Medical-marijuana producer creates 40 OG, a strain named for Heat icon Udonis Haslem
The OG just got a strain of OG.
Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem collaborated with the Flowery to produce a new marijuana strain. Named 40 OG, the strain will be released today in time for the 4/20 marijuana “holiday.”
Haslem approved the strain and helped cultivate it.
“I like that offensive smoke,” Haslem told the Miami Herald. “The stuff that make you ‘put it down and scratch your head after one hit’ type of smoke.”
The collaboration, which will also include merchandise, took about 14 months to come together. In addition to picking the two strains that would become 40 OG, the three-time NBA champion worked a bit at the facility as well.
“I’m not a guy who sits at the mountaintop and barks down orders — I’ve been at the facility, I’ve cut crop, I hurt my back,” the Heat executive said.
Part of what drew Haslem to collaborate with the Flowery was its story. Established in the farmlands of Homestead, the Flowery is one of Florida’s only family-owned cannabis companies. One of the company’s early partners — former Virginia Gardens Police Chief Steve Garrison — lost his son to an overdose. Garrison’s son, who suffered a brain injury during the Iraq War, became the catalyst for the patriarch to enter into the medicalmarijuana industry.
“The VA [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs] loaded him up with pharmaceuticals,” Garrison told the Miami New Times. “Had he been able to use medical [marijuana], we believe we would still have him here today.”
Garrison sued Florida in federal court after the state went back on its promise to issue 10 new medical-marijuana licenses by October 2017.
Added Haslem: “If you understand what it took to get a license in the state of Florida, it was never meant for the common man. It was meant for the rich to stay rich. When I walked in the room with the Flowery, it was a room full of guys like myself. A room full of common guys. A room full of guys who feel like they have to work twice as hard to get a seat at the table. I felt right at home.”
As for why Haslem got into the medical-marijuana business, he pointed to the plant’s healing effects.
“For me, being a person who lives a very stressful life, in a very stressful environment, managing multiple things, it’s good for me get home at the end of the night, sit down, relax and medicate,” Haslem said, adding that medical marijuana could be useful for athletes who often endure “the traveling, the stress, the pains and the aches.”
And forever the advocate, Haslem wants to raise awareness about the medical-marijuana industry as a whole.
“We need to open up our mind and educate ourselves,” Haslem said. “The things that I was taught younger, the things I thought younger, I’ve grown into a man who has learned how to think for himself, how to research things for myself.”
Haslem’s business could grow if Floridians vote in November to approve cannabis for recreational use.
The 40 OG is be available at Flowery’s Florida locations and via delivery.
Check the Flowery website at https://theflowery.co/ locations for more details.