I am "holier than thou"

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Marijuana photography and Knowlege

Over the span of all my years of smoking Marijuana, I always found ways to get my camera closer to my subject. I did it the "on a budget" way and at the time I thought I was awesome (I wasn't). Either way, I still have the files saved and am lucky enough to be able to see strains that I used to smoke way back when. Mind you, the pictures are crappy and most are not in sharp focus. But having a small window to look into the strains of the past is such a wonderful thing to have. My only regret these days is not writing my thoughts down about each strain as I smoked them. The only ones I could describe in great detail are the ones I rendered my "top favorites". Man, when I think back to the first Afghani's and Trainwreck's I used to smoke on, it makes my mouth water. I have yet to find an Afghani that matches the quality, taste, and smell of those from back then. Believe me, I am still on the hunt for them lol. Now when I talk about these strains from the past, keep in mind that I acquired them on the streets and not at a medical collective (I was young). My dealer at the time informed me that most of the buds he sold me were grown hydroponically and came from the Humboldt area. I dearly envied these growers. My envy slowly evolved into a young mans dream to grow with the best of them. I had always wanted (still kind of do) to move to Humboldt and plant massive fields of Marijuana. I could picture myself in a rocking chair, in the middle of two huge Marijuana trees, rolling the blunt of the best weed! Someday my friends, someday.. Since becoming a medical Marijuana patient, I have been trying to hunt down one particular strain that I loved so much back then. TRAINWRECK! I have been to a handful of dispensaries and came across some pretty close renditions of the strain. I have came across the smell I remember so well, although not as strong. The trainwreck I remember had a smell so strong it would make your head ache if you kept your nose in the bag too long. No joke!I find comfort in the thought that I will find her someday. And when I do, I am going to roll the fattest blunt and smoke myself into the memories of the past. I have been toying with the idea of documenting and reviewing strains for all these years. I have always had a passion for writing and photography (and smoking). What I came to notice is that good reviews are hard to find these days. Most are bland and only tell you what you already know. Its like when you go to a collective and ask the bud-tender "How is the Fire OG today?" and he answers with "It's fire!". It leaves you wanting more every time. At the end of the day, its up to the person buying (donating) to make the best picks for his particular flavor. But what about those who don't posses the knowledge to appropriately pick a strain for whatever ails them? This is where reviews and a bud-tender's knowledge come into play. I've lost count of the times when a patient next to me asks for a recommendation about what particular strain to pick for a certain symptom and gets answered with wrong information. Is that his fault? Partially. The bud-tender is most at fault for not having more knowledge on the subject and being able to better advise him on his strain choice. Not everybody is an experienced smoker. Some are new to medical Marijuana and need guidance to fully benefit from it. We need to spread knowledge about our wonderful medicine! I always run across people that speak of Marijuana as a poison. I wonder to myself, "How can they be so ignorant?".I've seen highly educated people compare Marijuana to drugs like crack and cocaine and always ask myself, "How can someone so smart, be so stupid?". It's ignorance... There's none so blind as those who will not see. I am an activist, I fight for what I believe. Those who know me, know that I am always willing to drop knowledge on any particular subject. Especially Marijuana! And there's nothing I hate more than an ignorant fuck who's not willing to listen for the sake of argument. We need to keep ourselves educated. But more importantly, we need to keep others educated! Knowledge is power folks.

Pictures attached: Afghani from back in the old days shot with a 2 megapixel kodak and The Ridge OG from 2011 shot with a Nikon d5000

So, I'm new to blogging.

Online that is.. I guess you (I) could say that I have been blogging in my own mind for years. It's crazy to think how much thoughts actually run through ones head in a single day. Anyway, I finally convinced myself to create an online blog. (Yes I talk to myself lol). So I haven't been smoking Marijuana lately, its been about 13 days now. And yes I capitalized Marijuana on purpose! Don't just me monkeys lol. Back to the topic at hand.. I haven't smoked for 13 days, not by choice, but because of probation. I've been on probation for about about 3 years now (3 years probation was part of my deal) due to a Marijuana related arrest. So since my sentence I've only heard from these fuckers twice. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. The first was to let me know that I was going to be enrolled into a drug program. The second was recently (June 29th) to let me know I have a routine appointment. Now to me, a routing appointment means that these assholes (I will refer to the probation department as "these assholes" lol) are about to release me from probation (hopefully). Of course I'm expecting to get the old "Do you mind giving us a urine sample?" bullshit before I leave the building, hence the whole me not smoking situation. Keep in mind I am a legal prop 215 patient now. My friends tell me that I should tell these assholes to go fuck themselves and keep on smoking like a train. Don't get me wrong, that would be my first choice 9 times out of 10. But for this certain situation I felt it was better to just clean my system and pass the UA (urine analysis). I think it will give me a big smile when I am able to pass the test and not give these assholes anything to hold over my head. The probation department around here has no interest what so ever to hear about me being a legal patient. Picture these assholes giving me the "I'm listening but I don't give a fuck what you have to say" nod. I just want to get this whole situation behind me. If I have to quit smoking for a whole fucking month to do it, SO BE IT! Most of my friends are shocked when I tell them the oldest line in the pothead book- "I can quit whenever I want.". Most of the time I just get laughed at (with a handful of mild insults), but that's expected. When I was enrolled into the drug program at the beginning of my sentence, I pretty much had to quit for a whole year. In the program, I met a lot of interesting people (mostly drug addicts lol). But I actually came across a couple real drug addicts. When I say real drug addicts, I mean people addicted to: meth, crack, cocaine, etc.. Real drugs! lol. It's crazy when you realize all the different paths people take and somehow still end up in the same place. Anyway, I graduated from the program with flying colors; I never gave one dirty UA. In that program I felt like an eagle among a group of turkeys, as the saying goes. And before you jump to conclusions, no I do not think I am better than anybody. The level of education in that place was below average, which makes sense because most of those people are whacked out of their minds. Even some of the counselors seemed to be unqualified to tell other people what direction they should go in their lives. But that's neither here nor there now. I graduated the program in 2009, I think? I can't really remember because as soon as I graduated I got so baked I forgot who I was haha. Irony at it's best is it not? Even though I am bashing the program, it did help me grow as a person. I picked up a few life lessons along the way, as I do with most things I am involved in. Just for those few lessons alone, I feel it was worth giving up Marijuana for a whole year. See, I love Marijuana more than most people. So much so that I am actually able to consciously give it up for a set amount of time. I never say goodbye to Maryjane, its always more like a "See you later!". At this point in time, I believe Marijuana will always be involved in my life. And that thought doesn't bother me one bit (the exact opposite for my mother lol). I've been smoking Marijuana since I was 14 (maybe 13 1/2?). I still remember the day vividly.. But that is better left for another day. To be continued homies ;)