Hey guys, it’s me, Heady NJ Editor Dan Ulloa. I’m doing a new podcast show here, The Heady Chronicle. So, this is an episode of that show (in article form).
Table of Contents
This is my office here in the Essex County suburbs in North Jersey.
I thought it’d be like an interesting thing to explore, talking to people. As a writer, you’re sitting there typing versus gesturing here, smiling here, trying to look good for the camera.
Trump, Epstein, and NJ Cannabis
So we have a lot of things going on in the news.
We are waiting on the U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to make some progress on cannabis legalization under President Donald Trump. He endorsed Schedule III moving of marijuana. So, it’s something.
We’re always for descheduling where you take cannabis, marijuana off the Schedule of Controlled Substances. We always thought that would … make the market, … all the more prosperous and … really ensure justice.
But the thing is … when he announced it, it seemed like a distraction from the release of these Epstein files with the billionaire financier, Wall Street tycoon, Jeffrey Epstein, who was raping children.
So, they got these files that have been partially released by the, U.S. Justice Department. So, Trump is in a lot of them, along with the former English Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
I had a tip, and then I found that we had a Jersey City dispensary owner, Benny Shabtai, who’s also in the files. He was friends with Jeffrey Epstein.
Benny is part owner of the Downtown Flower Dispensary on the Newark Pedestrian Plaza.
But it doesn’t seem like they were like, like best friends, like Trump and Epstein were like bigger friends.
He did text him, like, LOL, are you with an R and a U versus spelling things out, like English proper.
Other NJ Cannabis News Stories
We always got news about Jersey stories. You know, there’s always more dispensaries, more brands, products coming along.
It’s a hell of a thing to watch… new places opening… We got a lot in certain cities. And it’s difficult because I kind of love everybody.
It’s…really hard … when it’s just like a knife fight out there for some of our friends out there.
But we’re still getting products, … the flower price is coming down bit by bit. We’re seeing some very affordable prices. A lot of the large MSOs, multi-state operators, they’re able to put out a cheap product.
Also, we’re getting more supporters and sponsors on like home grow, for example, you know, we had Mollyann Farms (dispensary) did a shout out to home grow at their like market promo in February.
So that’s something because they (opponents) were always saying … the market doesn’t like home grow. And this is the market liking home grow and/or dispensary owners endorsing home grow.
Making Progress
We’ve always been for a diverse, inclusive cannabis market with a lot of locals, a lot of females, a lot of minority business owners. You know, a lot of Hispanic business owners, it’s always a big thing for me, being a first-generation Peruvian.
I bet you didn’t know that or expect that. That’s all right.
NJ Governor Sherrill had her 1st budget address yesterday, didn’t really mention cannabis, but she also didn’t seem to hate weed.
Celebrating Women in NJ Cannabis Saturday March 14th
There’s a lot of progress being made with local entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs, and we want to celebrate that, you know, and it’s Women’s History Month.
So, this Saturday, March 14th, we want people to come to our Women in NJ Cannabis show and party at the Lobby Nightclub, it’s in Elizabeth and on Route 1 by Newark Airport.
It’s a hella chill place. I think you’re gonna like it, …we want to make sure … everyone has a good time at the place under the Heady NJ banner.
So, expect some surprises once you come in, you know, there’s gonna be a great bar, food, and DJ to make a great party.
Plus, I’m gonna host an episode of the show, we’re gonna be talking,
I’m gonna moderate a panel that time, so we’re gonna have Camp Ironman ButACake CEO, Matha Figaro, pioneer of legal infused edibles here in Jersey.
We’re also gonna have Bud to Bloom CEO, Ariel Mizrahi, it’s gonna be like really good to hear her experience as a woman in a town that’s not like one of these towns, like Jersey City, for example, where it’s a big liberal city.
We’ll also have Wednesday Mayer, Quality Cannabliss dispensary Director of Community Engagement, longtime member of the community, legacy to legal is always fun that way.
Then we’re gonna have Canna Coverage, CEO Nichelle Santos talking about her experience there, you know, working on insurance issues and along with legal issues in the market and stuff with Minorities for Medical Marijuana, M4MM of New Jersey.
We’re gonna be talking about how it’s been for women in the market and all parts of the industry and community throughout Jersey, … So we’ll have them talking about their experiences … in this new legal era in the great garden state.
So look forward to having a good time there.
We’ve got a lot of people working with us, helping us out, you know, we’re really happy for our collaborator, Budzooka Dispensary of Elizabeth, along with our many sponsors making it happen.
It’s a new era, you know, none of this was possible like 20 years ago, when I was in college.
So come to the party Saturday!
Legal Adult-use Pennsylvania Cannabis?
Pennsylvania: every year since I’ve been doing this, people are like, it’s going to go legal there. And it never does.
They got a Republican Senate in their legislature, so it’s really difficult. But the governor likes it, Josh Shapiro. We’ll see what happens out there.
