The Cannabis Connection

Santa Cruz! California has provided funding to document the history of legacy cannabis genetics in select regions of the State. We are honored to have Santa Cruz represented, and now we would love to connect and hear the history hidden due to prohibition. No doubt Prop 64 and Cannabis policy is flawed. Still, this project is one opportunity to document our Santa Cruz Cannabis Community history and place it in the global context of a new legal era. Please consider contacting me or Dr. Dominic Corva & Caleb Chen to continue connecting the dots with people and their plants in Santa Cruz County. 

Dr. Dominic Corva is a Principal Investigator for People and their Plants, a community-driven study. He is also an Assistant Professor of Sociology and the lead of the Cannabis Studies Program at Cal Poly Humboldt University. His research interests include the regulatory effects of policing illicit drugs, the history and geography of cannabis prohibition and legalization, the political economy of cannabis markets, the cultural geography of cannabis in California, and ethnographies of cannabis criminalization as it pertains to Local Equity Programs in California.

Caleb Chen founded The Highest Critic, Kind Budist, and Certified Ganjier. 

Today on The Cannabis Connection, we welcome Joseph Haggard.

What do the California State Fair, a state testing resolution and Woody Harrelson have in common? On the show, we explore all this and some special manifestations for 2025.

Joseph Haggard is a farmer at Emerald Spirit Botanicals and co-founder of the Farm Cut Co-operative. He was born and raised in Mendocino County where his family has grown cannabis for over 20 years. Emerald Spirit Botanicals breeds cannabis varietals rich in minor cannabinoids using a spiritual scientific breeding approach weaving together art and science in the search for new cannabis medicine. Emerald Spirit Botanicals and Farm Cut has been recognized with 8 Gold Medals at the California State Fair, A Golden Bear Best Sungrown Flower of California, 3 Emerald Cup Regenerative Farm Awards and 6 awards at Emerald Cup. We are honored to produce sun grown cannabis medicine grown using organic and regenerative farming practices. You can find our flower across California in over 60 stores. Learn more at Emeraldspiritbotanicals.com and www.farmcutcannabis.com.

Greg Rose has a long history of fostering software Developer Communities at various large corporations in Silicon Valley. He is currently a Digital Marketing Manager for the New Paradigm Institute, a public policy and law non-profit based in Santa Cruz. The New Paradigm Institute (NPI) is focused on UFO disclosure and transparency. NPI is an initiative of the Romero Institute, which has a 50-year history of seeking justice and holding powerful people and institutions accountable. 

This week on The Cannabis Connection Show, we welcome local comedy Sherpa DNA! Over the last 18 years, DNA has presented 2000 comedy shows in Santa Cruz and 11 festivals. Over 80% of these shows were free because he believes in building community through laughter. He recently signed to Punch Line Records and will be recording it at The Kuumbwa in March. DNA was Timothy Leary's chauffeur, a 5x mayoral candidate in Chico, had a hit song on radio stations in NorCal in the 90s, is vegan, a journalist, and recently had his series pitched in LA.

Today on The Cannabis Connection we welcome Will Moxham of Woodhouse Blending & Brewing.

Woodhouse Blending & Brewing is an evolving project created to bring Santa Cruz more small batch craft beer, and showcase amazing talent and creativity. We want to be a major moving part within our community, and to be a place for everyone to come together and experience all that our beautiful city has to offer! We are a space that celebrates other entrepreneurs and creators - makers in every form from every walk of life.

The Bohemian Chemist was started by Jim Roberts and Brian Adkinson, partners in business and in life. Jim is a second generation cannabis cultivator, operating his family property Sugar Hill Farm and founder of The Bohemian Chemist, a micro-business showcasing sun-grown flower from Mendocino’s Anderson Valley. At the farm, Jim has been focusing in on minor cannabinoids and broad cannabinoid profiles as well as preservation work with landrace and heirloom cultivars. He has been collaborating with the science and medical communities on effects as well as therapeutics. A lifelong entrepreneur and legacy farmer, Jim is vested in the economic development of Mendocino County’s emerging cannabis marketplace with a focus on building the regions tourism marketshare while being vested in bettering the quality of life for local residents and supporting fellow stakeholders.

Matthew is one of the original farmers of the Lemon Tree Organics. Matthew and his brothers farmed Lemon Tree before the name and brand were created, initially called Lemon Diesel. As Prop 215 evolved into Prop 64, Matthew navigated the switch, jumped through the hoops, and successfully ran a fully licensed farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains called Rasta Cruz Farm. He recently crossed the Lemon Tree with Wedding Cake and created Tree Flip. Matthew crossed the Lemon Tree with a GMO, a Garlic Mushroom. Then, those two cultivars crossed on each other, and Lemon Mash was born. Matthew grows organically in living soil and hand waters and hand trims the cannabis. Love is the first ingredient at the Rasta Cruz Farm.

Daniel Morford comes from a legacy of cannabis breeders and is a third generation ganja farmer with 19 years of experience. Founder of Pride of the Lion Seeds and co-founder with his father of Heartrock Mountain Farm. This family has been saving and breeding seeds for decades in the mountains of Mendocino County. 
Daniel has published a book of poetry Love Grows and continues to write, farm, raise babies and make seeds.