Stoner Living Space Alert - Asteroid Passing between Earth and Moon

Hey Stoners - stay out of the stratosphere - a big space rock might hit you if you get too high! An asteroid is going to pass between the earth and the moon on Friday February 15, 2013. It will be closest to earth around 11:30 AM (PDT). The big (150 feet across) old hunk of iron and ice will be closer than the satellites above us. And we haven't had anything of this size pass this close in the past 40 years or so since we've had satellites integrated into our daily lives -  in terms of relying on them for communication, navigation and even weather reporting. Let's hope for the best.

Our Sources Inform Us The Moon is Safe from 2012-DA14

Asteroid 2012-DA14's orbit will send it below the Clarke Belt - an elevation popular for communications satellites because objects there appear motionless in a fixed position above earth in what is called a "geostationary orbit". This special spot, 22,000 miles above earth, has become crowded with lots of communications and security equipment - making it entirely possible that the asteroid could collide with navigation (GPS), weather or communication equipment. But NASA assures the public that there is no chance of a collision with earth.

We are huge space nerds here at Stoner Living and so we were sad to hear that the best viewing with binoculars will be from Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia. But on the bright side, the satellites above Seattle should be safely out of asteroid 2012-DA14's path of destruction.

Viewing will be streamed online and you can watch it live right HERE.

---------------(C) 2013 Stoner Living Blog

Consistency, Cannabis and Keeping it Cottage

The legalization of marijuana will change a lot of things, and one concern of cannabis connoisseurs is what I'll call the 'Budweiser effect': the standardization and homogenization which could come as large players enter the market and displace the current cottage industry. At public comment meetings related to the implementation of I-502 in Washington State, the fear of losing the boutique nature of the marijuana industry is often expressed with the analogy of microbrewed beer versus Budweiser. Given the immense popularity of marijuana, it seems likely that small, medium sized and large companies will all have a place in the emerging industry. There's a place for our beloved microbrews, but there is plenty of room for Budweiser too.

Fresh Hops in the Hands of a Brewmaster

Big brands like Budweiser deliver their product with consistency, reliability and accessibility - very comforting attributes to a consumer. You may think what you will about the flavor (or lack thereof) of the King of Beers, but you can order a Budweiser in Milwaukee, Seattle or Sioux City and it's going to deliver the same product experience every time. Familiarity instills a sense of comfort, it's a fact of human nature leveraged by marketeers every day, and is part of the reason Budweiser, McDonalds and  franchises in general are successful.

Hop Pellets offer Consistency

Hops are closely related to marijuana and are also members of the botanical family Cannabaceae. Consider the differences in how microbreweries typically use hops versus how hops are incorporated by large, corporate breweries. Hop pellets and fresh hops can both make beer, but hop pellets look like gerbil food.

As marijuana becomes commercially available, it is inevitable that product lines will develop to meet consumer expectations in terms of consistency and reliability. The existing tobacco smoking products industry (cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco) does a remarkable job offering consistent products to their consumers. Tobacco is an agricultural product, subject to effects of differing crop years and an ever increasing international market for raw materials. But the industry has developed technologies to ensure the consistency their consumers expect.

A Cigarette Sacrificed for Educational Purposes

Blending is the tobacco industry's strategy for delivering consistency to their smokers. Different varieties of leaf including Bright, Burley and Oriental (in the case of cigarettes), along with other components are mixed together to create a final blend. Within a single type of tobacco - say 'Bright' - a blend may have a mix of different crop years, and leaf from different continents. Rather than patenting formulas and having the details become public, most blend recipes are closely guarded trade secrets.

A Wet Mango Blunt Wrap from Royal Blunts

One dirty little secret in the art of tobacco blending is the inclusion of reconstituted or 'sheet' tobacco. Tobacco scraps and dust are ground into a slurry and turned into sheets in a process akin to paper making. This 'sheet' product can be produced very consistently, making it a great tool for a leaf blender trying to create a consistent smoking product. A robust industry exists supporting such technologies. Blunt wrappers are just squares of flavored sheet tobacco.

The future of the cannabis industry is history in the making, and much will depend on how the foundations are laid in Washington and Colorado. The cottage industry nature of NW cannabis culture can be preserved if the community demands it. The marijuana industry is destined for greatness, and there is room for players of all sizes.

The Author with Wild Hemp (2010)

Article by Heather Hjorth. Heather is the Principal Consultant at Hjorth Product Research - the world's first consumer and product research consulting firm dedicated to serving the legal cannabis industry.

Disclaimer: This article references Budweiser only as a reference for our audience. The author is not affiliated with Budweiser in any way; this article does not imply any knowledge of past, present or future business or marketing plans of Budweiser or Anheuser Bush.

--------------(C) 2013 Stoner Living

I-502 Consulting Services to Washington State Liquor Control Board: Update from the Bidders Conference

A crowd of approximately 100 attendees sparsely filled two large ballrooms at the Tacoma Convention Center as potential bidders asked questions pursuant to contract K430 for Initiative 502 consulting services for the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB). I-502 is the initiative which passed in November 2012 legalizing recreational marijuana use in Washington State. The WSLCB issued a request for proposals to support implementation of four key areas of I-502 on January 17th, and the bidders conference was held January 30th; all bids are due by February 15th.  Attendees asked questions of the WSLCB and took advantage of the opportunity to network with each other in anticipation of finding or filling sub contracting opportunities

Bidders Conference for Contracting Services for I-502 Implementation with Washington State Liquor Control Board

The state contract K430 (which Mr. John Farley, a contract specialist with the WSLCB, occasionally referred to as 'K420' in an adorable Freudian slip) will ideally be awarded to one main contractor who will undoubtedly require the support of some sub-contracting services, given the unprecedented nature of the I-502 initiative.The state's strong preference for hiring one main consultant versus four different consultants for the different categories of expertise makes sense given the tight timelines required to make the deadlines stipulated in the text of I-502.

The four categories of expertise sought by the WSLCB are:
- Product Industry Knowledge
- Product Quality Standards and Testing
- Product Usage and Consumption Validation
- Product Regulation

Due to obvious conflicts of interest, the winning contractor will not be eligible to apply for producer, processor or retailer licenses under I-502 during the time they are under contract with the WSLCB. A number of strong candidates for one or two of the categories were present, but it seems clear that a team will need to be assembled with members who have expertise (and who meet the minimum qualifications) in each of the four categories of expertise. A number of small to mid-sized consulting companies were present, along with a handful of experts in analytical testing services, lawyers and an assortment of cannabis cultivators.

The Federally illegal nature of marijuana presents unique issues for a state contract, as some of the most qualified candidates have ancillary baggage such as felony convictions or other inconveniences. There were thought provoking questions like "my cannabis testing facility was raided by the Feds in 2011...as a non-profit under investigation by the FBI, can I apply using my existing business license, or should I apply for a new one?" One gentleman present presented me (a potential bidder on the K430 contract) with a photograph of his graduating class from Oaksterdam University as his credentials for sub-contracting opportunities.

Members of the WSLCB seem genuinely interested in making I-502 succeed. Mr. Farley was absolutely believable when he told the audience "we want you guys to be successful - we don't want you going to jail for doing what the LCB has asked you to do". Of course, just because the WSLCB wants to see successful implementation of I-502 doesn't mean the Federal government isn't going to get their knickers in a knot once licenses start getting issued and things start happening. There are absolutely no guarantees of how the Federal government will act over the course of I-502 implementation. Perhaps President Obama, an alumnus of the Choom Gang, will take the opportunity of his final term in office to address re-scheduling of Cannabis (from a Schedule I drug to anything else). Only time will tell - but the tide is turning in favor of marijuana legalization and Washington State seems to have the needed support of local legislators.

------------(c) 2013 Stoner Living Blog

This article may be re-published with permission of the editor - stonerlivingblog@gmail.com