**Strain Highlight: Strawberry Banana**   With cannabis growth, increased demand, control and gene pool, the names we ascribe new strains greatly influences the industry’s assimilation into our popular culture. Sure, there are novelty strains – like those named for famous stoners: Willy Nelson, Bill Maher, and Snoop Dogg. And, often, it may seem like growers and dispensaries simply pull names from their head-space with help from their product, like a good title meant to attract a target audience. However, strains are usually named for very specific qualities breeders seek to achieve... Read More

Do you want to be a better budtender? Then go to Amsterdam. Working in the industry in America with knowledge of the old world is priceless and it can be a good way to reconnect with cannabis if you are a long-time budtender. After a time, so much weed goes through your hands that it can start to become just another commodity. It is easy to get in a rut, and it is easy to forget how much you love this plant when you find yourself cranking it out daily at work. Visiting the city can provide a memorable and immersive learning experience that can provoke imagination, introduce unknown subject matter,... Read More

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog regarding the differences between addiction and dependence. I published it on social media and received some negative comments. That is what people on social media like to do but it got me thinking. They were accusing me of talking the talk but not walking the walk. In the article, I mentioned how quitting weed was not very hard for me and I do it every now and then just to be able to continue to prove that to myself. I thought I had offered a pretty decent article and I was encouraging anyone who did not think they could quit to just try it, to breathe, to drink... Read More

The hot topic up at the bud bar this week did not involve the most fire strain of weed, nor was it about the best new edible on the shelf. It was not about what state would be going legal next or what concentrate process created the most potent dab. It was about a Gallup poll that showed marijuana legalization is currently supported by more Republicans than ever. Why should this surprise anyone? Marijuana is not mentioned in the Constitution and it is not mentioned in the Bible. Marijuana does not hurt or go against any of our cultural values. Marijuana has nothing to do with abortion and marijuana... Read More

Concentrates are so expensive, and I would like to find a way to dab it and not lose a portion of it on my fingers, or have it run down the side of my vaporizer pen. I would like a device that allows me to take a clean dose of my powerful medicine and I would like it to consistently work just as well as it did the first time. After years of dealing with low-end products that do not last more than a few months and a few gimmicks, I am ready for a little ease. Enter the Dipper by Dipstick Vapes. Although the market these days is flooded with devices for dabbing, rarely does one find a device that... Read More

The following quote is to be read in your best stoner voice. “Duuuuude, I have an idea for the newest holiday in the cannabis world bro. OK, so let me tell you how we are gonna do it. OK, since we love taking oil dabs we will take that word “OIL” and read it backwards for some reason. Wait, wait, wait that is not right. Ok I got it. When it is turned upside down and backwards it looks like it now says the numbers “710” right? Just follow along it will make sense, you are going to love this next part bro. 710 will refer to 7/10, or July the tenth. Now on July tenth every year we are going... Read More

When you are on the pro-marijuana side of things it is hard to admit if there is any risk to using it. Both sides debate potential hazards of cannabis, but the topic of addiction rarely comes up. Are you addicted to weed? If your significant other, a job, or your parents asked you to stop do you think you could do it? The answer is yes you can do it because you are not addicted to weed. Weed fills the void when life gets a little mundane is all, and what some of us can develop from using it over time is a slight weed-dependent mindset. Quitting is simple, if you want to quit you got this. Don’t... Read More

The way a media outlet frames a story is essential and can influence our understanding of it. Their version of a story can affect public opinion or generate awareness in a community. Historically they have been the ones to deliver the facts, less so when the topic of cannabis comes up though. By now we all realize that marijuana is not the harmful substance the last few generations believed it to be. I would wager that most of our nightly news correspondents have even tried it. So, if we are all on the same page about this stuff, then why does the media treat it so flippantly? The media seems incapable... Read More

Until recently Colorado’s little experiment has been overseen by a group charged with coordinating efforts to implement regulation for Colorado’s recreational and medical marijuana industries. This was a group of lawmakers and medical professionals made up to aid in the roll out of legalization. The group was recently disbanded by the governor, so it can be assumed that he feels the experiment has worked thus far. Hopefully, this also means that the cannabis industry will get a little break. Every six months or so, since 2014, this industry faces changes that cause our entire business model... Read More

With the abundance of new cannabis strains flooding the market every harvest, how is one supposed to choose? Weed is expensive and when you are looking at more variety than Rob Lowe had in the 80’s it is easy to feel overwhelmed that you may choose the wrong one, but seriously though, you will never pick the wrong one. It is always nice to go into a dispensary with a little familiarity though and that is what I am here to help with. Consider me your own personal research and development guy…for weed. This week I picked up some Watermelon Man and Maui Wowie. Here is my confession, lol. I smoked... Read More