Author: toker

How Medical Marijuana Access Is Expanding in the Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area has long been at the forefront of cannabis reform, and recent years have brought significant improvements in how patients access medical marijuana. From streamlined certification processes to expanded delivery options …

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Inside Scarlet Reserve Room and Jersey’s Legacy Weed Culture

As legal cannabis drifts toward corporate sameness, Scarlet Reserve Room is holding onto something harder to manufacture: culture, authenticity, and the people who survived prohibition long before investors showed up. 

Legal weed has gotten very good at looking expensive. Walk into enough dispensaries today and they start blurring together: white walls, glowing menus, polished branding, iPad kiosks, budtenders trained to sound like wellness consultants, and enough corporate design language to make you forget weed was ever illegal in the first place.

Somewhere along the way, parts of cannabis culture got sanded down for investor decks and municipal approvals.

Then there’s Scarlet Reserve Room. 

Sitting in Englishtown, New Jersey, surrounded by nearby competition and the growing wave of East Coast legalization, Scarlet doesn’t feel like it was designed in a boardroom. It feels lived in. Personal. Defiant in small but deliberate ways.

Near the entrance sits an old scale mounted on display. Not hidden. Not buried in some back room. Elevated.

“For me, it represents growth, survival, and the transition from legacy to legal,” owner Wil Rivera says. “It’s a reminder of where we came from and how far we’ve come.”

That sentence says almost everything you need to know about Scarlet Reserve Room. This isn’t a dispensary trying to imitate cannabis culture. It’s a dispensary built by someone who survived it.

Before Legalization Came the Grind

Everybody talks about “legacy to legal” now like it’s a clean transition. A slogan. A branding angle. Rivera laughs at that idea.

“The transition from the legacy market to the legal cannabis industry was, without question, one of the most difficult challenges I’ve faced as a business owner,” he says.

For operators like Rivera, legalization didn’t arrive with open arms. It arrived with zoning meetings, licensing barriers, public hearings, legal costs, and the constant pressure of having to prove legitimacy inside rooms already tilted toward corporate money.

“You walk into those rooms without that same level of institutional support,” Rivera says, describing town council meetings packed with attorneys and representatives from large multi-state operators. “In many cases, you feel judged based on your background, appearance, or the stigma surrounding cannabis.”

That tension sits at the center of modern legal weed. The people who carried cannabis culture through prohibition are now competing inside a system increasingly dominated by hedge funds, investors, pharmacy groups, and large MSOs with massive financial backing. The irony isn’t lost on Rivera.

“In many ways, the licensing structure seems designed to favor large MSOs rather than the people who endured prohibition and helped build the culture long before legalization.”

Building Cannabis Spaces Before Weed Was Welcome

Long before Scarlet Reserve Room opened, Rivera was already trying to carve out spaces for cannabis culture in New Jersey. Not dispensaries at first. CBD stores. Cigar lounges. Community spaces were carefully built around whatever legal gray areas existed at the time.

The path was anything but smooth.

He first opened a CBD shop in South Amboy, hoping the town would eventually embrace legal cannabis businesses. It didn’t. Then came Matawan, the town where Rivera had once been arrested as a kid and later graduated high school.

“The idea of going from ‘legacy to legal’ and opening a dispensary in the same community where I once struggled would have been an incredible full-circle accomplishment,” he says.

Twice they applied. Twice they were denied.

Then came Red Bank.

What started as a cigar lounge and CBD concept slowly evolved into something New Jersey hadn’t really seen before: a compliant social environment where medical marijuana patients could legally gather, consume cannabis, watch sports, attend comedy nights, and exist openly without feeling criminalized.

“We hosted private sessions, sporting events, comedy shows, spoken word nights, and poetry events,” Rivera says.

At one point, they even went to trial against the Township of Red Bank, defending the rights of medical patients to consume cannabis legally inside the space.

They won. Eventually, the pressure from the town forced them out anyway. That history matters because it explains why Scarlet Reserve Room feels less like a retail concept and more like the continuation of something older.

A Dispensary That Still Feels Like Weed

“A lot of dispensaries today feel sterile,” Rivera says. “The same menus, the same atmosphere, the same corporate energy.”

He wanted Scarlet to feel like the opposite of that. Most of the staff come from the legacy side of cannabis: former growers, sellers, underground operators, and people whose knowledge didn’t come from corporate training manuals.

“We always believed authentic experience mattered more than simply studying cannabis in a textbook,” Rivera says. That philosophy changes the entire atmosphere of the room.

Customers aren’t funneled toward kiosks or rushed through scripted upsells. Conversations happen naturally. Recommendations sound personal because they are. The staff actually smoke, understand, and care about the products they’re talking about.

“When customers walk into Scarlet Reserve Room, they’re not getting a scripted sales pitch,” Rivera says. “They’re talking to people who genuinely understand the products, the effects, and the culture behind them.”

That authenticity has become surprisingly rare in legal cannabis. Somewhere between institutional capital and mass commercialization, parts of the industry started confusing branding with culture.

Rivera sees the split clearly.

“There is absolutely a noticeable divide in the cannabis industry right now between people who genuinely love and respect cannabis culture and those who simply recognize it as a business opportunity.”

The THC Arms Race and the Loss of Craft

Ask Rivera what corporate cannabis still doesn’t understand, and he answers immediately:

“Good weed doesn’t always equate to high THC percentages.”

It’s a simple line, but it cuts directly into one of the biggest identity crises happening in legal cannabis right now.

The underground market was built around growers obsessing over flavor, smell, cure quality, effects, and craftsmanship. In regulated markets, much of that conversation has been flattened into THC percentages and terpene marketing designed for retail shelves.

“The culture used to be driven by growers and consumers who genuinely respected the plant,” Rivera says. “Now, too much of the industry feels focused on maximizing trends and profit.”

That frustration isn’t nostalgia for prohibition. It’s frustration over what gets lost when cannabis starts behaving like every other hyper-commercialized industry in America.

The weirdness disappears first. Then the honesty. Then the people who built it.

Why High Times Still Matters

When High Times brought the Cannabis Cup to New Jersey, Rivera saw something different from the polished networking expos dominating modern cannabis events.

“Sponsoring the High Times Cup was important to me because, honestly, I’ve never really been a fan of the overly corporate cannabis events,” he says.

Growing up, High Times represented something larger than weed itself. For many people from the legacy era, it was proof that cannabis culture existed beyond secrecy and paranoia.

“There were really only two magazines I paid attention to—High Times and the Robb Report,” Rivera says.

That combination somehow makes perfect sense. Luxury and outlaw culture have always had a strange overlap in cannabis. Scarcity creates obsession. Obsession creates connoisseurship. The underground eventually creates its own standards of taste and status long before corporations arrive trying to monetize them.

Rivera understands that instinctively.

What Scarlet Reserve Room Represents

Scarlet Reserve Room exists in one of the most competitive cannabis corridors in New Jersey, with multiple dispensaries operating within walking distance. Yet it continues growing. Rivera thinks the reason is simple.

“When someone walks into Scarlet Reserve Room, I want them to immediately feel welcomed and valued, not like just another transaction.”

That sounds obvious. In practice, it’s becoming increasingly uncommon.

Corporate cannabis often talks endlessly about “community” while designing experiences that feel transactional from the second you walk through the door. Scarlet still feels human. Messy in the right ways. Built by people who actually remember what cannabis looked like before legalization turned it into a market sector.

Ten years from now, Rivera hopes people remember Scarlet Reserve Room for one thing above everything else:

“We truly stood for cannabis culture—the real culture.”

Not the sanitized version. Not the investor presentation. The real one.

Photos courtesy of Wil Rivera

<p>The post Inside Scarlet Reserve Room and Jersey’s Legacy Weed Culture first appeared on High Times.</p>

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Celebrate moms and Memorial Day with these CBD, delta-9, and THCA deals

Mother’s Day and Memorial Day weekend fall back-to-back, which means you have two excellent excuses to shop for CBD, delta-9, and THCA.

The post Celebrate moms and Memorial Day with these CBD, delta-9, and THCA deals appeared first on Leafly.

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Two Maine teens charged in break-ins at Turner cannabis store

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Cannabis Co. Founders Challenge Equity Ruling In Del.

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How to travel with weed: Our essential tips

How to travel with weed: practical tips for flying, driving, camping, and hotels, plus what to know about state laws and TSA.

The post How to travel with weed: Our essential tips appeared first on Leafly.

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Cannabis News Today — 20 May 2026: Virginia Sales Veto

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Cannabis Stocks Today — Tuesday 19 May 2026: Trulieve Trades at $8.02 as US Operators Recover While Canopy Slips to $0.98

Pre-market on Tuesday 19 May, cannabis stocks carry Monday’s close as their reference point, with the US session due to open at 13:30 UTC. Of 38 tracked names with valid data, 19 are ahead of their prior close and 18 behind, with one flat — a reading driven predominantly by American multi-state operators recovering from last week’s losses. Business of Cannabis tracks the sector through its daily Cannabis Stocks Today series. Following Monday’s report, which documented the overhang from Friday’s sharp losses across US-listed names, Monday’s close marks the first broad recovery for the MSO group in several sessions.

The clearest standout is Trulieve Cannabis (TCNNF), now at $8.02 after a 10.47% advance from its $7.26 prior close — the strongest gain among the major operators on a percentage basis. Ayr Wellness (AYRWF) trades at $0.0155 (+15.67%) and Ascend Wellness Holdings (AAWH) at $0.5350 (+13.82%), though both are low-priced OTC names where single-session percentage moves can overstate the shift in dollar terms. Cannabis ETFs also recovered: MSOS now sits at $4.61 (+4.54%) and CNBS at $26.88 (+4.42%). On the other side of the ledger, Canopy Growth (CGC) has slipped to $0.9823, below the $1.00 mark, while Corbus Pharmaceuticals (CRBP) fell 9.79% to $9.95.

Trulieve Cannabis (TCNNF) trades at $8.02, having advanced 10.47% from its $7.26 prior close in Monday’s session. The Florida-headquartered company is the largest cannabis retailer in the United States by store count, with operations extending across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and several other limited-licence states. At $8.02, the stock is recovering from the broad MSO sell-off that weighed on the group through last week; no specific news catalyst was available at the time of writing. The advance appears consistent with a sector-wide recovery rather than a stock-specific development, a reading supported by simultaneous gains in Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF, +4.29% to $7.30) and Cresco Labs (CRLBF, +5.73% to $0.8947).

MSOS, the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF, now sits at $4.61, up 4.54% from its $4.41 prior close. As the most closely watched institutional benchmark for US cannabis equities, MSOS aggregates the MSO names that drove Monday’s positive session. The Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF (CNBS) also recovered to $26.88 (+4.42%), confirming that ETF-level flows were constructive for the sector. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) added a more modest 1.16% to $25.19, reflecting its broader geographic exposure including Canadian licensed producers.

Canopy Growth (CGC) now trades at $0.9823, slipping below the $1.00 mark. The Canadian licensed producer has faced sustained pressure across the past year; a prolonged stay below $1.00 risks triggering Nasdaq’s minimum bid price rules, which require listed securities to maintain a closing price at or above $1.00 over 30 consecutive business days. Canopy has navigated similar deficiency notices previously. Its strategic backer Constellation Brands (STZ) had a considerably better session, advancing 3.67% to $147.58, though Constellation’s gain reflects its core beverages portfolio rather than its cannabis exposure.

AFC Gamma (AFCG) trades at $3.33, up 8.82% from its $3.06 prior close. The Florida-based cannabis lender carries direct credit exposure to several MSO names that gained on Monday, and its stock tends to track MSO sentiment. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (REFI) held close to flat at $11.22 (-0.36%), a contrast that reflects its more diversified multi-state loan portfolio relative to AFC Gamma’s more concentrated Florida footprint.

As Tuesday’s US session opens, the sector comes off Monday’s close with a net positive reading: US multi-state operators have recovered materially from last week’s losses, Canadian licensed producers remain under pressure, and ETF-level flows signal cautious institutional confidence in the American segment. The divergence between US and Canadian cannabis names has been a consistent theme through 2026, and Monday’s session reinforces it. For live pricing across the full coverage universe, use the Business of Cannabis Stocks Tracker.

The post Cannabis Stocks Today — Tuesday 19 May 2026: Trulieve Trades at $8.02 as US Operators Recover While Canopy Slips to $0.98 appeared first on Business of Cannabis.

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The House Voted To Let VA Doctors Recommend Cannabis. ‘It’s Policy Theater,’ Says The Guy Who’s Helped 1,000 Vets Get Cards.

The U.S. House voted last Thursday to let VA doctors recommend medical cannabis to military veterans. Most of the cannabis industry is celebrating. Robb Harmon, who has helped over 1,000 veterans navigate the medical card process through Veterans Cannabis Care, says the vote solves less than people think.

On May 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment from Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Dina Titus (D-NV) that would block the Department of Veterans Affairs from enforcing a longstanding directive preventing VA providers from helping veterans register for state medical cannabis programs. The amendment, attached to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, passed by a voice vote.

Under current policy, VA doctors are allowed to discuss cannabis with their patients but are barred from completing the paperwork needed to enroll them in state programs. As Marijuana Moment reported, veterans currently have to seek outside, often expensive, services from separate providers to obtain medical cannabis access. The Mast-Joyce-Titus amendment, if it survives reconciliation and is enacted into law, would change that.

The cannabis industry and veteran advocacy groups have largely greeted the vote as a long-overdue win. Mast, himself a combat veteran who lost two legs and a finger in Afghanistan, spoke on the floor about waking up in the hospital on a regimen of antidepressants, anti-inflammatories, sedatives and narcotic painkillers. He framed the amendment as a basic question of whether wounded service members deserve to have the same conversation with their doctor that civilians can have with theirs.

None of that is wrong. But Harmon, whose organization has spent years walking veterans through the actual mechanics of obtaining and renewing a state medical card, says the recommendation itself was never really the bottleneck.

“A recommendation without infrastructure creates delay. A recommendation without support creates abandonment. And a recommendation without real access is not progress, it’s policy theater.”

Robb Harmon, founder, Veterans Cannabis Care

The gaps inside the VA

The first problem, according to Harmon, is that the amendment removes the prohibition but does nothing to ensure VA physicians will actually participate. Even with the directive gone, individual doctors retain discretion to refuse to recommend cannabis. Many will. The institutional culture inside the VA has spent decades treating cannabis as off-limits, and that culture does not reset on the date the bill is enacted.

The second problem is training. There is no formal cannabinoid education in standard VA physician curriculum, no continuing education infrastructure, no treatment guidance built around the population the VA actually serves. A VA doctor who is suddenly allowed to recommend cannabis is not the same as a VA doctor who knows how to. Harmon argues that without a corresponding investment in clinical education, the population of veterans who can actually get a recommendation from their primary VA provider will remain small, concentrated in pockets where individual physicians have done their own homework.

The gaps outside the VA

The recommendation is the first step. After that, the veteran still has to navigate the state medical cannabis program where they live. State registration systems vary widely in cost, complexity, processing time and documentation requirements. Some require in-person appointments. Some require notarized forms. Some run on portals that go down for weeks at a time. Harmon’s organization has spent years helping veterans through systems that were not designed with disabled, rural or fixed-income users in mind.

Then there is renewal. Medical cards in most states expire annually and require recertification, additional fees and, in some cases, a fresh physician visit. For veterans on a fixed income, those costs are not trivial. For veterans with mobility limitations, the in-person appointment requirements alone can be disqualifying. Harmon describes a steady pattern of veterans falling out of compliance not because they no longer need the medicine but because the system makes staying in compliance harder than getting in the first place.

What happens when access lapses

The downstream consequence is the part of the conversation Harmon argues lawmakers and industry advocates have been most reluctant to engage with. Veterans who lose their medical access because of a paperwork lapse, a renewal cost they cannot cover, or a recertification appointment they cannot make often do not simply stop treating their underlying condition. They go back to whatever was managing the chronic pain, the PTSD, the insomnia, the anxiety before. In a significant number of cases, that means opioids.

The amendment celebrated this week is silent on all of it. It removes one prohibition. It does not appropriate funds for training. It does not standardize state programs. It does not address recertification or renewal. It does not protect veterans whose access lapses for reasons unrelated to their medical need. It clears space for VA doctors to participate in a system that still functions, for most veterans, as an expensive obstacle course.

What functional access would actually require

Harmon argues that a system designed to actually deliver cannabis care to veterans would need three things the current bill does not provide: institutional buy-in inside the VA so that recommendations are not contingent on individual physician willingness, formal cannabinoid education built into provider training, and a federal mechanism that absorbs the renewal and recertification costs that currently push veterans out of compliance. None of those things are in the amendment. None of them are easy. All of them are the difference between policy that reads well and policy that reaches the veteran sitting at home with a paperwork problem they cannot solve.

The Mast-Joyce-Titus amendment is also not law yet. Similar veteran cannabis access provisions have passed the House and Senate in previous years and have been stripped out of final appropriations bills before reaching the president. The vote on May 14 was an amendment to a bill that still has to clear conference and be signed. The history of these provisions suggests that even the version Harmon is critiquing is not guaranteed to survive the legislative process.

That is what makes the celebration premature in more ways than one. The vote is real. The relief is symbolic. The infrastructure is missing. And the population of veterans the amendment is supposed to serve is, in most cases, still standing in a line that no one in Congress has agreed to shorten.

<p>The post The House Voted To Let VA Doctors Recommend Cannabis. ‘It’s Policy Theater,’ Says The Guy Who’s Helped 1,000 Vets Get Cards. first appeared on High Times.</p>

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Updated: Spanberger snuffs out legislation to launch recreational pot market in Virginia

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