NCIA has seen an increase in mainstream companies joining the organization in support of federal cannabis policy reform. Zippo, known for their reusable metal lighters, is an example of one of those companies, so in this month’s member spotlight, we’re checking in with Don Lenny, Vice President of Sales, Americas division, at Zippo.
Cannabis Industry Sector: Cannabis Accessories
NCIA Member Member Since: 2017
Don, tell us a bit about your background as well as your company?
Don Lenny joined Zippo in 2006, and immediately became the force behind leading the North American Sales team. With more than 35 years of sales experience in gifts and accessories channels, Don serves as the VP of Sales, Americas, for Zippo, as well as both of Zippo’s sister companies, Ronson, and W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company. In his current role, he is solely responsible for managing Zippo sales in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean; Ronson sales in North America, and W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company globally.
One of the most recognized brands in the world, Zippo was founded in the fall of 1932 by George G. Blaisdell in Bradford, Pennsylvania, where it has manufactured over 550 million windproof lighters. With the exception of improvements to the flint wheel and modifications in case finishes, the product remains unchanged and is backed by the company’s famous lifetime guarantee – “It works, or we fix it free.™” Zippo’s diverse product line includes lighters and accessories; butane candle lighters, and a robust line of heat and flame products for outdoor enthusiasts. Zippo markets in over 180 countries, and owns Bradford-based W.R. Case and Sons Cutlery Company and the Ronson family of brands.
What unique value does your company offer to the cannabis industry?
Zippo windproof lighters are backed by an unparalleled lifetime guarantee, and are stylish personal accessories. The lighter surface has been compared to an artist’s canvas, and Zippo offers a wide variety of finishes and designs, including custom, one-of-a-kind pieces on zippo.com. Zippo is internationally known as being a major player in the tobacco accessory industry, and we plan to bring those identical values of high-quality products, coupled with excellent customer service to cannabis consumers as well. Additionally, we are offering the Ronson line along with the Zippo line, ultimately opening the door for us to showcase a variety of products, at a variety of price points, to meet each consumer’s potential need.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does your company help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
Over the course of the last 85 years, without waiver, Zippo has prioritized meeting exceptionally high and rigorous standards in child safety testing on all of our products, without compromise. In addition, each piece of artwork that is featured on a Zippo pocket lighter is held to unremarkably high customization guidelines. We take pride in not using images, artwork, or slogans that could appeal to young children, as well as not using material that is offensive, including material that glamorizes illegal drug use.
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
As a company, venturing into the cannabis consumer accessory industry is exciting. We see enormous value in being able to offer the same unparalleled quality and customer service that we are historically known for to a new consumer base. However, with the cannabis industry being so new and immature overall, there are certainly a few challenges ahead.
First and foremost, Zippo strives to be a category leader for accessories at retail. Our biggest challenges include understanding what our displays, packaging, and point-of-purchase need to look like for the retail trade, understanding all aspects of distribution to ensure we have the right products in the right stores, understanding what types of product designs consumers want, and lastly, whether they prefer our pipe insert or classic insert when they use our lighter.
You recently joined NCIA, which supports reform at the federal level for the cannabis industry. Why did your company join NCIA?
We saw immense value in joining NCIA, a leading voice for this economically vital segment of consumers. As regulation and consumer attitudes continue to shift, being an NCIA member will allow us to stay well informed on trends and state-by-state policies. We also strive to be known for our excellence in delivering high-quality products and customer service. We hope that our partnership with NCIA will continue to offer us a platform that will allow us to connect with industry leaders, decision makers, business people, and consumers, to continue to aid in helping spread our brand awareness as we continue moving forward in finding our place in the cannabis industry.
In November’s Member Spotlight Video, NCIA visits with Rabbi Kahn of Takoma Wellness Center in Washington D.C., a family-owned and operated medical cannabis dispensary, and a member of NCIA since 2014. He tells us about the challenges of opening the business in the Takoma Park neighborhood of D.C. near the Maryland border.
Learn more about Takoma Wellness Center from Rabbi Kahn.
Member Spotlight: The Arcview Group
The Arcview Group, with CEO Troy Dayton
Member Since:
December 2010
Industry Sector:
Professional Services and Consulting, Investment and Asset Management
Tell me a bit about your background and why you launched your company?
Steve DeAngelo and I started Arcview in 2010 because we believed that business would ultimately become the single biggest factor in leading the end of marijuana prohibition — but there was a lack of leadership, professionalism, and scaling knowledge in the sector. We didn’t have all the answers, but we both knew a lot of the right people, so we surmised that if we structured a way for these parties to come together in a curated community around facilitating investment in the sector, we could ignite the power of free enterprise and aim its tremendous power towards political progress and the development of a new kind of industry.
I got my start in cannabis when I was a freshman in college at American University where I was one of the Marijuana Policy Project’s first volunteers in 1995, the year it was founded. I went on to intern for the Drug Reform Coordination Network at the dawn of the internet age where I helped start a project called U-net, which was a list-serve of college drug reform activists. Obvious thing to do now, but then it was revolutionary because it was the first time college activists could find each other and communicate easily. We rallied hundreds of activists behind a fellow student who was being kicked out of college for starting a marijuana policy chapter. It wasn’t long before we realized that it was time to start a more robust student drug policy organization. That began Students For Sensible Drug Policy which is now on hundreds of campuses nationwide and is a major force for political change.
Over the years, I helped start a digital video media company that was a cross between Youtube and Facebook. We raised millions of dollars but ultimately went “dot bust” because we were about 7 years too early with exactly the right idea. Then a few of us from that endeavor started a renewable energy company called Renewable Choice Energy, which was recently acquired by Schneider Energy 15 years later. I spent 3 years working with religious leaders and religious denominations helping them advocate for various drug policy reforms where I could. I spent two years as the Director of Development for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Just before I started Arcview I was the lead fundraiser for the Marijuana Policy Project.
I always felt like I had to choose between being part of the next business boom or fighting for what I believed in and remaining poor. I never in a million years believed that my work to end marijuana prohibition would have led to the next business boom. It didn’t occur to me until 2009.
What unique value does your company offer to the cannabis industry?
Arcview is the largest source of investment deal flow in the sector, and the publishers of the most trusted and best-selling market information. Our 600+ high net worth investor members have placed north of $150 million into 160+ cannabis related companies. We are the launch pad for companies seeking capital and mentorship, and for investors figuring out their investment thesis and developing relationships with the people they will need to make the most of this rare economic opportunity. As more investment conferences and pitch contests develop for the sector, and as more traditional investment gatherings start looking at cannabis, I think our biggest differentiator is our incredibly generous community. I’m astounded everyday buy the blood, sweat, and tears that our members put in to help each other and help these companies succeed. Unlike most investment conferences where almost everyone is there pretty much for their own self interest, at Arcview we’ve created a unique environment where people are also there for the benefit of the community, and for the love of the game. And we have a ton of fun.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does your company help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
At every event we have a non-profit working to change the laws give a pitch to the members, and then I ask people to make commitments on the spot. We’ve raised more than $3 million for the cause during these efforts. And when people make their commitments they often say a few words about why. We make it clear at Arcview that if you are investing in this industry, you also need to be donating to the cause. It’s not just good for the soul, but it also make great business sense.
We are also a key place for organizations like NCIA and others that are advocating for good business practices and diversity in the industry. Steve DeAngelo and I both serve on the board of NCIA, and I serve on the board of the Marijuana Policy Project.
I also think that our unique community culture at Arcview helps create a new kind of industry, where people hug instead of shake hands, where they look into each others eyes instead of each others pockets, and where people get to bring their whole selves to their business and not just this plastic old school version of “professionalism.”
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
The very rapid reduction in the wholesale price of cannabis is both a huge opportunity and a huge challenge depending on where you sit and how you look at it. It’s going to be great for consumers, agricultural product creators, landlords and for the legal markets competing with the illicit markets. It will not be kind to small boutique growers and to the amazingly rich culture that has been built around small scale cultivation. There are some great companies helping people transition and coming up with cooperative models that will help boutique farmers compete. There are also efforts to brand those growers and maintain consumer support for more expensive cannabis where they feel connected to the cultivator.
Another big challenge we face is severely limited licensing that only benefits a few. This is particularly a problem in the Northeast, but also in some countries as legalization spreads. Limiting licenses is not a terrible idea if it’s within reason, but there are a few examples where it’s way too lopsided into just a few operators controlling a market. Many people think this is temporary, and that after federal prohibition ends these regulatory structures will loosen up. I’m not as optimistic. When only a very few benefit hugely, they are incentivized to hold on to that structure for dear life, particularly if it is helping to uphold unnaturally high pricing. We could see the federal government leave it up to the states and those states maintain those oligopolies. In fact, I think that is most likely.
But the biggest challenge we face is that people think we have already won and so they are not donating to change laws and they are forgetting that they are right now committing actual civil disobedience and are subject to arrest and imprisonment. Wake UP! If you are already “woke” on this point, then please go “woke” some other people. An industry with a 27% Compound Annual Growth Rate and a ton of enemies needs to be building a powerful and well-funded lobbying effort on the order of the gun, tobacco, alcohol, gaming, and pharmaceutical industries. But we aren’t even close. The fact that we have made so much progress with the tiniest fraction of those industries lobbying budgets is testament to just how right we are and what amazing advocates we have. But we are in the big leagues now and we need to swing like we are in the big leagues.
If you are not donating at least a percent or two of your revenue or amount invested, then you are riding coat tails and you are the reason we have not made additional progress. As the Beastie Boys said so eloquently, “You’ve gotta fight for your right to paaarrrrtaay!”
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
I was a founding board member of the NCIA because I believe we need a strong lobby advocating for our interests. I also wanted to make sure that we set the tone that this is not just an industry, but a political movement with social justice aims. NCIA is the perfect expression of those ideals. My favorite part of being a member is being on the board and getting to marvel at the amazing, quirky, fun, and incredibly accomplished women and men that lead this world-changing industry. It’s a true honor to serve along side them as we create jobs, wealth, tax money, health, and freedom.
Cannabis Industry Sector: Information Technology and Software
NCIA Member Since: July 2016
Tell me a bit about your background and why you launched your company?
My name is Joel Milton and I am the co-founder and CEO of Baker. I’ve spent the last 8 years in the software industry, and have been working with my co-founder and Chief Product Officer, David Champion, for that entire time. Our third co-founder and CTO, Roger Obando, has been a developer for the past 20 years.
The three of us got interested in the cannabis industry in 2014 as adult use was rolling out in Colorado. We saw an opportunity to bring our years of software expertise to the industry as it was coming out of prohibition. We knew there would be a lot of issues specific to the industry, and we saw there were few entrepreneurs with technical backgrounds trying to tackle them.
What unique value does your company offer to the cannabis industry?
We proudly boast that we are on the dispensary’s team.
The Baker team at Representative Jared Polis’s fundraiser. Glenn McElfresh (Business Development) David Champion (Co-founder and CPO) and Roger Obando (Co-founder and CTO)
When we first started, we saw vendors come to the industry to take advantage of dispensaries. They had a misconstrued image of cannabis businesses: safes full of cash, lines out the door, and that businesses couldn’t stock shelves quickly enough. As a company that only serves the industry, we understand real issues like 280e, marketing restrictions, and constantly changing regulations. Due to these misconceptions, many of the early players were charging outrageous fees for basic services (like 10 cents for a text message vs. 1 cent for ours) because few companies were willing to work with dispensaries to begin with.
Additionally, everyone in this space was competing for the same end customer – trying to get them to their dispensary, download their app, go to their website, etc. We saw a dangerous “race to the bottom” on price, and realized there was an opportunity to help dispensaries engage with their customers directly.
Today, we help more than 500 dispensaries in 14 states build their brand, connect with customers, and generate more revenue. We are on the dispensary’s team and our goal is to make them have more successful businesses. We are a true business to business cannabis tech company, and we take pride in showing our clients the ROI they see by using our platform.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does your company help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
We have been NCIA members for over a year now, and have made sure to contribute not just money but time as well. We send our regional reps to quarterly NCIA caucuses all over the country to keep a pulse on local and national initiatives to see where we can help. We also try to attend and sponsor cannabis events in the regions where we operate and beyond.
In the next month we will be attending events on both coasts, and at a few cities in between. We will also have a booth at the California Cannabis Business Conference (booth 204) if you will be there please swing by our booth or send us an email (marketing@trybaker.com) to set up a time!
We take pride in the professionalism we bring to the industry, and are constantly bringing a mainstream approach to the way we operate – from hiring people out of Fortune 100 firms into the industry, to building quality software products that’s on par with anything coming out of Silicon Valley. Our toolset is uniquely specific to help cannabis brands and retailers run better businesses. We have been approached by retailers in other industries, but our entire focus is on cannabis.
We also work with mainstream investors – many of whom are getting their first exposure to cannabis. It has been such a rewarding experience to promote the industry to influencers who can propel the industry forward with investment and leadership.
Lastly, we also are proud to have brought a lot of public and positive press to the industry. In the past year we have been featured in publications like Business Insider, Forbes, Fast Co, and dozens of others. We position ourselves as a professional company, creating jobs in our headquarters of Denver. We have 35 full-time employees and counting!
Our exposure in the mainstream media has helped millions of readers from around the country learn about cannabis in a more positive light. They can see that there is a large degree of professionalism in the industry and that it would not be a bad thing if it came to their backyard.
How do recent advances in technology, and how we use it, impact the growth and direction of the cannabis industry?
We believe this is a big industry and we have a responsibility to enhance the cannabis ecosystem – when companies cooperate, the sum is greater than its parts.
We are proud of the integrations we have with fellow members of NCIA. We work with POS companies like MJ Freeway, Green Bits, Treez, and Flowhub, as well as data companies like New Frontier (we contributed to their Report earlier this year).
Additionally, retailers across all industries have invested a lot in bringing their shopping experience into the digital age. Cannabis retail should be on par with other shopping experiences, and by providing beautiful, easy to use products, we can help make cannabis more accessible to a larger audience.
We are proud to bring retailers a modern experience that has been called the “shopify of cannabis.” We enjoy hearing stories from our clients about how our products have helped customers see that the stigmas around cannabis shopping are dissipating.
Baker at NCIA Lobby Days. Eli Sklarin (Director of Marketing) Carter Davidson (VP of Sales) Joel Milton (Co-founder and CEO) and Geoff Hamm (COO).
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
We are big believers in NCIA, it is an important group with a fantastic mission. I went to Lobby Days along with our COO, VP of Sales, and Director of Marketing. We were all impressed with how organized the experience was.
There is something special about getting the cannabis conversation started with influencers. Most staffers would be hesitant to bring it up, but if you go in-person and inspire confidence in the industry, you can watch the ball start rolling and it was very rewarding to be a part of that.
Video: Member Spotlight – A Therapeutic Alternative
Based in Sacramento, California, this month we meet Kimberly Cargile, director of the medical cannabis dispensary A Therapeutic Alternative, focused on holistic healing and patient support. Learn more about how her dispensary has integrated and become a part of the local community. They also offer additional holistic services such as yoga, massage therapy, sound therapy, meditation, and more.
Member Spotlight: GENIFER M
This month, we’re highlighting long-time NCIA Member and cannabis advocate Genifer Murray, who recently launched her line of luxury cannabis-themed jewelry, GENIFER M, with the aim and intention to “elevate the conversation about cannabis through artisan jewelry.”
Cannabis Industry Sector: Accessories/Products
NCIA Member Since: 2012
Tell me a bit about your background and why you launched your company?
I launched GENIFER M to start the conversation about cannabis. With more than seven years of experience working in the cannabis industry, I have always been passionate about educating the public on the positive power and healing benefits of cannabis; GENIFER M is luxury cannabis inspired jewelry that aims to do just that through artisan jewelry.
My cannabis career started in 2010 when I co-founded one of the first cannabis testing labs in the U.S., CannLabs based in Colorado, where I was one of the first female CEOs in the cannabis industry. My passion and role as CEO became to be a champion for health and safety for patients. My mission with CannLabs was to provide safe and quality medicine to cannabis patients, which resulted in a bigger mission: to help others and the larger community that need this medicine through lobbying for its legalization. While lobbying, I wanted to better represent the cannabis industry and make a statement that illustrated cannabis in a non-threatening and elegant way. As a result, GENIFER M was born.
My dad, Glenn Murray, a technically trained and internationally recognized gemologist, made me a 2.5 carat diamond pave indica leaf lapel to wear with my suits while I was lobbying with NCIA and the Governor’s Task Force for Amendment 64 (ending marijuana prohibition). I wore the pin everywhere and could see it was not only changing minds, but starting conversations with people that traditionally wouldn’t openly discuss or inquire about cannabis. The pin created a movement, creating a non-threatening space for educating consumers about cannabis and its benefits. GENIFER M is an extension of that conversation and was launched to change the way people perceive, interact, and experience cannabis through luxe style and handcrafted quality jewelry.
What unique value does your company offer to the cannabis industry?
Our company is extremely unique in the fact that we are using a lifestyle to start the conversation about cannabis. GENIFER M creates luxury fashion that empowers, educates, and elevates the conversation about cannabis and what it means to each person who wears a leaf. Each GENIFER M cannabis inspired jewelry piece is designed to open discussions about topics of cannabis in a non-threatening way; we aim to create a space in which you can fully express your beliefs, hopes, and passion for the healing properties of cannabis with the mission to make a difference in people’s lives. It shatters traditional perceptions of cannabis to reverse 90 years of the propaganda in mainstream culture.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does your company help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
As business owners in the cannabis industry, we each have a responsibility to move this industry forward in the best manner possible, which is why GENIFER M is the alternative to mass production and traditional cannabis perceptions. We believe in the higher side of purchasing power and style — and making a difference in people’s lives through cannabis inspired jewelry. At GENIFER M, we want to give you the power to share your story and lead you to a lifestyle that embraces what cannabis means to you while honoring the progression from “pot culture” to “cannabis couture.”
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
There are several challenges like no traditional banking, the 280E tax problem, and of course the stigma, which still has a lot to do with why people are hesitating in the decriminalization of marijuana. However, we need more science to overcome the myths and stigma surrounding cannabis! We need the studies, clinical trials, and research. Thankfully the U.S. is finally allowing some of that to take place. I also see pharma as a huge challenge. As a cannabis community we need to work together to help end the pharma era and provide people with natural and holistic medicine — not synthetically made or chemically compounded products. Ultimately, creating platforms for cannabis education is the key to overcoming the challenges this industry faces
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
I joined NCIA because we needed a national voice to be heard in D.C. I wanted to help educate lawmakers and the public about the issues challenging the industry, to help prepare for the issues that nobody knew about back in 2012. I also joined because the NCIA community and its members provided me support through my cannabis entrepreneurial journey; they knew exactly what I was going through and became a great network founded on the mentality of helping each other grow and succeed. We are all working together to pave the way for the industry.
For more information about GENIFER M, or to purchase its products and help start the conversation about cannabis, please visit www.geniferm.com.
In this month’s member spotlight, we check in with the team at Yerba Buena Farms, based in Oregon. Yerba Buena was recently named one of the top 100 green companies to work for in Oregon. Operations Manager Laura Rivero tells us more about their company and the way they manage their staff through self-care “wellness days” and volunteering for charitable organizations.
Yerba Buena Farms
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Cannabis Cultivation
NCIA Member Member Since:
May 2017
Tell us a bit about your background and why you launched your company?
We launched YB with the intention of bringing a holistic approach to the cannabis business. These include fair labor practices, research and innovation, organic practices, sustainability, and bringing a diverse group of people together to achieve a common goal.
What unique value does your company offer to the cannabis industry?
Our company is focused on consistency and quality in both our product and business practices while maintaining full compliance and integrity. We are helping to set standards across the board, elevating the cannabis industry as a whole and inspiring others.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does your company help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
We do the right thing every day and with every decision. It is not always about the bottom line and the ability to cultivate a socially responsible organization is a key benchmark in our organization. We have been recognized in every sector of the industry and beyond for exemplary practices, and we are committed to pushing the envelope to increase the standards for other businesses, regardless of their industry. We were the first (and so far only) cannabis company to make the 100 Best Green Workplaces in Oregon, placing 9th, and shining a light on this industry as a potential leader in sustainable business practices.
We participate in organizations that are helping push forward positive change and standards, such as the Cannabis Certification Council (CCC), which is dedicated to setting national organic and fair labor standards for cannabis, the Oregon Cannabis Association (OCA), which is dedicated to protecting the cannabis industry on local, state, and federal levels, and we are part of the Resource Innovation Institute (RII), which leads in sustainable design and resource efficiency for the cannabis industry.
In addition to participating in other organizations that are making a difference, we understand that it all truly starts within our own organization. We are committed to paying our employees a family wage and provide excellent health benefits that are covered 100% by the company. We have monthly wellness days to promote self-care and teach personal wellness strategies, as well as regular get-togethers and team building events. Our team volunteers with many charitable organizations in order to give back to our community in a more meaningful and interactive way. We provide in-depth training to all of our employees on all areas of cannabis in order to increase the ambassadorship of our company. We take the opportunity and responsibility to be leaders in this industry and help to shape it to become a legitimate and respected part of the national economy, reducing the unfounded stigma, and allowing cannabis to change the world for the better.
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
Access to information both internally and externally. The industry does not have modern operating systems to adequately manage the business of cannabis production, forcing us to create our own solutions internally at great expense. Externally, banking and taxation are two areas where YB would like to see national solutions.
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
We joined NCIA because of the work accomplished and in progress on a national and state level. NCIA has represented this plant for years, and we are excited to support these efforts. The information provided by the NCIA regarding market trends, pricing, state-specific data, etc., is incredibly valuable.
This month, we checked in with award-winning designer Megan Stone, founder of The High Road Design Studio, to hear more about her interior design company. Megan specializes in creating a forward-thinking retail dispensary experience for cannabis consumers and patients. Her company was founded in 2013 and is currently based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Consulting
NCIA Member Member Since: March 2017
Megan, tell me a bit about your background and why you launched The High Road Design Studio?
I am a Midwestern-grown, West-Coast-processed female millennial business owner who is passionate about elevating the cannabis industry. From a cannabis patient to working in an Orange County dispensary as a budtender and general manager, to a design school student who was switching careers in the midst of my 20’s during the Great Recession, I now design cannabis retail spaces across the U.S. I launched my design company, The High Road Design Studio, as a result of my first-hand experience with cannabis, love for good design, and desire to help reframe people’s perceptions of a plant that saves lives.
I launched The High Road Design Studio to change the way people think, perceive, interact, and experience cannabis.
What unique value does The High Road Design Studio offer to the cannabis industry?
Founded in 2013, The High Road Design Studio aims tochange peoples’ perceptions of cannabis and cannabis users through strategic design thinking. The High Road Design Studio’s work is inspired by my personal experiences in all roles of the cannabis retail experience—customer, employee, and retailer.
The High Road Design Studio has worked with cannabis-focused businesses in more than thirteen states to design unique and profitable retail stores and brands.
Applying the understanding of both the cannabis and retail design industries with personal and professional experience has resulted in The High Road Design Studio’s proven track record of designing industry-leading, award-winning dispensaries. The High Road has earned national and international recognition for its cannabis retail store designs, working with passionate cannabis business owners and thought leaders to evolve the cannabis experience including:
2017 Shop! Design Award – Level Up Dispensary 2016 Shop! Design Award for Store Fixture – TruMed Concentrate Bar Design:retail Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Award, 2016 Marijuana Venture Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Award, 2016 VMSD Magazine’s Designer Dozen Award, 2015 International Retail Design Conference speaker, 2014, 2015, and 2016 National Marijuana Business Conference speaker, 2015 and 2016 GlobalShop speaker, 2017 Shop!X Summit speaker, 2016 Contributing editor on design for MG Magazine
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does The High Road Design Studio help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
The cannabis industry is booming – and it needs a makeover. After decades of its sales being relegated to the black market and its users being labeled as criminals, cannabis is now a mainstay in society, and people everywhere are trying to make sense of this new retail experience. Its retail stores are the public face of the industry and are where the vast majority of interactions with the cannabis industry happen. Design and design thinking applied to the cannabis retail experience are the keys that will unlock the new world of legal cannabis and provide the solutions and creativity needed to attract, educate and satisfy twenty-first century cannabis users.
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
Real estate presents unique challenges in the cannabis industry; cannabis retailers don’t have the luxury of choosing prime retail properties when selecting their locations, so I am often faced with the challenge of creating a shopper-friendly environment out of the complete opposite of a shopper-friendly environment. To tackle this challenge, I use my first-hand experience from shopping in, working in, and designing dispensaries, combined with well-studied retail design principles to bridge the gap between the architectural challenges and the opportunity for a memorable experience.
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
NCIA fosters a community that connects passionate industry leaders, influencers, thought leaders and business owners, providing invaluable support. NCIA helps our community work together to change perceptions and elevate the cannabis industry.
This month, we visit with Jeff Hatley and Betsy Gribble of NCIA Member Sequoia Analytical Labs, based in Sacramento, California. Get a look inside the lab and hear more about the technology and methods used to ensure cannabis is safe, clean, and free of harmful contaminants.
Partner Spotlight: Minority Cannabis Business Association
NCIA recently launched a partnership with the Minority Cannabis Business Association in order to address the gap in racial and ethnic diversity within the cannabis industry. We caught up with MCBA founder Jesce Horton from Oregon to talk about MCBA’s mission, which exists “to create equal access and economic empowerment for cannabis businesses, their patients, and the communities most affected by the war on drugs.”
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Non-Profit Association
Jesce, tell us a bit about your background and why you launched MCBA?
After I received my degree in industrial engineering, I started working for a large corporate firm right out of college. There, I began my work of reducing energy usage and environmental footprint at industrial facilities in the Americas. Shortly after moving to Portland from Munich, Germany, I started growing medical cannabis for two elderly patients that were suffering from cancer and from that, Panacea Valley Gardens was born. I got really involved in the industry and started attending conferences and networking events. I started realizing that not many people in the industry looked like me and the issues plaguing the communities of people of color didn’t seem to be on anyone’s radar.
I collaborated with some other industry professionals and we formed the Minority Cannabis Business Association. We soon realized that the issues wasn’t just about morality or doing the right thing, but more about the health and sustainability of the entire industry.
What unique value does MCBA offer to the cannabis industry?
MCBA firmly believes that not including communities of color in the industry or ensuring that these communities benefit from its prosperity is a major mistake!
Cannabis businesses across the country are missing out on a huge segment of consumers. By being so slow to utilize this opportunity to provide economic opportunity, social justice, and patient awareness in communities that have been targeted by cannabis prohibition, the people who live there are becoming bitter towards the burgeoning industry. Just like in any market, diversity is a major benefit. This is true even more so in the cannabis industry where preferences and perspectives on our primary product can be very culturally specific.
On the flip side, minority communities can benefit greatly from the cannabis industry, in multiple ways. Health issues that affect minorities disproportionately (Minority Health Disparity Gap: Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health, etc.) can be greatly relieved and even reversed through informed and measured use of safe and tested cannabis products. Also, many would find that their cannabis expenses can be reduced through information and access to the right cannabinoid profiles, application methods, and dosages. Not to mention there is a huge pool of jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities that can be available given the right policies and regulations. These things simply aren’t available at nearly the same capacity in the traditional, illegal market.
MCBA is uniquely positioned to serve as a bridge between the industry and communities that have been targeted by cannabis prohibition and the war on drugs. Our board of directors is made of up cannabis business owners, activists and legislators from across multiple cannabis markets in the country. Our programs are directly focused on
Policy improvements that lower barriers to entry and uplift targets communities
Educational experiences that increase access to information for people of color
Connection with successful businesses and people who understand that this is an important issue for the sustainability of our industry
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be responsible and treated equally as any other industry. How does MCBA help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
At MCBA, our belief is that this industry is stronger and more sustainable when the barriers of entry are low and support small business development, not special interests. This should be the goal of any industry, especially new industries that thrive with innovation, problem solving, and community support. The policies for which we advocate and programs we execute represent equal access, responsibility, and fair taxation, not reparations or special privilege. It’s important that we work to reconcile the harms done by cannabis prohibition, but these efforts won’t be effective without a strong, dynamic, and thriving industry. They go hand-in-hand.
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
The challenges that affect communities of color from benefiting from the cannabis industry are mainly fair policies, lack of education about the industry, and limited networks to assist with raising capital and business development. We would like to see the industry stand as one to push for lower barriers to entry, tax allocation for communities targeted by the war on drugs, and community outreach regarding health education and employment opportunities.
Tell us about the partnership between MCBA and NCIA?
The partnership between MCBA and NCIA will assist us in working closer and more effectively on programs that complement each organization’s mission. Both organizations strongly believe that diversity and inclusion are principles that will guide our industry to sustainable and responsible growth. We are very excited to work closely with NCIA to ensure that this becomes a reality.
This month, we checked in with Dr. Juli Crockett of W Vapes, a vaporizer and extraction brand that originally launched in California, and is a Sustaining level member of NCIA. W Vapes was named one of the “Best Vape Cartridges” of 2016 at the California Chalice Cup. Juli also sits as a Co-Chair on NCIA’s recently launched Policy Council.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Extraction/Manufacturing
NCIA Member Member Since: December 2015
Tell me a bit about your background and why you launched W Vapes?
The first W Vapes products were officially launched in California in August of 2015. A short two years later, and we are about to transition to being a national brand with locations in Oregon, Nevada, and beyond. W Vapes is becoming W The Brand.
Dr. Juli Crockett with Edibles Magazine Editor-in-chief Patrick Moore
How it all began? A family history of multiple types of cancer, as well as other ailments, led our co-founders to the research and development of our extracts. A defining moment that confirmed their faith in this amazing medicine was after providing cannabis oil to a family member with Tourette’s syndrome who experienced more than 100 ticks per day. After a single dose of cannabis oil his ticks subsided completely. They then knew their mission was to bring high quality cannabis to the people. After working for years in every aspect of the cannabis industry, from growing to dispensaries to manufacturing, their small, home-grown pen company (RELM) was sought out by visionary investors that recognized the massive potential of their high quality oil. From that union, W Vapes was born. I suppose you could call me the midwife? I was recruited in early 2015 to help with the launching of the W brand in California. While my official title is Chief Compliance Officer, we all have worn a whole mess of hats in the past two years, which goes along well with my diverse background in the arts (playwright, theater director, singer, bandleader), PhD in Philosophy, experience as a Marketing Director in the adult toy industry, and undefeated professional boxer. It sounds like a unique resume, however, the cannabis industry has no shortage of dreamers, daredevils, and polymaths. I’m in excellent company.
What unique value does W Vapes offer to the cannabis industry?
W Vapes is a unique hybrid that combines incredible quality standards and a deep commitment to patient safety with sophisticated, sleek branding and marketing savvy. A big differentiator is that our extractions are single-origin, strain-specific, and always pesticide-free. The oil in our cartridges and dabs comes from a single strain of a single batch of cannabis flower. There are no additives, flavorings, store bought terpenes, mixing of strains, synthetics, or cutting agents. One source, one strain, nothing else. We work with farmers that employee pesticide-free practices to produce high quality cannabis flowers, which we transform via small batch CO2 supercritical extractions into the liquid soul of the plant.
We are purists, plain and simple. We believe that the mission of the extraction process is to preserve and amplify the authentic soul of each cannabis strain. The vaping experience should be the inhalation of the concentrated soul of a plant, with no additives, synthetics, flavorings, or adulterants in the mix. That is why we do small-batch, single-origin, strain-specific extractions of certified and lab-tested, pesticide-free, potency-proven cannabis flowers. Our motto is “Gold In/Gold Out.”
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be responsible and treated equally as any other industry. How does W Vapes help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
Our goal and mission is to make the highest quality extracts accessible to all. Everyone deserves excellent, pure medicine. We have already distinguished ourselves by bringing more healthy delivery systems (such as glass and stainless steel cartridges, rather than plastic) to the masses, which is quickly becoming the industry standard. We hope to continue to innovate and influence the cannabis space in positive ways by always demanding the best for ourselves, patients and all people.
Our mission is to bring pure, pesticide-free, clean medicine of the highest quality to patients that may not even know or care about quality, pesticides, and clean medicine. We are a high-end product that is still affordable, as we believe that good, clean medicine should be the rule and not the exception.
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
W Vapes Co-Founder, Amber Abbott
Staying on top of the ever-changing and ever-developing regulatory landscape is a big challenge. It can be difficult for a company to make future plans when the future is still somewhat unknown. As an industry we face the paradoxical challenges of lack of regulation in some areas and over regulation in others on the horizon. Overall, the solutions we seek are being treated like any other industry, held to those standards, and given the same incentives and opportunities. Access to banking, sensible taxation, functional regulations, all with a focus on patient safety and the healthy growth of the cannabis industry — allowing for maximum participation by the people who created the cannabis industry over the past decades.
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
Being engaged in the political process, locally and at the state level, is of the utmost importance during this time of transition, when so many laws and regulations are being created and implemented. This is why it was important for us to not only join NCIA, and our local state affiliate CCIA (California Cannabis Industry Association), but to become deeply involved with both organizations. I currently sit on the Board of Directors for CCIA, several of its committees, and serve as a Co-Chair on NCIA’s newly formed Policy Council. This is an unprecedented moment in which the pioneers of the cannabis industry have the opportunity to come together and speak with a collective and powerful voice. The future of the industry is being defined and decided every day, in every moment. We do not have time to waste. This is our moment.
Note: NCIA member profiles highlight members and stories within our cannabis industry community. They do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of specific products or services by NCIA.
VIDEO: Spotlight on California Cannabis Industry Association
In this month’s NCIA video newsletter, we headed to Sacramento to attend the California Cannabis Industry Association‘s 2nd Annual Policy Conference. CCIA is NCIA’s state affiliate in California. Hear from CCIA members and California state legislators about the critical work CCIA does to represent the state’s industry, and how the NCIA/CCIA affiliation means members have a comprehensive and powerful voice at the state and federal levels. If your California cannabis business isn’t yet a member of CCIA, join today!
Member Spotlight: National Grow Technologies
In this month’s NCIA Member Spotlight, we speak with the team at National Grow Technologies, who offer a variety of services and products to support the cannabis industry. Recently, NGT sold a cannabis flower batching and sorting machine right on the expo floor of NCIA’s Seed To Sale Show to fellow NCIA member The Clinic.
National Grow Technologies
Cannabis Industry sector: Equipment and Consulting
NCIA member since: The NGT founders have been members of NCIA since 2010 through different endeavors. National Grow Technologies has been a member since its formation in 2015.
Tell us a bit about your background in cannabis and how the team at National Grow Technologies came to fruition?
National Grow Technologies‘ background stems out of the formation of the Colorado medical and adult-use cannabis markets. Our team brings 25 years of combined experience in the regulated cannabis industry as well as 50 years of combined horticulture experience. This includes build-out, ownership, and management of multiple dispensaries and full-scale cultivation operations, originating in 2009. We have since been involved in multiple projects, in numerous regulatory states, both nonprofit and for profit.
NGT team: Scott Field, Chandra Carleton, Bruce Granger, and Bill Campbell
From the beginning, the need for regulation was obvious, prompting our involvement at a legislative level. This includes involvement in SB 10-109 and HB 10-1284 as well as the Rule-Making Workshop in 2010. What an exciting, educational experience, helping create the first regulated cannabis market. If we only knew then what we know now.
As you can see, our passion for the cannabis industry runs deep. Through that passion, NGT developed organically, just as we developed our own dispensaries and cultivations. We immediately became involved in the national cannabis market, traveling to cannabis-related events, meeting many people in the industry and trading knowledge. We have always held the belief that “helping someone else learn strengthens our own education.” Through that enlightening experience, our processes to bring a quality commercial product to market were developed. Since that time National Grow Technologies and its partners have been working to help new and exciting businesses develop and refine the quality of their process.
What unique value does NGT offer to the cannabis industry?
National Grow Technologies does not just sell best-in-class equipment such as the GVS Precision Batcher or the GreenBroz trimmer; we also use our extensive experience to ensure that this equipment works for our clients. As the cannabis industry has evolved, many new products have been developed. Not all have effectively executed the operation for which they were designed, or are capable of integrating with commercial processes. Through extensive testing and use of various industry specific machinery, we are able to choose the highest performing equipment on the market. We take great pride in not just supplying this equipment, but also providing the training, services, and process development needed for repeatability of success.
Our training and support is what distinguishes our company. For every piece of equipment we sell, we strive to create an environment capable of its full potential. We realize even the best equipment can have its effectiveness diminished if used incorrectly. That is why NGT offers training programs with every piece of equipment we sell. Once you have successfully completed training and operations begin, the equipment must remain functioning optimally. NGT also has service programs for every piece equipment we sell. We recognize that our success is only possible with yours.
The GVS Precision Batcher, sold to The Clinic on the expo floor at NCIA’s recent Seed To Sale Show
While supporting our clients through the integration and implementation of new equipment, we are aware that changes in process produce ripple effects through other processes or even the Standard Operating Procedures of a facility. Since our inception, we have been fueled by a desire to increase efficiency of cultivation operations, while recognizing the limitations of each facility. We have the skills necessary to refine your process, review plans to assess proposed process, or put processes into SOP documents. We are here to help.
By viewing a facility systemically through its entire manufacturing process and integration of new equipment, NGT assists our clients to optimize production. We do not run cultivations. We help clients run cultivations more efficiently, allowing them to fast-track business execution, while minimizing their financial exposure, creating a quicker ROI.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does NGT help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
We at National Grow Technologies look to use our experience from helping create a regulated market to educate emerging markets on techniques proven to provide the safe access of cannabis for adults. It is the responsibility of everyone in this industry to engage in business practices that ensure a proper and clean seed-to-sale process designed with the health and safety of consumers as a core principal. Cannabis needs to be handled and processed in a way that is safe for human consumption. This is a process that can be clearly defined, which will align procedures that navigate an increasingly complex set of ever-changing rules and regulations, while remaining true to the value of safe access. Each and every one of us has the responsibility to move this industry to a safe and sustainable position in manufacturing and distribution of cannabis.
Why did you join NCIA? What is the best part about being a member?
Bruce Granger and Chandra Carleton
In 2010, one of the founding NGT members, Bruce Granger, was at the meeting with Aaron Smith when he said that he was going to build a National Cannabis Industry Association. Bruce has been a member ever since, through multiple business endeavors and now with NGT. We have stayed a member of NCIA due to the symmetry of our business models. We are both committed to the education, support, and unification of the industry.
NCIA has always been a resource of knowledge for ourselves and many in the industry, keeping us informed through their newsletters, Quarterly Cannabis Caucasus, and informative speakers at every conference. They have supported the cannabis industry by taking a message of positive reform to Washington, D.C. We will only be able to continue and expand our industry with the education and enlightenment of our political system.
Reconnecting with our friends or meeting new members, the business opportunities abound. In fact, thank you to NCIA for bringing NGT and The Clinic back together at the NCIA Seed to Sale Show this past January 31 – February 1. The Clinic is now the proud owner of the first GVS Precision Batcher in Colorado, a state-of-the-art piece of equipment capable of precise weighting and batching cannabis flower. It is all of these memories of where we came from, and all of the possibilities the future holds that keeps NGT coming back to NCIA.
Note: NCIA member profiles highlight members and stories within our cannabis industry community. They do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of specific products or services by NCIA.
Member Spotlight: Cannabase
In this month’s NCIA Member Spotlight, we speak with Jennifer Beck, co-founder and Managing Director of Cannabase, a wholesale cannabis marketplace and technology dashboard. Cannabase is headquartered in Denver, serving more than 75% of marijuana licenses in Colorado, with plans to expand nationwide in 2017.
Cannabase
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Wholesale Distribution, Technology
NCIA Member Member Since:
2014
Tell me a bit about your background in cannabis and why you launched Cannabase?
Cannabase co-founders, Chase Beck and Jennifer Beck
When my husband, Chase Beck, and I co-founded Cannabase, we had a background in technology and a passion for cannabis. Not only were we amazed by the incredible science surrounding medical marijuana, but we also believed that cannabis was a much healthier alternative to alcohol for general adult-use purposes. The idea of being part of an emerging industry – helping to shape the framework while increasing its validity and chances of survival – was a really exciting idea to us.
What unique value does Cannabase offer to the cannabis industry?
Cannabase is the oldest and largest online wholesale marketplace in Colorado, providing a safe and compliant platform for businesses to connect over wholesale bud, trim, extracts, seeds, and edibles. We represent over 75% of the licensees in the state in our intuitive, automated platform, streamlining wholesale purchases and aggregating the powerful market data that drives our market statewide. Cannabase will be expanding nationwide in 2017, and is the exclusive wholesale partner of BioTrackTHC and MJ Freeway point-of-sale systems, which makes Cannabase the only firm to have direct, non-self-report access to virtually the entire Colorado market’s real-time inventory.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does Cannabase help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
Cannabase was founded on the principle that legal cannabis was a statewide experiment, and the health of the industry was critical to that experiment being considered a success. As a result, we’ve treated compliance, transparency, and integrity as non-negotiable cornerstones of our company’s evolution and product development. We’re disciplined in our vetting of licensed businesses and ensuring that anyone using our product has a valid license with their state and uses the site appropriately. Similarly, we’re passionate about supporting industry groups like NCIA that are doing amazing work for the future of our industry. We believe that investing in industry groups is as important as ever, especially in light of the changing political climate.
What kind of challenges do you face in the industry and what solutions would you like to see?
We still see the ramifications of the overarching federal limitations and restrictions – primarily 280E (which squeezes capital industry-wide) and lack of banking. These roadblocks impede progress for all cannabis businesses, and make it more difficult for ancillary businesses to solve the critical day-to-day challenges faced by our customers.
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
We love the work NCIA does to strengthen, connect, empower, and fight for the legal cannabis industry. In the three years we’ve been in the cannabis industry, we’ve never experienced anything short of total professionalism from the staff at NCIA. It’s a group that never under-delivers, and has been a pillar for community and our community’s future. We are proud to be a part of NCIA and look forward to seeing what 2017 brings!
Note: NCIA member profiles highlight members and stories within our cannabis industry community. They do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of specific products or services by NCIA.
VIDEO: Member Spotlight with Shift Cannabis Co.
This month, we introduce you to Travis Howard, co-founder of Shift Cannabis Co., a cannabis consulting firm for cultivators and retailers based in Boulder, Colorado. Travis explains his company’s values surrounding corporate social responsibility with an emphasis on boutique business models.
Note: NCIA member profiles highlight members and stories within our cannabis industry community. They do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of specific products or services by NCIA.
Member Spotlight: THC Design
To kick off 2017, we’re highlighting NCIA Member THC Design, whom you may have met as a sponsor of some of our Quarterly Cannabis Caucus events in 2016. Seth Hilsabeck, the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Head of Research & Development, tells us a bit more about THC Design, a family-oriented cannabis cultivation company based in California, and what they’ve been up to as a company since launching publicly in 2014.
NCIA Member Member Since: June 2016
Tell us about your background in cannabis and why you joined the team at THC Design?
Seth Hilsabeck, COO & Head of R&D
President/Owner Ryan Jennemann and I both grew up in Oklahoma and have been close friends since grade school. Both of us have had a fondness and passion for cannabis and its many efficacies since being teenagers. Ryan was lucky enough to be taught to grow by his father in their backyard between their tomato plants. Ryan witnessed his father suffer from chronic migraines for as long as he can remember. With little to no access to safe cannabis, Ryan’s father was forced to continue managing his pain with opioid prescription drugs which ultimately lead to his death at the age of 47. Determined to prevent other families from suffering through similar tragedies, Ryan moved to California to spread his wings as an advocate and cultivator in the medicinal cannabis movement.
I was back home quietly using cannabis to alleviate the symptoms of my cerebral palsy. I soon began to take notice of the new legal movements in Colorado, quickly making new friends in the industry. Ryan and I were suddenly reunited back in Oklahoma in late 2013 at a funeral for a close friend of ours who had passed away. We quickly began comparing notes and talking of our passions for the future of cannabis. Soon after, I moved out to California to help with publicly launching THC Design with Ryan in Los Angeles.
What unique value does THC Design offer to the cannabis industry?
We aim to set the standard for advanced cultivation practices and techniques while taking steps to create a self-sustainable operation via renewable energy resources. By partnering with leading scientists in various fields, THC Design hopes to break new ground in the cannabis industry. We are committed to making scientific advances in identifying the roles of not only THC and CBD, but also the dozens of other compounds in cannabis that can potentially benefit patients. This will help us breed better plants that can acutely treat diseases and ailments, all while producing safer quality medicine year in and year out.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be socially responsible and advocate for it to be treated fairly. How does THC Design help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
THC Design team, Beach Clean-Up with Surf Rider
Building a community and contributing our voice to the cannabis industry is extremely important to our THC Design Family. We support national and local advocacy groups such as NCIA, CCIA, and Americans for Safe Access to address legalization, access, and research of cannabis. We work closely with lawmakers and policy writers to ensure fairness in the ongoing organization and regulation of cannabis in California. Reaching out to the community is a huge part of who we are. Last year we worked with Surf Rider Foundation for a beach clean-up, Midnight Mission to help with their lunch service, and afterwards we hit the streets and passed out over 1,500 fleece blankets to the homeless just in time for the winter chill. Many similar projects are in the pipeline for 2017.
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
Joining NCIA is very important to us so that we can remain at the forefront of one of the few national organizations for cannabis advocacy. The network of top companies and individuals involved is a vital part of our efforts to help the cannabis industry in the U.S. grow and to be respected across the globe.
In December’s member spotlight, we speak with Neal Levine, who serves on NCIA’s Board of Directors, and is Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for NCIA Sustaining Member LivWell Enlightened Health. LivWell is a Colorado-based medical and adult-use cannabis dispensary with 14 locations across the state, employing hundreds of staff.
LivWell Enlightened Health
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Medical and Adult-Use Cannabis
NCIA Member Since: February 2012
Tell me a bit about your background in cannabis and why you joined the team at LivWell.
Neal Levine, Sr. VP of Government Affairs
I have been working on cannabis policy reform on the state and national level for the majority of my professional career. Specifically, I led or played a key role on the teams that first passed medical marijuana laws in Maryland, Vermont, Montana, Rhode Island, and Michigan; decriminalization in Massachusetts; and legalization in Alaska. I also led several teams which qualified initiatives via signature drives in several states, including the adult-use initiative that just passed on November’s ballot in Nevada. And I have been involved in some form or another in helping to develop industry regulations in many different states throughout the country after these laws have passed.
At some point I realized that I had switched from the lobbyist and campaign guy who was working on cannabis to the cannabis guy who was working on campaigns and lobbying. So I decided to shut down my political consulting practice and shift to the industry full time about a year and a half ago. Of all the cannabis companies existing today, LivWell Enlightened Health struck me as best placed, not only in terms of being successful in the industry but also in terms of presenting a positive example to cannabis entrepreneurs everywhere about how cannabis companies should engage with their industry peers, the legalization movement, their customers and patients, and the communities in which they operate. LivWell Enlightened Health has demonstrated time and again our willingness to fight for and defend the industry, and it has been my honor to lead the company’s continuing efforts in this regard.
What unique value does LivWell offer to the cannabis industry?
Every single day we try to live up to our reputation as the industry leader. It starts with taking care of our people, whom we view as our number-one asset. Our entry-level positions pay several dollars above the minimum wage, we offer full health care to all of our employees at no cost to them, and we put 3% into a 401(K) annually for all of our employees which vests instantly and is not a match – they do not have to put in a penny of their pay, although they are certainly welcome to contribute as well.
Beyond the high-quality cannabis products we sell, the well-paying jobs we create, and the tax revenue we generate for Colorado, LivWell Enlightened Health has determined to be involved in events and initiatives throughout the communities in which we operate. That’s why we established LivWell Cares, a program designed to work hand-in-hand with our local communities both as good neighbors and as fully-involved partners in community development. Through LivWell Cares, we have participated in numerous charitable activities, sponsored several local events, and educated community leaders and public service officials on the products we sell and the industry that we help to lead. Our deep and committed involvement in working with our neighborhoods and engaging with the communities whose lives we touch through our business, including those who may not patronize our stores, is a value that is nothing less than a part of the fabric of our company and an important piece of our culture.
Cannabis companies have a unique responsibility to shape this growing industry to be responsible and treated equally as any other industry. How does LivWell help work toward that goal for the greater good of the cannabis industry?
You’ve touched on something that is very important. First and foremost, we strive every day to be the industry that we want to be a part of. We take our position as an industry leader very seriously, and conduct ourselves accordingly. If you are a part of our industry, you simply must be engaged in your communities. You must join together with allies to defend against the seemingly endless threats to our advancement. We must all band together and work collaboratively on big picture projects like tax reform, banking, and removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, while running responsible and compliant businesses that take care of the people who chose to join our teams. If this is not a key component of your company culture, I believe that you will eventually fail.
As a company, LivWell Enlightened Health is very focused at developing industry-wide best practices, helping to shape state and federal lobbying priorities, working to end the unfair taxation of 280E, and making it easier for cannabis businesses to receive the banking services they need to operate successfully. I ran for the NCIA Board promising to focus on these issues, and having won the seat, I feel that I have a mandate and responsibility to do what I said I would do from the membership that elected me.
From the beginning, the leadership at LivWell Enlightened Health has been determined to be the most compliant company in the industry and to support policy-makers and regulators from throughout the country and the world as they build a common-sense regulatory regime in which we can operate. This was one of the primary aspects of our culture that first attracted me to the company. We frequently host delegations of government and elected officials who tour our facilities and speak with our executives to learn more about how legal cannabis actually works, and offer to share our expertise and work with them to construct a regulatory environment conducive to both business success and public health and safety. We believe these efforts have already helped encourage more regulatory consistency in cannabis policies across the country, and have helped remove the stigma our industry faces in the eyes of officials who previously had little to no experience with cannabis in any form. We have been highly encouraged by the reactions of those officials with whom we have worked, as they quickly realize that we are just like any other business and deserve to be treated as such.
Building a better environment for our industry also requires sustained engagement with our patients and customers, particularly when it comes to education. We call ourselves LivWell Enlightened Health for a reason. Education has always been an important part of our company, a point best evidenced by our industry-leading employee training program, LivWell University. This two-week intensive course includes classroom, online, and on-site components, and covers everything from the science of the endocannabinoid system to how to complete a compliant transaction. We view our employees as company and industry ambassadors. The training our employees receive allows them not simply to be good at their jobs, but also to be knowledgeable enough to answer our customers’ tough questions while being advocates for responsible use. We have even begun taking components of our employee training program and developing them into customer-facing materials so that our customers can feel more empowered to make intelligent choices when it comes to their cannabis consumption.
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
NCIA is our national industry association, and every single business either in our industry or supplying our industry has an obligation to join and support NCIA. Being an NCIA member means supporting our efforts to end the scourge of 280E, open up banking, remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, and be diligent in our efforts to make sure the new administration does not roll back any of our progress. Outside of the financial obligation, I believe every member should participate in Lobby Days, where we get to engage with Congress as an industry.
The best part of being a member is the ability to be part of our amazing national cannabis community, and work collaboratively with so many intelligent and dedicated people on the normalization of our industry on the path to ending prohibition once and for all.
Member Spotlight: Rocky Mountain Business Products
In October’s monthly member spotlight, we touch base with Jay Tittman of Rocky Mountain Business Products, a long-time member of NCIA based in Colorado. Rocky Mountain Business Products (RMBP) is a story about a mainstream business that started 40 years ago, and over time evolved to meet the needs of the newly legal cannabis industry. We’re happy to have Jay as an active member of the cannabis industry and community.
Cannabis Industry Sector: Packaging and Labeling, Office Supplies
NCIA Member Since:
May 2012
Why did you open the Cannabis Business Division of Rocky Mountain Business Products?
Jay TIttman (center), with Denver Relief Consulting’s Ean Seeb (L) and Nick Hice (R) at NCIA’s 5th Anniversary Banquet
Rocky Mountain Business Products was started in 1977 as an independent office products dealer specializing in office supplies, janitorial, custom printing, and promotional products. We are still a family-owned local business devoted to serving our customers in the Rocky Mountain Region and throughout the country. Beginning with the passage of Colorado Amendment 20, allowing the medical use of marijuana in Colorado, Rocky Mountain Business Products began supplying hardware and compliance supplies to the medical marijuana industry. Then with the passage of Colorado Amendment 64, we began to see an increase in the number of customers requiring our services. This explosive growth in the industry led us to devote an entire division of our company to the cannabis industry. The Cannabis Business Division was started in 2009 and is solely devoted to the support of the cannabis industry throughout the United States and abroad.
How does RMBP provide unique value to cannabis consumers?
Unlike cannabis producers and providers, we primarily provide our services to those companies that serve those consumers. Throughout the years, we have provided products and services to more than 400 producers and retail locations throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. We provide products and services that make it easy for a retailer, grower/producer, or product developer to serve their customers. It is important to make it easy to provide the best consumer experience possible, and we facilitate these transactions though compliance products, labeling, and hardware support. We pride ourselves in being a one-stop shop for retailers and producers. In addition to our 70,000 office supplies, janitorial/cleaning products, and technology products, we also offer dispensary supplies, CBD products, unique vapor products, hemp wick lighters, and over a million promotional products.
Why is supporting the industry so important to you?
Jay Tittman, Rocky Mountain Business Products
During our nearly 40 years serving our customers, we have seen a massive change in buying habits. Beginning with the office products superstores and continuing though the current trend of online buying, we have remained an independent supplier focusing on community and providing unparalleled service in our industries. We understand that our customers can purchase the same products from other vendors; however, many of these vendors do not have the best in mind for our industry. In fact many of them provide support to causes antithetical to the cannabis industry. Not only do we provide superior service and knowledge to our customers, but we also actively participate in the cannabis industry though our memberships with organizations like NCIA, and support activism within the industry. This is not only our business; it is a passion and we know that it can only get better by supporting independent business and individuals with like-minded goals.
Why did you join NCIA? What is the best part about being a member?
The work NCIA does in this industry is vital to its success. We joined to become a part of a community devoted to the success of business and individuals that are just as passionate about this as we are. Without organizations like NCIA providing guidance to our industry, we would struggle to unify around common goals and ideals.
Also, we enjoy working with like-minded individuals engaged in building awareness for this industry. It is vital to the success of our industry to not only provide great products and services, but also to educate and inform the public of the amazing benefits of cannabis.
For the month of September, we’re highlighting NCIA members MindRite PDX, a marijuana dispensary located in northwest Portland, OR. Owners Shea and Jaime Conley manage a true “mom-and-pop shop” in the cannabis industry, with the intention of representing the industry respectfully and responsibly. Most notably, within the last year they agreed to allow TV host John Quinones from “What Would You Do?” to make their dispensary the center stage for an experiment into whether passers-by would illegally buy cannabis for actors pretending to be underage.
Cannabis Industry Sector: Cannabis Providers
NCIA Member Since:
January 2016
Tell us a bit about you and why you opened MindRite PDX?
Shea and Jaime Conley, MindRite Dispensary
My husband Shea and I are the co-founders and sole proprietors of MindRite Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Portland, OR. Each of us has had a passion for cannabis and its medicinal benefits for almost our entire lives. We have both received many benefits from cannabis over the years, from general stress reduction to complete medical relief of my grand mal seizures and his migraines. We both previously worked in retail and hospitality for many years and had success managing, growing, and creating a positive work environment for our employers, but often felt unsatisfied and unrewarded.
When we realized we could enter into the cannabis industry together, following our passion for the products and realizing a dream of helping our community through a new avenue of health and wellness, while fulfilling our entrepreneurial spirits, we jumped in head first. Now we are successfully living and working in our own neighborhood and are excited to be at the forefront of the Oregon craft cannabis industry.
How does MindRite PDX provide unique value to cannabis consumers?
MindRite has developed a reputation for having the best medicine selection in Portland (voted Best Medicine Selection, Dope Magazine 2016). First, we set out to source our craft cannabis from across the entire state of Oregon, getting product from a select variety of micro-climates and elevations that provide some of the best natural environments for quality cannabis in the United States. We pride ourselves on having unique, small-batch strains that aren’t easily found elsewhere and supporting the small grower who has been honing their skills and refining their products for years. We have established strong relationships with some of the best grows in Oregon and through these relationships we’ve managed to keep cost to a minimum, translating that savings to our patients and now customers. We have had the same pricing structure and the same flower prices since the day we opened, not including the mandated taxation. Essentially, we are able to provide the highest echelon of product at the most affordable prices for our guests.
Secondly, we have made our customer care equally as important as the quality of our products. Our amazing staff shares our passion for cannabis, our desire to educate our neighborhood, and our commitment to providing safe, professional access to all things cannabis. When we originally opened, the staff decided as a group to pool all gratuities from patients (and now guests) into a charity fund, donating all of this money to a local charity of our choice. MindRite loved the idea and has fully matched every donation, helping our city by giving back several times a year.
In this last year, your place of business was featured twice on the popular television show “What Would You Do?” with John Quinones. Can you tell us what that experience was like and any lessons you learned from participating?
“What Would You Do?” TV still photo
The show was doing a special Portland edition and looking for a dispensary that was willing to participate during October 2016, for the first month of recreational cannabis sales. After many conversations regarding the content and overall tone that our business, but more importantly the cannabis industry as a whole, would be portrayed in, we decided to move forward with the shoot. We made it clear that we wanted to present the true cannabis consumer, the professional environment that cannabis can be provided in, and the importance of the medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant as well. Only after the entire production crew became daily guests at our shop (while scouting and shooting other scenarios in town) did we feel comfortable moving forward with the show.
The show’s premise is to see what someone will do in an unusual situation, using hidden cameras and actors to portray these awkward moments with the general public. They set up hidden cameras throughout our corner and inside our waiting area, having several actors (who were of legal age) pretending to be underage and asking passers-by as well as customers to purchase cannabis for them. We realized the risks we were taking with our business and the industry but felt confident in our community’s integrity and respect for safe access to cannabis.
Overall we were very happy with the final outcome of the show and felt that the risk of negative portrayal was well worth breaking the stigmas that have been deeply ingrained for many years about cannabis across the country. The producers did not tell us that the actors would also be offering additional money to coerce people to make purchases for them; we would have absolutely said no, as that is baiting and doesn’t accurately reflect the social experiment they were trying to depict. Regardless, it will continue to take mainstream media’s influence and cooperation of cannabis industry leaders to change unnecessary stigmas and misconceptions of this amazing plant and the people that benefit from it everyday.
Why did you join NCIA? What’s the best part about being a member?
Jaime and Shea Conley with Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
We were introduced to NCIA through a personal friend [NCIA’s Bethany Moore] who had been working with NCIA for a few years. While we were building out our shop for opening, she invited me to an NCIA member networking event in Portland. It was an eye-opening experience to be in a room full of cannabis providers and consumers who were the leaders in every facet of the cannabis industry.
Seeing such a diverse, well-organized, and professional group was inspiring and fueled our passion to move forward. I can describe it best by saying we had “found our tribe” in every way. That has been the biggest benefit to becoming a member of NCIA – networking and participating with the business professionals of this ground-breaking industry!
VIDEO: Member Spotlight on Solstice
In this video newsletter, we share the story of Solstice, a commercial cannabis producer founded in 2011 and based in the state of Washington. Vice president and co-founder Alex Cooley has infused his business model and practices with values that elevate the conversation around environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility in the cannabis industry.
Want to learn more about best practices and innovation for your cannabis business?
Register early for the best deals to attend NCIA’s Seed To Sale Show in Denver, January 31 – February 1, 2017. Sponsorship opportunities are also available!
Member Spotlight: Cannabis Consumers Coalition
In the cannabis industry, the life cycle of growers, retailers, extractors, and infused product manufacturers would not exist were it not for the consumers. As we move toward self-regulating our industry from the inside out, it’s important to consider all views and perspectives in those decision-making processes. This month, we check in with Larisa Bolivar of Cannabis Consumers Coalition to talk about the work she’s doing to protect the interests and concerns of cannabis consumers.
I have been in the cannabis industry/movement since 2001 when I moved to Colorado as a medical cannabis refugee, and I have been a cannabis consumer for 25 years. I helped to establish safe access for Colorado patients through my organization called Caregivers for Safe Access, which became the Colorado Compassion Club and the first dispensary in Colorado prior to 2009. After several years on hiatus from the front lines of the movement, and spending time consulting on policy, business and communications in the emerging industry, I saw a need for more consumer-focused advocacy and that what was missing was a consumer protection agency. Much of the conversation had been focused on the needs of the industry, and that continues to play out today. It is my mission to change that. I believe that consumers are who drive the economy.
I believe my background is perfect for the task of playing watchdog for the industry. I have worked in startup and corporate environments in multiple emerging markets, including software, dot-coms, clean tech, and cannabis. My work in clean tech and software really prepared me for working in a tightly regulated environment. The clean tech company that I worked at, GridPoint, a billion-dollar-valuated startup with successful launch and exit is a smart grid company focused on energy management in the utility space, one of the most regulated industries in our country. When working in software, I worked as a technical recruiter staffing sensitive, high-level technical contracts mostly in defense, which is also highly regulated. I understand highly regulated environments really well, and it is easy to forget the consumer when trying to jump through so many regulatory hoops. I believe that with a strong consumer voice, we will eventually have fewer regulations.
Larisa Bolivar, Executive Director of Cannabis Consumers Coalition.
How does CCC provide unique value to the cannabis industry and movement?
The mission of the Cannabis Consumers Coalition is to provide cannabis consumers with a voice in the growing cannabis industry, and to ensure consumer rights and ethical behavior on behalf of cannabis-related businesses. The biggest value we provide is giving consumers a powerful voice and helping them to realize the purchasing power they have with their dollar in helping to hold the industry accountable to operating in an ethical, consumer-centric model. We provide consumers with a powerful voice, and have been very effective in changing laws to protect consumers. This occurred recently when we obtained and released the names of pesticide violators in Colorado. We quickly made a lot of enemies, and good friends, in the industry. Some business owners have called us anti-industry, which is quite the contrary. I risked my life trailblazing medical marijuana and laying the foundation for the launch of a billion-dollar industry in Colorado. This was pre-regulation, prior to when moneyed interests got into the game and created the framework for regulations. The industry began with blazing the path to create that possibility, breaking ground for the foundation to be laid. As such, I feel personally accountable for it, along with many of my peers and supporters who were also trailblazers and pioneers.
Consumers deserve the right to know that the cannabis they are purchasing is indeed the quality that is being marketed. They also need a strong voice to fight for their rights, and that is what I myself provide, especially with my history of activism, along with the support of our legal team at Fox Rothschild LLP. An Am Law 100 law firm, they have nearly 750 attorneys spanning multiple practice areas and across multiple industries, and have a reputation for working with nonprofit organizations and community groups.
Another value we provide is in helping businesses strive to provide the best consumer experience and high quality products. Quality end products in the cannabis industry are multi-faceted, starting with how a plant is grown, how it’s positioned in the market, to the consumer experience at retail outlets. All of it is so interrelated.
Here in Colorado, the issue of public consumption is hot and there are a couple of initiatives in the works this year to address that need. Can you tell me more about that and how you’re involved in this effort?
Indeed this is probably the hottest issue Colorado. Voters voted for the right to use cannabis legally, yet there are no places to consume. This also poses issues for cannabis consumers visiting the state. There are bed and breakfasts and some hotels that allow for consumption, but there are no places to consume and socialize. There are two initiatives in consideration.
There is the Responsible Use initiative put forth by Denver NORML, which is a private club designated license that requires people to become members, bring their own cannabis and allows for permitted events. The other initiative, The Neighborhood Approved Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program Initiative, will give permission to businesses, including bars, to allow cannabis consumption. Either one will be good for consumers. One is more exclusive, and by requiring membership it keeps things manageable and accountable by limiting the amount of people who can join, it does alienate neighborhood groups and businesses. My concern with the initiative permitting businesses to allow consumption, including bars, is that tourists new to cannabis consumption and consuming alcohol, can easily over-consume the two if they are not “seasoned” cannabis consumers.
Why did you join NCIA?
We joined NCIA after careful research into industry trade groups and selected the one that was the most diverse, influential, and had an ethical and inclusive industry. It is our desire to see a successful multi-billion dollar industry built on a foundation of integrity and inclusiveness, and NCIA offers that. While we may not align with the philosophies of all members, the organization pushes integrity in all that is does, and what I like the most is that it has organized councils that are really committed to creating an exemplary foundation for the entire industry, not just its members. You can see this in their Minority Business Council, where the discussions are always industry and community focused. I also like the networking available, especially meeting other passionate cannabis business owners across the country and having dynamic and energizing conversations.
Member Spotlight: Apeks Supercritical
This month’s NCIA Member Spotlight takes us to Ohio to speak with Andy Joseph, founder and president of Apeks Supercritical, whose company manufactures botanical oil extraction systems utilizing subcritical and supercritical CO2. Apeks recently became Regional Winner and National Finalist of the EY (Ernst & Young) Entrepreneur of the Year — recognized for outstanding leadership, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit.
NCIA Member Since:
August 2013
Tell us a bit about you and why you founded Apeks Supercritical?
Andy Joseph, Founder and President of Apeks Supercritical
I had been building botanical extraction equipment in my barn on weekends for about ten years as a side business to help pay college expenses for my five children. I saw an opportunity to grow my Apeks business with the sky-rocketing demand for extraction equipment as legalization of cannabis expanded. Along with that, after talking to many physicians, I became inspired to have a role in helping provide patients with cannabis that’s safer to consume with products processed from non-toxic CO2 subcritical and supercritical extractions.
So I left my job as Director of Welding and Testing Labs at Edison Welding Institute (EWI) to go all in with manufacturing CO2 extraction equipment, primarily for the cannabis industry. Apeks plans to eventually expand into other industries as well. We want to bring CO2 extraction to the masses.
How do you provide unique benefits to cannabis business owners?
Apeks Supercritical Systems
CO2 extractions offer greater safety on two levels: processing and consumption. CO2 is not flammable or explosive so our equipment is safer to operate for our customers, and they don’t have to worry about processing requirements associated with butane and ethanol. In addition, our customers can offer their customers purer extractions because there are no residuals in the extracted material when using CO2 as a solvent.
CO2 is environmentally friendly and recyclable which saves operating expenses for our customers.
Our extraction systems deliver processing efficiencies. Our Diaphragm Compressor Technology provides faster and more energy-efficient extractions and our patented Valveless Expansion Technology (no decompression valves) removes the risk of product getting clogged.
Also, in-house financing to customers. This is especially helpful given the difficulty people in the cannabis industry have in getting financing from banks for large capital purchases. We’ve provided financing for 40 to 50 customers.
As a business owner, you’re very involved in not only federal, but also state and local politics. Can you tell us more about the progress being made on behalf of cannabis policy in your home state of Ohio?
Last year’s ballot initiative in Ohio was so misguided, I had to speak out against it. Since then, I’ve been proactive in educating state and local legislators about the multi-faceted factors surrounding legalization of medical marijuana, even arranging for Dr. Sue Sisley of Arizona and other experts to testify on the benefits of medical cannabis. Now that Governor Kasich has signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana, I am lobbying to be appointed to the state’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Commission to help to ensure the program is properly administered.
Andy Joseph testifying to Ohio House of Representatives
There needs to be a proper balance between patient access to safe, tested medical cannabis and the requirements placed on the businesses that make it available. For patients to have the access they need, there must be an appropriate list of qualifying conditions, physician protection, and access to dispensaries. Likewise, regulatory measures on businesses must be reasonable. If licensing or taxation is too burdensome, businesses will not be sustainable, especially given that many start-ups in this industry already struggle to get the financing they need.
Why did you join NCIA?
I joined soon after NCIA was established because I appreciated its focus on supporting businesses in this fledgling industry. Now that medical marijuana is legal in Ohio where we manufacture our equipment, Apeks will begin processing as well. So I appreciate even more the work of NCIA in lobbying for federal policy reform, particularly 280E tax and banking solutions, as Apeks transitions from an ancillary business into the processing side as well.
Video Newsletter: Member Spotlight on Bryna Dahlin of CannaRegs
In this month’s Video Member Spotlight, we introduce you to Bryna Dahlin, a double-member of NCIA through her law firm Rollman & Dahlin, LLP, and as general counsel to CannaRegs.
CannaRegs provides enhanced access to all cannabis-related rules and regulations from state, county, municipal, and federal sources, and aggregates these rules and regulations. NCIA’s new State-by-State Marijuana Policies Map is powered by CannaRegs and provides a valuable overview of every state’s approach to cannabis and cannabis markets. (Click here to request a demo of CannaRegs’ services and save 15% if you’re an NCIA member.)
Watch this video to hear more from Bryna, and catch her speaking on two panel discussions at the Cannabis Business Summit and Expo next week in Oakland, CA, June 20-22. All NCIA Members save $150 on admission. Register today!
Member Spotlight: BDS Analytics
As the cannabis industry expands and continues its upward growth, data has become a valuable tool to help business owners make important decisions about running their businesses. For the month of June, we speak with Roy Bingham, co-founder of BDS Analytics, which specializes in collecting, processing, and presenting point-of-sale market share data for the cannabis industry. NCIA is launching a partnership with BDS Analytics at this year’s Cannabis Business Summit and Expo, offering free interactive access to a selection of BDS Analytics data as a new benefit to our members. Read on to learn more about Roy and the BDS team.
Tell me a bit about you and why you founded BDS Analytics?
Roy Bingham, co-founder of BDS Analytics
I grew up in the U.K. and after nine years in banking and corporate treasury in London, I moved to the U.S.A. in 1993 to go to Harvard Business School. I loved it here and decided to stay, working initially as a consultant at McKinsey in Boston and then building a business called Health Business Partners (HBP) in Rhode Island. HBP focused on the natural product industry – essentially anything that you could buy in Whole Foods Market. One of the things that we did early on was invest in or create information businesses including Nutrition Business Journal, The NBJ Summit, and a data analytics company called SPINS. SPINS worked with data from retailers such as Whole Foods and hundreds of independent health food stores and small chains to aggregate data about products and categories in the health food channel. It was very successful and is the dominant point-of-sale (POS) data analytics company in that channel. Later in my career, I co-founded a nutraceuticals company and then ran a division of RenewLife, which is the largest natural digestive care company in the U.S. We used SPINS data extensively to help us with three main things:
1. Product development – identifying market opportunities by assessing category size, growth characteristics, competition, and product attributes
2. Marketing – assessing the effectiveness of campaigns using “off the shelf” sales data and then modifying and launching more effective campaigns
3. Sales – we expanded from independent health food stores to Whole Foods and then to mainstream such as CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Wal-Mart, etc. Our most convincing sales tools were SPINS’ charts showing our market leadership or strong growth characteristics in existing channels and convincing new retailers that they should introduce our products into their stores
My long-time friends and colleagues founded CanopyBoulder in 2014. They called me very persuasively in early 2015 to encourage me to create SPINS for the cannabis industry. Naturally I thought they were inviting me to take a crazy risk – at least until I understood how exciting the opportunity was. What they explained was that this industry was desperate for data to guide decision-making, and the data that is in every other industry just did not exist in cannabis.
Liz Stahura, co-founder of BDS Analytics
With help from CanopyBoulder, I was introduced to Liz Stahura, who became my co-founder. Liz had ten years of experience building a POS data analytics company for the biking and outdoor industry called Leisure Trends. It was a similar business to SPINS and had recently been acquired by NPD, the number-3 player in the industry after IRI and Nielsen. Together we set to work to recruit the team, build the technology platform, build partnerships with dispensaries, and more recently make the data available to our brand/grower/producer clients. We also raised $1.5 million from investors in the summer of 2015.
How does the data analytics you provide benefit cannabis business owners?
Our software and service helps two kinds of clients in several ways.
A. Dispensaries are our partners and clients. They provide anonymized data that we aggregate and organize in our database of more than 20 million transactions. We clean up all that data and match every transaction to a product and every product to categories and attributes. Then the dispensaries can access our portal 24/7/365. They are able to see how their store sales are progressing by category, sub-category, brand, and individual item. This alone provides great insight and is provided for chains at the individual store and aggregate chain levels. But then… they can compare their own sales to the averages for their states – all at the category, sub-category, brand, and item levels. This quickly and easily reveals actionable insights such as “Which categories and products am I not carrying that would sell well?” or “Which do I feature too heavily?” The result is increased sales and profitability, as well as customer loyalty and fewer customer/patients leaving without the item that they came to find.
B. Brands, manufacturers, and growers use our software in the same ways that I described using data analytics when I was at ReNewLife:
a. Sales – Third-party data to validate the importance of their brands and items and convince customers to carry them in their dispensaries
b. Marketing – assessing the effectiveness of campaigns using “off the shelf” sales data and then modifying and launching more effective campaigns or pricing strategies
c. Product development – identifying market opportunities by assessing category size, growth characteristics, competition, and product attributes
As a business owner, you’re very involved in your community and in causes that you care about. Can you tell us more about what matters most to you, and how your business participates in pushing for progress?
The BDS Analytics team
First, I believe in education, information, and freedom of choice. I think everyone should have the opportunity to study and learn by experience and I think most people make wise decisions for themselves and their families if they are empowered in this way. I think the “war on drugs” has been the worst policy disaster of the last 100 years. It has destroyed countless lives and enriched those that prey on others. It should be over now.
As a business, our mission is to drive the cannabis sector to thrive with well-informed decisions based on factual data. Our success is the success of our clients. So we believe in helping to create the right conditions for our clients and the industry overall to succeed. This includes wise regulations, positive and well-informed media attention, free markets, smart decision-making, and availability of human and financial capital.
Why did you join NCIA?
The first check that we wrote after capitalizing our company was for membership in NCIA. It was a “no-brainer.” It is vital to the success of our industry that it has a clear, united, and loud voice that ensures regulatory obstacles are removed. NCIA has also provided a very supportive community that has enabled us to get up the learning curve and make deep relationships. NCIA also provides other great benefits and we are thrilled that one of those starting very soon is access for all members to our GreenEdge data!
Get your first look and a demo of this new NCIA member benefit from BDS Analytics at the 3rd Annual Cannabis Business Summit and Expo, June 20-22! Register today!
Member Spotlight: District Growers
While the fate of establishing a well-regulated cannabis industry in the District of Columbia remains up the air, a small handful of medical marijuana dispensaries have been operating for several years to serve extremely ill patients in our nation’s capital. Located in the northeast neighborhood of our nation’s capital, District Growers is a close-knit, local business founded with the goal of creating only the highest quality cannabis products on the market. This month, we chat with owner Corey Barnette to hear more about efforts to serve the community of Washington, D.C.
Tell me a bit about you and why you opened District Growers?
District Growers owner Corey Barnette
My background is that of an engineer-turned-investment-banker-turned-venture capitalist. In early 2003, I stepped away from the Small Enterprise Assistance Fund, an emerging market venture fund, to acquire small high-growth companies operating in traditional industries. Between 2003 and 2010, I and my team acquired six different small businesses across the country in numerous industries.
In 2008, a friend and colleague invited me to serve on the board of – and eventually acquire – the San Diego Medical Collective (SDMC), a dispensary in San Diego, California. The purchase of SDMC was my entry to the formal medical cannabis industry. While operating in San Diego, my team and I built two of the ten largest dispensaries out of more than 238 dispensaries in the San Diego area. We served a patient base greater than 16,000 patients strong and produced approximately 30% of the medicine provided within our own patient gardens. After federal authorities began threatening landlords in the San Diego area, I sold the operations in San Diego to my employees after converting our platform to a delivery service.
Upon winning a license in Washington, D.C., where I maintained residence since 1999, I founded District Growers to offer medical marijuana program patients with safe, high-quality, medicinal-grade cannabis and cannabis-infused products. I also acquired the Metropolitan Wellness Center, a licensed dispensary in Washington, D.C., to provide a high-quality, dignified purchasing experience to patients in a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment. Leveraging our prior experience, knowledge of local preferences, and superior operating tactics, we have become the largest dispensary operator in Washington, D.C., with approximately a third of patients belonging to our dispensary exclusively.
Why should patients seeking medical cannabis seek out District Growers?
At District Growers, we recognize that patients depend on our products for their livelihood and well-being. Further, many of those patients are our employees, relatives, and friends. Because of this, we engage in a constant quest to offer the best quality products – bar none.
Internally, we use the phrase “Grow True” to define our efforts. We use this term as a constant reminder of our goal to provide to those who depend on our solutions. To accomplish this, we marry cutting-edge cultivation solutions, proven technologies, and nature’s very own touch to achieve unmatched quality. When it comes to cultivation, we believe that convenient shortcuts should never overcome proven methods. Consequently, we have taken the time to optimize our methods and processes to deliver the highest quality. From our production methods to our service, we endeavor to exceed all expectations. It is not enough to be the best if the best is not perfect. Put simply, to Grow True is to pursue perfection.
As a business owner, you’re very involved in your community and in causes that you care about. Can you tell us more about what matters most to you, and how your business participates in pushing for progress?
The team at District Growers
As a provider of relief solutions to the sick and vulnerable, District Growers views its entire offering as a betterment to the community. Additionally, we recognize that our industry carries with it a negative taboo. To combat this taboo and to carry the burden of good stewardship within our community, we push for progress primarily in three ways: in the garden, in the community, and in the town hall.
In the Garden – Simply put, we endeavor to be the most trusted source of medicinal grade cannabis to patients seeking treatment with cannabis.
In the Community – District Growers is a strong supporter of community gardens in Washington, D.C. We offer employees paid time-off when such is approved in the service of working with community gardens and in-home fruit & vegetable gardens.
In the Town Hall – District Growers actively works with legislators, regulators, and activist organizations to set policies around cannabis that better serve the public interest. It is our belief that today’s prohibitionary policies do more harm than good to our society. Consequently, we actively seek to change these policies for the betterment of our communities and our industry.
Why did you join NCIA?
Because we exist in an industry that suffers a negative stigma, it is imperative that we organize as an industry to promote our industry image, to promote good policy, and to promote good outcomes. NCIA is best positioned generally to do that. Consequently, we seek to be supportive.
Video Newsletter: Member Spotlight on Eden Labs
In our latest Video Member Spotlight, NCIA introduces you to one of our Sustaining Members based in Seattle.
Eden Labs specializes in the design, manufacture, research, and development of a wide range of botanical CO2 extraction equipment. CEO AC Braddock also serves on NCIA’s Board of Directors.
Watch the video to hear AC describe the passion for plant-based medicine that brought her to Eden Labs and the commitment to advocacy and community that brought her to NCIA.
“Once you become a businessperson in this industry, you automatically become an activist…”
You can meet the Eden Labs team and more than 3,000 other cannabis industry leaders at the 2016 Cannabis Business Summit in Oakland, CA, June 20-22. Get your tickets today!
Want your voice heard in our nation’s capitol on issues affecting the cannabis industry? Join us for our 6th Annual NCIA Member Lobby Days in Washington, D.C., on May 12 & 13, 2016.
Member Spotlight: Palm Springs Safe Access
Every month, we zoom in on one of our members to hear their stories and learn more about their businesses in this ever-changing industry. For the month of April, we visit with Robert Van Roo of Palm Springs Safe Access in California. PSSA is a not-for-profit medical cannabis dispensary offering a modern, sophisticated environment for qualified patients to access affordable, high-quality, safety-tested medicine. PSSA strives to be a model corporate citizen, partnering with other organizations to help improve the community’s collective health.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Medical Cannabis Provider
NCIA Sustaining Member Since:
October 2014
Tell us a bit about you and why you opened Palm Springs Safe Access (PSSA)?
My name is Robert Van Roo and I’m the co-founder and president of Palm Springs Safe Access. It’s been fifteen years since my first experience with cannabis. Spending most of my youth and adult life in Grass Valley and San Francisco, I’ve been exposed to a lot of friends working in the industry. I’ve seen this medicine change countless lives and it’s changed mine as well.
Throughout 2009, President Obama’s speeches struck a chord with me, with clear messages encouraging entrepreneurs to be bold and create new jobs and change. I took this calling very seriously – although I’m sure he wasn’t aiming at cannabis startups. To hone that entrepreneurial spirit, I knew I couldn’t stimulate job growth as a photographer. However, I saw the potential through cannabis. So began my journey working in the California cannabis industry, with the first iteration of Palm Springs Safe Access (PSSA) taking shape in late 2011.
CEO and Co-founder, Robert Van Roo, and VP & Chief Agricultural Officer, Cody Henderson
At PSSA we believe when entrepreneurs with the right intentions work with cannabis, it can better the communities in which they operate and someday change the world. The uses of this plant are endless. This industry has the capacity to change lives and create new economic growth not seen in the United States for generations. We understand this is a utopian view, but that’s why Cody Henderson and I opened Palm Springs Safe Access. We did it to create change.
Why should patients seeking medical cannabis come to Palm Springs Safe Access?
We believe that our patients deserve an exceptional experience that begins the moment they walk through the doors of our facility and continues when they return home and use their medicine. Steve DeAngelo said it the best: “Out of the shadows, into the light.” I took this statement literally, so we built a well-lit facility with sweeping views of the mountain range here in Palm Springs.
Cody and I are both artists by trade, so naturally we had to have a creative and visually stimulating space. We worked with an 8,000-square-foot blank slate, with just concrete floors and four walls with no power. Everything was done in-house, from the interior design to the layout, down to the manufacturing of light fixtures and the finish work.
We continued this trend with our in-house cultivation. This ensures best practices and quality control for our patients. When it comes to products we didn’t produce ourselves, we carefully vet sources and individuals, in many instances physically going throughout California to see for ourselves where the products provided to our patients are cultivated, manufactured, and branded.
Our patients deserve only the best. Absolutely all our medicine is lab-tested for safety and potency. Independent testing by the City of Palm Springs verifies that we have the cleanest products in the city. Our flowers are nitrogen-flushed and then sealed with Boveda packs inside. All the latest science points to the important roll terpenes play in the medicinal qualities of each specific strain. That makes this collaboration with Boveda, the leader in two-way humidity control, very exciting because early research is already showing that there is 15% retention of terpenes when the 62% moisture packs are present. The packs add moisture as well and since Palm Springs is located in low desert we have to compete with dry conditions.
We believe patients should seek out our facility for the exceptional experience and highest assurance of safety that Palm Springs Safe Access provides through the tireless efforts of our entire team.
The Palm Springs Safe Access team
As a business owner, you’re very involved in your community and in causes that you care about. Can you tell us more about what matters most to you, and how your business participates in pushing for progress?
When it comes to cannabis, education and knowledge is paramount; we tirelessly work to educate patients, politicians, physicians, and peers in the industry. Lab testing became a benchmark mainly because those seeking the benefits of this plant often have compromised immune systems. Late in 2012, I began educating and lobbying the City of Palm Springs in regard to the importance of lab testing. Last year Palm Springs became the first city to ever contract a cannabis lab and independently test medicine being dispensed in their city.
I stay as active as possible with politics on local, state, and federal levels, continuing the conversation with city council members, members of Congress, and senators. We regularly create education and policy reports and actively engage policy makers. On a state level, we participate on both the Legislative and Retail/Delivery Committees with the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA) and stay as active as possible with NCIA. In May, I’ll be going to Lobby Days in DC for my second year.
When it comes to community involvement, the support of local organizations is key, and PSSA does its part. We are regularly involved with charitable events and infuse local charities and political activism groups with significant donations, support, and sponsorships. We believe it’s our responsibility to be involved in creating change locally. We strive to represent an accurate picture of our industry as active community partners and show what the cannabis industry can do.
We contribute as much time as possible to the NCIA Minority Business Council, which aims to create an inclusive and diverse industry respectful of all persons and create unique opportunities to attend NCIA events. This is a huge undertaking and we believe with proper programs in place our industry can provide job opportunities for under-represented and disadvantaged groups and individuals to gain insight on opportunities that are available in the industry. That’s why we support the NCIA Minority Business Council scholarship program whenever possible.
Why did you join NCIA?
Robert Van Roo, CEO and Co-Founder of Palm Springs Safe Access
Joining NCIA was the first thing PSSA did when we received our local permit. While PSSA was successful in Palm Springs, the fight for fairness on a state and federal level was clearly the end game. It was the next logical step to take, and we believe it’s our responsibility as a legitimate and responsible member of the industry to support the important causes NCIA addresses.
When we joined, we were focused on helping advance causes like fair taxation, access to banking, and sensible policy on cannabis. Since then, NCIA has become so much more than that to us. It’s a community of like-minded cannabis entrepreneurs. We’ve developed relationships with industry peers throughout the country at NCIA events. We’ve expanded our breadth of best practices through the education received at the exemplary NCIA summits and symposiums and have managed to stay current with the ever-changing landscape of the cannabis industry.
To make the most out of the Lobby Days experience, register early so that we can begin the process of setting up meetings for you on the Hill. Members who register before April 30th will be entered to win admission and travel expenses for two at NCIA’s Cannabis Business Summit & Expo, including airfare and lodging.
Member Spotlight: Naturally Mystic Organics
For NCIA’s March member spotlight, we cruise into Santa Cruz, California, to chat with the owners of Naturally Mystic Organics. Owners D’Angelo “Cricket” and Jozee Roberto offer the knowledge and traditions of ancient herbal medicine paired with their dedicated advocacy work in Santa Cruz on behalf of cannabis patients and environmental sustainability.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Cannabis Infused Medical Products
NCIA Member Since:
May 2015
Tell us a bit about you and why you started Naturally Mystic Organics?
As we’ve raised our seven children over the past 23 years using plant medicines (non-cannabis), we’ve witnessed first-hand the amazing power herbs have to offer. We both have had the pleasure of growing up in California and being raised within the cannabis movement. Along the way we came to develop a personal relationship with cannabis as we’ve witnessed and experienced its numerous benefits. Quite compelled, we decided to share our high standards of what we consider to be real medicinal healing as an offering to the world.
Why should patients seeking medical cannabis look for products made by Naturally Mystic Organics?
We specialize in high-CBD products and provide the finest tinctures and topicals on Earth. We approach cannabis like an herb. As herbalists we take special care to craft with ancient methods, avoiding the use of metal to extract or infuse. We use glass, ceramic, and bamboo equipment and instruments.
In herbalism, as in any area of life, we learn that your final product is only as good as what you start with. For example, we pick only the best (top shelf) cannabis flowers for our tinctures, never trim, that has been grown with loving care and without the use of harmful pesticides or chemicals. Our topicals are made from the trim of these beautiful flowers. The spiritual connection between the plant energy and the herbalist is maintained throughout our process by setting the intention of health and well-being during production through prayer, silence, or chanting. If someone is having a bad day then that person does not make the medicine until a well-balanced attitude is in place. All other materials put into our products are certified organic and GMO-free. And to put the icing on the cake, we use violet glass bottles for our tinctures. Eliminating light is a supreme way to eliminate contamination after opening.
Tinctures provide a great alternative to consuming cannabis, as opposed to smoking it. Our tinctures, formulated for consistency and reliability of potency, are a great way to monitor dosage. Providing patients an opportunity to connect with other plant medicine that they otherwise might never have, we pair cannabis with other amazing herbs to help guide an endocannabinoid system to the desired outcome. Our Pure 1000 line of tinctures is designed for patients with extreme situations. Oh, and by the way, our tinctures taste great. Perfectly preserved terpenes make it taste like you are drinking a bud.
We are proud to present our humble offering to the world: supreme traditional cannabis herbal medicine in the form of tinctures and topicals – products fit for royalty.
You’re based in Santa Cruz, California, where regulations are constantly changing. Several pieces of legislation have been proposed to further regulate and legalize cannabis throughout the state. How have you been involved in this process?
We, Cricket and Jozee, are founding members and representatives of RCSC (Responsible Cultivation Santa Cruz). Santa Cruz County has a wide acceptance for the medicinal value of cannabis. Care for the environment and the safety of our communities are also shared values. Our county had a somewhat advanced policy about cannabis prior to 2015 that led to reports of environmental degradation and an assault to the quality of life in some communities because of an influx of production. This became a real issue that forced the County Board of Supervisors to respond. Their response came in the spring of 2015 as a vote to ban all commercial cultivation. The cannabis community responded. RCSC hatched out of community meetings hosted by the CAA (Cannabis Advocates Alliance) and petitioned to referendum before the ban became law. Our referendum was a success. The county had a couple of choices at this point to repeal the law or to put it before the county for a vote. They decided to repeal it and then a couple of Supervisors proposed the creation of the Cannabis Cultivation Choices Committee, aka C4. C4 was created as a conversation between community stake holders to propose recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for cannabis policy. Naturally Mystic Organics cofounder D’Angelo “Cricket” Roberto represents RCSC on this committee.
Naturally Mystic Organics., representing RCSC with Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA)
Santa Cruz County is on the leading edge of cannabis policy in California. C4 began holding meetings at the beginning of September 2015 and at this point the cannabis community wanted a clear pathway to legitimacy. Sometime after that our state legislature passed a bundle of bills that our governor signed into law, aka MMSRA (Medical Marijuana Safety & Regulation Act). This legislation helped to shape C4’s discussion from ‘what could be possible’ to ‘what is possible.’ The shared values of Santa Cruz are the core to the framework that C4 is building on. The recommendations that come forth will be to protect our environment, to protect the health and safety of our communities, and to assure an adequate supply of medicinal cannabis. It is important to note that these recommended regulations are being designed to nurture our current cannabis community and will restrict expansion so that we do so responsibly.
Santa Cruz County is the second smallest county in the state. We have a great portion of the population in the rural areas and much of our terrain is on slopes greater than 30%. We have a lot to consider here. In regards to any aspect of the emerging cannabis industry the question always is: How much and where? There are a lot of details. This is an industry that has struggled illegitimately for way too long and the side effects have finally forced society to realize the sensibility of a regulated system. We’re proud to be a part of history and helping to shape the future of cannabis in California.
Why did you join NCIA?
Naturally Mystic Organics joined NCIA to become a part of the foundation that helps to solidify the future of national cannabis policy. We’ve been very effective on the local level and are in entrenched on the state level. It’s been said that as California goes, so goes the nation. As we help to advance the conversation we hope to lend our voice to the choir at NCIA. To understand that we’re ushering in a new era is to preserve what the cannabis movement has taught us – empathy. Empathy leads to compassion, and as the cannabis industry unfolds we need to pass the values our history has taught us. This can be done through sustainable business models that encourage innovation and provide a real living wage. Society is in the middle of an overhaul and cannabis is in the center of it all. A healthy society shapes policies rather than policy shaping society. The cannabis policy landscape across the United States is transforming right before our eyes. The industry will revitalize the economy and create jobs. It will provide opportunities consistant with the promise of America. NCIA has positioned itself in the center of the conversation – right where we want to be.
Are you a member of NCIA interested in submitting a guest blog post? Please contact NCIA Communications and Projects Manager Bethany Moore for more information.
Video Newsletter: Member Spotlight on Cresco Labs from Chicago
This month, NCIA’s video newsletter introduces you to one of our members based in Chicago.
Cresco Labs is a medical cannabis company licensed to develop and operate medical cannabis cultivation centers in Illinois.
James Beard Award-winning chef Mindy Segal recently joined the team to head up the edible product line at Cresco Labs. Meet Mindy, as well as Cresco CEO and founder Charles Bachtell, as they share a bit about their company partnership and how they got involved in the National Cannabis Industry Association.
You can meet the Cresco Labs team and more than 3,000 other cannabis industry leaders at the 2016 Cannabis Business Summit in Oakland, CA, June 20-22. Get your tickets today!
Want your voice heard in our nation’s capitol on issues affecting the cannabis industry? Join us for our 6th Annual NCIA Member Lobby Days in Washington, D.C., on May 12 & 13, 2016.
Member Spotlight: New Economy Consulting
NCIA’s member spotlight for the month of February takes us to Oregon, where we speak with Sam Chapman, co-founder of New Economy Consulting, a political and business consulting firm for the legal cannabis industry. Sam’s background includes consulting for statewide political campaigns, small business development and media relations, as well as direct involvement as a lobbyist for drug policy reform at the local, state, and federal levels. Having Sam in the room at an NCIA event always raises the dialogue with his insight and expertise, and we’re glad to have him as part of the NCIA community.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Regulatory Compliance and Consulting
NCIA Member Since:
December 2013
Who does New Economy Consulting work with?
NEC provides a range of services and support to cannabis entrepreneurs, investors, and local governments. We specialize in drafting state license applications, writing and navigating local regulations, screening compliant real estate, regulatory compliance support, and political advocacy.
The New Economy Consulting Team
How do you serve your clients?
On behalf of our clients, NEC handles all aspects of licensure for retail, wholesale, production, and processing facilities. We provide clients with a holistic approach, encompassing services from locating and screening compliant property, to compliant buildout design and supervision, to local and state compliance inspection support.
What makes NEC unique?
NEC is unique in that our business consulting services are directly informed by our active political lobbying. Our researchers maintain a finger on the daily pulse of regulatory movement in the industry at both the state and local level. We strategically deploy our proprietary research in support of our client’s business ventures. An example of where NEC goes above and beyond for clients is in tracking the local regulations of over 90 Oregon counties and cities. This body of research allows NEC to quickly and confidently screen property and determine that property’s compliance with current and expected rules and regulations.
Sam Chapman, NEC co-founder
What has been NEC’s largest impact on the Oregon cannabis industry?
Before I co-founded NEC, I helped write and pass HB 3460, which legalized and regulated medical dispensaries in Oregon. NEC has successfully championed many pro-industry causes including raising more than $30,000 in support of Measure 91, legalizing the adult use of cannabis.
What should clients know before contacting NEC?
NEC is a boutique firm with a strong commitment to our clients. We choose our client and partner relationships with care. Our ideal client is well-capitalized, with business experience inside and out of the cannabis industry, has a clear vision of their project goals, and shares in our vision of creating and maintaining an industry to be proud of. We take great pride in contributing to the new marijuana economy while simultaneously supporting and shaping social justice reforms at the state, local, and federal level.
You work primarily in Oregon, which is an evolving landscape when it comes to marijuana policy and regulations. Can you briefly summarize the important regulatory frameworks that exist for business owners, and what changes are on the horizon for this market?
The Oregon Legislative Committee on Marijuana Legalization is considering many changes to the existing recreational program, including the potential removal of the residency requirements for recreational licenses. The committee has historically been hesitant to allow out-of-state majority ownership of Oregon marijuana businesses. However, many committee members have recently expressed that they now view residency requirements as a barrier for local business to raise much-needed capital.
While there is no guarantee that the current residency requirements will be eliminated, NEC has already begun to identify current and future market opportunities available to out-of-state business owners and investors.
Why did you join NCIA?
NEC enthusiastically joined NCIA as a member in 2013 and supports NCIA’s strategic lobbying at the federal level and especially their focus on our industry’s need for banking reform and 280E tax solutions. We strongly feel that the National Cannabis Industry Association is the tip of the spear when it comes to fighting for the federal reforms that affect all marijuana businesses on a daily basis.
Cannabis Industry Sector:
Baker Technologies
We aim to set the standard for advanced cultivation practices and techniques while taking steps to create a self-sustainable operation via renewable energy resources. By partnering with leading scientists in various fields, THC Design hopes to break new ground in the cannabis industry. We are committed to making scientific advances in identifying the roles of not only THC and CBD, but also the dozens of other compounds in cannabis that can potentially benefit patients. This will help us breed better plants that can acutely treat diseases and ailments, all while producing safer quality medicine year in and year out.
At District Growers, we recognize that patients depend on our products for their livelihood and well-being. Further, many of those patients are our employees, relatives, and friends. Because of this, we engage in a constant quest to offer the best quality products – bar none.
Tinctures provide a great alternative to consuming cannabis, as opposed to smoking it. Our tinctures, formulated for consistency and reliability of potency, are a great way to monitor dosage. Providing patients an opportunity to connect with other plant medicine that they otherwise might never have, we pair cannabis with other amazing herbs to help guide an endocannabinoid system to the desired outcome. 
