From The Earth CEO Dan Zaharoni PHOTO COURTESY: FROM THE EARTH
Warren Bobrow: Why cannabis? When was the first time that you discovered our plant?
Dan Zaharoni=DZ: My opportunity to enter the cannabis industry began when I was approached by From The Earth founders, Jayson Quinones and Kintu Patel. When I saw what they had created and the brand that they had built, I realized that an industry was literally rising from zero and would, by all accounts, grow into a $100B market in the course of just a few years. Moreover, there were no entrenched national brands dominating the field and a highly fractured regulatory framework so that smaller, more nimble players could easily obtain licenses and gain a following. I saw this as the opportunity of a lifetime as we could take our network, resources and a strong business plan to immediately create a recognized player in the cannabis market.
The recent backlash to alcohol may just push cannabis into the mainstream – and provide investors an opportunity. As an increasing number of Americans explore healthier ways to socialize, more adults are extending their alcohol detoxes beyond Dry January. The rise of the trendy sober curious movement, where people take a prolonged break from their boozy nights out for the sake of wellness, is being noticed by cannabis brands and investors alike.
Chris Driessen, President Slang Worldwide PHOTO COURTESY: SLANG WORLDWIDE
Warren Bobrow=WB: Where are you from? Why cannabis? Did you go to business school? Who is your mentor?
Chris Driessen=CD: I am originally from the Dallas area, but moved to Colorado almost 20 years ago. I’ve had a love affair with the plant since I was 16, so when legalization came about in Colorado, it was a natural fit. This industry has allowed me to combine my passion for cannabis with my professional skills, all while building a purpose-driven organization. When passion, purpose and hustle align, magic happens. I never did go to B-school—I went to Texas Tech University for communications, which was great until my social agenda interrupted my education. Subsequently, they asked me not to come back. With my tail tucked between my legs, I moved back to my parents’ house in the Metroplex. I then finished up my degree in Public Relations from the University of North Texas.
Gillian Levy Photo Credit Wood & Smith JOS STUDIOS
I love the company named Humboldt Apothecary because they have bridged the gap between traditional mixology, my former world in liquor meets the all grown up newest age movement, cannabis. Cannabis has filtered its way into a variety of materials. From non-reactive CBD to fully reactive THC, it’s ironic to me that many of the new “apothecary” products are from long ago. Hence the Humboldt Apothecary. I’d heard about them a couple years ago, primarily because I wrote the book, Apothecary Cocktails back in 2013. It propelled my career in mixology using ingredients more akin to the early apothecary shop. They are authentic and contain the memories of a lifetime of healing. When you had a belly-ache in the early days of our country what did you do? Folk healing was the lay of the land. Herbs, spices and liquors were utilized into potent sipables, known today as cocktails.
The five-story metro-based store in the heart of downtown is positioned to become the largest dispensary on the East Coast
Ascend Wellness PHOTO CREDIT: ASCEND WELLNESS
January 9, 2020 – BOSTON, MA – Ascend Wellness Holdings (AWH), a multi-state, vertically-integrated cannabis operator, announced today that its subsidiary, Ascend Mass, received its provisional license from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission for what will be the largest dispensary on the East Coast.
I’m the lucky one, to be passionate about Venetian and signed Tiffany art glass. But what happens when the usual vessels, bowls, prisms, stained glass windows, vases and even hand blown glass pipes are not raising the bar? These styles of fine art glass pieces need elevation! But how? By using borosilicate glass that’s how. Borosilicate has a much higher temperature resistance than your typical hand blown glass. Why is this important? Because these fine glass devices are not just beautiful to look at, they provide a purpose as well. And that purpose is? Dabbing. Concentrates. Getting ripped with ultra-potent victuals. The kind. Luxury Cannabis. You know what I’m talking about, right? Sit right there for a moment. That little glass bong-like device costs some serious codder. Like several tens of thousands of dollars. Why? Because talented glass artists like Joe and Dave Peters and their crew at DreamLab have the intellectual and physical know-how to build a seven thousand dollar dab rig. All this in Cannabis Friendly/Legal, Colorado, instead of Venice, Italy. Getting back to the luck equation. No, I didn’t buy a Dreamlab dab rig, I really cannot afford one, but I did smoke out of an amazing hand-crafted and hand-assembled rig from their shop. I’ll just say it was just like inhaling fine cannabis vapors through a signed Tiffany lamp. This is handcrafted elegance in motion.
January has always been a month for new beginnings and self-improvement, and for many it’s a month for sobriety. In recent years the “Dry January” trend has taken off as people around the nation and world commit to spend the entirety of the first month of the year away from alcohol.
The trend has officially become a cultural phenomenon as evidenced by the fact that it’s been commercialized — by a beer company of all things. Heineken offered 31-packs of their non-alcoholic beer for this year’s consumers who couldn’t fully give up beer during their Dry January.
There are better ways to stay sober, from alcohol, this month than drinking non-alcoholic beer. Since this is the Green Zone section, you already know we’re talking about weed.
If you’re looking to take Dry January to the extreme and avoid all intoxicants, not just alcohol, you might want to turn to CBD for some help. The National Institute on Drug Addiction at the National Institutes of Health reported on a 2018 study that showed CBD can be helpful in the prevention of relapse.
CBD has long been hailed for its calming and anti-anxiety properties, which alone would be helpful for someone turning away from booze this month. Combine it with a scientific study showing that CBD helps prevent relapse and you would be foolish not to consider adding CBD supplements to your daily routine. Even if you’re not an alcoholic, giving up booze can be hard. Make it a little easier with CBD.
But what if you’re looking to just cut out the booze but not the weed? Don’t worry, you can still drink and get high at the same time.
The days of smelly, stale brownies are long gone thanks to books like Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations by Warren Bobrow. Amateur mixologists can whip up crazy fancy drinks with cannabis at their home bar while leaving the liquor on the shelf.
If you’re not a master drink-maker, fear not. Cannabis-infused beverages, which are sold at nearly every weed store around, make things easy.
In our Nov. 8, 2018, edition of the Inlander, writer Tuck Clarry and local bartender Chaeliegh Baucom put together a recipe for the “Fore-Twenty.” It’s a simple twist on the classic Arnold Palmer using cannabis-infused Ray’s Lemonade instead of the traditional stuff. Check it out here. ♦
My second year in México riding horses on the beach with my wife and youngest daughter. PHOTO COURTESY: SOLDAZE SNACKS
I met Shawn Shevlin at the Emerald Cup, the yearly cannabis harvest festival held in Santa Rosa, California. I was immediately taken by Shawn’s soft-spoken approach and of course his natural mango fruit, cannabis infused edibles. And that he grows all the mangoes that go into his products, that is what caught my attention right off. This is not a product that is created from artificial or concentrated means. It’s authentic, the real thing. I dig it. Nice work, Shawn. I can see you are passionate about what you do, flavor, quality, style. You have a massive fan.
Otis Gardens President John O’Donnell with Pieter Summs & Ellie Walsh. PHOTO CREDIT: SAM GEHRKE
Otis Gardens, located in the lush Hood River Valley, Oregon, is hitting the mark and raising the bar for excellence in craft cannabis. Their cultivation site resides in the shadow of the majestic Mount Hood where a glacial spring nourishes hydroponic gardens powered by 100% renewable energy. Otis takes the approach of good horticulture over pure profit. It’s not that making money isn’t important, but the quality of the product is of greatest importance. Each step in the path from seed-to-sale is thoughtfully mastered, not in knowing everything but discovering what is not yet known. That is what is truly important. The ecosystem of cannabis is interrelated between the known and vividly imagined! Anything is possible in the cannabis family of passionate growers. Everyone should look forward to tasting the indoor terroir and immersing all the senses in the artisanal farm-to-table experience that is Otis Gardens. Who, by their own admissions, truly do grow potent cannabis.
Derek Enjoying A Smoke PHOTO COURTESY: TERRA TECH CORP.
Warren Bobrow=WB: Where are you from? Why cannabis? Did you go to business school? Who is your mentor?
Derek Peterson=DP: I was born and raised in Massachusetts. Cannabis was always part of the culture in the Northeast and I never took to binge drinking alongside my peers in high school and college. I used cannabis recreationally in my younger years, but it wasn’t until an extraordinary surfing accident later in life that led me to truly understand and appreciate medical cannabis. I fractured a vertebrae in my neck and have used cannabis to manage the daily residual pain from that injury for the past 13 years. I put myself through Pepperdine studying finance and business. As a college student I tended bar to pay my bills and it was there that I met a gentleman named Mike Zacarro who worked in finance and encouraged me to intern for him while I finished my degree.
