It’s an interesting time in the weed world. The federal government is slow-dancing a signal fest that weed is acceptable and welcome to the fold. Nothing has really changed except perceived sentiment, but things will change and things have changed. For one, who we have relationships with in the industry today is not the same as yesterday, and tomorrow we have no idea except a guess. 

There is still a lingering holdover that still looks at the current state of cannabis the same way Kurt Cobain would look at a Nirvana song in a Hyundai commercial. Unfortunately the nostalgia-laden still have to eat and ultimately will take to YouTube or Instagram to sell some product under their brand. Some just bailed and grow for themselves working an impersonal day job to pay the bills. Some already made their money and can kick back and judge the scene from a balcony window. Anybody still playing the game is still fostering new and old relationships.

Creating Relationships

It’s a bit easier to create new relationships these days and at the same time harder to maintain them. People’s perceptions of you and your story change day to day based on surface level interpretations of who you are and what you are doing online, not necessarily in real life. This plays into how a brand sells and how much attention they can gather for a drop. This type of success can come and go with the wind. The handful of brands that have maintained success regardless of social media image have been tirelessly listening to their customers more so than what people are commenting on. Persevering through the online ups and downs, remaining visibly unaffected by whatever turd is being thrown your way and still getting to the work day with the intention of improving every part of the consumer experience is what defines the success of the less-than-half-a-dozen proprietors that have been continually winning. Winning can be reduced to profitability or in this market just keeping your business alive. 

Another characteristic of the brands that are fostering success is how they collaborate with other smaller brands, elevating their brand by elevating another. This type of move reinforces the roots of where they came from by honoring the draft class of younger, smaller brands that have less visibility. This has worked more times than not and if things go sideways, the winning brands handle the drama offline. Any time the drama between these types of collabs enters the public online space it takes a piece of the larger brand back, regardless of the attention or engagement gathered. As much as the old adage “no press is bad press” is still a thing, a brand’s favor with consumers now more than ever can disappear into a wash of irrelevance if the narrative online paints them unfavorably. At some point the consumer gets tired of the story and that burnout point approaches fast as the world grows smaller the more it becomes interconnected. 

What really stands out are the brands that continue to sit just above the line of obscurity, gathering engagement and conversation when needed, while creating a consistent product. As they grow, their brand name becomes more common and organically becomes a fixture in the space for as along as they can maintain it or until there is some legal duress that throws the trajectory for a loop. There are two brands at the moment that come to mind that are facing this sort of situation. There are also those types of brands that are designed to edge lord the entire business crossing into sub culture conversations that touch cannabis. Selling cannabis along side the open legs of porn stars or other types of lurid hooks. At some point these hooks lose their allure and the brands will either continue to push the limit or rebrand into the mainstream. That didn’t work out too well for Vice media, but that’s another conversation. The extreme marketing can work on creating virality and hype but maintaining that success when the focus is on how you are selling instead of what you are really selling—which is weed, in case we forgot—can go sideways real fast.

Calculating Costs

So with all this in mind, I am trying to do something with my brand that will try and meet a few of these worlds while reaching what matters most, consumer value. Looking at the retail numbers, at least in California, cost seems to be the number one thing consumers value the most. Which is a bit disheartening although understood when ruminating on the egregious taxes bestowed on the consumer shopping in the California retail cannabis market. There are suggested prices for top shelf product that are displayed along with the eternal sale price of $35-$40 for an 1/8th. What we would like to be paid compared to what people will pay for is a rub, especially when looking at the prices of some products in fancy unregulated packaging on telegram. As much as growers market how they grow it matters less to the consumer if there is a close to equivalent product for ten dollars less. Also if you come out with a listed product at $35-40 an 1/8th you’ve screwed yourself into what is called the retail dead zone. You can discount a product to that price but for your sake don’t come in at that price thinking you’ll be able to match the consumer perceived value of a discounted established brand. Consumers like to feel like they are getting a deal on that jar or bag. Also after taxes they end up paying the $55-60 but the delta goes to the state, the silent and suffocating partner of every legal cannabis company. 

Consumers also value a cannabinoid analysis more than the actual product. Which is extremely frustrating and everyone has been yapping about how this is a terrible value metric for good while, and yet it’s barely moved the needle. What has moved the needle is the lack of testing in the black market and how those buyers care more about aroma, look, and packaging more than a test. That is a gift from the black market that is helping the rest of us when it comes to selections made based off THC numbers. I’m going to try and push against this with the selections I’m making but I can’t pretend that I don’t exhale easier when a test comes back over 25%. It still matters, and even more in the smaller market states. A smart approach when you are selling your brand to consumers is to weave in the dialogue how much more value there is in your product than just one number. 

The Consumer Is Your Mirror

So let’s say you’ve got some heat and fresh packaging and you’re ready to start selling to retail locations. If you haven’t started developing relationships ahead of time with retail ownership, good luck. The amount of competition in the market is staggering and it makes sense when you do the math at how much cultivation is being backdoored when you stack up the total volume of metric tons produced to the demand from retailers. This backdooring has also created an undefeated black market where customers can get fresher product faster and at a lower price. Accessing shelf space at a dispensary to sell your flower is a cut-throat game, and if you think that getting on the shelf is the final mountain to climb, think again. Once you have the shelf space, you have to be present as much as possible at the retail and not only develop solid relationships with the staff at the store but also the customers, number 1 the customers. This could be looked at as a chore but really it’s your opportunity to maintain the relationship with the retail location with authentic customer outreach, because if your product struggles to sell that shelf space will evaporate. I tried this approach in a smaller market that was vocally unhappy with the state program and to this day there are still Reddit posts of the drops we did 3 years ago. This was directly due to myself as the grower, not a rep, communicating as much as possible with the retail buyers. I cannot recommend this enough to new brands, your people matter more than anybody else. They are the ones that keep you going and will be there to support your efforts as you grow and face adversity. Your customers must be invested in who you are, your products and your success. It is more like this in cannabis than any other market. The further a brand gets away from their consumer investment into their brand the quicker they fall. The consumer is your mirror, hear them out, listen to what they ask for, what they are happy with and what didn’t land. If something doesn’t land then it’s up to you to make it right and if you have been developing the relationships you will for sure be given the chance to make it right. 

So you might have slogged through licensing and starting up a business. You might have hired a high end marketing consultant to build you a logo. You might have finally got your grow team up to speed and your harvest batches are hitting the marks. None of that matters unless you have built a loyal customer base that you are in service to. 

It doesn’t matter how good your weed is unless people enjoy buying it as much as they do smoking it. So get out of the warehouse or off the hill and start cultivating the joy that got you growing in the first place with the people that are paying your power bill.

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After officially legalizing cannabis for adult use in New York, the journey that followed has been fairly tumultuous as multiple roadblocks have delayed shop licensure and hindered the legal industry’s full potential.

A number of lawsuits and a change in gubernatorial leadership delayed dispensary licensure and openings, in turn allowing the illicit market to flourish with those shops drastically outnumbering the amount of legal dispensaries in the state.

As New York growers, business owners and myriad cannabis professionals continue to wait for their licenses to be approved, some New York lawmakers are embracing a different approach (that would likely extend the wait for industry hopefuls even longer).

Namely, Queens Community Board 9 Chairwoman Sherry Algredo argued that New York should refrain from adding any licensed cannabis shops to her district until authorities are able to shut down those operating illegally, according to a New York Post report. Community Board 9 covers the neighborhoods Key Gardens, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Woodhaven.

Ongoing Concerns About New York’s Bustling Illicit Weed Market

“The Board received numerous concerns from residents regarding the proliferation of illegal smoke shops already operating in our district and the negative impact these establishments have had on our community,” Algredo said in a recent letter. “Consequently, the Board will not support any new applications until these illegal operations are shut down.”

While Algredo’s statement reads as fairly definitive, the boards’ recommendations are advisory to state regulators, though they can still influence final policy decisions. The law that legalized cannabis in New York also mandates that applicants for cannabis licenses must notify the community board within the vicinity they plan to operate and appear before it prior to opening their businesses.

The conversation surrounding illicit cannabis shops in New York has been ongoing, though Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and other lawmakers have consistently touted their efforts to mitigate theses problems.

In April, the governor unveiled new initiatives aimed to shut down illicit cannabis operations and protect the legal cannabis marketplace. The plan allows the Office of Cannabis Management and local municipalities new authority to take action against illicit shops. 

“Unlicensed dispensaries have littered New York neighborhoods, blatantly circumventing our laws and selling potentially dangerous products,” Hochul said in a statement. “Enough is enough. I promised to protect our communities and hard-working, legal cannabis licensees by expediting the closure of illicit storefronts. I’m proud to stand up and say we got it done.”

Nurturing the Legal Industry While Combating the Illicit One

Last month also marked the opening of the 100th adult-use store in the state. New York legalized adult-use cannabis on March 31, 2021. It also looks like that number should increase soon, as the New York State Cannabis Control Board (CCB) shared last month that it approved an additional 101 adult-use cannabis licenses with more than 400 total approved sites in 2024. 

Conversely, it’s estimated that New York City alone has about 2,000 illicit cannabis stores currently operating.

The state is still working to do what it can to fix the issues with the legal industry rollout. Lawmakers recently passed another resolution that gives the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) the ability to issue provisional licenses, which the CCB hopes will speed up the licensing process. 

“This measure aims to provide provisional license holders with opportunities to begin operations swiftly while adhering to regulatory requirements, fostering a dynamic and competitive marketplace,” the CCB explained.

Still, it’s clear that closing illicit pot shops in the state will not be an easy task. Many illicit shops immediately reopened after raids and temporary shutdown orders under the prior rules, and it’s not yet clear how effective the newly announced laws to close illegal shops will be in practice.

Because of that, closing all illicit shops before allowing new ones to open, even in a single district, may be tougher in reality than in theory. Still, some lawmakers are standing by the need to close unlicensed shops before adding more licensed ones.

“We have 32 illegal cannabis shops. We are not going to entertain any applications for legal cannabis shops until the unlicensed stores are shut down,” CB 9 District Manager James McClelland told The Post.

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Vermont law currently caps THC for cannabis flower and concentrates but that could soon change under a new bill packed with amendments to improve the state’s cannabis market.

The Vermont Cannabis Control Board is asking lawmakers to drop the caps on the potency of cannabis and concentrates from state law, while the edibles caps would remain. Lawmakers argue that the bill could keep more consumers in the legal market, while some medical leaders in the state disagree.

Dropping the THC caps is one of several proposed changes to the state’s cannabis policies included in the new bill H.612, which the House Government Operations Committee took up on the floor for the first time on Jan. 12.

The bill targets hemp-derived products that are vaguely marketing intoxicating effects from synthetic cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC and so on. It would codify rules the board adopted last year, limiting the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products in the state and regulate them as cannabis products if they contain more than 0.3% of total THC. The bill would codify rules the board already adopted last year that limit the sale of some  intoxicating hemp-derived products and regulate them as cannabis products if they contain more than 0.3% THC.

Current state law caps the THC percentage in smokable cannabis flower products at 30%—which is high but exceeded in certain varieties—and the amount of THC in solid or liquid concentrated cannabis at 60%. Vermont also imposes a 5 mg serving size/dose cap on edibles and 100 mg cap on entire packaged edibles. The edible dosages align with what you’d see in most other states.

“This section proposes to eliminate the first two,” Cannabis Control Board Chairman James Pepper said at the committee meeting. “The CCB has been asked in two subsequent years to evaluate the efficacy of these caps and submit reports about them.”

The problem is this leaves out potent cannabis forms that are needed by people with serious conditions like cancer or other conditions that require high amounts of THC. Valley News reports that the bill would remove those caps and also include “a laundry list of the commission’s requests.”

The bill was introduced by Reps. Michael McCarthy (D – Franklin-3) and Matt Birong (D – Addison-3) on Jan. 3.

Regulated Concentrates Safer Than the Black Market

Some people at the committee meeting argued that potency caps on concentrates only forces manufacturers to use potentially harmful fillers. You can’t just smoke anything, when it comes to vape thickeners and ingredients. 

“By limiting potency to 60%, you’re creating a perverse effect of giving the black market a monopoly on a product,” Dave Silberman, co-owner of FLORA Cannabis in Middlebury, said. “It’s a niche product—it’s maybe 4% or 5% of the entire market—but you’re giving them a monopoly on it.”

Regulated markets are more likely to vet products for harmful additives by requiring lab results and so on. If people are going to the black market to get concentrates over 60%—which are many—they’re going to have a higher risk of smoking an unapproved thickener or additive.

High Times has reported on potentially dangerous fillers such as vitamin E acetate, which is not safe to vape, and others, however it’s important to note that dangerous fillers have been used by the media to fan fear about cannabis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed in 2019 that the additive vitamin E acetate is the likely cause of the nation’s rash of lung injuries caused by vaping. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the CDC, told reporters that the additive, which received early attention as a potential cause of e-cigarette or vaping product use–associated lung injury (EVALI), was found in the lung tissue of patients by investigators.

Others have speculated that some hemp-derived compounds have similar traits. Published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology on Dec. 12, 2022, a team of researchers led by Neal L. Benowitz discovered a link between THC-O acetate and significant danger to the lungs. THC-O acetate shares structural similarities with vitamin-E acetate—an additive that becomes dangerous to the lungs when converted by heat.

The bill would also reduce operating fees the state imposed on medical cannabis dispensaries, reducing an application fee from $2,500 to $1,000 and dropping the annual renewal fee from $25,000 down to $5,000.

It would also increase the timeframe of a medical cannabis card from three years to five years for people who consume cannabis for a chronic condition other than pain.

Last October, WCAX in Vermont profiled various school officials to probe what their plans are and how the conversation around cannabis will continue, now that sales are legal for adults.

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Cannabis resin world capital Morocco is struggling to reconcile its historical but illegal cannabis production region with the emerging legal market.

According to the United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime, the northern Rif Mountains region is the world’s top producer of cannabis resin. Cannabis has been tolerated in Morocco’s kingdom for hundreds of years, however it has been illegal in all forms since the county’s independence in 1956.

In 2021, with a goal to improve poverty-stricken regions in Morocco, the kingdom’s ruling party decided to officially approve Law 13-21, a bill legalizing the production of cannabis for industrial, medicinal, and cosmetic purposes in the three provinces of the Rif while also creating a National Regulation Agency for Cannabis Activities (ANRAC) to monitor the production of cannabis.

Morocco launched its cannabis industry last October by issuing the country’s first 10 permits to businesses to produce cannabis. 

Under the law, farmers in Morocco’s northern mountainous areas who organize into collectives will gradually be permitted to cultivate cannabis to fill the needs of the legal market. Abdeluafi Laftit, the Interior Minister of the Alaouite kingdom, Morocco’s reigning monarchy, said the legalization of cannabis is part of the government’s plan to create new “development opportunities,” according to a report.

Al Jazeera reports that black market cannabis production in the Rif mountains is thriving more than ever before, and tourists continue to flock to the area because of it. The mountainous and fertile area borders Tangier to the west, and runs along the Mediterranean to the north. Hippies have been traveling there for generations to get their hands on Moroccan hash.

“After the independence of Morocco, the hippies came to the mountains and taught us how to harvest the cannabis plants into cannabis resin [hashish],” Mourad, a father of six, told Al Jazeera. “Personally, I learned from my family and from my friends.”

But despite efforts to loosen laws in the area surrounding cannabis production, old habits die hard, and locals say illegal cannabis is more profitable.

“Official representatives came to the village in March to discuss the new bill with us and take the names of the people who might be interested,” Mourad said. “For my part, I do not really know what I am going to do. If I am forced to switch to legal production, I will, but if most of my neighbours continue to produce cannabis illegally, I will do like them.”

“Of course, I don’t like living in fear, and I would rather have a legal activity. At the same time, I honestly don’t think most farmers are going to follow the bill because we don’t feel like it will benefit us. But I am aware this might be my last year producing cannabis illegally. For my own sake, I will probably have to switch to legal production soon,” he added.

According to data from the Ministry of Interior given to the Agence France-Presse news in 2013, at least 700,000 people—including 90,000 families—lived off the production of cannabis in Morocco.

Al Jazeera reports that the Republic of the Rif was established by Abdelkrim Khattabi in 1921. For about 100 years, the Rif people are reported to be hostile towards the Moroccan state, saying they are left out of Morocco’s economic development.

“Switching to a legal production of cannabis would make us lose money because it is the government that is going to set the prices,” Anouar, a local in Bab Taza told Al Jazeera.

“Producing illegally is not that dangerous when you have a trustworthy network of buyers. For our part, we sell the cannabis to four family friends only, whom we have known for years, and they deal with bringing it to other cities in the country and to Europe,” Anouar says.

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The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s (EMCDDA) report, entitled “Cannabis—the current situation in Europe (European Drug Report 2023),” describes cannabis as “by far the most commonly consumed illicit drug in Europe.”

The report cites national surveys which show that 8% of European adults (out of approximately 22.6 million people between 15 and 64 years of age) have used cannabis within the last year. An estimated 1.3% of adults (approximately 3.7 million people) are described as “daily” or “almost daily” consumers.

With the popularity of cannabis continuing to grow, the report notes that this often leads to consumer “problems.” “There remains, however, a need to understand better the kinds of problems experienced by cannabis users, as well as the referral pathways and treatment options available for those with cannabis-related problems,” the report stated.

The report adds that in data featured in the 2021 European Web Survey on Drugs, 95% of participants who use cannabis within the last 12 months, 32% chose to consume “resin,” 25% chose edibles, and 17% preferred extracts. In the European Union (EU), tested resin contained 20% THC, whereas flower was tested at 9.5% THC. 

The EMCDDA claims that 97,000 people entered drug treatment programs for “problems related to cannabis use” in 2021, with 55,000 of those people doing so for the first time.

Additionally, records of cannabis product seizures in 2021 also reached its highest point in more than 10 years. The report cites Spain as the country with the highest percent of cannabis product seizures at 66%.

Overall, the EU reportedly seized more than 202,000 cannabis resin products (equating the seizures to 816 tonnes, or 1,798,972 pounds) in 2021. Cannabis flower seizures were recorded at 256 tonnes (or 564,383 pounds). In the country of Turkey alone, 9,800 seizures for cannabis resin products yielded 33 tonnes (or 72,752 pounds) and 31 tonnes (or 68,343 pounds) of cannabis flower.

“There is an increasing diversity of cannabis products available in Europe. This is true both for the illicit drug market and for consumer markets, where products are appearing that contain low levels of THC but also other substances derived from the cannabis plant such as CBD,” the EMCDDA wrote. “On the illicit drug market, the availability of high-potency extracts and edibles is a particular concern and has been linked to acute toxicity presentations in hospital emergency departments.” 

The report also cited concerns for the synthetic cannabinoid hexahydrocannabinol that has recently become available in certain EU countries.

The EU is made up of 27 countries, some of which have enacted medical or recreational cannabis legalization to help prevent the black market from thriving.

In December 2021, Malta was the first EU country to legalize recreational cannabis. The country’s approach to regulating possession, cultivation, and sales, Malta allows for residents to possess seven grams of cannabis in public (or up to 50 grams at their personal residence), as well as up to four plants cultivated at home.

More recently, German officials have been hard at work developing a regulatory framework for cannabis legalization. In April 2023, the newest draft reflects the use of state-controlled non-profit social clubs. If passed, it would allow residents at least 18 years or older to purchase up to 25 grams of cannabis per day (or up to 50 grams per month). Those who are 18-21 years old would be limited to just 30 grams per month.

Other EU countries are also currently working on their own versions of legalization, including Luxembourg, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. 

Switzerland on the other hand is currently allowing numerous cannabis research trial pilot programs in certain parts of the country. The SCRIPT study, which is conducted by the University of Bern, doesn’t legalize cannabis but was created to examine the “health and social effects” of regulated cannabis at local pharmacies. “Our study therefore does not aim to legalize cannabis in the free market—but to be able to address the problems caused by prohibition and the black market and to test possible harm reduction approaches, as well as a strict control of supply and distribution use demand for cannabis,” said head of SCRIPT researcher Reto Auer.

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While open drug trade of cannabis, hash, and soft drugs is tolerated in Christiania, an autonomous region in Copenhagen, Denmark, that all could end if the area can’t clean up its act, the capital city’s mayor warned.

Copenhagen, Denmark Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen told local paper Ekstra Bladet that growing violence has to end or she will shut down cannabis and drug trade in Christiania.

The Guardian reports that Andersen threatened to close Pusher Street’s drug trade if the 1,000 or so people living in the Christiania commune comply with her plan.

Since the 1970s, Christiania or Freetown Christiania in the Christianshavn borough in Copenhagen has been the nation’s “Green Light” district. Think of it as mini Amsterdam, complete with comparable canals and architecture and open tolerance of soft drugs and cannabis. 

Bådsmandsstræde military base on the island of Amager was transformed into a commune in 1973 with an autonomous government. Hippies and anarchists established a Social Democratic government structure and made the area a permanent “social experiment.” The first thing you see when you enter Christiania is a mural of a fan leaf, as well as a fist smashing a hypodermic needle, signifying the area’s rule of no hard drugs. 

Since around 1980 or so, hash—Europe’s popular form of cannabis—has openly been sold on Pusher Street, which is why the area enforced a strict no photo rule. But organized crime sours the picture, and it’s not the utopia it used to be.

“The violence and crime around Pusher Street has now reached a level we neither can nor want to deal with,” Andersen told Ekstra Bladet. “In Copenhagen, I believe we must have room for Christiania. It is both skewed and alternative. It’s creative. But this harsh, organised violence must be written out of the future around Christiania.”

A 23-year-old man was shot and killed in Christiania on October 26, as a rash of violence was reported in the area. It reminds some about a grenade attack in 2009.  “We are afraid that the situation will develop into a gang war in Christiania,” the area’s spokeswoman Hulda Mader said. But keep in mind that Copenhagen at large is one of the safest cities in the world, and that crime is comparably lower than other parts of the world, adding to the reason they don’t want crime entering the picture.

Andersen warned that she’s not playing games anymore. “That is why my message is also that if the Christianites make it clear that they are ready to close Pusher Street and replace it with something else then we in the municipality of Copenhagen are ready to support putting together a plan to find out what should happen to the street.”

After the incident last October, Christiania’s hash trade moved from its original spot on Pusher Street up to near the area’s main entrance. “Enough is enough,” Mader said. “We have disclaimed responsibility for what goes on in Pusher Street. It is not something that we, as private individuals, can oppose. Now there have been repeated episodes of violence, and we simply think that it has become too dangerous for us.”

Christiania is currently run by the Foundation Fristaden Christiania, while the Housing and Social Affairs Agency owns the ramparts and runs the state’s Christiania Secretariat.

A joint dialogue will soon take place between the Foundation Fristaden Christiania, Copenhagen Municipality, Copenhagen Police, the Housing and Social Affairs Agency, and the Castles and Culture Agency. All groups meet regularly. The Technical and Environmental Management in the Municipality of Copenhagen will also work together with the Foundation Fristaden Christiania on the future public housing in Christiania.

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday signed legislation to reign in the state’s illicit marijuana market that includes penalties for unlicensed cannabis retailers of up to $20,000 per day. The legislation, which increases civil and tax penalties for the illicit sale of cannabis in New York, was signed into law as part of the state budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

Hochul first proposed the new measures to address New York’s underground cannabis market in March as a way to prop up the emerging industry for recreational marijuana, which was legalized by state lawmakers in 2021. Regulated sales of adult-use cannabis began in the closing days of 2022, but so far, only a handful of licensed dispensaries have opened statewide. Meanwhile, free from the threat of criminal penalties, unlicensed dispensaries have proliferated, with a law enforcement task force study conducted earlier this year identifying at least 1,200 illicit pot shops in New York City.

“As New York State continues to roll out a nation-leading model to establish its cannabis industry, these critical enforcement measures will protect New Yorkers from illicit, unregulated sales,” Hochul said in a statement on May 3. “Unlicensed dispensaries violate our laws, put public health at risk, and undermine the legal cannabis market. With these enforcement tools, we’re paving the way for safer products, reinvestment in communities that endured years of disproportionate enforcement, and greater opportunities for New Yorkers.”

Law Gives New Enforcement Powers

The new legislation provides additional enforcement power to the New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and the state Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) to enforce regulatory requirements and close stores engaged in the illegal sale of cannabis. The new law allows the OCM to assess civil penalties against unlicensed cannabis businesses, with the “most egregious” illicit operators facing fines of up to $20,000 per day. The law also makes it a crime to sell cannabis or cannabis products without a license.

The legislation also gives the OCM new powers to conduct regulatory inspections of businesses selling cannabis and cannabis products, including so-called gifting shops that provide cannabis in return for inconsequential merchandise. The agency will have the power to seize untested cannabis products from unlicensed businesses and will seek court orders to close unlicensed shops and evict commercial tenants engaged in selling cannabis without a license.

Additionally, the DTF is now empowered to conduct regulatory inspections of businesses selling cannabis to determine if the appropriate taxes have been paid and levy civil penalties on businesses not paying taxes. The legislation also establishes a new tax fraud crime for businesses that willfully fail to collect or remit required cannabis taxes, or knowingly possess for sale any cannabis on which tax was required to be paid but was not.

“Strengthening tax laws as they pertain to the cannabis industry and providing for robust and fair enforcement will help the industry to be successful over the long term,” said New York State Acting Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Amanda Hiller.

Elliot Choi, counsel and chief knowledge officer at the cannabis and psychedelics law firm Vicente LLP, said that while the new measures passed into law are good news for the regulated cannabis industry, some of the governor’s measures will likely not have an immediate effect on illicit operators.

“Illegal dispensaries continue to proliferate in New York, especially in the City, so any movement on enforcement is welcome,” Choi wrote in an email to High Times. “The enforcement legislation in the state’s budget includes the ability for the Department of Tax and Finance to levy some hefty fines. We suspect those fines will have a deterrent effect on new illegal dispensaries. However, the tax department is going to need time to staff up and the Office of Cannabis Management will need to draft some regulations before there is a crackdown on existing ones.”

Hochul’s efforts to protect licensed cannabis retailers also include measures to lessen the demand for illicit marijuana. Last month, she unveiled a consumer ad campaign to encourage consumers to purchase cannabis from licensed dispensaries.

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As I sit here typing out this story from the safety of a bulletproof office—at least I hope to hell that it is—someone, maybe even someone you know will be killed by gun violence. On average, around 106 Americans die each day from a chance meeting with a bullet. Some of the casualties are shot dead by gutless goons while others, sadly enough, turn the firepower on themselves. Despite the vast toll of bodies and bloodshed, however, the American piece construct, one that seemingly embraces the most imbecilic tenets of deep-woods hillbilly philosophy, is to shoot first and never ask questions. No matter how many innocent people succumb to murder and suicide in this pistol-packing nation, the red, white and blue fabric of the governmental hood, all tattered and torn from decades of knock-down drag-out politics against its own, continues blinding a nation with a hefty dose of God-fearing optimism.

After all, many of the victims of gun attacks actually survive—around 95 of the 316 shot a day are merely injured—and of the 74 each day who stick the barrel in their mouths in pursuit of ending it all, 10 of them just end up disfigured. The recipe for relief when guns go wrong in this country is to simply mourn, pray and repeat. And what the politicians refuse to sort out with respect to all of this boom-boom killplay, they give the rest up to God and hope for the best. But that’s never enough. 

“The shots keep getting closer to home,” Rachel, a 33-year-old graphic designer who lives on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri, told High Times. “More criminals than anyone else seem to have guns. It’s scary, you never know any more if you’re going to get killed just sitting on the porch.” 

Nevertheless, the so-called greatest nation in the world keeps its finger firmly on the trigger. It has to. Why, if the forefathers of the good ole US of A thought it necessary way back when to give every citizen the right to pack heat, then by God, the politicians, both the corrupt and non-confrontational, should never stop fighting to ensure that every citizen is clenching a firearm in their fists as soon as they pop out of the womb. Unfortunately, our gun-wielding society has officially lost its damn mind. What was intended as a right to self-protection (or perhaps more controversially, create a standing army, not give everyone the right to carry weapons just because) has since mutated into the dimwitted armament of domestic terrorists. We’ve now got weak-minded, undisciplined, pimple-faced, pseudo-anarchists angry at the world shooting up schools at a rate that crossed the line of acceptability a long damn time ago. The unarmed has become the minority. 

It’s to the point where you can’t even get into an old-fashioned screaming match on the street without fear that someone might get their feelings hurt bad enough to whip out a gun and start shooting. To say it’s the wild west out there would be a gross understatement. It’s more like Thunderdome. The depravity surrounding gun violence continues to spiral further into profound depths of extreme dipshittery—experiencing an increase of 20% since 2019— yet more states are passing laws making it easier, not harder for civilians to carry a gun. Over half the nation now allows adults as young as 18-years-old to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. 

Yep, without. 

Alabama is the latest state to make gun ownership as easy as catching a cold. It’s just one of many jurisdictions across the country where it is now perfectly acceptable to pack heat—although some restrictions apply—but don’t you dare pack a bowl. Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas and Utah (as well as others) have, over the years, relaxed their respective gun laws to allow people 18-years-old and up, those barely old enough to wipe their own ass, to forgo the licensing process once required to procure a firearm. Yet, strangely enough, these states don’t want their citizens, not even those presumably old enough to understand the basics of bathroom hygiene, to have the same kind of freedom when it comes to weed. No sir, anyone in these places who gets caught in possession of a little grass, rest assured the courts will be eagerly waiting to make their life a living hell. In Alabama, for example, getting caught with any amount of marijuana can result in a year in jail and fines up to $6,000. Even if a pot offender gets a slap on the wrist, that doesn’t mean he or she will escape jail and get off with a polite warning. 

Those who get wrapped up in a pot charge, even low-level smears, where the prosecution pushes for probation rather than incarceration can still end up being forced to attend drug and alcohol classes, do community service and surrender their driver’s license privileges as part of their probationary terms. It’s how the man grinds drug offenders to a pulp through the gears of the system. These people may have seemingly caught a break in the eyes of outsiders, but they must still adhere to all sorts of nagging stipulations, including pass random drug tests during their probation period or else run the risk of being sent to jail to fulfill their sentence. Cages are the alternative for those without the money to pay steep restitution to the state for breaking their drug laws. Hey pal, pay up or get locked up. Your choice. 

Those parts of the country where guns are widely accepted—even praised, third only to God and country—yet pot use is still considered a threat to the well-being of the public is about as backasswards as it gets. Even if some of the negative consequences of pot (legal or otherwise) that’s been reported over the years ended up being true, a stoned society is presumably still a heck of a lot less risky than one that is armed for no reason.

Are we to believe that just because some gray-headed slave owners from 1787 penned a document one night over a few stiff drinks stating that the people should all have the right to keep and bear arms, deadly weapons earn a free pass from here to eternity?

George Washington and the rest of the Constitution crew didn’t foresee that the gun industry would eventually modify the musket used in the American Revolution, turning it into a fearsome killing machine capable of firing 300 rounds of “die, you bastard, die” per minute. Just like they didn’t anticipate that cannabis growers would eventually produce weed strong enough to make people call 911. Not even the lawmakers responsible for banning weed in 1937 could have made that prediction. To be fair, we’ve made some rather impressive technological advancements over the years, some of which, had the founding fathers been made privy to prior to signing, may have inspired them to make a giant paper airplane of the Constitution, soak it in kerosene and fly it straight into a candle. Or perhaps they would have simply decreed, “The people have the right to do whatever the hell they want; they’re going to fuck it up anyway.” 

Fast forward more than two-hundred years and the lawmakers of these tumultuous times have witnessed the death and destruction, the ridiculousness of holding on to pistol heritage, and yet the only heavy hand they continue to hold firm is on cannabis prohibition. Let’s be clear: Marijuana consumption doesn’t kill, and if there is a rising death toll anywhere because of it, the black market perpetuated through discrepancies between state and federal drug laws is ultimately to blame.

Many gun advocates argue that law-abiding citizens aren’t inclined to commit crime, so arming them, even without a permit, is absolutely no danger to society. Fair enough. It could also be argued that those philosophies equally apply to the average cannabis consumer. Give them the right to buy and possess marijuana just like alcohol, and most won’t cause any dust ups with the law. “I’ve never been in trouble for anything other than weed,” Dimitri, a 24-year-old from Greenville, Indiana tells us. “I’d be considered a model citizen if it wasn’t for these dumb pot laws.”

Meanwhile, law enforcement continues to piss and moan about the dangers of legal marijuana. Some of the latest reports, much like the previous reports we’ve all read over the years, have connected legal weed to everything from increased violence to human trafficking. The boys in blue also like to voice concerns about the distribution of firearms related to illicit marijuana trafficking, much of what continues to thrive within the gray areas of legalization. However, as much as they would like to convince the average citizen that weed is the culprit in the undoing of America, an affinity for a plant, legal or otherwise, is not what’s driving the nation’s lust for guns. No sir, we’ve been obsessed with gat machismo a long time. There are presently around 393 million weapons in the hands of civilian Americans, with three in ten adults claiming gun ownership. All of this equates to roughly 121 guns per 100 residents. Gun control laws have continued to weaken across the nation, and now more young men barely out of diapers are freely permitted to keep firepower on their belts to supplement the testosterone leading them to fight or fuck anything that moves. This is, without question, a dangerous step toward mayhem.

“They should probably raise the age on that,” Chris, a 48-year-old gun owner from Lexington, Kentucky, told High Times. “I’ve seen younger guys get into some trouble that probably wouldn’t have happened had it not been for them having a gun. I worked with one years ago, he was like 21, who showed his pistol during a road rage incident, and they came down on him hard. Guys are just too hot-headed at that age. But they’re [the government] never going to change that. How can they say you can’t own a gun until you’re 25 and still ship them off to war at 18?”

Listen, I don’t like guns. I’ve never owned one and never felt that I needed to arm myself, even if it was, as the gun rights people often claim, just for personal protection. And I come from the rural Midwest, too, the redneck capital of the world. Everyone has guns. It was even perfectly acceptable, at least in our obscure part of the country, to pull into school with a firearm in your vehicle if it was fitted with a gun rack. A lot of high school students in the late 80s, albeit typically the same ones who belonged to FFA, showed up with hunting rifles in tow, but none of them ever dreamed of bringing one into the classroom and opening fire on the other students. Not even when fist fights broke out in the parking lot after class—and that happened more times than I can count—did the gun owners reach for a boom stick to get the upper hand on their opponent. They just took the ass beating. Win or lose, everyone back then lived to fight another day.

Coming from this culture, I’ve never been the kind of guy to impede on someone’s right to do anything. Not even own a firearm. If guns were your thing, so be it. I didn’t want people trying to take away the things that I enjoyed, so giving them the same courtesy was my way of maintaining balance. Fair was fair. But that was before. Now, fewer gun restrictions have put more firearms in the streets and into the hands of the wrong people, and not everyone is as hesitant to reach for them as they were back in the day. At the same time, the federal government, still awfully hesitant to do much more about the nation’s gun problem than offer cheap condolences, remains hellbent on keeping nationwide cannabis prohibition intact, even while states move in the opposite direction. If we, as Americans, must live in a nation where we’re always at risk of staring down the business end of a gun, we should never need to concern ourselves with the legal repercussions of possessing a plant that’s legal for adults in over half the nation. Times have changed, like it or not, and the government should respond accordingly. 

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New York officials deployed researchers to sample products from illegal bodegas and pop-up dispensaries selling cannabis on the street, and tested them for harmful contaminants. If it’s safe, clean flower that you want—the findings were dismal at best.

According to a report led by the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association published on November 30, around 40% of illegal cannabis products sampled in New York City were found to contain harmful contaminants like E. coli, salmonella, and lead. The cannabis products were purchased from only about 20 illegal sites, but spanning across all five boroughs.

Salmonella, E. coli, and other contaminants in weed pose serious threats to your health, and are controlled under typical state regulations. Smoking weed with bacteria like E. coli provides a direct path for the infectant into the lungs, where it can potentially do a lot of damage.

“E. Coli, Heavy Metals, Copyright Infringement, and 100 Percent Failure Rate – A Look at New York City’s Illicit Cannabis Market,” was released by the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association (NYMCIA) in partnership with the New Jersey Cannabis Trade Association (NJCTA) and the Connecticut Medical Cannabis Council (CMCC). 

Key Findings

The report reveals the results of third-party lab testing of cannabis products purchased from over 20 unlicensed dispensaries spanning across the five boroughs. Among key findings, researchers detected the presence of E. coli, salmonella, and pesticides in various products. About 40% of the products failed at least one of the standard tests administered to legal cannabis products only available at legal medical cannabis dispensaries. 

The report “illuminates the danger posed by pop-up illicit operators that have circumvented New York’s regulations” which creates hazards for public health. 

In some instances, THC levels as much as twice the advertised amount. Finally, over 50% of locations where the product was purchased did not ask for identification.

“The report’s findings are deeply troubling and highlight the tremendous risks posed by unscrupulous firms operating above the law,” said NYMCIA President Ngiste Abebe. “New York has a responsibility to not only protect the health and safety of its residents but also to fulfill the promise of a socially equitable adult-use market. Neither goal can be realized without stricter enforcement against bad actors.”

Bloomberg reports that over 30 licenses for legal businesses were granted on November 21, but in most cases, it’s open season for illegal cannabis businesses.

Impact on New York Communities

The implications of the impact upon disadvantaged communities was also brought forth. “I want everyone to understand that these smoke shops and delis are not legacy operators—they’re opportunists that are retraumatizing our community and stopping our ability to build wealth. They are poisoning our Black and Brown communities. You cannot build wealth without health and these smoke shop owners are destroying the reputation of New York’s cannabis with their chemicals. They need to be stopped,” said Juancarlos Huntt, CAURD license applicant and legacy operator and co-founder New York for Social and Economic Equity.

Others placed the blame on a failing medical cannabis program, which “pushed” New Yorkers into the unknowns of the illicit market.

”Faced with an eroding medical cannabis program, New York patients have been pushed into this newly rampant illicit market, exposing them to E. coli, salmonella, and other dangerous toxins from untested products,” said Don Williams, Vice President of Government Relations at Curaleaf. “They deserve better, and New York must prioritize creating a safe and thriving cannabis program for them and adult-use consumers.”

A link to the full report can be found here.

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced new efforts to address unlicensed marijuana cultivation in the state, saying that the market for illicit weed still outpaces the regulated cannabis industry. Bonta also announced that the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), the annual effort to eliminate illicit cannabis cultivation sites in California, had eradicated nearly one million unlicensed cannabis plants this year.

“The illicit marketplace outweighs the legal marketplace,” Bonta said at a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s upside down and our goal is complete eradication of the illegal market.”

Bonta said that CAMP had eliminated nearly one million illicit cannabis plants in 2022, operating in 26 counties throughout California. The attorney general also announced that the annual CAMP program, which typically operates for a period of about three months during the marijuana growing season, would be enhanced to include operations to address the unlicensed cannabis market throughout the year. Bonta characterized the new year-round effort, dubbed the Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) program, as “an important shift in mindset and in mission.” In addition to combating unlicensed cannabis cultivation, EPIC will also address the broader illicit market and prosecute crimes associated with the underground marijuana economy including labor violations and environmental offenses.

“California has the largest safe, legal, and regulated cannabis market in the world, but unfortunately illegal and unlicensed grows continue to proliferate,” Bonta said in a statement from the California Department of Justice. “The California Department of Justice’s CAMP task force works tirelessly each year to eradicate illegal grows and reclaim our public lands, but shutting down these grows is no longer enough. With the transition to EPIC, we’re taking the next step and building out our efforts to address the environmental and economic harms and labor exploitation associated with this underground market. I want to thank all our local, state, and federal partners for their longstanding collaboration on CAMP and ongoing commitment to tackle this problem through the EPIC task force.”

CAMP’s Mixed Legacy in California

The CAMP program is a multi-agency task force first assembled in 1983 to combat California’s illicit cannabis cultivation industry. CAMP operations have been led by the California Department of Justice in partnership with the United States Forest Service; the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Park Service; the California Department of Fish and Wildlife; the United States Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration; the California National Guard, and other federal, state and local agencies.

CAMP’s efforts receive mixed reviews from California’s cannabis community, with some legal cannabis business operators applauding efforts to reign in the state’s multibillion-dollar illicit marijuana economy. But others point to the campaign’s history of aggressive, paramilitary tactics that have included the use of helicopters and frequent display of automatic weapons and other firearms as a gross example of government overreach that has terrorized rural families and communities for decades.

Over the course of the 2022 cannabis growing season, CAMP teams operated throughout California, conducting 449 operations in 26 counties, seizing nearly a million unlicensed plants and more than 200,000 pounds of processed cannabis. Law enforcement officers also recovered 184 weapons and removed nearly 67,000 pounds of cultivation infrastructure including dams, water lines and containers of toxic chemicals such as pesticides and illegal fertilizers.

EPIC Will Work Year-Round

The seasonal CAMP efforts will continue as part of the new year-round EPIC program. EPIC will also investigate crimes including environmental offenses and employment violations against illegal growers. Bonta said that workers at illicit cannabis cultivation sites are often victims of human trafficking “living in squalid conditions alone for months on end and with no way out. These are not the people who are profiting from the illegal cannabis industry. They’re being abused, they’re the victims. They are cogs in a much bigger and more organized machine.”

EPIC will also be tasked with combating the influence of organized crime in California’s illegal marijuana market. Karen Mouritsen, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s California state director, noted that 80% of the 44 illegal grow sites found on and around the agency’s properties in 2022 were connected to drug trafficking organizations.

“It’s clear that there are big challenges with respect to organized crime,” Bonta said. But he added that he expects better results with EPIC because the new effort by multiple agencies throughout the year “will make a big dent, a bit splash and lots of noise about our common priority to address the illicit marketplace, including at the highest levels.”

Graham Farrar, the co-founder and president of California licensed cannabis company Glass House Group, called on officials to reform the state’s cannabis tax structure and to focus EPIC’s efforts on unlicensed dispensaries.

“While no one wants to see California’s legal cannabis market succeed more than Glass House does, CAMP is a failed policy, and giving it a new name doesn’t change that,” Farrar wrote in an email to High Times. “We continue to believe that the best solution is less taxes and more retail outlets for licensed growers so that they have a level playing field to eliminate the illicit market by out-competing it. We strongly encourage the AG and local jurisdictions to focus enforcement on illicit retail activities, which are more threatening to the legal cannabis market today.”

The transition to EPIC follows an announcement last week from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) that California Governor Gavin Newsom has directed the creation of a new multi-agency, cross-jurisdictional taskforce designed to better coordinate efforts to fight illegal cannabis operations and international criminal organizations.

The new “Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce,” which has been actively working since late summer, is co-chaired by the Department of Cannabis Control and CDFW and is being coordinated by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) through its Homeland Security Division. The task force has been tasked with aligning state efforts and increasing enforcement coordination between state, local and federal partners.

“We cannot allow harmful, illicit cannabis operations to lay waste to the environment or threaten our communities,” Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Cal OES and Newsom’s homeland security advisor, said in a statement from CDFW. “We are bringing together the combined law enforcement resources of our state, local and federal agencies in a coordinated enforcement action against these bad actors and criminal organizations.”

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