Beautiful Disaster

Beautiful Disaster

by James Bridges

HERBAGE MAGAZINE

“I’ve been using cannabis as medicine since I was little. I had always been pretty good in high school baseball and sports. I noticed when I smoked cannabis I felt more relaxed.  My mom was a pharmacist. So, you know, I was always aware of the pharmaceutical side of things.  Cannabis made me feel more relaxed.  I fell in love with it very young. So I would just get some and never tell anyone.  Especially after sporting events.”

There’s a moment when you are talking to someone that is passionate about what they do and they get in this sort of trance-like state.  It’s a mixture of excitement, preparedness, love, hyper-focus, and soul.  When it takes over you know it. That’s where Mike Langston, the grower for Local Leaf Cultivation, was when I caught up with him.  He was on a wave and I jumped on for the ride.

“Then we moved to Wichita Kansas. I was nineteen years old.  After about five years of adjustments and being in Wichita I had a very close musician friend. We would jam together a lot.  One time after a good jam my buddy Jake says, ‘You got to come to the basement dude. I’m dying to show you something.’ So I went to the basement and I’ll never forget it. Ever. We were 24 years old and I’m 47 now. Jake pulls back this hard plastic curtain. It was the first time in my life to ever see this.  There it was.  A giant high pressure sodium bulb with a big mega-heavy ballast.  I got chills. This was amazing! I could now grow my own medicine.  I wouldn’t have to go into these shady areas to find what I needed to function.  It was an eye opening experience to say the least.”  I felt Mike breathing easy.

In a connoisseur market, which I’m going to personally hold onto as long as possible, I look for quality cannabis.  I could care less if you grow acre after acre of throw away head-change weed.  I want the good.  That’s why it’s so important to support.

“I have a couple of friends in the LA area that grow. Actually it’s my friend Scott from the band 311. Another friend of mine that was with 311 is Ryan. He got out of the music business to grow. So I’ve always had a connection with someone that I could collaborate with somewhat.”  Mike went on.

“So after I got my license, I went after the Black Mamba strain. I have a few other cuttings from some grower friends. So we’ve gone through a ton of selecting on the strains.  We think we’ve found some winners. It takes a minute to find. About a year-and-a-half for us. Now we’re really hitting our stride.”

I’d say… Keeping it simple and interesting all at the same time. Mike believes in touching and being with every plant from seed to harvest.  This was definitely my kind of grower.  With strains like Black Mamba, Eiffel Tower, a super sativa Sour Apple, Blue Cheese, a very gassy and stanky Blue Purple OG, and then there’s the Grape God.

“On September 22nd 2013, I was getting ready to run a marathon in Wichita, KS. The police called me and said, ‘Mr Langston you need to come to the emergency room immediately. Your son’s been involved in a stabbing.’ My son was fatally attacked in downtown Wichita by this dude with a knife. He stabbed him 57 times. The knife was stuck in his brain. He actually lived dude! I snuck cannabis into the hospital for him.”  A tear was forming.

“I don’t drink alcohol and I haven’t for 15 years. So during this time, you know, it was a real struggle. Cannabis every single day is the only thing that helped me get through that trauma. To see my son lay there for 11 days in a coma… When he came out of the coma, to make a long story short, he said directly to me that we are all spiritual beings of light and I love you. Those were the first words he said.”

“It was at that point when I started sneaking in cannabis oil for my son.  I believed in it. I had made this for cancer patients and now I’m going to help heal my son. So I snuck it in the hospital. Man I don’t care… After he said those words to me there was no stopping.”

“In twenty two days he was out of rehab and back in my house. Cannabis oil works.  It is here for us to heal from the inside out.  I call it the god flower.”

I eventually discovered that Mike was not riding on a wave.  Mike was the one that was creating a wave for many to see.  He wants people to understand that happiness is obtainable.  We have choices, fortunately. Most importantly, it’s about the patient. It’s still about the journey.  But when you are at the helm and there are big waters ahead Mike is the perfect example of someone just like you and I. If we can continue to make a difference in other people’s lives for the better. Meanwhile he is simply working on himself.

We were able to sample every strain.  Each one had its own journey to create inside of someone.  This was craft cannabis.  But it was more.  It was craft living.

Thanks Mike.