Av Singh, PhD., PAg is a proponent of regenerative organic cannabis production, being engaged in projects across six continents. Av has had the privilege of visiting over 2500 farms, shaping his extension of holistic, system-based design solutions. Emphasizing a union of traditional knowledge with science, Av works with growers to cultivate an appreciation of plant:soil:microbe interrelationships.
Av is a cannabis consultant with Lav & Kush Consulting, Executive Director of the Scotian Cannabis Alliance as well as serves on several industry boards, and a frequent speaker at MJBizCon, Grow Up, and LIFT conferences.
Av was the obvious choice for the first Mensch of the Month, as his support and promotion of CJM at every stage of production helped us get here today, and showed his commitment—again and again—to being an ally.
LS: You have been called the “international hero of cannabis” (though you flinch whenever I mention it), for your lifelong commitment to sustainable, accessible cannabis cultivation in living soil. You are also known for your obsession with Bob Dylan. I know you as my former professor and cannabis mentor, who has been riveted by every ad hoc lecture I have given you on Jewish history —even and especially when I interrupted your lectures on the history of cannabis advocacy to provide some Jewish context. Do you think there’s a connection between your respect for cannabis and appreciation of Jewish culture? (It’s important to note that Dr. Singh is a very big fan of Seinfeld, Curb, Veep, Broad City, and The Goldbergs—in other words, he’s all in).
AS: Still flinching. Like most non-Jewish folk in North America in the 1970’s, our exposure to Jewish culture was limited. Maybe a Woody Allen movie, Norm Jewison’s Fiddler on the Roof, and of course Cecil B DeMille’s The Ten Commandments around Easter! (Sure there was Laverne & Shirley and the Fonz, but it was pretty hidden). As a Person of Colour growing up in a racist society, there was an intrigue and empathy built around marginalized groups and I think that is what drew me to wanting to understand more about Jewish culture — I know that is what drew me to Dylan, Chomsky, and even Jesus.
In listening to your perspectives on the symbiotic relationship of cannabis and Jewish culture, it helped solidify my respect for this sacred plant and its importance in so many sacred cultures. Your article “Why Jews love Weed” was for me, eye opening on how cannabis was/is so critical as a healer but also as a mind-expansive escape that continues to help give rise to new ways of seeing how the world works.
LS: Most people reading this will not know that the idea for Cannabis Jew Magazine (CJM) was first conceived at your kitchen table, during a long conversation about Jews, trauma, and the cannabis industry, provoked by my anxiety about what to do after graduating from your course. However, that’s only part of the reason why you were the obvious choice for the first Mensch of the Month. Throughout this entire process of setting up shop despite the variety of material and institutional obstacles, you’ve also provided moral support by reminding me that this is a mitzvah, in quite Jewy terms. I’m hoping you can share some of the reasons why you have been so committed to CJM from the start, and have so much faith that it will make an important contribution to cannabis culture and the industry.
AS: For such a sacred plant, such a giving plant, such a relational plant, cannabis has been so maligned and stigmatized (as well as its consumers) that CJM and similar efforts are critical in our healing as a species. As a species, humans have created a society with an increasing emphasis on false divisions, whereas, I see cannabis playing a greater role in unifying disparate folks and disparate ideas. CJM’s vision on celebrating the mysticism, the medicine, and the cultivation aspects of the plant as it relates to Jewish people and their culture, is something every culture could do, and help break down some of these false divisions. This mix of myth, science, art, faith, beliefs is what this plant has been all about for millennia and why I think CJM’s vision will work. It’s not about dogmatism, it’s not about knowing everything. Rather, it’s about being in awe of the unknown, and wanting to know more about the known.
