I was recently asked what has changed in the cannabis industry since 4/20 last year and I thought I would share my thoughts here. I'm seeing companies that have a proven track record of sustainability and brand confidence doing well and others struggling to access capital.
Flower has made its resurgence and proving its stronghold as the dominant consumption category. While the days of puff, puff, pass are over, at least for the foreseeable future, we are confident that consumers will continue to buy flower in larger quantities and they will look for more personalized products for delivery of that flower - such as pre-rolls and glass joints.
At GRAV, we've doubled down on flower, expanding into CBD nationwide and THC in California, while continuing to deliver products that our consumers know and love.
We just released GRAV Glass Joints filled with THC and CBD in California (gravcanna.com), entering the GRAV brand into the cannabis space for the first time in our 16-year history. Our partner in California is Eel River Organics, a company that employs a 4th generation cannabis farmer. We will continue partnering with cannabis companies who were previously targeted by the war on drugs to help repair the wrongs of a century of prohibition.
GRAV is one of the first Texas-based companies licensing into a legal-THC market. We also very recently became one of the first companies licensed to grow hemp flower in the state of Texas.
We are about to release GRAV CBD Glass Joints nationwide that consumers can find at local retailers or purchase at gravcbd.com.
This pandemic has proven, without a doubt, that cannabis is a staple of the modern economy. As we saw the long lines and rationing happen during this pandemic, the only solution is to provide a path to more licensed retailers in legal markets, which will drive more production and provide consumers with a better quality product at a more accessible price.
If retail has an opportunity to expand, we will see more specific consumer information available. That consumer data is currently skewed to the hardcore user and it forces brands to pay more attention to their behavior. My favorite GRAV flower in California is the Harlequin strain found in our glass joints. It’s a low-dose 2:1 that I believe will ultimately outperform the high-THC strains.
We hope that legislators across the country, and specifically in prohibition states like Texas, take a moment to recognize that criminalizing cannabis, which disproportionately targets minority populations, is a destructive path forward. Ideally we want to see cannabis removed from the Controlled Substances Act; but a good first step would be access to banking and a path to removal of cannabis from 280E.
I'd love to hear from others about what you're seeing, and what you think the future holds for our industry.
