Industry Insights

Jack’s Picks: Holiday Gift Ideas

October 4, 2023

Holiday Stocking Stuffers That Resonate with Every Toker

Hoping to elevate your holiday sales? Jack Privett of South Carolina’s SevenSense International has some advice for you: Think beyond the smoke. Discover gifts that spark “aha” moments for customers seeking unique and funky stocking stuffers. These aren’t consumption devices, but they still resonate with the jokers, smokers, and midnight tokers on your holiday shopping list.

Pop Culture Picks

Personalize the gifting experience by offering collectibles featuring pop culture icons, both mainstream and niche, from licensed suppliers. From music to rare anime, choose items that resonate with your local demographic. Small businesses can shine by handpicking favorites, leaving big stores in the dust!

Coffee Cups Galore

Everyone loves a unique mug. Stock both popular icons and rare finds to cater to collectors and coffee connoisseurs alike!

Tabletop Triumphs

Bring families together with classic games, but with a pop culture twist. Star Wars Monopoly, anyone? How about a Rick and Morty Chess Set? The possibilities here are as numerous as the hours it takes to finish a game of Monopoly.

Plushie Power:

They’re soft, cute, and not just for the young ones. These cuddly companions win hearts of all ages.

Brilliant Bags

Why settle for a boring old Jansport when there are a billion options for premo personalization? Backpacks, handbags, and lunchboxes in cool designs always hit the mark. And don’t forget that there are plenty of smell-proof options from companies you’re probably already stocking; Dime Bags, Seedless, Skunk, etc.

Poster Perfect

Why Posters? Because there is nothing more effective, personal, nostalgic, or cost effective than awesome posters.

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Fragile Markets Need Sturdy Security

You’ve chosen to work in a gray area. You sell products that contain cannabis or cannabis-adjacent substances as well as accessories that can be used to consume it. And while that area has become less gray—you can see rays of sunlight peeking through—the skies are still cloudy. THC remains a Schedule 1 substance, even as medical marijuana has migrated to Schedule 3.

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Matt Weeks

Hawaiian Punch: One man’s fight to keep hemp legal

The officials came for Lance Alyas once before. In 2023, they caught him in a sting, seized his merchandise, and tossed him in jail. But just seven days later, after he invoked Hawaii's version of a Freedom of Information Act request, the whole case fell apart. Alyas was released without bail, allowed to simply walk out the door. Now, he’s advocating for freedom from Hawaii’s state officials once again. Only this time, it’s not just his own freedom. As the owner of Oahu’s top-rated smoke shops, he’s fighting for everyone’s right to sell hemp products in the Aloha State.

Emily Long

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Born Sara Benetowa in Warsaw, Poland, in 1903, Sula Benet may not be an immediately recognizable name in cannabis spaces today, but she should be. While she primarily studied Polish folk customs, Benet became known for her graduate thesis at the University of Warsaw, titled Hashish in Folk Customs and Beliefs. In the paper, she claims that the plant kaneh bosm—which is referenced throughout the Old Testament and Torah and often translated as “calamus”—actually refers to hemp. Benet’s theory remains both significant and highly controversial today, especially as various religious and evangelical groups continue to demonize the plant.

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How North Carolina Could Save Us All

If the United States were ever a country based on strict adherence to the law, those days are long past. The modern game lies in devising methods to circumvent laws. It’s how the rich avoid taxes, the powerful avoid jail, and industries of all kinds bypass regulations. The paradox is that, despite its ubiquity, it’s not easy to stay beyond the reach of the long arm of the law. Well-moneyed, influential organizations still sometimes misjudge the political and legal playing field and have to pay up. The Sacklers (the family behind Purdue Pharma) eventually were bankrupted by the courts for their role in the opioid epidemic, and officials hit Meta with a $5 billion fine over privacy concerns.

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The Rise of Wellness Smoke Shops

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