Safer Sanitation

In November 2021, several Arizona cannabis companies recalled products due to Salmonella or Aspergillus contamination. Recalls cost cannabis companies time, money, and reputational harm. A similar situation in Michigan impacted more than $200 million worth of cannabis product, reported the Detroit Free Press. Often these recalls could be avoided with proper cleaning protocols.

Bill Frazier, National Sales Director for Clean Control Corporation (CCC) said the cannabis industry needs consistent cleaning practices to avoid contaminating products with mold and bacteria. “Our company is addressing the need for cannabis-specific standard operating procedures, whether it’s a cultivator grow house, transportation, processing facility, or dispensary.” CCC is offering these SOPs at no cost on its website. The company’s technology, a bleach alternative called OdoBan® Disinfectant and Odor Eliminator, is safe for use in grow facilities, kills 99.99% of bacteria (including COVID-19), and costs .35-.50 cents per gallon depending on dilution.

For Arizona operators, there are some regulations around cleanliness and sanitation. For instance, all trucks, trays, buckets, receptacles, as well as machinery, saws, cleavers, etc., must be cleaned each day. But Frazier said those requirements aren’t enough. “Cleaning rooms when moving plants and enacting common cleaning procedures like OdoBan shoe-baths can help reduce contaminants significantly.”

These sanitation regulations are especially important for edibles. The founder of the Arizona-based Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards, Lezli Engelking, said cannabis is a unique industry with unusual risks.

“Food safety regulations are critical to protecting the safety of patients, consumers, workers, and the public from unsafe processes and products,” Engelking said in an interview with Food Safety Magazine. “Yet, among the states that have legalized either medical and/or adult-use cannabis, very few measures have been implemented directly involving food safety.”

Engelking also warned that traditional solvents and cleaners are often not effective against the resins from cannabis extracts. Cannabis-specific cleaners, while limited, are designed specifically to combat this issue.

As the industry evolves, regulations around sanitation will only become more strict. Cannabis companies need to enact forwardthinking policies, so they’re prepared as new regulations are released. Frazier said his own near-death experience and subsequent use of medical cannabis drew him to the industry. He is now committed to making cleaning, disinfecting, and odor elimination a priority for the entire cannabis industry.

“We quickly saw the need for cleaning information and advice. We are offering 40+ years of cleaning, disinfection, and odor elimination experience to the cannabis industry. Our cannabis cleaning SOPs are available to anyone, free of charge,” Frazier said.

In addition to innovative cleaning products, operators will increasingly rely on technology to keep their processes hygienic. “To assist in meeting these food safety requirements, we will see operators begin to rely more on automated technology related to environmental monitoring and surveillance to assure sanitary practices are effective and being followed,” Engelking said.

If cannabis companies are going to avoid massive recalls, product loss and build consumer confidence, it will take more than advances in technology. Companies will have to create their own policies to deal with internal safety, sanitation, and cleanliness. ❖

Clean Control Corporation Sales and Production Project Manager Walker Davison with National Sales Director Bill Frazier.

By Patricia Miller

Photo Kelly Tatham

My first introduction to Brooke Burgstahler was through World of Weed News on Instagram, which she develops, produces, and hosts. Her clever, quick news stories draw you in and leave you wanting more. When we met over Zoom for this interview, her warm smile and infectious laugh immediately put me at ease. While humor often doesn’t come through in transcripts, Burgstahler is damn funny. I found myself lingering over inconsequential questions, reluctant to end our conversation.

Her entry into the cannabis space grew from her love of acting. Burgstahler earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theater from the University of Miami, Florida. She’s acted in Mad Men, Speak for the Dead, Greatest Party Story Ever, and Black-ish, to name a few. But her foray into cannabis started with a position at Snoop Dogg’s media company Merry Jane. She wrote and co-produced Merry Jane’s 2018 mini series Prisoners of Prohibition, documenting the struggles of incarcerated individuals serving long sentences for nonviolent cannabis-related crimes. The series won a Gold Telly for excellence in video and television. Her second degree from the University of Miami, a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism, likely played a part in the series’ success.

While Burgstahler continues to act, produce, and host her heart out, she’s also launching Budding Mind. The online wellness platform offers educational content around plant medicine, alternative healing, spirituality, and science. As a 500-hour certified yoga instructor, she feels wellness hinges on balance and moderation. In this interview, Burgstahler describes the challenges of being a cannabis content creator, from struggles with advertisers to having her IG account “shadow banned” for its connection to the forbidden herb. She also reveals how cannabis has broadened some horizons while possibly limiting others. She joins us from her home in Los Angeles, California. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Brooke Burgstahler: It’s kind of hysterical. Well, I didn’t want to go to college. I wanted to be an actress right out of high school. Thank God my parents were more intelligent than I was at that stage of my life and forced me to go to college. I still thought when I graduated that I would never use my broadcast journalism degree. But, I’m very grateful to be, not only putting my degrees to use, but to be putting them to use in a very unique and niche way.

BB: To be perfectly honest, my relationship with cannabis started as a consumer and an avid consumer at that. I developed an authentic relationship, an adoration and respect for the plant simply as a consumer. When I moved out to Los Angeles, I was looking for work and someone connected me with a producer at Merry Jane, which is Snoop Dogg’s media company. I auditioned for the job. I wrote a cannabis news story, and I went into the office and I pitched my pitch. That first opportunity working on Merry Jane News was what opened my mind to an understanding that this was a possible career path for me. That first opportunity really does seem like many moons ago, and the transition in the quality of storytelling and the depth of information available then to now is mind-boggling.

BB: At the time, I think it was like 2017 that we made that, or 2018. What’s wild is that, I kid you not, there was just nothing on the internet. There was no leading source that I could turn to, to verify or vet information. Frankly, it was difficult for me to even find statistical information of how many people are in jail for weed. How many people are serving life for cannabis? These numbers were really loose. There wasn’t anyone that had really directed their focus, with the exception of ACLU, on hammering in these data points.

I worked largely with Amy Povah, who is one of the OG cannabis activists. She is the founder and runs CAN-DO clemency, which is “Clemency for All Nonviolent Drug Offenders.” I worked very closely with her and a couple of cannabis lawyers, Bruce Margolin, being one of them, to really gel together this story. And I’m not crediting myself in any way as being the first to put this out there. It was an era in the cannabis space where it was a new story. There was something very exciting about that from a journalistic perspective…

My heart feels very, very connected to these [imprisoned] individuals because life in prison is a death sentence. And to be serving time in prison for a plant that someone like me is able to buy in pretty pastel pink packaging is … I can’t imagine the mind fuckery that these people must be experiencing day to day.

BB: I primarily make content for digital spaces when it comes to cannabis because, well, we don’t see a lot of cannabis content on TV. Advertisers aren’t ready to put their dollars behind anything of that nature …

For World of Weed, Budding Mind, my own Instagram pages, I create super short-form, little nuggets of edutainment. I have never been able to advertise any of the content. My opportunity for an audience is based on people who organically find me or when people share my content, maybe I’ll gain some new followers that way, but I’ve had plenty of ads shut down. I can’t get a video on TikTok to save my life because they don’t allow for cannabis content unless you’re Generation Z and you know how to work that system better than I do. It’s both a beautiful thing and then it gets very disheartening. I’m currently shadow banned on Budding Mind.

BB: It means I was a ding dong and I used a hashtag that I shouldn’t have and Instagram has put me into IG prison. The traditional ways that someone uses a social media platform in order to get their message out there, they’ll use hashtags, they’ll use advertisements, all those things in the cannabis space we aren’t able to do.

When it comes to Budding Mind, it is very health-oriented, conscious, consumeristic cannabis content. Nevertheless, you do one wrong thing and the algorithm knows. You’re not allowed to talk about cannabis on Instagram, even though plenty of people do. I used the hashtag “cannabis community” over and over again, and I believe I’m being punished for it. Sometimes it’s difficult to know.

Photo Emily Eizen

expression and being in this space, much like acting or pursuing the creative fields in general, you can’t take a “no” as a “no.” You just have to say, “That’s a no from you. Okay, I’ll keep going.”

BB: I love BigMike. He is like a big Teddy bear covered in kief. I started working with Advanced Nutrients and BigMike on a program called The Next Marijuana Millionaire, which was BigMike’s brainchild — a reality entrepreneurship game show. It was a magical time, and I absolutely adored working on the project. To me, the show was on the leading edge. For reasons I don’t actually know, because I wasn’t part of the actual production and distribution side of things, the show never made it to air.

Maybe it just was a little bit too soon for that. But, that stemmed the beautiful relationship between me and Advanced Nutrients, and I started making content with them, hence World of Weed.

BB: I am so grateful for the digital platforms allowing me to express my reverence for this plant and to distill information from the other voices of this industry out to a broader audience. The medicinal benefits of cannabis are also a large part of why we’re able to have this conversation today. Studies and [scientific research] are what have legitimized this plant. I believe that medical cannabis is what has enabled recreational cannabis and will continue to do so. To me, that’s the only reason we’re able to have these conversations.

BB: Budding Mind is my heart and soul. I feel like I’m sometimes at a crossroads with social media, the blessing and the curse of it all. The fact that I was able to build a brand and gain a following in this digital realm is a blessing. The curse is that sometimes I’m stuck inside of my phone, just doom scrolling, trying to build this brand. I would love for Budding Mind to expand outside of those digital spaces.

Budding Mind is my way of giving back to this plant and encouraging people to view cannabis

through the lens of wellness — the conscious relationship with your consumption and how that conscious consumption expands outside of your relationship with cannabis. It expands to what you’re putting in your body, what you’re eating — a conscious relationship with everything we do in life. When it comes to weed, I really want to see people having the most healthy relationship with the plant as possible.

When I was growing up, a lot of what I saw in the cannabis space, a lot of the images I saw, or the people represented in the space, they didn’t look like me. There was one archetype of a stoner. And it was typically someone who was male and grungy and smoking a fat blunt … so Budding Mind was really born from wanting to perpetuate imagery of the cannabis consumer like me. I don’t necessarily mean like a white female, I mean someone who cares about what they do in life and how they interact with the things around them. How they can be mindful of their purchases, mindful about what they support, mindful about how they behave towards other people. Cannabis is just another thing in the grand scheme of that lifestyle. Budding Mind is just my expression of adoration and devotion for this little leaf that has done so many things for me.

BB: Oh, totally. I have no idea if it has had any effect on my acting career so far, but when I first moved out to LA, it was in pursuit of an acting career. I started working at Merry Jane, and I remember telling my parents, and they were totally disapproving. They made me swear not to tell anyone, and I didn’t post about it or share any of my work for a long time. You could call that shame.

I was really careful. Then eventually, when I was working on Prisoners of Prohibition, I was like, “Why would I not be proud of this? Why would I not want to use my audience in my community to spread this story?” And that really flipped the switch for me and made me realize cannabis is not just about getting high. There’s a political movement and political awareness that is inherent to having a relationship with this plant. There should be no shame around being a more aware person.

I had someone tell me recently, “Why would you want to work for a company that doesn’t want you to use cannabis? If cannabis is a part of who you are, then why would you want something that makes you change who you are?”

Frankly, at this point if you Googled me, it would be a little difficult to skirt around the fact that I’m a cannabis advocate. But, I’ve sown my seeds and I think — more power to me for unabashedly being an advocate for this plant.

Photo Emily Eizen

BB: I have my Budding Mind podcast, which is starting to pick up speed in the new year. I have a long roster of interviewees. I’m really excited about this podcast because it enables me to expand my conversations outside of cannabis. There are a lot of brilliant minds and thought leaders I want to talk to who work within the cannabis universe, but there are a lot of people, acupuncturists and shamans and microdosing experts, that I think are all related [to the cannabis space]. It all fits under this umbrella of the expansion of self and of consciousness and of your potentiality.

I also have a tangible thing that is going to be born into the world, hopefully in 2022. And I’ve been sworn to secrecy on that, but very, very excited. Beyond that, I’m going to keep on making my cannabis content and trying to be the best voice for this plant that I can be — and the most positive representation of a cannabis consumer I can be — one that doesn’t scare away the moms and the politicians. ❖

By Sara Brittany Somerset

Etain Co-Founders Amy, Keeley, and Hillary Peckham.

Etain Health, New York State’s only familyrun, women-owned, vertically-integrated agribusiness and medical marijuana dispensary chain, was one of the original five licensees in New York in 2015. The company currently has dispensaries in Yonkers, Kingston, Syracuse, and a flagship in Midtown East in New York City, that sell all sorts of cannabis lotions and potions.

Named after a significant figure in Irish mythology, Etain was an unrivaled beauty whose story is one of perseverance and transformation, like the founder’s Irish grandmother, Frances “Granny Franny” Keeffe, a woman who “filled the smallest moments with music, laughter, and joy,” according to her family. Her playful approach is reflected in the company’s product line of whole cannabis flower in fruity flavors, including Mango Mezzo.

During Granny Franny’s battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, her daughter and granddaughters, the founders of Etain, began researching medical cannabis and discovered all the potential benefits it could provide to ease her suffering. In looking for palliative measures, doctors recommended that the family look into cannabis. Sadly, the family matriarch passed away before having the opportunity to consume cannabis to potentially alleviate her pain.

At Etain, every customer is considered a member of the family. Etain, like Granny Franny, serves as a reminder that “no matter challenges may arise in life, an enduring spirit will always win out in the end — even if in a new, unexpected form.”

Franny’s granddaughter Amy Peckham, Etain’s CEO, since 2015, has spearheaded bids to win licenses for growing, processing, transporting, and dispensing medical marijuana in several states. A graduate of Iona College, Amy previously served as corporate secretary and management advisor for Peckham Family Holdings, one of the largest construction material companies in the Northeast.

Her daughter, Hillary Peckham, serves as COO of Etain, overseeing production, formulation, extraction, dispensary operations,

and patient education. Recognized as one of New York State’s “30 Under 30” business talents in 2016, Hillary has managed the rapid roll-out of Etain’s successful manufacturing and dispensing operations throughout the state.

Hillary’s sister Keeley Peckham is the chief horticultural officer of Etain. Keeley Peckham is the architect of the company’s state-of-the-art cannabis cultivation and processing operations. In addition to achieving a 30% increased yield over standard methods, her cultivation practices involve zero pesticides and minimal environmental impact, yet effectively prevent pests and plant disease.

Keeley is a graduate of Tulane University and the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx’s School of Horticulture and Landscape Design. Her unique, creative imprint is evident in Midtown, New York City’s flagship dispensary. The open and airy boutique boasts a “living wall” of foliage. It carries various products such as time-release THC capsules and an oral cannabis spray.

“We are born and bred New Yorkers, I’m a fourth-generation New Yorker,” Hillary told Forbes when explaining why Etain has chosen to stay put in a market where the few licensed medical marijuana businesses are run mainly by large multistate operators that continue to merge into even larger canna-corporations and restructure.

In keeping with the company’s vision, it made sense to continue to expand in the immediate area. Such decisions made by the women-led Etain leadership team tend to diverge from the sometimes overly ambitious plans of maledominated canna-corps. Business Insider estimates that white men hold 70% of C-suite positions at North America’s largest publicly traded cannabis companies. Hillary Peckham is among the women working in weed to change that image.

Hillary initially started working at Etain right out of college. Before that, she had summer jobs as a swim-team coach for five years. After Etain was founded, she hit the ground running. She spearheaded the now-famous collaboration with poet Jasmine Mans who founded the apparel company Buy Weed From Women.

At a recent Etain pop-up at The Stone Age in the Flatiron district, known as the “Women in Weed” event, the “Good Weed, Good Women” goodie box was showcased, featuring a Buy Weed From Women T-shirt, signature tote bag, and preview samples of Etain’s upcoming CBD line. Collaborations such as this are at the core of Etain’s ethos.

Hillary Peckham feels that it is vital to have women in the industry, set that example, and promote women. “It has definitely been challenging to get recognition, and it’s not something you get extra credit for. You have to work harder. But I wouldn’t change anything.”

Peckham is easily described as fair-skinned, youthful-looking, even cherubic. In an interview with The Cut, Peckham explains it is easy for people to mistake her for an intern rather than a C-Suite level executive.

“Many people questioned if I’d graduated college or was old enough to be in the cannabis industry. It’s been challenging just to exist in the space and get respect for all the work we have done. Still, it’s something I think is really important to set an example for others and maintain because there aren’t a lot of opportunities for women-owned businesses in the space, and it’s very challenging to operate. We also make it a priority in all of our lobbying efforts to make sure women are represented,” she told The Cut.

Ageism, ableism, and sexism have all unfortunately come into play, time and again, but Peckham remains undeterred. Her perseverance is paying off, as Etain has been granted a recommended selection for a vertically-integrated permit in New Jersey.

Upon hearing they won an adult-use license in New Jersey, Amy and her team left the Benzinga Capital Market’s conference in Times Square. She delivered a keynote, then headed to a nearby Irish pub to celebrate. This license allows Etain to move forward with plans to open a cannabis growing and processing site and medical dispensary in the state. The company was approved for a 30,000-square-foot growing facility in the North region of New Jersey.

“Over 117,000 patients are currently enrolled in New Jersey’s medical marijuana program, but the state only has 23 dispensaries open to provide this necessary medical aid to that population,” said Amy Peckham. “Approving additional cannabis growing, processing, and dispensary licenses in the state will immensely help the program, providing patients with more variety and reducing their travel time to obtain their medicine. We cannot wait to bring our high-quality products and formulations to the patients and customers of New Jersey.”

This approval will allow the company to open its first location outside of New York and expand its presence in the tri-state area, where residents of the Big Apple and the Garden State alike will hopefully continue to buy weed from women. ❖

By Rachelle Gordon

Cannabis brands, entertainers, and influencers are in a tough spot. Despite massive followings and high demand (no pun intended), potthemed content is all but banned across the board, from mainstream television to radio to social media. Accounts continue to be deleted from major platforms like Facebook (now Meta), YouTube, and Instagram, often at the height of their popularity. Cannabis-centric shows have made their way to Netflix, Hulu, and even HBO, but they’re often watered down and fail to authentically represent the community.

So as the old saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Cannabisspecific streaming platforms such as Social Club TV, 420 Media’s Cannected TV (and the soon to be launched CBD TV from the team behind Cannabis & Tech Today) are now filling the gap, providing an outlet for creators and brands to reach their target audiences while simultaneously giving consumers an opportunity to access innovative content they may not otherwise see.

Diverse programming covering a range of topics offers something for everyone, from the canna-curious medical consumer to the heady boys and everyone in between. Highlighting unique voices from across the industry, cannabis streaming channels are providing an inclusive space for creativity free from censorship or caricatures of the community.

In a digital age where “if you can dream it, it’s online somewhere,” and virtually anyone has a shot to become an overnight viral sensation, streaming is all the rage. Long gone are the days when major networks and Hollywood studios were the only way to reach a wide audience. As a growing number of independent content creators forgo the traditional avenues of distribution, and consumers demand more and more content targeted toward their extremely specific interests, the big players simply can’t keep up.

“In essence, the playing field has become leveled now the niche content has an outlet,” said Brenda Gallagher, programming director for televisionsyndication.com.

As the legal cannabis marketplace grows, so too does the need for programming that represents the evolving demographics of cannabis users. Classic “stoner” characters like Cheech & Chong simply fail to resonate — the audience nowadays is just too diverse.

“When we first started, we wanted to make sure that we reached a broad audience. We recognized there was no quality TV network producing or distributing content for one of the fastest growing consumer bases in the world,” explained Josh Otten, co-founder and CEO of Social Club TV. “Just because someone consumes cannabis doesn’t necessarily mean they want to watch a bunch of shows just about cannabis — we touch on business and culture.”

Cannabis-centric streaming channels provide a more accurate representation of the rapidly expanding community, especially since they often highlight actual industry professionals and consumers as opposed to actor portrayals. This authentic programming is more likely to win the hearts of those tuning in.

“Viewer demand for customization of the streaming network is led by how the interviewer makes the audience feel,” Gallagher noted. “A

streaming broadcast by real people feels more intimate, and the viewer can connect with the person or people on the show.”

It’s no secret that there’s a wide range of issues facing the legal cannabis space, and PR is one of them. Between the plant’s current Schedule I status in the eyes of the federal government, and legal states’ banning many types of advertising, it’s impossible for cannabis companies to take full advantage of the multitude of marketing channels available today. From random account deletions on Instagram to rejected targeted ads by Google, the frustrations facing legal cannabis operators hoping to grow their businesses are fierce.

“We are constantly running into challenges with social media platforms, despite the fact that we sell cannabis protection — not cannabis itself. It’s difficult to build a community with unclear rules, unwelcoming bans, and everchanging algorithms,” lamented Bruce Kennedy, social media manager for Boveda, makers of two-way humidity control terpene shield packets. “Our industry needs a better space to thrive in.”

Even when given the go-ahead by mainstream channels, cannabis content is still subject to intense scrutiny not seen by the majority of other types of programming.

“With cannabis, you are put in a marketing box of where you can get coverage,” said Scott McKinley, creator of The Dab Roast, an interview show similar to Hot Ones where guests are asked questions paired with dabs.

“All of my videos on YouTube get agerestricted, which keeps a lot of press from publishing the video link. Also, you cannot monetize cannabis content through YouTube — you have to sell your own advertising.”

McKinley finds platforms like Social Club TV especially useful in broadening his show’s reach. “Social Club TV has an audience of its own. I’m happy to stream our first season in as many places as possible to give our sponsors the biggest shot at getting seen.”

Streaming platforms provide a way for the cannabis community to connect in a way unlike any other. Creativity and authenticity are celebrated while fears of censorship are removed. Brands and creators have the ability to market themselves and consumers can access relevant content they may not find through other channels. That sentiment will likely lead to an increase in engagement as more people “cut the cord” and take control of their entertainment.

“People want information that isn’t corrupted by mainstream media or spoon-fed to them through the government — they want information from authentic storytellers,” Otten said. “Our goal is to be a destination for the audiences and the creators that want to reach them.”

And while cannabis streaming platforms will likely remain forces to reckon with, McKinley is hopeful for what’s ahead, looking forward to the day when programs like The Dab Roast are just as common as the latest sitcom or cooking competition show. “I think things are changing and we will see an all-cannabis channel on traditional cable… at some point.” ❖