Issue 39: RIP Leafly News
I (briefly) pivot to strain reviews before a little rant about cannabis churnalism.
Welcome to Issue #39 of Burn After Reading! You can check out last week’s issue here. If you haven’t subscribed already, what are you waiting for?
It’s time to pivot this newsletter! Trying to do cutting commentary on cannabis was fun and all, but recent market shifts have suggested that consumers don’t actually want that kind of content. So let’s do some strain reviews instead.
Strain Review Time!
Leafly announced this week that it's pivoting away from creating actual news content. The rapidly shrinking canna-tech company has decided that consumers don’t actually want to be informed, so now they are making a move towards “helping” potential pot customers make decisions about what products to purchase.
“Our content will be more product and marketplace-driven … providing consumers with information they are looking for to help them make informed decisions about what cannabis to try and buy,” a company spokesperson told MJBizDaily.
Personally, this all sounds like a pretty bad idea. For one, being the “Yelp of weed” only works as long as Yelp doesn’t allow weed. Weedmaps launched at a time when dispensaries being legally listed on Google Maps seemed like a pipe dream, but times change quickly in this space. Of course, there’s also the concern that reviews produced by a company with numerous ties to brands in the industry aren’t exactly going to be fair and balanced.
Secondly, There’s a lot of factors that go into customers making an informed decision on what cannabis they want to buy, including potential ethical or moral concerns that go beyond THC and terp percentages. I think consumers actually DO want to know if the company they’re buying weed from may or not be responsible for an employee’s death, or may or may not have taken money from a Russian oligarch… but maybe I’m in the minority here.
After all, I couldn’t possibly be wiser than a multi-million dollar company, right? If they have data that says the people want strain reviews, I’ll give them strain reviews. Let me take a crack at it.:
2:1 THC/CBD Strawberry Lotus Live Resin Cartridge (Resinate)
Writing honestly about the cannabis space tends to make you a lot of enemies — but with this vape cart — all those concerns will just melt right away. The CBD really takes the edge off, allowing you to momentarily forget the fact that multiple sketchy people you have covered are currently seeking various forms of vengeance on you. After a few pulls on this cart, your anxiety will quickly disappear into the ether, leaving you free to browse Leafly.com and read their reviews (which mysteriously never say anything too mean about any particular product). 5/5 STARS
K’Smorz flower (Bountiful Farms)
The slow death of cannabis journalism got you down? Don’t worry, K’Smorz will pick you right back up. A hybrid kush strain that's the child of Zookies and PCS1, this flower will give you a mellow buzz that will quickly melt away any lingering anxieties regarding the state of cannabis media. Any desire to be an informed citizen will soon be a distant memory as you cozy up to the new Leafly.com to take a fun quiz entitled “Which MSO pre-roll brand are you?” 5/5 STARS
…
…Am I doing this right? No? Alright, I’ll chill with the early April Fools joke and get back to my regular style of programming then.
As always, Me mentioning a product is not an endorsement of it or the company that created it. In fact, I’m going to guess that most companies would prefer I not mention them at all at this point, particularly in tongue-in-cheek April Fools reviews (although I do actually really like both these product, for what it’s worth).
Just Say No to Cannabis Churnalism
I’ll tell you, searching the phrase “cannabis massachusetts” on google news is not nearly as informative as it used to be.
Once the best way to keep yourself informed on the latest happenings in the industry, today’s results reveal a dwindling amount of outlets are providing of substantive coverage to cannabis. When you do find a result, more and more it’s a textbook example of churnalism, a type of media dominated by copy-and-pasted press releases and other pre-baked content that requires little original thought.
The latest example of this is a “headline” that you may have seen in various forms splashed across your screen: Cannabis Company Declares 4/20 An Employee Holiday.
Cool, I guess. It’s great to show your employees appreciation, but it’s a bit off-putting when you try to make it into a gimmicky public spectacle. The company could easily just give their employees a bonus, or just pay them double for working on 4/20, neither of which require pushing away customers on the one day of the year that they would usually be 100% sure your dispensary is open.
But perhaps you feel I’m being a bit cynical about this announcement. After all, who doesn’t love a paid day off?
Well unfortunately, we quickly learned that a few more workers at Temescal would be getting some time off from work ― although it’s not the type of time off that anybody wants; a few days after the 4/20 announcement, it was revealed that the company laid off a bunch of new hires that were supposed to be working at their new cultivation site in North Adams.
For one reason or other, we’re not seeing a lot of people cover this particular story with the same amount of vigor as the 4/20 fluff.
I’m not trying to dunk too hard on whoever came up with the 4/20 holiday idea, and I have no particular beef with Temescal (other than the whole laying off their workers thing, even if they claim it’s “temporary”), but this just goes to show why people who write or talk about cannabis actually need to understand the total picture.
A 4/20 holiday may sound like a cool idea to someone with only a cursory understanding of the space, but anybody who actually knows what’s going on in Massachusetts would quickly see right through this idea.
I’m not calling out any particular outlet for churnalism, because I’d be here all day if I did. Even High Times picked this story up.
Some outlets had the nerve to at least disclose that they were just publishing a press release, or tried to expand on the idea by adding some original thoughts. Other outlets? Not so much.
Every piece of cannabis news or content doesn’t need to be a mind blowing work of originality, but we certainly need more original voices in the cannabis space, not outlets publishing regurgitated press releases and aggregators that don’t add any insight of value (and often butcher the stories they’re attempting to summarize).
I’ll finish with some helpful advice for cannabis PR folks: They are actual ways you can create legitimate good headlines for your business, they just don’t involve in-authentic gimmicks. Create actual connections with your community, customers, and employees, and you might just come up with a good idea.
A New (Recurring?) Segment: What the Hell is Going on in Massachusetts?
MCR Labs
Remember just two weeks ago, when I mentioned that MCR CEO Michael Kahn gave a presentation mildly criticizing the behavior of Cannabis Control Commission inspectors?
You would think that this would mean that inspectors would be extra careful to make sure their behavior was appropriate the next time they visited MCR, but according to accusations levied by Kahn, the exact opposite happened last week.
In a three page letter to the Commission, Kahn claimed that Commission inspectors who showed up at MCR for an unannounced inspection on March 21st behaved inappropriately in a number of ways, including being verbally abusive to MCR staff and putting their hands on a employee. I’ll let the whole letter speak for itself if you want to give it a read.
A Commission spokesperson disputed the allegations, but said they are opening an “inquiry” into the matter. The Commission did not directly address a request to clarify who within the Commission will be conducting this inquiry or how it would proceed. Instead, they provided the same statement that they previously released regarding the incident, including this part (emphasis mine):
While the agency currently has several open enforcement matters regarding MCR Labs, Commission staff completed an unannounced inspection at another ITL the week prior to the MCR Labs inspection for some of the same reasons and looking for similar records.
Additionally, the Commission categorically disputes the characterization of our investigators, both in following agency protocols and their professionalism. However, given the serious nature of the allegations, the Commission intends to immediately open an inquiry into the matter and anticipates and looks forward to the licensee’s full cooperation with the review.
I’m going to let this situation play out a bit more before spending more time discussing it, but I think it’s fair to ask: How can the Commission fairly investigate this situation when they’re already publicly casting doubt on the accusations?
[Disclaimer: As always, I make it clear when I’m writing about a former employer, even when I feel that my experience isn’t impacting my viewpoint. I worked at MCR Labs from March 2020 until November 2021.]
Elev8
Also this week: We got what is hopefully a resolution to an ongoing saga involving Seun Adedeji, owner of Elev8 dispensary in Athol, MA. The Commission announced this week that the shop’s license has been suspended, following months of disturbing behavior from the company’s CEO.
Adedeji’s extremely troubling behavior has been well-documented in a number of places on the internet, so I won’t spend too much time dwelling on it. If you want the latest updates, check out the Commission’s very detailed and troubling summary suspension order.
(Warning: The order contains alleged quotes from Adedeji that are pretty messed up. It contains twelve F-bombs, which I assume breaks the previous Commission record for most F-bombs in a document by…well…twelve.)
Putting any current differences with the Commission aside, nobody should have to put up with this type of behavior or ever feel that their personal safety is being put at risk.
Hopefully the individual involved gets the help they need, and hopefully others in the cannabis space learn to take care of their mental health before the situation elevates to a debacle such as this one.
In this day and age, what starts with unhinged rants on social media often ends up like this, and sadly I’ve noticed toxic behavior is starting to take its toll on the cannabis space. A number of fairly prominent people have recently expressed a desire to reduce their involvement in the industry or activism circles thanks to the in-fighting, abusive behavior, and overall general chaos.
I can’t help but feel that part of this issue is that we let obvious problems fester, as many people hesitant to speak out about bad behavior until after people have begun to get hurt. I fully get people’s desire to steer clear of “drama,” but this story seems like a prime example of what happens when we refuse to root out toxicity before it can truly grow out of hand. If we truly want to make the cannabis space more drama-free, we need to collectively address problems before they reach a critical stage like this and create a culture where this type of behavior is never tolerated in the first place.
Headlines
Here’s some of the best cannabis journalism I’ve read this week:
New England
A CLASS OF THEIR OWN: CANNABIS DELIVERY PIONEERS FINALLY UP AND ROLLING (Chris Faraone | Talking Joints Memo): “Delivery licenses are especially important, since they’re available exclusively for social equity applicants—people who have been directly impacted by or whose communities have been shaken from the War on Drugs—for the first three years. The association Hall and Alexander helped form yielded significant impact, forging changes that ultimately enabled delivery businesses like the Newton-based Rolling Releaf to finally open with promising prospects.”
VERMONT CANNABIS GROWER PAYS HEAVY FINE AFTER POSTING INSTAGRAM VIDEO OF NEW YORK DELIVERY (Fred Thys | VTDigger): “In the video, which he recorded in early December and which he has since taken down, Deyhle gets out of a vehicle and enters a storefront in Manhattan that was not licensed to sell adult recreational retail cannabis. “It was basically a spot where you could go and buy your cannabis and then it had a smoking lounge out back,” Deyhle said. At the time, no New York establishment was licensed for recreational sales. The first licensed adult cannabis retail establishment opened in New York in late December.”
Rest of U.S. / National
TOYS R US ALLEGES NEW YORK MARIJUANA STORE IS INFRINGING ON TRADEMARK (MJBizDaily): “The owner of Toys R Us filed a complaint against a Brooklyn marijuana store alleging that the shop’s logo infringes on and dilutes the national retailer’s federally registered trademarks.
According to the complaint, the Zaza R Us logo has a similar typeface to Toys R Us and its backward “R” as well as a cannabis leaf in its center in place of the toy company’s star, Law360 reported.”
ACREAGE LAYS OFF NEW YORK EMPLOYEES, PHARMACANN MAY BE NEXT (Brad Racino | Syracuse.com): “NY Cannabis Insider has learned that Acreage Holdings, which has four dispensaries across the state, recently laid off at least 12 employees. PharmaCann, which also has four dispensaries and employs roughly 300 people throughout the state, expects layoffs in the very near future if things don’t change at the state level.”
D.C. LAWMAKERS DEMAND THAT CONGRESS END MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION ‘INTERFERENCE’ AT HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARING (Kyle Jaeger | Marijuana Moment): “D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that “congressional interference” in local laws on issues like cannabis threatens the city’s ability to “address crime and public safety.” Residents of the nation’s capital voted “overwhelmingly” to legalize marijuana for adult use in 2014, but “Congress has stepped in to prohibit the District from adopting any law to regulate this industry,” he said in written testimony, referencing a spending bill rider that prevents the District from using local tax dollars to implement a commercial marijuana market.”
International
DENMARK MEDICAL CANNABIS SALES MOSTLY ON THE RISE, BUT PILOT PROGRAM SPUTTERS (Matt Lamers | MJBizDaily): ”MJBizDaily previously reported that, as of 2020, only eight of the 63 applications to admit products to Denmark’s medical cannabis trial scheme had won approval from regulators. Currently, only eight medical cannabis products have approval for sale within the pilot program by six producers, including Canada’s Aurora Cannabis, the Netherlands' Bedrocan and Australia’s Little Green Pharma..”
MAJOR CANADIAN PHARMACY SHOPPERS DRUG MART EXITS MEDICAL CANNABIS (Solomon Israel | MJBizDaily): “Shoppers did not cultivate cannabis, instead signing supply deals with growers. Parent company Loblaw did not specify the value of Shoppers’ medical marijuana business in recent financial filings. Shoppers’ exit from the cannabis sector came as no surprise to Mitchell Osak, president of Toronto-based Quanta Consulting, who consults for the cannabis industry. Osak believes Shoppers’ medical cannabis business was “floundering,” considering the overall decline of Canada’s regulated MMJ market in terms of both revenue and patients.”
LONDONERS SPENDING £1.45BN A YEAR ON ILLEGAL CANNABIS TO TREAT HEALTH CONDITIONS, STUDY FINDS (Daniel Keane | Evening Standard): “A study by Sapphire Medical Clinics found that one in ten (11 per cent) of people in London with diagnosed medical conditions are being driven to source cannabis illegally – despite the drug being available on the NHS for certain conditions. Many Britons suffering from chronic pain have already opted to obtain cannabis privately after struggling to get a prescription through the NHS. Only 32,000 people are currently being treated with medicinal cannabis in the UK, though many more are eligible for treatment.”
Welcome Distraction
Grand Theft Auto is undeniably one of the most controversial video game series of all time, but there’s one thing about these games that everyone can agree on: They have some of the best soundtracks of all time. Anytime you jump in a vehicle while playing one of the many games in the series, you’re greeted by “radio stations” complete with fake ads, fake DJs voiced by real comedians and other celebrities, and some of the best real songs from whatever era that particular game is set in.
Thankfully, you no longer have to dust off your Playstation 2 to enjoy these classic tracks as they were presented in the game, as Youtube user Mods4Fun has compiled all the station tracks into convenient playlists.
If you dig around further, you can also find some uploads from other users that include the game’s radio host and commercial segments. While a lot of the cultural criticism and comedy bits featured in these segments is hilarious, I’ll warn you that a lot of it is definitely rated “M for Mature.”
Cat(s) of the Week
These filmmaking cats, as featured in the New York Times:
With the help of cameras that attach to collars, a niche style of cat content shows the world from a feline perspective.
That’s a wrap on this issue. Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions or feedback, let me know by replying to this email or dropping me a line on social media. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and if you can afford to support my work, please consider a paid subscription.