Ask William Breathes, Westword marijuana critic, anything until 4:20 today

• So sorry I missed this on Wednesday.  I have 2 questions, realted to the same thing: (1) my medical condition is severe arthritis in the knee.  My medical needs are pain and insomnia relief, which favor an indica.  Any strain recommendations? (2) while I enjoy a good buzz as well as the next person, I also need a topical application that will help the pain.  I've never seen you review these.  There are several on the market.  Have you ever used these and, if so, do you have any recommenations?

• Opps.... <strike> One over of experience in an industry that has been around for 11.</strike> One <bold>year</bold> of experience in an industry that has been around for 11.

• Impressive. One over of experience in an industry that has been around for 11. gesshhhh....

• Karmaceuticals has the largest selection of clones and seeds of any dispensary I have been to. Last time I was there they had 160 strains you could purchase as a cut or bean, every strain is not immediately available.

• After 4 years on the registry I got stalled getting my card, and I don't want to wait forever for my red card to arrive. I was wondering if the shops will take a renewal recommendation for meds? What sense would it make to get meds to new patients and make the old wait 30 plus days? and... are cdphe some jack a## or what?

• yo william, get yourself a HMK (Hashmasta Kut) curve and you'll never go back to a dome/nail setup, puts Worm's quarts 'puddle swing' to shame

• Is it true you can now legally bring your medical bud from CO to AZ & CAL and vice versa w/ your state card...by plane even!  Also, what is the best way to stealth carry your stash through airport security - or is that just impossible now?  thanks, snowdawg

• Have you tried an eclipse vapp?

• Have you heard of anyone being denied a red card yet? Still waiting on my damn card since I got the certified return receipt on Sept 27th.

• When are you  going to come to Colorado Springs for a sampling of awesomeness ?

• concentrates not hard to make if you have a basic understanding of electricity and safety issues surrounding combustible gases / solvents

• ill be sure to swing by in a few months when these ladies are ready!

• Oddly enough, I know of one center who actually just sold clones of one of their "in house favorite strains".  The only clone that they will not sell - not to their patients or to other centers, even centers who are not in Denver - is one that won a medal at the Cannabis Cup this year.  I am not trolling on here, so I won't mention which center or which strains... Everything that they had for sale clone wise was either ON the shelf, or was harvested and is in cure to go on the shelf soon. 

• At Denver Relief, we generally refer patients to the MMD Medical Doctors.  2 of their doctors have been with the business for well over a year. One of them has been there for over 2! They are a doctors office that sees patients aside from just making recommendations for medical marijuana.  They offer pain managment services, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture and more.  All of the employees who work with mmj candidates are fully versed in the rules surrounding mmj applications.  If a new form comes out, they use it the first day. I only have good things to say about the MMD Medical Doctors! They are at 6th and Grant in the Coldwell Banker Building 720.287.3440

• And it's 420. Thanks again folks, this was a freaking blast! Leave more questions and I'll get to them over the next few days.

• love hearing this. I"m the same way. gotta keep hash and flower separate.

• i'm not endorsing flyign with herb, btw.

• http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/12/flying_tsa_medical_marijuana.php hopefully that helps. In short: you can fly with herb legally to medical marijuana states that allow for reciprocation. There's only a few though.  Basically, TSA defers to local authority. So, in Denver that would be DPD. Since colorado law allows for it, there isn't much they can do.

• I do remember the first time I smoked. It was the summer after 6th grade and it was with my best friend, and he had scored a half joint from his friend's older brother. We put the thing in tweezers and smoked it on my neighborhood park slide. About an hour later, we went home and went swimming at my friend's house. His mom cleaned up his clothes he left behind when changing into his swim suit and found our roach clip and matches and busted us right away. clearly it didnt' stop me, though. as for the clones: I see what you are saying, but i don't think that is really the case. Sure, some hold genetics close to their chest -- but I also see a lot of benefit in sharing genetics. I know people sell them for a lot of money, but all it takes is one nice person to kill that market by giving out genetics....

• I just recently picked up a glass screen for smoking bubble hash out of my bong.  I am a full-on convert now.  I may need to get a new hash-only bong though because the wife keeps smoking bud out of our only bong and the residue ruins the hash taste. 

• What are the rules at DIA airport?   I have heard good things about some really chill TSA agents, but what are the actual rules  People are listening and watching all over the states, not just in Colorado.

• no, both times they kept it cool and I was treated like any other customer (from what I could see). The first one was for Denver Relief. That's when i learned not to wear my Rockies cap into dispensaries. The other was for the Cannasseur, where I had met Bubba at the cannabis cup prior to my visit. I've since met the guys from Denver Relief and spoken with Bubba in person. All are great people, and they all know I won't hold back when i review them again just because they know me.

• Do you remember the first time you smoked? Describe. Regarding clones. Wouldn't MMC's be out of business if they sold their top shelf genetics to their patients? Isn't that why the clone strains are never the same as what's on the shelf? If they were really good genetics then they'd sell for a lot more. Wasn't delta9 selling banner clones to MMC's for a grand this time last year? (That's probably for your audience more than for you). That sounds far more reasonable, along with selling sham genetics these days on the cheap.

• Thanks, great feedback. I was wondering if that balance would be tricky due to the helpfulness of inside knowledge vs staying anon for the benefit of the readers. I didn't read about you being recognized, did you notice any positive/negative treatment change or sudden access to quality not available to the public?

• I haven't use an actual herb iron -- but i've used a hakko and I loved it for concentrate smoking. Works perfect with a concentrate bowl too. only thing is that it's mad dangerous if you are clumsy

• Have you tried the Herb Iron?  if so, what are your thoughts. Does it work for hash and other extracts?

• I wish I had enough experience with various companies to give a good answer (feel free to send me stuff to review, glass companies!).... But if you want to keep things local, I REALLY like what Colorado's Joel Halen is doing right now with bubblers. Amazing functionality and amazing craftsmanship. My top three glass shops in town are probably Heady, Illuzion and Mad Hatters -- but there's lots of good shops in Boulder and the Fort as well. 

• There is no meaning. To quote a much, much more intelligent man than myself:  All things flow according to the whim of the great magnet.

• I earn enough right now to get by, but technically I'm a freelance writer for the paper. I would love for this to be truly full time, though, but the world of journalism is a tough one right now in that regards. As it is, I enjoy doing what I do though and wouldn't be doing anything else. I stay incognito when I review shops. Only twice (to my knowledge) have I ever been recognized, and both times I made mention of it in my reviews. I *have* met dispensary owners after i reviewed their shops, though. I find that I need to strike a balance between being anonymous and actually having sources for other news stories and sometimes that involves me showing my face. That said, i'd like to think I have remained as objective as I was when I first started this thing and knew nobody.

• Best smallish tube or bub and where to purchase?

• What's the meaning of life ?

• Do you earn enough to make a living as the mmj reviewer? And do you get the hook at mmc's or do you stay incognito as you did reviewing restaurants Jason?

• Good question. I always seek out any hash made by Essential Extracts, but i've found great stuff at: riverrock, the clinic, denver relief, delta 9, Greenest green, Greenhouse, cannasseur, cds, and a few others that aren't coming to my not-so-stoned-anymore brain.... Is it 420 yet?

• Because they are probably using better nutes? ;)

• Who has the best extracts?

• So why does the grass always seem so much greener on the other side?

• When they pretend to know it all, but can't tell me the differences between their strains in flavors, smells and looks without having the jar under their nose. If you don't know, just admit to it. Honesty is by far the best virtue in a budtender.

• Biggest pet peeve when dealing with a budtender?

• One more hour to go, folks....

• Smile, I stay away from recommending doctors -- that can get kindof dicey in my position. All I can really say is that a few of the more prominent and vocal doctors in the MMJ community here in Colorado have all stood the test of time, so-to-speak.

• Breathe In MMC.

• I have been on the registry for 4 years now, every year is a new hassle with either a medical referral place or CDPHE taking forever to process, I know you review dispensaries but I got caught up in that first batch of 2600 held up at CDPHE and am expecting to get rejected or possibly even worse denied. But hey I am a bowls half empty kind of guy... State got my app Mid Sept cashed my money order Oct 6th and my card has been expired since late Oct leaving me not high but dry (glad I held on to some of my last harvest or I would really be pissed right about now) I am supposed to get something by Dec 23rd they say which leaves me in a very grey area of the law as far as possession and consumption these days. My question is: Do you know of any medical referral facilities that have stood the test of time? It seems every place I go to the Dr. ends up having some issue with his license (CannaMed) or its not an actual Dr. that signed the paperwork (WellDocs). CDPHE doesn't have a list of places you should or shouldn't go so from your experience in the field what do you consider a legit place to get your referral? I have 2 herniated spinal discs that cause nerve damage and major discomfort I have been seen at CU medical for over 10 years, so its not like my medical condition is I get stressed when I don't have weed... Anyways Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas or Happy Festivus!!!

• If you opened a dispensary, what would you call it? Feel free to take a minute.

• Yes, but only freshwater and certain varieties of tuna. Can you still have fun?

• Probably forgetting to put my bong away at 15 before my mom came home. I was so busted.

• I'm pretty sure the only thing they can truly detect is the dilution of urine, which some people do by drinking a ton of water before a UA.  You can combat this by racking up your vitamin, protein and creatin input.

• Do you like Phish?

• What is the most important thing you forgot to do while high as balls?  (that you eventually remembered)

• "To the best of my knowledge the folks from Steep Hill Labs in Oakland have never found a butane cannabis extract that didn't have a healthy spike for butane when they tested it. It's certainly possible to make one, but it wouldn't be easy. "

• "Hmm, do you think that it's possible inhale enough butane from the amount of residue in an extract to cause hyperkalemia? Abusing or exposing oneself to high concentrations of butane seems like a more believable scenario. Of course, if you happen to be sentenced to death by lethal injection, then you're in for one heck of bout of hyperkalemia."

• read the thread: http://weedtracker.com/cannabis/topic/216240-butane-extracts-saponify-lung-tissue/

• I agree with your assessment of the 'recovery time'. I find smoking to have the most tolerable efficacy of any method. 

• "There is evidence that microbubbles of butane in this crap saponifies fats in lung tissue. What does saponify mean? It means it turns your lung tissue into soap. Gotta cough to get off? Nope. Gotta cough to turn your lungs into Irish Spring."Michael Backes-

• well, butane ingestion alone is extremely dangerous. that much we all know. As for the dangers of BHO? Sure they are there, but I think that there is little science behind a lot of what people claim as 'facts'.  Personally, i *think* you probably take in more butane by lighting up a green bowl with a bic than you do with even the worst BHO. But I'm no scientist.

• They rarely get them, but it does happen -- even to the best.

• I need to use every 3-4 days; most often vaporizer but sometimes now edibles as the dosage is getting easy to regulate.  What, in your opinion, has the longest vs. shortest "recovery" time - meaning from high as a kite to clean-headed?  I find smoking (bong) usually has the quickest "arc" (3-4hours); vaporizer a bit longer (5-6 hours); edibles can sometimes leave me hazy 12 hours later.  I really like NOT smoking, but still find that method the most desirable way to consume my medication.

• All the Top Growers I know will cut down at first site of mites but the rarely get them.  None would sell anything less then perfect. 

• also, the incredibowl, an amazing pipe that never shits on you

• William, have you heard any negative health reports about ingesting butane?  I know it must be bad, just as bad as a butane lighter fumes, but gosh darn is it good.

• I was raised on Swisher cigarillos -- old school style, where you gotta split the thing right or you fuck up the whole thing. That said, I haven't smoked a blunt in probably six months. Nothing but RAW papers lately for this weed critic.

• Thanks for the question. I think the idea here is that cheap screens could be made from metals that will off-gas when heated up. Not good for the old lungs. The ones I use are steel, i'm pretty sure and  I found the screens i'm using on a dispensary review visit to RiverRock Wellness, but I think they are sold around town at various head shops (Illuzion, Heady, Mad Hatter). It's a curved screen with a brass rim on it. As someone else said, you can order titanium screens from AqualabTechnologies.com. They also make glass screens. They look like jacks and fit in the small hole of the push (bowl) of your pipe. Most head shops with a decent glass line carry those as well. You could also try getting a different shaped dry glass pipe. Sherlocks tend to spit less ash than straight spoons do, for example. Hope that helps 

• best blunt wraps?

• I think all women with a love of cannabis are sexy, HCC. 

• Can you comment more on this? Is there a screen that is considered "safer" than others? A good place to get some in the metro area? Thanks. I'm getting to be an older dude; I grew up with screens. I just want small medicinal amounts from a small glass pipe -- and I don't want ash getting in my mouth. (So please no comments from anyone about switching to a bong or vaporizer or anything like that. It's a specific question related to simple pipes, simple enough.)

• What dispensary has the sexiest female bud-tenders?

• Mite infested weed doesn't need multiple reasons to suck. It just sucks. Sadly,  it's not just a dispensary problem. Even my former caregiver -- who grows the best herb I've ever smoked  -- has had bug problems in his basement and had to gas them out. 

• mie infested weed sucks for other reasons too. Nugs will have far less THC then possible.  

• Sorry Pete, I've never had to deal with that.

• thank you, forgot to mention that.

• I'm more worried about getting a lung infection from breathing the Denver smog, but I realize that it's a slim possibility. Last I checked, though, smoking mites won't kill you -- it's just really fucking gross.

• You also do not have to have a provider listed at all.  The form is available on CDPHE's website, and you just fill it out and have it notarized and send it in with a legible copy of your Colorado ID (or proof of residency and photo ID).  You can get these forms notarized for free at your bank/credit union, or quite a few of the MMCs have notaries on staff who will either do it for free or for a $5 charge for notarizing.  Depending on what you may have signed with the carecenter, you may need to let them know in writing that they are no longer to act on your behalf as your grower.  (That also does not mean that you can no longer shop there, but you may not get the same deals anymore that you did before)   Regardless of who is listed on the card, you can go shop at any MMC or you can use a private care giver, or can even grow your own if you so desire.   Good luck! :)  Hope that this helps.

• I've got to take a urine test for a life insurance policy.  Anybody got advice on what they are testing for?  Will a positive THC result matter for a life insurance policy?  If so, can they detect whatever they'll sell me at the head shop to counteract this?

• yea me too.  I gifted them cuts a long time ago

• I'm not the best person to talk to about this, since my THC levels have been about the same for the last 15 years.

• I was in there the other week for my review. But otherwise I don't visit the shop regularly. 

• No, I wouldn't agree. I mean, there's this myth that all private growers are excellent at their craft and that anyone's basement grow is better than anything coming out of dispensaries. That's just not the case. There was plenty of mid-grade stuff back before the 70/30 rule and there's plenty after it. What it did, though, was cut out a handful of the top growers from the industry. That did suck a lot.But the herb I'm seeing now in MMCs -- in general -- is getting better and better all the time. I'm not trying to be an industry apologist or defend it, just giving my observation.

• wtf how are you publishing a review of them tomorrow if its been a long time?  You should visit root organic they now have sfv x jamaican jam, alien kush(real deal f1 from obs), diablo( not OG) ,bubba gum and White FIre OG which came from me.

• Do you ever worry about gettn a lung infection from sampling all the bud from dispensaries seeing how I talked to 5 warehouse owners that are fighting pm&mites and can't afford to flush or cure properly because they are desperately fighting for patients.

• hey there! I will soon be studying abroad and there is ZERO tolerance for MJ, legal or not. I'm a pretty heavy smoker (i got my levels tested a few weeks ago at just under 500-whatever that means) and I need to be THC free in a month. Aside from exercise, tons of water and cutting out fat from my diet I am wondering if you know of any supplements that have been proven to work. I am taking B12 and Golden Root as well as a general body cleanse but I want to make sure I am covering all my bases. Anything will help! thanks!

• I think that it sounds fucking delicious. This new plant-based/vegan organics thing is so intriguing to me and I look forward to seeing more grows devote some space to things like this.  So, yeah... um, if you're ever down in Denver the Westword office is at 10th and Broadway  ;)

• I'm really former Westword food critic Jason Sheehan.

• Would you agree that since the 70/30 rule most dispensary weed sucks now?

• Nope. Haven't been to the Greenest Green in a long time though.

• I have watched weed wars. What a great sitcom. ;) As for the federal raids -- I think we will start to see some federal action here, but I don't think it will look much like what has gone on in CA, WA or MT. I could be very wrong, but just based on the fact that our laws are written differently and that MMJ is in our state constitution will make their approach different. I'm not saying one way or another that our laws are going to 'protect' MMC owners, but regardless of that I think most everyone would agree that CO isn't like other MMJ states when you get down to the details.

• Have you had the shire, alien kush, white pimpslap or pimpslap og from the GG?  All of those came from me.

• you just made my mouth water. 

• It's actually from the dispensary I am reviewing tomorrow, Greenest Green in Denver. A good sample though, if only slightly drier than I'd like.

• I wonder what the range of guesses are for who you are in real life Billy....I bet they are all over the board. I wonder though, if anyone has guessed correctly.

• So I'm a private caregiver up in Leadville. growing at 10,200 ft. popped 8 seeds off of a Chemdog #4 female that I crossed with a good looking male GDP. about to germ 4 of them soon and pick out my favorite pheno.  I'm growing 100% plant based organics, and I was just wondering how that cross sounds to your refined palette?

• Westword, give Billy boy here more budget! I suggest at least a 42.69% increase in funding.

• Maybe we could... I would be totally into that, with local experts on the judging panel... Just need a slightly bigger budget *ahem*.

• Thanks. I know where to find that info online -- just not in my head. :)

• You know, I get asked that a lot about clones a lot -- and unfortunately I never have a good answer for that because I'm never in the market for them. I hardly even look for them in my reviews (thanks for pointing out something I need to work on). Off the top of my head, i think I remember seeing clones at Wellspring, The Clone Store (duh), La Contes Clone Bar, The Bud Cellar.... but those aren't necessarily endorsements. Can anyone else here help out? Where have you found healthy clones around town?

• CDPHE says that you can change it once a month.  MMED says once every 120 days.  

• or Westword's Best of Denver award

• Maybe Westword could do strain/dispensary awards, similar to Denver 7's A-List awards....

• I plead the 5th.

• Wildo is correct. You can go to any dispensary you want or find a private caregiver. It's all legal for you to do in Colorado  You can also change the 'provider' info on your card through the CDPHE... i think you can change it up to four times in a year, actually.

• Is it true that in real life you are Jake Browne from CDS?

• I just had some kizzle H and SFV 

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