Although the official city-sanctioned 4/20 celebration on Hippie Hill in San Francisco was canceled this year, it still attracted thousands of people to gather on the holiday.

According to a report from SFGate, whose representatives spoke with some of the attendees, the cancellation didn’t hinder anyone’s plans. Jessica Leung told SFGate that she was excited to be there and surprised by the amount of people who still showed up. “4/20 is my favorite holiday,” Leung said.

The lower part of the hill was roped off with chains to host a “Peace, Love and Volo Field Day,” free event, inviting people to play cornhole, kickball, and volleyball. The upper part of the hill was deemed the “spectator area” for fans to chill on the lawn in the sun. Other vendors attended as well, selling art portraits and various other goods. Food trucks were also in attendance, which led to long lines.

Past city-sanctioned 4/20 celebrations at Hippie Hill included on-site portable toilets, medical support, and an increase in hired staff. Even though the official event was canceled, the city was still able to provide portable restrooms and San Francisco Recreation and Parks staff to patrol the area.

Some attendees commented on the people’s drive to celebrate. One longtime 4/20 celebrator, Chandra Edelstein, said that there was more freedom at this year’s event now that it had less city restrictions. “I expected it to be packed,” said Edelstein. “People still flock here and the energy is amazing.”

Another visitor, Alex Diaz, added that they planned to be there regardless of city involvement. “We’re out here to have a good time, and not expecting anything,” Diaz said.

Attendee Dalano Rhyne said that she prefers this year’s “scaled-down” version of the event. “I’m here I’m doing my own thing … so I’m having a good day and this was blank when I got here, so that’s a great day,” Rhyne said as she put together a cardboard art installation featuring signatures and drawings from other attendees.

Steve Banuelos and his group of longtime friends said they were hesitant to attend after the event cancellation, but decided to go anyway because “it may turn out to be something.” “Well, we’re all retired now, so what the hell else are we going to do with our time?” Banuelos said.

The 2023 Hippie Hill event was a massive gathering, which featured Erykah Badu as grand marshal and instructed attendees to “Put your weed in the air” at 4:20pm. “For a lot of us, this is our medicine,” Badu said. “This shit is here to take you to a higher place.”

Last year’s event also featured a “King of Z Hill” competition pitting growers against each other for the title of best weed and best concentrates. “Some of the most exotic flavors in the world come out of the West Coast right here in San Francisco,” said King of Z Hill organizer, Brandon Parker.

One competitor, SoCal Dank’s Joe Evans, explained that competitions like King of Z Hill aren’t about winning, but networking with others. This certainly attests to the evolution of the cannabis industry over the years, and the stark differences between the 2023 and 2024 Hippie Hill events.

This year’s Hippie Hill event cancellation was announced on March 25, citing city budget cuts and a lack of sponsors. However, the organizers did confirm that the sponsored event should be returning in 2025.

The cancellation paved the way for other celebratory events to take the spotlight. SF Weed Week held its inaugural event, celebrating 4/20 in a variety of ways through the week leading up to 4/20. SF Weed Week founding advisor, Ben Grambergu, explained the importance of spotlighting local growers. “The organizers of Hippie Hill deserved a break, and SF Weed Week is here to extend the celebration across the entire city with the best cultivators in the world sharing their gift with the most dedicated enthusiasts in the world,” said Grambergu. “Look, the Bay Area has and always will be an epicenter of cannabis culture. SF Weed Week is proving to the doom loop haters that the scene is thriving. With a week full of incredible activations, world-class cannabis, and meet and greets with the rockstars who produced it; this event has something for everyone.”

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art recently put up a new display at its gift shop to sell ceramic bongs. Each of the pieces are part of a collection called Weed’d, which are beautiful display-worthy items ranging between $50-$195. According to museum store buyer Camille Verboort, they chose this selection of bongs because they offered “sculptural quality and bold primary colors.”

Verboort added that since the museum features alcohol-related items, it’s time for them to also feature cannabis-related items as well. “We currently sell bar items quite well and, this being San Francisco, thought we could make room for cannabis accessories if we found designs that made sense for us,” Verboort said.

Weed’d is created by Italian designers who sought to “challenge the traditional narrative” and stigma often associated with bongs. One designer, Maddalena Casadei, shared that she had never used a bong before, which allowed her to experiment with the design process. ‘“The round shapes go along with the softness of the experience of using it. It is in fact designed to give pleasure through touch as well,” Casadei said.

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Last weekend, officials descended upon a warehouse in Oakland, California, allegedly full of illegal cannabis plants, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Not only cannabis opponents, but also law-abiding operators are not fans of illegal cannabis operations that they must compete with.

The department said that it’s one of the largest cannabis busts this year in the Bay Area, where illegal operations are common.

Agents raided the warehouse on Sept. 28, located on the 300 block of Adeline Street in Oakland. Law enforcement officers eradicated 41,082 cannabis plants and destroyed 1,841 pounds of “processed cannabis.” Officials say the estimated retail value was $36,930,300.

“We have a history of combating illegal outdoor cannabis grows, which has evolved to a broader range of operations including warehouse grows, in support of establishing a thriving legal marketplace,” Janice Mackey, a CDFW spokesperson told High Times in an email. “CDFW’s cannabis enforcement program is always gathering intelligence, receiving information and conducting an array of investigations with our state and county partners on various aspects of the illegal cannabis supply chain.”

“This is one of the largest cannabis enforcement actions (in terms of retail value) in the Bay Area this year,” said Mackey.

Fox KTVU 2 reports that three guns were confiscated at the scene as well. “No one was arrested, but suspects were interviewed,” Mackey told KTVU 2 in an email. It’s unclear what tipped off officials to the warehouse, but they typically rely on concerned citizens to bring attention to these operations.

CDFW representatives said this is an ongoing investigation and no other information is available at this time. CDFW maintains that it has a public trust responsibility to protect and conserve California’s fish and wildlife resources. Cannabis cultivators, like most other industries, must comply with Fish and Game Code.

CDFW Inspections have led to violations for water diversions and storage, grading, chemical use, wildlife threats, timber conversion, and public safety, the department notes. Between 2013 and 2018, over 700 inspections resulted in 399 tons of trash removed from public and private lands including 2.4 million feet of irrigation pipe, 50 tons of fertilizer, and 465 gallons of chemicals, many illegal. In addition, the removal of 709 dams and water diversions related to cannabis grows resulted in restoration of 800 million gallons of water back into local watersheds.

CDFW agents said they seized nearly 40,000 cannabis plants in raids on April 25, The San Francisco Standard reported. In that bust, a similar amount, over $36 million worth of cannabis, was seized in the raids at 744 Kevin Court and 4825 San Leandro St.

Oakland residents are used to rising crime in the area—sometimes with cannabis businesses and the people behind them as the victims. Last year, C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis was robbed at gunpoint and about $100,000 in product was stolen. Making things worse, eyewitnesses say it took “hours” for police to arrive at the scene.

 A man was shot at the Oakanna dispensary in February 2022. Oakanna dispensary owner Joshua Chase was shot in the foot after a group of burglars tripped an alarm in the early morning hours at his relatively new retail facility. 

Criminals are also getting creative in the way they target cannabis businesses, such as smash and grab attempts, now with heavy machinery. Security footage obtained last June shows a huge forklift being used in a break-in attempt at another dispensary.

The cannabis delivery industry in the area has also been hit hard. Access to banking services could solve many of those problems and make dispensaries safer for the people who work in them.

CDFW Cannabis Enforcement Ramps Up

Wildlife officers with the CDFW’s Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) also spearheaded several enforcement investigations in rural areas during August and September, a Sept. 27 news release indicates.

During Sept. 4-8, MET officers raided several illegal cannabis operations on rural private lands in Shasta, Tehama and Sutter counties. Often officers depend on concerned citizens to drop the dime: Officers were tipped off by a hunter who stumbled on one of the trespass grow sites and reported it. 

MET officers destroyed more than 5,500 illegal plants, arrested four suspects, seized several firearms including one stolen handgun, dismantled several water diversions and removed thousands of pounds of trash. Backup was provided from CDFW’s Air Services and K9 Units, as well as the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) task force.

“Many recreationists who venture into California’s backcountry are our best eyes and ears for reporting poaching, pollution and illegal cannabis cultivation on public land,” said Nathaniel Arnold, Acting Chief of Enforcement for CDFW. “These enforcement actions not only provide public and consumer safety, but they also combat the illegal cannabis supply chain. I could not be more proud of these dedicated officers.”

The recent raids in the Bay Area and beyond highlight the issue and proliferation of illegal cannabis operations in both urban and rural areas of California.

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City officials in Berkeley, California have reportedly moved to decriminalize both psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca.

According to Psychedelic Spotlight, the city council there “unanimously” approved a measure to “officially deprioritize arrests for possession and use of psilocybin and ayahuasca…creating a new paradigm as dozens of cities across the United States move to recognize these naturally-occurring compounds’ mental health potential.”

SFGATE reported last week that the city council was slated to vote on the measure at Tuesday’s meeting.

The road to this psychedelic drug reform effort began in November, when the Berkeley City Council said that it would consider the measure.

The original resolution sought to decriminalize a host of psychedelics; along with psilocybin and ayahuasca, it also would have applied to LSD.

The measure that was ultimately approved on Tuesday was titled: “Resolution Supporting Entheogenic Plant Practices and Declaring that the Investigation and Arrest of Individuals Involved with the Adult Use of Entheogenic Plants on the Federal Schedule 1 List Be Amongst the Lowest Priority for the City of Berkeley.” 

It states that “the City of Berkeley wishes to declare its desire not to expend City resources in any investigation, detention, arrest, or prosecution arising out of alleged violations of state and federal law regarding the use of Entheogenic Plants,” and declares “that it shall be the policy of the City of Berkeley that no department, agency, board, commission, officer or employee of the city, including without limitation, Berkeley Police Department personnel, shall use any city funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of laws imposing criminal penalties for the use and possession of Entheogenic Plants by adults of at least 21 years of age.”

“For the purposes of this resolution, Entheogenic Plants are defined as plants and natural sources such as mushrooms, cacti, iboga containing plants and/or extracted combinations of plants similar to ayahuasca; and limited to those containing the following types of compounds: indole amines, tryptamines, phenethylamines,” the resolution continues.

The measure was pushed by a grassroots group called Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, which “led the effort to decriminalize six Massachusetts communities including Cambridge and Salem,” according to the outlet.

“Living in Berkeley, I tried psilocybin mushrooms for the first time with trusted friends. These plant medicines helped me work through trauma and open my heart to other people for the first time,” James Davis, cofounder of Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, told Psychedelic Spotlight. “Even so, this measure strikes the right balance by acknowledging that this should be something people research cautiously for their own wellbeing. Not something that should be sold and traded like candy, as has unfortunately happened in Oakland, nor commercialized for massive profits like in Oregon and Colorado.”

While this reform effort launched in earnest back in the fall, SFGATE notes that “Berkeley has been considering psychedelic reform since at least 2019, but the measure stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic because of disagreements over how to handle synthetic psychedelics.”

“Cities across the country have moved to reduce criminal penalties for using and distributing psychedelic drugs in recent years, as advocates argue that criminalization of drugs is not an effective way to regulate these substances,” the outlet reported. “The Bay Area has been a leader in the psychedelic reform movement, with Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Cruz passing similar measures that make possession of psychedelics a lower priority for law enforcement.”

Berkeley has been in the vanguard of other drug reform efforts, with the city council voting in 2020 to allow cannabis consumption lounges and marijuana delivery.

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The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted on June 6 to implement a citywide halt on issuing new cannabis business licenses for the next four-and-a-half years. The 10 members of the board present at the time voted unanimously, although one person was absent.

Supervisor Ahsha Safai was the driving force behind the moratorium, who emphasized that this move will be temporary. “It’s a pause, not a ban and ultimately, we can revisit where this is in a few years,” he said, according to The San Francisco Standard. 

The San Francisco Standard also states that the move addresses concerns from local Asian American communities that oppose cannabis, which could be a move by Safai to appeal to the group while he campaigns to run for mayor of San Francisco in 2024.

Safai cites that his reasoning behind the ban is mainly due to oversaturation of cannabis product and black market sales, as well as threats to public safety in regards to recent robberies. In May, Safai spoke to the board about these concerns. “Let’s be clear—we have no shortage of cannabis retail storefronts, and many are suffering because of brazen break-ins, public safety concerns and an unregulated market that is not facing proper enforcement,” he said.

The San Francisco Standard states that there are 32 licensed medical cannabis dispensaries in and 31 recreational dispensaries within city limits, with an estimated 100 applications currently being processed. According to SFGATE, there are an estimated nine cannabis dispensaries for every 100,000 people in San Francisco, compared to only 2.6 dispensaries for the same amount of people in San Diego, and 1.8 in Los Angeles, although cities such as Portland, Oregon have 34 dispensaries per 100,000 residents.

Supervisor Dean Preston also added his support in the vote on June 6 because of the addition of the 2027 sunset clause. “What was initially proposed was more of a longer term ban,” said Preston, according to SFGATE. “These amendments go a long way in creating more of a short term moratorium that was the original intention.”

The moratorium will last through the end of 2027, when the board of supervisors will decide whether to end or extend the ban. The moratorium doesn’t affect currently existing cannabis businesses or applicants. The ban will go into effect 30 days after approval, which will be in early July.

Already existing cannabis business owners such as Johnny Delaplane, co-owner of Berner’s on Haight, told SFGATE that more dispensaries will only cause more competition and ultimately reduces success for everyone else. “There is a finite amount of legal cannabis market in San Francisco,” Delaplane said. “If it’s being divided up into 70 retailers and soon it will be 140 retailers, many of those retailers are going to fail.”

UCLA lecturer of public policy and adjunct professor at Pepperdine University, Brad Rowe, explained that while this would help dispensaries profit, it will also likely raise product prices for consumers. “There is a way to build value by restricting access,” said Rowe. “The problem is who is going to pay for it? Consumers are the ones who are going to pay with higher prices.”

Other business owners addressed how this ban benefits the wealthy people who have already opened up stores in the city. “It’s unfair,” said Posh Green owner Reese Benton. “It’s hard for a person like me to even get their first store open.”

According to Gift of Doja owner Nina Parks, an equity applicant who is currently in the middle of the application process, the ban will harm other social equity applicants. “It legislates limited access to opportunity, when what the equity program is supposed to do is open up access for marginal folks,” said Parks.

In some areas like Pasco, Washington, officials lifted a 10-year ban on cannabis, however recently in Amsterdam, a ban was implemented to prevent cannabis smoking in public. Like in San Francisco, other recreational cannabis states are also facing problems with oversupply. A recent report from Associated Press covered how cultivators have too much product, with not enough legal dispensaries open to sell and distribute flower, edibles, and distillate.

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“I’ve always been somebody who was a minority among minorities, being marginalized and also being attracted to marginalized subcultures. Rock ‘n’ roll is where I found my family, and in cannabis, I found another family.” Inspired by the “female expression of the most powerful plant on Earth,” her words, Tina Gordon of Moon Made Farms carved out a cannabis brand, and a name for herself, in Humboldt County, California. But it hasn’t always been this way.

“I was living in San Francisco for most of my adult life, and during that time, I was living a very underground lifestyle with art, music and playing in bands, releasing records, van touring, that kind of thing, for about 20 years,” Gordon said. “I was in a bunch of different punk and metal bands; I did a mobile soundstage, that kind of thing. And I used to do art shows, photography, video. I really dedicated myself to having a full, creative life, to live lean, and to live life to the fullest.”

However, after two decades living that lifestyle, things began to transition. After going through a band break-up and a career shift, she was looking for where to go next. Suddenly, Gordon found herself spending more and more time in Humboldt County instead of the Bay Area, first filming a documentary, then even dating someone in the area and realizing she wanted to spend all of her time there. She also fell in love with growing the cannabis plant, something she never would have tried in her previous life.

“Moon Made Farms acknowledges the feminine in this plant, the moon being a symbol of femininity. The moon has a regular schedule with subtle changes every, single night. So, sun-grown isn’t just about the sun; it’s about the moon and the night cycle as well.”

“I didn’t even have houseplants in San Francisco,” she admitted. “I was really urban. And then when I went through my first season in Humboldt, and I saw this plant grow from seed to full expression, I was completely captivated, and it shifted my awareness to the natural world and how incredible it is. The sensory experience of growing this plant changed my life.”

As she began listening to the earth and the plants she was growing, she started to realize how sacred the relationship between cannabis and grower truly is. Seeing how cannabis thrives when given rain-caught water, fresh air, full sunlight and all the other natural elements that can be granted through outdoor growing in the Emerald Triangle, Gordon knew she had a new obsession. Now, instead of making music and art, she’s all about growing the juiciest, most gorgeous buds. But she never left the social justice element behind.

Gordon started learning permaculture regenerative techniques and working them into her growing to develop more sustainable practices around producing cannabis. As an advocate for outdoor growing, she is always trying to learn more. And as a social justice advocate, she always tries to pull in queer folks, women and other marginalized people to work on her farm.

“I’ve always been somebody who was a minority among minorities, being marginalized and also being attracted to marginalized subcultures,” Gordon said. “Rock ‘n’ roll is where I found my family, and in cannabis, I found another family. And when something changes your life as much as cannabis, there is a responsibility to pay it forward, a responsibility to do activism work and social justice work and to help educate people about the true value of this plant.

Through education, she wants to make sure that the focus is on sun-grown and natural cannabis, a personal passion.

“Misconceptions about outdoor-grown flower are based on the industry standard,” she said.

“That started because of prohibition, when all the outdoor farmers were forced inside, so indoor farming became the industry standard. Now that we’re emerging out of prohibition, it just feels like the plant should go back outside. Now, during that time, some incredible advancements have happened. A lot has happened in the way of genetics and techniques around this plant, but I would love to see this plant go back outside, and for there to be extensive research done on the properties and potential of what this plant has to offer.

Now, Moon Made Farms is known on the market for producing quality, sungrown, sustainable cannabis that stands out from the rest, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and ethos that Gordon puts into her work. She’s also thrilled that she gets to revisit her musician days and sell merch for her farm, and she loves studying the growth cycle of the plant. As for the moon, to her, it’s a celebration of the feminine within the cannabis plant, the dark within the light.

“Moon Made Farms acknowledges the feminine in this plant, the moon being a symbol of femininity. The moon has a regular schedule with subtle changes every, single night. So, sun-grown isn’t just about the sun; it’s about the moon and the night cycle as well. This is a photosensitive plant. It’s sensitive to light. And that quality of light will affect the plant in every way, so one of the most important things about the plant being grown outside is that exposure to the night sky. And so, Moon Made Farms is acknowledging lunar farming techniques, an ancient way of cultivating all plants, as well as the symbol of the feminine that the moon represents.”

Read this story originally published in High Times July 2021 Issue in our archive.

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Spotted: sub-$200 ounces up and down the Golden State.

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Part of what makes competing in today’s legal landscape so difficult is that it takes far more than just a quality product to attract consumers. While back in the medical days, many cultivators weren’t even branding their stuff, let alone designing flashy packaging, today, it’s essential for any producer who wants to see their consumer again, let alone generate any consistency. 

With major grows driving down the price per pound lower with every harvest, cultivators’ only hope to compete against the money guys is to develop a brand that will generate name recognition. One that the consumers come in and ask for, not just buy because it’s available. While there are many brands that have figured out how to generate a cult following that builds demand for their products even in states still facing prohibition, few are as tapped in as Seven Leaves.

You might not guess it, since you can find knock-offs of their mylars in just about any head shop across the country, but Seven Leaves wasn’t always the visibly hyphy brand it is today. In fact, while they’ve been cultivating stand-out flower since 2008, it wasn’t until the end of 2017 that the brand got its modern facelift. This facelift, as well as the curation of many of the strains the market is currently fiending for, like Zruntz for example, is thanks in no small part to the efforts of Sami Bundlez.

Meet Sami

Originally from Yonkers, but having moved to Sacramento at a very young age, Sami’s been running the plant since he was just a boy. Having gotten caught with weed for the first time in 1995, the year before the medicinal legalization of the plant, Sami fondly remembers the experience.

“I got caught with weed at school—a shitload of it too—and it was crazy, bro, because the security guard there was like, ‘Don’t even worry about it. This shit is going legal next year; just don’t fuck around.’” Sami said. “And sure enough it actually went legal, and that’s when my parents stopped tripping off me and weed. But I was never really attached to it; weed just always played a part because I was always into music.”

It was the music that built his network. Between rapping with friends and going to shows with Bay Area-legend the Jacka, who was one of Sami’s best friends before his tragic death, Bundlez built a rapport with many key players across Northern California. He credits much of his network and understanding to Jacka, who even kicked him down some verses for his own projects back in the day.

“This weed shit, and this music shit, go hand in hand. It’s always something I’ve always wanted to do,” Sami told me. “[Jacka] fucked with us in the long way, bro, like where we got phone calls before going out to shows like, ‘Hey I’m performing here, I want y’all to come with me.’ That’s how we built the face.”

Bundling Up

“From there, I got into throwing concerts. We brought everybody out—from Future to Uzi, Post Malone, Belly—bringing everybody to Sacramento. I just kept working with the weed shit like I was building my brand—the Sami Bundlez brand. Every time somebody would come to Sac, they would say, ‘Call Bundlez.’

“I know I got some fire-ass weed, and me branding myself as, you know, that guy,” he added. “The name stands for itself. People would always hit me up, but we weren’t branding it, like, on T-shirts or on packaging—nothing like that yet; it was just all an idea. Fieldz from Zkittlez was actually like, ‘Bro, you should start your own shit—just do it!’ But it was funny because once he said it, so many other people came and was like, ‘Yo, you should do this.’”

Understanding that he now had the network and know-how to not only source the products the market wanted, but to get them into the right hands, Sami began plotting his legal play.

“My boy [Brian Khem] hits me up, and he’s like, ‘Yo Bundlez, you know, I work for a company that has a significant amount of lights. And I think that if you came here, it’d be something you know, that you could do here.”

Although the deal certainly didn’t happen overnight, that company was Seven Leaves, and Brian was onto something…

The Next Level: Seven Leaves

Seven Leaves was founded by Mike B, Tyler Kerns and Gary nearly a decade ago in Sacramento. With a cultivation facility already producing solid work by this point thanks to Brian’s know-how, Sami was able to see a blueprint from their first meeting. 

“I gave [Brian] a list of what genetics I needed. I gave him a list of who I wanted to work with and what I wanted to do, and we moved forward.” Sami recounted. “I brought [former NBA athlete] Matt Barnes on, and the first thing we ever did was the Matt Barnes prerolls. That started everything.”

More than just attention, Sami quickly realized Seven Leaves would need a real brand voice and some help on the genetics side, to transcend. His efforts can be directly felt through the brand’s aesthetic. From the colors to the names, Sami mapped out everything. At one point, there was even a discussion about totally rebranding and running with a new name.

“They said, ‘You know, we’re down to try something new.’ But just to show them what I had to bring to the table, and what I could do, I was like, ‘Nah, we’re going to run with this’—and we RAN with it. I created the menu there that everybody knows. Blue Slush, Bon Bons, VoVo, Brainfood. 

“I brought on guys that I’ve been rubbing shoulders with my whole life, like Zkittlez, from Humboldt and Mendocino County.” He remembered fondly. “When me and Matt came on board, you know, we built Seven Leaves out to be a lifestyle brand—our lifestyle. We brought our lifestyle to this brand, and then we marketed it that way.”

Living the Lifestyle

For Sami, ‘lifestyle brand’ isn’t just a fun marketing term. Sami really lives it. In his own words, here’s the daily routine:

“First thing I do in the morning is roll me up a Lemon Slush and make some coffee. After that, I’ll go with the Blue Slush, boom. After my workouts, you know, later on in the day, I’ll smoke the Brain Food. Then, you know, I might roll up some Vovo. And then, absolutely not before 9 p.m., because it’ll ruin my day for real, I’m gonna smoke the Bon Bons because that shit right there is the insomnia killer. That shit will knock you out cold.”

“I followed the Jacka blueprint, the Berner blueprint.” Sami explained. “I followed the guys that came before me that really did this shit. I tip my hat to these guys. We tried to veer off as much as we can so we’re not mimicking nobody, but those are the people that gave me the inspiration to do everything that I wanted to do.”

Although it’s clear Sami’s happy to take the credit for ramping the brand up, he’s quick to admit he didn’t walk into a broken vessel.

“My boy Brian’s the man that made it all happen, like the head grower at Seven Leaves,” he explained. “I tip my hat to Mike and Tyler and Gary and everybody else who had a hand in Seven Leaves. My boy Hansel. And Brian—this dude is like a green thumb’s green thumb, bro. His shit is literally why everybody is talking about Seven Leaves right now. You know what I’m saying? Like, I just came in and put the shit on loudspeaker!”

A Rising Tide

With more attention and more consumers coming in by the day, the hype the brand has built, as well as the network Bundlez has amassed over his career, has afforded the brand more opportunities to collaborate and carve out its space within the industry. Through an expanded partnership with the Terp Hogz/Zkittlez team, Seven Leaves has now co-branded a few proprietary strains Sami considers to be among the greatest to ever grow. 

“I think the Zkittlez phenos and flavors, you know, that they’ve been working on for the past five to 10 years are going to be the next thing that’s going to be talked about for the next fucking 10 to 15 years,” Sami said. “Everything else has had its run, bro.”

But the collaborations don’t stop there. The first of many co-brands with musicians to come, Seven Leaves released Wowzers, Belly’s hand-selected personal strain, earlier this year. Bundlez was also able to mention that they’re currently working on something with Cozmo.

“It’s like Coca-Cola, bro! We’re by no means trying to compete, or compare with anybody. We’re just here to let everyone know what we’re doing. Show them what we have and let them experience what we got coming up on the market.”

Fan Leaves

With new flavors and partnerships in development, Sami has now set his sights onto expansion. Having started a skate team during COVID, and a street team on the East Coast, Bundlez has always prided himself on delivering the unexpected.

“I feel like we just got to touch on different shit; I don’t think we should just be staying in that box of you know, this is weed.” He tells me, “We’re working on doing more merchandise. Different designs—not always just the logo, or trying to make a quick buck. We’re doing skateboards. Everything that we do, we want it to be educational—lifestyle educational. You’re going to get something from this other than just high.”

It’s clear from talking to him how excited he is about what he’s doing. He gets just as excited as I do when I open each of the different bags to take a whiff. For someone who’s got the visibility across the industry that he does, despite the frustrations of the legal market, Bundlez remains grateful. In maybe the best example of this, before I leave, he asks me to include:

“I want to shout out the guys who helped me put all this shit together, for real. And, you know, our street teams everywhere. And everybody who fucks with us. Everybody who smoked Seven Leaves and posted it. Anybody who’s ever really took their time, and money, to buy and try seven leaves out, I want to thank those people. Other than that, like you know, shout out to Jay Bape and Jigs and… shit, that’s pretty much it.”

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Law enforcement officials in the San Francisco Bay Area seized more than 100,000 cannabis plants from more than a dozen unlicensed cultivation sites last week, taking down a “modern day bootlegging” operation in a series of raids that spanned two days. The massive bust carried out by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office across the East Bay resulted in the confiscation of millions of dollars in cash and cannabis plants representing tens of millions in potential illicit marijuana sales, according to law enforcement estimates.

“This is an organization operating outside the law and the protocols of governance of marijuana in California, unsanctioned and making millions in profits,” said Ray Kelly, public information officer for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

Kelly said that the illicit cultivation operations, which he described as “high tech” and “very sophisticated,” were “motivated by extreme profit and greed. It was a pure cash grab by the organizers of this enterprise.” Several suspects have been arrested during the raids, although officials have not released the names of those individuals taken into custody.

18-Month Investigation Led To Bay Area Raids

More than 100 sheriff’s office personnel and agents with the Alameda County Narcotics Task Force were involved in an 18-month investigation that culminated in last week’s raids, which saw search warrants served at 18 sites in East Oakland, Hayward, Castro Valley and San Leandro. The investigation was begun by narcotics detectives with the sheriff’s department after they received a tip about an illegal marijuana cultivation operation. The raids yielded about six tons of pot as well as Rolex watches and other jewelry.

“We’ve seized 12,000 pounds of processed, harvested marijuana product ready to go to sale,” Kelly said.

At one raided cultivation site in an Oakland warehouse, deputies seized as much as $10 million in cash along with evidence of a money-laundering operation. Kelly noted that the Bay Area cultivators could have avoided police action if it had been licensed by the state. 

“What’s crazy about this is had they applied for proper permits and fees and paid all their licenses and tax fees, we wouldn’t be here,” he said at a press conference at the Oakland warehouse on Thursday, where he displayed a bag he said contained $1 million in seized cash. “This is one of the largest grows we’ve ever seen in recent memory. It’s a massive operation.”

“These people are not doing that,” Kelly told Newsweek, referring to gaining the necessary permits to cultivate cannabis legally. “They’re operating similar to 1920s bootlegging operation. They’re very sophisticated, very organized. They’ve invested millions of dollars in their infrastructure. We estimate they have somewhere near half a million square feet of real estate grow space that they use.”

Kelly said that the operators of the illicit cannabis cultivation sites would purchase warehouses and other buildings, outfitting them with sophisticated growing equipment including computers and timers. The suspects would pay plumbers and electricians inder the table to install the equipment, and hired cultivators, trimmers, and transporters to produce and distribute the cannabis.

12 Truckloads of Pot Up In Smoke

The sheriff’s spokesperson said that 12 tractor-trailer loads of cannabis had been transported to a site in California’s Central Valley to be incinerated. He added that required taxes had not been paid on cannabis sales and that forensic accountants would be involved in the ongoing investigation. In a social media post on Wednesday, the sheriff’s office wrote that it would take several days to process the search warrant sites and haul away the contraband. 

“This organized and sophisticated network of individuals were making tens of millions of dollars in profit and avoiding California [marijuana regulations],” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “We estimate at this time that we have seized over 100,000 plants and upwards of $10,000,000 in cash. In addition, there are millions of dollars in infrastructure, equipment, lighting, generators and supplies used to facilitate the grows.”

Kelly said that at least seven people have been arrested in the operation so far, and more arrests could be forthcoming. In addition to offenses involving illegal marijuana cultivation and money laundering, detectives are investigating if any environmental laws have be broken by the operation.

“The environmental impact that these locations cause is concerning,” he said. “We’re talking about fertilizers, chemicals, chemicals known to cause cancer.”

Despite the arrests and seizures, Kelly said that the potential profits from illicit cannabis are so high he doubted the operation would serve as much of a deterrent.

“There is nothing to stop them from doing it again,” he said. “It’s such a lucrative business.”

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