PharmaCann's Livwell-centric national strategy includes new partnership with BIPOC cultivator
Also: Inside the Mile High mayoral committee that could impact cannabis ... and was there some other big weed news today?
Progress is coming. Whether or not it’s enough is the next big debate.
At exactly 4:20 Eastern Standard Time this afternoon (get it?), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra confirmed what media had been reporting all day: His office is advising the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Attorney General Merrick Garland to reschedule cannabis from where it currently sits alongside heroin in the Controlled Substances Act.
Should the AG take his advice (and he pretty much has to — keep reading), cannabis would move from Schedule I in the Controlled Substances Act’s categorized list of drugs to Schedule III — sandwiched between benzos and blow (Schedules IV and II respectively).
The text of the related law here is clear af. Title 21 of the United States Code, the Controlled Substances Act, §811, states that there are eight factors the AG must consider when determining whether or not a drug is scheduled and how it’s categorized (this is pulled directly from the legislation and not rephrased):
(1) Its actual or relative potential for abuse.
(2) Scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known.
(3) The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the drug or other substance.
(4) Its history and current pattern of abuse.
(5) The scope, duration, and significance of abuse.
(6) What, if any, risk there is to the public health.
(7) Its psychic or physiological dependence liability.
(8) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this subchapter.
And in §811 (b), the language is very clear (this has been edited for brevity and emphasis is mine):
The Attorney General shall, before initiating proceedings … to control a drug or other substance or to remove a drug or other substance entirely from the schedules, and after gathering the necessary data, request from the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] a scientific and medical evaluation, and his recommendations, as to whether such drug or other substance should be so controlled or removed as a controlled substance. … The recommendations of the Secretary shall include recommendations with respect to the appropriate schedule, if any, under which such drug or other substance should be listed. The evaluation and the recommendations of the Secretary shall be made in writing and submitted to the Attorney General within a reasonable time. The recommendations of the Secretary to the Attorney General shall be binding on the Attorney General as to such scientific and medical matters, and if the Secretary recommends that a drug or other substance not be controlled, the Attorney General shall not control the drug or other substance.
Let’s be clear here: This is HUGE, game-changing news. But let’s also be clear that it’s not nearly enough.
Smarter people with more time than me are paying deep attention and commenting all about it, and I’ll leave you with this provided quote from Chuck Smith, who leads the board of directors at cannabis advocacy organization Colorado Leads, which pretty much sums it up. (You’ll be hearing more from Chuck a little later in this letter):
"While descheduling would more comprehensively roll back federal prohibition, rescheduling to Schedule III represents meaningful progress that carries significant benefits. It would greatly alleviate the unfair federal tax burden and lack of access to banking and financial services that cannabis businesses have shouldered for years. It would also remove barriers to research that have long prevented us from fully understanding the plant and all of its medical benefits. When it comes to addressing the wide range of criminal justice implications associated with prohibition, Schedule III does not go nearly far enough. But it would help pave the way for those important reforms and reduce the scope of criminal liability that Americans currently face when operating or working for state-legal cannabis companies."
This will likely be a slower process than many hope and there will be plenty of gnashing of teeth between now and then, but it’s something — a big something.
We now continue with our regular programming:
Inside PharmaCann’s new brand partnership and what it signals about the MSO’s Livwell strategy
Chicago-based MSO PharmaCann, which acquired what was then the second-largest Colorado vertically integrated retail chain, Livwell Enlightened Health, in 2022, is doubling down on the Livwell brand through a partnership with a leading California-based cultivator with deep Colorado roots.
California Artisanal Medicine, or CAM, will be launching six of its most popular strains at Colorado Livwell stores, with a big official event tomorrow, Aug. 31, at the chain’s newest location in the DTC (7795 E. Belleview Ave. No. 2, Denver 80237) from 3-7 p.m.
CAM Founder and CEO Anna Willey, who will be at that event (and three other meet-and-greets to be held over the weekend — Friday at Livwell Fort Collins as well as Livwell Garden City, and Saturday at Livwell’s Uptown location), took some time to chat with me about the partnership, as did PharmaCann Chief Commercial Officer David Chiovetti.
Calling it a “great Cinderella story,” Willey recalled her early days in cultivation, when she is said to be the first woman to open a medical dispensary in Colorado around 2009.
Her background in tech and passion for science and the plant led her to a focus on cultivation, where her premium flower was gaining attention across the country.
“From 2009 to 2014 it was all growth,” Willey told me during a recent video chat.
Then she lost licensure due to a missing signature and sold her business to Lucy Sky, she said.
In 2017, she made a move to California and launched CAM — which quickly gained a reputation for having some of the best flower on the market. In fact, High Times said CAM “is like a battleship ripping through the waves of the decimated California industry [that] can barely feed the monster” as other licensed Cali operators struggled to move their own flower on the regulated market.
“We were always running out of product in Colorado. … We’re experiencing the same success here,” Willey said. “I think I’m a better operator than I ever have been thanks to the experience in Colorado.”
She was able to get her Marijuana Enforcement Division badge back from the state before departing, she said.
Willey buys her own facilities and builds them out — one of her three grows is a 2,000-light, 150,000-square-foot building. Her flower is sold at 350 California stores, including her own retail delivery service in Sacramento.
The secret to her flower’s success, she says, is the drying and curing process she’s developed as well as time to retail since CAM does its own distribution.
She lives by three rules:
Don’t overproduce
Make sure you have great genetics
And make sure the product is not sitting on the shelves
“Flower that’s past 90 days, we credit-memo it out,” she said.
And as a woman of color, she’s breaking other barriers in the industry.
“My early years in software were male-dominated too,” Willey said. “And I fared pretty well in that part of it,” adding that women “just naturally get shit done.”
All of this caught the attention of Chiovetti, who at the time worked for Medmen in California.
“I literally called up Anna and got to know her a little,” Chiovetti told me over video conference last week.
He noted that her proprietary strains were constantly being recognized as top-five contenders in various rankings and competitions.
“To do that in California is amazing,” he said.
After making the move to PharmaCann, he approached her about a potential partnership.
While Livwell — now the largest Colorado cannabis retail chain since PharmaCann’s 2022 acquisition of The Clinic group of dispensaries — is recognized for its reasonable prices, and he’d put PharmaCann’s house edibles and vapes “up against anybody,” Chiovetti said that he “realized people go elsewhere for top-shelf flower.”
“I knew she would come in and have a very clear and linear set of SOPs that she’d want us to follow if she was going to put her name on our jars,” he said. Willey confirmed this.
And it goes beyond quality. It’s a culture fit, both told me.
“Nate [Fete], who is our chief manufacturing officer who oversees all cultivation and manufacturing, and Kara [Gardner], who is our VP of marijuana-infused products —they’re unique folks who are very passionate and have a lot of pride in what they do. But at the same time, they’re willing to work with people who are like-minded and passionate about the plant,” Chiovetti said. “Anna is the same.”
In Willey’s view, she’s teaming up with a group that is truly passionate about the plant as well as respectful of it — a rarity in many corporate cannabis entities and MSOs.
“These guys actually smoke weed and like weed and they’re really here to support the brand and give CAM exactly the footprint we have in California,” she said.
The partners will be launching four of six hand-trimmed strains right away at a price point of $50 for eighths and $90 for quarters.
“The biggest thing is Anna’s portfolio of genetics,” Chiovetti said. “We’re especially excited not just for her brand, but also genetics people haven’t seen in a long time — if ever.”
Her flower, he said, has “Great nose, great look, great terp profile, lots of cool coloring, lots of purple and, of course, the smoke is incredible.“
The strains are: Formula 41, La Paleta, Lemon Cherry Z, Lemon Cherry Gelato, Coal Creek Kush and Permanent Marker. All six will eventually be available exclusively at the 26 Livwell retail stores in Colorado, and eventually the goal is to roll the CAM strains out across PharmaCann’s national retail footprint.
“There’s some secret sauce to what we both do,” Chiovetti said. “But there’s a mutual goal here to win.”
The partnership is an indication of Livwell’s role in PharmaCann’s long-term, national strategy. Here’s how:
“Livwell was run by great operators and they had an amazing footprint in Colorado,” Chiovetti said, when speaking about PharmaCann’s due diligence before acquiring the chain.
And with the MSO’s footprint primarily being in newish markets from the Midwest to the East Coast, there was very limited expertise in cultivation due to federal prohibition, he said.
The Livwell brand has turned that on its head, and PharmaCann’s customers on both the wholesale and retail sides are noticing the difference.
“Our house of brands exponentially grew …
Inside the Denver mayoral transition committee that made EXL cannabis-licensing recommendations
Newly elected Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration chose local leaders to serve on nearly 30 transition committees and make recommendations on improving everything from the arts to climate, DIA, Parks and Rec, public safety and homelessness.
Among those committees was one focused on the offices that oversee cannabis licensing and enforcement in the Mile High City: The Department of Excise and Licenses.
EXL, which issues licenses for more than 100 different categories of businesses and professions, received some constructive criticism from the committee, which was chaired by entrepreneur and business coach Makisha Boothe, who I’ve interviewed in the past for the Denver Business Journal, and co-chaired by Chuck Smith, president of the board of directors at cannabis advocacy group Colorado Leads, and Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Executive Director Patty Salazar.
Outspoken Colorado Restaurant Association President and CEO Sonia Riggs and Simply Pure Co-Founder and CEO (and University of Colorado regent) Wanda James also sat on the committee, along with VS Strategies Principal Christian Sederberg and five other business leaders.
Along with general recommendations about easing the licensing process for businesses, developing a communication and outreach strategy, identifying operational efficiencies and creating a 100-day plan, the committee — almost as a side note — identified some areas that cannabis licensing could be improved.
Those recommendations include:
Evaluating Denver’s general rules and regulations, which were adopted “in or around” 2014, when adult-use sales began (and in 2021 were overhauled in an effort to create opportunities for social-equity entrepreneurs and allow delivery as well as social consumption)
Address the city’s purported reputation “for having one of the most lengthy and onerous licensing processes in the state”
Address duplicative efforts between the city and state (“There is very little deference given to the state licensing authority,” according to the memo)
Standardize licensing and approval requirements so that cannabis businesses don’t have to jump through more hoops than other businesses
Engage a Six Sigma or Lean Certified expert to “streamline and optimize efficiency in this area of EXL”
I spoke with Chuck Smith on the phone about the process and he gave me a brief look inside the process and thinking behind this report. Here are the highlights:
The mayor laid the groundwork: “The mayor, with his staff, set some top-level goals and perspectives that were in some ways [pertinent] to all departments in Denver government.”
It went beyond the committee members: Other officials “would join in to provide guidance and oversight to make sure we stayed on track and timeframe.”
The scope of EXL’s work was a surprise: “There’s all sorts of things that could benefit from a fresh look. … I didn’t know how big the responsibility of the alarm and security section of the department was.”
Short-term rentals may be a bigger pain point than cannabis: “There’s short-term rentals that have some pain points that need to be addressed, especially since that’s new to EXL’s review. … I wasn’t aware of the complexity of the short-term market.”
The committee was empowered to interview stakeholders and survey business owners: “We held an open meeting — invited anyone in the public — and did a working group there where we really talked about key interviews and aspirational questions. The working groups came back with some positioning statements validating some areas of opportunity where we could work with the EXL team.”
Those surveys could help determine the next agency director: “That [process] really drove out some goals and perspectives that i know will be used in the interview process when they decide who the next director will be.”
The committee looked at all areas of cannabis with very specific goals: “We looked at all the areas where we’d like to continue to explore, including consumption lounges, permitting processes — areas we know from personal experience and also feedback from stakeholders that cost time and financial considerations. … Public safety and regulatory compliance — that’s really where our goals were.”
The agency has a good reputation in cannabis — operators simply want more collaboration: “There was generally very positive support for the EXL team by folks in the industry. I think people recognize it’s a tough job so working together is key. I think what people’s desire is is a more collaborative effort and an opportunity to streamline things that cause delays in businesses and licenses.”
About that “very little deference” thing: “Cannabis has been legal from an adult-use perspective arguably since 2012, basically. Back then, there were a lot of regulations that now — fast-forward 11 years later — some of those are probably duplicative, some of those are belt and suspenders. Now is the time to make sure we’re balancing the safety and efficiency with tools to make businesses more successful.”
About that Six Sigma thing: While Chuck declined to answer my question about this, I’ve done some inquiring and there may be city resources such as Denver Peak Performance that the department could tap into. There also may be state resources, but that’s less clear.
The members took their jobs seriously and were proud to be a part of the committee: “I was very proud that Mayor Johnston put me on this committee as a co-chair. It demonstrated … across all committees inclusion and proves he is a person of his word and recognizes the real economic benefit of the industry. He put his money where his mouth is.”
Despite a cannabis-heavy committee presence, many industries were represented: “Everybody has also repesented or been involved in other areas that EXL touches. It wasn’t just cannabis folks — there was beer/brewing, legislative [and more].”
The Department of Excise and Licenses declined to comment for this story due to ongoing transition committee work.