Issue 43: National Cannabis Festival
I attempted to salvage a trip to DC's National Cannabis Festival that was interrupted by severe weather. Plus, a 4/20 news round-up.
Welcome to Issue #43 of Burn After Reading! You can check out last week’s issue here. If you haven’t subscribed already, head here.
National Cannabis Festival
I went down to D.C. last weekend to cover the 6th annual National Cannabis Festival, hoping to focus mostly on the panel discussions that were scheduled throughout the day. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas; a severe storm ended up forcing a 6+ hour delay of the event.
It was clear that morning that a storm was brewing, but with no rain date or indoor back up plan, the festival opened its doors anyways. Around two hours after the gates opened, news broke that lightning was approaching the area, forcing organizers to call for an evacuation. The festival was held in the parking lot of RFK stadium, leading attendees in a wide open space as the rain and wind moved in. Some fled to their cars, while others took refuge under the overhangs of the old stadium.
Luckily I was staying nearby and had a friend’s house to run to (thanks Scott!), but the rain certainly put a damper on the proceedings. I was surprised by how many people showed up when the event eventually opened back up at 8pm to allow for the Free Nationals, Juicy J, and 2 Chainz to perform, but others were clambering for refunds on social media.
Even before the rain hit, it was pretty clear that most attendees weren’t there for an education. Crowds mostly flocked to the vendors or to the performance stage, with only a handful of people sitting down to listen to the various policy and educational panels that were planned. It mirrors a larger problem in the industry that more and more people have begun to notice: most people, even hardcore cannabis consumers, don’t show much interest in listening to people talk about policy, consumer trends, or other forms of educational content. People in the cannabis space (myself included) need to collectively figure out how to make delivering this type of information more engaging to the average person.
D.C’s Grey Market is Thriving
My biggest takeaway from my time in D.C. is the realization that the grey market is thriving there. The city’s government is blocked by Congress from implementing actual rules to govern the adult use cannabis market, and police seem to have more important things to focus on than busting up unregulated shops, resulting in it being extremely easy to find weed to buy inside and outside the event.
Of course, there’s inherit problems with an unregulated market. While testing regulations in regulated markets are far from perfect, they do offer consumers some assurance that the products they are consuming aren’t compromised. Scenes in Oklahoma, California, and elsewhere have suggested that there can be a violent underside to grey market activity too, particularly in an environment where cannabis remains federally illegal.
That all being said, I couldn’t help but notice how many business opportunities the legislative limbo in D.C. has created that probably wouldn’t exist to the same extent in a regulated market. I also couldn’t help but notice I didn’t witness a single act of violence all day, despite all the unregulated commerce going on.
I DID see at least one vendor selling $65 eighths of flower that were clearly bootleg versions of Cookies packaging, so making purchases in the unregulated market is definitely still a “buyer beware” situation.
Musings and Updates
SAFE BANKING RE-INTRODUCED: It’s deja vu all over again. The SAFE Banking Act has been reintroduced in Congress, this time with provisions that aim to measure how the reforms introduced by the bill would help small and minority-owned businesses. Personally, I hope this thing finally gets put up to a vote, if only to see how Republicans sinking this particular version of SAFE will then be blamed on Democrats. Regardless of the excuses they’ve come up with, Republicans recently killing a bill that would allow the VA to study cannabis use for PTSD makes me a bit skeptical they’re willing to do anything that can be portrayed as a win for the left.
But if the bill does somehow pass, it would allow us to see if these relatively modest reforms actually do anything to financially assist cannabis businesses, other than causing a temporary spike in MSO stock prices.
MASSACHUSETTS: Here’s a few rapid fire updates from the Bay State. Local Roots has sold their Marlborough dispensary to Green Gold Group. Ascend workers at the company’s Boston dispensary took to the streets to strike in protest of alleged wage theft, and Trulieve was called out as one of the state’s “dirty dozen” employers by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health in the annual “Dying for Work” report released by the Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the AFL-CIO. The report called out the entire cannabis industry, saying that “federal and state regulators need to take action now to prevent future deaths.”
4/20 SALES TOTALS: The CCC has released the sales totals from this year’s 4/20 holiday. Comparisons to last year’s 4/20 numbers aren’t perfect since (obviously) it fell on a different day of the week. That being said, we saw about an 18.33% increase over sales last year, with growth in every significant category.
Total sales on 4/20 equaled about $7.14 million. For comparison, the average day in March saw about $4.175 million in sales.
Breaking down the sales by category, the numbers largely mirror recent trends we’ve seen in the space; infused pre-rolls are seeing significant growth, drinks saw a small bump, but conventional pre-rolls and bud still make up over half of the total market.
Of course, 4/20 has slowly morphed into a month long holiday, so I’ll take a look at the overall monthly totals when they are available.
Headlines
New England
MORE THAN A QUARTER OF MAINE'S MEDICAL CANNABIS CAREGIVERS HAVE QUIT SINCE 2021 (Caitlin Andrews | Maine Public Radio): “A survey from the state's Office of Cannabis Police pointed to over supply of product, high utility costs and competition with the recreational market as the main reasons. Banking fees and regulations were also cited, an ongoing challenge as cannabis remains illegal at the federal level. Less frequent reasons included switching to the adult use program or the lack of a tracking and tracing program.”
NH SENATE HEARS FROM SUPPORTERS, CRITICS OF MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION (Dan Tuohy | New Hampshire Public Radio): “As amended by the House, the bill would allow anyone 21 and older to possess up to 4 ounces of cannabis in plant form, 20 grams of concentrated cannabis products, and products containing no more than 2,000 milligrams of THC. It proposes a 12.5% tax rate, levied at the wholesale level. The intent is for the New Hampshire Liquor Commission to have responsibility for licensing and enforcement, with the state regulating cannabis in a similar fashion to alcohol sales.”
Rest of U.S. / National
COOKIES LAWSUIT: COMPANY USES THREATS, VIOLENCE, KICKBACKS TO DO BUSINESS (John Schroyer | Green Market Report): “The suit asserts that Cookies CEO Berner – whose real name is Gilbert Milam – along with President Parker Berling, CFO Ian Habenicht, board member Lesjai Peronnet Chang, and employees Michael Roberts and Omar Ortiz all “use the popularity of the Cookies brand to engage in pervasive self-dealing … and to strongarm and bully others into paying them millions of dollars in personal benefits and kickbacks.”’
MARIJUANA MSOs REPORT MIXED FINANCIAL RESULTS AFTER TOUGH YEAR (Kate Robertson | MJBizDaily): “Chicago-headquartered Green Thumb Industries reported $1 billion in revenue in 2022, a 14% increase from 2021. Cash flow from operations was $159 million, and the company reported a net income of $12 million. Massachusetts-based MariMed grew revenue to $134 million in 2022 from $121.5 million the previous year. The company also reported a net income of $13.6 million, up from $7.6 million in 2021, and positive cash flow from operations for the third year in a row.”
ILLINOIS DISPENSARY WORKERS STRIKE WHEN IT HURTS THE MOST (Benjamin M. Adams | High Times): “Local 777 members say that RISE dispensaries demanded that workers at the Niles location remove pro-union buttons while they were on the job, which is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Teamsters planned to strike just before the biggest day in sales for dispensaries. The strike arrives as workers in multiple states push for a higher minimum wage to meet the cost of living.”
International
🇸🇬 SINGAPORE EXECUTES MAN FOR HELPING BUY 2 POUNDS OF CANNABIS (Zen Soo | Associated Press): “Singapore on Wednesday executed a man accused of coordinating a cannabis delivery, despite pleas for clemency from his family and protests from activists that he was convicted on weak evidence. Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was sentenced to death in 2018 for abetting the trafficking of 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis may result in the death penalty.”
🇩🇪 STERN GERMAN JUDGE OBJECTS TO ‘ABSURD’ LAW CRIMINALIZING POT (Christopher F. Schuetze | New York Times): “Judge Müller is famous in Germany for his relentless criticism of the law criminalizing cannabis possession. Often with obvious anger in his voice, he has argued against Germany’s cannabis law in numerous TV discussion panels; at pro-cannabis demonstrations; in a book; and even in a rap video, all while serving as an active judge.”
🇨🇦 FIRST NATIONS LEADERS IN B.C. CALLING FOR CHANGES TO CANNABIS LAWS (Lee Wilson | APTN): “First Nations leaders in British Columbia say that the province must stop excluding nations from benefits of the cannabis industry and are calling for changes to the current laws. The First Nation Leadership Council, which consists of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, First Nations Summit and B.C Assembly stated First Nations have inherent rights to oversee, process, sell and consume cannabis within their territories. But five years after legalization, Canada and B.C. don’t recognize that jurisdiction in their current cannabis legislation.”
Welcome Distraction
In this week’s column, I took down the paywall to remember the great Harry Belafonte. If you want to learn more about the legendary activist/musician/actor, now would be a good time to check out Peacock’s documentary about Belafonte’s historic stint as a guest host on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.
The Sit-In can be watched on Peacock here.
Cat of the Week
This week it’s Toyota, a dignified orange gentlemen who is currently up for adoption at Baypath.
Special Bulletin:
Keep an eye out for a new episode of Blunt Banter next week. In the meantime, you can check out our first episode here.
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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. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and if you can afford to support my work, please consider a paid subscription.