Mernagh - Marijuana smokers guidebook : the easy way to identify and enjoy marijuana strains

MARIJUANA SMOKERS GUIDEBOOK

Published by Green Candy Press

San Francisco, CA

Copyright 2013 Matt Mernagh

ISBN 978-1-937866-07-5

This book contains information about illegal substances, specifically the plant Cannabis Sativa and its derivative products. Green Candy Press would like to emphasize that cannabis is a controlled substance in North America and throughout much of the world. As such, the use and cultivation of cannabis can carry heavy penalties that may threaten an individuals liberty and livelihood.

The aim of the Publisher is to educate and entertain. Whatever the Publishers view on the validity of current legislation, we do not in any way condone the use of prohibited substances.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without express written permission from the Publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review where appropriate credit is given. Nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the Publisher.

CONTENTS

SMOKING POT 101

I toked them all...

MATT MERNAGH

and I probably should have known better than to attempt to write a lengthy introduction to this book after inhaling a devastating indica like Exodus Cheese. After a lengthy toking career youd think Id know better, but here I am, with my guide to smoking the worlds best pot hung up just before hitting the press because Ive chosen the wrong weed. Gawd damn! Indicas are great at managing my chronic pain levels, but they zap the creativity out of me. Unless I switch it up to a soaring creative sativa, Im doomed to stare at a blank page, and so are you.

Marijuana and writing have been part of my daily routine for two decades. Combining the two to create a ganja guide seems like a dream writing gig until one day, you begin to struggle with words after hitting a Kush. Toking multiple Kushes and thinking creatively? Forget about it. Writing that a strain is dank one too many times is akin to a music critic writing, It rocks! for every song on an album. Just not okay.

Towards the end of this book-writing process, after sampling and reviewing hundreds of samples of amazing weed (and tending to my own my cannabis crops), I began appearing at my local pub with a long day at the office look. Yes, I sampled (and smell like) five different kinds of marijuana today, but I also penned thousands of words describing the smells, tastes and effects of what I smoked. Just like any professional critic, I take my craft seriouslyI reached back into my writers bag of tricks to my days of being a young, ranting music reviewer and applied many of those techniques to the art of reviewing marijuana strains.

Instead of reviewing marijuana objectively, I completely and wholeheartedly admit to getting medicated and writing subjective reviews. Marijuana strains from the White family are my personal favorites, so Im bound to be influenced by my adoration of White Russian, White Widow and Jean Guy. However, I love stellar soaring sativas, especially in the morning, while afternoons often bring fruity flavored hybrids and of course the well-loved Kush strains.

Can cannabis ever be reviewed objectively when there are so many variables involved in producing truly great finished bud? The same strain grown by two different people will ultimately have similar, but notably different, results. Besides using totally different methodssoil or hydro, chemical nutrients or organic plant food, etc.theres a personal growing style that influences the way the plant grows in these different systems. In short, no two buds are truly alike.

The breeders seeds play a significant role too, but how much? There are plenty of well-known strains available that when grown from seed produce at least two different phenotypesgroups of observable characteristics, like smell, taste and effects. Some breeders inform buyers that either of these phenotypes can appear in their grow, while others dont. Subtle differences will create different impressions of a strain.

So when we write about pot, are we judging the strain or the groweror both? It seems to me that the best method to examine marijuana strain is subjectivelyand this doesnt mean writing, Its super DANK or, This strain is FIRE, bro a hundred and fifty times.

Theres not a published article, going all the way back to my beginnings as a music geek for Exclaim Magazine, that hasnt been written while Ive been under the influence of some wicked weed. Thats because without cannabis Im unable to sit comfortably in a chair and write these words. Medical marijuana allows me to function. Inhaling responsibly, Ive obtained a Humber School for Writers diploma and a journalism diploma from St. Clair College, penned articles for Toronto alt-weekly NOW Magazine as well as Cannabis Culture magazine and Ive made several appearances on Newstalk1010, an influential news radio station in Toronto.

Marijuana manages my fibromyalgia, scoliosis and a rare brain tumor behind my left ear better than any prescription medication on the market. I can function like a normal human with medical cannabis, whereas seizure and opiate medications render me blah. In 1997 I joined a then-fledgling organization called the Toronto Compassion Centre. It helped people to obtain high quality cannabis to treat their illnesses. When Toronto Police raided the feisty organization in 2002, I came out of the cannabis closet and began my personal quest to overgrow the government.

As the coach of a group of activists known as the Toronto Hash Mob, Ive led and organized almost a decades worth of marijuana smoke outs. We risk arrest every April 20th by publicly puffing down with friends. Now we have grown into a sizeable crowd of thousands of tokers. Our celebratory cannabis cannon (about a quarter pound in one super-sized joint) has led to my photo being splashed in newspapers all the way around the world. Ive appeared in print and on television numerous times in my legal medical marijuana garden. Its fair to say that cannabis has given me a quality of life I could not have had without it.