Dispelling 3 Cannabis Myths
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.” Daniel Boorstin
I’m often stupefied by the cannabis culture wars raging online. I get that many take them seriously but like other issues these days, the interactions generate more heat than light i.e. they don’t lead to sector unity or smart business & policy making.
Why is that?
One reason has to do with the beliefs regularly tossed around. While appealing on the surface they often lack substance and credulity.
Let’s unpack just 3 (paraphrased) myths:
1. “We produce the best quality products”
Really? Is there a best car brand, wine or fashion designer? Of course not. Yet these kind of bold statements underpin the strategy of many cannabis producers.
In cannabis, the ‘best’ is subjective, difficult to measure and relatively short term in nature not to mention irrelevant to what really matters. Your goal should be to constantly produce a level of quality (i.e a product feature set that meet needs states) at a price your target consumer is happy to pay.
If you want to create a sustainable business, the best product could be your ticket but most often is not.
2. “Cannabis entrepreneurs are unique”
Yes, to a point insofar as each entrepreneur is a unique person. However, after speaking to thousands of cannabis founders I have concluded that they are not all that different from other entrepreneurs. When you get beyond the ‘cannabis is medicine’ style platitudes, you’ll find their concerns turn quickly to mundane issues like cash flow, employee turnover and service levels.
There is one aspect of many cannabis entrepreneurs that is exceptional: their background in the OG market. While critical to understanding consumers, strains etc. this legacy can also blind the operator to dealing with conventional business needs as well as learning from people outside their bubble.
3. “The cannabis community believes…”
This belief takes first place in the reductive Olympics. Outside of shared ‘War on Drugs’ experiences and motherhood hopes like legalization there is little uniformity within the broad cannabis community. To say otherwise is to gloss over many different voices, locales, and experiences, not to mention their ideas for addressing pressing challenges such as furthering social equity or lobbying for smart regulatory policies.
Plenty of bad actors try to speak for the weed community, ignore basic economics and smother dissent. On the other hand, many corporate types cynically pay lip service to the community and disregard their interests - but not their wallets.
Perpetuating bad myths wouldn’t really matter if the industry stakes were low and the consequences of bad thinking were trivial. Alas, this isn’t reality. Its time many took off their rose-colored glasses.
#community #legacymarket #OG #myths #products