Green Zones & Sexy Pipes
Green Zones & Sexy Pipes
Plus: Our luxury deep dive, unlocked.
The Broccoli Report
Monday, October 3, 2022
Time to read: 4 minutes, 27 seconds. Contains 892 words.
Good morning!
As I was scrolling the other day, impatiently awaiting the arrival of my Mushroom People nail polish and the announcement of the season two premiere date of Yellowjackets, I realized that it’d been a while since we unlocked a paid post for everyone to enjoy. So I decided to unlock one of our best: a dispatch from early summer examining what the word “luxury” means in cannabis. For me, there is only one luxury cannabis brand (and you can click through to find out who they are), but I think it's worth digging into what luxury is and if it fits into the cannabis realm:
Read all about it here, and feel free to share with anyone who might enjoy it.
This Friday, paid subscribers can look forward to a seasonal dispatch on witchy weed trends. I’ll cover the latest products speaking to spooky szn in interesting ways, as well as those nourishing consumers’ needs for more spiritual smoking rituals. I’ll also explore the impacts of reckless witchery—as in, the potentially scary results of not doing proper homework before trying out DIY trends in smoking herbs and juicing fan leaves. Sign up with a monthly or annual subscription, wear black, and I’ll see you then. 🐈⬛
One-Hitters: Cannabis News at a Glance
A little spooky spillover from my trend research: Accessory brand Burning Love just released rolling trays featuring Laura Palmer’s iconic prom pic from Twin Peaks and the group party shot from The Shining.
In New Jersey, Atlantic City revealed unique plans for a cannabis biz “green zone” to rejuvenate a struggling neighborhood. Putting cultivation, manufacturing, wholesaling, distribution, retail, and delivery in one neighborhood feels intense, but by locating it within walking distance of casinos and the boardwalk, city planners hope to foster a thriving weed mecca that draws in both private investment and 420-curious tourists. Strict design parameters mandate a “muted color scheme,” no more than five colors in total, and zero fluorescent tube lighting—not exactly conducive to an expressive, whimsical atmosphere.
Congrats to Vermont for kicking off adult-use sales last week!
A telling sign of retail challenges: Canadian cannabis behemoth Canopy Growth Corp. announced a sell-off of its bricks-and-mortar cannabis retail operations. This includes 28 corporate-owned stores under its Tweed and Tokyo Smoke retail brands, five other stores, and handing over franchising and licensing agreements. In a press release, the company said this will allow them to focus on achieving “profitability as a premium brand-focused cannabis and consumer packaged goods (CPG) company.”
I’m excited to see what comes of the newly formed Cannabis Media Council, a group dedicated to changing the narrative around the stigma of cannabis and broadening consumer awareness, especially after media giant Hearst announced it would be a participating partner. Social media rumblings indicate that this could mean Hearst opening some of its media outlets to cannabis advertising.
A new multistate coalition of cannabis organizations has formed to promote state and federal policies that support small cannabis producers. The National Craft Cannabis Coalition (NCCC) represents over 1,000 indie cannabis producers through six state-level cannabis organizations: Farm Bug Co-Op (MA); F.A.R.M.S. Inc. (OR); Maine Craft Cannabis Association; Origins Council (CA) ; Vermont Growers Association; and Washington Sun & Craft Growers Association. I know of at least one other sort of craft coalition in Oregon, and I’m sure there are similar efforts in other states. If you are part of one, consider getting your association to join the NCCC. It’ll only get harder to connect parallel efforts as more siloed markets establish. The more connected these networks are, the more effectively we can advocate for widespread craft cannabis policies that help mom-and-pops stand a chance against the big dogs.
THC beverage brand Cann acquired hemp beverage brand Sweet Reason with plans to create a non-CBD format of Sweet Reason and a “micro-microdosed” drink lower than Cann’s current low-dose options. Sweet Reason’s founder and CEO joined Cann in a senior role centered around emerging products.
Rounders is a creative agency and publishing company based in London that just launched its third issue of a free online magazine “connecting cannabis, communities and culture”. You can read back issues here (as well as shop their hemp rolling papers). It’s a joyfully chaotic zine of visual and editorial stories from the fringes of cannabis to the heart of underground party scenes all over—a logical aesthetic once I looked up “rounder” in British slang and found it’s associated with altered revelers and ne'er-do-wells.
Laundry Day unveiled a sumptuous new lineup of artful, chrome-colored accessories and a brand refresh that screams “sexy android villain” in a wonderful way. This “aesthetic evolution” includes a chrome version of their signature Tanjun and Charlotte pipes, plus a new cube version that looks extremely cool. These pipes are all made with borosilicate glass but have a finish that looks like manipulated metal. There’s also a square-shaped aluminum grinder that balances on one corner when not in use—such a tease.
To smoking experiences that let us be someone else,
Lauren Yoshiko