A High Times reader asked why his cones burn evenly and his straight joints canoe. Josh Kesselman has a theory involving the Venturi effect, a whiteboard and a lot of arrows. The real answer involves airflow, packing density and the fact that cones forgive what cylinders punish.

“Please tell me why cones usually burn pretty straight and good but standard cylindrical doobies often burn uneven?”

That came in over email this week from a reader, Joe Pipe. It’s a good question and a more interesting one than it looks. The short answer is that a cone’s shape does real work that a straight joint asks the roller to do manually. The long answer involves Josh Kesselman, a whiteboard full of arrows and the limits of what we can honestly call science.

Josh has a theory

The founder of RAW and Publisher of High Times recently posted a video walking through why cones outperform straight rolls. He drew two joints on a whiteboard. One tapered. One straight. Same weight on both.

His pitch: a straight tube lets air pass through too quickly, which dilutes the draw. A cone narrows the flow, slows it down and concentrates what reaches the smoker. He invoked the Venturi effect, drew arrows showing rotational airflow, and landed on a number: “Cones = 18% more yield.”

An asterisk on the slide reads, in his own words: “Guestimated according to ChatGPT and my own personal experience.”

Josh built the disclaimer in. We’re going to respect it.

“Cones = 18% more yield. *Guestimated according to ChatGPT and my own personal experience.”

Josh Kesselman, founder of RAW

What’s actually happening in there

A joint is a small piece of combustion engineering. Air gets pulled through a column of shredded plant material wrapped in permeable paper, while one end of that column is on fire. Every variable in that sentence matters.

Decades of cigarette engineering research have established the principles. Paper porosity affects how much air enters from the sides. Rod diameter affects ventilation rate and combustion efficiency. Packing density affects pressure drop and draw resistance. Airflow concentrates near the burning char-line, not just at the lit tip. Tiny differences in any of these variables can change how a joint burns.

Joe Pipe’s canoeing problem lives inside that list. When a straight joint burns down one side faster than the other, it’s because the cherry found an easier path. Loose packing on one side. A wet spot on the other. A grind that’s too coarse in one section. A paper seam that’s a little tight. The fire follows the airflow, and the airflow follows the path of least resistance.

Why cones forgive what cylinders punish

A quick note before the mechanics. “Cone” here mostly means a pre-rolled cone, the factory-made kind you find behind the counter. A skilled hand-roller can shape a cone manually and get some of the same benefits, but most of what’s coming next leans on the consistency a pre-rolled cone delivers out of the pack.

Three mechanical things help a cone burn straighter, and only one of them is exotic.

The taper concentrates the burn. A cone’s cherry moves from a wide end toward a narrower body. The geometry pulls the ember toward the center as it travels. A straight joint has the same diameter the whole way down, so any unevenness in grind, moisture or packing keeps pulling the burn off to one side.

The packing gradient is built in. Most cones end up denser near the filter and looser toward the open end. That gradient gives the burn a forgiving path. A straight joint demands uniform packing from end to end, which is harder than it sounds. Pack the front too tight and the draw fights you. Pack the back too loose and the cherry runs.

Pre-rolled cones hide mistakes. A factory-made cone is identical to every other cone in the pack. Paper tension is consistent. The seam is sealed. The shape is pre-formed. The smoker only has to fill it. A hand-rolled cylinder asks the roller to control every variable in real time, with tobacco-style precision most people don’t have.

There’s one more variable riding along with the format. Most pre-rolled cones ship with a built-in crutch or filter tip. Many hand-rolled cylinders don’t. The filter controls airflow at the mouth end, keeps the cherry from running into your lip and catches loose particles. Some of what people experience as “cones burn better” is actually “joints with proper filters burn better.”

That last point is doing a lot of the work in Joe Pipe’s situation. Cones burn better in part because cones are easier.

The Venturi effect, fairly

The Venturi effect is real physics. When a fluid moves through a narrowing passage, velocity increases and static pressure drops. Plumbers use it. Carburetors use it. Atomizers use it.

A joint is not a clean pipe. It’s a porous, burning, deforming column of plant matter wrapped in permeable paper. Some air enters through the lit end. Some enters through the paper itself. The cross-section keeps shrinking as the cherry consumes material. Calling the whole system a Venturi tube is a useful metaphor, not a proof.

What’s true: a cone’s narrowing geometry does change airflow velocity and pressure as the smoke travels toward the filter. What’s not established: whether that change produces measurably more cannabinoids reaching the smoker per gram of flower burned. To prove the 18 percent number, somebody would need a controlled test with the same material, same grind, same moisture, same weight, same paper, same pack density and the same puff protocol on both formats, with cannabinoid delivery, sidestream loss and remaining waste all measured.

Nobody has published that test. The number is an estimate with an asterisk, and Josh said so.

Joe Pipe, here’s the real answer

Your cones burn straight because their shape stabilizes the airflow, their factory build hides packing variance and the built-in filter does some of the work too. Your cylinders canoe because they expose every flaw in your roll. The fix, if you want to stay with cylinders, is grind consistency, moisture control, even packing density, a paper tension that doesn’t pinch on one side and a proper crutch at the mouth end.

Or you can do what most of the cannabis market has been doing for a decade and reach for a cone.

Cones may burn better not because they violate physics, but because they’re kinder to bad rolling.

Josh is right about the shape

The taper does work. The narrowing geometry does change airflow. The packing gradient does stabilize the burn. Where the video gets ahead of the science is the specific number and the cleanness of the Venturi analogy. Where it nails the intuition is everything else.

Have a smoking science question you want us to chase down? Send it to 420@hightimes.com.

Josh is right that the shape does work. The science is just that some of the work cones do is covering for the roller.

<p>The post Why Do Cone Joints Burn Better Than Straight Joints? first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Why Do Cone Joints Burn Better Than Straight Joints? appeared first on Paradise Found.

Social media platforms have become the new censors of cannabis culture. Josh Kesselman posts at 2am India time. Edible Dee rewrote four books. Riley Cannabichem puts on a metaphorical white coat. Here’s how the sharpest minds in cannabis content are surviving the algorithm — and what they’ve learned the hard way.

Here’s a quick exercise: imagine you’re at a penthouse party—pool, great guests, great vibe. A Velvet Underground record is playing in the background (or an old reggaeton playlist, it doesn’t matter), and you have to explain to someone what you’re “carrying” without triggering the algorithm, that digital bouncer running on HAL 9000 logic. The problem? At this event, there are no written rules: the bouncer will kick you out if you say “marijuana,” but might let you continue enjoying the party if you spit out “grass,” “broccoli,” or “lettuce.” A logic that’s hard to predict.

That’s how things are on the internet today—this silicon Matrix run by bots (those snitches programmed in zeros and ones) where Mark Zuckerberg, Google, and Chinese tech platforms have donned their cop caps, and social media plays at being a modern-day Inquisition. That’s why, for those of us hardened by the ups and downs of cannabis culture, posting a picture of a joint can be a risky business: one day you’re the king of engagement with thousands of likes piling up; the next, you wake up to find your account shadowbanned, and good luck complaining to who-knows-who.

But as the saying goes, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” And in this chess game against censorship, those in the know move stealthily like the ronin in The Lone Wolf and Cub. So, to put it bluntly: the gist comes down to semantics, to that shared code that makes us feel part of a kind of 420 club. That makes us stand on the same side. That allows us to understand each other even amidst the cynical contortions and pirouettes of language.

The pretzel problem

Josh Kesselman, owner of RAW and publisher of High Times, sees a solution: the key—always—is originality. “You’d be surprised how inventive you can be,” Josh reflects. He gives us the scoop on “pretzels” or talking about “making a delicious burrito” while the camera shows something else. However, he cautions that no tactic lasts forever: “I came up with years ago on TikTok using pretzels. And it worked at first. I was getting millions and millions of views, but then other people copied me and took one too far with it. I made it obvious that AI learned what that pretzel meant to something else. And then I couldn’t use pretzels anymore for a while. The views went down to almost zero as soon as I used a pretzel. You move on to something else.”

So Kesselman’s recommendation is to play with the gaps: “Skip words, just infer things. Skip the word. Say it in a funny way. Say anything,” he advises. “You can always just blanket it. When you’re enjoying, just… and skip the word. You can just completely skip it. That always works too.” The key is to let the viewer complete the sentence and find a knowing wink so the idea falls into place naturally. It’s pure pop ingenuity, like back in the ’70s when people used code to avoid drawing DEA attention.

For Josh, visual literalism is another weapon: “You can actually show an actual broccoli.” This technique extends to other elements: “I’ve done videos with actual green tea and I make it clear. You can’t just use green tea. It has to say on there in big letters, GREEN TEA, so everyone knows it’s green tea. Same thing with the pretzels. I’m using pretzels. I have big boxes of pretzels right in front of you, so you can see exactly what I’m using.”

When the algorithm wins — and you have to start over

Danielle Russell, also known as Edible Dee, the Happy Chef, a celebrity cook on the WWW, had to rework her entire catalog. After years of battling Meta’s censorship, she decided that if you can’t beat the algorithm, you have to dress up as Clark Kent. Now, her books talk about “infusing with happiness” or using “magic” instead of throwing around technical terms that trigger the alarm bells of digital censors.

“To bypass censorship, focus on using alternative platforms, fostering collaborations, and employing process/science language over consumer/lifestyle language where possible. As a four-time author, I have also—because of the losses I have personally suffered due to these platforms—had to release second editions of all my published works, updating the active ingredient verbiage.”

Danielle Russell (Edible Dee), The Happy Chef

The white coat strategy

Not everyone hides in the shadows of euphemism. There are those, like Riley Cannabichem, who prefer the white coat strategy, very much in the style of Beakman’s World. She stands in front of the camera and uses the real words—cannabis, THC, CBD—but with a protective shield of science and education. Interestingly, the algorithm seems to have an almost mystical respect for academia.

“I’m typically talking about research studies or fun facts about the plant—all backed by science—and I think the algorithm sees the scientific basis and allows it to stay, but who knows what’s really going on.”

Riley Cannabichem, researcher and content creator

So, if you talk about research studies and keep the joint off-camera, censorship might let it slide.

Fighting fire with fire — and AI

Natalia Kesselman, High Times deputy editor, editorial director of El Planteo and one of the minds responsible for shaping the media outlet’s digital strategy, proposes a kind of technological guerrilla warfare: fighting fire with fire, like in a WarGames hacker duel. She revives timeless classics like “magic broccoli” and suggests that the aesthetic of blur or out-of-focus is not just an artistic choice, but a survival necessity. But the most disruptive aspect is her use of artificial intelligence.

In her words: “Once you’ve built the foundation of your content, you have to feed it to the AI for a security review. You have to tell it strictly not to touch anything you’ve done, but ask it to create a ‘reliability index’ based on how explicit everything is and to point out which terms or images could generate conflicts or raise red flags in the algorithm. It’s a truly spectacular tool.” ChatGPT as a security consultant infiltrated behind enemy lines.

The full playbook

This isn’t paranoia — it’s a response

Finally, Josh Kesselman reveals that this level of caution isn’t paranoia, but a response to direct attacks: “I truly believe that someone pays to try to keep my posts down, to try to get reported and all these things. And so I have to be more conservative than most. You wouldn’t think so, but I have to be. It’s all these crazy things you see me doing. These are all like very well thought out.”

He even resorts to time zone tactics: “Sometimes I post at odd times because I know that if they’re paying somebody in India, for example, I’ll post at 2 a.m. India time. Because that way people are not awake. I’ve really tried everything I can to work around their attempts to keep us down. And I’ve done a great job. We still grow. And it shows.”

At the end of the day, it’s about remaining authentic in a world that wants us to be uniform, neat, docile, and weed-free. Because even though they try to silence us, cannabis culture always finds a crack for the green to peek through, even if today we call it “happiness,” “pretzels,” or “magic broccoli.” “It’s a matter of being inventive,” Josh concludes. Because they can prohibit the word, but they’ll never be able to clear the smoke.

<p>The post How Cannabis Creators Beat Social Media Censorship — One ‘Broccoli’ at a Time first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post How Cannabis Creators Beat Social Media Censorship — One ‘Broccoli’ at a Time appeared first on Paradise Found.

Every two years, cannabis advocates wheel out the same ritual. Ballot measures, candidate endorsements, grasstops lobbying, NORML scorecards, press releases about historic progress. Every two years, a version of the same headline runs: “Cannabis Reform Reaches Tipping Point.” Every two years, the people who believed it discover that the tipping point was a marketing event.

The post The Cannabis Reform Illusion: Why Voting for Politics is the New Heroin appeared first on Paradise Found.

ONDCP director Sara Carter Bailey told Newsmax this week that marijuana is “still illegal” after the April 23 rescheduling order. The line is doing a lot of work. Schedule III moved state-licensed medical cannabis into the same federal category as ketamine and Tylenol with codeine. What’s still illegal in the strict sense is everything outside the medical lane, and the drug czar’s interview pointed exactly to the next enforcement targets: hemp THC, “high-potency” products and illicit grows.

“It’s still illegal,” Sara Carter Bailey told Newsmax this week.

The headlines treated the line as a clarification. It was closer to a policy memo.

Carter Bailey is the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. She was asked about the potency of marijuana products during an interview about the administration’s new National Drug Control Strategy. Her answer drew a hard line under what last month’s rescheduling order actually did.

“Executive-level Schedule III allows for doctors and research and for medicine, for medicinal purposes.”

That framing collapses a key distinction. Schedule III is not “illegal” in the lay sense. It is the same federal category as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine and testosterone, controlled substances with accepted medical use that are legal when prescribed. The April 23 order moved FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed medical cannabis into that category. A Congressional Research Service report found that the order “appears to authorize end users to possess marijuana for medical use without a CSA-compliant prescription.” The industry around those patients remains in a gray zone, but the patients themselves are no longer in the “illegal” bucket Carter Bailey described.

What is still illegal, in the strict federal sense, is everything outside that medical lane. Recreational marijuana stays Schedule I. Most hemp THC products move to Schedule I on November 13, 2026. Any grow operation outside the state-license framework was never going to qualify. The drug czar’s three words elided the medical-versus-everything-else distinction at the heart of her own administration’s order.

And from there, the interview moved.

The potency line, and what it actually means

Carter Bailey raised the alarm on “high-potency” cannabis, citing products she said reach “as high as 90 percent” THC. The figure deserves context Newsmax viewers are not getting. Flower does not test at 90 percent. Concentrates do, and they have for years, openly and legally, in regulated state markets.

The number does rhetorical work, not analytical work. It reads as a license to escalate, dressed up as data.

The administration’s new National Drug Control Strategy runs the same play. The document raises alarm about high-potency marijuana and its marketing, expresses concern that cartels and crime groups “exploit” state cannabis legalization laws, and walks readers toward the November 2026 federal recriminalization of most hemp THC products, signed into law by President Trump last fall.

“It’s still illegal. Executive-level Schedule III allows for doctors and research and for medicine, for medicinal purposes.”

Sara Carter Bailey, ONDCP director, on Newsmax

The foreign-grow pivot

The center of gravity in the interview was not Schedule III. It was the new enforcement target.

“We also have a problem out there with illicit marijuana grows,” Carter Bailey told Newsmax. “These are grows that are connected directly to the [Chinese Communist Party], grows connected directly to Sinaloa cartel and [Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación], and we’ve seen the potency go as high as 90 percent in some products. So we are watching that. We’re monitoring that, and our law enforcement community is on board.”

She went further. “We should not allow adversarial states or adversaries to be purchasing farmland in the United States, even through straw men, to grow illicit marijuana and to not only poison our people, but poison our soil.”

This is the frame the administration has chosen for federal cannabis enforcement under a Schedule III regime. Not state operators. Not adult-use consumers. Foreign-linked illicit grows, packaged as a national security problem, dropped into the same segment as a public reminder that recreational weed remains Schedule I.

The hemp clock keeps running

Carter Bailey’s framing connects directly to the next federal cannabis fight. The shutdown deal Trump signed in November 2025 caps legal hemp at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container and bans synthetic or chemically converted cannabinoids. The ban takes effect November 13, 2026. Most gummies, vapes, beverages, tinctures and low-dose products in the current hemp market move into Schedule I that day, unless Congress writes a new regulatory framework before then.

The administration’s drug strategy flags hemp THC products as a problem that prohibition will solve. The drug czar is publicly aligning the executive branch with that framing, on cable television, in the same interview where she narrows Schedule III down to medicine and research. States are already testing the edges of the ban. The federal posture is settled.

“We should not allow adversarial states or adversaries to be purchasing farmland in the United States, even through straw men, to grow illicit marijuana and to not only poison our people, but poison our soil.”

Sara Carter Bailey, ONDCP director, on Newsmax

The 2024 Carter Bailey and the 2026 one

Before her confirmation, Carter Bailey told an interviewer she had no problem with cannabis legalization “if it’s legalized and it’s monitored.” She called medical cannabis “a fantastic way of handling” cancer side effects. That posture helped get her through the Senate.

The posture from the ONDCP director’s chair is different. The 2026 version draws lines. Medical use, yes. Research, yes. Anything else, including most hemp THC products and any grow operation the administration can tie to a foreign actor, gets the enforcement treatment. Her early rollout already pointed in this direction. The Newsmax interview confirms it.

The bundle is the story

Rescheduling has been covered, including at this magazine, as a federal acknowledgment of medical value that stops short of legalization. That read still holds. What Carter Bailey added on Newsmax is the shape of what comes next. The administration is not done with weed. It just finished the easy part.

The headline was rescheduling. The strategy was everything else she said.

<p>The post ‘It’s Still Illegal’: Trump’s Drug Czar on Marijuana Reclassification first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post ‘It’s Still Illegal’: Trump’s Drug Czar on Marijuana Reclassification appeared first on Paradise Found.

For Mother’s Day, Maya Elisabeth asked mothers across the cannabis community to talk about the plant in their own words. What came back was honest, funny and completely their own.

Motherhood made me who I am. So did cannabis. I’ve found the two go hand in hand in ways I didn’t expect: stress relief, staying present, sore muscles at the end of a long day. It became my safe choice, the reason I don’t need any other altering habits. And it’s part of why I wanted to hear how other women in this community talk about the same thing.

For Mother’s Day, I asked a group of moms from across the cannabis space to share what this plant means in their lives. Founders, creators, healers, operators, women raising kids while building lives and businesses at the same time.

What came back was honest, practical, moving, and to me, no surprise. The destigmatization of cannabis and responsible parenting go hand-in-hand. It’s time for us to expand the narrative and recognize that this plant is a safe, responsible, and helpful choice for overworked, mothers and fathers alike!

“Motherhood doesn’t pause your identity — it expands it. Postpartum, though, is a phase no one can fully prepare you for. After consuming cannabis recreationally for so long, it became a medicine for me during this time. I leaned on it to manage stress, regulate, and reconnect with myself. It wasn’t about escape — it helped me stay present, patient, and grounded as I adjusted to this entirely new version of life. Cannabis helped me show up as a better mom — true to its nature as the mother plant.”

Maha Haq, Founder, Cannaclub @highmaha

“As a woman balancing the rhythms of entrepreneurship and motherhood, I use cannabis as a ritual to keep myself grounded. I have a tendency to get lost in the details, carried away by all the things that need tending, and in those moments, I can forget to simply be. Rolling a joint and savoring a few gentle puffs brings me back to myself — it quiets the noise, helps me feel the earth beneath my feet, and invites me to be fully present with whatever mission is unfolding right in front of me.”

Charlotte Welch, Creator of Hautebox @homeofhautebox / charlottewelch.co

“Society often tells moms to manage stress in rigid ways, but I founded Garden Society to break that stigma. Cannabis doesn’t make me a different person. It helps me find the patience and joy I need to navigate the chaos of motherhood. It’s about showing up as your most grounded self.”

Erin Gore, Founder & CEO, The Garden Society @grdnsociety

“Cannabis has been a distinct tool in my evolution. When awareness deepens, so does our ability to connect with intuition and purpose.

Motherhood is often framed as a responsibility, but to me it’s a relationship of learning.

Yes, I am meant to guide my children, but they are here to teach me, too.”

Vanessa Oliver, Founder, Cloud 9 Studios and Cannaluxxe Wellness Experiences @cloud9studios_llc | @cannaluxxe

“Giving thanks for this plant. Through my relationship with herb, I’ve deepened my connection to the Creator and overcome struggles that have shaped me into the mother I am today.”

Chelsea, Ras Boss @rasboss_

“Motherhood is beautiful, but it can be overwhelming.

Cannabis has helped me find calm, rest deeply, and be present”

Laniakea Evans, Owner & Founder, 365 Recreational @365santarosa

“Cannabis helps me lead with love, presence, and compassion as a mother every day. The gift of building a family business with my children through our dispensary, CBCB, is truly priceless.”

Aundre Speciale, Owner, CBCB Berkeley and Chapel @cbcb.berkeley

“Cannabis has allowed me to approach motherhood with greater grace and patience. I lean into a higher CBD to THC ratio and then I play with the terpene profiles to match the mood. It becomes a powerful tool for stress relief and presence. It acts like a key that unlocks a more balanced and empowered version of yourself.”

Dani Fontaine, Plant Therapist @danifontaine / NaturesRoot.com

“A toke is synonymous with gaining access to more patience for many Mothers. And, To be a patient Mother is leaving your wild youth behind,,,to make space for your child’s wild youth. PATIENCE – P-atience, A-llows, T-ime, I-n, E-very, N-ew, C-hildhood, E-xperience.”

Kelly Dunn, Dragonfly Earth Medicine @dragonflyearthmedicine

“I have 4 kids that liked to eat three times a day and not next week, so in those days I grew a lot of weed, made a lot of hash, till the invention of The Pollinator paid for all dinners.”

Mila Hash Queen, Creator of The Pollinator @milahashqueen

No two mothers do this the same way. No two relationships with cannabis look exactly alike either. But these voices make one thing clear: a lot of women have built their own language around care, and for them, this plant is part of it. Not the whole story. Just one honest part of it.

Happy Mother’s Day.

<p>The post Moms Who Toke, Build, Hustle And Hold It Down first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Moms Who Toke, Build, Hustle And Hold It Down appeared first on Paradise Found.

In 1994, Melanie Dreher published a study showing that cannabis-exposed babies thrived. The medical establishment went silent. Thirty years later, she’s still trying to finish the work — and pregnant women are still being jailed.

More than 25 years ago, a landmark study quietly challenged one of modern medicine’s most deeply rooted assumptions: Cannabis use during pregnancy is inherently harmful. The findings were striking. The response was silence. And today, while cannabis laws liberalize across much of the world, pregnant women and mothers remain among the most vulnerable to punishment and stigma.

“It’s very disappointing,” says Melanie Dreher, the nurse-anthropologist and public health scholar who worked on the original study. “There are so many women in this country who could benefit from cannabis therapy during and post-pregnancy. Instead, they are reported to the authorities, often jailed and even separated from their newborns, depriving them of breast milk.”

She cited one such case of a woman whose hair tested positive for cannabis during labor and delivery in a Michigan hospital. “The infant was immediately placed into foster care and the parents left the hospital without their newborn,” she says. “Friends recommended me and I contacted the State Attorney’s office to better understand a policy that required the removal of children from their parents. I was told: ‘In Michigan, we believe that there is an inherent danger for children in homes where there is exposure to ‘harmful substances’ and who need to be protected by the state.’”

A Perfect Researcher for the Job

Melanie Dreher’s path into cannabis research was purely accidental. Initially trained as a registered nurse, she was encouraged early in her career to pursue a PhD in anthropology at Columbia University in the late 1960s. Her professors, Dr. Lambros Comitas and Dr. Margaret Mead, invited her to participate in a federally funded comparative study of cannabis in Jamaica, where the plant was widely used by working class men. She demurred with a cordial “Thank you very much, but I don’t think so.” Her professors asked why. Her response: “I’ve never been to Jamaica. I’ve never done ethnographic fieldwork, and I’ve never smoked marijuana.”

Mead’s reply: “You’re perfect.”

Dreher landed in Jamaica, where she soon realized that cannabis is not criminalized or glamorized. It is medicine, nourishment and community. Sugarcane workers take ganja breaks — not coffee breaks — to sustain themselves through grueling labor. Mothers prepare cannabis tea for children to promote health, prevent illness, and improve learning.

One evening, while sitting in the yard of a sugar cane worker who participated in her study, Dreher noticed that he was smoking a spliff while holding his young daughter in his lap. Dreher watched him inhale deeply and exhale the smoke directly into the little girl’s face. Somewhat alarmed, she gently suggested that his daughter may be inhaling the smoke he was producing.

He responded (smiling) that she has asthma and he was curing her with ganja. Within minutes, the child’s breathing eased and regulated. As she dug a little deeper, she stopped studying the men and began her study of the women who use cannabis for health-related purposes and who grow, prepare and sell the plant as medicine.

The Jamaican Pregnancy Study

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, concerns about pregnancy and medication safety were widespread, particularly in the wake of pharmaceuticals prescribed for morning sickness that resulted in birth defects. Jamaican women, by contrast, were managing nausea with cannabis tea, not pills, and reported little to no morning sickness. So Dreher proposed a formal study.

Working with Harvard-affiliated pediatrician Kevin Nugent and drawing on the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale, the team conducted the first systematic study of cannabis use during pregnancy. Thirty women who already used cannabis were matched by age and parity with non-using mothers. All were rural, healthy, and from similar socioeconomic backgrounds.

Babies were assessed at two days, five days, and one month after birth.

The results stunned the researchers. “The babies with the most cannabis exposure did the best,” says Dreher. “Across measures of alertness, motor development, and social engagement.” Still, the team hesitated to publish. At the time, the medical consensus — unsupported by data — was that cannabis exposure was dangerous. But the study was ultimately published, thanks largely to Nugent’s persistence.

Then they waited for backlash.

Nothing happened.

No outrage.

No replication.

No follow-up funding.

No public debate.

Still Fighting at 82

Now in her eighties and a grandmother of 10, Dreher remains undeterred. Today, she’s trying again to fund a small, modern study on cannabis and pregnancy. “It wouldn’t even cost that much,” she says. “With $100,000, we could do something meaningful.” She has already contributed $25,000 herself.

Nevertheless, funding remains elusive. Dreher claims previous NIH proposals scored well scientifically — until legislators intervened after seeing a photo of a healthy Jamaican cannabis mom and her baby girl. It was taken by Dreher and featured in an NIH publication sent to US legislators, accompanied by a caption noting cannabis use and healthy babies. “The lawmakers went nuts,” claims Dreher. “They said they would never fund the follow-up study. Ever. NIH had to comply.”

This is why she’s teaming up with physician Genester Wilson-King, MD FACOG, a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, and longtime collaborator Rebekah Hudgins, an anthropologist and epidemiologist whose work focuses on women’s and children’s health and the community systems that shape well-being.

Hudgins explains that the study needs to be revisited since their combination of qualitative and quantitative data provides a rich portrait of the Jamaican households and children. “Surveys and testing alone simply cannot uncover the kind of data needed to understand any social issue,” says Hudgins, “and I think this is especially true with cannabis use.” During her two years in Jamaica, Hudgins conducted ethnographic observations of the 60 children in a case-control study.

Observations covered all waking hours for each child within one week of their 5th birthday. She was with families all day, following children during play, school, church. Wherever they went, “I was there with my notepad,” remembers Hudgins. “These 60 children had been in the study since birth, so they knew Melanie and had met other research assistants who were in the field before me. I believe I lived in Jamaica longer than any of the field researchers, so I got to know the families very well.”

Photo by Brooke Balentine on Unsplash

The team also completed the standardized McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities, as well as other standardized tests with each child around their 5th birthday, and collected information about weight and height. The observations around the children’s 5th birthday were the most intensively documented period, but Hudgins stayed in contact with the families throughout her time there. “In fact,” she says, “more than 30 years later, I still occasionally get a call from one of the children or a mother.”

For her part, Dr. Wilson-King — a nationally recognized speaker on women’s health and cannabis — focuses on the plant’s use in gynecology and, where appropriate and responsible, in obstetrics. She serves on the Experts Board of Doctors for Drug Policy Reform and as President of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, where she leads its first female-majority executive board. She has also served as an expert witness in dozens of cases. “I have provided written testimony contributing to the complete dismissal of charges in several of them,” she says. Her approach is evidence-based, patient-centered and openly advocates for women’s rights across all spaces — including testifying before a medical board to support the inclusion of a specific diagnosis for women to qualify for cannabis use.

Observation Summary

In the Jamaican study, children of mothers who use cannabis did not differ from others regarding motor skills, attention, or general behavior. They were more likely to attend school and have multiple trusted adults who cared for them. Further, children exposed to cannabis in utero weighed slightly more and were slightly taller. Overall, the households of cannabis-using families had greater resources to support and care for their children.

“These findings are important,” says Hudgins. “The Jamaican study is the only study of its kind with a predominantly single drug-use population that collected extensive ethnographic data and standardized testing data and found no detrimental effects even within the highest consumption households.”

More research is clearly needed, and the team is interested in continuing to learn about cannabis use from women in this country to help inform social policy and practice and shift the public view of the plant.

Mothers Find the Study Anyway

Decades later, the study lives on. Underground. Pregnant women find it and share it. Cannabis-using mothers quietly pass it through private networks. Calls continue to pour in. Mothers write. Now, some judges listen when Dreher testifies on behalf of women facing incarceration. “I once got recognized by a tech support worker,” Dreher laughs. “She said, ‘We’re not supposed to comment on what’s on your screen, but…are you the one who did that study?’ She told me it was their moms’ group’s bible.”

Still, in medical institutions, skepticism remains entrenched. At a presentation to neurologists and psychiatrists at a major Chicago medical center, Dreher was told cannabis could never be endorsed without double-blind clinical trials. Her response was blunt: “It’s a good thing women don’t need you to prescribe it.”

The Hypocrisy of Modern Medicine

Physicians, argues Dreher, occupy a comfortable middle ground: unwilling to study or teach cannabis medicine, unwilling to treat patients directly with it and yet happy to charge hundreds of dollars for medical cannabis cards. “They make money without accountability,” she says. “And very few even teach the endocannabinoid system in medical school. That should tell you everything.”

Even in states with progressive cannabis laws, pregnancy remains a line that doctors and lawmakers refuse to cross. According to Dreher, in Illinois, hundreds of thousands of cannabis-related convictions have been expunged — yet pregnant women remain largely excluded from those reforms. “This is not about documentation,” she says. “It’s about convincing the public. And about misogyny. About control.”

Cannabis use by women, particularly mothers, provokes moral panic. In Dreher’s view, the plant threatens multiple power structures at once — pharmaceutical, medical, and cultural narratives about “good motherhood” — partly because it can’t be patented, packaged or controlled.

Parallel Paths Forward

Change won’t come from science alone. “We need parallel paths,” says Dreher. “Scientific validation and lived experience. Anecdotes matter, but the world demands data.” Until then, mothers remain silent, fearful and criminalized.

“There are so many women with secrets,” she says. “Underground, because they have to be. Because they’ll go to jail.” Still, Dreher is hopeful — especially in collaboration with artists, filmmakers, and storytellers who can reach hearts where academic journals have failed.

“More people will listen,” she says. “And we need that. We need all of it.”

After more than half a century of evidence, observation, and resistance, Dreher’s message remains unwavering: Cannabis is not harming mothers and babies. The system is.

This article reports on the research and views of Melanie Dreher, Ph.D., and her collaborators. It does not constitute medical advice. Readers with questions about cannabis use during pregnancy should consult a healthcare provider.

<p>The post The Study Nobody Wanted: Cannabis, Pregnancy, and the Women Still Paying the Price first appeared on High Times.</p>

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This makes us now ponder if the future of the marijuana industry will be handed over to Big Cannabis, as this move may capitalize on a huge financial shift (possibly the biggest one we’ve ever seen): quite possibly, it could signal the end of the 280E tax laws due to Schedule III reform.

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Laganja Estranja’s first cannabis line drops May 16 at SWAY Dispensary in Chicago. The launch comes a decade after her first attempt to break into the industry, in partnership with Illinois’ first queer and Black-owned recreational dispensary, cultivated by two-time Cannabis Cup winner nuEra Cannabis. The whole package lands just in time for Pride Month.

Laganja Estranja has been trying to launch a cannabis brand for ten years. This is the one that finally landed.

The drag artist, choreographer and longtime cannabis advocate is releasing her first official cannabis line on May 16, 2026, in partnership with Chicago’s SWAY Dispensary. The line is called Laganja: Her Bold Sativa Blend, available in two SKUs: 3.5-gram whole flower eighths and 3.5-gram pre-roll 5-packs. Cultivated by nuEra Cannabis, the brand drops first at SWAY on May 16, then expands statewide to all nuEra dispensaries and select Illinois retailers on June 1, kicking off Pride Month.

The choice of partner is the story underneath the story.

Why SWAY

SWAY Dispensary opened in April 2024 as Illinois’ first queer and Black-owned recreational cannabis dispensary, located in Chicago’s Northalsted neighborhood. It was co-founded by Edie Moore, Art Johnston and Pepe Peña under the state’s social equity licensing program. A second SWAY location is in development for South Shore.

For Laganja, partnering with SWAY made the decade of failed attempts make sense in retrospect. The deal isn’t with a multi-state operator using her as a marketing asset. It’s with the dispensary that mirrors her own positioning in the industry.

“After a decade of trying and more failed attempts than I’d like to admit, I’m finally launching my own seed-to-flower cannabis brand. As a trans woman, it’s empowering to do this with SWAY, a queer and Black-owned dispensary in a city that has fought so hard for our community, a space where you come as you are, or as you’ve always wanted to be.”

Laganja Estranja

Edie Moore, SWAY’s co-founder, framed the development process around translating Laganja’s vision into product specs.

“She knew the experience she wanted to create: bright, citrus-forward, uplifting, something that sparks creativity and feels good in your body. Our role was to translate that into a terpene profile and a product that actually delivers. We partnered with nuEra Cannabis to source and cultivate the strains she selected, and built the blend from there. This is her vision, executed with intention, and it shows up in both the flower and the brand.”

Edie Moore, co-founder, SWAY Dispensary

What’s in the blend

The product is described as a “strain salad,” meaning multiple sativa cultivars selected by Laganja and blended into a single flavor and effect profile rather than a single-strain release. The team isn’t naming the genetics in the public materials. The terpene direction is bright, citrus-forward and uplifting, with a flavor that the brand describes as “strawberry candy meets fresh-squeezed citrus.”

Beyond the flower

The Laganja x SWAY launch extends beyond the cannabis itself. A limited run of branded merchandise drops at SWAY on May 16, including rolling trays, tote bags and enamel pins. A second wave of accessories is scheduled for later in the summer, including lighters with holders and ashtrays.

Two launch events anchor the rollout. On May 15 from 7:00 to 9:30 PM, Laganja hosts a “soft launch” at Sidetrack (3349 N Halsted St, Chicago), centered on a RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars viewing party followed by a red carpet meet and greet. On May 16 from 4:20 to 7:00 PM, the official launch happens outside SWAY (3340 N Halsted St, directly across the street). A green carpet, a meet and greet with Laganja and her dog Lil Dabbers, and a Weed Bus parked out front.

Why this launch matters

Laganja has been a visible trans cannabis advocate for over a decade. She broke through on Season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, has performed in 14 countries across five continents, and has shared stages with Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera and Miley Cyrus. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and choreography from CalArts and was a U.S. Presidential Scholar in The Arts before her drag career took off.

The cannabis advocacy has run alongside all of it. Multiple attempts to translate that platform into a brand of her own kept stalling out, for reasons that mirror the broader story of the industry: capital flowing toward MSOs, social equity licensing held up in court, queer and trans operators consistently sidelined from operator deals. Pride collabs with cannabis brands tend to last one June and disappear by July. Rainbow packaging, limited drops, no commitment to the operators or communities the marketing borrows from.

The SWAY partnership is structurally different. SWAY is the operator. nuEra is the cultivator. Laganja is the brand. All three pieces stay in Illinois, all three pieces remain attached to communities the cannabis industry has historically extracted from rather than partnered with. The launch is a Pride Month drop, but the architecture suggests something built to outlast it. The flower expands statewide on June 1 and stays on shelves after the month ends. The merch capsule extends into late summer. The infrastructure is already pointing past July.

<p>The post Pride Month Cannabis Collabs Disappear Every July. Laganja Estranja Built One That Won’t. first appeared on High Times.</p>

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The government opened the UAP vault. Politicians are talking. The internet is spiraling. High Times offers a galactic thought experiment rooted in cannabis, sovereignty and the humble power of growing your own.

This morning, May 8, 2026, the Department of War released the first tranche of declassified UFO files under President Donald Trump’s PURSUE program (Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters). The release includes Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 mission imagery, FBI infrared stills, and a Department of War carousel of 17 image assets covering decades of unresolved UAP cases. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman all signed on. More tranches are coming on a rolling basis.

“The American people can now access the federal government’s declassified UAP files instantly,” the Pentagon press release reads. “No clearance required.”

The galactic open house, after years of speculation, is now an actual government portal you can bookmark. So before everyone loses their minds, let’s draw the blinds on paranoia for a second.

Consider this precise and delicate moment in history. It seems far-fetched, but in the United States, the government just made it considerably less far-fetched. The Pentagon is in galactic “open house” mode, and the most important politicians in the world have been hinting at what we suspect. And, by the way, that’s something many of us are waiting to find out.

So, while the planet spirals into a panic attack worthy of a bad mushroom trip, you have to be there, firm, with your grinder in hand and a cool head. Weed can save you. Weed can save us.

The politicians already know something

“Exopolitics” sounds like something from a boring conference, but it’s pure galactic conversation, and we can cultivate it. In fact, there are already signs of it. Let’s look at some examples: Mr. Burns emerging from the forest, skinny and fluorescent, offering “peace.” Barack Obama dropping suspicious hints on Jimmy Kimmel’s show — he said he couldn’t reveal anything, and Kimmel jokingly demanded his facial expressions be analyzed — or when he addressed the subject on James Corden’s late-night show, as this CNN article points out.

Bill Clinton telling Jimmy Kimmel that “If we were visited someday, I wouldn’t be surprised. I just hope that it’s not like Independence Day.” Donald Trump, the self-styled dealer of declassified extraterrestrial files and the main promoter of this whole thing, selling you Martian bobbleheads with MAGA hats (a dystopian souvenir that, at this point, is more of a prediction than a parody).

Probably, if what many think is coming actually happens, the confirmation that we are not alone will be a truly epic season finale: the ultimate crossover between X-Files, Ancient Aliens, and High Times. But be warned, if the news breaks and the financial system collapses, the real way out isn’t in Ned Flanders’ bunker, but in your own garden.

Cultivation as the ultimate survival strategy

Now, in this picture we’re painting, cultivation will be the ultimate form of resistance. If everything goes bonkers, if chaos takes over the streets and people start praying to every saint: whoever has a plant will have sovereignty. In a collapse scenario, flowers could become currency, the universal language of cosmic diplomacy, and the only anchor against the vastness of the cosmic void.

Furthermore, self-cultivation isn’t just a hobby or a trick for the “green thumbs” out there. It’s a biological insurance policy. In a world where supply chains are disrupted and fiat currency becomes less valuable than toilet paper, your ability to produce medicine and relief can keep you out of the line of the desperate and, conversely, place you among the providers.

Terpenes as the universal language

If these aliens managed to master interdimensional travel, it’s because they understand sacred geometry and the molecular composition of matter. What we know: cannabis is not just a plant. What we will learn: there could be life beyond Earth. What this could add to our understanding: terpenes are nature’s binary code. Limonene and myrcene could be the aromatic keys to unlock a conversation that transcends the language of words. A peace protocol that mainstream politics has yet to decipher. And which we hope they read as a recommendation.

Who told us the endocannabinoid system is exclusive to humans? There may still be a card to play there. Maybe, somewhere across the galaxy, visitors might also have biological receptors waiting to be activated by Earth’s flora.

Because, well, imagine this scenario: the aliens land on Earth and the first thing they see is a human desperate to upload a short video to TikTok. They’d flee in terror, right? We need to start preparing for a different kind of conversation. As former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe pointed out to Fox News: “We’re talking about objects (…) that engage in actions that are difficult to explain, movements that are hard to replicate, that we don’t have the technology for.”

Will they arrive? When? Where?

Today’s Pentagon release is the first tranche, not the last. More files are coming on a rolling basis. So aside from the breaking news and the “exopolitical” dilemma, will they arrive now? Are they really “selling” it as something imminent? Will they arrive around the time of the World Cup, under the watchful eyes of every continent? Will it be more discreet? Or will they wait until the Total Solar Eclipse of August 2, 2027? Will they appear over the pyramids of Giza or over your indoor space? Who knows.

The strategy, if it happens when the time comes, is to be there: calm, chill, keeping your cool. Although if these guys crossed galaxies, they most likely won’t come for our disposable technology. They’ll probably come to see how we manage to be happy on this absurd giant rock. And, clinging to a universal truth, nothing says “I’m at peace with the universe” like a good homegrown harvest.

Homegrown plants will be our techno-weed version of Noah’s Ark. Having full control over your own production means that, faced with uncertainty, you’ve got the most valuable resource: absolute independence from pharmacies and markets. It’s the ultimate survival tool, since it barely requires more than sun, water, and a little patience. So while the Pentagon rehearses its next tranche of releases, news programs explode with red banners, and social media swells with anticipation, you just focus on keeping your plants healthy.

Even Jimmy Carter, who claimed to have seen a UFO in 1969, said he would never make fun of people who report unidentified objects in the sky. So, what are we going to do? This is an invitation to reflect on this whole issue, which just got a lot more official. We prefer to call it solutions journalism.

Meanwhile, at least in our own corner, we maintain that the code of survival lies in having good seeds. Because if these visitors turn out to be cool, they’ll surely bring something to share with us. And if they arrive with conquest in mind, well, at least they’ll catch us with full jars, and we can figure out how to handle it. The truth probably isn’t out there, but in your own garden. Infinity is closer than we think.

<p>The post Full Disclosure: The Pentagon Released UFO Files. The Smart Move Is To Grow Your Own Weed. first appeared on High Times.</p>

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Terpenes are chemistry and neurobiology working together. Artificial flavors are something else entirely. Here’s what the difference actually means for your cannabis experience.

In cannabis culture, it’s often said that cannabinoids are the “engine,” while terpenes are the “steering wheel.” In fact, as a phrase attributed to scientist and neurologist Ethan Russo goes: “Terpenes are modulators of experience.” So terpenes are much more than simple aromatic molecules. But what is the difference between terpenes and artificial flavors? Why do some “flavors” hack the brain? Are we losing the true essence of the plant in the pursuit of a, shall we say, “manufactured” intensity?

“Terpenes are modulators of experience.”

Ethan Russo, neurologist and cannabis researcher

“In plants, they evolved as part of a defense and communication system—repelling pests, attracting pollinators, and responding to environmental stressors. In humans, those same molecules interact with receptors involved in mood, alertness, and perception. When consumed alongside cannabinoids, terpenes influence how those cannabinoids are experienced by shaping intensity, duration, and qualitative effects,” says Daniel Cook, CEO of True Terpenes, a leading company in terpene science and production. “It’s not mysticism: it’s chemistry and neurobiology working together.”

Here, too, the winds of change are blowing. Specifically, the industry has expanded (and is constantly being reconfigured) toward new flavor experiences: intense, sweet, and “dessert-like” profiles that make an immediate impression and resonate positively with many consumers. These profiles highlight creativity and innovation, and have helped attract new people to the 420 segment.

At the same time, there has always been a strong interest in more complex and earthy aromas, which have long defined cannabis. These aromas unfold gradually and faithfully reflect the plant, tending to prioritize depth, structure, and continuity throughout the experience.

“Both approaches have a place. What matters is clarity of intent and matching the sensory design to the consumer. Some people want excitement right away, others want a slower build, and many enjoy both depending on the moment. The opportunity for the industry is to recognize that not all flavor journeys are the same,” Cook adds.

How Artificial Flavors Hack the Brain

However, it’s worth mentioning that highly artificial flavors “hack” the brain’s reward system and deliver experiences that hit fast and hard. Why? Because “they trigger the brain’s reward circuitry — especially dopamine — by delivering intense sensory signals without the contextual cues the body expects,” Cook explains. A similar mechanism can be seen with sugar.

“Natural aromas and flavors tend to unfold gradually and are processed alongside texture, minor compounds, and other sensory variables. One invites the brain into an experience; the other demands attention instantly. That difference helps explain why some flavors feel satisfying while others feel exciting but fleeting.”

“One invites the brain into an experience; the other demands attention instantly.”

Daniel Cook, CEO, True Terpenes

This sensory urgency leads us to a deeper issue: the metabolic challenge. Specifically, when the body and brain receive “flavor” signals stripped of nutrients. “When the brain detects certain flavor cues — like ‘orange’ — it anticipates corresponding nutrients and metabolic feedback. When those nutrients don’t arrive, the body sometimes enters a seeking loop, essentially signaling that something is missing. This mismatch between sensory input and metabolic output helps explain why intensity without substance often leaves people wanting more,” Cook explains.

Chemical Cosmetics: When Flavor Masks Quality

For all these reasons, “artificial flavors” are considered a form of “chemical cosmetics,” since — in reality — these “artificial flavors” can mask quality rather than reflect it. “It’s a fair analogy… Just as cosmetics can obscure natural cues, synthetic flavors communicate through a different sensory channel than natural systems. When aroma is used to mask instead of signal quality, consumers lose an intuitive feedback mechanism that would otherwise guide good choices,” Cook observes.

Humans have been exposed to plant terpenes for thousands of years through food, herbs, and the environment. Our bodies recognize them. “Many modern flavor compounds are newer and can be useful tools, but they don’t always interact with the body in the same intuitive way,” adds Cook, who is currently working on Headstash, a product line that, he says, “changes how aroma is preserved and experienced in cannabis.”

Can You Retrain Your Palate?

But no matter what, that biological intuition isn’t lost, but sometimes buried beneath the roar of overstimulation. Then comes a hopeful question: can the palate be retrained after inhabiting a world of ultra-intense flavors? “Yes,” Cook reassures. “When people reduce their intake of ultra-flavored products, their senses tend to reset. Flavors and aromas that once felt muted start to become vivid again. Many consumers are surprised to rediscover how layered cannabis can be when nothing is overpowering it. Subtlety becomes enjoyable once the baseline shifts.”

“Many consumers are surprised to rediscover how layered cannabis can be when nothing is overpowering it. Subtlety becomes enjoyable once the baseline shifts.”

Daniel Cook, CEO, True Terpenes

Indeed, natural terpenes tend to feel fuller: they grow, plateau, and settle in a way the body recognizes. That arc can feel stabilizing and satisfying. In contrast, artificial flavors are usually designed for a quick hit: they deliver an immediate rush, but because they fade quickly, they can leave the user wanting more. One provides closure. The other encourages repetition.

Terpenes as the Steering Wheel

Ultimately, this ability to provide “closure” and fulfillment lies in the most celebrated technical function of terpenes: their capacity to direct the effect. “Different terpenes engage different neurological pathways. Some are associated with alertness and focus, while others promote calm or physical relaxation. They don’t replace cannabinoids — they shape how cannabinoids are interpreted by the brain,” Cook points out.

In the end, what the consumer seeks is a specific response from their own body. Therefore, understanding how terpenes alter the feeling of being “high” versus relaxation is the master key to conscious use. To start the engine, you also have to know how to steer.

<p>The post Are Artificial Flavors Hacking Your High? first appeared on High Times.</p>

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