Long Beach, California is on track to establish an ordinance that will give cannabis retailers a minor tax break and reward the ones in good standing on their payments with a bigger tax break, cutting their local tax in half.

At a Jan. 23 meeting, Long Beach City Council members voted to request an ordinance be drafted to lower rates for businesses that meet hiring and compensation markers and are up to date with their current tax payments.

City leadership has been aware about the significant tax burden impacting cannabis businesses across California. Not only in Long Beach, but California’s entire cannabis supply chain faces a chronic debt problem, and the SF Gate called it an “extinction event” last year. In one move, state law recently shifted the burden of excise taxes from distributors to retailers. Over a dozen cities and counties in the state cut taxes to assist retailers with this dilemma.

The tax break fulfills a goal set on April 20, 2023, when the Long Beach City Council vowed to lower tax rates as part of the 2024 annual budget, the Signal-Tribune reported. “We should be aiming to create a positive feedback loop: reduce the tax burden on local operators, allow them to be competitive and expand their businesses, while rewarding those high road employers and operators who make investments back into our community, all while nurturing a new revenue source for the city,” said Councilmember Joni Ricks-Oddie, who brought the item forward.

As of the last count available in 2023, Long Beach was home to 32 retail cannabis stores and 37 cultivators. During the Prop. 215 era, the city was home to even more medical cannabis dispensaries.

Long Beach Post News reports that Tuesday’s vote advanced a cut at 1 percentage point for retailers with the opportunity to qualify for an additional 3 percentage-point drop if they meet “good standing requirements.” Cannabis cultivators would also get a similar tax break. Their square-footage tax was cut from $14.96 to $13.09, the equivalent of a 1 percentage point cut.

The Tax Burden Imposed on California Cannabis Businesses

A tax break couldn’t come sooner. The city of Long Beach currently imposes a 6% excise tax on medical cannabis transactions and 8% on recreational adult-use cannabis sales, on top of the city’s sales tax of 10.25% and the state’s excise tax of 15%. The state taxes have been imposed since adult-use cannabis use became legal in California in 2016

Long Beach adult-use cannabis sales generated $9 million tax revenue of around $13 million in cannabis tax revenue the city expected to collect in 2023. Several city council members expressed concern over the unpaid taxes, preferring to bring those payments up to date before giving businesses any kind of special tax breaks.

“I do think we should have a heavy hand for those businesses that haven’t been compliant with our taxes,” Councilmember Al Austin said at Tuesday’s meeting. “The city needs that revenue.”

In order to be eligible for the larger tax breaks, retailers would have to be up to date with licensing and tax payments, and they would have to meet several other requirements. They would also have to ensure that at least 40% of their staff are Long Beach residents and that they are paying their employees between 110% and 115% of the state’s minimum wage. Retailers would also have to support equity businesses by keeping their products on shelves or providing mentoring and incubation support for equity operators.

If the changes are fully implemented, the tax cuts are projected to cost the city about $3 million annually.  The 1 percentage point cut for retailers across the board is expected to cost the city just over $1 million, according to data presented to the council.

Many local residents complained in recent months that the equity program to support cannabis stores from low-income, justice-impacted residents has resulted in just one successful equity applicant and asked the city to do better.  Others said there’s a great opportunity in the city. Long Beach Green Room owner Adam Hijazi, for instance, said that Long Beach could cut tax rates in order to support legal cannabis businesses and create a cannabis destination in the city. 

The city hopes to follow in the footsteps of other California cities like Santa Ana, in providing tax relief by prioritizing businesses that are in good standing, and the ones that give their employees more than minimum wage or provide career opportunities. 

Santa Ana took a similar step and implemented a 1% tax cut for most cannabis stores in the city and an additional 2% for “high road” employers. 

The council will still have to vote on the ordinance twice before the changes take effect, something that’s expected to happen in the coming months.

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Long Beach, California is developing ways to teach local residents how to responsibly consume cannabis without getting behind the wheel. Given that cannabis sales in Long Beach contributed more tax revenue in 2022 than oil, it’s a big facet of the city and leaders hope to keep cannabis use safer. 

The City of Long Beach announced that its Department of Health and Human Services was awarded a $285,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to educate locals about responsible cannabis use and its goal to reduce cannabis-impaired driving related collisions.

“This grant fuels the City’s ongoing effort to keep everyone on our roadways safe,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “It’s important that people get informed. This means, the public should know that driving under the influence includes cannabis, illegal substances, and even some medications.”

The Health Department’s GreenlightLB Program will utilize grant funds to support activities that aim to educate community members about the dangers of driving while impaired by cannabis and drugs, as well as promote safer choices, including safe driving behaviors. The funding will be allocated to support several activities between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024, including the following:

• DUI-Drug prevention workshops for high school and college age students to address the risks of driving while impaired and promote the use of transportation alternatives.
• Community partnerships to advance health equity through bilingual and bicultural workshops on drug-impaired traffic safety.
• E-scooter/E-Bike campaign to remind users that riding under the influence is both unsafe and against the law.
• Peer-to-peer youth program to empower youth to actively promote traffic safety.
• Collaboration with dispensaries to educate consumers about safe and responsible cannabis use and the risks of cannabis-impaired driving.
• Enhanced drug-impaired driving awareness through print and digital media resources and coordination of Long Beach Safe Streets Awareness Week.
• Pop-up events that promote the importance of safe and responsible driving.

“Our top priority is the safety of our community,” said Acting Health Department Director Alison King. “The efforts funded by OTS allow for evidence-based programs to increase awareness and help everyone make informed decisions and eliminate drug-impaired driving in Long Beach.”

What Long Beach is Doing to Promote Safety

The city has been busy with initiatives to promote safety. Last year, the program reached 2,000 community members via the following methods:

• 35 drug-impaired driving community presentations and youth-focused workshops.
• 16 educational outreach tables and pop-ups to promote safer driving.
• The graduation of 14 students from across five Long Beach schools for the Safe Streets Ambassador program.
• Co-hosting the fourth annual Long Beach Safe Streets Awareness week.
• Conducting the annual city-wide cannabis and health assessment.

“Getting in a vehicle remains one of the most dangerous things we do,” said California Office of Traffic Safety Director Barbara Rooney. “We must continue to work with our partners to shift that realization and make traveling on our roads safer.”

It marks the seventh year the city’s Health Department has received an OTS grant for these purposes. The activities funded by this grant are in line with the Health Department’s plan to further develop a safe approach to responsible cannabis use. GreenlightLB’s program activities are also designed to advance goals identified in the City’s Safe Streets Action Plan to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2026.  

Long Beach Lowers Taxes

Last April, the city announced it would lower cannabis tax rates in an effort to generate more revenue.

The Signal Tribune reported that after the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the tax rate change, the Office of Cannabis Oversight began to establish a plan to lower taxes for recreational and medical cannabis use. The lower tax rates will be established as part of the city’s 2024 annual budget. 

“We should be aiming to create a positive feedback loop: reduce the tax burden on local operators, allow them to be competitive and expand their businesses, while rewarding those high road employers and operators who make investments back into our community, all while nurturing a new revenue source for the city,” said Councilmember Joni Ricks-Oddie.

Long Beach is home to 32 retail cannabis stores and 37 cultivators. Since recreational cannabis use became legal in California in 2016, the tax rate in Long Beach was set at 8% for adult-use sales, 6% for medical-use sales, 1% for lab testing receipts, as well as $13.70 per square foot of canopy under cultivation. There is also a 10.25% general sales tax in California. 

Lowering cannabis tax rates is expected to cause an increase in legal cannabis sales, designed to attract people avoiding taxes.

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It’s never a happy ending if you’re a Columbian drug smuggler and your boat breaks down. The feds seized 223 pounds of cocaine and arrested two people headed toward Long Beach after their ship became disabled, FOX11 Los Angeles reports. 

The panga-style vessel, an open and outboard-powered fishing boat commonly used in the developing world, broke down on the 4th of July off the Colombia coast, and it’s far from the first boat filled with cocaine to do so. U.S. pressure on the Colombian government to crack down on the cocaine trade has epically failed. Coke production in Colombia rose in 2021 to its highest levels in two decades of monitoring, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Reuters reports that the areas sown with the coca plant went up 43% to 204,000 hectares (500,000 acres). 

Needless to say, the two folks aboard the ship didn’t have their cocaine-dusted 4th of July American dream. They flagged down a good Samaritan on their way to Long Beach, according to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach. Their saviors towed their broken-down boat — but snitched. The rescuers (although the smugglers would likely not use that word) perhaps didn’t want to get in trouble when they sensed the boat was carrying more than people and contacted the Coast Guard, alerting them that they suspected the panga boat had drugs on board. 

Their suspicions were correct. 

The Coast Guard searched the boat and found 223 pounds of cocaine hidden in a false bottom of the ship. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained the two people onboard and seized the blow and the boat. 

“This operation exemplifies the outstanding interagency collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard and CBP,” said Lt. Commander Keith Robinson, chief of law enforcement at Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach.

Columbia’s leftist President, Gustavo Petro, isn’t in favor of illegal drug smuggling. But he has made some interesting points about the environmental effects of the war on drugs, something too many U.S. cannabis growers who have had their crops burned know about. During his first speech at the General Assembly in 2022, Petro said that the world’s addiction to money, oil, and carbon is destroying the Colombian rainforest through what he describes as a “hypocritical” war against drugs, the UN reports.

“The forest that should be saved is at the same time being destroyed. To destroy the coca plant, they throw poisons such as glyphosate that drips into our waters, they arrest their cultivators and then imprison them,” he said. “The jungle is burning, gentlemen, while you wage war and play with it. The jungle, the climatic pillar of the world, disappears with all its life. The great sponge that absorbs the planetary CO2 evaporates. The jungle is our savior, but it is seen in my country as the enemy to defeat, as a weed to be extinguished,” Petro continued.

Rather than blame the plant, Petro has suggested expanding voluntary crop substitution programs and regulating narcotics by focusing on gang leadership while increasing social funding in coca plant production areas. He argues that the world’s dependence on oil and the adverse climate effects of the failed war on drugs cause more deaths than drugs themselves. 

“What is more poisonous for humanity, cocaine, coal or oil? The opinion of power has ordered that cocaine is poison and must be persecuted, while it only causes minimal deaths from overdoses…but instead, coal and oil must be protected, even when it can extinguish all humanity,” he also said in his General Assembly speech. 

Petro’s point is best understood once you know that the war on drugs fueled Columbia’s mess of a civil war — and there’s a report to prove it. The study was conducted by a commission formed as part of the 2016 peace deal with the leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). The deal ended five decades of civil war and found that “the union of the interests of United States and Colombia led to the construction of Plan Colombia” (a multibillion-dollar military aid program that began in 2000), “which merged together the counter-insurgency, anti-terrorist and anti-narcotics programmes with the war against narco-terrorism,” The Guardian reports. 

The report also found a “substantial change in drug policy” is needed while calling out the U.S. — who funded Colombia’s armed forces during the war.

And meanwhile, back home in America, cocaine remains only a Schedule II drug, while cannabis continues to clock in at a Schedule I. 

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Two of three living members of legendary band Sublime, Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson, vocalist Bradley Nowell’s widow Troy Nowell, and others announced the band’s line of cannabis Reefers by Sublime. The cannabis line arrives in conjunction with a new live album and double LP $5 at the Door (Live at Tressel Tavern, 1994) featuring vocals from Bradley Nowell on April 21.

According to a Feb. 7 press release, it’s the band’s official launch of high quality cannabis products in partnership with Costa Mesa-based The Healing Plant, a licensed manufacturer of cannabis products in California. 

Reefers by Sublime uses art based off the band’s first album 40 Oz to Freedom cover art originally designed by friend Opie Ortiz. The Sublime sun cover art iconography is now legendary. Sublime recorded the most popular version of “Smoke Two Joints” on that album, originally recorded by The Toyes in 1983. The cannabis brand’s first offerings are based on the lyrics.

Three initial two-joint products are available in 0.7 oz bags: Smoke Two Joints in the Morning (Sativa), Smoke Two Joints in the Afternoon (Hybrid), and Smoke Two Joints at Night (Indica). Products are exclusively available now at select Southern California licensed retail dispensaries including 420 Central in Orange County. Check the website for a full list and map of locations that sell Reefers by Sublime.

Smoke Two Joints in the Morning features Santeria, which is Moonbow (Do-Si-Do x Zkittles and White Tahoe Cookies (The White x Tahoe Og x Unknown GSC cut). Smoke Two Joints in the Afternoon is Sancho OG, which is OG Kush (Chemdawg x Lemon Thai x Hindu Kush x Northern California). Smoke Two Joints at Night is Whoa Si Whoa (The White x Do-Si-Do)—testing at over 30% THC.

The strains are grown by Top Shelf Cultivation based in Long Beach, a family-owned and operated licensed cultivator renowned for its award-winning cannabis.

“Holistic wellness. Medical necessity. Adult preference. Whatever your need or personal choice, Sublime has its own weed now and it is quality!” said Bud Gaugh. “Vested and tested, by me, try ’em and see!”

Anyone familiar with Sublime’s music knows how much of a part cannabis plays.

“Cannabis culture has been a part of Sublime since the beginning, and I’m stoked that we now have our own line of products,” said Eric Wilson. “Cannabis takes me to that place when we were kids in the garage, playing music for ourselves. Reefers is for anyone whether it’s used for relief, creativity, alternative medicine, or to chill out.”

“Sublime has a legacy with cannabis that has spanned decades, steeped in positivity and its soulful importance to the reggae culture that was such an influence on their music and lifestyle,” said Troy Nowell, representing Bradley’s legacy with their son Jakob Nowell. “For Jakob and I, this is an opportunity to continue nurturing the memory of Brad and his musical gifts with a global community of family and friends. We are extremely encouraged by the positive impacts shown by cannabis in helping recovering opioid addicts, its medicinal benefits for a host of debilitating conditions, and its ability to provide holistic relief for many using its properties to achieve mental wellness.”

Robert Taft, founder and CEO of The Healing Plant, and business partner Robert Knohl, managing partner at R2 Capital Holdings LLC, will develop, source, and fulfill products for the line. Taft called it a “labor of love.”

Brian Danaher, co-founder of Top Shelf Cultivation, said “… Sublime is embedded in the DNA of our Long Beach cannabis culture and community. This is a family affair and all love for the plant and culture…” 

The band announced Feb. 7 that $5 at the Door (Live at Tressel Tavern, 1994) will be released on April 21, following the rollout of Reefers by Sublime. 

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Cali Vibes, quickly becoming known as one of the largest reggae-focused events in America, allowed cannabis consumption on-site over the past weekend—one of the latest large events to do so, with an estimated 75,000 in attendance.

Presented by Goldenvoice, AEG and sponsor Weedmaps, Cali Vibes features the top names in reggae including some unexpected surprises. The bill included the Marley brothers featuring siblings Ziggy, Stephen, Damian, Ky-Mani and Julian, as well as Rebelution, Slightly Stoopid, Dirty Heads, Sublime with Rome, Stick Figure, Sean Paul, Shaggy and a special performance by Wu-Tang Clan. They were joined by Pepper, Atmosphere, Artikal Sound System, Iration, DENM, Tropidelic, The Elovators, Don Carlos and so on.

Cali Vibes was held at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California February 4-6. It was also livestreamed live via emusiclive.com. It’s a first-year brand new festival, allowing cannabis inside.

“As the official cannabis partner for Cali Vibes this year, Weedmaps had the opportunity to bring awareness to some beloved SoCal brands in the space throughout Cannabis Village”, Juanjo Feijoo, CMO and COO at Weedmaps, told High Times. “We are always looking for creative ways to engage with the cannabis community, and were delighted to be able to work with AEG and the Cali Vibes team to create a destination for consumers to learn about cannabis and cannabis brands safely while having fun. We can’t wait to continue to evolve this concept and bring it to more and more venues and festivals across the U.S.”

Less alcohol and more cannabis appeared to have an overall positive impact on the crowd. Weedmaps unveiled a cannabis-themed Weedmaps Village, a dedicated space featuring California’s top cannabis and accessory brands such as The Medicine Woman, Select, ZIG ZAG, Dripp Extracts, Wafers, Papa’s Herb, Buddies, Clone Guy and DIME. 

Guests were entranced with live urban art and interactive games, such as the “Flowers Are Not A Crime” art installation, created by Los Angeles-based artist, Laurie Shapiro, in collaboration with Weedmaps. The title of the installation was chosen to bring awareness to the fact that while cannabis markets continue to emerge and people profit, there are still over 40,000 people—disproportionately minorities—behind bars for nonviolent cannabis-related charges. People who downloaded the Weedmaps app could order from The Medicine Woman directly from the app and collect it from an off-site location.

Humboldt Seed Co. was busy at work, informing festival goers about the importance of terpenes and genetic transparency. Meanwhile, Clone Guy offered living clones, with their roots sheltered in plastic globes, providing for a surreal experience in legality. Living plants were practically everywhere in the vendor area.

The Koi CBD stage featured some of the largest acts, and The Greens presented by Koi CBD was located near Weedmaps Village. The Beach Club and VIP Lounge provided additional packages. Goldenvoice and Delicious Vinyl Island collaborated to present the BoomYard stage at Cali Vibes, which will showcase a slew of talent from Jamaica, including Mr. Vegas, Yaadcore, Walshy Fire, Teejay, Naomi Cowan and more. This is the place you went if you wanted to hear the cuts of dub, dancehall, raggamuffin, toasting and other sounds of Jamaica. 

We were impressed at Method Man’s control over the audience during Wu-Tang’s performance, which was both the most rowdy and energetic. Stick Figure, on the other hand, wowed the crowd with pyrotechnics.

High Times caught up with several bands that performed at Cali Vibes.

“Kalea Wassman of Pepper and from the Big Island of Hawaii here—more importantly from the Big Island of Hawaii,” Wassman told High Times. “It’s so wonderful to know that with these kinds of events, opening up and being successful like it is now, gives us so much momentum to go into the next festivals that we get to do. This is just a beautiful situation after what we’ve gone through over the past few years. This is a festival filled with hope, because honestly, a lot of people have not been able to gather in this kind of sense with the community that this genre has.” 

Wassman, who is vocalist, said to expect a lot of presence from LAW Records—the band’s own record label. “It’s fantastic where we get to envelope these younger acts and help them succeed in the world of music,” he said. “They’re going to be sprinkled all through the [upcoming new material].”

“This is a festival filled with hope, because honestly, a lot of people have not been able to gather in this kind of sense with the community that this genre has.” – Kaleo Wassman

Wassman reflected on Pepper’s work ethic, in combination with cannabis. “Honestly, I find it so much more rewarding at this point in my life to do the healthy approach to it, Wassman said. “What I mean by that is allowing myself to fall into the now, and not skipping over any moment that I get to be onstage, because it has been awhile since we have been onstage. That is a beautiful lesson to learn, because when you go town to town, day after day, night after night, you’re very susceptible to losing that connection with each show. What this has taught us now is that everything.” Pepper is set to release new material in 2023 after a giant summer tour that is yet-to-be-announced.

Sublime with Rome drew a large crowd, per usual, especially considering that the festival took place in Long Beach. “We have a freestyle that we’re jamming that’s kind of inspired by some new stuff,” Ramirez told High Times. “And we’re playing stuff we’ve never played, like we have Hirie coming up for a song, and we’re doing some stuff we haven’t played out here. It will be different shit tonight for sure.”

“We’ve been working on some new music,” – Rome Ramirez.

“We’ve been working on some new music,” Ramirez said. “We’re going into the studio, I think in June, to start to put together some of the tracks we’ve been working on. And hopefully we’ll be putting out a record by next year. We are just kind of focusing on the songs and trying to get all of the writing done.”

Ramirez admitted that Long Beach may not be the most popular destination in Southern California, “but it’s one of the most important in my eyes, because it’s transcended itself into sound in some of the other artists and other genres and artists,” he said. 

Ramirez revealed that he’s been collaborating with Duddy from the Dirty Heads, both on music and CBD/THCa projects with small-batch companies. A lot of people they know only smoke weed, so they’re not getting any CBD. Both artists have experienced problems due to skating and/or baseball, Ramirez said. “So I said, lets put together some topicals and type of CBD that we can fuck with ourselves.”

Ramirez said details are scarce, but that it’s called Good Times Wellness, but done differently than the over-marketing of typical brands, “because everything now is so sleek and modern.”

The Ries Brothers—hailing from Clearwater, Florida—blend rock, blues, funk and reggae for a highly sophisticated sound with an emphasis on the craft of songwriting. “We played a brand new song called ‘Cornerstone’ and we’re about to go into the studio to record a new album,” Kevin told High Times. “That will be on it.” 

The Ries Brothers performed a few live sets for Sugarshack Sessions—a popular, highly intimate digital music series filmed and recorded beneath palm trees in Bonita Springs, Florida. 

“We’re really big on the Last Prisoner Project. If you’re in jail for a nonviolent cannabis charge, people get arrested with three grams and they’re put into jail—sometimes for years.” – The Ries Brothers

“Sugarshack is fantastic, from our home state of Florida, and the work they do is fantastic,” Charlie, who is the older brother, told High Times. “It’s such a great relationship that the bands have with them. Because they don’t charge the bands to shoot them. It’s a mutual project. We’ve gone down to their compound to do two sessions, and we just released one that we did from Reggae Rise Up that we did a three-song set. We had members of Stick Figure, Iration, Passafire and Tropidelic during the set. It was awesome.”

Kevin mentioned that he produces a lot of his own material. “I do a solo project called Echoing Dream,” he said. “And it’s kind of more reggae-dub. And I had the idea of taking back the song. It started with a bass line and drum beat. It was kind of a reggae idea for my solo project. I took out the skanks and everything—just keeping the drum and bass—and that turned into Charlie freestyling over it. And I always had the idea of making a remix like that. We had the idea of getting a bunch of artists in the scene together. Hitting up the DMs.” 

Last year, the brothers released a reggae remix of their single “Take It Back,” featuring Julian Marley, as well as E.N Young, Kash’d Out, Gary Dread  of The Movement, Bumpin Uglies, Little Stranger and Jaime Hinckson.

“The cool thing about it was, it worked out with the verses they sent us in the order that it ended up being,” Charlie explained. “Gary Dread was the first to say he was in, then it kind of steamrolled from there. Then eventually getting up to Julian. Mad props to our manager David [Parnes] here.”

“The track was almost done, we didn’t think Julian was going to be on it,” Kevin said. “The night before we had to submit it to mixing, Julian sent us his parts. I quickly mixed it, and am so stoked about having him on track.”

The Ries Brothers are not only interested in cannabis consumption, but cannabis reform that begins with undoing the wrongs from the War on Drugs—as evident in their continual support for organizations such as the Last Prisoner Project.

“We’re really big on the Last Prisoner Project,” Kevin said. “If you’re in jail for a nonviolent cannabis charge, people get arrested with three grams and they’re put into jail—sometimes for years. So the Last Prisoner Project helps people get out of jail for [inhumane prison sentences] for small amounts of weed. They’re doing a lot for the community, so that’s important to us.” 

“I couldn’t be more excited to be on this festival bill.” – DENM

DENM’s debut full-length Slum Beach Denny was frequently included in top 10 reggae lists of 2021 as one of the hottest new albums of the year. It played like the soundtrack of summer. DENM also co-wrote “Rage” with Jared Watson of the Dirty Heads, featuring Travis Barker and Aimee Interrupter from the Interrupters.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be on this festival bill…” DENM told High Times just before his pivotal performance. “I’m just trippin’ that I get to play AND see the Marley brothers and Wu-Tang and all these legends—I’m just trippin’.”

In regular fashion, Dirty Heads showed up as one of the festival’s most popular bands. Coming from neighboring Huntington Beach, they weren’t very far from home in the first place. “The vibes are high,” vocalist Jared Watson from the Dirty Heads told High Times. “Wu-Tang Clan is playing right now. It’s a home show. I live 20 minutes from here.”

Duddy, who is also a vocalist along with Watson, told High Times that fans won’t hear any unheard new music, “but we will be performing ‘Rage’ tonight, which is one of our newest singles, which we put out not too long ago. Working with a lot of new music right now. We’ve got a new album in the works, but not playing anything new tonight.”

For some, “Rage” seemed like a flashback to the days of punk and ska, such as Operation Ivy.

“We wrote it with DENM,” Watson said. “Me and DENM were in the studio, just writing for Dirty Heads, and we wrote it with him, and when I heard it come together, I said—we’ve got to get Aimee [Allen]. I got the same vibes—this is kind of old school like Operation Ivy. I immediately thought of Aimee from The Interrupters, and they were working with Barker at the time. So that whole song came together in like one night. I texted Aimee, and she said she was in. I asked her, ‘Can you text Travis?’ ‘Sure.’ And an hour later, it was like ‘Travis is in and we’ll do it like tomorrow.’”

“I don’t know if we can release the names of the bands [on our new material] yet, but it’s going to be awesome.” – Duddy

Duddy confirmed the new cannabis and CBD project in the works with Ramirez. “It’s called Good Times Wellness. It’s a collab we’re doing with Consequence. It’s a CBD line and we are going to to small batch with actual marijuana as well. Not just CBD. It’s going to be a cool boutique, small batch CBD and marijuana line.”

Watson explained that if you dig around online, you can probably find some new Dirty Heads tracks. “I leaked a new song on a livestream I did,” he said. “There’s a song called ‘Visions’ and a song called ‘Oxygen’ that we have. The guy that produced those two records is producing the whole entire record. So we’re only working with one producer, and his name is Ryan Ogren. You’ll love him; he’s a close friend of ours. If you like ‘Oxygen’ and ‘Visions,’ you’re going to be stoked because we have songs like that on there. We have a few really, really broken down acoustic songs like that you’d hear on the acoustic album that we did. And then we have the majority of it is that kind of straight-down-the-pipe Dirty Heads. Some songs are more leaning hip-hop, and some are more highly reggae-influenced.” 

“As of now, I think it’s going to be the most solid album that we’ve ever put out,” he said. 

Watson added that the band just saw the soft dates for the summer tour and lineup for who they’re going out with on the tour. “It’s stacked.”

Duddy added, “I don’t know if we can release the names of the bands yet, but it’s going to be awesome.”

“The bands were going on tour with, that are at this show,” he said. “They’re the bigger names that played this weekend that we’re going to be on tour with.”

Duddy explained that performing in Long Beach, which is just minutes away from home, is like having a home show.

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Presented by Hemp Hop, The High Times Hemp Cup: People’s Choice Edition unites competitors and judges from all areas of the hemp space. The festivities begin this January as High Times begins accepting entries, and the event wraps up April 3, 2022, with the official Digital Awards Show.

The High Times Hemp Cup: People’s Choice Edition aims to identify and award the best hemp-derived CBD products across the nation. That’s why we provide a wide range of different categories, covering everything from topicals to pet products.

The 2018 Farm Bill pretty much changed everything, for better or for worse. It reshaped the landscape for hemp farmers, processors and extractors, paving the way for hemp competitions that are open to the public. 

This event will be the only the second time this competition is open to the nationwide public, and we will see the largest pool of judges in the cup’s history. This is a sampling dream to get your products into the hands of hundreds of new customers—complete with feedback on your entries and thousands of impressions. May the best products win!

Competitor product submissions can be sent to Long Beach, California during the time period spanning January 17-21, 2022. And guess what? Judge Kits will be on-sale for online ordering across the nation on January 29, 2022. The judging timeframe runs from January 29, 2022 through March 20, 2022. 

To compete in the High Times Hemp Cup: People’s Choice Edition, contact a High Times Sales Rep or visit CannabisCup.com/Contact for more info. To judge, register to receive an official Judges Kit.

The Digital Awards Show will take place on Sunday, April 3, 2022, where we will present the more luxurious hemp offerings around. With this in mind, stay hydrated, stash some munchies, find a designated driver or do whatever other steps you need to ensure it’s a safe competition.

Keep in mind—this is strictly a hemp-derived CBD competition only. All products must be registered by the State of origin and must have proof of lab results confirming the product is hemp-derived and under 0.3 percent delta-9 THC. Also keep in mind, Delta-8 THC products will be judged separately from the other categories.

We also want to give a shoutout to our Silver Sponsor, Orange County CBD, as well as our Bronze Sponsor, Sweet Sensi. We couldn’t bring these amazing events to the public without their support.

Hemp Cup: What You Need to Know

There will be plenty of categories to choose from covering all of the facets of the hemp industry. Entry categories include Hemp-Derived CBD Edibles: Gummies (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Edibles: Non-Gummies (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Tinctures + Capsules (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Topicals (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Flower (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Pre-Rolls (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Concentrates (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Vape Pens (NO Delta-8 allowed); Hemp-Derived CBD Pet Products (NO Delta-8 allowed) and Delta-8 Products – Mixed Products.

Each category has different benefits and perks for being crowned with a High Times Hemp Cup Award, depending on the award.

Please keep in mind the entry requirements, which are different for each category, and they are listed below:

• Flower: (200) 1-2g samples
• Pre-Rolls: (200) samples around 1-2g
• Concentrates and Vapes: (200) .5-1g samples
• Edibles: (200) Samples 
• Topicals, Tinctures and Capsules: (200) samples
• Delta-8 Products: (200) samples
• Pet Products: (100) samples

Entry pricing is $500 per entry that is submitted. Enter 3-4, and get one more—free. Enter 5-7 and get two more free entries. Enter 8-11 and get three more free entries. Enter over a dozen and get five more free.

Since 1988, High Times Cannabis Cup events have taken shape all over the world. Now’s your chance to be part of the action.

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