Maryland Stands Out: Cannabis Arrests Rates Dip Below National Average in Progressive Trend

Maryland Stands Out: Cannabis Arrests Rates Dip Below National Average in Progressive Trend

By: Dan Taylor, Trilogy Wellness Marketing Coordinator

ELLICOTT CITY, Md- As social justice comes to the forefront during Black History Month, a report shows that Maryland is below a nationwide trend when it comes to the disparities of cannabis arrests of African Americans. But some Maryland counties are well above the national average.

A study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union, shows that African-Americans are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than whites. And in some cases, states and local counties are double if not triple the national average.

Maryland is among twenty-six states that are below the national average. According to the ACLU, in Maryland, African Americans are 2.1 times likely to be arrested for cannabis possession. However, some Maryland counties are trending in the exact opposite direction.

In Carroll and Frederick counties, African Americans are more than double the national average, with Black folks are seven times more likely to be arrested in Carroll and six times more likely to be arrested in Frederick for cannabis possession.

States such as Montana and Kentucky, showed African Americans were almost ten times likely to be arrested for cannabis than whites.

The ACLU discovered that more than six million cannabis related arrests between 2010-2018. Law enforcement made almost 700,000 cannabis arrests in 2018. Those arrests accounted for 43% of all drug arrests.

BOOMERS ARE BOOMING WITH EDIBLE CANNABIS

BOOMERS ARE BOOMING WITH EDIBLE CANNABIS

By: Dan Taylor
Marketing Coordinator, Trilogy Wellness

ELLICOTT CITY, MD-The Boomer generation may have led the cannabis craze in the 1960’s and 1970’s, but this time they’re returning to the plant and consuming it without ever having to light up.

According to the Sleep Foundation, some 30% of adults 60 and older deal with sleep issues. Boomers are now relying on edible cannabis or gummies, to alleviate the issue.

According to data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number of cannabis users who are part of the ‘boomer generation’, has tripled since 2009. The number of boomers who tried cannabis for the first time in 2021 reached 35%.

A report published by The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2020, backs up that study. It revealed patients 65 and older saw a 75% increase of cannabis use between 2015-2018.

Medical professionals who recommend or prescribe the plant, say patients who ingest edibles where the ratio is 1:1, or one part THC and one part CBD, respond the best. CBD helps to ease anxiety and inflammation and THC then helps as a muscle relaxer that also elevates your mood.

One of the big issues that seniors need to take notice of when consuming cannabis for the first time, is that they’re in safe space. Doctors advise older Americans to leave a nightlight on in their bathrooms and make sure there is a clear path.

But with ingestion of edibles or tinctures comes risk of taking too much too quickly. But patients who go ‘low and slow’, have the best results. Health care professionals say as we age so too does our metabolism. That means 2.5mg of THC or perhaps 5mg of THC may be all a patient needs in an edible to get that relief.

Fighting Hunger in Baltimore and Beyond with the Baltimore Hunger Project

Fighting Hunger in Baltimore and Beyond with the Baltimore Hunger Project

By Dan Taylor, Marketing Coordinator

ELLICOTT CITY, MD- Poverty in and around Maryland is not unique compared to the rest of the country. The war on childhood poverty is ever present. That’s why Trilogy Wellness is asking its patients and guests to help donate to a worthy cause.

The Baltimore Hunger Project is teaming up with Trilogy Wellness the entire month of January through mid-February.

“To be able to pair up with a non-profit that is fighting childhood poverty daily, is an extremely rewarding program to be associated with,” said Trilogy Wellness Marketing and Sales Director, Jaime Elwood. “We have a very compassionate and warm base of patients and guests. They are always on board to help in any way they can.”

Trilogy partnered with the organization back in late November. This charity drive has allowed Trilogy to bring in over $2,000 for the Baltimore Hunger Project. The organization’s goal is to eliminate weekend childhood hunger by what’s known as the “hunger gap.” That is when children go hungry from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.

According to the Maryland Hunger Solutions, nearly 94% of Baltimore City students (71,581 children) and 66% of Baltimore County students (73,677 children) are considered food insecure and participate in the free and reduced-price meals program (FARMS). Leaders with the Baltimore Hunger Project, says this equates to more than 145,000 students in our region who may struggle with hunger when school is not in session.

Providing food not only provides nourishment that can help improve a child’s health, but also their chances of learning better when they’re not hungry.

If you donate at least $5.00, Trilogy Wellness will provide you will a $5.00 bounce back card to use during your next visit.

Please consider donating to this worthy cause the next time you stop into Trilogy Wellness. Just ask for the donation box.

Trilogy Team Tours Evermore Grow and Processing Plants

Trilogy Team Tours Evermore Grow and Processing Plants

By: Dan Taylor

Trilogy Marketing Coordinator

BALTIMORE-No two commercial cannabis grows are made the same. This became evident as our Trilogy Wellness team had the chance to tour Evermore’s grow and processing plants.

Some of the terms and procedures that I had learned at the Kind Therapeutics grow site, became familiar with me the second time around at Evermore. But each grow and processing site takes a different approach.

A lot of indoor grows are something that the public would never know about. It turns out that when I lived in north Baltimore, I was a stone’s throw from the grow. Most grow operations want to keep it that was as to not draw attention from the work being done.

Evermore flower has always tended to be a bit fruity than most strains which peaked my interest years ago after obtaining my medical card. Gary Nusinov, Senior Vice President of Cultivation at Evermore, said he and the head growers like more of the fruity flavored cultivars. You can see it in their strains with names like Blueberry Dumplingz, Lucky Orchard, and Peach Zeason.

Genetics and Pheno Hunting:

What sets Evermore apart from most growers in Maryland, is their focus on genetics and pheno hunts to find the perfect cultivars to grow. The company wanted to break-in to that space. The result is some of the most consistent and robust cannabis east of the Mississippi.

Head growers, Tom Klasssen and Austin Weiskittel, set out in 2016 when Evermore opened, to produce some of the best breeding work in the state. It paid off as an in-house breeding project has helped the company produce some incredible genetics. Klasssen says he hopes to keep banking genetics in an effort to one day after a vast genetic library as he puts it.

Klassen says that they have nine flowering rooms where they plant and harvest one every week.

Flash Frozen Flower:

This part of our tour really captured my attention. I had always read about flash frozen and why those live resin and rosin vape carts taste so amazing. We learned from Will Reckner, Vice President of Processing & Extractions, that the top part of the plant is cut and flash frozen. This technique preserves all the terpenes and cannabinoids. Workers could be seen feeding fresh cannabis into a machine. No hanging, no drying. Workers carried massive buckets of the flower into a freezer. Reckner says Evermore says itself apart from the pack with this technique.

He says that the big difference in live resin and live rosin is butane. Butane gases are used to extract live resin. This is done is an extraction room due to the danger of flammable gases. All solvents used for concentrates are later removed in the curing process.

Shop Evermore.

Photography

Proton Center & Rise Above Animal Rescue Community Drive Recap

Proton Center & Rise Above Animal Rescue Community Drive Recap

We are big on supporting our community at Trilogy Wellness. In April and May we had two incredibly successful community drives in support of the Maryland Proton Center and Rise Above Animal Rescue.

The Maryland Proton Center is an organization near and dear to our hearts. Our very own Adam Scher received treatment there for a brain tumor several years ago. With the support of our generous patients and co-sponsor Culta, we raised $2500 for the Proton Treatment Center! This money will go to help pay for treatments, transportation and other costs associated – your donation could help save a life.

Rise Above Animal Rescue & Sanctuary is a local non-profit based out of Pasadena, MD. They focus on animals that need the most help – the sick, injured, elderly & others in need of medical attention. We held an adoption event on site 5/28/2023 and it ended up being a HISTORICAL event for Rise Above! We found furever homes for 10 animals in need. With your generous donations and the help of our co-sponsor Grow West, we were able to raise $1400 for the organization.

A happy puppy who was adopted out.
So many of these animals found furever homes thanks to amazing people like YOU.

We cannot thank our amazing customers enough for opening your hearts and wallets and giving back to the community. We are looking forward to more successful endeavors in the future!

Grow West Facility Tour by Adam Scher

Grow West Facility Tour by Adam Scher

In August I had a wonderful opportunity to tour the growing facilities at Grow West. The tour was very impressive and left a great impression on me. Grow West by far sets the standards in my eyes on how flower should be grown in a mass production setting.

Stop 1. Mother Room.

The first room on our tour was the mother room. At Grow West they use clippings from the mothers to start their new plants–they do not grow from seeds. These mothers are rotated every 4-5 months with new mothers replacing the old ones. They feel that after 4 months the plants start undergoing more stress from growing which effects the quality of the cuttings they are trimming to create new plants. Keeping a steady stream of younger plants is leading to better quality sprouts from the cuttings. After being trimmed, the cuttings are transferred to an “Aeroponic” tub to stimulate healthy root growth.

Stop 2. Aeroponics.

The difference between aeroponic and hydroponic is that with “aeroponics” the roots are suspended in a pocked of air above the water instead of being submerged in the water. The “aeroponic” beds have misters built in that spray the roots of the plants with water from the bin as well as enzyme that are added to help stimulate growth. I believe the grower said they prefer using aeroponics because it leads to better quality roots and faster. As you can see in the photo below, the roots of this cutting are white and healthy.

Stop 3. Young Cuttings.

When the roots of the cuttings have grown out and are healthy–its time to get potted. In the next part of the tour we were taking to a room with young cuttings.

Stop 4. Warm LED Lights.

During this early stage of growth, the plants are being grown with LED lights in a large warm room with high humidity. The growers work very hard to inspect all plants making sure there are no insect infestations, molds, or fungus. At each stage of growth the plants are giving a specially designed blend of water with enzymes to help promote growth and production of colas.

After growing about 10-12 inches, the plants are transported to the next room. This room uses LED lighting with a warm temperature but with slightly lower humidity. Throughout the growth cycle the humidity will gradually be decreased. While the plants are young, the higher humidity helps the plants to take in more water and enzymes through their leaves which will help the plant further develop. Decreasing humidity is also important as it can help prevent mold and fungus from growing. As the plant is growing and the leaves are getting bigger, there is more area for mold and fungus to grow on making it very important to control the humidity levels.

As the plants grow, they are trimmed from bottom up. This helps the plant save energy to focus on growing healthier leaves and flowering. I tried to get a nice shot but these two kept getting in the way!

Stop 5. Middle Growth Stage.

In the next room, the plants were put under a different style of lighting that removes blue spectrums. This room also happened to be very warm. The different phases of growth do best with different styles of lighting.

During this middle growth stage the plants branches are spread out using the wire that runs across the grow troughs. What they are doing is spreading the leaves out away from the center so the main stem area gets more lighting. They are also working on getting the plant to grow out wide rather than tall.

In the photo below we can see the plants are in their flowering stage. The colas on the plants were very thick and some were dripping with resin. Despite the yellow from the lights, it was quite a sight to behold. And very smelly.

Stop 6. Pre-Harvest.

The next part of the tour was the rooms in which the plants undergo the last part of their growth cycle before being harvested. In this room the plants were put under white led lights and a cooler temperature. The focus is making sure the plants are focusing their energy on growing and maintaining the colas. As you can see, the plants have grown in a short and wide manner due to having the stems spread out using the wires running across the troughs. The colors and aromas from these rooms was mesmerizing.

Stop 7. Drying, Curing & Storage.

After the plants are harvested, its off to drying and curing. During the first part of the drying process, the stems are hung from a wire with a colas dangling down. They will remain in this dry room for up to a week before the final cure and trim processes. After drying its off for trimming then finally to storage. I did not take any photos of the employees trimming. They were using a variety of techniques such as hand trimming and using a tumbler machine for their gold bags. After trimming it was off to storage. So many bags of flower! It was quite a sight to see so much cannabis being stored in a room. One part of the tour I was not allowed to take pictures of was bubble hash room. Grow West is currently working on producing bubble hash which they hope will be available soon. The employees were making hash from several different strains. The end result looks like piles of sludge. It was quite interesting. Look forward to trying the product in the future.

Stop 8. Outdoor Grow.

The last part of the grow tour was the outdoor area which will be used for concentrate production. The head grower who led the tour was not in favor of selling outdoor flower for smoking insisting there’s too many issues such as insects, molds, and fungus that are hard to manage and that only a select few of the outdoor plants would ever be good enough in his eyes for smoking. He does not believe Maryland has the climate for growing outdoor cannabis to the quality it needs to be for smoking. On an interesting note, he did mention that outdoor plants actually tend to have higher THC percentages partially due to the amount of sun the plants get.

This was a very educational and interesting tour. Learned a lot about Grow West and I came away appreciating their products much more. Overall I felt that they were a good company and it looked like the employees were enjoying working there – lots of smiles. Grow West is one of the largest employees for the town of Cumberland, they play an important role in that community. If you look behind us, you may notice a hill – that hill is West Virginia! They were located right on the border of MD & WV, I thought that was cool. There is so much more to their grow process than what I can remember. I would encourage every to try to go on the next tour and please make sure to carpool – it was a long drive but the education was worth it. SHOP GROW WEST HERE.