Issue 33: Musk Ado About Nothing
A minor tweak to Twitter's rules spawns endless praise. Plus, I discuss the concept of a cannabis "outlet store" and break down some other news.
Welcome to Issue #33 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.
Another week in the books, as 2023 continues to fly by. I could have sworn it was just New Year’s Day…
Anyways, here’s what I’m burning on this week.
THANK YOU ELON (FOR GIVING THIS CANNABIS WRITER AN EXCUSE TO MAKE FUN OF YOU)
Elon Musk took a break from his lifelong quest to be photographed next to some of Earth’s worst humans this week in order to make an incredibly minor tweak to some of Twitter’s cannabis advertising rules, spawning a tidal wave of breathless praise from cannabis influencers and executives on social media.
As Marijuana Moment rightfully points out, the policy change doesn't actually lift the prohibition on cannabis businesses from advertising actual cannabis or other products for sale. Instead, the policy merely allows cannabusinesses to “promote brand preference and informational cannabis-related content for CBD, THC and cannabis-related products and services,” which doesn’t really sound all that different than what you already see cannabis brands getting away with on Twitter.
There’s also some huge questions over whether or not advertising on this particular cash-strapped social platform is even worth the cost for most companies, regardless of whether the business is cannabis-focused or not. Plenty of people have claimed in the past that — regardless of the rules — the juice hasn’t been worth the squeeze when it comes to trying to advertise on the more news-focused social media site.
Considering how minuscule a step this is in the right direction, seeing cannabis brands and bigwigs applaud an authoritarian billionaire like trained sea lions is a bit nausciating. All this move does is allow cannabis brands to push limited types of sponsored posts into your feed, replacing other quality sponsored content that you’ll typically find on the site (an ad asking you to buy a cryptocoin you’ve never heard of, a tweet from a random man in Bangladesh that simply reads “FOLLOW ME PLZ,” etc..,).
Regardless of whatever pro-cannabis moves Elon makes in his role at Twitter and other future endeavors, we should all remember that this man has shown us who he truly is on dozens of occasions.
ASCEND OPENING AN “OUTLET STORE” TODAY IN MASSACHUSETTS
Ascend’s new “outlet” store is having its Grand Opening today in New Bedford. This is the third such outlet store that Ascend has opened in the U.S., but the first in Massachusetts. The company claims that this new outlet store will give customers the chance to buy the same products they find at other dispensaries, but for much lower prices.
This press release inspired me to look up what the actual definition of an outlet store is. I knew they were a place to grab goods from major brands on the cheap, but I wasn’t actually familiar with their history or why they were able to offer less expensive products. So let’s have the good folks over at Wikipedia fill us in:
An outlet store, factory outlet or factory store is a brick and mortar or online store where manufacturers sell their merchandise directly to the public. Products at outlet stores are usually sold at reduced prices compared to regular stores due to being overstock, closeout, factory seconds, or lower-quality versions manufactured specifically for outlets.
Upon further review of Ascend’s press release, I’m not really sure how much of a true outlet store this new shop is going to be. They claim that the products there will be “the same high-quality products at an everyday low price,” so (in theory) this store won’t just be a dumping ground for their subpar or close-to-expiration products. It’s also over two hours away from Ascend’s cultivation facility in Athol, so it’s not like they’re saving any money on transportation costs, or offering any ability for customers to watch plants being grown.
Ascend’s CEO is quoted in the press release saying that the company ”has learned that consumers are willing to travel for the chance to purchase high-caliber products at everyday affordable prices."
I think the obvious question is: Why force your consumers to travel? If you can lower prices so dramatically at one store, doesn’t that just imply you’re overcharging everywhere else?
The store should also theoretically allow Ascend to tap into the nearby Rhode Island market, as the Ocean State’s new adult use program is still generally seeing higher prices than Massachusetts. The store can also capitalize on travelers who are heading to Cape Cod. Even then though, there are plenty of more established retail stores that are even closer to the Rhode Island/southeast Mass border than New Bedford (I count at least eight on my MA cannabis map).
As of press time, we’re still an hour or so away from the outlet’s opening — but they have debuted the store’s menu — and it does appear that prices are lower than you’ll typically find at other Ascend stores. For example, an ounce of Gilz Nilz from Simply Herb (Ascend’s “value” flower brand) costs $110 at their Boston store, but only $89 in New Bedford. I also see an eighth of Nature’s Heritage Lamb Bread going for $32 (Boston price: $43).
If you do end up heading down to Ascend’s new store, drop me a line and let me know how it went (and make sure you check those expiration dates!).
SOME OTHER MASSACHUSETTS NEWS BITES
COOKIES GROWING IN MASSACHUSETTS - Fall River-based Northeast Alternatives announced this week that they are now an official cultivator for Cookies. Cookies was already partnering with CommCan to produce products for the Massachusetts market, but this move will allow them to further grow their footprint here. We haven’t seen Cookies pop up in any other New England markets yet, but it seems like only a matter of time.
CCC KEEPS ON MEDIATING - The Cannabis Control Commission held yet another closed door executive session this week, in their ongoing attempt to squash a beef between the Commissioners and senior staff.
It seems that — despite the mediator’s best efforts — that beef remains unsquashed, as there is another closed door meeting planned for 2/23.
By my count, this upcoming mediation session will be the 10th one held since July.
What exactly is being discussed at these meetings? The Commission’s website says that they’re are about “finding common ground and obtaining buy-in from all parties, in its efforts to establish a durable and effective governance structure.” Beyond what that statement implies, your guess is as good as mine. Sources have told me that regardless of what’s being discussed, these mediations are the main thing on the Commissioners’ and staff’s mind right now. Oh, to be a fly on the wall..
HEADLINES
A reminder that this part of this newsletter is not simply thrown together! I honestly spend the week combing the far reaches of the internet to deliver a carefully curated list of stories I feel my readers need to know about, and I’ve read (or watched) each and one of these pieces.
New England
RHODE ISLAND BILL ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT CANNABIS GATHERINGS OF MORE THAN THREE PEOPLE (Nicole Potter | High Times): “Lovewell Farms, the state’s only USDA organic hemp farm, posted about the bill and its effect on residents on Feb. 11. “Red Alert! Check out this new cannabis bill introduced into [the Senate] by Senators Felag, Raptakis, Tikoian, Ciccone, DiPalma, & Sosnoswki! It creates a monetary fine for hosting 3 or more people on private property to smoke “m*rijuana.”’
MASS. CANNABIS COMMISSION VOTES TO CONTINUE COVID-19 POLICIES (Dan Adams | Boston Globe): “The Cannabis Control Commission voted unanimously Thursday to extend three policies through the end of 2023. The emergency rules allow medical marijuana patients to pick up “curbside” orders from dispensaries without leaving their cars, waive the requirement for an in-person doctor’s appointment when obtaining a medical marijuana card for the first time, and permit applicants for pot business licenses to conduct their required community outreach meetings virtually.”
SOME MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS SAY PRODUCT AVAILABILITY IS SPOTTY📹(NBC CT): “Since the start of recreational sales of cannabis last month, some medical marijuana patients say they have had trouble finding the specific products they want.”
National / Rest of U.S.
U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES BIPARTISAN MARIJUANA RESEARCH BILL FOCUSED ON MILITARY VETERANS WITH PTSD AND PAIN (Kyle Jaeger | Marijuana Moment): “The VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act, sponsored by panel Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), is intended to mandate studies by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to explore the therapeutic potential of cannabis for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain.”
CURALEAF’S BORIS JORDAN MOVES THE GOALPOSTS [OPINION] (Andrew Udell | The Cannalysts): “Anyhow, when several other cannabis companies are now collapsing these structures (stating they’re getting prepared for up-listing), Boris has gone in the opposite direction. I can see the appeal to himself – where he can move his shares at that time in a block trade to institutional interests…..and crystallize the position in one shot. Right now, he’s written himself an open ended call option – that gets struck at the moment of increased liquidity. It’s what I’d do if I wanted to make more money.”
COLORADO CANNABIS SALES TAKE NOSEDIVE; DENVER AMONG HARDEST HIT (Tony Lange | Cannabis Business Time): “Licensed Colorado retailers recorded nearly $1.8 billion in adult-use and medical cannabis sales in 2022, a 21% decline compared to the more than $2.2 billion in sales recorded the previous year, marking the first time overall retail figures took a step back since a commercial adult-use launch in 2014.”
NEW [CA] BILL WOULD ALLOW FOR CANNABIS TO BE ‘CATERED’ AT PRIVATE EVENTS (Travis Schlepp | KTLA): “"Assembly Bill 471 was authored by Assemblymember Ash Karla (D-San Jose) and aims to amend existing cannabis laws to add language to allow for cannabis to be served at private events provided by licensed caterers, similar to hiring a company to cater food or beverages. Currently, California law only allows for event organizers to provide cannabis themselves for temporary public events. If passed, the new rules would allow for cannabis companies to obtain catering licenses and offer those services at private events.”
ILLEGALITY DOCTRINE REJECTED IN LEGAL CANNABIS PATENT CASE, CONFIRMING PATENT ENFORCEABILITY (Cooley): “The decision is welcome news for holders of US cannabis patent rights, and although not necessarily binding on other courts, it provides a first guidepost through which parties can assess IP infringement and enforcement risks and strategies.”
International
🇪🇺 WILL MALTA’S CANNABIS CLUB MODEL BE ADOPTED BY GERMANY AND SPAIN? (Johnny Green | ICC): “Malta may not have a huge economy or enormous population, yet, its approach to regulating cannabis commerce is historic in many ways, and the significance of the approach cannot be overstated. Being the first country on a continent to regulate adult-use cannabis commerce at a national level is not easy.”
🇱🇸 WHY IS LESOTHO’S CANNABIS BOOM FAILING TO DELIVER THE PROSPERITY IT PROMISED? (Cebelihle Mbuyisa | The Guardian): “Thato Polane, 21, has been hired by Morama Holdings and takes home 3,000 maloti ($179) a month in return for tending plants. Far better than the 500 maloti ($30) a month she used to earn as a cleaner. She is luckier than her two friends, Nyefolo Mathinya, 31, and Liteboho Thamahane, 23, who go every day to the gates of the cannabis plant to ask for work. Mathinya says she wakes up with the chickens every morning so she can walk there. She is tired but won’t give up. Like many young people in Lesotho, they have never been formally employed and the cannabis farms are the first industry to arrive in their area in their lifetimes.”
🇹🇭 THAI CANNABIS SHOPS TURN TO MANDARIN MENUS AND SIGNS TO ATTRACT CHINESE TOURISTS 📹(Xiaoyi Wu | South China Morning Post): “Cannabis shops in Thailand are putting out menus and signs in Mandarin to attract tourists from China. The country expects at least 30 million foreign visitors in 2023, with about a quarter of them coming from China. Thailand was the first Southeast Asian country to legalise cannabis for medical use in 2018. The country decriminalised the drug in June 2022 as the government pushed to develop the industry.”
WELCOME DISTRACTION
Disney released a brief teaser trailer of Disney+/Hulu’s upcoming 2023 lineup.
“Why should I care?” you ask? Well, beside the fact that we’re getting a new season of The Mandalorian, the teaser also gives us the first glimpse at The Boston Strangler — a film that I somehow managed to land a role in as a background extra.
For some reason, the few frames of the film we were shown seem to mostly focus on Keira Knightley and not yours truly, so we may have to wait until March 17th until we find out if my stirring portrayal of a 1960’s news photographer (in two brief scenes) made the literal final cut.
Will this movie actually be good? Will I actually appear on-screen? I’m looking forward to finding out with all of you a month from now.
CAT OF THE WEEK
Mr. Nubb, who’s currently available for adoption at Baypath:
Mr. Nubb gets his name due to having his tail amputated. It is healing well and is ready to take on the world or at least your home! He is very sweet and enjoys being petted. He has done well with other with cats.
SPECIAL BULLETINS
Somebody started a subreddit for MA cannabis workers. You can check it out here.
ICYMI: I put out a recap of last week’s CCC meeting for paid subscribers.
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.