The Holistic Choice Salem Dispensary, 1045 Commercial St. Salem, OR. Visit The Holistic Choice #TeamTHC on Facebook, @theholisticchoice on Instagram and @Holisticthc on Twitter.
2016 Cannabis Flowers from The Holistic Choice #TeamTHC
Tag Archives: Salem
Why Mess with a Good Thing? Saving OMMP
The Oregon State Capital Building was once again crowded with frustrated OMMP patients, growers, processors, and dispensary operators looking to save the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program from new rules and requirements.  After over a decade of safe operations and no major federal busts the OMMP has been a safe haven and new home for many patients from across the country. A tight net community has been formed between growers and patients and even into the dispensary scene is the last few years. With measure 91 passed into law by Oregonians last year voters were assured that no changes would be made to the existing program but with recreational sales and taxable income for the
state on the line those word in the bill might as well not even have been in there. Many of the patients and growers feel betrayed and some regret supporting measure 91. Lucky the people that helped lower penalties for possession and ushered in legal adult use of cannabis were there to help defend OMMP.
Oregon Health Authority has not made OMMP a major priority over the years with minimal requirements for testing labs until recreation was being looked at as a real industry in Oregon. Many people in the medical marijuana community see these new changes by OHA to OMMP as a blatant move to choke operations and allow 
recreational farms to step right in and take the opportunity from local growers that were hoping to start a small business. During the committee hearing the topic that small family farms would have difficulty affording major additions to their grows and would put a lot of people in violation and possibly encourage black market activity. So with this in light the committee seems to be striking out these new requirements to allow growers to continue to take care of patients and still be able to get reimbursed thought the dispensary program.
There was also a sigh of relief from dispensary owners knowing that the joint committee is leaning toward dispensaries serving both 
medical and recreational patrons. Â With the decision of choosing one or the other a survey said 80% of dispensaries would leave OMMP behind and commit to recreation sales. That same survey also show the that 98% of dispensary would prefer dual operational allowing tax free transactions for OMMP patients and taxed cannabis products for recreation. This is great for patients that need high dosage concentrates that may not be available through recreation.
100mg in 10mg portions seem to be the current projected limited for recreational edibles. Many rec customers are buying 
recreational cannabis flowers for its medical benefits but due to finances  or lack of health insurance they never participated in ommp. Taking these high dosage products out of the hands of dispensaries or not allowing higher dosages to recreational user would lower the quality of life or prevent relief for low income recreational consumers.  Cutting these dosages to edibles would raise to cost of producing and purchasing these holistic foods.
With recreational interests and the obvious tax income for the state these new rules to OMMP by OHA seem to be being pushed so 
there is an equal playing field for the incoming recreation businesses. What the committee and OHA do no realize is that OMMP producers have be swimming up stream for years. Many working two jobs and for years were unable to be reimbursed for the labor. There were no years of building small businesses or government supporting education in testing though public universities. Banks still will not work with businesses involved in federally illegal substances and yet the OHA still calls for more changes instead helping build a local industry. It wasn’t until these OHA and these elected official’s social and professional circles start looking at marijuana as a viable industry that they started taking action toward OMMP threatening patient access and the hopes of local cannabis entrepreneurs.
Should OHA focus on OMMP more? Sure. Should this focus be more rules and plant limits which would have hundreds of patients scrambling for new growers? No. These plant limits will force them growers and patients into shady dealing or possible blackmarket activity. OHA has proposed ridiculous plant limits for residential growers that had zero bases or reasoning except that the amount of cannabis these farms could produce could compete with the new recreational farms. This committee and OHA seems to have once again stressed out patients, wasted taxpayers money with meetings about useless rules and illogical proposals. So the question is why are OHA Â and joint committee messing with a good thing? Because it’s their job.
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Mid Valley OLCC Laws Rules Conference
MidValley Edibles, Producers, and Vendors Conference
OLCC and OMMP laws update and discussion. From testing, potency, to Oregon marijuana dispensary relations.
January 23rd 2016 at  2-7pm
4090 Cherry Ave Ne
Keizer, OR, 97303
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2015 Greenhouse Harvest
I haven’t been updating my blog as promised with plant updates due to some unexpected mishaps. I did manage to post some great pictures to my instagram and twitter of late flower on most of the plants. As you can see they were all great during flower and I was very happy with the variety I decided on. From fabric 65 gal potted trees to my in grown bushes, they all had there own unique colors, smells, and as I will mention later they have their different medical uses as well.
The set backs first. I have to tell you with my first outdoor grow I was already on my toes for ripper, thieves, then I had a curve ball thrown at me. The city planners had scheduled a storm drainage clean up along the edge of  the neighborhood property line. They city failed to go into the details that there were deforesting all the trees and shrubs exposing my greenhouse. For the last two months I have had to chase off city workers day and night. It got to the point where I was shining my high powerful flashlight at city vehicles parked yards from my greenhouse at 11 pm. I ended up getting a guest in my greenhouse that ended up knocking over my monster Pine Sol as I scared them off.
I was so busy and stressed up righting and anchoring a flowering 7 ft tree that I never bothered to take pictures. I also never mentioned it over social media so not to provoke or give anyone else ideas. With bungee cords, tape, and rope I managed to get her up righted without further stress. Unfortunately her lean was still crowding the AK-48 and both were above 7 ft tall and in full flower.
I decided to let them ride the month out closely monitoring for bud rot or powdery mildew. The challenge was getting air flow and keeping the moisture out of the inside of the plant. For the next 3 weeks the weather was cooperating and no heavy showers or fog but the last few weeks were not great. The early morning fog was rolling in and wasn’t burning off till late afternoon. A week of that and I knew I had no choice it was time to start cutting.
The Pine Sol was needing to be harvested due to the fact that I couldn’t afford it to cause mold on the AK-48 both my biggest producers. The Pine Sol was looking fire with huge trichomes but half the heads were mostly clear with the odd amber trichome on the outer leaves most likely due to stress. I was still very happy with the yield and the out come of the buds. I decided since it was an early girl and the mid and lower buds were still so loose I would freeze half the plant. So I have few lbs of straight Pine Sol buds ready for processing. Â I harvested and trimmed mostly by myself with help
from my patient every now and then. I had a system of lines up to hang up branches. Once they were filled I sat down and removed the fan leaves and placed the branches in my cardboard drying boxes lined with hemp cord. After 7 days hang in the boxes I hung them in my grow closet that is sealed with my fan on for 5 days of drying then they were cut into buds and trimmed all pretty and jarred up.
My other plants went the same way and timed perfectly apart to allow one plant to be harvested every 5 days one after the other. A full month of harvesting, trimming, and testing some products. Â I am very happy and my patient is very happy with the harvest. The Critical Mass is a dense bud with a sweet candy smell, frosty and a great hybrid. Â The Cinex Wild West clone from The Holistic Choice turn out great. It has the Cinex sativa and earthy flavor characteristics know in the Cinex plant. My Skunk was not so high on the trichome production but the plant grew amazingly and has a unique smell. It does make great edibles. My patient has been making brownies with it so, even though not a great smoke it still has it’s benefits. The mystery strain has a beautiful smell with loud terps and the effects are euphoric and productive so I named it Keith Moon. My Lemon strain wasn’t a huge produce but I got some great lemony buds and plenty of sugar leaf a popcorn buds for hash. My AK-48 was the big surprise.
My AK-48 grew like a champ letting her Pine Sol sister lean on her for the last weeks of her life. Huge blue and purple sugar leafs started showing and full dense trichome production. Giant smelling colas on every top and the side and bottom growth was huge and fully frosty. Harvesting her was a choir. No frozen this time, she was all cut, hung, trimmed, and jarred. Three weeks of trimming and I was so happy when I loaded my first bowl. I had made sure not to smoke the day before so I could critic the effects. I lit, I smoked I waited… and waited… and waited. I took another hit and I noticed my sinus pressure that’s usually in my head this time of year was clearing up. I shrugged it off and chalked it up to maybe it wasn’t dried yet. I smoked my Pine Sol and immediately felt the effects of my face tingling, strong terps in my noise and pepper heat on the exhale. I was blazed off one hit.  An hour later I decided to give my AK another try. Still feeling the Pine Sol I took a hit and there it was again. My head cleared up and my high from the Pine Sol was gone. I was confused because this was not the  hybrid sativa affect AK-48 is known for.
I decided I would take the AK-48 to my people at The Holistic Choice. Master grower and owner Denise Concannon took a macro look at the bud and said she would test it for me and put it on their shelves. I was a little nervous about seeing the results so I wasn’t in a rush to pick up my money or the results. After a few days of my flowers on the shelves I decided I would head into check out the tests. John “TinMan” Concannon had a little fun with me as I entered the dispensary. With a sad look on his face he said “Hey man… that flower you gave us… 5%”. To tell you I was shocked would be an understatement but before I could say no way. He grinned and said “but it’s at 16% cbd”. I was unbelievably happy when I heard the news. Not only did I grow a beautiful stain but that’s great medicine with 1:3 ratio thc:cbd. Because it is uncharacteristic of the Nirvana AK-48 I get to rename this one off strain. I already had a name in mind. My cousin Sophia pasted in 1991 of Leukemia at the age of 14. So in her honor I named the strain Sophie’s AK and made it affordable for OMMP patients at $7/g which is $3 under market average for CBD flower.
My Pine Sol is also on the shelves at The Holistic Choice on discount. From the beginning my goal was to grow good medicine with natural resources and at low cost. So like Sophie’s AK the Pine Sol is affordable and will get you high as hell with 23% thc. My Blue Mountain strain was not a great producer with leafy buds but it did have an amazingly perfume smell. I am going to try my hand at essential oil extracting with this plant and see what terps I can use for a fragrance for a perfume for cologne.
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Salem to Allow Early Rec Sales in OMMP Dispensaries
Well it was a tense weekend after ommp dispensary operators and
growers learned of the city of Salem council meeting regarding early marijuana sales in Salem. Currently ommp dispensaries are allowed to distribute ommp growers excess medicine via a
dispensary. Some rules currently prohibit non ommp card holders to enter these establishments. This was one of the main topics and hurdle that the city council had to discuss. Really it was the ammunition that some of the council members thought was  enough to stop early sales in it’s track.
A blogger by the name of Brian Hines was the first to call out the city
council on the non transparency of this meeting. See when I said a tense weekend it was. On Thursday the meeting and agenda was announce for Monday on a page in the back of the city website. Then subjects of the meeting was announce and it was the recommendation of some council members that early sales be postponed. Lucky for us Brian caught wind and shouted from the mountain tops and the calvary came. I won’t name all the speakers that spoke their mind but there were representatives from both sides putting their two cents in.
From a gentlemen that assumed this was a meeting to prohibit sales all together, to Shannon, aka The Voice of Independence, getting kicked out of the meeting for ignoring the Mayors requests and 
handing out pamphlets to each council member. There were non users that spoke out on be half of civil rights and the fact that the state voted for legalization and the city should not go against the voters wishes. I myself was the last of the speakers and I made the point that all we needed were solutions. I told them about my consultant work an offered a few ideas. I also made sure they understood there is no one in the state more qualified to sell recreation marijuana then the good ladies and gentlemen that have been taking care of medical marijuana patients needs safely for years now. Their hard work deserves to be acknowledged by giving them the first opportunity to open doors to recreational sales marijuana.
So that Monday night after the city hall meeting they made their decision to allow ommp dispensaries to also sell legal taxed cannabis flowers to adults 21 and older. Â So things are going to be changing here is Salem and all over Oregon. I want to take this chance to tell 
recreational users that venture into dispensaries for the first time to be respectful and mature when purchasing your cannabis.
Remember this your fun high but the person behind you in line may be a cancer patient needing these meds to live as normal live as they can. Â Also take the time out the read the rules. I will link to them here so you don’t get yourself or any one else on trouble. Â This October 2015 is the time they have giving us so I will keep you updated and you can always keep up with the latest info at The Holistic Choice facebook, Heavy Micro Grow facebook, and of course here.
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Salem Oregon’s Felony Flats Rock Hemp Fest 2015
Felony Flats hit the stage at Salem Hemp Fest, a celebration of medical marijuana and the newly legal recreational marijuana . The Salem local boys brought the rock for sure. With their heavy hitting hard rock and powerful vocals the crowd had no choice but to give the band their full attention. Â Great original song writing shows off these guys awesome arrangements with slick guitar licks, steady thumping bass, and of course great fills from them back bone of the band, the drummer. The Salem Hemp Fest was a great venue for these guys to showcase their music to some out of town music lovers that may not make it to one of Felony Flats intense bar shows. I’m sure Felony Flats got some new fans after their set and if you wanna catch their next show or pick up their CD visit their Facebook by clicking here and find their CD at The Holistic Choice OMMP dispensary at 1045 Commercial St. Salem, OR.
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Salem Hemp Fest 2015
It was a landmark day in Salem Oregon with it’s first annual Hemp Fest held at Riverfront Park. With help from the city of Salem, organizers throw one heck of a celebration. With special speakers and free giveaways the crowd was never bored especially with all the wonderful talent on the stage.
Here are just a few pictures of the Hempfest. I will be posting another blog detailing vendors and bands. Hope you get a chance to join us next year.
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Oregon Outdoor Grow July 1st Update
Here in the Willamette Valley the heat is always welcome but the thing most complained about in the summer is the humidity. This year I’m not so restless in the outdoors knowing my garden is loving the moisture in the air. Temps outside have been in the 90’s to mid 90’s for about 2 weeks now. The occasional overcast in the 
morning is just enough to keep the air heavy, just how the plants like it. Keeping hydrated is a must not only for myself but for my big grow bags. They dry up a little faster then traditional pots and have to be checked routinely. I have no regrets making the bags because the air flow also helps keep the heat from building up around the roots.
A lot has changed since my first grow blog. Mostly the plant count in the greenhouse. The test Mystery Indica that I placed outside in the greenhouse as a seedling is thriving and developed a nice trunk and thick stems. The main lining was going great but when t
he roots took to the soil the bottom growth blow up so fast I decided to keep about five of the off shoots. I still gave an early veg trim just so I can focus the growth on the new tops and the off shoots. I had topped the main lines during the first week it was 
outside and now I have five new top off the main line. It differently isn’t the two cola plant I visioned when I started but the more the merrier.  Since I had the off shoots I decided to super crop the tops for an even canopy. I couldn’t help myself.
Last night my patient came through to say hi and I noticed my AK48 was looking droopy. Lucky I had my water barrels all filled for the morning plus 5 gallons of tea. I got up before the sun and headed out to the greenhouse and along with me was a clone of the AK48 mother that was getting stressed in it’s little orange pot. My plan is to let the clone adjust to the conditions and dry up before I transplant. I watered the AK48 mother with 3 gallons of tea and 2 gallons of ph’d water. I believe the AK48 plant is drying out faster because of it’s placement in the greenhouse and channels have formed causing the water to stream 
to the side of the bags. So I did the slow approach. I only use milk jugs, I know I know, but I am stuck in my ways. I sat there and did a slow watering that took about 20 mins and didn’t start coming out the bag till last gallon mid bag.  I think I mentioned this in my previous blog  but I keep my plants searching for water. I don’t keep them thirsty I just don’t water more then soil volume. I have these plants in 50 gallon bags and water 5 gallons of water every 2-3 days. Luckily flushing my plant has not been needed and I am upping the water the bigger the plants are getting.
The PineSol is the beast of the ball and broke out of her cage… literally. I had a tomato cage around the plant but I noticed the plant was lifting the cage as it grew. When I tried to anchor it down the plant began to lean so I decided to let the beast free. It was a delicate endeavor but by  late June I got some pliers and opened up the 
cage and finessed the stems through the holes. There was zero recovery time; the PineSol mother took off and it was a much need change. I am glad I had on at the start. It helped let the middle fill out and was a great trainer but I 
am glad I was able to remove it. With the summer solstice  just a few days ago plus the heat I noticed some rapid growth causing smaller leaf development. Today the new leafs are filling out and the girls are drinking it up.
I don’t usually deal with clones. I find them to be a liability to seedlings especially clones from other growers. I know there are a 
lot great growers out there but I am doubly safe with my garden. Â I was gifted two clones of Critical Mass from a follow ommp grower. Luckily I had constructed a baby hoop house for my herb garden. Â I transplanted the cloned into my seedling soil which is Pro-Mix Organic from Down to Earth and placed them in my mini greenhouse separate from the mothers. I also acquired a clone of one my favorite strains of flower, Cinex. This 
is a big nug producer that is super earthy and frosty. I was gifted the last Cinex clone that was the runt in my local dispensary. Shout out to The Holistic Choice for letting me save this baby. If you read my previous blog you may know I like to experiment and try to stay 
as organic as possible. That being said I gave outdoor, direct to soil cloning a shot. I got 3 cuttings of both the AK mother and PineSol Mother dunked them in some local honey from a mile away and stuck them into the soil. I used 
no cloner or plastic bags or humidifier. They all straight up wilted and played dead for the first two days. Slowly they up righted but still continued to shrivel up from the heat and lack of moisture coming through. That thirst helped the cuttings root and new growth started sprouting. The older leaves will have to die off sadly but I got rooted clones with honey, water, and soil.
The plant count hasn’t stopped there. With recreational grows now legal as of today here in Oregon plus the success of my Mystery Indica seedling I have transplanted one of my clones I had cut early in the season and used old school water rooting technique where I placed the cutting in ph’d water for a week and pow a root poked out. It’s now topped and in a 10 gallon pot in the green house and doing great. I also have my two single 
colas of Blue Mountain and Big Skunk out in the greenhouse as well. With all these plants vegging with the summer solstice and still early in development I have to make plans for bigger grow pots. It’s to late in the season to hope for 
beasts like the mothers but I still want them grow to their max potential. I am back on the grow bag sweat shop line. I went and got more glue sticks and still have plenty of material for another 6 bags. I’m aiming for 50 gallon bags because of the success of my AK bag. It’s seams are clean and haven’t given and its round and solid. My 60-70 gallon bag for my PineSol mother did have a minor rip that I made worst when I tried to fix. I stopped stepped back and made a bandaid instead. Using extra plastic I had laying around I stapled the opening of the bag shut. The bag has a little bulge on the bottom but it’s still level and solid.
I had a scare with my other Blue Mountain. New growth pods had me thinking male but they sprouted new leafs and its still vegging nicely. Â Over all this grow has 
been super fun and really educational. My patient has been awesome and been very encouraging. We have done some reviews on The Holistic Choice in the greenhouse and I will be giving tours to 
friends and family during our 4th of July party. I protect my grow because my patient’s medicine is important and IÂ do have different levels of security around our property. That being said my grow is a learning tool not only for myself but for anyone interested in growing. The cannabis plant and the hemp plant are very important to our future. The more we learn the more we can benefit from it and find alternative eco-friendly products.
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“Don’t Call it a Comeback… Momma said Knock You Out!”
In the competitive arena of cannabis products and vending, Miss Mack’s Medibles make’s some  of Oregon’s most delicious and prized cannabis infused edibles. Mackenzie Maier, owner of Miss Mack’s, has been one of Oregon Medical Marijuana Program’s most respected vendors and producers. She 
isn’t a part time OMMP trail blazer, she has been connected to many reputable dispensaries thought out Oregon.  An expert budtender, dispensary administrator, cannabis connoisseur, award winning producer, and dedicated mother. Mackenzie and Miss Mack Medibles are true championship contenders in the OMMP and cannabis community.
A full line of delicious marijuana infused edibles like traditional sweet candies and chocolate treats to health focused vegan products. With concerns for patients and a rising demand for allergy aware food products Miss Mack’s introduced Momma’s Balls which is a gluten-free, sugar-free, and vegan medible made with dried fruits, nuts, and 
cannabis concentrates.  Momma’s Balls are a sweet savory Mediterranean influenced medible that are perfect for  the health conscience or diet restricted patient.
For those patients in need of a heavyweight infused edible for illnesses that inhibit sleep or lack of appetite, Miss Mack’s has her classic cereal treats. These aren’t your normal pot brownies or rice krispy treats you friends make. Miss Mack’s understands that OMMP patients are in need of high quality, tested high thc or cbd medibles. Patients 
have praised the heavyweight cereal line up for it’s taste, smoothness, and report the best nights of sleep despite ailments.
Miss Mack’s is constantly connecting with dispensaries, patients, and other producers to make sure OMMP patients can find the perfect medible that suits them. Her Taffies and Hard Candies are portion controlled and dosage can be monitored and can be eaten in stages. Â Miss Mack’s is a true champ in the cannabis game and always getting better, striving to produce the best medibles for OMMP patients.
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Review: Blackberry Co2 Wax, Cinex, Agent Orange, and Purple Chemdog
Blackberry Co2, Cinex flower and clones, and Agent Orange available at The Holistic Choice a Salem Oregon OMMP Dispensary.
Heavy Micro Grow 