Santa Barbara-based Graham Farrar talks about the joys of growing cannabis, the persistence of pot stigma, and what goes into selling more than 100,000 pounds of California's most notorious crop.
Graham Farrar is the Chief Cannabis Officer at Glass House Brands, based in Santa Barbara
I think the thing that makes California special for cannabis is that this is where the culture originated, and there’s such a center of gravity here. There’s a center of gravity for a lot of things [culturally]—not to be arrogant about California. You’re talking Hollywood and music and a lot of that kind of stuff. But it really is the cultural capital for cannabis. You have so many of the good breeders here. You have so many of the good growers here. You have such a great climate here. It's the fifth largest economy in the world. It’s the largest cannabis market—it’s almost 25% of the country. It’s more than twice as big as the second biggest. It’s almost as big as the next three markets combined. It’s just such a force.
Notes and references from this episode:
What is California? Episode 1: Gov. Jerry Brown
Schumer proposes federal legislation to decriminalize marijuana, by Emma Newburger, CNBC
6th Assessment Report, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
California Pot Seen Commanding Extra Cachet, by Tiffany Kary, Bloomberg
Thomas fire, California’s largest on record, finally 100% contained, by Michael Livingston and Shelby Grad, LA Times
An inconvenient truth (about weed), by Natalie Fertig and Gavin Bade, Politico
Relentless (Graham Farrar profile), by Jolene Hansen, Cannabis Business Times
A Brief History of the Drug War , Drug Policy Institute
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