Black Flowers & Fresh Trends
Black Flowers & Fresh Trends
Plus: Missouri’s lit.
The Broccoli Report
Monday, January 9, 2022
Time to read: 3 minutes, 51 seconds. Contains 770 words.
Good morning!
Last week felt like a soft launch to the year—we’re off to the races now, 2023. News is still slow, and product launch press releases are just starting to trickle into my inbox, but it’s energizing to see the calendar gradually filling with new events and opportunities. If you are excited about upcoming happenings in the cannabis space, I’d love to hear about them—my ears are open to whatever’s on your cannabis-laden minds heading into this year.
Next Monday will be newsletter-free, per our new schedule, but paid subscribers can look forward to the first Friday newsletter of the year at the end of the week. It’s a spicy one: a multifaceted look at the state of equity efforts in cannabis. I’m going to parse how legal challenges impact residency requirements, if communities are actually experiencing positive impacts, and whether business equity initiatives are evolving beyond lip service. I’ll also critique some notably superficial efforts I’ve seen in the past couple of years and dig into why they miss the mark. Sign up as a paid subscriber to catch the whole shebang.
One-Hitters: Cannabis News at a Glance
Oof, those year-end 2022 cannabis sales breakdowns have been bitter pills to swallow. From Michigan and Massachusetts to Colorado and California, there have been downturns nationwide. And here’s a particularly scary and surreal number: one—as in $1, which is about the average wholesale price for a gram of flower right now in Oregon. We are growing too much weed, y’all.
For businesses seeking new ways to give back in 2023, I recommend joining the Floret Coalition—a collective of brands and individuals whose donations are combined and given to a different nonprofit each month, amplifying the impact and creating community along the way. If you’d like to sign up or are just curious to learn more, head here.
Missouri is not messing around when it comes to weed liberation. The state’s possession limit of three ounces is the most generous in the nation, and in February—a mere three months after voters legalized cannabis—adults over 21 will be able to purchase cannabis at medical stores approved to go rec. The state is being weird (or just grossly capitalist) about home cultivation, though—they plan to charge $100 for home-cultivation licenses. Is this the most dystopian cannabis regulation yet? Imagine having to pay for a permit to grow tomatoes.
It’s official: LinkedIn is the chillest social media venue for cannabis folks. (Who would’ve guessed?) If you haven’t logged in for a while, check it out. Seeing that “#cannabisbusiness” trending hashtag is a breath of fresh air. Better still—it won’t get you flagged or shadow-banned. SF Gate ran a whole story on how LinkedIn feeds are currently the best place to find real cannabis content from real experts.
As murmurs that Amsterdam’s city government will ban cannabis sales to tourists intensify, the prospects for American cannabis consumption lounges brighten. But the scene is ripe for some creative expansion. Where are the classic coffeehouse-styled lounges? Why must cannabis lounges all be full-service restaurants with a club-like atmosphere? I’m excited to see more variety as more licensed lounges are established in states that allow them, like Arizona and Illinois.
One of the budding year’s most intriguing new product launches is Trova, a highbrow smart-safe company catering to those seeking stylish storage for weed and other valuables. It’s in line with my prediction that 2023 will be the year for more conversations about cannabis and safety—an insight sparked by my interview with Sharon Celek Kevil, whose line of lockable furniture did really well in 2022.
Edie Parker Flower restocked their nearly too-cute-to-smoke flower-print rolling papers. They are now available in black, just in time for the Wednesday-inspired goth resurgence. You can continue the moody vibe via pipe with Burning Love’s black glass Dazey piece.
More cute smokables: California cannabis brand Angel Therapy is throwing a strawberry latte pop-up at Little Lunch cafe in Venice this Wednesday, January 11; their flower will be available to purchase on-site via Good Tree.
Now’s the time to have a meaningful new year meditation or journaling sesh to set intentions for the year ahead. Tina Snow Le—the artist behind the cannabis-loving art project dear to my heart, Earth To Her— just put out an hour-and-14-minute radio mix to get you into a transportive, transcendental mood, taking inspiration from her own meditation practices to create an electronic-centric playlist that can “help transform your energy into something positive so you can let go, dance, and heal.”
To finding balance when the weed biz gets serious,
Lauren Yoshiko