The Lord of the Rings saga might be a big-budget film classic today, but it has always had stoner ties — even when it was only in print. The tough, hilarious, and kind Gandalf, a wizard of Middle Earth, is a character most notable to the weed community, owed to his liberal use of what author J.R.R. Tolkien called “pipe-weed.” 

According to the Lord of the Rings Fandom Wiki, it’s a plant with “sweet-smelling flowers” that the Hobbits, like main characters Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, cultivated, smoked, and traded with neighbors. To some, it sounds like a tobacco product, while others point to its floral description, hinting that pipe-weed might be more like our own weed, but the true definition may have been muddied by the movies. 

Like any good fiction writer, Tolkien could have simply been making up his own plant altogether. However, considering his heyday took place during the mid-century era, tobacco is the more likely subject. 

Pipe-weed from Middle Earth to Hollywood

It’s really film director Peter Jackson’s doing that so many thought of the “Halfling’s Leaf” as a fantasy cannabis analog. He plugged a quip from head wizard Saruman to Gandalf, alluding to “cloudy judgment” post-pipe-weed consumption in the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring.

But it’s the prologue of The Fellowship book itself that seals the canon argument. Tolkien writes of his beloved Hobbits: 

“They imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of a herb, which they called pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana. A great deal of mystery surrounds the origin of this particular custom or ‘art’ as the Hobbits preferred to call it.”

Canna-fans need not despair. Just because the books hint at tobacco and the movies hint at weed does not mean that countless cultivators didn’t come through with their own homages to Middle Earth and the Hobbits’ love of pipe-weed. 

Gandalf’s pipe-weed in cannabis culture

There are now a dozen or more strains named after characters, fictional pipe-weed brands from the Shire like Old Toby and Longbottom Leaf, and of course, the wizard himself has Gandalf OG.

Additionally, smoking cannabis out of a “Gandalf pipe” is something of a stoner rite of passage or bucket list item to be crossed off. Numerous glass pipes are shaped similarly to the Gandalf’s pipe-weed piece and are pretty easy to find in most glass shops.

If you’re a lifelong fan or just coming around to these nine-plus hour epics, pipe-weed is as integral to Hobbit life as it is to ours. No matter what effects you imagine come from a big drag of Gandalf’s pipe, you can enjoy the story behind the smoke rings, because he is hands down the Lord of those rings.

Featured image by Thomas Schweighofer on Unsplash

The post Gandalf and his pipe-weed … is it actually weed? appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Image via Library of Congress

Sometimes, it can feel like cannabis is all but legalized across the entire United States. With the legalization of medical and/or recreational cannabis in more than half of the 50 states, and decriminalization laws on the books in many big cities without statewide legalization, it is easier to find good (and legal) weed than ever before. But as racist cannabis policing continues into the era of legalization, it is important to recognize the prejudices that spurred prohibition in the first place, and also remember that cannabis reform primarily benefits white Americans while other demographic groups continue to be persecuted for the plant. 

First reported by Marijuana Moment, a newly-published digital archive from the Library of Congress (LOC) compiles a slew of vintage newspaper articles from across the US that highlight racist propaganda through the lens of cannabis criminalization.

“From the late 19th to early 20th century, newspapers reported the early rise of marihuana (known today as marijuana),” the Library of Congress states. “Alarming reports of the menace of marihuana reach the United States press. Tales of alleged atrocities fueled by the drug are often tied to anti-Mexican propaganda.”

Tracking media from 1897 to 1915, the LOC historic reference features articles from every corner of the US, almost all of them containing racist slurs describing cannabis as a “dangerous Mexican weed” that had “loco’ed” the entire nation. In 1905, a New York newspaper published a report that cannabis had been made illegal in Mexico, once again harping on the plant’s supposed relation to violence and insanity.

“This deadly drug is sought by the soldiers in the army,” the New York Tribune article reads. “It is smoked like tobacco and the user of it soon goes wildly insane. It is stated that insanity in the army has greatly increased of late on account of the use of this plant. The effects of the first few smokes is so soothing and pleasant that the habit becomes firmly established, and the user of the poison will almost sacrifice his life to obtain a supply of the drug.”

Image via Library of Congress

More than 100 years after that article was written, cannabis prohibition is falling out of favor in voting booths, state legislatures, and even some corners of Congress. But while new dispensaries open in states on the West and East Coasts, police departments from Colorado to New York continue to target black and brown people for cannabis policing. As we move deeper into the American green rush, it is important to remember that cannabis prohibition was based entirely on racism, and that legalization will not succeed without active anti-racism in every facet. 

The Library of Congress is considered one of America’s most pristine historical archives, and it recently added Dr. Dre’s The Chronic to the National Recording Registry. The fact that the institution is putting a spotlight on the country’s long history of racially-motivated prohibition is a step in the right direction, but history will repeat itself unless more direct action is taken to change how cannabis laws are enforced in the present. 

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Police don’t merely enforce unjust laws. They help create them, protect them, and profit from them.

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Governor John Bel Edwards officially signed the expansion into law!

The governor of Colorado may now pardon those with low-level marijuana convictions.

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Cannabis can increase intimacy during sex by reducing anxiety or feelings of shame, according to a new study recently published in the Culture, Health, & Sexuality journal.

Over the past decade, a number of studies have found that cannabis can increase intimacy, help people have sex more often, and make sexual experiences more enjoyable — especially for women. The present study confirms these findings, but adds a unique twist. In most of the prior reports, the majority of research subjects have identified as straight, but the current study focuses exclusively on gay and bisexual subjects.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia recruited 41 men between the ages of 15 and 30 from the Vancouver area and interviewed them about their experiences with cannabis and sex. None of the subjects identified as straight: 3 of them identified as trans, 36 as cisgender, and the other two did not identify with a specific gender. The researchers interviewed each subject for one to two hours between January and December of 2018.

Nearly every participant in the study said that using cannabis before sex helped them feel less anxious during the experience, lowering their inhibitions and allowing for increased feelings of intimacy. Many subjects also said that weed helped them deal with anxiety connected to their own physical appearance, especially related to meeting new sex partners on hookup apps like Grindr or SCRUFF.

“In our study, we found that the use of cannabis can allow men to access a deeper sense of sexual freedom and intimacy in a context where same-sex sex is historically stigmatized,” the study authors wrote in an article for The Conversation. “In other words, the sexualized use of cannabis can help sexual and gender minority men overcome feelings of anxiety and shame resulting from internalized homophobia, biphobia and/or transphobia, so that they can more fully enjoy the sex they want.”

These feelings of anxiety and shame can prevent some gay, bisexual, or trans people from fully letting their guard down during sex, but most of the study subjects said weed helped them overcome these feelings and become more intimate with their partners. One of the subjects told researchers that he felt “a lot of guilt and shame” about discovering his sexual identity later in life, but said that cannabis helped him let go of these feelings during sex.

Some of the subjects also reported that weed increased their physical enjoyment of sex and even helped some enjoy experiences that had previously not been enjoyable for them. “I’ve been having anal sex for, like, probably a decade, but until very, very, very recently while having an edible [i.e. ingesting cannabis], I’ve never actually liked it… It’s never been better than a six out of ten,” one subject told the researchers, according to Insider.

“I’m actually enjoying this for like the first time, solidly, like a nine out of ten [after taking the edible]!” the subject continued. “And then the next time I had sex without an edible, I was enjoying it as an eight out of ten. I’m like, ‘Huh?!’ So it changed something in me.”

The findings of the study are extremely limited, as researchers only recruited a small number of men from one specific geographical region. The study does suggest that cannabis could be a powerful therapeutic tool for helping marginalized groups overcome sexual stigmas, however. 

The researchers believe that cannabis can also help influence people to engage in safer sex. The authors wrote that “the sexualized use of crystal methamphetamine (meth) by gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in a practice often referred to as ‘chemsex’ or ‘party ‘n’ play’ has been identified as a key driver of HIV infection, depression, anxiety, and suicide.” Cannabis can also increase pleasure and reduce inhibitions during sex, though, and without any of the risks associated with meth, ecstasy, or other chemicals.

The authors also note that weed “can function as a kind of social lubricant and break down socially conditioned boundaries, enabling disinhibitions while still allowing people to stay safe and follow public health directives.” During the current COVID-19 pandemic, health agencies are urging people to turn to online sexual experiences, rather than in-person encounters, and the authors believe that pot can help make these virtual sessions more enjoyable.

“Whether it’s because of a pandemic or due to harms associated with chemsex, the need to keep sexual and gender minority men safe remains vital,” the authors conclude.

In this op-ed, Taneeshia Thomas discusses the challenges of getting a license for a legal cannabis business while still dealing with the repercussions of the War On Drugs.

As summer fast progresses, it’s the perfect time to throw open the windows and refresh your space — cannabis space included. A deep clean can have incredible uplifting effects on the mind, so if you’ve been putting off your spring clean organization, today’s the day to finally bite the bullet and break out the cleaning supplies.

In the wake of Marie Kondo‘s rising popularity — and all manner of “sparking joy” throughout your home — your weed inventory shouldn’t be neglected during a deep scrub. Below, check out the ultimate guide to keeping an organized and fresh space for all your cannabis gear. 

Assess your inventory

Have you been holding onto old pipes and bongs for years? Do you have a couple of pot cookies getting stale in the back of your pantry? 

Go through your entire collection of cannabis goods and lay them all out in front of you. Organize and group pieces by type: pipes, bongs, flower, concentrates, and edibles — this will give you a full visual of what you have. 

Then, go over all nooks and crannies for any type of gear you may have left behind. You may be surprised by just how much stuff you’ve acquired over the years. 

Find what brings you joy

After you’ve grouped and laid out every cannabis accessory and product you own, hold each item in your hand and rigorously assess which ones truly spark joy. Set aside any items that you use religiously or daily as “keeps.” 

Next, you’ll want to determine which products have been collecting dust, as well as those you have forgotten about completely until just now. Do you really need four bongs, six pipes, a pile of glass jars, or those empty disposable vape pens you’ve been collecting for some reason? In a separate pile or box, set aside the pieces you know you can get rid of without feeling a sense of emptiness from letting them go.

You also may be holding onto pieces that possess wonderful memories — these can be considered keepsakes, but only if it isn’t everything in your collection. It’s up to you to determine which items you wish to hold onto purely for the joyous memories they procure. But be sure the memories are truly joyous and you’re not a pining over that pipe you once shared with an ex who you no longer speak to or friend who may have walked out of your life. Now’s the time to start anew with a sense of cheer rather than loss. 

Optimize and clean

Now that you’ve determined which pieces stay and which pieces go, it’s time to scrub them all down. Set aside time to put in a little elbow grease for your new, pared-back collection. 

Follow our various cleaning guides:

• Sanitizing and cleaning your gear in the wake of coronavirus.
• How to quickly clean your favorite pipes. 
• How to un-sticky your grinders. 
• Shine up your bongs. 
• Spruce up those dab rigs. 

For any vapes or rolling trays, you can simply wipe them down with a cleansing wipe for a fast refresh. 

Gift, use, or clear out

Has a friend been eyeing that old grinder or papers you haven’t touched in months? It’s time to give it all away. If you know you won’t be using your cannabis accessories, or they’ve been sitting around for an eternity, just gift them. You’ll be sparking joy with both yourself and your mates with this generosity. 

If you bought a strain here and there and hated the effects when smoked but continue to hold onto those little jars of nugs, consider turning them into homemade topicals or cannabis butter. You can use up the strains without the smoke and can instead use them to treat arthritis, sore muscles, or add a touch of stone to any dinner plate. 

Last, as hard as it is to let go, you may need to throw away any broken or damaged pieces. As much as you’ve told yourself that you’ll fix them in the past if they’re still broken to this day, it’s time to let go and toss. 

Refresh your cannabis space

Wherever you kept your cannabis products — be it a shelf, drawer, stashbox, etc. — open it up, wipe down the whole area, and let it air out for a couple of hours. You can even run a fan over the space for extra clearance. This will get rid of any stale smells and bring back a sense of peace and calm surrounding your cannabis collection.

Lastly, re-organize your cannabis products to their rightful home — keep all items in one designated spot and organize them by category for easy searching. 

You have now Konmari’d your cannabis gear. Everything should be sparkling clean, organized to the nines, and totally pared down. Bonus: you can treat yourself after all this hard work by lighting up and kicking back. 

Illustrations by David Lozada/Weedmaps

The post It's time to finally live a clutter-free weed lifestyle. appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Cannabis may seem like it’s some top-secret, ethereal organism, but it grows from a seed like any other plant. For growers of all expertise levels, cannabis seeds are a vital resource for getting their crops started. 

Big grows and little self-contained plant experiments alike all came from a seed — though maybe from a clone that came from a plant that came from a seed. The seeds themselves are part of cannabis lore and legend — as cultivation technology flourished, they became less prevalent in any given sack of weed.

Buying seeds is something you see advertised online, and while many growers all over the world use this method, California has easy access at places designed especially to get you the right starting materials, seed or clone.

Where to get quality seeds in California

A “seed bank” is that place, and it’s a strategy that farmers have used for thousands of years. Even self-sowing plants might need a little help from the elements, and cannabis is no different. Protecting weed seeds from the environment (or from being eaten by animals, as many are viable food sources), is one of the foundations of agriculture. Today’s seed banks are mostly shops versus community-operated storage.

The west coast allows for cultivation on a level that is largely owed to the plant’s popularity in states like California, which has informed counterculture. Cannabis is also largely dependent on sunny climes. The seed banks in the Golden State concentrate in the cannabis-heavy Humboldt/Trinity county areas, like Grower’s Choice Cannabis Seeds, but they are harder to find elsewhere.

At a seed bank, you can find starters of sometimes hundreds of cultivars, in seed or clone. These are the bones of any type of cultivation system and where you can find information about parentage via genetics. Sometimes the storied history of any given strain is also part of the sales pitch.

Some seed banks are collectively sourced, others are proprietary and involve the breeding products of just that company. In California, it is legal to have seeds stored, and any year now, interstate commerce in the cannabis sector could open up these seed banks to the rest of the country and perhaps, the world. Until then, buying seeds online isn’t legal.

When that happens, the decades of intense breeding and cataloging by tireless cannabis pros will be available to everyone, not just those in the immediate area.

Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

The post What is a California seed bank and where can I find one? appeared first on Weedmaps News.

The Strip went dark and dispensaries went delivery-only. Now stores are open at 50% capacity, with masks and distancing.

The post Las Vegas cannabis stores are reopening. Here’s what it looks like appeared first on Leafly.