Hi there, and welcome to The Dealers Diary - my musings on the cannabis industry, California, and building Halara.

If you missed past emails, I recommend checking out the Dealers page where you can see the past emails I sent.

In today's entry: $1,000 Still Unclaimed | Vaping vs. Smoking (New Study) | We'll Be at Revelry

Hey Dealers,

There's $1,000 sitting on the table and nobody's taken it home yet.

Six weeks ago I hid a mystery strain in our lineup — no name on the packaging, just the product and a prize for whoever could identify it first. Twenty-seven people have submitted guesses. Nick has reviewed every single one of them. Nobody's gotten it right. Which, honestly, I find impressive. And a little funny. Twenty-seven guesses. Zero correct. Nick is very patiently waiting for someone to beat him and that person has not shown up yet.

The strain is on shelves now. Find it on Weedmaps. Buy it, try it, reply to this email with your best guess. First correct answer wins $1,000. Nick is the judge. He's not giving hints.

PAX the vape hardware company published research claiming vaporization produces 99% fewer harmful byproducts than smoking a joint. I want to be upfront: PAX has a financial interest in that result, and the study wasn't peer reviewed. That context matters.

But here's the thing. The underlying science on combustion vs. vaporization has been settled for almost 20 years. Independent researchers got to the same conclusion long before PAX ran this study. What PAX added is a more detailed measurement 16 specific compounds, controlled conditions, matched samples that puts harder numbers on something the cannabis world has understood directionally for a while.

We wrote the full breakdown on the blog, including what the EVALI outbreak actually taught us (it was vitamin E acetate in illicit carts, not vaping itself) and what to look for in hardware quality. Worth a read if you're ever asked about it. Full breakdown here.

If you're in New York's cannabis industry, you probably know Revelry. If you don't: it's the state's most serious B2B trade show — licensed retailers, brands, cultivators, processors, all in one room handling actual business. This year it's at Basilica Hudson (110 Front Street, Hudson NY), noon to 6pm on May 13th. On The Revel is celebrating their 10th anniversary, which in New York cannabis is a genuine milestone given how many operators haven't made it.

Nick, Travis, and I will all be there. That's not something we do often — usually it's one of us at a time — so if you've been curious about Halara and want to actually talk product, this is the room to do it in.

We're also bringing a first-order promotion exclusively for new accounts we meet at Revelry. Not something we're running anywhere else. Reply to this email before May 13th if you want the details ahead of time, or come find us on the day.

Know a budtender who'd dig this? Forward it. They subscribe, you get a Dealers hat.

Already got 1 referral? You've got a hat coming. DM me your address if you haven't yet.

Halara · Emerald Triangle, CA

P.S. What's been playing in this house on repeat. I'll be honest — I did not choose two of these. My fiancée has been on an ABBA run since at least March and it is only getting stronger. It's lovely, actually. I have no complaints and also no say in the music anymore.