14 minute read
THE BUZZ
VEGAS, BABY!
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MJBizCon2022 draws the who’s who of cannabis to Sin City this November. If you’re one of them, have fun! But don’t limit that fun to the showroom oor.
The largest cannabis expo, MJBizCon, returns, bringing the biggest and brightest to Las Vegas from November 15-18. Even with the best planning and squeezing in every moment to walk the expo, meet the canna-leaders, engage with other attendees, and gather knowledge, four days can be (almost) overwhelming. Along with the parties, valuable networking, and glitz of the Strip, this all-encompassing event expands boundaries in a mind-blowing experience away from the expo.
At the end of day, with your free conference tote bursting at the seams and your pockets stuff ed with business cards, where can you go to decompress and fi nd some peace and serenity? Fandom abounds in Vegas for those still obsessed with Princess Diana. Art lovers can surround themselves with culture, including art by Van Gogh or da Vinci, before heading back into the frenzy.
If you’re interested in exploring another side of Sin City, Sensi has uncovered some of the latest off erings outside of the conference to renew your spirit. Join us as we peel back and discover the layers that make Las Vegas a number one travel and vacation destination.
STRIPPED BARE
Skip the insanely-famoussuperstar residencies in favor of these Vegas originals.
LIGHT SHOW: Lights, motion, dance, and color create the show iLuminate at The STRAT Hotel, Casino & Skypod. Figures from another dimension, outlined in vibrant LED lights emerge from complete darkness, bringing enlightening energy of joy, sadness, friendship, and hope. The nightclub on stage, with rays of light and love streaming across the dark, celebrates the very human dance on every level.
iLuminate / The Strat Hotel, Casino & Skypod thestrat.com/entertainment/featured/iluminate
RECKLESS ROCK: The Rat Pack played the Strip in the early ’60s. But with its residency at Sahara Las Vegas, the group Reckless in Vegas brings them roaring into the 2020s by reimagining iconic pop tunes as classic rock songs. Frontman and lead guitarist Michael Shapiro calls Las Vegas his hometown, which must be why the band so perfectly captures the never-ending energy of the city and the musicians who gave it life over the years.
Reckless in Vegas / Sahara Las Vegas / recklessinvegas.com
BY THE NUMBERS
$25
BILLION
US total legal sales of cannabis in 2021.
50TH
Nebraska’s rank among all US states for kind cannabis laws.
$24
MILLION
New Jersey’s cannabis revenue in its rst month of sales.
2.5
Maximum number of grams of hard drugs— opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA—to be decriminalized in British Columbia’s 3-year pilot project starting in 2023.
A World Away Transformative yoga, art, golf and more at Area15.
Minutes from the Strip, Area15 transports guests into a surreal, immersive playground with art, music, attractions, amusement, culture, and culinary delights. This is the place to see, touch, and feel.
For the social media minded, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to take sel es against the backdrop of 360-degree panoramic views of the Strip on Lifto , an open-air balloon ride tethered to a pole that takes guests 130 feet into the sky. At night, surrounded by the estimated 12 million neon lights on the Las Vegas Strip in the distance, you’ll groove on this amazing creation in the desert.
Let’s face it: walking, standing, talking, engaging, and keeping it all organized can suck the energy right out of you. Trade the stress of the day with stretching, focused breathing, and movement to re-energize and rejuvenate, especially surrounded by the dreamlike environment.
Relax and revitalize with Yoga and Wellness with Dray. Explore non-ordinary states of consciousness, but do it consciously with Frequency Breathwork, modulated breathing that creates a psychedelic experience through the power and safety of your own oxygen supply.
Incorporate movement, meditation, and sound bath healing at the Sacred Lounge.
LIFTED LIQUID
For 25 years, Mary Jones craft soda has generated buzz by printing a fan-submitted photo on every label. Now Jones Soda Co. is creating buzz of a di erent kind.
A cold soda has always hit the spot, and adding spirits adds that tingle that tickles the tongue and the brain. But elevating that drink even further is a growing market. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global cannabis beverages market is projected to grow from $915.06 million in 2021 to $19.1 billion in 2028.
Mary Jones’ new infused sodas (available in Berry, Lemonade, Green Apple, Orange Cream, and fan-favorite Root Beer) comes in 12-ounce bottles with a 4-pack carrier to bring to a party and share with friends. Take a sip and decide for yourself if you’re ready for the zzy lifting drink of the future.
Mary Jones 10mg Cannabis-Infused Soda / gomaryjones.com
Lose the Blues
Weekends are the best and then … they end, and everyone dreads those Sunday night blues. Turn to Sunday Scaries, CBD stress-relief products to help defeat the impending doom of the impending work week.
Start your day zenned out on Vegan CBD gummies, or end it with Big Spoon CBD Sleep Oil inducing a refreshing slumber. Need both? Have your cake and eat it with the Side Piece bundle of each product. Cheer the coming week, enjoy the weekend, and chill.
Sunday Scaries sundayscaries.com (Check website for availability.)
After working the conference oor all day, it is totally therapeutic to go throw something to get the stress out. Release that frustration with ax throwing at Dueling Axes, featuring 18 throwing lanes and a full-service bar (just be careful with those sharp blades around your coworkers!).
Enjoy Five Iron Golf, an urban indoor golf experience with teaching professionals, golf simulators, and a full bar. Golf is back and bigger than ever! Embrace your inner child at Emporium by getting lost in new and classic arcade games (while imbibing like an adult at the bar).
Surround yourself with art and culture, including Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, known as “America’s Most Exceptional Grocery Store.” In what appears to be a nondescript market, labels such as Impact Corn, Caltucky Freedom Glaze, and Americanized Beef will change that perception. Continue the surreal by entering into Wink World: Portals Into The In nite, created by Chris Wink, co-founder of Blue Man Group. Explore di erent dimensions that bend the mind as theatrics, art, music, and technology explode in cataclysmic layers. The out-of-body inspirational experiences will motivate you to hit the ground running the next day, ready to expand your horizons in business, pleasure, and consciousness.
Step into this space and you step through a gateway into a world of inspiration and transformation.
Area15 / 3215 S. Rancho Drive / area15.com
A community Icon that is still changing lives
The team behind Western Front is dedicated to lifting up their neighborhood and hopefully the rest of Boston.
estern Front, the
Wrecently opened recreational cannabis store in Chelsea, is focused on making a change in the community where it resides and hopefully across the greater Boston area. As one of the fi rst cannabusinesses to operate under the state’s economic empowerment provision, which prioritizes minority populations that have been disproportionately impacted by anti-marijuana legislation, its founders are focused on creating an environment that fosters conversation and inspires others.
Thirty-fi ve local families, the majority of whom are people of color, comprise the ownership group behind Western Front, focusing on bringing an economic opportunity to the low-income town and creating good jobs. Perhaps this drive to make a change is highlighted by its co-founder Marvin Gilmore. A 96-year-old decorated World War II vet, Gilmore has long been a voice for change in the greater Boston region. He opened the fi rst Black-owned bank in New England, served on numerous agencies that drove economic revitalization across the area, and owned the iconic Western Front nightclub in Cambridge for almost fi fty years.
Though he has never partaken in cannabis, he decided to get into the industry to help those in need. “The money that comes out of it helps change the neighborhood,” Gilmore said. “For men who have been to prison, it provides jobs, training and takes them off the streets. It changes their perspective – they’re proud to be here.”
Offering a wide array of cannabis products from vetted producers, the 10,000-square-foot dispensary is the fi rst step in a plan to expand a brand that will mirror the neighborhoods it operates in and present a welcoming place for all who come to visit. The commitment to offer opportunity is refl ected in Western Front’s employees, of whom more than 95% are Black or Latino, with many new to the cannabis industry. All are being paid a living wage and are mentored and offered fi nancial-literacy training to set them up for future success.
Western Front
Cannabis Retailer westernfrontus.com
THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
A retired Celtic hero gets back in the game.
Celebrity-endorsed products can be iff y. Name recognition is good, but why would, say, a Hall of Fame basketball player know anything about cannabis? Paul Pierce knows. The former NBA star experienced the healing powers of cannabis fi rsthand following a brutal assault in a Boston nightclub in 2000. The 22-year-old recovered from 11 stab wounds remarkably fast and went on to have a brilliant career, mostly with the Celtics, but PTSD from the incident remained. Cannabis helped him carry on.
Now Pierce – who had been dubbed “The [expletive] Truth” by one of his competitors, Shaquille O’Neal, a nickname that has endured, minus the expletive – has his own line of cannabis products called TRUTH34. Partnering with The Hub Craft, a cultivation and manufacturing fi rm in Fitchburg, Pierce is back in the Bay State, this time as a cannabusinessman.
But Pierce is no rookie. He has for some time co-owned a marijuana cultivation and processing business in California.
“He’s not just a celebrity that uses cannabis,” says Hub Craft CEO Howard Tanyu. “He is a big supporter of cannabis and believes in the product. It has helped him with his PTSD so he is very involved.”
Pierce has a hand in the design and packaging of TRUTH34, which features Celtic green and the number Pierce wore as a baller, a number subsequently retired by the Celtics. He also approves all the genetics for the product line.
At the moment, TRUTH34 comprises three products: Indica prerolls of Tahoe OG, a hybrid infused pre-roll of Mandarin Zkittles; and a delightful bubble hash, Ebony & Ivory. The early feedback from customers has been great; maybe they come for the star power, but they stay for the quality. To date the products are available in 35 dispensaries throughout Massachusetts, from Northampton to Fall River to the Cape.
Often times consumers pay a “celebrity premium” for celeb-endorsed product, but Hub Craft is keeping the Pierce brand reasonable. “We price ourselves in the lower end of the market,” says Tanyu, “but the quality of the product is on the higher end. So a lot of people can enjoy it but it doesn’t burn a hole in their pockets.”
TRUTH34 / thehubcraft.com / Edibles coming very soon
Boston Tea Party A new enhanced brew gets a trial run in Canada.
The Boston Beer Company — home of Sam Adams, Lagunitas, Angry Orchard Hard Cider, and other big-boy beverages — has a new line of cannabis-infused iced tea called TeaPot, the company’s rst foray into the infused-bevvy market. The new potable blends real tea with particular strains geared to “enhance” specifi c times of the day. The fi rst release is Good Day Iced Tea, made with lemon black tea and infused with Pedro's Sweet Sativa, a cultivar grown in Strathroy, Ontario (licensed by Entourage Health Corp.) Each 12-ounce can is infused with 5mg of THC, carefully crafted to maximize the tea fl avor while minimizing any weedy taste or aroma. More varieties will be unveiled in the coming months. Unfortunately for Americans, the new beverages are currently available only in Canada, where more congenial national laws for cannabis prevail.
“While beer is our middle name, we've also introduced successful hard teas, hard ciders, hard seltzers, and canned cocktails,” CEO Dave Burwick said at the product launch. “As we await further progress on U.S. regulations, we'll continue to develop an exciting product pipeline in the federally regulated market of Canada.”
Those of us south of the border also await national laws to catch up with popular wisdom. It’s well past tea time.
EARN YOUR H A L
Low-dose products prove that sometimes, less is more.
Imagine you meet someone new and, because they are open and friendly, you assume they must also be generous and honest. Such is the “halo e ect,” a broad-spectrum perception of goodness derived from the sum of a few nice parts. This is the guiding energy behind Rebelle’s new line of microdose mists, HALØ. Founder and CEO Charlotte Hanna developed the line for those “seeking out a more convenient way to bene t from cannabis while leaning into its wellness bene ts.”
Convenient indeed. HALØ mists ($35) are available in three avors or “experiences”: Luster with green tea, Golden with chlorophyll, and Twinkle with valerian root. Delivered in 1-mg micro-mists (.5mg of THC and .5mg of CBN), Luster revives, Golden realigns, and Twinkle relaxes. A perfect delivery system for wellness-oriented folk who want a precise intake with fast-acting e ects.
rebelle-wp.tymber.io
Worcester | Northampton
iresinate.com
PLEASE CONSUME RESPONSIBLY. This product may cause impairment and may be habit forming. For use only by adults 21 years or older. Keep out of the reach of children. This product has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There is limited information on the side effects of using this product, and there may be associated health risks. Marijuana use during pregnancy and breast-feeding may pose potential harms. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. The impairment effects of edible marijuana may be delayed by two hours or more. In case of accidental ingestion, contact poison control hotline 1-800-222-1222 or 9-1-1. This product may be illegal outside of MA. License No. MRN281249t
Designing the Perfect Space
Reach out to Smokin Dispensaries for your next build to ensure something special.
mokin’ Dispensaries, a
Scannabusiness consulting fi rm, helps its clients enter the cannabis market the right way. Working from day one to help craft an ideal operation from dream to reality, this seven-year-old company has helped many cannabis-based businesses succeed. Based in Rhode Island, they have built over fi fty dispensaries in eleven states, as well as numerous grow facilities of varying sizes.
The company began by offering custom millwork to cannabis dispensaries and grew organically into a full-service cannabis consulting business. They are a single hub for cannabusiness needs from inception to sale, consulting with companies at every growth stage. By working closely with their clients, they offer expert advice on refi ning a vision into a solid working plan that has discernable steps and overcomes many of the obstacles that often arise. Smokin’ Dispensaries helps clients build a profi table cannabusiness and avoid time-consuming, expensive mistakes.
“Having seven years of solid experience in the cannabis business allows us to make the best decisions for our clients,” says Rick Granoff, the CEO of Smokin’ Dispensaries.
The key is to bring in a wide array of in-house strategic partners and follow three crucial phases to support clients throughout their journey.
The fi rst phase is to defi ne the client’s vision and create a detailed roadmap of how to achieve it. Then they move into the second phase, designing and building a space customized to the client’s needs. In phase two, understanding all the drivers behind getting a cannabusiness up and running is critical. Smokin’ Dispensaries has a wide array of in-house strategic partnerships, ranging from funding to construction to security, that ensures a client’s vendor procurement is seamless and creates the best team to support their operation.
The relationship doesn’t end when their client launches. The third and fi nal phase provides their clients with continued access to the resources and key strategic partnerships needed to grow their business. Access to these resources drives vertical integration, wholesale operations, and future acquisition strategies.
Smokin’ Dispensaries
Cannabis Consulting Firm smokindispensaries.com
