Innovative cannabis products now include people who will grow your cannabis for you!
Innovative cannabis products are everywhere. For example, where online dispensaries buy and distribute cannabis, a new startup will exercise your right to grow plants at home – by cultivating them for you. Every now and then a new idea crops up, one where a slightly different way of doing things emerges. Recently, a South African startup named The Haze Club stumbled upon one such way by essentially becoming the designated grower of people’s home cannabis entitlement. Not only do they grow it, but they’ll package it up and ship it to your front door after harvest.
They provide a grow space fully equipped with lighting and staffed by growers who will cultivate cannabis on your behalf. Various subscription models exist based on an individual’s needs, where members can share plants or own individual plants. The Haze Club will grow up to two plants per individual, and oversee the entire process from germinating, growing, training, harvesting, curing, and packaging, to delivering.
They currently offer over twenty different cultivars with high-CBD varieties also available. Members can either select their preferred cultivar or send in their own feminized seeds for the Haze Club to grow.
Their model goes deeper than an online dispensary. By growing the cannabis for their members, their reputation hinges on the quality of the bud over the price. And with a focus on community co-operation, it’s an idea that resonates with the founding culture of cannabis, and it may have potential.
But how legal is it?
The Continual Spawn of Innovative Cannabis Products
As legalization and decriminalization slowly spread across the globe, the legality of such establishments is not immediately clear. In places like South Africa, where The Haze Club operates, cannabis is decriminalized and exemptions allow for small home grows. Associations like the Haze Club merely grow on behalf of members – and help them exercise their fundamental rights.
In this respect, by only growing as much as their members can legally demand, they don’t violate the law. In South Africa, provisions exist for patients to harvest up to two plants per person. When harvested once every twelve to fourteen weeks, few can argue that the cannabis is for nothing other than personal use in accordance with the law.
Can This Movement Take Off in North America?
In the U.S., things aren’t so clear. The scheme may work in some states. However, state laws are different. The fact that cannabis remains federally illegal mean that the market may not be ready just yet.
In Canada, where cannabis is federally legal, members of the public can grow up to four plants at home for personal consumption. But, for those who wish to avail of this without actually growing it themselves, then provisions exist for them to elect a dedicated grower. While Canadian law currently permits this, it’s currently only valid for medicinal purposes.
The Advantages of the Scheme
Such schemes provide patients with several advantages. Firstly it ensures a regular harvest at a competitive price. Secondly, it avoids the associated burden of having to tend to a crop.
Growing quality cannabis is no easy feat, and many spend years mastering the art. For those who simply can’t or would rather not invest the time and patience required to garner growing expertise, such schemes provide the next best thing. By essentially employing an expert grower to cultivate the plant, the process removes the burden on the patient and guarantees them a reliable crop while providing employment to a skilled gardener.
Another advantage is the consistent availability of favorite cultivars. Buying from dispensaries is often a frustrating experience for many. Stock levels vary, meaning that what is available one day may be out of stock the next. When patients find a particular cultivar that works for them, then a regular and reliable supply of that specific cultivar can make a real difference in someone’s life.
Innovative Cannabis Products Are Aligned With a Legacy Culture
When the legalization movement began to take hold across North America, many of those involved in illegal markets feared a new system set up to favor the big money players with no prior connection to the plant.
Establishments like community grow co-ops maintain a link to a legacy culture that preserves many of the founding principals of cannabis culture. They currently work successfully in smaller communities across North America in the food industry. And there’s no reason why the same can’t occur with cannabis. Cannabis is a healer on many levels. When harnessed correctly, it may even show us new ways of doing capitalism. The idea of connecting communities and redistributing money around resonates strongly with a legacy cannabis culture that has many aspects worth preserving.
Carl Marx suggested that capitalism will always tend to cannibalize itself in time. Several big players eat up the rest, only for one dominant force to eventually gain a monopoly. Ultimately it’s in no one’s interest for big money to dominate the cannabis industry. And whether for food or cannabis, by encouraging community-based innovative cannabis products and services within the industry, we stand to reap societal benefits that extend far and wide.
Schemes in which people invest both financially and emotionally for part ownership tend to thrive. These small ideas may soon begin to flourish at the local level. When they do, they soon begin to seed elsewhere. They may eventually bring real positive change to the world.
