Cannabis Chronicle December 2020

& CENTRAL COAST

Cannabis Chronicle CANNABIS CULTURE & NEWS FOR THE BAY AREA & CENTRAL COAST • DECEMBER 2020

Weed vs. Wine

NorCal becomes the center of a showdown P12

Hooking Up

The Hook’s dispensary model tries to beat the black market P16

Marijuana Mecca

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CANNABIS CHRONICLE DECEMBER 2020

CANNABIS CHRONICLE DECEMBER 2020

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CONTENTS

Editor’s Note

The Place to Grow How Northern California’s Emerald Triangle became the cannabis capital P6

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he Covid-19 pandemic has made this year challenging for everyone, but the cannabis industry has had some unique struggles to deal with in 2020—and you can see their impact in all of this issue’s features.

There’s the ongoing battle that legitimate cannabis businesses have had to fight with the black market— doling out huge overhead costs to deal with licenses, taxes, federal banking restrictions and more, only to be undersold by those who didn’t—which is explored in Hugh McCormick’s story on how The Hook is putting its money on an “outlet” model that’s relatively new in the industry. There’s the territorial dispute between cannabis businesses and winemakers who feel threatened by their growth, which comes up in Dan Mitchell’s piece on the subject, but also in Jonah Raskin’s profile of the Emerald Triangle and its tangled history.

Covid-19, meanwhile, has changed how every dispensary does business. That’s why these pages also debut our “Spotlight” feature, which highlights the many incredible cannabis regions of Northern California. We’ll explore a different area in every issue, and we’re starting with Santa Cruz County. At a point in the pandemic when it’s harder than ever to actually get out in the world and explore what dispensaries have to offer, hopefully this guide will allow both locals and cannabis tourists to discover new hook-ups that fit their needs. Happy hunting, and we’ll see you in 2021!

A Vine Mess Can winemakers and pot growers find common ground in Napa Valley? P12

Inside Outlet The Hook Dispensary Outlet has a new strategy for beating the black market P16

Spotlight on Santa Cruz County How locals and cannabis tourists can explore the world of Santa Cruz weed P22

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR

Cannabis Chronicle 107 Dakota St, Santa Cruz, CA CannabisChronicle.net info@cannabischronicle.net

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CANNABIS CHRONICLE DECEMBER 2020

Alisha Green

CONTRIBUTORS

DESIGNERS

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

ACCOUNTING

Hugh McCormick Dan Mitchell Jonah Raskin

Mackenzie Alameda Sam Miranda Jackie Mujica

Lisa Buckley Gordon Carbone Ben Grambergu Karen Klaber Sue Lamothe Mercedes Murolo Lupita Ortiz Ilana Rauch Packer Tiffani Petrov

Sarah Puckett

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Kara Brown PRODUCTION OPERATIONS MANAGER

Sean George

ADVERTISING DIRECTORS

Jeanie Johnson Lisa Santos Debra Whizin

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Shannen Craig OFFICE MANAGER

Kari Mansfeld VICE PRESIDENT

Lee May Cover design by Kara Brown

CANNABIS CHRONICLE DECEMBER 2020

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FARMING IN PROTEST Joe Munson calls his decision to cultivate cannabis all over the Emerald Triangle

Green Land without a permit—which has led to his arrest 50 times—his form of civil disobedience.

While the cannabis industry sprawls and shifts around it, NorCal’s Emerald Triangle remains the most revered growing area in the world

BY JONAH RASKIN 6

CANNABIS CHRONICLE DECEMBER 2020

O

ver the past 40 years, we’ve had Republican presidents and Democratic presidents. A great deal has changed, locally, nationally and globally. Generations have come and gone. One thing that hasn’t changed, not even during the height of the War on Drugs, is that the “Emerald Triangle” is the primo cannabis growing region in the world.

All through the pot prohibition—and despite raids, arrests and the confiscation of crops—growers kept growing. They’re still growing; in fact, more than ever before, on both the illicit as well as the legal market, Yes, the war on drugs disrupted lives and upended families. 60

Minutes aired drug-boogeyman stories which alarmed law-and-order citizens while at the same time providing free advertising for growers and traffickers.

But the war did little if anything to stop what morphed from the hippie counterculture into a lucrative capitalist enterprise.

Triangle Man In the late 1970s and early 1980s, before anyone began to call it “The Emerald Triangle,” I watched the cannabis story unfold up close, in real time. These days, I live in Santa Rosa, now a major marijuana manufacturing and distribution 8

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HOW BIG IS BIG Marty Clein and Byron Koehler cultivate organically on Big B’s Martyjuana Farm—but even with 10,000 square-feet, it’s tough to compete with huge commercial operations in the Central Valley.

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6 hub. I often travel to the heart of the Triangle—a 90 minute drive—to renew my contacts and gather information. I’m sometimes accompanied by Joe Munson, who has cultivated all over the Emerald Triangle and has never had a permit.

“It’s my form of civil disobedience,” he tells me. “I refuse to adhere to immoral laws.” He’s been arrested 50 times.

No one has ever come forward to claim credit for the moniker “The Emerald Triangle,” which was surely meant to echo the phrase “The Golden Triangle,” the heroin-producing area in South East Asia. It’s now just as well known around the world. Fly to Amsterdam, as I have done, and talk to Dutch pot smokers and chances are they’ll know it.

Thanks to feature films like 2008’s Humboldt County (2008), and books like my own Marijuanaland: Dispatches from an American War, potheads everywhere even know the names of the counties in

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the region, once called the “Redwood Empire” because of the giant trees and the logging industry that chopped them down and carted them away. Made up of thickly wooded mountain ranges like the Yolla Bolly, and extensive valleys for cattle ranching, the Triangle boasts towns and villages like Garberville, Willits, Hearst and Alderpoint, all of them economically dependent on cannabis.

In the 1980s, when logging declined dramatically and working men lost jobs in forests and mills, they turned to cannabis. Ray Raphael tells that story in his oral history, Cash Crop: An American Dream. Three-and-a half decades since then, the Emerald Triangle is still synonymous with cannabis. If you’re smoking weed, chances are good it was grown in Humboldt, Lake, Trinity or Mendocino counties, where seasonal workers known as “trimmigrants” labor

during the harvest and make $15 an hour. I recently met 50 of them on one plantation—all from Argentina.

Emerald Rectangle The area actually isn’t in the shape of a triangle, but rather a rectangle which runs not just north and south, but also from the Pacific Ocean in the west to Interstate 5 in the east, a distance of about 160 miles, which cuts across rough terrain and through isolated communities like Hayfork and Hyampoon where summers are hot, winters cold and big box stories haven’t yet left a footprint.

I first became aware of the size of the Emerald Triangle when former Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman unfolded my AAA map of Northern California, spread it across his 10 desk, and with a magic marker

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I first became aware of the size of the Emerald Triangle when former Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman unfolded my AAA map of Northern California, spread it across his desk, and with a magic marker outlined the area about the size of Massachusetts, much of it only accessible by helicopter. He even circled the area he had targeted for raids.

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outlined the area about the size of Massachusetts, much of it only accessible by helicopter. He even circled the area he had targeted for raids. There was no way I could warn anyone.

Allman believed in upholding the law, but he also believed in changing specific marijuana laws. During his time as sheriff, weed was illegal in the eyes of the federal government. It still is.

Allman created a cannabis program in Mendocino County: Growers enrolled, paid a fee, received plastic ties which they wrapped around their plants, and posted an official sign at the entrance to their garden that proclaimed it a legal grow. Not surprisingly, people from all over the U.S. and the world flocked there to grow marijuana, just as they had flocked to California to pan for gold in the 19th century.

One summer, Allman told me jokingly that he was “running a model United Nations in the jail.” He and his deputies arrested and incarcerated people from Hungary, Bulgaria, Sweden, Argentina and Laos who arrived in his neck of the woods to strike it rich. Not surprisingly, the federal government shut down Allman’s program.

Prohibition Lite Fast forward to Proposition 215, which ushered in the era of medical marijuana, and Proposition 64, which inaugurated “adult use.” Now, cultivating cannabis is legal if farmers jump through hoops, pay money to state and local agencies, and adhere to environmental regulations.

If they don’t, gun-toting officers from Fish and Wildlife can and do raid,

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confiscate and levy fines. Growers call it “Prohibition Lite.”

Marty Clein, a Florida native, cultivates cannabis legally in Mendocino. He settled there in part because of Sheriff Allman and because the county seemed friendlier to pot than Sonoma County, where he worked in the wine industry. Sonoma boasts high-end tasting rooms, restaurants, breweries and movie houses, but it also has a reputation as a place where wannabe cannabis farmers are discouraged by little men behind big desks.

I have never found the proverbial smoking gun or CCTV footage that shows county officials conspiring with vintners, but I have heard rumors. Most grape growers and winemakers I’ve met don’t want economic competition from cannabis, though some famed grape growers and winemakers, such as Phil Coturri and Mike Benziger, cultivate cannabis. They’ve come out of the cannabis closet and have endorsed the plant they love.

Clein quit the wine industry and moved to Mendocino County, under the assumption that county officials there wouldn’t “shit on growers” as they did in Sonoma County. “The Green Rush”— the cannabis counterpart to the Gold Rush—helped to jack up the price of land.

Newcomers like Clein had to push into the backcountry, which was beautiful if you liked quiet, dirt roads and few if any neighbors. More than one grower took the code name “Lone Wolf.”

Clein, who calls himself “Martyjuana,” grows weed in the hills above Covelo, a town known for violent crime and federal raids of illegal cartel grows. I

first explored Covelo in the 2010s when I visited a cannabis farm operated by a husband and wife from L.A. who cultivated their crop in plain view and who were arrested and locked up. They bailed out of jail and out of the industry.

Harvest Time Clein and his partner Byron Koehler have the legal paperwork for their operation, “Big B’s Martyjuana Farm.” Their flowers and pre-rolled joints are sold in dispensaries around California. They make money, but they plough most of it back into the business.

When I last visited Clein and Koehler with Joe Munson, they were in the midst of the 2020 harvest. Some plants were still in the ground, others had already been cut down. Branches were hanging to dry and cure. Manicuring was taking place and vegetables for a late lunch were sautéing in a skillet in an outdoor kitchen. It was hot and dry. Fires raged not far away, destroying acres of cannabis, but there was no damage to the crop at “Big B’s Martyjuana Farm.”

Clein and Koehler cultivate organically in the sun in a 10,000-square-foot area.

That’s not much when compared with the commercial operations in the Central Valley, which are making life hell for small and medium-sized growers. If Clein doesn’t succeed in cannabis, he says he can go back to the wine industry.

Koehler says he can return to his life as a fisherman and diver for sea urchins.

When I originally went to Mendocino as a reporter 40 years ago, pot farmers said media attention would mean police raids and the end of their lifestyle.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Jondhal, who preceded Allman, told me, “We only arrest about 10% of the growers. If you write about me, you’ll make me look bad.”

Reporters were the least of his problems.

Cops in New York, he explained, phoned to tell him they seized weed in packages labeled “Product of Mendocino.”

I’m thankful Clein and Koehler welcomed me to their Emerald Triangle farm, where the grass isn’t greener than the grass in Sonoma County or elsewhere, but where there’s less red tape and where the sky is often blue all day. You can bet that folks who want a piece of the American Dream will go to Mendocino and join the cannabis crowd—but it’s awfully late in the game.

Jonah Raskin is the author of ‘Dark Past, Dark Future: A Tioga Vignetta Murder Mystery.’

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Vice Gripe 12

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Napa Valley has become the center of a long-simmering tension between the wine and cannabis industries

BY DAN MITCHELL

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t’s hard to imagine now, but not all that long ago—as recently as the 1960s—the Napa Valley wasn’t considered particularly special, save perhaps for some of the spectacular views from the rugged mountains that encircle it. It was, wrote James Conaway in Napa: The Story of An American Eden, “an agricultural backwater given over to prune and walnut trees, pastures, and some vines.”

The vines were grapevines, of course.

Wild grapes grew naturally in the area, and the area’s first vintner, George Calvert Yount, planted his first grapes in 1839. A wine industry flourished in the decades after, but it didn’t initially change the essential character of the

place. Until the late 20th century, wine was “considered the dubious beverage of immigrants, made in basements,” Conaway wrote. As the years progressed on from the Kennedy Era, though, wine would quickly be “transformed into a symbol of high culture, and winemakers would be heralded as artists.” In the 1970s, vintners in Northern California, and Napa County in particular, took their place among the best-regarded winemakers in the world.

This didn’t happen without dissent.

Many of the locals were suspicious of the monied newcomers who descended on the area, buying up huge tracts of land and erecting ornate wineries, eventually attracting gaggles of tourists.

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she says. “Something new and There’s little chance, Honig says, that Napa things,” different from what their parents did.”

She said the wine industry has nothing to pot would ever eclipse Napa wine. It would fear from cannabis, and much to gain. be more of a complement, as it is for many Promise and Risk The NVCA was the main backer of this imbibers. Millennials, she says, could be year’s voter initiative, which would have included fairly severe restrictions on how enticed to Napa by pot tourism, just as big pot-cultivation operations could be, and much space should be left between wine drinkers are enticed to tour vineyards how them and vineyards. Opponents of allowing cannabis in Napa point to Santa Barbara, now—a huge business. In fact, that’s which has seen explosive growth in its cannabis industry since Proposition 64 already happening in Sonoma County, passed in 2016, legalizing cannabis for adult use. The backlash from the wine industry which allows pot cultivation, and where there has been enormous.

But Santa Barbara “rushed through” its regulations, said Corey Beck, CEO and some tourism operations combine wine chief windemaker for the Family Coppola, one of the handful of large Napa vintners and cannabis tours. that favor pot cultivation in Napa. Santa

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But now it’s the winemakers’ turn to be suspicious, as cannabis entrepreneurs are looking to buy land and turn it over to weed. Proponents of allowing cannabis cultivation in Napa County say it’s really the only crop that would yield a decent return, given how high land prices are. Salad greens and strawberries won’t do it, and even many winemakers look for cheaper land elsewhere these days.

Nevertheless, efforts to allow commercial cannabis cultivation have been stymied. A planned November voter initiative to allow growing in unincorporated areas of Napa County, which seemingly had widespread support, was pulled thanks mainly to the Covid-19 pandemic making it impossible to collect enough signatures in time. On Election Day, voters in Yountville, in the heart of Wine Country, decisively rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed retail cannabis shops. As things stand, the only city in Napa County to allow commercial cultivation is American Canyon, on the southern end of the county. And even there, only indoor grows are allowed.

In 2019, the Napa County Board of Supervisors, under pressure from some local vintners and from the Napa County Farm Bureau, voted to ban cultivation in unincorporated areas. The voter initiative was meant to reverse that decision.

Many longtime Napa denizens worry that their brand would be hurt by the presence of “Napa Valley” branded weed.

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They further worry that the terroir—the environment in which wine is grown, which is thought to affect aroma and flavor—will be sullied by pot farms.

“You have to protect the Napa name,” Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Klobas said when the initiative was being debated earlier this year. “Napa is an internationally recognized brand, and you don’t want anything to disrupt the brand.”

At the same time, however, there are wine people who are open to cannabis cultivation. The Napa Valley Cannabis Association (NVCA), in fact, was founded

by Stephanie Honig, a wine-industry veteran and director of communications for the Honig Vineyard & Winery. She advocates cannabis cultivation as a way to diversify the region’s economy. The fact that wine sales have softened in recent years makes this more urgent, she says.

The research firm IWSR recently reported that U.S. wine consumption fell in 2019 for the first time in a quarter century. Millennials, in particular, are favoring other kinds of alcoholic beverages such as hard seltzer, the sales of which grew by an eye-popping 50% last year. That doesn’t mean the wine industry is tanking—total sales in 2019 were $38.3 billion in 2019, actually higher than the previous year thanks to a shift toward more premium wines.

But the consumption trend should give the wine industry pause, Honig says.

“Millennials are looking for other

Barbara placed barely any restrictions on cultivators, allowing them to go hog wild—abutting vineyards with pot grows, for example.

“The community feels like it just kind of got shoved on them,” Beck says.

But that doesn’t mean Napa should reject cannabis, he adds. Just the opposite, in fact. He thinks it’s essential to embrace the plant and continue to evolve. “We evolved from walnuts and prunes because if we were to have relied on them, the Napa Valley would not be where it is today,” he says.

Honig insists that what happened in Santa Barbara won’t happen in Napa.

The regulations her group proposes “are extremely restrictive.” There’s little chance, she says, that Napa pot would ever eclipse Napa wine. It would be more of a complement, as it is for many imbibers. Millennials, she says, could be enticed to Napa by pot tourism, just as wine drinkers are enticed to tour vineyards now—a huge business. In fact, that’s already happening in Sonoma County, which allows pot cultivation, and where some tourism operations combine wine and cannabis tours.

The idea, Honig says, is to make sure that Napa cannabis is seen as a high-end, premium product, just like the county’s wine and food is.

“You should be able to go into a Napa dispensary and buy Napa cannabis,” she says. “Otherwise, it’s like going to a restaurant in Yountville and finding out they only have Italian wines.”

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Power Hook How one Santa Cruz County dispensary is winning their fight against the black market

BY HUGH MCCORMICK

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hink Grocery Outlet Bargain Market—cannabis style. That’s how budtender and marketing director Bayley Blackney proudly describes her brand-spankingnew Capitola pot dispensary.

The first-of-its-kind Hook Dispensary Outlet opened its doors to the public in April—right after Covid-19 cases started to spike and the state issued a sweeping shelter-in-place mandate. Things could have gone very wrong for the humble weed shop. But the Hook team weathered the storm, and as the world began to collapse around it, the store began to thrive.

“Setting up shop during a pandemic has been interesting to say the least. It was nerve-racking and stressful in the

beginning,” Blackney says. “But Covid-19 is ‘normal’ for us. The distance, the mask wearing—it’s funny, but it’s like business as usual. People are losing their jobs, and it’s hard for a lot of folks. Ourselves, though, we’re doing well and growing.”

A proud CBD tincture-and-topical fan, 26-year-old Blackney jumped headfirst into the world of cannabis a little over six years ago. A life-changing and fullytransformative trip to Peru birthed an obsession with holistic healing and the magical possibilities of plant medicine— cannabis first and foremost. Her time in South America was the reason she became a budtender, and eventually teamed up with co-owners Kyle Giorchino and Bryce Berryessa to

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TARMO HANNULA

SAFE SPACE Julia Packert, manager at the Hook Dispensary, works through an order with Joshua Logan.

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TARMO HANNULA

ON THE HOOK Cannabis businesses in California are watching to see what kind of impact the Hook’s innovative business model has on the industry.

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16 build and mold the Hook into what it is today—and to realize a collective dream.

The idea for The Hook was in the works for many years. Giorchino and Berryessa, both pioneers in the industry, envisioned a place that was “like the good ol’ days”—a full-on tie-dye filled throwback to the 1970s that paid tribute to simpler times.

What would truly set their fledgling operation apart, distinguishing it from other dispensaries in a rather competitive industry, would be their prices. This unique take on the outlet concept consistently offers some of the best cannabis deals in the Bay Area. The smallish store, next to an insurance company and Pizza My Heart, is attracting a steady stream of new customers each day.

“We’ve become the one dispensary that is in direct competition with the black market,” Blackney says. “We’re challenging and reinventing the system—much like Grocery Outlet does.

It’s thrilling finding something you absolutely love and have to have, for way, way less.”

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Start-Up Mentality The Hook has the potential of being a bit of an industry disrupter, and many of the larger players in the cannabis game are watching it closely, evaluating its business model and day-to-day operations.

“The entire industry is sort of a giant startup, and this is a great time for creation and innovation,” Blackney says. “We’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”

The Hook carries a core and semipermanent selection of high-grade flower, concentrates, edibles, and topicals. But almost every day, there are new and exciting goodies rotating through the store’s wooden shelves.

The Hookfolk are proud to be a part of the vibrant Santa Cruz County community and blessed with a bounty of local, available canna-goods. They make it their mission to partner with and stock as many close-to-home brands as possible.

“It’s an industry based on relationships,” Blackney says. “And we’ve developed the best relationships with vendors and cultivators across the

board. There’s an extensive menu at our fingertips.”

Most of the dispensary’s products and brands are mixed and matched semiregularly, but the dispensary does have a list of core partners—including La Vida Verde (tinctures and edibles) and Skunk Feather (vape cartridges).

“We work with a lot of companies and are 100% flexible. We’re pleasantly surprised that so many people are able to work with our model. We sell things at a discounted rate,” Blackney explains.

A botanist by trade, Hook GM and “Chief Haggling Officer” Stephanie Kimitsuka spent five years in the pharmaceutical industry before jumping headfirst into the cannabis biz. Weed is medicine to Kimitsuka. Weed is life.

She spent the last five years developing close bonds with many companies (local and across the state) and uses these close relationships to negotiate the best possible deals.

Kimitsuka, fondly referred to as “a ninja of finding new products” by Hook staff, possesses an innate sense of what will work and what won’t. Companies are constantly clamoring for limited shelf space at the store.

“Here, the shelves are incredibly curated. I’m happy to take a chance on something if the price is right,” Kimitsuka says. “Take SC Roots and Firecut, for example. Both are local companies, and both settled on a favorable price with us. I don’t mark their cannabis up, so they are hot sellers here. LOLO has been with the Hook since day one, and their ready-to-roll (pre-shredded) bags fly off the shelves.

21 grams for $35. We rotate stuff all the time, too. Some products, you might never see it again–we’re an outlet.”

Kimitsuka prefers to work with local vendors and distributors whenever possible. Some 66% of the Hook’s revenue is generated by local companies from Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Moss Landing, and Salinas. Spending money locally promotes the local economy and saves the Hook’s partners money on gas and delivery time.

Black Market Thrives Loyalty is a major factor in the Hook’s pricing and why the outlet can offer amazing daily deals on a variety of canna-goods. Around 64% percent of its revenue comes from only five distributors, four of them local. Loyalty ensures that the store is getting 20

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18 deals offered to no one else in the industry, and consistently receiving heavy brand support.

“Our markup is much less than other retailers,” Kimitsuka says. “If you give me a discount, I’ll discount your stuff, too. We and our partners have a two-way commitment to lower prices.”

By keeping her prices consistently low, her customers are able to stock up.

“When the market went from medical to recreational, taxes and regulations made cannabis completely unaffordable to many people. These people did not stop using cannabis, they went to the black market,” Kimitsuka says.

California has quickly blossomed into the largest pot paradise in the world, boasting nearly $3 billion in sales in 2019 alone.

Sounds pretty impressive, until you realize that an estimated 80% of transactions take place on the black market.

Black market operators raked in an estimated $8.7 billion in 2019, according to a report by BDS Analytics. That’s more than three times California’s legal market.

If Proposition 64 (2016’s voter initiative to legalize cannabis in California) was passed to destroy the illicit cannabis market, it failed. In many cases, expensive regulations have made the black market more profitable than going legitimate.

And demand for untaxed, unregulated,

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CANNABIS CHRONICLE DECEMBER 2020

PHOTOS BY TARMO HANNULA

BUILDING A BRAND Hook GM and “Chief Haggling Officer” Stephanie Kimitsuka says they strive to keep their shelves “incredibly curated.”

untested, underground herb has never been stronger.

As of now, the heavy costs of testing, packaging, and taxes are all passed on to the average cannabis consumer. The price gap between black market and legal cannabis is 65% in Sacramento, 49% in Oakland, and 45% in San Jose.

“Since opening, we have heard many people say that it was the first time they had shopped at a cannabis dispensary since legalization,” Kimitsuka says.

The Hook’s pricing is even low by Kimitsuka’s own metrics. Before becoming the dispensary’s official “buying ninja,” she herself was a grower of fine flower. “Thirty dollars was my friend-hookup for an eighth,” she says.

Today, an eighth of Firecut flower will run you $13 at the dispensary.

The team has plans to expand in a number of ways—to bring new Hooks to underserved areas where people cannot otherwise afford legal cannabis. They may face an uphill battle, though. It’s tough to enter into, let alone succeed in, the legal cannabis business in California.

And legal and fully legit companies like the Hook face a toxic mix of ridiculously high taxes, little to no access to federal banking, the current Covid-19 crisis, and skyrocketing compliance costs.

“Between the state and Santa Cruz

County taxes, it’s way, way up there.

Like 37%. Taxes on alcohol and tobacco aren’t that high,” says Kevin Flahive, budtender at Redwood Coast Dispensary in Ben Lomond. “When things became recreational, the amount of regulation and fees increased fivefold. It hurts.

Just this year, the state increased the excise tax by another 3%. The increased regulations and paperwork make it hard on everyone.”

The Hook’s flagship Capitola store and unique business model may set them apart from other dispensaries, but entering into new markets and cutting red tape while facing an unsettling and rapidly changing macroclimate could be a tall order.

For now, the team at the Hook Outlet is sanguine about the future and doing all they can to promote more affordable and accessible cannabis.

“In the end, weed is medicine.

It should be a priority to provide it affordably. It’s especially important right now with the unrest, fires, and Covid-19.

We are the one store that offers prices that can compete with the black market,” Blackney says. “I believe in cannabis as a healer. It gives you what you need for your body and your mind. It’s been a miracle for me, and so many people.”

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Spotlight

on Santa Cruz County Dispensaries

BY HUGH MCCORMICK

A

t Cannabis Chronicle, we pride ourselves on knowing the ins and outs of the Northern California cannabis scene, and in every issue we’ll be spotlighting a different county. Whether you’re a local or looking to do some cannabis tourism, here are the dispensaries you need to know in Santa Cruz County.

3 Bros 1100B Fair Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-345-0281, 3brossantacruz.com A few years ago, a tight-knit crew of local surfers got together and dreamed up 3 Bros Dispensary, eventually setting up shop and establishing the only cannabis shop on the Westside. “Good Vibes, High Tides” is their official creed. A completely wide open floor plan creates a laid-back vibe that is equal parts warmth and professionalism.

Flanked by amazing restaurants and the stunning beauty of the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary, 3 Bros is just steps from the beach. Grab a pre-roll, walk three blocks, and you’re toking up on famous West Cliff Drive. Hours: 9am–9pm every day.

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The Apothecarium 1850 41st Ave., Capitola, 831-325-0691, apothecarium.com While this is the newest dispensary in Santa Cruz County, having just opened in November, it arrives with a lot of cannabis experience going for it—the first Apothecarium was founded in 2011 in San Francisco by three cousins and two family friends. Sleek and modern, the new dispensary hopes to settle right into Santa Cruz County with an inviting boutique feel and comfortable lounge area. They have set out to curate the finest cannabis products in the area, with a concentration on local brands. Hours: 9am-9pm every day.

CannaCruz 115 Limekiln St., Santa Cruz, 831-420-3227; 1156 Abbott St., Salinas, 831-202-0172, cannacruz.com CannaCruz has been hooking up Santa Cruz County locals and tourists alike with high-quality cannabis goods since 2014. The shop’s employees

and owners strive to provide a wide variety of products—carefully researched and chosen—and the right kind of medicine for every need. SC Labs tests all of its products, ensuring that CannaCruz’s vast selection of concentrates, flowers, edibles (and more) are pesticide free and meet the state’s BPC regulations. CannaCruz is heralded as the first collective on the planet to profile the terpenes in their many (ultra-potent) strains. Both of the dispensary’s locations are kept temperature-stable to ensure that their bountiful selection of products are kept fresh—and the terpenes preserved.

They provide a stress-free buying experience, with amazing budtenders and sales reps who are experts in the field of cannabis science and eager to provide recommendations. Hours: 8:30am–8pm every day.

Central Coast Wellness Center 7932 Highway 9, Ben Lomond, 831-704-7340, centralcoastwellnesscenter.org Nestled among spectacular groves of Sequoia sempervirens and majestic redwoods, Central

Coast Wellness Center has been meeting the cannabis needs of Ben Lomond and the San Lorenzo Valley for years. Locally owned and operated, CCWC specializes in alternative cannabinoids like CBG, CBD, THCA, Delta-8, and terpenes/flavinoids like Humulene, Myrcene, and Alpha/Beta Pinene. Hours: 11am-8pm MondaySaturday, 11am-6pm Sunday.

CHAI Cannabis Co. 3088 Winkle Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-475-5506, chaicannabis.com No delicious beverages here, but a whole lot of premium “Elite High Grade” and low-cost medical and recreational cannabis goodies. CHAI offers a bounty of high-quality 100% lab-tested, indoorcultivated cannabis, and it was one of the first dispensaries in town to include the 15% state excise tax, 8.5% state sales tax, and 7% Santa Cruz County CBT tax in their everyday prices.

Becoming a member of the dispensary is quick and easy, and the prices you see are the prices you pay. Hours: 10am-9pm every day.

Curbstone Exchange 6535 Hwy. 9, Felton, 831-704-7151, curbstoneexchange.org

Affectionately known as “The Curb” to Felton locals, the folks at Curbstone Exchange are all about compassion. With an old-school vibe—think the opposite of a sterile Apple Store—customers are allowed to take all the time they need with the products they’re interested in, with no-pressure, super-educated budtenders expertly guiding them along. Hours: 10am-8pm every day.

Herbal Cruz 1051 41st Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-462-9999, herbalcruzsantacruz.com The proud and always-smiling employees of Herbal Cruz semi-secretly call their shop the “Costco Of Weed.” The bud is top quality, and there’s a lot of it at the sparkling clean space on the beach end of 41st Avenue. Carrying all the products a patient could possibly want—tinctures, edibles, flowers, and concentrates, just to name a few—the selection of cannabis products and accessories is right up there with any of the top shops in the county. Glass jars containing a wide array of flowers are grouped according to sativa, hybrid and indica—feel free to examine any strain that catches your eye, or grab a potent pre-roll from their display humidor. Hours: 8am-8pm every day.

The Hook Outlet 4170 Gross Road, Suite 5, Capitola, 831-3224665, hookoutlet.com Think Grocery Outlet for cannabis. The folks at the Hook Outlet Dispensary, nestled in a semiquiet shopping center behind Pizza My Heart in Capitola, pride themselves as running the first-ever cannabis outlet in the state of California.

With prices often significantly lower than other retailers, the Hook is hooking new customers right and left. (See page 16). Hours: 11am-8pm, Thursday through Saturday.

KindPeoples 3600 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-471-8562; 533 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, 831-515-4144, kindpeoples.com Kindpeoples is the area’s largest cannabis dispensary, blossoming from a wee little upstart into the multi-location juggernaut and community cornerstone that it is today. And its mission is still to “show off what cannabis perfection looks like.” With the largest genetics department in the Monterey Bay, the “kind people,” budtenders, and staff geneticists at Kindpeoples are happy to help. As Santa Cruz’s first state-legal dispensary, and the owner of one of the 24

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Spotlight « «

23 first three cultivation licenses issued by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, there was always a lot riding on Kindpeoples’ success. Today, the flourishing Santa Cruz company seeks to serve the unique needs of all cannabis consumers. Hours: 8am-9pm every day.

Redwood Coast Dispensary 10090 Highway 9, Ben Lomond, 831-336-8795, iheartjane.com/stores/417/redwood-coast-collective Nestled in the heart of San Lorenzo Valley’s ancient redwoods, small-but-mighty Redwood Coast Dispensary (formerly Redwood Coast Collective) has captured the hearts of “Highway 9-ers” and tourists alike. Fully stocked with enough flower, concentrates, edibles, and other cannabis products and accessories to fuel an army, the shop proudly carries the largest selection of any dispensary in the Valley. Redwood Coast’s walls are covered with rockand-roll memorabilia, and free popcorn is always cooking in the corner of the shop, so you can get your top-grade cannabis and satisfy your munchies at the same time. Hours: 10am-8pm every day.

Reefside Dispensary 1104 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, 831-515-7363, reefside.co Located on Ocean Street in the former Fin’s Coffee building, Reefside is the first dispensary you see when you roll into Santa Cruz from Highway 17 (conveniently for sweet-toothed stoners, it’s right across the street from Marianne’s Ice Cream). It’s a fairly new cannabis dispensary with a big mission: to “demystify cannabis.” Reefside sells tinctures, pre-rolls, flower, topicals, edibles, vape cartridges, and concentrates, plus the accessories you’ll need to make the most of them. An ultra-bright and experienced staff will set you up with everything you need to get started on your cannabis adventure, or partake for the umpteenth time.

Whether you want to get all amped up, relax, focus, or just go to sleep, Reefside has your perfect medicine. Hours: 8am-9pm every day.

Santa Cruz Naturals 9077 Soquel Drive, Aptos, 831-688-7266; 19 San Juan Road, Royal Oaks, 831-722-2018, santacruzcannabis.com The team at family-owned Santa Cruz Naturals

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places a high priority on product sourcing and quality. As a “Clean Green” business, Santa Cruz Naturals has voluntarily gone through the most rigorous nationally recognized cannabis certification program out there. The now-thriving dispensary was born out of the ethos that there are healthy, natural solutions to many of the problems that we face as a society today. Founder and owner Colin Disheroon’s belief in clean green cannabis production and commitment to sustainability has permeated every strand of the business’ DNA. Whether you’re experienced or a total cannabis newb, the passionate, friendly and highly educated budtenders at each of Santa Cruz Naturals’ Santa Cruz County locations (Watsonville and Aptos) have got you covered.

Hours: 8am-7:45pm every day, delivery available 11am-7pm.

Surf City Original 2649 41st Ave., Soquel, 831-325-7299, surfcityoriginal.com Located on 41st Avenue, in the former location of the now-legendary “Granny Purps,” Surf City Original is already making a name for itself, offering a wide variety of cannabis products at super-fair prices. It’s a relatively small space, but completely renovated and remodeled—bright, open and airy. The vibe inside the shop is totally Santa Cruz—mellow and completely laid back.

Get in and get out quickly using “online express ordering” (and the high-tech iPads inside), or chill a bit on the plush leather couches and loveseats while watching the always-on “Cannabis-Club TV.” The Ms. Pac-man arcade game is free to customers. Hours: 10am-8pm every day.

Therapeutic Healthcare Collective 5011 Soquel Drive, Soquel, 831-713-5641, thcsoquel.com A little gem in the heart of Soquel Village, THC is a tight-knit, family-run boutique that offers personalized (and one-on-one) customer service, the highest quality cannabis, and the true spirit of the chill and sleepy Soquel community. The shop’s owners say they “hold our cannabis to a higher standard,” and you can feel that exceptional quality and attention to detail as you walk through their doors. Their ultimate goal is to provide the highest-grade cannabis products to promote a holistic and effective alternative to their customers’ needs. The dispensary

treats its role in the community with a sense of responsibility, and strives to improve the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of each one of its dedicated customers. Hours: 9am9pm Monday-Saturday, 10am-8pm Sunday.

TreeHouse 3561 Soquel Drive, Soquel, 831-471-8289, ourtreehouse.io As one of Santa Cruz County’s newest dispensaries, Treehouse has quickly made a name for itself in the local and California cannabis game—offering a vast 4,000-square-foot retail and commercial space with a robust selection of topicals, edibles, flower, concentrates … and so much more. Envirocann Certified, Threehouse products are carefully selected, researched, and curated, down to the tiniest detail. A lot of thought goes into the dispensary’s products, and the shop itself. Treehouse is designed with a wide-open floor plan and a lounge atmosphere, creating a chillaxed and casual environment teaming with live plants, uplifting music, and bubbling conversation. Entering through a sign that says “All are Welcome,” shopping at the dispensary quickly becomes an enjoyable and relaxed social experience. Hours: 10am-8pm every day.

Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance 2827 S. Rodeo Gulch Road, Unit 6, Soquel, 831-431-6347, scveteransalliance.com The Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance is on an important mission: provide veterans and the general public with safe and reliable access to the highest quality, lab-tested medical cannabis in existence. The all-Veteran men behind SCVA strive to create a community hub—a meeting place for veterans and their supporters to reach out, give support to each other, and speak openly about the therapeutic benefits of medical herb. U.S. veteran farmers and cultivators are employed to cultivate SCVA strains—by far some of the best stuff on the market. The cornerstone of the SCVA is its Veteran Compassion Program: every veteran member of this collective gets hooked up with completely free, lab-tested medical cannabis every month. Hours: 10am-6pm every day.

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