Episodes
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I want to thank my very last Here Weed Go! (At least when it comes to the Arizona Daily Star edition) guest Sean Williams for coming onto the show. Read his story Purple Haze in Harper's Magazine too!
We actually spent most of October and the beginning of November trying to figure out how to make our interview work, because Sean lives full-time down in Australia, and of course, on top of walking around upside down, the Aussies are like 18 hours ahead in the future, or something like that.
But it was great to finally get to sit down and talk with Sean, and hear about what it takes to really get into reporting there, on the spot, on the scene. Not to make a direct comparison to what Sean does, because he has to travel to far away lands into literal war zones or occupied territories, but I’ll be doing a lot of on the spot reporting in my new job.
To start, beginning on January 16, I'll begin my new broadcast television career as a multimedia reporter for KGUN9 here in Tucson. That means pre-recorded stories and live-on-camera look-ins for me. I'll be making my living off the evening news, as Don Henley might say.
So, if you live in the Tucson area and have cable television, you'll actually be seeing a lot more of me. It just won't be all weed, all the time.
And I am OK with that. But I will miss this job, this role, forever. There won't be a day that I won't have some memory of this magical one year and eight months jogged.
My move to TV of course means that, as of 11:01 p.m. on January 11, 2024 I am no longer an employee of Lee Enterprises or the Arizona Daily Star, and thus no longer the host of Here Weed Go! and curator of TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com.
At least, for now, anyways.
While the name "Here Weed Go!" and all the episodes, content and stories I created under that name will forever be the property of Lee Enterprises, I haven't completely closed the door to producing, hosting, editing and distributing an interview-based podcast focused on the cannabis industry on my own.
In fact, I have a few episodes saved I will eventually release, perhaps here under the Here Weed Go! banner or under a new, spiritually related banner.
When I’m ready to establish that new show back in the cannabis space, you’ll know about it. Especially if you follow me on Instagram at @ReporterEddieTravels.
In the meantime, for the next few months, I just need to commit myself to some other moving parts in my new role on television, reporting live and making mini-news-documentaries 3-to-5 nights a week before taking on the podcast mantle again, though I love it dearly.
But to all my friends out there in the Tucson and Phoenix cannabis community, don't worry: I'll still be out at all the AZCannafriends events and vendor fairs that I can, and I will still be looking for a great story to let Tucson know about.
Before I close this out, I want to give a shout out to a few people, the ones who really made this crazy experiment possible.
To my mother (and first real guest!), Samantha Longenbaugh, thank you so much for always being a fan of the show and everything I do. There were many phone calls you told me to keep my head up and spirit high, and they all paid off with, what is up to now, the best job I've ever had. And you were the best guest I ever ended up interviewing.
To Yvanna Cancela, I owe you so much for introducing me to the Las Vegas cannabis community before MJBiz in 2022. You were the first person to really give me the idea to mix my weed and travel stories, and I will forever be grateful for that.
To Chris Law and Pascal Albright, your efforts to edit my rambling question/answer sessions into coherent, cogent interviews will always be appreciated. Especially now that I do all that editing of said rambling myself! The industry is small, so here's to working together again sometime in the future.
And finally, my biggest thanks are reserved for my former editor-in-chief and biggest professional advocate: Jill Jorden Spitz. Jill, thank you so damn much for taking a chance on cannabis content here at The Star, and thank you so much for taking a chance on me.
Before I somehow stumbled into what I once called "The Best Job in The World," I was working the breaking news beat, the very same beat I'll be leaving Thursday.
I had pitched an idea for a pot podcast earlier, but word about development on such a project seemed to have stalled.
Dissatisfied with the role at The Star, I pursued an offer to become a business reporter in Austin, Texas, and was deciding between staying or leaving.
A few hours after being offered the job in Texas, Jill called me to let me know she had approval from corporate to run with the podcast idea. It was all a go, if I wanted it.
Although the pay in Austin would have been higher, and the nightlife more my speed, I knew what my answer was going to be. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to cover cannabis becoming legal in my home sate.
It was going to be the best job in the world.
And it was.
"We're gonna change the world," I told her.
I hope, with this crazy project of mine, I at least changed your world in some way.
If I did, or you want to hear what I'm up to in my new job, you can email me at [email protected]
And don't forget, keep smoking and proving them wrong. Here Weed Go!
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How's it growing folks?! Welcome to yet another pre-holiday episode of Here Weed Go! I'm your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis reporter, for now, with the Arizona Daily Star and TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com.
Before I introduce my guest for this episode, I want to remind you all to follow Here Weed Go! on all the social media pages, which I've left links for in this episode's description, found anywhere you stream or download Here Weed Go! from.
I've also included some links to some of my personal pages and content, which will make more sense in two weeks when I make my big announcement.
Anyway, back to this episode: A few months ago (yes, this is another of my interviews from my "lost summer") when Twitter (or 'X' as it's known now) was making a bit of a splash by allowing cannabis and cannabis-adjacent companies advertise on the platform.
Well, after finding out what set Twitter apart at the time, I figured I might as well dive into the outrageous online world of cannabis advertising.
To help me get a toke of what's up, I turned to Brendan Duane, co-founder and chief technology officer of Rank Really High.
Rank Really High bills itself as the number one Cannabis Dispensary Ecommerce Website and Digital Marketing provider, and it helps companies and brands with everything from building out their websites to optimizing their search engine optimization presence.
In our conversation, Duane and I touch on how he got into the cannabis industry, where the idea for Rank Really High came from, and just what needs to happen in order for weed to truly make it online...
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How's it growing folks?! Welcome to another of my MJBizCon2024 Here Weed Go! episodes. I'm your host of this crazy cannabis podcast, Eddie Celaya.
Before I introduce my guest for this episode, I want to remind you all to follow the Here Weed Go! social media pages for a ton of upcoming exclusive content. I also want to let you sign up for the Here Weed Go! (now weekly, again) newsletter.
And I'll even add some links to my personal social media if you're interested in seeing my traveling antics around the globe, with my next stops being Mexico City, Cincinnati, Ohio and Phoenix, Arizona.
Now, for this episode, I wanted to get a little update on the cannabis testing and regulation industry, and how the year has gone for the sector as a whole.
To do that, I got in touch with Tyler Williams, the CEO of ASI Food Safety and founder of Cannabis Safety and Quality.
In our conversation, Williams and I talk about the niche that he developed Cannabis Quality and Safety in, what the company looks at when auditing a lab or cannabis grow and how his background in food safety, pharmaceuticals and other industries has helped him in looking at the fast developing cannabis world.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How's it growing folks?! Welcome to another one of my podcast-episode-a-day editions of Here Weed Go!
I'm your host Eddie Celaya, the cannabis, marijuana and hemp reporter out here at TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com and the Arizona Daily Star.
Tonight my guest is Nick Guarino, the CEO of Naturae, a brand that's beginning to make waves out in the New York market.
In our conversation, Guarino and I touch on a wide range of topics, from New York's less than ideal rollout of its recreational cannabis program, to the potential pitfalls and positives of federal legalization, to how Guarino's family's background in managing livestock has helped him in the cannabis industry.
MORE INFO
More on Nick Guarino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-guarino-43939b103/
More on Naturae: https://naturaenewyork.com/
More Here Weed Go! podcasts: https://omny.fm/shows/here-weed-go
More Here Weed Go! and Tucson Marijuana Guide content: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How's it growing folks?! Welcome to what's about to be a whirlwind of Here Weed Go! episodes before the New Year. I've set an early resolution to get this backlog of episodes out, and the goal is one episode released a day from now until January 11.
The significance of that date will make sense as I get closer and closer to it, and there will be a few announcement's made before the New Year, if all goes to plan.
To meet that goal, many of these new episodes will have minimal guest introductions and outros, with the focus being back on the interviews themselves.
Anyway, before I get into this episode, I want to let you know you can keep following me, your host Eddie Celaya, on Instagram and keep following Here Weed Go! and it's page there as well. Any big announcements about the future of the podcast, newsletter and my career will be posted there first.
Oh, and don't forget to like, share and subscribe to Here Weed Go! wherever it is you stream it from.
I've provided links to everything Here Weed Go! related, so be sure to click it and subscribe!
This episode features my interview with Red Clover managing director Jen L'Estrange.
As a veteran of large, corporate human resource firms, L'Estrange decided to go another route and now works with small-to-medium sized companies in rapidly developing industries.
"Rapidly developing" is certainly one way to characterize the cannabis industry, and Red Clover specializes in helping businesses within the space become more nimble and ready for employment in an increasingly regulated environment.
Our conversation begins with with L'Estrange explaining just what Red Clover is and does...
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How's it growing folks!? Welcome to the first of many MJBizCon2023 Here Weed Go! episodes!
MJBizCon is billed as the world's largest cannabis conference, and it's a perfect opportunity to network, check out the latest technology and score some of the best interviews of the industry's biggest movers and shakers.
But, in order to get the very best sound quality for my first interview, I decided to record this one over zoom a few days before the event.
And since I wanted to go big for Las Vegas, I figured starting with a celebrity interview would be best.
So I reached out to the PR agency connected to two of the biggest names in cannabis podcasting right now: Xzibit and Tammy the Cannabis Cutie.
If you grew up with 90s and 2000s hip-hop or were a fan of Pimp My Ride, you are probably familiar with Mr. X to the Z, and if you’re active on social media and wanting to stay up to date on just about anything cannabis related, you’ve definitely crossed Tammy’s digital path as well.
Along with both being prominent within the cannabis community individually, the two are the hosts of the new cannabis-infused podcast “Lasagna Ganja.” The show highlights and explores the growing industry that is cannabis along with owners/operators, growers, celebrities/influencers, and lawmakers who shape the world within the cannabis space.
Our wide ranging conversation touches on both X's and Tammy's love for cannabis, why Tammy believes decriminalization of cannabis is preferable to re-scheduling, Xzibit's cannabis line Napalm, and what listeners can expect from a show like Lasagna Ganja.
The interview begins with both recounting their first time trying cannabis...
MORE INFO
For more about the Lasagna Ganja podcast: https://www.dcpofficial.com/lasagnaganja
For more episodes of Here Weed Go!, newsletter content, TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com content and social media sites: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks?! Welcome to the first of a few Thanksgiving Week episodes of Here Weed Go! I’m, your host Eddie Celaya, the cannabis reporter with TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com.
Before I get going I want to remind you all that Here Weed Go! is more than a podcast: it’s print and online content, videos and a twice-monthly newsletter filled with tons of exclusive content.
If you want access to all that and Here Weed Go! (and my own) social media pages, I’ve included a link in this podcast episodes description, which you can click on wherever you stream or download Here Weed Go! from.
For this episode I decided to take a look at a side of the cannabis media that’s close to my heart: the podcast industry!
As someone who literally does EVERYTHING to make this show happen, I wanted to let you all know what goes into making a podcast really work.
While I’m pretty happy with how well Here Weed Go! has done over 72 episodes, I wanted to reach out and speak with someone who has an even more established show.
Enter David Mantey, Editorial Director of Digital Media at Industrial Media and host of the Cannabis Equipment New Podcast.
Without stealing too much of the following interview's thunder, Mantey, who comes from a background of business-to-business trade publications, began covering cannabis the same way he approached the manufacturing industry.
However, during the pandemic, interviews that he began to record over Zoom eventually morphed into a podcast (the aforementioned Cannabis Equipment News Podcast, in fact) and video series that now has over 120 episodes to its name.
Clearly, he’s found an approach that works, even in a prohibitionist state like Wisconsin.
In our conversation, Mantey and I touch on how his sister’s experience battling cancer by using cannabis-based medicine helped shape his view on the plant, how he and his partners ended up starting Industrial Media, and what it takes to produce a podcast that stands out in the crowded field of cannabis media.
Our conversation begins with Mantey talking about his first experiences with cannabis…
MORE INFO
For more info on Industrial Media: https://www.ien.com/
For more on Cannabis Equipment New Podcast: https://www.cannabisequipmentnews.com/podcast
For more Here Weed Go! content, including links for all podcast episodes, TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com stories and to sign up for the twice monthly Here Weed Go! newsletter: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks! Welcome back again to Here Weed Go! my friends. It’s the national podcast hoping to shed light on some of the forgotten issues surrounding cannabis, the country’s fastest growing cash crop.
I’m your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis reporter at TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com, and before I get into the heart of this very important episode, I want to remind you all that if you enjoy Here Weed Go!, please leave a review, a like or comment wherever it is you stream or download the podcast from, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast and my twice monthly Here Weed Go! newsletter.
I’ve left links to all that and more in this episodes description, so check it all out and feel free to reach out to me on my social media or at [email protected].
So, today’s episode is personal for my guest, Alicia Deals. You might remember that I had Alicia on the podcast about a year and a half ago to talk a little about winning one of the state of Arizona’s social equity recreational retail cannabis licenses.
Long story short, Alicia found a partner in Cookies, the dispensary chain brand headquartered out of San Francisco, California, and opened the first and so far only Cookies branded dispensary in Arizona in June.
We touch a bit on how things have gone in getting the shop up and running, but the focus of our interview is on Alicia’s father, Robert Deals, who is currently in his 10th year (of an 18-year sentence) of incarceration in Yuma, Arizona on cannabis-related charges.
But, there is hope.
First, Deals will be before the court soon to appeal his sentence, with a chance that he could be released. And second, from a Change.org petition that Alicia started and that you can sign as a show of support for Robert and others who have been wrongly and unjustly incarcerated for cannabis related offences.
The online petition calls upon lawmakers, policy makers, and criminal justice advocates to take immediate action to reform marijuana laws, address racial disparities within the criminal justice system, provide proper support for incarcerated victims with PTSD, and review sentencing guidelines – especially given the dynamic changes in marijuana laws and court cases from 2010 to 2023 and the racial disparities widely prevalent in such cases.
My conversation with Alicia begins with her updating everyone about how crazy the last year has been, from opening a new recreational pot shop, to advocating at the state and national level for common sense cannabis reform.
MORE INFOFor more about Alicia Deals and her story opening Arizona's only Cookies Dispensary: https://blackcannabismagazine.com/alicia-deals-berner-open-cookies-in-tempe-arizona/
To visit Alicia's Cookies Dispensary in Tempe, Arizona: https://cookies.co/stores/cookies_tempe
To sign the petition in support of freeing Robert Deals: https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-robert-deals-highlighting-injustices-in-marijuana-laws-and-court-cases?source_location=search
For more Here Weed Go! podcast episodes, online TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com content, videos and access to subscribe to the twice-monthly Here Weed Go! newsletter: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks? Welcome back to Here Weed Go! I’m your Host Eddie Celaya, and I’m back to bring you some of the hardest hitting, relevant and fun conversations and interviews centered around cannabis, the country’s fastest growing cash crop.
In this episode, I have a very special guest: Hirsh Jain, the Founder of Ananda Strategy, a consultancy that advises various cannabis businesses, brands and others in the industry across North America and Western Europe. Hirsh also wears some other hats woth mentioning: he is the Vice Chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce and on the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in California.
Because he has such a diverse background, this episode hits on nearly every big story happening in cannabis at the state level right now: from the state of California’s precarious recreational market, to what smaller states like New Mexico, Missouri and others can teach more established markets and others poised to make the recreational leap (like Ohio just voted to do!)
Of course, there’s also huge things happening at the national level, and our discussion attempts to shed some light and clear the smoke around what’s happening in D.C. when it comes to rescheduling cannabis from schedule 1 to 3 and if congress will ever get its act together and clear up SAFER banking and other issues they helped create.
But our conversation begins with a little bit of the personal, with Hirsh recounting what sort of impact his first time trying cannabis had on him…
MORE INFO
More on Hirsh Jain: https://twitter.com/anandastrategy
More on Ananda Strategy: https://anandastrategy.com/
For more Here Weed Go! content, including links to social media and TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks?! Welcome again to Here Weed Go!, the podcast focused on covering the latest news, cutting edge science and breaking business deals in the world of cannabis, the nations fastest growing cash crop.
For this week’s podcast, we’re sparking up the joint on the new dispensary chain in town, Story Cannabis.
Although the brand itself was originally born in Maryland, since May when it entered the Arizona market, it’s gone from 3 to 11 retail dispensary locations in the state, with one being the sole shop in Bisbee, one of the great Bohemian small towns in America.
And from all indications, Story is not done growing in Arizona.
To learn more about the new kid in town, I spoke with Story CEO Jason Vedadi. Vedadi has deep ties to both Arizona and the national cannabis industry.
He’s been in the industry in some capacity since 2008 and is a true industry veteran. He spent a number of years as an executive at Harvest and is the creator of the cannabis-flower brand Modern Flower, which is now owned by Trulieve after it bought Harvest nearly two years ago.
In our interview, Vedadi talks about his time establishing himself within the industry, how Story Cannabis came to Arizona, and what it’s plans are for its 11 shops in Arizona and its plans in other, developing state-markets like Maryland, Ohio and soon, New Jersey.
MORE INFO
For more Story Cannabis info, including locations: https://storycannabis.com/
For more Here Weed Go! and TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com content, including podcast episodes, links to social media and a link to sign up for the Here Weed Go! twice-monthly newsletter: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks?! Welcome back to the latest and greatest episode of Here Weed Go! I'm your host, Eddie Celaya, cannabis reporter at TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com.
As a journalist who covers the cannabis space, I always try to look out for other reporters, writers and authors who are working in the industry, as well. It helps me keep up to date on what’s happening in this ever changing business, and it keeps me off my phone and from streaming too much HBO and YouTube.
Still, a lot of times, coverage of any kind of news can be a little bit negative, and sometimes, you just want an inspiring story and not a deep dive on what local zoning ordinances could mean for potential pot shops.
Enter Dr. Bridget Cole Williams, a board certified physician who has one hell of an inspiring story herself, which we get into in our conversation.
Williams, who once had a traditional medical practice at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, decided to leave the field of traditional medicine behind when she realized that for some of her patients, plant-based medicines, including cannabis, might be more beneficial.
Eventually, she found her way into publishing and is now the author and driving force behind Courage in Cannabis a two-volume collection of testimonials and short stories from everyday people and celebrities that aims to be the Chicken Soup for the Soul of cannabis.
In our interview, Williams and I touch on her personal journey with cannabis and how it has informed both her medical and literary careers within the industry, how she came up with the idea for a series like Courage in Cannabis, and what’s next for Williams and the community she’s created around her books…
In talking with Dr. Bridget, I realized that a lot of what we do is similar: We’re both writers telling stories, obviously, but we’re both ultimately trying to tell people's stories about their experiences with a plant (or derivatives of that plant) that have been life-changing or life shaping for them in some way.
And because that plant has been stigmatized and criminalized for so long, it’s tough to talk about those experiences sometimes, and even tougher to put those experiences to paper for nearly anyone to read.
So I’m proud to be able to tell another storytellers tale, and I hope any of you out there with an inspiring story, or any story with anything that might be less than mainstreamed in society, know you have a safe place to talk about it here.
If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Bridget, Courage in Cannabis or Here Weed Go!, check out these links below:
MORE INFO
For more info on Dr. Bridget Cole Williams: https://www.drbridgetmd.com/
For more on Courage in Cannabis: https://www.courageincannabis.com/
For more Here Weed Go! episodes and content, including links to the Here Weed Go! twice-weekly newsletter and social media pages: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks! Welcome to a new episode of Here Weed Go! I'm your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis writer for TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com!
In today’s episode, I'll be looking into a new line of products I haven't covered yet – ingestibles.
Although closely related to edibles both in how they work within the body and how they are consumed, "ingestibles" refers to the segment of products that include cannabinoid-specific or full-spectrum pills and tinctures that have become popular in recent years, particularly with more elderly consumers and patients and those approaching cannabis from a more wholistic, health-and-wellness adjacent path.
To help me get learn more about ingestibles, I invited Dr. Chuck Johnson, the chief scientific officer at Ally Biotech onto the show.
Based out of Payson, Arizona, Ally Biotech bills itself as a cannabis-science company, with its focus on producing highly bio-available products for consumption by recreational customers and medical marijuana patients alike.
As Dr. Chuck says, “How you present a cannabinoid to the body is very important and there are ways to do it that are more effective than others.”
The company has been at the cutting edge of developing liposomal absorption technology, basically a delivery system for cannabinoids that helps deliver them into the bloodstream, and recently acquired another Arizona-based favorite, Chill Pill.
Together, Dr. Chuck and I explore the technology behind Ally Biotech and Chill Pill, what makes ingestibles and pills different from edibles, and how Ally’s liposomal technology can be implemented in products to appeal to a customer base focused on health and wellness.
Our conversation begins with Dr. Chuck explaining what sort of effect his first experience with cannabis had on him…
MORE INFO
Ally Biotech: https://allybiotech.com/
Chill Pills: https://chillpillsaz.com/
Here Weed Go! linktree (for access to more Here Weed Go! podcast episodes, TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com content, social media pages and to sign-up for the twice-monthly Here Weed Go! newsletter): https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Here Weed Go! is back! After a few weeks in the wilderness, the podcast that puts the flame to flower when it comes to seed to sale coverage of America’s fastest growing cash crop: cannabis!
I’m your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis, travel and food reporter for TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com!
Before I get this joint lit, I wanted to remind everyone that it really helps the podcast, and I truly do appreciate, when you subscribe, share and comment on Here Weed Go!, wherever you’re streaming or downloading it from.
You can also give the podcast a shout and a follow on social media on Instagram by searching for the username Here.Weed.Go. And of course, don’t forget to visit TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com to see all of my latest content, and to subscribe to the weekly Here Weed Go! newsletter.
Let me know what you think by emailing me at ecelaya- that’s [email protected] to let me know what you think!
Anyway, about this episode you’re currently listening to: it’s the start of a new season and new approach. Appropriate then to speak with someone who is using a technology that is on the cutting edge and disrupting everything it approaches.
I’m referring to AI, or artificial intelligence. While the concept and its use within everyday technology is often taken for granted (think about predictive text for texting – that’s AI), the latest offerings in the field have taken businesses in the cannabis (and media) space by storm – and with some push back.
My guest today however is an advocate for its use, at least when it comes to processing the mountains of paperwork and navigating the oftentimes contradictory levels of regulatory red-tape that comes along with establishing and running a marijuana business.
Dustin Robinson is an attorney and founding partner of Mr. Cannabis Law, a cannabis and psychedelics-focused law firm based out of Florida. His firm is pioneering the use of AI software to help speed up and simplify a process that has become for some, an insurmountable hurdle to gaining some sort of foothold in the burgeoning industry.
Our conversation begins with Robinson explaining how he came to a career in law, by way of accounting…
MORE INFO
More on Mr. Cannabis Law: https://mrcannabislaw.com/
Dustin Robinson's profile: https://mrcannabislaw.com/dustin-robinson-attorney-profile/
The on-stop shop for more Here Weed Go! episodes, stories, video and audio content and more: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
To sign up for the Here Weed Go! Newsletter: http://tucne.ws/hereweedgo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks! Welcome to a new, picture-perfect episode of Here Weed Go! I’m your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis reporter for TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com.
In today’s episode, we’re really clearing the smoke and taking a good look at cannabis. No, I don’t mean figuratively, I mean literally!
As any stoner knows, taking the perfect photograph of that unbelievably fresh, Barney-the-dinosaur purple nugget of flower you just bought from the dispensary (or grew yourself at home) is nearly impossible.
Luckily, today I have someone on the podcast who might be able to help with documenting that dank.
My guest today is Erik Christiansen, a world-renowned cannabis photographer who is the photo-half of the team responsible for two of the most definitive works of literature in categorizing different cannabis strains.
Known best for his work with Dan Michaels on “Green: A Field Guide to Marijuana” and the recently published “Higher: The Lore, Legends and Legacy of Cannabis,” Christiansen and I dive into how he found his eye for photography, where his love for cannabis grows from, and the moment he knew he had to take a photo of his weed.
Along the way, we also recount how he ended up getting into the publishing world, what makes a perfect model nugget or flower in the cannabis world, and what strains of marijuana have so far eluded him.
It’s a fun episode chock full of advise for both photo-hobbyists and canna-connoisseur looking for that legacy strain from the 1970s.
After all, if a picture is worth a thousand words, two whole coffee table books of them must be worth at least one Here Weed Go! podcast episode!
The conversation with Erik begins with him recounting how his father passed on his love for photography to him at an early age…
MORE INFO
Erik Christiansen's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erik.nugshots/
Where to find his books: https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Lore-Legends-Legacy-Cannabis-ebook/dp/B0B5SSN1RL
Sign-up for the Here Weed Go! newsletter: http://tucne.ws/hereweedgo
More Here Weed Go! podcasts episodes: https://omny.fm/shows/here-weed-go
Linktree to all other Here Weed Go! content and social media pages: https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks?! Welcome to a psychedelic episode of Here Weed Go! I’m your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis reporter for TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com!
Before we trip out on today’s main interview topic, I wanna remind you all to sign up for the Here Weed Go! newsletter and to like, follow and subscribe to all of the Here Weed Go! social media pages, like Facebook and Instagram.
I’ve added links to all of those different ways to consume Here Weed Go! content in this episode's description, which you can find wherever you stream or download Here Weed Go!
Now, for today’s episode, we’re leaving the weed at home (unless you really need it) to venture up north to British Colombia, where I chat a little about psychedelics with some new friends of mine.
See, I like to travel, and many times on my travels, I like to take trips. No, not short day-trips in a car to Sedona or Bisbee (although that can also be involved in one of these "trips").
No, instead I mean I like to take some magic mushrooms or other substances that help alter my mind during my vacations.
It’s a good way for me to reset and refocus, especially now with a career and future that are seemingly always in flux and ultimately, always on the line.
But sometimes, I wish there was a guide when partaking with 'shrooms. Unlike cannabis, which for me is always very soothing and almost numbing to the senses, psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD can be absolutely overwhelming in both an overstimulating and under-stimulating way, depending on the experience, dosage, etc.
To find out more about what a purposefully sought out psychedelic experience can be like, I reached out to the creators of The Journeymen Collective, a personalized plant-medicine based retreat and follow-up experience founded by partners Rob Grover and Gary Logan.
In our conversation, we look into the reasons why more and more people are seeking out plant-based medicine retreats based in marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, or other psychedelics, what sort of clientele are coming to the Journeymen Collective, and what feedback the pair has received from past retreat goers.
It’s a wide ranging conversation that begins with the personal: Rob and Gary recounting their first experiences with mushrooms and the very beginnings of their love story.
MORE INFO
The Journeymen Collective website: https://www.thejourneymencollective.com/
The Journeymen Collective Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejourneymencollective/
Here Weed Go! one-stop linktree (for Facebook and Instagram profiles, newsletter and podcast subscription sign-up): https://linktr.ee/hereweedgo
Host Eddie Celaya's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reportereddie/
Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks? Welcome back to Here Weed Go! I'm your host, cannabis reporter Eddie Celaya.
Today we’re taking yet another sip of a topic I just can’t get enough of: Cannabis infused beverages.
I’ve dedicated at least one other episode earlier this year to the subject, but just like any good soda, seltzer or other cannabis-infused cocktail, you can’t stop at just one.
To help guide me through the ever-evolving and growing category, I turned to the head of brand for Wherehouse Beverage Co., Miguel Garcia.
Recently, Wherehouse dropped their latest brand of cannabis-infused drinks in Arizona: Countdown. Touted as a higher dosage answer to the company's more established seltzer, Wynk, Countdown is now available at dispensary locations across the state.
Garcia, who cut his chops in the beverage world outside of cannabis, helps me clear the smoke around questions I’ve had for ages, like who the average canna-beverage consumer is?
We also dive into the different sort of canna-beverage consumers: from the canna-curious who might want to try replacing their Friday WhiteClaws with something non-boozy, to the canna-connoisseur who’s looking for an experience they can’t get from anything else.
Along the way, our conversation touches on how beverages can help bridge the “social consumption” gap in ways smoking or vaping can’t and just how disruptive products in Wherehouse Beverage Co.’s arsenal can be to long-established markets like soda, juice and perhaps even alcohol.
Our conversation begins with Garcia explaining where the idea behind Warehouse Beverage Co. comes from...
Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks!? Welcome to another fun episode of Here Weed Go!, the podcast focused on finding high-end cannabis content for your national marijuana needs. I'm your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis reporter for the Arizona Daily Star and TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com.
While I might be based in Tucson, all of you regular listeners of the podcast know I love to travel and love traveling even more when there’s some top-shelf weed involved.
So for this episode, we’re taking a deep toke and getting introspective about one of the most successful independent dispensary chains in the country.
And it just so happens that its flagship shop is just north up Interstate 10 in a small Phoenix suburb known as Guadalupe, Arizona.
For anyone that’s driven pretty much anywhere in Arizona, they know I’m talking about The Mint, a chain of dispensaries in the Phoenix area (with a future presence in Tucson possible in the near future) known state-wide due to the company’s old-school approach to marketing with billboards.
The flagship shop is also the only location in Arizona to be open 24 hours (although a new Mint location in the works will also be open round the clock), feature an active marijuana grow room that customers and patients can see into, and is the only dispensary in the country with an in-house kitchen making infused made-to-order cakes, pies, pizzas and wings, as well as other cannabis-infused culinary confections.
As a quick aside, I’ve been to some enormous and impressive dispensaries in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seattle, and The Mint’s Guadalupe location, where this interview took place, can certainly hang with any of them.
Both in terms of products available and showmanship
I’ve done recent episodes on how things are going in Michigan and Missouri, and it just so happens that The Mint also has a presence in those states as well.
To help me get a better grasp of The Mint and how it operates, I spoke with the companies co-founder and chief operating officer, Raul Molina.
Molina, who came into cannabis from the car sales industry, is a near legendary figure in the Arizona market. During our conversation, we were interrupted no less than three times by local businessmen just looking to introduce themselves and exchange numbers with the man.
Once we got going, we touched on the origins of The Mint and how the company has grown in and out of state, how the old-school tactics marketing tactics of billboards and radio spots has worked for the company in an age of increasing online footprints, and just how successful The Mint has been.
Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks! its me your host Eddie Celaya, cannabis reporter at the Arizona Daily Star and TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com, reporting in with another great episode of Here Weed Go! The podcast that’s always looking into new cannabis markets across the globe.
Before we get going, I’d be remiss not to remind you that you can follow both Here Weed Go! and myself on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I’ve left links to each in this episodes description, but just search for @ReporterEddie and @Here.Weed.Go and you’ll find content ready and waiting for you to roll up and consume.
So, speaking of markets and consumption, for the last month, I’ve been thinking about Missouri. Ever since my conversation and episode with John Mueller of Greenlight Dispensary, I’ve been intrigued and wanting to find out more.
Luckily, I was reached out to by a PR team representing Hippos, a vertically integrated chain of dispensaries operating in Missouri, and run by a veteran of the alcohol industry, on the distribution side, Nick Rinella.
Rinella, who was apart of the process of crafting the legislation voters ultimately passed in 2022 to make marijuana recreational, provides insight into the state’s lowest-in-the-nation sin tax for marijuana and the reasoning behind it, what differentiates Missouri in its approach towards equitable licensing for more retail and store front opportunities, and where Hippos (named for the Hippocratic Oath taken by healthcare professionals) fits into the newest and hottest cannabis market in the country.
Our conversation begins with Nick talking a little about his background with cannabis, and how his upbringing in distribution of alcohol, another highly regulated substance, helped shape and inform his approach to cannabis.
Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks?! Welcome back to Here Weed Go!
Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Threads at the handle @ReporterEddie. Oh, and you can follow the podcasts social media on Facebook and Instagram, just search for Here.Weed.Go
So, I’ve been doing a little thinking (and podcasting) lately on large, macro trends within the cannabis industry. I’ve touched on the rise of gummies in the edible market, and how cannabis beverages seem to be making steady growth, year-over-year, especially since the pandemic.
One method of consumption I haven’t touched on yet is pre-rolled joints and blunts. Along with vaping cartridges and edibles, the pre-roll categories completes the “Holy Trinity” of convince consumption methods and, as a category, accounts for anywhere from 10-15% of sales in most states markets in the United States.
Still, those sort of numbers only give so much perspective. I still have a lot of questions, like: How has the market for pre-rolls grown since the recreational legalization movement started really gaining steam five years ago? Where are pre-roll papers sourced from? Are their pre-roll machines?
To help shed some light on those an other topics, I turned to Harrison Bard, co-founder of Custom Cones USA, one of the largest suppliers of pre-rolled cones and rolling papers in the United States and Canada.
In our conversation, Harrison explains how a business venture originally founded on improving infused cannabis rolling papers grew into the giant in the industry that Custom Cones is today, the reasons behind the recent proliferation in pre-roll sales, and what he believes the future is for custom cones and the cannabis industry as a whole.
The interview begins with Harrison diving into the origins behind Custom Cones USA, and the story of its rise.
Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How’s it growing folks? Welcome back to Here Weed Go! after our two week break!
My sincerest apologies, but even those of us who cover (mostly) marijuana for a living need a break. Luckily, I was in one of the best weed markets in the United States, Seattle, enjoying all of the fun sites and attractions of the emerald city.
And since I love combining my two loves of travel and cannabis, of course I hit up a few dispensaries and tried out some new weed strains and products.
As always, my vacation got me thinking of marijuana markets and legal states I still have yet to visit. And I figured for this week, I would turn the spotlight on one of the states that jumped into the adult-use recreational waters just a few months ahead of Arizona, The Wolverine State itself: Michigan.
To help me and you get a better handle on just what the market is like out there, I turned to Narmin Jarrous, Chief Development Officer for Exclusive Brands, one of the largest Michigan-only cannabis companies in the state and the first to open a recreational dispensary in the state in December 2019.
Jarrous explains how she came to be at Exclusive and how she’s grown with the company, how the company has grown with Michigan’s move from medical to recreational, and what it’s like operating in what she calls one of the most unique and interesting cannabis markets in the country.
We also touch on some of the differences between operating a cannabis company in Michigan as opposed to Arizona and other markets.
Jarrous and I start the conversation by exploring her own personal experience with cannabis, from growing up in a conservative Arab family, to discovering and struggling with an endometriosis diagnoses in her teens and journey to finally trying cannabis for the first time in her 20s and finding a new level of relief and eventually starting her own cannabis brand.
Podcast is produced by Pascal Albright/Arizona Daily Star
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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