High Times Cup competitions are a unique way for the industry to go up against the best of the best in the cannabis space — not only for high THC but hemp products as well. The Hemp Cup: People’s Choice 2022 unites both competitors and judges across the entire hemp space.
We are pleased to announce the High Times Hemp Cup winners, presented by Hemp Hop. Thank you to our Silver Sponsor, Orange County CBD, and to our Bronze Sponsor, Sweet Sensi CBD.
Flower
First Place: Flow Gardens – Blue Cheese #12 Flower
Courtesy of Flow Gardens
Second Place: Healing Canopy – White Triploid CBG Flower
Courtesy of Healing Canopy
Third Place: Grateful Beginnings Farm – Sour Lifter Flower
When cannabis and hip-hop come together, it can make for a truly unforgettable creative dynamic. For an authentic display of this, look no further than Atlanta MC Big Cheeko, particularly in his upcoming, commercial debut album entitled Block Barry White, executive produced by acclaimed underground hip-hop phenom Mach-Hommy.
No stranger to consuming boat loads of weed and making captivating rap songs, Big Cheeko provides listeners with a conceptual and elevated experience with this project, which is incredibly refreshing to witness in this current musical climate.
This masterpiece of an album is a certified, smoked-out collection of Cheeko’s most prolific work to date. Block Barry White boasts soulful, hard-hitting production from Matic Lee and memorable features from iconic stoner MCs Styles P, Smoke DZA, and none other than the legend himself, Devin The Dude, who appears on this brand new single and video “Watchin’.”
To gain more insight on this record and his personal affinity for cannabis, Big Cheeko lent his time to answer some burning questions for High Times readers:
With thisBlock Barry Whiteproject on its way, what can you tell the people about the concept you are going with?
Block Barry White is smooth, street, soulful and Southern but also very hip-hop. We grabbed inspiration from blaxploitation films, ‘90s Southern hip-hop, and old Barry White songs/arrangements.
How much cannabis consumption took place during the creation ofBlock Barry White,and how did it help the process?
To me, there is no process without weed. I have never recorded a rap song without smoking, but if I had to calculate and give it a weight amount, it would probably be a pound a half for Block Barry White.
What is your favorite strain and method to consume cannabis?
Runtz is my favorite strain—the real Runtz. I’m a traditional type of nigga; I like to roll my weed in joint papers, specifically RAW papers.
If you could create a strain from scratch and give it a name, what would it be?
I actually already had my own strain called “SoulGod.” My strain was a mix between Cookies, Lemonati, and OG.
As a Southern MC who enjoys cannabis regularly, linking up with Devin The Dude for this new single must be incredibly fulfilling. How did this record come together?
While we were creating the record, Mach and I were thinking of feature ideas, and we both thought of Devin The Dude. I mean it’s Devin The Dude. Mach sent the record to Devin, and we got the record back almost immediately.
The music video to this song feels timeless, and the fact that you ended up getting Devin The Dude to pull up for the video and even do some performance scenes in a strip club is legendary. How was it having him on set, and what was the smoke session with him like?
Dev is one of the coolest rappers I’ve met. Bro is super chill and genuine. Honestly never thought I’d be smokin’ weed with Devin The Dude on a video set of mine, but it happened … and yeah, we smoked hella weed. Even gave him some of mine.
What was your involvement in the creation of this video, and how did you link up with Daily Gems to ultimately bring this video to life?
Mach-Hommy is responsible for casting Daily Gems to direct the video, and they did an amazing job.
You guys shot in various locations around the ATL area, including a strip club and what appears to be a car meet with some really dope-looking, old-school cars. What is the significance of these various settings to you and the project? Are you into cars?
We really just wanted to capture some real Atlanta shit. The cars in the video were my uncle and his car collective called ATLlacRiderz, and yes, I’m very into cars.
Courtesy of Big Cheeko
What’s the best way to get the kush smell out of the car?
I always make sure I smoke with my sunroof cracked or open. I also make sure I always have something nice to spray when I’m done, like some Creed or Meyers room spray. I think the key to not having your car smell like weed is always being able to air it out… gotta let the smoke out.
Do you have a story you can share about riding dirty with bud and how you may or may not have managed to get out of a bad situation?
Disclaimer: I do not smoke cigarettes anymore, and I do not encourage anyone to pick up the habit. So, I was going to the movies with my girl later that night but wanted to meet a friend at Kroger to smoke weed with him before I met my girl… and this is back when I did smoke cigs, but I didn’t have any at the time, so he gave me two.
After we smoked, I left and smoked one of the cigs on the way to my girl’s and put the other in the glove compartment. After picking up my girl, we decided to smoke weed in the car on the way to the movies. Well, I was so high I thought this stop sign was a yield sign so obviously I didn’t completely stop. To my surprise, right after I turned, I saw blue lights behind me. I immediately told my girl to give me the joint; I crumpled it up, and threw it out the window. At this point, there’s smoke coming from all the windows, because I knew that before I stopped, I had to let some of the smoke out because it smelled like a fresh smoke sesh.
Well, before the officer walked up to the window, I remember I had the cig in the glove compartment and lit it. As the officer is asking me for my license, I’m blowing cig smoke in his face to try and throw his smell off. He asked me to stop [laughs]. He went back to his car, ran my info, came back, and said, “You know you didn’t make a complete stop back there.” I said, “I thought it was a yield sign.” He gave me back my license and told me to be more careful. Yeah… that cig saved me.
Did you smoke a lot with Mach-Hommy?
I have smoked with Mach-Hommy. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make the video shoot.
He has been known to be a relatively mysterious and intriguing character; what is he like from your experience?
Believe everything you’ve ever heard about him [laughs].
What was it that led to the two of you ultimately getting together and collaborating to this level, and what exactly does that process look like?
Me and Mach go back to days when we were both “in the streets.” That’s my nigga for life. And if you could imagine total freedom and creativity at its best, that’s exactly what it looks like.
The New Mexico adult-use cannabis market is officially open for business.
After the clock struck midnight on Friday, newly minted cannabis retailers opened their doors to customers eager to make an inaugural purchase.
According to the Las Cruces SunNews, “a few hundred people” lined up outside one store in Las Cruces, the state’s second largest city that had “several” stores commemorating the historic day by opening at 12:01 a.m.
One customer, Jeremy Sandoval, lined up outside the store at 6:30 p.m., according to the newspaper.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Sandoval said, as quoted by the Las Cruces Sun News. “We’ve all been waiting for it. It’s a milestone in the road ahead of us.”
The midnight openings were unique to Las Cruces. As the Sun News noted, the city is one of the only major cities in the state that has yet to establish operating hours for the cannabis retailers, “which is why these local dispensaries were able to have these midnight debuts.”
New Mexico is the 18th state to legalize recreational cannabis use for adults. The state’s Democratic governor, Lujan Grisham, signed a bill enacting the law last April, hailing it as a potential economic boon for New Mexico.
The governor’s office, citing the analysis of an independent economist, said that “sales of adult-use recreational cannabis could amount to $318 million in the first year, creating over several years what could be more than 11,000 new jobs.”
“The legalization of adult-use cannabis paves the way for the creation of a new economic driver in our state with the promise of creating thousands of good paying jobs for years to come,” Grisham said in a statement at the time. “We are going to increase consumer safety by creating a bona fide industry. We’re going to start righting past wrongs of this country’s failed War on Drugs. And we’re going to break new ground in an industry that may well transform New Mexico’s economic future for the better.”
Grisham’s office estimates “that the excise tax will raise at least $20 million for the general fund in the first full fiscal year, with significant growth in subsequent years,” and that local governments “will also benefit from the added revenue.”
“As we look to rebound from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, entrepreneurs will benefit from this great opportunity to create lucrative new enterprises, the state and local governments will benefit from the added revenue and, importantly, workers will benefit from the chance to land new types of jobs and build careers,” Grisham said in the statement last year.
Democratic state House Representative Javier Martinez said at the time that the state had “seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to establish a multi-million industry with a framework that’s right for our state and will benefit New Mexicans for generations to come.”
The new law states “anyone 21 and older can purchase up to two ounces (57 grams) of marijuana enough to roll about 60 joints or cigarettes—or comparable amounts of marijuana liquid concentrates and edible treats,” according to the Associated Press.
Late last year, the state’s Cannabis Control Division issued the final slate of rules for the adult-use program, most notably for manufacturing of cannabis in the state.
“Every day brings us closer to the first adult-use cannabis sales in New Mexico,” Cannabis Control Division Director Kristen Thomson said in a statement at the time. “Thanks to the Cannabis Control Division’s open and transparent rule-making process over the past six months, businesses and consumers can be confident that all necessary support and protection is in place to ensure a thriving cannabis industry in our state.”
A bill that would have brought sweeping cannabis reform to Tennessee appears to have fallen short in this year’s legislative session.
Local television station WKRN reports that the bill, known as the “Free All Cannabis for Tennesseans Act,” is “effectively dead” after its sponsor, Democratic state House Rep. Bob Freeman pulled the measure from the floor.
Freeman’s legislation would have resulted in significant changes in how the Volunteer State handles both recreational and medicinal cannabis, both of which are illegal in Tennessee.
It makes Tennessee stand out in an era of nationwide legalization, when one state after another has ended prohibition.
Freeman noted that many of Tennessee’s neighbors have either legalized cannabis in some form or are looking to do so.
“There is a very real possibility that, by the time we come back next year, we will be the only state that touches Tennessee that has not done some sort of legalization,” Freeman said, as quoted by WKRN.
The bill would have authorized the “the possession and transport of marijuana or marijuana concentrate, in permitted amounts, for adults who are at least 21 years of age,” the “transfer of marijuana or marijuana concentrate between adults, in permitted amounts, without remuneration,” and the “cultivation of up to 12 marijuana plants for adults.”
It also would have opened up medical cannabis treatment to minors by authorizing “a parent, guardian, or conservator to administer a marijuana product, excluding any combustible product, to a minor, over whom the parent, guardian, or conservator has legal authority.”
Under the legislation, the state Department of Health would have provided a form on its website “that, upon execution by a parent, guardian, or conservator, after consultation with a healthcare practitioner, creates a rebuttable presumption that the minor has a medical condition for which the use of marijuana is treatment for any such condition.”
But Freeman’s bill always had an uphill climb in Tennessee’s Republican-dominated legislature. The state’s GOP governor, Bill Lee, has said that he is against legalizing pot.
As Freeman sees it, Tennessee is now at risk of being left in the dust, with other southern states moving to legalize medical cannabis. Mississippi legalized the treatment in February, and Alabama did the same last year.
Under Freeman’s bill, the sale of cannabis would have been subject to state and local sales and use tax, “as well as an additional 15% marijuana tax.”
It also would have established that “local governments can impose a local sales tax on such sales, not to exceed 5% of the price of the products sold, of which proceeds shall be distributed identical to the existing local sales and use tax.”
“It highlights the fact that we are continuing to turn our back to the potential revenue for taxing this legally — people are already using it or else they wouldn’t be getting picked up and we’re criminalizing this putting people in jail for what is legal in other states,” Freeman said, as quoted by the station.
Freeman believes that most Tennessee voters are with him on the issue, a theory that could be tested in November’s general election.
In January, a pair of state lawmakers introduced a bill that would direct county election officials to conduct a public opinion poll on cannabis policy on this year’s ballot.
The legislation would place three non-binding questions on the general election ballot: Should the state of Tennessee legalize medical cannabis?; Should the state decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of cannabis?; and Should the state legalize and regulate the commercial sales of recreational cannabis?
“We’ve been wrestling around with this for years and years now,” one of the bill’s sponsors, state House Rep. Bruce Griffey, said at the time. “A bunch of jurisdictions have taken a step to legalize it. There’s certainly some valid arguments, is marijuana any worse than alcohol in certain situations?”
Vaping and the use of electronic cigarettes is now banned in public spaces throughout the city of Houston, after the city council unanimously approved an amendment to its existing ordinance on Wednesday.
According to Houston Public Media, the city’s “existing rules prohibit smoking in an enclosed public space or workplace, within 25 feet of a building entrance or exit, outdoor arenas and public transit stops,” and now “those rules are extended to electronic smoking devices, which include electronic cigarettes and cigars, vapes and any other device that uses vapors or aerosol liquids.”
The change was originally “proposed last year by the Houston Health Department in response to a growing scientific consensus on the dangers of vaping,” according to the Houston Chronicle. Now, they are officially in effect.
The newspaper reported that the approved amendment “adds all types of e-cigarette devices—vape pens, electronic pipes and hookahs, among others—to the smoking ban, which bars cigarettes from enclosed public places and seating areas and within 25 feet of any building.” Those new rules took effect immediately following the vote on Wednesday, according to the Houston Chronicle. They do not apply to hookah bars or other spots where smoking is already legally permitted.
The city council heard testimonials from various individuals who sounded the alarm on the dangers of vaping, which is often billed as a safer alternative to cigarettes despite a paucity of evidence to support the assertion that it is in fact safer.
Houston Public Media reported that during a public comment session before the council on Tuesday, “Dr. Lindy McGee, a pediatrician at Texas Children’s Hospital and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said she was concerned about the rise in vaping among her patients. She believed electronic cigarette companies are intentionally marketing to teens.”
“Using social media, youth-enticing flavors and highly addictive nicotine, they hooked this new generation on their product,” McGee said, as quoted by the outlet.
The Houston Chronicle said that members of the city council “touted the public health benefit of regulating e-cigarettes, which are filled with a liquid nicotine derived from tobacco that becomes an aerosol when the user inhales.
“Ultra-fine particles emitted by the vapor and toxins from the devices’ heating elements can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, federal studies suggest, even when nicotine-free vape liquid is used,” the Chronicle reported.
The use of electronic cigarette devices has exploded in recent years, particularly among young people. Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released findings from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS).
The survey found that “e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product” last year among high school and middle school students in the United States.
“E-cigarettes were the most commonly currently used tobacco product, cited by 2.06 million (7.6%) middle and high school students, followed by cigarettes (410,000; 1.5%), cigars (380,000; 1.4%), smokeless tobacco (240,000; 0.9%), hookahs (220,000; 0.8%) and nicotine pouches (200,000; 0.8%),” according to the survey.
Among students who reported using a tobacco product in the last 30 days, 39.4% said they used e-cigarettes compared with 18.9% for cigarettes and 20.7% for cigars.
“Among all students, perceiving ‘no’ or ‘little’ harm from intermittent tobacco product use was highest for e-cigarettes (16.6%) and lowest for cigarettes (9.6%),” according to the survey’s accompanying analysis.
Nearly 58% of those who used e-cigarettes said they first tried it because a friend used a product and that piqued their interest.
Today is April Fool’s Day. While we could tell you some fake story about how weed has become federally legal, we’d prefer to go in a different direction. The cannabis industry has come such a long way, and rather than discuss the fools who are still pushing against cannabis, we’d rather celebrate those who continue to shine a light on the plant while calling it like it is, unrelenting in their efforts to expand access to cannabis across the board. Here are just a few political advocates who are shooting for change.
Courtesy of Gary Chambers for Louisiana
Gary Chambers, Running for Senate in Louisiana
Although Gary Chambers is not yet a member of the Senate, we’d be hard-pressed not to include him given his advocacy on the subject of cannabis, among other topics. He announced his candidacy in January this year with a video of himself smoking a blunt and talking about the harms caused by the War on Drugs. Most recently, he spoke at the Chamber of Cannabis in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 10 about the long-term imprisonment of Kevin O’Brien Allen for a cannabis conviction and his approach to politics.
“I didn’t get into politics to be a politician,” he shared. “Most of the people who came into my community with a suit and tie was lying … I don’t talk the way that the average politician talks, and I don’t produce content to tell voters what our message is, in the way that [an] average politician does so. Because I don’t think it’s transformative, and I don’t think it works.”
Courtesy of Shutterstock
Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York
Many politicians approach their jobs with a no-nonsense approach, and Kathy Hochul has made some waves in favor of New York state’s cannabis program. In August 2021, she was appointed as the state’s first female governor and vowed to launch the cannabis industry that former Governor Andrew Cuomo stalled.
In a press release on September 1, 2021, Hochul confirmed her intention to make cannabis a priority. “One of my top priorities is to finally get New York’s cannabis industry up and running—this has been long overdue, but we’re going to make up for lost time with the Senate confirmation of Tremaine Wright as Chair of the Cannabis Control Board and Christopher Alexander as Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management,” she stated. Most recently, she also implemented a Seeding Opportunity Initiative on March 10, which sets a goal for cannabis sales to begin by the end of 2022.
Courtesy of Shutterstock
John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor
Former Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania and current state Lieutenant Governor, John Fetterman has long been advocating for cannabis legalization to help those who have been negatively affected by the War on Drugs. In May 2021, he questioned the country’s ban on the plant.
“This isn’t controversial,” he shared on the topic of legalization. “Canada, the whole country has legalized, and somehow they managed to keep doing pretty darn well … they haven’t descended into anarchy, you know?” In an interview with Forbes in September 2021, he shared that cannabis legalization has “always been the right thing to do.” He’s currently running for Senator of Pennsylvania, the ballot window of which is approaching on May 17, 2022.
Courtesy of Shutterstock
Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader
On the congressional level, Chuck Schumer is a familiar name with those following the many attempts to make cannabis federally legal. He introduced a bill for federal decriminalization in June 2018, and federal legalization in May 2019. In April 2021, he was done waiting for President Joe Biden to take a stance on cannabis and was ready to bring a cannabis bill to the senate floor.
“We will move forward,” Schumer said. “[Biden] said he’s studying the issue, so [I] obviously want to give him a little time to study it. I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will. But at some point we’re going to move forward, period.” As of February 4 while attending a press conference, he stated that he will once again focus on introducing another bill to tackle the issue this April.
“In the coming weeks, we’re ramping up our outreach—and we expect to introduce final legislation. Our goal is to do it in April,” Schumer said at the press event. “Then we begin the nationwide push, spearheaded by New York, to get the federal law done. As majority leader, I can set priorities. This is a priority for me.”
Courtesy of Shutterstock
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US House of Representative of New York
The initials “AOC” have been seen in many headlines since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez assumed her office in January 2019. During this time, she has been a vocal advocate on many issues, including cannabis and psychedelic therapies. In July 2021, she advocated for an amendment to allow the further study of substances such as MDMA, psilocybin and ibogaine as a potential medical treatment for certain conditions.
In December 2021, Ocasio-Cortez and Congressman Dave Joyce introduced the HOPE (Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement) Act with the hopes of encouraging states to support cannabis expungement programs. “As we continue to advocate for the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, this bipartisan bill will provide localities the resources they need to expunge drug charges that continue to hold back Americans, disproportionately people of color, from employment, housing and other opportunity,” she said of the bill.
