Lifestyle

Luxe lounges, more stores: The 5 trends that will shape L.A.’s cannabis scene in 2022

Published

3 years ago

March 11, 2022

Luxe lounges, more stores: The 5 trends that will shape L.A.’s cannabis scene in 2022

What does L.A.’s hashish panorama appear like in 2022? What traits and components will form the appear and feel of the native weed scene?

Whereas there are about as many opinions as there are locations to legally purchase a bag of bud in L.A. County, a current survey of 5 trade insiders discovered 5 themes developing over and over after I requested them to forecast what would radically alter (or, within the case of federal prohibition, not alter) the way in which hashish and customers work together.

For the file:

1:12 p.m. Jan. 13, 2022In an earlier model of this text, a quote from Weedmaps’ Chief Govt Chris Beals about hashish retail growth into unbiased L.A. County cities was misattributed to The Father or mother Firm’s Chief Govt Troy Datcher.

Consolidation is coming

Count on the flurry of mergers and acquisitions that outlined the hashish area final yr to proceed — if not speed up — in 2022, particularly on the particular person dispensary degree.

“I actually assume that the small [retail] operators have simply been type of holding on for expensive life,” stated Rama Mayo, the co-founder of a downtown L.A. cannabis-business hub known as Inexperienced Avenue and the Corridor of Flowers commerce present. “Their retail valuation is low, there are the prices related to a bricks-and-mortar area, and I feel we’re going to see M&A among the many massive guys, which is able to result in smaller operators doing the identical factor. Cultivation will merge with distribution, which is able to merge with a model home, or three single dispensaries will band collectively underneath one banner.”

Mayo stated he sees a future the place hashish retail seems to be very completely different.

“Perhaps not this yr, however in a few years,” he stated, “there will probably be three choices to purchase weed: a BevMo! type of state of affairs, like a MedMen or a Planet 13 — a big-ass spot that has 1,000,000 issues in it; the comfort [store] possibility, like a 7-Eleven on each nook; and the stand-alone firms that don’t associate with anyone, which will probably be like bodegas or the mother and pop outlets — one-off locations.”

Troy Datcher, chief govt of San Jose-based, vertically built-in hashish energy participant The Father or mother Firm, additionally places M&A on the high of his 2022 development checklist.

As a result of hashish is unlawful on the federal degree, conventional banking companies aren’t a viable possibility for dispensaries.

“I feel there’s going to be additional consolidation, simply because there’s not entry to banking,” he stated. “I feel there are loads of people who have been skating on the sting with not loads of capital reserves and with out entry to capital, so I feel we’re going to see extra individuals truly discovering themselves not within the trade a yr from now. That’s an enormous problem, particularly for the smaller organizations with one or two dispensaries.”

And so is … growth

Whereas there could also be fewer firms within the native marijuana market within the yr(s) forward, some assume 2022 will mark a SoCal growth, with dispensaries rising in quantity andexpanding into new cities.

“The town of Los Angeles might have legalized hashish, however there’s simply not sufficient hashish retailers there,” stated Chris Beals, chief govt of Irvine-based hashish e-commerce platform Weedmaps. “And I feel this yr — knock on wooden — we’ll truly see a rise within the variety of hashish retailers, which I feel ought to assist carry down costs, drive entry and assist with comfort.”

There are 254 authorized dispensaries in Los Angeles County, based on the state’s Division of Hashish Management database.

Beals stated that the quantity per capita — one authorized retail storefront for each 39,370 individuals — isn’t excessive sufficient to curtail the unlawful hashish market.

If extra authorized dispensaries transfer in, they may begin to crowd out unlawful ones.

“The inflection level we discovered was that at roughly about one [dispensary] per 10,000 [people], you may find yourself in a spot the place the authorized market may actually carve out and begin to achieve market share in opposition to the illicit market,” he stated.

Whereas The Father or mother Firm’s Datcher agrees with Beals’ evaluation that there are too few dispensaries per capita in L.A. County, he’s much less sanguine concerning the 2022 panorama. “I feel there will probably be fewer dispensaries,” Datcher stated. “As a result of individuals simply gained’t make it.”

However Beals additionally thinks that a number of the cities throughout the Southland which have up to now been reluctant to permit retail hashish gross sales will rethink.

“Angelenos generally are likely to overlook that L.A. County is a really massive place, and there are some locations — particularly while you head additional east, south or up into the mountains — the place hashish entry continues to be fairly spartan. So, hopefully, we’ll begin to see some extra of the unbiased cities understand that every one they’re doing is fostering the illicit market by not truly [allowing] dispensaries in.”

Ebony Andersen, chief working officer of each Exposition Park dispensary Josephine & Billie’s and native hashish cultivator Ball Household Farms, agrees. “I feel … some cities that have been apprehensive at first about hashish and let a number of the greater cities do it should begin to permit retail,” she stated.

There will probably be an emphasis on the experiential

Andersen is among the many trade insiders who assume the subsequent yr will see the experiential aspect of hashish commerce take heart stage.

“I feel one [trend] we’re going to see subsequent yr — and presumably years to come back — is the hashish expertise,” she stated. “I feel we’re going to start out seeing extra leisure components folding in hashish, we’re going to see extra Josephine & Billie’s-type entertainment-meets-cannabis experiences within the trade … [and consumption] lounges, I feel, are going to be a scorching matter in 2022.”

The inside of the speak-easy-themed dispensary Josephine & Billie’s. Chief working officer Ebony Andersen is amongst those that predict 2022 will see an increase within the experiential aspect of the native hashish trade.

(Lauren Crew / For The Occasions)

Whereas a part of that has to do with the communal facet of hashish consumption, Andersen stated fairness can be at play.

“On the subject of wellness, we’re speaking about people who dwell in public housing or residences that strictly prohibit hashish use. The place are these individuals in a position to get entry to drugs like hashish? So I feel we’re going to see loads of consumption lounges, and I feel cities are going to start out framing it within the context of accessibility.”

Tracy Anderson, co-founder of L.A.-based hashish model Pure Magnificence, stated he’s keen — from each a private and brand-building standpoint — to place pandemic-induced isolation within the rearview mirror.

“We will’t wait to get again into dwell, bodily programming. We’ve been lacking that a lot. Within the fall, when there was a little bit of a reprieve [from COVID-19], we did an artwork present, and that was unbelievable to really see individuals in individual and actually get on the market. Whether or not it’s a celebration or another type of expertise, truly dwell and in-person is actually necessary. Hashish is a really communal factor, so getting again to that’s one thing we actually hope to see extra of.”

Inexperienced Avenue’s Mayo is so bullish on the prospect of weed-focused gatherings that he’s pulled the set off on plans to carry a festival-style occasion — full with leisure, meals and on-site hashish gross sales and consumption — to DTLA on Could 13 and 14. “Folks will probably be popping out of [the pandemic] isolation and desirous to exit,” Mayo stated. “It’s the entire Roaring ’20s factor. I do know we’ve heard it for the final yr, however I do consider there’s going to be that actual want to exit.”

Mayo envisions finally rising it right into a 60,000-capacity hashish competition. “I completely assume there could possibly be whole manufacturers that solely exist at [these kinds] of occasions,” he stated about the way forward for canna-branding.

He additionally factors to the handful of on-site consumption lounges aiming to open in West Hollywood this yr (additionally cited by Weedmaps’ Beals as a 2022 game-changer). “There’s one thing like eight or 9 on the point of open across the similar time, they usually’re lovely — they’re spending thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of {dollars} on constructing them. I predict that they may have a very massive [impact], each attendance-wise and on on-premises gross sales, completely.”

Model-building will probably be key

Over the subsequent 12 months, anticipate to see brand-building efforts ramp up.

“I feel persons are recognizing the significance of brand name recognition greater than ever,” stated Pure Magnificence’s Anderson. “There’s a lot product on the shelf and so little place for it to go. In case you can’t break by to the buyer indirectly — actually join — it’s going to be actually powerful. It’s essential model.”

Datcher additionally factors to the rising significance of branding within the hashish area.

“Folks need manufacturers that ship consistency, you can rely on, which can be predictable and secure. I feel that model relationship goes to be an enormous difference-maker on this trade — particularly in terms of [highlighting] the variations between the [legal and the] illicit markets.”

And completely nothing will occur on the federal degree

Though 2021 noticed the variety of states legalizing leisure hashish use develop (it’s now 18, plus the District of Columbia), nobody I requested to forecast the yr forward thinks hashish will probably be authorized on the federal degree by this time subsequent yr.

“The present slate of payments simply didn’t actually stand an opportunity,” stated Weedmaps’ Beals. “I feel they have been good for PR and press however not so good by way of the chance of success.”

“We’re not fascinated with that being the savior for trade within the subsequent 12 months,” stated The Father or mother Firm’s Datcher. “A few of the help from each [political] events has been promising, however we’re not banking on it occurring.”

“Zero % probability,” stated Josephine & Billie’s Andersen. “I don’t see it occurring now. And I don’t see it occurring within the close to future.”

“My prediction is that whoever desires to win the presidency [in 2024] goes to should carry this [topic] up,” stated Inexperienced Avenue’s Mayo.

“On the 2022 midterms, possibly we’ll see just a little little bit of speak,” stated Pure Magnificence’s Anderson. “However I feel that’s all it’s going to be.”

Lifestyle

Defining Depersonalization Derealization Disorder

Published

6 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Defining Depersonalization Derealization Disorder

Barrie Miskin was newly pregnant when she noticed her appearance was changing. Dark patches bloomed on her skin like watercolor ink. A “thicket” of hairs sprouted on her upper lip and chin.

The outside world was changing, too: In her neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, bright lights enveloped objects in a halo, blurring her vision. Co-workers and even her doctors started to seem like “alien proxies” of themselves, Ms. Miskin, 46, said.

“I felt like I was viewing the world through a pane of dirty glass,” she added. Yet Ms. Miskin knew it was all an illusion, so she sought help.

It took more than a year of consulting with mental health specialists before Ms. Miskin finally found an explanation for her symptoms: She was diagnosed with a dissociative condition called depersonalization/derealization disorder, or D.D.D. Before her pregnancy, Ms. Miskin had stopped taking antidepressants. Her new psychiatrist said the symptoms could have been triggered by months of untreated depression that followed.

While Ms. Miskin felt alone in her mystery illness, she wasn’t. Tens of thousands of posts on social media reference depersonalization or derealization, with some likening the condition to “living in a movie or a dream” or “observing the world through a fog.”

People who experience depersonalization can feel as though they are detached from their mind or body. Derealization, on the other hand, refers to feeling detached from the environment, as though the people and things in the world are unreal.

Those who are living with D.D.D. are “painfully aware” that something is amiss, said Elena Bezzubova, a psychoanalyst who specializes in treating the condition. It’s akin to seeing an apple and feeling that it is so strange it doesn’t seem real, even though you know that it is, she added.

The disorder is thought to occur in about 1 to 2 percent of the population, but it’s possible for anyone to experience fleeting symptoms.

Mental health providers have sometimes dismissed D.D.D. as its own diagnosis not only because of a lack of familiarity with the disorder, but also because its symptoms overlap with conditions like depression, anxiety or panic disorder.

As new research has emerged, it has become more widely acknowledged and discussed. The second edition of “Feeling Unreal,” a primer on D.D.D. originally published in 2006, was released in 2023. And Ms. Miskin published a memoir on the subject titled “Hell Gate Bridge” last June. The same month, the novel “Please Stop Trying to Leave Me” came out, featuring a protagonist with D.D.D. The author, Alana Saab, knows the disorder well: She was diagnosed several years ago.

“It’s kind of what I would imagine a drug trip would be,” she said of her experience with the disorder. “But it’s 2 in the afternoon and I’m completely sober.”

The Cambridge Depersonalization Scale is widely considered the most reliable measure of the disorder. Patients are asked to rate how often and how long 29 different experiences occur. Examples include feeling like “a robot,” losing bodily sensations like hunger or thirst and seeing a world that now looks “flat” or “lifeless,” like a picture.

People with D.D.D. may feel disconnected from themselves and their surroundings for months or even years at a time. Less commonly, they may also experience auditory distortions — like muffled or louder sounds.

D.D.D. is often associated with a history of emotional abuse or neglect. The symptoms can be brought on by anxiety, depression, the resurfacing of early trauma, major life stressors, cannabis and hallucinogens like LSD, said Dr. Daphne Simeon, an expert on the disorder and the co-author of “Feeling Unreal.”

In some people, there can be multiple triggers, particularly if there is an underlying propensity to dissociate.

“You can meet a person whose first episode was triggered by panic and then it happened again when they got depressed and then it happened a third time when they had a terrible divorce,” Dr. Simeon said.

Researchers have hypothesized that depersonalization/derealization might be part of the mind’s defense system.

“Your body and your mind are telling you something,” Dr. Simeon added. “You’re having an intolerable experience, essentially, from which you then have to detach.”

Jeffrey Abugel, Dr. Simeon’s co-author on “Feeling Unreal,” dealt with D.D.D. for more than a decade before finally getting a diagnosis. He knows exactly where it stemmed from: “Pot, plain and simple,” he said. The drug pushed him “over the edge,” he added, creating a “massive panic attack.”

Mr. Abugel, who is a health and wellness coach, eventually found help. He now offers private consultations and virtual support groups for people with the disorder.

Ms. Miskin’s symptoms improved with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. She restarted her antidepressant and also began taking lamotrigine, or Lamictal, a medicine best known for treating seizures and bipolar disorder.

Recovery was a painful process.

“You have to relearn how to be in the world,” she said, even though “you just want to lay in bed and pull the covers over your head and never come out.”

Lifestyle

This country karaoke night in L.A. is a rootin', tootin' hootenanny with a queer twist

Published

7 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

This country karaoke night in L.A. is a rootin', tootin' hootenanny with a queer twist

“I’m gay so I can’t do the guitar solo,” quips Sam Buck.

A grin plays across his face as the unmistakable jangle of Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It” wafts through the room. Members of the audience chuckle knowingly — the tall, bearded musician could absolutely shred it if he wanted to, but on this night, fun trumps virtuosity.

Buck stands under the soft glow of Tiffany-style fixtures, his guitar slung casually over his shoulders and his brown cowboy hat casting a shadow over his black denim jacket. Behind him, silver tinsel sparkles, a Nashville-glam backdrop to the intimate stage at Permanent Records Roadhouse, a cozy bar-cum-record store in Glassell Park. He’s kicking off the KFM Karaoke Country Revue, a monthly celebration where honky-tonk culture meets the queer community to toast, twang and tumble through songs like old friends in a Garth Brooks ballad.

“What I love about this show is that it’s like Goldilocks — it’s never just right,” Buck says before announcing the night’s singers.

Rosie Ruell sings “El Toro Relajo” at Karaoke Country Revue.

This isn’t just a showcase; it’s a haven. A place where country music, with all its contradictions and complexities, embraces its messiest, queerest, most joyful self. Trans, nonbinary, queer, gay, cis and straight performers all take the stage with the same goal: to make space to celebrate country music for those who aren’t usually embraced by its stubbornly conservative circles.

Over its two-year run, KFM, named after Buck’s podcast KFM Country Radio, has drawn talent like Julianna Barwick, Dougie Poole and Jae Matthews of electronic duo Boy Harsher. One of the night’s guests, Amber Coffman, the former co-frontperson of the Brooklyn-based indie band Dirty Projectors, stirs the crowd with her rendition of “Hard Candy Christmas,” a Dolly Parton classic from 1978, which she officially covered in 2020.

Attendees cheer performers at Karaoke Country Revue at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

L.A.-based singer Sedona, wearing a vintage T-shirt that says “Rodeo Girls,” performs a rocking version of Bonnie Raitt’s “Angel From Montgomery.” And Loren Kramar, an up-and-coming orchestral singer-songwriter, smolders through Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush.”

The microphone isn’t only for seasoned performers; however, Buck ensures that the show runs smoothly by curating the lineup and requiring everyone to rehearse beforehand. The setup feels like karaoke, with Buck cueing backing tracks, but there is no lyrics screen to lean on. “Bad karaoke can be so rough if someone’s wasted or they don’t know the song,” Buck says. “[KFM performers] have to learn the song, and there is some care that needs to go into it.”

For example, comedian John Early belts out the Chicks’ “Wide Open Spaces,” prancing about dramatically to choreographed moves, while Nicholas Braun from HBO’s “Succession” watches from the audience.

Comedian John Early sings on a stage, holding a microphone, in front of silver tinsel.

Other shows have featured comedians like Kate Berlant and Casey Jane Ellison. Longtime KFM regulars like Chloe Coover and Maddie Phinney, hosts of the popular perfume podcast “Nose Candy,” bring their own fabulous flair — Phinney leaves a trail of Céline’s sophisticated Black Tie perfume, and Coover is dressed in a full-length ball gown while she sings NewSong’s fascinatingly sentimental Christian country ballad “The Christmas Shoes.” Artist Erin Bagley takes on Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 country-rock “Silver Springs.” And Buck’s partner, JT Friedman, leads a raucous rendition of Alan Jackson’s “Honky Tonk Christmas” while passing out candy canes from a stocking.

Rosie Ruel, a hopeful pop star who sunlights as an energy worker and a real estate agent, belts out the bombastic bullfighting song “El Toro Relajo” (The Toublesome Bull), that both floors the audience and underscores a tenet of KFM: that the genre’s lines are meant to be toed. Mariachi is really just Mexican country music, Ruel later tells me.

Sam Buck gives Maddie Phinney a birthday present after performance at the Karaoke Country Revue.

Mary Rachel Kostrova, owner of the vintage eye-wear boutique Eyefi, delivers a sultry performance of Melissa Etheridge’s “I’m the Only One,” her voice dripping with raw emotion. Growing up in Georgia, Kostrova witnessed country music’s polarizing presence — ubiquitous, yet embraced only by those unafraid to claim it openly. Among her peers, she recalls the familiar chestnut about listening to all genres but rap and country. A wry smile forms on her face. “And now a lot of people are like, ‘I only listen to rap and country,’” she says.

“Country is in such an interesting place,” muses Buck, who is playing a show with Mercedes Kilmer (the singer-songwriter daughter of Val) at Zebulon on Feb. 9. Pop stars like Beyoncé and Post Malone are experimenting with the genre, while country’s own Kacey Musgraves and Taylor Swift drift closer to pop. Meanwhile, the industry is cautiously diversifying, but the support is uneven. “There’s not any mainstream gay musician,” says Buck. “I am not sure there ever will be.”

Buck’s journey into the genre is its own kind of outlaw story. Born and raised in coastal Massachusetts — a place far removed from the South’s storied hollers — he grew up feeling like an outsider for being a Miranda Lambert fan. “I’m a Yankee through and through,” he says. “But anyone from a rural place knows that country doesn’t have to come from the Deep South. In terms of stolen country valor, I’ve probably stolen more than most.”

KFM began as a pandemic-era podcast. Buck spins country records, tells meandering stories and indulges in sharp gossip about county elite. “I have to be careful,” he jokes. “If I talk about [so-and-so’s] ex-cop husband and his disgusting bow-tie pasta, I don’t want that getting back to her, just in case I end up playing a show with her.” He doesn’t shy away from skewering controversial figures like right-wing influencer Brittany Aldean (“She only believes in evil things,” he says), but the podcast’s charm lies in its mix of irreverence and authentic reverence for country music.

For Buck, who also works as an artist (and recently showcased paintings of architecturally significant L.A. homes at the historic Echo Park restaurant Taix), the appeal of the KFM Karaoke Country Revue — the next one takes place Jan. 23 — lies in its intimacy and chaos. “It’s messy, it’s beautiful, it’s small,” he says. “People feel like they connect with each other here. And in a time when everything’s about getting bigger and louder, I think small things are good.”

And as the night rolls on — voices rising, drinks flowing and silver tinsel shimmering under the lights — Buck reflects on the strange universality of country music. “The more time goes on, the more I realize that everywhere is country. Especially Los Angeles.”

Lifestyle

A Fashion Reporter Considers the Ways Trends Trickle Down

Published

14 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

A Fashion Reporter Considers the Ways Trends Trickle Down

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

On a chilly day in December, Jacob Gallagher, a men’s fashion reporter for the Styles desk of The New York Times, is wearing a button-up shirt and black slacks, one of about a dozen pairs he owns. The look is put together, but casual.

His love for style, Mr. Gallagher said in an interview that day, began with tailored suits and Italian shoes. His father, a museum exhibition designer, has worn such a uniform “every day to work for decades,” Mr. Gallagher said.

It was that influence, and Mr. Gallagher’s immersion in skateboarding culture and the hardcore punk scene growing up in Maryland — subcultures in which, he said, image and how you carry yourself is very important — that led him to his beat: analyzing fashion as an expression of political, social and cultural identity.

Mr. Gallagher, 33, joined The Times in October, after nearly a decade covering men’s fashion for The Wall Street Journal. In recent months, he has written about the rise of the sinewy male stars that he calls noodle boys, the symbolism of the black sweatshirts and puffer jackets worn by rebels in Syria, and the cloaks on display in the papal drama “Conclave.”

In an interview, he reflected on how men’s wear has evolved, why he believes scrutinizing style matters, and the fashion advice he would give now to his 20-year-old self. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Where do you find your story ideas?

We’ll often look at the news of the day, or what’s occurring in pop culture, and think, “What’s the story off it that we can do that’s style-focused?” I also spend a lot of time talking to retailers, and going to stores to try to figure out what’s selling and what’s not selling.

Had you worked in the fashion industry before you became a journalist?

When I was in college at The New School, I worked at a few mass retailers, and a men’s wear boutique, in New York City. That was a pivotal moment in my life because it instilled in me the importance of understanding how people really shop, the way trends trickle down. I still think about those truisms a lot: If men find the right pair of pants, they will always buy that pair of pants.

Some people think of fashion as fluffy. Why does fashion coverage matter?

Fashion is one of the biggest industries in the world — one of the richest men on earth, Bernard Arnault, runs a luxury conglomerate. After language and beyond how we carry ourselves, what they wear is the first thing people interpret about each other when they interact. There’s so much messaging and self-identity that’s reflected through clothing.

Your beat spans many cultural spheres, including politics, sports and film. Is there one you’re particularly fascinated by?

I love looking at politics, because there’s such a narrow box of what politicians can quote-unquote wear. So any minor change, a different way of appearing, or a different way of dressing, is always going to reverberate and be super interesting to write about.

And I think athletes are the most important people in men’s wear right now. They’re having the most fun, universally, and being the most experimental. You can find every microtrend in existence in tunnel-walk outfits.

They’re definitely taking more risks than I would say most, but certainly not all, actors do. They’re often doing the shopping for themselves, and that is always ripe for coverage. I might be sitting at a show in Paris and thinking, “Oh, that’s wild. Who would ever wear that?” Six months later, it’s on a football or basketball player.

It seems like we’re in something of a golden age for male athlete fashion.

There was a time when people had a very narrow view of what kind of man was into clothes. That, in my experience, has withered.

A lot of people in the fashion industry keep it simple style-wise, like wearing all black. How do you think about dressing?

Certainly I would not wear everything that I cover, nor do I cover everything that I wear. I’m extremely particular about the brands I wear. That’s a form of expression for me. I understand why other fashion reporters sometimes stick to a uniform, but I get a kick out of it.

Mr. Gallagher’s closet.Credit…Jacob Gallagher/The New York Times

What fashion advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

Fewer zany pants. I wore patterned pants for too long.

Is there something you wish you would have taken a class on in college?

The ability to comb through documents and legal cases is such an impressive skill. It’s something that I’m still learning. It took me some time to learn how to read an earnings report for a company. That level of investigative work is something I think every reporter is going to have to be skillful at, because our nation is so litigious, and there are fascinating legal wrinkles to almost every story. I definitely speak with more lawyers for reporting purposes than I had ever thought I would.