I'm F*cked, They About to Drug Test Me!
Written By LaWann Stribling
I sat down with my husband to ask him how he was feeling as he awaited the results of his incident drug screening. He was mostly worried about being suspended because the loss of income would create unnecessary hardships on our family’s finances. He apologized to me over and over again, but I told him I wouldn't accept it. When he made the decision to use cannabis, he thought his only consequence would be to attend a drug class. He knew he wouldn't be fired but wasn't aware of the 90 days unpaid suspension and 5 years' probation.
NYC: A Stoner’s Paradise
Written By Hannah Gershowitz
New York City has the tendency to heighten the grandiosity of really anything— from as minuscule as the curves of the buildings to as regal as a brand-new market opening.
Thus, when recreational cannabis was legalized in March 2021, it was so monumental that the whole climate and landscape of the city changed along with it.
Cannabis smoke has taken over the once-familiar aromas of nearby restaurants and bakeries, illicit dispensaries line every block, seemingly endless elevated experiences and spaces have popped up… and that all happened before the first recreational dispensary even opened.
Now, the market is fully open, and it’s louder than the chatter of the city— louder than the mix of sirens and subways and people. The city’s cannabis scene is making noise, and New York City will never be the same because of it.
And as a weed enthusiast, I love it. New York City is a stoner’s paradise.
Homegrown Reviews: Dave’s White Widow
Written By Daniel Crawford
When I told my friend Dave about a new project I was starting, he didn’t hesitate to hand over a fat sack full of his newest hobby: home growing cannabis. The White Widow nugs were supplied from Dave’s first harvest since beginning his hobby.
I hadn’t consumed White Widow since my college days with summers filled with trips to music festivals around the country. Most who know me, understand I have been involved with cultivating cannabis for nearly two decades.
Having an official record of his first ever harvest will allow Dave to dial in and keep track of his entire genetic portfolio in the years to come. This goes to show you, a grower doesn’t have to grow cultivars with THC percentages +25% to produce effective medicine.
Why the Midwest is the Perfect Destination for Your Next Cannabis-infused Adventure
Written By Bri Smith
Pack your bags and bug spray; Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes (and nearly as many opportunities to try cannabinoid-infused beverages) are calling! This year, instead of planning the typical coastal vacation, might I suggest visiting the Twin Cities in the heart of the Midwest?
With a diverse and progressive population, a lively art and music scene, and hundreds of breweries dabbling in THC-infusion, the Twin Cities has become the poster child for successfully integrating edibles and drinkables into mainstream retail stores.
Now, you can buy (and, in many cases, enjoy on-site) canna beverages in restaurants, bars, hotels, grocery co-ops, theaters, art festivals, concert venues, and more.
You might be thinking, “There’s no way you can get a THC-bev or edible in all of those places… right?” But I’m here to confirm the rumors are true. I’ve visited these spots and can confirm the experience is euphoric, exciting, and incredibly… normal.
Read on for 10 locations where you can (and should) experience cannabinoid-infused beverages in the Minnesota Wild.
Transitioning From Non-Cannabis to Cannabis: What You Need to Know
Written By Christy Essex
So, you want to work in cannabis? There is a lot of “buzz” going on, especially when it comes to people looking into transitioning to cannabis from non-cannabis fields.
Cannabis companies have needs, just like any other company in any other legal industry. In the fastest growing industry in the nation, opportunities are popping up everywhere.
The process of transitioning from traditional non-cannabis careers into the cannabis industry may seem daunting, however there are more connections between the job you have now and your future career in cannabis than meets the eye.
One of my favorite quotes by Henry Ford is “Whether you think you can-or think you can’t-you’re right!” I kept this quote by my desk as I set up to pivot into the cannabis space, myself. Now, here I am ten years later loving my decision to transition into the cannabis workforce.
So, if you are still wondering where to start, here are some recommendations;
ETHEREAL ADVENTURES OF DR. MERL THE ASTONISHING METAPHYSICIAN: Map Points
Written By Grant Mitchell
After traveling down a kaleidoscopic wormhole, for what seemed like an eternity, Dr. Merl wakes up on the beach of what he can only guess is a distant alien planet. Merl notices a small tower in the cove across the coastline.
Merl meets a wizard who calls himself Citizen Patient. Discussions about isolation, what planet they are on, and the year transpires briefly.
Dr. Merl explained his home is called “Planet Earth.”
“Never heard of it.” C.P. replies.
It’s so dark in the dank smelling castle that Dr. Merl can’t see, and so asks C.P. if he can open a shade to let in some light. Just as he is about to ask him what type of cannabis strain he favors…
“Sure.” says C.P. as he floats, not even walking, towards the window. Mysteriously, C.P. then vanishes into the curtain and the map spontaneously combusts again like the first piece of parchment from Dr. Merl’s laboratory.
Dr. Merl jumps back in order to save his nose and eyebrows from getting seared off. Another practical joke or a tricky magical prankster, eh?
‘Cross-pollination’ Leads to Good Ideas
Written By Mark G.
Priuses. Labradoodles. OG Kush. Although these random items appear to have little in common, they do share one thing: cross-pollination.
You might be asking yourself, what is cross-pollination? To put that in the context of cannabis culture, cross-pollination could best be exemplified by one of the most popular hybrid-strains ever, OG Kush.
OG Kush is technically a three-way hybrid (tri-brid?) of Chemdawg x Hindu Kush Indica x Lemon Thai Sativa. Three separate strains that are amazing by themselves are combined, or cross pollinated – to create a new, arguably better solution – a true cross-pollination.
This process of mixing disparate components to create a total that is better than the sum is akin to problem solving. The mixing of problems and ideas to create solutions is one of the oldest and arguably the most important processes we as humans NATURALLY utilize.
I argue that the existential reason for humanity is to problem-solve with the goal of advancing our lives. How do we do that? You guessed it–cross pollination– mixing scenarios with our experiences to ultimately create ideas.
Everywhere I’ve Smoked Part I: WEST vs EAST
Written By Emily Harris
It’s safe to say that many of us have grown up alongside weed’s legitimization, and I’m here to take a deeper look into how we all fit in where the West meets the East, and all the cultures in between.
Throughout my lengthy and wavering relationship with weed I’ve had the opportunity to smoke in a total of eleven states. It’s been a long, wild ride as I’ve taken weed across the country, border to border, and coast to coast, all the while wondering how the hell I got to where I am today, and everywhere I’ve been along the way.
Through the ebbs and flows of cannabis’ presence in my personal life, I’m at a point of reflection on its role in America’s history, the influence it’s had on me coming into my personhood, and the current cultural implications based on its legislation from the West to the East.
Hash Helped Me Heal
Written By Shelley Peebles
I remember the day I was sitting in my therapist’s office when I said, “I feel like he’s emotionally abusive. I don’t know if that’s a thing, but that’s what it feels like.” My therapist stopped and looked at me, eyes wide open. The next words out of her mouth hit me in the gut. “That’s because he is. And he will never change.”
I was diagnosed with PTSD as a result of a domestic violence incident. I knew I had to make a decision. Something needed to change. I needed my children to know that this was not a normal or healthy relationship, and I also needed to be in a better place. Mentally, I was not prepared for what unfolded.
What Can Cannabis Do For Your Dog?
Written by Andrea Harris
"You're gonna put cannabis in dog treats? How on earth is that going to work?" Dr. Rodgers asked me.
"Yeah, I mean obviously it won't be high in THC, but I know there has to be medicinal properties for dogs as well." I retorted as I pulled back on the plunger and the 3ml syringe began to fill with blood.
I never thought that I would go from those conversations to stopping by clinics that carry my full-spectrum hemp dog treats. I can't help but think back as I hear story after story about cannabis helping canines.
Much like our own system, your dog's endocannabinoid system produces its own endocannabinoids. In fact, it's more than just dogs. We all have a system that interacts with the compounds found in cannabis, now it's all about narrowing down what cannabinoids are beneficial to which ailments so we can tailor-make cannabis profiles for our furry, and not-so-furry friends.
ZMayor & Diana: A Love Story
As Told by Jonothon I. Wild
Sadly, softly they parted. The phone flirting slowly faded into each other's new life. HizSingleness broke the heartbreaking news to the Budsburg ladies. HizLoneliness spent the rest of that growing season at ZBend, spending his weekends caring for his cannabis plants also referred to as “The Ladies of Bburg.” When he needed a fan leaf to cry on, they were only a Stoner's-throw away.
ZMayor had a good habit of not playing favorites because he believed each and every lady was unique in her own Phenoness. Though he would never mention it to the others, this season and this season only, he had a favorite. She was alone just south of the barn. He would take time to gently guide her limbs each visit. He would compliment her on her pistils and terpene perfume. He would take time to gather Forget-Me-Nots on the way. The Dragonfly loved the white ones. They reminded her of the snow, and her winter walks at ZBend.
No-No Berries at The Nearby Nowhere Private Dragon School
Written by Randy Gunter
Introduction by Lindsey Gunter
The piece you are about to read originates from a small group of rebellious teenagers in 1972 while attending the American school in Sao Paulo, Brazil called “Graded” or “Escola Graduada.” These kids had a small, independent publication small enough to be slid into the lockers of their peers called “Ergo,” in which they voiced frustrations with the school administration in all manners fantastical and allegorical.
The creator of this paper was a young William “Randy” Gunter, my father. This particular issue is labeled “Another Fable (From the Chronicles of Nowhere)” the second passage in the first volume, and the topic? “No-no berries in the berry lounge,” or in other words; “no marijuana in the smoking section."
This is why I wanted to share this piece of my family's history with cannabis with the Fat Nugs community as well as the cannabis community at large. To remind us that this de-stigmatization mission is not new, that it is generational, widespread with roots everywhere older than most civilizations.
To remind us that this cause has already been long fought, to rally us forward in wasting no more time uplifting the voices who have been part of the fabric of usage, the agents of the evolution of this glorious plant and the unique culture it inspires, past and present. Please Enjoy.”
My First Harvest Ball
Written by Isabella DeChard
The Emerald Cup hosts the Harvest Ball in Santa Rosa, California each year. Farmers and cannabis brands from all over the Golden State join to celebrate the bountiful crops and cultivars meticulously cultivated this season.
However, among the handful of other cannabis events I’ve gotten to recently experience, this two-day event felt significant among the others. Throughout the entire Harvest Ball weekend, the collective empathy and perseverance I always recognized about this cannabis community was stronger than ever.
Even though this was my first time at the Harvest Ball and an Emerald Cup occasion in general, I had never felt more welcome or comfortable at a major cannabis event.
Last tolerance break in Paris
Written by Matthew Dean
Ahhhhh…. The T-Break, AKA the tolerance break. No matter what your thoughts - whether you are a cheerleader or chastiser, a willing participant, or in my case, had the T-break foisted upon you, this is not a diatribe on the pros and cons of taking a tolerance break. It is a journey into the unwanted absence of my love, cannabis, in the city of love itself.
I figured, once free of the family, the wedding, and France, I would treat myself to a week in Amsterdam while the family flew to Rome to see the Pope or something. The major issue was making sure Nina had weed: Period, point blank. And she PROMISED that she would. A rare thing for my lovable but sometimes not all that dependable cousin.
To be clear, traveling with my family wasn't going to be a nightmare, it just wasn't the ideal option to be traveling with Mom and Nana. Despite this, I knew that some weed would be just what I needed to ease into the trip, and Nina had a friend in Amsterdam supplying decent weed and hashish.
Ethereal Adventures of Dr. Merl The Astonishing Metaphysician: Metascapades - Diving for Quantum Arcadia
Written By Grant Mitchell
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! You Are Hereby Cordially Invited to Join Us on Our Metascapades in Ethereal Realms: Diving, Hunting, Searching, and Exploring the Mythical Quantum Arcadia.
As the legend goes, in the year 2070, Professor Saxemillian Merlinius von Vaporblaster: Doctor of Science in Dematerialization, or “Dr. Merl,” for simplicity’s sake… is alleged to have achieved the unimaginable.
At 11:11 AM, in the flash of a moment altering the very fabric of the spacetime continuum itself: Dr. Merl exhaled a spark and was granted temporary powers, although unaware of them at first. Gifts like ultra-intelligence, clairvoyance, telepathy, psychokinesis, supernatural deduction, hyperluminal dematerialization, metaphysical chakra harmonization, lucid dreaming, and transmutation were harnessed through the Fluxflower.
Combined these fantastical concepts are dwarfed in comparison to the underlying mystery: Where is the Protostone Flowerflux phenomena drawing its magical energy from?
The science behind the munchies
Written By Riley D. Kirk, Ph.D.
The holidays can be a wonderful time to catch up with family and old friends and of course, stuff our faces with all the amazing home cooked foods. Before indulging in the savory food, many of us go for a pre-meal ‘walk’ to prepare our bodies for the feast.
Lighting up a joint or indulging in other cannabis products before the big meal may give you the classic “munchies” which can make everything taste even better and accentuate the obscure combinations of food you’re about to eat.
Many of us have hilarious stories about combining ridiculous ingredients while high, or eating absurd amounts of food, but have you ever wondered why this happens?
My Journey Into Cannabis -Part 4: Get Your Grow On
Written By Jason Bird
After getting arrested twice in 2 years over my fondness for The Herb, I was forced to take a timeout and regroup. I spent a year and a half on probation and then got permission to move to Oregon, so I packed up and left the East Coast in the summer of 1996 and headed west.
Best road trip ever!
I witnessed some epic music events that summer on my journey. At the tail end of the adventure and concert psychedelia, I picked up 2 friends and moved almost 3,000 miles to Oregon to begin my adventures in cultivation. I enrolled in a 2 year Horticulture Degree program and began taking classes in the campus greenhouse. After transferring my probation, I was released from active supervision after 3 months.
Not long after that I started growing my first cannabis plants indoors. It was a strain called “The Cough.” It was the original Northern Lights #5 x Haze. What. A. Strain.
From Red to Pink - Part VI: The Pink Era Begins
Written By Lindsey Gunter
My layoff date approached, red jackets began to appear in thrift store windows around town (ouch), and I found myself sitting in a dark, shabby room covered in concrete dust - clearly the only habitable place in the general sea of construction going on inside. I was interviewing for a new dispensary’s ownership that got my resume from The Blacklist. “Gold” someone had called it. We knew some of the same people, shared some brand-building opinions and a desire for an open, feminine, inclusive ideal for the dispensary. I shook hands and agreed to an hourly rate until opening, upon which time a salary for myself and the people I brought into other key positions would go into effect. I walked out and just about danced all the way home.
Do you ever wish you could just go back in time, not to prevent anything from happening necessarily, but to warn yourself? I probably would’ve just tapped myself on the shoulder and simply said, “Don’t dance yet.”
But alas, as I danced down the street, “Finally,” I thought, “this is my chance to put a real dent in the binary!”
My Journey into Cannabis - Part III : More Fun Than The Law Allows
Written By Jason Bird
Most of New England was a fairly conservative place back then. Seeing that my love for weed and the desire to have access to the best of it was growing inside me, I knew that I would eventually have to leave the East Coast in search of places that were more relaxed in their attitude toward The Herb. I was seeking knowledge and understanding of the cannabis plant itself, and hoping to find people who shared that interest and could help me find the knowledge that I was seeking.
The West Coast was a totally different weed scene compared to the East Coast. Night and day. The relaxed setting made it a different type of experience. Like there was nothing to get in the way of it.
I had decided that I would be moving to the West Coast to pursue my desire for knowledge about cannabis and how to grow “The Kind Bud.” I had been planning to leave in the summer of 1995, anticipating that I would just follow the Grateful Dead tour out to the West Coast and find a place to live once I got out there.
It didn’t quite go as planned…
My Journey Into Cannabis - Part I: Jason Meets The Herb
Written By Jason Bird
Do you remember the first time you smoked weed? Where you were, the people you were with, the place and time you were (are) at in your life? For me, it was the summer of 1988. After the first few times, I remember feeling like I had found something that I didn't know I was looking for.
In the early 1990s, I noticed the progression of cannabis' evolutionary growth and cultural popularity. Every year I would meet more and more people who were regular consumers of "The Kind." All the sights and smells of an industry on the rise were sprouting up worldwide.
Through friends and connections I had made, I started meeting people from all over who were growing their own herb. I met growers and connoisseurs worldwide, and I would eventually leave the place where I grew up in search of my higher purpose.