Ever hear the saying “Rappers want to be ball players, and ball players want to be rappers”? In the business of getting us fucked up, cannabis and alcohol companies appear to go through similar yearnings.
Dispensary shelves already feature beers, hard seltzers and wines infused with pot instead of alcohol, while liquor stores hope that CBD-containing, rebranded non-alcoholic beers will appeal to increasing numbers of canna-curious customers.
Colorado is no longer the only player in recreational cannabis, and early potreprenuers are branching out as legalization efforts claim victories around the country.
Meg Sanders served as CEO of Mindful during the Colorado and Illinois dispensary chain’s quick expansion post-2014; after leaving her day-to-day role with the company, she set her sights on Massachusetts. Still an owner of Mindful, Sanders has been on the East Coast lately, preparing to open three cannabis storefronts under her new Canna Provisions brand.
Over 100 cannabis businesses and organizations just sent a letter to Congressional leaders calling for federal legalization of the plant, but their request didn’t stop there. The letter also urged federal funding be used to diversify the cannabis industry, as well as administer retroactive justice for old pot convictions and help communities impacted the most by the war on drugs.
Know that jealous, confused feeling you get when you find out that some mediocre celebrity is worth way more than you thought? I remember when I discovered that Judge Judy made almost $50 million a year, and when I heard that the New York Mets owe former outfielder and third baseman Bobby Bonilla $1.2 million annually from 2011 to 2035 (he retired in 2001 — the Mets front office had a lot going on back then). Such revelations aren’t appalling, but they do make me scratch my head.
On July 15, 2015, the Colorado Board of Health rejected a petition to add post-traumatic stress disorder as a medical marijuana condition, to the vocal dismay of a packed room of veterans and medical marijuana patients. Fast forward four years, and not only is PTSD now an approved medical condition, but the board is preparing to usher in one of the most expansive sets of MMJ rules that Colorado has seen in over a decade.
Curtis Powell and Rebecca Goss loved to venture out to infusion events (where cannabis is infused in food), but their options as vegans were extremely limited. So they decided to start their own dinner club, which they called Vegan Stoner Club.
Cannabis legalization has not only spurred a wide variety of new industries, but it’s reinvigorating some old business models. Noticing the growing interest around terpenes — plant compounds found in cannabis and hops (and fruits, flowers, coffee and pretty much anything else grown on Earth) — Niki Sawni decided to start a line of non-alcoholic beverages geared toward cannabis users.
Have we crossed the halfway point of 2019 already? That means we’ve profiled over 26 strains so far this year — and smoked a few dozen more just for fun.
Each strain of cannabis carries a unique flavor profile and range of effects, which are only amplified by plant genetics and growing conditions. Despite all of the variables, Colorado cannabis growers have been pumping out fire since legal recreational sales began in 2014, raising the bar for flavor and potency every year.
Dear Stoner: What are some cheap ways to garnish bowls or joints? Don’t want to spend $60 on a gram of hash, but some of this weed just isn’t enough anymore.
R.J.