Inflation is all over the news, with gas prices rising, stocks plummeting into bear market territory, the war in Ukraine cutting off resources, and the pandemic still squeezing the supply chain. But there’s one place where consumers aren’t seeing prices rise: the weed store.

The weed industry hasn’t entirely escaped inflation. The cost of materials needed to grow cannabis has gone up considerably. Rather, stable prices at dispensaries indicate a high supply of weed and intense competition. There’s so much product in the market that stores are reluctant to raise prices for fear of losing customers to the shop around the corner. Growers too. 

The beginning of the pandemic saw a spike in cannabis sales, as people stocked up on weed and other goods to help them get through lockdown. There was more demand for weed than supply at first, and not enough to satisfy people’s appetites. 

Now the opposite is true. Due to inflation, people are cinching their belts and ponying up extra cash for gas, food, and other goods. That’s led to an oversupply of cannabis products, with a customer base that suddenly has less cash to spend.  

There’s too much weed in the market

Competition for customers among cannabis shops is high right now because there’s an abundance of product in the market. With most other goods in the economy going up in price, weed shops have kept their prices the same, simply to get customers in the door. 

“Any one of the shops who raises their prices on their own, [it] would be a little bit of a death sentence at this point. Customers know that they have a lot of options,” said Jason McKee, general manager and buyer at Ganja Goddess in Seattle, Washington. “It’s a dangerous game to raise prices.”

Indicative of the market as a whole, sales seem to have dipped a little bit at the Seattle store, but there’s no cause for alarm. The shop hasn’t had to cut staff or hours.

“There’s definitely been a small percentage decline in sales, especially as this drags on; gas prices are still continuing to go up. So as long as that’s the case, I think we’re going to see a slow down,” said McKee. “In general, we’re just trying to keep the customer interested and trying to keep them coming back.”

The same is true for growers. They need to compete with other growers and can’t afford to raise prices when selling to dispensaries because there’s so much product in the market. Both growers and retailers seem locked in to current pricing levels at the moment, afraid to raise prices even though their expenses are increasing. 

McKee said he buys product from about 60 growers and vendors and that only two have increased prices, and one even lowered prices. 

Growers are feeling the squeeze

The global supply chain is still a mess from the pandemic, and shipping is reduced all over the globe. Any goods coming from overseas face long waits and a backup at the dock, hiking up prices for the simplest materials, including those needed for growing and selling cannabis.

“Like almost every industry, we’re really feeling the squeeze when it comes to supply chain,” said Matt Gaboury, co-founder of House of Cultivar, a grower in Seattle. “We’ve had to switch vendors for certain things just to be even able to get the packaging materials or some of the supplies that we need… Everything is more expensive than it was three years ago.”

But as prices for materials to grow cannabis go up, the amount of money growers can get for their harvest when selling to dispensaries isn’t. Again, the abundance of weed in the market has created high competition among growers as well. Growers are keeping prices down simply to sell product, forcing them to shoulder the extra costs of materials.

“I think really where our industry is feeling the crunch is because the cost of all that stuff has been going up, so our cost to produce is obviously rising, and the price is staying static; that means that our margins are decreasing,” said Gaboury. “If anything, they have been trending downward, not upward, to match inflation.”

Supply chain issues have also affected the availability of basic materials. “Stuff that typically would take 60 days [is now taking] double that amount of time, easy. We had one container of packaging that sat in port for probably almost six months,” said Gaboury.

Even the war in Ukraine is affecting the cannabis industry. Ukraine and Russia export 28% of the world’s fertilizers (those containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). Wartime trade disruptions and economic sanctions have significantly reduced those supplies, sometimes doubling the price of fertilizers—and that includes those needed to grow cannabis.

“I can get most fertilizers, but the specific one I want for the summer is not available,” said Joe Poulter, owner of Fire Flower, a grower in Oregon. He estimates the cost of fertilizer and other materials bought from agricultural suppliers have risen about 25% in the past few months.

Additionally, items you might not think about much, but are essential to growing plants, have gone up in price. For his outdoor grow, Poulter estimates that 20-gallon pots have gone up from about $6 a pot to about $9. 

Gaboury from House of Cultivar mentioned that their coco coir, a medium used to grow plants instead of soil, has doubled or even tripled in price, because it’s obtained overseas. 

Multiply these seemingly small increases by hundreds or even thousands of plants for some grows, and it’s a significant additional cost.

What will the weed market do next?

The stock market’s dip into bear market territory last week is not a good sign for the US economy, and the Federal Reserve took a huge step to combat inflation last week, dramatically hiking interest rates to cool off the economy. 

For now, retail prices at cannabis stores seem to be stable, but consumers aren’t buying as much weed, as more of their budget is eaten up by gas, food, and other goods that have increased in cost due to inflation. 

At this point it’s the cannabis growers who are feeling pressure the most. Eventually growers may have to raise prices to make ends meet or face going out of business. Higher wholesale prices would likely result in higher retail prices at the dispensary.

But unless all growers can collectively raise prices, some growers could be pushed out of business by others who can still afford to sell at low wholesale prices.

Aside from the troubles of the US economy, another variable in this equation is that the cannabis industry itself is volatile, constantly expanding and contracting. It’s a highly competitive industry with operators setting up shop and going out of business all the time. The fledgling market is still figuring itself out, even in states that have been selling legal cannabis for several years.

“We haven’t really reached stabilization,” said Gaboury from House of Cultivar. “In a state like Washington, we’re a little bit more of a mature industry… so I think our rollercoaster ride is starting to flatten out. Our dips and our highs aren’t as much as they used to be. It’s still variable, but it’s getting less and less, and more and more consistent.”

The full effects of inflation on weed prices are yet to be seen, but the market has proven to be resilient and able to bounce back. In the meantime, support your local weed shop and grower. 

Pat Goggins

Pat Goggins is a senior editor who handles Leafly’s informational content and specializes in cannabis cultivation after working for a commercial grower in Oregon. When not fixing typos, you’ll probably find him on a boat or in the mountains.

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Last month the Biden administration proudly announced that farmers hit by natural disasters over the past two years would start receiving relief payments from a $6 billion injection into the USDA’s Emergency Relief Program.

“Farmers and ranchers across the country have been hit hard by an ongoing pandemic coupled with more frequent and catastrophic natural disasters,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. These new funds will “inject financial support back into the rural economy” to farmers who lost crops due to drought, wildfire, smoke damage, flooding, and winter freeze.

New funds will help farmers recover from wildfire and other disasters. But not if you’re growing legal marijuana.

The support is expected to be especially welcome in the American West, where wildfires and smoke wiped out many crops in 2020 and 2021.

There’s only one hitch in the program, though. State-licensed cannabis farmers, whose outdoor crops in the West were severely damaged by wildfire, aren’t eligible to receive a single penny of relief.

In an email to Leafly, a USDA spokesperson confirmed that there’s no way for cannabis growers to receive any of these funds—no matter how much damage or destruction their crops may have suffered.

“Marijuana is a controlled substance, and therefore is not eligible for federal farm programs,” a USDA spokesperson wrote in an email. “Hemp,” the spokesperson noted, “is eligible for farm programs.”

Hemp is cannabis with less than 0.3% THC, but it’s not state-licensed cannabis—which, as Leafly noted last year, now comprises America’s fifth most valuable crop.

Hard to find insurance, impossible to get federal aid

America’s cannabis farmers are critical players in the effort to end illicit marijuana sales and move consumers into the licensed, lab-tested market in 19 legal states.

But because of federal prohibition, they’re forced to take on risks no other farmers must bear. Those risks include these two economic gambles:

• State-licensed cannabis farmers aren’t eligible for federal crop insurance.
• These farmers are also prohibited from receiving help from the federal Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, which helps farmers whose uninsured crops are damaged or lost due to natural disasters.

That forces cannabis farmers to turn to the private insurance market, but many find that insurance ruinously expensive—if it’s offered at all.

Private insurers have been discouraged from backing cannabis businesses due to the state-federal legal conflict.

According to the Center for Insurance Policy and Research, private insurers have been discouraged from backing cannabis businesses due to “conflicting state and federal laws” and “rapidly evolving regulations.” The organization notes that cannabis producers face the same general liabilities and risks as other farmers, such as “workplace accidents, damage to property and crop failure.” Cannabis operations are “especially prone to fires from both wild and internal sources,” according to the research center.

With no federal assistance available, and private insurance difficult to come by, there seems to be very little protection for recovering farmers in the industry.

Legal states offer no help either

In Washington state, the legal status of cannabis doesn’t gain its growers any state-level public assistance either, according to Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board spokeswoman Julie Graham, who cited information from the state’s Department of Commerce. The commerce department itself did not respond to an email asking what resources or aid might be available.

Private insurers may cover a cannabis business’s liability and property but exclude the actual crop and resulting products, according to the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. These businesses are required by the state to purchase some coverage, albeit quite limited. “The sale of cannabis is legal in Washington state,” the agency states. “However, some insurers won’t offer you coverage because the federal government still considers it an illegal substance.”

“Coverage may only be available from high-risk, non-Washington licensed insurers called surplus line insurance companies,” which are entities that cover especially risky things like a house built on the side of a steep hill or rare art, according to the agency.

Lack of insurance may lead to greater personal risk

That lack of crop insurance doesn’t just put farmers at risk of economic ruin. It can lead some to put their own lives in danger. Consider, for instance, the story of Washington state cannabis farmer Terry Taylor.

When there’s no insurance, farmers can end up needlessly risking their lives to save their property.

When a massive wildfire tore through Washington’s Okanogan County in late 2020, Taylor jumped into action. The farmer and former firefighter knew the Cold Springs Fire could destroy his family’s home—and livelihood.

“It was our whole life,” Taylor said of his company, Okanogan Gold. “We’ve spent the last seven years building this whole facility, and we didn’t want to see it go. If we knew we had insurance, we would’ve just said ‘OK, let’s just go.’”

Instead, Taylor risked his life working to save the 38-acre property, staying there after Okanogan County sheriff’s officials warned him to evacuate at 2:30 a.m. on Labor Day.

$500,000 in crop damage from wildfire

Taylor was fortunate. He didn’t lose everything. The wildfire burned more than 290 square miles near his farm, but spared his home and facilities. He said his operation suffered at least $500,000 in crop damage and another $10,000 in physical damage to equipment like irrigation pipes.

“All of the cannabis was damaged,” Taylor said. “It was full of dirt because we had 50-mph winds, and it was pushing dirt and ash. We couldn’t use it as the flower it was intended to be,” explaining that the plants ended up being categorized low-grade and had to be used mostly for cannabis oil extraction. “Most of it got sold at very low prices,” he said.

“If we would’ve lost everything in that fire, we would’ve had nothing,” he said, describing 200-foot flames on the other side of the Okanogan River, near his property. “I mean, that’s the reality of it.”

Cold shoulder from officials even in legal states

Even in America’s most well-established legal states, public officials who eagerly tout the relief offered to all other farmers go strangely silent when it comes to cannabis farmers.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) last month issued a written statement praising the USDA’s disaster relief funds, noting that roughly $191 million would go to farmers in her state alone.

“I’m glad we could bring back some badly-needed federal dollars to help our farmers

and ranchers during a really tough time,” Sen. Murray said. “I will always have the backs of Washington state farmers who keep food on our tables and our families fed.”

Terry Taylor and other cannabis farmers, of course, will be excluded from the help extended to Washington’s other farmers.

That’s despite the fact that legal cannabis is estimated to be the fourth highest-earning cash crop in Washington, with a production value of $653 million in 2020, according to the 2021 Leafly Cannabis Harvest Report.

“It’s brutal,” he said. “And lately, we’ve been kinda used to it.”

Last October, Sen. Murray asked federal officials to offer help to agricultural producers not included in past relief programs. She co-authored a letter with three Congress members from her state, asking for aid to be given to “producers who suffered some of the greatest heat-related losses.”

This includes those who are “either located in counties not covered by the drought designations, experience losses not covered by drought assistance programs, or both,” the letter states.

After receiving the letter, federal officials decided to offer aid to “underserved producers who have been left out of past relief efforts,” according to the USDA Farm Agency’s description of the Emergency Relief Program.

Even so, cannabis farmers continued to be excluded. Murray’s office did not respond to an email asking if she has lobbied to get federal aid for these growers, or if she has any plans to do so, given the crop’s importance to the state’s agricultural economy.

The fact that cannabis farmers have been ignored by these efforts went unacknowledged by the senator as she applauded the program’s launch last month.

The challenges don’t stop

Meanwhile, growers throughout the West continue to grapple with extreme weather and other challenges.

“This year has been really brutal for everyone, just with the prices going down and the fires from last year, recovering,” Taylor told Leafly. The weather this year has been so cold, he said, that it’s stunted the growth of his crop. “Our auto flowers were three feet tall at this time (last year), and this year, they’re three inches tall. Some were planted last month, and they’re like we just put them in the ground.”

Canopy limits under state regulations have also forced the farm at Okanogan Gold to cut its production by about half – from 75,000 auto flower plants last year to 25,000 this year, Taylor said. Those regulations, along with the poor weather conditions, will make it extremely difficult for smaller growers to survive, he added.

“We’re going to probably be able to hold on because I don’t have any debt,” Taylor said. “But the people that owe on the property and everything – I think it’s going to be a house of cards.”

Marissa Wenzke

Marissa Wenzke covers cannabis in Los Angeles for Leafly. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and works as a digital news producer for KTLA newscasts.

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Nothing in cannabis life is certain, except death and excise taxes.

But for many craft cannabis producers in Canada, the strain of excise tax has stoked action to amend it for a fairer rate, especially as cannabis prices slump.

Set at $1 per gram for dried flower or 10% of the value of the gram, whichever is lower, the excise tax rate punishes cannabis producers by taking as much as 30% of their top-line revenue, according to a white paper by Lucas Jenkins, Charlotte Bowyer, and CEO of Tantalus Labs Dan Sutton.

Circulated widely among the cannabis growers, the paper warns that a slate of bankruptcies could sweep across the industry, as it did in the US.

“Onerous taxes are not only a unique Canadian industry problem. We have seen the same situation play out in California where a tax burden of up to 40% of the total retail cost has led to widespread bankruptcies, a flourishing illicit market, and tax boycotts,” the paper states.

The problem with taxing weed’s wholesale price

The situation looks increasingly dire for many Canadian cannabis players. Around 254 individual cannabis businesses racked up $73 million in excise debt from March 2019 through March 2022, CRA data shows, according to recent media reports. As of May 2022, roughly $52.4 million remains outstanding.

Another craft producer in Canada wants to see an amendment to the cannabis tax rate that mirrors those enacted on alcohol companies. “This shouldn’t be regarded strictly on a per-gram basis,” says David Marcus, president and founder of Abide.

“Look at alcohol and how a higher concentration of alcohol will be taxed at a higher rate. Beer will be taxed differently than whiskey, but what if we taxed cannabis based on the percentage of THC in the flower?”

David Marcus, president and founder of Abide.

Sutton noted in the paper that the excise tax rate should reflect the percentage of sales and consumer price, rather than the wholesale price. He and Marcus agree that the government likely envisioned a 10% tax rate when per-gram rates were stable soon after legalization.

But as the cannabis industry contracted, so did gram prices, while the $1-per-gram excise tax remained the status quo.

Lobbying efforts have ramped up in the past two years, just as Bill C-45 is expected to be reviewed over the next 18 months. A look into Canada’s lobbyist registry reveals that seven cannabis companies engaged with federal politicians last year, as well as several meetings initiated by the Cannabis Council of Canada, that discussed excise tax.

Government bodies are slow to enact changes  

In early 2022 Omar Khan, a senior vice president of pot retailer High Tide, met with officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and members of the Official Opposition to advise Ottawa on broadening their economic perspective when regulating cannabis in the future. 

“When you talk to them and you let them know that the GDP contribution right now is comparable to auto manufacturing, or to life sciences or even to dairy, when you show them those statistics they’re quite taken aback,” Khan told BNN Bloomberg in an interview.

Most recently, a new report provided by EY Parthenon on behalf of the Cannabis Council of Canada echoes Sutton’s white paper in calling for an overhaul of Canadian cannabis firms’ excise tax rate. It aims to create a single, harmonized federal excise stamp rather than provincial ones, and a reduction of regulatory fees.

As the Globe & Mail notes, there’s no indication Ottawa intends to shift its stance on the excise tax. The only talk of cannabis taxation in the April budget was a nod to the government’s desire to give First Nations the ability to introduce their own levies.

“Health Canada has launched a limited review of regulatory charges, but that exercise doesn’t extend to excise taxes,” the report went on to say.

Regulations vary product to product

Another thorny issue for businesses that make both CBD and THC products, such as Abide, is the distinction in tax regulations.

Abide produces hemp for their CBD products, but the regulations require their CBD products to prove they contain a low-enough THC level to be tax-exempt; if the product contains enough THC, it falls under the excise tax rate.

“If we want to increase the CBD levels to, say, 12%, which pushes the THC limit above the 0.3% threshold to be exempt, then we’re now paying taxes. Generally, the regulations are pretty good but they just need to be tweaked here and there.”

In fact, the feds should follow their own policies. When “cannabis 2.0” arrived in Canada with a slew of edibles and oils, Ottawa decided on excise duty of one cent per milligram of total THC. “If it worked for edibles, it should work for dried flower,” Marcus says.

David Silverberg

David Silverberg is a freelance journalist who writes for The Toronto Star, BBC News, The Washington Post, Business Insider, Cannabis Health, Merry Jane, High Times and many other outlets. He is also a writing coach helping freelance journalists and creatives level up their careers.

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A farm in Northern Thailand reports better meat, less disease, and more weather-resilient chickens after using cannabis in their food.

Could cannabis make chickens faster, better, stronger? One farm in Thailand is investigating the potential health benefits of administering the plant.

Thailand was the first Asian country to legalize medical marijuana in 2018 and continues to be at the forefront of destigmatization and social change. They are continuing to be dank disrupters, this time making headlines by using cannabis in chicken feed.

Leftover pot leaves inspire innovation in Lampang

A farmer in the northern region of Lampang, who is licensed to grow medical cannabis, was curious about what to do with all the extra biomass after his cannabis harvest. Ong-ard Panyachatiraksa decided, with the support of Thailand’s Chiang Mai University, to try using cannabis leaves for a group of chickens that weren’t responding to antibiotics for avian bronchitis.

According to The Guardian, academics at the university have been studying 1,000 chickens since last January at the farm to see how the animals responded when cannabis was mixed into their feed or water. They used leftover leaves, crushed into feed or boiled for “marijuana water”.

Stoned for science? Not really. The chickens weren’t given quantities that would (likely) cause psychoactive effects like being high.

While the completed research has yet to be published, Chompunut Lumsangkul, assistant professor at Chiang Mai University’s Department of Animal and Aquatic sciences, says the chickens given cannabis had higher quality meat and eggs, needed fewer antibiotics (or none at all!) and were more resilient to inclement weather.

In addition to the perceived health benefits, these coveted weed chickens also fetch a higher price at local farmers’ markets. According to Panyachatiraksa, chickens generally sell for 60 baht ($1.70 USD) per kg, but his chickens are selling for double.

Medicinal cannabis is part of holistic Thai tradition

“It is the local wisdom of Thai people to use cannabis [leaves] as a food additive – mixing it as an ingredient to make chicken noodles. People put it in the soup to make it taste better,” says Lumsangkul, wanting to understand the science behind the practice.

Panyachatiraksa notes the price of cannabis is still too high in Thailand for farms to easily incorporate it into chicken feed, but that recent legal reforms may change that. “As time goes by and we can grow more, it’s going to get better,” he said.

The study comes at an important time, as Thailand’s National Farmers Council warns that antibiotics in chicken and eggs can harm consumers’ health, possibly causing allergies and declining immunity. Cannabis, unlike antibiotics, doesn’t appear to leave remnants in the food people consume. At least, in these doses.

Could cannabis help reduce dependence on antibiotics?

Further research is needed to understand this correlation better. Lumsangkul, who lead the first study, notes there isn’t enough data yet to know if cannabis can replace antibiotics in chicken farming.

Lumsangkul is planning a second study where she will investigate high-potency cannabis extracts to test their impact on disease and fatality rates among chickens.

For Lumsangkul, if the results are confirmed, cannabis could become an important tool for transforming the poultry industry both in Thailand, as well as internationally. Antibiotics in meat have long been a topic of discussion, as more research shows potential health concerns.

Ashley Keenan

Ashley Keenan is the Canada editor at Leafly, as well as a freelance journalist, consultant, and patient advocate in the cannabis industry.

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If you’re smoking legal weed this Father’s Day, you owe this activist an honorary toke.

Before you light up your Father’s Day stash, remember to spark one for Jack Herer, aka the godfather of modern cannabis.

A good godfather isn’t always there. But he’s right on time when you need him. And for much of the prohibition era, Jack Herer led the cannabis community forward with passion and brilliance.

At a time when most consumed in the closet, Herer’s example became a guiding light for the cannabis community. Even for those who didn’t agree with his bombastic vibe.

“You’ve got to be out of your mind not to smoke dope!” Herer told a crowd in 2009 at one of his final public appearances.

Although he died in April, 2010 at age 70, Herer’s legacy lives on through writings, recorded speeches, and the world-famous Jack Herer strain. Bred for medical patients of Dutch pharmacies since the 1990s, Jack’s honorary strain still measures up to his reputation for trailblazing ideas and inspiring energy.

To honor Jack’s legacy this Father’s Day weekend, here are Leafly’s top five reasons why Mr. Herer is the godfather of modern cannabis culture.

1. He paid his dues to the dank

Jack Herer’s career in cannabis goes back to his days as a pioneer of the glass pipe industry. He opened his first head shop in 1973 at 34 and began documenting everything he could about the cannabis plant. His observations would later bloom into a world-famous book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes. Jack began writing The Emperor while he was in prison for protesting the Ronald Regan administration.

The non-fiction book was a counter-culture manifesto that raised questions about the validity of American propaganda, and particularly the War on Drugs.

The text offered $100,000 to anyone who could disprove its claims about cannabis. Claims included: Hemp plants are the world’s most efficient solar power source, and hemp is a sustainable solution for world hunger.

The book was published 12 times over the next 25 years, with the final edition hitting presses in 2010, the same year that Jack passed at 70 from complications following a heart attack.

2. He kept the family tight

Keeping the cannabis community united is no small task. You have growers, sellers, smokers, dabbers and munchers who all feel unique ownership of the plant. But Herer’s work as director of the organization Helping End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) made unity a priority.

With legalization bringing a flood of capital and competition to the legal weed market, all participants should revisit the principles that Jack preached on the path to legalization. Even with some of his loudest critiques coming from activists at NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), Jack saved his smoke for those supporting prohibition.

Some contemporaries wanted Jack to be more grown-up, and mainstream. They even challenged his sweeping declarations that hemp could save the world. Still, in 2002, NORML reversed its long-held skepticism by honoring Herer with a lifetime achievement award.

3. He stayed close to the plant

In his lifetime, Herer got his hands into every cannabis business category. The experience he gained selling pipes in the 70s, writing books in the 80s and lobbying hard for legalization in the 90s gave him a foundation of substance and complemented his natural leadership skills. Jack’s charming presence and clear voice helped him reach people with ease. But he didn’t put himself before the plant. In fact, he rarely had time to indulge in his ego because he was so busy getting baked.

“No one has ever died from marijuana that wasn’t shot by a cop,” Jack would often joke. The line used to scare his fourth wife, Jeanie, who tracked Jack down in the late 90s after reading his famous book and having a revelation. She found him stoned, laying under his famous vendor table on Venice Beach, and couldn’t believe this was the author of the book that had changed her life.

4. He helped blaze the legal trail

Back in 1972, Herer joined California lawyer Leo Paoli to put Proposition 19 onto California ballots. It failed to pass with 33% approval, but the votes showed Jack and others that Americans were starting to see through the propaganda of the Drug War.

Herer also created the Great American Standard System (GRASS) to educate adults about hemp with cartoons and witty copywriting. And along with his friend, Captain Ed Adair, Jack swore an oath to never rest until the plant was legal.

Jack was pefectly fine with playing the long game. He pushed failed ballot measures year after year with a smile, because he loved the democratic process and enjoyed the incremental progress his work pushed forward.

Everyone enjoying decriminalized or licensed cannabis today owes an honorary puff to Jack for his political foresight and patience.

5. He planted strong roots

The godfather’s name and influence will live on for generations thanks in part to the Jack Herer Cup competition, which is held in Amsterdam, Colombia, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, and Thailand each year.

But why do premium Jack Herer cultivars remain among the most popular sativa-dominant strains on the planet? Well, just a few citrusy tokes of Jack’s namesake flower will flood your brain with fresh ideas and the rush of energy you need to execute them. So this Father’s Day, light up some JH and celebrate the godfather’s legendary influence on the world of modern cannabis.

For more on Jack, check out Tom Zoellner’s original feature profile of Herer from 2017, and listen to Leafly’s The Roll Up podcast episode dedicated to pot’s godfather.

Also, the updated 2020 Kindle edition of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, edited and annotated by Dan Herer, is available here.

Leafly Staff

Leafly is the world’s largest cannabis information resource, empowering people in legal cannabis markets to learn about the right products for their lifestyle and wellness needs. Our team of cannabis professionals collectively share years of experience in all corners of the market, from growing and retail, to science and medicine, to data and technology.

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Despite racking up $25 billion in legal cannabis sales last year, social media networks have yet to put respect on the weed game’s name. The main cannabis culture hub, Instagram, is as popular (1.21 billion users) as it is frustrating. The shallowness, the hustlers, the scammers, the comment drama, plus legit brands losing their accounts over and over—Meta’s photo sharing app has become distinctly unchill.

In 2022, the session is migrating to online spaces that can be deeper, and more thoughtful. If you really want to know what’s on the dispensary menu for 2023, you won’t find it on the ‘gram. The future of weed is on Discord.

Exotic Mike of Exotic Genetix started using Discord years ago for gaming, but it wasn’t until this January that he thought to use it to siphon his biggest fans from Instagram to a safer haven. He, as well as the other sources interviewed for this story, state that they do not sell any seeds or weed through Discord. None of them have been reported for any of their cannabis content either.

“Discord is like taking the forum boards and mixing it with a messaging system that’s really high end. You can make phone calls, video chat, text, you can archive stuff. It’s a great platform for information and corralling a crowd,” he says. 

It can also keep the business side of things flowing if Instagram implements shadowbans or posts get reported. 

“If IG decides to take our account down, Discord will be a backup platform for core users who want to know about EG stuff.”

Go from Discord noob to pro with this run down of the best weed Discords to let your weed freak flag fly.

Exotic Genetix

It’s no secret we at Leafly are big fans of Exotic Genetix and their award-winning repertoire. Their founder and leader Mike created their Discord in January of 2022, and has garnered over 15,000 members thus far. 

Expect daily giveaways, and seed release announcements. Peruse Mike’s grower’s guide for fans and colleagues alike to refer to on their own cultivation journeys. He even hosts a live podcast where subscribers can ask questions and send Mike off on tangents. For super-obsessed, he coordinates a couple different seed release-related NFT giveaways that come with lifetime benefits.

“If they’re gonna take the time to jump to a platform that’s harder to engage with, the success comes down to the user and how they can find it. We tried to make our Discord way cooler than our IG. Those users are my real deal superfans.”

Compound Genetics

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the adage “early bird gets the worm.” The worm in this case is award-winning breeder Compound Genetics’ new Discord. Why join the 220,000 masses on IG when you can be one of 2,000? In addition to coordinating new drops (that new Pave line looks fire!), you can also talk shop in individual strains, like Oregon Leaf Bowl 2022 winner Jokerz. There are threads for exposing scammers, pheno discourse and showing off your heady glass collection. 

Archive Seed Bank

A favorite among breeders and stoners alike, Archive Seed Bank’s Discord is a distillation of what makes their seeds so good: attention to detail, set goals and boundaries, and indispensable insider knowledge. Their seed lines, such as Moonbow #75 and Face Off OG crosses, have individual threads for nuanced questions, and they even provide a running list of online scams and impersonators to avoid. 

Clearwater Buds

If you want to cut to the chase of growing and yield, Colorado’s Clearwaterbuds is for you. This is a true growers space; you won’t find many memes here. Rather, the designated chats are set up for finding new flavors in seed packs, growing guides for both newbies and oldheads, a virtual seed-swap market, and strain breakdowns where users can report on and review how the seeds they buy become trees. There’s even one to share Instagram handles to help restart and/or grow accounts that have been suspended or fully deactivated without explanation.

Mass Medical Strains

“Back in the day I thought that if you even searched Google for anything grow-related, your house would get raided the same day,” writes Mass Medical Strains via email. “The intentions were to bring the MMS community and any cannabis people together in a safer place online, where things can be discussed without censorship or fear of our accounts being deleted. The Instagram community is hard to see in one place or search to find anything good these days, but in comparison, everyone in the Discord is so friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to share and build with each other.” 

 Their Discord server has almost 6,000 members despite it only being a couple months old; it’s a lot easier to foster camaraderie without worrying about getting reported and having to start from square one. Part of MMS’ mission is to help burgeoning growers focus not only on bag appeal, but the effects imparted by what they’re smoking; they have channels to feature each of the new strains dropping, and even “Grow Off” contents for users to determine who’s doing the best job growing MMS creations. 

“I love seeing my plants grown out in different gardens, each one is unique and many of them I can recognize before even reading the captions and descriptions. I encourage everyone to be very aware of the way the cannabis they smoke makes them feel.”

Irie Genetics

Not everyone prefers smoking flower or typing in a chat room; if you’ve ever wanted to press your own rosin or make homemade and high-dose gummy bears, there are server channels for that on Irie Genetics’ Discord. The Irie Army Discord also has quite a few themed voice chat rooms to choose from, for growing weed as well as some of the things you tend to do on weed, like working out and watching movies. There are also other informational Discord recommendations, and each strain in their currently offered genetic library has a separate channel to really get into the individual weeds. 

Founder Rasta Jeff started the Discord to go deeper; besides passing knowledge down, he wanted to make friends and cultivate relationships beyond shop talk. “Social media is a great tool for marketing and building a brand, but the personal interactions feel very limited,” he tells Leafly over Discord. “On Discord I can post and chat and educate freely without fear of censorship or threats of my account being removed because I used the wrong words in my post. Many of those plant issue conversations lead to lifelong friendships!”

Masonic Seeds

In the simplest terms, “I have [Discord] as a lifeboat and IG is a yacht,” says Compton-based breeder Masonic Smoker. Instagram’s policy on marijuana is still stuck in what Masonic Smoker calls “the Dark Ages.” His first account made it to 50,000 followers before it was shut down, and he says he usually hits 30K before parent company Meta inexplicably pulls the plug; his current account, masonic_smoker3.0, has 32,000 followers as of publication. Without his account he can’t network, go Live, or sell seeds of his proprietary Wilson strain.

“Instagram is where I can mingle with my tribe; I saw the lake and went fishing,” he says. But, “I’ve been having my page taken down for three years. That shit hurts. It’s depressing. A lot of us feel that if Instagram quit today, we would need to find a new job, and that shouldn’t be the case.”

While his Discord has grow pics and channels for users to share resources and know-how, he also keeps it fun, with channels for sharing pet pictures, discussing video games, and just plain ol’ shitposting. He’s less active on it than his Instagram, Twitch, and Youtube accounts, but it also presents a new opportunity for discourse without the fear of vindictive lurkers. 

“You can have a lot more thought provoking discussion on Discord; [it’s] kinda like a barrier. It weeds out the numbskulls. People will talk more seriously about growing, more cohesive, thought out and it stays there in Discord.” 

Solfire Gardens

This boutique growing Discord comes highly recommended by Exotic Mike. Based in Washington state, Solfire Gardens is the mind behind new titillating strains such as Bahama Mama and Dirty Squirt. Their Discord is the “heart” of their community, and it shows in how they’ve made their server particularly easy to browse for users still finding their Discord legs with a comprehensive primer post to best utilize all channels. These include growing tips, photo galleries, gaming chats, auctions, and even a primer on buying bitcoin.

Raw Genetics

Like any other industry, cannabis breeders contain multitudes. Sure, they love weed, but they don’t only have to love weed. The biggest pro our sources gave Discord is its versatility, and the ease with which multiple topics and conversations can unfold with ease, while keeping their momentum day to day. Raw Genetics has many of the pillars of a cannabis Discord: grow advice, drop announcements and weed porn pics. But they also have so much more, like their bundle of crypto-focused channels, music and movie recommendations, and of course, dank memes.

As of 2022, the perfect platform for weed lovers still doesn’t exist. But we’re getting there, and hopefully, without the help of billionaire buyers. In the meantime, we can revel in the grow chats and keep following the new accounts of our favorite innovators rising from the Meta ashes, without whom we wouldn’t be blazed right now.

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Amelia Williams

New York-based freelance cannabis journalist Amelia Williams is a graduate of San Francisco State University’s journalism program, and a former budtender. Williams has contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle’s GreenState, MG Magazine, Culture Magazine, and Cannabis Now, Kirkus Reviews, and The Bold Italic.

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