Seasoned Benicia residents may remember “Creature Features” with Bob Wilkins as a Saturday night TV staple for those interested in classic horror films. These days, I am following the antics of “Svengoolie” on Saturday nights, featuring the usual platter of sometimes really bad early horror genre. A lot of works were simple two word titles beginning with “The,” followed by the menace du jour (Thing, Tingler, Ghost, Terror, Fog, etc.)
Most of 2017 in Benicia was focused on the regulated cannabis issue. A host of imagined consequences were thrown out much like spike strips in a roadway chase, in an effort delay the steady progress staff was making on ordinances development. Anxious citizens spoke of crime increases, stoned driving, decreased tourism, reduced real estate value, easier access for youth, loss of charm or soul, “things you haven’t even thought of yet”, the feds are coming, and “The Smell.”
Cannabis industry consultants have established three categories to define people’s views on cannabis: consumers, acceptors and rejectors. If you are a consumer like myself, you are automatically an acceptor. Our town has demonstrated there are far more consumer/acceptors than rejectors. Many of the rejectors have pleaded with city officials at all levels to consider “The Smell” that will pervade Benicia following regulation. I believe they are referencing the odors associated with burning cannabis flowers of the traditional “joint” method of inhalation, in an attempt to portray cannabis as stink, stench, and reek. I agree the smell of cannabis smoke is something you either like, tolerate, or detest, but the fact is the essential oils expressed by ripening flowers are more about pleasant aromas, fragrances, and bouquets. The molecules in cannabis flowers that give them their aromatic diversity are also found in many other plants, herbs, and fruits.
Connoisseurs can detect the nuances of different cultivars much the same as seasoned oenophiles can describe the nose on a glass of wine. Cannabis flowers have evolved to produce essential oils that attract pollinators and repel predators. There is only one type of cannabis that gets close to actually being stinky. These are the legendary “skunk” cultivars, and they do smell like one. But connoisseurs can differentiate between the aroma of ripening skunk flowers and the real thing.
It is important to reaffirm that the Benicia City Council did not vote to allow personal cultivation of cannabis in our town. This is a right now guaranteed by state law to all 21 and over adults; to grow up to six plants indoors per residential unit. The City Council could not legally ban indoor cultivation. They crafted regulations that also allow outdoor cultivation in a greenhouse with some degree of “olfactory minimization”. I don’t see many people investing in or improving an existing greenhouse suitable to meet the threshold of minimum olfactory signature. If a rejector in your neighborhood or next door smells your outdoor grow, they will surely complain, not because it smells (unless you are growing skunk), but because it is cannabis. So there is going to be a lot of indoor cultivation of cannabis. Some will grow for medicinal applications, some will grow for “recreational” consumption, and others will grow simply because they can and are curious. The law also allows for smoking cannabis in your home. The reality is that many homes in any neighborhood in Benicia are most likely going to include indoor cannabis cultivation. And it is very likely that warmer weather and open windows will allow for a variety of cannabis aromas to waft throughout town. If your neighbor/neighbors are consumers of cannabis via traditional smoking, they can smoke it in their homes until they can’t see the opposite wall and then open windows to ventilate. You may get a good whiff of the smoke once in a while in addition to smelling ripening flowers.
I believe the city of Benicia should consider how complaints about The Smell will be handled. Surely our Police Department will receive complaints about cannabis-related olfactory observations. A registry of complaints should be developed, so each complaining address gets only one swing at complaining about “The Smell,” because so long as the complainee is in compliance with state law and local rules, the city of Benicia has no authority to try and change the behavior of your neighbors. What would also be helpful is for the city to mail an informational instrument to all households that explains the law and local rules. Also that the fragrances of cannabis flowers are non-toxic, and that detecting secondhand smoke from burning flowers will not set your eyes to pinwheeling followed by a trip to the emergency room. “The Smell” will be playing in Benicia for the rest of our lives.
Stan Golovich is a 32-year Benicia resident, senior, veteran, artist, and cannabis advocate-educator. He is an alumnus of Oaksterdam University in Oakland, America’s first cannabis college. He is the husband of former Benicia City Council member Jan Cox-Golovich, and is often seen riding his bike on First Street, said to be the only bicycle in the world with a stained glass window in the frame, a product of his work in stained glass.
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Stan I give you credit. You will not stop. But the big problem is the things you bring up. Those facts alone will make more residents/voters anti cannabis. A smell like an animals business not cleaned up could be a big complaint and also cause folks to claim it as a nuisance. If that happens it will be enforced. Thanks very much for that info and we all will be on the look out. An individual or a yard that goes ripe {thanks Strother Martin} is in fact offensive and a nuisance..
Gilroy gets very pungent every year with the smell of garlic. What happens next? Why, the Gilroy Garlic Festival, of course. Looking forward to the annual Benicia Bud Bonanza (copyrighted).
I believe a lot of undecideds and even rejectors will evolve to appreciate that flowering cannabis is very often quite pleasant. This whole town could smell like lemon pie and fruit salad some day. Festivals on the Green, smoking allowed on a one day permit and the town would be packed. The only time I have ever witnessed violent behavior in a crowded venue was related to recreational alcohol abuse. Everything in moderation.
Word.
Time to grow! Just got back from a place in Vallejo selling clones along with an extensive line of cannabis products, including CBD products for pets. This used to be the original location of Kelly-Moore paints at 539 Tennessee Street, open 9 to 8 every day. You can’t smell anything inside or outside. It’s worth a trip to check out what a clean, well-organized, and secure storefront looks like. There were hundreds of products with and without the dreaded THC. The clones range in price from $15 each and up depending on size and are not subject to any taxes at all, just like produce. I bought GG4 babies that will eventually produce some of the most powerful flower on Earth. I will process it into topical analgesic and a butter-rich desert that will close my eyes to the width of a playing card and then it’s tomorrow, strictly for evening use while watching Svengoolie or Moonshiners.
Remember, cash only.
Well if you can buy it Vallejo no need to have it in Benicia. Very short ride.As all the pro pot folks say you can now go to Vallejo and be a tourist. Enjoy Mare Island, all the fine dinning and the colorful history. Enjoy your day in Vallejo. No, you will buy and turn around and go home and enjoy a good nights sleep. Sleep tight and do not let the bed bugs bite.
The clones are rooted in cubes of rockwool that fit in an eight ounce cup and put in a regular bag, no child-proof bag required. It’s similar to going to Mid-City Nursery. Like last year’s grow, I am sticking with coir and perlite in a 50/50 blend, but blend however you prefer. There are thousands of opinions about the best growing medium, nutrient regimen, watering, etc. Keep in mind this plant started and thrived in dirt thousands of years ago. You can buy the coir from Amazon in compressed bricks from various vendors asserting their coir is best or whatever. Perlite is also available. I am using strictly organic nutes this year by Earth Juice, also available at Amazon (what isn’t?). You’ll need the EJ Grow and EJ Bloom, since both are used in varying amounts during the veg and bloom cycles. Order a couple 1 teaspoon medicine droppers while your shopping, or CVS has them. Plant the cube in your preferred medium and start feeding it. I use a “drain to waste” protocol which is simply a container in a reservoir saucer. The saucer can be filled with plain water in hot weather and the plants will be grateful, plus you can rotate the container as necessary. Talking to your plants? Absolutely. Plants use carbon dioxide and light to make oxygen and sugar. The oxygen is given back and the sugar makes it grow. The co2 concentration in the atmosphere is at .o4 percent. The co2 concentration of exhaled breath is 100 times that. Some indoor cultivators add c02 to their grow space, but DO NOT attempt this at home. I simply blow on my plants for a few minutes every morning. Plants don’t care what you have to say, they just want your c02. There will be more detailed cultivating tips in a forthcoming special.
539 Tennessee Street in Vallejo, open 9 to 8 every day. It’s busy as a Starbucks all day long, but worth the visit if you have never been inside a regulated cannabis shoppe, especially for pet owners that want to consider THC-free medicinal products for their pets in declining health or distress. We will have one of these on First Street someday, maybe even two once people evolve out of their unfounded fears and support their neighbors in the business community.
Products by and for women. Women are achieving parity in cannabusiness more than any other profession. Some of these are available at the clone shoppe.
https://tinyurl.com/y8gwplpo
I started feeding the new arrivals yesterday with just the EJ Grow in a diluted concentration. I adjusted tap water pH down with a small amount of Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, to about 5.5. I put them in a paper bag and exhaled into it a couple times to create a co2 rich micro-climate.
After about 10 minutes, I put them under a night light. These plants will continue to grow under light. This is how mother plants are cultivated to produce the clones, which can then be cultivated as another mother plant. Tremendously adaptable plant even easier to grow than a geranium. They are showing new lime-green growth already, sitting in a sunny window just 40 feet where kids walk to school. Blowing on the plants also mimics the wind, and the plants get stronger in a steady breeze. This is why indoor cultivators use fans to keep the plants dancing all day and night. Some even regulate the “wind” speed to mimic changes in real wind patterns. The best thing about indoor cultivation is that the plant doesn’t know what month it is, and you can grow 18 or more plants a year instead of being limited by seasonal light and temperatures if growing in a greenhouse that somebody might smell and complain about.
Today you can get free primo compost at the Corp. Yard until 1pm, up to 30 gallons per person. They will load for you, five gallon buckets are best. Your cannabis plants will love this stuff, indoors or out.
BZ to our Public Works Department on the great compost they gave away recently. The plant I started in it is growing much faster than the other ones I started in coir and feed organically. I have not added nutes to the PW blend because it is rich in nutrients. I just add water once in a while. The manure smell fades after a few days.