Is Your Marijuana Vegan-Friendly?

(Featured image credit: Rusty Blazenhoff, used under CC BY-NC 2.0)

By Cassandra Almny

You may think that by taking organic weed you’re being kind to yourself and the environment. How could smoking organic pot be cruel? The answer is in the soil, or more specifically, in the soil amendments.

Before we go any further, I’m going to request that you take a hit, close your eyes, and think about an atom, namely one in your nervous system that aids in your current thoughts. Okay, you got a hold of that little ball of electricity? Good. Let’s all agree that it’s been around since time first began.

So we’ve now got the atom currently in your brain, and we’ve traced its existence back to the beginning of the Universe. Congratulations, you’re now a part of the infinite cycle called life, a linear system of ingesting, excreting, and all the processes in between.

The moral of the story concerning how stoners torture animals requires the above paragraph. I promise. Alright, snuff out the joint, grab the biggest spoon you have, a tub of tofutti, and let’s continue.

What do you know about blood and bones? They are the stuff within us, our frame and the amalgamation of that which travels along our body’s figurative highway. Not just our bodies, though, those of the animals, those furry creatures with atoms that have traveled along the same time-path as our own and have been granted admission to the same brain and biological processes as we have; the flesh’s undertaking of ingesting, excreting, and all the mechanics in between.

We are all not too distantly separated. It’s true. Outside of our complex language acquisition and utilization, as well as the ability to manipulate objects at an alien level, there is no difference between us, the inhabitants of this beautiful Earth. We all have homes, most of them even build there’s just like we do. Geese, swans, pigeons, Amish parrots, wolves, termites, and certain fish all mate for life. Each dead goose means a lonely lover.

But, back to weed.

Bones, blood, we all got ‘em. Bones get crushed and blood gets dried for gardeners to put in their soil to help boost their plants. Where do these bones and blood come from? They’re products of the meat industry. It’s not only a few specialized gardeners who use these amendments (and they’re likely in your organic produce, too). No, unfortunately, blood and bone meal are rarely the exceptions to good organic farming. With medical marijuana being required to be grown organically, blood and bone meal are typically an essential amendment for growers to add natural sources of fertilizer. You can go to any garden store right now and buy a bag of blood. Perhaps you would like a bucket’s worth? That can happen, too.

Jorge Cervantes, author of the renowned Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor / Outdoor Medical Marijuana Grower’s Bible, who also happens to be the Prime Minister of growing weed in my opinion, unfortunately advocates in his new masterpiece, The Cannabis Encyclopedia, a book worthy of being on every grower’s shelf, the use of such amendments. I only bring Cervantes into the discussion because he has more influence on marijuana growing than anybody else, and he recommends the use of bone, blood, fish, and feather meal. Cervantes advises to use a cup of bone meal per square foot, a gallon of blood meal per 3.8 cubic feet of soil, five pounds of feather meal per thirty-three cubic feet. That’s a lot of tortured animals in your weed. I am in no way putting down Cervantes’ work. He has transitioned countless growers from chemicals to organics, which is certainly a step in the right direction, but it is in no way cruelty-free and we, as humanitarians and animal advocates, should constantly look for ways to make this world more peaceful.

Now, what’s this got to do with what you smoke? Well, a brief look into the lives of animals enslaved in the meat industry reveals them being hung from chains while being skinned alive. Pigs have hair on their flesh, but not for long, for many get boiled while still alive in order to loosen the follicles so pork chop eaters can save money on toothpicks. I am a chicken lover – they may perhaps be my favorite barnyard animal – and the thought of purchasing their beautiful feathers in the form of feather meal, knowing that their beaks are burnt off and their cages are so small they cannot even stand up, sickens me, and I want no responsibility in their suffering.

Okay, let’s move on. You still have a grip on that atom we grabbed back in the second paragraph? Good. Those little atoms in your THC and CBD have first passed through that tortured animal on its journey from the beginning of time to your lungs. And, oh yeah, it was murdered so you could enjoy bud, but these additives are in no way essential. I’m familiar with a grower that never uses these amendments. He uses rabbit manure from his rescued rabbits, dirt from a ditch and dead seaweed from the ocean. There’s typically a half-pound to a pound on each plant by the time the five-month growing season has ended, so there is absolutely no reason to put blood and bones in your soil. I challenge all growers to throw away their preconceptions and bring your soil back to the basics without giving your money and support to the factory farms. Manure. Dirt. Seaweed. Argue it however you want, but nothing else is needed to grow great pot, regardless of what the books tell you. Never forget, marijuana grew just fine before we came along and dumped blood on it.

We’re almost done, but your annoying vegan friend has one more thing to add. Snag that atom one last time. Got it? Good. If you took a hit with me when you first started reading this, enough time has passed for the THC to get to your brain, and it’s probably become a part of your thought processes. That same atom, the one involved in your current thought, was not too long ago coursing through the thoughts of a terrified, screaming pig as he watched the cutter’s knife slicing his jugular.

If you smoke weed grown from blood and bone meal, you’re inadvertently condoning the actions in the video below. Unlike a moment ago, however, from now on you are doing it willingly. It’s a gross video. It’s shocking, but it reveals actual events, and they likely happened, in part, for the purpose of growing produce, including your organic, medicinal weed.

Keep it clean and cruelty-free.

Peace,

Your Annoying Vegan Friend,

Cass