#1: Getting Started: Mission Statement

Now, it's been awhile since I've been out in the public square, and that's doubtless for the best.  However, with the emergence of liberated cannabis here in the fair state of Oregon, I saw an irresistible new career choice open itself up to me.  After years in the wine trade, and years writing about the same, via a short foray into spirits, I found myself borne inexorably back to that which was my favorite all along.  Long before I could call out a wine's continent, long before I had any idea about the difference between gin and genever, I had a love affair with cannabis.

As a Kentuckian, I hale from a state with its own storied, proud cannabis history.  As an Oregonian, I  live in a state where the sensible adult can conveniently and legally procure some of the world's finest cannabis and cannabis-derived products, in a myriad of styles and media of delivery.  As of September 2016 we here in Oregon already have nearly two decades of successful medical cannabis that have left both the children and the fabric of society intact and unharmed, and as of October 2015, "recreational" cannabis has been legal as well.

Colorado, and, to a far lesser extent, Washington, captured the national eye with their pioneering efforts in cannabis liberation.  That always felt a bit ironic to those of us here in Oregon, where, along with the hallowed grounds of northern California, the world's very finest modern cannabis has long been developed, nurtured, and propagated...

(fingers crossed and knock wood that our southern neighbors get it right this November, thus allowing us to have an entire, unbroken Free Coast, where decades of cannabis subjugation will have given way to a wonderful new era when we can really begin to explore the vast potential of this dizzyingly multifarious medicinal- and, yes, of course, recreational- plant)

What has this meant?  Once you get past the stoner jokes and stale, wanly amusing clichés, you arrive at the truth of the matter.  You arrive at the thousands of people who have their lives back thanks to cannabis.  You arrive at parents who can speak to their children once more; you arrive at strong, able young men striding into your dispensary, who months earlier were confined to a wheelchair and could barely use their hands; you arrive at women of breathtaking eloquence and conviction who had previously been so lost in pharmaceutically-induced dementia that they hadn't been able to speak for years.  It's not a joke.  And it's not an exaggeration.  Cannabis is a plant of stunning therapeutic potential.

And thank goodness that we can also freely admit that it's a hell of a lot of fun.  One of the main therapeutic aspects of cannabis is just that- the induction of happiness.  Seriously.  That's one of its main functions.  It makes us happy- how brilliant that it also makes us healthy!  Jack Herer was right when he told us, years ago, that "hemp" could save the world (and we'll get into "hemp" versus "weed" very soon)... How else to describe a plant that can do every single thing petroleum can, that is sustainable to produce, that has hundreds of clinically-verifiable medical uses- including the destruction of cancer cells in certain instances, and that is loads of fun and lovely and aromatic to boot?

It's time to get on the right side of history and realize that cannabis is no different than coffee or wine grapes or cacao or hops or any other specialized high-end agricultural product.  The same ideas of terroir and variety, aging vs. freshness, mass cultivation vs.  hands-on attention, obtain in cannabis as we've come to learn obtain in wine.  I would argue that the future of cannabis is similarly bright, with regional specialties, "single-vineyard" offerings, specialized breeding programs, and the concomitant boon to tourism.

It's a damn fine time to be a lover of the herb!  Follow me, and I'll show you some things that will allow you to enjoy and experience it in the best possible way.  Skål!