We decided it was high time we did an episode about Mary Jane. Over the past few years, the legal cannabis industry has been blooming in states across the nation. From recreational use of marijuana, to the resurgence of hemp farming in the American South… weed is here to stay.

We begin our journey into the wide world of weed with an excerpt of a recent episode of Cutting the Curd. Host Diane Stemple speaks with cheese monger turned cannabis advisor, Christina Fleming, about the surprising similarities between selling two notoriously pungent products.

We follow up our cheese course with a drink! CBD is a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis and it’s popping up left and right across the food and beverage world. Kat Johnson and Hannah Fordin take a trip over to Saxon & Parole in Manhattan to taste test a CBD cocktail.

We can't talk about cannabis without talking about efforts to legalize it in states across the US. It was a huge point of discussion during the New York democratic gubernatorial primary, and seemed to reflect some of the divisions within the democratic party right now. We take a look at the difference in rhetoric between incumbent Andrew Cuomo and the actor and activist Cynthia Nixon.

Finally, we turn to marijuana's cousin, hemp. In May of 2017, the South Carolina legislature passed its own hemp legislation, marking the start of the state’s industrial hemp pilot program. 20 farmers were selected from 130 applicants to each grow 20 acres of hemp. We hear from Sally McKay, the Communications Director at the South Carolina Department of Agriculture about the program, and from Nat Bradford, one of the farmers working to develop his own breedline of hemp.

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Our theme song is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Photo by Aubrie LeGault

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