New York, Same Challenges
Plus: Pre-order Green Scenesssssss!
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Time to read: About 5 minutes. Contains 1,015 words.
Good morning!
Whew, this month is flying past. Not to freak y’all out, but we are officially two months away from 4/20! It’s exactly 60 days away. My terp-y senses are making me feel like we ought to get another Lonely Hearts board rolling for the back end of March…is it time?
Another upcoming date glaring bright on my calendar: March 12, my book’s publishing date! Portland-based readers—I’m going to have some kind of small launch party that day somewhere in town, more details to come. For everyone and anyone interested in claiming a copy of the first-ever travel guide to cool cannabis destinations in legal states, please pre-order your copy on Amazon! These pre-order numbers will be what indie bookstores evaluate when deciding whether or not to stock it, so every order goes a long way. Thank you to any readers who’ve already ordered theirs!
If you’re a dispensary/boutique owner interested in stocking the book, let me know.
Ok, self-promotion complete for the day. Let’s catch up on some news.
One-Hitters: Cannabis News at a Glance
An all-encompassing look at New York’s state of weed. Writer Jia Tolentino tackled what’s happened in New York’s troubled adult-use rollout for the New Yorker, capturing not only what made this attempt at true equity-focused regulations so unique but also the positive momentum and excitement during the initial, hopeful days. The former dealers and legacy cultivators who were there in the room writing these policies, or at least in the DMs of those in the room; the scrappy and “profoundly New York City collection of people” applying for CAURD licenses, from a bricklayer and an ex-con turned gym founder to cabdrivers, electricians, and an art historian. How, at first, it felt like “the activists had won.” The piece goes on to explain the lawsuits, conflicts of interest, and cracks in the rules that have halted the program from reaching its intended form, plus the issue of illegal dispensaries and weed-vending bodegas thriving (in some cases even accepting EBT cards!). This sentence haunts me: “When 2023 began, New York City had one legal weed store and about fourteen hundred illegal ones.”
More New York legal shops coming soon. In good New York news, the Cannabis Control Board awarded 110 more adult-use licenses, spanning cultivation, distribution, retail, processor, and microbusiness licenses. That is what one advocate interviewed by Tolentino suggests as a solution to beating the illegal shops—opening up just as many legal ones that are really great. That, and ideally not making them pay taxes for a couple of years.
We need new ways to qualify social equity. If we take a moment to imagine a fantasy world where another few hundred stores opened up and didn’t have to pay taxes until they were in the green, there remains a big, litigious problem in the form of equity qualifications. There is no question that Black communities suffered most from the enforcement of cannabis prohibition, and there is a justice to giving entrepreneurs from those communities a leg up when entering the weed game. There is, unfortunately, also always going to be an opening for discrimination lawsuits towards those kinds of regulations. Taking into consideration the way the Supreme Court is knocking down any appeals to their race-neutral ruling on college admissions, I don’t see race-based qualifications holding up in higher courts in the coming years. We have to get more creative about ensuring fair distribution of licenses.
Edie Parker founder featured in NYT Style. In a lighter highlight of New York weed, the founder of the cannabis fashion brand, Brett Heyman, got a big feature in the Style section, outlining challenges to cute packaging in various states and deftly navigating the tightrope of mother, cannabis consumer, and cool fashion industry figure in her answers. I’m happy to see it—these kinds of stories play such a vital role in normalizing the plant for broader audiences.
A new study shows potential for cannabis to combat meth cravings. The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada conducted a study to assess if cannabis could effectively curb stimulant cravings and reduce usage of unregulated drugs, and among the 297 individuals included, 45.1% used cannabis to manage stimulant cravings. 77.6% of those participants reported a decrease in stimulant use during periods of cannabis consumption—particularly for daily crystal methamphetamine users.
More reasons to reschedule cannabis. A group of lawyers is arguing that international drug treaties ought not stand in the way of moving cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), contrary to what the Drug Enforcement Administration has asserted in the past. The DEA hasn’t given any updates since it reminded everyone it reserves “the final authority” to make any scheduling decision, regardless of what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends.
High Finds: Trends Here To Stay
Smellproof styles. NY dispensary Dazed Cannabis collaborated with Stache Co. on a limited edition collection that features one of Stache’s trending smellproof stash pocket hoodies. Although I thought humanity would get over it, every so often, I am reminded of how repellent a section of the population finds the smell of weed. There is a reason those hoodies are selling well—the smellproof realm isn’t going anywhere.
Fuel-free lighters. The USB Lighter Co. offers a range of rechargeable lighters in shapes that mimic traditional designs. There’s a Zippo-shaped Slim, a more stylish spin on a long BBQ lighter, and a pen-like Motli LT—all of which ignite via windproof “lighter arc” that gives big Jacob’s Ladder vibes.
Toothless grinders. Houseplant’s toothless glass grinder is back in stock, this time in a bright green hue. These kinds of washboard-styled grinders (Wandering Bud makes one as well, Flower Mill is a whole brand around that style) break up buds without tearing them to bits. I like a traditionally fine grind for joints, but when it comes to packing bowls, I’ve always done it by hand to avoid the little bits that fly into your mouth mid-pull. Take a spin through the comments on the product page, and it’s clear I’m not alone.
Your red-eyed reporter,
Lauren Yoshiko