Product Reviews
Higher Profile: Zane Witzel, CEO, Cannador
Zane Witzel founded Cannador, a humidor storage system for cannabis, in an effort to raise the bar for cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! storage. But, his conservative Catholic upbringing, combined with a Christian college education, makes him an anomaly in the cannabis industry.
“I was baptized Catholic, but rejected practicing and attending in grade school,” he shared. “My parents knew that I had my own feelings and voice at a young age. I believe in allowing your child to choose their own path where religion is concerned.”
The first time he tried cannabis was in high school where he grew up in Upstate New York. In a setting similar to That 70s Show, a group of friends sat in a circle in someone’s basement and passed around a joint. He said he enjoyed it right away, never feeling guilty about his use.
“I played on the Lacrosse team and was Class President of both my Junior and Senior classes, pulling As and Bs, so no one could call me a non-productive stoner in high school,” he laughed. “I proved the stereotype wrong and leaned into my use and belief that the plant was not harmful because of the kind of person I was. The stereotype just didn’t apply to me or my friends—it never has.”
Witzel set his sights on California for his first degree in telecommunications from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. Pepperdine is one of the top private Christian universities in the country, with the perk of overlooking the tawny beach town of Malibu and the Pacific Ocean.
Every Seed Bearing Plant
God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit, they shall be yours for food.” – Hebrew, Genesis 1.29
Witzel said he was well aware that Pepperdine was run by the Church of Christ, and that his cannabis use may be in question, but the campus overlooking the ocean was compelling.
“Aside from Pepperdine being a great university, with an excellent communications department taught by A-listers in the TV and film industry, the location was a definite draw,” he said. “I lived on campus, and though the university had strict rules about drugs and alcohol, I found my tribe of cannabis users pretty easily. The tribe finds each other, no matter where you are. Turns out, Christians like weed as much as anyone else.”
Cannabis as a superfood is how the plant began its life on earth. We as a species have upped the level of THC over the decades via hybridization.
When the late Lawrence Ringo from Southern Humboldt, California, hybridized cannabis plants to have lower tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), he referred to his first high cannabinoidThis post contains affiliate links! (CBD) cultivar as the “God plant,” as the original plant measured in at around four percent of the psychoactive compound before human hands messed with it.
Witzel said there was never a discussion with his colleagues on the status of cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! within the church, the Bible, or any guilt associated with its use.
“I never understood why the church rejected cannabis,” he said. “There were many in my tribe at Pepperdine who were way more into Christianty than I, and they used cannabis. I never read anything in scripture saying thou shalt not partake of this plant. My cannabis use has nothing to do with my relationship with God or my faith. To date, no one has proven to me that weed is heatheness.”
To put his Pepperdine tribe experience into perspective, Witzel detailed fellow students as brilliant and gifted, with better test scores than he had, all partaking of the plant. To get into Pepperdine you had to be smart, and if you didn’t have a full scholarship, you pretty much had to come from money. This fact further cements the truth of the demographic of the plant, crossing lines of race and status in society.
He likened one classmate to the Nobel Prize winning mathematician, John Nash, profiled in the film, A Beautiful Mind.
“We shared a wall in the dorms, and I could hear him tap, tap, tapping, as he worked out these long, complex mathematical problems on a board on the wall between us—much like Nash did at Princeton University. My point in retelling this story is, the students who used cannabis at Pepperdine were not slackers. We didn’t fit the stereotype at all. These were believers of God from conservative and, for the most part, upper class families.”
With a love for movies and TV shows, Witzel set his sights on a career in the entertainment industry, but upon graduating in 2009, on the crest of a global financial crisis, projects went astray. He also wasn’t thrilled at the aspect of working from project to project, as is common in the entertainment industry.
Realizing he had to pivot, he enrolled in the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University; 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
With a focus on strategies in business, Witzel worked for a management consulting firm while studying at Claremont. Still smoking cannabis and hanging out with friends, he had what he calls a “lightbulb moment,” when a buddy set a shoebox on the coffee table, with his stash in disarray inside.
“I thought to myself, we can do better than this,” he laughed.
A Functional Stash
After some research, Witzel came across a humidity control system originally used for cigar humidors. After making a few adjustments to the product, he was able to adapt the humidity setting to accommodate a lower relative humidity, which is necessary for cannabis. Witzel then purchased the patent from the original owner and rebranded it to “VaporBeads.”
Citing a study from 1975, Cannador’s website educates on weed storage, “The Stability of Cannabis and its Preparations on Storage,” wherein the best storage was found to be at room temperature in a dark, sealed container. The researchers observed the plant material for two years, noting changes in potency.
The outcome showed that properly stored cannabis plant material with a correct amount of moisture retains higher terpene and cannabinoid counts—the compounds where flavor, scent, and medicinal efficacy is found.
The study also confirmed that humidors made for cigars have a higher moisture content, and are not suitable for cannabisThis post contains affiliate links!. It’s a fine line of humidity that keeps cannabis fresh, flavorful, and mold-free.
A big difference between cigar and cannabis humidors is the interior wood and the way they maintain humidity. Most cigar humidors maintain a higher relative humidity and utilize chemicals like propylene glycol. Additionally, cigar humidors are lined with cedar, whereas cannabis humidors should be lined with a more neutral wood like mahogany. Cannador’s patented VaporBeads allow just the right amount of moisture to maintain the terpene’s aroma and taste by only adding water. A relative humidity (RH) for cannabis is best kept between 58 to 65%. Anything over 70% RH runs the risk of mold growth.
Keeping the Faith, Keeping it Fresh
With the holiday season upon us, Witzel is gearing up for gift-giving season, offering up his limited edition 3-strain Cannador Artist Collaboration, designed by Chelsea Van Voorhis, who specializes in working with veneer products.
Also in the mix are his handcrafted walnut and mahogany roll trays, and leather toolkit for travel.
Giving back in the cannabis industry is important and Cannador is passionate about sustainability, pledging to plant one tree for every Cannador purchased, as part of Plant-it 2020, a global non-profit operating in Colorado, dedicated to properly planting, maintaining, and protecting as many indigenous trees as possible.
For Witzel, his mission is clear, provide the best and most beautiful products to keep cannabis as fresh and flavorful as possible—because, after all, he too still enjoys the plant.
“I still enjoy cannabis, but not everyday,” he said. “I really like good wine, and if I’ve had too much I like to reset by smoking cannabis. It helps get me out of my shell and converse more easily with people. I like to vape or smoke joints, but no more bong rips for me. Everything in moderation—and that actually reflects what the Bible says about alcohol.”
Witzel’s focus is still as clear as it was in college, on being a productive human.
“My alma mater probably doesn’t want to hear this, but cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! always made everything more interesting for me,” he concluded. “I still love listening to music while high. I balanced school, sports, and work around my cannabis use. I don’t think there always has to be some kind of trade-off, you simply work hard and have fun responsibly along the way—and cannabis will always be a big part of that for me.”
For more information on Cannador & VaporBeads visit, www.cannador.com https://vaporbeads.com/
Visit Cannador’s Limited Collections page here, https://cannador.com/collections/limited-edition
Visit its accessories page here, https://cannador.com/collections/accessories
For more information on Plant-it 2020 visit, https://plantit2020.org/
Monday Grammy Award-winning artist Stephen Marley announced Kx Family Care, a plant-based, CBD personal care line—utilizing the power of hemp and other herbs used traditionally in Jamaica.
The debut collection features a limited edition holiday bundle, including two products: multipurpose Hair and Beard Oil and the Pain Relief Balm. The Hair and Beard Oil and the Pain Relief Balm contain full-spectrum CBD oilThis post contains affiliate links!, used for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties.
Both products also contain sunflower oil, vitamin E, and linoleic acid, which contain antioxidants that help protect the skin from free radicals and maintain its natural barrier. They also contain Black Seed oil, Mangosteen extract, and Soursop—widely used in Jamaican culture for their regenerative properties.
Jamaican Black Seed oil, for instance, is derived from fennel (Nigella sativa), is high in antioxidants and provides several other health benefits.
“Due to my love for the hemp plant and all the various uses, Kx Family Care was a natural progression for me,” said Stephen Marley, founder of Kx Family Care. “This brand is authentic in every way, from the natural infusion of Jamaican botanicals in our products, to the eco-friendly wood and glass packaging we use. Family, natural health, sustainability, and respect for the many uses of the hemp plant is what we’re all about.”
Kx Family Care is a multigenerational, personal care product branch of Kaya Lifestyle, which is owned and operated by Marley. Kaya Lifestyle also produces Kaya Fest, a music and educational hemp awareness festival.
Marley joined Co-founder CEO Shelly O’Neill, spending three years researching and developing plant-based, multi-use products designed for busy families. Marley views cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! just like any other useful herb. “CannabisThis post contains affiliate links! is an herb just like mint or sage that can heal many medical ailments, as well as offer spiritual enlightenment,” Marley told Culture Magazine in 2018.
The idea for Kx Family Care came about while O-Neill and Marley were working together at Kaya Fest. Kaya Fest is Marley’s world music festival that supports education around the many uses of the hemp plant. “Kaya” is Jamaican slang for herb, originating from the Caribbean English word “kayakiit,” which means a form of medicinal herb.
Try out Marley’s hemp products for yourself: Kx Family Care pop-up shops will be available on select dates of Stephen Marley’s upcoming Old Soul Tour – Unplugged 2023.
“We are grateful to bring you the first all-natural, hemp-based personal care brand that’s safe and effective for the entire family,” said founder Stephen Marley. “We’re looking forward to having our guests personally experience Kx Family Care pop-up shops on select dates of The Old Soul Tour – Unplugged 2023.”
The company points out that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require the basic safety testing of ingredients in personal care products. They’re typically full of toxic ingredients that aren’t good for your skin and hair.
The company also upholds a commitment to the environment in its packaging.
“Kx Family Care uses ecologically sound materials and hemp based plastics whenever possible, to showcase the additional uses of the hemp plant and to most importantly cut plastic waste,” the website states. “In the spirit of Jamaica, known as the land of “Wood and Water,” we capture the essence through the use of biodegradable wood and glass in our packaging. Kx also spreads love by choosing a different charity organization to support every quarter with a portion of proceeds from sales.”
Several of Marley’s siblings and family members have launched CBD or cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! businesses, including Ziggy and Damian.
It’s that time of the year when the reindeer come a’trottin’ and the corn starts a’poppin’, and there’s nothing better than lighting a tree or two or three dozen in joint form or whatever your preference. Check out this holiday gift guide for all the best cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! products that will delight even the grinchiest of Scrooges.
STIIIZY 40’s Pre-Rolls
STIIIZY is setting the standard in the pre-roll game with the most revolutionary and innovative products.
Elevate your pre-roll game. STIIIZY 40’s pre-rolls are setting the standard with high potency, cannabis-infused joints coated evenly with kief. Using our proprietary live resin infusion methods, we’ve designed every pre-roll to offer 40% cannabinoids (THC) potency with a unique flavor profile. With a smooth inhale and tasteful exhale, each and every STIIIZY 40’s is packed with indoor grown flower, specifically made to ensure a potent and long-lasting high. Spark up the 40’s.
Multipack (5pk) – $30
1G Pre-rolls – $15
STIIIZY 40’s Blunts
STIIIZY 40’s blunts are rolled with 100% tobacco-free, kief-dusted hemp wraps, secured tightly around a glass tip. We’ve packed each infused blunt with high quality indoor flower so that every inhale is just as good as every exhale. STIIIZY 40’s blunts are reinventing the way you get high by being the first to introduce 40% cannabinoids (THC) potency with live resin infusion. Pass the blunt.
$30
Solfire Gardens
Santa Solfire is back with something for everyone!! It doesn’t matter if you have been on your best behavior or your worst, the Naughty or Nice Stocking Bundle by Solfire Gardens delivers the perfect gift for any seed-loving garden enthusiast. The Stocking includes 7 unique seed packs, 1 holiday exclusive pack, merch, and assorted bonus goodies. Rise Like the Phoenix these and get one now on SolfireGardens.com.
The Snail Nail Company
Now consuming plant medicine anywhere you’d like with an actual glass rig couldn’t be easier. Say goodbye to the sketchy torch scene and upgrade with a temperature controlled portable E-nail with style.
Own a lounge? Throw parties? Look no further than The Dab Slab™️ or the recently released mini football helmet version for a great dabbing addition to any Big Game party!
These handcrafted E-nails are great for personal use as well as being able to efficiently accommodate large groups of consumers in an event setting. Set up a dab bar at your next event with the two hours of constant-use battery life or plug it into an outlet and watch your event take off all night long!
The Snail Nail Company was created in the hills of Humboldt County with legacy roots co-founders that lead this majority women owned company and are proud to provide staple electronics for the emerging concentrate consumption market.
Get your Dab Slab™️ “a slice of Humboldt” now for $200 off regular price $999 for only $799! Or grab the NEW helmet edition for just $499!
Visit snailnailcompany.com & enter code High Times for discount.
#beMOREthanaSHELL
The Dab Slab Portable E-nail – $799
Mini Helmet Portable E-nail – $499
Delta Extrax
The Extrax Pre-Heat devices feature a blend of unique cannabinoids which include THC-X, THC-JD, THC-B, Delta-6, Delta-8, and Live Resin. You get 3.5 grams per device and use the High Times exclusive discount code: hightimes30 to get 30% off your entire order! You better hurry and try this one-of-a-kind blend, supplies are limited.
XLUX Roffu
The Roffu was purpose driven and meticulously designed to deliver on the most critical aspects for an out-of-this-world dry-herb vaping experience! High-performance power backed by precision engineering seamlessly join together to produce absolute pure flavor. The flavor provided by the Roffu smart convection vape is a gourmet delight that must be experienced to be believed. The cutting-edge convection heating provides a nearly instant heat-up time which provides a potent and pure vapor from your dry botanicals. The XLUX series ROFFU promises to be the most sought after convection vape available.
$140.00
Cloudious9 Holiday Bundle
Cloudious9’s most popular products in limited edition Midnight black. Includes the Hydrology9 NX vaporizerThis post contains affiliate links! with swappable and dedicated flower & concentrate chambers in all black space grade aluminum, the Hydrology9 NX black leather carrying case, the Tectonic9 auto-dispensing grinder in midnight black, and the Atomic9 dry flower vaporizerThis post contains affiliate links!. Available at www.Cloudious9.com for $299.
Exotic Genetix
The Red Runtz Reloaded 6-Pack is a must have this holiday season. Containing 9 Packs, 1 Poster and some stickers; the Red Runtz Reloaded 6-Pack is sure to be a big hit! When growing out these cultivars, you can expect flavors that range from Red Candy to Sweet Cereal Milk & Gas. Start your Holiday Season early, buy a box now and receive an additional Free Unreleased Exotic Genetix Pack on Exoticgenetix.com with Coupon code: EXOTICBIGBOINK.
$400
Kãyö HHC Gummies
HHC gummies offer a long-lasting experience with subtle highs and supportive effects of HHC. Perfect for the hard-to-buy-for person on your list! These edibles are strong enough to stimulate but gentle enough to not cause bothersome effects.
The Hemp Doctor HHC Gummies come in three convenient sizes:
- 2 count package, 20 servings (each piece contains 50mg D9/47mg HHC/2mg Live Rosin/1mg HHCP)
- 30 count container, 60 servings (40mg HHC per gummy / 1200mg HHC per container)
- 60 count container, 120 servings (40mg HHC per gummy / 2400mg HHC per container)
Four Yummy Flavors: Cherry Lime, Grape, Strawberry, and Mixed Berry.
Fast Shipping: Fast shipping across the United States and FREE shipping on orders over $30.
Premium Quality: HHC is manufactured using heavy metals. For this reason, it’s incredibly important to get your HHC products and HHC vapes from reputable retailers like The Hemp Doctor.
2 count – $19.95
30 count – $44.95
60 count – $74.95
Deep Sleep Gummies
Ready to unwind? Skip the evening cocktail and get lightly toasted with these THC + CBN Deep Sleep Gummies, specially formulated for enhanced relaxation and bliss.
Packed with 5mg THC and 15mg CBN, these Deep Sleep Gummies provide relaxing and supportive effects across mind and body. In addition, they’re vegan, gluten-free and 100% farm bill compliant. Ships to all 50 states.
Try our Deep Sleep Gummies now for just the cost of shipping. While supplies last.
Smoking Dog Gummies
Get a mild, pleasant buzz with Smoking Dog Hemp-Infused Gummies, available in two mouthwatering flavors: Tart Blue Raspberry and fruity Pineapple. Each vegan and gluten-free Smoking Dog Gummy contains 10 mg CBD and 10 mg THC for a perfectly balanced ratio. Smoking Dog Gummies are manufactured using a Proprietary Self-Emulsifying Nanotechnology, which allows oil-soluble nutrients to be carried from the lymphatic system directly to the bloodstream for fast, sustained relief.
$40
Nothing’s Impossible Double Recycler Dab Rig – 8.5”
If you’re looking for some of the smoothest dabs possible, then you’ve come to the right place. This piece features a double recycler design for even greater bubble creation, resulting in smoother, more flavorful rips. When you inhale, you draw water from the bottom main chamber, which then runs up through the side tubes and upper chamber of the recycling rig before reaching your lips. This recycler design not only provides cooled-down and better-tasting rips, but it also prevents nasty bong water from reaching your mouth!
$124.99
Pocket Pucker
HotBox’s Best Dab Rigs of 2022! Pocket Pucker is a small, handheld, portable e-rig offering a one button operation with 3 temperature controls to vaporize your extract from a ceramic dish. All parts are removable for easy cleaning. The Pocket Pucker may be tiny in size, but it is huge in performance!
$110 (20% Off with code HOLIDAY)
Full Spectrum Nighttime Gummies
The Hemp Doctor Delta 9 THC/CBD/CBN Full Spectrum Nighttime Gummies are the perfect gift for the person on your list that needs a good night sleep. These delicious gummies are a fan favorite made from 100% USA-grown, organic hemp. Each bottle comes with 375mg Delta 9 (12.5mg per piece), 450MG CBD (15mg per piece), and 150mg CBN (5mg per piece). Begin with 1/2 gummy and wait 90 minutes. It takes roughly 90 minutes for the edibles to take effect, so plan accordingly.
Three Yummy Flavors: Tangerine, Watermelon, Elderberry
Fast Shipping: Fast shipping across the United States and FREE shipping on orders over $30.
Premium Quality: Every item in The Hemp Doctor inventory is of premium quality – and we can prove it. Every product is tested by a third-party laboratory and you can easily find the Certificate of Analysis right on our website. This ensures that you are getting the strength and quality you desire in every tasty morsel.
30 piece container – $50
The Strongest CBD Roll-On
Give the gift of instant relief with the strongest CBD Freeze Roller in the world!
Packed with 5,000 mg of pure CBD, and enhanced with soothing ingredients like aloe vera, menthol, and tea tree oil, this high-potency CBD roll-on targets local pain and inflammation for fast-acting relief whenever you need it.
Potent yet delicate, Crescent Canna’s CBD Freeze Rollers are THC-free, paraben-free, and lab-tested for quality and purity. They’re also among the most cost-effective CBD topicals available, at less than 3 cents per milligram of CBD – and that’s before Crescent Canna’s best sale of the year…
Holiday Sale! Enjoy 50% off CBD products at crescentcanna.com with code: HIGHTIMES. Deal expires January 1, 2023 11:59 PM central time.
The Hemp Doctor Pre-rolls
The Hemp Doctor pre-rolls are available in Delta 8 THC and CBD. Made from premium flower wrapped in king-size RAW cones, providing a smooth, natural draw. Prerolls are ideal for those consumers who hate rolling their own joints. It’s also great for those on the go who don’t have time to spare. These full spectrum joints can produce a mildly euphoric experience that you should feel the effects from within minutes. Our flower is carefully cultivated in the nutrient-rich soils of Southern Oregon, producing the most potent hemp and among the finest in the industry.
Nine Strains: Happy Daze, Witches Brew, Wedding Cake, Bubba Kush, OG Lime, Amnesia Haze, Abacus Diesel, Fruitloops, Afghan Skunk
Two Convenient Sizes: Single joint or 5-pk
Fast Shipping: Fast shipping across the United States and FREE shipping on orders over $30.
Premium Quality: All of The Hemp Doctor’s pre-rolls and flower are tested by an independent laboratory. This ensures that each pre-roll contains the amount of cannabinoidThis post contains affiliate links! advertised and contains no harmful chemicals or byproducts.
CBD single joint – $7
Delta 8 THC single joint – $12.95
Delta 8 THC 5-pack – $24.95
Red Eye Tek® Hex Tube
For those who prefer ‘em a little bit taller, this Red Eye Tek® Terminator 18″ Hex Tube all-star stands out from the crowd. Available in multiple metallic finishes, this water pipe was designed for the experienced consumer who also happens to enjoy showing off their impressive lung capacity. Purchase the Red Eye Tek® Hex Tube today in their online shop.
$144
The Session Bong
The Session Bong embodies a “less is more” design aesthetic. Each detail of the piece has been carefully considered to ensure that they are beautiful and highly functional — intended to be your relaxation staple. The Bong is the winner of 3 consumer design awards and AAPI & Women-owned.
$185 Includes the Bong, Mouth Cover & Cleaning Caps + Free stocking stuffer ($20 value)
eight decades. 3 piece smoking set
Our original smoking set is attractive enough to be on display in your home and made to last a lifetime. Designed to look good on your kitchen island, bar, coffee table, heck — wherever you enjoy your smoke sesh! We created our brand with an intention to start the cannabis conversation and #StomptheStigma!
The smoking set is 16 gauge, brushed stainless steel with powder coated lids in three colorways — black, green, or white. The rolling tray has a concave edge so your weed falls into the scoop and not all over your table. The ashtray has a removable interior ash catch that you can pop in the dishwasher. The multi-tool comes with two interchangeable tool heads — a scoop to grab your weed and a poke to clean your bowl.
Join eight decades. in our efforts to Stomp the Stigma!
Use Coupon Code: SmokeSesh
For free shipping on orders over $75.
www.eightdecades.com
Suspected Hippie in Transit by Martin Frumkin
What was it like to backpack along the international hippie trail 50 years ago? Martin’s pre-tech, countercultural rucksack romp throughout Asia captures the tumultuous, don’t-give-a-damn attitude of such rebellious nomadic vagabonds as Marco Polo, Ibn Battala, and Neal Cassady. Martin “tuned in,” and “turned on,” but chose not to “drop out.”
Join a true hippie and natural storyteller as he treks in Nepal within the glacial Himalaya, hangs in palaces with royal freak princes in India, partakes of guiltless debauchery in tropical Goa, and enjoys opium-induced romance with willing maharinis. He compares the silky white sand of Sri Lankan beaches to the gritty deserts and Hindu Kush of Afghanistan and searches for enlightenment within Indian mysticism—all while integrating East and West, God consciousness, the Force, and chocolate-covered mescaline.
Not knowing the laws, values, and mores of foreign cultures, nor bound to those at home, Martin experienced an inexplicable, free-floating freedom. Written in diary form, Suspected Hippie in Transit takes you on that unique journey of a lifetime.
$16.95
Extracting cannabinoids from smoke is now a reality, using a patented extraction method, activating compounds at levels only achieved via smoking. Why? Imagine edibles made with an oil that provides more of the impact you normally only get from smoking.
Boston, Massachusetts-based Real Isolates announced on October 24 that it has been issued a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a novel method used to extract cannabinoids and other compounds—from cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! smoke.
The company introduced a new brand as well as two products in oil form: Smokenol Day™ is a CBD-forward cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! smoke extract derived from hemp. The THC-rich extracted oil created by this method, on the other hand, is sold, and licensed under the brand name Smokenol™, is rich in common and rare cannabinoids and enables a new category of oral, topical, and inhaled cannabis products. Profound Naturals™ is the brand under which hemp derived Smokenol Day™ CBD products are sold.
Creator of Smokenol™ and Vice President and co-founder of Real Isolates Andy Westerkamp explained the concept and products using Real Isolates novel extraction method.
The reasoning behind the new extraction method comes down to common consumer preferences: “Do you prefer edibles or smoking?” Westerkamp asked High Times. “I prefer smoking, my wife prefers smoking, and most of my friends do. If you look at consumer preference surveys, or sales data in the cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! industry, it’s largely going to show you the same thing—consumer sales are smokeable products, whether it’s flower, concentrates, or you name it. Smoking feels different than edibles.”
The reason smoking feels different than edibles is that through your liver, cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! is metabolized through your liver, transforming THC into 11-hydroxy-THC in your liver. Smoking feels different because of the way compounds are transformed under high heat. In any case, some level of decarboxylation or transformation of the compounds is necessary.
“So basically, to put in perspective, the ember on a joint, or a cherry on a bowl, is probably somewhere between 900 to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit,” Westerkamp said. “That’s really high. The lighter burns at 2000 plus degrees Fahrenheit. So when we’re applying that amount of heat to the input material, you’re going to transform everything.”
For Real Isolates’ first experiment, the team took 99%+ pure CBD isolate, burned it in a dab rig and sent it through a special filter, allowing them to extract 18 different cannabinoids.
“Every single one of those cannabinoids in the input material, there are over 100 in the plant, or you know, a variety in your concentrate of choice—those are going to transform significantly before you inhale,” Westerkamp said. “So essentially, when you’re smoking, you’re consuming a completely different chemical product than when you eat a traditional edible or extract. So for us, we designed a special filter that we call ‘the lung’ internally.”
Given that millions of people are unable to smoke due to chronic respiratory conditions and so forth, this method allows them to feel some of the effects.
Westerkamp said they designed this filter “to selectively capture those compounds out of the smoke, so that we can deliver them in different formats like specifically edibles, but edible tinctures, topicals, suppositories, vapes, you name it. So we can take that profile, that chemical fingerprint that you would only get from smoking, and now put it into other things. And our trademark there is, you know, our slogan is ‘We smoked it for you,’ which is literally what we’re doing.”
You don’t necessarily have to decide between edibles or similar effects compared to smoking. If you’re curious about learning more about Real Isolates unique extraction method and products, visit the website.
I remember buying weed from my friend’s boyfriend one muggy day the summer after I graduated high school. After whispering an ashamed “hello” to his wheelchair-ridden grandfather in the living room and avoiding the tiny, yapping pomeranians nipping at my ankles, he shuffled me up the stairs. His loft, if you could call it that, consisted of no more than an old couch in front of a massive television with an XBOX and some crooked Grateful Dead posters pinned to the scuffed walls. The smell of half-smoked joints and Nag Champa hung thick in the air.
“You can sit if you want,” he mumbled with a crooked smile through his dreads. Before I could get comfortable on the stained cushions he handed me a clear hose.
“Breathe in. It’s just weed,” he reassured me. As I inhaled, he held up the other end of the hose to a small, wooden, electric pencil-sharpener looking device. I noticed the taste first.
“It tastes just like weed smells,” I remember thinking in awe as I mentally compared it to the rips from my dirty bong I had grown to love. Floating, I handed him a twenty, took my sandwich bag eighth of mids and left.
While dry herb vaporization remains my favorite consumption method to this day, I rarely partake, purely out of convenience and portability. A Massachusetts cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! startup is attempting to change that narrative with the introduction of HUUE.
These weird little Lifesaver-sized pucks of compressed cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! flower and THC-A diamonds are designed for use with any portable or tabletop dry herb vaporizerThis post contains affiliate links!. It pops in and out like a coffee pod, minus the single-use packaging.
Ever the dry herb vaporizerThis post contains affiliate links! enthusiast, but also the laziest person ever, I tried these nifty little pucks, which come seven to a tin, in the co-branded GPen that comes free when you buy the box set of all three blends. Cheekily named for their intended effect, Get Sh*t Done, ROFL, and (Un)Wine are composited from six different strains cultivated by Resinate and The Heirloom Collective.
Born from a desire to “make dry herb vaping a popular method of consumption among consumers, while educating them on the health benefits, efficiency, and full usage of the plant”, co-founder Michael Sheldon continues, “HUUE was initially conceived as a revolutionary way to enjoy flower vaporizing, to make it as convenient and pre-dosed as oil vaping, with the full spectrum benefits of flower but without the smoke, and with the quick onset benefits of inhalation (vs edibles)”.
While HUUE pucks are intended to be used in a dry herb vape for a whole-plant experience, they can be combusted in a pipe or bong, smoldering slowly for about ten hits. They also function as an edible. Spent post-vape pucks are technically decarbed cannabis and can be eaten directly or infused into oil, butter, or made into tinctures for full 100% consumption, the co-founder explained in a comment.
But is the Weed Actually Good?
The three effect-specific blends, compiled from iconic strains like Chem Dog and Lava Cake, are sourced from two of Massachusetts top cultivators. Massachusetts is only one of three states in the legal market where you can find the authentic, gassy Chem Dog—legacy genetics with early 90s origins at a Grateful Dead lot in Indiana.
Other blend cultivars include the sugary, limonene-rich Grape Pie which “gives off a high that may initially bring you up with euphoria before landing you down on the couch for munchies and TV”, according to Leafly, in addition to the skunky, aptly-named Grandpa’s Stash, a “mix of legendary old school strains: 1994 Super Skunk, 1992 OG Kush, and a 1970s cut of Afghan Kush.”
The flavor is rich, the vapor is nearly invisible, and, most importantly, the high is exactly how I’ve always remembered it: euphoric. HUUE pucks pack a tad more punch than a typical chamber of ground flower, thanks to the addition of diamonds and a 30%+ THC content, but it remains a gentle, steady high. Cleaning up was a breeze and zero residue was left in the chamber.
“It is way healthier, way tastier (you can actually taste the plant) and more discreet than smoking flower and each puck provides all of the beneficial compounds produced by the plant. HUUE takes dry herb vaporizing to another level, by making it convenient, quick, clean, tasty, and evenly dosed,” Sheldon concludes.
Though psychedelics won’t be legalized in the United States any time soon, a beverage containing psychoactive substances can now be consumed without fear of persecution. Distributed by retailer Urban Outfitters, of all businesses, Psychedelic Water is not going to make you feel like you’ve taken DMT or even LSD. However, its main ingredients more or less belong to the same taxonomic family.
Launched in February 2021, Psychedelic Water can be purchased at Urban Outfitter stores across the country, including states where cannabisThis post contains affiliate links! is still considered a schedule 1 narcotic. Beverages are also sold on the brand’s own website, where chrome-colored cans go for $33,- per six pack. Flavors include Prickly Pear, Oolong + Orange Blossom, Hibiscus + Lime, and Blackberry + Yuzu.
Urban Outfitters is but one of many corporations trying to carve out a space for itself in the up and coming psychedelics market. Back in April, the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel hosted the very first Benzinga Psychedelics Capital Conference. Under the heat of the scorching Florida sun, entrepreneurs speed-dated with investors from Big Pharma and Silicon Valley to see if, together, they could take America’s psychedelics industry “to the next level.”
It’s an industry with several faces. On the one hand, there’s activists campaigning for the recreational usage of LSD, MDMA, ketamine and any other psychedelics under the sun. On the other, there are rogue researchers hoping to use these drugs not for fun, but to develop revolutionary treatments for physical and mental illnesses. Last but not least, there are companies that promote products made using less potent and—crucially—legal varieties of psychedelics.
These varieties can be found in tinctures, topicals, eye drops and other concoctions whipped up by forward-thinking wellness and beauty brands. Like homeopathic remedies, they are said to cleanse auras, remove negative emotions and stimulate lucid dreaming. They might include Mucuna pruriens—a legume that contains a type of DMT—or boa vine, one of the main ingredients of ayahuasca.
It’s also one of the main ingredients in Lun, an oral tincture sold by the wellness company Soul Drops. “With only a few drops per day,” their website declares, “Soul Drops can empower your self-healing and optimization. Our clients report that they feel healthier, positive, energetic, emotionally balanced, focused, creative, inspired, calm, relaxed, intuitive, and grounded.”
Most legal psychedelic products, however, come in the form of beverages. This should not come as a surprise, as the market for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages is bigger, busier, and more lucrative than ever before. Products competing in this market must cater to an increasingly fragmented audience: Spiked seltzers are for college students who want to get shitfaced without gaining weight; CBDThis post contains affiliate links!-infused beers allow stoners to drink with non-stoner friends; LaCroix is for disillusioned office workers who’ve already had their 10th cup of coffee.
Psychedelic Water, says CEO Pankaj Gogia, is “for the people who are interested in, unsure about, or unfamiliar with psychedelics.” Gogia tells High Times their product acts as an “entry point into the wider world of these substances and their many benefits” and resonates with those “who just want to sip on something that tastes good, makes you feel good, is better for you than alcohol, and won’t have you texting your ex or waking up with a hangover.”
The three ingredients that make Psychedelic Water psychedelic are kava, damiana and green tea leaf extract. Kava, the supposed star of the show, is a plant native to the South Pacific that—when grounded, mixed with water, and taken in small doses—relaxes the muscles and produces a feeling of euphoria without impairing your cognition. Aboriginal Australians have been brewing kava for centuries, for ceremonial purposes. Kava bars have also become popular in major American cities.
Damiana is a shrub native to Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Its leaf and stem can be fashioned into a homeopathic medicine that treats headaches, constipation, stomach cramps, bedwetting, and depression, as well as bladder, urinary and sexual problems. It is also used as an aphrodisiac, boosting arousal in both men and women. Damiana causes a subtle high that nicely compliments kava.
Last but not least: green tea leaf extract. Though not psychedelic, the extract is a natural source of caffeine. This caffeine is used to balance out the effects of kava, a depressant which can leave you feeling tired and lethargic. When mixed, these three ingredients produce a sensation which—though vastly different from weedThis post contains affiliate links! or alcohol—is nonetheless suitable for social settings.
The public image of psychedelic substances is changing rapidly. During the War on Drugs, they were presented as dangerous and addictive. Modern research has dispelled this myth, with drugs like ketamine now being used to treat depression, PTSD, and other forms of mental illness. At the same time, Netflix documentaries like Fantastic Fungi, Have a Good Trip and How to Change Your Mind are trying to normalize recreational usage.
And yet, despite these major developments, many people remain hesitant. This is, admittedly, kind of understandable. In the not-so-distant past, the only way to start exploring psychedelics was to jump in the deep-end, popping a pill at a music festival and praying to God for a good trip. Nowadays, you can start your journey by cracking open a can on your couch while pacing yourself with every sip.
Gogia says Psychedelic Water makes him feel “similar to the way I feel about five minutes after ingesting some psilocybin. There’s this short window, prior to visuals beginning to kick in, where I just feel nice. This wave of relaxation and positive feelings roll over me (…) Psychedelic Water takes that feeling and holds it.”
To be clear, Psychedelic Water will not cause you to see any kaleidoscopic visuals. Or, at least, it isn’t meant to. Instead, the beverage was designed to capture some of the milder and subtler effects of conventional psychedelics and allow consumers to experience them in a new way.
If you prefer your drinks hot, you might want to turn to Third Eye Tonic, a lucid dream-inducing tea offered by Anima Mundi Herbals. It’s made up of nervines, or plants that are consumed to support the nervous system. Ingredients include kava, passionflower, organic skullcap, and blue lotus, the latter of which targets the same receptors as MDMA and, when prepared in a slightly different way, causes hallucinations. “[These plants] basically lay the foundation for you to secrete your own chemicals yourself,” Anima Mundi’s Costa Rican founder, Adriana Ayales, told the trade publication Beauty Independent.
As exciting as these semi-legal psychedelic products are, they do raise a couple questions. Do these products offer any real, tangible benefits, or are the fleeting sensations they produce just placebos? Are some of these companies actually steeped in indigenous traditions, or are they merely exploiting them for monetary gain? It’s been known to happen elsewhere, with North American mezcal producers faking their Mexican heritage. Also some of these down-to-earth beauty brands, which supposedly contain water from the Amazon river, don’t sound particularly sustainable.
Psychedelic Water has also been scrutinized by the press. As MEL magazine points out in their review of Psychedelic Water, “doctors aren’t sure how much kava a person can safely consume.” Scholarly articles identified a possible link with long-term liver damage, a discovery that led countries like Australia, Canada, France, and Germany to issue warnings or even ban over-the-counter sales.
Gogia is intimately familiar with these articles, which were published during the late 90s and early 2000s, when attitudes towards kava were still shaped by the War on Drugs. “In the majority of these accounts,” he tells High Times, “other factors such as alcohol consumption and use of certain medications are relevant, as well as consumption of improperly harvested and stored kava.”
As production quality improved over the past few decades, the connection between kava and liver damage was again called into question. This time, studies reached different results. As early as 2004, an evaluation of Food Standards Australia New Zealand determined “there is no evidence that occasional use of kava beverage is associated with any long-term adverse effects, including effects on the liver.”
Their conclusion was reiterated as recently as 2016 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which stated that “on balance, the weight-of-evidence from both a long history of use of kava beverage and from the more recent research findings indicates that it is possible for kava beverage to be consumed with an acceptably low level of health risk.”
These concerns stem from the same social stigma that’s surrounded psychoactive substances since the 70s. Gogia and his colleagues know the stigma won’t disappear overnight. Still, they hope the success of Psychedelic Water might speed up the process a little: “We feel having a psychedelic-branded product on the shelves of your local convenience store, between cans of Red Bull and jugs of milk, could have a significant impact on the public perception and normalization of psychedelics.”
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