NY’S FIRST DISPENSARY DID $12 MILLION IN 6 MONTHS New York’s first recreational marijuana dispensary sold $12 million in sales in the first six months of operations. When announcing the figures this week, Housing Works Cannabis Co boasted the store has already directed millions of dollars to some of the city’s communities in the most…
NY’S FIRST DISPENSARY DID $12 MILLION IN 6 MONTHS
New York’s first recreational marijuana dispensary sold $12 million in sales in the first six months of operations.
When announcing the figures this week, Housing Works Cannabis Co boasted the store has already directed millions of dollars to some of the city’s communities in the most urgent need of support. Sales are directly supporting programs that provide New Yorkers a variety of services. Housing Works noted those services include health care, housing, job training, harm reduction, case management, advocacy for health equity and social justice initiatives, LGBTQ+ youth programs, and sexual health services.
The shop’s manager noted these kinds of services were a keystone of what Housing Works does long before cannabis permits were a thing.
“Our goal, going back over 30 years ago through Housing Works, has been to empower New Yorkers through advocacy and bridge communities to life saving services,” said Sasha Nutgent, retail manager at Housing Works Cannabis Co. “From the resources we’ve rolled out, to the brands we carefully select for our customers, everything we do here has a greater purpose, and we’re humbled to see the support our mission is receiving.”
Things Started Strong
As expected, New York’s first recreational dispensary was a madhouse when it opened a couple of days before the new year. Housing Works notes the shop did an estimated $40,000 dollars in sales in just its first three hours open. Over the course of the next month, the numbers would get up to $1.6 million with sales continuing to roll on to hit that $12 million mark at the tail end of July.
What are New Yorkers buying?
According to Housing Works’ data from the last six months, New Yorkers are buying for strength. The biggest determining factor in purchases so far is potency. Some would argue that means consumers are uneducated, but that’s not necessarily the case. There is certainly some balance between potency and quality even if the weed with the highest THC number isn’t the best one on the shelf. People that try and disenfranchise the importance of potency in cannabis may be trying to cover for inferior products that don’t get the numbers needed to be commercially viable in this market. In a fun surprise, Housing Works noted that people are leaning towards sativas and sativa-leaning hybrids. Once there is a bigger data pool in New York, it will lean toward gas and dessert weed for sure, with the exception of great diesel.
Stocking The Shelves
While sales have been great, getting the product to stock the shelves and drive those numbers has not always been an easy task for Housing Works.
“One unforeseen challenge and a pain point for both retailers and customers has been product rollout,” said Nutgent. “There have been major improvements with the state’s product testing timeline, for example, but the feedback we still hear from some Black-owned brands is that there is not enough funding to get their products into the market.”
In recent months the dispensary has added over 200 new products.
Delivery
Make no mistake about it, cannabis delivery has been an extremely popular thing in NYC for decades, with various services coming and going over those years. Housing Works has lucked out in becoming the first legal delivery service in the state in addition to its retail site. The company noted this falls right in line with its quest to be accessible.
“We’ve seen our delivery programs over the years forge meaningful and trusting relationships between our staff and thrift store patrons,” said Charles King, CEO of Housing Works. “To see the same positive dynamic emerge between customers and budtenders reflects our roots in the city, our deep understanding of New York City culture and the community trust we continue to nurture.”
Right now the delivery service is available in select zip codes in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens; anyone over the age of 21 with a valid ID can secure same-day and next-day delivery slots directly on Housing Works Cannabis Co’s website.
In a market where truly exceptional cannabis is a rarity, The Ten Co.’s combination of premium quality, remarkable branding and Zushi remains unrivaled.
Our last conversation with The Ten Co. came on the heels of their monumental success in 2021, when they claimed top honors at the inaugural Zalympix event. The competition scene reached new heights after Greenwolf, Los Angeles’ premier heat retailer, stormed out the gates with their top-shelf box contest.
Now, two years later, Zushi has once again emerged victorious. During its initial triumph, some skeptics attributed the win to mere hype. Yet, the myth and allure surrounding Zushi were proven to be well-deserved, evident in the four-hour-long queue that formed at their booth during the recent Zalympix ceremony. However, the mystique surrounding Zushi was even more pronounced two years ago, causing people to fall into various camps of belief. Some staunchly reaffirmed their faith in Zushi after the W, while others criticized the influence of hype. There were also those who may not have personally favored Zushi but acknowledged why it emerged as the winner.
This time, subjectivity was eliminated through blind entries. Zushi had to withstand the scrutiny of over 120 entries just to secure a place in the finals. Once there, it faced fierce competition within the most challenging Zalympix box to date, alongside a plethora of exceptional Z terpenes, as we previously highlighted when reviewing the entries. Undoubtedly, this victory was well-deserved.
We reached out to Staks, the founder of The Ten Co., to inquire if he ever felt concerned about the abundance of exceptional Zkittelz flavors in this year’s competition.
“Absolutely. Z has held the championship title for quite some time now. There were numerous entries that were just as impressive as mine, which was fantastic to witness. It’s about time the industry started emphasizing light green cannabis again,” Staks candidly shared with L.A. Weekly.
Staks acknowledged that the game has significantly evolved since the first Zalympix. He believes that people are actively searching for new and unique offerings that can compete, hence the outstanding quality of this year’s entries. However, until proven otherwise, Zushi remains the reigning king. Staks appreciates the competitive environment within which The Ten Co. operates, considering it beneficial for their business.
Now, the focus is on delivering the hype directly to consumers.
“We are currently directing more attention towards the direct-to-consumer approach,” Staks revealed. “We previously launched but decided to take a step back and now we’re in the process of building up our online delivery capabilities.”
The direct-to-consumer format will enable Zushi to reach consumers as quickly as possible. Given the premium price that people are willing to pay for this product, Staks wants to ensure that the experience is preserved for every individual fortunate enough to acquire one of their bags.
“We have a specified timeframe during which our products can remain on the shelves. If it exceeds this four-week period, or even three weeks, it is promptly removed, making room for a fresh batch. This way, we can maintain stringent quality control,” Staks explained.
While Zushi continues to steal the spotlight, The Ten Co. currently boasts around ten strains in rotation. Additionally, Staks recently cultivated a variety of seeds he acquired from Europe, embarking on a search for the exceptional flavors of his youth, such as Cheese and Sour Diesel. In the coming month, he will undertake a meticulous selection process to identify standout winners worthy of joining their award-winning catalog.
We asked Staks if, when participating in a contest like Zalympix, he meticulously examines every batch or simply puts all his chips down on Zushi.
“I felt compelled to carry on the Zushi legacy for as long as possible. Personally, I believe this strain has so much to offer, and it continues to exceed our expectations,” Staks explained. “We conduct numerous tests with Zushi, and she never fails to impress us. With each batch, we aim for better quality and more pronounced flavors. Our use of live-soil facilities contributes to preserving those unique characteristics. Our plan is to explore different mediums and light spectrums to ascertain what Zushi prefers to express.”
Naturally, we couldn’t overlook the recent Zushi rosin craze. Two-gram jars of their limited release in collaboration with West Coast Alchemy were fetching a staggering $1000 each. This price tag represents the highest ever seen for rosin, yet demand remained strong. The remarkable hype surrounding Zushi flowers seamlessly transferred to their terpene-rich products.
Regarding the price, Staks clarified, “The price point was determined by the market; it had nothing to do with us. The exclusivity and rarity of our collaboration with West Coast Alchemy played a significant role. We never produced these in large quantities; a few batches were exclusively reserved for family and friends.”
Keep a close eye on The Ten Co.’s website for upcoming flower releases and merchandise drops.
We’re deep into summer, and it’s time to celebrate The Strains of Summer we’re most excited to take with us to the beach, ballpark, and beyond.
Los Angeles has no shortage of heaters to be pumped on, but we grabbed some other flavors from around California we’re sure you’ll find up to the task. There are a lot of new flavors on the list and some more established hitters we couldn’t leave out.
The Strains of Summer 2023
CAM – Biscotti BX1
The Biscotti BX1 coming out of CAM’s Sacramento facilities is easily some of our favorite cannabis we got to sample in recent months. The BX stands for backcross. The terpene profile is a trip down memory road to the Biscotti flavors that made the strain famous, but one might argue the backcross is even louder than the original.
Alien Labs – Dark Web
The new flavor Alien Labs used to qualify for the Transbay Challenge main event was a super hitter. While the green weed movement recently got some wind in its sails, Alien Labs is here to remind you of the power of purple in a way that brings you to the borderline of function and couch lock. There is no trade-off for flavor and potency either with Dark Web — it certainly checks all the boxes.
Fiore – Gary Z
Do you like Gary Payton and Zkittelz? Boy, do we have some great news for you. The new pairing of the two from Fiore is simply awesome; we recommend still trying it even if you didn’t like the original. And someone at Fiore absolutely nailed it on the phenotype selection, you can pick out both flavors really specifically. This is a great start to the day without a panic attack weed with a bit of body to it to pair with the relaxed but now slouchy high.
Green Dawg – D1
D1 – Courtesy of Green Dawg
We love Diesel here at L.A. Weekly. We’re sad to see where things have gone in recent years. Thankfully the Vermont-born leadership team at Green Dawg also missed the famous east coast flavor. Their new strain D1 is a testament to that diesel of years past. It’s not quite as fuely as some of the old cuts, but it certainly smells and tastes right, so we understand the enthusiasm for the new strain.
Connected – (Forbidden Fruit x Gelato 41) x Atomic Apple
The trophy shelf at Connected has run deep over the years. We certainly think the new (Forbidden Fruit x Gelato 41) x Atomic Apple they found will be added to the collection in the not-to-distant future. I’m not even a Forbidden Fruit guy, but boy does the flavor profile on this one absolutely hit the mark as some weird Forbidden Fruit x Dessert Weed symphony. While it’s still in the brown tester jars around the state, the word is, Connected already moved it into full production.
Cookies Maywood – House Strains
Courtesy of Cookies Maywood
The best bang for the buck on this list is the house strains at Cookies Maywood. I didn’t realize they were a thing until earlier this month when I stopped by to see all the new flavors. I ended up leaving with a quarter of the Sunset Z. Probably my best buy of that weekend for sure since it was heat. I’m looking forward to heading back to try the other flavors. Hit me up and let me know what you think of them.
The Ten Co – Blue Zushi
Courtesy of Brandon Mayfield
A Strains of Summer list without Blue Zushi on it would be garbage, so we’re certainly not treading into those waters. The two-time Zalympix winner, the second time beating out over 120 competitors to reaffirm their glory, keeps hitting the mark on fantastic flavors and excellent branding. It’s hard to name a company that has been able to hit the mark better on both of those things than The Ten Co.
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THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM LIVES UP TO THE MASSIVE HYPE
Link’s latest adventures in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom (TOTK) are everything we were waiting for.
The game has proven a roaring international hit. One common phrase often seen across social media in the past two weeks since the launch is the idea that Breath of The Wild, Zelda’s previous foray on Nintendo’s Switch when the system launched, almost feels like a beta version of what we ended up with in TOTK. How wild is it to call a game that went on to sell 30 million copies since and win a ton of awards a beta test? But it honestly feels kind of accurate with how much TOTK built on the last version of Hyrule we visited six years ago.
The Legacy of Zelda Enthusiasm
There are few dates on the video game calendar that get circled with more enthusiasm than a new Zelda game. Since the first one dropped in 1987, its raving fan base has always wondered what would be next for the franchise that often served with Super Mario Brothers as a flagship game that showed off the capabilities of Nintendo’s hardware from generation to generation. Zelda’s creators Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka were a part of both famous franchises. While it doesn’t quite serve that role in the same fashion given Nintendo has now allowed many more developers to publish games for their hardware in the Switch era, Zelda still very much serves as the benchmark for how much fun you can have on the Switch.
Zelda has turned down the cartoon style from 20 years ago. But the current look and feel still have a very anime feel that looks a lot cleaner than Wind Walker released in 2002. But 2006’s Twilight Princess feels much more similar to what the game looks like today. The modern version feels a lot brighter and more fun, like the way the lava pops with bright red and orange bubbles.
Miyamoto explained some of the thought processes they had as Zelda continued to transition into the 3D format in the 2000s. He noted part of the reason they went for the cartoon look was it made it easier to show expression in the characters. He also wanted it to feel like you were playing a cartoon in 3D, they definitely aced that test.
Breath of The Wild provided a lot of the building blocks for this new sequel on the same generation of hardware six years later. In an interview with Game Informer, Miyamoto noted one of the big jumps as Zelda made the move to the Switch was the nature engine. Exploration has always been a significant backbone of the fun in the play-it-at-your-pace game where you can toss around chickens or make a speed run for the master sword.
“Adventuring and exploring nature is what makes the game,” Miyamoto told Game Informer when the game launched. “I had to relook at what dungeons look like for us and kind of take it out of the dungeon. We spent five years kind of working on that.”
Miyamoto admitted he himself likes the open-world aspect of players creating their own adventures across the storyline over the years but understands there are folks out there that like those deep storylines with a lot of backstories. He thinks this modern generation of Zelda games has done a good job balancing the two.
The Tears of The Kingdom Launch
Over the past few weeks, the world has now had a moment to dive into Hyrule. But the months and years leading up to this moment had a bit of mystery to them. Regardless, once the game hit shelves, it was on.
In just three days, it became the fastest-selling Zelda game of all time. Ten million units moved globally in that first 72 hours, 4 million of them here in North America. That makes it the fastest-selling Nintendo game ever on any system in North America according to Nintendo. A major achievement for the game’s creators.
“Many players are returning to Hyrule with all its new mysteries and possibilities, and with the record-breaking launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch, we can’t wait to see what they’ll create in the game and the stories they’ll share next,” said Devon Pritchard, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales, marketing and communications. “We’re grateful for all of our fans who’ve shown their passion for The Legend of Zelda over the years, and these sales numbers for the latest installment continue to show the strong momentum for both the franchise and Nintendo Switch this year.”
Reviews and Livestreams Pumped The Hype
One of the things that helped the massive launch was just how positive all the reviews were. It’s currently sitting at a 95 on Metacritic, the most noted aggregator of video game reviews by a mile. That score puts it as the 49th greatest game of all time per their review system. While 22 other games in history have scored a 95 on the site, TOTK ranks No. 1 one among those games that have scored a 95 since the website was founded over 20 years ago.
Zelda’s 1998 edition Orcana of Time is the number one game of all time on Metacritic as the only game ever to score a 99. The last installment on Switch, Breath of The Wild, ranks No. 14 on the all-time list with the Wii U version coming in No. 26. Twilight Princess is No. 39, and The Wind Walker is No. 44. There are a few on the list after TOTK also. The Gamecube Collectors edition from 2003 came in at No. 54. The Game Boy Advance edition of A Link to The Past came in at No. 59 with Majora’s Mask right behind it at No. 60. Twilight Princess is two spots later at No. 62. A 3DS version also made it. With the TOTK’s reviews getting added to this all-time list, basically one in 10 of the top-reviewed video games of all time on Metacritic is a Zelda game, if you count the two versions of Breath of The Wild as one.
“The fandom behind the Zelda franchise is stronger than ever and to date, Tears of the Kingdom is the best reviewed game of 2023 on Metacritic,” Marc Doyle, Co-Founder of Metacritic told L.A. Weekly. “In fact, it currently ranks in the top 50 games of all time and the number four Zelda game to ever be released.”
We asked Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter if she thought the game got scored tougher by critics as a direct sequel.
“I don’t necessarily think it got scored harder, but Breath of the Wild did have a major impact on the industry so there was an expectation for what Tears of the Kingdom would be. The bar was already set high and people expected Tears of the Kingdom to jump over that bar,” Carpenter told L.A. Weekly, “The game sold 10 million copies in a few days so it’s definitely up there for the biggest game of the year. Beyond that, Tears of the Kingdom will be one of most influential games of the year.”
Another thing the newer generation of Zelda games has had play to its favor is the rise of online streaming. The launch has been a hit. According to TwitchTracker.com, over the last week, people have spent 8 million hours watching other people play the game and the streams averaged about 50,000 people watching at any given time. Things peaked on May 11 when 351,714 users were simultaneously watching TOTK streams.
50 Hours In
What?! The Great Deku Tree has a stomachache again?! Sign me up. That’s not even a spoiler at this point, it’s presumable Hyrule’s bad guys at any given moment have had an impact on his acid reflux. Those kinds of expectations are one of the things that have made the series great. Each time we go back, the little things we love are done even better.
We are about 50 hours in. I’ve completed the Wind Temple but have predominantly spent most of my time exploring. I’ve hit about 35 Shrines so far in the process of building up hearts for the main storyline. One of the reasons I’ve hit so many shrines early is because of how fun the new gameplay mechanics make them. The massive refreshing of all the minigames makes each one feel very unique.
Those four new core gameplay mechanics are called Fuse, Ultrahand, Ascend and Recall. Fuse lets you attach objects from the world to each other or your hand after you use Ultrahand to move them around. You’ll use a combination of those powers and the world around you all the time to upgrade your weapons, solve puzzles and even build vehicles.
Ascend adds another vertical element of gameplay in addition to the massive sky map that covers the whole game from above. It allows you to climb through ceilings within reach of the ability and emerge through the floor on the other side.
Recall allows you to move objects and then recreate that object’s movement through time. Say a rock falls down a waterfall you want to go up, you hit the rock with recall and ride it up the waterfall. There are some wild uses for one when it comes to all the puzzles.
There also is a ton of wild physics mechanics attached to the main storyline. As you dive further and further in, you’ll get access to an even wider array of tools to combine with the Ultrahand and Fuse abilities.
With all that, and what feels like triple the game compared to Breath of The Wild, I think the only reason TOTK isn’t higher on the all-time list is that it’s a direct sequel. Regardless, it’s one of the best games ever.
This week we’re excited about what’s to come for the cannabis industry in 2023.
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 2022. 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.
We talked with Jim Belushi ahead of the third season of Growing Belushi as he looks to take the brand international.
The third season will also be the biggest run for the series yet with Discovery doubling the order to six episodes after a 30% jump in rating from Season 1 to 2. It makes sense, there are plenty of things to talk about in the cannabis industry at the moment, both foreign and Domestic. Belushi told L.A. Weekly should things go well, they have the footage for a couple more episodes.
Some regulars who will be tagging along and making appearances on this season’s tale of survival and expansion include Dan Aykroyd, cousin Chris and Larry Joe Campbell.
Belushi is excited.
“We’re on Wednesday night! And we are following Moonshiners. So it’s like, grab your illegal whiskey and grab your legal weed and it’s go for the evening,” Belushi told L.A. Weekly. “Third season, it’s going a little more national and global. I’m really taking it from the little flower to going to see what’s going on in the national picture.”
After the first two seasons at his cannabis farm, Belushi is excited about how far and wide they went for the latest installments of the series. Production saw the team visit 14 states and three countries, including Canada and Albania.
Belushi really enjoyed his time diving into the Albanian scene.
“It’s beautiful. They’re building it. It’s incredible what’s going on in that country. It’s gonna be the new resort area for tourism, and tourism is just skyrocketing because the prices are really great. The food is great. It’s a very young crowd there,” Belushi said. “They’re very curious about expanding medical cannabis for export there, and I know the Prime Minister and Albania, and he wanted to pick my brain.”
Belushi explained part of this season is him letting his ego get the best of him. Hence the call for expansion and international market domination, the latter probably mostly a joke, but rooted in high hopes.
We asked Belushi what it’s like to shoot in this more touring style compared to sharing his personal trials at the farm.
“Oh, well, there are a lot of personal trials,” Belushi replied. “That’s the whole point, like national expansion isn’t that easy with every state having different compliance, different rules and some are medical states, some are recreational states. So that’s what we can explore a little bit.”
We asked Belushi what going national meant to him. Was it licensing intellectual property? Setting up gardens in other states?
“Lot of it is licensing. But vetting out the growers and the companies,” Belushi explained. “We got a great opportunity and Shelbyville, Illinois, taking over indoor grow that was a charity grow, all the profits go to charity. And we are taking that over and actually kind of doing like a Bar Rescue of like going into this girl upgrading everything and it becomes a Belushi Farms in Illinois. So we’re going to be growing in Illinois. We’re growing in Oregon and we’re licensing other places, other states, and possibly growing in Albania.”
Keep an eye out for new episodes of Growing Belushi starting Wednesday, April 5.
The Legendary cultivators are prepping for their first Illinois drop and gave an update on their return to California
Few things have been more devastating to the California top-shelf cannabis smoker in recent years than the night IC Collective burned down in July of 2021. We caught up with founder Ben Brown as he prepares to enter the Illinois market and return home when possible.
Backboned by Brown’s links to the Chem Fam, the network of famous OG growers that ran the Chemdog strain found by Greg Krzanowski in Massachusetts over a quarter century ago, IC Collective was famous for having the gas. Over the years, Brown collected a variety of killer flavors he would pair with the Chem and each other. The results would start filling their trophy shelves in 2013 and lead to their famous mantra, “We run on fuel.”
In a world of dessert weeds and new equatorial concoctions that breeders pray may end up the next cookies or Z, most still associate the most potent marijuana in the world with that petrol or fuel smell that much of IC Collective’s catalog possessed in spades. And even the things that weren’t fuelly smelling were notable representations of whatever they were. I stand by the statement the best Zkittelz I ever saw that wasn’t grown in Mendocino was grown by Brown.
Despite the large volume of cannabis being grown in California, there are only a dozen or so cultivators that can compare to IC Collective. Hence, even with all that other weed, the void they left behind was massive. Especially given how few other people in that dozen actually specialize in fuel.
But things are looking up. After a massive 1800-seed pheno hunt of gear Brown has been working on or hoarding for a decade, they are ready to send their first product to retailers in over two years. In the end, it looks like there will be about a 26-month gap in production.
“I think our last delivery was July 2? Or July 1 2021. And then we burned down on the fourth. Two years dude,” Brown told L.A. Weekly. “The only thing I say that at that building was some mom plants.”
Thankfully the 12 strains he was able to rescue were some of his bangers. But not all made it, the Ziablo that was winning a lot of stuff was among the fallen. But Brown pressed on with what he was able to save until he finally got his Illinois rooms going.
IC Collective got the permit for Illinois a week after the fire in Oakland. Needless to say, the week between was one of the more stressful of Brown’s cannabis career. As the pound price has crashed in California, we asked if he ever considered throwing in the towel in The Golden State, despite the presumption it’ll eventually be the production capital for the global connoisseur class of smokers that buy top-shelf products from people like Brown.
He emphasized he’s plenty familiar with the challenges of California. But he’s one of the people that grows fire that’s good enough to deal with those headaches.
“We did the same amount of money every year because we didn’t have the funds to build outright,” Brown said. “So I know that challenges in California, like how expensive it was. Even though we were successful, we really didn’t make any money or be able to progress our situation. So I was constantly trying to get better. Get my situation better in California. So that’s how I got to Illinois.”
When the firefighters let Brown rescue his plants the next day, he was but one of over 400 applicants hoping to cultivate in Illinois. He didn’t know how the next week would play out.
“And so that was like a long shot, and then I had already been trying to get a bigger building in California. And on the 15th, we won the license. So July 15, 2021, 10 days later, we won the license in Illinois, and then later that night, I got approved for my conditional use permit for another town in California,” Brown said.
Coming Home
That town was West Sacramento. He just needs time and revenue to get back to doing it properly in California. Come early October, he’ll have both.
“I have the building, I have two licenses for distro and manufacturing. I have building permits. I have half of the equipment. Like it’s a real thing,” Brown said, “It’s just you ask the question like you, you watch this, the 2021 market, and yeah, I’m scared and I think we can do it right.”
Brown said anyone who can make it in California can make it anywhere since they’re basically selling bottled water next to a waterfall and still surviving.
“But yeah, it’s hella scary to come back to work here,” Brown said. “And before it was just all me, everything I work for I dumped in, and now I have supporters and like if a fear of disappointing other people, you know, or like failing is the ultimate fear for me. So we are slow rolling California, but I mean, I was just on the phone with the municipality the other day telling them that we’re still in the game.”
When asked if he expected to have the gassiest weed in Illinois come September, Brown replied, “1,000%.”