TED’S BUDZ CO PREPS FOR TED FEST 2 IN DTLA

Bill Votes

Date

09/07/23

Result

(PASS)

Location

Senate Floor

Ayes Count

21

Noes Count

14

NVR Count

5

Motion

Unfinished Business SB58 Wiener et al. Concurrence

Ayes

Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Becker, Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Gonzalez, Laird, McGuire, Menjivar, Newman, Padilla, Roth, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Wiener

Noes

Alvarado-Gil, Blakespear, Dahle, Glazer, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Min, Nguyen, Niello, Portantino, Seyarto, Umberg, Wahab

NVR

Ashby, Limón, Ochoa Bogh, Rubio, Wilk

Bill Votes

Date

09/06/23

Result

(PASS)

Location

Assembly Floor

Ayes Count

43

Noes Count

15

NVR Count

22

Motion

SB 58 Wiener Senate Third Reading By Wilson

Ayes

Aguiar-Curry, Alvarez, Arambula, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Wendy Carrillo, Connolly, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Friedman, Garcia, Gipson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, McCarty, McKinnor, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Pellerin, Rendon, Blanca Rubio, Santiago, Ting, Villapudua, Waldron, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas

Noes

Alanis, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Cervantes, Megan Dahle, Davies, Dixon, Vince Fong, Gallagher, Irwin, Lackey, Muratsuchi, Joe Patterson, Sanchez, Ta

NVR

Addis, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Chen, Gabriel, Grayson, Hoover, Maienschein, Mathis, Papan, Jim Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Rodriguez, Schiavo, Soria, Valencia, Wallis, Weber

Bill Votes

Date

09/01/23

Result

(PASS)

Location

Asm Appropriations

Ayes Count

9

Noes Count

3

NVR Count

4

Motion

Do pass as amended.

Ayes

Bryan, Mike Fong, Hart, Holden, Lowenthal, Papan, Pellerin, Weber, Wilson

Noes

Megan Dahle, Dixon, Sanchez

NVR

Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Mathis, Soria

Bill Votes

Date

07/11/23

Result

(PASS)

Location

Asm Health

Ayes Count

9

Noes Count

2

NVR Count

4

Motion

Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]

Ayes

Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Boerner, Flora, McCarty, Santiago, Villapudua, Waldron, Wood

Noes

Vince Fong, Joe Patterson

NVR

Wendy Carrillo, Maienschein, Rodriguez, Weber

Bill Votes

Date

06/27/23

Result

(PASS)

Location

Asm Public Safety

Ayes Count

5

Noes Count

2

NVR Count

1

Motion

Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Health]

Ayes

Bonta, Bryan, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Santiago

Noes

Alanis, Lackey

NVR

Ortega

Bill Votes

Date

05/24/23

Result

(PASS)

Location

Senate Floor

Ayes Count

21

Noes Count

16

NVR Count

3

Motion

Senate 3rd Reading SB58 Wiener et al.

Ayes

Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Becker, Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Gonzalez, Laird, McGuire, Menjivar, Newman, Padilla, Roth, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Wiener

Noes

Alvarado-Gil, Ashby, Dahle, Glazer, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Nguyen, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Portantino, Rubio, Seyarto, Umberg, Wahab, Wilk

NVR

Blakespear, Limón, Min

Bill Votes

Date

03/21/23

Result

(PASS)

Location

Sen Public Safety

Ayes Count

3

Noes Count

1

NVR Count

1

Motion

Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]

Ayes

Bradford, Skinner, Wiener

Noes

Wahab

NVR

Ochoa Bogh

THE SPANNABIS 2023 TRAVEL DIARY

Spannabis 2023 once again proved to be a can’t-miss international event, as cannabis access levels continue to rise around the world. 

It was fair to say, this year proved Spannabis had exited the pandemic slump in its 19th edition. It certainly felt a lot more crowded than last year, as visitors interacted with the 280 exhibitors, 500 companies and nearly 5,000 cannabis industry professionals at the show. Prior to the pandemic, attendance numbers had been as high as 35,000.

It’s important to note all the things that happen in the orbit of Spannabis. While the main show over the weekend is massive, there are a lot of big annual events taking place throughout the week also drawing tons of attention. A lot of that attention goes to hash. The week of Spannabis is essentially home to the biggest flower and hash contests in the world outside of America. The week also features Spain’s largest business conference, the Barcelona edition of The International Cannabis Business Conference.

As for the contests, they offer a few different formats. The weekend of Spannabis is dotted with awards shows starting on Wednesday with Ego Clash, all the way through to The Secret Session’s Sunday contest announcement. Other contests throughout the week included Masters of Rosin and the Spanish Champions Cup hosted by Spannabis. A win in any of those contests is one of the biggest things you can do in cannabis.

The Ego Clash originally was founded in California and made its way to Spain in the late 2010s. After its founding by Brandon Parker of 3rd Gen Family, one of the most award-winning farms in cannabis, The Ego Clash quickly vaulted itself to the top of the mountain in a world flooded with cannabis events. 

This year’s Barcelona Ego Clash may be the most surprising yet. While many big-name Americans would make the trip, Bask Family Farms took home the top prize in flower. BTY Terplandia was the highest-scoring American flower in second, and the stacked trophy shelf over at Growers with Attitude would round out the podium.

Ego Clash Flower Judging

But many consider the hash the star of the show at The Ego Clash. Top honors in the hash category went to Ogre Farms. A Half-American team placed second in this category, too, with The Emerald Cup’s personal-use winner Wooksauce Winery. Dochazed came in third place.

The top prize in rosin went to Have Hash. This was their second time winning The Ego Clash and they would place third later in the week at Masters of Rosin. 

Things started to feel a lot more European after The Ego Clash ended on Wednesday. Partly because a lot of Europeans get there on Thursday for Spannabis setup while Americans making the trip tend to spend closer to a week or longer.

A packed Friday at Spannabis.

Friday would prove to be mobbed. One of the things about events like Spannabis that feature seed companies is the best gear goes early. People will take the day off work to get there early in hopes of buying a pack of seeds that holds their Golden Ticket.

This year felt like it featured more American seed drops than ever. Many of them were people we traditionally think of for their quality of production and not breeding. The list of American seed drops includes Los Angeles top-shelf regulars like The Terp Hogz, Wizard Trees, Cali-X, and Doja, on top of the traditional breeders you would expect to see in Spain. 

Friday also would feel like the most business-heavy day. Many people were searching out those conversations they needed to have with their industry peers before the weekend was in full gear. 

Among the craziest business things we saw was Athena’s mobile tissue culture system. Farmers will be able to do in the middle of a field what they once needed a lab for. It won’t clean your genetics like meristem work in a lab will, but it will certainly make preserving genetics that much more accessible. 

Saturday and Sunday felt very similar. They were both packed-to-the-wall celebrations of cannabis. Saturday certainly seemed the most crowded of the three days.

It’s a safe bet as more and more countries continue to reform their marijuana laws, the 20th edition of Spannabis next year will be simply massive. 

PSYCHMD ROLLS OUT KETAMINE NETWORK IN 44 STATES

The nation’s largest telehealth network, PsychMD, is starting ketamine treatments this week.

We sat down with PsychMD founder Bryan Henry to talk about his transition into the burgeoning psychedelic therapy space after watching the telehealth network he built to support hormone therapy explode into the biggest telehealth network in the U.S. Henry will use that same network of family doctors to provide referrals for the new ketamine therapy services he’ll be offering in 44 states. Henry is also the Founder and President of Peter Holdings

After finishing up in the military, Henry obtained his family nurse practitioner license from the University of Oklahoma before securing a Ph.D. in Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology from the University of Wisconsin. After securing his degrees, he would spend the first half of the 2010s working in hospitals.

“I don’t know, I got pretty burned out of being in the hospital setting, a lot of non-doctors administration telling you how to do your job, which is quite frustrating for providers clinicians, so I decided to start my own practice. I started my own practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma 2015,” Henry told L.A. Weekly. 

While things were going great for the business, his health began to suffer.

Dr. Bryan Henry

“So around 2019, I started getting severe depression. I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning, so it became really bad for me and I chalked it up PTSD,” Henry said noting he questioned going on disability. “My patient outcomes are suffering, my family is suffering. I’m trying to run this massive company and I just couldn’t even get out of bed, and I was leading to a pretty toxic environment for myself and my family.”

Henry’s sister, a psychiatrist with the Department of Veterans Affairs, informed him about the success stories she’d been hearing about using ketamine to treat PTSD. Henry’s PTSD had proven treatment-resistant up to that point. It ended up being an extremely effective tool in treating his PTSD. He remains a patient to this day. 

“It really was the turning point for me to change my life, as well to get out of bed, get back to work, and really grow this as big as we could. And obviously, we’ve grown it to be the largest in the U.S. now,” Henry said, “That’s why I’m damn thankful that ketamine was introduced to me.”

The appeal of helping his fellow veterans is massive for Henry. But Ketamine is a big jump for those people that have never used drugs like Henry. We asked Henry, how does he convince his peers that might not even be willing to try a joint to help with their PTSD to experiment with ketamine?

He replied he was that guy. But as he went through the research on both safety and efficacy, he was willing to cross the bridge. He believed with a little fact-finding others would come to similar conclusions. 

Some of PsychMD’s big competition has gone under or doesn’t look prepared for a forthcoming tightening of regulations that were originally loosened to simplify life for people during the pandemic. Once that hits, PsychMD will be the only company legally able to provide telehealth ketamine services. 

We asked Henry if PsychMD was now the most accessible ketamine therapy for vets with PTSD.

“100%,” Henry replied. He continued it wasn’t just the most accessible for vets, but everybody. 

Henry went on to describe the development of the program they’ll be launching. That group was about 60 patients. 

“When Ketamine Wellness Center shut down, we went in to buy the company because obviously with our board being highly composed of military veterans. We saw all the articles, all the publications of these veterans getting left behind and that’s why we wanted to buy the company,” Henry said noting due to some issues on the other side they were unable to get the deal done. “But what we did get out of it was all the patients that they have left behind, just closed the door on them. So we’re working with those patients right now, making sure that they’re getting back on therapy and the majority of those patients are better. And so, that’s kind of what we’ve been focused on, was our veterans right now at this point starting next week, we’re really gonna push it through the public, but roughly about 60 patients in terms of treatments roughly, probably 300 treatments.”

Despite the massive void left by Ketamine Wellness Center, PsychMD doesn’t plan to rush scaling up and risk jeopardizing the quality of the treatment they are providing. 

ERYKAH BADU DROPS THAT BADU CANNABIS LINE

In a cannabis industry where much of the time the people of note entering from other walks of life to start their brands have been men, Erykah Badu is about to be one of the most celebrated females ever to enter the space she’s been in since 2020. 

From an outsider’s perspective on the chessboard, it seemed the moves she was making in the build-up to the March 8 launch of her That Badu line at Cookies made a lot of sense. She went with better genetics than some of her peers entering the space and was working with a solid retail partner. We’ve always found that one of the most giant red flags recently is when a celebrity brand launch coincides with the launch of whatever mechanism that’s getting you the weed. Badu went the opposite direction in working with an established retailer. 

That Badu is a cross between Lemonchello and Jet Fuel Gelato. It will be available in eighths and pre-rolls for its International Women’s Day launch on March 8. Expect more offerings from the line in time for Mother’s Day.

Badu’s first cannabis line, Apple Trees, launched in February 2020. Unfortunately, the world closed a few weeks later so the launch got lost in the news that was focused on some of the biggest sales weeks in the history of California cannabis as people feared dispensaries would close. 

But the cannabis world is a lot chiller at this moment with the exception of what small farmers are going through and crime waves. And getting the launch in a month and a half before 4/20 to avoid the noise was a good play, too. 

Our chat with Badu started with the fact she is a busy lady, a multi-platinum recording artist with plenty of things on her plate. What made her want to enter the cannabis space in addition to the wellness work she’d already been involved with for a long time?

“I’ve always been an advocate and interested in cannabinoids,” Badu told L.A. Weekly. “My first band is called The Cannabinoids. We are all on the electronic drum machines, nine of us, and we just improv.”

The conversation quickly moved to her work as a doula she started over 20 years ago and how much that actually intertwined with her new cannabis endeavor over the years. Doulas can assist new families in the build-up, during and after the birthing process, or help families with the transitions that come with death and provide emotional support. 

“I became a doula in 2001 and as a birth and death doula; many of my mothers and patients use cannabis in many different ways,” Badu explained. 

And more personally than those she supports through her doula work, cannabis has long been a part of Badu’s early morning ritual as she works to find alignment for the day or whatever message she needs to hear in that moment.

“It brings clarity, and the aroma is also part of the ritual. The smoking is also a part of the ritual, the breathing, inhaling and blowing and exhaling,” Badu said. “All these things have been very instrumental in my creativity as an artist, as a very busy entrepreneur, and as a mother who has to work in a very masculine world. It helps me not forget who I am and that I am also important.”

Badu is currently a resident of Texas. She is sitting in hopes of the chains moving on legalization in the near future. If people used football metaphors more to try and legalize it, they probably would; nevertheless, Badu is working on a CBD permit. As proven by many in the past, she thinks getting her infrastructure in place with CBD stuff and making the move to recreational when Texas goes legal is the move. Certainly, a fair take. 

Texas isn’t the first place that comes to mind when people think of cannabis reform, but it was a long slow process in many places. Texas is now in the midst of that process — it’s just one of those places that started a bit later. Given this, we asked Badu how private she feels like she has to ever had to be about her own use.

“Exactly. That’s why we can have conversations about it, but we have to be very careful with those types of things,” Badu replied. “So now that it’s being introduced, as a prospective license, we can have more conversations and I will be at the forefront of the legalization. I will use my voice for this. And I’m specifically interested in cannabinoids and women.”

Badu noted, while everything in the product line kind of caters to or comes from a feminine perspective, it’s definitely high-end product meant for whoever wants to smoke heat. But you’ll see plenty of feminine notes, like the packaging mimicking the oriental ceramides Badu has become fond of over the years. 

“I was thinking, what kind of vessel will this be in? What kind of packaging, what colors, with flowers?” Badu said. “I first thought of porcelain and the Oriental and Persian vases and tea sets, and those types of things.”

Badu noted she’s also excited about the mushroom tea she’s working on. We asked what it’s like to be diving into the psychedelic space and if it ever felt like psychedelics had been demonized in communities of color. 

“Maybe demonized is a heavy word, I would say for sure misunderstood,” Badu said.

Badu argues when something is misunderstood, it’s often abused and mishandled. Her new mushroom teas will be called That Badu technologies. The first is meant to be a coffee substitute for during the day and the second is the psychedelic one, which she noted can be used in ritual work of any kind.

Keep an eye out for That Badu to expand across California in 2023.

THE FIDEL’S X CARROTS DROP WINS EARLY 2023

Fidel’s x Carrots is proving to be the hottest cannabis industry clothing drop of Q1.

As we’ve covered many times here at L.A. Weekly, Shant “Fidel” Damirdjian is one of the local faces shining during these dark times in the cannabis industry. He had a wild 2022 with his victory over some of the best cultivators in the world at Transbay Challenge IV — the Hash Hole exploded to the most famed ‘preroll” in California if you’re even comfortable calling it that, and he opened up his own cultivation spot in the desert without the help of the corporate oppressor. A great year for anyone in cannabis.

Topping 2022

So how does he top it? He comes out of the gates early in 2023 with a fantastic collaboration with Anwar Carrots. Carrots got into the fashion game in 2007; in 2015, he’d launch the Carrots by Anwar line. Vibrant oranges among other colors with stylized carrots and rabbits are par for the course with the popular menswear line.

The collaboration with Fidel’s started just over a year and a half ago. 

“Anwar blessed us with complete creative control the entire project,” Damirdjian told L.A. Weekly. “Dabber Dan and I, my right-hand man, designed every bit of the box. Even the bags the clothing was in. Even the cut and sew on the hoodies.”

They would eventually settle on a 50/50 cotton and bamboo blend made in Los Angeles and find that bright orange they were looking for, after some trial and error over the last 18 months.

The Box

Each box in the limited edition of 500 includes the hoodies and sweatpants set made, screen printed and packaged in LA. There also is a Fidel’s x Carrots T-shirt, headwear, four Croc Jibbets, a commemorative 3D printed carrot with a hash hole, and a half ounce of Fidel’s popular weed.

It’s very fair to argue the cannabis aspects of the box are easily worth more than half its $600 price tag. 

Where Fashion Meets Weed

After the entertainment industry, many would argue cannabis and fashion is where Los Angeles has some of its biggest global influence. We asked Damirdjian his take on that sentiment.

“100% it’s something you don’t see done often; if it has, it didn’t catch my attention and I apologize,” Damirdjian replied. “But I feel like fashion and cannabis have so much to do with one another. They are different audiences within the same audience. It’s a great thing to work with another cannabis company and within our community, but to branch out of it to get the attention of people in the clothing industry, it’s amazing.

Damirdjian argues it triggers so much more love crossing his audience and Anwar’s audience he’s built over the years. He appreciates how wowed people from both sides of the fence have been after months of effort trying to get it right to their vision.

Damirdjian is excited about what’s next; don’t expect to see these boxes again. 

“This is like one and done. I’m trying to touch as many people that follow my following, Anwar’s following with this,” Damirdjian said. “This cost $600 for the box; it’s not something that everyone can afford. But the true collector is getting so much in the box. I’m not just taking money from the consumer, I’m giving so much more.”

Again, a lot of it comes back to being a unique spirit in a crowded space for Damirdjian. 

He knows everyone’s trying to do something different. He considers the Carrots collaboration a sought-after project for anyone, and when he got the chance, he was not letting it slip through his fingers. 

“It took so much time, finances and we did it with so much cadence, but it opened up a lot of doors for me now. I can already see it this early on. I can’t wait till more people consume it,” Damirdjian said, 

THE CANNABIS TRENDS WE’RE BUYING IN 2024

This week we’re excited about what’s to come for the cannabis industry in 2024. 

Last week we covered the fact that life is less than perfect in cannabis while highlighting some of the things we believed caused a lot of our headaches in 2023. This week, the opposite. We’re highlighting the things we think are going to help everyone turn it around. 

Finally Fixing LA’s Equity Program 

Here in Los Angeles, one of the biggest calls to action from the cannabis industry for the new mayor’s office continues to be the repair of the L.A. Social Equity Program. It was awesome to see 100 Social Equity Individual Applicants were randomly selected to apply for retail cannabis licenses last month, but the couple hundred people who invested their lives into putting their ducks in a row for the program are going to demand more. And while the new mayor’s office is separate from the scandals of the fall, they may have to pay the bill if a class action lawsuit ends up developing from the then-racist city council having original control over the program that drained so many coffers. 

Standardized Testing?

It originally looked like we would have standardized lab testing this year. It seems a little hazy at the moment, but we wanted to put it on here to push the idea. Currently, cannabis labs have no fixed standard operating procedures. A lot of the time they’re just following the instructions for whatever hardware they bought. Then adjust the standard operating procedure to their liking. That’s where you see the variations in testing numbers from lab to lab. The idea of people shopping around their cannabis at labs to get the best numbers possible is a real thing. This is more so an issue with potency and terpene testing as opposed to heavy metals and pesticides.

Wider Access in America

It’s critical that California cultivators get access to more shelf space soon. While the state continues to drag a bit, the idea of stocking shelves all over the world with cannabis grown in California is appealing to people. The first shelves will probably be domestic, and step one is having as many states with legal access to cannabis as possible for when that day comes. And it’s not that far out. Some regulators figure it will be a few more years. Whenever it is, it’ll certainly make people’s lives a lot easier. We don’t think it will happen this year, but we’ll be talking about the mechanics of it by December a lot. 

The Pace of Change is Fast

I know it’s going to take some time for the other stuff I mentioned, but it’s easy to see how fast things are moving for cannabis all over the world. It’s like a snowball with a rocket sled behind it pushing it even faster as it grows and grows rolling down the mountain. Now is everyone hoping to get sucked up by the snowball a saint? Doubtful. But the bigger the snowball gets, the more opportunities there will be for nice people to take part. Plenty of people entering the cannabis space now aren’t haters, they were just scared to go to jail back in the day.