ZUSHI CONTINUES TO DOMINATE

LA PREPS FOR THE BIGGEST ZALYMPIX YET

Los Angeles is preparing to crown its latest Zalympix champion after the most competitive version of the contest yet. 

Over the past couple of years, Greenwolf’s Zalympix has firmly taken hold of the title of L.A.’s elite cannabis contest. This was even as it expanded throughout the state with Mainstage in Sacramento and The Outpost in Santa Rosa now taking part in the distribution of the boxes. 

I think one of the things that makes Zalympix so fun is the fact it’s genuinely highlighting the best of the best. It’s a pure representation of the Ethos that Greenwolf has used to fill the shelves at the shops since day one. It’s also refreshing to see a bunch of names in one place that are all crushing it during these dark times in cannabis.

This rendition of Zalympix was the wildest yet. It was simply massive. The initial amount of over 120 entries is considerably larger than all the previous Zalympix boxes combined. The Greenwolf team selected 25 judges to go through the entries and whittle them down to the finalists. 

One of the best parts of that preliminary round finals was the fact they were blind. We didn’t know which weed was which. Past renditions of Zalympix had the product in whatever bag it came in. The haters would point to this as evidence of a popularity contest between the big dogs, even if it never was. So, kudos to Greenwolf. 

The finals box this year was insane. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of Z terps. But there was a lot of other cool stuff, too. There was some great OG with the #3, some weird sweet funk notes on the #1, and both #15 and #18 have some fantastic fuel notes. 

After you get through talking elite entries, you can’t forget how awesome the party is, too! Zalympix is easily one of the best cannabis events of the modern era, as many of the world’s best cultivators gather to see who will take the top prize. 

We’ve smoked every Zalympix entry ever. For us, the most dominant Zalympix victory ever was when Blueprint took home the top honors as it beat out a box of monster heat from all over the state. Now a year and a half later, we caught back up with Blueprint’s cofounder Jordan Aguilar. 

“I would say what was cool about Zalympix was just the authenticity that I think leaks through. Who set it up, to the people smoking it saying this is what I enjoyed the most,” Aguilar told L.A. Weekly. “So I thought that was really cool and almost surprised me in a lot of ways. Just because I was like, wow, people are in tune, and I was surprised with how in tune people were, which was a good relief.”

Aguilar also noted he appreciated the transparency. He felt like it was one of the things that made the contest stand out for him. 

Aguilar went on to speak to what the win meant at the moment coming out of 2021 where their launch was already considered the best new company of the year. 

“I think it’s always good to give that moment to kind of smell the roses, because outside of that moment, and just before then, just after, we just get back to the grind,” Aguilar said. 

Spending a lot of time in grow rooms is one of the curses of being elite. Much of the time running into your peers outside your immediate circle can be rare; Zalympix represents one of those nights of the year the various tribes get together to talk heat and debate who has the best weed.  

“To go with the guys who are in the same boat as us. These other growers do the same thing. So it’s for all of us to come out and get to see each other,” Aguilar said. “It’s a we’re all at the watering hole together type of thing.”

Aguilar went on to say how supportive people were all over. He also pointed to the Zalympix win as probably what ended up getting him on the First Smoke of The Day podcast. That was another huge moment for getting the word out about what the Blueprint team is doing up north. 

Greenwolf’s Zalympix Awards show is tomorrow night. We chatted with Brian from Greenwolf about the festivities. Those in search of the heat can expect over 40 vendors with many offering consumer-direct pricing. 

“It’s exciting, it grew again,” Brian told L.A. Weekly. ”Obviously a lot more vendors. I think that the preliminary round and then having it this way and having it be one event really helped, having more time, and more people hear about it getting bigger.”

A lot of times people point to the rec market as garbage, with a few places like Greenwolf doing their best to chase down the real heat floating on top of the mess. We asked how cool it was to carry that reputation with elite consumers.

“There is fire out there a lot of time,” Brian laughed. 

He went on to note there is a big parking lot across the street, but they’re recommending you Uber. Also, people will be on the prowl for the best stuff; if you’re trying to get your hands on some fireball heat, make sure you beat the crowd there. 

Tickets are still available for Saturday.

BRUNO ROLLS TO THE CANARY ISLANDS

Bruno Van Holland, one of California’s premier joint rollers, took his act on the road to judge the Canary Champions Cup.

As the world exited the pandemic, one of the aspects of the cannabis industry that exploded the fastest was the hand-rolled joint scene. And in addition to the material going into them, the rollers themselves have become the stars of the show. Their ability and access to high-end flowers turned them into more natural likable influencers than the many trying to force it. 

Bruno Got in Early

Van Holland is one of a few at the top of the pack. He got in the mix early, and his signature outfits and upbeat attitude quickly made him a staple on the event circuit. At many of the state’s most fantastic weed parties, you’ll find Van Holland posted in a bright corner rolling up cannons. 

Given how things have gone for Van Holland, it was no surprise the Canary Champions Cup selected him to judge the pre-rolls.

“My first takeaway is how friendly everybody was,” Van Holland told LA Weekly. “The cannabis community over there is as inviting to us as foreigners – like it was, it was just a welcoming, like the way that they treated us. It felt like an honor just to be there. They treated us great. The first thing that comes to mind is just how well we were welcomed.”

Van Holland added the atmosphere those people are able to create at the social clubs he experienced was really special. 

“The vibe there was amazing, the fact that we can go inside of a social club and play pool, smoke and by and by, and all in the same place. It was much different than what I’m used to here,” he added. 

What Bruno Witnessed

Van Holland went on to note he appreciated the flower selection. There were many more sativas than he was expecting. He loved the fruit notes found in a lot of them. Given it was his first time hitting cannabis clubs outside America, he was excited to see those California strains that have a spot in his heart. 

As for the contest, Bruno liked what he saw. 

“In my category, I was impressed with the way that their joints were rolled,” Van Holland said of the entries. “Seeing back rolls is something that I’m not used to seeing here in California. And that hash wrap, I’ve never seen a hash wrap entered into a pre-roll contest before – that was impressive.”

Van Holland added he gets to see the best pre-rolls in the world in California. They are tough to beat. But the ones he saw abroad had their own unique style, which is tough to compare.

Comparing Tenerife to California

Van Holland went on to explain the differences between the sesh scene in California and the clubs in Tenerife. 

“I found that people were talking a lot more at these ones. Everybody was kind of sitting around and talking more than the event that I was at today in California,” he said.

Another big difference was the spliffs they smoke.

“So they chain-smoke like crazy, and every couple of minutes, they’re lighting up a new spliff. I thought that the scene there was so much cooler. I thought the way that they had the social club setup was so much cooler than the way that we have the dispensary setup in California,” Van Holland said. 

The event organizers were excited to have Van Holland in the mix. 

“We were lucky enough to have Bruno in town, the black gloves and friendly smile are iconic. What a wonderful human, always kind and always rolling up just at the right time! He’s a certified hero,” Lawrence from The Canary Champions Cup told L.A. Weekly.

FEDERAL CANNABIS ARRESTS DIP 24% IN 2022

Advocates are celebrating federal cannabis arrests dropping 24% in 2022

After frequently noting all the cannabis progress happening around the country and the world in recent years, we were a bit caught off guard by the large jump in cannabis arrests during the first year of the Biden administration. That 2021 jump in arrests was the biggest in a decade, as we noted last year. 

This was despite Biden’s promises to pursue decriminalization, now two and a half years ago. Nevertheless, 6,606 people will be arrested by the DEA and partner agencies in 2021. There were further resounding messages from the community that this was the opposite direction we had expected to see cannabis enforcement take in the Biden Administration. 

The 5,061 people arrested on federal cannabis charges last year represent a 24% drop from the year before. It also nearly erases the jump from 2021 when the decade-highs in arrests represented a 25% jump from the year before. 

NORML noted that while arrests were down, seizures trended in the opposite direction. 

The DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program Statistical Report noted agents and partner agencies confiscated approximately 5.7 million cultivated cannabis plants last year, 37,000 edibles, and 60,000 concentrates. NORML noted that as in the past, most of this enforcement is happening in California. Just over half of all federal cannabis arrests in 2022 took place in California and 88% of all product seized nationally was in The Golden State. 

“California has always exported the majority of its marijuana crop out of state and the adoption of adult-use legalization in the Golden State has done little to change this fact,” acknowledged California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer. “Illegal marijuana cultivation will persist in California so long as there remains a substantial demand from other states and as long as interstate commerce remains prohibited by federal law.”

California had the most plants seized by a mile. Of the 5.7 million law enforcement scooped up around the county, 4.9 million were here. We had 16.6 times as many plants confiscated as runner-up Oklahoma. Kentucky and West Virginia rounded out the top four.  

“The reasons we are still seeing relatively high levels of marijuana eradication and interdiction are simple,” said NORML’s Political Director Morgan Fox. “Despite considerable state-level progress, more than half of all U.S. states continue to ban regulated adult-use cannabis markets. Furthermore, the federal government overtaxes state-licensed cannabis businesses and makes it extremely difficult for them to access basic financial services so that they can better compete with unregulated operators.”

Morgan believes the expansion of state markets and fewer hurdles for operators will do a lot more damage to the underground cannabis economy than any enforcement could ever hope to. 

“Spending billions of taxpayers’ dollars to enforce federal cannabis prohibition, putting law enforcement officers in unnecessary danger, and hampering the implementation and effectiveness of state-regulated markets are clearly not the answers to this issue,” Fox said. “Rather, the federal and state governments should work toward furthering sensible policies that facilitate regulated cannabis markets and work to repair the harms caused by nearly a century of prohibition.”

Photo: Molly Keesling

WOMEN IN CANNABIS REMEMBER BROWNIE MARY 

For this week’s Women in Business issue, we reached out to the ladies of the cannabis industry to see what Mary Jane Rathbun, more famously known as Brownie Mary, means to them. 

While Brownie Mary was most famously an activist providing thousands of brownies for San Francisco’s AIDS community in the 1980s and 1990s, it is important not to disenfranchise the fact she was one of the early female entrepreneurs of the game, too. After decades as a waitress, she started selling brownies in the 1970s to make an extra buck. She would go on to help a lot of people, too, but for the sake of this piece we were celebrating the business side of things. 

These days, Lauren McNaughton is the director of brand marketing for Kiva and Lost Farms. In a past life, she helped build one of the largest infused baked goods companies California will ever see, Korova. McNaughton spent the tail end of the 215 era delivering boxes of cookies and brownies out of her trunk and being the boots on the ground for arguably the most bang-for-the-buck edible company ever in California.

“She was a beacon of compassion, activism and heroism,” McNaughton said of Brownie Mary. “Foundational to Prop 215, Brownie Mary represents the entirety of what built this “industry.” Compassionate care, not for profit. Not to mention the roads she paved for women in the industry. What an incredible influence to help guide us on this ever-changing landscape. And don’t get me started on what she meant to me when the beginning of my cannabis career was literally serving up brownies out of the trunk of my car.”

Cara Cordoni is the host of Dirty Bong Talk. She was also very connected with many of Rathbun’s surviving friends before she made the move to Humboldt from San Francisco. She spent countless hours with Brownie Mary’s peers from the fight for Proposition 215.

“Loudmouth for love, that’s one way I think about Mary Rathburn,” Cordoni said. “I love that she swore like a sailor! And my heart always aches when I think about her losing her only child, and then years later calling all her patients ‘her kids,’ mostly young men dying with AIDS, many of whom had been abandoned by their families. Compassion in action.”

Cordoni noted that as much as we celebrate Brownie Mary and as much as she was respected during her life, her end days sounded sad. 

“The last bit that haunts me, and I’d be curious to find out if it’s true, is that it’s widely understood that she actually died alone. That she ended up in the hospital and her friends didn’t know. I hope that is not factual.” Cordoni said, 

Jeany Zhou, the buyer and assistant manager at Berner’s on Haight, noted the San Francisco and then wider industry adopted her idea of compassion at The Hemp Center and donated cannabis to those who needed it.

Zhou went on to note, “The Brownie Mary Democrat Club is very active in the community and best represents her name; lobbying for safe cannabis access, shaping cannabis regulations, and educating the importance of cannabis and its properties.”

One of the greatest honors she has had since her passing was having the restoration of compassion programs in the age of legalization. The Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary Act was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019. It created a mechanism for dispensaries to legally give away product to sick people without having to pay a bunch of extra taxes.

The act has now facilitated millions of dollars worth of medicine being distributed to California’s low-income population that need help affording it in the years since it passed. 

Photo: Pretty DrugThings/Unsplash

PSYCHEDELIC DECRIMINALIZATION BILL PASSES CA ASSEMBLY

The California State Assembly passed this year’s effort at psychedelic decriminalization, sending it off to a Senate that has already passed it previously for a final stamp before heading on to the Governor’s desk. 

Things look good for psychedelic decrim in The Golden State. Senate Bill 58 would remove criminal penalties for the personal possession of certain naturally occurring psychedelics. The list includes psilocybin/psilocin, Dimethyltryptamine (“DMT”), and mescaline. 

Peyote is excluded to prevent drug tourism from leading to its extinction in the wild. Indigenous users in California already have federal protections, so they don’t need to worry about it.  

Before sending it back to the Senate after its 42-13 vote, the Assembly added amendments to establish a working group under the California Health and Human Services (CalHHS) Agency. It would be tasked with issuing a recommended framework governing the future therapeutic use of the substances specified in this bill. The working group would be mandated to issue that report laying out the plan by Jan. 1, 2025. 

There would also need to be another bill that came out of that report that would officially implement whatever the guidelines and structure of everything are figured out. 

“California’s veterans, first responders, and others struggling with PTSD, depression, and addiction deserve access to these promising plant medicines,” said Senator Scott Wiener, who continues to lead the effort. “SB 58 has prudent safeguards in place after we incorporated feedback from three years of deep engagement with a broad array of stakeholders. We know these substances are not addictive, and they show tremendous promise in treating many of the most intractable conditions driving our nation’s mental health crisis. It’s time to stop criminalizing people who use psychedelics for healing or personal well-being.”

After the victory, Weiner took to Instagram to thank the veterans and medical professionals who helped push the bill across the finish line in the Assembly. 

“Every day that criminal penalties prevent veterans from accessing psychedelic plant medicines is a day their lives are at risk,” said Jesse Gould, veteran and founder of the Heroic Hearts Projects. “Psychedelics helped heal the unseen scars from my service in the War on Terror after traditional medicine failed me for years. Since then, I’ve dedicated my life to educating veterans in the safe and effective use of psychedelics. Removing criminal penalties for the use of these substances will help that work, not hurt it.”

Heroic Hearts connects veterans to psychedelic therapy for treating complex trauma and has become an international voice for veterans demanding effective mental health treatment options. Gould was originally cured of his PTSD during an ayahuasca retreat in the jungles of Peru. Quickly realizing its impact on his life, he founded Heroic Hearts in 2017 to help fellow veterans try to get the same level of personal healing he achieved in the jungle. 

Other advocates were also excited about the potential relief for veterans. Currently, veteran suicide rates are 1.5 times that of the general public. 

“I was against psychedelics until I was in a dark place, and the V.A. helped me through psychedelic research with my severe PTSD,” said Courtney Ellington, executive director of One Vet One Voice. “When we decriminalize psychedelics, we help those who are trying to help themselves. Psychedelic decriminalization equals street drug prevention, suicide prevention, and an opportunity to build a better community.”

In addition to Weiner, SB 58 is co-authored by Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) and Assemblymembers Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley), Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), Alex Lee (D-Fremont), and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland). Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) is a principal co-author.

LA WEEKLY’S CANNABIS GIFT GUIDE 2023

It’s time to buy some presents for the pot enthusiast in your life. 

It can be tricky. A lot of people have been gifted boof by well-intended people over the years.

“Maybe Billy wants grass,” they reasonably thought. They just didn’t have a metric for quality in their heart. 

Fear not, this list has something for everyone. Be it a Christmas-themed chocolate bar for grandma or American-made glass for your baby wook you can’t get to move out of the basement. Here are some great options for Christmas 2022. 

Kiva Tree Bark

Courtesy of Kiva

While its grave is the holiday champion, Kiva’s tree bark is nothing to scoff at. It’s a fantastic Christmas-themed edible the whole gang can enjoy. The chunks of peppermint also make it one of the least weedy tasting edibles since the peppermint is going to dominate your palate. And the regular strength is just what you need for the holiday cannabis newbies getting in the mix. 

Courtesy of AFM Glass

Alien Flower Monkey Glass Quartz Bangers

We try our best to highlight great American-made affordable quartz when we get the opportunity. Only adding to the fun is the fact that Alien Money Glass is made in Los Angeles. We’re going to do a full write-up on them in the not-too-distant future but wanted to make sure quartz was on your radar, so you could scoop some for the dabber in your life. 

Lonnwikk Hemp Yoyo

Hemp wicks are nothing new, but the idea of adding them to a yoyo certainly is. We were gifted a Lonnwikk at MJ Biz Con in Las Vegas. It was certainly one of the more unique products we saw during our week on the strip for the cannabis industry’s mega show. The purpose of the hemp wick is to prevent the butane in the lighter from impacting the flavor of the terpene profile. 

Sacred Fruits Mystical Micros

As we noted in our coverage of the first Phase One trials around the benefits of LSD microdosing, microdosing psychedelics is all the rage these days. And it’s generally a lot more popular with psilocybin here in California given the level of access we have to quality mushrooms and the products made from them. The team at the very popular Sacred Fruits brand has blessed the world with a fantastic dosing format with their musical micros. One pill will give you a microdose that will promote a bit of extra mental clarity, three to five pills will have you feeling hyper connected to the galaxy, and once you get past five pills you’re starting to dabble in full sensory hallucinations. Pretty awesome. 

Masonic Seed Co

The pride of Compton wants LA Weekly readers to get some steals and deals this holiday season on its popular seeds lines. If you enter “LAWeeky” into the discount code at checkout, you’ll get a whopping 50% off. The only deal this isn’t compatible with is Clutch’s 50,000 Acre Bundle.