Loud Thoughts Zine: The Change Issue

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Harvest season is upon us all and we are absolutely thrilled to introduce you to our latest endeavor at Loud Thoughts. Our Zine is not just about the plant—it’s about the implications of cannabis justice and the people who make up this vibrant, multifaceted community. What was once a stigmatized and “underground” plant is slowly emerging as a viable source of inspiration, medicine and industry. Loud Thoughts celebrates this overdue transformation and we’re committed to providing a thoughtful space for dialogue. Your voice is invaluable in shaping the conversation around this remarkable plant and we encourage you to share your artwork and experiences with us as we grow.

In The Change Issue, I’ll share a vulnerable experience, a “Lief Lesson,” that magnifies the importance of letting our guard down and reflecting internally. You’ll also hear about New York’s commitment to excellence and social equity in our interview with Cannabis NYC. Lastly, we’ll cover the evolving realm of cannabis trading with one of Canada’s largest bud brokerage platforms. In this moment, as federal, state and global laws change, we must recognize that cracking the cultural, commercial and collective code of cannabis is a difficult shift requiring dollars and sense. Luckily, each of our stories contain the power to guide us toward a solution.

Ever Upward, Jack Porcari Founder, Loud Thoughts

At our core,

Our mission is to expand cannabis-infused storytelling through human narrative. @LoudThoughtsZine @TheCannaProfessor

www.loudthoughts.online

©2023 Jack Porcari All words and media property of author unless otherwise noted Layout and design by Paolo Blanchi

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Lief Lessons: On letting our guard down

The parallels between my mugging and the New York ‘green rush’

Lief Landracer

WARNING: This article contains sensitive information. Reader discretion advised.

It was a warm April night outside a 24-hour 7-Eleven. The New York City storefront beamed fluorescent-white lights across the streets, setting the stage for a memorable encounter. That’s right, I was nonviolently mugged and proceeded to spark up a

conversation with the man who did it.

Roughly two hash joints from the previous hours drew me into a present moment, perhaps irresponsibly.

While some may think it is “foolish” to engage in dialogue with my mugger, I don’t.

I pulled out my wallet and handed over a few singles with trust. As he talked with me

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briefly, it became apparent that he suffers from severe depression and mood disorders.

I looked into his eyes and he asked me, “Do you think I have a gun on me?”

Startled by the question, I began asking myself if I should retreat. Seconds later, it was already too late. He took my wallet and immediately stepped backward towards the storefront. Asking if I would “come closer,” the man couldn’t comprehend why I was still talking to him. Clearly, he was feeling isolated. “I’m here to help you,” I said, taking a few steps toward him. “I respect you and I’m here to talk if you need to.”

The social contract was now broken. I asked him where he was going and he invited me to take a walk to the corner with him.

I agreed and on the way, he explained that we were heading to the Port Authority. He

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A newsworthy night on West 34th Street Jack Porcari

then asked rather pointedly, “Are you afraid of Black men like me?”

“I’m not afraid. I’m here with you,” I told him confidently. I’m no stranger to the depths of mental wellbeing and tonight, I chose to surrender fully. Soon, my trepidations became noticeable. “You’re getting pretty worked up man, are you nervous?” he asked.

Truthfully, I was a little nervous. We both sensed the gravity of the exchange, yet we just couldn’t find the words for it as we wandered. He talked about his travels in the city while a friend of his made eye contact with me and approached us slowly. I thought it would be time to run home after two and a half blocks. My mugger was shuffling through my wallet and quickly returned it with all items except a fifty dollar bill.

“Don’t you at least respect me for giving you your wallet and money back?!” he added with a chuckle. On this occasion, I did.

How nice…

Regardless, I believed in the discussion more than my own life and spread positivity with each step forward. Ultimately, I was in town to advocate for an equitable cannabis rollout in New York State and to hear from panelists at MJ Unpacked. As I left the vicinity of 7-Eleven that night, I quickly realized the interaction perfectly encapsulated my motivations for coming to the city in the first place: to learn experientially, grow internally and witness a rediscovery of financial opportunity for all New York entrepreneurs.

So who cares that I got mugged and what lesson is truly visible? Through herbs, communication and curiosity, a sense of camaraderie arose between us. Underneath

NY Office of Cannabis Management

it all, I witnessed a genuine search for understanding. A desire to be seen, felt, and heard times ten. Even 26 weeks later, I still think of our time together.

In my experience, cannabis helps with connectivity and teaches us to feel the true gravity of conversation. It teaches me to adapt to change and find solutions within.

This not-so-subtle reminder forced me to encounter my existing bias(es) and reframe.

After returning home safely, I asked myself seriously: Was I really afraid of him? Would I feel the exact same way if a white person approached me in that manner? How do all humans fit inside the same story, no matter how complicated it gets?

Ultimately, my mugging is an organic snapshot in time that made me reflect on my own journey as an advocate, citizen, storyteller and patient. There is an abundant

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Acknowledging intersectionality helps ensure fair outcomes for entrepreneurs in New York State.

NY Office of Cannabis Management

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need for bridge building and what I have learned is that by letting go of instinct, I did not suffer or get lost. I gained the ability to shatter social barriers, to shift present mindsets and uplift the evening of a stranger through connection.

The lessons of this story mirror New York’s struggle for stability, as well as social and economic equity in the cannabis marketplace. Although I may have lost $50 from the interaction, I learned that committing to something scary can be life changing.

Right now, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is creatively aligning values and policy to address harms of the past. Similarly, I helped this man heal no matter how uncomfortable I got and realized there is always more work to uncover inside, where the heart beats. When we have permission to let our guard down, our perspective grows beyond understanding: it grows upward, even at 12:30 a.m., toward the light.

NY Office of Cannabis Management

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‘We can use this as a tool for reparative and restorative justice:’ Cannabis NYC shares vision to make the plug legit A conversation about the tokers of tomorrow Jack Porcari Rewriting decades of misinformation around the plant comes with many challenges. Luckily, Dasheeda Dawson, Founding Director of Cannabis NYC, is in a unique position to educate others and share her story as an example of what happens when cannabis business and law don’t live up to their full potential. Dawson felt complications of the War on Drugs firsthand growing up and even left New York City in search of accessible medical cannabis. Today, the award-winning business strategist is back home to set an example on a national and global level.

Read the full conversation with Loud Thoughts below: JP: What are you most excited about as New York picks up speed?

DD: I’m most excited about keeping the line on equity and the focus on equity, to hold the government accountable for what has shown itself to be devastating to communities like East New York and the Bronx and Harlem and certain parts of

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Queens and Staten Island. We’re starting to see that we have communities that have been disproportionately impacted and we can use this as a tool for reparative and restorative justice. I’m happy to finally see one state really focus on that and I think New York is our best start to do that, so far in this country.

JP: The first dispensary opened in the Bronx on July 6, that’s very exciting to see!

DD: That is a very exciting one! The Bronx has historically been underperforming on so many levels, often coming in ‘last,’ as it pertains to standard of living and median income and even COVID outcomes. I’ll always have mad love in my heart for the Bronx, I grew up in East New York and Brooklyn. I’m from Brooklyn all day, but when I traveled the city playing basketball, the Bronx was like a second home because legit, East New York is the whole borough.

There’s a lot of the same challenges. [It’s] very much multicultural, multilingual and the approach for social services and resources has always been a scarcity approach, it feels like. This administration and the Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, these are politicians and elected leaders that are really focused on bringing the Bronx forward. So getting this dispensary to be open…it being owned by justice involved individuals from the Bronx, is exactly what we are trying to do here with this legislation and with this regulation roll-out in New York.

JP: How do services like Cannabis NYC build trust with community and government stakeholders alike?

DD: It’s actually through just getting in people’s faces in a good way and not going away, being consistent. In February, we launched our LiftOff ! Cannabis NYC fiveborough tour and that tour has taken us to all the boroughs. We are at this point now

where we need to be in the community educating and letting them know what it is we know. We know number one that the majority of people who are looking to get into this industry are not necessarily the same people who were in the industry when it was criminalized, but those people still deserve reparative and restorative opportunities for the past harms of the policies. That was needing a reminder, but the second is that New York state also has an ability to use this cannabis tax revenue from legal dispensaries to go back to the communities and so it behooves us as community members and community boards to want that revenue to come back to our communities and therefore support this opportunity. But lastly, I think more and more, we’re seeing that there’s still so many people that don’t understand cannabis as medicine. They don’t understand the science behind it and it’s a lot more than just smoking a joint. I know I’ve been saying that for almost a decade it feels like now and I’m hoping that folks will start to catch up with the learning curve. I think that’s where New York City really has a capability of leading in the messaging of the transformation of us understanding this plant beyond the stereotype and more in its healing properties that are innate, inherent and what we can use it for to better our environment and our Earth. I think we’re wholly still missing that and that’s a large part of my job is to make sure we get that in public education, as well.

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JP: You helped secure the country’s first community reinvestment fund or “cannagrant” in Portland, Oregon. Now we have landmark legislation in New York, the MRTA, giving us an intentional reinvestment plan. What lessons do you hope to apply to New York City and beyond?

DD: I am using the work that I’ve done in Portland as prototypes, as proof of concept.

We are currently looking and working on a Cannabis NYC Loan Fund to just start to get some of these businesses off the ground and support with some financing, but I think down the road, we absolutely have to look at grants and we have to look at reinvestment and the city itself will have to determine how we want our cannabis tax revenue to be utilized. The state has a mandate in the MRTA but the cities and local jurisdictions still have an ability to, kind of, do what they want. Even though I’m proud of the 40% [of tax revenue] that the State’s mandate of the MRTA says goes into the Community Reinvestment Fund, when we think about New York City and it being arrest capital of the State for cannabis, we have to, you know, look at that number and adjust. We have a large percentage of the community disproportionately impacted throughout the state, within New York City and so I see that as more like an 80% reinvestment back into those communities.

JP: Is it weird to collaborate with the Mayor’s Office of Equity, the Sheriff and the Housing Authority for cannabis?

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DD: It hasn’t been for me and I think partly because the work I’ve been doing globally in the cannabis industry before I took this role has been about a holistic approach to cannabis. Not just as what we know it as, ‘weed’ and ‘recreational.’ In fact, New York doesn’t have a recreational market—we’re focused on our adult-use market. But I also think we understand there’s nutritional, industrial, agricultural and even spiritual uses of the plant, as well.

We all need to have a mindset shift and it’s been great to work with the Mayor’s Office of Equity on the equitable focus and goals.

The Sheriff ’s Department has been aligned in protecting these goals and with the New York City Housing Authority, we look at communities disproportionately impacted, individuals disproportionately impacted and a large percentage of them are living in NYCHA housing. So it’s important for us to get the information and education to those communities first and foremost and so I was thrilled to have them come on as a partner to educate. For me, this is the work…right? My job is to put these pieces of the puzzle together, so we’re not working in a discombobulated way—it’s a hub and these are just spokes on a wheel and Cannabis NYC is just making sure that the wheel moves in the right direction.

JP: Why is it important that Cannabis NYC be a hub for cultural excellence as well as science, equity and business?

DD: Thank you for noting our mission.

I always give it; the mission here is very

clear. We want to be the number-one hub in the world, a global leader, for cannabis industry excellence foundationally in equity and education, but we’re going to be across business, science and culture. I always call out culture because I do feel the marketability of cannabis has definitely improved thousandfold in the last decade to 20 years, and I would say a large part has to do with the marketability of hip hop, the marketability of certain cultural references that cannabis has been infused in and those are largely born out of New York and New York City specifically. We have, allegedly, the largest consumer population in the country. We certainly have the loudest and the proudest and I definitely want to make sure that we are celebrating the culture, but celebrating the culture doesn’t mean that we continue to push false information. I think we’ve got to celebrate the culture while educating at the same time. Like I always say I want to be for the culture but I’m for the science at the same time. You can do both—and I’m encouraging people to just flex! Like be, if you will, multilingual with your approach on cannabis. We can talk the street talk because we all understand it, we could bring that authentic culture because we actually all vibe with it, it’s a vibe, but I think when we want to think about the future and where the generational wealthbuilding happens: it has to be that fusion of culture, science and business, in the right amount. And that’s what we’re here to help with.

JP: What is one challenge and one victory you have encountered already as Founding Director of Cannabis NYC? DD: I think the biggest challenge is always going to be the perception that our industry is the unlicensed stores that we’re seeing pop up everywhere. That is right now, my biggest challenge and the fact is that there’s still so many New Yorkers, everyday I meet, that are like, ‘I didn’t know that was an illegal dispensary,’ or ‘I didn’t know that that wasn’t a legal store’. We’re trying to overcome the noise of, I would say, media a little bit— media is a culprit here too, as well as just the noise of things happening without a lot of feedback from the community. We’re overcoming that by doing our listening and learning tour, we’re getting feedback from the community and what we’re learning is: they are concerned and we are too, mostly because these stores don’t represent people from the community and so we’ve been trying our best to help them understand the nuances and the differences between what’s an illegal operation versus a legal store. We are absolutely helping to support them and understand how they get their plug legit.

How do they make sure people in their communities that have been participating in this industry for decades have a way to be facilitated in? How do they support that?

Again, our office is really focused on ensuring that people who want to start, transition or grow a cannabis business or cannabisrelated business are supported the legal way.

At this point, that’s the only way that we can

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ensure, based on the way the law is written, that we’ll have an equitable outcome. This is what Sheriff Miranda says and I’ll credit him, but ‘if we don’t show up someone else will.’ I think we’re really looking to call to the table people from the communities that have been doing this to participate here in the legal market and doing it now means that we can shape it to be what it needs to be as opposed to coming in later and being upset that it doesn’t fit what the government couldn’t see, if you will.

JP: Tell me more about the fourth edition of your book, How to Succeed in The Cannabis Industry: Why is it important we talk about equity? Do we need it to succeed?

DD: 1,000%. I feel like we’ve built a lot of structures in the United States in an inequitable way. We’re doing a lot of work to try to hide that, now that the smoke and mirrors are starting to clear. I think younger and younger generations are like, ‘Wait, what?’ We have information that’s being able to be shared in a much faster and broader way and I do think that there’s a requirement for accountability.

Accountability for the past and the past decisions and not just ‘decisions,’ because government leaders made that. You can say okay, maybe I didn’t make that decision myself, but to be compliant with it and to continue to vote people in or to support these types of efforts. We have to fix that, but we have to admit it and we can’t gaslight folks. I’m constantly just saying we have

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to be a little bit more transparent around the truth, because I think that that’s just a critical part of us moving forward.

The truth is, we have not seen social equity really in practice in America ever before because America wasn’t built on, again, equitable goals from the door, just based off the three fifths clause. We, at the end of the day, have overcome a lot but I think it will only happen for us if we admit that equity and equality are also not the same things—we’re not trying to give everybody the exact same thing. Equity is about giving people what they need, when they need it and how they need it and doing the best that we possibly can as a government entity to ensure that that gets done, for everybody.

And I know that sometimes people are like, ‘Oh, there’s not enough resources for it.’ But there is and I think what we’ve done is we’ve had a real lopsided hogging and hoarding of resources in one particular group and I think we all are aware of it. At this point we are calling for new resources, especially like a cannabis industry, a new industry; calling for that, at least as we start new things, to not maintain the history of lopsided inequities, for us to be very, very deliberate and intentional in our strategy, so we can have the equitable outcomes that I think this industry really deserves.

JP: It is amazing to be on the frontier, exploring the beginnings of this program.

DD: I’m thrilled to be back home doing this work, I feel like it’s a full circle moment.

It’s still sometimes surreal for me because I left as a patient refugee. I could not qualify for the medical program here and two months ago, I got my medical card in New York and I am now a certified medical patient. I’m excited about that because it’s a demonstration, again, of what we can do and should be doing. The program itself has certainly been improved upon and I’m looking forward to seeing how it can be extended even further and how the adultuse market will provide me more options as a medical cannabis user. Because again, the top reasons people are shopping in the adult-use market are for medicinal reasons: sleep, pain and anxiety and I just think it’s important for us to honor that in our growth of culture, business here in this city.

JP: What are you excited for in the future?

DD: I’m really excited about what we have coming up in this quarter…In addition to trying to launch a Cannabis NYC Loan Fund, we are also piggybacking on a lot of existing programs that the Department of Small Business Services already offers to entrepreneurs in New York. We’re infusing them with cannabis, pun intended. We have a fast-track for cannabis entrepreneurs and we also have our Business Solution Centers that are now going to have Account Managers that are cannabis competent.

They can help with one-on-one business planning, legal connections, even financing connections, the licensing application; all of the support that goes into that…The last thing I’ll say is we are launching our

monthly newsletter. It’s called The Plug and we’re really encouraging everyone to sign up so we can keep people plugged into what’s happening not just in the city all around us, but also what’s happening within the city and what’s happening within certain agencies as it pertains to cannabis. There are a few that we’ve been working with—15, 16 or so. We have guides, how-to’s and FAQ’s and we want to make sure that there’s a real hub for people to access them.

Sign up for Cannabis NYC updates here or call their hotline at 888-SBS-4NYC (888727-4692)

@DasheedaDawson / Instagram

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Canada’s leading bud brokerage platform looks to go global

Global Cannabis transparency

Exchange

streamlines

The nascent cannabis industry is desperately in need of worldwide partnerships with full brand and product integration. Global Cannabis Exchange looks to accomplish this task as one of the largest bulk cannabis and hemp trading platforms in all of Canada.

Transacting at a rate of roughly 200 trades per month, the company has distributed over 70,000 kilos of the plant to hundreds of Licensed Producers (LPs) in Canada and beyond. Through an anonymized network displaying craft characteristics, the company hopes to simplify distribution for

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online

trading

with

Jack Porcari

prospective buyers and sellers. CEO Steve Clark and VP of Operations and Brokerage Leif Undseth recently spoke with Loud Thoughts about the developing world of cannabis trading. Read the full Q&A below.

JP: Does the Canadian Cannabis Exchange (CCX) and the Global Cannabis Exchange (GCX) serve the same purpose?

Is the platform only meant for cannabis or are ancillary products like pipes and papers listed?

LU: The Canadian Cannabis Exchange

established strategic partnerships with various trusted cannabis vendors who offer our members discounted pricing on a wide range of products, including equipment, cones, humidity packs, pre-rolling and milling units, and more.

Over the past two years an oversupply of cannabis has weighed on Canadian wholesale cannabis prices. As the market responds to the low-price environment, total indoor growing area has also slowly been decreasing.

Since August 2022 total indoor growing area has fallen from the peak of 1.7 million square metres to 1.5 million square metres in March 2023.

Global Cannabis Exchange

and the Global Cannabis Exchange cater to different aspects of the industry. CCX primarily focuses on listing Canadian domestic cannabis products, serving as a marketplace specifically for transactions between the Licensed Producers across Canada. On the other hand, GCX acts as a global conduit for certified cannabis products (EU-GMP, GACP, CUMCS) that can cross borders, allowing international trade and connectivity.

It’s important to note that the exchanges do not host ancillary products such as pipes and papers. To cater to the needs of the industry, we have developed a webstore called Loud Lion Supply (https:// loudlionsupply.com/). At Loud Lion, users can find both new and used equipment, as well as packaging materials. We have

JP: How are deals processed from the close to product delivery?

LU: Currently payments can be processed one of two ways, pending the terms and size of the deal. The first is direct license holder to license holder. The exchange standard is 50% down (prior to shipment) and 50% net 30 days from delivery. However, deals can invariably be anything from 100% down to payment net 45 to net 60 of delivery. It all depends on the deal and what was negotiated. The other is through the Exchange’s integrated escrow managed by an arms-length escrow agent. The funds are placed into the escrow account, confirmation of the funds in the account is provided, then the material ships. The escrow usually carries a condition on product inspection within five days, once material is inspected the seller signs requesting release, the buyer counter signs and the funds are sent to the seller (or returned if there is a quality issue in line with the terms of the agreement).

JP: Since 2020, Canadian Cannabis Exchange (CCX) has developed a robust data ecosystem inside the Canadian cannabis industry. What is your international reach currently?

LU: We have established partnerships

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Canadian Flower Settled Prices, September 2023: High, Low, and Weighted Average ($/gram) Global Cannabis Exchange

with over 600 Licensed Producers (LPs) across Canada and globally since our official launch in March 2020. Our recent international expansion has enabled us to collaborate with clients in various countries, including Israel, Australia, Portugal, Ireland, Germany, Africa, and more.

JP: What do your international expansions look like and what certified products are usually sourced from the United States?

LU: Currently our focus is on markets that are procuring from Canada and other countries for material carrying certifications for import/export (ie. ICUMCS, GMP, EU-GMP, GACP). This is for markets such as Portugal, Australia, Israel, Germany and so forth. From there and through the buyer connections established through import will be localized market hubs when each of these countries start to legalize their own cultivation and processing domestically.

This will fall in line with regulations country by country.

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Amid tightening supply, dried flower market prices were, on average, 13% higher in Q3 ($0.99/gram) compared to Q2 ($0.88/gram). Index 5 drove much of the gains as the index comprised more than half of dried flower trading volume and rose by 25% to $0.96/ gram over the period. In addition, a decrease in the age of flower transactions, 141 days, compared to 226 days in Q2, served to boost average pricing.

Global Cannabis Exchange

Currently there is no certified product that is sourced from the US on the GCX. This is due to the federal regulations around the border for export. For export of cannabis goods out of the US there is a requirement for both the certification as well as a pharmaceutical approval to export. If there are US companies who are certified for any of the production certifications outlined above we would look forward to connecting with them!

JP: Knowing Leif ’s background in commodities and Steve’s experience in oil/ gas markets, what does it take to influence, understand, and solidify a previously untapped legal industry?

SC: At GCX, we have placed a strong emphasis on establishing standardized procedures across the industry. This includes implementing standard terms and conditions for product listing, sale processes, and post-deal fulfillment. By

doing so, we aim to create a marketplace that prioritizes transparency, reliability, and the protection of all participants.

Delivery complete! globalcannabisx.com

One aspect of this standardization is the requirement for sellers to post authenticated Certificates of Analysis (COAs) to ensure the quality and authenticity of the products being traded. Additionally, adhering to standardized buy and sell terms enables consistent and fair transactions for all parties involved.

By introducing these standards, we aim to foster trust and confidence among buyers and sellers, solidifying the foundation of the legal cannabis industry. This approach not only streamlines transactions but also facilitates the growth and maturation of the market as a whole.

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a Dedication I dedicated Loud Thoughts “Zine” to the interested skeptic, weed lovers and patients like myself. We are courageous in sparking loud conversations about relevant topics within the world of cannabis. Articles in Loud Thoughts are not designed to be an all-encompassing “cann-ual.” Instead, we aim to inform and plant seeds of curiosity during a historic era of cannabis reform. As global prohibition ends, we will break barriers through human narrative and document an untold history of modern-day cannabis.

-Lief Landracer

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Do you have a loud thought? We want to hear it: loudthoughtszine@gmail.com @LoudThoughtsZine @TheCannaProfessor www.loudthoughts.online 19