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 In the next decade, what began as a literary experiment with the Beats became a full-scale social revolution with the hippies. As the 1960s progressed, the hippie counter-cultural movement took the Beats’ social radicalism and infused it with an even greater sense of communal idealism. This is when the West Coast began to cultivate its uniquely laid-back, free-spirited attitude. The cultural atmosphere was particularly apparent in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which became ground zero for a cultural revolution by the mid-1960s.

 Hippies, artists, and activists flocked to Haight-Ashbury, embracing alternative lifestyles, free love, and anti-war philosophies. During the famed Summer of Love in 1967, over 100,000 young people convened in San Francisco, transforming the city into the global capital of peace, love, and psychedelia. Cannabis, alongside Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and other psychedelics, became a symbol of unity, mind expansion, and rebellion against the establishment. Golden Gate Park’s Hippie Hill acted as a gathering place for people to unwind and take in nature while consuming LSD and cannabis, enjoying an atmosphere of dank smoke and the sound of tambourines, mandolins, and psychedelic rock filling the air. By the late 1960s, San Francisco had become the epicenter of a cultural revolution.

 However, challenges for the movement emerged over time. Problems like overcrowding and increasing police crackdowns destabilized the community, making the hippie utopia unsustainable. Hence, many left the city in search of a new way of life, retreating into the forested mountains of Northern California.

 Due to the decline of the northern region’s traditional timber and fishing industries, cheap land in the area became abundantly available. The rising movement of back-to-the-landers from the city sought to reconnect with the earth, and this appealed to them. Cannabis-positive cultural progressives, attracted by the NorCal wilds’ isolation and natural beauty, moved to the counties of Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity. These three regions would later become known as the Emerald Triangle. Aside from the northern coast’s ideal Mediterranean climate and soil conditions, the area’s remoteness meant there was little law enforcement presence, which made these undeveloped Northern California locations ideal for cultivating cannabis crops.

 By the early 1970s, Northern California growers had developed the revolutionary growing method of sinsemilla cultivation, a tactic that involves growing seedless female cannabis plants to maximize potency. With the spread of this cultivation technique, Humboldt County became established as a major destination for high-quality cannabis production.

 In 1981, one of the first documented cases of HIV in the US was confirmed in San Francisco. The disease spread rapidly, devastating numerous members of the LGBTQIA+ community and others. Many patients found relief for their symptoms in medical cannabis, which was an effective treatment for relieving the symptoms associated with both the disease and the medications used to treat it. In the more severe stages of the illness, doctors used cannabis as a palliative therapy for patients requiring end-of-life care.

 Dennis Peron, a gay activist and Vietnam Air Force veteran, became one of the legalization movement’s most influential advocates. After losing his partner to AIDS, he was determined to educate the public about medical cannabis. In 1991, Peron started the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club, which became the first public cannabis dispensary in the state. That same year, Peron also contributed to the writing of Proposition P, urging the state to legalize cannabis as a legitimate medicinal substance.

 Peron went on to make history as a co-author of California’s revolutionary Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act, which legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes in the state of California, making the Golden State the first in the nation to legalize medical cannabis.

 In 2016, Californians passed The Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which established a fully legal market for recreational cannabis in the state. Today, California is home to more dispensaries than any other state, and its over 3,600 retail establishments make up a quarter of the US’s cannabis dispensaries. The number of dispensaries in Los Angeles County alone outnumbers the numbers in any other state.

 The rise of legalization in the years surrounding 2016 incited the modern-day California “Green Rush” that is currently ongoing. The Green Rush describes the accelerated migration of various entrepreneurs, investors, and cultivators to the state in response to the nascent cannabis industry’s potential profitability. These inspired and enterprising newcomers from across the state and the country thus induced a surge of innovation and entrepreneurship in California’s cannabis industry.

 Cannabis even attracted the attention of ambitious individuals from the tech industry in Silicon Valley, who were interested in capitalizing on new opportunities to revolutionize the market. This resulted in the proliferation of cannabis industry startups, bringing in cutting-edge technology for cultivation, distribution, consumption, and retail. With novel tools ranging from precision grow systems to delivery apps, tech-driven innovation took the cannabis world by storm, transforming cannabis commerce from an underground economy into a streamlined, data-driven industry.

 At the same time, experienced growers and beginner farmers alike also joined the Green Rush to cash in on the state’s fertile land and favorable climate. This new wave of cultivators entered the market looking to bring fresh energy and investment to California’s legendary cannabis-growing regions, bringing bold new ideas for scaling production and sustainability. While the transition wasn’t without challenges, the influx of new talent and resources helped shape California’s cannabis market into one of the most advanced and diverse in the world.

 Today, California’s cannabis varieties encompass a diverse array of options. With a lineup of time-tested classics like OG Kush and Haze, modern hybrids like Girl Scout Cookies and Lemon Cherry Gelato, gold standard favorites like Blue Dream and Sour Diesel, and a bountiful variety of local craft strains, California’s prolific cannabis industry has made a distinctive mark on the cannabis world as we know it in the present day.

 California’s reputation for cannabis is more than a product of progressive policy reform—the story of cannabis is an inseparable component of the state’s distinctive social vibe, agricultural landscape, and local cultures. From the hippies of Haight-Ashbury and the outlaw growers of the Emerald Triangle to the tech-driven cannabis startups of today, the Golden State has been both a sanctuary and an engine of innovation for weed culture. California helped define the modern cannabis movement, and cannabis likewise played a fundamental role in shaping California’s economy, politics, social landscape, and overall identity. For today’s Californians, cannabis has become a way of life, inextricably infused into the state’s culture, history, and future.

 There is a lot to learn when it comes to the world of cannabis concentrates. In particular, proper banger health is essential for any dab rig. The devices used to smoke concentrates are not called a bowl, but one of the most popular forms of consumption seems to be using a dab rig.

 Dab rigs will often use quartz bangers and require a torch with butane fuel to heat your cannabis concentrates sufficiently. To properly maximize the effect of your concentrate, you will also want to have products like a carb cap, dab tool, and, of course, your cannabis dabs of choice.

 Now you may be wondering, what exactly is a chazzed banger? Well, most importantly, it is a sign that you are overheating your cannabis dab experiences. If you are just getting into dabbing concentrates, you might wonder if you can fix a chazzed banger or how to avoid chazzing it in the first place.

 When cannabis dabs are burned at too high a temperature or when excessive heat is applied to a quartz banger, the glass develops a gray-black haze—this effect is why people call them “chazzed.”’ Since it is everyday slang for something being burnt or charred.

 If you continue to overheat the banger or consume dabs while still too hot, the chazzed banger will get darker and more challenging to clean. In fact, if you drop a dab in a quartz banger when it is too hot, you might hear almost a tear or cracking sound from the concentrate being burned up almost immediately.

How To Buy Cannabis

 Here’s the deal: you will need to clear up after your cannabis dab every single time. I know it can be a pain to keep up with, but this is the only proven way to keep the chazz away.

 You should keep a soft and absorbent cleaning tool near your dab rig. After you finish your dab, grab a cleaning tool like a cotton swab and remove the excess melted concentrate from the bottom of your quartz banger.

 You will simply need to soak your rig, chazzed nail, and possibly the carb cab and dab tool entirely in the rubbing alcohol. You will want to keep them soaking for a few hours up to an entire day, depending on the level of chazzing that you are dealing with.

 But still, sometimes, the chazzed nail may not be able to completely dissolve away after soaking it in pure rubbing alcohol. Here are some additional items that you may want handy to help with spiffing up your rig setup:

 Taking a high-temperature dab can be a rush. The effects hit fast, and there may be some intense coughing, but you ultimately leave feeling pretty high. However, lighting up the banger until it glows red is not great for your dab extracts or lungs.

 Quartz bangers are known for their ability to retain longer than a titanium nail could. Low-temp dabs can reduce the risk of burning your hands or lungs and decrease the chances of the banger becoming chazzed because no one likes that!

 Attempt to keep your low-temperature dabs to around 500 to 650 degrees Fahrenheit. You can achieve this low temperature by using an electronic nail (eNail) or by timing your heat manually and experimenting with different cooldown times to find the perfect temperature for your needs.

 Not only does it look gross, but a chazzed nail or banger will degrade the flavor and significantly reduce the quality of the dabs. This can also lead to permanently damaging your banger in the long run.

 If you’re too comfortable with a chazzed-up banger, this is your sign to make a change. You will want to get it clean, keep it clean, and move forward with the understanding that a clean banger is a happy banger! It’s better for the quality of your high and the long-term impact on your lungs.

 A few different elements will help you prevent chazzed bangers. You will want to clean your banger routinely with a cotton swab after each use and before the banger can cool down and make the material sticky.

 Additional remedies that will help remove chazz include coarse salt, a scraper, and zip-lock bags. Use these for a deep soak lasting anywhere from 3 hours to a full day. If your banger is heavily chazzed, you might need to repeat the deep cleaning process a couple of times.

 If you are looking to keep your quartz bangers from turning black, be sure to develop a routine of taking a cotton swab (possibly dipped in rubbing alcohol) and swirling it around instead of your banger, collecting the leftover cannabis concentrate.

 You will want to do regular deep cleans if you are a regular dabber. These deep cleans should involve isopropyl alcohol, coarse salt, and a ziplock bag to soak the banger anywhere from three hours to a whole day.

 Isopropyl alcohol is one of the most common and popular liquids used to clean a banger properly. If you want to remove deep burns or chazzed material, cleaning a banger can take a few hours up to an entire day.

 It’s 4 pm. I just woke up from a nap on the couch. My neck is killing me, and my joints aren’t too happy either. I keep yawning, and I’m beyond grumpy. Between the grogginess, discomfort, and general feeling that something’s wrong, it’s time to smoke.

 But the experiment needs a control, so I put on my headphones and connect them to my phone before unfurling from beneath my blanket. To my surprise, I charged both my phone and headphones last night – they’re powered up and ready for action.