#CannaCraft (CA)

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Cannabis Trade Federation Announces Full Board, Readies Inclusive Membership Options

Cannabis Trade Federation Announces Full Board, Readies Inclusive Membership Options

What started with the formation of the New Federalism Fund back in March of 2017, has taken on increasing momentum as the Cannabis Trade Federation (CTF) has clearly emerged as the professional “Voice of the Cannabis Industry”. After many months of building a formidable team to represent the Cannabis Industry’s interests at the federal level on Capitol Hill, CTF, which was founded on 4/20/2018…

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COVID-19: How cannabis companies are helping in the crisis

David Downs of Leafly Reports:

During World War II, America crushed fascism by repurposing automobile factories into making fighters and bombers.

In today’s war on COVID-19, America’s $10.73 billion legal marijuana sector is rapidly redeploying assets to help fight SARS-CoV-2, with the goal of saving as many lives as possible. Legal cannabis makers have begun repurposing hash supply chains for hand sanitizer. Marijuana farmers are donating pest control gowns to desperate hospitals. And once-derided ‘pot shops’ are running food drives to keep America’s most vulnerable fed.

From hash to hand sanitizer

Healthcare workers nationwide have spent a month begging the public for more personal protective equipment—latex gloves, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and disinfectants. Hundreds of thousands of lives are on the line if healthcare collapses under a wave of COVID cases.

Cannabis employs 243,700 Americans, many of them deemed “essential” and exempt from stay-at-home orders. They’re handling double the usual retail orders, and maintaining the weed supply chain, while also pitching into their communities.

In Santa Rosa, CA, about 5,000, 1-ounce tubes of hand sanitizer went out to Bay Area hospitals and police departments March 28, with another 20,000 on the way, courtesy of leading extract maker Care By Design.

Known statewide for the THC gel caps, tinctures, and vape pens, Care By Design converted a portion of their manufacturing space and production capacity to formulate and package up some COVID-killing gel. Hand sanitizer is back-ordered for weeks on Amazon.

Jim Hourigan, CEO of Care By Design’s parent company CannaCraft, said “when we started hearing reports of a shortage in hand sanitizer, we knew that we could be of assistance without negatively impacting our employees or our operations.”

CannaCraft founder Dennis Hunter told Leafly that ingredients and packaging once used to make cannabis extracts and skin creams are now keeping cops and nurses safe at work.

Earlier this month CannaCraft called upon three staff chemists to compound ethanol and other medical-grade alcohol with 55-gallon drums of aloe vera—both of which CannaCraft had at the plant. Their on-site lab verified the compound’s strength against SARS-CoV-2, according to FDA guidance documents. CannaCraft then repurposed unused topicals packaging, industrial bottle-filling machines, and label makers to mass-produce the needed supplies.

CannaCraft had planned to release the initial 40-gallon, 5,000-tube run of hand sanitizer to cannabis stores and delivery services. But a local newspaper story drew the attention of nearby nurses and cops. On March 26, CannaCraft loaded cases of Care By Design hand sanitizer into a Santa Rosa Police Department patrol vehicle.

That’s a far cry from four years ago, when public safety officials urged voters to reject Proposition 64.

“It’s just really amazing to be able to be in that position to help people and the community, and be part of the solution to the things we’re dealing with,” Hunter said.

Stepping up around the nation

CannaCraft isn’t the only company stepping up. Others around the industry are doing their part, including:

Bay Area retailer/grower SPARC also began producing hand sanitizer in-house and donated ten gallons of it to San Francisco and Sonoma hospitals.

California cannabis grower, packager, distributor and manufacturer Jahlibyrd (pronounced ‘jah lee bird’) has partnered with South Fork Vodka to make hand sanitizer.

In Las Vegas, cannabis megastore Planet 13 is partnering with Clark County Social Services to donate 100 meals per day, Monday through Friday to vulnerable stay-at-home seniors and disabled residents.

Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, CA, has 1,000 extra gowns this week thanks to Glass House Farms, a large-scale cultivator in Carpinteria. Industrial cannabis farming requires loads of disinfectant and protective gear for pest control. Glass House Farms president Graham Farrar knew he wanted to give back, and the plastic gowns were the first place to start.

In Massachusetts, a large number of dispensaries—working through the Commonwealth Dispensary Association—are making their own hand sanitizer. They include: Revolutionary Clinics, INSA, Central Ave. Compassionate Care, Inc., Sira Naturals, NETA, Theory Wellness, Garden Remedies, Triple M, Alternative Therapy Group Inc., Berkshire Roots, Cultivate, Northeast Alternatives, Patriot Care, and Mass Wellspring.

And CBD American Shaman is also making hand sanitizer in Kansas City.

“The industry is rallying,” said Hunter. “Not just to help each other, but others.”

Jahlibyrd: masks, hospital and food bank space

On March 30, Jahlibyrd, based in Nevada County, CA, near Lake Tahoe, received a huge order of masks destined for the entire front line—cops, nurses, and cannabis workers included. The company had anticipated the community need for masks weeks ago, and put in an order.

“We’ve been tracking this virus for a while and believe it’s a much bigger deal than most people do,” said Sky Rutherford, Jahlibyrd’s head of construction. “We are donating to multiple different first responders. We’re in touch with three different firehouses, the sheriffs department and two to three different medical clinics, as well the CEO of Dignity Health.”

Jahlibyrd has also donated the use of a 7,000 square-foot building to their local hospital for surge capacity, and 5,000 square-feet of space to the Nevada County food bank.

“We just want to show everyone that if everyone does a little we can accomplish a lot,” said Rutherford. “Just because we sell cannabis doesn’t mean we’re just in it for the money. It’s all about the community during these times.”

Food bank programs ramps up

Cannabis culture is rooted in compassion, from Brownie Mary Rathbun forward.

As sales surge at stores, cannabis retailers’ COVID-19 philanthropy efforts are just starting to ramp up. Many retail canna-businesses have existing food bank programs that they’re supporting as millions of Americans file for unemployment and face food scarcity.

For example, the Glass House group donates 5% of product sales from its Santa Barbara adult-use store to the Santa Barbara Foodbank. Farmacy employees also get paid sick leave and team lunches each day from local restaurants.

Santa Barbara’s local cannabis farming industry group has started the 93013 Fund (for the local ZIP code), and is donating $20,000 to local causes. Their fundraising target is $200,000.

Similarly:

Leading Bay Area, CA delivery service Sava donates 10% of sales to charity partners providing protective equipment for California medical workers.

ZoneIn CBD—a national brand from former NFL all-pro linebacker Lofa Tatupu—reports they will donate $5 of all purchases to Food Lifeline.

DefyCBD, co-founded by former NFL running back Terrell Davis, donated $400,000 in CBD drinks to Feeding America.

Compassion programs expand

Compassion programs earmark free or reduced-price cannabis for low-income medical cannabis patients and others. These programs have never been more important as folks on fixed incomes get squeezed hard.

Barbary Coast has two stores in San Francisco, and sold compassion eighth-ounces from Sherbinskis for $1, instead of the regular $75, to anyone in need on March 30. Dubbed Sherbinskis in Place, the eights sold out in a single morning. Similar sales will likely follow.

More marijuana business COVID-19 relief efforts

San Jose store and delivery service Caliva drops a truck’s-worth of shoe coverings, coverall suits, and sleeve covers at Valley Medical Center—donations from Caliva’s grow center in San Jose, CA. Caliva matches up to $10,000 in donations to Silicon Valley Strong.

Friends in Weed has donated over $35,000 in local restaurant gift cards, signed on more than 20 restaurant partners across Colorado and has welcomed 13 partners. In honor of 4/20, FIW is launching a four-day blitz called 420Help—a one-weekend giving push to galvanize the Colorado cannabis community to help fellow Coloradans in need during the COVID crisis. Every dollar raised during 4/20 weekend will go to the Governor’s Colorado COVID Relief Fund, which is providing millions of dollars in immediate aid to first responders, healthcare professionals, educators and other crucial community services throughout Colorado. 420Help challenges every cannabis consumer and fan to make a donation of $4.20 this 4/20 weekend and challenges cannabis businesses and coalitions to donate at least $420 or 4.2% of sales.

Multi-state operator 4Front Ventures in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect vulnerable populations, will shift some of its manufacturing capabilities at its Washington production facility to begin producing liquid disinfectant. In partnership with the Last Prisoner Project, starting on April 20, the organizations will donate a portion of the subsequent hand sanitizer bottles to select prison populations in need of supplies.

The Galley of Santa Rosa, CA, repurposes their state-of-the-art manufacturing and production facility for a first run of “Stop & Sanitize” hand sanitizer bottles—25,000 units for distribution to hospitals, retail shops, grocery, and drug stores.

San Diego business owners of Torrey Holistics have been combatting the shortage of medical safety supplies by donating thousands of masks and hand sanitizers to local hospitals and senior centers across San Diego. Alongside these efforts, Torrey Holistics is donating a portion of its April sales to senior centers who are the most vulnerable.

Oregon’s Chalice Farms implements a customer contribution program at its dispensaries, located throughout the Portland metropolitan area. Chalice Farms matches total customer contributions up to $5,000 weekly. Each of the seven dispensary locations will select a local restaurant in its community to purchase at least $5,000 worth of meals from, to be donated to local hospitals, fire departments, paramedics and police departments.

Connecticut spirits distiller SoNo 1420, known for their hemp-infused spirits, is using its alcohol base to produce complimentary hand sanitizers for the community. The company’s hemp-infused gins and vodkas are distilled from 100% gluten-free corn to create a 95% pure ethanol base. That base is now being used to make hand sanitizer using a formulation recommended by the WHO. With a final concentration of 80% ethanol, it is more than 99.99% effective in killing illness-causing microbes. Complimentary bottles of the hand sanitizer are available at the distillery located at 19 Day Street, Norwalk, CT 06854.

See more cannabis industry efforts to fight COVID-19? Share them in the comments below.

We updated this March 31 story on April 17.

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON LEAFLY, CLICK HERE. 

https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/cannabis-and-coconut-oil-uses-benefits-and-a-recipe-to-make-your

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While there are resources to make cannabis companies more sustainable, there’s little incentive to utilize them. So how can we motivate the legal industry to embrace eco-friendly practices?

The cannabis industry has a major plastic problem.

According to the non-profit Plastic Oceans International, the world produces 300 million tons of plastic every year. Half of that — 150 million tons — is for single-use purposes. While these issues clearly extend far beyond the reaches of the cannabis industry, state packaging regulations have forced many business owners to seek out the cheapest options in order to keep the lights on.

Take, for instance, a standard disposable vaporizer pen. Beyond the materials of the pen itself, California state law requires that the product arrive to the dispensary in child-proof packaging. At that point, it is then purchased, where it is placed into another child-proof bag. That’s a whole lot of plastic for 200 puffs. According to the firm BDS Analytics, sales in California for disposable vape pens nearly doubled from $3.4 million to $6.42 million between January and March of 2018.

That’s a huge amount of plastic being discarded every day in the weed world — and it’s only getting worse.

“It's disturbing,” says Steve D’Angelo, founder of the famed dispensary Harborside and a major figure in the industry. “It's repugnant to the values that cannabis teaches us.”

The crux of the issue lies with the law.

California’s regulations regarding packaging stipulate that “all cannabis and cannabis products be sold in child-resistant packaging.” That means plastic tubes for pre-rolls and additional protective packaging for items like edibles, vape cartridges, and flower.

Anyone who has visited a dispensary in a legal market has likely engaged in the depressing process of digging their way through multiple levels of petroleum-based, non-recyclable plastic to get to the cannabis product within. These rules requiring child-resistant packaging are not endemic to the country’s largest cannabis market, either — nearly every state with a regulated marijuana industry has adopted similar laws. The result is lots and lots of single-use plastic being thrown away every time a customer arrives home from a dispensary.

For D’Angelo, the current situation is the antithesis of what cannabis is supposed to be about.

“One of the things that cannabis teaches us is to respect Mother Nature and to treasure her gifts,” he noted in a phone interview with MERRY JANE. “These regulations don't do that. Frankly, it's disgusting to see the amount of waste that goes on. I get disgusted every time I buy a cannabis product and, in order to get to the cannabis, I have to work my way through three or four levels of completely unnecessary packaging.”

While the sustainable options available to cannabis manufacturers — who represent the stage in the process where packaging first comes into play —may be limited, there are a few companies that have made it their mission to offer environmentally-friendly alternatives to the glut of plastic pre-roll tubes and flower jars that are pervasive throughout the market. But these companies are few and far between. At present, while there are resources to make cannabis companies more sustainable, it's ultimately the lack of incentive to utilize them that prevents any change. So then, how can we motivate the legal industry to embrace eco-friendly practices?

As writer Whitney Mallett noted in a 2017 feature for MERRY JANE, there are many packaging companies that define their products as sustainable without actually making good on the promise. One especially egregious example is ABC Packaging Direct, which bafflingly suggests that its line of disposable plastic bags offer “a positive impact on the environment.” Mallett also points out that terms like “green” and “eco” are often employed as eye-catching buzz words — a tactic commonly known as “greenwashing.”

Fortunately, not every company has let its moral compass go up in smoke.

Take Denver’s Sana Packaging, for example. The business was created after Ron Basak-Smith and James Eichne, two University of Colorado Boulder graduate students, realized that few (if any) packaging companies targeting the cannabis industry had embraced sustainability as their guiding principle. Launched in 2016, Sana Packaging makes its packaging from biodegradable materials like hemp biocomposite and recycled ocean plastics.

“Our basic thing is that we no longer want to create single-use petroleum plastic packaging for the cannabis industry,” said Basak-Smith, Sana’s co-founder. “When we looked at the regulations in place, we saw that it was very difficult for anything to be made out of sustainable materials with the child-resistance [packaging requirements&91;. That really took out all of the current options.”

In order to offer a sustainable alternative, Basak-Smith and Eichner had to develop their own material sources. While Basak-Smith is fiercely proud of the work he and his partner have done, he conceded that in order for Sana Packaging to stay afloat, their prices are two to three times what other, non-environmentally focused packaging companies charge.

“That’s really what we're trying to work through right now,” Basak-Smith said. “What is the willingness to pay for sustainable materials? I think we've got into a situation where [people&91; value the price — whatever that means — over the environment.”

With sustainable packaging coming in at a substantially higher price point, Basak-Smith acknowledged that many cannabis manufacturers simply employ a cost-benefit analysis and decide that saving money is their top priority.

“Companies have to make a profit,” he said. “We're trying to get people to pay more for packaging, which is obviously not the easiest sell. At the same time, the industry does want to do what's right with packaging. People don't want to be wasteful.”

One such person is Kial Long, Vice President of Marketing for CannaCraft in Northern California.

CannaCraft is one of the more popular cannabis manufacturers in the state, having partnered with absoluteXtracts, Care By Design, and Satori. The company is eager to embrace sustainability when it comes to packaging. The issue, according to Long, partially stems from concerns that cannabis regulations may change yet again — a worry that leaves her uneasy about ordering packaging in the quantities required for the choice to make fiscal sense.

“Last year, we didn't really have any insight into what [California’s&91; permanent regulations would be in six months,” Long explained by phone. “To make the investment at that point, we would've needed to buy packaging in really small increments, which would not have been a good business decision. We are a little bit more comfortable buying our packaging in bulk these days, but there's still some hesitation about how things might pan out.”

Long estimates that child-resistant packaging adds about 10 percent to CannaCraft’s total packaging expenses each month, equating to roughly $20,000. California law currently offers no incentives or subsidies to companies for embracing sustainable packaging. In a statement provided to MERRY JANE, a representative for the California Department of Public Health confirmed the state’s current regulations do not explicitly address this subject:

“The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) mandates that all cannabis and cannabis products be sold in child-resistant packaging,” a California Department of Health official stated by email. “Many packaging options exist that are compliant with this standard, including environmentally-friendly ones.”

Despite being one of the most progressive states when it comes to combating climate change, California apparently isn’t concerned with translating its green-friendly attitude to its cannabis industry. At least not yet.

One company that has reportedly taken initiative to become more sustainable is Dosist, makers of disposable vaporizer pens tailored to trigger specific effects. Dosist’s recycling program involves collection bins at various dispensaries where their products are sold. Customers who return a used pen receive a $5 discount on their next Dosist purchase. Working in partnership with the waste hauler company GAIACA, recycled pens are then sorted at a facility in Del Rey Oaks, CA. While Dosist was unable to provide any data on the number of pens recycled to date, the program serves as evidence that such efforts are possible if the necessary interest and resources are available.

For Nick Kovacevich — CEO of KushCo Holdings, one of the industry’s premier vendors for cannabis packaging — biding his time in hopes that the industry eventually mandates sustainable practices simply wasn’t an option.

“While a state government subsidy would be incredible and the industry would embrace that,” Kovacevich explained, “we think if history is any bearer of the future, we cannot rely on the state for guidance. We need to take the proactive step, and that is what we feel we are doing.”

To that end, KushCo Holdings has joined with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a “membership-based collaborative that believes in the power of industry to make packaging more sustainable,” whose members include corporate heavyweights like Verizon Wireless, McDonald’s, and Procter & Gamble. Despite Kovacevich’s enthusiasm for adopting the eco-friendly practices encouraged by the SPC — the organization’s stated goal is to ensure all packaging across industries is sourced responsibly, optimized for efficiency, effectively recovered, non-toxic, and low impact — he suggested that a big picture outlook, one that prioritizes sustainability for the cannabis industry, is also warranted.

“If we step back, we see the quantity of plastics our industry produces and wastes,” he said. “We also think it’s important to keep context, meaning, Amazon, Walmart and other major global realtors send thousands of boxes every day. Pinpointing the cannabis industry, as some outlets have, is a small waste target when compared to the larger retailers. Sustainability is a priority for us because it’s the right thing to do. We see our ourselves as industry change agents, and we want others to follow our lead in this effort.”

While CannaCraft’s Long said she’d be in favor of the state taking a more active interest in encouraging environmental practices, she’s also not planning to wait around.

Instead, CannaCraft developed a native 510 thread cartridge — the units that are filled with cannabis oil for vape pens — which were recently certified as child-resident under the requirements of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act.

“Prior to getting certified,” Long said, “we were adding over 100,000 plastic tubes into the market each month to make sure our vape cartridges were child-resistant. Now, with this new manufacturing process — and with the way that we're able to seal the cartridges — we have received certification which means they are child-resistant on their own now.”

In essence, CannaCraft has removed one level of plastic from the equation by making the cartridges themselves child-resistant and thus eliminating the need to encase them in an additional layer of child-resistant packaging.

Unfortunately, many companies are unable to invest the resources necessary to develop similar, sustainable packaging. Instead, they’re hoping that the industry will pool its resources and share its innovations to ensure environmentally-sound packaging is available to all. Long said that CannaCraft is all in favor of this approach.

“I think this is bigger than our margins,” she explained. “I think the fight against the overuse of plastic is something that our company holds in higher regard than the small savings on our packaging. We'd be very interested in helping other companies get there.”

For Steve D’Angelo of Harborside, the concept of the government subsidizing sustainable packaging appeals to his nature as an environmentalist. But it doesn’t address what he believes is the root of the problem.

“I think it would be counterproductive unless the state coupled it with rather dramatic tax decreases and made the packaging regulations more reasonable,” he said. “With the imposition of taxes and the added cost of compliance — and given how easy it is to obtain cannabis in California in an unregulated way — something like 50 percent of the people in the regulated market outflow [product&91; to the unregulated market. Doing anything that increases the price of cannabis in regulated dispensaries right now will threaten the very existence of a legal market.”

In other words, if companies that use eco-friendly packaging are not incentivized, they won’t embrace sustainability at a time when the black market is cutting into their profit margins at all ends.

D’Angelo also questions the logic of child-resistant packaging in the first place. He notes that other products — ones that, unlike cannabis, have a proven track record of doing serious harm — are not subject to the same level of regulation.

“I see aspirin and other over-the-counter drugs being sold in containers that are not childproof. I see tobacco being sold in containers that are not childproof. I see alcohol being sold in containers that are not childproof. Then I see cannabis — which is safer than any of those substances — being wrapped in these completely superfluous and unnecessary layers of packaging. It's appalling.”

With more alarming news about the current climate crisis arriving each day, the cannabis industry is uniquely situated to lead the charge on a pivot away from petroleum-based products. And, rather ironically, it was the petroleum and plastics industries that helped make cannabis illegal in the first place. So it would only be fitting if the newly-legal cannabis industry were to push back against the corporations that are creating waste and packing landfills to the brim by making it standard to abandon plastic packaging.

How can cannabis blaze an eco-friendly path? That may mean revisiting current packaging requirements and questioning the validity of their stringency. It may also mean developing a less punitive tax structure that allows smaller businesses to use their subsequent savings or profit from increased sales on sustainable packaging. It’s possible that companies will need to consider making their proprietary environmentally-beneficial packaging designs open source for all to use, too. There will almost certainly need to be a lot more companies like Sana Packaging if the entire industry is to ultimately embrace a sustainable approach. Most likely, a combination of all of the above will be required.

Weaning an industry off non-recyclable single-use plastic is no easy task. It will take participation from every facet of the industry in order to succeed. But if the fight for access to regulated cannabis has proven anything thus far, it’s that precedent is no match for perseverance.

Tweet the Author Zack Ruskin at @zackruskin

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