There is so much potential in cannabis. It can help to alleviate chronic pain caused by a number of health conditions. It can reduce our reliance on opioids while also lessening the side effects we experience from other medications. And it's also effective in treating depression and anxiety and improving mental health and quality of life. I could keep...

Brands and dispensary operators have grown accustomed to hearing “no” when it comes to many new-age marketing tactics. Fortunately, a more enlightened way to approach customer acquisition in the cannabis industry exists. In the hyper-competitive space, customer attention is a finite resource, making it critical to interact with customers at every possible touchpoint along the buyer’s journey. Enlighten accomplishes this...

An old friend of mine is a successful Silicon Valley investor and venture capitalist. When I recently asked him what he expects of the companies he invests in, he was blunt: “Hire good people, and don’t run out of money. That’s all I ask.” While running out of money seems like an obvious thing to avoid if you want to...

Brands’ customers are retailers, and retailers’ customers are consumers. This has created a major advantage for retailers, because it places the most direct relationship with consumers—the ultimate source of all revenue—squarely in retailers’ hands. Stores know their customers’ names, email addresses or phone numbers, product preferences, how much they spend, how frequently they shop, and more. Retailers can incorporate...

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Budtenders in competitive markets have a new tool in their sales arsenal: a ‘cannabis sommelier’ certification program that ports a classic wine-judging method to marijuana. The Cannabis Sommelier Certification program, presented by education platform CannaReps in collaboration with the makers of the Genius Pipe, offers budtenders a deep dive into flavor profiles, helping budtenders assist customers in...

Compared to every other legal retail industry, shopping for cannabis products can be a confusing, frustrating experience for consumers, who must wade through ever-changing menus, quirky payment systems, and half-baked information about brands and their products. With the launch of IHeartJane.com in 2017, Jane Technologies aimed to improve the ecommerce experience for shoppers and retailers alike. The website allows consumers...

Your business is not a dispensary and you don’t touch the plant, so... You don’t want to reach cannabis consumers? Wrong. So many companies have limited themselves by not thinking outside the box when trying to reach potential customers. Many people see only what is obvious to their business model, and that's unfortunate. An in-depth understanding of your brand's opportunity, coupled...

Everyone remembers the first time they saw a copy of High Times on a magazine shelf, usually tucked somewhere between the adult magazines and tobacco fetish periodicals at a local liquor or convenience store. The primary appeal of those early weed rags was the magnified, vivid pictures of frosty, multicolored buds in all their glory. Weed porn. Cannabis industry photography...

YAZOO CITY, Miss. -- June 17 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the day President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs. Since that day in 1971, California has recorded more than 10 million felony drug arrests, including 1 million felony marijuana arrests, according to NORML. Luke Scarmazzo is one of those statistics. A victim of flawed federal law enforcement policy, he remains behind...