Measured pours of this sweet, spicy juice help to keep sore throats and post nasal drip at bay during cold season.
Working when you’re sick is terrible, and since sick leave in America is far from universal (similar to legal cannabis access), many service workers share DIY remedies that you can sometimes make from the stuff you have on hand at work. This “cough syrup” was my go-to when the exhaustion and general malaise of a cold wasn’t enough to stay home, but I still needed a major immune system boost to get through the day.
No one should have to work while sick, but many of us do, and measured pours of this sweet, spicy juice help to keep sore throats and post nasal drip at bay, one hour at a time. When things are really rotten and you’re stuck at home, an hourly gargle with salt water or diluted vinegar followed by an ounce of this throat coating specialty help soothe your symptoms.
Vitamin C and the added zip of ginger are saviors for immune boosting, and the bromelain in the pineapple juice helps with inflamed throats, cannabis helps with pain and can maybe help you skip smoking or vaping, which would be irritating to an already sore situation. Since this is more of a symptom soother than a “cure” don’t forget to seek real medical advice in the case of a high fever or persistent illness.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Pineapple Cough Remedy
Makes 16 oz, 2mg THC per oz, estimated
1 pineapple
1lb ginger
3 lemons
1 Tbs cannabis glycerin tincture
Depending on the type of juicer you have, you can decide how concentrated you want your juice output to be. If you are using a blender, you may have to add some water regardless of your preference. A centrifugal juicer may make a very strong juice, so be prepared for some spice, but know you can add water to taste.
Break down a fresh pineapple by removing the leaves and cutting off the tough outer skin. Remove the core and either cut into spears for a centrifuge juicer and chunks for a blender. Skin the ginger by using a scraping motion with a spoon or the blunt side of a butter knife, then cut into chunks. Remove skin and most of the pith from lemons, cut in half.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Blend or juice all ingredients, adding 16oz of water if using a blender. You must strain well if you’re blending, as it will be really pulpy and not pleasant this way. Taste for possible dilution with a centrifugal juicer.
Add glycerin tincture and mix until dissolved. Either store in a clean bottle with a seal or cap, or dispense into smaller jars for single serving on the go. Serve 1 oz at a time after gargling for best results. Stores for 2 days maximum in the fridge.
*Cannabis Glycerin Tincture
Decarboxylate 3.5g of finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees for 20 minutes in a tightly sealed, oven safe container. Put cannabis in lidded mason jar or vacuum sealed bag with cannabis and ½ cup vegetable glycerin. Heat in water bath just under boiling for at least 1 hour. Strain and chill to use in recipes.
Photos by Maria Penaloza
Being sick is the worst, and when you have the energy to put some of your efforts into treating symptoms and taking care of yourself, you tend to get better faster, or at least it feels that way. If you’re in bad shape, this juice would also be easy to purchase from a juice spot, and adding cannabis can help relieve pain or help you to skip anything smoky until your respiratory system is in tip top shape.
This week’s cute animals include a puppy who yawns, a great meme with a cat, two cats fighting, an adorable bunny and a Halloween turtle.
There’s no better pick-me-up than the one you get when you see a clip of an animal acting silly, which is why we’ve compiled this weekly column. These short videos feature all sorts of animals and can provide that much needed mid-week rush of endorphins, anywhere at any time.
This week’s cute animal videos include a puppy who yawns, a great meme with a cat, two cats fighting, an adorable bunny and a Halloween turtle. Have a look!
Puppy yawns
There’s a puppy and its yawning. That’s all the incentive you need to watch this and feel your heart melting.
While we tend to avoid memes in this column, this clip is just too good. Who hasn’t related to this cat at 3 in the morning?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B37gNSJBnWL/
Two cats fighting
These cats are playfully fighting and the people who are recording the video are playing the cats’ reactions and voices. It’s great.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B39f4h0FAvy/
Bunny cheeks
Is it just me or are this bunny’s cheek particularly large? There’s also a slow motion part in the clip where the bunny is just opening its mouth, very adorably.
Turtles aren’t the most fun of pets to have, but this girl, called Ethel, which is also the perfect name for a turtle, looks pretty active. She jumps, or crawls, over some pumpkins and into a pile of crunchy leaves.
The cigarettes contain 100mg of CBD and don’t contain any additives, pesticides or chemicals, and each cigarette is checked manually for quality purposes.
Hoping to earn a cut of the tobacco businesses, cannabis brand Toast is designing cannabis derived cigarettes. Although smoking any kind of material is not recommended by doctors, these CBD and hemp-based cigarettes could be a healthier option over vaping, smoking nicotine, and other tobacco products.
Each discreet looking cigarette is pre-rolled manually and is meant to be smoked as a regular cigarette. In no way do they resemble a blunt or joint of any kind.
“It’s not going to be addictive. A lot of the problems we have with tobacco is if you smoke enough of it and you’re pre-disposed, you’re not going to stop,” medical expert and The Fresh Toast contributor Dr. Jordan Tishler told Fox News. “That’s unlikely to happen with hemp since there’s nothing in hemp that we’re aware of that makes people dependent.”
Tishler added, “If you asked me would I rather have my teen smoke hemp, smoke tobacco or vape a Juul, I’d rather have her do none of the above, but the hemp cigarette seems like the least dangerous of the three because it has no nicotine.”
According to Toast, the cigarettes contain 100mg of CBD and are rolled in organic hemp paper. They don’t contain any additives, pesticides or chemicals, and each cigarette is checked manually for quality purposes.
While there’s no evidence that smoking cannabis reduces tobacco intake (in fact, some studies suggest the opposite), these CBD cigarettes could help smokers smoke something that’s less harmful to their bodies. Some studies have found that CBD helped manage anxiety and cravings, especially those intense ones that heavy smokers feel whenever they do something that triggers their habit.
Justin Theroux says everyone will get to see how funny his ex Jennifer Aniston is now that she’s on Instagram; Kanye West admits he almost walked from hip hop because it’s unholy.
Kanye West was willing to give up his career to strengthen his relationship with God.
Earlier this week, Ye’s pastor, Adam Tyson, revealed that the 42-year-old rapper, who recently gave his life to Christ, told him that he wanted to walk away from hip hop because he thought it was unholy.
“One time, he told me that he wasn’t going to rap,” Adam recalled while being interviewed on a Christian podcast. “I said, ‘Why not?’” to which Kanye replied: “‘That’s the devil’s music.’”
“I said, ‘Hey, man. Rap is a genre. You can rap for God,’” the pastor continued. “I think he was already thinking about it a little bit, but I definitely said, ‘Hey, bro. I think you need to use your talents that God’s given you and use that platform for God.’”
“In fact, I asked him, ‘Hey man, have you heard of Lecrae?’ He’s like, ‘No.’ [So I asked], ‘Have you heard of Flame, Tedashii, Trip Lee?’ He hadn’t heard of any of those guys,’” Adam added. “I’m sure he’s heard of them now […] All I’m trying to do is to help him be rooted and grounded in God’s word.”
Photo by Flickr user Jason Persse
As fans know, Kanye has been on a spiritual journey for much of 2019. Back in September, he even announced that he will no longer make secular music, only gospel from here on out. His first project being his soon-to-be-released album, Jesus Is King.
Earlier this month, Ye stopped at George Washington University for a listening party of his Christian-inspired album and revealed that he’s a born again Christian. “I want to let you guys know that I am not here for your entertainment this afternoon,” Kanye told the crowd. “We are here to spread the gospel.” He then proceeded to read a bible verse and said, “Excuse me if I mispronounce anything. I am a recent convert. It means I recently got saved within this year.”
Ye later added, “I know for a fact, being that I am a strong member in pop culture that I worshipped the idea of labels, brand names. I worshipped cars. I worshipped the city I grew up in. I probably said Chicago in my career more than I said Jesus.”
Kanye went on to discuss his favorite bible verses and the story of Jesus.
Justin Theroux, who split from Aniston in early 2018 after two and a half years of marriage, congratulated the star on joining the social media platform and said he was proud of her.
“She has sworn she was not gonna do it, and then she did it. I’m so proud of her — I thought it was so great,” he told Extra. “The world’s about to learn what a hilarious woman she is if they don’t already… She’s gonna be good at this.”
The former Friends actress, 50, finally joined Instagram last week, sending fans into a frenzy with her very first post: a selfie of the entire core cast of Friends. And, as any new member of Instagram, she made sure to follow all her closest friends — including Theroux, 48.
Theroux joins the list of the first 82 people Aniston followed, which also includes Friends pals Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer (Matthew Perry hasn’t joined Instagram yet). The former couple, who split in early 2018 after seven years together and two and a half years of marriage, have remained close.
He was one of the first to comment on her inaugural post, writing, “Woot-Woot! #first.”
Theroux also wished Aniston a happy birthday on his Instagram earlier this year, sharing a black-and-white photo of Aniston, who turned 50, carrying a horned statue above her head as she gazed down at the camera.
“Happy Birthday to this fierce Woman,” Theroux wrote in the caption. “Fiercely loving. Fiercely kind. ….and fiercely funny. you B.”
These new phone cases look and feel like flesh, resulting in the most disturbing thing you’ll see today.
French scientists have developed some kind of artificial skin for your digital devices, just in case you want to feel closer to them. So everyone is clear, human flesh phone cases are horrible and creepy!
According to Gizmodo, the “Skin-On Interface” was designed as a more intuitive way of interacting with your electronics, creating more new methods of user input.
“When we interact with others, we use skin as interfaces,” says designer Marc Teyssier. “However the objects of mediated communication — such as the smartphone — still has a cold interface that doesn’t allow natural interaction and input. In this project, I wanted to make available the perfect human interface that is the skin for existing devices.”
You can interact with the skin cover in multiple ways, prompting different reactions. You can pinch it, tickle it and poke it, because who hasn’t thought of doing that to their phone, right? Totally normal.
The cover is available in two styles: “simple,” which is creepy looking, and “ultra realistic,” which makes your phone look like a decomposing piece of human flesh or a really ugly block of soap.
Despite the terrible visual, the skin covers contain some really interesting technology that’s made up of multiple layers that interact in complex ways. According to the video, the cover prompts reactions in the phone by touch, with the tech knowing where you’re holding it and responding to your different actions. The skin covers can be applied to other tech devices, like track pads, smart watches and more, in case you want to have these features anywhere else.
None of this makes me want to buy one, but it does make me curious about the future of this kind of technology. Maybe you can a piece your Alexa device and make the device even more creepy and realistic.
Using CBD to mitigate Fluffy’s anxiety is generally safe and effective, but there are some things to keep in mind first.
Traveling is a common stressor for humans, at least 40% of Americans report having some level of fear or anxiety brought on by flying. Even without the fear factor, traveling is a stressful and tiring endeavor, and can be taxing to one’s well being. Similarly, traveling takes a toll on pets, with many of our furballs experiencing anxiety and stress in transit, whether it be by land, air, or sea. You can use CBD to treat your pet’s travel anxiety.
It’s easy to see how, dogs and cats aren’t used to being confined inside a noisy, metal enclosure moving at speeds rarely experienced. And like humans, CBD has been observed to have a calming effect on our pets. Using CBD to mitigate Fluffy’s anxiety is generally safe and effective.
CBD is generally permitted, although its legal status is nebulous. Though generally legal in most of the US, CBD remains illegal in 3 states, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, while other states regulate who can use CBD and how its distributed. Hemp-derived CBD is legal across all 50 states however.
CBD oils, tinctures and creams are subject to TSA’s 3-1-1 rule; Pooch’s CBD drops must be in a container 3.4oz or less, inside a 1 quart bag, and 1 bag per person. Non-liquid pet treats are subject to the same screening as any other food.
Photo by Isabela Kronemberger via Unsplash
Pets require a smaller CBD dosage than humans, read the manufacturer’s label and use their dose instructions as a guideline, but start with the lowest possible dose. CBD is relatively safe, and every animal, like people, respond differently, and pets should be monitored while they are on CBD.
There are a lot of CBD supplements out there, and some are unique formulations that include other substances such as herbs, extracts, and vitamins. Some ingredients in people CBD might be dangerous for pets. Dosing pets using droppers or capsules designed for people might also prove difficult. Look for a CBD product designed for pets.
Studies on the efficacy and mechanism of CBD are as scant in the veterinary world as they are in the human world. Studies on pets and CBD have thus far focused on the substance’s ability to lower inflammation and pain, and more needs to be understood. Pet owners wanting to try CBD to treat their fur baby’s anxiety before the science is in should probably check in with their vet first, especially if their pet is taking other medication. Know you have a tool to help and can use CBD to treat your pet’s travel anxiety.
States have green-lit obstructive sleep apnea as a medical marijuana issue, but many doctors are hesitant to push cannabis because the CPAP machine is still held as the gold standard.
Sleep apnea is a common-ish disorder that shatters restful sleep with interruptions in breathing that can last anywhere from seconds to even minutes. Severe cases might present up to thirty such disruptions per minute, making true rest nearly impossible.
While treatment options such as surgery and medication exist, a less drastic but far more awkward option is continuous positive airway pressure (or CPAP), which is provided by a plastic ventilation tube attached to a face mask at one end and an air pump on the other. It’s not the easiest thing to wear when trying to fall asleep.
Photo by Jamie Grill/Getty Images
Can THC and CBD help?
So, the question is, does marijuana and the positive effects of CBD have a role in assisting with sleep apnea? With states green-lighting obstructive sleep apnea as an issue for medical marijuana, it appears so, but many doctors are hesitant to push cannabis, as the CPAP machine is still held as the gold standard.
In fact, according to a 2015 research review, cannabinoids certainly hold promise, but they just can’t replace the CPAP. Interestingly, many doctors find frustration in getting their patients to use the device, signaling that the CPAP device, while helpful, is seen as intrusive. After all, patients have to use the device to see its benefits and THC or CBD oil could help lessen anxiety around using the CPAP mask or getting good sleep in general.
So, where does that leave the debate on marijuana for sleep apnea? According to the Sleep Doctor, there just isn’t enough research available to make a pro or con decision. It’s best to discuss individual concerns with your care team and use your CPAP as prescribed.
Medical marijuana could reduce symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety in veterans, if only the government would begin researching the matter.
Last year when bipartisan politicians, veterans, and scientists urged the Department of Veteran Affairs to study what effect cannabis could have on post-traumatic stress disorder, Dr. David Shulkin, the VA secretary at the time, rejected the plea. Citing marijuana’s Schedule I drug status, Shulkin wrote in a letter that “federal law restricts VA’s ability to conduct research involving medical marijuana, or to refer veterans to such research projects.”
Shulkin has since walked back those comments in a new interview with Task & Purpose. The secretary, who was fired via tweet by Donald Trump when Shulkin refused to help the President privatize veteran health care, now believes researching medical marijuana for veterans needs to start immediately.
“I think the time is now,” Shulkin told Task & Purpose, a veteran-focused media company. “I believe that the VA should be involved in research on anything that could potentially help veterans and improve their health and well-being.”
“In particular, with the VA’s focus on suicide as the top priority, people just don’t take their lives because of no reason,” he added. “They take their lives, often because of issues related to chronic pain, depression, substance abuse, and there is growing evidence that medical marijuana—I’m not talking about recreational marijuana—but properly prescribed, may have some real benefits in anxiety improvement, in pain management, and potentially, in the issue of substance abuse.”
Photo by Benjamin Faust via Unsplash
According to a National Suicide Report released by the VA last year, at least 20 veterans commit suicide a day. Various studies have demonstrated the potential efficacy of marijuana to treat people with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and stress. A 2013 study published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugsconcluded “[c]annabis is associated with reductions in PTSD symptoms in some patients.” In addition, a study published earlier this year found that medical marijuana decreased stress, anxiety, and symptoms associated with depression.
As secretary, Shulkin instead referenced research that indicated marijuana use led to increased risk of suicide as well as symptoms of mania and psychosis. John Hudak of the Brookings Institute claimed the VA had cited faulty research and refused to place these negative-sounding studies in total context. Endorsing medical research did not mean the VA was endorsing marijuana legalization, which Shulkin had conflated in Hudak’s mind. “Conducting basic medical research is important for the advancement of therapies for our veterans and the VA has unique opportunities to advance such efforts,” Hudak wrote.
A year later and removed from office, Shulkin agrees with the assessment. Earlier this year, Dr. Sue Sisley concluded landmark FDA-approved research that closely documented how veterans suffering from PTSD reacted to medical cannabis. The triple-blind study, which means researchers didn’t know the potency of the cannabis to veterans, is expected to be published later this year. Shulkin believes this type of research, which took Dr. Sisley 10 years to complete and lost her a university job, needs to become easier to complete soon.
Said Shulkin, “Marijuana is a controlled substance, so therefore the challenge of doing research with the regulations, and the hoops that you have to go through, are making it too difficult to do for many of the researchers.”
Social media doesn’t tend to be super helpful after a breakup, but there are some ways in which these sites can help you.
Breaking up in the modern era sucks. While before we used to be able to break up and cut off that person from our lives, now we’re forced to live with their presence in our pockets. Thanks to your cellphone, you now have 24/7 access to your ex, allowing you to reread texts, stalk their profiles and more.
Nowadays breakups need to be handled with care. While it sucks to have to block people, sometimes it’s what you need and that’s okay. There are also Instagram accounts that can help you feel better and provide some perspective and much needed advice from a totally unbiased point of view.
Check out 5 Instagram accounts you should follow after a painful breakup:
If you’re feeling angry and disappointed the best thing you can do is laugh about it. Awards for good boys is an account made by comedian Shelby Lorman. Her posts are basically awards for mediocre men who expect a medal every time they do even the most basic of things. It’s great.
Another hilarious account you can follow is Reductress, which parodies all kinds of women websites and the ridiculous headlines that accompany them. The fake headlines resonate really well with all sorts of people, especially those who’ve recently gone through break ups.
Elephant Journal is a very positive Instagram account for people going through all sorts of things. The account provides quotes that range from funny to introspective, always resonating and providing some perspective.
Probably the most famous poet to come out of Instagram, Rupi Kaur has over 3.8 million followers. Most of her content centers on self care, which is a nice thing to be reminded of when going through hard times.
Cleo Wade is another famous author with a large platform on Instagram, having over 539k followers. She publishes great quotes, inspiring thoughts and beautifully minimalistic artwork that is good to have even when you’re not going through a break up or a rough time.
Cannabis companies seem to be sensitive to the issue and it looks as if small steps are being taken to be inclusive as the industry continues to build and grow.
Diversity is the word of the day when it comes to the cannabis industry. It’s the word that sunk the attempt to legalize adult use cannabis in the state of New York and it’s also the issue that torpedoed New Jersey’s march to full legalization.
In the early days of the legal medical marijuana market, the demographics of industry insiders skewed to outliers, risk-takers and women who were tired of banging their heads on the glass ceilings of other industries. People of color with past incarcerations were largely shut out of the industry. The advocates pushing for legalization basically had to agree to a strict no criminals rule in order for the states to gain a level of comfort. The unintended consequence of that bargaining tool was that people of color got pushed aside in the early days of the cannabis industry.
As more data was released it was realized that black and brown people were arrested and jailed far more often than their white cannabis counterparts. Thus, legalization laws that required no executives with a criminal past meant that population was excluded from the party. Those statistics have been used as reason for arrest record expungements so that people with prior marijuana arrests can start over with a clean slate and enter the industry. States now realize that expungement needs to be a part of the social equity formula so that this demographic isn’t cut out of the legal community altogether.
Women in Cannabis
Women had a much better shot at grabbing a seat at the executive cannabis table than people of color, but it seems they are fighting to keep those gains. Women jumped into the cannabis industry in the early days as they accepted the risk of working in cannabis. According to Debra Borchardt, the CEO and Co-founder of the cannabis financial news website Green Market Report, “The general attitude from the early cannabis pioneers was ‘what have I got lose?’ We weren’t moving up in traditional sectors the way we felt we should be and weren’t getting equal pay. So why not take charge of our careers in cannabis? The opportunities were there for the taking because men, as breadwinners, weren’t willing to take that risk.”
Photo by danielzgombic/Getty Images
The number of female employees in the cannabis industry has fluctuated between 26% and 36% according to statistics from Marijuana Business Daily. According to a report by cannabis employment firm Vangst and MJ Biz Daily, 38.5% of total surveyed employees identified as female. The report reviewed 166 cannabis companies in 17 states. Responses from companies with fewer than 2 employees weren’t included.
The top three states for hiring female workers in the cannabis industry were Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New York. Only 17.6% of these women said they held a director or executive role. One company though had 15 women in either a director role or executive role. At least 41.2% have at least one female at the director or executive level position. Sadly, 12.6% of the surveyed cannabis companies had zero women in a director or executive level position.
Seven companies noted that they only have women working for them, but those companies were small, totaling seven or fewer employees. Compared to other industries only education and real estate hire more women. Education is 68% women, while real estate is 49.9% women.
“Women started out strong in the industry, then we saw those gains slip as many owners were bought out or left due to founder fatigue,” said Borchardt. “We’ve also seen the stigma of cannabis work lessen and that is drawing many more men to the industry. The key now is for women to fight to get on company boards and keep the pressure on companies to hire more women.”
It does seem that the issue is getting more attention. A recent Arcview event held in New York was notable in that Troy Dayton said, “We welcomed more female speakers on stage In New York than ever before, and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the results. We continued our commitment to honoring women’s indispensable contribution to our industry by hosting the Arcview Women’s Investor Network (A-WIN) retreat after our event.” Another panelist at the event said, “Frankly I’m tired of just seeing the same type of men pitch. I welcome the new faces and want to see more women pitching.”
Women Grow sponsored a study on women in cannabis in 2017 in a joint project with New Frontier Data that showed an overwhelming number of cannabis companies with women leaders. However, over a third of the people contributing to the report were from the Women Grow organization, so it was already heavily skewed towards women responding. This report found 50% of the cannabis companies were owned by women. These were mostly small businesses with revenue under $100,000 and not publicly traded entities.
That could be interpreted as women are still starting businesses and becoming entrepreneurs, but not making the jump to the big time. This hurdle seems to have been identified as female investing groups are popping up like Treehouse Global Ventures. It’s run by women with the intention to invest in women. Amy Margolis also started a group in Oregon called The Initiative. It’s an accelerator program designed to help female cannabis businesses navigate the cozy world of raising capital.
Ultimately, as women are becoming a fast growing category for cannabis consumption, companies are taking notice. It makes sense to have more women employees if the companies customers are increasingly more women.
Photo by rez-art/Getty Images
People of Color
The discussion surrounding women in the cannabis industry is aided by the surveys and studies asking employers about their gender hiring statistics. Unfortunately for minorities or people of color, the question becomes very awkward and so it isn’t asked. The Women Grow survey did ask about minority representation, something few in the cannabis industry have tried to determine. Within this specific study, over half of the employees in ownership or management roles were minority. Still, one has to consider the group that responded to the survey was skewed towards women and minorities.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 39.4% of the population identifies as nonwhite, but only account for 27.4% of all startup businesses. The highest percentage of minority owned startups are in California, followed by San Antonio Texas, the Washington metro area, St. Louis and then the New York metro area. Yet, no such figures exist within the cannabis community.
Roz McMarthy, the founder of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, said the issue was less awkwardness and more of an EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) issue. “We need to get that data retrieved,” she said. However, she believes that fear of breaking EEOC rules keeps employers from asking about an employee’s race. “You have an industry that is being built in the shadows because some of that information is not being asked or being shared,” she added.
Indeed, the Minority Cannabis Business Association determined that the city of Los Angeles fell short of expectations with regards to the cities social equity program, even though California rates the highest for minority owned startups. The group noted applicants were being exploited for their equity from shareholders. Educational services were minimal and incubators were inconsistent or abused their position. The group said that government officials appeared more interested in promoting their personal agendas than the future of the social equity program.
States are trying to address the social equity dilemma by requiring that a certain amount of licenses get awarded to applicants. For example, in Illinois the program says it “provides benefits directly to those who have suffered because of the war on cannabis. Not only does HB 1438 remove convictions through expungement, it specifically provides additional points for business applicants, access to financial resources for start-up costs, and resources to communities that were hardest hit from the war on cannabis.” Such a business must be owned by 51% or more of those who qualify, or for businesses with 10 or more staff, 51% of the workers must qualify. Yet so far, the only licenses awarded for adult-use sales in the state have been to Cresco Labs, which has a mostly while male c-suite.
A prime example of how things can go wrong as companies attempt to earn a minority license is the situation with Harvest Health & Recreation’s Ohio license application. Ms. Ariane Kirkpatrick, an African America, was listed on the company’s license application. She contributed no capital, but instead brought expertise and sweat equity. Harvest received one of the 12 grow licenses by claiming it was 51% owned by a member of an “economically disadvantaged group.” Kirkpatrick was listed as a President, but had no one listed as reporting to her. The CEO of Harvest, Steve White was listed as an owner , but with 0% interest. In Pennsylvania, the company was accused not using the minority or women-owned businesses as contractors as the company had promised. Harvest is in the process of rectifying these situations, but it demonstrates the way good intentions can go wrong.
While social engineering can be an almost impossible task to get right, McCarthy did have suggestions on ways to improve the cannabis industry’s efforts.
Hire an actual diversity officer. She stressed that a social responsibility officer is not the same thing as these executives mostly focus renewable resources and sustainability. A diversity officer would actively work to create a welcoming environment for people of color.
Market towards the African American community. McCarthy noted that this is a very loyal customer base, that is all but being ignored by cannabis marketers. There are products marketed towards women and stoner bro’s, so why not people of color?
Create more opportunities for people of color at cannabis conferences. These events are predominantly panels of white men and a better effort could be made to be more inclusive.
“Imagine if you had someone at the executive level making decisions,” asked McCarthy. “You would be sending them to specific events and capitalizing on an underserved customer base. That’s the benefit of having someone that’s culturally different.”
Both of these groups are keeping up the pressure on cannabis companies to have a seat at the table. Luckily, cannabis companies seem to be sensitive to the issue and it looks as if small steps are being taken to be inclusive as the industry continues to build and grow.
you B.”
