O Cannabis!
by Karima Rizk | Jun 4, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, O Cannabis!
On May 20, three adults collapsed in a Cape Cod restaurant after trying edibles for the first time and apparently took a relatively high dose. One woman fainted and her two companions were soon lying semi-conscious on the ground. While the unfortunate incident is not...
by Lisa Spear | May 21, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, O Cannabis!
Patrick Baker, 29, works as a desktop support contractor for a health insurance company in a skyscraper in Springfield. During his lunch break, he slips away, heads down the stairwell straight for an empty closet on an empty floor. Still wearing his buttoned down...
by Karima Rizk | Apr 16, 2019 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, O Cannabis!
The legalization of adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts has ushered in a brave new world for adult past times, including a first for many of us — the opportunity to legally grow cannabis outdoors. Massachusetts state law allows for adults to cultivate up to six plants...
by Chris Goudreau | Jul 26, 2018 | Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
The Great New England Marijuana Accessories Swap Meet will be “like an Antique’s Roadshow for bongs.” According to Jeff Bianchine, director of the Holyoke Creative Arts Center, which will benefit from the fundraiser event, potentially hundreds of...
by Meg Bantle | Jul 12, 2018 | Columns, Featured, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Most people, even non-cannabis smokers, could pretty easily recognize two parts of the cannabis plant: the flower, or bud, that is dried and sold for consumption, and the fan shaped leaves that are often used in advertisements. An important aspect of turning the...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 27, 2018 | Columns, Featured, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Chris Hubbard has been crafting artisanal glass pipes for marijuana smokers with his Florence-based business Akame Glass for more than a decade and thinks the stigma against weed-related glassblowing is shifting, and his industry is starting to be legitimized by the...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 12, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Local marijuana businesses — and federal legislators — are supporting bipartisan legislation that would leave marijuana regulation up to the states, a change from the blanket federal prohibition now in place. That’s a positive sign for Easthampton resident Karima...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 7, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
In a show of bipartisan support for clarity around marijuana laws, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado held a joint press conference about a bill they are sponsoring to allow states to make their own decisions...
by Chris Goudreau | May 31, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
A new start-up cannabis business called Treeworks is taking a grassroots approach to the burgeoning legalized marijuana industry in Massachusetts by working out of a home kitchen to develop a line of locally sourced products, including cannabis oils, edibles such as...
by Meg Bantle | May 18, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
The big scissors were out in Amherst this week as the CEO of the national company Green Thumb Industries (GTI) cut the ribbon in front of the town’s first medical marijuana dispensary, called RISE Amherst. Despite being based in Chicago, Pete Kadens, director and CEO...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 27, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
What does cannabis taste like? Many people might describe it as earthy, pungent, or bitter. According to Joe Nelson, 29, of Plymouth, one of the chefs and co-founders of Mass Cannabis Chefs, the idea that all cannabis tastes the same is a misconception. “It’s...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 20, 2018 | Articles, Cannabis!, Columns, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
If any day could be called National Marijuana Day, it’s 4/20. Cannabis consumers are celebrating an exciting year for cannabis in Massachusetts with the first recreational marijuana licenses already approved, but many people, particularly in communities of color, are...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 13, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
April 20 (4/20) can be an auspicious day for cannabis-related businesses. But this year, some of them will see their bank accounts abruptly closed. Citizens Bank, based in Providence, Rhode Island, informed an unknown number of customers with connections to the...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 10, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Slow, meditative breathing is an important part of most yoga classes, but at Chronic Trips’ first cannabis-friendly yoga class on April 7, there was also a different kind of inhaling going on. “We want to reduce the stigma of the lazy stoner,” said Chronic Trips owner...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 2, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Adult-use cannabis was legalized by Massachusetts voters in 2016, but based on the number of moratoriums and bans that have passed across the state since then, it’s clear that there are still some mixed feelings about cannabis on the local level. “Like every other...
by Meg Bantle | Mar 23, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, O Cannabis!
The statewide adult-use cannabis regulations are finally in place, but for many small towns the almost-90 pages of regulations aren’t much help when it comes to actual implementation. In Erving, a town with a population of 1,800, planning board members have been...
by Meg Bantle | Mar 23, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, O Cannabis!
Towns and cities across the commonwealth have already passed marijuana moratoriums and bans as the date that the state can issue business licenses draws closer. Below is a map of moratoriums (in yellow) and bans (in red) in the Pioneer Valley to date. Those cities and...
by Meg Bantle | Mar 16, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
While the humans, are away the pets will play, but if cannabis is in the house, it could be a health risk to your furry friends. Doctor Ellie Shelburne, one of the co-owners of the Northampton Veterinary Clinic, said that cannabis is one of the top 10 toxins she...
by Meg Bantle | Mar 14, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
The Pioneer Valley has a rich agricultural history and is home to many famous products, including “Hadley grass” (asparagus grown in Hadley) and enough tobacco in the 1800s for the region to be known as the “tobacco valley.” The Valley now has the opportunity to take...
by Meg Bantle | Mar 7, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Cannabis regulations were finally finalized on March 6 and Massachusetts marijuana enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to in 2018. Medical marijuana patients will be protected from shortages and applicants from communities worst affected by cannabis criminalization...
by Meg Bantle | Feb 20, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Algebra and edibles do not usually mix, but for Mark Wikar one is absolutely essential for creating the other. Even though his background is as a pastry chef, Wikar now uses a lot of math to create perfectly dosed edibles at INSA, a medical cannabis dispensary that...
by Meg Bantle | Feb 9, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Franklin County has a rich agricultural history, so it was no surprise that several different farmers spoke at the public forum hosted by the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) in Greenfield. The forum, which was hosted on Tuesday, is one of 10 public forums happening...
by Meg Bantle | Feb 7, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
As recreational and medical marijuana legalization laws continue to pass state by state, more and more people are curious about cannabis. As different people are willing to try cannabis for recreation or medicine, the image from That ’70s Show of a group of people in...
by Meg Bantle | Jan 24, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Despite the legalization of recreational cannabis use for adults in Massachusetts over a year ago, there is still no standard of measure or device to test people behind the wheel for marijuana intoxication. This presents a problem for law enforcement officers who...
by Meg Bantle | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles, Columns, News, O Cannabis!
Despite the support for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent out a federal memo this month that makes the future of cannabis in Massachusetts even more unsure. According to a Gallup poll from 2017, 64 percent...
by Meg Bantle | Jan 8, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Bay Staters are still waiting for finalized regulations for the commercial recreational marijuana industry in Massachusetts, but the regulations around adult recreational use for individuals were established in December 2016. After voters passed Question 4 on the 2016...
by Fran Ryan | Jan 2, 2018 | Articles, Cannabis!, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!, Review
As its medical uses evolve and marijuana becomes legally available for recreation in Massachusetts, an area cannabis consultant is working to fill an information hole he thinks is undermining its use. “In our culture, marijuana is known for all the bad reasons because...
by Meg Bantle | Dec 26, 2017 | Cannabis!, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Last week I sat down with Karima Rizk for a cup of coffee in her kitchen in Easthampton to discuss her new business, Cafe Vert. The coffee was like many other homebrewed cups of coffee: it was rich, balanced, and welcoming on the brisk December morning. But unlike...
by Meg Bantle | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
To start, an introduction. My name’s Meg, I’m a writer, a farmer, a gardener, a joker, a midnight … I’m the new cannabis columnist. Massachusetts is in the middle of its cannabis revolution and I don’t want you to miss a thing. With a new author comes a new...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 23, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
The harvest is in and I can’t believe the results. My husband and I didn’t weigh our cannabis haul from our home garden, but we were able to fill a bunch of regular-size salsa jars with marijuana. This is more than good enough for me! Like many weed enthusiasts in the...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
You can smell fall in the air — and in Massachusetts the aroma is a lot danker than usual. This October will mark the first major outdoor weed harvest since people ages 21 and up were given the green light to legally grow marijuana in Massachusetts on Dec. 15, 2016....
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 28, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Rolling papers and Rodney Dangerfield have long had a lot in common: they didn’t get no respect. But as marijuana’s cultural cachet has risen, so too have the quality and variety of smoking equipment. The humble rolling paper has been elevated to prestige level with...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 24, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, News, O Cannabis!
We’re no Nevada, but last week Massachusetts took two rippin’ steps toward weed legalization and protection in the state. First the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a business cannot fire an employee for being a medical marijuana patient — a decision...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 21, 2017 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
We’re no Nevada, but last week Massachusetts took two rippin’ steps toward weed legalization and protection in the state. First the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a business cannot fire an employee for being a medical marijuana patient — a decision...
by Kristin Palpini | May 22, 2017 | Articles, News, O Cannabis!
With Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, many people with green thumbs are preparing to put their saplings and seeds into the ground — the beginnings of this season’s garden. It’s usually the same old stuff: tomatoes, green beans, peppers, berries, carrots. But this...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Now that marijuana is legal, the perception of the drug is changing. We’re on the road of cannabis no longer being thought of as some seedy contraband in a sandwich bag tossed through a car window to potheads, but a varied, quality — and dare I say, refined —...
by Kristin Palpini | Feb 20, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Standing outside a strip mall in Springfield, I pull on the handle of the double-deadbolted door of a storefront with dark windows and a paper green arrow that says “Herbs” hanging under the company sign, but it doesn’t budge.I can hear men inside talking and...
by Kristin Palpini | Jan 23, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food + Booze, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Recreational marijuana was legalized in Massachusetts on Dec. 15, 2016, but the state is in a legal gray area right now as a system to sell weed is established. The consumption of recreational marijuana is now legal, but the sale of recreational marijuana isn’t yet....
by Kristin Palpini | Dec 19, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
I came out as a marijuana enthusiast to my family when I was 16 and fell on my mother.Late at night, I had been out with some friends smoking pot and gossiping. I came home to find my mom still up, sitting in her rocking recliner in the living room watching TV. I...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 21, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Leisure, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
If you get up real close to the New England Treatment Access medical marijuana dispensary in Northampton, you can smell the earthy aroma of cannabis through the brick walls. Established in 2015, NETA’s Conz Street dispensary is, so far, the only medical Mary Jane shop...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 7, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Before you step outside puffing on a celebratory fattie, know that, despite the vote on Tuesday, recreational marijuana isn’t legal in Massachusetts, yet.That’ll happen on Dec. 15, when the ballot measure goes into effect. And even when Dec. 15 comes, the state is...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 24, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
A stoner buddy of mine recently shocked me when she said she has no intention of voting on Nov. 8. Weed is already practically legal, she argued, and both the presidential candidates are duds. I reminded her that Question 3 on the ballot may set more humane standards...
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
At a concert — years ago — I was dancing in the front row when the familiar aroma of bright piney buds wafted by. It didn’t take long to find the source; a friendly gorilla finger was passing down the line. A sweaty dude in the neon pink knit cap exhaled a big...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 27, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, O Cannabis!
It’s summer! The season in which most Americans seek to do some deep unwinding by hopping in the car, on a plane, or a ship and getting away from it all. There is one thing millions of people aren’t seeking to leave behind, though, and it’s also headily conducive to a...
by Kristin Palpini | May 23, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Leisure, News, O Cannabis!
The hungry stoner is a crude cliche. Ravenous, bug-eyed, slovenly, and insatiable is how the type is usually portrayed in pop culture. The truly initiated, however, know that while weed can bring on a powerful case of the munchies, it’s nothing to go all reefer...
by By Kristin Palpini | Apr 25, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Leisure, O Cannabis!
Governor Charlie Baker, Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, you’re wasting your time with your anti-marijuana legalization effort, the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts. So far, the campaign, which launched in late April,...
