Sacramento, Calif. — Origins Council, a California nonprofit organization which advocates on behalf of legacy cannabis cultivators from historic cannabis producing regions, today announced a screening and discussion of the documentary film ‘Lady Buds‘ directed by Chris J. Russo at Sacramento’s historic Crest Theater on Monday, April 25. Featuring the stories of six courageous female cannabis crusaders, ‘Lady Buds’ follows the women as they attempt to transition their businesses and ambitions from the relatively simple world of the Proposition 215 medical cannabis era to the highly regimented commercial cannabis industry fomented by the passage of Proposition 64. California Senator John Laird and Assemblymembers Mia Bonta and Wood co-host this important event. The public is welcome to attend the panel discussion, film screening, and post-film Q&A.
California lawmakers and regulators, Origins Council members, and ‘Lady Buds’ subjects FELICIA CARBAJAL and CHIAH RODRIGUES will join Origins Council executive director GENINE COLEMAN and Lady Buds producer MICHAEL KATZ for a screening of this award-winning 2021 film as well as a lively discussion of the issues it raises around California’s bumpy road towards a compliant cannabis industry. The event also provides an opportunity to highlight some of the necessary and meaningful industry reforms the legislature will be considering this year, including proposals to eliminate the cultivation tax, provide limited opportunity direct to consumer special event sales, establish a framework for interstate commerce, and move the conversation forward on licensing reforms that are desperately needed.
“’Lady Buds’ is both a joyous and difficult film to watch because you are rooting so strongly for the six women to succeed. For various reasons related to the vagaries and restrictions of the compliant cannabis industry here in California, each woman has a vastly different experience,” says Origins Council executive director Genine Coleman. “In that way, Lady Buds transcends the traditional documentary film model by providing a very clear explanation of the challenges on the path to success for all who wish to participate legally in our industry, whether by farming or selling or both.”
Legislative members and office staffers, members of the Governor’s administration, commercial cannabis regulators, and Origins Council members anticipate a frank discussion of the issues raised and examined by the film and the possibilities presented by various legislative proposals to be discussed in the days and weeks following the movie screening. No fewer than a dozen pieces of legislation will be heard in the coming weeks, including AB 2691 (Wood) and SB 1074 (McGuire), whose districts serve the heart of the cannabis industry’s famed Emerald Triangle, where the majority of Origins Council’s members live and work. Among others, these bills in particular which would allow for limited event direct-to-consumer sales and would eliminate the cultivation tax, respectively, and propose real and meaningful reforms to strengthen California’s small and independent cannabis producers and companies, as highlighted by the film.
“This event is a unique opportunity to educate and inform state policy makers on the realities facing small, legacy cannabis cultivators and independent non-cultivation cannabis businesses that are finding it more and more challenging to remain in the regulated industry,” Coleman says. “Prop. 64 promised to provide a pathway for existing operators to move into a new system of compliance, and Lady Buds provides unique insight into the results of those promises.”
