“Those States are Stupid…” Is Idaho in ‘law law’ Land?

July 24, 2015 By Manic Conrad Leave a Comment

Quiet, north-end streets, shadowed by a still calm after late-night July thunderstorms. I Just had one of the those old-school diner style breakfasts accented with a cup of black coffee. I was accompanied by an old friend of mine, Paul Dilliard. It’s been a while since i have been to Boise, Idaho. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Paul Dilliard.

On the way over, speeding on west to east highways and sometimes boring desert roads, I was trying to find a question to ask my friend. You see, he has been working the ranks of the prison system, doing just fine, and teaching at the police academy. Not surprised that’s the route he took. After all, half of his uncles seemed to be doing the same, or in the special forces. Or maybe, it was the Green Berets.

After tumbleweed and sagebrush, and a few sips of one of the few drugs that you are allowed to use while driving (caffeine), I finally found the question I wanted to ask:

“You work with the Police Department and prison system in Idaho…now that Oregon and Washington have legalized marijuana, has their stance or position relaxed a bit, or has it changed?”

Paul Dilliard shook his head side to side without even a hint of hesitation.

“No way, not at all. They think those states are stupid. They are really conservative here. Idaho will be the last state to legalize.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised at Paul’s answer, but I have to admit, I was. I thought for sure he was going to tell me: ‘yeah, the police department has relaxed their stance a bit. They are going to focus on more important things.’ But no. The answer was clinging onto ‘Reefer Madness’ like super-glue.

I have spent some time in the past, when I was younger, in the beautiful outdoorsy state of Idaho. I knew it was conservative, but most of my time was spent getting kicks in non-conservative circles. Conservative Idaho was always in my face, but I was always looking away.

Still, it’s just hard to imagine how a state, bordering two states that have just legalized marijuana, may possibly be on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Could it really be that far removed from other states in the same region? Especially, a state that resides in the former wild wild west?

I wasn’t done. I wanted some more insight to the perception that Idaho has about marijuana. Even if it was just a little more. I paid a visit to a long-time local smoke shop in the confines of the downtown.

After a brief introduction, in which the man behind the counter made it very clear that he fully supports marijuana and ‘what we are doing over there,’ he summed up his perception.

“There is a divide. There are those who love the idea of legalized marijuana, and there are those who are completely against it. It’s not one way or another, just a mix. However, the overall perception of marijuana seems to have relaxed a bit.”

Expected. Of course the guy who works at the smoke shop, who sees people entering the smoke shop every single day, is going to have a more favorable view. But still, it’s interesting that he said: ‘there is a divide.

I had one last friend to meet up with. Sultan James. One friend I have spent more time with that any other one. So I know him well. So well, I didn’t need to ask him what he thought about states that are legalizing marijuana, or the current status quo in Idaho. Still, he’s not shy bringing the subject on his own.

“I can pay a visit to any craft brewery in Boise and down three 7% IPA’s and it is perfectly ‘okay’ to do, but I’m not allowed to freely take a simple cannabis-infused lozenge – something so harmless – and suck on it like it’s a piece of candy. It’s fucking ridiculous.”

Again, I wasn’t surprised by his thoughts. Like I said, I knew his views.

Sultan James has had it rough with cannabis and prohibition. About a year before we met, he had been driving with a friend in Nevada. At the time, Nevada had some of the most strict anti-cannabis laws in the country. It just so happen, they were also driving through one of the strictest counties in the state. Upon being pulled over, the cop was suspicious enough to search the vehicle and found a small amount of cannabis and mushrooms.

Because of this, he spent 3 days in the country jail, inherited a fine in the thousands of dollars, and was issued over a hundred hours of community service and AA classes. Upon violating his probation by staying out too late one night, receiving an ankle bracelet which kept him indoors except for work, and violating his probation once gain after he smoked some cannabis, he spent another six months in jail, followed by almost two years in a maximum security prison.

Sultan James is just one example of how marijuana prohibition has failed. He is a great individual with a big heart. He is not a problem to society. He is harmless. But, because of a small amount of natural ‘drugs,’ and a couple of unfortunate choices, he was treated like he was a big problem and a threat to other citizens.

I wrapped up my visit in Boise. A place that remains familiar in some ways, because of long ago memories, but so different and far removed from my home in Seattle. A ten hour drive, an hour by plane, but a world’s apart.

While neighbors: Washington and Oregon are visiting the future, Idaho remains in ‘law law’ land.

Our One-year Anniversary: A Celebratory Toke

April 1, 2015 By Manic Conrad Leave a Comment

We can’t believe how fast time flies. Seriously.

It just seemed like a couple of months ago, we launched HighAboveSeattle.com into the local marijuana stratosphere. A lone black hot air balloon, with a pot leaf silhouette, that hovered above the Seattle marijuana industry.

Which would mean, Cannabis City made history by being the city’s first recreational marijuana store to open its’ doors about a month ago. Which would mean that the rest of the retail shops opened just last week. Oh, and the Legal bottles blew up. And the weed fairy became a real thing.

Of course, this is all based on what the timeline seems to us. It really has been a year. And we can’t wait to see what the 2nd year of HighAboveSeattle.com brings!

First, we want to thank all of our advertisers: Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop, Green-Theory, Ganja Goddess, Apache 6, and Rain City Cannabis. The dream continues because of you.

In the same breath, I would like to thank every single visitor to this site. You are what makes this site possible.

And still in the same breath, I would like to thank our marijuana reviewer Fischer Campbell for his dedication, professionalism, and hard work; as well as Ellie Klein for simply going out of her way to write great content.

Please check out:

The Guide to Seattle Marijuana Stores

Our List of Marijuana Reviews

2 Glaring Differences Between Washington & the Newest Legal Pot State: Alaska

February 24, 2015 By Manic Conrad 1 Comment

Alaska has just become the 3rd state in the country to officially legalize recreational marijuana. This begins the long and tedious process of creating the rules to regulate the industry.

This means the first recreational pot shop to grace the landscape of the great frontier will not be until next year. Until then, Alaskans won’t be able to purchase weed legally, but they do have a way to obtain it which leads us to the 2 glaring differences between Washington State & Alaska recreational marijuana laws.

1. You can grow marijuana plants in the privacy of your home in Alaska, not in Washington

Despite being the first state in the country to officially legalize marijuana, Washington has lagged behind Colorado and now Alaska, in allowing residents to grow marijuana in their own home. Under the current law, it is illegal for Washingtonians to grow their own marijuana, unless you received a license as a producer. In Alaska, you can now grow up to 6 plants in your home.

2. $100 fine if you are caught consuming marijuana in public? OUCH!

It is illegal in both states to smoke marijuana in public. But the main difference is in the fines. In Washington, if you are caught smoking in public, you are looking at a $27 fine – which is the same as consuming alcohol in public. Even so, public consumption of marijuana laws are very relaxed.

In Alaska, the law for public consumption of marijuana is strictly enforced with $100 fines.

Write and Run: Will poor and misleading journalism have an impact on our young recreational marijuana industry?

February 10, 2015 By Manic Conrad Leave a Comment

Komonews.com just published something with words in it and a number. The so called article is titled, “District: Pot to blame for most school discipline in Seattle. Of course, the article starts off by stating: “A disturbing trend has been identified in Seattle public schools.” Then is states: “Between the start of the school year and January 7, marijuana made up 77 percent of all disciplinary actions taken against students.” And that’s about it. The rest of the article is a bunch of filler with nothing of value to back up the above statements.

All we know from the writer Joel Moreno is that there is a disturbing trend and 77% of all disciplinary actions against students involve pot. That’s it. Without knowing the actual number of disciplinary actions, how can anyone come up with strong opinion about whether or not it is a disturbing trend? Thanks to the writer, we didn’t have to. He made the opinion for us – on a news article.

In addition, there are over 100 comments on the article but the writer is nowhere to be found in the discussion. He did his job. Wrote an article leaving out all pertinent information except for the info that would attract the masses. He started a fire and ran.

Here’s the thing. We have ventured into a brand new industry. So brand new that we are only two states in the entire nation that have an operating recreational marijuana industry. And while there are a good amount of us that are trying to shape the industry for the best, by creating a culture that is responsible, there are other organizations outside the industry that are more concerned about other things such as how much money they are making off of it. And that’s it.

What kind of impact will poor and misleading journalism have on our young industry? This is tough to say but at the very least, it may delay public perception and acceptance of an industry still trying to find a foothold and thrive.

What kind of impact do you think poor and misleading journalism have on our young industry?

Winterlife Cannabis

February 2, 2015 By Kevin Ross 1 Comment

When Winterlife Cannabis decided to ends its recreational marijuana delivery service last summer the coop was sorely missed by its thousand plus customers. However, Winterlife has been reborn as a recreational processor, and its first batch of concentrated cannabis extracts and edibles began arriving in recreational stores over the last couple of weeks. We spoke with Evan Cox about the transition from running a delivery service to becoming a processor, their experiences operating under the recreational marijuana bureaucracy, and what Winterlife has planned for the future.

For those who are not familiar with the former delivery service and to give a more in-depth recap: Winterlife was originally a wildly popular recreational marijuana delivery operation that received national media attention for the service it was providing. The delivery service operated in the legal gray area that existed after recreational marijuana was legalized, but before there were any legal retail stores open where adults could purchase pot.

Winterlife created what they described as a ‘legally defensible strategy of distribution’ by only selling to adults who would legally be allowed to be in possession of recreational pot, and quickly gained a reputation for their quick delivery of high quality product. In addition, their drivers, all of whom assumed animal based pseudonyms like Badger or Wombat, were known for their professionalism, and the operation grew rapidly, employing over 60 people towards the end and turning a tidy profit for Winterlife.

We asked Evan about how the process of transitioning from a delivery service to a processor has been, and he told us that while Winterlife was already experienced with packaging ready to consume cannabis products and was able to transition into the day-to-day work of processing products, it was not an simple process.“It was extremely difficult. Unlike many of the delivery companies that popped up in the wake of Winterlife’s success we had always planned on transitioning into the legal market. This meant that once stores started opening up, our ‘job’ of filling a void where the state hadn’t provided any safe access to legal cannabis to adult citizens had effectively ended.“

Evan also pointed out the heavily reduced profit margins that resulted from the transition, which were compounded by the current regulations and taxes that are levied against recreational marijuana processors and retail stores. He candidly explained “The individuals working at the Liquor Control Board are trying as hard as they can but Washington State has set them up for many more failures to come. The licensing system strings licensees along from one requirement to the next and the people prior and aft have no clue what this one does and so on. Much of the information you’d require to anticipate your operations isn’t disseminated until you already need to know. It’s a real mess right now.”

While Winterlife is experiencing more than its fair share of its frustration as it makes the transition to becoming a fully legal processor, Evan remains optimistic for the future of recreational cannabis. He ended our conversation on a positive note, stating “I think that those of us who can weather the storm of initial bureaucracy will do well from and for the future of this industry with the potential for some of us to do extremely well, but there is definitely a lot of hard work for narrow margins ahead. Right now it is very much a numbers game.”

Winterlife currently has three vegan friendly cookie varieties, honey oils and pre-rolled cones available at local recreational stores. Evan also told us about all the excellent sounding products Winterlife has planned for the future, such as infused nuts and chocolate raspberries and possibly peanut butter pretzels. In addition, they are hard at work developing a new infused beverage and will release a new exclusive ethanol extracted shatter, a stable concentrate that can be smoked or vaporized.

UPDATE: You can find Winterlife Cannabis products in Seattle marijuana stores.