Book of the Week: The Newbie's Guide to Cannabis & the Industry

24 Sep 2016

the_newbies_guide_to_cannabis_and_the_industry This week I read The Newbie’s Guide to Cannabis & The Industry, because … I forget. Previously I read Marijuana Gateway to Health about the medical side of cannabis. This book is a great introduction since it practically covers everything you could possibly want to ask about cannabis. There is always more to learn, but I can’t think of a better place to start. Cannabis Cannabis is from India. This is where the name indica comes from. Cannabis grown in this tropical climate is good for medicine. Then the Europeans took cannabis and it adapted to colder climates and grew longer with smaller flowers as sativa, making its fibers useful for rope. There are both female and male plants. Males are useless except for making seeds. For medicine, you want the resin, which is plentiful in the female flowers. The best of which is the cola, the central bud on a female plant that looks like a fox tail. Cannabis is an annual plant, but by manipulating environment, you can get 3-6 generations a year. 18-24 hours of light keeps females from blooming. Switch to a 12 / 12 split of light and darkness for flowering cycle. Keep the temperature between 70-85 F. The plant prefers a 6.5 pH, slightly acidic. When the plant is starting out you want 80-90% humidity for seedings and clones to root. Then switch to 60-70% humidity for growth phase. Finally 40-60% for blooming. History

Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere—George Washington, 1794

Growing hemp is as American as you can be. Yet, why is cannabis a Schedule I drug? Cannabis is banned, because white people are racist. They didn’t try to ban hemp. They tried to ban “marihuana” used by the Hindi, Muslims, blacks and Latinos. If they tried to hemp, the white farmers would be up in arms. It was only later that people found out that marijuana and hemp are both cannabis. [caption id=”attachment_5941” align=”aligncenter” width=”320”]Title screen of the film Hemp for Victory from 1942. Wikipedia Title screen of the film Hemp for Victory from 1942. Wikipedia[/caption] The USDA promoted growing Hemp for Victory in World War II. Jimmy Carter tried to decriminalize in 1978, but Ronald Regan continued the war on drugs. But now the tides seem to be turning. Dr. Sanjay Gupta changed his mind on marijuana and supports its legalization. The medical professionals and farmers are saying it should be legalized, but you have big pharma and government agencies getting in the way. Cannabis Consumption There are many different ways to consume cannabis.

THC-acid from the raw plant is not psychotropic until it is decarboxylated, usually heating. Most of these methods are ways to heat the plant. You should toke chillum-style, so you don’t spread germs.You can get a rush by standing up quickly after taking a toke. Take a whiff of coffee beans to cleanse the palate between strains. Edibles don’t take effect until about an hour and can last for up to 6 hours. This makes dosing correctly important. If you toke, the effects are immediate, so it easier to self-medicate. When choosing a strain, the ratio between THC and CBD is important since they occupy the same receptors. Cannabis has a variety of health benefits. I admit that I thought some people looked too healthy to be sick coming out of my local dispensary. Before the dispensary got gentrified, it was older African American men who walked with a cane. Now I see young white women who just came from yoga or some frat bros frequenting the store. I shouldn’t judge, because mental illness is not visible to the eye. Cannabis can be used for depression and PTSD. There is some evidence that cannabis kills herpes. So maybe, those young healthy looking people are just looking for something for their herpes. All professional football players should be required to take cannabis to guard against concussions. There is a history of 12,000 years of people not dying from cannabis. You can’t overdose on marijuana, you become dysphoric. Cannabis is much safer than alcohol. You shouldn’t drive under immediately after consuming cannabis, but if you do, you’re more likely to drive slowly and linger at the stoplight than run someone over. Alcohol is so dangerous, yet it is legal. Imagine how many lives would be saved if alcohol was banned. Industry As with any business, your two best friends are a lawyer and an accountant. Taxation gives you respresentation and you should work with your local community. You want to be a good neighbor. Instead of gangs, think of it as a co-op. Sex sells, but you probably want to avoid using 420 Girls, because that may hurt you image in the long run. If you want to know more, you can further your cannabis education at Oaksterdam University. Marketing and image is very important. If you name your strain Green Crack, it will be difficult to convince your school PTA that it is a good thing. If you name a high CBD, low THC strain Charolette’s Web and target it toward kids, you are helping the community out. CBD is not psychotropic.

There are a lot of industrial uses for hemp besides rope. You can 3d print with hemp. Hemp can be used to make graphene (there’s an image Dirac cone in the book). Graphene could be the material that powers the electronics of the future. The tech industry should be backing cannabis.