The woman-owned South Jersey company is building its cannabis business around hands-on cultivation, patient phenotype hunting, and a vertically integrated operation designed to keep the plant and the customer close.

Brute’s Roots is a South Jersey cannabis company with a simple proposition: keep the work close to the plant and keep the operation close to home. Founded by South Jersey natives Kelly Gatto and Jim DiNatale, the woman-owned company has built its business around cultivation, manufacturing, and retail rather than treating each step as a separate operation.

Romeo Dilla, wholesale manager at Brute’s Roots, says that structure lets the company “maintain quality at a hyper-specific level.” What happens in the grow can influence what gets made. What customers say about finished products can make its way back to the people producing them. And underneath it all is a cultivation operation where experienced growers still spend plenty of time worrying about roots, propagation, plant health, and which phenotypes are actually worth keeping.

That last part is where the operation gets particularly hands-on.

Brute’s Roots Starts With the Plant

The earliest stages of cultivation rarely get much attention once cannabis reaches a retail shelf. At Brute’s Roots, they get plenty. Dilla says the company’s passionate cultivators are what set its operation apart from other grows.

Tony, who manages the Mother Room and Propagation operation, is one of them. He has been growing for more than 30 years, and his history in cultivation predates regulated commercial cannabis. He still likes to show people where it started: a cell phone picture of an original sepia-toned film photo from his early days growing.

Other members of the team have committed to the field in a different way, by earning college degrees in cannabis science. The idea is not to choose between formal education and hands-on knowledge, but to put both in the same room and apply them from the beginning of the plant’s life.

That work starts with healthy roots coming out of propagation and healthy vegetative plants moving into the flower room, with the goal of getting the best possible expression from every strain. That philosophy becomes especially important when the company starts looking for its next standout phenotype.

Pheno Hunting Takes Patience

Pheno hunting sounds simple until the work starts piling up. A promising plant still has to prove itself. That can mean taking cuts, reflowering plants, evaluating them again, and deciding whether the traits that looked good the first time are actually worth preserving. For a commercial operation, the question isn’t simply which plant looks impressive. It’s which one can earn a place in the garden and continue to deliver.

“For the team it looks like a lot of care, patience and a keen nose,” Dilla says. Before a new plant enters the garden, the team needs a focused objective and a clear sense of what it is actually looking for.

The company’s most recent hunt centered on Red Lemons, a strain Dilla says he is especially excited about. “It took a long time to narrow it down to the selected pheno, and I think we did a killer job,” he says.

Most customers will never see that process. They see the finished flower. They don’t see the plants that were rejected, the cuts that needed another round of evaluation, or the time spent determining whether a promising candidate could repeat its performance.

That patience is part of what Brute’s Roots wants its cultivation operation to be known for, and it is where Tony’s decades of growing experience come into play.

The Grow Connects to the Larger Operation

Brute’s Roots’ cultivation philosophy also helps explain why the company built a vertically integrated business.

The company’s path ran through New Jersey’s emerging cannabis market. It entered the licensing process in 2019 as Greenhouse Wellness of NJ. After receiving approval in 2021, it began medical sales in 2023 and later expanded into adult use. The operation now includes a 35,000-square-foot cultivation and manufacturing facility, along with retail.

For Brute’s Roots, vertical integration means more than owning multiple pieces of the cannabis supply chain. It creates a shorter distance between cultivation, manufacturing, retail, and the people buying the finished products.

The team can make adjustments in the grow to accommodate new products as they emerge, while customer feedback from retail can travel back in the other direction. The same thinking applies to price. The company works product pricing backward with the goal of offering what Dilla calls “the cheapest flower anyone can find.”

Products Put the Feedback Loop to Work

Dilla points to the Crunch Berriez strain, Mafia Melts Gummies, and Mafia Wifes Pre Rolls as the products that best represent what Brute’s Roots does well.

The feedback loop shows up in product development, too. The company’s festive gummy flavors are one example. The team listened to customers and turned around the new fall flavor line within a month.

Pre-rolls present a different challenge, and Brute’s Roots approaches the category from the cultivation side first. “A lot of people have opinions on pre-rolls, but with our high-quality flower it’s hard to miss,” Dilla says.

South Jersey Is Part of the Formula

The company’s local identity goes back to its founders. Gatto and DiNatale are South Jersey natives, and Dilla describes the region as full of hard-working people who know how to get things done, with “no shortcuts, just hard work and pride in your work.”

That line fits the less glamorous reality of commercial cultivation. Cannabis at this scale is still repetitive, physical, detail-heavy work. For Brute’s Roots, being a South Jersey company means building the business in the region rather than simply slapping a local address on a retail operation.

Keeping the Operation Close to the Customer

There is a practical argument behind the Brute’s Roots model. The closer cultivation, manufacturing, and retail are to one another, the less distance there is between what happens to the plant and what the customer ultimately experiences. That starts in the Mother Room and Propagation operation Tony oversees, where the company’s cultivation process begins.

Brute’s Roots is betting that keeping those connections intact matters. The result is a business model built around the idea that cannabis works better when the people growing it, making it, and selling it are working hand-in-hand rather than operating at arm’s length from one another.

Photos courtesy of Brute’s Roots

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This article was published as part of a paid commercial arrangement with Brute’s Roots. Information about the company’s history, cultivation and phenotype selection practices, product development timeline, and flower pricing goals was provided by Brute’s Roots.

<p>The post Brute’s Roots Is Betting on Patience, Phenotypes, and South Jersey first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Brute’s Roots Is Betting on Patience, Phenotypes, and South Jersey appeared first on Paradise Found.

A new collaboration brings together iconic functional glass, carefully selected cannabis genetics and a mission to get consumers looking beyond THC percentages.

For more than three decades, Jerome Baker Designs has occupied a unique place in cannabis culture. Founded by Jason Harris, the company helped transform functional glass into an art form and became one of the most recognizable names associated with the culture surrounding the plant.

For more than three decades, Jerome Baker Designs has occupied a unique place in cannabis culture. Founded by Jason Harris, the company helped transform functional glass into an art form and became one of the most recognizable names associated with the culture surrounding the plant.

Harris’s story recently got the documentary treatment in “Bong Voyage,” the finale of Hulu’s 4X20: Quick Hits. The film traces his path from the Grateful Dead scene and the rise of Jerome Baker Designs through Operation Pipe Dreams, the federal crackdown that targeted Harris and other glassmakers in the early 2000s.

Now, Jerome Baker Designs is bringing that legacy together with The Kaleidoscope Collective for a collaboration centered on another kind of craftsmanship: cannabis cultivation.

The limited release brings together carefully selected genetics, premium New York flower and the kind of attention to detail that both brands have built their reputations around. The collection will feature limited-edition cultivars, including award-winning genetics, as well as selections developed through The Kaleidoscope Collective’s ongoing work with breeding, phenotype hunting and backcrossing.

The partnership pairs the premium cannabis with bespoke glass and limited-edition merchandise. At the center of the experience are exclusive, numbered box sets—limited to just 250 per collection—featuring a handcrafted Jerome Baker glass pipe, 1, 3.5, & 7 grams of premium, hand-selected New York flower, rolling papers, a matchbook and collector packaging.

Alongside quarter-ounce flower and one-gram pre-rolls positioned at the premium end of the market, the collaboration represents a natural evolution for a brand that has spent decades turning cannabis accessories into collectible works of art.

The partnership with The Kaleidoscope Collective takes that idea one step further, connecting the artistry of Jerome Baker glass with the artistry, genetics and cultivation behind the cannabis itself. It is an opportunity to remind consumers that great cannabis cannot be reduced to one number on a package.

“I’d say Kaleidoscope is the best in New York, and Dave Bavinka is one of the best growers out there I’ve seen on the East Coast,” Harris says of his collaborator. “I just wanted to align with the best.”

Their focus is what they describe as full-flavor, full-bodied cannabis—flower that is evaluated not simply by potency, but by genetics, aroma, flavor, cultivation and the overall experience.

“Everybody’s wondering where you get chronic these days,” Harris says. “We know that these jars hold the chronic.”

The Kaleidoscope Collective’s approach draws inspiration from the traditional cannabis connoisseur experience, when consumers often evaluated flower by the way it looked, smelled and smoked. The goal is to bring that same attention to quality into the regulated marketplace.

“It’s going to be a full-flavored smoke,” Bavinka says. “It’s going to stick to your fingers. It’s going to be perfectly cured.”

The Genetics Behind the Drop

Rather than treating genetics as a static menu, The Kaleidoscope Collective approaches each release as an opportunity to showcase something different.

The collection will draw from exotic genetics, limited-edition cultivars and selections shaped by years of breeding and phenotype hunting. That will include standout award-winning genetics alongside lesser-known selections and proprietary crosses that are still being developed.

For consumers, that means the collection won’t necessarily look the same from one drop to the next. Some selections may be announced ahead of time, while others will remain under wraps until they appear on dispensary menus.

That element of discovery is intentional.

“We’re always working on something new,” Bavinka says. “You never know what’s going to come out of the next round.”

The approach also reflects a broader philosophy shared by the two brands: craftsmanship is often about the details that consumers don’t immediately see. From the genetics selected at the beginning of the process to the cultivation, curing and final presentation, each step contributes to the finished experience.

The Craft Behind the Flower

For Bavinka, cannabis cultivation remains a process of constant experimentation and learning. After decades of growing, he is still exploring new techniques, including under-canopy lighting designed to bring more light to lower portions of the plant. The goal is to improve flower development throughout the canopy and produce more consistent results.

“As a grower, after 25 years, I’m still learning today,” he says.

That commitment to experimentation and craft is part of what makes the collaboration with Jerome Baker feel natural. Jerome Baker has spent decades elevating functional glass beyond its utilitarian purpose. The Kaleidoscope Collective is applying a similar philosophy to cannabis cultivation.

Together, the partners are exploring ways to connect the art surrounding cannabis with the plant itself.

A Return to the Full Experience

Ultimately, the Jerome Baker × Kaleidoscope Collective collaboration is about encouraging consumers to experience cannabis more completely. They want people to look beyond THC percentages and consider the many factors that shape a cultivar, from genetics and terpenes to flavor, aroma and cultivation.

“There’s so much more to the plant,” Bavinka says.

That message is at the heart of this release.

Exotic genetics. Limited-edition drops. Carefully cultivated flower. Bespoke collectible art. And a shared belief that the best cannabis experience is about more than chasing the biggest number on the jar.

For Jerome Baker Designs and The Kaleidoscope Collective, the goal is simple: bring full-flavor chronic back to the conversation.

Photos courtesy of The Kaleidoscope Collective

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This article was published as part of a paid commercial arrangement with [Brand/Sponsor]. It is not independent editorial content. References to products, cannabinoids, formulations, services, consumer use cases, or company claims reflect the sponsor’s perspective unless otherwise noted and have not been independently verified by High Times.

<p>The post Jerome Baker and Kaleidoscope Chase Full-Flavor Weed first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Jerome Baker and Kaleidoscope Chase Full-Flavor Weed appeared first on Paradise Found.

A strange prophecy sends an isolated artist on a three-day collision with grief, love, creativity, and the life he’s spent years avoiding.

What If You Actually Knew?

Most people have entertained the thought at some point: What would you do if you knew exactly when your time was up?

For Kai, the answer arrives from an unlikely source. Already reeling from losing his job as an elementary school art teacher, the lonely artist encounters an oracle at a bar who gives him a brutal deadline: He has three days left to live.

That simple premise drives 3, a new feature written by Michael K. Ward and produced by Sandy Deerman, into territory far more complicated than a supernatural countdown. Kai has spent years carrying grief, family trauma, guilt, and the feeling that he has somehow failed to become the person he was supposed to be. The prophecy doesn’t create those problems. It simply gives him a clock.

Ward originally came to the story after being approached by Chris Abraham and Peter Nay with a basic question: What if someone knew when they were going to die?

“I was like, you know, we can’t give them three weeks. That’s too long,” Ward recalls. “Three hours is too short. But I have this three kind of going through my mind, but three days.”

The idea eventually became a short film that performed well on the festival circuit before expanding into the feature-length 3.

Art, Grief, and the Things We Carry

Kai’s job as an art teacher is more than background decoration. His eventual dismissal, amid budget cuts and questions about the value of arts education, became the first major crack in a life already held together by routine.

That part of the story comes directly from Ward’s own experience. He spent 15 years teaching theater arts at a public school before becoming a college writing teacher, and the film’s concern with arts education grew from that experience.

“The arts are the ones that get cut first,” Ward says. “If they’re gonna do a pull out program, they’re gonna take them out of their arts class.”

Kai is carrying plenty besides the loss of his job. His complicated relationship with his brother, the death of his father, and the responsibility he assumed for his family all shape the way he moves through the world. Even when opportunities finally appear, he has trouble believing he deserves them.

Ward says that emotional weight came from somewhere personal.

“When I watch it, when my wife watches it, you can see there’s a lot of me in there,” he says. “And things that I’ve been through personally.”

That vulnerability is part of what gives 3 its central question some teeth. Knowing you’re going to die doesn’t magically erase everything you’ve been through. If anything, it forces Kai to confront how much of his life has already been spent acting as though he doesn’t deserve to fully live it.

A Three-Day Crash Course in Living

Enter Mia, a nurse who meets Kai just as his strange new deadline begins. Their connection gives the movie its romantic center, but Mia also becomes one of the first people to look past Kai’s defenses and see the person underneath them.

As their relationship develops, Kai has to reckon with something more frightening than the prophecy itself: What happens when somebody actually sees something worthwhile in you?

That tension gives 3 its particular blend of romance, drama, and dark comedy. Ward describes the film as a “dark comedy, romantic dramedy,” a combination that reflects the story’s willingness to move between grief and levity without pretending either one cancels out the other.

The film also features Eric Roberts as the fortune teller who sets the entire story in motion, alongside Michael Paré. Ward says Roberts arrived with the role already mapped out in his head, while Paré took a markedly different approach, spending significant time rehearsing with Caleb Ruminer, who plays our main character Kai.

“Working with two actors of that caliber and that long of a career, it was really interesting watching both of their processes,” Ward says.

The result is a cast that gives the small-town story some familiar faces while keeping the focus on Kai’s increasingly strange final three days.

A Hometown Story With a Counterculture Question

3 was filmed in Las Cruces, New Mexico, although Ward originally wrote the screenplay with Tyler, Texas, in mind. For producer Sandy Deerman, Las Cruces offered something more personal. She grew up there, and the house used as Kai’s home was actually her mother’s house.

Ward says the location ultimately fit the story because he wanted the film to have a hometown quality that could belong to almost anyone.

“A hometown is different for everybody,” he says. “So that’s kind of what I feel like Las Cruces did.”

There is also a natural connection between 3 and the kind of late-night existential questions that have long been part of cannabis culture. This isn’t a stoner comedy, nor is cannabis the point of the story. But the movie’s central thought experiment—if you had only three days left, would you finally stop worrying about what might happen and start actually living?—is exactly the sort of question that can send a smoke session down a surprisingly deep rabbit hole.

And that may be the most interesting reason for High Times readers to spend some time with 3. Beneath the prophecy, romance, family history, and dark humor is a question that doesn’t require a supernatural fortune teller to become uncomfortable:

How much of your life are you actually living right now?

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This article was published as part of a paid commercial arrangement with the producers of 3. Details about the film’s plot and premise, its origins and development, casting and production, filming locations, and the accounts and quotes attributed to writer Michael K. Ward and producer Sandy Deerman reflect information provided by the sponsor.

<p>The post ‘3’ Asks What You’d Do If You Knew You Had 72 Hrs Left first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post ‘3’ Asks What You’d Do If You Knew You Had 72 Hrs Left appeared first on Paradise Found.

Colorado was one of the first states to legalize adult-use cannabis, and more than a decade later it offers an early look at what happens after a market matures: falling wholesale prices, ongoing consolidation, and many operators that have been acquired, changed direction, or closed.

Jonny Radding is still here.

A founding partner of Durango Organics, Radding has spent close to fifteen years in Colorado cannabis—first in the medical market, then through the launch and grind of adult-use sales. The company began like many others: small garage grows, homemade nutrient programs, and a learning process based largely on trial and error. Today it runs greenhouse cultivation, medical licenses, and multiple retail locations across the state’s southwest corner.

“We were bootstrapping everything,” Radding said. “Power upgrades, perpetual-grow scheduling, nutrient recipes—we were figuring it out as we went.”

The five lessons that kept him in business, he says, had less to do with growing cannabis than with building an operation that could withstand market volatility.

1: Legacy Growers Still Have a Place, If They Adapt

The prevailing wisdom for years held that small and legacy operators were destined to get steamrolled by better-capitalized competitors. Radding rejects the premise.

“The idea that legacy growers can’t compete anymore—I don’t buy it,” he said.

What’s changed isn’t whether craft matters, but what has to accompany it. Passion for the plant still counts, he argues, but only when it’s paired with operational discipline: compliance, standard operating procedures, and repeatable systems that don’t depend on a single grower’s instinct. For Durango Organics, that meant moving cultivation into greenhouse environments, tightening production schedules, and formalizing practices that the team once ran on feel.

“What makes legacy growers special is still important,” Radding said. “That relationship with the plant still matters. But you have to match it with the discipline and adaptability the industry demands today.”

Even established techniques continue to change. High Times’ coverage of the shrinking role of the vegetative phase shows how quickly accepted practices can shift. The operators who last tend to be the ones who keep learning.

2: Scale Infrastructure, Not Just Canopy

A common mistake Radding sees is operators expanding production before the rest of the business can carry it.

“It’s tempting to go big the moment things start working,” he said. “But growing more cannabis isn’t the same thing as growing a cannabis business.”

Durango Organics hit its own stretches where growth threatened to outrun the infrastructure underneath it. Rather than max out square footage, the company added canopy in stages and built the support systems in parallel—expanding drying capacity, upgrading power, and investing in people before it added another room. Perpetual-harvest systems, Radding warns, are especially vulnerable when operators scale too aggressively.

“If you’re not staggered appropriately, you can end up drowning in harvests,” he said. “You burn out your team or miss product windows.”

Producing more biomass isn’t the goal. The goal is a workflow that stays manageable and profitable as volume increases—a distinction that matters more as wholesale prices continue to decline.

3: Consistency Is the Whole Game

If there’s one idea Radding returns to, it’s consistency—and he’s found that the way to achieve it is by simplifying.

Like many growers who entered the industry during legalization’s early years, he built feeding programs from forum recommendations, peer advice, and a growing collection of products.

“There were years where we were running these crazy concoctions with a million different things in them,” he said.

The problem wasn’t the complexity so much as what it hid. Every variable was another thing that could go wrong, and another thing to rule out when it did. “We were always troubleshooting something. Wondering whether the product was the issue or if we’d just mismeasured.” As the company matured, it standardized its inputs and pared the program down, building the feeding schedule around CANNA Nutrients, whose lines are designed for a specific substrate rather than a one-size-fits-all bottle. Matching the feed to the growing medium—coco, soil, or a recirculating system—reduced the number of variables rather than adding to them.

“You don’t need a shelf full of additives to grow exceptional flower,” Radding said. “You need the right tools and the discipline to use them consistently.”

For Durango Organics, CANNA’s OMRI-listed organic nutrient line became part of that discipline—a fixed input the crew could trust while they troubleshot everything else. 

That clean, repeatable starting material also benefits later stages of production. At Durango Organics, trim and biomass aren’t a waste stream—they’re a second revenue line. “Our trim becomes oil that we can wholesale,” Radding said. As solventless products, hash, and premium extracts continue to take market share, more cultivators are making grow-room decisions with processing outcomes in mind, such as wash-focused cultivation and extraction-driven genetics.

“The cleaner and more consistent your starting material is,” he said, “the easier everything becomes downstream.”

4: Differentiate or Drown in the Price War

Few factors have shaped the modern market more than downward pressure on pricing. As supply swells and competition tightens, growers increasingly compete on two numbers: THC percentage and price per pound. Radding thinks that’s a losing position for anyone trying to build something durable.

“When the market floods with low-quality, low-priced flower, our edge isn’t volume,” he said. “It’s distinction.”

For Durango Organics, that distinction comes from an organic growing philosophy paired with control of the product from cultivation through retail—enough of a chain that the company can tell a fuller story about how the flower was made. Radding is clear-eyed about the ceiling on the story, though.

“Most consumers are driven by potency first,” he said. “So we meet the market where it’s at.”

So the company supplements its own flower with select wholesale products for THC-focused consumers, then uses its retail locations to highlight what it grows in-house—reaching multiple customer segments while maintaining a distinct identity. In a competitive market, strong business relationships remain essential.

“This industry is still pretty insular,” Radding said. “If you’re not careful about being a good B2B partner, you can end up on a lonely road.”

5: Culture Is the One Edge You Can’t Copy

Technology, compliance, and market conditions have all changed over the past decade. People, Radding says, have remained the constant. At his company, retention and workplace culture get treated as strategy rather than an afterthought—and the same logic runs all the way out to the retail counter.

“At the end of the day, our success comes from building a team that loves cannabis as much as we do,” he said. “We try to give everyone who walks into our stores the best five or ten minutes of their day.”

It’s an advantage competitors can’t easily replicate, and, he admits, one of the most difficult to scale. After nearly fifteen years, it remains a priority he continues to invest in.

“Evolving doesn’t mean selling out,” Radding said. “You can stay true to your roots and still build a business that lasts.”

Great flower doesn’t happen by accident. If you’re ready to level up your cultivation, connect with the team at CANNA and see how the right nutrient program can help your operation thrive. 

Photos courtesy of CANNA

Sponsored Content Disclosure: CANNA USA sponsored this article as part of a paid partnership with High Times. The story draws on Jonny Radding’s experience operating Durango Organics and includes CANNA products as part of the cultivation practices he describes. This is not an independent product review or cultivation recommendation. Statements about CANNA products, nutrient programs, and their role in Durango Organics’ operation reflect the experiences and claims presented by the participants unless otherwise sourced, and have not been independently tested or verified by High Times.

<p>The post Five Lessons From a Colorado Grower Who Survived Cannabis’ Boom and Bust first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Five Lessons From a Colorado Grower Who Survived Cannabis’ Boom and Bust appeared first on Paradise Found.

New Jersey’s THC beverage market is heading into the most consequential stretch of its short life. A federal change to the definition of hemp takes effect in November 2026, and the state has set November 13 as the last day licensed liquor stores can sell hemp-derived THC drinks. After that date, any beverage carrying a meaningful dose of THC moves into the same regulated system as flower, vapes, and edibles, sold only through licensed dispensaries. 

For the brands that built their followings in liquor-store aisles and grocery coolers, the deadline marks a real turning point. One New Jersey company has spent the past year preparing for it in an unusual way, by making the same drink twice.

High Tide, a seltzer brand based in southern New Jersey, produces four flavors in two separate formulations. There is a 10-milligram hemp-derived version that has lived in the liquor-store and direct-to-consumer world, and a 5-milligram cannabis version, made with what the company describes as real marijuana, that is sold only in licensed dispensaries. 

The flavors are identical on both sides: Citrus Surge, Lemon Lime Splash, Island Punch, and Riptide Cola. The drinks are vegan and made without artificial dyes, added sugar, or alcohol. The two-track approach looks, at first glance, like a careful hedge against a shifting regulatory map. 

According to the company, it started as something much smaller.

A Taste Test That Outgrew Its Purpose

High Tide’s hemp line was not originally conceived as a product. It began as a way for the team to taste what they were building. Because the flavor emulsion tastes nearly the same in either formulation, the company wanted to sample the profiles before committing to a full production run on the cannabis side. At the time, no one else in the state was producing real marijuana-derived drinks, and the priority was making sure the finished product would be as pleasant to drink as it was to look at.

Taste came first. The goal was to find flavors that worked so naturally with the earthy character of the cannabis emulsion that a drinker would not register it as a separate note. “We were absolutely not trying to hide the flavor of the emulsion but instead wanted to find flavors that worked so well with it that you don’t even recognize it,” the company says. The hemp version was the test kitchen for that work. 

In the company’s own words, “it was never actually supposed to stick around. It was just so we could really taste it. The people had other plans.”

Those plans became clear when High Tide brought the drinks to MJUnpacked, an industry trade event. The response to the hemp beverages was immediate and large, both as a preview of the cannabis line and as a product in their own right. With manufacturing on the marijuana side still a few months from being fully ready, the company made a decision that reshaped its business: it kept the hemp drinks in production to meet the demand. 

What had been a temporary sampling tool became half of the catalog, and the reaction to the flavors and the effect convinced the team that they had found something worth keeping on both sides of the aisle.

The Insight Hiding in the Demand

The more revealing part of that early response was not the enthusiasm for a new drink. It was what the enthusiasm seemed to be about. As the company describes it, the market was not short on beverages. It was short on something the beverage represented. “The market was not missing a category, a ‘drink,’ but the market was missing the social element that came with that product,” High Tide says. “Not a drink but the social acceptance and inclusion that ‘drinking’ brings.”

That framing lines up with where the broader THC beverage category has been heading, positioned less as liquid cannabis and more as an alternative to alcohol for people who still want a cold drink in hand at a gathering. High Tide leans into that idea directly, with packaging that promises a lifted mood and a clean finish, and a tagline that warns the drinks are smooth enough to make a person forget there is THC in them. The company’s stated goal is to bring the fun back to social consumption without the next-morning cost of alcohol.

The customer base has turned out to be broad. According to the company, buyers include people replacing alcohol entirely, people adding the drinks to other forms of cannabis consumption, and experienced consumers who use the low dose as a social option rather than a strong one. 

“For those that have a higher tolerance this is not going to blast you to the moon,” the company says. The team has watched customers treat the seltzers as a mixer and even as the base for an ice cream float. The through-line is flexibility. The drink is designed to slot into whatever social moment a person is already in.

Two Shelves, Two Shoppers

If the demand told High Tide what people wanted, selling on both sides of New Jersey’s split market has taught the company something about who those people are. The two channels do not attract the same shopper, and the difference is not only about product. It is about comfort.

“Some hemp drinkers have never been in a dispensary, while most cannabis consumers have seen the inside of a liquor store,” the company observes. That single asymmetry explains a great deal about why the coming shift is more complicated than a simple change of address. The liquor store is familiar ground for nearly everyone. The dispensary, with its ID scan, its regulations, and its association with cannabis specifically, still carries friction for a segment of the beverage audience that found these drinks precisely because they did not require a trip to one. 

Both groups, the company notes, are ultimately after the same thing. They are just arriving from different directions.

That overlap points to a possibility the company is careful not to overstate. If the hemp drinks reach people who have never set foot in a dispensary, they may end up serving as an on-ramp, a low-stakes introduction that makes the licensed cannabis market feel less foreign. “Will hemp be a bridge for some consumers to find a path to cannabis and break down a barrier?” the company asks. “Maybe. And if so we welcome being able to contribute to that progress for the plant.” Whether or not that proves true at scale, High Tide’s presence on both shelves has given it something rarer than a single loyal audience: recognition from shoppers on either side of a divide that the state is about to make permanent.

The looming deadline has added a layer of urgency to how those shoppers behave. High Tide reports that some hemp drinkers are stocking up, setting aside higher-dose products and familiar brands from liquor-store shelves while they still can. Retailers are reacting unevenly. Some are pulling in whatever inventory they can find, while others have paused new orders entirely. Visits to stores, the company says, have not turned up empty shelves so far.

All of this is playing out inside a state market that was already under pressure. New Jersey’s legal cannabis industry has grown quickly to more than 250 licensed dispensaries, with tight margins and stiff competition, and operators have watched the hemp market draw consumers away from the regulated one. The November deadline is, in part, an attempt to pull those consumers back inside the licensed system.

What Changes on November 13

The mechanics of the shift are set in state law. Since late May 2026, an intoxicating hemp beverage sold in New Jersey has been capped at 5 milligrams of THC per serving and 10 milligrams per container. Licensed liquor stores and cannabis retailers have been permitted to sell within those limits during a transition window. That window closes on November 13, 2026. 

After it, a beverage containing more than a trace amount of THC is treated as cannabis rather than hemp, which means it can be produced and sold only through the licensed cannabis supply chain. Lawmakers have revisited the rules several times, including proposals to change container sizes and potency ceilings, but the November cutoff for liquor-store sales has remained in place through each revision. Anyone planning around it should confirm the current status close to the date, since the timeline has moved once already.

For most hemp beverage brands, that cutoff is a hard problem. For High Tide, it is a decision the company has been positioned to make. Its cannabis line is already inside the system that survives the deadline, and the company reports that the real marijuana drinks are stocked in more than 50 New Jersey dispensaries, a number it says is still growing. The open question is what happens to the 10-milligram hemp version once liquor stores can no longer carry it.

The company frames the answer as a fork rather than a crisis. “We either move the 10mg hemp into dispensaries exclusively or we discontinue it,” High Tide says. “Either way we decided to go down both paths so we would be here for the consumers no matter what.” On the potency debate, the company expects the 5-milligram serving standard to hold, and says it has options ready if the rules change instead. That readiness is the practical payoff of an origin story that began as a taste test. 

By building both versions early, High Tide gave itself a path through the deadline that does not depend on which way the rules finally break.

Building for Whatever Comes Next

High Tide describes itself less as a cannabis company or an alcohol-alternative company than as a brand built around a feeling. The team is from just outside Philadelphia in southern New Jersey, and the reference points are local and specific: a drink worth raising at a beach gathering, a tailgate, a New Year’s toast, a quiet end to an ordinary day. The company says its founders are drinkers at heart who wanted an option for themselves, something cold and refreshing with a light lift and none of the regret.

That identity is meant to travel across whatever channel the state leaves open. “If we don’t have to pick a side, we won’t,” the company says. “If we do have to stop producing the hemp High Tides, we will. Either way, High Tide will be here.” As New Jersey’s market continues to consolidate around the licensed system, and as the state’s cannabis scene keeps drawing national attention, the brands most likely to endure are the ones that understood early what their customers were really buying. High Tide’s read is that people were never only after a drink. They were after a reason to gather, and a way to be part of it. The company intends to keep supplying both, on whichever shelf the tide leaves it standing on.

Photos courtey of High Tide

Partner Content Disclosure: This article was produced in connection with a promotional partnership with High Tide. Reporting is based on interviews with the High Tide team and information shared during those conversations about the company, its products, and its experience in New Jersey’s THC beverage market.

<p>The post New Jersey Is Kicking THC Drinks Out of Liquor Stores. High Tide Has a Plan. first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post New Jersey Is Kicking THC Drinks Out of Liquor Stores. High Tide Has a Plan. appeared first on Paradise Found.

Cannabis and sound system culture have shared a history for decades. At Submersion Festival this fall, Magic Garden Botanicals’ Smoke Village continues it.

Submersion Festival returns to Paradise Lakes Campground in Hammonton, New Jersey, from October 1 through 3, bringing three days of bass music to the edge of the Pine Barrens. Hosted by the Philadelphia and New York collectives Aspire Higher and Transmit, the festival is built around sound system culture, with styles including UK bass, dub, jungle, and dubstep played across two stages from early afternoon until sunrise.

The lakeside Beach Stage runs a Funktion-One rig, while the Woods Stage features a large custom-built system. It is a boutique, independently run event, open to attendees 21 and over.

This year, Magic Garden Botanicals is sponsoring the Smoke Village, a dedicated cannabis space within the festival. The pairing fits the setting more closely than a typical festival sponsorship, for reasons that reach back decades.

A Festival Setting With a Long Memory

Sound system culture began in Kingston, Jamaica, in the years after World War II. Operators assembled mobile setups of amplifiers, turntables, and large speaker stacks, then staged dances in yards and halls across the city. Those dances helped popularize ska and rocksteady, and they produced the selectors and toasters who were early forerunners of the modern DJ and MC.

Cannabis ran through the culture from the beginning. Ganja carried sacramental significance in the Rastafari communities that shaped the music’s message, and it was part of the ritual of the dance itself. That connection produced one of the most recognizable cannabis statements in popular music, Peter Tosh’s 1976 single “Legalize It.”

The link ran beyond lyrics and into the way the music was made. In the 1970s, Jamaican engineers such as King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry stripped existing recordings down into bass-forward “versions,” inventing dub and, with it, the blueprint for the remix. Dancehall, hip-hop, drum and bass, and dubstep all owe a debt to that studio experimentation, which took shape inside the same sound system culture where cannabis was a constant presence.

As Caribbean communities settled in the United Kingdom, sound system culture traveled with them. Homemade rigs in cities such as London and Liverpool became a backbone of Afro-Caribbean community life and testing grounds for new styles. Dub influenced jungle, jungle developed into drum and bass, and by the early 2000s the lineage extended to dubstep, known for its half-time rhythms and heavy sub-bass.

A dedicated cannabis space at a bass festival, then, continues a tradition of communal areas that traces back to the earliest sound system dances, rather than introducing something unrelated to the music on the stages.

The Smoke Village Fits the Moment

The sponsorship arrives at a significant point for on-site cannabis consumption in New Jersey, where for most of the state’s legal history there were few lawful places to consume outside a private residence. The state’s Smoke-Free Air Act restricts cannabis use in indoor public spaces, and public consumption is limited across parks, beaches, and most shared areas, which left adults able to buy from licensed dispensaries but often without anywhere legal to use what they bought.

That began to change in 2025. In July, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved the state’s first cannabis consumption area endorsements, and the first lounges opened that August in Atlantic City, Merchantville, and Newark. These are designated spaces attached to licensed dispensaries where adults 21 and over can consume on-site. They require municipal approval, operate under strict ventilation standards, cannot sell food or alcohol, and prohibit patrons from leaving with an open package.

The process is gradual and closely regulated, but it marks a shift toward legal, communal consumption of the kind that has long been central to sound system culture. The Smoke Village reflects that same movement at a festival scale, arriving in the same period the state has begun to formally permit on-site consumption areas.

Local Flower, House-Made Oil, And A New Jersey Brand

Magic Garden Botanicals is a Tri-State cannabis company founded in 2024 and operating across New York and New Jersey. The brand describes its approach as rooted in legacy and reimagined for luxury, aimed at New York and New Jersey consumers, and its best-known product is a pre-roll.

Magic Garden’s products start with flower grown in New York and New Jersey, which the company treats as central to its identity rather than a logistical detail. That flower forms the base of its pre-rolls, while its vapes, gummies, and concentrates are built from house-produced oil made by a method the company calls Advanced Phytonic Extraction, or APE.

According to Magic Garden, the process uses non-chlorinated fluoro-hydrocarbon solvents known as phytosols, which it describes as non-flammable, non-toxic, and inert, in place of options such as hydrocarbons or supercritical CO2. The same oil runs across the full range, which the brand frames as a way to keep the experience consistent from one format to the next, and it makes certificates of analysis available for potency and purity.

That pre-roll, the Loosie, has earned considerable recognition in a short span. It won Best Non-Infused Pre-Roll at MJUnpacked in New Jersey in 2025. At the first High Times Cannabis Cup New Jersey, held at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City on May 1, 2026 and judged by more than 2,500 members of the state’s cannabis community, Magic Garden took first place in two pre-roll categories: Standard Pre-Rolls with the Loosie, and Infused Pre-Rolls Hybrid with the Loosie Hash Hole. For a company that launched the same year New Jersey’s young adult-use market was still finding its footing, those results reflect a rapid rise.

Loosie anchors the lineup. It is an infused pre-roll, meaning the flower is packed with concentrate rather than rolled on its own, a construction the brand says produces a slow, even burn and a fuller terpene profile than a standard joint.

The award-winning Loosie Hash Hole runs a core of hash through the center of the roll, and the Loosie comes in strain-specific options across indica, hybrid, and sativa. Around it sit the 5 On It pre-roll five-pack made for sharing, the E Jay disposable vape, Dartz disposable dab syringes that dispense measured doses of full-spectrum concentrate, and Flat Headz, a vegan gummy line the company says is infused only with its own full-spectrum oil rather than hemp-derived cannabinoids.

The Culture Is in the Setting

Submersion Festival brings the whole thing into one place: bass music, large sound systems, a lakeside campground, and a dedicated cannabis space. The pairing works not because a cannabis company found a music festival to sponsor. It is that the culture surrounding the music has a history with cannabis that predates the sponsorship by generations.

The Smoke Village reflects that same movement at a festival scale, arriving as the state begins to formally permit on-site consumption areas.

For anyone heading to the festival, the appeal is bigger than another place to buy or another branded activation to walk through. It is a chance to experience cannabis culture in a setting where sound, community, and shared space have always been part of the experience.

The Loosie and the rest of the Magic Garden Botanicals line are available at licensed dispensaries across New Jersey.

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This story was created under a paid commercial arrangement with Magic Garden Botanicals. Historical and regulatory information is attributed to outside sources throughout the article. Descriptions of Magic Garden Botanicals, its products, production methods, and festival participation are based on company-provided information unless otherwise noted.

<p>The post Magic Garden Botanicals Meets Sound System Culture first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Magic Garden Botanicals Meets Sound System Culture appeared first on Paradise Found.

In April 2026, the federal government moved medical cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, the most significant change to marijuana’s federal status in more than 50 years. Over the summer, a Drug Enforcement Administration hearing took up the larger question of whether adult-use cannabis should follow, wrapping in mid-July with a recommendation still pending. For an industry that has spent more than a decade largely locked out of ordinary financial services, it read like a turning point. The banking rules, however, did not change.

Rescheduling recognizes that cannabis has accepted medical use and eases certain federal restrictions, but it does not create a safe harbor for the banks and credit unions that serve the industry. Schedule III is not legalization, and financial institutions remain bound by the same federal compliance obligations they carried before the order. The distance between what the change appears to mean and what actually governs cannabis banking is the environment operators continue to work in.

Black Hills Federal Credit Union has been serving cannabis businesses since 2023, and its experience offers a clear view of how financial institutions actually work with licensed operators, what those operators need from a banking partner, and where the system continues to fall short.

What Rescheduling Actually Changed

For the institutions that bank the industry, the April order had far less practical effect than the coverage suggested. Austin Trapp, a High Risk Business Specialist at BHFCU who works directly with the credit union’s cannabis members, describes it in plain terms.

“At this time, the rescheduling has not changed any banking practices in how we monitor our cannabis members,” Trapp said. The enhanced due diligence, the elevated reporting, the continuous license tracking, all of it continues exactly as it did before.

The order signaled possible future change without altering current requirements. Trapp said the credit union “remains hopeful that, with the rescheduling, the changes related to enhanced due diligence will be implemented in the near future.” For now, the work of banking a cannabis business looks the same in the second half of 2026 as it did in the first. Rescheduling alone was never going to open banking access. That requires either an act of Congress or a financial institution willing to take on the compliance work without it.

Why a South Dakota Credit Union Entered Cannabis Banking

BHFCU is not a large national bank entering the space for a new revenue stream. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Rapid City, it is a member-owned credit union built on the cooperative model that credit unions have used for generations. When South Dakota voters approved cannabis at the ballot box in 2020, the credit union began studying whether and how it could serve the businesses that would follow.

The reasoning Trapp offers goes back to what a credit union is for. “Our purpose in exploring how to work with these businesses stems from the reason credit unions were developed: to serve underserved communities,” he said. “We realized that cannabis entities did not have equal access to banking options, which gave us the opportunity to assist in the way we know best.”

Cannabis has been one of the most conspicuously underbanked legal industries in the country. Because marijuana remains federally controlled, most large banks treat cannabis proceeds as carrying unacceptable regulatory risk and decline the business outright, leaving operators to move large volumes of cash, pay employees in cash, and seek out the small number of institutions willing to serve them. Federal data has long shown only a few hundred banks and credit unions filing the reports required to serve the sector nationwide, a small total relative to the size of the industry.

BHFCU’s reach is national in principle but deliberate in practice. The credit union has the ability to serve cannabis-related businesses across the United States, but it does not automatically bank operators everywhere. Before taking on a business in a state or tribal nation where it does not already work, BHFCU reviews both the general banking laws and the specific cannabis ordinance of that jurisdiction, then monitors those rules on an ongoing basis for changes that could affect its ability to bank or that could hurt its members. In each case, entering a new market requires substantial legal review before any account is opened.

What Operators Get, and What Compliance Requires

For an operator, the appeal of a dedicated cannabis program is that it functions like ordinary business banking. Through its cannabis banking program, BHFCU offers members the full range of depository products, checking, savings, and certificates, along with the payment tools most businesses take for granted: debit cards, checks, wires, and ACH origination. It also extends real estate lending, some equipment lending, and credit cards to cannabis members.

“We can give potential members what they need and guide them on the different products if they are unsure,” Trapp said. Much of the early work involves helping an operator who arrives asking for one product understand the full set of tools available to a banked business.

Behind those standard products sits a compliance process that ordinary business accounts do not require. Banking a cannabis business means continuously demonstrating, to federal satisfaction, that the money is clean. “Financial institutions are required to make a reasonable determination that the funds coming into the account are from legitimate state-legalized sales,” Trapp said. In practice, that means collecting a member’s point-of-sale data and reconciling it against the deposits that hit the account, a degree of scrutiny ordinary business accounts do not receive.

Because cannabis remains a cash-intensive business, the reporting volume runs high as well. Institutions that serve marijuana-related businesses file suspicious activity reports on those accounts as a matter of routine rather than exception, under guidance the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued in 2014 and has never rescinded. Those filings follow a set rhythm, an initial report when the relationship begins and continuing reports on a recurring cycle for as long as the account stays open, and they sit on top of the ordinary anti-money-laundering obligations every bank carries. Alongside the reporting, BHFCU maintains current records on each member’s licenses, business operations, and ownership, and updates them as those details change.

That workload is the reason cannabis accounts carry a fee that an ordinary business account does not. The premium is often a point of friction for operators, but it covers the specific, labor-intensive compliance required to keep the account aligned with federal expectations.

Where Cannabis Banking Still Falls Short

For all that a mature program can offer, Trapp is direct about where the system continues to fail operators, and the shortfall is not unique to his credit union. Deposits and payments have become increasingly accessible for cannabis businesses. Access to capital has not.

“Cannabis businesses remain at a disadvantage: products cannot be used as collateral due to licensing requirements, whereas in other industries this is possible,” Trapp said. 

Most lending requires collateral, and a cannabis operator’s most valuable asset, its inventory, generally cannot be pledged the way businesses in other industries borrow against their stock. The state license that makes the product legal cannot simply transfer to a lender in a default, which leaves the inventory largely unusable as security. The result is an industry with growing access to accounts and very little access to credit. Trapp identifies lending as the single biggest area for improvement in cannabis banking, and it is a gap the whole sector shares.

The obvious remedy is federal legislation, and it is back on the table. The SAFE Banking Act returned to Congress in 2026, this time extending its proposed protections to the ancillary businesses and hemp operators that support the industry. The bill has cleared the House repeatedly over the years and stalled as many times in the Senate, and even its sponsors frame it as necessary despite the recent rescheduling rather than because of it.

BHFCU has not structured its program around whether the bill passes. “The passing of the SAFE Banking Act will not affect the day-to-day operation of our cannabis program,” Trapp said. “We have built our program around other federal guidance to ensure we act and work with cannabis entities in ways that align with federal expectations.” Those guardrails, he said, include FinCEN’s guidance, the federal enforcement priorities once laid out in the Cole Memorandum, and the 2018 Farm Bill, a framework that gave the credit union the confidence to enter cannabis banking years before Congress acted and that would continue to govern the program whether or not a bill passes. Passage would affirm the credit union’s existing approach rather than require it to change course.

Where it Goes From Here

As the industry matures, the definition of a banking partner is widening beyond the deposit account. BHFCU already offers ACH origination and cashless ATM options to its cannabis members, part of a broader shift away from the all-cash model that has made dispensaries targets and complicated compliance throughout the industry. Reducing the cash held at a cannabis business is also a public-safety measure, and one of the central arguments banking-reform advocates have made for years.

The credit union is also building outward through vetted partnerships, connecting members to compliance-checked vendors for services such as payroll and insurance so that operators can avoid providers that may later decline to work with cannabis businesses.

“Our members know they are working with a reputable company that supports cannabis,” Trapp said, “and do not have to stress about issues down the road.” The credit union expects that network of options to keep expanding as the industry grows.

This part of cannabis banking draws less attention than a federal rescheduling order. Cannabis’s federal status will continue to change gradually, and each development tends to raise expectations that the underlying banking rules have not yet met. In the meantime, cannabis businesses still need to deposit revenue, access credit, and pay employees. Black Hills Federal Credit Union’s cannabis banking program is built around the industry’s current conditions rather than a future federal framework that has not yet arrived.

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This article was published as part of a paid commercial arrangement with Black Hills Federal Credit Union. It is not independent editorial content. Statements regarding BHFCU’s cannabis banking program, account services, lending, fees, compliance practices, eligibility, and interpretation of federal or state banking requirements reflect information provided by the sponsor unless otherwise noted. Banking products and services are subject to eligibility, underwriting, jurisdictional requirements, and change. This article does not constitute legal, financial, or compliance advice.

<p>The post Cannabis Banking Is Still Broken. This Credit Union Built Around It. first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Cannabis Banking Is Still Broken. This Credit Union Built Around It. appeared first on Paradise Found.

The founders of LEVIA took opposite paths after selling the brand. What they learned on either side of the deal eventually brought them back together.

When Eric and Kristin Rogers built LEVIA, they were not exactly entering a market that was begging for another cannabis beverage. They were laughed out of rooms.

Then came 2018 and the “Summer of White Claw,” when hard seltzer went from novelty to cultural phenomenon. Suddenly, the idea of a cannabis-infused seltzer had a frame consumers already understood. LEVIA could offer a similar format without the alcohol, calories, or sugar. The early signal was hard to miss. Before the first production run was even in the can, the sales team had sold through the drinks. Then the reorders started coming.

“Fast forward to launch and pre-selling every drink in the dead of winter was a good indicator we were on the right path,” Eric said. “What was exciting was how quickly the re-orders started coming through. By the 6-week mark we knew we were on a rocket ship!”

The rocket eventually became something else: a company large enough to be acquired.

When the Ayr deal closed in 2022, the founders went in different directions. Kristin stayed inside the MSO, while Eric stepped away as the build had taken a toll and the family needed his attention. It was an unusual position for two people who were married, business partners, and founders of the same company. They were now learning what LEVIA had become from opposite sides of the same transaction.

For Eric, watching from the outside made the changes especially difficult. Kristin had a different view. She was inside the machine, watching an entrepreneurial brand become one small piece of a much larger public company.

“Decisions that make complete sense for an MSO don’t necessarily make sense for an individual brand, its consumers, or the people who built it,” Kristin said.

Still, the years inside Ayr taught her something she couldn’t have learned by staying outside.

“I learned what parts of LEVIA were truly scalable, what consumers were actually loyal to, and which parts of the brand couldn’t be compromised without changing what made it special.”

That difference became the foundation for the next chapter.

“I think Eric learned from the outside that LEVIA had become bigger than us,” Kristin said. “I learned from the inside that it still needed the two of us.”

The Market Moved While They Were Apart

The most consequential shift wasn’t happening inside LEVIA. It was happening around it. In late 2023, Eric traveled to Nashville on what he describes as a fact-finding trip. Hemp beverages were exploding, and he kept hearing about cannabis lounges operating in a state where cannabis itself wasn’t legal. The contradiction was the point.

After visiting the market, Eric saw a beverage category reaching consumers through a completely different retail infrastructure. Hemp beverages could show up on-premise and in liquor stores, while regulated cannabis companies had spent years investing enormous sums in dispensary networks. For a publicly traded MSO, that created an obvious structural problem.

“It’s not that MSO’s didn’t see where the market was going, they had to try and protect the infrastructure they already built,” Eric said. “At that moment in time, this was a threat to the MSO business model.”

Eric and Kristin brought the idea of leaning harder into hemp to Ayr in late 2023. It wasn’t well received. But the “no” created an opening. If LEVIA couldn’t pursue the opportunity the way its founders believed it should, another question emerged: What would happen if they got the company back?

Buying Back the Brand Meant Starting Over

The easy version of the buyback story is that the founders missed their company and wanted their baby back. The reality sounds considerably less sentimental.

“There wasn’t one dramatic moment when I said, ‘We have to buy LEVIA back,’” Kristin said. “It was a thousand smaller moments.”

The problem wasn’t that the brand had stopped existing. It was that the qualities that had made it entrepreneurial were getting harder to preserve inside a much larger organization. LEVIA had originally moved quickly. The founders listened closely to consumers and retailers, changed what wasn’t working, and chased opportunities when they appeared. Inside an MSO, that kind of speed and autonomy became harder to maintain.

“Over time, innovation slowed,” Kristin said. “Opportunities we believed were important weren’t always priorities at the corporate level.”

Hemp became the clearest example of the difference in perspective. To the founders, it represented a new route to consumers. To a company that had invested heavily in regulated dispensary infrastructure, it presented a very different calculation. The buyback, then, wasn’t about recreating the company they had sold.

“The market had changed, consumers had changed, and we had changed,” Kristin said. “We wanted the ability to build the next version of LEVIA.”

That meant bringing back the entrepreneurial engine first. Then came innovation, relationships, a broader product pipeline, and the ability to pursue opportunities across regulated cannabis and hemp. Most of all, they wanted to bring back experimentation.

“LEVIA started because people told us cannabis beverages wouldn’t work,” Kristin said. “We don’t ever want to become the company that stops doing something because someone tells us, ‘That’s not how this industry works.’”

Making Cannabis Easier to Understand

That willingness to challenge industry assumptions was present from the beginning. LEVIA’s founders deliberately built the brand around effects rather than asking consumers to navigate a maze of strain names. Eric’s marketing background pushed the company toward a traditional consumer packaged goods framework rather than simply copying cannabis branding conventions.

The goal wasn’t to declare sativa, indica, or hybrid obsolete. It was to make the shopping decision less dependent on whether a consumer could keep track of a constantly changing catalog of strain names.

“The strain name game is confusing and hard to track how strain A vs B will make you feel,” Eric said.

LEVIA instead wanted to build what he describes as curated experiences around anticipated effects and outcomes, while using full-spectrum oil in its drinks to capture a broader range of cannabinoids. That created its own challenge: convincing consumers that consistency was possible in a category where the experience can be considerably more complicated than a single-substance product.

The founders’ answer was to do more of the work behind the scenes and make the consumer experience simpler on the other side. This philosophy runs through the brand’s larger story. LEVIA’s founders have repeatedly been willing to question the assumptions surrounding how cannabis products are made, sold, and understood.

That doesn’t mean every bet has been easy.

It means they’re willing to make the bet.

The Safety Question Gets Personal

For Kristin, the expansion into hemp comes with a particularly complicated responsibility.

Before LEVIA, she spent more than 15 years working in mental health and substance-use treatment. Her professional background makes the industry’s loose edges difficult to ignore, particularly when THC products appear in retail environments alongside ordinary convenience-store goods.

Her answer isn’t to pretend the category shouldn’t exist. It’s to demand that the companies entering it take responsibility for what they put into the market.

“My concern has never been that hemp-derived THC products exist,” Kristin said. “My concern is how they’re made, how they’re marketed, where they’re sold, and who has access to them.”

LEVIA’s approach, she said, is to treat hemp beverages as adult beverages and focus on adult-oriented retail environments and age-gated channels.

“We’re also bringing the standards we learned in regulated cannabis with us,” she said. “We don’t suddenly forget those principles because a product is being sold through a different regulatory channel.”

For Kristin, regulation and growth aren’t opposing ideas.

“I’m incredibly bullish on hemp beverages,” she said. “I’m equally bullish on regulating them like the adult products they are. Those two positions can, and should, exist together.”

That philosophy also informs another part of the founders’ work: education.

Sometimes Normalization Means Asking Better Questions

Years ago, Kristin could walk into a senior center and find two people waiting for a cannabis education session. Now, she says, the rooms are full. The questions have changed, too. They’re not necessarily asking whether cannabis is dangerous. They’re asking practical questions about what they’re considering and what they don’t know. One question has stayed with her because of what it represents.

“Am I allowed to want to feel better without the side effects?” older adults have essentially asked her.

For Kristin, the answer isn’t to persuade someone to use cannabis. It’s to make sure someone who chooses to use it isn’t deciding based entirely on stigma, fear, or misinformation.

“My background in behavioral health makes those conversations especially meaningful to me because education is harm reduction,” she said. “I’m not there to convince a 75-year-old to consume cannabis. I’m there so that if they choose to, they’re making that decision with accurate information rather than stigma, fear, or something they heard from a friend.”

That may be the most revealing piece of the LEVIA story. The founders aren’t returning to the company they built in 2021. They are returning with the scars, market knowledge, and perspective that came from losing control of it.

The first LEVIA proved cannabis beverages could find an audience when plenty of people thought they couldn’t. The second version has a different problem to solve: figuring out how far that idea can go without losing the instincts that made it work in the first place.

For Eric and Kristin, the answer seems to be the same one that got them here. Keep experimenting. Stay close to the consumer. And don’t confuse the way the industry has always done something with the way it has to be done next.

Photos courtesy of LEVIA

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This article was produced by High Times in partnership with LEVIA as part of a paid commercial arrangement. Statements regarding LEVIA’s products, business history, market strategy, and anticipated consumer experiences are based on information provided by the company and its founders. Cannabis experiences vary by individual, and references to anticipated effects should not be interpreted as medical claims.

<p>The post LEVIA’s Founders Sold Their Company. Then They Bought It Back. first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post LEVIA’s Founders Sold Their Company. Then They Bought It Back. appeared first on Paradise Found.

Shopping for cannabinoids used to present a clean little fork in the road: THC if you wanted the high, CBD if you did not. The modern shelf is less binary and a lot more interesting.

Today’s formulas pair major and minor cannabinoids around a desired experience. THCV shows up in daytime products. CBC gets folded into mood-minded blends. CBG often rides with CBD in body-focused formulas, while CBN owns the night shift. Some combinations include THC for a noticeable mental lift. Others leave it out entirely.

That means the new skill is not memorizing a wall of acronyms. It is learning to read the combination. Pick the category first, check the cannabinoid amounts and THC content second, and treat the promises on the front of the package as an invitation to inspect the back.

Why Cannabinoid Combinations Are Everywhere

A cannabinoid blend usually has an anchor and a supporting cast, but that anchor is not always CBD or THC. Some formulations begin with one of those familiar cannabinoids and add smaller amounts of rarer ones. Others put a rare cannabinoid in the headline position and use CBD or THC as supporting ingredients.

CBD does not produce a THC-style high by itself. THC changes the equation because it is impairing and mind-altering. That distinction matters more than how many cannabinoids appear on the label.

The rarer cannabinoids increasingly take center stage in product formulation. THCV commonly appears in daytime-positioned products, CBC in mood-focused blends, CBG in body-focused formulas, CBN in nighttime products, and CBDV in newer, less established lines. Those categories describe how products are formulated and marketed. They are shorthand for a shopping aisle, not a promise about what any cannabinoid will do for a particular person.

Rare Cannabinoid Company has built much of its lineup around putting these less familiar cannabinoids at the center of the formula, an approach covered in a previous article.

Many multi-cannabinoid products are also built around the concept of the entourage effect, the idea that cannabinoids, terpenes, and other cannabis compounds may interact when consumed together. It remains a theory under study rather than a settled rule, and more cannabinoids on a label does not automatically mean a stronger or better result.

Understand the Formula, Not Just the Acronym

The easiest way to make sense of the modern cannabinoid shelf is to start with the kind of experience a formula is built around, then look at which cannabinoids are doing the heavy lifting. The acronym matters, but so do the dose, the supporting cannabinoids, the presence of THC, and the product format.

That is especially true with rare cannabinoids, where the marketing often moves faster than the science. Read the blend as a whole, not as a promise attached to one ingredient.

When CBD Leads the Formula 

CBD is the most widely available cannabinoid on the shelf and the familiar starting point for consumers who want to avoid THC-style intoxication. It appears in more formats and more price tiers than anything else in this category, which is why it turns up as both a headline ingredient and a supporting one.

Rare Cannabinoid Company’s CBD Gummies contain 30 mg of CBD per gummy, making CBD the primary cannabinoid in that formulation.

CBD does not always take center stage, though. Rare Cannabinoid Company’s current THCV Uplift Gummies contain 12.5 mg THCV and 10 mg CBD per gummy, while its CBG Relief Gummies and CBN Sleep Gummies contain 30 mg of their featured cannabinoid alongside 10 mg CBD. In those formulas, CBD is part of the supporting cast rather than the headline ingredient.

That is the useful shopping distinction. Sometimes CBD is the main event. Sometimes it is one piece of a broader cannabinoid profile. The milligrams tell you which is which.

When THCV Leads the Formula 

THCV is a very unique cannabinoid that does not appear as frequently as CBD or CBG. When THCV does appear, it is almost always in products for daytime use. THCV is usually positioned for morning use while CBN is for nighttime use. However, remember that individual outcomes may differ. 

Rare Cannabinoid Company’s THCV lineup includes formulas with and without THC. Its THC-free Uplift Gummies contain 12.5 mg THCV and 10 mg CBD per gummy. The THC version contains the same amount of THCV and CBD plus 2.5 mg Delta-9 THC. That THC matters: a formula containing THC can be intoxicating regardless of what other cannabinoids share the gummy.

If you are comparing two THCV products, the THC line on the panel is the first difference to check, because it changes whether the product is intoxicating at all.

When CBC Is in the Mix 

CBC (cannabichromene) shows up mainly in mood-oriented lines.

Rare Cannabinoid Company offers the CBC cannabinoid alone in CBC oil tinctures, with CBD in a one-to-one gummies blend, and also in formulas that combine CBC with THC and CBD. 

That second category is meaningfully different because THC brings intoxication into the picture. Read the formula by what is actually in it rather than by the word on the front of the package.

A previous article looked at Rare Cannabinoid Company edibles that combine THC, CBC, and CBD, an example of how one formula can pull several cannabinoids into the same product without making each cannabinoid interchangeable.

When CBG Leads the Formula 

CBG is one of the few minor cannabinoids that has become common in topicals as well as in gummies and tinctures, and it tends to anchor product lines built around body-focused use. That format range is what separates it from most of the other rare cannabinoids on this list.

Rare Cannabinoid Company’s CBG Relief Gummies contain 30 mg CBG and 10 mg CBD, while its THC version adds 2.5 mg Delta-9 THC.

A previous feature covered the company’s CBG-focused topicals, which combine cannabinoids with ingredients selected for topical use. A topical is applied to the skin, while a gummy or tincture is consumed differently and should not be treated as the same product simply because the cannabinoid acronym matches. It’s important to know that THC is not intoxicating when applied to the skin but can get one high when ingested orally.

When CBN Is in the Mix 

CBN is the most established of the minor cannabinoids within a single category. It has claimed a sizable chunk of the nighttime shelf, and it rarely appears anywhere else, usually in formulas that also contain CBD, THC, or both.

Rare Cannabinoid Company’s CBN Sleep Gummies contain 30 mg CBN and 10 mg CBD, and the company also sells gummies that add 5mg THC per gummy as well as a pure CBN oil tincture.

Check the full cannabinoid panel before treating any nighttime gummy as interchangeable with another. Two products can both lead with CBN and differ substantially in dose, supporting cannabinoids, and whether THC is present. If THC is present, intoxication and impairment are part of the equation.

How to Read the Formula Before You Buy

Start with the cannabinoid you are shopping for. If you are buying a THCV gummy, check how much THCV it actually contains per serving, not merely whether THCV appears somewhere on the label. The same applies to CBG, CBC, CBN, CBDV, or any other cannabinoid featured on the front of the package.

Next, look at the supporting cannabinoids. CBD and THC may be the primary ingredients in one formula and supporting ingredients in another. Some products prominently feature a rare cannabinoid on the front, but the cannabinoid panel or Certificate of Analysis may show that it is present only in a small amount. Understanding the full profile tells you more than the headline ingredient alone.

Then do the milligram math. Pay attention to milligrams per serving, not just the total in the container. A bottle advertising 900 mg tells you nothing on its own. Across 30 gummies that is 30 mg each. Across 60 gummies it is 15 mg each, and the same package looks twice as strong on the front as it is in your hand. Divide before you compare prices, and check whether a serving is one gummy or two. When comparing prices, keep in mind that THC is the most common cannabinoid and generally less expensive to produce. Rarer cannabinoids often cost more because they are less abundant and more difficult to source or produce. 

THC deserves special attention because it can impair judgment, attention, and coordination. Edibles can also take longer to have an effect than inhaled cannabis, which is how people end up taking a second dose before the first one has arrived. Follow the product’s labeled serving directions, allow adequate time for an edible to take effect, and do not drive or operate machinery after consuming an intoxicating product.

Choose a format that makes sense for how the product is intended to be used. A mint, gummy, tincture, and topical are different formats even when some of the cannabinoids overlap. They differ in onset, in how long they last, and in how precisely you can control a dose.

Finally, read the Certificate of Analysis, and read it properly. A COA is a third-party lab report, and the useful ones are specific. Check that the batch or lot number on the report matches the one on the package in front of you, since a COA for a different batch tells you nothing about the product you are holding. Check the date. Check that the lab is independent of the brand. Then compare the cannabinoid panel against the label: the featured cannabinoid should appear in the advertised amount, and the THC figure should match what the packaging claims.

Look at what else the report covers. A thorough COA includes contaminant testing for things like pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents, and microbials. If a brand publishes a potency panel and nothing else, that is a gap worth noticing. If a product puts THCV, CBG, CBC, CBN, or CBDV front and center and the lab report does not show it, the front of the package has outrun the contents.

The Best Blend Is the One You Understand

Cannabinoid combinations give consumers more choices than the old THC-or-CBD split. You can compare daytime-positioned, mood-oriented, body-focused, and nighttime formulas, then decide whether THC belongs in the mix.

The best labels make the formula legible. They tell you how much of each cannabinoid is present and give you enough information to separate the formulation from the promise.

More initials do not guarantee a better result. But once you know how to read them, the cannabinoid shelf stops looking like chemistry homework and starts looking like choices.

Photos courtesy of Rare Cannabinoid Company

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This article was published as part of a paid commercial arrangement with Rare Cannabinoid Company. It is not independent editorial content. References to cannabinoids, formulations, product features, consumer use cases, or potential effects reflect the company’s perspective unless otherwise noted and have not been independently verified by High Times.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Cannabinoid products can have side effects. CBD can interact with medications, and THC can cause impairment. Do not drive or operate machinery after consuming intoxicating cannabinoids. Speak with a qualified clinician when considering cannabinoids in connection with a health condition or medication.

<p>The post The New Rules of Shopping for Cannabinoids first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post The New Rules of Shopping for Cannabinoids appeared first on Paradise Found.

Four decades after its Amsterdam beginnings, Barney’s Farm is marking the milestone with new markets, new infrastructure, F1 breeding projects, and a return to regular seeds.

Some legacies are built in laboratories. This one began in the heart of Amsterdam, a city long associated with cannabis culture. Barney’s Farm grew out of a small circle of obsessive cultivators who believed cannabis genetics deserved the same patience, care, and artistry as the world’s great vineyards. In 2026, the company celebrates its 40th anniversary. Four decades of chasing perfection, one seed at a time.

It is a milestone few could have imagined in those early Amsterdam days. What began as a passion project, hunting landrace genetics across mountains and continents and coaxing them into something extraordinary, has become a global seed business. Along the way, Barney’s Farm has accumulated Cannabis Cup trophies and expanded far beyond its Amsterdam beginnings. But this anniversary is not only a moment for looking back. The past two years have brought another period of expansion, with new distribution infrastructure and new breeding projects.

A Truly Global Farm

In 2024, Barney’s Farm took a major step, launching its dedicated U.S. cannabis seeds operation and planting its flag firmly in the fast-evolving U.S. cannabis market. It was a statement of intent: bringing four decades of European breeding heritage directly to American cultivators.

That commitment is now anchored in bricks and mortar. Barney’s Farm operates a distribution center in Watsonville, California, handling both wholesale and retail clients across the United States. Run by The Sun Drops LLC under the Barney’s Farm Inc. global umbrella, the facility handles U.S. orders domestically rather than relying on transatlantic shipping. Wholesale inquiries are welcomed at wholesale@barneysfarm.us.

The momentum has not slowed. In 2026, Barney’s Farm opened a dedicated German cannabis seeds distribution center, a hub the company says is intended to improve speed, reliability, and stock availability for the European market. From Amsterdam to the United States to a European logistics base, Barney’s Farm has continued expanding its international distribution infrastructure.

Pushing the Boundaries of Breeding

Reach means little without genetics worth reaching for, and Barney’s Farm continues to focus heavily on breeding. A series of collaborations with U.S. breeders has paired the company’s European breeding program with newer U.S. cultivars, producing another generation of varieties for its catalog.

The clearest expression of that ambition is the arrival of F1 precision hybrids. Barney’s Farm describes its F1 hybrids as being created by crossing highly stabilized, inbred parent lines, with the goal of producing greater uniformity, hybrid vigor, and consistency from plant to plant. The company positions the line for cultivators who prioritize predictability while maintaining vigor and performance.

More recently, Barney’s Farm has expanded the program into autoflowering F1s. The company says it aims to combine the speed and convenience of autoflowers with the uniformity and vigor it is pursuing through its F1 breeding program. For growers seeking fast, consistent crops, that pairing is central to the line’s appeal.

A New Chapter, Written in Berlin

The celebrations reached a fitting crescendo at the Mary Jane Berlin Expo, a major European cannabis gathering and a natural stage for a 40th-anniversary reveal. There, Barney’s Farm unveiled its new range of regular seeds, a collection that honors the traditional breeding roots on which the company was founded.

For purists, hunters, and breeders who value regular seeds for selection and breeding work, the collection marks a return to a format closely tied to the company’s earlier breeding history, now presented alongside its newer F1 projects.

Regulars, F1 precision hybrids, autoflower F1s, new territories, and new infrastructure—the anniversary lands during an active period for the company. Forty years after its Amsterdam beginnings, Barney’s Farm is using the milestone to look forward as much as back.

The first four decades built the foundation. The next chapter is already underway.

Save 20% Off Your First Order

Get exclusive offers plus 20% off your first order by signing up for the Barney’s Farm newsletter.

Images courtesy of Barney’s Farm.

Sponsored Content Disclosure: This article was produced by High Times in partnership with Barney’s Farm as part of a paid commercial arrangement. Company history, operational details, breeding information, and product descriptions are based on information supplied by Barney’s Farm.

<p>The post Barney’s Farm: 40 Years of Cannabis Seed Genetics first appeared on High Times.</p>

The post Barney’s Farm: 40 Years of Cannabis Seed Genetics appeared first on Paradise Found.