Noble header

Recreational Marijuana: It’s the marijuana you DO take home to mom.  

Posted on by Substance
Categories: Blog
Tags:

I mean, only take weed home to your mom if she’s into that sort of thing.

Well, it finally happened.  The seventh seal was broken, the words were spoken, and that one-time innocuous weed that the devil planted so long ago was finally let loose onto the public last month.  Oh, the horror, the horror.  Release the Ganja!  The Sticky Icky!

Seriously, though.  It’s all a bit silly now, isn’t it?  Of course, those dangerous and dirty pot heads who’ve been ignoring those ridiculous prohibition laws this whole time knew that the overblown War on Drugs was, and still is, nonsense.  Thankfully, sanity has started to take a more active role in our little ole US of A–even if it is only one state at a time.

For the old stoners and the virgin recreational marijuana users — we like to say “adult consumers” around here– let’s forgo all the data and science and research regarding the medical benefits of cannabis, forget about politics, and let’s just share our marijuana experiences with our fellow humans.

Here at Substance, we aren’t about selling you a product to put money in our pocket; we’re about sharing our knowledge and experiences.  We want you to have a good time.  Come in today and see what we have to offer.  Come back tomorrow.  Tell your friends about us.  Tell us what you like and try a new strain.  Just walk in and buy yourself some pot – really good pot – and finally enjoy it without being paranoid about the fuzz.

What do you like to do after a bowl (or two)?

Substance Cannabis Dispensary in South area of Bend, OR

Heck Yeah, We Do Sell Recreational Marijuana Here!

Posted on by Substance
Categories: Blog
Tags:

Gone are the days of, “Pssst! Hey, do you know where we can score some pot?” It is now legal for participating Oregon Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to sell marijuana to adults who are 21 or over.

That’s right, folks, you can all (21 and over) come in to Substance and buy marijuana from us, legally. For real.  No code words or secret handshakes are necessary. You know what makes us extra awesome? We accept credit and debit cards, so you don’t even need to drive by the ATM first.

Oregon Recreational Marijuana law states that we may sell up to 7 grams – 1/4 ounce – of flower per day to someone who is at least 21 years old.  We also have seed packets available and a list of clones that are available to pre-order.

Due to the high demand of our client base, we rotate through a variety of marijuana flowers –buds – and our selection is always changing.  Flower is packaged in 1 gram, 3.5 gram, and 7 gram bags and we have a wide selection of pre-rolled joints available.  We also carry a selection of pipes, grinders, lighters, and other non-medicated items.

Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) cardholders have their own sales island and are allowed to purchase all of our flower products as well as our tinctures, edibles, concentrates, oils, candy and beverages.  Unfortunately, those products will not be available for the recreational users until the end of 2016 due to pending legislation.  We highly recommend you obtain your medical card to have access to all of our delicious products.

Please be respectful and don’t spark it up in our parking lot.

History of Marijuana

The Unexpected History of Ganja

Posted on by Substance
Categories: Learning
Tags:

When you hear the term ‘ganja’, the first thing that comes to mind might be Rastafarianism. Rastafarianism is a religion that began in Jamaica in the 1930s, combining Protestant Christianity with mysticism and a pan-African political consciousness. Rastas use ganja (cannabis) as part of a spiritual, meditative practice. Interestingly, however, the word ‘ganja’ does not originate in the Caribbean. Rather, ‘ganja’ is of Sanskrit origin, an Old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent.

So how did a word with Indian roots become so prevalent in a primarily Jamaican religion? The answer lies in the importance of cannabis to aspects of Hindu culture and society and British 19th century imperial policy.

Hinduism and Cannabis

Hinduism is a diverse religion from the Indian subcontinent, dating back as far as the 2nd millennium BCE. Many of its holy texts are written in Sanskrit. Several of these texts identify cannabis as sacred, leading one scholar to assert that “Hindus regard cannabis in much the same way as Christians regard the holy sacrament of wine.” The importance of cannabis to parts of Hindu society can also be seen in local religious practices throughout the Indian subcontinent. In several cities and regions, deities are offered cannabis as part of religious ceremonies.

The British Empire, Slavery, and Indentured Servitude

The British Empire formed the link between the Indian subcontinent, and, hence, Sanskrit-based words for cannabis, and the Caribbean. By the late 18th century, Britain had gained strategic control over parts of India, further consolidating its control throughout the 19th century. In 1833, Britain outlawed slavery. Consequently, the empire’s colonies, especially its rubber and sugar plantations, needed laborers.

Britain looked to the Indian subcontinent for manpower. Indians were taken abroad, often as indentured laborers, to plantations in a variety of locations, including Jamaica. Between 1845 and 1917, Britain brought nearly 40,000 Indian indentured laborers to the country.

Ganja and Rastafarianism

The interweaving of Indian and Jamaican cultures that followed brought the word ‘ganja’ to Jamaica. By the early 20th century, smoking ganja had become common practice among young, black Jamaican field workers. The black-power, pan-African message of Rastafarianism found fertile ground among this disenfranchised population.

As many of these workers were displaced and moved to poor, urban areas, the message of spiritual ganja-use, pan-Africanism, and black liberation grew stronger. Jamaica’s elite felt threatened by this movement, and in 1948, ganja was made illegal. Thus, by the mid 20th century, ganja had become an integral part of the anti-establishment movement that is Rastafarianism.

Recreational or Adult Use, Marijuana or Cannabis: Which Term to Use?

Posted on by Substance
Categories: Learning
Tags:

If you’ve ever been to a dispensary, you might have noticed some slightly different language to refer to the products and services inside than you have heard colloquially or in the popular media. In this post, we give a brief breakdown of why we use the language that we do.

Recreational vs. Adult Use

With legalization in Colorado and Washington, and now in Oregon as well, you’ve probably heard the term “recreational marijuana” to refer to cannabis use outside of medical marijuana programs. Here at Substance, we refer to cannabis usage for adults over the age of 21 who do not hold Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) cards as “adult use”.

We use this term because we believe that responsible adults can and should be able to determine what cannabis usage means to them. The medical vs. recreational binary creates a false choice for cannabis users, reinforcing the idea that non-medical users of cannabis are making inherently risky or reckless decisions. Sensible, adult cannabis users who do not have qualifying conditions for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program should face no more stigma than adult users of alcohol. Adult beer drinkers, by comparison, do not have to go to the ‘recreational beer store’.

Cannabis vs. Marijuana

Cannabis and marijuana essentially refer to the same thing. Technically, cannabis refers to the parent plant, which can be broken up into Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. Sativas and indicas are what we seek on the medical and adult use markets – ruderalis lacks the cannabinoids that provide those sought-after therapeutic benefits. Hemp is used to refer to a low-THC variety of Cannabis sativa that is often harvested for industrial use.

Marijuana is generally used to refer to higher THC (or CBD) varieties of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. However, the term has not always been so commonplace. Widespread usage of the word ‘marijuana’ began following the Mexican Revolution of 1910, when the United States saw a large influx of Mexican migrants. Many of these migrants used cannabis as a medicine and a relaxant, and as anti-Mexican sentiment went on the rise, racist propaganda spread fear of the Mexican “Marijuana Menace”.

Because of the history of racism associated with the term ‘marijuana’ in the United States, and the general applicability of the term ‘cannabis’, we use the latter. Considering this history, and the stigmas still surrounding cannabis use today, we feel that using the term ‘adult cannabis use’ over ‘recreational marijuana’ helps combat the negative associations that we as a society have with the cannabis plant.

We hope this post has been informative. Thanks for reading, and we look forward to seeing even more of you join our community of adult cannabis users come October 1st!