The very lovely “Nothing Man” by Bruce Springsteen provides some featured music today.
“You want courage? I’ll show you courage you can understand.”
Beautiful on the one hand heart-wrenching on the other considering the subject matter of this particular clip.
High times for pot edibles as marijuana goes mainstream
With the legalization of medical marijuana in 22 states and Washington, D.C, more pot users are turning to cannabis-infused foods. This means big business for edibles makers.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Friday, July 18, 2014
MICHAEL DWYER/AP
Above: Students taste a cannabis-infused dipping sauce prepared during a cooking class at the New England Grass Roots Institute in Quincy, Mass.
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Move over, pot brownies.
The proliferation of marijuana edibles for both medical and recreational purposes is giving rise to a cottage industry of baked goods, candies, infused oils, cookbooks and classes that promises a slow burn as more states legalize the practice and awareness spreads about the best ways to deliver the drug.
Edibles and infused products such as snack bars, olive oils and tinctures popular with medical marijuana users have flourished into a gourmet market of chocolate truffles, whoopie pies and hard candies as Colorado and Washington legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the past year.
“You’re seeing a lot of these types of products like cannabis cookbooks,” said Erik Altieri, spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “They’ve always been popular among a subset of marijuana, but with the fact that more and more people from the mainstream are able to consume, there’s a lot more interest.”
Many pot users turn to edibles because they don’t like to inhale or smell the smoke or just want variety. For many people who are sick or in pain, controlled doses of edibles or tinctures can deliver a longer-lasting therapeutic dose that doesn’t give them the high.
And there’s money to be made.
MICHAEL DWYER/AP
Above: Mike Fitzgerald holds a storage bag of cannabis-infused cookies.
For many sick people, especially those with cancer, smoking marijuana is not a safe option, and some edibles can deliver a longer-lasting therapeutic dose that doesn’t give them a buzz.
BlueKudu, in Denver, started producing marijuana chocolate bars for medicinal purposes three years ago. Since recreational use became legal this year in Colorado, owner Andrew Schrot said, the wholesale business has more than doubled its sales from several hundred chocolate bars sold a day through dispensaries to more than 1,000, at $9 to $17 a piece.
“There seems to be quite a bit of intrigue about the infused products from the general public and consumer, especially tourists,” Schrot said.
Cooking classes have sprung up. One in Denver — led by a chef who has turned out chocolate-covered bacon and Swedish meatballs with a marijuana-infused glaze — has grown so popular that it will be offered every week in August. It’s also part of a vacation package that provides pot tourists with a stay at a cannabis-friendly hotel (vaporizer and private smoke deck included), a visit to dispensaries and growing operations, and the cooking class.
Students are advised not to smoke before they come to class because there’s a lot to learn about the dosing and they will be sampling foods along the way.
“By the end of the class, everybody’s pretty stoned,” said founder J.J. Walker.
MICHAEL DWYER/AP
Above: A student examines a sample of the cannabis strain ‘granddaddy purple’ at the New England Grass Roots Institute in Quincy, Mass.
Mountain High Suckers in Denver sells lollipops and lozenges for medical marijuana users and plans to release treats for recreational users at the end of August. The company hopes they will take off.
“People are turning the corner and making lots of money in the rec department, and we expect to almost double the business in a year,” said Chad Tribble, co-owner of Mountain High Suckers in Denver.
High Times, a 40-year-old monthly magazine based in New York, has always featured a cooking column with a recipe. At least 40,000 people attended its Cannabis Cup in Denver in April, a sort of trade show that includes judging of marijuana edibles, said editor-in-chief Chris Simunek.
“Like everything else in marijuana at the moment, it’s sort of experiencing a renaissance where the more people get interested, the more experiments they do with it,” Simunek said.
The magazine said its “Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook” is the top-selling title of the five it offers.
MICHAEL DWYER/AP
Above: Mike Fitzgerald discusses how to prepare a cannabis-infused cooking oil.
It’s not just a hobby or business; there’s a science involved.
THC, marijuana’s psychoactive chemical, must be smoked or heated — as in cooked — to be activated. When ingested rather than inhaled, it provides a longer-lasting and often more intense feeling.
Users of pot edibles, such as cookies, are often advised to eat only a portion so they don’t get too high. Education about proper dosing has become a priority after at least one death and a handful of hospital visits were linked to consuming too much of an edible.
At the New England Grassroots Institute in Quincy, Mass., Mike and Melissa Fitzgerald conduct cooking classes on the use of marijuana as part of the daily diet.
“We really don’t do this to be high as a kite,” said Melissa Fitzgerald. “You really have to take people’s health seriously and have a purpose.”
Pot Cooking Class Teaches Responsible Eating
Following the nationwide trend of eased restrictions on marijuana use, pot edibles are growing in popularity. One Boston-area cooking class is teaching people how…
Pot Cooking Class Teaches Responsible Eating
AP
The Washington state Liquor Control Board adopted rules to require recreational marijuana products to be labeled clearly as such; to be scored so a serving size is easy to distinguish; and to be approved by the board before sale.
In Vermont — one of 22 states that allow the use of medical marijuana, along with the District of Columbia — the Legislature this year passed a bill that allows more people to get medical marijuana and called for a study of financial effects if the state were to allow recreational use.
Bridget Conry, general manager of Champlain Valley Dispensary in Burlington, Vermont, and of Southern Vermont Wellness, another medical marijuana dispensary in Brattleboro, is already creating infused olive oils, tinctures and a gluten-free cracker. She expects soon to be making pestos and other infused foods, in manageable amounts that allow people to control dosing.
“We’ve always come from the perspective of like, who eats a quarter of a cookie?” Conry said. “We’re trying to make our things portion-specific, because you know you want to eat the whole cookie.”
Tomorrow: In Monday’s JuicyLesson which dealt with the challenges inherent in the Middle East, I expressed my view that prospects for peace in that region of the world are nil and that’s for generations to come.
In addition, I hypothesized that education and religion are polar opposites in that the second declines as the first takes hold in any culture, in any society. And then I ended my Juice on Monday, at first exhorting Palestinians to stop throwing rocks and to head to the classroom but finished with the following remark:
“A future JUICY will deal with how little kids are schooled – to make fists to punch Jews so that their faces are made “red like tomatoes”, to shoot Jews, to ensure that Jews fear coming into their neighbourhoods, … ”
Well, tomorrow, Wednesday, July 23rd, could very well be that “future Juicy”.
In order to pique/maintain your interest, I offer the following little appetitizer:
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Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) program Tomorrow’s Pioneers on neighbours’ rights.
[Nahul talks to TV host, a young girl named Rawan]
Nahul: “My friend Qais – anyway, Rawan, I tell him to take a stone, and when the Jews come, to take it and throw it at them.”
Child host (Rawan): “Of course, the Jewish neighbours.”
Nahul: “To smash them.”
Child host: “If his neighbours are Jews or Zionists? Yes.” …
Stay tuned. You won’t believe the video.
How about a couple of cartoons to brighten your day?
First of all, wanna hear two quickness?
Wanna hear another two?
That’s it.
That’s all.
Peace out.