DescriptiThe cannabis industry has had its struggles, but for casual users and loyal customers alike, the culture remains vital and even surprising. From new ways to smoke (laser bongs, portable hitters) to places to actually gather and consume with others (legally), to online shopping destinations to books to businesses giving back, there’s lots to celebrate. Here’s our Cannabis Culture Picks for 2022.on goes here

As results came in after presstime for Wednesday’s Redondo Beach special election, it marked the close of a chapter in the saga of a handful of men aiming to bring legal cannabis stores to the South Bay.

The face of that effort became Elliot Lewis, CEO of the Long Beach-based Catalyst Cannabis Co. Lewis financed the initiatives to put retail marijuana measures on ballots this fall in Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan Beach. Lewis also underwrote the push to recall Redondo City Councilman Zein Obagi, Jr.

He was not the first on the scene.

Cannabis companies are supporting and opposing measures to legalize marijuana business in three Los Angeles County beach towns.

A political fight is building to a possible November crescendo in at least three beach towns in Los Angeles County, in which state-licensed marijuana companies are both supporting and opposing multiple ballot questions that are, on their face, pro-cannabis.

On one side are Catalyst Cannabis Co., Tradecraft Farms and their executive leadership: CEOs Elliot Lewis and Barry Walker, respectively, who have been crusading to reverse local bans on commercial cannabis.

The two – initially along with High Times, though that company has reportedly pulled out of the political venture – have funded and organized local ballot measures in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach to force the cities to issue new cannabis business permits.

Sorry, my cherry-hating brethren—just one more. We’re seeing a bumper crop of Relentless Genetics’ cross of Tropicana Cookies and Cherry Pie dubbed Tropicana Cherry, or just Trop Cherry, or Cherry Trop. Tradecraft Farms’ elite indoor grow in downtown L.A. had double-stacks of Trop Cherry popping under LED lights. Jungle Boys grows and sells its own Trop Cherry less than a mile away. A Trop Cherry just took first place in the Michigan Cannabis Cup. I’m not surprised it’s killing it. It rocks stunning hues of purple and green, in big medium-density nugs. It smells tangie, cherry, and dank, with a functional daytime high for heads, or a happy hour high for lightweights. Relentless Genetics works out of Colorado and also does Rozay, and Frozay.

In the Golden State, residents know stark regional differences exist between Northern and Southern California, and this extends to the weed industry. Leafly Senior Editor David Downs outlines the distinctions — good and bad.

ARE YOU FROM VENTURA COUNTY ORIGINALLY?

Our family grew up in Huntington Beach. In the 1970s, it was the best place in the world for me. We are now just down the road on Point Dume in Malibu where I live with my wife and children.

Brent and Barry Walkers are the two brothers behind Dub Bros, a California-based, vertically integrated cannabis company with a foothold in multiple state-legal marketplaces.

What does the future of cannabis look like in California and across the nation? A possible answer lies in an unlikely place. Oklahoma is a politically conservative, medical-marijuana-only state in the South that’s a beacon of hope, a cautionary tale and a strategic long game all at once.

Tradecraft Farms became the first of the city’s 11 dispensaries when it opened in 2019 following the passage of the citizen-driven Measure Z initiative, and store manager Edgar Gaytan said business appears to be up by about 20 percent since the shop was allowed to sell products for recreational rather than just medical use about a month ago.

Tradecraft Farms has some seriously sticky hydroponic herb and a new dispensary opening in El Monte on April 20. You can find it in pre-rolls that use natural wraps made from goji berries, palm leaves, and cacao leaves. But since this is 4/20 we’re dishing on, we recommend going big with its Cacao Fried Chicken Pre-Roll, aka “the Chocolate Drumstick,” in which a large cacao-flavored rolling paper is filled with a gram of hydro, infused with high-THC oil, and dusted in kief. Nice knowing you! $18 wherever Tradecraft Farms is sold

California cannabis companies Dub Bros. – the parent of Tradecraft Farms – Catalyst Cannabis Co., and Gold Flora Distribution are partnering with Bomb Techs Without Borders and Ukraine Now to purchase non-lethal supplies for Ukrainians, recently sending a pallet of individual first aid kits.

The donation program builds upon Dub Bros. philanthropy arm Gobble Gobble Drive which feeds more than 35,000 annually during Thanksgiving.

Wheelhouse Dispensary and Tradecraft Farms are the city’s first two dispensaries to show interest in opening up cannabis lounges.

In a presentation to the City Council in December, Jessica Wells of Wheelhouse said the dispensary anticipates generating about $1.2 million in its first year operating a cannabis lounge. Port Hueneme will collect about $53,000 in taxes based on the city’s 5% tax on gross total revenue.

We end for now in the blossoming medical state of Oklahoma—or more like Smokelahoma, thanks to its liberal cannabis rules. We’re still getting a handle on all the good smoke in the Midwest, but we’d start with some Tradecraft Farms Biscotti at $155 per ounce. Yee-haw!

Biscotti is a Cookie Fam release of Gelato #25 x Girl Scout Cookies x Florida OG. Grown and sold by Tradecraft Farms, it’s dank, sweet, complex, and scrumptious.

Tradecraft drops about 500 lbs. per month between the California and Oklahoma markets—all indoor hydroponic. They’ve been growing in Oklahoma for four years, with five self-named retail shops, and their stock in many more stores.