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Original article by Brett Konen of Leafy, published March 11th 2020. Try with our full-spectrum CBD Oil to make CBD brownies!
Snoop Dogg & Martha Stewart's Famous Pot Brownie Recipe
Given that Martha Stewart is queen of all things domestic, her brownie recipes are go-to’s. And given that she has also baked brownies with Snoop Dogg, it’s not hard to guess that she’s amenable to bringing cannabis into the mix. Per the video:
Snoop: “When do we add the, uh…”
Martha: “The stuff?”
SD: “Yeah.”
MS: “Later. That’s secret.”
This recipe for pot brownies incorporates sweet icing and chopped pecans, which make this soft, cakey brownie rich and delicious. Since Ms. Stewart ties her full name to this recipe, you know it’s got to be good. But is it the best cannabis-infused brownie?
How much weed should you add?
When it comes to potency, there are many factors that come into play when you make cannabis-infused oils or butter. If you are making your own cannabis-infused butter, be sure to try a small amount before you infuse an entire batch of brownies. Even if you are fairly confident in the potency of your oil, it is best to be sure—especially if you are going to be sharing with others.
If you wanted to avoid some of the guesswork, try using an activated oil, like distillate, in your brownies. The benefit of buying a distillate is that it is easily portioned out and has a specific THC or CBD percentage. So, if you buy one gram (1000 mg) of distillate that is 97% THC, you are getting 970 milligrams of THC. If 10 milligrams is considered a standard dose, you have approximately 97 edibles in that syringe of distillate.
The most important thing to remember when making your own brownies is to make sure the cannabis oil is thoroughly mixed into the batter. The last thing you want is for all the oil to be in one brownie. Make sure every brownie is going to offer a consistent and pleasant dose!
Martha Louise Stewart’s “to-die-for” brownie recipe
Yield: One 9” x 13” pan.
Ingredients:
4 large eggs
⅔ C cannabis-infused oil (try our full spectrum CBD oil)
2 C sugar
1 ½ C all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 C chopped pecans
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions to make the weed brownies:
Preheat oven to 175˚C. Butter a 9” x 13” baking pan; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs on low speed. Add cannaoil and sugar, beating for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add egg mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in pecans and vanilla.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake until edges just start to pull away from pan, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Spread icing over brownies; allow to set before serving.
Martha Louise Stewart’s Chocolate Icing
Icing Ingredients:
1 large egg
2 ½ C confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter, melted (use cannabutter if greater potency is desired)
Icing Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat egg with 1 cup sugar on low speed. With mixer running, add 1/2 cup sugar and cocoa into egg mixture; mix well. Add remaining 1 cup sugar, vanilla, and butter; beat to combine.
Love Dark Chocolate? Try using this vegan Dark CBD Chocolate made in London
Cannabis legalisation will be a likely response to the UK’s upcoming desperation for tax revenue, with concomitant opportunities for investors
The National Hemp Service has a big community of people new to the Cannabis and Hemp scene. One event that you should absolutely be aware of, is the legendary ‘4/20’ - a date and number that has become an internationally recognised symbol in cannabis culture.
Every year on April 20th people all around the world celebrate cannabis culture, in a peaceful protest against it’s ongoing prohibition.
In London, the tradition is that over 15,000 people gather in Hyde Park and light up together at 4:20pm, in a peaceful act of rebellion that unites all varieties of cannabis users.
The Met police have begrudgingly accepted that they can’t write-up that many people at once, so there is a police presence at the park but it’s usually a peaceful day with picnics, music and relatively few arrests.
This year was set to be the biggest celebration of 420 yet, given that in the year 2020 rather than just occurring on one day, the entire month of April would have been dated 4/20. Huge protests and parties had been planned across the globe to call on governments to decriminalise cannabis, carrying forward the momentum we’ve seen in countries such as America, Canada, Uruguay, Jamaica and Portugal.
Given the current international crisis, all events have rightly been cancelled and for the first time in years, no-one is heading to Hyde Park. The coronavirus lockdown means that people will be instead celebrating 420 from safely inside their own homes.
But why do people need 420, a day to protest and celebrate a plant? Given that over a third of the population have used cannabis, why is it illegal in the UK at all? Why can being in possession of cannabis flower grown at home land you in prison, but those who can afford it can purchase that exact same flower from a private doctor without fear of prosecution or conviction?
The answers can be found by looking back through the history of cannabis prohibition, to help us better understand the present day.
Cannabis has been used as a medicine for thousands of years all over the world including in India, China and the Middle East. Cannabis began its relationship with humanity nearly 150,000 years ago, according to fossil records from what is now Central Russia which show concentrated pollen grains - indicating concentrated crop growth in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. More amazing still are the archeological traces - from hash offerings in tombs unearthed in Palestine, to burial shrouds in the Balkans, to the fact that cannabis is one of the 50 "fundamental" herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.
In 1843, a medical article on the clinical use of cannabis in the UK reported its effectiveness for a wide range of conditions, including cholera, tetanus, joint pain, and seizures. By the late 1800’s cannabis extracts were sold in pharmacies and doctor’s offices throughout Europe and the United States.
Even Queen Victoria was prescribed cannabis to help ease her menstrual pain. Her physician J.R. Reynolds’ publicly recommended cannabis not only for pain but also for migraine, epilepsy, depression, asthma, and seizures. He wrote in The Lancet in 1890, that cannabis ‘when pure and administered carefully, is one of the most valuable medicines we possess’.
The demonisation of cannabis began at the point that Western Imperial powers saw its connection to the indigenous cultures that they were governing. At the turn of the century, British politicians began to demonise cannabis use in the colonies, with one MP stating “lunatic asylums of India are filled with ganja smokers”. An official inquiry in 1894 finally proved no link between cannabis and mental health or anti-social behaviour, but the British government still tried to ban it in India several times.
During the 1924-25 League of Nations opium conferences Egyptian officials pressed for international cannabis regulation, claiming that it was as dangerous as opium. It had already been banned in Jamaica in 1913, due to its apparently "demoralising and deplorable" effect on "the natives”. The moral panic around cannabis was rooted in a social control that soon amounted to an international ban by the League of Nations in 1928. It was then that cannabis prohibition then began in the UK - as a result of international pressures, rather than a domestic problem.
At the same time the U.S. had launched its own racially-obsessed campaign against cannabis, rebranding it as the Mexican word ‘marijuana’ to stir up tensions over the recent influx of migrants from the south. For the prohibitionists of nearly a century ago, the exotic-sounding word emphasised foreignness to white Americans and appealed to the xenophobia of the time.
Harry Anslinger, the government official who led the prohibition effort, notably said:
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”
Decades later the British government hardened its drug policy approach as people began challenging the established order. In the swinging 60s and 70s, cannabis was associated with the waves of migrants from the Caribbean and to the counter-culture and hippie movements. It’s popularity was perceived as a threat to social norms, thus policy makers introduced the ‘Misuse of Drugs Act’ in 1971. Cannabis was classified as a class B - alongside ketamine, speed and MCAT. Punishment is unlimited fines and a potential 5 years in prison for possession, or up-to 14 years in prison for supply.
People of colour use and sell cannabis at similar rates to white people, yet have been more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, convicted and harshly sentenced, and suffer most from the repercussions of a lifelong criminal record. The impact of a drug conviction, however minor, is wide-reaching in its harms beyond incarceration and creates barriers to education, housing, employment and more.
Jump forward to the 2000’s when cannabis was downgraded from Class B to Class C in 2004 - only to be raised back up to Class B just five years later in 2009. It was lowered under Tony Blair’s government by former Labour MP David Blunkett who expressed support for its medical uses, specifically as a treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Lowering it to Class C kept it criminalised, but opened doors to medical research and access.
The u-turn came about under Gordon Brown’s subsequent leadership, despite evidence showing that national cannabis use and medical admissions had been steadily decreasing. The reclassification was a power move to show that “the UK is not a soft touch” under Brown, as he attempted to win voters around in the lead up to the late 2009 election.
Currently cannabis medicines can be prescribed by the NHS in specific cases, such for children with rare forms of epilepsy like Lennox Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome. Medicinal cannabis can also be prescribed at private clinics, for a wider range of ailments. However prescriptions are rare and expensive, and are on the most part inaccessible to the majority of people who could benefit.
In 2018 the government issued a statement making clear that there are ‘no plans to legalise or decriminalise the drug’, putting it firmly out of touch with the British public. Over 50% of people in the UK are in favour of legalising the recreational use of cannabis and nearly 75% support its use for medicinal purposes. Enforcement varies hugely between police forces, with some de-prioritising cannabis convictions and instead using warnings. But the Home Office has responded to some forces affirming that police are expected to actively enforce the law, as possession of cannabis remains a criminal offence.
Internationally, we’re lagging behind progress. Around the world, the way different countries have handled the process of legalisation is very much varied. Uruguay simply made cannabis legal, whereas Jamaica and Portugal have gone the route of decriminalisation. Canada legalised medical cannabis in 2001, and recreational cannabis in 2018. The U.S. is in the unusual situation of having it criminalised at federal level, but legalised differently state by state. In California cannabis can be bought and grown for recreational use, but in Florida it can only be used medicinally, and in Idaho it remains fully illegal.
Until cannabis laws change in the UK, 420 will continue to be a day lead more by protest than celebration. Simply possessing or advocating for the plant is an act of rebellion. Whether those thousands of people gather at Hyde Park in a united act of defiance, or they quietly discuss their desire for change in living rooms across the country, April 20th remains and will always be a unique and impactful day in the cannabis calendar.
Cannabis history is the history of the oppression of working class and marginalised peoples. It’s often incomplete, and vast parts are ignored by many historians - if you think we’ve missed something, let us know in the comments!
