Big Looks; Big Changes

Plus: A Broccoli Report Podcast.

The Broccoli Report 
Monday, May 15, 2023
Time to read: About 5 minutes. Contains 1,083 words. 

Good Morning!

Spring is the season for renewal, and, now that we’re in our third (!) year at the Report, the timing feels right for a major refresh.

To start, our One Hitters section has been streamlined to include strictly news-y items. Think business developments, challenges and legislative updates that impact the cannabis and hemp industries, as well as more subjective, between-the-headlines takeaways from weed scenes across the country.

Then come the High Finds: Cool accessories, cannabis or hemp-related product drops that caught my attention, and lifestyle goods that I personally hold in high regard (and may or may not have discovered while high).

This newsletter remains ad and sponsor-free, and, for now, unaffiliated with any networks. I don’t make any money off of purchases tied to these links. I just want to offer you sincere recommendations gleaned from my internet and IRL explorations. It is my hope that similar to the value of enjoying streaming platforms without the interruption of ads, you’ll find value in the pure information and inspiration sharing happening here.

One other update before we get to the news—The Broccoli Report Podcast is live! 

Each Monday, an audio version of the newsletter will be sent out to paid subscribers, juiced up with extra takeaways and opinions throughout.

Paid subs will start receiving bonus audio content throughout the month as well. It’s possible that some monthly Friday deep dives will be audio-only experiences. What can I say—I miss podcasting a ton. This will allow me to share the candid takes of other cannabis entrepreneurs in their own voice, and I’m excited to experiment with this format moving forward.

And remember: you can always email me comments on the Report, news tips, biz challenges and cool launches at yoshikolauren@gmail.com. 

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The Leaf Stripe Tommy Bag by STAUD.

One-Hitters: Cannabis News at a Glance

• A couple of dispensary openings I’m excited about: Bighorn Weed Co.—located in a historic blacksmith shop in Taos, New Mexico and destined to be a creative community hub—and Gotham in New York, a “dispensary meets cannabis concept store on the Bowery” stocking truly artfully packaged flower (as in actual Mark Rothko paintings) and edibles by Rose New York (yep, that Rose). I first learned of Gotham when founder Joanne Wilson invited me on her podcast, Gotham Gal, last fall.
  
  

• When taking in so many headlines about small cannabis businesses struggling to compete with big chains with deep pockets, it might seem logical to start talking about a ban on new dispensary licenses, as San Francisco supervisor Ahsha Safai recently suggested. However, as Nina Parks, cannabis advocate and SF business owner, points out, there is a difference between a strategic moratorium on new licenses and an outright ban. Peep this recent Instagram post on the subject for more context.
  
  

• Real estate impacts the viability of small businesses just as much as license quantities, as this Axios dive into the state of 30+ Detroit consumption lounges currently in limbo points out.
  
  

• I just learned that the artist behind the original Scooby Doo was a Japanese American animator named Iwao Takamoto. Takamoto began sketching scenes as a way to pass the time while incarcerated at Manzanar concentration camp during WWII. He was hired at Walt Disney Studios in 1945 with nothing more than those sketches as a portfolio. While Scooby Doo was apparently created as a sort of anti-Great Dane, the goofy, stoner-esque legacy around the character’s human companion, Shaggy, makes this mention of Takamoto in a weed newsletter a leap of logic I’m happy to argue. 
  

• I have zero clue how CBD factors into this AI sex toy that “will remember what the user likes and does not like,” but it somehow does, and its tech is in the process of getting patented.
  

• Lil’ Kim is the latest celebrity to launch a white label cannabis brand. Love her; don’t love the packaging, and likely won’t be going out of my way to try it out. Based on the comments on this IG post about it by Black Cannabis Magazine, people are about done getting excited about big names on very basic, interchangeable buds.
  
  

• I’m looking forward to tuning into “Mister Green’s Clumsy Guide to Growing Weed,” an ongoing video series I’m pretty sure will be posted to Instagram each week.
  
  

• Digiday dug into the evolving ad spends of cannabis and hemp companies, including feedback from a few familiar brands that have been playing with direct ads in the newly opened Twittersphere. 

• Fellow cannabis journalist Donnell Alexander is planning an interactive seminar called Pot & Protests in Portland this June in conjunction with the launch of Protest City, a “visual record” of Portland’s tumultuous summer of 2020 by photographer Rian Dundon, who documented the nightly demonstrations for one hundred days. Alexander wrote the foreword to the book and is helping plan the activations, including a potentially very cool after party that’s looking for a sponsor(s). Any interested brands can reach out to Donnell directly to learn more: 503-258-7007.
  
  

• Are you currently chasing an invoice? Have you been waiting for way too long for an outstanding payment, from Standard Dose or otherwise? This Friday’s dispatch is for you. In addition to an update on that situation, I’ll be sharing some advice from fellow brands, trusted business tools and even a cannabis-centric collection agency to help you gear up to get paid ASAP.

High Finds: Lifestyle Goods I Like

• The statement ashtray of the season might be this ceramic crocodile drop from Edie Parker. I’m partial to the midnight blue version, the jaw of which slides to reveal a marigold-colored mouth for ash or whatever you’d like to store.
  
  

• A new tangerine-toned hemp dress reaffirms Australian fashion brand Afends’ place at the top of the high fashion hemp game.
  
  

• Staud has entered the weed purse chat with a beaded leaf iteration of their popular shoulder length Tommy Bag.
  
  

• I recently discovered Playboy stocks a ton of Zippo lighters featuring past covers, including the fantastical August 1976 cover showing Linda Beatty as a hot butterfly.

• Jungmaven expanded their hemp textile offerings to include cushy bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths in a hemp-cotton blend.
  
  

• As warmer weather arrives, I find myself wearing these yellow shorts by Pure Beauty constantly. I’m not sure if I always look coordinated, but I always feel very happy.

See you online or in the sunshine,
Lauren Yoshiko