When I got my copy of the Canabalt Blueprints of Marijuana County, I was surprised to find that Gresham, Oregon, is named after a dude. But why? I mean, if you’re going to name a town in the United States that has “weed,” you might as well name it” cannabis country.” Anyway, Gresham gets all the credit for the “weed” in the Pacific Northwest.

I am not exactly sure who Gresham is or why he was named such. He does have a Wikipedia entry, but it seems like every other author anemia contributor has either forgotten he exists or wrote about him briefly without giving any background information. Who is this guy and why did he get all the hate? Let’s find out.

Gresham is basically a small city on the Oregon Coast, located about 90 minutes east of Portland. It is the most populated city in the county of Gresham and is also the biggest port in the state (though not by much). It is also very popular among those who grow and sell pot because it is just a short drive away from Portland. It is also close enough to the Spokane area to have a quick population increase, so they can actually expand their population.

Okay, so let’s talk about why he was named cannabis nation. Gresham is a town that sits right along the Columbia River and it is the home of the US Space Shuttle. The reason why I bring this up is that if you ever take a trip to Washington DC and take a look at the front yard of the federal buildings you will notice that they are all located in areas along the Columbia River.

mandarin haze
In addition to his space shuttle job, Gresham also served as a political appointee to the United States Congress and then the United States Senate. He served one term, which ended when George Bush became President. The interesting part about this is that during the time he was in office, Medicare did not give coverage for prescription drugs. So he had to get creative with his weed.

Today, he is the owner of three marijuana growing facilities and he actually grows marijuana on a full-time basis. He says his business is now doing well and he doesn’t even require employees. It only takes him and two other buddies to start growing marijuana. So, if you live in Gresham, Oregon and are interested in starting your own marijuana business make sure you check out the man for yourself.