my gateway drug. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing. When I look back on my life, contrast plays a big role. The biggest role. The sugar prohibition in our cannabis-friendly household was the first of many. Also among the most interesting:

> Watching hippies turn into yuppies in the 1980's

> Having a Catholic dad and Atheist mom

> Growing up in between two small towns juxtaposed by their agricultural legality (one thriving with millionaire-making vineyards, the other upheaving organic cannabis farms due to prohibition)

...and many more.

To someone like me who tends to be a "big picture person", prone to seeing life and circumstances through more of a panoramic lens, these contrasts have both molded and puzzled me.

I'm excited to share stories from my childhood. I've come to understand that my formative years were quite unique! 

My parents were San Francisco hippies, very comfortable with many things that made others uncomfortable, like nakedness, body hair, and yes, weed. Ours was a stable, nicely decorated (mom had a keen eye for design + love of antiques) village home amidst the rolling hills of Northern California. Quite the contrary of a stereotypical "stoner" household, I guess. Although I'm not sure I've EVER seen a living example of a stereotypical stoner household with lazy parents, etc. Maybe they exist but I've only seen them on screen.

So, I hope my one-of-a-kind childhood stories will brighten your day, maybe give you a laugh or a new perspective.

Some upcoming stories:

🟢 My Insatiable Sweet Tooth In Our Anti-Sugar House

🟢 My First Protest (age 4)

🟢 My First Circle Pass Of The J (age 4)

🟢 Mom Gets Arrested For Dad's Garden (age 4)

🟢 A Very Cannabis Christmas (age 7)

🟢 Our Family's Famous Friend

🟢 Our Move To The Emerald Triangle (age 9)

All my stories will be peppered with contrasts that I've observed along the way. 

I'll also be using this blog as a cannabis education platform.

High regards, and thank you for following and sharing!