Planning For A Greener Future – September 18, 2010
Rew Popp with an edible, tasty treat. Photos by Sharon Letts | Eye
Sharon Letts
Eye Correspondent
ARCATA – Rew Popp, 26, hails from the Midwest. Like many, a stint at Humboldt State University (HSU) rooted him in Humboldt soil. He stayed for the bud, but his reasons are purely medicinal.
“My main use of cannabis is for carpal-tunnel and tendontitis of both my wrists,” Popp explained. “I have chronic pain in my wrists and when aggravated by use can extend up my entire arm.”
Popp said his troubles began as a young hairdresser in London and worsened after rowing with the HSU crew team.
“Now it’s just a daily battle to keep the pain minimal,” he added.
Popp’s skill-set includes being a raw food chef – another aggravation to his wrists. Friends help by doing dishes and other household chores, but cannabis, he said, keeps him sane.
“I find applying cacao butter infused with Kush helps to knock out a lot of the pain and allows me to get through the day,” he continued. “I smoke as well, if I’m doing anything with my hands it’s an instant top-off.”
The National Institute of Health’s Library of Medicine reports, “Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons for therapeutic cannabis use.” In its findings on treating HIV patients with cannabis, “Patients reported improved … muscle pain (94 percent), anxiety (93 percent), nerve pain (90 percent), depression (86 percent) …” to name just a few ailments relieved by medicinal cannabis use.
“I find inhaling to be dirty for my body, but more pleasurable for my senses,” he said, candidly. “Ingesting is much cleaner, although it’s more challenging to know exactly how much to take – as it takes 15 minutes to come over you. Eating baked goods is way more sedative. Ingesting is better at night when I just want the pain to go away – so I’m not waking up all night, readjusting my arms with hopes of comfort.”
Determining just how much cannabis to measure out for what use is something Nathaniel Morris, President of Humboldt Green Research (HGR) is currently working on, conducting what he said is “the largest scientifically credible field experiment ever performed on medical cannabis.”
“Performing chemical analysis on each strain, and then cross-referencing the data from the field research, might then reveal which cannabinoids have which healing properties,” he said.
Morris said HGR has developed lawful methodology to promote this critical research. Patients recruited are already using medical cannabis and their experiences are being cataloged.
Knowledge is power and Popp’s pain could turn to profit as he looks to the future.
“Raw food is where it’s at,” Popp said, emphatically. “Clean, quick, easy to digest… making the product in a raw form allows it to be synergistic with the cacao and other super foods that I combine to make the candies.”
Chocolates poured into vintage tin molds shaped like roses, truffles made by hand. Popp turns raw food, baked goods and medicinal candies into art.
Popp recently finished filming a Web TV show titled Weed Eaters, of which he is the star, and said of the production, “We are teaching people to cook with their medicine at home.”
He’s also building a commercial kitchen with a friend, looking to produce and distribute his treats to a wider audience.
“It’s all about end product,” he shared. “Farmers make a few dollars a bushel of corn, but the processors can turn that into hundreds of dollars worth of high-fructose corn syrup. I’m looking to do the same thing, only with top-quality medicine and raw foods.”
Ganja chef Andrew Popp's version of a fruit tart. The crust is made using butter derived from cannabis. Popp is featured in a pending television production of a cannabis cooking show called Weed Eaters.
The future may include the legal use of cannabis for many if Proposition 19 passes this November. Popp said, bring it on.
“Legalize it,” he said. “Recreational grade and medicinal grade are going to be quite different. People buying recreational pot will seek out different strengths than what is needed for people with illness and pain.”
As for the prices dropping, Popp said it depends on the quality of the product and compares the pot market to boutique wine or cheese trades, such as Cypress Grove Chevre or Bordeaux Wine from France.
“The bottom line is, I’d much rather see my brothers and sisters safe from prosecution than increased profit margin. Greed is the root of all evil. Love, share and help each other. If people have their heads on straight, and their business minds turned on, any good product can find a home.”
For more information on Humboldt Green Research, visit humboldtgreenresearch.org.
Note: With legalization a “growing” possibility, understanding the why and why-not of growing is key to making educated decisions behind the voter curtain. Send story suggestions to lettsgarden@yahoo.com.
