Hi there, and welcome to The Take it Easy Crew - my musings on the cannabis industry, California, and building Halara.
If you missed past emails, I recommend checking out the Take it Easy Crew page where you can see the past emails I sent.
When METRC ate our Monday
Hey crew,
Ever have one of those days that ages you ten years?
Monday was that day. The morning was smooth. I got into deep work, rolled through a couple meetings, then my phone lit up. Our Up North distro called three times and texted, “Call me. I’ve got something hot.” I told Travis I had to jump. My day detonated.
Up North had just received emails from the DCC saying every Halara batch was on administrative hold in METRC. Terrifying. No rhyme or reason. Rosin, resin, high THC. Everything locked. No explanation. Just an automated notice: you cannot sell, transport, or do anything with these products.
We’ve never had a recall. Not once. I credit that to strong QC and good inputs. This felt like one. Then stores started pinging the Up North team: “What’s going on with Halara? These lots are quarantined.” That was the worst part. As an owner, not knowing what’s happening while people are already asking is a brutal feeling.
We hadn’t received anything directly from the DCC, so we started calling everyone. Our lab. The DCC. METRC. No one had seen anything like it.
Then a light at the end of the tunnel.
Reports came in that it wasn’t just us. Many brands were hit.
Live image of me around noon Monday
Within a couple hours it became clear the DCC’s automated system glitched and sidelined a big chunk of the state. Us and the other top vape brands. Flower. Edibles. Even an infused tea brand. (Shoutout Kikoko. Good stuff.) By about 1:00 pm the holds started lifting. I’m sure someone at the DCC had a very rough afternoon. It felt like a lifetime.
If you couldn’t buy weed on Monday at your favorite shop, it wasn’t just you. We were all stuck. When my girlfriend came home, she said I looked shell-shocked.
Here’s hoping your week started better than mine. On to the next!
Onwards and upwards,
-Malcolm
P.S. To help me recover, send me your best Halloween costume this week. I’ve got Halara swag for the winner. Yours truly is going as a Viking.
The Review Corner
This review is a little standard, but I loved it because we just rolled out a new survey platform and this was our first repsonder to it! Thank you for helping me know it works whoever you are! It was on the Cannalope Chronic
Think you’ve got a better review? Reply with your submission on our Reddit feed! Nick will critique 😂
My Weekly Bops 🎵
Tune in and enjoy. Tracks I’ve been listening to this week.
Bad Reputation (Joan Jett)
We Got The Beat (The Go-Go’s)
Everybody (Backstreet Boys)
Dope things I’m reading
Some of my favorite things since the last newsletter (note: I don’t get paid to recommend anything here):
39 AGs vs. intoxicating hemp. A bipartisan group of 39 attorneys general asked Congress to close the Farm Bill loopholes that let delta-8 and similar products sell like candy in convenience channels. My take: act like stricter age-gating and labeling are coming.
New York’s Omnium “rent-a-license” case. OCM filed a Notice of Pleading against Omnium Health and ordered a statewide recall, with penalties that could include license revocation and debarment. But also hasn’t clarified anything beyond that leaving retailers in the dark. My take: operate legally and the regulators should be transparent… is that too much to ask?
That’s all for this week — thanks for reading!
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Halara · License No. CDPH-10004369
Santa Rosa, CA · USA