Putting a Healthy Spin on Marijuana

Why California cannabis companies want pot front and center in the wellness arena.

As cannabis takes root in California, much of the initial discussion has centered on the financial and legal uncertainty within the industry. How will it be regulated? Will banks do business with a pot company? Will Jeff Sessions kill the buzz and push federal enforcement laws?

Plenty of “what ifs” circulate in the wild west of state approved recreational marijuana. But behind the scenes, savvy entrepreneurs are laser focused on market strategy, specifically selling the general public on the idea of cannabis as a wellness product.

“In the state of California, in recent years, thousands of people—disproportionately people of color—have been arrested or jailed on marijuana-related charges. (Under a provision in the state’s marijuana law, Prop 64, many may be able to have their sentences reduced or convictions overturned.),” according to a story that ran in The New Yorker. “But among an affluent demographic of Californians—heavily invested in optimizing personal experience, micro-regulating moods and appetites, states of pain and creative flow—cannabis is part of a booming wellness industry. Gone are the purple bongs, sexy nurses, dancing bears. In place of these skanky, skunky holdovers is an array of alluring products whose seduction lies in their eminently rational design. Dosist, formerly Hmblt (motto: “delivering health and happiness”), has released a collection of disposable vape pens preloaded with marijuana concentrate (available individually or in a gift set) targeting different desired states: bliss, calm, relief, and so on. The pen itself, Cupertino white and tampon-esque, vibrates when its user has inhaled 2.25 milligrams of THC. Marijuana, in this new form, is a therapeutic aid in the life of an active, productive professional—like fish oil, with better dreams. The new consumer (or the old consumer, reimagined) is not zonked in a La-Z-Boy watching “Wayne’s World” with a bag of chips. She is making a vision board for the startup she’s launching, lightly high on a strain promising to connect her to her intuition without stimulating binge-eating.”

Read more about what California cannabis companies are doing to make pot more appealing to the health conscious crowd here.