David Mark Brown

Writer. Novelist. Redneck. Granola. Raised on a Texas cattle ranch and schooled at the U of Montana (Berkeley of the Rockies), I am the world’s most self-proclaimed redneck granola and author of optimistic-dystopian dieselpunk, sci-fi thrillers and young adult literature.

Cannabis cousins: Industrial hemp vs. medicinal marijuana

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by Laurie Avocado

Hemp and marijuana have been so closely related and even referred to interchangeably for so long that the cousins have become a nuisance to each other.  For hemp advocates any association with marijuana activists is the kiss of death.  State level attempts to legalize industrial hemp have been killed when lobbyists were discovered to have connections across the cannabis isle.

The key distinguishing characteristic between hemp and marijuana, both from the genus and species cannabis sativa L., is the percentage of THC, the psychoactive ingredient.  The generally accepted requirement for industrial hemp is 1% THC or less while marijuana contains at least 3% and sometimes 15% or higher.

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Appraisals, Home Sales and Green Lies

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McMansion under construction by merfam

Remember when people where trending on such topics as “downsizing” and “simple living?”  It seems like just yesterday.  With untold McMansions listing in their weed-infested suburbs across the U.S. it would seem that the time was indeed ripe for reason to reenter our housing market and smaller footprints and more practical usage of square footage to be valued and rewarded.  The only problem is that downsizing is easy to talk about and hard to do.

American’s love things big.  As my wife and I have listed our 4 bed 3 bath, 1990 sq. ft. home in SLC for sale we have discovered that it is too small to demand top dollar (in our current crappy homes market).  I thought such a home would be ideal for all the people who have been talking about downsizing from their 3,000 sq. ft. 3 bed and 3 bath houses.  But, apparently there aren’t any such people.  What there are, are people who are looking for their first home and finding that 2,000 sq. ft. just isn’t big enough.

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Hemp History in Utah: One True Weed

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Hemp held the same precious value for the early Mormon pioneers that it should today, with its multiple uses for fabrics, rope and food (plus much more that we know about now that the Mormons most likely did not).  The Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society hosted one of their annual exhibitions in 1860 awarding prizes … Read more Hemp History in Utah: One True Weed