Issue 3, Summer 2021 FREE
MiGreenState
Is the Federal Government Ever Going to Legalize Cannabis? Authentic 231 Takes a Different Approach to Cannabis
Can You Get Rich From Cannabis?
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MiGreenState On The Cover
Director Ed Fritz
Editor Brad Massman
Advertising Tony Garant
5................................................is the federal governement ever going to legalize cannabis 14..............................................can you get rich from cannabis? 20.............................................authentic 231: taking A Different approach
Features 6................................................The paradox of pot 8................................................Rainbow farms: vandalia man conintues hemp legacy 10..............................................Small township cannabis business thriving 12..............................................big rapids marijuana shops expanding 16..............................................ionia dispensary checks all boxes 18..............................................cannabis tester breaks down barriers 22.............................................grand rapids company wins best in show edibles 24..............................................covid-19 and cannabis 24..............................................try ingesting weed instead of smoking: here’s why 26.............................................small business spotlight: Canna communication Issue 3 | summer 2021
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Contributors Jon Becker Elissa Esher Koral Fritz Andrew Mullin Aurora Abraham Gena Harris
Design & Layout Ariel Moreno Emalie Schuberg MI Green State Magazine is designed and printed in Big Rapids, Michigan For advertising rates and information call: 231-592-8334 or email: migreenstate@hearst.com
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Welcome to MiGreenState MICHIGAN’S PREMIER CANNABIS MAGAZINE Dear Readers:
Welcome to the summer edition of Michigan GreenState Magazine. And what a summer it’s shaping up to be as the state fully opens following a year and a half of COVID restrictions that were challenging to everyone. Michiganders are getting out and exploring our beautiful state and along the way are taking the mystique, and in some cases the stigma, off of the booming cannabis industry. From the Ohio border to the Mackinac Bridge to Houghton, the
cannabis industry is making an impact in all aspects of our business community. Make no mistake, the cannabis economy is here, it is strong, and it has only just begun. We hope you enjoy the stories we share in this issue as we continue to document this burgeoning industry and some of the people who are truly making a difference along the way. Sincerely, Ed Fritz Michigan Green State
ED FRITZ
did you know?
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Percentage of adults nationwide who bought items from a dispensary in the past 30 days with a college degree (Nielsen Scarborough)
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Is the federal government ever going to legalize cannabis? KORAL FRITZ FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE
implement responsible taxes and regulations. . . .”
As of early July 2021, 18 states plus Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational or adult use cannabis and 37 states have legalized medical cannabis to varying degrees. While many of these states work to implement new laws and regulations, change may be coming on the federal level. For decades, advocacy groups have lobbied congress for cannabis reform. What once was an easily-ignored, low hum coming from the Woodstock hippies has crescendoed into a mainstream anthem sung by American heroes, pop culture, and freethinkers.
The 163-page document the senators shared in mid-July represents a draft of the yet-to-be-introduced Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (“CAOA”). The senators are seeking stakeholder feedback on the draft bill through the beginning of September. At that point, the senators will likely evaluate comments, edit the draft, and formally introduce the bill as proposed legislation.
The senate trio hinted at forthcoming legislation in February, providing that “. . . we will release a unified discussion draft on comprehensive reform to ensure restorative justice, protect public health and
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Establish a tax revenue fund, known as the Opportunity Trust Fund, to collect the proposed federal excise tax on cannabis. Money in the fund would be used to “reinvest in the communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.”
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Continue permitting individual states to control the possession, production, and distribution of cannabis.
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Direct the Government Accountability Office, Department of Health, Department of Transportation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study and address public health concerns and benefits related to cannabis consumption and legalization.
Namely, the CAOA seeks to: • Remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act. • Establish a new definition of “cannabis” for consistency between federal laws.
FRITZ
Now, facing the music, three leading senators (Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-ORE., and Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J.) have recently released a preliminary draft of a federal cannabis legalization bill.
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Transfer primary jurisdiction over cannabis from the Drug Enforcement Agency to the Food and Drug Administration, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Impose a 10% federal excise tax that will increase to 25% by the 5th year after the CAOA enactment.
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Allow those serving time in federal prison for non-violent marijuana crimes to petition for resentencing.
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Automatically expunge the records for those with federal non-violent cannabis crimes.
While the draft copy of the CAOA that the senators have shared is a promising step in the right direction, there is concern about a potential presidential veto. When the CAOA is formally introduced, if it gains support in the House of Representatives and the Senate, President Biden may still
veto the bill. Just hours after Sen. Chuck Schumer introduced the draft CAOA, when questioned about the legislation, the White House Press Secretary commented that, “nothing has changed. There’s no new endorsements of legislation to report today.” The lack of clear presidential support is not entirely unsurprising given previous statements on the issue. The President has voiced support for decimalization, but during a spring briefing, the Press Secretary indicated that the President “supports leaving decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states.” While political support for cannabis remains uncertain, three things are certain: 1) The majority of Americans support some level of cannabis reform, 2) cannabis legalization efforts are spreading like wildfire, and 3) the lack of federal standards for cannabis is stunting the industry and the larger economy. If the federal government does not start to put out all the little fires that are igniting due to inconsistent testing standards, arbitrary restrictions, and patchwork legislation, there will be a lot of smoke to extinguish. Koral Fritz is a licensed attorney and Professor of Cannabis Business at Lake Superior State University
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The Paradox of Pot JON BECKER FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE Ryan Basore, one of the state’s preeminent marijuana activists, has experienced the full spectrum of the herbs’ highs and lows. A pot paradox, one might say. He’s served prison time because of it but today is the leader of thriving Lansing-based Redemption Cannabis Company that is in serious expansion mode. Grown out of a childhood accident on a family farm that saw him swap herb for Opioids for pain relief, Basore has long championed marijuana’s medicinal properties. Later, that passion for the flower was further stoked when he became one of Lansing’s first medical marijuana patients and caregivers. “I saw a little girl stop having seizures. I saw people beat addiction to pain pills through using marijuana,” Basore says. “I saw a lot of people in pain find relief safely.” He became such a believer that he walked away from a successful and lucrative career in the insurance industry to follow his passion, not his bank account. In 2010, two years after medical marijuana was legalized in Michigan, Basore rolled the dice (and presumably a blunt) and opened Capital City Caregivers— one of the state’s first marijuana dispensaries. “I was all in,” he told Michigan Green State. “I was always appalled that people were going to jail for cannabis. Even today, the government and the medical establishment don’t get it. They consider marijuana worse than Opioids. If you want people to trust in the government, stop lying.” That career move, however, proved to be costly in more ways than one. Marijuana was and still is illegal on the federal level. Basore and his care-giving cannabis cohorts were fully aware of this and went to great lengths to make sure their grow operation was all legal-like. At least that’s what they thought. “We worked with local authorities to make sure we were state compliant,” Basore says. “The prosecutor approved it. We thought we had it all figured out legally, but the local sheriff was upset about it and pushed the DEA. I believed President Obama and Eric Holder when their administration said they wouldn’t pursue criminal charges related to marijuana in states where it was legal. I was a naïve kid.”
pliant cultivators, “I became the first caregiver raided in the state,” he said. “We had a small grow operation, but I had helicopters following me…In late 2010 the DEA, state police, National Guard troops and guys with smoke bombs came calling.”
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Basore thinks his growing status as a high-profile crusader for marijuana law reform just might have had something to do with his small scale grow operation getting on federal authority’s radar. Basore ended up serving 3 years of a four-year sentence in FCI Morgantown (VA), a minimum security federal correctional institution after pleading guilty to two charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana. His six cannabis cohorts, including his future father-in-law and future brother-inlaw, were also indicted for their roles in the Okemos facility.
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“It was on,” he said of his determination to not let prison break him. “I put myself on a disciplined reading and workout regimen. I studied social media and learned to build websites.” Locked up, Basore also underwent a dramatic physical transformation, dropping 70 pounds through weight training and running. He was benching 340 pounds, squatting 415, dead-lifting 450, and crushing abs for an hour a day, beast-like numbers by any measure.
Ryan Basore with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
“I was dunking a basketball off 2 feet and running 19:40 5ks,” Basore, who stands 6-3, said.
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The prison stint is part of Basore’s story, but it’s not The story. Certainly not now. “It’s all over now,” he said, not a trace of bitterness in his voice. “I’m having the time of my life. I get to do what I always wanted to do. I’m a brand. I’m in an office.”
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These days he’s a leader of a thriving company and a family man. He’s married to Jenna, whom he began dating the day before he was busted. Their relationship grew despite Basore’s legal troubles and she stuck by him when he was imprisoned, regularly visiting him. The couple is expected their first child on November 5. Jenna is a successful businessperson in her own right with her own event and design business.
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“She works more than I do,” Basore, 44, says. “I’ll work 8 to 5 when the baby comes and be home the rest of the time.”
In the meantime, Redemption Cannabis is Despite the feds’ recommendation to not marshal federal resources to target state-com- busy forming new partnerships to expand its
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Basore launched Redemption last May in part through a $50,000 social equity grant from Gage Cannabis Co.
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business footprint. Jackson-based grower Rair Cannabis and Detroit-based Lansing Loud are now on board, having announced plans to bring several new strains to the Michigan cannabis market—exclusively under Redemption’s brand. “There’s a good network in Michigan,” he says. “There is no other market like it. We are developing a national reputation.” Basore, shrewdly, became immersed in politics years ago. It makes sound business sense when you’re attempting to get lawmakers to legitimatize marijuana, personally and professionally. Lobbying for marijuana law reform appeals to his sense of social justice. Basore has worked with some of the state’s most powerful politicians, including Attorney General Dana Nessel, who he campaigned for when she successfully ran for the state’s highest legal office in 2018. “We have influence,” Basore says of the state’s marijuana businesses. “We have an association. Other big companies are coming to Michigan looking to capitalize on this booming industry, but they can’t just buy the top lobbyists. We aren’t getting pushed around anymore.” Redemption’s new strains include Mimosa, Orange Daiquiri, Runtz, Mochi and Gushers. They are said to be among the state’s most potent and of the highest quality. All, Basore said, contain 4 to 7% Terpene, which is “off the charts. We sell pre-packaged and single source. Runtz is our most popular strain.” Frederic-based Driven Grow, a cultivator and processor, just purchased a 30% stake in the Redemption brand, which owes its start, in part, to a $50,000 social equity grant from Gage Cannabis Company. As more investors buy in, Basore sees the company soon expanding its reach to other states. “We needed new partnerships to take us to the next level,” he said. “Ten percent of my revenue goes to Redemption Foundation.” The foundation helps people (including financially and through job training) it says have been wronged by the “War on Cannabis.”
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Basore recently purchased a beautiful Victorian Building in Old Town Lansing to serve as home to Redemption. “I love history,” he said. “It’s a 1800s building located in my favorite neighborhood in Lansing. The criminals and the cops don’t mess with you.”
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Freeform art at The New Rainbow Farms LLC features colorful images while thousands of people celebrate the Spectrum Cup festival Aug. 6. In Vandalia, Mich.
Vandalia man continues legacy of hemp advocates killed in 2001 FBI siege
EDUCATING PEOPLE ON POSSIBILITIES, BENEFITS OF HEMP One southern Michigander is continuing the legacy of a Vandalia farm originally owned by two men who, in the early 2000s, were killed by the FBI by honoring their beliefs that marijuana should be legal and hemp utilized in nearly all industries. “This place here is why we have medical marijuana in Michigan today,” current owner, Gary Healy said. He purchased the property, called The New Rainbow Farms LLC (formerly Rainbow Farm), in 2012 and has since been cleaning up and acquainting himself with the property and the possibilities of the plant. “The magic of this place,” he said. “When you pull in, off the road, the sense of freedom, acceptance, it’s unbelievable.” Now, after nearly a decade of preparation and experimentation with hemp, he is ready to spread the word to people outside of his corner of the state. “I always wanted to do what I’m doing now
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but I didn’t want to end up like the last guys,” he said. “I slowly took my time and built it up quietly.” In partnership with over 100 patents all over the world, Healy wants to “make the best farmers on the planet” by educating them on how to replace harmful products with hemp. He is creating a worldwide program for people to learn of its benefits and prospects.
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“It’s a whole program that I’m working from seed, to manufacturing, to textile,” he said.
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But the 34-acre property that is now operating legally, and successfully, was once owned by stoner legends Tom Crosslin and Rolland “Rollie” Rohm. In 1993, the couple opened Rainbow Farms to the public, offering campgrounds and concerts in advocacy of the decriminalization of marijuana and in opposition of the War on Drugs – a global campaign for drug prohibition led by the U.S. federal government in its 50th anniversary this year.
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A lady stops for some refreshments at a food stand at the Spectrum Cup festival Aug. 6 in Vandalia, Mich.
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Annual festivals like HempAid and Roach Roast began in 1996 and drew thousands of attendees, even offering voting registration tables and petitions, according to Healy.
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“This was all to expose the benefits of marijuana,” he said. “There was a lot of good things that they were doing, but marijuana was still illegal.”
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Guests included famous entertainers/advocates like Tommy Chong – yes, from Cheech & Chong – and Merle Haggard, who has since passed away.
and other storefronts. He is working to establish training sessions there, too. “I was working with Michigan State University to set up a hemp curriculum to be taught worldwide,” he said. “A lot of these third world countries are becoming legal.”
High Times magazine listed the farm as the 14th Top Stoner Travel Spot in the world in 1999.
In 2020, Healy reignited the occasion Rainbow Farm was known for: festivals. He has hosted six so far, and with each one, he said more vendors and guests were in attendance.
“They wanted their activism to be powerful and they wanted to be known for that,” Dean Kuiper said in his book “Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke.”
“It’s hard to describe, it’s different for everybody, but it’s a place where you can come and just be yourself… everybody is one people here.”
Though Crosslin and Rohm made their income from real estate – and never sold marijuana – their association with the movement caused a clash between them and local officials that Healy said he feels to this day. “The same people on the board were the same people 20 years ago,” he said. “We’re fighting the same fight that (Crosslin and Rohm) fought back then.” Nonetheless, festivals hosted in the late ‘90s were not drug free. In April 2001, a 17-year-old high school student crashed his car into a school bus at 10 a.m. about 40 miles from Rainbow Farm, according to an Ozy article. There were minimal injuries to those on the bus but the driver, who died, wore a Rainbow Farm wristband. His best friend said they used both LSD and marijuana at the festival, but left about eight hours before the crash; the driver had no signs of being under the influence.
Not only do the festivals celebrate Crosslin and Rohm’s memory, but some faces seen in old festival photos can also be spotted at today’s festivals. Gary Healy pictured here second from left in 2020 at The New Rainbow Farms
The remaining farm was sold in pieces to prevent festivals and similar events from ever happening again.
“You grow hemp one year, and that soil is robust again,” he said. “You’re good for the next 100 years.”
It worked … but only for so long.
He spent most of his time over the last decade developing a 16-compound organic soil mix made from hemp, via “trial and error.” He said it is ideal, and clean, for all kinds of plant growth.
The property cycled through several owners until Healy found his place in its history. But Rogers maintains an active role in the farm. “He’s quite an influence on what we do out here,” he said. “It should have been his.” He said Rogers owns a small percentage of the company.
Tension rose amid the accident. When Crosslin and Rohm created a statewide ballot initiative to dissolve marijuana laws, local officials launched a campaign to seize the farm as property used for a drug crime, according to Kuiper’s book.
Healy is not only continuing Crosslin and Rohm’s legacy of festivals, but their belief in hemp too. He said it has a promising ability to replace things like cotton, plastic, concrete, and even eliminate the need for pesticides with hemp-based soil.
Crosslin and Rohm were arrested in May 2001 for growing marijuana and Rohm’s 11-year-old son, Robert Rogers, was placed into foster care.
“I’m trying to put a place together where I can teach everybody at once to make smarter farmers,” he said. “If we can grow 50 million acres of hemp next year, we could get to carbon zero.”
The two men skipped their court date, choosing to hunker down at the farm. They set all the property’s structures on fire. After a 5-day siege led by the FBI, Crosslin and Rohm were shot. Controversy remains about whether the two men were justifiably killed by the government. Ironically enough, Rohm’s son was later adopted by the Cass County prosecutor of his dad’s case, Scott Teter. However, the national attention their death garnered quickly ended with their endeavors in the marijuana movement when a week later, “the world stopped turning” – singer Alan Jackson wrote - on Sept. 11, 2001.
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He said doing so can heal pollution from greenhouse gases. To put that in perspective, about 220 million acres of corn were grown worldwide last year. Healy said it’s “not too far-fetched.” One man he is partnering with in the Middle East is the largest denim developer in Pakistan – but denim comes from cotton. Healy is trying to convert him to hemp. “(Cotton is) the worst thing in the world to grow,” he said. “Herbicides and pesticides, (they’re) just killing our soil. (Hemp is) better for the planet, it’s better for everything.” He said it naturally remediates soil.
“All organic, water only, anybody can grow the medicine they need,” he said. “Not everybody can afford to spend a high dollar at the dispensaries.” Healy said it will become available in September. “You can use the soil and you can grow the best medicine you can ever imagine,” he said. His efforts do not end there. He is working to establish six hemp processing facilities in the country by next year. He said these facilities will make hemp into materials useful to humans – like clothing, soil, plastic and even hempcrete. Hempcrete is a replacement for concrete that Healy said is “eight times stronger, three times lighter, mold resistant, fire resistant, (and) insect resistant.” He said he is working with Minnesota transportation officials to get it infused in all the roads and sidewalks. Hemp can also be used to replace plastic, according to Healy. “Anything you see made of plastic, we can make with hemp plastic right now,” he said. About 10 miles from Healy’s farm, in Marcellus, he bought the Centennial Hall to create a green zone that will become an “entire cannabis complex” with dispensaries, gymnasiums
“One of the guys… was here every day until two days before they killed the guys,” he said. “And now he’s back and he’s here every day again.” Healy offers family-friendly events, too, like one last year on Halloween and another this year for Easter. His most recent festival, called Full Spectrum Cup from Aug. 5-8, drew almost twice as many vendors as the one before. Healy said consumption of marijuana, through food, smoke or other methods, can be beneficial to humans because cannabinoids – the compounds found in marijuana – are molecules naturally found in the brain, organs and other parts of the body. Healy said replenishing that source can help people thrive. “If you know what to use to program (your body) – CBD, CBG, THC, the right combination for optimal health – your body operates like it is supposed to,” he said. Healy can attest to that. He learned that years after a severe accident in 2007 left him debilitated. “Broke my neck, broke my back, broke myself into pieces,” he said. He said he faced heavy drug doses and little to no movement for the rest of his life. “It was insane, I was stuck in a wheelchair,” he said. “That was my future.” He said he “slowly but surely” worked himself out of the chair and into a walker. When he bought the farm, he was still walking poorly with a cane for assistance. “Through marijuana, I don’t take any opioids,” he said. “I’ve never been healthier in my lifetime.” Even with rods in his body, he can function in great health thanks the green leaf.
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Six Lakes resident Darci Bower trims marijuana plants on July 16, at Hempire Collective, 10147 N. Loomis Road.
Small township cannabis businesses thriving ANDREW MULLIN FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE
A fireplace displays the name of marijuana dispensary Hempire Collective
Wise Township Clerk Doris Methner said township expenses had been rising while revenue was plateauing. This gave Mario Porter an opportunity. After the northeastern Isabella County township opted in for medical marijuana in 2017 to generate revenue, Porter opened a medical cannabis grow operation in 2019. It later morphed into a recreational marijuana dispensary, fully opening in September of 2020. Despite having opened in a rural township during a global pandemic, business is booming for his dispensary, Hempire Collective.
Mount Pleasant resident Donovan Porter trims excess leaves and stems from marijuana buds
“This month, we are on track for about $100,000 more sales than we have done so far in any given month,” Porter said in mid-July. Located at 10147 N. Loomis Road in Loomis, Hempire is not the only small township cannabis business thriving in Michigan. While the towns might be small, business is anything but. Porter said his store grows marijuana plants in-house, sporting several different strains. Any products they sell, such as gummies, are not made on site, but they are made with Hempire’s plants by a third party.
Clare resident and bud tender Melanie Rider (right) tends to a customer
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The high volume of business for Hempire most likely came from people sitting at home not being able to do much and being given extra money through unemploy-
ment/stimulus checks, Porter said. Since the dispensary also grows its own plants, the profit margins are much wider than if the cannabis were purchased off site. Business has been doing so well that Porter is already looking into opening other dispensary locations. Heading out northeast from Wise Township is Pinconning Township, a small township right along I-75/U.S. 23 in northern Bay County. One of the first sights greeting people pulling off the exit is Essence Provisioning Center, one of two dispensaries in the township. Owner Kirk Thomas said the company opened in 2018 for medical marijuana, then shifted to recreational in 2019. Operating in a smaller town can be hard in terms of making sales, so he has to overcompensate to get attention on his business, Thomas said. He bought his property for the location and put billboards along I-75 to garner attention. “I am the first thing you see when you come to Pinconning and I treat my store as such,” Thomas said. “I want it to be a memorable event, and I want it to be aesthetically pleasing. I am a guardian for the township when people come in.” The pandemic also had a positive impact on his business, drawing more people to his place as people were looking to pass the time at home. Both Thomas and Porter are planning on offering delivery services in the near future. Thomas’ plan is to deliver just 30 minutes away
initially, and then up to two hours away later on. Porter is looking at a 70- to 80-mile radius. Having these dispensaries could give these townships economic opportunities as well. Methner said Wise Township has received its first funding from the state of Michigan’s marijuana revenue sharing, which gives municipalities a portion of excise tax money paid by dispensaries. With this, Wise Township received $28,000 from marijuana revenue sharing alone earlier this year. In total, the township has around $200,000 of marijuana-related funds in a bank account ready to be put into township budgets. Methner said the township can now do away with a special assessment put on residents to fund onethird of the township’s fire budget, and fund it with marijuana revenue instead. She also hopes to repair some crumbling roads and clean some ditches in the township. “Clean some ditches and fix up some roads, that is the basic goal that we have in place,” Methner said. “That is basically what I was looking at when I introduced this (marijuana funding).” Giving back to the Wise Township community is also important to Porter. “We are locally (operated),” Porter said. “We are from the community, and we want to give back to the community because we are from here.”
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Marijuana shops expanding in, and outside, of Big Rapids BUSINESS OWNERS DISCUSS BENEFITS OF OWNING MULTIPLE STORES IN MICHIGAN
GENA HARRIS FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE From flowers, pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates, CBDs, and hundreds more, the marijuana industry is constantly growing throughout the state especially in Big Rapids. Big Rapids is the home to 11 medical and/ or recreational marijuana dispensaries and is also home to Ferris State University. To date, Skymint Premium Cannabis is the second newest related shop to open its doors in the local area. Summer Ransom-Cleveland is the president of retail for Skymint Brands. “It’s going great,” Ransom-Cleveland said. “We’ve learned in cannabis, a lot of times, when we move into a market it does take a couple of months to ramp.” Since the shop opened in June business has been steady, and she expects business to increase once students return in the fall time. “We opened up Big Rapids outside of the students being in town, so we’re definitely pulling from different zip codes outside of Big Rapids,” Ransom-Cleveland said. “We
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had a really successful grand opening – back in June – but we plan to do another once the students return.”
aesthetically, but Big Rapids is my proudest store from a design and layout standpoint,” Ransom-Cleveland said.
Out of Skymint’s 15 locations, Ransom-Cleveland said they added Big Rapids because of the growing market.
As of this week Skymint, opened their newest store in Coldwater, Michigan.
“We’re ready to compete. The Big Rapids location was actually brought to us, and I fell in love with it because it was a really large space and right across from the campus,” Ransom-Cleveland said. “We also love college campuses. I mean our strongest demographic is ages 21 to 39.” She said the thought is, if Skymint is successful on college campuses then their customers will hopefully grow with Skymint in the coming years. Skymint’s strongest location is outside of Grand Rapids in Nunica. She said since it’s right off I-96, its accessible for customers. “Because we are so new in Big Rapids it’s too early to say if it’s going to be the most successful, it has potential to be,” Ransom-Cleveland said. “With the students gone it’s too soon to say.” Although the Big Rapids’ location isn’t their most successful for revenue, but it is the most successful designed store. “Skymint is still trying to figure who we are
With shops popping up left and right, one shop has been in Big Rapids for over a year — business is doing well. “Just the location. Big Rapids is an AWESOME little town, lots of fun a lot of stuff to do. The crowd up here is really nice,” Cameron Morris, store manager at Kkind, said. “I really enjoy all of the students that keep coming back.” Big Rapids as a whole, with the university here, has helped Kkind cater to students of legal age among other adults, Morris added. “The demographic is great, the fact that there weren’t really many stores up here at the time when we came up here. We get a lot of older customers who use it for Medicinal use, we get people who come in with many medical conditions that turn to cannabis to get away from pharmaceuticals,” he said. With cannabis, some strains like indica can relief pain and eliminates some of the drowsiness that medication may have, Morris explained.
Kkind has another location in Kalamazoo, which was the first location. “We’re a small family-owned company and that’s what gives us an upper hand. We care a lot about our customers,” he said. “At Kkind we like to make them feel like their family, we create relationships with our customers.” Kkind was one of two dispensaries that were in Big Rapids at the beginning of the pandemic. Morris said since Kkind opened he’s unsure if business was affected. “A lot has changed since then with the business in Big Rapids. There’re so many different shops. I feel like there’s a new one opening every week,” Morris said. From a community standpoint, he said he doesn’t see any downsides to the marijuana industry but in Big Rapids, Morris said eventually it’ll be too many businesses. “Competition is going to get fierce. People are going to shut down and not make it. I hope that we’re not one of them, but I mean there’s going to be a price war,” Morris said. “The bigger companies are the ones with the most money; those are going to be the ones that survive. I have no idea, it’s something that we will find out when it happens.”
summer 2021| MIGreenState
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Can you get rich from cannabis? We look at the best marijuana investments ELISSA ESHER FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE
growth ahead of them and they already have investor awareness,” Decourcey said. “You have higher growth potential on businesses that are smaller – there is less overhead, there’s still potential for them to grow to other states, and the investor base is likely small.”
As more states legalize cannabis throughout the United States, now may be the perfect time to add weed to your investment portfolio. As more states legalize cannabis throughout the United States, now may be the perfect time to add weed to your investment portfolio. If you want to earn some extra dough, now may be the ideal time to invest in cannabis. And no, we don’t mean buying edibles in bulk. 2020 was a record year for cannabis. According to Leafly, the legal industry saw over $18 billion in sales – a 71% increase from the year prior. Meanwhile, the number of states legalizing cannabis is growing every year. Sixteen total states have legalized recreational cannabis (three of which went legal just this year), and 36 states have legalized medical marijuana. With more states legalizing cannabis, the cannabis industry has become increasingly accepted. And the more the industry is accepted, the faster it grows. It’s why every celebrity seems to have their own CBD brand these days, and there’s a cannabis product for pretty much any market segment (even grandmas). But you don’t have to be a cannabis entrepreneur to jump on this bandwagon. You can invest in cannabis stocks. And, as you can probably imagine, that decision could yield some dank rewards. We spoke with Jon Decourcey, Equity Research Analyst at Viridian Capital Advisors, a cannabis capital advisory firm (yes, that’s a thing) on why investors should consider the cannabis industry, and what cannabis stocks have the most growth potential between now and 2024. According to Decourcey, there’s never been a better time for American
As more states legalize cannabis throughout the United States, now may be the perfect time to add weed to your investment portfolio. (Getty Images)
investors to invest in the cannabis industry. The reason? Put simply, it’s about to go boom. “Cannabis is a complete greenfield growth opportunity in the U.S.,” Decourcey said. “For all intents and purposes, the industry didn’t exist a few years ago. Now, it’s become very prevalent in states where it’s legal, and we know it will grow as new states legalize cannabis. Think of Texas – its population is about two times the population of Canada, and there are only a handful of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in the state. There’s a huge opportunity there.” Decourcey said the pandemic had a lot to do with making cannabis the hot commodity it is today. “Cannabis was deemed an essential product at the onset of COVID-19,” Decourcey said. “That helped the cannabis industry a lot. Then, cannabis presented the potential for being a kind of white knight for state governments – a way to help them get over the economic challenges of 2020 – because of the tax opportunity. It’s a gold mine for government entities in general.” Here are the top four cannabis businesses Decourcey recommends investing in now. Bear in mind that any investment you make should align with your personal financial goals and risk tolerance.
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1. Ayr Wellness (AYR.A) One of the most popular recreational cannabis brands in the U.S., Ayr Wellness is a multi-state operator that just opened its 50th cannabis dispensary. The company has plans to get that number to 60 by the end of 2021. Over the past year, Ayr Wellness stock has gone up over 360%. Decourcey says they’ve “done a good job building a sustainable business and as they expand into additional states.” 2. Lowell Farms (LOWL) Formerly Indus Holdings Inc., Lowell Farms is a leading recreational cannabis brand in California. The company bought Lowell Herb Co. earlier this year. “Lowell Farms is really scaling operations in California, which is the biggest market for cannabis,” Decourcey said. “They bought another leading brand in the state this year and are poised for a lot of expansion in the near future.” 3. Gage (GAGE) Based in Michigan, Gage Cannabis is the new brainchild of the co-founder and former CEO of Canopy Growth, the world’s largest cannabis company that was recently valued at over $18 billion. Decourcey says Gage is aiming to consolidate Michigan’s fragmented cannabis market. “Michigan doesn’t have a lot of large cannabis businesses, even though it’s
one of the nation’s largest cannabis markets. Gage is trying to be the big fish in that pond–they want to be a large public player there and are expected to significantly scale their operations.” 4. Planet 13 (PLTH) If you’re looking to invest in something a little off the beaten path, Planet 13 might be more your speed. This massive recreational cannabis dispensary is set in the heart of Las Vegas, and its tourist appeal usually makes it a huge money maker. That wasn’t so much the case during the pandemic, but Decourcey still sees a lot of potential in this stoner landmark. “They raised a lot of money this past year. And since they’re usually a huge cash cow and things are opening back up, they are really poised for expansion this coming year,” Decourcey said. “These guys have delivered on everything they said they were going to do. I could see a world where they are much bigger in two years or so, as far as expanding into other states.” Since the cannabis market is so new, Decourcey said he recommends taking advantage of the growth potential and lower stock prices of smaller companies at this stage. “Multi-state operators are the biggest guys in the space, but I don’t think they’re the most interesting right now. They don’t have that much
Though new, cannabis companies have come a long way since they first started going public in 2017. Because cannabis is not legal on the federal level, the challenges of the market and the lack of traditional banking made it so almost none of the first cannabis companies that went public delivered on what they promised in their IPOs (initial public offerings.) Decourcey says the ones that survived learned from their prior mistakes and are better because of it. “You’re looking at an industry a couple years past the initial IPO process. These are no longer paper stories, these are companies that are actually ready to capitalize on growth opportunities. These guys have righted the ship and they operate really well now.” However, if you still have hesitations regarding the risks of investing in cannabis, you can always start by investing in a cannabis mutual fund. A cannabis mutual fund will spread out the risk of investment and they will favor smart, well-run companies. Like with anything, Decourcey says it’s critical to use common sense when investing in cannabis. “In cannabis, the thing to remember is that if it sounds too good, it probably is. These are still very early stakes companies, and their pitches are often theoretical. Try to find real investments with traditional approaches and a record of delivering on what they promise.” Elissa Esher is Assistant Editor at GreenState. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Guardian, Brooklyn Paper, Religion Unplugged, and Iridescent Women. Send inquiries and tips to elli. esher@hearst.com.
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Ionia Dispensary Checks All of the Boxes JON BECKER FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE
here is under my purview. Our team here is different because of all the experiences we’ve shared, and so much more. We’re not after money first, just a change in lifestyle. We all have a lot of experience and love for what we do, and unyielding obsession with quality.”
Youthful enthusiasm is great, but experience matters. When you are making the important, potentially life-changing decision on where to turn for cannabis products in a state teeming with marijuana dispensaries, it’s understandable if you feel a bit overwhelmed by all the different companies—and product options. That’s why some due diligence is in order. There’s a personal responsibility involved in making sure you’re relying on seasoned, trusted professionals when you’ve decided to embark on a cannabis regimen. When you’re putting something into your body that can impact your entire being (spiritual, physical, emotional and mental), it’s reassuring to know that Michigan has marijuana provisioning centers fronted by individuals who are promoting wellness and culture not merely a bottom line.
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St. Peter’s obsession started early. He remembers looking at an issue of High Times as a youngster and being captivated by the pictures of the various weed strains and flowers.
There’s a new marijuana dispensary in Ionia, Arcanna that checks all of the boxes. With the importance of mental health being thrust into the national consciousness by celebrities and world-class athletes such as gymnast Simon Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka, cannabis advocates can related to a battle to destigmatize. Dean St. Peter is head of processing & grow operations at Arcanna Cannabis, meaning
he’s the last line of quality control for the full selection of top-shelf and popular brands of cannabis it offers its medical patients and adult recreational users. He’s also one of the founders of a company that, unlike similar ventures, has its grow, processing and retail operations situated on one site. “You can actually be in our store shopping and look out the back window and see weed growing,” said St. Peter, 36. “Any cultivation
“It spoke to me on a weird primal level,” he recalls. “I’ve been involved with marijuana for 22 years on some level, be it growing it, smoking it or selling it. I’ve loved marijuana virtually my entire life.” But love can cloud judgment. St. Peter found himself on the wrong end, legally, of the marijuana movement back in 2013 when his home and grow marijuana caregiver operation was raided by authorities. On his daughter’s birthday no less, foiling the family’s plan to visit Binder Park Zoo.
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St. Peter’s crime? Selling weed to a medical marijuana patient that wasn’t his patient. “I was guilty,” he admits. “The facts are the facts. I didn’t question it.” Yet that doesn’t mean St. Peter thought is actions were wrong. “That individual was a recovering heroin addict that claimed he found relief in marijuana,” he said. “I had worked with him in one of the restaurants for a few years and knew he had a problem. I didn’t think twice about helping with that. It (marijuana) was a gift the first few times but when it’s sold it becomes illegal if the person isn’t your registered patient. There was a court case that decided that.” St. Peter was found guilty in court and was placed on probation for six months after being charged with five felonies. After successfully completing terms of his probation, the felony was expunged from his record. “The real punishment was the felony record because it holds you back in so many ways,” he said, “but I really believe in my case it primed me for the future and helped me learn to work better with other people and to navigate the sometimes choppy waters of a new frontier.” Yet for all the hardship getting popped cost him, St. Peter said, “I really believe in my case it primed me for the future. Without that event, I’m not sure I would have gone on that journey of constant improvement to develop the skill set to go from 3 lights in a basement to being able to design, flesh out and oversee a multimillion dollar operation.” He added: “So, in a weird roundabout way, I’m thankful for the experience as well as for all of the lessons that it taught. Though the roots of education were bitter and of my own doing, the fruits have been sweet.” St. Peter is no outlaw. He’s happy to be doing what he loves without any potential legal repercussions in Michigan’s new and burgeoning marijuana marketplace. “Some guys get a thrill being on the outside of the law or going rogue,”
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he said. “That’s not me. I’ve got a family. I don’t want to be scared and looking over my shoulder. This is my calling, my passion. It’s not easy to ignore. It’s been a wild ride but I’m not going back to the restaurant business. This is right up my alley.” It’s been a heady time for Arcanna President David Bye, St. Peter, co-founder Nicholas Nover and the rest of the Arcanna staff. Bye had owned a hydroponics business, The Big Green Tomato, before first opening Arcanna as a medical provisioning center in June 2020. The company earlier this year received its adult use (recreational) license, allowing it to expand its offerings to the community. “Experience is what separates us,” St. Peter said. “I’m not new to the game. I’m from the game. This is what I always wanted to do. This is a brand new industry and you see a lot of people getting into it with zero experience like millionaire hedge investors who see a chance to make a buck. I don’t begrudge anyone for trying to make money. Our passion for the plant is what drives us.” That same plant people were ostracized for or worse, saw them get locked up for merely possessing, has come a long way, legally and in the court of public opinion. St. Peter could go on all day talking about marijuana’s evolution and the people who, through the courage of their convictions, risked so much to elevate its standing. There has been a price to pay for so many. “Over the years it’s given me a sort of romanticized view of the era, much like Prohibition only with much less violence,” he said. “Things like people having their children taken away for operating as a caregiver despite it being a legally protected activity. How much the punitive laws just didn’t make sense. Guys that have held strains since the 1970s to preserve them as part of history. People that have been persecuted (and prosecuted) for using marijuana as a pain management tool instead of opiates.” It’s been said that if you want to be successful and happy in life, find your passion and figure out a way to make a living at it. It’s worked
well for Arcanna’s trio of co-founders and the rest of the growing company’s dedicated staff. “Our passion for the plant is what drives us,” St. Peter enthuses. “It’s our focus and ultimately what I believe will be the greatest piece to the puzzle of our success. We’re not after money first. We’ve all been fortunate enough to finally have our outlet to do what we love and what we, on our team, truly feel like what we’re meant to do without fear. Not a lot of companies can say that.” Bye, St. Peter and Nover are the company’s leaders, but St. Peter is quick to mention it takes far more than them to make their operation hum. “We rely on so many people on our team. They are just as important to the whole machine as I am or David or Nic is. This wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the support from the people around me in my life that put up with the risk-taking behavior I used to engage in, or the people that work with us as a company that believe in that vision.” Arcanna constantly looks at ways to improve every aspect of its cultivation, processing and retail operations because “we are not willing to accept anything but the best in anything we produce for our customers. That’s how we are wired here.” St. Peter is so dedicated to Arcanna that he commutes 103 miles one way to work from his home in Lawton, 20 miles west of Kalamazoo, to Ionia. “It’s so I can grow weed legally and not be afraid anymore,” he said, smiling. “There’s a whole culture around weed like there is craft beer. This economy has been brought out of the darkness into the light. Weed is medicine. It helps people bond. It provides a break at the end of the day.” St. Peter said Arcanna has been so moved by its warm welcome as a legit business in Ionia it’s exploring other locations in the state to open marijuana provisioning centers. To see Arcanna’s variety of top-notch products, visit its store or website at https://arcannausa.com
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Michigander thrives as a cannabis tester, breaks down barriers for Latinos in the industry ANDREW MULLIN FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE Many years ago, Jorge Lerma came home from a 12-hour workday at his construction job. He was exhausted and filthy. And when he got home, his mother said as much. “Wow, you look a mess,” she said, with Lerma responding with “I feel terrible. Mom, I hate this job.” She suggested he find a new job, but Jorge responded that construction is all he knew. But he knew this was not what he wanted to do his whole life. His mother said he should go back to school and asked what he had a passion for. He responded with weightlifting and growing plants. Since there were not many opportunities to make money with weightlifting, she suggested attending Michigan State University for horticulture. Now, he is a vital part of Viridis, the largest marijuana testing companies in the state of Michigan run by ex-members of the Michigan State Police Department. Now not only does he get to work in a field he is passionate about, but also has opportunities to help break down barriers in the industry for the Latinx community.
LEARNING THE TRADE Lerma began his college career not as a science student, but as an economics student at a community college, and eventually he went back to construction. He eventually found himself going back to school at Lansing Community College where he joined the LUCERO program, which aims to create positive connection for Latino students. It also helps with recruitment, retention, graduation and transferring. At LCC, Lerma met with a professor who helped him apply for classes, which he
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aced. His professor urged him to apply for scholarships and taught him how to, which led him to MSU. “(He) showed me how this was bigger for us as a culture and for Latinos for me to go to school,” Lerma said. He began attending MSU as part of the horticultural program, the science of high intensity growing of high-value crops, Lerma said. He also learned agronomy, which studies field crops. In horticulture, Lerma said people learn how to manipulate plants and grow the plant in different ways. Whether it is by heat, light, water or temperature, it is a hard science-based program, he said. Members of the Latinx community in horticulture at MSU were few in numbers when he attended though, with Lerma being one of three Latino students in all the plant-based science programs. He said this might be because of stereotypes associated with growing plants and the Latinx community.
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Jorge Lerma poses in front of the Viridis cannabis testing lab on July 26, 2021. Lerma is the horticultural scientist at the company.
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“I think that we didn’t have a lot of exposure in it as Latinos,” Lerma said. “Historically, we are the ones out there picking. There is probably a little bit of discontent of, ‘Man, they think about that, I don’t want to. I’m not trying to be outside picking strawberries or blueberries or whatever.’ I’ve had a love for it, so I went into it.” Growing plants, and the science behind it, is a life-long passion for Lerma, he said. One of his first memories was growing flowers with his grandma and he loved growing gardens. He was expanding his knowledge in the classroom, but he was also learning from outside the classroom too. By the time he was in college, medical marijuana was legal in the mitten state. Lerma said the state enacted a caregiver model in 2008 (when medical marijuana was legalized in Michigan) that allowed
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Scientist Evan Clarke works at the Viridis Testing lab
people to grow marijuana medically for patients or themselves. He met people who grew for this model and through them, he learned more about this burgeoning industry.
the community,” Lerma said. “I knew this
“I started reading everything that I could and just getting more and more active in
specialty in marijuana. Soon, he would
day was coming, so I set myself up for it.” After graduating from MSU, Lerma was a skilled horticulturist, with a self-taught have a place to apply his craft.
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Lab technician Kyleigh Cumming works at the Viridis Testing lab
FORMATION AND FUNCTIONS OF VIRIDIS Working for ex-members of the Michigan State Police Department to test marijuana products might sound far-fetched, but that is the scenario Lerma finds himself in today. Todd Welch is the chief operating officer of Viridis, but also happens to be a former part of the forensic science division for MSPD, along with the CEO. The chief science officer was also part of the department’s toxicology division. After he retired from MSPD, Welch said his next step was a natural one: testing cannabis. Through his experience at the police department, he knew how to get accurate test results, avoid cross-contamination and build a proper lab.
has to be tested first. At Viridis, the company tests gummies, plants, waxes and other products, primarily working with cultivators and processors. Welch said they can turn around testing samples in three and a half to four days. Viridis now stands as the most experienced and largest testing lab in the state, Welch said, testing 67% of marijuana flowers in the Michigan market. The company operates out of two labs near Lansing and Bay City. Once a sample is received, labs test for metals, pesticides, pathogens, wood shavings, moisture and plastics. They test them to see if these products are below the state thresholds for these materials.
This experience gave him a unique set of opportunities with Michigan’s growing cannabis market. With people starting to grow and produce marijuana products in one of the most regulatory states for cannabis in the country, Welch and his partners decided to open a marijuana testing company near in 2017.
However, Viridis doesn’t just pack up the numbers and ship it back to suppliers. When Lerma joined Viridis as a horticultural scientist, he made it a priority to be a source of information and help as a scientist for Viridis’s clients. If a sample has too much metal present for instance, he will look at the results and call the grower/ processor to figure out what might be going wrong.
Lerma said before any marijuana product can go to market, it
“Because of my position as a horticultural scientist, I am seeing
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problems and issues that might take somebody else 10, 15, or 20 years before they have ever seen these types of problems,” Lerma said. Lerma has answered emergencies from growers near midnight panicking that their grow system was critically malfunctioning, he said. He is honored that clients would think of him when needing help with their operation. Chris Jackson is a partner with Sticky Dispensaries in Michigan and is on the National Cannabis Industry Association. While dispensaries do not directly work with testers, Jackson said what Lerma and Viridis do is important for them because it ensures safety for the consumers. “Even though we do not necessarily have a direct relationship to the lab, everything that we ultimately put in our store, it is in relationship to what the lab has approved of or not approved of,” Jackson said. Lerma is happy that he is able to work with his passion. “I did not get in this to talk about things or to brag,” Lerma said. “I love my job. I love what I do. I truly feel blessed.”
BREAKING BARRIERS While more Latinos are starting to enter the field, Lerma wants more Latinx people entering the realm of cannabis and/or hard sciences. Viridis employs 45-50 scientists, yet he rarely gets other Latinx people applying. He said when he was at school, it seemed to him that many Latinos were going into social sciences and not hard sciences, such as horticulture. “I’m in the (cannabis) industry and I’m out here with boots on the ground every day” Lerma said. “I have rarely ever met another Latino scientist.” The industry is slowly beginning to shift though, Lerma said. There was a point in time where his teams were made up of over 60% minorities. He employed people who were Black, Latino, women and Native Americans. “In our (company), you have to have a four-year degree in hard science or better,” Lerma said. “There are not a lot of minorities with these types of degrees, so it is not like being able to pick straws out of a bale. You have to really look. I was blessed to have an opportunity to give some of
these people jobs, and (they) have excelled.” As a successful scientist and member of the cannabis industry, Lerma said he hopes other Latinos will see him and think they can do this too. Jackson, who is a Black, said having himself and Lerma being successful in the industry can set a tone to help minorities and women break into an infant industry. He also said there should be legislation passed to provide opportunities for people who have been disproportionately affected in the past. Lerma takes part in Latino mentoring programs at MSU along with meeting with LCC officials about how to recruit more Latinos. He is also a member of the Michigan chapters of Minorities in Medical Marijuana. The lack of Latinx representation does not deter Lerma from the industry. It drives him to push for it more. “I feel motivated to try to get more Latinos into this industry, however that might be,” Lerma said. “I am just one person. I cannot come out here and change the world, but you know what, I can start doing little things to help out.”
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Authentic 231 Takes a Different Approach to Cannabis In the heart of northern Michigan, there is a marijuana provisioning center with a lofty mission in mind: to enhance natural ways of healing through cannabis and to change the hearts and minds of the “Up North” residents of the state. Since setting up shop this past November, Authentic 231 has managed to achieve just that. The founding team has planted their roots in Manistee, a city located on the shores of Lake Michigan and known for its natural beauty, to create a warm and welcoming place where visitors can both learn more about cannabis and purchase high-quality medical and recreational products. Upon arriving at Authentic 231’s store, one might even spot Booker, their friendly, four-legged mascot, peeking out the window eager to greet new guests.
VALUES RUN DEEP Like any company, Authentic 231’s mission and core values come from the top. Founders Trever Johnson and Willie McKenzie have prioritized building relationships with their neighbors in Manistee every step of the way since opening the provisioning center just eight short months ago. The founders both bring over 15 years of experience in the cannabis world to the plate and have drawn on their industry wis-
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dom throughout this new journey. Johnson was also born and raised in Manistee. “I was involved in the cannabis industry in California when Manistee passed the initiative. I knew I had to do to get involved and come back to my hometown to bring cannabis to the people here,” says Johnson. “Our founders being industry veterans brings much more to the table,” says Diane Brown, Director of Retail. “They are involved in every aspect, from seed to sale. Filthy from a day on the farm or suited up for a department head meeting, our founders are the real deal.” True to name, their authenticity, grind, and tenacity have trickled down into all their interactions with the community. And so far, they have been well-received by an area built on the same ideals. “I was born and raised in Manistee. I’ve lived here my whole life,” says Connor Mrozik, a Budtender at Authentic 231. “Manistee is definitely an incredible place to live, and there are a bunch of great people. Our staff works really well together, and everything flows.”
BUILDING BRIDGES WITHIN MANISTEE After spending time in California, the founders feel just as much at home in Manistee, surrounded
by breathtaking waterways and a culture that’s tight-knit and open-minded to consuming cannabis. “I am so passionate about cannabis and this industry, and I am so grateful to feel at home in my career. We help people live happier and healthier lives, customers, and staff. We created a work environment that encourages you to take a minute to connect,” adds Brown. Whether they’re hiring 4th and 5th generation Manistee natives to work at the shop or sponsoring events in the area, such as the Salt City Rock and Blues Festival, Johnson and McKenzie are all about getting involved. “We’re now at 45 employees, which is 45 new jobs brought to Manistee,” says Johnson. “We’re bringing the Manistee community up with us as we grow.” Since its inception, Authentic 231’s team has made it a priority to intertwine with the community. You’ll see their employees out and about at all the local happenings and volunteering at the town’s charitable events. Not only did the group bring home the First-Place prize at the Manistee County Community Christmas contest last year, but they also take care of the neighborhood with cleanups every Sunday and through their support of Small Business Saturdays. “All of the other dispensaries in Manistee
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are owned by out of towners. We’re stepping up and getting involved in the community to give back,” says Johnson. “We’ve sponsored community events, and we recently did a day where we donated 50% of our profits to Stomp Out Cancer.”
ADDING A PERSONAL TOUCH TO THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY As a company, Authentic 231 prides itself on a passion for the plant. The team is excited that Michiganders now have the freedom to legally use cannabis medically, therapeutically, and recreationally. Budtenders are encouraged to share their enthusiasm as well as their own experiences with customers while recommending products. Kellie Hoffman, a Sales Lead at the provisioning center, can attest to
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the benefits of cannabis firsthand. “Personally, marijuana has improved the health of the people closest to me,” shares Hoffman, “I want to help my community discover those benefits.” Armed with both personal anecdotes and professional knowledge of how cannabis can impact the lives of Manistee’s residents, the team is setting out to eradicate the stigma surrounding the plant and educate their customers on the overall peace, well-being, and euphoria that premium, high-quality cannabis products can provide. “Out of the many, many companies in this industry that I have had some type of working relationship with, I have only come across a handful that express and show a true, genuine love and passion for cannabis and people,” says Brown. “Everyone here has a
great story, and we embrace and encourage each unique individual to grow beyond their perceived potential.” The love of cannabis inspires the team to carry only the highest quality products on the market, which is one of the reasons why Authentic 231 works with local growers and their cultivation partner Heritage Farms to produce and manufacture their own top-shelf cannabis. McKenzie and Johnson have a hand in the production of a number of products carried in the store, including Authentic 231’s very own branded vape cartridges, gummies, concentrates, tinctures, and balms. Currently, the company is growing its first outdoor plants and the flower will be available in the shop after harvest this September. “Us being the Manistee home team is what drives us,”
says Johnson. “A lot of people are involved in the cannabis industry just to make money. We are there to provide the community with best service and best products we possibly can.” “Authentic 231 is dedicated to providing the best experience possible to every consumer that walks through their door. Especially so for those new to cannabis and unsure of where to begin. “Our approach with our customers is to always meet them where they are,” Brown explains. “Sometimes that means we will spend thirty to sixty minutes with someone, educating them on how cannabis is processed by the body, how it could benefit them, and what to start with.” “We are so fortunate to work with the team that we do, and I believe our amazing staff, passion for the plant, and community-forward
mentality is what sets us apart,” says Brown.
LOOKING FORWARD From the west coast to the “fresh coast”, the Authentic 231 team is enthusiastic to continue spreading their passion for cannabis in Northern Michigan. “It’s always changing. Every day it’s something new,” says Johnson. “The excitement of the struggle and keeping it going is what it’s all about.” Stay tuned for upcoming educational events where you can learn more about the cannabis plant and its unique benefits for health and wellness. Stop in to experience the authenticity yourself and to connect with the staff who are proud to be part of a provisioning center that’s not just a workplace, but a second home.
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Grand Rapids-based Company Wins Colorado Best In Show Edible Category JON BECKER FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE If you’re in the marijuana industry and you win a Best in Show award in Colorado, the first state in the country to legalize recreational marijuana use, chances are pretty good you’re on to something. That’s exactly what the Grand Rapids-based company, “Best Damn Gummies,” has done despite only being in business for less than two years. Currently featuring 16 equally tasty and effective flavors, Best Damn Gummies impressed cannabis connoisseurs enough to bring back to Michigan a coveted Best in Show CBD Edible from The Original CBD Mountain Expo Tour, held in Denver earlier this year. “We’re doing really well, better than we expected,” said Cliff Williams, the company’s director of marketing & sales. “The award is a source of pride for our team.” That team is led by owner and founder David Dirksen. A key to the company’s early success? “Number one is our formula,” Williams said. “We use a hand-crafted method that has been handed down for generations. We infuse all of our products.” Currently the business shares space with a Grand Rapids smoke shop, Mitten Goods, and has a website (www.bestdamngummys.com) that is the primary location for which to purchase its products.
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“We ship to all CBD-friendly states,” Williams said. “One of our new products, Delta 9point3, is able to be shipped to all 50 states. It carries 7.5 mg of Delta 9 THC per gummy and comes from hemp plants containing less than .3% THC, so it’s legal under the farm Bill.” Edible cannabis has evolved over the years. Once when you were talking edibles, the conversation was confined to weed brownies, homemade cookies and rice crispy treats, often made at home do-it-yourselfers. Now gummies are the top choice for consumers everywhere they are legal. Many prefer a low-sugar candy over lighting up--and they have a much longer shelf life than baked goods that go stale over time. “With the increasing knowledge on the health risks of smoking anything, we think edibles will take over the market at some point in the future,” Williams said. “Gummies are the tastier of the ingestibles, so they picked up traction for their ease of consumption. There are still minimal health risks with the sugar in our products, but with less than 3 grams of sugar per gummy, one a day is of little risk. Our consumers can eat one a day and be content. It’s an easy and tasty way to get alternative medicine into the body.” Williams and his colleagues are doing everything they can to get their products in front of as many people as possible. Once they do, “Our gummies speak for
themselves,” he said. “We hand out free samples, do non-traditional marketing… it’s a learning curve for everyone because it’s a new industry.” Best Damn Gummies is both veteran-owned and minority-owned, another source of pride for us, Williams said. Owner and founder David Dirksen is a Marine Veteran with several years of entrepreneurship experience. The Grand Rapids resident started a transportation company in 2018 and “found my place in the edibles world,” he said. After four years working in the cannabis industry as well, Dirksen noticed something conspicuously absent. “There were no quality tasting gummies out there,” he said. “So I created this company to introduce Best Damn Gummy’s into the world.” Dirksen said they are happy to be part of Michigan’s booming cannabis industry. It’s not all about the money either, according to Dirksen. There are social and philanthropic motivations behind Best Damn Gummy’s grand plan. “The money is great, but we are more focused on doing great things in this world,” he said. “We are dedicating 50% of our retail profits to different charities every month. We want to educate as well, and get quality products on the market. Once you try us, you’ll understand. We truly are the Best Damn Gummies.”
summer 2021| MIGreenState
THE HITALIAN CHEF’S INFUSED BRUSCHETTA LYNETTE ROBERTS
INGREDIENTS 2 baguettes from local baker 2 Cups Fresh Basil. Cleaned 2 Cups Frozen spinach. (Thawed and drained) 4 medium garlic cloves 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice 1 cup parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS 1.
2.
Set aside
3.
On stove heat up Olive oil until warm… NOT HOT!
4.
Remove from heat and set aside
5.
Add 1/2g RSO oil to warm olive oil and stir till completely incorporated.
2 Tbs butter 5 T pine nuts
6.
Pulse into ingredients in food processor till all is combined. Salt and pepper to taste.
7.
Add tsp of water at a time if too thick to loosen up to consistency of choice.
8.
Slice baguettes at angle,
½ gram RSO oil
Issue 3 | summer 2021
Pulse together in food processor till all ingredients are combined.
lightly coat with butter or olive oil and toast @ 375 till slightly brown. 9.
Slice cherry tomatoes in separate bowl and mix with tiny fresh mozzarella balls. Salt and pepper to taste.
10. Take one piece of toasted baguette and spread 1/2 T pesto on top with tomato cheese mix and drizzle with balsamic reduction. Makes 32- 35 pieces 10-15mg each
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Covid-19 and Cannabis Many industries are slowly crawling out of financial depths, plagued by economic standstills from the COVID-19 pandemic. Not the cannabis industry, though.
explosive growth that these dispensaries have, other arms of the industry were able to sustain themselves throughout COVID-19’s grasp on the economy. Dank Hoops, a company from Ann Arbor, builds and install steel hoops for light deprivation systems, said builder Jacob Roost.
Many of these businesses have been flying high so far in 2021, and did well even during 2020 while many other industries were hurting. Whether it be dispensaries are portable testing manufacturers, the marijuana business in Michigan did not stop for COVID-19.
The company specializes in marijuana grow operations, but also install them for vegetable farmers too. These light systems can help a grower move from one harvest a year to multiple, Roost said.
One man who experienced these increases is Chris Jackson, who is a partner with Sticky Dispensaries, which has locations in Ypsilanti, Battle Creek, and soon in Southfield and River Rouge. The Sticky brand is also planning a cultivation site in Lansing as well, he said.
“We’ve seen nothing but increases in revenue over the last couple of months,” Jackson said.
Jackson was fortunate that Sticky locations were considered essential businesses when the pandemic first hit, which says a lot about the importance of the industry not only from a medical perspective, but an economic one too, he said. The dispensaries operated with curb-side services throughout 2020.
He attributes this to people being curious about trying pot who suddenly got a lot of free time on their hands, and customers becoming more sophisticated and interested in what they are consuming. He also said their customer base has been slowly growing in the 55 years and older demographic.
For his dispensaries, business stayed mostly at the same level during that year but soared since the start of 2021.
Even small-town dispensaries have seen nothing but big business. Mario Porter is the owner of Hempire Collective, a culti-
vator/retail shop in Isabella County’s Wise Township. Not only was the shop able to see huge sales during the pandemic, Porter also successfully launched the recreational retail storefront in September of last year. “(The pandemic) affected us in such a way that business kept going up,” Porter said. “It didn’t have a negative impact on us at all.” He theorized that sales boomed due to people being stuck indoors with extra time and money to spend, leading them to buy their products. While maybe not enjoying the same
While they shut down at the beginning of the pandemic, Roost said working in the agricultural field gave them more room to operate as a business. While they started on a downslope, business picked up and they got more build jobs than expected. Jackson, who is also a board member for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said he thinks the industry in Michigan will see growth in the micro business market and marijuana test labs. He also anticipates the price of marijuana flower to go down. “I see the price of flower going down,” Jackson said. “I do not know how low it will go, but I think the actual plant will become more of a commodity because there is going to be access to more growth of it.”
Try ingesting weed instead of smoking it Here’s why. STEPHANIE ZHU FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE I am a huge cannabis enthusiast. All my friends and family know this, and I am proud of it. But when people ask me, “Do you smoke weed?” I tell them, “Actually, I prefer to ingest it.”
VAPING: Why this method could be the future of cannabis consumption It doesn’t matter what you smoke. The smoke itself, as beautiful and ethereal as it is, gives weed a bad stigma. It is what people can correlate to lung cancer, and then you have a defaming headline: “Weed Causes Lung Cancer.”
Smoking is rough on the lungs. The actual smoke is what kills cells in the lungs and allows them to potentially mutate when they grow back, becoming lung cancer.
Reasons I’ve heard against ingesting weed:
As a healer, I definitely endorse cannabis as a beautiful, healing plant. But for the sake of health, I like to eat my weed instead of smoking it.
Just like anything, there is a learning curve. I’ve heard a lot of stories of people getting way too high from their first time smoking weed, too
1) “I can’t control the high, it lasts too long and gets me way too high.”
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(or not high at all, but I think that’s an awareness thing). Once you learn your dosages — how many mg can bring you to your happy place — I find it to be actually more manageable than smoking. For me, it’s more consistent and reliable, especially with so many edibles out there on the market that are carefully dosed per unit. An example dosage to start would be 5mg. Give it an hour, see how it feels, and then take more. Kiva Confection’s Terra Blueberry Bites are delicious and effective, available widely. Plus, doesn’t a longer-lasting high sound more efficient? To each their
Photo by Margo Amala on Unsplash
own, though. 2) “The act of smoking weed is pleasurable, and it is a social thing for me.” I totally get that. “Puff, puff pass” is
such a culture. Weed circles were an amazing way to socialize and bond back when I was in college. Plus, the oral fixation makes sense. Our culture likes to have things
summer 2021| MIGreenState
n a s n f a
T c t w m
n
near our mouths. Eating is no longer purely an aspect of survival, but has now become so intertwined with pleasure. We are fortunate that we can pursue so many activities for pleasure, and it becomes ingrained and associated in our brains. To that, I say you can re-train that synaptic connection in your brain (if you wish to make the switch). I definitely used to love smoking weed for those same reasons, but as a healer, my desire to do everything that is best for my
body wins out. Now, I take pleasure in ingesting my weed, and finding creative ways to infuse it into food. Stephanie Zhu is a freelance writer covering the sectors of health & wellness, cannabis, and sustainability. She is also a healer, a massage therapist, and Reiki practitioner. Learn more about her at themysticdreamer.com, and on Instagram as @themysticdreamer.
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From Caregiver SMALL to Cultivator BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT JON BECKER FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE A Detroit area businessman whose background includes working as a medical marijuana caregiver is moving ahead with big plans to become a cultivator in the state’s booming legal cannabis industry. Joseph Smith, who is calling his new endeavor Nature’s Elixir, a nod to marijuana’s purported medical benefits, has just pre-qualified as a grower and now has his sights set on purchasing some farm land to get his new enterprise off the ground. “It’s a two-step process,” Smith SMITH says of Michigan’s licensure requirements for becoming a cannabis cultivator. “Now I have to tell the state what I want to do.” Smith grew his own marijuana for about 12 years as a caregiver, but is now seeking to have more stake in the industry as a licensed cultivator. “My charge now is to find a farm,” Smith, owner of JCS Construction, a general contracting company that specializes in real estate development, said. He said becoming a licensed cultivator opens up commercial opportunities that, legally, simply aren’t available to medical marijuana caregivers. In other words, it is potentially far more lucrative. “You really have to break the law to be profitable as a caregiver,” Smith said. “Since 2018, anyone selling in the state licensing system has to purchase product from a licensed cultivator, whether they are in recreational or medical spaces. The cannabis industry may be the largest growth industry in the world, certainly in Michigan.” Negotiating a reasonable price for farm land
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in this sellers’ real estate market may pose a challenge, but at least where to look is narrowed down considerably in a state that, to date, has seen more municipalities opt-out of allowing marijuana businesses in their communities. “The fact of the matter is that most have not opted in,” Smith said. “I have to find a municipality that allows farming (marijuana) and there aren’t many. Those that have welcomed it, still, in essence, force you to operate as an illicit activity because you have to grow inside. That’s a grotesque misuse of resources. I’m not a farmer but as a businessman I do understand economies of scale.” As a natural herb, marijuana should be grown outside in nature, not inside artificially, Smith maintains. “The people who make the laws governing growing marijuana need to get educated on what they’re legislating,” he said. “Growing inside is wasteful and environmentally irresponsible. You’re reversing the definition of a building. Instead of keeping nature out, you’re bringing it in. It’s expensive and ridiculous.” According to Smith, the primary problem with indoor growing is the “impossibility of emulating natural sunlight.” “I don’t care if you use LED or any other form of lighting, it’s inefficient. Emulating the sun requires high capacity lighting. Artificial lighting creates a lot of artificial heat, meaning your grow space has to be cooled down. You’re hopping from one foot to the other.” Smith uses an apple tree as an example. “If you look at an apple tree, you’ll see fruit growing from top to bottom. Artificial light only penetrates down a foot into the plant. It’s radically more productive and the quality is better growing outdoors.” “The trick,” he added, “is to use your indoor
Smith surrounded by vegetative plants in his facility.
gardening skills outdoors.” Michigan’s climate, of course, doesn’t allow for year-round growing. Nonetheless, “it’s an ideal climate, albeit a short season, for producing premier bud, Smith said. “We’re not California, but if you do it right, one harvest can produce thousands of pounds.” Cost considerations notwithstanding, Smith says there is an even more compelling reason to grow outside: it’s the eco-conscious thing to do in a world where climate change is, for many, one of the planet’s top concerns. “Energy use is a serious thing,” he says. “You don’t grow large plants inside. There is a carbon foot print involved with indoor growing.” Smith wasn’t always a staunch advocate of outdoor growing. He used to grow inside during Girl Scout Cookie, cultivated by Smith his days as a caregiver. “It was after the 4th of July when we planted “That’s how I cut my teeth,” he said. “I was a baby clones,” he said. “We put them in a cup and casual user of marijuana. I enjoyed it. I read High by September they were massive. We cropped Times. I never considered it a crop.” them and ended up with 3 to 4 pounds per That is, until he became friends with a Rastafarbush. The next year we went full-blown, with ian gentleman “who wanted me to come into maybe 97-99. Didn’t go over 100 because then the 21st century. “He had plants in his backyard. I you’re federally culpable. We got in upwards was struck by how big they were and the color. of 10 pounds per plant. This casual arrangeThat and later through a St. Clair County patient, ment quickly made me realize we were on to a different sort, of guy, who had 9 acres of land something.” and like to experiment growing outside, is how I Smith’s plan, now that he has his license to grow, got indoctrinated.” is to have his fledgling company, Nature’s Elixer, When Smith, a Central Michigan University grad- operating next season. He anticipates purchasuate, first began growing his own, he was blown ing property and receiving state approval for his away by the yield and quality of his harvest. plans within a couple months.
summer 2021| MIGreenState
