The Real Dirt

John Newmerzhycky was travelling through Iowa with his friend William Davis after playing some poker at a casino when they were pulled over by a member of the Iowa state police interdiction team. With reports concerning a red vehicle, the police officer followed John and William for ten minutes before pulling them over for failing to signal when passing another car.After being pulled aside and questioned by the officer, John began to show signs of breathing rapidly and fidgeting, which increased the officer’s suspicion. After telling John he was free to go with a warning, the officer asked if there were any drugs in the car. Without a direct response, the officer called in a K-9 unit.John and William told the officers there were no drugs or currency in the car. This would turn out to be untrue when the officers found Davis’ $85,000 packed inside a locked briefcase. The police also found a grinder and a very small amount of cannabis, but enough to charge John with a misdemeanor. But that wasn’t the worst of it.The state of Iowa then confiscated the money, called California authorities where the men are originally from, leading to both of their houses being searched. Despite both John and William having medical marijuana cards, the searches led to felony charges in California. Jump to today, and every charge has been dropped, and the original sum of money confiscated has been returned.There was more of a reward for John and William than just money however. Hear John’s full story when he sits down with Chip on The Real Dirt Podcast.

Matt is the founder of Bickel Consulting and oversees cultivation facilities in Alaska, Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, New York, Maryland, and Colorado. He was the Chief Operating Officer and Master Cultivator at Maggie’s Farm in Colorado Springs with responsibility for 8,000 plants (outdoor grow on 10 acres) and 40 employees, growing cannabis organically from seed. He has worked with industry-leading companies like Silverpeak Apothecary in Aspen, Natural Remedies in Denver, Green Stop in Fort Morgan, Top Hat Cannabis in Juneau, Etain in New York, and others. Matt has deep expertise in cultivating indoors, outdoors, and in greenhouses, and he has experience as a project manager in all phases of construction, equipment purchasing, permits, licensing, and operations. Matt graduated from Baylor University with a degree in education.

While studying Nuclear Engineering at a college in Upstate NY, he also learned to grow marijuana in a spare room of his apartment. He read everything about growing marijuana he could get his hands on, but he was especially interested by Robert C. Clark’s “Marijuana Botany”. He sent a letter to the owner of the Super Sativa Seed Club in Amsterdam and after weeks of discussing breeding and genetics, they offered him a job. Mr. Soul became their USA seed distributor to their American customers in 1987.This opportunity provided Mr. Soul access to cannabis seeds genetics and information that allowed him to rapidly advance his cannabis cultivation and breeding expertise in his own grow spaces. He used his engineering skills to design hydroponic systems and climate control systems for his own growing operations. He organized the garden work flow; scheduling and performing all phases of cannabis production; seedlings, mother plants, clones, flowering, harvest, manicuring, drying/curing and seed storage.These projects became increasingly larger and cultivation was soon Mr. Soul’s full-time occupation. He became known as “MrSoul” to the online cannabis community, after he started sharing growing and breeding information. He was reliably producing 1 pound per kW and delivering 2 pounds of high-grade cannabis per month, when he founded The Brothers Grimm Seed Co. in 1996.Mr. Soul’s breeding projects produced strains from cannabis seeds that are now world-famous, such as Cinderella 99 (C99) and Apollo 13. These strains were featured in High Times magazine articles among the top 10 most favored varieties of all time and have also been used by other breeders to create numerous award-winning hybrids.Chip sits down with Mr. Soul on this week’s episode of The Real Dirt Podcast to discuss cannabis seeds genetics, the current standing of the cultivation industry and more.

His journey with cannabis started like a lot of others; he moved to Denver in 2012 during the heat of the Amendment 64 movement looking for any way he could get involved. After finding a job with a Colorado public interest research group that had him signing students up for photo ID on college campuses, Andrew realized it wasn’t the job for him.Andrew ended up leaving his first job after a couple of months, and joined Students for Sensible Drug Policy where he would work on the legalization campaign.“I worked on that campaign, it was awesome, and that’s how I got to know Josh and Mason and Brian Vicente and Christian as well who was keeping the law firm afloat at that time”Through his work on the Amendment 64 campaign, Andrew met Christian and Brian of Vicente Sederberg LLC. With his work in public policy, specifically related to cannabis, it was a match made in cannabis heaven. Andrew’s policy experience and love of numbers led to multiple job opportunities with the firm, eventually resulting in a full time position.After the passing of Amendment 64, Andrew’s work increased. With a regulated system that could actually be tracked, more statistics than ever before began to mount. More people were willing to admit to their cannabis use, which revealed new and changing trends.“The ball is not going to roll down the hill by itself. Even though we think it is, we’re going to have to keep pushing it. There’s friction.”Despite the vast changes and awesome advances the industry has seen, it is always fighting. With only a few states having full legalization, the rest of the country is watching those states with a microscope. As more states recognize the monetary and societal benefits of legalization they may move to do the same. When that happens, differing laws may arise, to different effects.Listen to Andrew share his story about the legalization movement and where the future of the industry lies on his episode of The Real Dirt Podcast!

On this episode of The Real Dirt, Chip hangs out with three of the managers from Cultivate Colorado, the largest indoor horticulture supplier in the galaxy, based in Denver, Colorado. Listen in as Darryl, Jay- J and Jacob discuss the industry, where it has been,...

I Heart Jane aka The Amazon Of Cannabis is a revolutionary new cannabis marketplace where consumers can search for specific cannabis products and get local results within seconds. Whether it’s terpene hunting for the perfect taste or finding the best deal on that edible you want, I Heat Jane gives you control over what you want, and how much you want to pay. It’s a Mary Jane revolution.“When the team and I are were looking at building this a couple years ago we were asking ourselves, how do we shop online for everything other than cannabis?”One of Socrate’s teammates was in the process of looking for a new bike helmet on Amazon, when the idea struck. When we shop for everything online, we type it in a search bar and get dozens of results from different sellers, at different prices. Apply that same online shopping experience to cannabis, and you get I Heart Jane. Now, finding that sweet Mary Jane is as easy as a couple clicks.“I’ve never run a brick and mortar dispensary, but I’ve worked in retail before and it’s tough.”In order to make their online marketplace as easy to use for both consumers and dispensary owners, I Heart Jane makes an effort to make joining their marketplace as simple as possible. With their platform’s technology, dispensaries can update their menu daily or weekly, and Jane handles the rest.I Heart Jane integrates in real time to the point of sale systems of cannabis businesses, giving them access to inventory and pricing, enabling the platform to act as a turnkey digital storefront that connects the products on their shelves with customers in real time looking for those products in their local area.

Just like people are ok with drinking cheap, low-alcohol content domestic beer, people are ok with smoking low-quality, less potent, but mainly cheaper, marijuana strains. However beer has much stricter standards to ensure the same product every time, meaning cannabis has more risks to not knowing what’s in it, or if it is even the strain that was advertised.

Heather Moore is the unofficial head grower/plant watcher of Earl’s in Leadville, Colorado. She is in charge of five greenhouses, hand watering all of the plants, and keeping an eye out for any issues in the grow.After moving from Georgia about five years ago, Heather got a front desk job at a local dispensary, checking IDs and guiding customers to the dispensary area. After a grower for the dispensary left, Heather was offered his spot as a grower. With no prior experience, Heather asked tons of questions and figured out how to grow high quality cannabis through trial and error.After leaving her first job, Heather was offered a grower position at Earl’s, one of the ‘highest’ elevation grows in the country. At over 10,000 feet, Earl’s is in a unique location to grow quality cannabis year-round with their greenhouses. All of Earl’s greenhouses are hand built, saving piles of money while still having some of the most high-tech environments.If you’ve already heard Joel’s story, check out this episode of The Real Dirt Podcast with Heather and hear her point of view.

Dave Perkins is the former Cultivation Manager of Artizen Cannabis in Washington. He sits down with Chip to discuss craft cannabis, cannabis branding and the future of the cannabis industry.

The fast and the furious on the Phish lot. Well not the Phish lot, but the parking lot High West cannabis. This was our first joint podcast with Mindful Millennial. We dive into Phish present past and future. Fish on!

Today on The Real Dirt Chip and Jessia teach us about The Healing Power of Cannabis, Ayahuasca & Plant Medicine. Chip and Jessica Baker recorded this episode in the Amazonian jungles of Peru at Refugio Altiplano, an Ayahuasca Retreat. Jessica Baker is a world-renowned herbalist, acupuncturist, aromatherapist, and educator. Jessica has taught at the Arcata Massage Collective, The Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism and is an Assistant Supervising Practitioner at the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is also on the faculty of the Holistic Cannabis Academy and is a Cornerstone Business Leader at Women Grow.Jessica first got into cannabis as an act of revenge (on a boy), but her cannabis activism really began in college when she became involved with the University of Georgia’s, Cannabis Action Network. This is also where she first met Chip Baker. Chip and Jessica discuss their rebellious pro-cannabis college escapades, the historic significance of plant medicine, the healing power of cannabis, their personal ayahuasca revelations and more on this episode of The Real Dirt.

Brett Roper is CEO of Medicine Man Technologies Inc., one of the country’s leading cannabis brand development and consulting companies. Since April 2014, when he and Andy Williams established the company, they have consulted more than 27 companies in securing licenses and operating cannabis cultivation facilities.What makes Medicine Man Technologies extremely unique is that they are a publicly traded cannabis company. As a “penny stock” they only release shares of their company as part of a qualified plan, an acquisition or contract for services. As Brett stated, “We like to see people that work with us – for investor relations and public relations – have the same incentive that we have in growing our stocks value.” In June of this year, Medicine Man Technologies made headlines for acquiring Denver Consulting Group LLC, Pono Publications (Three a Light) and Success Nutrients.Listen in as Chip Baker and Brett Roper talk about what it means to be a publicly traded cannabis company, the future of cannabis company acquisitions, investments and more on this episode of The Real Dirt with Chip Baker.

Andy Sack is the Director of Cultivation for PRICH BIO TECH in Puerto Rico. But, his journey to island life started at Kind Love in Denver, Colorado in 2012. While Andy was working for Kind Love, they won medical dispensary of the year in 2015 from Cannabis Business Awards, Best Flower 2016 from Westword, best flower at a dispensary 2016, Cannabis Business Awards and more.About a year ago, he was offered an opportunity in Puerto Rico. After he got out there, he realized the legal medical cannabis scene there was extremely different than Colorado. The majority of the medical cannabis patients are women over the age of 60 who are using cannabis as an alternative to pharmaceutical options. Also, the governor passed a law that restricts flower sales to only terminally ill patients. Basically, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is super bankrupt, they’re actually regressing their cannabis laws.

Jamie Madsen is the head grower for Mother & Clone, a new sublingual and genetics brand in Commerce City, Colorado. She turned a horticulture degree into an opportunity with Mother & Clone designing a vertical grow and producing sublingual products.

Austin Sims is the Cultivation Manager for Americanna, an infused edibles company based in Boulder, Colorado.

When Heavy 16 founder, Bryce Patterson was five years old, he started thinking about making his own nutrients. His dad was an “amateur horticulturalist” with a rose garden, hanging baskets and a pristine lawn. As a kid, Bryce’s dad used to take him to a boutique garden center to buy specialty fertilizers.Fast forward a couple of decades. Bryce went to college for horticulture, worked in nurseries, continued growing “everything,” tested different fertilizers, elements and dosages. He still wasn’t satisfied with the nutrients and fertilizers on the market. As he said, “…I knew I could do better. I had my mentors, my science approach to actual plant health and doing it the right way. And that’s how it all kind of began with Heavy 16.”Almost eight years later, Heavy 16 nutrients is a national industry leader and a staple in most commercial cannabis grow operations. They’ve developed a full line of premier boutique nutrients and they’re known for having the best professional-grade liquid fertilizers on the market. Bryce describes Heavy 16 as “all the best Dutch-style, mixed wit the best American soil science.” Unlike a lot of other product lines, Heavy 16 provides diversity of food to the plant. As Bryce said, when it comes to foliar spraying “it’s all about getting as much nutrition into the plant that you can…” In other words, if you’re spraying your crop with Heavy 16, you can get all the benefits with one pass of the sprayer – a complete series of nutrients and micro nutrients. Get the Heavy 16 recipes and feed cards here.Listen in as Chip, Bryce and James discuss the “bro-science” and misinformation surrounding the applied science and technology side of the cannabis industry; what it’s really like to own and operate a mega nutrient brand and the future of cannabis nutrients.v

Today on Real Dirt Chip is joined Dennis Evans master grower at Cure Colorado. Dennis was an engineer in Salt Lake City working at a Mormon firm. He moved to Colorado to get into the cannabis industry and worked his way from the bottom to become the head grower for the company. Cure Colorado is a professional Colorado dispensary, serving Denver with medical marijuana in a friendly, safe and knowledgeable environment. We are a locally owned and operated cannabis dispensary committed to offering the best medical marijuana edibles and medical marijuana strains in Denver at a compassionate price. Our primary goal is to support a proactive approach to using cannabis as a health management tool by offering a variety of medical marijuana products. Cure Colorado is a licensed marijuana store in Denver, dedicated to serving your medical cannabis needs. Located in Denver, we provide high-quality cannabis edibles and more. We are a reputable Denver dispensary, providing medical marijuana (MMJ), medical cannabis, medical pot, medical weed, marijuana edibles and much more.

Josh Malman is the Grow Operations Manager at The Clinic. The Clinic started in 2009 and was one of the first chain dispensaries in Colorado. Josh went to high school with Max Cohen, founder and CEO of The Clinic. Josh oversees all operations of the Clinic’s Grow Department including product quality and quantity management for all locations. Josh has assisted in the implementation of The Clinic’s operations in Illinois and Nevada.

In 2010, Sean moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work with a successful entrepreneur and learn the hacks of the business world. He and his friend then launched an online fitness program that "failed miserably."The rebound from his first business was Nectar, an affordable, stylish lifestyle and specialty sunglasses brand. As Sean said, "I just remember being in the shower and my dad had called me and was like, 'What are you doing down there?' I was like, 'I got an idea. It's for sunglasses.' And I just remember being in the shower looking down, just staring and thinking, 'This better fucking work.' I was broke and really had failed in my mind. And I'm competitive enough to want to redeem myself full throttle."The inspiration for the line was based on the surfing, skating, snowboarding and all things "outside lifestyle." The goal was to create a product that he was passionate about and could really get behind. As he describes it, "With Nectar, we promote the sweet life: go do what you love. And that's why we offer a low price point, so people can not be afraid to wear their glasses to the beach or to the river. And they should be an asset to your adventure and your outfit, and not a burden."After killing it for three years, but observing the competition in the sunglasses market, Sean said, "we were looking for new channels to reach out and grow out products." He got in touch with a local celebrity glass blower in Virginia who inspired them to make a line of glasses for glass blowers. As they expanded their specialty line, Sean saw the cannabis industry expanding and knew he wanted to be involved. He also identified a gap in the market for glasses for growers. "We wanted to find a price point that made sense for people who got sticky fingers half the time..these things might get destroyed over the course of a year."About a month ago, after many prototypes, testing Nectar launched their real edition HPS version glasses for high pressure sodium lighting. This was shortly followed by their LED version with the wrapped frame, designed to block as much of the light as possible.

In 2008, Greg Gamet was a landscaper with dreams to grow medical cannabis and $1500 to start do it. He went to Cultivate Colorado to buy a grow tent, a 3x3 tray and “something to grow hydro.” He talked to his wife and said, “I want to grow my own medical cannabis in the basement.” Of course, you need your wife’s blessing to do anything. Greg is one of the guys that believes anyone can do what he did – because he did with next to nothing. He then went from cutting to growing grass to getting one of the first legal cannabis cultivation licenses in the country. Today, Greg owns DANK Dispensary, Kush Bottles, Cannascore, and Denver Consulting Group.