Legalize it

[Drunk Monk]

Now there's a new dispensary on Ocean street.  It's on the right, just as you get off hwy17 on the way to the Boardwalk.  It's Kind Peoples too, one of the Cruz's most longstanding clubs. It has a good reputation, but I don't think I've patronized them yet.  I now drive by it on every commute, which isn't saying much because there's been a dispensary at summit on hwy17 for years now, which I have yet to visit.  It's in walking distance of the bungalow, which is saying a lot.

[Drunk Monk]

I don't think I've patronized them yet. 

Um, yeah, I was in the system. I guess it is bad for memory.  

It's a really nice dispensary.  Well stocked.  So many kinds of products and they let you peruse the wares and read the labels more than most.  And it's just a really short walk from my bungalow.  But I gotta add that it makes me feel like a peasant.  Other customers are dropping big bucks, lots of benjamins, for shopping bags full of product.  How the heck do they consume that much?  It's like the dude with the shopping cart of gallon bottles of vodka at CVS.  Although tempted, I usually only get some edibles for like $20 or so.

[Drunk Monk]

Dec 8, 2021,05:15am EST|58,830 views
Producing Cannabis Biomass Without Growing A Cannabis Plant: How One Company Is Doing It

Javier Hasse
Senior Contributor

Vices
A column about cannabis, hemp, CBD and psychedelics.

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[img=0x317]https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F61ae9a4325c8dae56a3e1905%2FCannabis-Biomass%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale[/img]

Cannabis Biomass
 COURTESY PHOTO
A new technology is allowing one company to produce full-spectrum cannabis without growing the plant itself.
Sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but it’s very real. In what could be a global first, this week, a publicly traded Canadian-Israeli biotech firm company, BioHarvest Sciences, will announce that it has managed to produce at least 10kg of full-spectrum cannabis without the plant itself.

According to information procured exclusively, the biomass in question was created using the company’s proprietary BioFarming technology platform, which allows it to grow natural plant cells in bioreactors. In addition, management assures, the product is not genetically modified, and is “uniquely consistent and clean.” This could provide an interesting solution to two of the cannabis industry’s main pain points: product variability and contamination – the aseptic, controlled environment means the product isn’t affected by fungi, yeast, mold or any other contaminants or pesticides.
“The legal cannabis industry has been waiting for this moment as many of the challenges it has faced are being resolved using BioHarvest’s technology and capabilities,” said BioHarvest CEO Ilan Sobel. “With this milestone, we are ready to engage with the vibrant global Cannabis industry for the right partnerships ahead of the introduction of our new Cannabis products.”
[b]How Real Is This Unreal Weed?[/b]
Purists will argue cannabis grown in a bioreactor is not real cannabis. And this may be the case. However, BioHarvest’s biomass is in fact a full-spectrum product, meaning it features most of (if not all) the chemical compounds found in traditional cannabis.
The biomass is made of cannabis cells, including trichome cells containing cannabinoids such as CBD and THC, as well as other compounds that are naturally occurring in the cannabis plant. In addition, Sobel explained, these trichome cells “are amalgamated in a proprietary high density coral-shaped structure that enables a trichome density (number of trichomes per unit surface) of up to 200 times greater than the conventional agriculture case.”
Beyond being cool, this breakthrough could have a very positive impact on sustainability by driving increased land conservation. In fact, BioHarvest already applies this process to the production of red grapes, olives and pomegranates. The facilities occupy about 95% less physical space than traditional farming.

“For its therapeutic qualities, hemp based CBD holds a significant potential for the F&B industry to which we have been supplying ingredients for over 40 years,” said Vince Pinneri, president of Batory Foods, an ingredient distributor for the U.S. food industry that has teamed up with BioHarvest to guarantee the food and beverage industry “the highest quality CBD with fingerprint consistency and ultimate cleanliness that their BioFarming technology can produce.

“The outstanding sustainability credentials of the BioFarming technology will also be well received by the growing population of environmentally conscientious customers. We are looking forward to bringing to the US market the best hemp-based CBD, from BioHarvest, in the near future,” Pinneri concluded.

I wonder if these can be combined with those self replicating bots somehow. Not sure how any of this works anymore...

[thatguy]

I only want spice that came from an Arakkis worm. No vat-grown spice for me!

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

ttt 4 2022

So a new dispensary opened up right next to our Kung Fu Academy. It's a franchise outlet of 3 Bros on the westside https://www.3brossantacruz.com/. Coincidentally, that's a short walk from the Academy's proprietors' home. 

Today was their soft opening. Only a few students showed up for the first two hours today - in fact, I was the only one practicing in the parking lot for the first hour. Next door, they had music, a dude painting the logo on the wall, and streams of people visiting (so much so that a few cars parked in our lot - there's a cyclone fence that separates the two lots). It think they were serving appetizers too because I kept catching these tasty smells (no herb - most dispensaries have strict policies about consuming on the premises - takes a special permit to allow for that). 

It took all of DM's willpower not to go over and check it out. But DM is avoiding omicron, plus he's on an abstinence kick for the next two weeks at least. He has barely been indulging all pandemic - even stopped stone cold for the first year so as not to be a coughing asian). Maybe a birthday trip will be in order, when the covid numbers subside again.

[thatguy]

Eardibles? 

https://boingboing.net/2022/03/17/mike-t...-ears.html

Mike Tyson's weed company is producing edibles shaped like ears

Devin Nealy 
Mar 17, 2022 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbIPkSVrUtm/

My parents were wrong: there is a future in marijuana. As the puritanical laws surrounding weed loosen around the country, edibles are becoming easier to access. When I downed my first pot brownie, it was shoddily crafted and tasted like Gary Busey's bathwater. It did the proverbial trick, but the process should've been infinitely more pleasurable. Nowadays, I find myself scornfully swaying in my rocking chair and chastizing the edible munching youth from my porch. "Back in my day, you had to befriend an ex-con named Shaka to get yourself an eighth. We had to travel seven states just to look at a dispensary."

By choosing to hop on the legal weed bandwagon, Mike Tyson has become quite the cannabis capitalist. The amount of scratch that Tyson earns from wacky tobacky is staggering, and it doesn't seem like he's about to slow down anytime soon. Tyson just unveiled a new brand of edibles that are- get this- shaped like ears. Because who wouldn't want to think about Mike Tyson devouring a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear while they're grappling with THC-induced paranoia? 

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/sho...ost1322933

boxing is part of my martial marijuana world

[thatguy]

Also from todays Examiner email missive:

The California State Fair is set to have a dope year. Cannabis judging will be included in this year’s festivities. (Capital Public Radio)

Who will judge my devil's lettuce? My jazz cabbage?

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

So a new dispensary opened up right next to our Kung Fu Academy. It's a franchise outlet of 3 Bros on the westside https://www.3brossantacruz.com/. Coincidentally, that's a short walk from the Academy's proprietors' home. 

When 3 Bros opened, they did like Mick Jagger and painted the building black. Last week, they closed. The building has been repainted white. It's an odd building, that funky architecture where someone built obtuse extensions to the original building that is so prevalent in the Cruz. Painting must be challenging. 

I never went in that dispensary. Not once. Kinda bummed I missed it, but there you have it.

[Drunk Monk]

So that building is now painted white. It went from all black to all white. And right in the middle of that white is now a green cross. 

3 Bros is still open on the westside. I still haven't gone in there. Not 3 Bros, not whatever this green cross dispensary is going to be called. It's so odd. No signage. Just a big green cross. 

But maybe I should. I need some party favors for the weekend...

[Drunk Monk]

Update - that new dispensary is called Flavors and it has very low prices, a great selection, and very helpful staff (mostly cute young stoner chicks). 

But that’s not why I’m ttt-Inc this thread to us. I woke up to Stacy forwarding this (it’s in stumbling distance and next to one of my fav coffee shops): https://www.greenmagicyoga.com

[Drunk Monk]

ttt42025

Flavors is my dispensary of choice - convenient, cheap, with a good selection, plus the gals at the counter are friendly, cute and knowledgeable. 

I've worked out at that Green Yoga place but not participated in the green side. Our yoga instructor was there during the interim between the Vets Hall and the new place. It was an odd studio, a tad too hippie for me, if you can believe that. I prefer my yoga to be more Indian but that's a bias from being there. Their bolsters were too squishy. They also lead micro-shroom hikes, and I was like 'gonna pay you to lead me about on a micro? nah.'

Here's a stupid headline:

Calif. pot industry faces 'extinction event' following big tax hike

A looming tax increase could send more customers back to the illicit market

By Lester Black, Cannabis editorFeb 10, 2025

California’s legal cannabis industry could be in for a brutal 2025. The state is considering increasing the licensing fees for legal businesses, right as a 25% tax increase looms in July. 
The great irony is both cost hikes are in play precisely because the legal market is in such dire financial shape.
The state is legally required to update the cannabis excise tax rate in July of this year to make up for lackluster cannabis tax collections due to lower-than-expected sales. While the new rate hasn’t been determined yet, it’s widely expected to increase from 15% to 19% due to stipulations in state law.
Meanwhile, the state’s Department of Cannabis Control, or DCC, is facing a $23 million budget deficit this year. The looming shortfall has left the agency considering raising licensing fees, a core part of its revenue, thus charging pot companies more to participate in the legal market. 
Caren Woodson, the president of the California Cannabis Industry Association, said in an email to SFGATE that increasing the costs of running a legal business would be “catastrophic to the industry” and drive customers back into the illicit market, which continues to thrive in California. 
“The current model keeps one foot in regulation and one in prohibition, with dollars going in both directions. We must act swiftly to course correct or California’s legal, regulated market will continue to face the risk of an extinction event,” Woodson wrote.
Amy O’Gorman Jenkins, the executive director of the California Cannabis Operators Association, told SFGATE in an email that a tax increase in particular poses an “existential threat” to the industry.
“The truth of the matter is that for many operators large and small, increased costs represent a tipping point that could mean closed doors and surrendered licenses,” O’Gorman Jenkins said.
July 1 tax increase
The impending cannabis excise tax increase is thanks to a 2022 deal brokered between Democrats in the legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. The agreement dropped a widely loathed cannabis cultivation tax in exchange for guaranteeing that overall tax collections wouldn’t be reduced. 
Lawmakers agreed to eliminate that cannabis cultivation tax — which was widely blamed for making legal weed more expensive than illicit cannabis — in exchange for moving the excise tax collections from the wholesale level to the point of sale. That meant taxing the higher retail price instead of the lower wholesale price, which translated to an inherent increase in the tax. Lawmakers expected this increase to offset any revenue lost from removing the cultivation tax. 
Then, to make sure the tax was revenue-neutral, lawmakers added a provision that forces the state to increase the current 15% excise tax rate to up to 19% after two years if cannabis tax revenue does not cover what would have been collected through the rescinded cultivation tax. The deal went into effect July 1, 2023, making this coming July 1 the increase deadline.
If legal cannabis sales were thriving and tax collections were flowing into state coffers, the state wouldn’t be forced to increase pot taxes, because the excise tax would be covering the lost revenue from the rescinded cultivation tax. Instead, California’s legal cannabis market has contracted by over 20% in the last two years, and state tax collections have plummeted. Many cannabis businesses can’t even afford to pay the existing taxes, with the state recently estimating that it is owed $1.3 billion in excise taxes and penalties for missed tax payments.
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration is expected to announce the new tax rate later this winter, prior to it going into effect on July 1, but the governor’s latest budget proposal has already baked in a tax increase, according to Seth Kerstein, a senior economist at the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.
“Although we do not yet know for sure what the new tax rate will be, we expect it to be at or near the statutory cap of 19%,” Kerstein said in an email to SFGATE. 
Some interest groups that depend on cannabis tax revenue for government programs have already called for the tax rate to increase in the hopes that it provides more funds to the state, but the cannabis industry has united around opposing any increase, arguing it will make legal cannabis more expensive and run legal pot companies into the ground. In fact, O’Gorman Jenkins’ industry group was founded this year with that as its top priority. She told SFGATE by email that raising the taxes would just further decrease legal sales and create a “vicious cycle” in which the legal market further contracts, and customers go to the illicit market.
Potential fee increase
The tax increase is already baked into state law, but the licensing fee hike remains a looming threat — albeit a big one.
The DCC is funded primarily through the fees legal businesses pay to acquire a state license, yet there are not enough businesses entering the legal market to generate the necessary funds to support the department fully. As a result, the agency is looking at a $23 million deficit this year, and considering increasing fees on businesses to make up the gap, according to a DCC presentation given during a December advisory meeting.
DCC spokesperson David Hafner said in an email to SFGATE that the agency has not officially proposed increasing the licensing costs. He acknowledged that the department is facing a budget shortfall, and also pointed out that licensing fees have not been increased since the department was formed in 2021.
“The Department is currently projected to be solvent for this fiscal year. However, annual expenditures exceed annual revenue for the Cannabis Control Fund, which is the primary funding source for the Department,” Hafner wrote. 
Cannabis businesses already pay fees that are exponentially higher than their counterparts in the alcohol industry. State licensing fees for a beer producer are $2,385, no matter how big the operation, and a winemaker could license a 10-acre vineyard for less than a thousand dollars. Meanwhile, a state license for a 1-acre indoor cannabis farm costs over $85,000. 
The DCC has never earned more revenue from fees than it has spent, according to an SFGATE analysis of previous budget documents. The agency does have an $82.7 million backstop of cash, although that is down from a high of $169.1 million since the 2021-22 fiscal year. The Legislative Analyst’s Office said last year in a report that “it will be important for the Legislature to closely monitor the Cannabis Control Fund’s revenues and expenditures going forward to ensure it maintains a healthy fund balance.” 
The possibility of raising licensing fees has been widely criticized by leaders in the legal industry, who say that any increase in licensing costs will either increase the costs of legal goods or cut out the profit from legal companies, both of which would force more businesses to close.
“We’re facing a stark reality, where businesses are struggling to break even, much less turn a profit,” said Woodson, the president of the California Cannabis Industry Association.
There appears to be at least some interest in the legislature in avoiding both the tax and fee increase. Matt Haney, a Democratic assemblymember from San Francisco, told SFGATE in January that any increase in taxes or fees would likely drive businesses owners out of the legal market. 
“I definitely understand the regulatory authority needs more resources, but that can’t be at the expense of putting out businesses that are already hanging on by a thread,” Haney said.

Herb is crazy cheap right now. I can get 10 10mg edibles for like $7. I'd pay twice that and still feel like it was a bargain compared to the days of old. And the illicit trade doesn't cover the fare use. My neighbor grew a plant and shared some of his harvest and it was a lot - I passed most of it on because I'm not smoking too much nowadays. There's so much readily available herb, and that has little to do with my concert connections (where it's insanely abundant). A 25% tax increase is not an 'extinction event', not by a long shot. It's not like a 25% tariff on steel.

[thatguy]

I'm just concerned about the testing. So much sketchy sourcing and when you convert it into edibles and oils, it's that much harder to know the quality. There are labs, but there are ways to cheat and in a business with lots of $$$, cheating is probably easier.

I heard a headline on the news earlier about conservatives want to loosen restrictions about who banks can do business with, to open it up for crypto, but, unless things changed recently, I think the devil's lettuce business are still cash-only operations.

Gotta start farming for the apocalypse anyway...

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

It's still federally illegal. And true, regulation of edibles and such is an issue. But considering that dm used to consume edibles made by deadheads on tour, well, the damage done...

[thatguy]

Paraquat and who knows what other pesticides...mold

Bad stuff. Probably better ingested than smoked but...who wants to be the next toxic avenger?

--tg