One night in 1839 at the College Hospital of Calcutta, India, a young Irish doctor, William O’Shaughnessy, carefully administered “two grains [of cannabis] dissolved in a little spirit” to a patient suffering from tetanus. 5 days previous the patient had sought help from a folk healer to cure his dysentery. The healer applied some still-burning …

Following the freight-train of festivities that make up the holiday season, and until the last hour when we tip ecstatically into the New Year, it’s easy to feel like our bodies are literally made of gingerbread, champagne, and smoke. If you’ve enjoyed a blazing holiday season and want to hit the ‘refresh’ button on your …

The day after Thanksgiving, it begins to creep in. A wreath appears on your neighbor’s front door, the naked trees on your block suddenly wink with lights, your local coffee shop starts studding the latte foam with shattered peppermint, and at the drug store you hear Bing Crosby parumpa-pum-pum-ing in a creamy baritone about a …

Cannabis foodie and blogger Pam of “Twice Baked In Washington” gives us two recipes for some serious holiday yum. Diagnosed with scoliosis as a kid, Pam, a personal trainer and health coach, discovered in 2011 that pain pills, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory meds and exercise were no longer effective in treating her pain. When she decided …

What to ask, what to pay, what to look for, and what to avoid when it comes to buying premium flower. You need to make sure that you have the ability to have an understanding fair pricing for cannabis as most recreational marijuana stores now offer a Wonka-like wonderland of gourmet edibles, medicated topicals, ultra-potent …

There can be no doubt that the nascent marijuana industry has had an electrifying effect on the country: many have pulled up stakes to live cannabis-friendly states, dropped their cash into start-up pot ventures, and pushed through the minutiae of restrictive state laws, hoping that – once though the legal morass – they might be beneficiaries …

For aspiring ganga-preneurs, accountability is key. The modern day entrepreneur is often called upon to be a ‘charismatic’ – someone with a message, both bold and serene, who beams self-belief and gives good brand. But turning one’s sublime agenda into substance is a chancy ride. And many entrepreneurs start to lower their sights once the …

Washington State has spent $300 million for marijuana arrests. Solstice prepares your ‘high’ crimes financial cheat sheet. It’s been a year since Washington voted to legalize recreational marijuana, and since that time, the nascent pot industry has had an electrifying effect on the collective ‘financial imagination’ of the US. The allure of a potential economic …

Dave Rheins speaks in bites and headlines – evocative fragments that call up thick slices of American pop, mainstream, and counter-culture. It’s a neat trick, one perfected over 25+ years in media, advertising sales, and marketing for the likes of Rolling Stone, SPIN, iVillage, Corbis, Time Warner and America Online. Most recently, he is founder …

As legal pot booms in Washington State, the 420-friendly step out for a canna-business job fair – and reveal a diverse and growing population. Here are the numbers: Roughly 30 employers from the Washington cannabis industry offering 150 jobs to 500 job seekers giving their spiel over the din of 22 successive industry speakers. Not …

After Jane West got fired from her prestigious corporate gig for vaping on national TV, she went ‘all in’ on Denver’s thriving cannabis industry. Her latest coup was raising over $130,000 for the cash-strapped Colorado Symphony entirely with cannabis entities. How she “plans for success” and is helping other women do the same. Amy Dannemiller’s …

It’s Friday. You’ve been slaving away all week. The boss just gave you the all-clear. So what’s the plan this weekend? Never fear, lads. Solstice has got you covered. Friday Night: Ditch the hangover with a ‘Canna-Flight’ You can be a lone wolf with this one, but you’ve probably spent the week hanging only with …

What could Moses, Shiva, and the Great Leap Forward all have in common? Cannabis growers often say that tomatoes and cannabis require similar conditions to flourish – the same density of soil, the same quality of light. But unlike cannabis, the tomato has been universally heralded as a cancer-preventer and Vitamin-C rush, as good for …

Why, in the case of cannabis, we can’t always separate healing from pleasure Dr. Lester Grinspoon published his landmark scholarly study, Marijuana Reconsidered, in 1971 while serving as Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Considered radical at the time, the book grew from his experiences with patients who used cannabis to heal …

Bikini-Babes and Gangster-Molls: Why canna-culture needs to drop prohibition-era stereotypes and listen to women. As Canna-business booms in the U.S., more women are emerging as industry leaders – and as an economic force to be reckoned with and marketed to. When Stephanie Viskovich, founder of Delta-9, a medical cannabis access point in Wallingford, says she …

As a relative newcomer to all things cannabis, it was hard to know what to expect when walking into Seattle Hempfest; the event is part rally, part symposium and part street-fair that all comes together into a three-day celebration of a single plant with myriad uses. Though in its 23rd year, the gathering seemed heavily …

As part of our series on sustainability, Solstice invited our resident science expert, Dr. David Baldwin, to discuss a viable scientific approach to studying cannabis, and why so little research has been done to date. The word “science” means different things to different people, and to be sure, there are many different facets to studying …

It’s been just over three weeks since the first legal cannabis shops opened in Washington and already it feels like the initial high is starting to wear off. The long lines, media storms and general hysteria that will likely be discussed in history books are quieting down. In the aftermath, producers, processors, retailers and legislators …

Inspired lives tend to have a fulcrum, a central truth around which everything else revolves. For DJ Chamberlain, or “Professor Hash,” founder of The High Altitude School of Hydroponics (H.A.S.H.) in Loveland, CO, that truth was the 1969 lunar landing. “I’m part of the post-space generation,” he says. “For me, space was always a reality.” …