Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at an ice cream icon who is entering the cannabis sector, the growing interest in minor cannabinoids, support for legalization from the alcohol industry and more. Enjoy.
Celebrity Cannabis Spotlight
An ice cream icon is trading in his cherries and chocolate for THC and CBD. Ben Cohen—the Ben in Ben and Jerrys—has announced the launch of Ben’s Best Blnz, or B3.
According to Abigail Glasgow, reporting for Fast Company, the company will offer low-THC pre-rolls and full-spectrum vapes. In her article, Glasgow notes that much like his endeavors in ice cream, Cohen intends to use his cannabis platform as a way to promote and fund projects that have a “social benefit.” He also says the company’s mission is to “sell Great Pot and use the power of business to Right the Wrongs of the War on Drugs.”
Said Cohen, “The idea came about when I was on a camping trip with a friend of mine, sitting around a fire, smoking a joint. And we were saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have pot like the old days?’”
Glasgow notes that Cohen has established B3 as a nonprofit organization, with 100 percent of its profits split between three entities: 10 percent will go to the Last Prisoner Project and 10 percent will go to the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance. The remaining 80 percent will be used to fund grants to Black cannabis entrepreneurs.
Glasgow also makes the point that B3’s social justice mission is reflected in its packaging. For example, quotes by renowned activist Angela Davis and the late former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela are printed on the tins that contain B3’s low THC pre-rolls.
No word yet if the company’s advertising will include a nod to either Jerry or Cherry Garcia.
To learn more about the company and the artists behind its vibrant packaging design and graphics, we urge you to read Abigail Glasgow’s detailed and insightful reporting in the March 27, 2023 issue of Fast Company.com.
www.fastcompany.com/90870358/ben-of-ben-jerry-trades-ice-cream-for-cannabis
Plans Change
Despite an earlier report to the contrary, it now looks like cannabis consumers in Newark, New Jersey won’t be entering the Wu-Tang anytime soon after all.
According to Steve Strunsky, reporting for NJ.Com, Newark’s Central Planning Board has denied an application by Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon to open a cannabis lounge after elders from a church located across the street from the proposed site of the lounge protested. In addition, one board member complained that the rendering of the site’s facade— a triptych of a woman’s lips and tongue rolling and smoking a large joint—was offensive.
Corey Woods—a.k.a Raekwon the Chef—had planned to open a consumption lounge at a location about a block from the Prudential Center arena. Woods is also a co-founder of Hashtoria, an Oregon based company that would operate the lounge.
As Strunsky notes, the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission has adopted rules for on-site “consumption areas,” or lounges and Hashstoria, whose first lounge opened in Astoria, Oregon, hoped to become one of the first places in New Jersey where patrons could purchase and consume cannabis on site.
Newark’s City Council and its Landmark and Historic Preservation Commission had already given its blessing for the consumption lounge to operate at its proposed location but the ruling from the Central Planning Board has put the brakes on all that for now.
Said the Rev. Doris Glaspy, a pastor at the Old First Presbyterian Church, located across the street from the proposed site of the lounge, “We’re not against people smoking marijuana if they want to. But they can put it somewhere else.” Old First Presbyterian Church was founded in the 1660s and has been described as “Newark’s first church.”
Strunsky noted that Hashstoria’s main representative at Monday night’s hearing told board members that the dispensary and lounge would be safe and orderly, with no activity outdoors and nothing to advertise the nature of the business inside.
In addition, Hashtoria’s officials said the triptych the Commission member found offensive was actually “placeholder” art meant to convey that the front windows would display local artwork and that the actual lounge windows would not include the subject matter in the rendering.
After a brief discussion among its members, the Central Planning Board denied the application.
Hashtoria’s attorney Kelly Carey indicated that the company intends to go to court to appeal the ruling and expects to win the appeal. The Board’s attorney, Daniel Becht, acknowledged that an appeals court would likely overturn the Board’s ruling.
More news as more news develops.
To learn more, including how the consumption lounge is likely to operate, we suggest reading Steve Strunsky’s excellent reporting in the March 28, 2023 issue of NJ.com, which also appeared in MSN.com.
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“We’re better trying to understand which plants elicit what effects and how to consistently provide that to consumers so we can get away from all the meaningless strain names and get right to the point of how do you want this plant to help you feel…How is this plant going to enhance your life based off of your needs?”—Mike Hennesy, vice president of innovation at Colorado-based edibles maker Wana Brands.
Mr. Hennesy’s comment is taken from an article by David Hodges for MJBizDaily on the growing interest in the cannabis industry in what are known as “minor cannabinoids.”
Based on what he describes as “new information” and research, Hodges reports there is some hope on the part of cannabis companies that these cannabinoids, such as CBN and THCV, can soon be used to treat different health and wellness conditions— such as obesity, sleeplessness and nausea—and make it possible for cannabis companies to sell a wider variety of products.
According to Hodges, most of the new marijuana products being developed today involve four minor cannabinoids, none of which have the same psychotropic effect as THC:
- Cannabigerol (CBG), reputed to help fight inflammation, pain and nausea.
- Cannabichromene(CBC), one of the most abundant cannabinoids in the plant and said to play a role in anti-cancer and anti-tumor capabilities.
- Cannabinol (CBN), reputed to be a sleep aid or sedative.
- Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), dubbed “diet weed” and purported to help with weight loss.
Hodges also notes that Grand View Research—a San Francisco-based market research and consulting firm—calculates the U.S. market for minor cannabinoids totaled $4.9 billion in 2020 is likely to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 20.1 percent from 2021 to 2028.
The firm bases this projection on what it calls “the rising trend of adopting cannabinoid-based medicines over traditional medicines, owing to their affirmative health benefits for many health conditions such as chronic pain, cancer, arthritis, neurological disorders, and metabolic disorders.”
In his article, Hodges also reports that a growing number of cannabis producers and manufacturers in Canada and the United States are rolling out products incorporating minor cannabinoids.
For example, Wana Brands recently released a Passionfruit Pineapple edible with a 1-to-1-to-1 CBG/CBD/THC ratio, which follows last November’s debut of its Stay Asleep gummy, with a formulation of CBD, CBN, CBG and THC plus 30 specialized terpenes.
Said Hennesy, “So, instead of just a THC product alone with this formulation, you’re getting a multitude of benefits.”
Clearly, it’s not just about the THC content any more.
You can learn much more—including just how difficult it can be to identify a minor cannabinoid— by reading David Hodges informative and engaging article in the March 27, 2023 issue of MJBizDaily.com.
mjbizdaily.com/minor-cannabinoids-making-major-inroads-for-specific-medical-conditions/?
Legalization and Politics
Increasingly, campaigns to legalize cannabis are making for surprising bedfellows. For example, a major alcohol industry association has announced that it is supporting federal marijuana legalization.
In a letter to congressional leadership, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) implored lawmakers to “regulate adult-use cannabis at the federal level,” adding, “the current conflict between state and federal law is not only causing adverse consequences for consumers and non-consumers of cannabis but will also have long-term public health and safety costs that are too great to ignore.”
WSWA is a national membership organization advocating on federal, state, regulatory, and legal issues impacting distributors and the beverage alcohol industry.
That’s the word from Kyle Jaeger, who covered the story for Marijuana Moment. According to Jaeger, the association made two main points in its letter: 1) the current system for the regulation of alcohol “serves as a strong model” for cannabis and 2) a “piecemeal” approach to marijuana reform is untenable, so lawmakers should “comprehensively” address the issue.
While stating in the letter that states should be able to “maintain the flexibility to legalize—or not legalize—cannabis within their borders,” the association also makes the point that, “Addressing cannabis federally in a piecemeal manner amounts to de facto federal legalization without protecting consumers and non-consumers alike. The current fragmentary approach widens the door for the negative impacts of cannabis legalization without additional safeguards for public health and public safety. By not taking action, the federal government is also losing out on tax revenue.”
In the past, WSWA has detailed what it contends are four key principles that should be part of the federal oversight of an adult-use marijuana supply chain:
1. The federal permitting of cannabis producers, importers, testing facilities and distributors.
2. The approval and regulation of cannabis products.
3. The efficient and effective collection of federal excise tax.
4. Effective measures to ensure public safety.
As always, Kyle Jaeger does an excellent job unpacking a complicated story. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the March 22, 2023 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
To learn more about WSWA’s position on the federal legalization of cannabis, you can visit the organization’s website by clicking on the link below.
www.wswa.org/issues/federal-issues/cannabis-legalization-regulation
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
