Three Innovative Young Companies at Anaheim Kush Expo

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

Click here to see more photos from Kush Expo .

​Green goodness was plentiful at the second annual Kush Expo at the Anahiem Convention Center this past weekend--the second within just eight months. Though no weed was sold on the premises, there were plenty of local dispensaries, doctors and glass peddlers abound. Kush Expo even featured a smoking section open to rec-carrying patients. But perhaps one of the most interesting facets of the festival were the entrepreneurs offering their unique smoking amenities. We met three entrepreneurs which exemplified the ingenuity of smokers when it comes to their week.

Read their stories after the jump.

1. Doob Tubes
​ Doob Tubes began with a joke. Ray C. was pulled over one day with a joint in his possesion. When he explained to the police officer that he was a medicinal marijuana patient, the officer questioned Ray's illness. "You don't look that sick to me," he said.

To that, Ray tersely replied, "You don't look like a doctor to me."

After that incident with the police, Ray wondered if that joint he had on him had come in a prescription bottle like other medication would he have had the same problem?

"I felt the harrassment I recieved from the police officer was undue," he said. So in 2008, he created Doob Tubes: Clear cylindrical plastic containers with the state law concerning medicinal marijuana printed on them. California's edition of the tube says:

California Compassionate Use Act

Health and Safety Code 11362.5

Use Only as Directed by a Physician

"They're clear for a reason," Ray C said, "We have nothing to hide. They have less of a stigma than a plastic baggie."

Doob tubes have customized state law designs for all 17 participating states and they sell 70,000 tubes monthly. Physicians, lawyers and dispensaries use them as business cards.

Ray C. became a medicinal marijuana patient after he started chemotherapy for Hepatitis C. The treatments caused him much discomfort such as frequent nausea and insomnia.

"I take 3 hits and I don't throw up. You know what? I'll be able to eat and drink water," he said. "And at 3 A.M. when the world is sleeping, and I have insomnia because the chemo makes me feel so bad, I have a hit. Even if it's 30 minutes of peace, I'm thankful."


2. Wicked Eye Products

​ Wicked Eye Products take party games beyond the beer pong table. The Huntington Beach company makes drinking games and accessories for partying on the go--take their Stealth Bong for example. It's a durable piece of plastic with a metal downstem built in that fits over almost any bottle. It gives you the flavor of your favorite beverage mixed with the taste of your favorite herbal smokable.

Creator Dennis Nelson thought of the Stealth Bong after friends frequently requested to smoke out of his beer bong: "No, you can't smoke out of my beer bong, but I will make you one."

And the Stealth Bong was born out of the same flexable plastic of a beer bong. Medicinal patients, rejoice--no longer will you worry of your water pipe breaking. And if it does, it's as simple to fix as reaching for the next beer.
 

​1. V Syndicate
Husband and and wife duo Eitam Scharf and Kimberly Grant travel quite a bit. Traveling isn't always conducive to carrying bulkier smoking tools such as a grinder. So Scharf and Grant came up with the idea for a credit card size grinder. They look think miniature, thin cheese graters and come in a variety of hole sizes ranging from coarse to fine. In 2010, they began and ran The V Syndicate out of their Canadian apartment. They now have offices in Amsterdam and Israel.

"They're clean and discreet Scharf said. "We even have a keychain grinder." They're also going to release a box that you slide the grinder into to catch the medication. They had a sold-out version of their grinder officially licensed by the kings of pot themselves: Cheech and Chong.