Unrelated to status and reciprocity, many smokers believe that mixing various types of cannabis strains together in the same bowl produces unique highs that cannot be produced by one strain alone. Offering greens to another member is an important symbolic gesture of deference and reciprocity. “Hitting Greens” is prized by smokers because it produces a much cleaner and much smoother smoke than a bowl that has already been lit. Much like asking somebody if they want the last piece of pizza, or offering a guest a drink, it is expected that one offers somebody else the greens. TBC sat to the left of Dorian, and always sat to the left of Dorian, and the piece was always passed to the left hand side. The consistency in seating arrangement allowed them to easily observe the norms of reciprocity. It is expected in sessions that the Kings clear the entire chamber on each smoke. Not doing so would out a member as a weak smoker and the member would lose status within the group. After everybody smokes, they go on to taking entire bowl hits. Taking entire bowls at once typically waste the weed. However, taking a bowl in one hit shows other people that one is a serious smoker that can handle such a large hit at once. After everybody had taken at least one hit of Ganja, they typically begin to sip the Holy Soma. Taking entire bongs rips can make it difficult for many people to talk. For one, the rips inflame the lungs, and two, people typically tend to think more. Likewise, cotton mouth sets in and makes it somewhat difficult to speak. Holy soma, according to the group, clears cottonmouth and provides a long lasting high because the substance is ingested orally and is processed through the digestive system. As Natty explained, “When you drink it, it lasts so much longer, indoor grow light shelves it’s a strong and consistent high. And it wets the mouth. Smoking, vaping, waxing, that dries you up.” Each member takes small sips and passes it to the next member.
The cup they use is the size of a large coffee mug but the members only drank a small amount and pass it to the next member. I asked them why they pass it around so much and why it took so long for them to drink such a small amount of liquid and they explained that it was necessary so everybody can get some, and nobody wants to be the person to drink it all up. Consequently, it was drunk sparingly. In addition, since it helped with cottonmouth, the members would use it whenever it was needed to curb the dryness sensation. Another important aspect of drinking sparingly is that cannabis ingested orally takes up to an hour for its effects to be felt although liquid consumption is typically faster. Passing it around allows the members to taper their use and ingest it slowly. The smoking sessions according to the group, continues for hours. The group would start heavy with rips off the Shiva. It appeared ceremonial to the group to start with smoking out of the Shiva. And it would slow to a crawl once they began drinking Holy Soma. Some of the sessions began by smoking out of then Vaping, and then move to Vaping or Waxing through the Shiva. Various adapters allow vape to be funneled through a bong. Vaping is a consumption technique that heats the cannabis up to 365 degrees Fahrenheit to dehydrate the plant matter and release the cannabinoids without combusting the plant into smoke. Waxing uses a concentrated alcohol base to extract the Cannabinoids. When waxing, the group used a blow torch and nail attached to the Shiva to heat the wax. New mechanisms of smoking were always being tried by the Kings. To some degree, this was necessary as they tried to stay informed about the most recent developments in case a patient had questions about a consumption technique. Although the reason sessions fulfilled the role and served the purposes of acting as an informal board meeting, a bonding ritual and a reflexive practice, the sessions frequently transformed into smoking matches where one member of the group would try to out smoke the other.
Although never explicitly stated, there was an expectation that one would participate or lose social status as a member of the group. It was also necessary when outside members would join the group to place social pressure on the person to participate in the smoking match. An acquaintance of mine who made the mistake of trying to smoke with the group described it as tripping balls. He also claimed they got mad because he wasn’t smoking as much as them. It is implicitly understood that being able to hang was a status symbol on which the individual members of the group prided themselves. People that could not hang, or could not handle the trip were considered “soft” and never invited to smoking sessions again. For the group, knowing someone smoked, and could smoke a lot at one period of time meant that the individual was like them and shared similar beliefs and lifestyles. Other people were simply posers, not really down for the cause, and perhaps were not trustworthy with knowledge of their organization and practices. As stated previously, smoking sessions frequently turned into smoking matches in amongst the Kings themselves. Nobody would ever admit that one member could smoke more than themselves. Being able to “hang” the most was a symbol of prestige itself. Practices such as coughing after a big hit, babysitting , or skipping a turn were all frowned upon and sanctioned by the group. High-C would frequently bring up a time when TBC tried to take a snapper and began coughing his lungs up. The group looked at him and laughed as High-C recanted the story claiming, “He just popped his cherry” . Another member said he had “virgin lungs.” Visibly shaken and embarrassed, TBC, in an attempt to save face retorted, “These are whore lungs. I had been smoking the whole day. I was taking real hits, not like those baby hits you guys were taking.” In addition to smoking competitions, the Kings would frequently discuss their past smoking ventures.
As stated before, smoking, smoking a lot and smoking with a bunch of different people increased social prestige within the group. Although being able to smoke massive amounts of cannabis provided a level of social prestige, using other forms of drugs in the Kings eyes, lowered social prestige. High-C in particular liked to bring up old smoking buddies who went to hard drugs and screwed up their lives. Although no member of the group could be characterized as dirt poor, rolling tables all of the members dress in a ragged style that I would characterize as new age hippy. I refer to such style as new age because none of their clothes are particularly old or that worn. Many clothing companies such as Lifted Research Group , predominantly cater to the style employed by the Kings. I did not know the letters LRG stood for cannabis until Natty pointed that out to me one day. Dress is a vital component of their identity as it allows the group to express an anti-conformist identity. Their clothes hang loose and are far too big for their size. Sandals and bare footing are common features of the group. Although, considering Costa Mesa’s proximity to the ocean, it is not that uncommon to see many ordinary people spend the majority of their daily lives in sandals. Yet, the Kings adopt sandals for both recreational and social reasons. Shoes, according to the Kings, are a symbolic restriction upon the freedom imposed by those who have power. It leads, among other things, according to the Kings, to stress, a myriad of health problems stemming from unnatural gait and social conformity. Thus, the very process of enclosing ones foot with shoes is an enclosure of the multiple arrays of human social patterns. This fact is best exemplified to the group by the fact that when they work, they are required to wear shoes. Clothes are thus used as a sign of disconformity and protest. Anthropologists frequently contend food symbolism is an important index in assessing social groups. These dietary rituals, accordingly, reflect certain moral and social ideas with which social groups adhere. The King’s diet is another distinctive feature of the group. They are semi-vegetarians, as they will not eat any animal that is not fish. They do not believe that the consumption of animals is inherently wrong or bad. Yet, they believe, as Natty explained to me once, that all animals in our modern corporate food system are corrupted and polluted by the poisons of Babylon. Food from this corporate system turns oneself into a corporate person. You are what you eat according to the group. They believed fish on the other hand, could not be touched by the machinations of Babylon. Thus, in their natural wild state, fish are natural and unpolluted. Furthermore, they believe that the American meat system promotes deforestation and pollution on part with the automobile and they try to not partake in changing the earth. However, they all understand to some degree altering the physical environment is a necessity to a degree. Furthermore, there appears to be an association between cannabis and vegetarianism as Indian dietary science actually believes that ganja makes the body hypersensitive to the poisons and toxins that comes from meat consumption . Consequently, many ganja using cultures, including this one, place a high priority on a vegetarian diet. As a result, the group members, particularly Natty Dreads, are relatively skinny even though they follow their own regulations haphazardly, as I have been in the drive through line with them at Taco Bell many times. Yet, to be fair, the food they ordered was vegetarian food, such as the seven-layer burrito. Despite this, the Kings are in relatively good health. Although they are heavy pot users and sellers, they do not consider marijuana to be a drug. In fact, they believe the opposite is the truth. They consider the modern American drug industry to be the symbolic representation of everything that is wrong with American capitalism. As Natty explained to me, “Babylon tries to fight fire with fire and poison with poison. We don’t believe poison fixes illness. Herb fixes the body through fixing the mind. Herb shows you what is wrong and helps the body heal itself. We fight fire with water and poison with antidotes.” Most if not all illnesses, according to the Kings are either directly or indirectly tied to Babylonian diet and the modern condition of what the group refers as the human zoo . Each member of the group professes to be an independent artist. TBC produces music via a computer program. Dorian plays the ukulele and guitar. The term their music Rasta funk. It sounds as if it is a cross between island reggae, modern Hawaiian music, and trance. The lyrics commonly sung over the trance like music frequently express the joy of Ganja, the love of earth, and the healing power of the plant. It is clear; the group tries to blend elements of reggae with the Grateful Dead. Perhaps the most unique part of the music is their ability to sing and write about Ganja in coded messages. In fact, very few songs explicitly use the term weed or marijuana. As one verse from a song reads: Chant down Babylon be the lesson/ we bout to gain the truth from a reason session. While in their board meetings, the Kings would frequently play their music. They told me it should be listened to high. Moreover, they claimed they would only know if it was “Dank” or not if when they listened to it high. The production and quality was low, as would be expected of any amateur musicians that use a closet in a spare room as a studio. When I asked them if they ever thought they would get big, they claimed he had no desire to become a Jay-Z. Mainstream corporate music, according to the Kings is corrupted and limited self-expression and artistic creativity.