This writing attempts to shine some light on the cultural zeitgeist that has become the Barbie movie.

“In creating Barbie, my philosophy was that, through the doll, girls could become anything they wanted to be. Barbie has always represented a woman who chooses for herself”.

— Ruth Handler

It’s been six weeks of box office, grossing nearly $1.4 billion dollars worldwide since the movie was released. The narratives, reviews, critiques to opinions of the movie have been quite entertaining and distraught, evolving themselves. I suppose nothing less should be expected in these times. What has been most surprising to me are the reactions from men. Somehow this movie is the ‘epitome of woke.’ Huh? Wow. From now Warner Brothers top grossing movie of all time, beating the last Harry Potter movie to Super Mario Brothers. It’s on track to be the top earning flick for this year, 2023. And it only reportedly cost around $145 million to make. That’s a heck of an ROI with mass world approval.

Really, the movie is about a doll. Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence. It is for those who played with dolls. It’s for anyone who played, really. The movie is rated PG-13. I did not see young children in the movie theaters, similar to the ages geared toward viewing most animated G-rated films. Nor did I see any at the fun movie’s first viewing on opening weekend at the local drive-in. (Yes, some places still have them in the USA. It’s cool, kitschy fun and the classic venue fit the iconic doll complete with my new Mary Kay rep, acquired handing out her wares at the entrance gate car-lineup. ;-)

First, this is the most original screenplay that has made it to the big screen in years. It had years in the making and quite the story from inception as well. And the marketing machine behind this surprisingly intelligent comedy shall become a model case study for years to come. Mattel is raking in the bucks. I have to wonder from the stock to other treasures in their licensed treasure chest, what else shall be forthcoming now that they have opened the toy box? (But anyhow, back to the movie!)

A week or so before I saw the movie, a male friend and I caught the latest Indiana Jones release. Neither one of us could figure out why some people maligned it as being ‘woke’. Then it occurred to me why, given all the vitriol now being spewed forth by a variety of propagandists regarding Barbie:

These are strong female characters who do not fit traditional, societal, pre-defined roles of women.

Well Duh! Barbie is not the 70’s Sunshine family, hippie propaganda dolls I was given as a wee child born in that decade. Sunlight is truth, a natural disinfectant. Many don’t like shining a light on problems. This worldwide summer blockbuster moment of the Barbie movie did so in multiple ways; by the humor and truths therein to reactions by all sorts of folks thereafter. Of particular note are those males condemning it without viewing. Spoiler alert; The movie has heart. It’s human. It’s for everyone. And because women lead, it’s bound to piss off some men. The screenwriters even discuss how at the core, it’s a mother-daughter relationship film.

So Whooppee dippity doo guys. It’s not about nor for you. Sure, Ken is another matter and article. He is treated well and goes on his own fun, silly, musical, existential, self-discovery in the movie… though this still somehow ticked off men. (Gee. Can’t we all just have some fun with this comedy?!)

The mainstream critiques further outright negate the ‘Wizard of Oz’ like journey movie of the heroines. Neither does it mention the push, supposedly important to conservatives, to ‘Restore the constitution.’ The progressives seem to have dismissed the existentialism and self discovery of the main characters; are they ‘Kenough’?

The most pivotal point in the movie to many of us was Barbie being chased by the mostly all-male executives at Mattel. They want to put her back in the box, contain her to Barbie land. She has her life and well-versed role. Initially, she doesn’t want to go on the journey to the real world either. Mattel and real world want to control her. Barbie briefly steps back in the box and moves out, fleeing out of the arm-strap clutches of the box due to her own volition. This is more than so many women worldwide who have been trapped by violence and murder. Statistics show the preponderance of perpetrators have been men, particularly intimate partners and family members.

Stories shared this Labor day afternoon in a group of age 50–70+ year old folks from around the USA, sadly and hilariously illustrated the atrocious ways men have treated women throughout time and continue to do so, thinking somehow they are still in charge of us. The discussions were illustrated best by the behaviors of those now in nursing homes playing out their history. Dementia patients to family members visiting and those ignoring them. I for one did not know that our elderly US Veteran’s can receive penile implants and fake testicles. Yet their younger, fertile prostitutes paid indirectly from our tax dollars cannot receive basic birth control in some states, nor certainly receive any abortion care. And what about the essentially sperm donor VA fathers? We could play ‘follow the money’ on this road for awhile, but I digress. It is but one of many tales.

Guess what folks? We aren’t going back into the box. Trad-wives, girlfriends, stay-at-home moms, pink-collar professions only-allowed, yeah… good luck with that! Check-in 10 years from now and see how that went. Those who are stoking the flames, seek to further divide men and women. Don’t play into it! Young 20-something political ‘conservatives’ reviewing the film decry the Trans-activists playing parts to the other side critiquing the plasticity. Forget those who cannot process their cognitive distance. It’s a doll. And it is a huge hit with audiences. In-theater guffaws, laughs and chuckles occurred at all kinds of places throughout the film. It was a fun, and surprisingly stealthily thoughtful watch.

Many of us certainly aren’t going back in the prescribed-role box. Good luck with anyone thinking, let alone attempting to get women to adhere to any of the previously created and forced misogynist narratives. And guess what? They don’t fit in neat boxes to be shoved back into the troves of history to be forgotten ever again either. Nope!

We aren’t going back, nor into ANY box. The sheer numbers alone show approval; the world has changed. And ya’ know what? It’s a movie. It was good, silly FUN.

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

This piece is an overview. It started as a musing on being bait-and-switched to present as the marijuana business investment opinion at a well-known, old-school, multi-city, touring money conference. Many of these ‘shows’ with cannabis investment themes from big money to the multitude of cannabis conferences are essentially ‘pay to play’, um, speak as an ‘expert.’ If one has paid for a booth or other promotion at such shows, they are therefore an ‘expert.’ I thought about this piece at-length. It processes better as an overall view of ‘what-the-flip is really going on out there’ along with ‘cui bono’ — who benefits. The problems inherent with the space of Corporate Government Cannabis are much bigger than this gal’s non-show-speaker discontent. The piece is also an opportunity for me to learn and do research. It has grown into what shall likely become an ongoing series of observations; opinions are my own, unless otherwise credited including quotations. Links to references are found throughout hence the underlines.

The Bottom Line On the Cannabis/Marijuana and Relating industries; The market is HUGE and growing, be wary and morally outraged enough to take ACTION. Change MUST be and IS a’ Comin’. A great reckoning is nigh.

Haunting Big-Picture Parallels & Cycles: Dotcom to Potcom, Bust to Real Estate boom followed by Great Recession bust with now a Greater bust enroute. (Debt, complete lack of sound monetary policy, and I’m not just talking about ye ol’ USA faux ratings which should really be -DDD of debt, not a bra-size, crypto will revolutionize the world, yada, yada, yada, too much data, many articles, charts and conversations to link herein as well as boots-on-the-ground observations speaking with other astute humans.)

Perspective: I number but one of many, several, growing, ticked-off women. This is an inside-perspective as a cannabis-related business owner who moved to Washington state from Nevada to pursue whatever the ‘canna-business’ would become. Over 30 states are now ‘cannabis legal’ in some way shape or form since 2015. I’ve been a cannabis patient since 2010. For full disclosure, I’m not a legacy user; my first try of cannabis occurred over the age of 30. I identify as a former medical person who was enroute to Osteopathic medical school for awhile after finally finishing an MBA. My only foray into drugs, legal and not any illegal/prohibited, was as as the certified ‘drug dealer’ aka medical technician, at a nursing home. (The elder warehouse industry likes to keep folks heavily drugged, therefore compliant.) I’m a forever Girl Scout, activist (yeah, that ‘Guns & Pot’ lawsuit is me), caring human, despite being a libertardian, and one who likes to think she knows beyond her butt from a hole-in-the-ground, working and living life.

This on top of graduate studies, degrees and reading; Translation = I know more than the average free-market Jane/Joe. Having now spent a few years in finance, I can also go back despite the hype to illusions and do basic math. Many things don’t line-up. Punches are not pulled in these articles. Actions are sought instead of whining non-solutions. (Yeah, that Midwestern practicality.) The BS is ferreted out along with some propaganda of the oft-answer ‘more research necessary’ for a plant that has been utilized for thousands of years.

I came of ‘proper’ work age during the dotcom boom. A side note — my first job was actually at age 10 working at the local swim club snack bar. Selling Girl Scout cookies was the way to camp each summer; play with the horses, kayak on the lake, canoe and giggle with the other girls about the lone male who was usually the cook. The first trip to Europe was funded by years of candy/pizza/cookie sales, recycling campaigns to a ‘cow plop,’ All were great training as a future business owner, despite the pains of the process, workload and general stench.

It seems these days as if I’m living through a time-warp. I witnessed the beginnings of the now trillion-dollar internet industry in the dotcom. The ol’ dotom has seemingly become the pot-com. As a then project manager to global engineering manager, I saw quite a bit from the inside; Texas to California, the UK and Germanic countries along the way to now living in Western Washington state. (We call the crazies in D.C. ‘the other Washington.’) Some of the same practicalities missing from the dot-com are also missing in the pot-com.

The Dot.com to The Pot-com: Colorado sales alone have recently hit $1B. However, we have the compounding factor of a new industry with some of the accompanying practices that have come out of and remain from the black market. We now still have pseudo-legality, while illegal to pseudo-legal, thus the gray/un-licensed markets grow and thrive. (See further the works of the wonderful Jim MacRae of Straight Line Analytics.) Somehow we forgot this is a sacred plant that has been utilized for beyond medicinal purposes for several thousands of years throughout a variety of world cultures. The dawn of the internet industry was brand spanking new. Cannabis has heritage with some long-staid feet in the US medical world. Frankly, I think it is overdue time to restore it along with other plants and practices that were long ago thrown under the bus; integrate them with modern science.

ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM : Some People are still afraid things could be shut down with the swoop of a pen, and an accompanying onwards-rush of more police powers. (That’s happening anyway, but another subject and piece entirely.) Shutdowns are frankly highly unlikely given the size of market, amount of money being ‘made’ including taxes collected; it’s a new cash cow. Wake up and stop the B.S. fear mongering! We are in the last vestiges of pot-prohibition with all the accompanying anti-pot-propaganda. Further, all the ‘more research is needed’ crowd also typically negates the over 20,268 articles currently listing the word ‘cannabis’ alone on PubMed. Other readings of interest? Take a look at the life work of madame Storm Crow; Granny’s list. Remember, Cannabis has the same effect on the body, regardless of the intent; for recreation or medicine. Canada is the only G7 country in which it is federally legal, Uruguay and close in Israel with a few pending. The overall pace of growth in the industry is daunting. The community refers to a year in the business like ‘dog years.’ Things move fast. Except for government.

Federal US Legalization and full decriminalization or oh gee, re-scheduling for the comfort of Big Pharma — Pending. Therefore…

Cannabis company Banking — Pending.

Nuf’ said.

DISCLOSURE & DISCLAIMER First a statement as being congruent to ethics is an overall problem, not simply in the cannabis world. SEC licenses lapsed along with passing previous certifications. Neither have I knowingly invested in any of the companies mentioned or not cited. Nor am I playing the options game on any of them, touting or ‘pump and dumping.’ No stock options have been awarded from anyone in the industry nor in any way am I profiting from writing this article, beyond my own peace of mind in historical context. I’m not an academic. If you disagree with my observations and opinions, oh well, Tough Tits, it’s my experience & opinion! ;-)

Geez, FINALLY, a General OUTLINE:

1. Cannabis & related companies: Size of Market, DRUGS! including the CBD craze, Conferences, Investment outlook, Notorious mentions, Success & Failures. (Parts 1 & 2)
2. Problems inherent in the industry: Improper practices, Corporatism & Government corporatism, Sexism, Exclusion, Oh yeah Legalization & Particularly Banking, Free market examples.
3. Actions: What do we do about all this, better models & innovation, what may happen; Crystal ball.

Cannabis & Related Companies:

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

May I further add hubris and greed to Hanlon’s eponymous law to explain what’s currently happening in the cannabis and related market space.

Who: Founders initially come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Included are those who are seeking retribution, perhaps for years of punishment for non-violent and victim-less crimes to those who didn’t fit ‘the usual’ profile of the suited pinstripe business-type. Know that the majority of the people now behind the companies are bro’s. It has, and is becoming an even more corporatized ol’ and young, white, boys club. The better examples are private, growing companies who are taking time to figure it out. Many of us have experienced that 90% involved are sheisters, hooligans, naive hopefuls at best, those without ethics, and some who are simply, well, ya’ just can’t fix outright stupid. Some smart people got out. Others pivoted their organizations. Some are waiting on the sidelines for the opportunities available in the next downturn; the ‘second wave’ as we called it in the dotcom. Some are working the long game.

Let’s break down the market size first. It shall be the focus of this first piece. Many grower friends to longtime connoisseurs and ‘legacy’ industry folks talk about how the pinstripes have truly no concept to freaking idea of the size and scope of growth to the market; it really is a big ol’ straight-up hockey stick of growth with few to any corrections.

Encompassing Cannabis Market Size: It’s big, large, huge, gigantic in fact, if we really look at it, massive, enormous, sizable and tremendously substantial. Estimates in a quick search run from $20 to $60 billion by the year 2025 to beyond. Personally, I think it is easily a trillion dollar industry worldwide, given the growth of consumers who also traditionally make the majority of the household purchases; we women account for over $22 trillion dollars worth of consumer buying power and growing. (Really, grocery companies still cater to women folks, as we still do or dictate the majority of household buying.) This was my initial thought and spitball prediction based on this small knowledge alone. I’ll flush it out with research and further numbers to prove my points below.

Take just a percentage of the worldwide purchase power for ourselves, families, elders, pets, let alone gifting to friends as we are particularly the main influencers of health care decisions. Women have been the caregivers and trained to be the listening-ears since birth, like it or not. We do the work. Actuarial charts and life show, like it or not, we also outlive you guys. Thus, we also end-up cleaning up the messes left behind.

A personal example in this space, before we look at the comparatives and numbers. I have a 72 year old male mentor friend of 20 years who is finally using a cannabis topical for his back on top of ingesting cannabis oil. He has been in pain and steroids have problems, let alone wear off. He does his exercises from walking to pool-time, and generally follows proper nutrition protocols. His wife, daughters and grand-kids reinforce this positive behavior. Oh he doesn’t want to go near the opiates as he experienced what a zombie he can become from just a quick trial dose, after his back surgery. How many other friends, daughters, co-workers of still-working baby-boomers, granddaughters, nieces etc. of the formerly deluded ‘pot is baaaaaaad!’ crowd are now similarly considering making a change? And their existing insurance may or may not cover the pain meds prescribed or they can’t afford it? Can they get in and see their primary doctor or has Dr. X retired? Maybe they don’t take medicare. Yep. Many folks simply can no longer afford nor tolerate the formerly ‘standard med practice.’

Add a diverse, growing population in the USA and abroad gaining further buying power along with the dying propaganda, the market will do nothing but grow. It will grow as there are more legal consumption lounges/areas to consume. It will grow as more pharma, food and hemp — Agriculture — organizations are included in the calculations. It will grow with all the required surrounding equipment; masking products for taking that pre-employment drug test to rolling papers, specialty software to track all the logistics of transporting cannabis, reporting, vaporizers to traditional glass, pets and farm animals etc. and so on. The market will grow. Why has Colorado profitably out-paced Washington, Oregon and other early states to the legal cannabis world? They have worked with people and the market instead of the government simply impeding it. (More on this in the third and other articles.)

It doesn’t stop at simply the standard comparisons to da’ booze market either, which also continues to grow, despite the immediate fear it would be displaced by cannabis. The cannabis market is ultimately, infinitely bigger and includes the expanding plate of healthcare which next year will be a worldwide $8.7 trillion dollar industry. One of my long standard comparisons also returns the plant to it’s proper place in the wellness market. Vitamins, supplements and the like are a $195 billion industry worldwide. An aging worldwide population will push all of these numbers, particularly as/if government is willing to pay for it. (Story — my Grandma Marj had her pacemaker changed out a year before she passed away. She was just a week shy of her 96th birthday, having lived the past 12 years between with her youngest dysfunctional child and a nursing home; dem’s good jobs!)

If we are to compare the underground/illicit market of cannabis, the direct comparisons I have historically made are to the ‘traditional’ illegal drug marketplace and to what we know of the legal sex industry. (One of my graduate professors hated the comparison to the sex industry, but it is directly comparable along with other traditional ‘prohibitions’ and ‘sin-industries.’) It may humor the reader to know the cannabis industry is already largely on par with the adult sex toy industry at $23.7B and growing to not quite $123B if we include overall global sexual wellness market.

If cannabis displaces a large portion of the global drug trade, that’s fine. Many of us are more than okay with that here in the states, given the continuing opioid crisis alone. It is further dubious that any of the opiate lawsuit money recovered from big pharma will go to the victims and communities, spent as for the original intentions. It’s hauntingly very similar to the tobacco suits of relevant recent history. The majority of the settlement money that actually left the attorneys’ hands and went on to the states were reapportioned and misspent. (Yeah, so shocking, I know.)

Wikipedia alone quotes the following: “In its 1997 World Drugs Report the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated the value of the market at $4 trillion, ranking drugs alongside arms and oil among the world’s largest traded goods.”

Global prescription drug sales are projected to be $1.2 trillion by 2024. This is what you get from years of pushing towards the wish of former Big Pharma chiefs like Merck. The former head wanted us all to take pills like chewing gum. Let’s not forget about biotech and agriculture as well; $750B and $600M, respectively.

Looking at the above, that’s how I arrive at the $1T worldwide market size of cannabis.

Drugs! Again, let’s return to the fact that replacements are needed, not simply given the dangerous risk factors from opiates. How bad is it when a tool has been developed to determine if a narcotic prescription can even be attempted? What does that tell us about our society? Other pain relieving measures are needed, at the bare minimum. We have already over-medicalized everything else and it hasn’t had the best outcomes for individuals let alone societies. There are ways to be healthy, happy and prosperous with little to no intervention. The basis of osteopathic medicine itself is to “promote the body’s natural tendency towards self-healing and health.” Make no mistake, the big pharma companies want a piece of the cannabis pie, if not to create it from scratch and bake the whole thing themselves.

Cannabis can replace a number of the dangerous pain medicines. Colorado has recently passed laws for physicians to write cannabis prescriptions instead of opiate prescriptions. Big pharma will be disrupted by it so again, they will have to come along given the market size just as will alcohol and tobacco. A great interview discussing the disruption was recently given by a Dr. Human, (yep, that’s really his name) which can be found here. (I tend to agree with him and will be watching the company but won’t be sending money to Columbia.)

The CBD craze; it may be the new snake oil, but it’s not entirely all bad. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t see more touting of ‘CBD only!’ products; billboards featuring creams directing one to the local legacy drugstore chain, mega box retailer and of course all those online ads to featured products everywhere from tinctures added to a drink, suppositories for the baby and cow udders. (Yes, these are just a few of the things that can be found in various Facebook groups.) Folks in the industry are rather tired of it. It’s time for regulation of the over-the-counter, CBD magic world. Several industry people are righteously mad that the charlatans haven’t had to put in the risk; licensing work jumping through regulatory hoops dealing with the government similar to cannabis-based CBD.

Some have lab tested the core oils derived from hemp that we have been offered and sent. We have tried it ourselves. The disappointment is vast. Most all of the products we were given pale in vast comparison to the effects of whole-plant medicine from cannabis. The ensemble or entourage effect is a real thing. If you need a definition, go here or here and the best paper on the subject is here. Remember the paper’s catchy phrase coined by the doctor, “No strain, No Gain.”

Hemp CBD is currently largely a racket. Very few of the actual products and claims live up to any of the hype.

Science has long proven that CBD must be dosed in exceedingly large amounts from hemp to come anywhere near the effects from the cannabis plant. Further, it is devoid of the THC needed to have full medicinal effects. But the usual ‘research and testing is needed’ cries abound. Try it yourself. It’s a panacea and band aid. Who have been the personal trials I also cite whom have tried it extensively? Friends with epileptic children. Adults with epilepsy themselves, including one who has survived brain cancer, healing herself then going on to birth two healthy children and help others. Real, pure, unadulterated whole plant medicine is needed for real patients. Cannabis strains which contain less THC and high THC can be found. Find the strain. It takes time, patience and persistence.

As for the CBD from hemp and all the products, knock yourself out. So many are out there, just be careful that you don’t get sick from all the toxins therein as even Consumer Reports found. Seemingly new companies emerge to tout these products daily. May of them can be found also pitching for investment money.

Ah yes, all these Conferences! Along come the carnival barkers. (And of course the Attorneys but again, another article for later. ;-) Every weekend there is seemingly a group of conventions to conferences on cannabis, somewhere in North America. I highly encourage one to check them out for the people-watching and experience alone, to yes, some networking. Simply use caution with copious doses of heavy B.S, detection; attune thy canna-radar.

Let’s call out the big fish. It’s a few years on and I’m still dubious from personal, to longer term experiences which continue to be told of Arcview. Many of us are not entirely certain what they really and truly do and/or facilitate. When I first encountered them, I noted that they are incorporated as a ‘network’, not an investment group. Thus, they avoid many of the SEC and other laws. I’ve talked to the CEO myself about the various concerns, then-problems which still persist, and offered solutions which were ignored. I discontinued the then-path to pitch a few years ago. The fleece-the innocent and make PR notes, let alone stroke the egos of the non-truly-accredited ‘investors’ seeking to nose around and feel important… it’s sadly well known to those in the cannabis industry. (And tech for that matter, but again, another article entirely.)

Arcview is going through the growing pains of puberty and have recently been bought. But the bro’s are a bigger problem of the industry than perhaps what some of us have seen in the tech industry; a grave lack of diversity with abundant excuses.

Extended puberty is an apt comparison. They attempt to hide the notorious sexism of the attendees. It was so gross that at one point, the leading cannabis women’s group ‘Women Grow’ had to put out a warning with essentially ‘ladies adaptive coping techniques’ for the next conference. Yes, really. How not-to-get-your-ass-grabbed. And the email statement included such gems as those similarly touted to new sorority girls at fraternity parties; don’t go to the bathroom alone, utilize the buddy system, do not accept drinks/product/trial etc. from most men, let alone, um be alone with them. ‘Great products’ of more than cannabis were also known to be traded, sampled on the side along with the parties and faux coming together of minds etc. Again the majority are bro’s — white guys, dudes, men. (But we’ll get to that and more in subsequent pieces.) It’s even more despicable the lack of diversity as again, women are one of the fastest growing cannabis consumption groups. Do these folks really want to alienate the target sales audience? Let alone other companies that are run by and for women, with all the resulting benefits? (Um, we reinvest more in our communities, save and invest money than the guys but yeah, a subsequent article but checkout ‘Tilted, a Lean In podcast.’)

The Investment Outlook is good if you can filter your way through the numbers, all the BS and meet the people while wearing perhaps gloves, a hazmat suit and certainly a thick skin to padded bra for the females to thwart against all the ‘inadvertent bumping’ with outright misogyny. (Hemp is the really big outlook but that’s yet another article.) The philosophies behind the companies, as always, are as important as the real numbers. Promises, promises, promises can and will be made but are meaningless if further execution doesn’t happen. Well meaning people abound, but who/which few will really do it?

Notorious Mentions abound. Pump and dumps are a thing. I’ll go more in-depth on these along with the problems inherent to the space in the next article. The numbers frankly suck. A few are good. (Watch anything by Julie Weed with Forbes — yes, that’s really her last name — and one of the many investment dudes covering the space but beware of hype. Wear said canna-radar to detect the B.S.)

Quick Success and Failures Overview: Expanding retail shops like Meg Sanders’ ventures out of Mindful in Colorado to now successful consulting; Washington stores of Dockside, Uncle Ike’s; various topical companies such as Canna Basics who wisely decided on the bigger play with hemp rather than just playing in the cannabis space to be bankrupted by the local yokel grafters constantly changing the rules in *emergency* fashion — the Washington LCCB; Software/tech organizations such as Headset where the founders who were forced out (again, dotcom, seen it!) of Leafly; Growers who have lead the way and diversified beyond cannabis into hemp such as Farmer Tom ; educator/wonder woman Joy Beckerman at Hempace.com; High Seas Beard Balms along with other Stella Maris products; extraction equipment folks like Eden Labs; Trista Okel in Oregon who is in the topicals business ‘Empower’ with her life and business partner.

What they have in common is that the founders have practical heads on their shoulders, great philosophies and practices to oh, they’re also for now, private. One cannot say the same for many others, particularly some family businesses and their practices. Many have not taken private investment monies. They have boot-strapped themselves. I do like Bhang for more than their chocolates and who are growing by acquisitions.

Start-ups fail. Nobody likes to talk about the 8 to 9 out of 10 failures. We are Americans after all, and driven to succeed. We’re getting better at the truth-telling of it. However, I do admit to missing moderator/owner ‘Pud’ and the days of FuckedCompany.com which was soooo much more authentic than the successful, resourceful albeit sanitized, Glassdoor.com.

Companies and people have failed. One of the most telling stories I can recall is a young man who ran a company and presented at Cannabis Tech here in Seattle. It was essentially an Ap (Hey, an Ap! Everything’s an Ap! *So* original, I know) mimicking a traditional, old fashioned, on-demand delivery service. Several of the back row were chuckling during the presentation about the days of having these things called pagers. They weren’t just used by doctors! It alerted the weed dealer to call and show-up to the customer’s location. A delivery service wasn’t original. The ap was however. Oh ‘the kids’ were all jazzed up. However, one swoop of the Washington Liquor and now Cannabis control board ‘emergency rulings’ and the bro’s were out of business. I don’t know what happened to the smart young founder who did have some decent marketing. (He’s probably been hired by Amazon who will no doubt eventually enter the market. What, do you not think ‘the hydra’ will continue to expand and into cannabis? You can probably already buy something like it already.)

Failures? Growers with all the equipment later to be found for sale on Offer-up to Craigslist; lighting companies; name the cheap and badly made foreign devices marked up to kingdom come touted in order to make-your-own somethin’ somethin’ at home; Phylos, Cannabis Sativa Inc, Mass Roots, the Cannabis commodities exchanges, security companies, people selling state retail licenses who are stuck, Medbox, oh I could go on beyond just those that who immediately come to mind. The supply and demand of the market for cannabis flower rises and falls like the tulip mania of yore to early American settlers who starved growing tobacco rather than food. Cannabis Stocks tied to the crypto-anything are dubious in particular. We will cover more of the problems and some in the next piece. A highlight?

Corporatism ‘as usual’ — even South Park gets it! Several of these companies will go bankrupt. Some were supposed to from the inception given the basic economics. The corporatists will swoop in and buy them for pennies on the dollar — just like I witnessed in the dotcom. And remember the opening quote from Hanlon’s razor compounded with hubris and greed.

May I offer a few quotes from cannabis-business buddies. They are younger baby boomers. One who day and swing trades, a longtime market trader from the days of the NYC pits.

People ask me all the time: “You were in the pot business and ran a successful commercial operation for 10 years, why aren’t you making money now buying the stocks.”

Cuz it’s fuckin’ looney tunes out there.”

And the longtime techie who ventured into the cannabis lab world and back, got into real estate investments while staying in tech:

You are correct: Cannabinoids are needed by the body, it is part of “all living species on the planet” needs!

Beyond legalization and the move from illegal to legal, bad practices persist. Would it really shock any of us at this juncture to discover that the convicted pedophile Epstein is washing money through ‘legal’ cannabis channels? Nope!

We will look at these seeming problems inherent in the industry along with notorious stories of success, failures and some numbers in-between for the next piece.

Be not only morally outraged but take action. The government corporate alliances must END.

***May I get ahead of the refutations, comments to perhaps abuse that shall surely follow, #hazardofbeingfemale which I’ll report, along with my likely non-participation as I actually oh, have a life, by reminding the reader of programmer Alberto Brandolini’s bullshit asymmetry:

“The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.”

END of One. Part Two….