A couple stories on the impact of legalized cannabis on the criminal world, a look at another cannabinoid, CBC or cannabichromene, we revisit the BC Cannabis Alliance page and encourage you to sign the petition to remove the 15% proprietary fee paid for direct delivery, a cannabis store fined for selling too cheap, and a look at Canadian imports to Australia’s medical cannabis market. On Cultivar Corner, brought to you by Up in Smoke, we go back to Salt Spring Magic and their Pine Tar.
A couple stories on the impact of legalized cannabis on the criminal world, a look at another cannabinoid, CBC or cannabichromene, we revisit the BC Cannabis Alliance page and encourage you to sign the petition to remove the 15% proprietary fee paid for direct delivery, a cannabis store fined for selling too cheap, and a look at Canadian imports to Australia’s medical cannabis market. On Cultivar Corner, brought to you by Up in Smoke, we go back to Salt Spring Magic and their Pine Tar.
Australian concerns over Canadian cannabis
00;00;01;22 - 00;00;08;29
Ian
From a studio high above the clouds of the Okanagan Valley. This is the cannabis potcast.
00;00;09;01 - 00;00;19;10
Ian
Exploring the world of Canadian cannabis culture. One toke at a time. Now here is your host. And bud tender Gary Johnston.
00;00;19;12 - 00;00;45;26
Gary Johnston
And now it's my opportunity to welcome you back to the Cannabis potcast. Thank you for coming back. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this is your very first visit. If it is. Here's an especially warm welcome for you ahead. We have 30 or 40 minutes about a plant. I am absolutely passionate about and that is cannabis. Now, before we get too much further, let me remind you this podcast is intended for those of legal consumption age in your jurisdiction and is intended purely for entertainment and perhaps educational purposes.
00;00;46;01 - 00;01;15;28
Gary Johnston
You should always consume your cannabis responsibly. On episode 180 of the Cannabis potcast, a couple views of the impact of legalize cannabis on the criminal world. Look at another cannabinoid, CBC or cannabis crop mean we revisit the BC Cannabis Alliance page and encourage you to sign the petition to remove the 15% proprietary fee paid for direct delivery. A cannabis store was fined for selling too cheap, and a look at Canadian imports to Australia's medical cannabis market.
00;01;16;01 - 00;01;31;13
Gary Johnston
And on Cultivar Corner, brought to you by up in smoke grown unsold spring by the Magi. We're trying some pine tar all of that and more on episode 180 of the Cannabis potcast.
00;01;31;16 - 00;01;48;14
Gary Johnston
You know, I don't think you have any real idea of how happy I am that you are listening to the Cannabis potcast. When I started this little exercise by myself down in my studio, and I put it out to the world. I didn't tell anybody about it. I didn't do a whole lot of promotion, and people have just found it and I'm so happy that you're here.
00;01;48;15 - 00;02;10;01
Gary Johnston
I truly am thankful and grateful for the fact that you are a listener. I also want to thank my supporters Giordano at buy me a coffee.com/cannabis potcast. Now, if you feel so inclined and you like what you hear, you can go there too and buy me a doobie. And I want to thank my patrons at Patreon. Tony, Rob Gage, Lloyd and Roger, I thank you so much for your support each and every time.
00;02;10;03 - 00;02;33;26
Gary Johnston
I always love it when you send me notes about things that you hear on the podcast, and they make you think about stuff like Tony. Tony has been a long time listener, also a Patreon on Patreon. And Tony had this to say when we talked about last time about illicit and illegal stores and the differences between them, the legal stores would claim to charge about 8 to $9 per joint, so for three joints, Tony would pay about 24 to 27 bucks for the illegal story.
00;02;33;26 - 00;02;53;10
Gary Johnston
He'd pay 50 to $56 because the illegal stores were always charging with $35 delivery fee. That shocked the heck out of me, even when he said he would walk over and pick it up, they would still charge the delivery fee. So Tony's experience with the illegal market was soured from then on, and he has always been going legal all the way, and he just wanted to share his $0.02.
00;02;53;10 - 00;03;11;19
Gary Johnston
So I appreciate that, Tony. Thank you for sharing that. And I also like your finish line sent from Tony's brain subject to auto correct. And that auto correct has a problem we all have to deal with. I totally get that dude. I also want to thank Josh Hagerty, a recent adopter of the Cannabis potcast. Thanks for contacting me, Josh.
00;03;11;19 - 00;03;29;04
Gary Johnston
I truly appreciate it. Glad you're enjoying the podcast and he had some thoughts. Also, he didn't want me to think about doing some All Nations blackberry pie on cultivar corners. We'll put that up for consideration. And also, he wanted to know about what they're doing because he thinks that All Nations is doing really well within the German market.
00;03;29;07 - 00;03;46;29
Gary Johnston
And that's a whole other issue when we start talking about the cannabis that's being developed and sent to other countries, that could become a bigger problem for us in the future. It's a fascinating time for Canadian cannabis, for sure. Not necessarily the one everyone dreamed of. We often hear of failures in the current market, but I think it's important to remember talkers.
00;03;46;29 - 00;04;02;23
Gary Johnston
Enthusiasts before have always been industrious despite the setbacks, and that's very true. We need to keep that in mind. I do want to comment on the fact that that we appreciate what we got. It is getting better there. Sure, there's still some things we can tweak. And I also want to thank you for your comments. Josh and Tony.
00;04;02;24 - 00;04;06;22
Gary Johnston
Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Let me know.
00;04;06;24 - 00;04;11;14
Ian
For the cannabis infused studio in the clouds. This is the cannabis potcast.
00;04;11;16 - 00;04;38;25
Gary Johnston
And the strategy icon. We go for our next story. This one written by David Brown. A recent study highlights how the illicit cannabis markets in Canada, especially in British Columbia and Ontario, have changed since cannabis was legalized in 2018. The report says the effort to legalize happened too quickly to address some of the more uniquely Canadian issues, like diversion from the personal designated production licenses for medical cannabis, or finding a balance with indigenous communities and provincial governments.
00;04;38;25 - 00;05;07;06
Gary Johnston
Jurisdictional challenges. The impacts of cannabis legalization on organized crime in Ontario. In British Columbia, published in the Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, interviews 23 experts from law enforcement, law, media, public service, and the private sector offering numerous insights but anonymous commentaries on the topic. The first part of the report highlights what interviewees said is an increase in longtime abuse of Canada's personal and designated production licenses for cannabis for medical purposes.
00;05;07;08 - 00;05;30;28
Gary Johnston
Well, such licenses ensure Canadians who are authorized to use cannabis for such purposes have a way of accessing it outside of the commercial licensed producer program. Diversion from these licenses for profit is also well known and documented. Although these licenses have been around for some two decades, several of those interviewed notes. The report claimed that abuse of these licenses has increased since cannabis was legalized in late 2018.
00;05;31;00 - 00;05;53;26
Gary Johnston
This increases in terms of the number of illicit production sites that have licenses, and the size of those production sites. Governments have been, I think, cautious about even talking about removing the personal designated registrations. An unnamed federal government official in Ontario is quoted as saying. Because of the history of litigation. There is worry that by removing it, we might trigger more court activity and more adverse decisions.
00;05;53;28 - 00;06;14;14
Gary Johnston
The threshold for winning that argument is really, really high. It's not going to be about organized crime and its impacts. It's going to be about your mom, who's been using a designated license to let your dad grow. 12 plants for your mom who needs it for end of life care. And then we're going to have to prove it in court that the scenario where your mom is growing 12 plants with your dad's help is so dangerous that we have to pull this away from everybody.
00;06;14;17 - 00;06;38;24
Gary Johnston
Another facet of the cannabis market covered by the study is cannabis production in indigenous communities in Canada. With researchers speaking to indigenous license holders operating within and outside of the federal and provincial regulations, researchers say, based on interviews with those subjects, that the latter contains both small scale gray zone operators as well as the presence of organized crime, often operating without the approval of the communities they do business in.
00;06;38;27 - 00;07;09;14
Gary Johnston
These types of stores and businesses are often associated with increases in violent crimes in these communities, such as armed robberies. Illicit cannabis was not on the radar before legalization, says one indigenous community member in Ontario. There were some grow operations in houses, but nothing substantial. Now, there are both illegal and legal storefronts for selling distribution units at stores on indigenous lands have steadily increased since legalization to law enforcement officers in B.C., once the ones outside of indigenous lands were closed down, we saw them pop up there.
00;07;09;17 - 00;07;26;13
Gary Johnston
Organized crime is associated with some of those stores and the indigenous governments have said they are. When indigenous communities don't want the stores, they reach out to Canadian law enforcement to get rid of them. A third piece of the illicit cannabis market in Canada, covered by the study is exports, which the paper says are primarily to the United States.
00;07;26;16 - 00;07;47;07
Gary Johnston
These exports have only increased since legalization, partly due to increased domestic competition from the legal market. In addition, this increased competition in the cannabis space has led some of those organized crime groups that were previously involved with cannabis production and distribution to move to psilocybin mushrooms, while others have opiates prior to legalization, says a law enforcement officer in Ontario.
00;07;47;10 - 00;08;07;16
Gary Johnston
You would see examples of large scale trafficking and distribution within Canada. We don't see that anymore. Instead, most examples of sophisticated trafficking are destined for the United States. One of the negative impacts of legalization is a police have not been as invested as they used to in cannabis investigation and or prosecutions, said a law enforcement officer in B.C..
00;08;07;19 - 00;08;26;26
Gary Johnston
The study offers no specific solutions to these challenges, but highlights the need for further investigation of these different trends in the market to better understand the unique nature of Canada's evolving cannabis landscape. And is our Canadian cannabis landscape ever evolving? You bet it is.
00;08;26;29 - 00;08;48;22
Gary Johnston
For our next story, we're going to strike Cannot Calm and this written by David Brown. Federal investigators with the RCMP have dismantled an organized criminal operation on Vancouver Island that they say was involved in the distribution of illicit drugs, unregulated cannabis and contraband tobacco. On October 3rd, six people were arrested and investigators seized thousands of counterfeit cannabis edibles.
00;08;48;23 - 00;09;22;17
Gary Johnston
When Pacific Region RCMP federal policing investigators executed search warrants at two dispensaries, Green Coast Dispensary in Port Alberni and Coastal Storm Dispensary, located in Leadville and five residences on Vancouver Island. Product seized included more than 120,000 chocolate bars, candies and chips with packaging resembling popular name brand snacks, often referred to as copycat edibles. The executed a search warrants were associated with an organized crime group allegedly involved in the production and distribution of illicit drugs and contraband tobacco in Port Hibernian.
00;09;22;17 - 00;09;45;15
Gary Johnston
Nanaimo say police search warrants were also executed at a suspected stash site in Port Alberni and a storage and production facility adjacent to Coastal Storm Dispensary. This included two modular traders where cannabis edibles were being produced, stored and distributed. Police also allege that there was a potential for cross-contamination of these products, which they say were manufactured in unsanitary conditions.
00;09;45;17 - 00;10;12;22
Gary Johnston
Given the highly contaminated and unsanitary conditions of the illicit drug production facility where these cannabis edibles were being produced, it is possible that the consumption of these products can lead to serious health risks, said Chief Superintendent Stephen Leigh, deputy regional commander for RCMP Federal Policing Program, Pacific Region. We urge members of the public to practice extreme caution if they already possess or come across such products in the future, especially with Halloween being just around the corner.
00;10;12;24 - 00;10;46;01
Gary Johnston
Searches of these locations led to the seizure of the following items. Over 120,000 cannabis edibles with packaging resembling popular chocolate bars, potato chips, nacho chips, honey and other candies. Over three kilograms of psilocybin mushrooms, 1740 psilocybin capsules, and over 400 psilocybin chocolates and candies. A 2.2 pounds of pressed cannabis resin, over 500 pounds of cannabis bud, over 19 pounds of shatter, 5000 cannabis vape cartridges, five vehicles, two ATM machines containing cash and a bunch of other stuff.
00;10;46;03 - 00;11;08;09
Gary Johnston
The operation was in collaboration between RCMP federal Policing Units, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, B.C. Criminal Intelligence Service, B.C., the Naval and Port Alberni RCMP detachment, and other partner agencies. Big bust on Vancouver Island making lots of copycat cannabis materials destined for markets. Well, hopefully those markets have now been shut down.
00;11;08;16 - 00;11;17;29
Ian
It doesn't matter how high the THC is, the entourage effect is always waiting for you here. This is the cannabis potcast.
00;11;18;02 - 00;11;36;14
Gary Johnston
And as we started last episode, we are going to have a focus on a cannabinoid each episode as we go forward. Now there's over 100 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant. So we could keep this going for a while, and we're going to pick particular ones. And the source that we have found, that seems to be pretty good for this content is Mr. Stinky's garden.
00;11;36;17 - 00;12;03;11
Gary Johnston
So Mr. Stinky's garden dotcom. And today we are touching on cannabis bromine. The medicinal potential of the cannabinoid CBC. The purported benefits of CBC have far reaching implications. Cancer, cannabis bromine may be a powerful cancer fighter, and the reason might be its interaction with the body's natural endocannabinoid anandamide. CBC also appears to inhibit the uptake of anandamide, allowing it to remain longer in the bloodstream.
00;12;03;13 - 00;12;26;02
Gary Johnston
A recent study in which tumor growth was initiated in mice two stage mice carcinogenesis model showed cannabinoids might be effective in inhibiting both inflammation and tumor growth. Since and amide has been shown to fight breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. This shows promise that CBC and other cannabinoids might one day be a chemo preventive agent. CBC is a potential cancer fighter.
00;12;26;02 - 00;12;48;21
Gary Johnston
It was first published in a 2006 study that looked at cannabinoids other than THC and their possible effects on cancer. While THC is known for its anti-tumor properties for several different forms of cancer, its powerful psychotropic qualities can make it difficult for chemotherapy use. So far, research has found CBC to be the second most potent cannabinoid at inhibiting the growth of new cancer cells.
00;12;48;28 - 00;13;15;09
Gary Johnston
CBD was the most potent pain and inflammation. Cannabis bromine has been shown to block pain and inflammation associated with collagen induced osteoarthritis. Cannabinoids like CBC act on inflammation differently than nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and they don't have the side effects of those medications. In another example of the entourage effect, CBC in combination with THC had a significant anti-inflammatory response in a recent animal study.
00;13;15;12 - 00;13;52;00
Gary Johnston
Together, the two cannabinoids produced a much greater effect on inflammation than by themselves. Brain cells in 2013, most study CBC had a positive effect on neural stem progenitor cells, a cell essential to healthy brain function and species become more viable when in the presence of CBC, and that shows promise because NSCs differentiate into astrologically all cells. The most important cells for maintaining brain homeostasis, the astral glial cells perform a whole host of functions, including neurotransmitter direction and defending against oxidative stress.
00;13;52;03 - 00;14;22;14
Gary Johnston
Astrologically counteracts many of these issues oxidative stress, inflammation, toxicity that creates neurological diseases, and brain pathologies like Alzheimer's disease. Depression. In another amazing display of the entourage effect, CBC appears to work in conjunction with both THC and CBD to deliver a trifecta of antidepressant properties. The therapeutic promise of CBC is important and requires more research to determine its power by itself, as well as with other cannabinoids working together for an entourage effect.
00;14;22;16 - 00;14;41;00
Gary Johnston
Cannabis patients today are limited in the products available to them, but hopefully, as new studies emerge and cannabis laws loosen new medicines with the diversity of cannabinoids will soon become an option. Thanks to Mr. Stinky's Green Garden for a little exposure to what CBC's Cannabis Grow mean to see.
00;14;41;07 - 00;14;50;26
Ian
CBD to beam profiles. What to me? Oh, please explain to me. Go to the corner.
00;14;50;28 - 00;14;55;17
Unknown
Go to the corner and go to the corner.
00;14;55;17 - 00;14;59;08
Ian
Please explain this stuff to me.
00;14;59;11 - 00;15;19;29
Gary Johnston
Welcome to Cultivar Corner, brought to you by Up in Smoke at 258 West Broadway in Vancouver and online at It's Up in smoke.com. Check them out today for some direct delivery exclusives like we're sampling today from Salt Spring Maggi. It's pine tar. This is exclusive to the direct delivery channel. And lucky for you. You can see it when you go to.
00;15;19;29 - 00;15;36;22
Gary Johnston
It's up in smoke.com. And if you're of legal age and live in B.C., you can check it out for yourself. Now, I did forget about the mosaic of approaches across our country. If you live in another province other than BC, you're going to need to talk to your MP about it. And if you live in another country, well, we're just going to keep teasing you with it.
00;15;36;24 - 00;15;55;23
Gary Johnston
And this is Salt Spring Maggi. Pine tar picked up 14g of this. And if I get into the details. So we gave you a bit of a description on Maggi cannabis before that you're probably not going to duplicate. Well, actually what the heck. Because you might not have been here for the rest of it. So let's go back.
00;15;55;24 - 00;16;19;27
Gary Johnston
Legacy artisan cannabis grown on Salt Spring Island by the Maggi. Maggi cannabis is a small scale, family owned and operated farm located on Salt Spring Island, B.C.. As second generation craft growers, we have deep love for the cannabis plants we cultivate and that love is evident in the exceptional products we work hard to create. Josh Nadine has been dedicated to growing fine cannabis since the 90s.
00;16;20;00 - 00;16;46;20
Gary Johnston
As long time Islanders, they employ a small team of family and friends and are committed to paying living wages and providing long term jobs for local residents. Years of experience in medical cannabis production and recently completed building a Health Canada approved, custom designed facility for the Micro Cultivation license at Maggi Cannabis. They celebrate the magic of this powerful plant medicine, which can help transform consciousness and support physical and mental health.
00;16;46;22 - 00;17;07;24
Gary Johnston
I have deep respect for the land they live on and the water and energy they use, and are grateful to be able to offer the gift of flowers to discerning consumers. And here we are discerning consumers. So again, just a brief description. Other cannabis grown on Salt Spring by the Maggi, a small crew of growers and trimmers millenniums many second generation cannabis producers.
00;17;07;26 - 00;17;31;07
Gary Johnston
Small batch artisanal cannabis grown in virgin choir for a consistent burn two week whole plant called cure for a smooth smoke, hand trimmed, dry to preserve turps and trichomes and tested and pure non irradiated. And we're doing the pine tar and there's a lovely picture of the pine tar there. So let me pick that up. Now as I said I did pick up 14g of this.
00;17;31;10 - 00;17;58;15
Gary Johnston
Oh and when I do of course I always open my packages and I put them right into a, into one of my sea balls. Especially when I have that much. 14g is what I've got. My weight was right on 14g as well. And let's get into the details on pine tar. It's an indica. So once again, Gary starting off his day going against the grain.
00;17;58;18 - 00;18;22;10
Gary Johnston
Medium strength, THC 22 to 27%. My THC sitting at 27.6. I always like it when I'm on the high end of that citrus, musk and forest are your aroma and flavors. And your main terpenes are Francine Mersenne and carry off lean. And I'm not surprised, Francine, that just one that seems to be a terpene that in the last year or so has really spiked my endocannabinoid system.
00;18;22;13 - 00;18;42;10
Gary Johnston
Oh, okay. Let me pull out of Bud now. I got some really nice sized buds in here, too. This was a full 14g and it was, as I say, 14g on the weight, so there was nothing light on it. And if I pull out my jeweler's loop, let me take a peek at one of these nice little buds.
00;18;42;10 - 00;19;02;07
Gary Johnston
And they are some substantive buds. And let me just drop them on the scale and I'll give you some context of, of where we are by scale. That looks like probably one of my largest buds. And that's sitting at 2.43. And when I pull that up underneath my oh, look at the trichomes.
00;19;02;10 - 00;19;30;01
Gary Johnston
Soon as I bring that to my eyes with my jeweler's leaf, the trichomes are just leaping off of that cannabis blend. Beauty, beauty, beauty, beauty and, well, so called cured. That's obvious. Hand over hand action that they are taking. These are just beautiful little flowers. Just beautiful little flowers. Really liking that. Now the aromas citrus, musk and forest.
00;19;30;03 - 00;19;45;20
Gary Johnston
So the forest, the forest floor. For me, that's often the dirty smell of the mercy. Carry off. And you're going to be a bit spicy. And then we got that Francine giving it some nice candy notes, some of that citrus and musk.
00;19;45;22 - 00;19;48;08
Ian
00;19;48;08 - 00;20;09;05
Gary Johnston
So let's give you the rundown on this pine tar. The land race indica. This is popular on the coast as flannel shirts and craft beer. Imagine yourself in a mossy forest surrounded by towering evergreens and then take a hit. The aroma. It's like a citrus and musk scented forest. Fairy decided to throw a woodland party in your mouth.
00;20;09;07 - 00;20;32;17
Gary Johnston
Pine tar is potency, maybe medium strong, but it's as comforting as your grandma's homemade apple pie. Francine, mercy and carry off Arlene. The Turpin trio are like the forest Guardians. Welcome you to the northwest green embrace. It's a kind of strain that'll leave you so relaxed. You'll swear you can hear the trees whispering. Ancient secrets grows. Credit to you on your right ups.
00;20;32;17 - 00;20;58;15
Gary Johnston
They are wonderful. I love the descriptions you're providing on your weed in the pine tar. And for me again, that's that. Francine just seems to be something that's given me some of those candy notes and some of those sweet tones. So let me get to work. You have the description of what we're talking about here. And now. Let me get my grinder all ready.
00;20;58;17 - 00;21;19;01
Gary Johnston
And it's a really nice pictures as well if you want to take a peek. And of course I have put a link to Magic cannabis.com back on the show page so you can go check it out for yourself. And these pine tar flowers look absolutely gorgeous when they're going through their final flowering. Absolutely wonderful. Cannabis is such a marvelous plant.
00;21;19;03 - 00;21;46;22
Gary Johnston
And let me say hello to everybody who's joined recently. A number of people have joined, have started following the podcast, either on Twitter or maybe you're just connecting up through whatever podcast app you're using. And so appreciative of the fact that more are coming along for the ride. And always appreciate your involvement here. I had a discussion the other day about rolling joints and how some people just just still have trouble rolling.
00;21;46;22 - 00;21;47;24
Gary Johnston
I was when we were over at a friend's.
00;21;47;24 - 00;21;49;12
Ian
Place.
00;21;49;14 - 00;22;08;22
Gary Johnston
And we've been friends for years and smoked an awful lot of dope with them, and I've never commented on her joints, but I was tempted to. But that's a very cruel thing to do, so I didn't. I kept smoking them and. I'm going to sit down with her one day and give her the whole lowdown on how to roll a guy.
00;22;08;24 - 00;22;35;19
Gary Johnston
There you go. Nice, straight, straight from one end, straight to the other. And because we already have it ready. Okay, so an indica. Here I am first thing in the morning again, getting ready to bake my mind some wake and bake. Indica. Well, it's my duty. It's my job, and I take my job seriously. Here we go. This is pine tar grown on Salt Spring by the magic pine time.
00;22;35;19 - 00;22;44;25
Gary Johnston
The coastal comforter.
00;22;44;28 - 00;22;59;25
Gary Johnston
Oh, and usually with the vaporizer. So much of those aromas. So I'm getting much of that musky this much of that forest floor. Some of those citrus notes are coming through as well.
00;22;59;27 - 00;23;12;07
Gary Johnston
And when I'm getting the comfort of grandma's homemade apple pie, I'm thinking some Francine is sneaking into my mix as well. Oh, that is a really nice taste.
00;23;12;10 - 00;23;28;06
Gary Johnston
Smooth, fruity, spicy, earthy. Just all the things you want in a really nice indica, I'm liking that.
00;23;28;08 - 00;23;41;08
Gary Johnston
Okay, we've probably finished off that bowl. So now let's hold my hand. Here comes some happy eyes. Nice.
00;23;41;10 - 00;24;04;03
Gary Johnston
I'm always happy when it comes on me. Fairly fast as we go. So now I moved into the joint. So this is the pine tar. And again thc on this guy sitting at 27.6, my total terrapins at 2.8 and the only thing that I don't find on my magic cannabis bags is any indication of what the actual beans are, but that's okay.
00;24;04;10 - 00;24;10;03
Gary Johnston
No, they'll get better with that in the future. You can find it out on the website.
00;24;10;05 - 00;24;18;00
Gary Johnston
And we know that the main terpenes here are Francine Mersenne and Carrie Awfully.
00;24;18;03 - 00;24;28;06
Gary Johnston
Or nice and smooth on the joint. Keeping an eye on that ash. Nice gray ash falls off nicely on the end.
00;24;28;08 - 00;24;53;18
Gary Johnston
No harshness coming into my lungs. I have finally learned to not hold it in. I was taught wrong back in the day. Somebody told me that you had to hold that smoke in. And of course I realized, no, that was why I was coughing so much in method. My instant. Knock off. And on this one, nice and smooth.
00;24;53;21 - 00;25;07;20
Gary Johnston
I feel like I'm now in a mossy forest and I have towering evergreens all around me. And it's time to take another hit.
00;25;07;23 - 00;25;49;25
Gary Johnston
Oh, there's the euphoria. There is that beautiful euphoria from the pine tar. Not any happy eyes as of the stage, but a really nice euphoria and a oh, just a nice body feeling right now. I'm liking that those cannabinoids have been having an opportunity within my endocannabinoid system for the past few minutes. So once again, a strong indica to wake and bake with is perhaps not the best way to have a productive day, but I'm going to turn that around and make it what I can.
00;25;49;28 - 00;26;20;14
Gary Johnston
But the endocannabinoid rush that I am currently in the middle of is very, very enjoyable. This is again, I don't have I don't have any happy eyes. I've got some euphoria in my head. I've got some nice body relaxing kind of going through my entire body right now I am just feeling chill. Really, really chill. It's like I'm sitting in a mossy forest surrounded by towering evergreens, and I just took a hit.
00;26;20;17 - 00;26;45;12
Gary Johnston
I love your descriptions, love what you do and your weed is absolutely fantastic. I'm just loving the way this stuff looks. And in my 14 gram package, there really wasn't a bad bud. Really, really nicely done. They're just doing an exceptional job. And and having done some of this recently, I know that sometimes you had to be a little judicious when you're when you're cutting and trimming and you get those buds to look good.
00;26;45;12 - 00;27;10;16
Gary Johnston
And they had done a fantastic job really a nice smooth smoke. So I'm feeling a bit of that citrus, some of that musky. There's some of that forest is coming through. Francine machine and carry off Eileen. My THC in my bag is sitting at 27.6% my total terpenes 2.8 gave it some aroma as I open up that my vault.
00;27;10;18 - 00;27;12;29
Gary Johnston
And look at that beautiful pine tar.
00;27;13;01 - 00;27;14;09
Ian
00;27;14;12 - 00;27;46;26
Gary Johnston
This coastal comforter has given me some real comfort today. So it's not a kicker. It's not. I'm not overwhelmed. I am just very pleasantly high and and quite frankly, that's what I'm looking for today. And if you want to pick up some for yourself, go to it's up in smoke.com. Check out the menu. And if you're 19 or older and live in BC, you can have it sent to you and you can try your own pine tar grown on Salt spring by the Maggi pine tar.
00;27;46;28 - 00;27;48;21
Gary Johnston
I'm having a day of comfort.
00;27;48;24 - 00;27;55;07
Ian
Sharing stories about good weed while trying good weed. This is the cannabis potcast.
00;27;55;14 - 00;28;20;12
Gary Johnston
And for our next story we're going to the ounce.ca. And this one was written by Pat Bulmer in a Saskatoon first workers at five. The joint cannabis stores have joined a union. About 40 workers voted yes to joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1400. The group is largely made up of younger individuals who are deeply committed to advancing both their working conditions and the cannabis industry, the union says in a news release.
00;28;20;14 - 00;28;44;05
Gary Johnston
The workers joined the union to address various workplace issues and to secure a fair collective agreement. Their expertise in the cannabis sector makes them well-suited to push for better working conditions. Local president Lucy Pecoraro says in their release. Local 1400 represents thousands of workers across this catchment in a variety of industries, including retail, food, food processing, security, industrial and transportation sectors.
00;28;44;07 - 00;29;00;13
Gary Johnston
Other Ufcw locals have organized workers at a number of cannabis stores in B.C. and Ontario. So there's our first look at unionize cannabis stores across the country, and I suspect we're going to see more in the future.
00;29;00;16 - 00;29;23;23
Gary Johnston
We chatted a little bit about it last time, and let's talk a little bit more about the BC Cannabis Alliance and the petition they currently had grown B.C. is home to some of Canada's finest cannabis brands, but excessive taxation means our best growers, processors and retailers are struggling to get by. Between taxes, fees and markups, the government often takes the most while contributing the least for BC's most popular products.
00;29;23;23 - 00;29;46;25
Gary Johnston
That can take more than half. We're here to rally support for simple changes while helping policymakers create a more sustainable cannabis industry. The Federal Cannabis Review is calling for an update on the tax structure, and the federal House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance is recommending a change to how cannabis excise tax is applied. We support these changes, but it's important that they are prioritized and implemented quickly.
00;29;46;28 - 00;30;09;12
Gary Johnston
BC's direct delivery program allows small producers to sell and deliver product directly to licensed retailers. Unfortunately, they still have to pay their 15% wholesale markup to the LDP as appropriate. Re fee. And that's not cool. And that's what the petition is all about. So again, I've included the link to the BC Cannabis Alliance site at the show page.
00;30;09;15 - 00;30;31;06
Gary Johnston
And in there you will find the link to the petition, encourage you to go through. And if you want to support that, go ahead and sign that petition and see if we can make some change that will effectively remove this 15% tariff is and is in essence what it is from the LDP for direct delivery. O the this is really making us jump through hoops, isn't it?
00;30;31;08 - 00;30;39;25
Ian
Exploring the world of Canadian cannabis culture one toke at a time. This is the cannabis potcast.
00;30;39;27 - 00;31;09;25
Gary Johnston
And for the next story we're going distract can't com this written by David Brown. I can't have a store in BC. He's been ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for selling cannabis at too low of a price. Goes cannabis in Revelstoke was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. Ever. It was ruled in a hearing in October that it had violated provincial rules that prevent a retailer from selling cannabis at a price below the price that a licensee paid to the government for the cannabis, and below the wholesale price of the cannabis on the day the licensee sells it to the patron.
00;31;09;27 - 00;31;31;10
Gary Johnston
A Notice of Enforcement Action and Nova issued to the business alleged that on April 22nd of 2024, BC's Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch received a complaint that the retailer was advertising all products and accessories in the store were for sale at 50% off. The following that report. An Lcbo inspector conducted an inspection of the store on April 25th.
00;31;31;12 - 00;31;53;19
Gary Johnston
In the report, the inspector noted that they had asked about four specific products and the staff member they spoke with confirmed that their sale prices were lower than their list prices. A few days later, on April 29th, the same inspector then sent a request to the store licensee asking for a list of cannabis products, inventory, a list of cannabis sales records, monthly Health Canada reports, and cannabis purchase records for January through April.
00;31;53;21 - 00;32;15;00
Gary Johnston
The licensee provided responses to these requests in May, except for the monthly Health Canada compliance reports. Through this process, the inspector determined that the retailer had sold products below the price they paid the provincial wholesale distributor for them from the options of a 1 to 3 day license suspension and or a 1 to $3000 monetary penalty. The license holder received $1,000 fine.
00;32;15;02 - 00;32;36;00
Gary Johnston
This was because it was the retailer's first violation of this type. Within a one year period, the retail license holder admitted that the province's minimum pricing rules had been broken. Accepting a financial penalty, but also argued that the rule for minimum pricing is not effective, and the government stated goal of preventing over service and or over consumption. Instead, they argued, the rule should be changed.
00;32;36;02 - 00;32;59;16
Gary Johnston
The licensee says the historical illegal marketing cannabis sales continues to be significant, reads the document. These gray scale cannabis products can and are being sold cheaper than the government supplied cannabis products, and this disparity is pushing the industry to remain underground. This, the underground market is much more likely to be a source of over service and over consumption than sales by licensees for less than the minimum pricing.
00;32;59;23 - 00;33;25;18
Gary Johnston
This is especially concerning as the gray market products may be tainted and are not as safe as the government supplied products. The licensee will be required to pay the thousand dollar penalty to the General Manager of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch on or before November 23rd and 2024. Signs will also need to be posted within the store, showing that a monetary penalty has been imposed and be placed in a prominent location by a liquor and cannabis Regulation branch inspector or a police officer.
00;33;25;19 - 00;33;34;02
Gary Johnston
Don't sell your cannabis below the cost you paid for. It seems like a simple rule, doesn't it?
00;33;34;04 - 00;33;59;29
Gary Johnston
And a story from stratcac.com, written by David Brown about Australia's domestic medical cannabis market evolving. And some companies are becoming frustrated with the country's ongoing reliance on cannabis imports from Canada. Still others say demand is being driven by consumer preference. Australia legalized medical cannabis in 2016, and by 2017, Canadian cannabis companies were announcing exports of cannabis, oil and flower to the country.
00;34;00;03 - 00;34;30;04
Gary Johnston
Although many of these initial shipments were relatively small, just the equivalent of 200g in 2017, by 2021, Canadian companies exported nearly 50 800kg of cannabis. By 2023. That figure was over 34,000kg. The early reliance on imports came at a time when Australia's domestic industry was in its infancy. But in late 2020, for some of these companies recently told the country's Sydney Morning Herald that they're struggling to compete with what some characterize as product dumping.
00;34;30;07 - 00;34;48;27
Gary Johnston
These accusations mirror similar ones levied by the Israeli government earlier this year, to the dismay of Global Affairs Canada. Some cannabis companies in Australia say that much of the cannabis being imported from Canada is of lower quality, and that the products have fewer checks on quality than what is produced by Australian companies. I have no issue with imports coming here.
00;34;48;29 - 00;35;18;12
Gary Johnston
The issue is that because they have surplus product, they're dumping it here, which makes things difficult for local cultivators. Then Marie Shorey, managing director of X Botanics, tells the Herald X is an Australian cultivator and manufacturer of medicinal cannabis. She can also spoke with Shorey about the issue. She explained that while some of the Canadian cannabis products coming into Australia are good quality, she thinks some companies are unloading lower quality products from their vaults due to an oversupply in Canada.
00;35;18;14 - 00;35;39;05
Gary Johnston
We have a product that comes into Australia from Canada that is extraordinarily good quality, probably for the extra years of experience, she told Stracke in. But there's also an enormous amount of product that we believe is coming from stockpiling in Canada. That product is flooding into Australia. It's not necessarily fresh. It's not necessarily great, but they can sell it at a very low price.
00;35;39;07 - 00;36;04;23
Gary Johnston
The export market is a good opportunity for Canadian companies to offload lower quality product. But, she notes this pushes the price down in Australia, just as it has in Canada, where growers in Australia could get around $6 a gram. Australian Wholesale in 2023. Jewelry says in 2024 that's dropped to 4 to $4.50. That's a direct consequence of the amount of product that has come in, primarily from Canada.
00;36;04;26 - 00;36;29;28
Gary Johnston
Ultimately, she says, the issue is one created by the Australian government, specifically the agency that oversees Australia's Cannabis for Medical Purposes program, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA. She explains that because the TGA, which requires Australian companies to have GMP compliance, allows companies importing their products into Australia to use a loophole to have them packaged in a GMP compliant facility.
00;36;30;01 - 00;36;58;10
Gary Johnston
She also says the TGA doesn't have the resources to ensure the facilities that packaged goods in Canada adhere to Australian requirements. Andrew Dowling, the director of an Australian cannabis wholesaler called Vitaco that focuses primarily on imports, pushes back against this argument, saying that being processed in a GMP facility in Canada or Australia is still the same standard. The actual growing of cannabis is not covered under GMP anywhere in the world because it's not a manufacturing activity, argues Dowling.
00;36;58;10 - 00;37;18;12
Gary Johnston
It's cultivation. The issue of product dumping, he says, is one being pushed by companies who simply aren't meeting the international markets demands, both in terms of price but also in terms of quality. If these governments really had a problem with Canadian imports, there are levers at their disposal that they could be pulling on to turn it off. It's wrong to claim it's being dumped.
00;37;18;15 - 00;37;44;07
Gary Johnston
That product is being ordered because there's a commercial opportunity, and the demand is driven by the price point that is unmatched by Australian companies. If Australian companies could find a solution to that, they'd be doing it. Deepak Anand, an industry consultant in Canada. Who is this? Cannabis companies with export into countries like Australia echoes these sentiments. Whether it be Germany, Australia or Israel, Canadian products are of a better quality than domestic supply.
00;37;44;10 - 00;38;01;02
Gary Johnston
This is a reflection of what the market wants, rather than this alleged dumping, which hasn't been proven anywhere. I think this notion of dumping, which is started by the Israelis, it's catchy and sounds like something nefarious is going on. But the fact of the matter is, Canadian products are just of higher quality, so that's why there's a demand for it.
00;38;01;04 - 00;38;21;28
Gary Johnston
Canadian cannabis companies have indeed been dealing with domestic price compression from an excess of supply. That has led many companies to lean into the export market. Exports are seen as an easier and at times more lucrative path to market than selling domestically, since exports are often bulk sales and are not subject to Canada's federal excise tax of a dollar per gram.
00;38;22;00 - 00;38;40;21
Gary Johnston
The oversupply of cannabis in Canada that has pushed many companies to the export market has, in the past year or so, also had the effect of relieving some of that downward pressure on domestic prices. While exports do not appear to be slowing down, it's possible that the international market will begin to find some balance and an interesting story on that.
00;38;40;21 - 00;38;44;06
Gary Johnston
From strike in.
00;38;44;08 - 00;39;00;03
Gary Johnston
This industry just continues to fascinate me of the level of complexity and the differences in how things are applied domestically and international. I think I need to go smoke a joint.
00;39;00;06 - 00;39;24;20
Gary Johnston
And I see by the clock on the wall, we are approaching the end of another episode that seems to go faster and faster for me, but maybe that's just because I'm getting older and time itself is moving faster and faster. But to finish off this episode, let's get you thinking again. And I'm going back to the marijuana quotes, because I want you to think about these ones rather than sometimes just the the very small little buzz of a of a humor we get out of that.
00;39;24;22 - 00;39;48;05
Gary Johnston
This is from a site called Let's Learn slang.com and it's funny quotes about marijuana. Marijuana is like a musical instrument. It allows you to tap into your creativity and express yourself in new and exciting ways. Smoking weed is like playing a game of chess. It requires strategic thinking, patience, and the ability to anticipate your opponent's moves. Marijuana is like a paintbrush.
00;39;48;07 - 00;40;11;21
Gary Johnston
It allows you to create beautiful and intricate works of art both inside and outside your mind. And getting stoned on marijuana is like going on a wild adventure. It takes you to unexpected places and leaves you with unforgettable moments. Marijuana is like a time machine. It can transport you to the past or future and give you a fresh perspective on the present.
00;40;11;23 - 00;40;28;02
Gary Johnston
And I hope that's given you a fresh perspective on the present. If you ever have a comment on anything you hear, please send a note to info at Cannabis potcast.com. And from the Guy in the clouds. That's it for episode 180 of the Cannabis potcast.
00;40;28;05 - 00;40;36;14
Ian
From the cannabis infused studio High above the Okanagan Valley. This was the cannabis potcast.