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As marijuana decriminalization slowly spreads across the nation, cannabis industry business owners have become bolder in their marketing efforts, even in states where the drug remains illegal. In Atlanta, several Instagram accounts have popped up hyping THC-laced edibles for sale here. For people who prefer eating instead of smoking pot, finding a dealer in this city is easier than ever.Willy* and Bill*, co-proprietors of
@BakedGoodATL, started making edibles as part of their search for an alternative to smoking after Bill came down with a case of strep throat. Armed with a marijuana cookbook Willy bought at H&M, the duo spent nearly a year refining their techniques before releasing confections to customers. Through trial and error, the team determined that because of its taste, consistency, and longer shelf life, pot-infused oil is superior to butter. They spent months fine-tuning their own concentrated oil and giving away the majority of their goodies. The two knew they’d finally perfected a process when they threw a taste-testing party at a screening of the 2015 Mayweather vs. Pacquiao boxing match: The cookies and brownies spread out on a plate rapidly vanished. Their friends begged for more.Nearly a year and a half later, @BakedGoodATL’s Instagram account boasts almost 8,000 followers, although most of the shop’s business is powered by word of mouth.“Our Instagram is more like a lookbook,” Willy says. “People say they wish it had scratch ’n’ sniff.”The @BakedGoodATL crew’s desserts are nothing like the stereotypical weed brownie that mirrors the output of an Easy-Bake Oven and tastes like sticks. Every sweet that exits the @BakedGoodATL kitchen contains some sort of twist, such as a Twizzler straw on a lemonade cupcake. A foursome of strawberry cupcakes are artfully arranged in one shot on the Instagram feed, each sporting a dollop of curling, golden frosting topped with rainbow nonpareils and a strawberry wafer nug. Rice Krispies treats follow the gaudy color scheme, with clusters of bright puffed rice congealed in cheerful squares. Riffs on the Miller High Life logo — with the additional “Baked Good” modifier — abound.“You might get a hint of
the marijuana flavor,” Willy says. “But if you eat it without knowing, you won’t notice anything until you feel a little slower and start smiling.”
No value assignedThere’s a stigma surrounding edibles that they turn people into blobs. In a place like Atlanta, where marijuana and marijuana products are unregulated, consumers don’t always necessarily know if what they order will send them to Saturn or turn them into couch anchors. And,
although a lethal overdose on marijuana is virtually impossible, ingesting too much can cause unpleasant side effects such as paranoia and disorientation.“We’ve heard stories about people eating edibles and they can’t move at all,” Willy says. “We don’t want anything scary like that. You can eat our treats and still function.”The advantage of a trusted supplier is knowing what to expect from every purchase.Although Willy and Bill hail from more progressive parts of the country, they plan to stay in Atlanta and continue operating under the radar.“We want to take the best of what we see in states that are able to do this on a large scale and implement it here,” Bill says. While the business partners work full-time day jobs, Bill claims the undisclosed revenue they pull is well worth the risk.@BakedGoodATL’s customers include recreational users as well as people with chronic pain, such as cancer patients. One patron purchases sugar-free brownies from the shop between radiation treatments. Willy urged a customer’s mother suffering from leukemia to try chemotherapy; she only conceded after he promised to furnish her with a dozen cookies every two days.Similarly, when Jean*, the woman behind
@VivaLaVerdeATL, learned cannabis could relieve the pain caused by her bleeding disorder, she began cooking with weed. That was back in high school. About five years later, with some proper culinary training under her belt, Jean offers small sweets in addition to entire meals. Her granola contains weed-infused butter along with organic oats, dried cherries, sunflower seeds, and chocolate-covered espresso beans. Her chicken soup includes marijuana stock and vegetables sautéed with potent butter. Her marijuana stock concoction entails straining the water used to produce weed butter and simmering it with the same plant stems for four to eight hours. The liquid stays fresh for two weeks but can also be frozen for future soups, sauces, and marinades.Jean says her meals leave customers “good for the rest of the day” and that the taste of weed is usually undetectable. “I make it as healthy, delicious, and visually pleasing as possible,” she says.Eventually Jean hopes to merge her day job as an in-home personal chef with her part-time gig slinging stony fare on IG, and realize her dream of preparing feasts that leave her clients both sated and relaxed for a few hours.While the head high from smoked or vaporized THC sets in immediately, it can wear off relatively quickly. Edibles, though slower to kick in — typically 30 minutes to one hour — result in a body high that can last up to half a day depending on an individual’s size and metabolism.“When you eat it, first it hits your mouth and then it moves like a wave throughout your entire body,” Jean says. “You feel euphoric and creative and all the things you want to be.”
No value assignedJean performs background checks via Facebook and Google before responding to customer inquiries. Conversely, she’s never seen some of her clients face-to-face.“I deliver to one person’s house and leave the order on the doorstep,” she says. “Another customer is so discreet that he doesn’t want to be seen interacting with me.”@BakedGoodATL and @VivaLaVerdeATL have different approaches to sales. Willy and Bill only accept bulk orders, most often in the form of Stoner Packs and Trippy Kits that allow customers to sample a variety of products. Stoner Packs ($50) include four cupcakes, two brownies, and six cookies. Trippy Kits ($60) come with four cupcakes, two brownies, two Rice Krispies-style treats made with Fruity Pebbles, and three cookies. Jean, however, will sell a sole brownie bite for $7. Her most expensive item, a 3.5-serving jar of granola, runs $25.Yet, each outfit clings to similar values, such as personalized customer service. “Our regulars have something like a Kroger card with a little bit of an advantage,” Willy says. “They get on-demand service and special offers and discounts.”All three shop owners have faith that, eventually, Georgia legislation will allow them to carry on without fear of criminal punishment. Legalizing weed in Georgia would also allow them to grow their businesses.“I would make more money and secure the commercial kitchen space I need to expand,” Jean says.Although legalization could also hurt small businesses that thrive in the black market.“Big corporations might step in and try to take out the little guy,” Willy says. “But then again it could give us a boost so we wouldn’t have to work so stealth-like.”
No value assignedTwenty-five states have decriminalized marijuana to varying degrees (mostly for medicinal use) and are still navigating some challenges around the drug. In California, where medical marijuana has been
legal since 1996, police found
grow houses operated by a Mexican cartel in June. In Colorado, which also allows recreational marijuana use, there’s
no regluated process for testing it for contaminants like mold or E Coli.But society could benefit from additional revenue generated by a sales tax imposed on regulated marijuana goods. In Colorado,
Denver clocked $29 million in sales taxes and fees in 2015. Earlier this year, the city of Aurora announced its plan to support the
city’s homeless population with $1.5 million yielded from a tax on recreational weed. As legalization has spread, marijuana culture has become more mainstream than ever, making the no-good do-nothing stoner stigma feel increasingly outdated. In November, voters in California, Nevada, Arizona, Massachusetts and Maine will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana.In Georgia, Democrats, and even some libertarian-minded Republicans, have
broached legalizing or simply decriminalizing marijuana, though Gold Dome leaders have not allowed the measures to come up for discussion. Clarkston, which originally proposed decriminalizing marijuana possession up to one ounce, recently approved steep cuts in fines for marijuana possession.
Haleigh’s Hope Act allows qualified patients to possess cannabis oil that meets stringent requirements.Until the state catches up with places like Colorado, Washington state, and Oregon, @BakedGoodATL and @VivaLaVerdeATL will keep conducting business largely in the shadows.