Long Beach has grown to become a place of opportunity for cannabis businesses and entrepreneurs. However, the legalization of recreational use has caused a lack of community-building, a mantra the industry firmly believes in.
It comes as no surprise that historically, the perception of cannabis culture has been negative.
To this day, a new dispensary opening up in any neighborhood usually tends to get pushback from the community, including obstacles like the tight restrictions on how cannabis businesses can market themselves.
As a response to these setbacks, the industry used the practice of community-building events to gain customers and build relationships with locals.
Long Beach is in a unique position to create a booming cannabis industry. Unlike other cities in LA county, Long Beach has its own social equity program and resources that are available for Long Beach residents.
Yet, many in the industry in Long Beach have complained about the lack of communication among city officials, the city attorney’s cannabis program, and businesses.
On April 28, Workforce Development and the city attorney’s office hosted a cannabis job fair in Long Beach. Those who attended saw a low turnout.
Long Beach lacks community-building events that are meant for everyone and not just those interested in the cannabis industry.
On April 20, many cannabis businesses had events and sales celebrating a famous “stoner” holiday called ‘420’.
This surge of events proved that businesses are capable of hosting events regularly on a smaller scale.
In Los Angeles, a creative agency called ‘Hazy LA’ has created a positive impact in the past few months by continuously putting on events that are free and open to anyone who is over the age of 21.
For ‘420’ celebrations, they invited brands like Kanha, Dripp, Pabst, and Luchador. Hazy LA hosted a live wrestling match for the community to enjoy at a dispensary called People’s, which is located in Downtown Los Angeles.
The celebration, called Mota Mania, was well thought out and the layout of the event encompassed the rich Latino culture surrounding the dispensary.
They invited a street fruit vendor and Telemundo, a Spanish-speaking TV station, to the event and marketed it in a way that focused on the large Latino community surrounding the dispensary.
This is what Long Beach cannabis businesses lack when it comes to community-building. Businesses are forgetting who surrounds their community and what their needs are.
There is a disconnect between the community and the cannabis industry, which is a sad reality for many who have been in the cannabis industry since ‘Prop 64 days’.
‘Prop 64 days’ is a loose term that is used by the industry to refer to the time period before recreational use of cannabis was legalized. People who worked in that time period of the industry are referred to as ‘OGs’.
Michelle Rivera, a brand representative for Heavy Hitters, is an OG in the industry.
When asked about how she felt about cannabis businesses engaging in community events, Rivera said, “When I saw [dispensary owner] putting in work for the community, it made me want to do anything for him and his store.”
Rivera is a prime example of OGs seeing how the industry has recently been putting fewer efforts into community-building and more focus on sales.
Perhaps, Long Beach needs creative groups like Hazy LA to bring back the mantra of community-first, or key players in the city need to start communicating better.
The cannabis industry is still in its infancy, but there’s a real need for creative minds to serve this dire need for community-building.
For more information on future Hazy LA events like Mota Mania, visit https://www.hazy.la/connect