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Ditanium dry-herb vaporizer with wooden base, glass tube and hose

Smoke or Vape?

August 5, 2026

Smoking remains the classic cannabis ritual, but dry-herb vaporizers may reduce exposure to tar, carbon monoxide and other combustion byproducts. Richard Stockton weighs the pleasures, health concerns and practical tradeoffs.

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Free Will Astrology

Trust your instincts, seek unexpected teachers and follow the desires that set you on fire. This week’s horoscope invites every sign to explore, reinvent and descend into life’s hidden depths.

The Editor’s Desk

Brad Kava reflects on the Grateful Dead’s thriving Santa Cruz legacy, a revealing look at who votes locally and why younger voices need more political power.

Letters

Readers debate aging in place, housing costs, generational change and who can still afford to call Santa Cruz home.

Street Talk

How would you redecorate the White House?

The Editor’s Desk

With Brad Kava away, Good Times welcomes DNA to the editor’s chair for a reflection on volunteer firefighters, community service and turning concern into action.

Letters

Readers weigh in on battery energy storage, controversial trail maintenance at DeLaveaga Park and the difficulty of finding doctors who accept Medicare.

Free Will Astrology

This week’s horoscopes explore creative abundance, meaningful alliances, emotional courage and the strange beauty of imperfect success.

Chasing Heat

A reluctant hot-yoga convert explores the potential benefits of saunas, steam rooms and other forms of therapeutic heat available around Santa Cruz County.

Street Talk

What are your coolest picks for a Santa Cruz summer?

Free Will Astrology

This week’s horoscopes explore enduring love, productive uncertainty, imaginative renewal, abundant creativity, deeper relationships and the courage to choose possibility over fear.

LETTERS

Readers weigh in on excessive amplified music at Santa Cruz beaches and praise recent reporting on the health and safety risks of cannabis vape pens.

The Editor’s Desk

Editor Brad Kava celebrates the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, previews this week’s coverage and makes the case for embracing Santa Cruz’s adventurous side.