5 Concise Questions With Jonathan “Magar” Martinez Cannabis Curing Specialist

I cannot roll a joint at all. This seemingly easy task is completely lost on me. I mangle the process, ripping the paper, spilling the contents on the floor. It’s a huge disappointment. I can’t even load a pre-rolled cone without tearing the paper. That’s where folks like Jonathan “Magar” Martinez comes in. Rolling cannabis cigarettes is his talent and his passion. I’ve seen his work. It’s world class. And my joints? Better forgotten. Enjoy reading about Johnny Magar. He’s very talented!

Warren Bobrow=WB: Please tell me about yourself? What brought you to the cannabis/botany world? Healing? What was your inspiration to do what you do? Why rolling? 

Johnny Magar=JM:  My name is Jonathan Martinez (Johnny Magar) and I am from Guymon, Oklahoma. I recently moved back to Oklahoma with the passing of 788 and the state making medical cannabis legal. I actually left the state in 2012 because of a prescription pill addiction and having been charged with 4 felonies for only having less than an eighth in my possession. To me I didn’t have a choice, I left my hometown and most everything that I’d grown up around in search of medical cannabis and to show people there was another way to help others. This April was 8 years clean from prescription pills because of cannabis. I have completely changed my entire families outlook on cannabis. I helped with 788, have gotten 4 of them medical cards in Oklahoma. My passion is really being able to show people the true potential cannabis has and the miraculous effects it can have on everyday people’s lives, and to be able to share my story and let them know there are people here to help them do the same thing. I have unfortunately lost several people close to me that didn’t have that chance, thats what really keeps me going. The fact that I could help save someone from the exact place I was in is this biggest inspiration for me to keep grinding.

WB: Please tell me about your company? What do you do that’s different, therefore better than your competition? What stigmas do you face? 

JM: My Company im getting started is called Cured Consulting where we focus primarily on the drying, curring, and storing of fresh cannabis so we can ensure farmer can get the numbers they want and the consumer can get the quality they deserve. I am also working with a company called 918 Roots here in Muskogee, where we currently have two dispensaries with a grow and processing facility in the works. What really sets us apart is our passion and our love for the overall plant itself. We all have a similar desire to not just make money and do numbers but to be more focused on providing an exceptional product, that we can not only take pride in but hold dear to our hearts, be excited to want to show it with everyone in the community. We care, and are more passionate about helping the people around us and being able to really share the benefits of cannabis. That has allowed me to dry and cure over 30,000 lbs in 3 different states and win 4 High Times Cannabis Cups. 

WB: What is your six and twelve month plan? What obstacles exist in your professional world? How do you anticipate removing them? 

JM: In the next six to or twelve months we hope to have our grow, processing lab, dispensaries up and running and providing the state with some of the best medicine not just available in Oklahoma but the entire world, to normalize it and play a role in the entire community and give back by doing patient drives, rolling classes, growing classes, and just helping our community get educated that way I can move on to the next town or small community and be the change we all know there can be. The negative issues we are facing right now usually boils down to either a pride issue or just a lack of education. Growers won’t just allow anyone to come in and not only look at their grow but to chop it down and try and cure it takes a lot of trust, especially if they don’t fully understand how much better the product will be in the end and its never an easy conversation. Educating, inviting them to come to see how we work and how we are trying to build a community that works alongside each other is key, being able to show them product that has been done with care and love is also vital in getting them to let their guard down and let us help them. It takes operating like a real business, being on time, answering calls, following thru with deadlines, it all plays a huge role in showing them that you are different and really believe in what we are doing. 

WB: What is your favorite food memory from childhood? What does your favorite (birthday) meal look like now? Favorite food? 

JM: My favorite memory from childhood has to be just having our family over for big dinners, enchiladas, beans, rice, tacos, chips and salsa. All of the aunts and uncles and cousins would come over, we would record family movies of us dancing and eating it was a blast and brings a smile to my face every single time I think about it. If I close my eyes I can be taken right back to being a kid and running around with no care in the world except tacos. Birthday food has to be stuffed sopapillas made by my mom, a sopapilla stuffed with beans, chili, cheese and potatoes then deep fried to perfection and served with some ketchup!

WB: What is your passion?

JM: My true passion is helping to educate people about cannabis and the benefits it can have on someone’s life, whether it is with an awesome joint and a big crowd showing them what is possible with some hard work and passion or being able to sit down one on one with people in need and sharing my story with them and just letting them know that there are people that can help and people who have faced similar problems that are willing to help be a guide for others to follow. Cannabis has saved my life and I really feel that I can be part of the change for other people in need. Some of us in this fight have had to deal with things that people shouldn’t have to deal with and I’m here to help make sure that it doesn’t continue to happen at least not in the community that im in.