Tim Beck - Is the Legal Cannabis Industry Headed for an Extinction Level Event?

That is how “Marijuna Business Daily” (MjBiz),described the desperate circumstances in California, where it is said hundreds, maybe thousands of small cannabis growers and other canna businesses are facing an “extinction event” in he Golden State.

In Michigan, the picture is not rosy either. According to some pundits, as documented in “Grown In,” an online cannabis trade publication, disaster could be looming in Michigan too.

The harsh reality, especially in some maturing legal cannabis states, is that weed prices are in a race to the bottom. Some businesses, burdened by heavy taxes, regulatory costs, and lacking in knowledge of consumer tastes are in deep trouble. This is due to a glut of cannabis overproduction, which will get worse over time.

In California, herb that used to cost $3,000 per pound, is now priced in the $250 to $300 range. In Michigan, a wholesale pound is now selling for around $600 and continuing to drop in price. Scores of farmers, especially in California, are dropping out of the legal market and letting expensive licenses expire. Others are slashing overhead and letting fields lie fallow. Some are merging or partnering with competitors to create greater economies of scale.

On a big picture level, a major study commissioned by the “National Cannabis Industry Association” (NCIA) and conducted by the “Whitney Economic Group” indicated only 42% of canna businesses across the USA are profitable. 21% describe themselves as “breaking even” and the rest are losing money. Some players are doing just fine.

Jerry Millen, owner of the “Greenhouse” dispensary in Walled Lake described his business as “successful” in the ``Grown In” report. He accomplished this feat by catering to a niche market in Oakland County, focused primarily on women and the elderly.

Entrepreneur and long standing industry veteran Ryan Basore (who got his start way before weed was legalized in Michigan) said his operations were “doing just fine.”

“There are two types of businesses out there,” Basore explained. “Those who have very low expense ratios, understand the consumer and are debt free--- and those who are not.” He was partly referring to big outstate cannabis corporations such as those represented by the “Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association” (MCMA)some of whom entered the market leveraged to the hilt and unfamiliar with local conditions. They could be in “deep trouble” according to Mr. Basore as crop prices drop.

Robin Schnieder

Robin Schnieder, CEO of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association (MiCIA) echoed Millen and Basore’s sentiments. She said the bulk of her 400+ clients, which are small to midsize operations, are holding their own and are largely profitable. “Most of our members have been around a long time in the cannabis business, and have created unique products or market niches. They have very loyal customer bases.

They’re skillful at what they do, and understand cannabis consumers very well. At the end of the day the best brands will win.”

Well, a few observations are in order, as to where this is all heading in the months and years ahead.

First, the demand for cannabis and its ancillary products is not going away. In fact, it is likely to increase as prices drop and younger folks continue to free themselves from the kind of propaganda their elders in the “baby boom” generation long endured. It is now clear to most observers, that legalization in Michigan and elsewhere has not caused the world to end in an apocalypse of addiction, crime, road rage, mental illness, suicide, juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancies, sloth, homelessness, poverty, domestic violence, low sperm counts and other canards purported about marijuana over the years.

That said, there will be winners and losers, just like in any highly competitive business environment. In the evolving industry shakeout, there will be three types of survivors.

One, industry players whose shares are actively traded on the American and Canadian stock exchanges such as Canopy Growth Corporation, Cronos Group, Curaleaf and Tilray are likely to make it. For example, Canopy is owned by Constellation Brands, one of the biggest alcoholic beverage distributors in the world. Constellation is very profitable, with $8.1 billion in revenue. Its subsidiary Canopy pulled in around $524 million and has yet to make a profit for the last several years. Tobacco giant Altria is also highly profitable with $21 billion in revenue. Altria owns marijuana producer Cronos Group. Cronos had $103 million in revenue last year and its profit margins have been practically nonexistent for years. Canopy and Cronos are fly specks on their parent companies balance sheets.

Constellation CEO Bill Newland on "Mad Money"

Cutting to the chase, Constellation and Altria’s long term strategy is very clear. In an interview a few weeks ago on CNBC’s “Mad Money” hosted by stock guru Jim Cramer, Constellation CEO Bill Newland said in so many words his company is prepared to keep Canopy afloat for years if needed. When federal legalization happens someday, Constellation will use its vast distribution system to sell marijuana and buy out as much of the competition as they can.

Ditto for Altria. Its Cronos subsidiary has about $1 billion of Altria money on its balance sheet. Altria is also in for the long haul and will use the Constellation playbook to dominate the marijuana market when full blown legalization hits.

Two, there is no reason to doubt the scenarios laid out by Mr. Millen, Mr. Basore and Ms. Schnieder. Unless they choose to be bought out, smaller consumer oriented debt free players will survive indefinitely.

Finally, we will always have the illegal market in some form.

I’m not much of an expert on that, except in the late 1970’s I found an appropriately hidden place on my property where I grew four plants for my own use. The plants grew into monsters, producing way more weed than I could use. As a result, I decided to sell the excess for $30 per ounce, when the street price was around $50. That did not bother me one bit. My profit margin was 100%.

John Sinclair - Free the Weed #128

 

A Column by John Sinclair

Greetings from St John’s Hospital on the eastside of Detroit where I’ve been held for the past two weeks while they’ve probed damn near every part of my body to see what’s wrong with me in my old age and what they can do to fix it.

It’s turned out to be impossible for me to do any creative writing in here, so it occurred to me that I could re-run an earlier column, and I decided to go all the way back to the beginning for my first contribution to what was then called MMMReport—so here it is:

FREE THE WEED #1

A Column by John Sinclair

Hello, fellow vipers and registered marijuana patients and welcome to the 40th annual Hash Bash in Ann Arbor and the 41st consecutive gathering of jubilant smokers on the Diag to

celebrate and advance the cause of marijuana legalization.  The first Hash Bash was called on the Diag for April 1, 1972 and there’s a good story to go with that. But the first smoke-in materialized a year earlier as an unorganized incursion into the very heart of the University of Michigan campus, where a boisterous contingent of local hippies met up on April Fools Day to get down and smoke some weed together.

Although I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, this writer was denied the opportunity to participate in the first celebration on the Diag due to my incarceration at the State Prison of Southern Michigan at Jackson, just 40 miles to the west but a whole different world altogether, where I was serving the second year of a 9-1/2 to 10-year sentence for possession of two marijuana cigarettes and working with my extensive collective of lawyers and fellow radicals to perfect my appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court.

At the time Michigan still callously misclassified marijuana as a narcotic—against all scientific evidence to the contrary—and punished convicted smokers with up to 10

years in prison. My actual crime had been giving the two joints as a gift to an undercover policewoman from the Detroit Narcotics Bureau three days before Christmas in

1966, and I was charged under the Sales of Narcotics statutes which mandated a minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life imprisonment for marijuana transactions of any sort.

I was determined to challenge the constitutionality of the Michigan narcotics statutes from the moment of my arrest on January 24, 1967, about two years after I had founded DETROIT LEMAR as an attempt to challenge the marijuana laws in the court of public opinion. By the date of my arrest I had been blessed with legal representation by the great Detroit attorney Sheldon Otis and his associate, Justin “Chuck” Ravitz, then just out of law school. They agreed not only to defend me in Detroit Recorders Court against this scurrilous charge but also to take up my cause in general. 

Over the next five years, many progressive lawyers and legal workers contributed to my defense and post-conviction appeals, with special thanks to a young Kenny Mogill who wrote the appellate brief that conquered the Supreme Court in March 1972. But we challenged the state’s definition of marijuana as a narcotic and the severity of the prescribed sentences for possession and sale in Recorders Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals, and the Michigan Supreme Court for two and a half years even before I went to trial in July 1969.

After the Supremes refused to rule on the issue absent an actual conviction, we went to trial and quickly secured a guilty verdict by waiving our defense in order to keep the focus on the constitutional challenge, but the late judge Robert J. Colombo denied my petition for appeal bond and I was remanded to the custody of the State of Michigan, soon to be shipped to the maximum-security Marquette Branch Prison in the U.P. for the first year of my sentence. 

The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld Colombo’s denial of appeal bond on the grounds that I was a “danger to society”—that ruling makes another story for another time—and I spent a total of 29 months in prison before bond was finally granted and I was released from Jackson on December 13, 1971.  

During this period my comrades in the White Panther Party—later called the Rainbow People’s Party—spearheaded a campaign to gain my freedom that included almost weekly benefit concerts and dances to raise funds for my legal defense and keep my case before the public.

The April Fools gathering on the Diag in 1971 had its part in this process, which culminated on December 10 when John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Seale, Phil Ochs, Archie Shepp, Commander Cody, Bob Seger and a host of others congregated at Crisler Arena for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally. 

We also pursued my appeal in the courts and lobbied intensively in the state legislature for a new marijuana law. In fact, the Freedom Rally was scheduled in December to try to bring pressure on the legislature to pass a bill removing

marijuana from the narcotics statutes and establish greatly reduced penalties for its sale and use. To make a long story short, the bill was passed on December 9, the Freedom Rally was staged December 10, and I was released three

days later.

The new marijuana law stipulated that marijuana was to be considered a “controlled substance” with a maximum sentence upon conviction of one year for use and four years for sale. The existing law was to remain in effect until April 1, 1972, but on March 9 the Supreme Court overturned my conviction and declared the existing law unconstitutional, thus creating a beautiful period in Michigan when weed was completely without legal prescription for the next three weeks.

On April 1 st the first Hash Bash took place as an act of defiance against the reinstatement of any laws against marijuana—as a declaration that we wouldn’t accept any form of interference with this important component of our way of life.

It was a tremendous celebration, and three days later Ann Arbor elected two members of the Human Rights Party to City Council and took the first step toward enacting the infamous $5.00 fine for all marijuana violations in the city.

I always wondered who came up with the name for the Hash Bash, but it wasn’t until five or six years ago when I ran into my old comrade Walden Simper at the Berkeley Patients Collective and she told me she was designing the poster for the gathering on the Diag when the name HASH BASH appeared on her mental screen and she penciled it into the design. It’s been there ever since.

In closing, I’d like to dedicate this first column to the memory of two great Americans who have recently passed on: the heroic attorney for the people, Leonard Weinglass, and the prophet and pioneering mass producer of LSD, Augustus Owsley Stanley III, whose products were surely present on that day in 1971 when the Hash Bash came into being.  Thank you, gentlemen, for all the good you have done.

—Oxford, Mississippi March, 26 2011

© 2011/2022 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.

Tim Beck - April 2022

 

For over 50 years marjiuana has been a fast food staple for the USA media. 

During the “Summer of Love” in 1967, where folk singer Scott McKenzie liltingly sang “if you are going to San Francisco, you better wear some flowers in your hair...and meet some gentle people there,” marijuana made the national scene in a big way.

A few years later, the crazed Charles Manson ”hippie” family and their proclivity for weed and other drugs became the stuff of infamous legend, as did the Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont, CA Speedway where four persons died in the mayhem. Then came comedians Cheech and Chong who solidified the stoner stereotype in the minds of millions and generated all kinds of similar stories and ridicule of cannabis users over the years. Finally, President Ronld Reagan, his successors, and their enablers in the media set the anti-cannabis stage for many years to come.

Flash forward to the present and we have lurid tales about some far right crazies in Michigan who smoked weed and planned to kidnap the Governor. 

In the Whitmer kidnap case, every mainstream media outlet placed special focus on the marijuana angle. Defendants Barry Croft, Brandon Caserta, Adam Fox, Daniel Harris and FBI informant Steve Roberson regularly hung out with ample supplies of weed, beer and angry rhetoric. According to media reports, they talked about flying Whitmer like a kite over Lake Michigan, diverting rivers into underground caverns to grow food and how the pyramids in Egypt created a magnetic flow that allows space aliens to enter the atmosphere at three times the speed of light without crashing into the earth. The idea of surrounding the Governor’s vacation home at night and barking like dogs to lure her out and into their hands was given serious consideration.  

The Whitmer kidnap plot suspects

The only person now trying to obtain the Whitmer kidnap suspects release, is their attorney Joshua
Blanchard. Blanchard used the pot defense strategy. In other words, these unsavory looking characters were not responsible for their actions because they were too stoned. He called it “stoned crazy talk.”

In a social media posting, Michigan NORML leader Rick Thompson attacked Blanchard for “perverting the effects of cannabis” to ameliorate his clients behavior.

However, this kind of media coverage is likely to continue in the USA; at least for some people.

Looking at the big picture, I was a freshman in high school during the “Summer of Love” in San Francisco circa 1967. I did not make it to the Bay, but the event was electric  even for those who did not attend. Media from all over the world descended on the city to cover this exotic new “counter culture” phenomena. There were “love-ins,”  free food, free medical care, folk singers, rock bands, dancing in the streets and lots of acid and weed openly consumed for the TV cameras. 

While some moralists condemned the San Francisco summer party, the rest of the nation, especially younger folks, (myself included) were transfixed, and eager to get in on the action.

Unfortunately these halcyon counterculture days ended as far as the mainstream media was concerned in1969, with two tragic events.

Rioting at a free rock concert at the Altamont Speedway in Tracy, California attended by over 300,000 people, resulted in 4 deaths and lots of mayhem. The Rolling Stones were the featured act, and the Hells Angels were hired to provide security. One of the dead,18-year-old Merideth Hunter, was stabbed to death by a Hells Angel. This was a major news event.

Charles Manson

In that same year, the Charles Manson family came out of the woodwork and murdered 9 people in a crazed, drug fueled  spree. Their vagabond lifestyle, which featured sex, drugs and rock and roll in the worst sense of the word, made headlines for months. Books were written, movies produced and lurid follow-up stories appeared for many years after. 

Pundits at the time declared 1969 to be the “end of the 60’s” as the world previously knew it. 

Marijuana and hippie culture was no longer viewed by the media and many in the general public as something benign. Gentle hippies with flowers in their hair, were replaced by potentially dangerous social deviants. 

Then along came comedians Cheech and Chong. These guys were great entertainers and their movies were widely viewed. Unfortunately, these films further entrenched the view of cannabis use as wacked out “stoner” behavior. Very few parents wanted their kids to grow up and be like Cheech and Chong.

When Ronald Reagan succeeded Jimmy Carter as president, the gloves came off. A full blown war on drugs was launched, and that included weed. Reagan was much more effective than Richard Nixon. Employee drug testing was instituted. Penalties were ratcheted up and the mainstream media went along for the ride. It was almost impossible to find anything good about cannabis in the mainstream media anymore. President George HW Bush continued the Reagan policies as did Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Under Barack Obama, things got a bit better for medical cannabis users.  Trump and Biden maintained the status quo on a Federal level and so did congress.

No matter. Times have been changing for the better for weed in the last few years, but some things are still the same in the media.

Having the privilege of experiencing life on many different levels, from deep in the impoverished third world and national Rainbow Gatherings, to membership in the venerable Detroit Athletic Club  (DAC) a couple of things come to mind. Especially about my time as a member of the DAC.

Specifically, the DAC was founded by the Detroit social elite and a rising new breed of automobile entrepreneurs in 1887. It is still an invitation-only private club, consisting of big business and social leaders in southeast Michigan. If just one board member does not like a nominee, membership is denied. For instance, multimillionaire personal injury attorney Geoffrey Fieger was rejected for membership some years ago, for having a “bad attitude” toward the system.

Funny thing, but in my 19 years of membership in the DAC, I found there were a number of members who smoked weed, but did not want it legalized. I was the subject of good-natured ribbing by some of my club buddies back then about my crusade to legalize herb. However, I was considered OK--  a member in good standing, albeit a bit eccentric.

Bottom line, various club members in those days, believed only cannabis users like themselves were responsible enough to imbibe in the substance. 

Tinfoil Hat Time! - April 2022

 

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, adopted behind closed doors by world leaders at a summit in September 2015 (unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/)

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full productive employment and decent work for all

9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development

15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17.Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

This is not a conspiracy theory.  This is not speculation based on paranoia.  A group of global elitists have been openly attempting to take planet-wide control of all governments by manipulating public opinion on all levels and subjects for decades.  Stealing worldwide authority with propaganda and plundered tax dollars in order to assert dominion over every square inch of Mother Earth.  This list of God-like promises, slogans and rhetoric, is published for all to see.  Branded with the United Nations logo and hidden in plain sight.  

For two years now we have existed in the UN Sustainable Development “Decade of Action”.  2020, the year the world was turned upside-down by puppet politicians and for-profit media corporations all jumping to the alarm bells set off by the UN World Health Organization, marked the start of the United Nations “Ten years to transform our world.”  

This is not a conspiracy theory, it is an openly admitted fact. www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/decade-of-action/ explains: “The Sustainable Development Goals — our shared vision to end poverty, rescue the planet and build a peaceful world — are gaining global momentum.  With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is underway to deliver the 2030 promise—by mobilizing more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own,” it goes on to say  “Today, progress is being made in many places, but, overall, action to meet the Goals is not yet advancing at the speed or scale required. 2020 needs to usher in a decade of ambitious action to deliver the Goals by 2030.  The Decade of Action calls for accelerating sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges — ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap.  In September 2019, the UN Secretary-General called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a decade of action on three levels: global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals; local action embedding the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities; and people action, including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations.”

The world as we know it took a sudden, drastic, and forced turn in 2020.  It was not a coincidence.  The very elitists who believe they have the right to set out goals without caring about what the people want, while forcing these ideas on everyone by mobilizing institutions at every level and in every sector of society, made this happen.  It was by design.  Contrary to what the meme’s suggest, 2020 is not to blame.  It was not a random bad year.  It was the specific start date for the active mobilization of the new world government.

A global government who operates from the top down.  Whose every action occurs behind closed doors, without a single vote from a single citizen.  A factually unlawful legal fiction that has usurped power over the people on this planet.  One that promises to end poverty while it siphons billions off the backs of the poor in almost every nation on Earth, spending it on lavish things such as “The Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations” room in Geneva’s “Palace of Nations” with its $23 million dollar ceiling.  This is just one example of the opulence these self proclaimed “high representatives” surround themselves with, all paid for with slave paper swindled from the innocent masses.

These goals, set out by the world’s most rich and powerful, require the complete elimination of national, local, and individual sovereignty.  The very existence of these goals proves that a very real institution actively believes it can, and should, make everyone on the planet believe in and live in the world it desires.  The new world government is not interested in what you, or your family, or your community, or your city, or state, or nation wants.  It tells us what it wants us all to want, and it tells us we must change who we are in order to meet its deadline, as if it owns this planet and all life on it.  

Lies, illusions, propaganda and pyramid schemes are how the United Nations rose to fake but effective power.  Tricks and false flags, over generations, brought us to this point. 

Pay close attention to the next eight years.

Michigan News - April 2022

 

Social Equity - Fluresh's Accelerator Program

Over a dozen mentorship’s provided to racial minorities, by Fluresh under their relatively unique Social Equality program have been by the staff of Fluresh.  Applicants can apply directly through the Fluresh web site. In the last batch of 60 applicants, 10 individuals were selected for their mentorship program. 

Shoran Reid William was the Chair of the Cannabis practice at Miller Johnson, and a trusted advisor on legal issues related to the rapidly growing and evolving cannabis and hemp industry in North America. Two noteworthy bills that have accelerated the interest in the industry are the United States 2018 Farm Bill and Michigan’s activation of authority pursuant to the United States 2014 Farm Bill being utilized to launch the State’s Industrial Hemp Ag pilot. Additionally, as Michigan voters legalized both medical and recreational cannabis consumption, Ms. Williams’ practice includes of those laws on her clients as well.

Ms. Williams recently joined the Fluresh team. Her decision to come here is rooted in all the work Fluresh has done to make a real world difference in the communities that have been unfairly targeted in the war on drugs. The lynchpin for her was when new CEO said social equity shouldn’t just be about licensing, but we should be taking this money and reinvesting it in schools in targeted communities.

The Origins of the Ann Arbor Monroe St. Fair

City and University deny vendors space at Hash Bash in 2002. The Ann Arbor Monroe Street Fair emerges to offer a safe space to gather in celebration.

Since the dawn of Hash Bash, the city and university worked together to push Hash Bash out. The last time was around the turn of the century. 

Together we have ushered in a 20 year era of hash bash coexistence, peace and growth in cooperation with the city, neighborhood and community leading to major shifts in opinions of cannabis. 

It’s been 20 plus years since they’ve even tried to push us out.  In fact, they have embraced us.  Join us in leading our next 20 year era at the Ann Arbor Monroe Street Fair.  If you’re a cannabis fan and Hash Basher, You’ve likely been a part of a years (decades) long exercise and liberal democratic shift in opinions of cannabis in Michigan.  

I am an artist, organizer, producer and community leader and I contributed my lifetime to helping the grassroots of Michigan have pride in ourselves and our chosen means of healing and happiness. Join us Saturday April 2nd to celebrate OUR (all Hash Bash activists, patients, caregivers, homegrowers, and other artists ), 20th Anniversary and honor of “Best Street Fair” by the readers of the Metro Times.  City and University deny vendors space at Hash Bash in 2002. The Ann Arbor Monroe Street Fair emerges to offer a safe space to gather in celebration.

Jeremy Berkowitz, a Michigan Daily Newspaper Staff Reporter, reported on March 21, 2002 that Hash Bash, a long-time Ann Arbor tradition for lovers of cannabis, will not be the same this year for merchants who like to sell their products outside on the street. Interim City Administrator Ron Olson declared last week that vendors and merchants will not be allowed on sidewalks during Hash Bash this year on April 6, 2002.

“The city administrator has issued a proclamation that will invalidate sidewalk occupancy vendors and peddlers permits for that day in a specified area surrounding the State Street and University Diag area,” James Kosteva, director of community relations for the University, said in 2002.

The reasoning behind the decision is to prevent vendors from blocking the sidewalks full of thousands of people. In previous years, many of these vendors were people from out of town who did not even apply for a permit to sell their goods.

But Stairway to Heaven owner Bob Kosak thought the city was overreacting.  “They are using a sledgehammer to kill an ant,” Kosak said.

Kosak said he believes a better solution would be to only allow Ann Arbor merchants on the sidewalks. He said last year, the State Street Association bought all the vending spaces and sold them to merchants who desired them.

“The real issue for business people is that it draws people to town and it’s a great day for sales,” said Mark Lamke, manager of In Flight Sports. “Everybody looks forward to this event, it is like the first day of spring.”

There has been much speculation among organizers of the event and local merchants that the city is trying to slowly do away with the 30-year tradition.

But Ann Arbor City Council Member Joe Upton (R-2nd Ward) said he feels this is not the case at all.

“I don’t believe this is a concerted effort to go in that direction,” Upton said.

Lamke says he does not care about Hash Bash’s main goal, just that it has always been a wonderful day for Ann Arbor.

“Madison (Wisc.) and Ann Arbor are the two hippest cities in the Midwest, is that a bad thing?” Lamke said. “It’s not like people blatantly are abusing the law. This has been going on for so long.” said Upton.

So the story picks up here...

The Arbor Monroe Street Fair Born in 2002 - Hooray!  At that time Strackbein, saw an opportunity in the new restrictions to mix his art with his event planning experience creating what’s intended to be and likened to a yearly, 12 hour pop-up art Installation, a perennial that grows from the ground at the crack of dawn, blossoms, bears fruit and settles back into the ground without a trace by nightfall, already anticipating next year. Miraculously with great cooperation, the event was put together and approved in a matter of weeks. 

The special event is located just 2 blocks south of the Diag, in Ann Arbor on Monroe Street, Oakland Ave. and Tappan.

Serving the cannabis industry for over 25 years, Charlie has called upon the likes of pro-cannabis advocates Tommy Chong, Jack Herer, John Sinclair and Ed Rosenthal to join in as special guests. 

Putting our best foot forward and leaving the site without a trace, we provide a destination for Michigan cannabis to connect with Ann Arbor community and businesses in efforts to amplify state-wide law reform initiative while having a good time doing it.

My business partner Fred Heller is an Ann Arbor native that has been with the fair since its inception in 2002, first as an exhibitor and then joining as a special assistant, taking on a greater roles as the fair evolved. Fred has been instrumental in expanding the fair, while keeping its Ann Arbor roots intact. 

The Ann Arbor Monroe Street Fair is dedicated to giving local artists, businesses and advocates a platform and audience to promote themselves, our city and surrounding areas.

Activists have met at Casa Dominicks since its first days in 1960. Over the years the Hash Bash, Monroe Street Fair and hundreds of thousands of activists, patients, caregivers and homegrowers have ushered in a 20 year era of hash bash coexistence, peace and growth in cooperation with the city, neighborhood and community leading to major shifts in opinions of cannabis.  

It’s been 20 plus years since they’ve even tried to push us out. If fact, they have embraced us.

The Ann Arbor Monroe Street Fair has celebrated leadership and pride for 20 plus years.

If you’re a cannabis fan and Hash Basher, you’ve likely been a part of a years (decades) long exercise and liberal democratic shift in opinions of cannabis in Michigan.  Come out, have fun, enjoy the afternoon, and be part of the latest episode of this epic story of the greatest cannabis gathering ever told.

...and the rest is history. Hooray!

National News - April 2022

 

California's Pot is Taxing

Pot is taxed heavily in the Golden State. It is a fixed $162.00 per pound.  The price untaxed is $300.00 per pound. “You’re looking at 50 percent of the cost of a pound of cannabis–an additional 50 percent of that is a tax!” said Amber Senter, a cannabis entrepreneur in Oakland, CA. 

Governor Newsom stated in January that he is in support of a cannabis tax revamp in the state. He stated, “It is my goal to look at tax policy to stabilize the market. And at the same time, it is also my goal to get these municipalities to wake up to the opportunities to get rid of the illegal market, the illicit market, and provide support in a regulatory framework for the legal market.” https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2022/01/14/california-cannabis-industry-marijuana-gavin-newsom/ 

Even though there is a lot of positivity in Newsom’s words, business owners are not completely hopeful for change. Current tax laws can only be altered by new voting procedures from the public as well as the legislative branch in California. 

Colorado Profits and Celebrates 420

Colorado reported a record large amount of marijuana sales in 2021. The state recorded more than $2.22 billion in both recreational and medical sales which was a record for the state. The tax revenue from the sales was just over $420,000,000. In 2020 Colorado reported $2.19 billion in pot sales.  The MMP, Marijuana Policy Project, reported $10 billion in total sales in the United States since legalization occurred in 2012. 

The 15 percent state sales tax revenue from cannabis sales in Colorado are being used towards the state’s school’s. Some of the revenue is used for such programs as bullying prevention and literacy initiatives. There are local taxes allotted from pot sales as well. Those local taxes are taken from the 15 percent state sales tax. 

It is time to celebrate in Colorado. The Largest 420 Event reported by The Mile High 420 Festival, will be taking place at Civic Center Park, in Denver, Colorado on 4/20/22. The 100 percent free festival takes place on April 20th.  According to the festival’s website,  https://flyhi420festival.com/, it is the largest 420 event in the world. According to the site: As the first state to legalize cannabis, Colorado has a unique history with the marijuana movement. As a result, The Mile High 420 Festival draws advocates from around the world. Re-imagining what the holiday has represented in the past, our goal in 2022 is to continue to fight the stigma while celebrating the booming cannabis industry here in the Mile High city. Join us with over 50,000 people as we celebrate the cannabis culture and the future of what continues to be is a flourishing industry for our nation.” The event, which takes place from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. mountain time, can be watched on Youtube at: https://youtu.be/ozzrI6Q-z6w. 

VA Wants Marijuana

Various Veterans service organizations, or VSOs, are asking lawmakers to review treatment benefits of marijuana for veterans. 

They are asking for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to grow more research for the therapies which can be used cannabis. The organizations are also asking Congress to remove research barriers for Schedule I drugs that show medical promise, and finally they are asking to end the ban of pot so that VA doctors can guide veterans to marijuana for treatment.

Mr. Greg Heun, National Commander for American Veterans testified at a U.S House hearing on March 2nd stated that: “We call upon the White House and Congress to fulfill their responsibilities to the nation’s veterans by recognizing the inappropriateness of cannabis’ current scheduling and removing it from the Controlled Substance Act, by removing the roadblocks to expanding approved cultivation and research and committing all necessary resources to understand the therapeutic potential of cannabis and bringing those derived medications to veterans as quickly as possible.” 

To read Heun’s entire statement to the House sectioned “Cannabis” can be found on page 10 at: 

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/VR/VR00/20220302/114441/HHRG-117-VR00-Wstate-HeunG-20220302-U1.pdf

Pot Wins Over Alcohol in Survey

YouGov revealed the results to a question to a study they conducted with adults 18 years and older of various backgrounds this past February on twitter. The question was, “Would it be good or bad if the average American drank less alcohol and used more marijuana?” 27 percent of those questioned stated that it would be good and 20 percent stated that it would be bad. 38 percent stated neither good or bad. The largest percent of age population questioned stated that it was good to smoke more pot were between 30-to 44-year olds. “YouGov is a global public opinion and data company. Explore what the world thinks, discover our solutions, and join our community to share your opinion.” https://today.yougov.com/

World News - April 2022

 

Russia Detains U.S. Athlete Over THC Vape

Reported in early March, Brittney Griner, WNBA star, was detained and charged in Russia for possessing
marijuana vape cartridges that were found in her luggage by officials at the Sheremetyevo airport which is near Moscow. The New York Times were the first to break the news. 

Griner is a WNBA star who plays basketball in Russia in the winter for the team UMMC Ekaterinburg. Her last game with UMMC was on January 29. She plays center for the Phoenix Mercury’s in  the WNBA league, and is a two-time gold Olympian for the U.S. Olympic basketball team. She is a graduate of Baylor University in Texas. 

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, posted on her Instagram page, “There are no words to express this pain. I’m hurting, we’re hurting.” 

#BrittneyGriner is quickly becoming a Twitter topic trend.  The Phoenix Mercury posted on Twitter on March 5th, “We love and support Brittney and at this time our main concern is her safety, physical and mental health, and her safe return home.” 

Marijuana and medical marijuana, and growing and purchasing marijuana are illegal in Russia. The punishment that Griner is being held and charged for can be up to 10 years in prison. 

Eco-Friendly Cannabis Package

With the rise of majiauna legalization, marijuana distributors are continuing to pursue ways to make sure their products are in child-safe wrappings, as well as considering climate change and working with products that are packaged in eco-friendly materials. 

According to The World Bank, “The world generates 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with at least 33 percent of that—extremely conservatively—not managed in an environmentally safe manner. Worldwide, waste generated per person per day averages 0.74 kilogram but ranges widely, from 0.11 to 4.54 kilograms. Though they only account for 16 percent of the world’s population, high-income countries generate about 34 percent, or 683 million tonnes, of the world’s waste.” https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html

Ways to begin considering reducing waste in packaging start with recycling and having packing that recycles, and having recycling bins accessible to customers. Also, work solely with packaging that biodegrades. Consider using packaging that can be multi-used or repurposed. Source products that are made locally. Buying locally saves the environment with less resources being used to ship and overall helps support your location’s needs. 

Cannabis Friendly Countries in Europe

According to EuroNews.Tavel “...when it comes to mind-altering substances, weed is one of the softer drugs. It’s believed to be on a par with alcohol (which is completely legal across the continent for those with legitimate ID). So rather than wrack up the bills and time associated with criminal offences, in some countries there’s more of a ‘we’d rather you didn’t, but if you must’ mentality.” https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/04/20/cannabis-capitals-of-europe-where-has-weed-been-decriminalised-on-the-continent

Cities and countries listed in the 2021 article that were listed as “if you must” were the Netherlands, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Denmark, Barcelona, Spain, and 

Prague, Czech Republic, all countries where marijuana is illegal. 

The Beginnings of Cannabis

Where was weed first grown? Who first started smoking pot? According to recent studies Central Asia, or present day China, could be the beginnings of pot smoking. Archaeologists have revealed that residues left on archaeological objects that show pot was smoked on wooden objects as a part of ceremonies. “This phytochemical analysis indicates that cannabis plants were burned in wooden braziers during mortuary ceremonies at the Jirzankal Cemetery (ca. 500 BCE) in the eastern Pamirs region. This suggests cannabis was smoked as part of ritual and/or religious activities in western China by at least 2500 years ago and that the cannabis plants produced high levels of psychoactive compounds.” 

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaw1391

The results from the find showed cannabis on objects dating back to 790 to 520 BCE. “It is possible that high-elevation populations of a naturally higher THC–producing variety were recognized and targeted by people in the Pamir region, possibly even explaining the prominence of ritual sites in the high mountains.” 

Though hemp is grown and widely exported in China as a material agent for industrial purposes, and in fact they are the largest producers of hemp in the world, recreational marijuana is illegal.