Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jan 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Bob Young

POT GROWER'S 'BEAST MODE' PACKS PUNCH

Named After Running Back

'Bit Slow to Start, Then Kicks In'

With bartenders naming cocktails after Seahawks players, it's no 
surprise a local pot grower has come up with a strain called "Beast 
Mode," in tribute to Marshawn Lynch.

"It's extremely strong," said Nate "Diggity" Johnson, owner of the 
Queen Anne Cannabis Club, which carries the strain named after the 
burly Seahawks running back.

Most of the weed sold in Seattle medical-marijuana dispensaries has a 
THC content between 12 and 20 percent. An indica-dominant strain of 
the OG Kush family, Beast Mode has a THC content of 17.6, according 
to testing by Analytical 360, Johnson said.

The weed hits you like its namesake, he added. "Marshawn has gears 
when he's running and it's kind of like that. It has a little bit of 
a slow start and then kicks in."

The group of growers that produced Beast Mode call themselves Zion 
Gardens. Johnson explained the growers came up with the name after 
cultivating a strain that was supposed to be "Girl Scout Cookies." 
After harvesting, the growers realized it wasn't. And when they tried 
some, according to Johnson, one said, "'It hit me like Beast Mode.'"

Beast Mode is the only strain Johnson knows about named after a 
Seahawk. He said his collective also has carried Seahawks-themed 
pot-laced cupcakes that quickly sold out.

According to the collective's menu, Beast Mode costs $13 per gram or 
$150 for a half-ounce. Those are the "donation" rates, Johnson said, 
as collectives are technically not supposed to sell pot.

Donations pay for employee salaries and the cost of running the 
dispensary, he said.

Johnson said he and the grower are aware Lynch has registered 
trademarks on the term "Beast Mode." According to ESPN, Lynch has 
trademarks on clothing and hats and has trademarks pending on 
sunglasses, headphones, bracelets and cleats.

"Since it's for donation-based medical cannabis, we feel his 
compassion towards it will make it acceptable," Johnson said of the 
Beast Mode marijuana.

Lynch's agent did not respond to a message.

Questions remain about whether a marijuana strain can be trademarked 
because of the ongoing federal ban on all pot. Seattle-based Canna 
Law Group, which counsels pot entrepreneurs, advises clients that the 
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will not register trademarks for 
pot-related products.

In Colorado, growers have named a strain for Denver quarterback 
Peyton Manning. It's also derived from the OG Kush strain.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom