14 Enchanting Things to Do in New Mexico

Discover why they call New Mexico “The Land of Enchantment” with these activities that are geared more for smoker-friendly tourists seeking a magical adventure. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in New Mexico in 2021. Even though adult-use cannabis is legal in New Mexico, there are still laws in place regulating cannabis from seed to consumption.

Speaking of cannabis, the High Times Cannabis Cup New Mexico: People’s Choice Edition 2023 is scheduled to take place Dec. 9 at the Rio Rancho Events Center in Albuquerque, with a headlining act from the iconic duo, Method Man and Redman. It’s here that anyone can be the judge to determine the best weed New Mexico has to offer.

Below we list must-see attractions in New Mexico that will keep you busy during your stay in the desert dreamland, where you can see the stars in the sky and get a taste of Southwestern art.

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International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell

Ufologists agree that Roswell is one of the top UFO hotspots on the planet. In 1947, an unidentified craft crashed into the ground in Roswell, and wreckage from a “flying disc” was recovered on the property of a local rancher. Local, typically credible papers ran with the story. The most logical first stop is the International UFO Museum and Research Center, and the tourist traps around it.

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The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum 

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is ground zero for the artist’s finest work with a collection of 3,000 pieces including 140 oil paintings, 700 drawings, and hundreds of other works. O’Keeffe was known for her powerfully direct approach to expressing the divine role of females, and she experimented with peyote. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum  located a few blocks northwest of the Santa Fe Plaza in downtown Santa Fe.

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Gila Cliff Dwellings

Nomads used the caves above Cliff Dweller Creek as temporary shelter about 1,000 years ago. In the late 1200s, people of the agricultural Mogollon (Southern Ancestral Pueblo) culture settled there, built rooms, crafted pottery, and raised children in the cliff dwellings for one or two generations. By approximately 1300, the Mogollon had moved on from the Gila Cliff Dwellings.

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The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Santa Fe is a very old city, especially by American standards. In 1598, the Spanish declared Santa Fe “New Spain” initially. While most of The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi was built in 1886, an older church used to exist on the same site, built in 1626, but was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Catholic or not, this cathedral has history. 

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New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science

The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque offers a fun and interactive experience. The museum’s new hall, titled Ancient Life, features hundreds of never-before-seen fossils. The Planetarium has a 55-foot Sky-Skan Definiti, full-dome theater which is great for edibles.

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Four Corners Monument

Here you can stand in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado—simultaneously. The location is marked by a granite and brass plaque and surrounded by flags representing the tribal nations and states that share the region. At the site, you’ll find vendors selling homemade jewelry, pottery, crafts, and art. The cost to visit this monument is $5 per person.

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Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway

Got a fear of heights? According to Trip Advisor, Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway is the state’s number one tourist destination. The tram takes visitors 2.7 miles and 10,378 feet up the Sandia Mountains. You can witness views of over 11,000 square miles of New Mexico from that vantage point.

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Taos Pueblo

Taos is home to art galleries, hot springs, spellbinding scenery and excellent skiing opportunities. Most notably, Pueblo adobe dwellings that have lasted over 1,000 years. In Taos, visitors can choose between several museums: The Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos Art Museum at Fechin House, and the Kit Carson House & Museum.

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Bandelier National Monument

With ruins that date back to 1150 CE, the Bandelier National Monument provides 33,000 acres of beautiful landscape, showing off New Mexico’s incredible natural wilderness. This includes homes carved into soft rock. You can see historical relics from the ancestral Pueblo tribes who built structures in the area for thousands of years.

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Petroglyph National Monument

Petroglyph National Monument is home to nearly 25,000 petroglyphs, 90% of which are believed to have been drawn by ancient Pueblo people. Many of the meanings behind the petroglyphs is unknown. Drivers will have to pay $1 per vehicle on weekdays and $2 on weekends. 

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White Sands National Park

Forget the Sahara Desert: White Sands National Park is a stunning dune-filled region located within the Tularosa Basin and it happens to be home to the earth’s largest gypsum dune field. More than 73,000 acres of white sand stretch out all the way to the horizon. 

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Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is home to over 100 limestone caves. You can choose between two underground trails, The Big Room Trail and the Natural Entrance Trail. The former is the most popular route, taking visitors through one of the largest cave chambers in North America. You can witness 400,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats exit the cave in search of food each evening. 

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Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Yet another Pueblo site, Chaco Culture National Historical Park was given its name in 2013 . No permanent outdoor lighting exists in order to protect nocturnal wildlife and the natural rhythms of humans and plants that depend on an unaltered night sky. Within the park, visitors can see evidence of the huge structures built by the Ancestral Pueblo people between 850 and 1250 AD.

High Times Cannabis Cup New Mexico: People’s Choice Edition 2023

Or you can attend the High Times Cannabis Cup New Mexico: People’s Choice Edition 2023.

A live awards show is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Rio Rancho Events Center in Albuquerque. The event will be headlined by Method Man and Redman, who will be joined by Devin the Dude, Paul Wall, Haizi Haze, and Lil’ Flip. New Mexico’s own will judge the cannabis and products that will prove their worth.

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Man in Minnesota Offers Free Grow Classes to the Public

A man in Minnesota is providing free growing and cannabis basics workshops—free to the public—to help people get a foot in the door of the industry. Minnesota allows home cultivation under its recently approved adult-use cannabis law, and residents are eager to see if they have a green thumb.

Minnesota adults are allowed to grow up to eight plants, four mature. Growing cannabis takes years of experience to master, but you gotta start somewhere. 

Inforum reports that Steve Rosenfeldt, who is the owner of Ediblez OTC in Moorhead, Minnesota, wants to share his expertise with the plant to others. Rosenfeldt is hosting monthly Cannabis 101 and Growing 101 Workshops, held on the last Tuesday of each month at the Midtown Tavern in Moorhead.

Locals say the skills they’re picking up will be valuable.

“Really nice to be able to learn how to grow your own and not have to go to the store,” Jamie Carrillo, who was one of 40 people to attend the most recent workshop held on Nov. 28, told Inforum.

Inforum reports that it’s the third class Rosenfeldt has taught so far. Each class attracted dozens of curious would-be growers of all ages, and some are reluctant to grow due to the lingering stigma surrounding pot.

“There’s still a lot of stigma, people are skittish of even being seen in here, so it was kind of a surprise to have as many people turn out,” he said.

Rosenfeldt is legally allowed to sell seeds that can grow cannabis at his store, but he cannot yet sell marijuana products. The store instead sells hemp-derived CBD and THC products. The seeds cost around $30 or $40, and it takes about four months for the seedlings to become mature plants.

Adult-use Cannabis in Minnesota

Last May, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed the state’s cannabis legalization bill into law, officially making Minnesota the 23rd state in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis.

The 300-page bill allows adults in the state over the age of 21 to use recreational cannabis and looks to transform the current illicit market into regulated, state-licensed businesses around the state. It specifically creates a new regulatory framework to license cannabis businesses to cultivate, manufacture and sell cannabis at retail dispensaries. There are a total of 12 different business licenses a person can apply for in the recreational market, along with additional licenses for medical cannabis.

The legislation also expunges low-level cannabis convictions. The new law will automatically expunge non-felony cannabis offenses, and it will establish a board to review more serious cannabis crimes.

The bill was designed with social equity in mind, granting social equity status to military veterans or active service members denied honorable status because of a cannabis offense, farmers from underrepresented communities and residents of areas which have “experienced a disproportionately large amount of cannabis enforcement.”

The industry is overseen by the Office of Cannabis Management, which controls the regulation and sale of cannabis products in Minnesota.

Home Cultivation Limit

When Minnesota legalized cannabis for adult use, it set the home limit at 32 ounces or 2 pounds. But out in public, Minnesota adults are allowed up to 2 ounces. The legislation allows adults to grow up to eight cannabis plants at home, including four mature, flowering plants.

Out of the states that have legalized cannabis for adult use, the limit for personal amounts at home in some states ranges from 1-10 ounces. Most states with home cultivation don’t have any limits set.

“The vast majority of adult use states that allow home cultivation don’t have any explicit limit,” NORML Political Director Morgan Fox told High Times at the time. “And most of them explicitly say that you can keep whatever you grow in your own home. There are four states aside from Minnesota that actually have set limits. Massachusetts has 10 ounces, Michigan has 10 ounces, Oregon is eight ounces and New York is 5 pounds.”

“If you’re gonna put a limit on it, I think it’s a good idea to have it towards the higher end of the spectrum and possible so that you can avoid potentially criminalizing people that are growing their own medicine or growing cannabis for their own purposes, but who are trying not to transfer to anybody else, you know, they’re not trying to gift it out, and certainly don’t want to be selling it.

Local business owners in the area, however, said that they predict 99% of consumers in the state aren’t going to have a need for 2 pounds of cannabis at home, and if they do, they will probably sell it illegally. 

Despite having the higher limit, industry insiders say it’s not enough for the state’s four-plant home grow limit.

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Planted in the Culture

As cannabis came out of the dark ages, brothers Daniel and Bryan Eatmon, aka Old E and Bleezy, of Mendo Dope gave the world one of its first insider glimpses into the Emerald Triangle. Sure we had Weed Wars, a limited reality show series that debuted in 2011, but not long after, Mendo Dope started giving us an authentic look at the hill in between the tunes and very reputable cannabis they were growing.

Old E and Bleezy popped their first cannabis seeds in the valleys of Mendocino County, California in 2006. That was still very much the dark ages of the Bush administration era, but compared to what was going on in the neighborhood they didn’t have a lot to worry about with their single plant.

“It was in our mom’s backyard. From there, we gradually got to grow a couple more plants the next year, and a couple more plants for the next year, until we really got our own spot and were able to do our first patch,” Old E told High Times. “It was like 12 or like maybe 15 plants.”

As they continued to get more dialed in, the plant size jumped before the plant count did. Many people considered that the safer course of action back in the day. They would start growing the monsters that they have become famous for over the last 11 years, starting in 2012.

During all this development on the cannabis side, things were also pumping along on the music side as they shared the culture they were raised in through their tunes.

“The tunes and the cannabis have been side by side from the beginning,” Old E said. “Back before we grew our first seed I was into freestyling with some friends back in high school, working on a little bit of music and such. But our first actual underground album, NOYB Boys, came out in 2007.”

Their debut album featured photos of their first grow. The duo still remembers the seeds for those first plants well.

“It was out of a bud that we got from somebody that was kinda unknown,” Old E said. “We didn’t even know what the strain was. When we harvested it, it was a really dark purple strain. It was beautiful. It’s one of those strains where you’re like, man, I wish we knew what we were doing back then. We could have saved the clone because we didn’t even have any idea what we were dealing with. But it was some really killer stuff. We just called it Backyard Purp.”

High Times Magazine, October 2023

The Raid

But pretty soon they were far removed from that one plant. By 2012 they weren’t just growing monsters in huge pots but had also maxed out their plant count to 25. At the time, that was the medical limit in Mendocino County and considered “the number” if you were going to play it safer than some of the bigger gardens or properties with multiple gardens spread across them.

They crushed it in 2012. But they were already at the 25-plant limit. They went into 2013 with the same plan, continuing to cultivate in their new spot in Mendo. The count remained the same, but the plants got even bigger.

“So the next season 2013, we lose our biggest garden up to that date. It was killing it. We’re having so much fun. It was when we first got to start hanging out with Subcool and filmed for The Weed Nerd. And that was the year that we got raided,” Old E said. “You know it took all this time to build up to finally have this epic garden. That was the biggest one we had. And they chopped it all and took it away from us.”

That 25-plant garden was supposed to be a legal medical grow. All the paperwork was in order as far as Senate Bill 420 was concerned and the Attorney General guidelines that were released in 2008. The bill and guidelines provided growers with the best roadmap to being compliant at the tail end of California’s medical era.

“The house that it was at, it was definitely not out in the hills. It was really close to the freeway. It was in a residential area. So we had a couple of houses that borderline right on our fence line,” Old E said while noting that the neighbors weren’t the issue. “And so it wasn’t an ideal spot to have a whole backyard full of greenery, but we were operating under the laws and under guidelines as well. We are under the impression we were operating in compliance with everything.”

Thankfully the duo had already started making a name for themselves in the wider cannabis community at that point and the community was there to support them. Old E couldn’t emphasize enough how awesome it was watching people help them get back on their feet because they knew they shared the love of the plant with them. Subcool would play a big role in helping get word out about the situation.

“We had weed nerds reaching out from all over the place. I mean, out of the country, people all over the states and they just wrote us and say, ‘Hey, man, you guys need anything? I can send you guys some seeds if you guys need some herbs,’” Old E said. “People were sending us care packages left and right. And it was like such a boost of energy and just positive vibes and that made us like survive through the struggle because we had put everything into the garden. And we lost everything.”

The raid happened at the end of the season on Oct. 10. Commonly referred to as Croptober in the Emerald Triangle, the state agencies that came were looking for the biggest plants possible. They make for the best photo ops.

Daniel Eatmon “Old E” (Center) and Bryan Eatmon “Bleezy” (Right) show off their fresh harvest with a friend. Photo courtesy Mendo Dope.

An Organic Education

In the process of the raid drama and then starting over with a small personal patch at the family home to get things going again, the duo realized they wanted to spend more time helping people understand that they were growing these monster trees organically. The pair thought if they can grow six plants without law enforcement messing with them that they should. But they wanted to grow absolutely massive plants, film it all, and show other people exactly how they did it.

“So that’s what kind of started off the whole How to Grow Mendo Dope series that we did on YouTube, which led to actually filming a couple of How to Grow DVDs. And it just started just coming back into growing very small gardens but doing big plants,” Old E said.

Vanilla creme fraiche. Photo courtesy Mendo Dope.

Looking Towards Legality

As this was all going down, they were starting to see the writing on the wall that legalization was right around the corner. The pair’s first impression was that it looked pretty scary. They knew it was only a matter of time before big corporate entities with plenty of resources and money were coming.

“Small farmers like us that have been up in the mountains, not a lot of us are just like sitting on a lot of money,” Old E said. “We love this plant so much and we helped so many people with it. And it’s our job. We’re farmers, you know, so this is a circle of things that we put back into the community, living off the land and supporting ourselves with farming. So we knew that this was about to be a very tough transition.”

They knew plenty of people that didn’t want the cannabis industry to go legal. And they knew when it did get legalized, it wasn’t likely to be in a way that worked for everyone. They understood that cannabis wasn’t being legalized so farmers could make more medicine, it was so people could make money.

Old E and Bleezy didn’t plan on being caught off guard or missing out on the moment. They prepped for it by trying to build out their brand to show people what they were all about.

“We wanted to stay true to what we were doing and who we were and we wanted to let people know that we’re going to always be doing it this style,” Old E said. “This is why we’re in this game. Because we have a love for the plant. We have a passion for this and this true natural medicine. So we just started to take people into our life, into the culture that we represented, that we live. We’re submerged in it out here. So we just started kind of building our Mendo Dope brand and showing people who we were and what we’re all about.”

During all those trials and tribulations, Mendo Dope music continued to pick up. They found themselves back on a firm footing by 2015. They would release their Live in the Garden album, which was recorded in the garden, that year.

Heady OG. Photo courtesy Mendo Dope

Finding Phenos

Mendo Dope kept picking things up between 2016 and 2017 as the implementation of Prop. 64 edged closer and eventually, they got the garden back up to about 20 plants.

While their property was dope, the particular residential zoning they found themselves in wouldn’t fly for a legal farm. They weren’t looking for a mountainside or an acre, they just really wanted to be able to grow at home. The news was brutal.

Back then when people received that kind of news they had three options. The first was to pick up and move. There are certainly folks that changed their lives a lot to get a property they could grow at. The second is just to keep pumping it on the underground market. Most of the small- to medium-size growers still in the underground haven’t had a lot of problems post-legalization haven’t had a lot of problems. The third and final option was to just give up.

Mendo Dope was not going to give up. They decided to work in collaboration with Greenshock Farms for a few years. During all this they also started their breeding program in 2017 after Subcool bred their own strain for them. During a conversation with Subcool in 2016 they mentioned that they had found a Locomotion pheno that they believed was the right lady to get things going. But they weren’t sure what direction they wanted to head in with the male, and Subcool recommended using his Querkle male.

“We were intrigued right away and were like ‘Let’s get it going,’” Old E said. “We created the Mendo Dope with Subcool. That was our very first intro into breeding, our first strain, and it really opened up our minds. It was so fun and it was so exciting breaking down these buds and hearing all these seeds hit the table and then growing them out and finding phenos.”

This was their creation and they felt like it was taking their personal experience to a whole new level. Sadly, much of the stockpile of seeds was lost when Subcool’s home was destroyed during the wildfires of 2017 that devastated Northern California, but Mendo Dope wasn’t going to let the fire stop their breeding goals.

“We knew we had to get back on it,” Old E said. “We got some Querkle seeds, we popped them, we found a new male and we did it again. And this time we created them at our house in our indoor room and we had the first batch of Mendo Dope seeds that we did all at our own spot actually. I believe that it had to be 2018.”

These days Mendo Dope is still growing on the same hill they moved to after first leaving the valleys of Mendocino for its higher elevations. We asked what the differences were between cultivating in Mendocino’s different microclimates.

“Well, the valley is a lot hotter. I mean, it was definitely a big change in the temperature. And down in the valley we get no coastal breeze at all, you know that shit burns off before it comes down that final hill to us,” Old E said. “So up here it’s really cool. Like, just the climate is definitely different. Certain strains that we’ve actually grown down the valley and ended up here. It’s really cool to see how different they perform only being 40 minutes away from each other. There are so many differences in strains when you grow [them] in different locations. It brings out different characteristics and different terpene profiles with the soil that it’s in, [and] with the root system that it’s intertwined.”

Expect Mendo Dope to have a massive year in 2023. Their 2022 phenohunt will serve as the building blocks of their attempt to get Mendo Dope flowers into the hands of more people, coming off a terpene award in association with a concentrate made from their flowers at 2023 Emerald Cup where science dictated they had the best terps in the world’s premier cannabis contest. They also plan on dropping their next album Planters of The Trees 2 on Oct. 10, the 10-year anniversary of the raid.

This story was originally published in the October 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.

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Beastie Mode

Mix Master Mike shot the intro scene to the Beastie Boys’s “Three MCs and One DJ” video 10 times over the course of eight hours in 1998. He would begin by walking from a coffee shop in New York City to the Beastie Boys’s “secret” rehearsal space—which he says was “basically a dungeon”—wearing a Ghostbusters proton pack he’d picked up from a Hollywood prop shop and a NASA spacesuit. MCA (Adam Yauch), Mike D (Michael Diamond), and Ad-Rock (Adam Horowitz) didn’t expect that, but this was Mix Master Mike’s first video with the Beasties and he wanted to make an impression. 

“They had no fucking idea I was coming in with that,” Mix Master Mike tells High Times.“To see their faces when I walked in with that jetpack for the first time, they were like, ‘Yeah, he’s awesome.’ I needed something that was gonna stick in everyone’s minds.” 

It took Mix Master Mike, whose real name is Michael Schwartz, almost two minutes to walk from the coffee shop and down the six flights of stairs to the room where Beasties were patiently waiting for him to put the needle on the record. Mike later found out they ended up using the first take, which makes him wonder if the nine extra takes was their way of hazing him. After all, these are the same guys who toured with a giant inflatable penis during the Licensed To Ill era and essentially made debauchery into a full-time (and very lucrative) job. But Mike didn’t care—he was just happy to be along for the ride.

Mix Master Mike, a founding member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz turntablist crew and DMC World DJ Champion, was crab scratching his way into becoming the fourth Beastie. When he was asked to contribute to 1998’s Hello Nasty, the trio’s fourth studio album, he seized the opportunity to really show them what he could do. It would prove to be one the Beasties’ biggest albums, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with more than 681,000 copies sold in its opening week. It was almost like the Beastie Boys were getting a second chance. 

Following the juggernaut that was Licensed To Ill, the Beastie Boys next two albums—Paul’s Boutique (1989) and Check Your Head (1992)—didn’t quite have the same impact as their predecessor. In fact, Paul’s Boutique was considered a “flop” upon its arrival. But by the mid-’90s, it seemed they started to hit their stride again. Ill Communication, released in 1994, landed at No. 1 and the Beasties were back on the proverbial top. Hello Nasty took it to an astronomical level, but Mike never anticipated that kind of success.

“I didn’t really think about none of that,” he remembers. “When I was in the studio with them, I was just liking what we were making. I was liking every song that we made and I was just like, ‘Man, this is awesome. I’m in a fucking dream right now.’ I just didn’t know it was gonna come with all this extra shit until we until we did the first show and I was like, ‘Oh fuck. This album is huge.’” 

Mike was also busy promoting his own solo record, Anti-Theft Device, and he admits it was “a lot to take in.” 

Hello Nasty turned 25 on July 14, so Mike has been reflecting on the making of the album more so than usual—despite having the platinum plaques in his house as constant reminders. Mike, a San Francisco native, holed up in New York for a month while they were recording it—and cannabis may or may not have been consumed along the way (wink). 

Courtesy Mix Master Mike

“There might have been,” Mike says. “There were times when we would go out on the balcony, and I mean, some of it was heavily weed influenced, but it was just more internal excitement on my end that we were together. But yeah, there were a lot of joints, a lot of Zig-Zags [laughs]. I don’t know, but they probably smoked when they wrote ‘Three MCs.’ I remember being in the studio with Mario C [producer] when we did all the tracking for ‘Three MCs,’ and the guys disappeared. They said, ‘OK, we’re gonna go drive around and write lyrics.’ They probably did smoke. When they came back, they were [rapping], ‘I’ve got the D double O, D double O style.’” 

At the time, Mix Master Mike wasn’t exactly a member of the Beastie Boys—at least not yet. DJ Hurricane, who began DJing for the group in 1986, was still considered part of the crew and heavily involved in the creation of both Check Your Head and Ill Communication. At one point, they had to have a serious conversation with both DJs. 

“It’s kind of like a situation where after the Hello Nasty recording session, the guys brought me into one of the sound rooms,” he recalls. “We all sat on the floor and it was me, Adam, Adam H., and Mike. They were so happy with how the process came about and they asked me to become their DJ in that moment.” 

But then Mike’s thoughts turned to DJ Hurricane—what would they tell him? 

“I was just like, ‘Oh shit,’” he continues. “Being the empath I am, I was like, ‘What about Cane?’ And they’re like, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll tell Cane. I’m like, ‘OK cool.’ It was a situation where I said I was gonna take them to the next level when it comes to this department [DJing]. A couple of weeks after that session, they called Cane and let him know. I’m sure he was pretty heartbroken, but they told me Cane was more into rapping and was working on a solo album, so he’d be OK.” 

Mix Master Mike wound up contributing to 2004’s To The 5 Boroughs, 2007’s The Mix-Up and 2011’s Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Between The Mix-Up and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, MCA was diagnosed with cancer. In 2012, Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but MCA was too sick to attend. 

“We really didn’t care, like none of us really cared about it,” he says. “We’re just going with it. Actually, the boys were gangster about that situation. They were asked to be part of the Rock Hall two, three years prior, and they denied it. I thought, ‘Wow, you guys are probably the only dudes that have denied the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honor. It was gangster.” 

MCA died a short time later on May 4, 2012, leaving the Beastie Boys in shambles—not just because the Beastie Boys would now cease to exist as a hip-hop group but because they lost their best friend. Over the last 11 years, Mike D and Ad-Rock haven’t made any more albums as the Beastie Boys, but they did release the Beastie Boys Book in 2018 and the accompanying documentary, Beastie Boys Story, in 2020. Mike, in the meantime, has done massive stadium tours with Metallica and Godsmack, released a slew of projects—both solo and collaborative—and is currently working on a documentary about his journey. 

“I’m just working,” he says. “I’m working on scoring my documentary and getting and compiling all this footage. I’m getting my story together and doing an audiobook as well. I made 70 tracks during the pandemic, so I’m sitting on three or four albums right now. I’m just waiting for the right time to release them. But it’s crazy because my story just keeps going. I’m not done here.” 

This story was originally published in the October 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.

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University of Utah to Open Medical Cannabis Center, Seeks DEA Approval

Researchers at the oldest college in Utah are opening a medical cannabis research center and seeking for a DEA-approved grow site in order to overcome some of the regulatory hurdles. 

On Nov. 21, the University of Utah announced the launch of the new center and its initiative. University of Utah Health, in partnership with the state of Utah, launched a new research initiative to push forward the scientific understanding of medical cannabis and help patients and providers make better informed health decisions.

In the years following the launch of the Utah Medical Cannabis Program, Utah State Legislation identified a great need for more medical cannabis research to catch up with the growing number of unproven medical claims. To do this, and fund the center, the Utah State Legislature approved House Bill 230, and it was signed by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on March 15.

High Times reported last March that the University of Utah confirmed that it’s starting the early planning phases to build a Center for Medical Cannabis Research. On July 1, the University of Utah established the Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR) to create research opportunities to support the efficacious application of cannabis in our state.

Could the center help provide evidence to support medical claims in the future? “The Center for Medical Cannabis Research is focused on creating opportunities for researchers to have the necessary support to begin answering these types of questions,” Valerie Ahanonu, B.S., senior manager of CMCR, told High Times in an email.

“As cultural views on cannabis have shifted and states have opened access to patients seeing benefits with medical cannabis, research within the field has been a leading proponent to bolstering or dispelling these claims. From epilepsy to oncological supportive care, we have seen research bring to light aspects of safe cannabis use that address patients’ needs and identify risks surrounding cannabis use as well.”

Ahanonu continued, “The CMCR plans to be a hub for translational research that through pilot grants, funds collaborative studies and trials that not only focus on advancing our understanding of evidence based medical cannabis outcomes, but also focuses on addressing the standards and quality of medical cannabis products made available to patients. By creating a network of multidimensional researchers working collectively we hope to inspire a bench to bedside model that advances the overall understanding of the therapeutic benefits and risks of medical cannabis.”

The CMCR listed several core strategies to achieve this goal:

• Supporting research about medical cannabis within the University of Utah and statewide
• Improving patient, provider, and pharmacist education about cannabis risks and benefits
• Working to instate an DEA-approved grow site for research-grade medical cannabis

Local leaders are hopeful. “This is one of the premier research institutions in the nation,” said Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, MBA, who represents District 22. Dailey-Provost sponsored the bill that funds the CMCR. “We couldn’t ask for a better place to keep the heart of a meaningful research program than the University of Utah.”

Dailey-Provost is a doctoral candidate in public health at University of Utah Health, and believes the university is well-equipped to handle this type of research, and she also recognizes the great need for more data. “We keep hearing from providers that they just don’t have enough information to comfortably recommend this for patients,” Dailey-Provost says. “What we ultimately need is reliable, evidence-based research information on the medication that we are already offering to patients in the state of Utah.”

Jerry Cochran, M.S.W., Ph.D., interim director for the CMCR, describes the spectrum of research the center will support as “bench to bedside.” Starting with pilot grants to help scientists begin projects on medical cannabis, the CMCR will promote research ranging from chemical characterization of the active components of cannabis through to late-stage clinical trials. 

The center will partner with the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah to create educational materials to inform the public about medical cannabis. The Genetic Science Learning Center will develop materials designed to help reach patients and providers with the knowledge to make informed decisions. 

The CMCR also plans to work with the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library to produce an accessible database of the most rigorous and up-to-date information in the field.

Hurdles of Medical Cannabis in the U.S.

The center acknowledges the roadblocks they face as medical cannabis research is hampered due to the federal status of cannabis. “One significant hurdle to cannabis research is the limited supply of research-grade medical cannabis, especially from sites that are approved by the DEA,” the university reported.  “The CMCR aims to eliminate this bottleneck by supporting the establishment of an DEA-approved cannabis grow site for research.”

Setting the stage for change in the way medical cannabis research is hampered at the federal level, on Dec. 2, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the “Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, H.R. 8454,” (the Cannabis Research Bill).

In Utah, medical cannabis patients began applying for ID cards on July 4, 2019, and medical cannabis cultivation began in summer of 2020. Regulators finally issued dispensary licenses in Jan. 2020, about one year and two months after the law passed. Medical cannabis sales began in October 2020, about two years after voters approved the law. 

But doctors in Utah are reluctant to give out recommendations for medical cannabis as they know it has been marketed as a cure-all and that there are many unproven medical claims. “In certain circles, medical cannabis is being pushed as a cure-all, but I think it’s going to help certain things and not others,” Cochran said in the news release. “Science needs to take the lead in this area so that we continue to help people.”

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source https://hightimes.com/news/university-of-utah-to-open-medical-cannabis-center-seeks-dea-approval/

From the Makers of the VOLCANO – The Breathtaking New VENTY

1. A Game-Changing Vaporizer

German innovation has once again taken center stage with STORZ & BICKEL’s introduction of the VENTY, one of the highest-performing portable vaporizers on the market. As the world’s only medically certified manufacturers of vaporizers and makers of the iconic VOLCANO series, STORZ & BICKEL have come up with truly game-changing features for the new slim, fast, and customizable VENTY. Jürgen Bickel, founder and managing director, introduced the breathtaking new portable device in the company’s latest keynote on October 17^th.

©Andi Singer www.andisinger.net

2. Unmatched Speed: Ready When You Are

The first and probably most interesting standout feature of the VENTY is its lightning-fast heat-up time. Equipped with two powerful Li-ion batteries, an intelligent software design, and an innovative mini-heater, STORZ & BICKEL’s new powerhouse reaches the desired temperature within an unmatched 20 seconds. This promises minimal waiting and a seamless vaping experience. About the use of the VENTY, Jürgen Bickel stated: “It technically still is a session vaporizer, but it comes very close to an on-demand device. I just turn it on while walking down the stairs, and the VENTY is always ready for powerful, spontaneous, and discreet moments.” With this astonishingly short heat-up time in a portable device, the German manufacturer and market leader is indeed breaking records, unleashing potential.

©Andi Singer www.andisinger.net

3. Find Your Sweet Spot

Distinguishing itself from competitors and giving users full control over their vaporizing experience, STORZ & BICKEL engineered the first portable vaporizer of its kind to offer an adjustable airflow. Moreover, the VENTY is one of the highest-performing portable devices on the market, with an impressive maximum of 20 liters of air per minute. STORZ & BICKEL thereby nearly doubled the amount of cool, tasty vapor in comparison to its predecessor and all-time throne holder, the MIGHTY+. The VENTY’s customizable airflow settings ensure an exceptionally low draw resistance while allowing users to tailor each session to their exact preferences. On top of that, the VENTY includes a newly developed flowmeter that measures the negative pressure of the inhalation and dynamically adjusts the heating to match the draw. This results in consistent and excellent vapor production, no matter the intensity of the inhalation. These new features, combined with the VENTY’s temperature precision, which is modifiable and visible for the user directly on the device, make it as easy as it has never been before to find your own personal sweet spot.

©Andi Singer www.andisinger.net

4. Smart, Sturdy, Sleek: Setting New Standards, Again

STORZ & BICKEL, never shy about groundbreaking innovations, re-designed their patented convection and conduction heater and cooling technology for the VENTY. Moreover, the company came up with a new and, so far, the most sophisticated heating management system these pioneers have ever built. The re-shaped Cooling Unit and housing encapsulating the heater are made of medical-grade PEEK – a material used in medical engineering and aerospace. The ingeniously efficient new mini heater provides the fastest heat-up time of any STORZ & BICKEL vaporizer so far. It consists of an electrifiable, thus heated, wire around the heating block with holes in its center, through which air is drawn. At its maximum stage, the VENTY boasts a maximum power usage of 130 Watts at 16 Amps and therefore exceeds the currently highest-performing portable vaporizer from STORZ & BICKEL – the MIGHTY+, with a maximum of 40 Watts – by far, setting new industry standards again. The smart new VENTY supports Bluetooth and is customizable with the STORZ & BICKEL Web App. Various settings can be accessed and adjusted, like the desired temperature from 40°C – 210°C (104°F – 410°F), two pre-set Booster temperatures, the display’s brightness, vibration settings, and an ECO-charge mode. The new device allows users to modify the vaporizer to their personal taste, while software updates over the air can be implemented – all from the convenience of their smartphones. Crafted according to the high standards for medically certified manufacturers, the VENTY guarantees superior quality in performance and endurance. Therefore, it complements an active lifestyle, offering a breath of fresh adventure, whether on a mountain peak or oceanside. The VENTY is splash-proof, all materials are food-safe, and the housing is non-heat-conductive, making it touch-proof, despite the power unleashed inside this smart, sturdy, and sleek device.

Courtesy STORZ & BICKEL

5. Quality Made in Germany 

STORZ & BICKEL is the unattained global leading brand for high-end vaporizers and is truly unique as the world’s first medically certified manufacturer of vaporizers. Based in Tuttlingen, Germany, STORZ & BICKEL continuously drives the advancement of vaporization technology, providing a safe and efficient means of consuming cannabis for medical as well as recreational purposes. For more than 20 years, the company and their commitment to quality, innovation, and compliance have consistently delivered exceptional products that meet and exceed the highest industry standards. From the iconic VOLCANO series to the new portable VENTY, the state-of-the-art vaporizers of STORZ & BICKEL, Made in Germany, seamlessly blend reliable innovative technology with timeless elegance and promise an elevated everyday vaporization experience.

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source https://hightimes.com/sponsored/from-the-makers-of-the-volcano-the-breathtaking-new-venty/

Green Wednesday Adult-Use Cannabis Surpassed $9 Million in Sales

The day before Thanksgiving, often referred to as “Green Wednesday” in the cannabis industry, saw a record number of sales once again. According to data collected by Jane Technologies, recreational sales on Nov. 22 reached $9,209,061.73—an 18.12% increase from Green Friday sales data in 2022, which landed at $7,795,803,80 last year.

Adult-use cannabis sales on Nov. 22 had also increased by 90.5% in comparison to sales on the three previous Wednesdays, including Nov. 1, Nov. 8, and Nov. 15, which collected a total of $4,833,890.74.

In products for Green Wednesday sales, flower led the way with the most sales, clocking in at $3,352,845.91, followed by vape-related products at $2,533,166.62, edibles at $1,207,840.33, pre-rolls at $963,026.92, and lastly, extracts with $448,520.89.

According to its website, Jane Technologies serves dispensaries in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. Among these, the states with the highest sales revenue included Illinois ($2,868,215.31), California ($1,084,388.39), New Jersey ($880,127.66), Maryland ($758,727.23), and Washington ($709,599.95).

Jane Technologies CEO and Cofounder, Socrates Rosenfeld, said in a press statement to Business of Cannabis that the cannabis industry’s future is continuing to grow.  “As we approach 2024, the US cannabis industry finds itself at an exciting point in time. With the government’s recent actions on issues like SAFER and rescheduling, the end of cannabis prohibition has never felt closer to becoming a reality,” Rosenfeld said in a press release. “With future consumer growth expected to be exponential and large mainstream brands anticipated to enter the space, current Industry operators must continue to invest in scalable solutions to remain competitive.”

Medical cannabis sales on Green Wednesday, however, continue to drop. While medical sales reached $8,166,102.75, it was an 11.1% decline compared to last year’s sales at $9,191,493.38.

Product popularity was similar to that of adult use sales, with a slight variation. Medical cannabis flowers reached $3,922,135.11, followed by vape-related products at $2,174,895.66, edibles at $896,241.66, extracts $592,565.12, and lastly, pre-rolls at $327,542.51.

The states with the highest collection of sales varies a bit more than that of the adult-use sales, with Pennsylvania in the lead ($2,577,176.05), followed by Florida ($1,229,439.36), Ohio ($756,845.71), Maryland ($585,176.82), and Virginia ($561,534.87).

Black Friday reports are still rolling in, but traffic was high in many markets. Reports from Michigan show long lines and interest for special deals, according to Levels general manager Drew McCarthy. “Black Friday is a big stressful day, after a big stressful day,” said McCarthy. “So, we wanted to give back to people and be able to have them not just take back the product they bought, but something extra to go and share with people around them and kind of go and promote that holiday spirit.” 

According to BDSA data analyst Brendan Mitchel-Chesebro, Black Friday weekend continues  to reflect increased interest and traffic. “Black Friday consistently experiences the highest surge in cannabis sales of any holiday, other than 420,” Brendan Mitchel-Chesebro said, according to The Fresh Toast. “These insights are important for retailers looking to optimize their holiday strategies. By preparing for increased foot traffic with increased staff and an ample supply of popular products instead of leaning into promotions, retailers will win with consumers this holiday season.”

Green Wednesday and Black Friday continue to be one of the major cannabis sales holidays of the year. This year, some state cannabis agencies joined in to promote sales and support. The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) posted on social media to deter black market sales and encourage legal sales. “Don’t follow the hordes of shoppers today! Friday shop smart, shop licensed cannabis,” DCC wrote online. “To find your nearest licensed retailer please visit: https://search.cannabis.ca.gov/retailers.”

The New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) shared efforts to support cannabis dispensaries as small businesses.” While you grab some #BlackFriday deals, take a note from #NYCCB member, Hope Knight and support #SmallBusinessSaturdays at one of your local dispensaries,” OCM wrote. 

Additionally in Connecticut on Thanksgiving Day, liquor stores were closed and other stores that sell alcohol and were open on that day were not permitted to sell alcohol. However, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection issued a notice stating that cannabis sales are permitted on Thanksgiving.

The holiday season is also the time of year we begin to see cannabis brands offering support to local communities. Puff Cannabis handed out an estimated 2,500 turkeys this year for people in need, which was twice the amount that the brand gave out in 2022. “The goal of Puff Cannabis Company from the beginning has been to offer top- notch cannabis products while building a knowledgeable and customer-focused team,” said Puff Cannabis founder Justin Elias. “We are honored to have grown to 12 dispensary locations throughout Michigan in only four years, with many locations on tap to open in 2024.”

MariMed, which operates in Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, and Delaware, announced that it would be donating 800 turkeys this year as well. “Doing our part to support the communities we serve is an important part of MariMed’s mission to improve people’s lives every day,” said MariMed CEO Jon Levine. “This is the third consecutive year of our Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, which has become a wonderful tradition that our entire MariMed family rallies behind. We’re proud that we can help ease the financial burden for so many people at this time of year.”

The post Green Wednesday Adult-Use Cannabis Surpassed $9 Million in Sales appeared first on High Times.

source https://hightimes.com/business/green-wednesday-adult-use-cannabis-surpassed-9-million-in-sales/