Professional athlete. Comedian. Civil rights advocate. Musician. Dustin Brandon has held many titles throughout his life. For the past nine years, he has worked tirelessly to establish himself as an irrefutable pillar of the Cannabis community.
“I came into this community as a medical patient,” Brandon explained. “This plant saved my life. My disability is brittle bones, called osteogenesis imperfecta, from birth. I’m 42 years old, and I’ve broken and fractured over 850 bones throughout my life. I’ve had close to 75 surgeries.”
Brandon’s story is one of strength and resilience. Despite trauma, tragedy and a recent bout with COVID that nearly took his life, Brandon has consistently faced adversity and bounced back with unyielding perseverance.
“I grew up in a tough upbringing, from foster care to state-run facilities, and a school for kids with disabilities,” Brandon said. “My sister and I got split up. Her name was Felicia, a year younger than me. In 2018, she lost her life to suicide. When I lost her, it took a while to figure out if I could even come back from that. But eventually I figured out how to develop myself all over again, through her, for her. She’s my reason for everything.”
Over this last year, he diligently rebuilt his health and dove headfirst back into the Cannabis and glass communities. That’s where Mothership Glass comes into the story.
Forged in fire, crafted with care and annealed with meticulous effort and dedication, Mothership produces some of the highest quality functional glass art in the entire world. Captained by innovative artist Scott Deppe, the enterprise is a collective of some of the most prodigious glassblowers in their field.
“I approached Mothership, and I said, ‘I think there’s an area we can fill here in regards to the disabled community, not just making glass more accessible for people with disabilities, but as a whole, around the entire community. … How can we have disability inclusion?’” Brandon recalled.
Mothership invited Brandon to their base of operations in Bellingham, Washington. He tested their entire range of products and took measurements, all with a goal of designing the perfect consumption experience.
Deppe, Justin Johnson and Colin Taylor of Mothership joined Brandon to discuss accessibility in functional glass and creating a piece tailored to his individual functional needs. They sketched out a plan for a special one-of-one design inspired by his sister, known as “Felicia’s Gift.”
The rig is a Torus/Fab Torus recycler with a sunflower motif and “Felicia’s Gift” engraved at the base. It features a wider base for stability, slightly longer drains for hand grip and a ground-out, interchangeable neck equipped with attachments of different angles, including a hookah hose for increased ergonomic versatility.
“This piece means a lot to me, not only to be a voice for the disabled community, throughout accessibility, through glass and in which ways we consume our medicine, but in how we heal ourselves,” Brandon explained.
Deppe showed care and consideration during the visit. He personally set up the rigs, altered table heights and dialed in water levels to provide the perfect experience. He even surprised Brandon with an accessory — a topper for a slurper-style banger — still warm out of the kiln.
“We want to help everyone out and lift everyone up,” Johnson stated. “It’s a lot for us to be able to make a piece like this. And I’m happy we’re going to be the ones doing it.”
“It’s an honor,” Deppe added. “We just want everybody to have the best smoking experience possible. That’s what Mothership is about. So, if we can do something to make it more comfortable or more fun for somebody, we’re going to do it.”
With this significant push forward for the accessibility conversation, Brandon’s story has come full circle. After nine years of grinding hard in the Cannabis industry, he finds himself serving as an advocate not just for himself, but for the greater Cannabis and disability communities as a whole.
“It’s not only about accessibility, but about encouraging people with disabilities to be part of the journey,” Brandon explained. “I hope this gets the conversation going in the glass community and even in the Cannabis community — from grows to work stations and everything in between.”
A huge amount of appreciation to Brandon and Mothership for inviting Leaf Magazines into this important conversation on accessibility in Cannabis, and a special shoutout to Crystal Hoffman (@hashinit_) and Jeff Hooten (@casedgod) for coming along for the ride.
