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he’s beautiful, verdant and lush, with a sweet
redolence that holds many promises. One
would think, given its popular moniker, that
cannabis would grow easily, like a weed. But for
Chris Gabriel and Robert Rhody, growing this
weed is a science, and like all sciences, there’s
always room for growth.
The two men are cultivators at Fountain
of Wellbeing, a cannabis company in the San
Fernando Valley. We’re standing in their research
room, which looks like a laboratory, and the LED
lights overhead are bright enough to blind anyone
foolish enough to stare into them.
“We test our strains here,” says Gabriel.
“We’re trying new stuff, constantly looking for
new genetics.” Fountain of Wellbeing is also a
dispensary, and they grow their own because the
profit margins are better for growers. They also
cultivate their plant’s genetics because buying
strains from other growers comes with risks of
diseases and bugs. “There are a million problems
from bringing stuff from other people — it’s
really bad,” says Gabriel.
They start with 100 seeds. As those seeds
develop, they’ll find one or two strains from the
female plant that they can use. They’ll clone
those by cutting a little piece off, trimming it and
then planting that clone in a pot. “It takes about
a week for those to root,” explains Rhody. “Then
we transplant them into these pots, and as those
get bigger, we transfer them to the flowering
room.”
The flowering room feels like a forest,
with a green canopy of 350 cannabis plants
growing under 24 yellow-tinted lights. Fans
oscillate at various points. Each plant is in a little
pot containing dirt and shredded coconut shells,
a neutral medium that allows plenty of oxygen
to the roots. The plants get 2000 milliliters of
water a day, and they recycle the water. It’s 72
degrees with a humidity of 43%, which is the
ideal temperature for plants approaching harvest.
Each plant has pump, sticky, crystal-coated buds
forming on the bamboo-like stalks.
All of this, as of 2016, is fully legal for
recreation thanks to Prop 64, which passed with
57% of the vote. Because it’s legal, officials from
the Bureau of Cannabis Control, a California
regulations body, come by to test the facility’s
plants. “They inspect the labs with a fine-tooth
comb, and then they fine anyone who is doing
anything improper,” says Gabriel.
In 2019, the California BCC suspended 63
licenses for not complying with standards. These
standards are important for public safety. Last
year, in Colorado, state regulators shut down
close to 400 licenses for selling cannabis that was
infected with a harmful mold, something that
would have persisted in an illegal market, which
is bereft of standards.
Government oversight may seem
cumbersome. But, keeping the public safe only
legitimizes a substance that has been classified as
a Schedule 1 narcotic since 1971 and contraband
since 1937. According to a
Gallup poll, over
67 percent of Americans
think
cannabis should be fully
legal. However, governments
struggle to move beyond the
Schedule 1 stigma.
“I think the negative
propaganda against
cannabis that has existed
since the 70s, but even
before that, has been
very powerful and has
been hard for them
to overcome,” says
Josh Drayton of the
California Cannabis
Industry Association.
“There’s still
lingering attitudes
around cannabis,
that it is a very
dangerous drug.
Some folks feel
comfortable
with it being
a Schedule 1
drug.”
Testing for potency
and safety is something that the
government started doing with alcohol after the
repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933, and in
doing so they legitimized businesses much as
they’re doing now in states that have legalized
cannabis.
treatsmagazine.com
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