All posts tagged: Culture

The future of weed is microdosing. This company is ahead of the game

Pax CEOBharat Vasan and the Pax Era (not to scale), which will now help you microdose.
Image: pax

It’s rare that you find a company that specifically wants to help you use its product less, especially in the marijuana space. But that’s just what vaporizer maker Pax Labs is delivering in an update to its Pax Era device and app Tuesday: the ability to inhale cannabis in truly tiny doses.

This is unusual, because the era of pot prohibition was all about more: growers with limited space competed to give you a bigger and better high, packing their strains of weed with ever greater amounts of THC (and more recently the other major active ingredient, CBD). 

In the first flush of pot legalization, this extreme potency trend continued. Edibles were enormously strong (as columnist Maureen Dowd famously discovered to her chagrin), and the fashionable thing among some stoners was “dabbing” — superheating concentrated cannabinoid oil for a fast, insanely strong high. 

But with legalization spreading rapidly across the country — just yesterday, New York state got behind it — times have changed. The frontier of middle-class consumerism has opened up. Stressed suburban moms and busy executives are the new target audience, not stoners with high tolerance levels. 

Microdosing has been a thing for some time; it’s also an increasingly popular therapeutic way to take LSD. But when it comes to marijuana, establishing what doctors call the minimal effective dose has involved experimenting with tinctures or taking tiny amounts of edibles — not necessarily something a newbie has the patience or the gumption to do. 

Enter the Pax Era. Launched in late 2016, this $30 flash drive-sized vape uses concentrate-filled “pods” made by third parties (more than 250 kinds of pod are now available at dispensaries across the U.S.). If it looks just like the popular nicotine vape called the Juul, that’s because Pax Labs was spun off from the company that became Juul in 2017. 

Pax has been busy post-Juul. It brought on a new CEO, Bharat Vasan: steeped in Silicon Valley, Vasan was an executive at Electronic Arts, then co-founded a wearable device company that was bought by Intel for $100 million, then sold a smart lock and doorbell company before Pax came calling. The Era’s new microdosing ability comes via an update to its Bluetooth-linked app (iOS or Android) called Session Control. It marks Vasan’s first major impact on Pax’s direction.

The Pax Era’s new dosing options.

Image: pax

“Session Control make the vaping experience more predictable for people, especially those who are new to cannabis,” says Vasan. He and Jesse Silver, who is both Pax Labs’ VP of product and a prolific Burning Man artist, gave me an advance look at how it works. 

Up until now, the Pax app has allowed you to set the temperature of the vapor, allowing either for more subtle flavor or larger clouds from the Era. If that’s the horizontal axis (literally, on the app) Vasan and Silver see Session Control as the vertical axis controlling how much you get.

Turn the feature on and you have the options of micro, small, medium or large doses. A bar appears on the screen. Once you fill the bar with green by inhaling on the Pax Era, you’re done — or rather, you’re locked out of using the device for 30 seconds. 

Of course, you can just keep hitting the Pax again after 30 seconds if you want to defeat the purpose. (Or, if you’re not in the app, take the pod out and put it back in to disable Session Control.) But for those who are actively seeking moderation, or looking to eke out the contents of those expensive Pax Pods (which sell for anywhere between $30 and $100, depending on the strain), it’s an excellent constraint. 

The microdose is truly micro, and provides probably the most discreet, extremely low-level buzz you’ll ever feel. You could probably take a hit in the middle of a meeting and no one would notice. (Not that we’re recommending that.) 

How did Pax decide what a micro hit was? Technically, it’s all about the number of joules (not Juuls) of energy applied to the Pod by the Pax’s USB-chargeable battery. This is why you shouldn’t expect to see Session Control on Pax’s larger and more expensive vaporizer for cannabis flower, the $200 Pax 3; it’s harder to control the amount of energy provided to the Pax 3’s oven. That thing gets so hot, you can get high from it immediately after it’s turned off.  

But how did Pax decide how many joules were necessary? With the help of feedback from a large and enthusiastic beta testing community. This kind of feedback will determine where the company will go with Session Control technology in the future — possibly providing an “Extra Large” option, Vasan suggested, or an even more micro microdose. Or maybe allowing users with poor impulse control to change the amount of time they’re locked out of the device. 

Regardless, it’s an intriguing strategy that helps Pax in its goal to become what Vasan calls the iPhone of vaporizers: it just works, however you want it to work. Technically, encouraging people to use the product less (or in smaller doses) doesn’t affect Pax Labs’ bottom line, since the Pods are all filled by third parties. Pax just makes empty Pods and licenses their use.   

And if more people have a better, low level, more manageable experience while vaping weed, perhaps they’ll become long-term customers. And perhaps they’ll sample more Pax Pods now that they can effectively sip them. In this, as in so many other areas of consumption, less is more. 

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneThe future of weed is microdosing. This company is ahead of the game
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Cynthia Nixon adds $4.20 donation button to her website because weed, dude

Justice, liberty, and spliffs for all!
Image: timothy a. clary/AFP/Getty Images

There is nothing Twitter progressives love more than  a quality pro-weed troll coming from an older politician.

Take New York Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, who recently added a $4.20 donation button to her website to express her support for legalized marijuana. Her opponent, Governor Cuomo, has taken the avoidant “let’s do more research” approach.

“We have to stop putting people of color in jail for something that white people do with impunity,” Nixon says in the video. “Eighty percent of the New Yorkers who are arrested for marijuana are black or Latino, despite the fact that whites and people of color use marijuana at roughly the same rates.”

In 2014, Governor Cuomo legalized medical marijuana in New York with extreme restrictions. When it comes to recreational marijuana, however, Cuomo calls it a gateway drug. He has proposed decriminalizing small amounts of the drug which… *elongated sigh.*

In March, Nixon first declared her support for legalization, arguing that doing so would raise millions in tax revenue and help the struggling agriculture industry.

According to the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization, as does 100 percent of people who live in the apartment below me — my dudes, get another hobby.

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneCynthia Nixon adds $4.20 donation button to her website because weed, dude
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John Boehner, who helped send drug dealers to prison, to lobby for marijuana

"My thinking/the profits on this matter have evolved."
Image: chip somodevilla/Getty Images

Now that he’s retired from Congress, former House Speaker John Boehner has decided to channel his inner flip-flopper and lobby for legalized weed. 

Boehner announced his decision Wednesday to join the board of Acreage Holdings, “an investment company with an established footprint in the cannabis industry in the United States.” 

“My thinking on cannabis has evolved,” Boehner said, sans winking emoji, in a tweet.

Boehner said he’d be lobbying to de-schedule the drug so we can “do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities. research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic.”

The former speaker’s decision comes at a time of soaring profits for the legalized cannabis industry, with $10 billion in sales recorded in 2017.

In 2011, John Boehner said he was “unalterably opposed to the legalization of marijuana or any other FDA Schedule I drug.” He added, “I remain concerned that legalization will result in increased abuse of all varieties of drugs, including alcohol.”

In fact, the former speaker spent much of his legislative career making life harder for drug users and instituting harsh penalties for drug sellers. In 1999, he voted to prohibit needle exchange and medical marijuana in D.C. — services that, arguably, help the the most vulnerable victims of the drug trade. In 2007, he voted against expanding services for ex-offenders leaving prison and re-entering public life. In 1999, he voted for a bill that allowed juveniles to be tried as adults for serious drug offenses.

Towards the end of his career in Congress, Boehner did signal an openness to getting people out of prison who “don’t really need to be there,” including non-violent drug offenders. The bill was never passed, and shortly thereafter, Boehner left Congress.

I wonder if Boehner’s thoughts on all of the drug bills he signed have also “evolved.”

My hunch is a giant “Nah.” 

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneJohn Boehner, who helped send drug dealers to prison, to lobby for marijuana
read more

Cynthia Nixon adds $4.20 donation button to her website because weed, dude

Justice, liberty, and spliffs for all!
Image: timothy a. clary/AFP/Getty Images

There is nothing Twitter progressives love more than  a quality pro-weed troll coming from an older politician.

Take New York Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, who recently added a $4.20 donation button to her website to express her support for legalized marijuana. Her opponent, Governor Cuomo, has taken the avoidant “let’s do more research” approach.

“We have to stop putting people of color in jail for something that white people do with impunity,” Nixon says in the video. “Eighty percent of the New Yorkers who are arrested for marijuana are black or Latino, despite the fact that whites and people of color use marijuana at roughly the same rates.”

In 2014, Governor Cuomo legalized medical marijuana in New York with extreme restrictions. When it comes to recreational marijuana, however, Cuomo calls it a gateway drug. He has proposed decriminalizing small amounts of the drug which… *elongated sigh.*

In March, Nixon first declared her support for legalization, arguing that doing so would raise millions in tax revenue and help the struggling agriculture industry.

According to the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization, as does 100 percent of people who live in the apartment below me — my dudes, get another hobby.

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneCynthia Nixon adds $4.20 donation button to her website because weed, dude
read more

John Boehner, who helped send drug dealers to prison, to lobby for marijuana

"My thinking/the profits on this matter have evolved."
Image: chip somodevilla/Getty Images

Now that he’s retired from Congress, former House Speaker John Boehner has decided to channel his inner flip-flopper and lobby for legalized weed. 

Boehner announced his decision Wednesday to join the board of Acreage Holdings, “an investment company with an established footprint in the cannabis industry in the United States.” 

“My thinking on cannabis has evolved,” Boehner said, sans winking emoji, in a tweet.

Boehner said he’d be lobbying to de-schedule the drug so we can “do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities. research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic.”

The former speaker’s decision comes at a time of soaring profits for the legalized cannabis industry, with $10 billion in sales recorded in 2017.

In 2011, John Boehner said he was “unalterably opposed to the legalization of marijuana or any other FDA Schedule I drug.” He added, “I remain concerned that legalization will result in increased abuse of all varieties of drugs, including alcohol.”

In fact, the former speaker spent much of his legislative career making life harder for drug users and instituting harsh penalties for drug sellers. In 1999, he voted to prohibit needle exchange and medical marijuana in D.C. — services that, arguably, help the the most vulnerable victims of the drug trade. In 2007, he voted against expanding services for ex-offenders leaving prison and re-entering public life. In 1999, he voted for a bill that allowed juveniles to be tried as adults for serious drug offenses.

Towards the end of his career in Congress, Boehner did signal an openness to getting people out of prison who “don’t really need to be there,” including non-violent drug offenders. The bill was never passed, and shortly thereafter, Boehner left Congress.

I wonder if Boehner’s thoughts on all of the drug bills he signed have also “evolved.”

My hunch is a giant “Nah.” 

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneJohn Boehner, who helped send drug dealers to prison, to lobby for marijuana
read more

California weed stored serves 23,606 people in first month

Image: medmen

The first month of California’s legal recreational marijuana sales showed that weed is big business, despite local government’s reluctance to issue permits.

MedMen, a cannabis company that’s basically an Apple Store for pot products has dispensaries across Los Angeles, and found itself in an interesting position as one of the few places people could purchase marijuana in the most densely populated areas of Los Angeles when legalized sales began in California.

At MedMen’s West Hollywood location, customer traffic clocked in a 23,606 people in January alone. Revenue was up 200 percent, compared to December, and up 500 percent compared to the year before. Its Santa Ana location brought in 5,051 people, doubling December’s revenue. 

MedMen’s West Hollywood location.

Image: medMen

Since recreational pot sales began on Jan. 1, Californians have been flocking to the few dispensaries that are allowed to sell to residents without medical cards. Proposition 64, which legalized recreational cannabis, lets local governments regulate sales. 

Some cities in Los Angeles county have been resistant to recreational weed. Santa Monica, for example, has banned non-medical marijuana storefronts entirely. Long Beach issued a 180 day ban on recreational sales at the end of 2017, giving the city time to figure out regulations. 

The city of Los Angeles set up framework for regulation, but businesses couldn’t apply for licenses until January 3. Vendors also had to apply for a separate license from the state-run Bureau of Cannabis Control.

The city of West Hollywood issued temporary permits for stores like MedMen. The California Bureau of Cannabis Cannabis Control issued only 47 temporary retail licenses, but they’ll expire by May 1. 

The unique position helped set up MedMen to be a marijuana unicorn. Canadian investment firm Captor Capital invested $30 million in the company for just 3 percent, valuing the company at about $1 billion.

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneCalifornia weed stored serves 23,606 people in first month
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Girl Scout sells 300 boxes of cookies outside a California dispensary

Image: Getty Images

This Girl Scout knows her customers well. 

The young entrepreneur set up shop outside of Urbn Leaf, a recreational and medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego. According to local news outlet Fox 4, the girl sold more than 300 boxes in about six hours. 

Urbn Leaf posted this photo on Instagram, encouraging its clientele to grab some “Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC.” (GSC is a strain of weed named after girl scout cookies, and is known for its “sweet and earthy” flavor.)

A post shared by Urbn Leaf (@urbnleafca) on

“I think our customers loved it,” said Savannah Rakofsky, a representative for Urbn Leaf. “They went out and bought boxes.” 

According to Rakofsky, there was an “added value” to visiting the dispensary and getting the chance to buy Girl Scout cookies. Although it didn’t necessarily bring in customers, it did drum up publicity for Urbn Leaf. Rakofsky posted the photo as she was leaving for her lunch break, and there were already news teams at the store when she came back.

Rakofsky also said there’s a possibility of this becoming a trend. 

“The funny thing is, after the news story ran, we had more Girl Scouts show up over the weekend,” Rakofsky said. 

Although Girl Scouts are only allowed to sell at “approved sites” — which doesn’t include pot shops — this particular scout got around the rule by selling cookies from her wagon, and by moving up and down the sidewalk instead of staying in front of the store. Alison Bushan, a spokeswoman for Girl Scouts San Diego, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that this tactic was “gray area.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a Girl Scout racked in sales in front of a dispensary. In 2014, one savvy scout sold cookies outside of a San Francisco cannabis clinic. Girl Scouts of Northern California actually condoned it, because “the mom decided this was a place she was comfortable with her daughter being at.”

Rakofsky said Urbn Leaf would be “totally open to” allowing Girl Scouts to sell cookies outside their storefronts regularly, if the organization allowed it. “We have no problem,” she said. “But unfortunately that’s not us, that’s the Girl Scouts.” 

WATCH: ‘French Spider-Man’ casually climbs Paris skyscraper in epic feat

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneGirl Scout sells 300 boxes of cookies outside a California dispensary
read more

California weed stored serves 23,606 people in first month

Image: medmen

The first month of California’s legal recreational marijuana sales showed that weed is big business, despite local government’s reluctance to issue permits.

MedMen, a cannabis company that’s basically an Apple Store for pot products has dispensaries across Los Angeles, and found itself in an interesting position as one of the few places people could purchase marijuana in the most densely populated areas of Los Angeles when legalized sales began in California.

At MedMen’s West Hollywood location, customer traffic clocked in a 23,606 people in January alone. Revenue was up 200 percent, compared to December, and up 500 percent compared to the year before. Its Santa Ana location brought in 5,051 people, doubling December’s revenue. 

MedMen’s West Hollywood location.

Image: medMen

Since recreational pot sales began on Jan. 1, Californians have been flocking to the few dispensaries that are allowed to sell to residents without medical cards. Proposition 64, which legalized recreational cannabis, lets local governments regulate sales. 

Some cities in Los Angeles county have been resistant to recreational weed. Santa Monica, for example, has banned non-medical marijuana storefronts entirely. Long Beach issued a 180 day ban on recreational sales at the end of 2017, giving the city time to figure out regulations. 

The city of Los Angeles set up framework for regulation, but businesses couldn’t apply for licenses until January 3. Vendors also had to apply for a separate license from the state-run Bureau of Cannabis Control.

The city of West Hollywood issued temporary permits for stores like MedMen. The California Bureau of Cannabis Cannabis Control issued only 47 temporary retail licenses, but they’ll expire by May 1. 

The unique position helped set up MedMen to be a marijuana unicorn. Canadian investment firm Captor Capital invested $30 million in the company for just 3 percent, valuing the company at about $1 billion.

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneCalifornia weed stored serves 23,606 people in first month
read more

This holiday wreath comes with some extra-special flowers. Hint: It’s weed

Image: henry’s original

Wreaths aren’t exactly the most exciting thing about the holidays — unless they come loaded with weed, dude.

Cannabis company Henry’s Original has unveiled a limited-edition handcrafted holiday wreath, which you’ll probably want to hang on the inside of your door instead of the outside, because it comes loaded with a full ounce of marijuana flower.

The actual wreath is made of eucalyptus, evergreen, dried wheat and grasses, moss, berries, and pine cones, and plastered throughout is an ounce of sun-grown “artisanal cannabis” grown in Mendocino County. Henry’s Originals assures customers that the cannabis can easily be removed for consumption without disrupting the structural integrity of the wreath. 

Image: HENRY’S ORIGINAL

The wreath will set you back $400, which isn’t an insane price considering the amount of pot it comes with. However, due to the legal status of cannabis in the United States, it is only available in the Los Angeles area, and you must have a valid medical marijuana card.

Although cannabis is legal in the state of California, the state is still putting finishing touches on its retail regulations for recreational use, licensing for which will begin in 2018.  

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneThis holiday wreath comes with some extra-special flowers. Hint: It’s weed
read more

Girl Scout sells 300 boxes of cookies outside a California dispensary

Image: Getty Images

This Girl Scout knows her customers well. 

The young entrepreneur set up shop outside of Urbn Leaf, a recreational and medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego. According to local news outlet Fox 4, the girl sold more than 300 boxes in about six hours. 

Urbn Leaf posted this photo on Instagram, encouraging its clientele to grab some “Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC.” (GSC is a strain of weed named after girl scout cookies, and is known for its “sweet and earthy” flavor.)

A post shared by Urbn Leaf (@urbnleafca) on

“I think our customers loved it,” said Savannah Rakofsky, a representative for Urbn Leaf. “They went out and bought boxes.” 

According to Rakofsky, there was an “added value” to visiting the dispensary and getting the chance to buy Girl Scout cookies. Although it didn’t necessarily bring in customers, it did drum up publicity for Urbn Leaf. Rakofsky posted the photo as she was leaving for her lunch break, and there were already news teams at the store when she came back.

Rakofsky also said there’s a possibility of this becoming a trend. 

“The funny thing is, after the news story ran, we had more Girl Scouts show up over the weekend,” Rakofsky said. 

Although Girl Scouts are only allowed to sell at “approved sites” — which doesn’t include pot shops — this particular scout got around the rule by selling cookies from her wagon, and by moving up and down the sidewalk instead of staying in front of the store. Alison Bushan, a spokeswoman for Girl Scouts San Diego, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that this tactic was “gray area.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a Girl Scout racked in sales in front of a dispensary. In 2014, one savvy scout sold cookies outside of a San Francisco cannabis clinic. Girl Scouts of Northern California actually condoned it, because “the mom decided this was a place she was comfortable with her daughter being at.”

Rakofsky said Urbn Leaf would be “totally open to” allowing Girl Scouts to sell cookies outside their storefronts regularly, if the organization allowed it. “We have no problem,” she said. “But unfortunately that’s not us, that’s the Girl Scouts.” 

WATCH: ‘French Spider-Man’ casually climbs Paris skyscraper in epic feat

Read more: http://mashable.com/

Mary JaneGirl Scout sells 300 boxes of cookies outside a California dispensary
read more