THE CANNABIS TRENDS WE’RE BUYING IN 2023 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 CANNABIS TRENDS WE’RE BUYING IN 2023
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.
WILL GRINER’S CONFINEMENT INSPIRE REFLECTIONS AT HOME?
Brittney Griner returned home to the U.S. last Friday, ending one of the greatest incidents in cannabis and geopolitics of all time.
Many have been quick to point out various reasons Griner’s ordeal lasted 10 months. The condition of U.S. relations with Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine obviously tops the list for many as western munitions continue to push Kyiv’s control further and further into Eastern Ukraine.
The anti-Griner takes for the most part have been poorly articulated. The idea of a professional athlete using CBD is far from new, it’s just the Russian part that made it complicated. And now, as she begins to enjoy her first week of freedom with her family in nearly a year, she’s forced to endure the news cycle debating if she was worth it. And finally, it’s not like she made the deal herself.
And in correctional facilities across America, nonviolent cannabis offenders are watching the news cycle baffled. How could America give an arms dealer up for an Olympic champion, yet there they sit? Why has the normalization of cannabis forgotten them?
The National Organization for The Reform of Marijuana Laws hopes Griner’s release will cause some soul-searching back here at home. Erik Altieri, NORML executive director, called Griner’s imprisonment a grotesque affront to the concept of justice. He also noted it has served as an unfortunate reminder of how draconic marijuana laws remain around the globe.
“However, it should also cause a serious level of reflection amongst our lawmakers considering that a large number of states still inflict similar penalties for marijuana possession on our own soil, and the current federal policy of marijuana prohibition isn’t notably different than the stance held by Putin’s regime in Russia,” Altieri said. “Brittney Griner very much deserved to be released and brought home, but our elected officials in the United States must use this as motivation to bring our domestic marijuana policies in line with our nation’s stated principles of liberty and justice.”
Women Grow, which has worked to inspire female leadership in the cannabis industry since 2014, echoed NORML’s take.
“Women Grow is extremely happy to hear that Brittney Griner is being returned home and is grateful to our government for working on her behalf. This is an extraordinary gift for her family, loved ones, community, and fans,” said Gia Morón, Women Grow president. “In addition, her case has greatly amplified the plight of those imprisoned on cannabis-related charges and the need for cannabis legalization on a global scale. We also hope this continues the forward movement toward freeing all those incarcerated for cannabis worldwide.”
As they did during her confinement, numerous athletes came out in support of Griner as her release was made public. Among those wishing Griner well was cannabis entrepreneur Ricky Williams.
“I was so happy to hear about Brittney Griner’s release today. The greater the change we can create in the U.S. because of her imprisonment, the greater meaning it will give to her incarceration,” Williams said. “It’s time to apply pressure on our government to start expediting domestic reform. There are still tens of thousands of people unjustly detained for cannabis in the US.”
We’ll follow any updates on what the future holds for cannabis offenders here at home.
In one of the season’s most unexpected 4/20 collaborations, Puffco and AriZona Beverages are dropping an ice-tea homage edition of the Cupsy.
We have to admit the kings of digital dabs are dropping a collaboration with the 99-cent beverages of my childhood that were not on my bingo card for the holiday season, but we’re ready to party.
“Puffco has long admired AriZona’s unwavering quest to bring affordable, great-tasting beverages to the masses, and we see a lot of synergy in the way we develop our products to celebrate the beautiful flavors of the cannabis plant,” said Roger Volodarsky, CEO and founder of Puffco. “This creative effort is all about marrying our innovative design with AriZona’s iconic cherry blossom print to offer another pathway for people to enjoy a cannabis experience that emphasizes taste.”
The Cupsy is a highly effective stealth smoking apparatus The original looks like a standard coffee cup, so you can just leave it in your cup holder and take bong loads at work all day without anyone looking in and seeing anything sketchy. Not that bongs are sketchy, but there are some square bears in our midst!
Puffco describes the Cupsy as a revolutionary design that pairs an unassuming everyday object with a high-performance cannabis bubbler system. A fair take. While I’m more of a glass tube guy, the Cupsy certainly was a ripper when I took it for a test drive after the original dropped roughly a year ago.
The AriZona Edition of the Cupsy is a lot more vibrant than its stock predecessor. That being said, at first glance, it’s still going to be pretty tricky. It’s got those vibrant pastel colors that make you think of Easter, if you’re not too busy thinking of ice tea. Generally, it’s a refreshing color palette compared to most of the space. The clear glass cup with the iconic AriZona logo on it also is a nice switch from the stainless steel wrapped in plastic in the original. The glass will still be a breeze to clean.
“Everything we do is built on taste. From our label design, to creating great quality products. At AriZona, our customers are our single biggest inspiration,” explains Spencer Vultaggio, chief marketing officer at AriZona Beverages. “Our mission is to bring customers a memorable experience: from ingredients, to unique merch. Puffco is another Brooklyn-born company that is deeply passionate about pushing the boundaries of design, flavor and accessibility, and that’s why we are excited to bring this collaboration to fruition.”
Adding to the fun? This is a true collector’s edition item. Puffco will only be producing 420 of these collaborations in honor of the holiday. It’ll likely be a must-grab item for the real cannabis accessory enthusiasts given how out of left field the collab feels like when you first read about it.
There also is an argument to be made about just how functional the Cupsy design is. There are not a lot of options that short that offer the same quality of percolation. While we’d love to see the bowl grow a little in the next rendition, the Cupsy is firmly planted on our stealth smokers list.
Puffco did this drop to coincide with the 4/20 holiday season, but they also drop new gear year-round. We recently featured the new Wizard attachment for the Proxy on our 4/20 list. It’s one of the best examples of what’s possible at the production scale with the modular system of the Proxy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if these end up selling out in just a day. Puffco SMS users will get a half-hour head start over the nonbelievers at 9 a.m., on 4/20.
It’s that time of year when we ask our favorite cannabis brands and people what they’re most excited to grow this year.
The early stress tests are done for the season and folks are getting ready to put their new winning phenos into full blast. While this happens all the time indoors, the work outdoor cultivators do in March and April will help set the standard for the quality they’ll be chopping down when Croptober hits.
Here is what people told us when we asked them what they are hyped on. Here is what they told us:
Fidels
Fidel in the garden. Courtesy of Fidels.
Runtz x Jealousy, multiple banger phenos hunted, now being scaled up to the masses. The cool thing about this project is that it’s not bread by me, it’s bread by Julio aka @nineweeksharvest. Julio and I had a Genuine conversation. He’s an amazing breeder and pure soul! He blessed me with Runtz X Jealousy.
We hunted over 60 beans and had many selections that look, smell and smoke phenomenal. I’m excited to share these selections with the masses and have them scaled up properly.
Masonic
Oh man, Karma Genetics, The great gardener, Barbara bud hybrids, and some of the stuff I’ve chucked along the way. I already went down a lot of the landrace rabbit hole.
Rez from DNA Genetics
I’m hyped about the ’93 Octane crosses. Super heavy gas. I’m looking for that borderline rancid, super offensive-pungent, baby Shit level funk.
Capulator
Diamond Lungs Co-Op grow. 70 pheno hunters, 888 beans. Also, Vintage Sunset Cheese, Gas and Cheese, and Caps Frozen Oranges. I’m on a hot one right now.
Ryan from Doja Pak
So basically, Duke of Erb and I started with a strawberry diesel from Res Dog, pollinated it with a Northern Lights male selected a male and pollinated an OG18 Pheno that we hunted from DNA. That cross was named 18 Coffins.
We worked the line through the generations and hit the Gelato 33 from the Bakery with pollen from an F318 coffins male. That cross was called Strawberry Gelato. The female keeper was put into production and then the male we collected pollen and dusted the original Zkittlez. This cross was named Strawberry Zkillato. Planta grows this cut currently.
The SZ Male pollinated a LCG/Runtz and then we selected multiple keepers; Planta runs 1 and Dave from Preferred Gardens runs another. We again selected a male and hit our whole lineup. Those are the crosses I’m selling and selecting now.
Anna from CAM
Things I’m running that are new. Grape Gas, Lemon Cherry Gelato x Permanent Marker, Animal cookies x Z, Devil driver (Melonade x sundae driver ), Pure Kush and Rozay.
Erin from Royal Key Organics
Gelapop, Velvet, Candy Walls hash, new seeds and new potential from Equilibrium Genetics.
Drew from Green Dawg
Green weed 2023! D1 is my biggest recent push. I’m not disclosing genetics officially, but it’s the closest thing I’ve had to a real Sour Diesel/Dubb flavor profile in a decade. It’s an anti-candy. We hunted her from seed. Everything else was hay except her. I think she’s special and is going to do numbers this year.
Sour Wavez
Surefire and I have something special coming up, haven’t named it… RS11 x sherbanger F1 male. Besides that, some stuff I bred: Gelloz (gelatti x OZX), Betrayal (Zkittelz x OZX), Real Ricky Bobby (Xeno x OZX), Chess not checkers (Pink Z x OZX), Sidepiece (Pure Kush x OZX).
Besides that I’m growing Sherbanger (Boston roots), Sour diesel (karma bx2), I have four different OGs, Permanent marker via Doja pak, Zazul (Archive), Detroit runtz (Tiki) and from Mendoja the Larry Z and Cherry pie x OZK .
Kevin Jodrey
I’m hyped about the older cultivar revival Purple city coming out with ssh kali mist hybrids.
Cypher going to weave the red Lebanese x puck into his work. On the east coast you have the piff haze crew going hard in that direction.
You got Sjoerd Brooks lighting up in lake county and has the haze valley nursery coming online. Equatorials modified for our area but still retaining the traits that made them legendary. No one young ever got to smoke them and Brooks is a bad motherfucker.
It’s not so much a specific plant as a feel. Herb from an era where the quality of the effect was what drove the sale more so than the amount of hype. You see the work being woven into a lot as well.
The stores are losing so much ground to the trap because they live and die off of the distribution model. That model is a safe bet. Purple color only. Over 26% only. That leaves about 30 plants that every nursery in the state sells and forces every grower to compete with each other for shelf space. Customers are bored.
I’m flying to Jamaica tomorrow to document Charles Scott’s operation for a company I’m helping to build in Massachusetts. A lifetime of equatorials being sifted for what will work best in today’s world. I’m stoked because the crop is outdoors full sun organic and at 18′ latitude, so we can see what they look like in their natural environment.
Those selections will be sifted indoors and released in a market where that kind of effect is desired and needed.
Fieldz from Zkittlez
Braindropz, gelonoidz, wapanga, NYZ., zyrup. All of our own gear of coarse.
Champelli
Stuff that is smoking and is killer. I have a few OG back crosses. I’m excited about bringing back that real gas for body smoke mostly green weed, but I also have a few different candy Z crosses that are neither overly zee or overly candy leaning basically their own thing New flavors I like it when stuff comes out and it’s not leaning too heavy on one thing or relying on one Terp it’s always Pass when they get together become friends and decide to have a new expression of flavor. That’s the most exciting part creating something you could actually call newish.
The Village – Symbiotic Genetics
We are really excited about the Gassy Taffy line collab with Grow Low Key. There is a Grease Bucket x Gassy Taffy pheno that is extremely promising, very gassy. We are calling it Benzina, which is gas in Italian. Also the Amarelo x Gassy Taffy I’m really excited about and that’s going to be called Ego Death. Also the Candied Bananas which is Z2 x Banana Punch, Z2 is Zkittles bag seed.
Mike from Fig Farms
The flowers I’m most excited about right now are in-house crosses that recently graduated to production. The next two that will be released are crosses to Figment pollen, both are outstanding.
The first cross, Kush Mint Cookies x Figment #5, has an overwhelming Original Cookies terp presence that really pulls at the olfactory memory. The second cross, Blue Face x Figment #7, has an undeniable exotic Fig Farms look with a complex gas profile that we can’t wait to share. You are going to continue to see a lot of Fig crosses coming from us in 2023. The pollen and the winning female plants that we’ve been collecting and testing are like colors on a painter’s palette. Our palette’s range is deep, and we are using our palette to create the next generation of classics.
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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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 American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA) and Pain Medicine is calling for cannabis screenings prior to surgery.
The new guidelines come as a result of two years of work at ASRA Pain Medicine. The guidelines noted the idea initially came from cannabis and perioperative medicine special interest groups within the society in November 2020. The group is one of the largest medical societies dedicated to anesthesiology in the world, with 5,000 members in 66 countries.
A smaller working group broke it down into numerous questions to answer, the first of which was if all surgical and procedural patients requiring anesthesia be screened for cannabinoids preoperatively, and if so, what information should be obtained?
The most fundamental part of their answer is a big yes because everything in a patient’s medical and recreational substance history should be taken into account, the guideline authors noted.
“Before surgery, anesthesiologists should ask patients if they use cannabis — whether medicinally or recreationally — and be prepared to possibly change the anesthesia plan or delay the procedure in certain situations,” said Samer Narouze, M.D., Ph.D., senior author and ASRA Pain Medicine president.
Narouze went on to point out that while some people use cannabis therapeutically, studies have shown regular users may have more pain and nausea after surgery, not less, and may need more medications, including opioids, to manage the discomfort. And they’re not fearmongering, they just want the patient and anesthesiologist to be as informed as possible.
“We hope the guidelines will serve as a road map to help better care for patients who use cannabis and need surgery,” Narouze said.
The authors note it wasn’t just the weed they were worried about, but the potential for pesticides, heavy metals, and carcinogens. There are concerns about those adulterants impacting the perioperative effectiveness of the anesthesia.
The authors later broke it down to four main factors to consider on whether someone should stop using cannabis before surgery — it was medical, the dosing and frequency of use, CBD ratios, and how it’s administered.
“A recent consensus-based guideline recommended reducing cannabinoid use 7 days prior to surgery (to less than 1.5 g/day of smoked cannabis, 300 mg/day of CBD oil, 20 mg/day of THC oil) while cautioning not to attempt any tapering strategies within 6 days of elective surgery and not to attempt tapering a day prior to surgery,” the guidelines noted.
The guidelines also noted one of the places the ASRA Pain Medicine will be looking at the relationship between cannabis and anesthesia the most often will be in pregnant women. In 2019, 5.4% of pregnant women reported using marijuana during their pregnancy. The guidelines said a history of occasional or recreational use of marijuana likely does not pose a risk with neuraxial anesthesia for labor analgesia or cesarean delivery.
The authors did note if you were to go into labor within a couple of hours of consuming cannabis there may be increased potential for cardiovascular, anesthetic, and vasopressor interactions.