NORTHAMPTON  – Publisher Michael Kusak recalls he had a “light bulb moment” after he had a conversation about the legalization of cannabis in the Bay State.

Kusak, who had published “Take” magazine for four years and was looking for a new project and his friend, who has cultivated cannabis, had told him there was much in the legislation that people might not know.

“It was a lively conversation, Kusak recalled to Reminder Publishing.

He went to a newsstand and bought every magazine that featured cannabis and then studied them. Kusak said he realized there was nothing for the “older cannabis user coming back to it who doesn’t know much [about the current legal scene.]”

The result of more than a year of work is “Different Leaf.”

He added, “I didn’t see me in any of [the existing] magazines so I started one.”

Kusak readily admitted he didn’t have much experience in cannabis prior to the start of work on the magazine. He recalled with a laugh he had smoked cannabis in college “ I wasn’t good at it.” – and rediscovered cannabis through using edibles to help him sleep.

The result was he “slept amazingly.”

He realized there was much more to cannabis and the growing culture and industry here in Massachusetts.

“Different Leaf” contains a wide variety of articles. There is a story reporting about the issue of social equity, which would allow smaller businesses to benefit from legalization. Another story details women who are in the cannabis industry in Massachusetts.

There is a step-by-step diagram on how to roll the perfect joint and a glossary of terms people today need to know when talking about cannabis.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon, the author of the 1971 book “Marihuana Reconsidered,” considered a seminal work in the effort to legalize cannabis, is also profiled.

The magazine’s inaugural issue also has a cooking column as well with a recipe for sweet corn ice cream with blueberry jam and brown butter crumble. The dessert uses ground cannabis flower.

Another story is about how using cannabis a as part of a pre-workout routine can help the recovery after a run.

There is also a column about the role cannabis can play in one’s sex life.

Kusak said he is aware that for medical cannabis users, many are more than the age of 50 and he wanted to include that age bracket into this magazine.

He said the magazine will be covering both sides of the cannabis culture – the legal and regulated side as well as what he called the “traditional market.”

“It’s part of the conversation,” he said.

Also part of the conversation is topics that swirl around the fallout from the decades-long war on drugs that included cannabis. He said it is “vital” to write about what the drug wars did to people’s lives.

What is making covering the cannabis issue interesting, he noted, is the state is amending the law that legalized cannabis.

“It’s an ongoing thing,” he said.

Kusak noted the legalization of cannabis is attracting people from different states to re-settle here with their business ideas. He said one couple came from Texas to bring their cannabis business to Holyoke.

Kusak is wondering how the Massachusetts legal market will be affected if Vermont or Main legalizes cannabis.

In other words, the list of story topics is long and reflects the changes in society around cannabis.  

To learn more about the magazine and its subscription rates, go to www.differentleaf.com