Danielle Rosellison
Co-owner
Trail Blazin’ Productions
Bellingham, WA
April is supposed to be fun. It’s 4/20, brah. Puff, puff, pass. The antithesis of a Hallmark Holiday. Let’s all go get high, share our festivities, giggle and eat crazy junk food.
And yet all I can do right now is think about how we as an industry can effectively create change to what appears to be a fundamentally broken system. As a board member for The Cannabis Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of a vital, ethical and sustainable cannabis industry, I’ve spent the last few days systematically calling our members and asking them about their pain points. They laughed. They cried. They asked how much time I had.
The stories are all the same: overproduction is an issue; over-regulation is an issue.
For those of you in the industry, I think you’ll be able to relate. For those of you not, let me paint you a picture to try and describe how those of us blazin’ trails feel on the regular.
Pretend you’re on a train. You’re stoked, because you can’t wait to get to the destination. You did everything you could to get there. You saved money. You bought a ticket. You brought your most prized possessions along. You’re on the train and on your way. Woot woot!!
Then, you look out and you can see another train coming from the opposite direction straight for you. You let the conductor know. She explains that it’s cool, everything is going to be fine. And you believe her, because you know, she’s the conductor.
You look outside again, and the other train is still coming straight for you. Again, you mention something to the conductor. “Don’t worry,” she says, “it’ll be fine.”
You offer to help the train employees. It’s not your job, but considering all your worldly possessions are on the train, it would be in your best interest to make sure the train gets where it’s going successfully. Besides, you happen to have a degree in engineering and your knowledge could help the situation.
The conductor takes you up on your offer to help, but purely in an advisement capacity. She listens to you, smiles and nods, and tells you they are working on it.
You can see where this is going, right? The opposing train crashes straight into you, just like you said it would. Your train is tossed about. Your things are mangled and spread out everywhere. There is no way you’re going to get to where you want to be in a timely manner, and the damage control of assessing the situation and creating a new plan is going to make everything exponentially more difficult.
You did everything right, and the person who is supposed to be in charge, the person who is supposed to driving the train and keeping you safe, just dropped the ball.
And the totally messed up thing? As soon as you gather your things and get your life in order again, you’ve got to get back on the train with the same conductor.
That’s what the cannabis industry is like. Every. Dang. Day.
Happy 4/20. Puff, puff, pass …