My Continued Journey in the Cannabis Space
This blog post really picks up where one of my other blog posts ends, which I wrote back in 2023. That post was about my black market dispensary called Third Day Genetics. To summarize that post real quick, it was about my grow getting busted in Indianapolis in 2014. By the time I got in front of a judge almost a year later, he was looking at my marketing materials and told me I would “have a bright future if I took my talents and did something in the legal industry.” At the time, Colorado had just legalized cannabis for recreational use. So I took his advice and moved to Denver less than a year later to work in the legal cannabis industry.
Along with a buddy of mine, Patrick Riddle, we decided to start a non-profit organization called Third Day Co-op as a reference to my black market dispensary. Our mission was simple: to get cannabis medicine to those who need it most. We would find people that needed cannabis for medical reasons and would grow cannabis for them and supply them with that cannabis. After that, we would teach them how to grow for themselves so that they would become self-reliant.
Third Day Co-op, admittedly, is where I learned how to grow cannabis exceptionally well. When I was growing illegally in IN, I admittedly was still figuring it out. One of the biggest breakthroughs was the advancement in lighting technology. Until about 2016, a lot of the old school lighting (HID lighting) was still the dominant technology in the industry. The issue with HID lighting is that they run extremely hot, creating a myriad of other issues in your grow. I was introduced to Fluence lighting tech by a fellow grower in Denver and never looked back.
One of the most important things about running this non-profit is how much I learned about the medical benefits of cannabis. Let me break down how I understood the efficacy of this plant. I would give the same strain to three clients, and I would ask them, on a points-based scale, how it helped with their specific ailment and just to give me their general thoughts on the strains. Here is where I learned a lot. I would get three totally different critiques on the strain. This really speaks to how everyone experiences cannabis in a unique way, which makes perfect sense. Everyone—in fact, every vertebrate mammal—has a unique endocannabinoid system and therefore will have a one-of-a-kind experience with cannabis. I like to use the taste buds example: no two people like foods identically because no two people have the same tongue. Similar type of situation with the ECS.
The Nose Knows
Just as an example of how much cannabis intertwines with our personal physiology, more often than not—if not damn near 100% of the time—if you smell a jar of flower and you like the smell, there is a very good chance you are going to like the way the strain makes you feel. It speaks to our individualized physiology as it pertains to the olfactory senses.
Third day co-op was an incredible way to make the local Denver cannabis community a better place to be a part of. I think what you do for other people largely defines who you are as a human being. I’m not going to lie, I used the non-profit as a way to promote myself in the industry from a personal brand and marketing perspective. It helped me to gain a position as a board member of Denver NORML as well as their Director of Business Development. I also met a lot of great people through the non-profit. It also acted as a precursor to Cannabis Home Grow Consulting.
A Word of Advice to Cannabis Entrepreneurs and all entrepreneurs
Steve Jobs was famously quoted as saying that you can only connect the dots going backwards. The nature of entrepreneurship is that it is exploratory. It is the thing that makes entrepreneurship simultaneously so stressful, but yet so exciting. You don’t know what’s around the corner, and that can be unnerving to a lot of people. That discovery is essential to all entrepreneurs; you have to love it because if you don’t, it will eat you alive.
I think this sentiment is even more true of entrepreneurship in the cannabis space because of it being a nascent industry that has its roots buried deep in the black market. To anyone reading this, you know what I’m talking about, and don’t even get me started on the ambiguity caused by federal illegality.
To my fellow ganjapreneurs, respect. You may not know where this journey is going to take you exactly, but rest assured, if you show up every day, give it your all, learn as much as you can about your craft, and have a great sense of community, you can’t fail. One love.
Related Articles
When I Moved to Colorado and Why – An Amazing Experience
Third Day Genetics – My Black Market Dispensary
Third Day Genetics – My Black Market Dispensary Part 2
What I Learned as a Board Member of Denver NORML
Legacy Roots, Corporate Suits: The Tension in Cannabis Today
My First Experience with The “War on Drugs” Better Described as The War on Us
Cannabis History and Culture Hub
