Student advocates from the University of Arizona at the James E. Rogers School of Law in Tucson are personally taking action to help people clear records for low-level cannabis-related convictions. A series of expungement event dates are unfolding, and students say that the initial process to get records cleared is fast.
KGUN 9reports that locals, including one with a charge dating back to 1976, are taking advantage of the school’s expungement program. Cannabis-related charges that old are still impacting employment and other opportunities.
Law school students including Mia Burcham and Rebecca Caro Cohen are helping people expunge their records at expungement clinics on campus. To do this, they look up disposition dates which they said are usually available through public access court records.
“It’s a great feeling when someone walks out with a cleared record. It could be pretty life-changing,” Burcham said.
Burcham also provides expungement training and calls for volunteers for help. The training covers the appropriate forms and process, as well as clinic expectations and tips for client interaction.
The expungement process is relatively fast. According to Burcham and Cohen, people don’t even need an I.D. to get a record expunged. All they need to know is the date when they received the charge or arrest and where.
Some of the oldest charges, however, aren’t on any computer system and take longer to process. When that happens, petitioners seeking expungements must contact the court directly and ask for a records search.
“We really hope when people come in that we’ll be able to get them out the door with a completed petition and so we aren’t able to do that which is frustrating,” Cohen said.
The next round of expungements is scheduled to take place on March 25 at the law school. They said if someone gets denied, they work with the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition to provide free legal help to people.
If someone cannot make it to the University of Arizona clinic in Tuscon, they can visit this website to sign up for an expungement. It typically takes about one to two months total to find out whether someone got their record expunged.
Arizona Cannabis-Related Conviction Expungement Program
Arizona residents with low-level cannabis convictions can have their records wiped clean under a state expungement program launched on July 13, 2021. The expungements for minor cannabis convictions are thanks to Proposition 207, the 2020 ballot initiative to legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older that was approved by 60% of Arizona voters.
Under the program, people with low-level convictions for possessing, transporting, or consuming 2.5 ounces or less of cannabis, of which no more than 12.5 grams can be a cannabis concentrate or extract, are eligible to have their records expunged.
People with convictions for possessing, cultivating, processing, or transporting up to six cannabis plants at their primary residence can also apply to clear their records. Expungements can also be issued for convictions for possessing, using, or transporting paraphernalia related to the consumption, cultivation, and processing of cannabis.
People who are eligible for expungement are required to petition the courts to have their records cleared. Help is also available from other organizations including Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM), which has been offering expungement clinics through its Project Clean Slate initiative.
Arizona’s most populous county took an early lead. The Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County granted 3,643 petitions for expungement of cannabis-related charges since the process started, according to an Aug. 30, 2021 press release.
Law students with the know-how are proving to be helpful in clearing records under Arizona’s expungement program.
Four U.S. nationals have been convicted of smuggling cannabis into the United Kingdom and now face time behind bars for their crimes, according to statements made by law enforcement officials. The convictions follow a rash of marijuana smuggling attempts made last month at London’s Heathrow Airport that resulted in the arrests of nine Americans in the span of a week.
On Friday, the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced that three Americans were convicted of charges of importing class B drugs. In one case, 24-year-old Barrington Walters of Los Angeles, and Mandy Silowka, 34, of Princeton, New Jersey, were detained at Heathrow Airport by Border Force personnel after arriving on the same United Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport on January 17. Officers discovered 33 kilos (more than 72 pounds) of herbal cannabis in luggage belonging to Walters and another 26.5 kilos (more than 58 pounds) of weed in Silowka’s suitcase.
The pair were interviewed by NCA investigators and subsequently charged with importing class B drugs. On February 23, Silowka and Walters admitted their roles in the smuggling plot at Isleworth Crown Court in London and were convicted of the charges against them. Silowka received a 12-month custodial sentence, and Walters was given a 10-month jail term.
The next day, Kiara Lanee Malone, 31, a clothing boutique owner from St. Louis, Missouri, also pleaded guilty to charges of importing class B drugs. Following her conviction in Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, she was remanded into custody and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5.
Malone was arrested at Heathrow Airport on January 10 after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles when Border Force officers discovered 27.5 kilos (just over 60 pounds) of cannabis in her luggage. Malone told investigators that she was traveling to the U.K. for cosmetic procedures and admitted to bringing the bags, but said that she had been given the luggage by another person and thought that they contained clothing.
“These cases serve as further warnings to those who think they can get away with smuggling drugs into the U.K.,” NCA Heathrow Branch Commander Andy Noyes said in a statement from the law enforcement agency on February 24. “No matter what you might get told by those organizing these trips, you will get caught, and as these individuals will tell you, you will face jail time. The NCA and our partners in Border Force are determined to do all we can to target drugs couriers, and disrupt the international organized crime groups involved in drug trafficking.”
Last week’s cases followed the conviction of U.S. national Zered Akolo, a 26-year-old photographer from Antioch, California who was arrested at Heathrow Airport shortly after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles on January 16. Border Force officers searched his two checked bags and found 47 kilos (more than 103 pounds) of cannabis. Despite having luggage tags bearing his name, Akolo initially told investigators that the bags were not his.
After questioning by NCA investigators, he was charged with attempting to import class B drugs. At a hearing at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday, February 16, Akolo pleaded guilty to importing class B drugs and was sentenced to 32 months in prison.
“Akolo was foolish in the extreme to think he could get away with a brazen drug smuggling trip like this. As a result he faces a long period of time away from friends and family in a British jail,” Noyes said in a statement from the NCA on February 16. “I hope this case serves as a warning to others who would consider acting as drug mules for organized criminal gangs – it isn’t worth taking the chance.”
Nine Americans Arrested On Smuggling Charges In January
The convictions follow the arrests of nine Americans on drug smuggling charges at Heathrow Airport in just one week’s time in January. The smuggling attempts came as government officials engaged in a renewed debate over cannabis policy in the U.K. In July of last year, then-Home Secretary Priti Patel announced proposed new sanctions on users of cannabis and other drugs that include the confiscation of driver’s licenses and passports under a new three-strikes policy for illicit drug use.
“Drugs are a scourge across society. They devastate lives and tear communities apart,” Patel said in a statement from the government. “Drug misuse puts lives at risk, fuels criminality and serious and violent crime and also results in the grotesque exploitation of young, vulnerable people.”
Under the proposal, which was detailed in a white paper drafted by the Home Office, those caught with illegal recreational drugs would face fines and mandatory drug education. They could also be banned from nightclubs and other entertainment venues.
Three months later, U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman revealed that she was considering tightening the classification of cannabis under the nation’s drug laws over concerns that marijuana is a gateway drug and can lead to serious health problems. Braverman’s review followed calls from law enforcement leaders to reclassify cannabis as a Class A drug, the same category assigned to substances including heroin, cocaine, and ecstasy.
But then last month, a group of police chiefs in the United Kingdom announced a plan to effectively decriminalize the possession of drugs including cannabis and cocaine. If adopted by the government, the use and possession of small amounts of recreational drugs would be treated as a public health issue for first-time offenders, rather than a criminal offense subject to prosecution and jail time or other punishment.
The proposals, which were developed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing, would effectively decriminalize the possession of Class A drugs including cocaine and Class B substances such as marijuana. Under the plan, individuals caught with illegal drugs would be offered an opportunity to attend drug education or treatment programs, rather than being subjected to prosecution.
According to a study published in the Harm Reduction Journal, a growing number of Canadian consumers have transitioned to the legal cannabis market over the country’s first three years of cannabis legalization, with legal sourcing highest for drinks and oils and lowest for solid concentrates and hash.
One goal of the Canadian Cannabis Act was transitioning customers to the legal market, essential to ensure other aims of protecting public health as regulations initiated product standards, labeling, and age-verification checks.
Investigators from the University of Waterloo School of Public Health surveyed more than 15,000 Canadian cannabis consumers about where they obtain their products, evaluating data from years 2019 to 2021. The data covers the majority of Canada’s first three years of cannabis legalization, as licensing for retail sales first began in October 2018.
Steady Shift Since Legal Launch
According to a 2021 study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, legal recreational products’ share of Canada’s overall cannabis consumption started at 7.8% in October 2018 and grew to 23.7% by September 2019, with a hefty variance depending on the province. During that first year, only dried flower and some cannabis oils were available for legal purchase, and other products like edibles, topicals, and extracts were made available at retail locations starting in December 2019.
“After the expansion of legal sales to include non-flower products, it is important to examine whether consumers are using the legal market to source all their edibles, topicals, and extracts, as well as dried flower,” the authors state.
Data from the International Cannabis Policy Study were collected via self-completed web-based surveys in September-October 2019, 2020, and 2021 from respondents aged 15 to 65. Respondents were asked, “Overall, about what percentage (%) of the [products] that you used in the past 12 months came from LEGAL/AUTHORIZED sources?” They were able to enter a numerical value between 0 and 100, with responses categorized into “All” (100%), “Some” (1-99%) and “None” (0%).
All products saw a year-over-year increase for respondents reporting “all” their products were sourced legally, with solid concentrates, hash, and dried flower ranking the lowest and oral oil capsules, oral oil drops, and drinks as most likely to be sourced legally. As of 2021, 54.3% of dried flower purchases were from legal retail locations.
Variables Contributing to Canadian Market Sourcing
The study also looked at consumers’ frequency of use, finding that frequent consumers had higher odds of sourcing “some” of their products from the legal market versus occasional consumers. This was counter to the researchers’ hypothesis, believing that frequent consumers would be less likely to source legally due to “poorer perceptions of legal cannabis.”
The authors cite the variance in legal sourcing depending on product, with about half of solid concentrate consumers purchasing “all” products legally to 82% of cannabis drink consumers. The high rates of legal sourcing for drinks may be because they are newer products that are less accessible in illegal markets.
They add that products typically perceived as “medical products,” like oral oils and capsules, similarly saw more consumers purchasing “all” products legally. They also point to consumers of “medical” products potentially holding a higher priority for legal products where quality is regulated, tested, and standardized to guarantee a better, more consistent dose.
Examining provincial differences, the authors cite that all provinces were more likely to source “all” their edibles legally than those in Québec, citing that it is the only province that restricts edible products that may appeal to youth, removing some of the most popular edible formats like candy and chocolate.
Conversely, dried flower consumers in Québec were more likely to purchase “all” their dried flower legally over British Columbia and Ontario, citing Québec as boasting some of the lowest dried flower prices since legalization, potentially making it more desirable than purchasing illegal dried flower compared to other provinces.
The Need for Further Monitoring
“Legal sourcing of cannabis was greater in 2021 than 2020 for all ten cannabis products [surveyed]. In 2021, the percentage of consumers sourcing all their products legally in the past 12 months ranged from 49 percent of solid concentrate consumers in 2021 to 82 percent of cannabis drink consumers,” investigators reported.
Investigators pointed to the need for future studies to continue to examine cannabis product sourcing in Canada over time, along with exploring other ways to displace the illegal market for all cannabis products “without also promoting the use of high-potency cannabis products.”
They also called for further research to examine how product consumption varies across provinces and whether these habits occur in response to price and availability from legal sources.
A Federal Register notice published on Feb. 23 explains how illegal cannabis grows in California are harmful to spotted owls, which are native to California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) agency proposed the addition of two distinct population segments (DPS) of California Spotted Owl to be added to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (which turns 50 years old in 2023). This includes a Coastal-Southern California DPS, which FWS proposes to be listed as endangered, and the Sierra Nevada DPS, which FWS proposes to be listed as threatened.
Among the FWS’s recommendations to help preserve the habitat of these particular spotted owls, FWS calls for action to reduce risk of wildfires (such as prescribed burns), target habitat management and restoration to help conserve the species, and improved cleanup after illegal cannabis grows.
“Management or cleanup activities that remove toxicants and other chemicals from trespass cannabis cultivation sites in California spotted owl habitat,” FWS wrote. “Cleanup of these sites may involve activities that may cause localized, short-term disturbance to California spotted owls, as well as require limited removal of some habitat structures valuable to California spotted owls (e.g., hazard trees that may be a suitable nest site).”
The FWS analyzed potential threats to these owls, such as parasites caused by climate change, extreme weather events, and more. In one scenario, the agency addressed the ongoing issue with high cannabis cultivator fees. “There will likely continue to be an increase in demand for marijuana, which may increase illegal grow sites using anticoagulant rodenticides in California if the costs of buying land and acquiring/maintaining permits to legalize a grow operation are too high,” the agency wrote.
Furthermore, the agency notes that anticoagulant rodenticide has increased with the rise in illegal cannabis operations. “A comparison of marijuana cultivation site likelihood with northern spotted owl suitable habitat found almost 50 percent overlap between the two,” the agency stated. “Although the number of illegal marijuana growing operations within the California spotted owl’s range is unknown, considering the number of illegal marijuana growing operations found throughout the State, there are likely thousands within the California spotted owl’s range.”
Law enforcement is regularly investigating and shutting down illegal cannabis grows, but FWS notes that their job is only to shut down the operation. “… there is currently no standardized clean-up protocol and a limited amount of funding to ensure removal of all rodenticides.”
Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office Field Supervisor Michael Fris is hopeful that these FWS recommendations will help restore this population of owls. “Our goal is to help the California spotted owl recover across its range,” said Fris. “Ongoing collaboration with a number of partners will result in positive conservation gains and put this species on the road to recovery.”
The impact of illegal cannabis grows has negatively affected many other species and habitats as well. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has previously targeted illegal grows during the summer growing season, both in 2022 as well as in 2021. Specifically, the waterways which countless animals rely on, such as salamanders, frogs, and salmon, have been threatened both due to drought, as well as illegal cannabis growers often divert water to grow their crops.
Cannabis grows are illegally using water and polluting groundwater in areas like San Bernardino County too. Efforts have been made to counter the water being taken and contaminated, according to Assemblymember Tom Lackey, who is a resident in the southern California high desert. “To any of those who are engaged in the illicit grows: I want you to know there’s a collective effort, and we’re coming after you,” Lackey said. “You come after a very sacred thing: our community. You come after our desert, and you’re stealing our water. You’re poisoning our land, and enough is enough.”
Richard Belzer is still pissed off, and he’s still funny as hell. The sharp-tongued comedian/actor has been holding a lamp of truth up to the dark foibles of politicians and pop culture icons for a couple of decades now, and though he’s found comfort and refuge in a happy marriage, his world-view shows no signs of mellowing.
Belzer’s comic career began in New York, when he auditioned for the video production of The Groove Tube and won several roles, including one of the leads in a sitcom parody called “The Dealers.” Having grown tired of paying the rent as a school teacher, census taker and journalist, Beizer jumped at the chance to be part of the underground film scene, and his success in the video and the later film version of The Groove Tube gave him the confidence to start doing standup.
Belzer’s combination of wild slapstick, heady rants and political diatribes have made him one of the country’s most vital comic commentators, but it seemed that the Hollywood world of prime-time TV and feature films never quite knew what to make of him. That changed when Beizer scored the role of Det. Munch on NBC’s cop-cranking psycho-drama Homicide. Last season, on an episode titled “And the Rocket’s Dead Glare,” Belzer’s worldweary Munch became the first prime-time character to deliver thoughtful, explicitly pro-hemp arguments as part of a debate over Drug War strategies. At present, Beizer is in Baltimore shooting new episodes of Homicide. He is also preparing a one-man show based on his view of the Kennedy assassination and cover-up.
HIGH TIMES: You seem to have a blast with the character of Munch no matter what he’s up to, but his pro-hemp speeches were quite a breakthrough. How did that come about?
Richard Belzer: The show is incredible. It’s a dream to be able to explore issues and make it entertaining. Last season, the producers told me they were talking about doing an episode where some people argued about the legalization of drugs. They wanted to use Munch as a pro-spokesman vs. a DEA guy who’s against. I asked the producer if he knew why marijuana was illegal, and he really didn’t know the history of it. I gave them some literature on it, and they beautifully wrote that into my dialogue. I thought it was absolutely incredible that a network, prime-time show would discuss these issues. I got to talk about the Declaration of Independence being written on hemp paper. That’s definitely never been said on prime-time.
HT: Was there any resistance from the producers or the network to any of the ideas you brought in?
RB: Not at all. As a matter of fact, they were delighted to have the real and historical information rather than just making shit up. The truth is always better.
I’ve read about this stuff for many years—about how up until World War II, hemp was used for fabric and fuel and protein. The flowering tops happen to get you high, but the rest of the plant is an amazing thing. Maybe hemp wouldn’t literally save the planet, but if we used it instead of trees for paper, we could leave the forests alone. Hemp paper lasts hundreds of years, and the plants grow anywhere and come back every year. The argument goes on and on, and the fact that hemp is illegal is a complete absurdity.
HT: Why do you think hemp became an “evil weed?’’
RB: Originally, the DuPonts and the Hearsts had a lot to do with it. In 1937, the patent for nylon was applied for by the DuPonts, and that’s when they said “Fuck this.” They didn’t want hemp rope on the market. The Hearsts owned paper mills and forests, so of course they didn’t want to use hemp paper. It was too cheap. The DuPonts and Hearsts teamed up to deny even industrial use for hemp. After all this time, there are finally some signs of common sense reappearing. In France, they just legalized marijuana for industrial use. That means using industrial seeds, which aren’t worth much smoke. The stuff they use for ropes and canvas doesn’t come from highly cultivated, smokers’ plants. They’re more “workman” plants. The THC is very low. They’re just used for the fiber, and not the hemp per se.
HT: As a scholar of hemp history, I’m sure you’ve gotten a kick out of oddities like the Hemp for Victory film.
RB: Oh yeah. We legalized hemp for the duration of WWII, but the Japanese took over all our hemp plantations in the Philippines. That’s where that Hemp for Victory newsreel came from. Remember that plane that George Bush had to bail out of during the war? The parachute that allowed him to float to the water was made of hemp. The boat that picked him up had an engine using hemp oil. The raft that rescued him was made of hemp, and the rope that pulled him out of the water was made of hemp. Without hemp, George Bush would be dead. What an ungrateful bastard he turned out to be.
HT: In the Homicide episode, you seemed to have a real mastery of the role hemp played in the early history of the United States. Thomas Jefferson probably would have enjoyed that show quite a bit.
RB: Jefferson had hemp plantations in the late seventeen-hundreds and early eighteen-hundreds. At that time, if you got caught taking hemp seeds out of China, it was the death penalty, but Jefferson used two secret agents to smuggle hemp seeds out of China, through Turkey, and back to his plantation. There are stories about him being a smoker, which can’t really be proved. But I think they drank a lot of hemp tea. It was the number one crop in the country. George Washington was the richest man in the colonies when he was elected President, and he had huge hemp plantations. It was used all over the world for all sorts of purposes. People prized their hemp seeds, and in some places the seeds were actually used as money. And, ironically, money is why there’s an irrational fear and hatred of hemp today.
HT: Greed and business interests obviously had everything to do with outlawing hemp in the first place, but today there seems to be a real moral outrage towards drug use. Where do you think that comes from?
RB: That’s an offshoot of the Drug War. But that fear doesn’t really apply to marijuana anymore. Everybody knows it’s a joke. Everybody knows that people don’t smoke a joint and run out and kill five people. It’ll never happen. Pot’s been around for thousands of years, and there’s nothing wrong with it. If anything, the things that it does that are good for your health should make people stop and think. There’s stuff in marijuana that’s actually good for your lungs, but you won’t read that in The New York Times. Marijuana is good for glaucoma, for appetite, for mood, as a relaxant. It’s not like this stuff just got whipped up and we’re trying to figure it out. It’s been around forever. The idea that it leads to worse drugs is absurd. I mean, maybe milk leads to heroin. Every heroin addict had milk at one time.
HT: One of the newer DEA arguments is that after all the years of cultivation, marijuana has become a potent and dangerous drug.
RB: That’s bullshit too. When you smoke really strong grass, you don’t want to jump out a window or kill anybody. You sit in your house and veg out. It’s not the kind of drug where you inhale it a few times and then run out and bite someone’s face. I don’t know what “dangerous” marijuana means. Maybe it’s dangerous if you trip over the bag. Go ahead and give me the most “dangerous” marijuana.
HT: Your show came out at a time when a pro-hemp stance is becoming more and more fashionable. Are you happy to see that kind of a movement taking shape?
RB: Yeah, there’s t-shirts, hats—a whole new generation of bands shamelessly talking about hemp. I don’t find that distasteful at all. I think that if we get out the message of “non-lethal, non-toxic, non-dangerous”—it may even help to get people off the really bad shit.
HT: Are you hopeful about any changes in the laws?
RB: Hemp won’t be legalized, but I think it’ll be decriminalized. If you’ve got less than an ounce, it’s a parking ticket. If it’s for your own use, just forget about it. I think judges in the future will throw out all marijuana cases simply because the prisons are too crowded and they want to put away more dangerous people.
HT: You’re one of the few standup comics who consistently work troubling political issues into your material.You seem particularly disgusted by the hypocrisy of the Drug War.
RB: When the government cracked down on marijuana a few years ago, that’s when cocaine became popular. People just want to get high, and they’ve been wanting to get high since the beginning of fucking time. And to make something as innocuous as grass less available makes people try other things. So the government is responsible for the increased use of cocaine.
Around the same time marijuana was made scarce, tons of cocaine came into this country to help finance the Contra war. I’d say there was a formula there. It’s not a myth. It’s not left-wing paranoia. Our government uses drugs to raise money for covert activities. That’s an equation you don’t hear too much about when you talk about marijuana use. I guarantee that if marijuana were easier to export and sell, the government would have used that to finance the Contras. It just happens to be too bulky. It’s not a powder.
HT: Are you disturbed or disappointed that the Iran-Contra scandal fizzled out without a full accounting of the government’s practices?
RB: The mainstream press passed on it from the beginning. The Democrats and Republicans got together and said, “Look, we can’t have another President impeached.” Reagan was impeachable. The Constitution says the President needs to see that all laws are obeyed, and Reagan had something like a hundred and eleven people in his administration breaking laws. By definition, he should have been impeached. Congress wanted to protect him, and kept the drug side out of it. The whole thing was a total fraud.
HT: That’s depressing, but I suppose that every major government throughout history has tapped into some kind of drug trade to help cement its power.
RB: It’s always been there. It’s just that you don’t learn about it in school and it’s not in the mainstream newspapers. But drugs are a big part of government. When the Afghanis were fighting the Russians, we let them run heroin into the United States so that maybe they’d prevail over the Communists. When you see the sheik and all these guys trying to blow up the World Trade Center, you’ve got to believe that there’s a CIA connection. These heroin dealers and hashish dealers that we propped up are coming back to haunt us.
HT: Speaking of being haunted, your new one-man show deals with the Kennedy assassination. You’re obviously still very bothered by what took place in Dallas.
RB: It’s incredible. It’s been thirty years, over six hundred books have come out, and there are still no satisfactory answers. We can’t let it go. It was a coup d’etat. Every government after Kennedy’s is illegal. That’s why the mainstream press isn’t too happy to talk about it—they were complicitous. My piece is funny, but also illuminating. I’m obsessed with the subject, and it never goes away. It’s my nightmare. There are some wonderful books from credible people trying to make sense of it all, but they never get press. My piece comes out of a lot of frustration.
HT: In general terms, does the Clinton Administration give you any kind of hope for the future?
RB: Whoever’s in power, I’m the opposition. As a political comedian, it’s my job not to go to the White House. You can’t be seduced.
HT: When Ned Beatty’s character asked Munch if he was a smoker, Munch begged off the question. Can you tell HIGH TIMES if you still enjoy the pleasures of hemp?
RB: Wherever it’s legal, I smoke it. I heard William Buckley say that he smoked a joint on his yacht, off the coast of the US in international waters. Even with all his buddies in the DEA, he didn’t want to say that he just lit up at a party. So let’s just say that Mr. Belzer has experimented under strictly legal conditions.
Ondine Viñao is an artist and filmmaker born and raised in NYC. We went to college together, and I always thought she was one of the most intelligent and self-realized people around — one of those students who you just knew would go on to do something cool.
We’ve stayed in touch over the years, and I became a big fan of her multidisciplinary art practice, particularly her 2019 solo show Holy Fools. The exhibition reimagined Bruce Nauman’s infamous Clown Torture (1987) by employing female clowns to explore trauma, gender tropes, and the very well-chosen term “juvenescence.” The nine-channel video installation blew my mind all over my face — despite paying homage to a well-known artist and work, Holy Fools felt like anything but pastiche (an admirable feat if you ask me!).
Viñao has continued her art practice and exhibited work around the U.S. and abroad. She can also take a mean photo. Currently, Ondine’s working on a fresh video art piece, as well as doing pre-production for her first narrative feature. She’s keeping the plot specs vague, but I’m certain it will be a home run like the rest of her oeuvre.
Ondine also has an interesting relationship with weed, as her use of the plant only started to blossom in the past couple years. She wasn’t much of a smoker until the pandemic, when partying was obviously not on the menu, and her boyfriend began growing bud in their backyard. Slowly but surely, she began using the plant to help unwind in the evening, as well as aid her writing, brainstorming, and mood-boarding for her various art projects.
In a long and fun interview with Cash Only, the artist and filmmaker discusses the homegrown grass she was rolling up throughout quarantine, details the very specific (and hilarious) Pinterest boards she makes when deep in the haze, and then GOES IN on her recommendations for movies to watch while stoned. Finally, Ondine outlines her very amazing dream blunt rotation involving the feminist scholar Catherine MacKinnon and iconoclastic actress Hedy Lamarr, which may be the best response to the question I’ve received to date.
Big ups and big thanks to Ondine! And an additional thanks to Rebekah Campbell, who took killer new photos of Ondine just for this interview!
What was your first time smoking weed like?
Ondine Viñao: My first time smoking weed? Um, probably horrifying. I smoked salvia before I ever smoked weed. I was in high school, maybe age 14. St. Mark’s Place sold salvia and my friends and I would do whatever we had access to. So we would either get salvia or we would go to this one hookah bar in the East Village that didn’t card. But salvia was the first thing I smoked. There was a couple month period beginning in freshman year when that was popular — once again because of the accessibility. I can’t remember the first time I smoked weed, but I was never really a weed smoker — at least up until the pandemic.
So quarantine sparked your relationship with weed?
Mm-hmm. Pre-pandemic, my weed smoking was mostly limited to myself, or sometimes with a best friend or my dad. And I’d only smoke if I was in for the night and it was right before bed. I couldn’t even take out the garbage afterwards cuz I would get too anxious or paranoid about potentially running into a stranger [laughs]. But during the pandemic I got into it. My boyfriend had a garden in the backyard at our old apartment; he’s not a weed smoker at all, but he does like to garden and he likes challenges, and growing weed is kind of a fickle business. So he decided to grow weed in our backyard for the fun of it. And then he’d give the weed to me and friends or whoever. So, that kind of accelerated my weed usage.
It always scared me to smoke and then socialize, so the pandemic removed that fear and led to me smoking more. I felt more comfortable getting stoned, knowing that I had nowhere to go. And then weed started meshing better with me than it had before. I started using it like how I would recreationally use alcohol, like as a nightcap or whatever. I still occasionally drink, on weekends or at parties and stuff like that, but now I’m never really having alcohol at home. I’m using weed instead.
How was the weed that your boyfriend grew? Did you like his homegrown?
Totally. I hope I’m gonna recount this correctly. He grew two types. One was an autoflower. The other wasn’t an autoflower, and I think it was an Afghan strain. They were very beautiful plants, too. They grew very tall because our backyard got wonderful light, so he was able to harvest a ton from it. We had a bunch of our friends over when the plants were ready to do all of the clipping.
The weed was great because it felt a lot lighter than other weed that I’ve tried. I like to smoke joints or spliffs kind of like a cigarette. Maybe I’m putting it out like two times throughout the joint. I’m not into taking one big hit and then putting it out. I enjoy the act of smoking, so his weed was nice. You wouldn’t get too obliterated. But we’re out of his weed now sadly.
I feel like I should know more about the differences among strains and whatnot, but I kind of have difficulty really sensing the differences… with the exception of weed which is really indica heavy. I try to steer clear of that. I like to smoke and do things, even though I only smoke at night. I don’t wanna stare at the wall. I wanna watch a movie and pay attention. I wanna be able to read, I wanna clean, you know? I don’t want to be bedridden from smoking [laughs].
Does weed enhance your creativity? Does it help inspire you with ideas that benefit your art practice?
100%. There are drawbacks, too, but that’s one of the benefits of weed for me. The majority of my art process or my filmmaking process is writing, and I can sometimes struggle with “pre-judging” whatever I’m about to write. And that can kind of paralyze me creatively, and prevent me from actually writing anything at all. I overthink things, and weed can kind of relax that for me and allow me to brainstorm and write without too much of my own perfectionist (or control obsessed) tendencies getting in the way. Because then, at least, I can always tell myself, “Oh, I was stoned when I wrote this.” So if it’s trash, I can just throw it away and blame it on the weed, but then if it’s good (or if it could be good), then great, look what I did! And I was stoned [laughs].
So outside of relaxing or the creative brainstorm, do you have any particular activities you like doing once you’re really high?
This is tough to answer because a lot of the stuff that is an activity, I would consider part of my creative practice. Like, watching movies, for example, is something which I like to do when I’m stoned. I like walking and listening to music. It sounds pretty obvious and maybe kind of corny, but music truly is the one thing that I think sounds 100% better when you’re stoned. Weed makes cooking a little bit more fun for me. I love to bake but I don’t really love to cook. But smoking before or during cooking can help and makes the process more enjoyable.
I also go on internet holes in all the directions. I love using Pinterest when I’m high. And I have two reasons I’ve been into that recently, and they’re very different reasons [laughs]. So, I’m in pre-production for a short film slash proof of concept for a feature. I have been so focused on everything film-related that I thought I should have a platform devoted entirely to “fine art” inspiration. I have two boards on Pinterest and one of them is of visual art inspiration for the short I’m working on. And it includes paintings, video art, photographs I like, anything that I think could come in handy when deciding how to compose a shot, or something that might make a good kind of insert for the project. I’m trying to get out of just looking at “film stuff” and make sure I’m also pulling inspiration from less traditional sources. My board helps me focus more exclusively on visual art.
And the other thing I use Pinterest for is… haircuts [laughs]. It’s funny because I only get very minimalist, normal haircuts, and it’s always a version of the same thing — at least for the past five years. But I still believe that my perfect haircut — the one that’s gonna make me the best version of myself — is out there. I probably have at least 300 pins in the haircut folder. It’s particularly insane and neurotic of me. They are all variations of a bob. Every pin is a variation of a collarbone-to-chin length brunette haircut. If you looked at all of them, you’d think they’re probably all the same haircut. But they’re not! [laughs]
What type of music resonates with you when you’re baked?
I listen to the same stuff when I’m stoned as when I’m not stoned. I pretty much listen to the same music I listened to in high school. Recently, I’ve been listening to The Magic Flute chronologically. This sounds pretentious, but it’s my honest answer. My dad is a classical music composer, so this is the kind of music that I have been exposed to on a very consistent basis since I was a baby. It’s comfortable to me, though I realize that maybe intense classical music might be overwhelming to your average stoner. It’s not overwhelming for me because of how long it’s been a part of my life.
What is something you like to watch while you’re really high?
I have a couple suggestions. The first one I think is perfect for someone who is stoned because weed puts you in the right headspace to accept the information you’re being given — and it’s a short film, so it’s great for those with weed-induced ADHD. It’s a David Lynch short from 2002 called Darkened Room. You can find it on YouTube, though the quality is bad. It’s great and it’s very bizarre. It kind of has a rhythm to it if that makes sense. You don’t really need to take a magnifying glass to the plot. You know how David Lynch movies function; they’re already kind of existing in an alternate reality. So I think it will resonate with someone who’s slightly incapacitated.
I also cannot miss out on an opportunity to sing the praises of one of my favorite films ever, Showgirls. It’s great to watch when you’re stoned or sober. I could, and have in a sense, written dissertations on this film. It is amazing, and not in a “so bad it’s good” way. It’s a wonderfully-made, smart movie about topics that I care a lot about — like the pain of being a woman, and the entertainment industry. It’s a highly intentional feminist masterpiece. I don’t think it’s camp or ironic or anything like that. I think that it gets misinterpreted or at least did in the past because it flopped at the box offices when it came out, and it ruined the career of the lead actress Elizabeth Berkeley — who was an A-lister prior to 1996 (the year Showgirls was released). After this movie, her agents wouldn’t even return her calls because of how much everyone hated the film.
So then I have one more movie suggestion, which could either be perfect or terrifying, depending on the person. It depends on how they interact with weed. Mirror by Tarkovsky, which is kind of like an extended video art piece to me. It’s a collection of memories. Some seem to exist in the real world. Other ones seem more like dreams. It’s real artsy like that, plus the visuals are gorgeous. I tend to think that things that are aesthetically pretty are good things to watch when you are stoned. And this applies to Showgirls, too, which is an aesthetically beautiful film.
One last question — who is in your dream blunt rotation? Alive or dead.
How many people do I get?
As many as you’d like, it’s your party.
Okay. Let’s start with alive. I’m gonna say Catherine MacKinnon. The lawyer and feminist scholar. She was part of my entry point into becoming a trans-inclusive radical feminist, and thinking about society in terms of how it treats women and what it means to be a woman myself.
Kanye West would also be there. Nicholas Cage. Paul Verhoeven. Chomsky before he’s dead. And then I’m going to throw Pope Francis in there because I have to rep Argentina. Also, Cornel West, so we have two Wests. Then, let’s add Lars Von Trier. I think this crew would be really fun. I like that they all have strong personalities, but I wonder if anyone could get a word in?
Amazing. Who would be in your dead sesh?
I know for certain I want Hedy Lamarr in my dead blunt rotation. She is the coolest person ever and had the wildest life I’ve ever heard of. She was a very famous movie star back in the day. When she first debuted in an American film in American cinemas, there were reports of people literally fainting over how beautiful she was. She also was an Albert Einstein-level genius. She helped develop what would eventually become Bluetooth and WiFi. For fun, she would fix Herbert Hoover’s planes (they dated briefly). She was married like seven times. And she was jewish, but her first marriage was to a Nazi who was best friends with Mussolini, and she escaped him by drugging their maid and putting on the maid’s clothing and taking the maid’s bicycle and running away.
In her middle age, she got addicted to plastic surgery and they didn’t have all of the procedures that she wanted, so she invented them herself and then the surgeons would perform them on her. And they’re still plastic surgery techniques that are used today. At the end of her life, she was a full hermit and would only communicate with people over the phone, including her children. She lived the wildest life out of anyone, and therefore Hedy Lamarr’s at the top of my list for my dead blunt rotation. Then I want to add Stanley Kubrick and my dearly departed grandparents (both paternal and maternal), for good measure.
The Washington Senate this week approved a bill that would protect cannabis users from pre-employment job discrimination. The measure, Senate Bill 5123, was passed by the state Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 28-21 and will now be considered by the Washington House of Representatives.
Under the bill, employers would be barred from refusing to hire a job candidate based solely on the results of pre-employment screening for cannabis use. The legislation does not include protection for other substances, so screenings for other drugs would still be allowed during the hiring process.
“It comes down to discriminating against people who use cannabis,” state Senator Karen Keiser, the lead sponsor of the bill and the chair of the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, said in a statement cited by online news site The Center Square. “For people using a legal substance, having a pre-employment test like this is just plain unfair, and we should stop it.”
“At a time when the number of unfilled positions is extremely high, we shouldn’t be limiting our workforce by deterring qualified job applicants,” she added. “This legislation opens the door for people who might otherwise not even apply for a position.”
The legislation does not apply to some jobs including positions in the airline and aerospace industries. The measure also does not apply to jobs that require a federal background check or security clearance.
While the bill protects potential employees from drug tests while applying for a job, Keiser noted that the bill does not prevent employers from subjecting their workers to drug screenings for weed during employment. Under the measure, companies will still be allowed to fire employees who test positive for cannabis in order to maintain a drug-free workplace. Employers could also subject employees to a drug test for cannabis use after a workplace accident or if they suspect a worker is impaired by cannabis while on the job.
“If your employer wants to test you every week after you’re hired, they’re still able to do that,” Keiser said. “This is simply opening the front door of getting into a job. Because too many people who see that they have to take a drug test to even apply, don’t even apply.”
Washington Legalized Recreational Pot In 2012
Washington legalized recreational marijuana in 2012 with the passage of Initiative 502, a ballot measure that was supported by nearly 56% of voters. But while the measure protected cannabis users from prosecution, the initiative did not include protections for workers who use weed off the job.
Nevada became the first state to protect job applicants from pre-employment drug tests for cannabis in 2019. Since then, other states have also passed employment protection measures, including a California bill protecting workers from discrimination based on their use of marijuana while off the clock that was passed last year.
Cannabis advocates who support employment protections note that current drug screenings can only determine the presence of cannabis metabolites, which can remain in the system long after using marijuana. Burl Bryson, executive director of The Cannabis Alliance, told lawmakers at a public hearing last month that potential job candidates can consume cannabis legally “and still test positive … weeks later.”
“If the same approach were applied to alcohol, employers would refuse employment to anyone who enjoyed a beer or a glass of wine on the weekend,” said Bryson. “We all know that this is not a workable standard.”
“It simply doesn’t make sense to base an employment decision on that kind of unreliable outcome and test,” Keiser told her colleagues in the Senate before Wednesday’s vote.
Brian Fitzpatrick, CEO of the cannabis industry compliance platform Qredible, said that there are legitimate reasons for some employers to maintain a drug-free workplace. But he added that “exceptions need to be made, particularly for medical cannabis users, but also for responsible adult users.”
“There are policies that exist that govern not showing up for work intoxicated under the influence of alcohol, and cannabis should be no different,” Fitzpatrick wrote in an email to High Times. “Unlike alcohol, there is research suggesting that cannabis use does not significantly impair job performance, as such, employers should re-evaluate their policies regarding cannabis use to create a more equitable approach to cannabis users.”
An effort to rein in so-called “pop up” medical cannabis clinics in South Dakota was rejected by the state’s lawmakers on Wednesday.
The Forum News Service reports that the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted against a pair of bills that would have “made myriad changes to cannabis law in the state: banning certain advertisements for prescription services; requiring certain actions by doctors and other providers to establish a ‘bona fide’ relationship and allowing prescription to occur only in certain facilities, most of them related to medical care in some manner.”
South Dakota voters approved a ballot measure in 2020 that legalized medical cannabis treatment for qualifying patients.
The new law officially took effect in 2021, and the first state-sanctioned dispensaries opened to customers last year.
Since then, a number of “pop up” clinics have opened, offering medical cannabis prescriptions to patients in mere minutes.
Supporters of the two measures rejected by the state Senate committee on Wednesday contend that those clinics are “allowing those seeking medicinal cannabis to earn their cards without the proper, professional examination inherent to the law,” according to the Forum News Service.
Both bills failed by “wide margins,” the Forum News Service reported, noting that opponents to the measures “said the increased oversight and potential punishments would have the consequence of hurting the rate of providers opting into the medical marijuana program, an already present difficulty in the nascent program that creates a hole filled by ‘pop-up’ clinics.”
“The program is brand new, and we don’t want to go backward with law by just saying, ‘We’ve got to stop this right now,” said state Sen. Erin Tobin, of Winner, as quoted by the Forum News Service. “Because I know it’s a problem. We’ll get there.”
But the chief supporter of the proposals said that the pop-up clinics “blur the line” between medical and recreational pot.
A measure to legalize recreational cannabis was rejected by South Dakota voters last year.
“The voters said yes to establishing a medical marijuana system, and they said no to establishing a recreational marijuana system,” said state House Rep. Fred Deutsch, the supporter of the bills.
The Mount Rushmore State has had a complicated history with cannabis policy as of late. Despite rejecting last year’s recreational pot proposal, South Dakota voters had approved an amendment to end the prohibition on pot in 2020.
But that amendment faced an immediate legal challenge led by the state’s Republican governor, Kristi Noem, and was ultimately struck down by the South Dakota Supreme Court in 2021.
“South Dakota is a place where the rule of law and our Constitution matter, and that’s what today’s decision is about,” Noem said at the time of the court’s ruling. “We do things right—and how we do things matters just as much as what we are doing. We are still governed by the rule of law. This decision does not affect my Administration’s implementation of the medical cannabis program voters approved in 2020. That program was launched earlier this month, and the first cards have already gone out to eligible South Dakotans.”
The state Senate voted last month to broaden the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis treatment.
Under the original statute, patients with the following would qualify for the treatment: A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe, debilitating pain; severe nausea; seizures; or severe and persistent muscle spasms.
The measure passed last month would expand the list to include: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or positive status for human immunodeficiency virus; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Multiple sclerosis; Cancer or its treatment, if associated with Crohn’s disease; Epilepsy and seizures; Glaucoma; or Post-traumatic stress disorder.
There’s a mass cannabis exodus out of California, and, no, that’s not a reference to the Bob Marley song, although you should snag Marley Natural while they’re still in the golden state, Cali friends. However, another stoner icon legacy brand, that of San Francisco-born Jerry Garcia, the late co-founder and lead vocalist for The Grateful Dead, Garcia Hand Picked cannabis line, is saying goodbye to the Golden State, SFGate reports. Cue up “Fire on the Mountain,” although climate change isn’t California’s only problem.
While for decades, cannabis growers, entrepreneurs, and aficionados found a green paradise tucked away in the libertarian Emerald Triangle (a region in Northern California, including Humboldt County, named for being the largest cannabis-producing region in the United States) or the liberal counterculture of the cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, when California finally legalized, well, the Fed’s red tape and impossibly high barriers to entry left even the most recognized names in cannabis unable to turn a legal profit in the state.
“We’re taking a pause in California. We want to ensure CA consumers have the highest quality flower for the long term, so we are in the process of choosing a new local partner for cultivation, production, sales, and distribution of Garcia Hand Picked in CA,” a spokesperson from Holistic Industries, the brand’s parent company, wrote in an email to SFGate.
Previously, Garcia Hand Picked sourced its cannabis from legacy farmers in the Emerald Triangle, growers perhaps Garcia even once enjoyed, although now the brand is looking for a new supplier. Working with legacy farmers earned the brand valuable street cred (celebrity cannabis brands can have a rap for being corny, and many consumers prefer their weed without a famous face attached), but it wasn’t enough. Despite California’s reputation as the U.S.’s cornerstone for cannabis, to say it’s a tough market is an understatement. Trying to sell cannabis in California is an almost impossibly expensive operation due to complicated regulations, high taxes, and the plethora of troubles that come with banking. Due to Federal laws, cannabis companies do not have the same access to loans. And according to the Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act, weed businesses pay an effective federal tax rate as high as 80%.
Recently, other celebrity cannabis brands faced similar woes. According to Celeb Stoner, in January, Jay-Z’s Monogram brand began restructuring by The Parent Company, and Canada’s Cronos Group made the call to kill Kristen Bell’s Happy Dance CBD skincare line to “reduce U.S. operating expenses.” According to Bloomberg, few celebrity cannabis brands have managed to turn a profit. In addition to the giant financial hurdles, as long as cannabis remains a Schedule I substance under Federal Law, there are vast marketing hurdles. For instance, radio advertising is illegal, even in states where cannabis is not. And, if celebrity cannabis brands that come pre-approved by a household name and cash behind them are failing, think of the barriers to entry smaller companies face, especially those owned by POC and anyone else affected by the War on Drugs.
While they pull out of California, Garcia Hand Picked is still available in five other states. However, the next time you smoke up in Cali while the Grateful Dead plays in the background, if you’re like many others, you’ll opt for the black market, just like Jerry himself smoked. Because as California’s mass cannabis extinction event demonstrates, sadly, state legalization is not the pipe dream (pun intended) so many of us hoped for.
A desire that partly led to trying DMT for the first time. The other reason was that I was chronically depressed. Outer space seemed like a great place to explore since it was outside of the space I currently occupied. Unbound from the earth I would fly through neon trailing shapes and patterns. Exploring new mechanisms for existence. A fragmented man’s search for the meaning behind all of the darker things in and around. What is the purpose for all this poison?
The first time I participated in a group ceremony I was asked to set an intention and then during the journey I was asked to remember who I was. I found that to be a curious question. How would I remember something like that? A better question would have been, who do you want to become? Also, the plastic shaman in the designer Nike SBs had hijacked my chosen intention. Who does he want me to remember? That is what I thought while in a liquid psychic state. There was a power and influence that this guy radiated that exceeded his material gains. I continued further down the ceremony road, perhaps this confident designer shaman unlocked some greater meaning to existence by flooding his system with remerging ancient spirit medicines. Widely used by an apex species that existed in a grand and forgotten epoch.
He did not.
He did however think he did. He might have struck an agreement with a dimensional entity that had hitched a ride or he may have just flipped so many switches that a latent gene for madness hit 2nd gear. No longer was this Nike SB-wearing former-coke-dealer a human, he had become some elder nihilist god. I remember he tried playing the video game Skyrim. He would throw the controller screaming how the universe that he was from didn’t have so many bugs. Strange things happened all around this odd ceremony group. Which was even more curious. The depression didn’t go away from the ceremonies. It transformed into something, a presence, or a disassociated body. It channeled itself into interpreted stories. Lost and sad souls weaving absurd stories and when some obstacle would present in the real world, an edit would accommodate. A new myth would emerge, a construct of avoidance. Every obstacle became fictional props for a stage.
Social media is a substance without a body.
It’s source of power drawn from our critical chemical responses that evolved in an untamed world. We reached this moment because we evolved with each other, a communal composition.
A kaleidoscope of feeling, sensation and response.
If written language is the first man authored matrix then maybe the internet is the last. Bodiless connecting with imaginary tribes is burning out the pathways for bonding.
With endless myths, spectacle and reactions, a million constructs deploy for every obstacle we’d like to avoid. The resiliency of family and tribe is unknown. Forgotten like the power inside of plants and fungi that remind us of who we are when we are together.
Not who we were.
Wings of silicon covered in tar and our feet skimming solid ground.
Tech lord shamans in Nike SBs who low key read Twilight and thought they were gods.
I wonder if the pharaohs that drank fermented belladonna dreamed of vampires too.
In hemp plants, the cannabinoid hexahydrocannabidiol (HHC) is found in small amounts. There are small amounts of this compound naturally occurring. Delta-9 THC is hydrogenated commercially to produce it. Especially for smokers who are trying to quit, HHC carts are becoming increasingly popular.
A basic understanding of HHC is essential before using it. The purpose of this article is to examine the benefits and risks of using HHC carts.
Are HHC Carts Legal?
Currently, there is no clear legal status for HHC. The chemical compound hexahydrocannabinol occurs naturally in hemp. Because it isn’t THC, it’s not psychoactive
In accordance with the 2018 Farm Bill, this should be legal.
HHC, on the other hand, is synthetically produced in laboratories. Its Schedule 1 status would actually result in the DEA banning it.
Different states have different laws regarding HHC. At the moment, HHC is readily available, but we hope that will continue to be the case in the future.
Benefits Associated with Using HHC Carts
In order to fully understand the benefits of HHC, further scientific investigation is needed. The endocannabinoid system interacts with HHC directly or indirectly because it is a cannabinoid.
Courtesy Delta Cart
HHC (Hexahydrocannabinol) carts are a relatively new form of THC product that are gaining popularity in the cannabis market. Some potential benefits of using HHC carts may include:
Potency: HHC carts are reported to be more potent than traditional THC products, such as delta-8 and delta-9 THC, which may provide users with a stronger and more euphoric high.
More relaxed high: HHC carts have been described as providing a more relaxing and calming high compared to other THC products, making it a good option for those who want to unwind or alleviate stress.
Potential therapeutic benefits: Some users report that HHC has potential therapeutic benefits, including pain relief, mood enhancement, and improved focus.
Improved taste: Many HHC carts have been noted for their pleasant flavor and smooth draw, which can make the experience of using them more enjoyable.
Potential for increased creativity: Some users have reported that HHC can lead to a more creative and imaginative state of mind, which could be beneficial for artists, writers, and other creative professionals.
Pain relief: HHC inhibits the transmission of pain sensation in mice, according to a study. Consequently, HHC may be useful in managing chronic pain.
Carts vs. Flower – So Which Is Better?
Inhaling vapor from a vape involves heating HHC oil. As an alternative to smoking, HHC vapes are becoming increasingly popular. Smoking and vaping differ in that the former involves the inhalation of smoke, while the latter involves the inhalation of vapor.
Vaping is a milder way to consume cannabis than smoking: smoking is harsh on the lungs.
If your knee pain becomes unbearable at work, you can use your vape to relieve it. Simply inhale some HHC in the bathroom.
By inhaling HHC vapor, you can relieve pain in a few minutes: HHC vapor diffuses into the bloodstream more quickly than other types of vapor.
Using this method of consuming HHC is less expensive.
The health effects of vaping are less debilitating than those of smoking.
HHC oil dosage can be controlled: you can control how much oil you put into the vape. Therefore, it reduces the incidence of the possibility of overdosing or toxic effects.
Possible Side Effects of Vaping
Cannabinoids can have some risks, especially when used excessively. HHC’s dangers are not sufficiently explored in research. The following are some of the expected side effects:
Dryness of mouth
Appetite increases
Increase of heart rate
Redness of eyes
Paranoia
HHC vs. Delta-9 THC
HHC (Hexahydrocannabinol) and delta-9 THC are both forms of tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis. However, there are some key differences between the two:
Potency: HHC is reported to be more potent than delta-9 THC, meaning that users may need to consume less of it to achieve the desired effects.
Effects: While delta-9 THC is often associated with a strong, euphoric high, HHC is said to provide a more relaxed and calming high. Some users have also reported feeling more creative and focused after using HHC.
Legality: While delta-9 THC is still illegal at the federal level in the United States, HHC is currently legal in most states, as it is considered to be a “hemp-derived” product.
Research: Delta-9 THC has been extensively researched and studied, and its effects are well-known. However, HHC is a relatively new substance, and there is limited research on its effects and potential risks.
It’s important to note that, as with all cannabis products, the effects of HHC can vary depending on the individual user, the quality and potency of the product, and other factors such as dosage and frequency of use. Additionally, it is important to use all cannabis products responsibly and in moderation, and to consult with a healthcare professional before using any new THC products, particularly if you have any underlying health conditions or are taking other medications.
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Currently, HHC is still being researched as a semi-synthetic cannabinoid. Even though hemp contains a small amount, hydrogenation is used to produce it in large quantities. More states allow HHC vapes than THC, which is an advantage.
Moreover, HHC has a lower potency than delta-9, but a higher potency than delta-8. For individuals seeking something in-between, HHC may be the best option.
A new study from researchers at the University of New Mexico found that, for medical cannabis patients seeking the most effective symptom relief, it all comes down to the terpene levels.
The research, published in the Journal of Cannabis Research, found that “[s]ymptom relief was greatest after consumption of plant variants with slightly higher than average levels of the terpenes myrcene and terpinolene and non-detectable levels of CBD.”
“In contrast, chemovars with any detectable levels of CBD (e.g., MC61 and MC62) provided the least relief, the fewest positive side effects, and the most negative and context-specific side effects. These findings are consistent with previous research showing that naturally abundant CBD in Cannabis flower may act as an inhibitor of optimal treatment for certain health conditions such as gastrointestinal pain,” the authors wrote.
In their conclusion, they wrote that their “findings provide ‘proof-of-concept’ that a simple, yet comprehensive chemovar indexing system can be used to identify systematic differences in clinically relevant patient health outcomes and other common experiences across Cannabis flower products, irrespective of the product’s commercial or strain name.”
“This study was limited by self-selection into cannabis and app use and a lack of user-specific information. Further research using this chemovar indexing system should assess how distinct combinations of phytochemicals interact with user-level characteristics to produce general and individualized Cannabis consumption experiences and health outcomes, ideally using randomized methods to assess differences in effects across chemovars,” they wrote.
Terpenes are defined as “the primary constituents of essential oils and are responsible for the aroma characteristics of cannabis.”
“Together with the cannabinoids, terpenes illustrate synergic and/or entourage effect and their interactions have only been speculated in for the last few decades,” read a 2020 study published at the National Library of Medicine.
“Hundreds of terpenes are identified that allude to cannabis sensory attributes, contributing largely to the consumer’s experiences and market price. They also enhance many therapeutic benefits, especially as aromatherapy.”
As NORML noted in its own write-up about the study from the researchers at the University of New Mexico, preclinical data “demonstrates that select terpenes can modulate cannabinoid activity to produce enhanced therapeutic effects.”
NORML cited a case report “published late last year reported that an autistic patient responded more favorably to cannabis extracts containing select terpenes as compared to extracts without them.”
Participants in the study from the University of New Mexico self-administered the cannabis, and reported their results on a software program.
“The initial dataset consisted of 252,344 sessions recorded by 13,771 users between June 6, 2016 and March 11, 2021,” the authors wrote.
“Only the sessions using flower products (60.4% of total sessions) were included in the dataset, and 6.7% of the flower sessions included laboratory-provided information on the product’s terpene levels. Recorded potency levels for labeled THC, THCa, THCv, and THCva were aggregated (THC family), as were levels of CBD and CBDa (CBD family). To avoid confounding from user entry error, cutoff thresholds for cannabinoids and terpenes were selected based on the biological limitations of the Cannabis plant (Reimann-Philipp et al. 2020). The cutoff thresholds for reasonably labeled cannabinoid family levels were set at 35.0%/dry wt., and the cutoff for each of the 20 terpenes was set at 3.0%/dry wt. Sessions reporting levels that were higher than these cutoffs were excluded from the final analyses. Each product is unique at the user level, i.e., if two users were to purchase the same product, it would appear in the data as two separate products.”
