Tax Reform Rallies & Advent Joints
The latest drops, events, and news of note.
The Broccoli Report
Monday, December 6, 2021
Time to read: 4 minutes, 45 seconds. Contains 951 words.
Good morning!
Only a few Mondays left this year; how surreal. Is everyone else seeing winter colds sweep through friend groups like wildfire? It’s a reminder to keep washing those hands like it’s 2020, and if joints start making rounds during reunions with loved ones, stick to no-contact hits. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the Detroit Metro Times published a step-by-step tutorial.
Speaking of Detroit: I’ll be sharing my recap of the Common Citizen press event in Michigan in this Friday’s dispatch. It was the first splashy all-expense-paid press experience I’ve attended, and mainstream pubs like Hypebeast, Mic, and Cool Hunting sent journalists, too. It included a visit to the largest indoor facility I’ve ever seen, a fancy presentation by a moneyed brand about their new social equity product ... and I have thoughts. Become a paid subscriber to hear all of them, especially if you’re leading marketing initiatives.
One-Hitters: Cannabis News at a Glance
Following a string of armed robberies at 15+ licensed Oakland cannabis businesses in one week last month, Supernova Women rallied for local and state agencies to provide tax relief to help these companies stay in business. Dispensaries across Portland, Oregon, have suffered a similar spike in robberies and vandalism, leaving the impression that protecting licensed cannabis businesses is low on the list of police priorities. I know there’s more nuance there—i.e., so many cops quit over the past couple of years that Portland’s police bureau is something like 50% understaffed. Still, if local governments don’t have the bandwidth to protect dispensaries or resolve these robberies, giving tax breaks to the victims seems like a reasonable solution. After all, in California, 20% of the tax revenue from cannabis sales has gone to law enforcement. If the police want to keep enjoying the hefty spending budget increases provided by legal cannabis, they need to keep those businesses alive.
Despite the long wait until licenses are issued, and shops open up, the New York cannabis community is developing rapidly:
Cannaware Society’s mission is to be “a force of social change focused on providing a centralized hub of resources to bridge the gap between New York’s cannabis community and the ever-growing legal industry.” They host events introducing brands to the community, provide networking and business development opportunities—like last week’s virtual panel advising how to prepare for applying for a license—and relaxed, catered kickbacks that go by the name El Jangueo.
THC: The Harlem Convening aims to “educate and empower BIPOC entrepreneurs within the emerging NY cannabis market” through a series of events called Elevated Exchanges, which so far consist of networking pop-up brunches featuring panels discussing cultivating and processing cannabis.
Outside of the business side of things, the lineup for New York’s Protoype Festival was just announced for January 7-16, 2022, and weed will be making an appearance. "Cannabis! A Viper Vaudeville" will make its premiere during this major opera and music theatre festival. Created by librettist Baba Israel and composer Grace Galu, it will explore cannabis history through hip hop traditions, jazz and reggae music, dance, and spoken word. Learn more about the production here.
Tomorrow, NORML is hosting a strategic Zoom call to talk through a path to regulated interstate commerce between California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. The event is hosted in coordination with Sensible Markets, an organization keen on progressing the foundational steps required to make cannabis business possible now between legal states, rather than waiting on federal legalization. Their current goal is to obtain guidance from the Department of Justice on state-regulated rules the agency would stand behind. If you’re curious to learn more, head here.
I’m definitely part of the population that finds the holidays the most stressful time of year. This Sunday in Los Angeles, HiVi is countering the mad rush with an anti-stress holiday fest. The Holiday Pop-Up Boutique & Healing Hub is a first-of-its-kind collaboration “presenting the intersection of cannabis and culture through a holiday narrative.” An immersive retail experience at Terminal 27 on December 12–13 kicks off a week-long e-comm and cannabis delivery service featuring a curation of premium cannabis and hemp brands, 75% of which are woman-, BIPOC-, or queer-owned. There will also be a series of recuperative yoga workshops, sound baths, and a facial massage masterclass. I need a sound bath to heal from the FOMO on this one.
A new, female-founded, BIPOC-owned e-weed boutique launched: PARA curates paraphernalia “for the aesthetically high-minded consumer,” sourcing artistic pieces like Kenni Field’s ceramic demi pipe, camp-ready accessories by Dangle Supply, trippy body sculpture candles, etc. It’s a great selection, and I like that they donate a portion of revenues and utilize eco-friendly shipping methods. Still, the selection includes many popular items found on weed-y e-comm sites all over the internet. It begs the question: How will these curated accessory hubs distinguish themselves and develop unique brand identities? I found myself wishing there was a tab to help me organize their selection that said: “Stuff you can’t find at Tetra.”
Yay for weed advent calendars! Miss Grass dropped a Mini Box of Moments, featuring a their three mini-joint varieties. Each box contains a mini-joint and a thought-provoking prompt to get you into a different headspace. I’m still waiting for a true low-dose edibles/small buds advent calendar that satisfies the excitement of what each day could bring, but I like that these are more than just a joint—they’re mini-escapes from the day-to-day.
If you want to spice up the usual citrus-flavored CBD gummies you’ve been buying grandma (🙋🏻♀️), the Elderflower Grapefruit flavor by Molly J. is delicious. Although I admit that I’m biased towards the very cute line of copy inside each
box: “As in life, chill to enjoy.”
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Here’s to making time to enjoy this week,
Lauren Yoshiko