Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin of the iconic comedy duo Cheech and Chong announced their company’s entrance into the New Mexico cannabis market with a statewide partnership. According to a Sept. 14 press release, Dreamz Dispensary is partnering with Cheech and Chong Cannabis Co. to enter the New Mexico market.
The duo celebrated the partnership in a new state market, while remembering what is most important to most consumers. “Our partnership with Dreamz is all about making folks’ lives better through cannabis,” said Chong. “New Mexico deserves the best, and that’s what we’re here to offer.”
Cheech agreed, as both recently toured dispensaries in the state in recent months to get a closer look. “Together with Dreamz Dispensary, we’re weaving our story into the fabric of New Mexico,” said Marin. “This partnership is about embracing and celebrating local culture.”
Courtesy Cheech and Chong’s Cannabis Co.
Dreamz Dispensary locations span the full length of the state, and you can find them using the company’s dispensary locator. It’s another strategic move by the rapidly-growing company that’s operating in multiple states.
“The Dreamz Partnership with Cheech and Chong brings two powerhouses together,” Dreamz Dispensary CEO John Fisher told High Times. “This collaboration will allow Dreamz Dispensaries to deliver the highest quality cannabis products to the state of New Mexico with the most iconic name in cannabis culture. Together we are creating a unique and memorable experience for all cannabis enthusiasts, ensuring that every visit to Dream Dispensary is an unforgettable journey into the world of Cheech and Chong.”
The company formerly known as Eighth Icon Holdings rebranded as Cheech and Chong’s Cannabis Co. in 2021. Part of the plan was to develop better and more potent products. Bringing in Dreamz Dispensary will put it into the hands of more consumers. The duo has been in the game a lot longer than most, company representatives remind us.
“While some celebrity brands just stick their label on products and call it a day, we’re all about true partnerships,” said Brooke Mangum, CMO of Cheech and Chong’s Cannabis Co. “Our goal is simple: empower outstanding cultivators and retailers with the digital and social credibility they need to stand out against competitors and succeed.”
The state’s cannabis industry is off to a blazing hot start: Adult-use cannabis sales in New Mexico totaled more than $300 million in the first year of regulated sales, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced last April 3.
Lujan Grisham signed the Cannabis Regulation Act into law two years ago in April 2021, legalizing the use of cannabis for adults and creating a framework for regulated sales. Then one year later, in April 2022, licensed sales of adult-use cannabis began at retail locations across the state.
As of last April, New Mexico regulators have issued around 2,000 cannabis licenses across New Mexico, including 633 cannabis retailers, 351 producers, 415 micro producers, and 507 manufacturers, the governor’s office reported.
Cheech and Chong’s Cannabis Co. is a Family-Run Business
Cheech and Chong Cannabis Co. is a family-run business, with numerous brands and product lines. The brands include Cheech & Chong’s, Cheech’s Stash, Tommy Chong’s Cannabis, and their delivery service Cheech & Chong’s Takeout, featuring THC and CBD products delivered to your door.
That includes flower lines like Lowrider, Yesca, Ahhberry, and Love Machine. On the website, you can read about the terpene profiles. Love Machine, for instance, is loaded with myrcene and ocimene, while Ahhberry is loaded with terpinolene and linalool.
Cosmic, Cheech and Chong Cannabis Co.’s concentrate line, features sugar, badder, diamonds, sauce, and disposable carts.
The company also operates with many partnerships. Last July, High Times reviewed the Cheech & Chong Mambo Herb Stick from XVape. They also partnered with Z2 Comics to release their own comic book line. Cheech and Chong’s Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed was released in a soft and hardcover editions in finer comic shops and bookstores on April 20, 2022.
Chong has appeared in High Times numerous times, most recently in 2021, and you map their growth as artists throughout old interviews, when their fame first exploded. (You can read this scintillating interview of both comedians with former editor Ed Dwyer from the August, 1980 issue of High Times magazine, for instance, or Chong’s vivid 2020 account of Operation Pipe Dreams and unjust prison time with the real Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belafonte.)
Cheech and Chong’s Cannabis Co. and Dreamz Dispensary’s partnership marks a new shift into the state of New Mexico, which holds high potential for economic rewards as its industry unfolds.
Donde pisa el GOAT, hay una revolución: Messi llegó a la Major League Soccer, la liga de fútbol de Estados Unidos, y el planeta entero está sintonizando con fervor una competencia que, hasta hace cinco minutos, apenas estaba enterado de su existencia.
Miles de personas están movilizándose desde todo el mundo hacia las costas de Miami para ver en vivo y en directo al Inter de Leo Messi.
Miami es, de hecho, hoy por hoy, el nuevo epicentro del entretenimiento global. En apenas pocas fechas, ya estuvieron por ahí fascinados con el (10) Camila Cabello, Maluma, DJ Khaled, Kim Kardashian, LeBron James, entre otras celebridades tops.
Y son miles los curiosos, entusiastas, advenedizos, futboleros y cholulos que están viajando hasta la Florida para llevarse su anécdota con el equipo de David Beckham y de su gema más preciada. Por eso, sobre una tangente, surgen algunas cuestiones y son muchas las personas que están preguntándose sobre el cannabis.
¿Se puede ir al DRV PNK Stadium, el estadio de Inter Miami, y ver a Leo Messi después de haber fumado o consumido marihuana de alguna manera?
Consumo de marihuana en Miami
“Por supuesto, puedes asistir a un evento de fútbol o deportivo en un estadio después de consumir o fumar cannabis”, alivia rápidamente el reconocido abogado Robert Hoban, de la firma Clark Hill, en exclusiva para El Planteo.
Sin embargo, aclara: “El consumo público o abierto en el estacionamiento o en el estadio está prohibido por las leyes estatales sobre cannabis y las leyes generales sobre ‘fumar’. Las leyes de marihuana medicinal de Florida prohíben usar tu medicación con alto contenido de THC en público o en el transporte público”.
Qué dice la Ley en Florida
Actualmente, Florida es un estado que contempla la marihuana medicinal sobre una lista finita de condiciones para calificar como comprador.
Como la información es poder, atentos –de nuevo- curiosos, entusiastas, advenedizos, futboleros y cholulos: desmenucemos, vamos.
Específicamente, para calificar legalmente como paciente de marihuana medicinal en el estado de Florida, se debe: ser residente permanente o temporal de Florida, ser diagnosticado con una condición médica de una lista específica por un médico calificado, ser ingresado en el Registro de Uso de Marihuana Medicinal y obtener una Tarjeta de Identificación del Registro de Uso de Marihuana Medicinal.
A la sazón, hay que identificar que el uso médico de la marihuana es legal en Florida. No obstante, la marihuana recreativa sigue siendo ilegal. Una de cal, otra de arena.
Algunos datos más sobre la Ley Estatal: las personas de 21 años o más con una condición médica calificada pueden comprar o fumar marihuana medicinal; la posesión de cualquier cantidad de marihuana es ilegal; la posesión de más de 20 gramos/25 libras de cannabis es un delito grave; es ilegal que individuos y negocios cultiven marihuana; los cultivadores con licencia estatal pueden cultivar marihuana; Florida impone multas y tiempo en la cárcel por la simple posesión de marihuana en cualquier cantidad.
Inter Miami y la marihuana medicinal
Ahora bien, ¿bajo qué condiciones se puede consumir marihuana medicinal?
Un paciente debe ser diagnosticado con, al menos, una de las siguientes condiciones: esclerosis lateral amiotrófica o enfermedad de Lou Gehrig, cáncer, enfermedad de Crohn, epilepsia, glaucoma, VIH/SIDA, esclerosis múltiple, enfermedad de Parkinson, trastorno de estrés post traumático (TEPT), una condición terminal diagnosticada por otro médico que no sea el médico con licencia que emitió la certificación médica, un dolor crónico no maligno inducido por una condición médica calificada y condiciones médicas comparables a las mencionadas anteriormente.
Entretanto, los pacientes pueden consumir marihuana medicinal antes de concurrir al estadio y humedecerse con las gambetas de Lionel Messi, capitán de la Selección Argentina.
“Las personas con una condición médica calificada pueden consumir marihuana medicinal. Sin embargo, el consumo de marihuana medicinal debe realizarse en una residencia privada”, insiste el abogado.
Y se explaya: “Según la Ley de Florida, en la actualidad no hay lugares dentro de un estadio que se puedan utilizar para consumir marihuana”.
Derivados del cannabis
Florida ha avanzado en los últimos años en términos de ampliación de derechos y garantías relacionadas a los derivados del cáñamo y otros cannabinoides, por lo que “las personas podrían consumir bebidas, comestibles y similares en el estadio pero el estadio limita lo que los espectadores pueden llevar a un evento”.
Entonces, “en términos prácticos, la ley prohibiría que un espectador lleve una bebida y use un vapeador en el evento, pero es poco probable que prohíba que se lleve un comestible con fines de consumo”, cierra el abogado.
Como en Boyhood, aquella maravillosa y sentimental película de Richard Linklater, seguir el underground del freestyle fue, también, acompañar los pequeños grandes pasos de Gabriel Espino, alias G5. Verlo estirar, crecer, madurar, evolucionar como un Pokémon de carne y hueso y volverse, digamos, un hombrecito.
Fue, como tantos pibitos que arrancaron desde temprano, “El Guachín”. Hoy, para qué mentir, es de lo mejor que leudó la escena de Buenos Aires. Y así pasaron los días, fueron sucediéndose las compes. G5 arrancó a rapear de nene, en el 2016, y ahora, ya, en este preciso instante del 2023, tiene 18 años. Sí, obvio, sigue siendo un purrete, pero hagan las cuentas ustedes con qué edad empezó a tirar rimas.
Gabriel, de rostro bueno y carácter afable, nació en el Hospital Italiano, en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires y desde chico se interesó por la música, la poesía y la capoeira. A los 7 años se cebó con el rap: Porta, Violadores del Verso, Eminem y Kase.O fue su combo formativo, el rat pack rapero que ungió a varias generaciones.
Los primeros pasos de G5
“Mi primer recuerdo con el freestyle es de 2014, la primera vez que fui a El Quinto Escalón”, cuenta G5 a El Planteo. “No, miento”, se frena, “mi primer recuerdo con el freestyle es de antes, de 2011 o 2012, cuando fui a la Aramburu Freestyle, en la Plaza Aramburu, la plaza de mi barrio en la que yo iba a jugar a la pelota todos los días”.
En algún momento, G5 se topó con una ronda de freestyle en la que estaban pesos pesados como Duki, MKS, Wolf y Midel, raperos que para ese momento ya estaban pegándose y su cabeza, literalmente, explotó.
Así, tiempo después, arrancó a competir en el año 2016 cuando se anotó en la 55 Freestyle, en un 2 vs. 2 junto a su mejor amigo del barrio. “Competimos contra dos pibes del norte que rapeaban una banda y, obviamente, nos comimos una paliza”, recuerda.
¿Su última batalla? “El domingo pasado, en Cultura Rap, en el Centro Cultural Recoleta, contra Nasir Catriel”.
Un punto de vista
Poco a poco, a fuerza de presentarse en todas las plazas del país, G5 fue forjando un estilo personal, reflexivo, picante pero también muy pero muy mental.
Rápidamente, al escucharlo, se advierte una formación que se eleva por encima del berretín callejero, de las estructuras básicas y de cierto randomnismo normie: ahí, en su verba, hay libros, hay cine, hay política, hay un vocabulario ancho y hay, fundamentalmente, una mirada de las cosas. Un punto de vista.
Ganó Halabalusa, se llevó tres fechas de la DEM, coronó en el torneo anual de la DEM Battles, arrasó en la Titanes de la Costa. “Me cuesta recordar más”, dice G5 sin falsa humildad.
“No soy el mejor en esto ni tampoco tengo un torneo así como súper picante en el que haya salido campeón”.
Asimismo, participó de la Chiclayo Rapea Internacional de Equipos junto al Lobo Estepario, en esa recordada final contra Cacha y Zaina. Después estuvo en la The Fucking King Internacional de 2021 y viajó hasta España para medirse contra Fabiuki en una batalla de exhibición para la FMS Internacional.
Lo mejor y lo peor del freestyle
Suma kilómetros, se presenta, compite y, en su raid desenfrenado, fue juntando un tendal de puntos que lo puso en una situación vertiginosa: tuvo la chance de ascender a la FMS Argentina, una de las ligas de improvisación más importantes del mundo. Sin embargo, allí, en un mano a mano, cayó contra el miramarense Jesse Pungaz y, lamentablemente, el ascenso quedó para otro momento.
“Quiero seguir compitiendo y manteniéndome activo en el circuito underground y profesional. Quiero seguir mejorando y evolucionando para ser cada día un poco más completo y un poco mejor”, asegura.
Lo que más disfruta G5 del freestyle es, justamente, enfrentarse a otras mentes, discutir, debatir. Ese Street Fighter mental que convierte a la disciplina en un imán de pibes y pibas.
“Me tomo a las batallas de freestyle como una discusión rimada. Entonces, no sólo tenés que ganar una discusión, sino que aparte la tenés que ganar rimando, que tiene como otra complejidad. Es como un debate pero con un valor agregado”, revuelve el joven.
¿Hay algo que no le guste de las batallas? “Sí, que es como una constante lucha por la supervivencia en la que, si perdés, quedás afuera de la batalla. Como que morís. Y, si ganás, pasás de ronda y seguís en la cancha. Como que seguís vivo. Así, hasta que queda el último contendiente, que es el que gana. Uno se sobrecarga progresivamente de tanto hacerlo”.
Cannabis y rimas
En el cosmos del freestyle, el cannabis pulula desde antes de antes. Y en el caso de G5, fueron sus amigos quienes fueron integrándolo en el churro. De hecho, hace muy poco, G5 empezó a cultivar y día a día se esfuerza en convertirse en un conocedor en la materia.
Pero su compromiso cannábico no sólo termina quemando uno y cultivando para los suyos, sino que profundizó su activismo y organiza la CanaFree, una competencia de freestyle de espíritu 420.
“Estamos proyectando que pueda volver para agosto o septiembre. Va a volver a pasos agigantados, con una mayor producción y mayor calidad para que todos los presentes la pasen bárbaro y se lleven una hermosa experiencia”, desliza.
Y sigue, a propósito de la relación entre las rimas y la marihuana: “El freestyle y el cannabis se llevan de lujo. Siempre estuvieron unidos y lo están desde hace muchísimo tiempo. Por suerte, en Argentina es un fenómeno social ya bastante integrado, con bastante aceptación social. Al menos desde mi experiencia, siempre fueron dos cosas que vi muy implícitamente en el mismo lugar”.
Paso a paso
Por estos días, G5 sueña con vivir de la música, pero antes tiene un objetivo entre ceja y ceja: ganar la Nacional de la Red Bull: Batalla de los Gallos, la madre de todas las batallas.
¿Y el ascenso a la FMS? “No tengo pensado seguir peleando el ascenso. O sea, en realidad nunca estuve como en la lucha del ascenso, pero sí en el intento de ascender”.
Lo que viene, entonces, lo tendrá al joven pateando plazas, presentándose a compes, formando parte activamente del circuito. “Quiero seguir destacando entre los pibes pero, por ahora, pelear el ascenso todo el año no es una prioridad”, cierra.
Hulk Hogan, real name Terry Gene Bollea, is done with painkillers and alcohol, swapping the two for CBD, which is being studied for its role in battling addiction. He revealed the switch in a candid interview with Muscle and Health magazine.
A legend in professional wrestling, Hogan underwent some 25 surgeries over the course of his career, getting loaded up with opioids prescribed by doctors. But Hogan said he continued taking the opioids long after the physical pain was gone.
Now at age 70, he revealed that a combination of opioids and alcohol spelled a decades-long relationship with addiction. Going sober meant dropping vices that felt destructive. Muscle and Health Editor-in-chief Danni Levy sat down with the wrestling icon to discuss a variety of topics.
“I’ve had a lot of practice drinking because I wrestled for about forty years, so those guys have a beer every once in a while,” he toldMuscle and Health. “But about seven months ago, I decided not to drink any more alcohol. I was at a New Year’s Eve party and saw a bunch of stuff that I didn’t condone or like. I saw myself in this environment, and I went, “You know what? I don’t know how I got here, but I’m done.’ It was just that one thing.”
It was then he realized it was a negative thing he didn’t want. Being around people who believed and behaved differently than he did, he decided he wanted out. And he says it feels much better to be clear-headed and that he’s no longer tempted to drink alcohol.
Hogan explained how going sober meant losing some friends and gaining others. “I’ve had certain wrestlers look at me in the face and go, “If you don’t have a drink with me, you’re not my friend,” Hogan said. “Well, I am your friend, but I’m not going to drink with you. What are you going to do about it?”
Some consider the 1980s as the glory days when American pro wrestling was at a peak. In the October, 1981 issue of High Times, writer Chester Patton wrote about the history of American professional wrestling, from Clarence “the Kansas Demon” to “Animal” Steele, eater of turnbuckles. Wrestling led to blockbuster cameos and more for Hogan.
Like other high impact sports, wrestling injuries lead to surgeries and subsequently, painkillers. Opioids proved to be equally devastating, creating another dilemma. “I had doctors writing me prescription after prescription, and all of a sudden, it became a vicious cycle,” Hogan added. “I was hitting the pain pills hard because I’d had to endure twenty-five procedures, including ten to my back, facial operations from being kicked, knee and hip replacements and abdominal and shoulder surgeries.”
Most recently, the wrestling legend has been talking about Hogan’s Hangout, a restaurant he recently opened up in Clearwater, Florida.
Replacing Addiction with CBD
Hogan mentioned last May that he found success with CBD, and that he was planning to launch his own brand. He said it was another wrestling legend who actually introduced him to CBD. Wrestling icon Ric Flair launched a cannabis line “Ric Flair Drip” with Carma Holdings founder and president Chad Bronstein.
“Ric Flair, Mike Tyson and the founder and president of Carma Holdings, Chad Bronstein introduced me to CBD,” he reveals. Those three came at me like ‘The Royal Rumble.’ I didn’t have a chance.”
Hogan may be on to something: CBD can help lower cravings for tobacco and heroin under certain conditions, with research on humans to back it up, Peter Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School wrote. Animal models additionally suggest it may also help lower cravings for alcohol, cannabis, opiates, and stimulants.
“At first, I was confused because I’d never used CBD,” Hogan said. “I didn’t understand the health aspects of what it can do for you as far as energy, sleep or getting off hard drugs or pharmaceuticals slowly and winding down are concerned. It took me a while to figure it out because I am a little slow. I had to do a lot of research and do my due diligence. I figured this was something that really would benefit a lot of people that needed help—and I know it will.”
Hogan also went into a lot of detail about how CBD specifically replaced opioids.
“We’ve found CBD is a logical alternative to prescription drugs that helps people to wind down slowly,” says Hogan. “I’m really focusing on helping people with their health, whether that’s guys coming back from the war, hardcore drug users or people who’ve got themselves into the prescription trap following illness or anxiety. CBD is amazing for sleep and can also help overcome alcohol abuse.”
Hogan’s brand Immortal, coming soon, will feature vapes, cartridges, pre-rolls, and more.
CBD is showing promising results in treating addiction, reducing inflammation, and a handful of other benefits as researchers continue to back it with science.
Last week, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) introduced the Substance and Possession Abuse Restrictions for Entrance (SPARE) Act to ramp up enforcement of visa laws by permanently banning immigrants from the U.S. who are accused of lying about drug use.
And the alleged criminal who was specifically named in the bill? Prince Harry.
“The Biden administration deliberately refuses to enforce our country’s immigration laws at the Southern border, and it appears they may be obstructing the fair and equal enforcement of our visa laws as well. Left-wing celebrities like Prince Harry, who have a self-recorded history of illegal drug use, should be subjected to the same standards and enforcement of our country’s immigration laws as any other alien,” said Rep. Steube.
In his book Spare, which the bill appears to be named after, Prince Harry admitted to experimenting with cocaine at age 17, but appeared to be a bit more into cannabis and psilocybin during his early years. (About 15% of Americans have tried cocaine at some point, and half of Americans have tried pot at some point.)
“I introduced the SPARE Act because individuals should be deported immediately if they are caught lying on their visa application. If the Executive Branch is granting waivers on the basis of drug usage to individuals who enter the U.S., that information should not be hidden from the public. We must ensure no one receives preferential treatment behind closed doors.”
The bill, H.R. 5178, is in the early stages and was most recently referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Rep. Stuebe’s announcement reports that under U.S. law, visa applicants “who are found to be drug abusers or addicts are inadmissible” as well as non-citizens who admit to using controlled substances.
I introduced the SPARE Act to require fair enforcement of our visa laws.https://t.co/BnSi6CFNog
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) August 8, 2023
Left-wing celebrities like Prince Harry, who have a self-recorded history of illegal drug use, should be subjected to the same standards and enforcement of our country’s immigration laws as any other alien.
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) August 8, 2023
The same Congressman is pushing to reschedule cannabis, at least for non-immigrants. Last January, Rep. Steube introduced the “Marijuana 1-to-3 Act” which he pushed in years prior.
The SPARE Act would require that within 60 days of receiving “credible information of an alien knowingly providing false information on controlled substance violations,” the DHS Secretary will be required to investigate the allegations, and if found true, deport those individuals. The bill states anyone deported for this violation will be permanently barred from re-entering the country. In addition, any controlled substance violation waivers issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security may be subject to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Last March, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in operation for over 50 years, called for the deportation of Prince Harry over his admissions to past drug use including pot and cocaine.
In Prince Harry’s controversial autobiography Spare, which was published this past January, he revealed that he first snorted coke at age 17 and again on a few other occasions. He also toked up after his first date with Meghan Markle.
“I started doing it recreationally and then started to realize how good it was for me,” Harry said. “I would say it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and the pains of the past.”
Prince Harry also detailed his adventures with shrooms, talking to the toilet and having strange visions. High Times has been following reports of his pot use since at least 2017.
Comedian Jim Jefferies is beaming. Not only for being sober over 700 days but for settling down, having a wonderful wife, amazing kids, and a fantastic career. Oh, and for finally trying cannabis in his 40s and absolutely loving it.
No stranger to the hard partying life of drugs and alcohol, Jefferies had previously abstained from weed but finally started exploring the plant during the pandemic and hasn’t looked back.
“During COVID, I was sitting around drinking too much, blacking out, and forgetting the whole night,” Jefferies said. “Whatever happened, I was forgetting things. So I started taking edibles and cut out the drinking.”
During our conversation, the Legitstar addressed his adventures with weed and his latest Netflix special, Jim Jefferies: High & Dry, which expands on his career trajectory, cancel culture, cocaine, his joke writing process, and how weed makes him less paranoid.
High Times Magazine, June 2023
High Times Magazine: Growing up in Australia, did you always know you wanted to pursue comedy?
Jim Jefferies: I wanted to pursue stand-up comedy from the time I was 13 but didn’t tell my parents or anyone else out of fear I’d be told I wasn’t funny. I ended up pursuing musical theater at university because I knew I wanted to be an entertainer, and I thought as long as I could get into the arts maybe I could do stand-up later.
I did some open mic spots when I was 17 that didn’t work out very well, so I didn’t do it again until I was about 20 or 21. Now it’s been my full-time job for the past 24 years.
When were you able to finally share with your parents that you wanted to be a comic?
It came out of necessity. I was studying at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts—WAAPA—on a full ride scholarship and ended up getting nodules on my vocal cords and had to have surgery. While the recovery time now is about four days where you can’t talk, back then you couldn’t talk for about a month. I just decided, “Fuck this, these [vocal cords] will come back; I should stop being so gutless and just do the thing I actually want to do.” When I could talk again after the surgery, I went head-on into stand-up comedy and sort of forgot about the rest.
I don’t think anyone in my family or anyone really thought I’d be successful. I think they thought that I could have a job doing it, but you have to remember that in the late ’90s/early 2000s, there were two comedy clubs in Australia, so it wasn’t even an occupation. It wasn’t a matter of “if I could do it,” it wasn’t an actual job [at the time there]. We didn’t get HBO specials or anything like that. We had four TV channels and the only specials we had were Eddie Murphy: Delirious and Eddie Murphy Raw because they were cinematic releases and you could get them on video. Apart from that, I only really got to see stand-up comedy in five-minute bursts on late night shows in Australia when some comic was visiting. It was a dark time, man [laughs].
What helped you discover your own style and point of view?
I think the best motivation for anyone who wants to get into comedy is to see some people who are bad at it. I saw some people who were bad at it and I remember thinking, “I can do better than that.” If everyone I saw was awesome it would have seemed so unattainable, but it was the people who were doing it and getting paid who weren’t that good [that gave me confidence]. Not all of them, but the occasional act and you can still see them to this day. I was like, “I can definitely do better than that bloke.”
When I was studying musical theater, they always gave me the funny roles, so I was assured that I was funny, but I didn’t know if I could put together material and that type of stuff. But [everything that happened] just felt like it happened organically. I went up at one club, then I did it again and I did it again. I moved to England and I bullshitted my way into some clubs and I’ve just been doing it ever since.
I also found my social group. Before that, I was working as a bartender, a waiter, selling mobile phones—and then all of a sudden I found people who I felt a lot more similar to than I had before. I’m not going to give you a wanky answer like, “I never really fit in,” or anything stupid like that—because I fit in fine. Going to the Edinburgh Comedy Festival [for example], I remember being around all of these like-minded people and it was a real sort of eye-opener for me. My career is a product of the Edinburgh festival.
People will do things more through social media now—put up clips and try to get their five minutes on late night shows and that type of stuff. But when I was starting out in Britain, if you were an act that went to Edinburgh, you were a career act and you were really giving it a go. If you were a guy who would just hang around the clubs, you were just doing it to earn a bit of cash. But if you wanted to make a career out of it, you had to go to Edinburgh. Edinburgh was a place where all of the media came and saw you. You weren’t doing 15 or 20 minutes at a club, you had to do an hour. People were coming just to see you.
In America, you had a lot of comics who—in the early 2000s—were trying to get their five minutes so tight so they could get on Letterman. I was trying to make my 10 minutes so long that it could be an hour, and so that’s why I have this meandering, storytelling vibe to me because I had to work in the longform a lot more.
Which sounds like the opposite of what other comics were striving to do.
I think that’s why when I came to America, I stood out a little bit. I had a 30-minute story about muscular dystrophy and taking a friend to a brothel. People didn’t really do that back then. Now, with everyone trying to get specials, my style seems a little more commonplace these days.
I never thought I’d get any television or anything like that. I thought I’d become a little cult act at best. Now, I’m hosting a game show in Australia, so it’s all sort of turned around—things that I thought I’d never do.
My career was never an overnight success, it was a real gradual build. The people who just discover you always think it’s an overnight thing where you came from, but I was getting there one step at a time—just building, building, building. I think it was a more organic way to build an audience than today with the internet and I don’t know if the way my career happened could happen today.
Courtesy Netflix
Because of the way the comedy industry has changed?
Yeah, I wasn’t a good self-promoter or proactive in that way. I just thought, if I kept going up and crushing, more people would see me and more people would see me. All that mattered was how good I was on stage.
It was also a different era. There weren’t camera phones and stuff like that so you could be a bit of a—well, I was a drunk. So I’m drunk up there, I’m on cocaine, I’m acting like a fool. But everyone around me was sort of doing the same thing. It felt very normal. It felt like we were more like rock acts than anything else.
Now, you sort of get done for that. People would videotape it and you’d have to apologize or something.
So in many ways, you’re saying the career trajectory that you’ve had was a product of the times.
Yeah and strangely I was also a product of the internet in the sense that I got punched in the head and people noticed that. Then the gun control thing went viral, but I never put any clips up. I don’t even know how to load a clip to YouTube, but the internet did help me in the end. I’m not saying one’s better or one’s worse, I’m saying the environment that I grew up in was a much different environment than what comedy is now.
Everyone talks about backstage at The Comedy Store and they go, “There used to be drugs everywhere.” I heard it was painted black so when people dropped their cocaine they could find it. That’s not the culture anymore. The culture’s completely different. You’d be seen as sort of an outlier if you acted like that now.
I’m glad those days are over. I couldn’t have sustained them forever and now I’m in a much happier place. I wish I’d sort of got to where I am now in my life a lot sooner.
Was there a defining moment or set of experiences where you felt stand-up was the thing you were going to do for the rest of your life?
Probably when I first got into the London Comedy Store. It was such a coveted place to get into, was the hardest club to get into and I was still only maybe 22. I’d only been doing comedy for about a year and I got in there and I remember having the pressure of having to do this gig and all of the other comics were so well established and I just held my own. I didn’t look out of place, and I remember thinking, “I can actually do this now.”
There’s moments though where I thought I’d made it, like playing Carnegie Hall. When I played Carnegie Hall—and that was a decade ago—I remember thinking, “If it all just ends now, I can always say to somebody that I did Carnegie Hall.” But that wasn’t as important a moment for me as getting into the London Comedy Store.
In terms of where you are now, you’ve just released your latest Netflix special High & Dry, in which you talk pretty extensively about finding weed.
I never took weed in any form until my 40s and I always thought stoners were a bit of an odd group of people. I never liked smoking a joint and I still don’t like smoking a joint—I find it hard on the throat—but then edibles came into my life during COVID.
During COVID, I was sitting around drinking too much, blacking out and forgetting the whole night. Whatever happened, I was forgetting things. So I started taking edibles and cut out the drinking.
I haven’t had a drink in 700 days now but I’ve tried to give up alcohol three other times: Once for a year and two other times I went three months. There were also periods in my life where I had alcohol under control and I was drinking like a responsible person, but it always got away from me. When it got away from me, my behavior wasn’t good and my relationships with other people would disintegrate. But ever since weed came in, I’m a happier person. It really did change my life.
How does weed impact you now and what do you use it for?
Well I don’t do it every day—only about three days a week—and it helps me not be miserable.
It actually helps me with paranoia. Other people go the other way, but with me it seems to settle that down a lot, and it got me off antidepressants. I was on antidepressants on-and-off for a year—went back on them during quarantine—then got off them and just took weed and I haven’t gone back since.
I’ve got two young kids and it sure helps with watching Pixar movies. I used to have to muscle through those but now I’m like, “Go ahead, throw it on. Let’s watch [Finding] Nemo again.”
Courtesy Netflix
The colors and the plotlines become a lot more enticing.
Jim Jefferies: [Laughs] And you start seeing subplots. I get right into it.
Creatively, does weed aid your process?
I don’t go on stage high but I’ll take an edible after I get off stage and chill out. I do write a lot of jokes while high though, and then the next day I’ll look at them and go, “Well that’s not that funny.” But at least they make sense.
When I was drunk, I used to write some jokes down and they didn’t even make sense to me. I couldn’t even read the handwriting. Every now and again I’ll write a joke while high and read it back and go, “There’s something in it,” but most of my jokes—if based on something silly that happened—I’ll come up with them the day afterwards. I’m not going to say that weed helps my writing or that it helps my performing, but I don’t believe it hinders it in any way.
I will say this about alcohol—I had the best shows of my career while drunk. The best ones I ever did. But I also had the very worst ones I ever did—the ones that I’m ashamed of in that category. While sober, I’ve had excellent shows and some bad shows, but I’ve never had any fucking terrible ones. The problem with alcohol is that things fly out of your mouth very quickly and that’s good in comedy if they’re the right words. If they’re the wrong words, fucking hell.
You mentioned you may not come up with bits while high, but that an idea or seed of an idea will resonate the next day. How so?
A lot of the ideas are formulated [while high] and then the writing happens the next day. The only drug that can help you come up with real batshit crazy jokes is mushrooms. Batshit crazy jokes. When you write jokes on cocaine, you think everything is brilliant. When you write jokes on mushrooms, you think everything is on this higher level and that you’re thinking on a different plane from everyone else. When you write jokes on weed, everything’s silly, and silly’s not always that great.
Do you have a preference when it comes to strains?
I like to relax on indicas and end the day with them. I’m not a “wake up and take it” type of guy—if it’s on holiday, sure—and I don’t take a lot, only 20 milligrams.
For some, 20 milligrams is a solid amount.
Well I started at 10 and now I’ve moved on to 20, but I’ve done that stupid thing where you’re like, “I wonder what 50 feels like?” And then I’m like, “No, no—don’t do that again.” [Laughs] That’s too much for me. I’ve done that a couple of times where I’ve gone all in and then gone, “No, no. Too much for me.” I never go more than 30, and that’s if I’m looking to have a real good time.
Creatively, what inspired High & Dry and what do you hope people take from it?
This last special is a bit of a throwback. I was sort of doing a special where I thought, “I’m just going to say whatever I want,” because I’ve had specials where I got criticized for saying things that I thought were borderline. People are always going to say you should be canceled for this joke or canceled for that joke, so for this special I just thought, “Fuck it, I’ll just say whatever I like.”
My life is pretty good now. I have a lovely wife, I have great kids, I’m happy at home, and I have good friends. I’m not the angry young man I once was so I think I can get away with saying more risque stuff now because I’m slightly less confrontational.
When I was younger, I used to want to almost change people’s minds or give them things to think about. Now, I don’t think of it like that. I just want to say the things that I think are funny and my hope is that my fanbase has aged with me and has sort of gone through the same shit I’ve gone through. They’ve gotten married, they’ve had kids, they’ve done cocaine, and now they don’t do it anymore. Now they go to the doctor because they have hemorrhoids. I just want people my age to be able to relate to [the special] and for younger people to maybe see a dodgy uncle they once knew.
This interview was originally published in the June 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.
Wiz Khalifa admitted to using some “performance-enhancing drugs” before he took the mound at a Major League Baseball game this week.
But the rapper apparently had shrooms, not steroids, in his system.
Wiz tossed out the ceremonial first pitch on Monday at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, prior to a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Guardians.
“Finna get stoned af and throw this first pitch at the pirates game,” he tweeted, before following it up with more specifics.
“Shroomed out throwin a baseball is crazy,” Wiz said in another tweet moments later.
Buy me some boomers and cracker jacks,
I don’t care if I ever come back!
Wiz, who is currently on a nationwide summer tour with Snoop Dogg, is known to party, and has never shied away from expressing his love for marijuana.
He’s also turned that love into a business venture, Khalifa Kush, the rapper’s own signature cannabis strain.
The strain was “developed for Wiz back in the early 10’s, tailored specifically for his personal tastes and held closely within his private stashes in Los Angeles, California,” according to the company’s official website.
“After years of keeping KK to himself, he chose to share KK with the world in 2014. A two year long journey led to the first Khalifa Kush flower sales in 2016 at Tryke’s Reef Dispensaries in the Southwestern US. Four years, and a full line of products later, Tryke has become part of the family. Even as the industry evolves, we remain consistent in our drive to create a world where everyone can smoke like Wiz,” the website reads.
“The KK team between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles works every day to bring KK products to market across the US, and around the world. Everything we do is rooted in authenticity, consistency, and a quality first, no sacrifices approach. Whether you’re looking to roll something up, grab a pre-roll on the go, enjoy an edible to unwind, or ready to get the weekend started with your choice of concentrates — when you see Khalifa Kush on the pack, you know what it is.”
In 2019, he announced a partnership with a host of other cannabis brands, including Supreme Cannabis, that would bring a new line of Khalifa Kush oils to the Canadian market.
“I’m excited to bring our first products to Canada and launch KKE Oils,” he said at the time. “They are an awesome, high-in-THC product that everyone will love. This is a legendary moment that will be followed by many more game changing releases KKE will launch with Supreme Cannabis over the next year.”
“We firmly believe that a high-quality input supports high-quality output and KKE Oil embodies this belief,” Supreme Cannabis founder John Fowler said at the time. “We are excited to launch one of the first recreational focused cannabis oils in Canada with Wiz Khalifa and the KKE team. KKE Oils are easy to consume, effective, and deliver the aromatic terpene profile 7ACRES’ Sensi Star is known for.”
Despite the pre-game consumption (or perhaps because of it), Wiz still managed to toss a respectable first pitch on Monday.
But Wiz has nothing on what former Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis pulled off on June 12, 1970.
It was on that day that Ellis reputedly threw a no-hitter while tripping on LSD.
“According to Ellis (and, it should be noted, all of this is according to Ellis), he went to visit a friend in Los Angeles the day before his start, took some acid and stayed up late into the night drinking and doing drugs, subsequently losing track of which day it was,” Sports Illustrated wrote in 2017. “The day of his start, he woke up and, thinking he was supposed to pitch the next day, took another hit of acid at noon, only to learn two hours later from his friend that he was, in fact, supposed to be on the mound against the Padres that evening in San Diego. Ellis got on a plane an hour later and made it to the park 90 minutes before first pitch.”
Fashion model Gigi Hadid and a friend were arrested on marijuana charges in the Cayman Islands last week, customs officials confirmed on Tuesday. After appearing in court and paying a fine, the pair continued their vacation and have since left the Caribbean nation, according to multiple media reports.
Hadid, a self-described “nepo baby” (her father is a real estate developer and her mother was featured on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” after a 15-year modeling career of her own) was arrested on July 10 along with her friend Leah Nicole McCarthy after they arrived in a private plane from New York City, according to officials with the Cayman Islands Customs & Border Control.
“During the search of their luggage, ganja and utensils used for the consumption of ganja were found in the luggage of both passengers,” according to a report from island news source Cayman Marl Road. “The quantities were relatively small and were seemingly for personal consumption.”
The two women were arrested and taken to a detention center, where they were released on bail. Two days after their arrival, Hadid and McCarthy were charged with “suspicion of importation of ganja and importation of utensils used for the consumption of ganja.” They later appeared before a summary court, where they pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a fine of $1,000. They were then released with a clean record, according to customs officials.
Ronde Coletta, Hadid’s representative, told the Washington Post that the supermodel had purchased the cannabis with a medical marijuana recommendation and noted that the medicinal use of cannabis has been legal in Grand Cayman since 2017.
“Her record remains clear and she enjoyed the rest of her time on the island,” Coletta said.
Once free, Hadid and McCarthy continued their vacation, with media reports noting that they had been seen at a karaoke bar and snapping poolside selfies that were later posted to Instagram.
“All’s well that ends well,” Hadid captioned the post, which did not specifically address her arrest.
Cannabis Policy Reform In The Cayman Islands
In 2021, cannabis activists in the Cayman Islands began collecting signatures for a voter initiative to decriminalize marijuana. If adopted, the proposal would also expunge the records of people who have been convicted of using or possessing small amounts of cannabis. And last year, the Cayman Islands Parliament voted to hold a referendum that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. If either becomes law, the island nation will join others in the Caribbean region that have decriminalized cannabis or legalized medical marijuana, including Puerto Rico, Dominica, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Orrie Merren IV, a civil attorney who drafted the voter-led initiative, said that the proposal was drafted to address the disproportionate impact cannabis prohibition has on the islands’ young adults, many of whom live in its lower-income communities.
“I think it’s quite an onerous burden for them to get a criminal charge that then disallows them to obtain employment in the future, or in certain cases could hurt their ability to travel for the purpose of school, university, trade qualifications,” Merren told the Los Angeles Times, referring to young Caymanians. He said he knew at least one person who couldn’t travel to the U.S. because of a marijuana possession charge.
Merren noted that while residents of both wealthy and lower-income communities use drugs, arrests of low-income residents are more prevalent.
“You’re less likely to have police patrols going through a gated community than, say, if you’re looking at lower-income places,” which tend to have higher crime rates and greater police surveillance, Merren said.
Last year, law enforcement officers arrested 154 people for drug-related crimes in the island nation of about 80,000 residents, according to data from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. Most cannabis-related arrests were for marijuana possession, with only three people arrested for importing pot, the charge faced by Hadid and her traveling companion.
El paso de la pandemia coronó a las redes sociales como el principal espacio público de socialización y la apertura de nuevos canales masivos de comunicación aceleró la discusión de la legalización de la marihuana.
Los conocimientos que antes eran anecdóticos, relegados a alguna página de una publicación específica, ahora se consiguen al instante. De bandera contracultural a “santo grial” de la cultura wellness y “el soltar”, ahora, el cannabis como concepto significa algo más que chalas. Se vuelve líquido y permea en sectores que antes le resultaban vedados.
A diferencia de otras hierbas medicinales, el cannabis está en boca de todos. Difícilmente veamos una línea de ropa o una película sobre la lavanda o el cedrón. El cannabis se transformó en una estrella pop.
Si bien nunca antes hablamos tanto de cannabis, su popularización no viene libre de formatos que condicionan la forma en que hablamos de cannabis. “Las redes sociales están orientadas a la captura de datos, y pueden ser muy restrictivas para el cannabis a través del ‘shadow banning’ y el bloqueo de cuentas”, explican sucintamente desde Cogollos del Litoral, una página que enseña a cultivar cannabis regenerativo.
Para Chris Roots, conocido productor audiovisual, desde la comunicación en redes sociales se debe hacer énfasis en las propiedades de la planta de marihuana entera y “no solo hablar de CBD”.
“A veces se segmenta el mensaje en un juego de palabras que confunde. Por ejemplo, mi mamá me dice feliz que compró crema con CBD pero se preocupa por el [consumo de] porro. Esa segmentación desde la comunicación hace que no se vea como una misma planta”, agregaCogordos, un comunicador que enseña a cultivar con suelos vivos.
Se refieren, así, al riesgo de asociar al cannabis “bueno” con el CBD y, en ese ejercicio, despolitizar la discusión de su legalización. Es decir, olvidar los intereses que se disputan en la regulación del cannabis y desconocer el efecto negativo de la guerra contra las drogas.
Entonces, si el tema no es solo hablar de cannabis sino, más bien, el “cómo” hablamos de marihuana en redes sociales, ¿cómo comunicar una idea de legalización incluyente? ¿Cómo seguir cambiando la opinión pública? ¿Podemos hacerlo aún mejor?
¿Cómo hablamos de marihuana en las redes sociales?
“Como comunicador creo que la legalización avanza por el lado de la naturalización del cannabis. Deje de generar contenido gracioso.Me encantan los memes, pero una persona que no entiende ve un meme y piensa que el cannabis te deja colgado pensando cualquier cosa. La legalización viene con la información haciendo que las personas aprendan más sobre el cannabis y digan ‘ah me doy cuenta que no era como yo pensaba’”, suma Santa Tuca.
“Mientras el público sea más diverso, mejor. Trascendiendo la comunidad cannabica para que la cultura se expanda lo más posible”, comenta María Luz Juliano de Flow de Neptuno. Y, de hecho, Roots también está en eso.
“Estoy trabajando en llegar a un público más femenino y más grande. Mi formato preferido es el de tutorial y siempre con perspectiva educativa, todo hecho en casa”, sigue Roots, que considera además poner énfasis en la generación de empleo, los beneficios medicinales mediante la expansión de la oferta de productos y los beneficios para el medio ambiente que conlleva su cultivo.
“Sigo métricas y trato de chequear estadísticas. Una de las cosas que más hago es generar reels, para mi la nueva TV. Hacés zapping mirando reels, algo llamativo, didáctico y rápido”, explica Roots y se explaya: “Estamos hablando de una industria que es mano de obra intensiva. Y nosotros, aunque sea en un indoor chiquitito, estamos aprendiendo”.
“Hay diferentes formas de comunicar y estamos en el momento clave de hacerlo bien, sobre todo si estamos conectando gente que no conoce de cannabis. Es momento de cubrir lo industrial, abrir el abanico de posibilidades. Apuntar a los prejuiciosusando el humor y la creatividad, para generar un mensaje positivo dentro de lo negativo, que son los estigmas arraigados”, agregan desde Radio Cannabis, un medio autogestivo que cubre “la fusión de la contracultura con la cultura popular”.
“La forma de comunicar es mostrar que el cannabis lo usa gran parte de la sociedad y suma muchísimo a la calidad de vida”, suma María.
“Se nos censura a todos los medios cannábicos, hacemos magia para subir un post y, a pesar de eso, es el lugar por donde más discusión tenemos”, destaca Agustin, uno de los productores de Canal 420 un medio platense que sale por Radio El Botellón, y que cuenta con la participación de Cocos en Lugares y la Duquesa Cannabica.
‘La importancia política de enseñar a cultivar’
Las redes conectan pero, también, atrapan. “Hay tensiones, normas que limitan el avance de la cultura. De ahí la importancia política de enseñar a cultivar”, afirman los Cogollos. “La llegada de las redes sociales ayudó mucho a que lxs cultivadores salgan del closet y se animen a compartir lo que saben. Facilitan el aprendizaje, las conexiones entre colegas y abren la posibilidad de ‘ver qué es lo que pasa afuera’”, explican desde Cannabunker, una página especializada en cultivo sin químicos.
Además, la redes contienen ante una caída. Y de contención, la comunidad cannábica sabe mucho. En la clandestinidad se tejieron vínculos solidarios entre cultivadores que han permitido el acceso a la salud y el cuidado a poblaciones excluidas y estigmatizadas. Así, el autocultivo como cultura y vínculo social asume un papel fundamental en la normalización de la planta.
“En la comunidad cannabica hay un intercambio horizontal. Los cultivadores comparten su información porque lo tiene inscripto también en su manera de trabajar. No se puede hacer y decir y vivir y pensar de manera horizontal y agruparse de una manera vertical donde hay un monopolio”, explica Cogordos.
“A la hora de hacer contenido pienso en moderar la curva de aprendizaje de gente que todavía está aprendiendo lo que es el cannabis”, cuenta El Primo, un cultivador y comunicador que desde Radio Nacional Rock junto Mex Urtizberea trata de “llegarle a la gente adulta a tener su primera experiencia, desestigmatizar e ir masificando el cannabis en distintos estratos sociales”.
“Para mí, el mejor argumento es transformar el lenguaje técnico a cuestiones más mundanas, entender con quién hablo. Bajar al llano”, agrega el Primo.
“Es chocante de un día para otro encontrar que hay otra manera de cultivar, consciente, que permite alcanzar mejores resultados que con fertilizantes químicos, que nos enseñaron que teníamos que usar. La naturaleza tiene todos los insumos que necesitamos. [Eso] es bastante contestatario…”, suman desde el búnker abonando la idea de la importancia política del autocultivo.
“Nuestro foco está puesto en la calidad del contenido. El crecimiento del público de manera orgánica y darles valor agregado. La mejor manera de comunicar es mostrar transparentemente lo que hacemos día a día y acompañar paso a paso a los cultivadores que están empezando”, afirman desde Cannabunker.
Tenemos Ley de Cannabis Medicinal e Industrial: ¿Y ahora?
De las marchas a los titulares, el cannabis de a poco se va formalizando. Por estos días, la inserción de los cultivadores de cannabis en la nueva industria depende, en gran medida, de la reglamentación de la Ley de Cannabis Medicinal y Cáñamo Industrial 27.669 sancionada en abril de 2022.
“Si bien la Ley está bien, debería haber leyes que le permitan al pequeño productor generar su modelo de negocios del cannabis. Las empresas grandes tienen la espalda para exportar pero la gente que viene laburando desde abajo deberían tener una oportunidad igualdad de condiciones para mostrar su producto”, explica la Santa Tuca.
Si bien el marco legal actual no libera a los miles de presos y presas por cultivar cannabis, abre una hendija por donde puede aflorar una industria solidaria y equitativa.
“Cuando apareció Mamá Cultiva Argentina, la gente hizo un click. Hubo un cambio en la comunicación, cannabis medicinal no es droga, y en EEUU pasó algo similar: cuando vivía allí en el 2000, me llegó el rumor de que había un pueblo donde un médico te recetaba cannabis. Fue el inicio del cannabis medicinal. Vine en 2004 y volví en 2010 y había más dispensarios que Starbucks. Fue un boom del cannabis medicinal. Los dispensarios medicinales explotaron y se hizo hiper visible”, explican de primera mano desde Cultitech, un equipo de comunicadores que enseñan a cultivar con poco en espacios reducidos.
“Es necesario que se expandan los márgenes del REPROCANN, que la información sea clara y que el registro de las variedades sea más dinámico. Poder vender cogollos de manera regulada. Un esquema simple sería habilitar los clubes de cultivo con un sistema simplificado que permita que la gente tenga incentivos para volverse legal”, desgrana el Primo.
“La regulación de la planta tiene que ser integral y para todos. Es el único modelo que va a permitir posicionar a la Argentina con un modelo productivo competitivo y va a dar lugar a que todxs los pequeñxs productores que hace años militan esta causa tengan un espacio en la cadena de valor. Sentimos que el mejor enfoque que podemos comunicar es el de acompañar todas las regulaciones que vayan saliendo e impulsarlas. Sea cual sea la herramienta que nos den, cada una es una batalla ganada”, agregan desde Cannabunker.
“La ley tiene potencialidad de abrir la industria, la cadena de valor. Espero que no lo regulen bajando los niveles de THC que es fundamental para el cannabis medicinal. Veo que se pueden regular los dispensarios a partir de ese momento y estoy esperando eso, que se la jueguen por abrir el juego al mercado interno”, completa Cultitech.
Maria, que considera fundamental el desarrollo de la industria nacional, destacó que todavía “hay grises legales, pacientes autorizados para uso medicinal que están siendo detenidos y falta capacitación de la policía y del sistema judicial”.
Desde Canal 420, afirman que la campaña por la legalización del uso adulto no avanza cuando se afirma que “no estamos listos para el uso adulto” mientras se hace “negocio con cannabis que es legal gracias a la lucha de consumidores y consumidoras”.
“Quieren separar la lucha, entre industrial y medicinal. Nosotros lo ponemos en discusión en el canal para que no se fomente un negocio que deje afuera a las personas que lograron que sea legal. Esperemos que el nuevo debate sobre el uso adulto tenga en cuenta esto y esperamos que se reglamente ya la ley de cannabis medicinal e industrial”, dice Agustin.
En sintonía, concluyen desde Radio Cannabis: “Con respecto a la Ley de cannabis medicinal, yo estoy en el bando de la descriminalización no de la legalización. Es decir, que el estado te diga cuánto, cómo y dónde consumir cannabis. Un acto de paternalismo total pensar que vamos a hacer algo contrario a nuestro organismo. Hay enfoques diferentes, sobre cómo usar la planta. Quiénes usan toda la planta y quiénes usan los cannabinoides, como el CBD, muchas veces laboratorios. Hay que prestar atención a los pequeños productores, al autoabastecimiento, hasta que se pueda tener como un helecho en casa”.
La foto de portada de “Marihuana y Redes Sociales: 10 Comunicadores Hablan del Presente y Futuro de la Planta” fue realizada con ayuda de una IA.
The Stoned Swifties have reason to celebrate. On Tuesday night in New York City, Taylor Swift attended a party hosted by the iconic musician Questlove of The Roots. Given that Swift is the Bob Dylan of our era when it comes to songwriting skills, of course, she’d want to spend time with fellow legends. But this wasn’t just any party. The “Welcome to New York” singer seemingly embraced the city’s newfound status as a place to enjoy cannabis freely, as the party was held at The Astor Club, aka “The Highest Club In High Society.” Located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, The Astor Club is a New York Times-approved cannabis speakeasy. The Chef behind the infused cuisine at the event was food and cannabis educator Nikki Steward.
Swift has been seen out and about enjoying New York City more and more (ever since she left her relationship with Joe Alwyn, who, if the rumors are true, preferred the quiet pandemic era with the international superstar over the spotlight), both hanging with friends and working hard recording at Electric Lady Studios in between her Eras shows. This writer attended one of her MetLife performances, which was such a powerful experience that the day after brought a comedown worse than one after taking MDMA. Swift killed it for three hours straight. There’s no way one can see her perform and not leave a full-fledged Swiftie.
Tuesday night at The Astor Club, Swift wore a snake print slip dress by L’AGENCE. As any Swifties reading this likely already know, the snake imagery invokes her sixth studio album, Reputation. Not to mention, the Garden of Eden theme is ideal for a cannabis party, so cheers to your styling skills, Tay Tay. Back in 2017, when Reputation came out, Kim Kardashian had infamously insinuated Swift was a “snake” on Twitter as part of the drama with her former husband, Kanye West, and thousands upon thousands of haters flooded Swift’s socials with the snake emoji as a result. Instead of running and hiding, she reclaimed that reptile. As Swift sings on “Long Story Short,” from her ninth studio album Evermore, “Your nemeses will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing,” which West did with his recent antisemitic behavior.
However, much kinder rappers adore her. Flavor Flav is a proud Swiftie, and now she can add Bun B, a rapper hailing from Houston, Texas, to the roster, who she won over with casual conversation at The Astor Club. Bun B posted a photo with Swift, writing that she couldn’t have been more kind and personable. “I’ve only ever met 2 other people who make you feel this seen and heard in an interaction before and that’s @barackobama and @beyonce My question is does this make me a Swiftie?”
Yes, Bun B, it does, and welcome aboard. There are friendship bracelets and stoned listening parties.
As our viral article from late March of this year states, we don’t know if Taylor Swift is a stoner, but stoners sure love Taylor Swift. “I don’t know if you could truly understand the mastery of Taylor Swift’s songwriting without cannabis,” Melissa A Vitale, publicist and founder of Melissa A Vitale Public Relations, the first plant and intimacy wellness PR agency, told High Times. “None of her songs are on the surface; you have to explore between the lyrics to fully grasp the meaning of each ballad. It’s euphoric when you finally piece together all the hidden meanings in her choruses. I don’t know if I’d be able to experience her words as deeply as I do without cannabis.”
Vitale is not alone. “I especially love meeting other fans who, like me, you may not expect to be Swifties based on our appearance,” Sohum J Shah, who spent the last decade working in the cannabis industry, told High Times in the same article, penned by this author. Swifties shared how her music helped them embrace their sexual orientation, work through the grief of their mother passing, and how songs like “Ivy,” which clocks in at precisely 4 minutes and 20 seconds, sure sound like cannabis may be a muse. When Swift released “Lavender Haze” off her tenth studio album, Midnights, even Vogue wondered if the track was as heady as it sounds, with lyrics such as “I feel the lavender haze creepin’ up on me.” While Swift shared that the phrase “lavender haze” is a 1950s expression, which she learned from watching Mad Men, about the euphoric feeling of new love, there’s even a strain of cannabis called Lavender Haze, which is also called G13. Thirteen is Taylor’s lucky number, so we’re on to you, blondie.
However, High Times readers, when we posted the original Swift story on our Instagram, most of you were crueler than Kim K in the comments section. When this writer wrote the original Stoner Swiftie piece, I was worried that the Swifties would come after me, but it was the opposite. The stoners did. So, for all of those reading this fuming that I compared her songwriting to Dylan earlier (honestly, as a whole package, she’s even more talented), before you get too emotional, please listen to one of her albums from start to finish, while nice and stoned, and then you can form an educated opinion. Here’s a handy guide:
If you’re into indie rock: Folklore, and the sister album Evermore
If you like pop music and gay club shit: 1989
If you like some good ole’ country songwriting: Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
For the punks and emos: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
For the midnight toker who loves to dance: Midnights
For hip-hop fans and anyone who lives for a comeback: Reputation
