I hope all of you are doing well.
As I write this, 90% of Americans are living under lockdown orders that have them stuck at home out of work, and the White House is talking about healthcare for all. Needless to say things are pretty wild.
I’m 40 days in as essential personnel at CBCB in Berkeley. It’s been a rapidly changing process over the last few weeks but things are going well. We never had to stop helping people. There were a couple of hiccup days but I think those were to be expected with the frequent transitions to the new temporary status quo.
At the beginning of the lockdown we were able to help people inside. Eventually the city of Berkeley switched to mandating only a delivery model.
People flipped out and were not happy. The day after we posted that sign, in conjunction with a bunch of other people’s efforts, the city stepped back and allowed for curbside pickup. Ever since I’ve been helping people get their nugs like it’s 2010 or something. It’s awesome.
It was my tenth 4/20 working in the California cannabis industry. While the weirdest one yet, I was just glad to be a part of the process. It was Jay’s 23rd 4/20 at CBCB. Crazy!
I’m still a journalist too! LA Weekly kept me on board through everything that’s been going on and I even got the 4/20 cover!
Talking with Josh D about helping to bring OG Kush to Los Angeles, and then saving the cut, was such a pleasure. We actually did the interview last summer. I knew I wanted to sit on it for something special, then he won The Emerald Cup, and here we are.
I also was excited to have a platform for my 4/20 list this year! Even though everything I wanted to do like the Cup Crawl and various other activities fell through, it was cool to still be able to do the thing that got me those opportunities in the first place.
I also dropped my essential Pandemic Pot Recipe Picks with three of the best edible authors in the game at the moment.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably pro-Jimi. I’m excited to let you know I’ll be launching Devine’s Fine Cannabis Guide in the next few months. I’ve got a deep notebook of specific phenotypes that have connected with me over the last ten years. I’m hoping the guide will be a consumer friendly destination for people to understand why the flame is the flame, and where to get it.
It looks like we’ll be launching some Destination Shelves along with the guide too. Some of the finest dispensaries in the state of California will be onboard from the very beginning in offering some of the guide’s selections on their shelves. I had like six dispensary owners and buyers hit me up within a few hours of posting about the plan, that was pretty cool.
Those dispensaries doing shelves and ancillary cannabis services, like nutrient companies, will be the only people allowed to advertise via the site. I want to keep the editorial process super above bar. The only complaints I’ve ever heard about my lists are “why aren’t I on it?” I won’t be changing anything about the ethos of my process that created those lists for money, I assure you. But who doesn’t love a roof and food, right?
Finally, shoutouts to all the other essential people like nurses and firefighters. It’s pretty wild to be the bottom of the essential pyramid as a part time dispensary receptionist. The bar for whether you’re essential or not is basically me, so cool.
Keep crushing everyone!
Jimi Devine 