Issue 22: Burn After Reading at MJBizCon
Plus, is Jim Belushi running for Senate? (I doubt it)
Welcome to the 22nd edition of Burn After Reading! This is my newsletter on cannabis (and other things). You can check out last week’s issue here, and if you haven’t subscribed yet, please do.
In the most recent Cannabis Confidential, I recapped the Harvest Cup in Worcester. Check it out!
Here are some thoughts from my experiences at MJBizCon:
HVAC company. Vape hardware company. Insurance Company. Point of Sale company. The expo floor draws more people to the conference than any other aspect, but for me — it was a bit repetitive. Even if I was strictly a business-focused writer, I’m not sure I would have gained anything of value from wandering the floor (other than some much needed exercise). I would much rather have a floor space that was a third of the size, but actually curated to provide more focus on plant-touching businesses. Bigger is not always better, and this becomes very apparent when you walk past yet another company selling grow racks or packaging. Does B2B have to be boring?
After attending the conference, I get why MJBizCon gets some hate, but there’s still a lot of quality people there if you know where to look. The panel discussions, the patio outside the conference, and the after-parties were the best places to network.
There’s certainly a fair share of shitty people there too, though.
The most common question that popped into my head while at the Conference: Who the hell is paying for all this? At one point I stood overlooking the strip, watching a fleet of taxis with Planet 13 ads plastered all over them head one way, while a moving billboard advertising other cannabis brands passed by in another direction. Even with pretty much every big cannabis company struggling to become profitable, there was no shortage of cash flashing — both at the Conference and around the city.
I got the chance to sit down with NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson for an interview about his cannabis company, Primitiv. Keep an eye out for it on Wednesday.
Perhaps the most star-studded moment of the conference was the celebrity panel featuring Ricky Williams, BReal, Calvin Johnson, and Jim Belushi. Ever the performer, Belushi was also filming an upcoming episode of his reality show Growing Belushi. At the end of the panel, he filmed a bit for the show where he announced that he is launching an “exploratory committee” to consider running for U.S. Senate. Considering the next senate election in Oregon isn’t until 2026, it’s probably safe to say he’s not actually going to be running anytime soon. (He kindly asked the audience to keep this under wraps, but sorry Jim — that’s not how “off the record” works).
A special shout out to Ricardo Baca and the folks over at Grasslands. Ricardo was kind enough to meet with me when he was in Boston a few months ago, and his support and kindness has been incredibly helpful in getting my cannabis media career off the ground. The Grasslands Party was one of the highlights of the week.
This is a random aside, but while I was sitting out on the patio outside the Conference, I spotted one of those Area 51 planes coming in for a landing at LAS. Neat!
One more MJBiz thought that is worth expanding on: It still feels like social equity is an afterthought at these conferences. Panels on social equity were being held a few hundred yards away from the CannaVest Institutional Capital Forum, but when you consider the difficulties that equity applicants have had in getting any sort of institutional financing, the distance might as well have been millions of miles.
We all know that funding is the #1 roadblock that is keeping people who have been impacted by the War on Drugs out of the industry, but there’s been very little concrete action in actually addressing this problem. While it’s not MJBizCon’s responsibility to single-handedly solve this issue, giving a handful of social equity businesses free passes and hosting a few panel discussions and networking events on equity is not enough.
I witnessed what was perhaps the most potent example of the financial situation for social equity applicants while leaving the conference center on Friday, when I ran into Steven from Massachusetts. Unable to justify the cost of actually attending the convention, he resorted to wearing a bunch of homemade signs in an attempt to attract funding from investors attending the Conference.
When we first met, he had just been asked to move away from the entrance to the Capital Forum, and the end of our conversation was interrupted by the police, who asked him to move even further away from the Convention Center.
* I got Steven’s card but it looks like I lost it in transit. If anyone knows him and could reconnect us, that would be great.
The Parabola Center published out an op-ed last week, expressing concern over a provision of the PREPARE Act that would seemingly hand a seat on the proposed Commission on the Federal Regulation of Cannabis over to representatives from the tobacco and alcohol industries.
This comes on the heels of a hearing held on cannabis reform by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that featured no representatives from small businesses or equity applicants — a choice that angered activists.
MCR labs made a somewhat spicy post on social media Thursday, calling out the CCC over the lack of accountability in the testing space.
This issue has been heating up in recent months, and it seems like it’s only a matter of time before we see some sort of legal action taken here in Massachusetts — something we’ve already seen in other markets.
(Full disclaimer: I worked at MCR labs from 2020-2021)
Quick hits:
New England
As Vermont's retail cannabis industry takes flight, will potency limits help or hurt? (Tory Rich/Manchester Journal)
Maine backtracks on guidance for medical cannabis sales (News Center Maine)
National / Rest of U.S.
Congress sends first weed bill to Biden (Natalie Fertig/Politico)
The Secret Dinners Where Marijuana Is in Every Dish (Robert Simonson/New York Times) 🔒
California Cannabis Debt Bubble on Verge of Bursting (John Schroyer,/Green Market Report)
International
Germany’s plan to legalize recreational marijuana hits potential hurdle (MJBiz)
Report says marijuana seizures remain largest, by weight, of all drugs seized in the Caribbean (Jamaica Observer)
1930s REEFER SONG OF THE WEEK:
Have You Ever Met That Funny Reefer Man by Cab Calloway (1932)
Colloquial terms for cannabis used:
Reefer: 33x
Best of the Lyrics:
Oh, have you ever met that funny reefer man? (Reefer man)
Have you ever met that funny reefer man? (Reefer man)
If he says he swam to China, and he sell you South Carolina
Then you know you're talkin' to that reefer man (reefer man)
WELCOME DISTRACTION: GBH Archives on Twitter.
Every day, the WGH archives offer up a little snapshot of the past on their twitter page. These clips are always memorizing; whether it be this footage of downtown Worcester in the 1980’s, a 1972 news story about neighbors 'hanging around' in Boston's North End, this clip of Red Sox Pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee playing ball with local kids in 1978, or even this shot of the GBH “Two-Mobile” wobbling down the highway:
CAT OF THE WEEK: Nimbus! This guy works at the summit of Mount Washington Observatory, home of some of the most extreme weather in New England. As the rest of the employees work in shifts, Nimbus is the Summit’s only full-time resident.
He is the latest in a line of summit cats that dates back over a century, helping keep the place free of pests. You can follow his latest exploits over on the Mount Washington Observatory’s instagram page.
A reminder that I’m taking this upcoming week off from the newsletter, but keep an eye out on Wednesday for my interview with Calvin Johnson.
That’s a wrap on this issue. Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions or feedback, email me here. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and if you would like to support my work, please consider a paid subscription.