There are two major benefits in writing a quick book recap, as I did in 2021 and 2022: first, it’s fun to look back and think about the content consumed and reflect on the learnings; second, it creates an environment where folks in my network feel comfortable suggesting new books for me to read - quite a few on the list this year come from such recommendations. Thank you! Please keep the recommendations coming. It’s a fantastic way to end each year.

A lot can happen in five years—industries shift, adjust, and mature. Businesses pivot, maneuver, expand or contract. People change, grow, and evolve. Five years ago, I didn’t have any grey hair or any kids, now I have many of both. While five years can feel like a long time, it can also fly by incredibly fast. To think October 17, 2018, and the dawn of legal recreational cannabis in Canada was five years back is somewhat shocking.

There’s a big disconnect in sentiments in the cannabis space right now. On one hand, we have the opportunity to serve sought after products to wonderful customers in environments that are close to what they would consider to be “normal” retail spaces. But on the other hand, one would be hard pressed to find meaningful positive news on the cannabis industry right now. If the word “cannabis” is in the deck, there’s a good chance the answer will be “no” in any request for financing or debt. Meaning, the timeline to normalization could be longer than originally expected.

As Northern Helm looks forward to the latest store opening on King Street East in Toronto this week, we’re focusing on controlling what we can control in the market and that offering the best possible experiences to our guests. We look forward to hosting you at 514 King Street East soon!

From light hearted memoirs to heavy novels to deeply researched history to airport heists and everything in between. This year’s book recap was fun to pull together as a way to remember the new books consumed throughout 2022. Books bring new perspectives and hopefully allow for learning from the past to be better in the future - the 2022 lineup was certainly helpful for me. All the best in 2023 and looking forward to continued learning. Please keep the recommendations coming!

To enact change and growth within the regulated cannabis industry, it is our responsibility to provide constructive feedback to regulators. These responses to the "Taking Stock of Progress" questionnaire from Health Canada reflect my own views, with the goal of driving the cannabis industry forward in a safe and responsible way.

As today is the four year anniversary of recreational cannabis legalization. How do we feel normalization is coming along? From zero to over $4,000,000,000 in legal recreational sales to thousands of storefronts to being spoken about in Ivey Business cases - the cannabis sector has evolved quickly, with more to come.

In March 2022, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Board (AGLC) dumped AlbertaCannabis.org and allowed stores to deliver directly to their communities. This will save the AGLC massive amounts of money in the coming years from eliminating the ecommerce line of business. And it will build trust with their customers, the retail store owners, by removing the central price setting. So when the AGLC makes a mistake in the future, the resulting reaction might be slightly less “table flip” and slightly more understanding.

The OCS can take a page from this book.

In a mature consumer market, where the purchaser has had years of learning about the product and the producer has received feedback for ensuring better product fit, consumers don’t make decisions simply on the alcohol content, but on the taste, consistency, feeling - metrics that they care about. THC potency will follow a similar trend as the cannabis market matures.

With the political discussions around limiting where stores can be placed in Ontario, we take a look back at the process for how store locations were licensed to better understand how saturation occurred. We then look forward to ensure we’re achieving the goals of legalization, offering a safe experience to neighbourhoods we serve. Limiting new store locations now is too late; dealing with the illicit market is how politicians can properly support their communities.

In all other aspects of our lives, we take care to know what we’re consuming and how it’s been handled before ingesting - so why would we trust illicit cannabis products of unknown origin when there’s a regulated market of consistent products available at our fingertips?

This #dryfeb, I’ll be celebrating one year since my last alcoholic beer.

A recap of some of the great books I consumed in 2021. Looking forward to recommendations for 2022!

JBL VENTURE HOLDINGS PARTNERS WITH J SUPPLY CO. HOLDINGS TO BRING CONSUMER-FOCUSED RETAIL MANDATE TO NEW YORK CANNABIS ARENA

Cannabis retailer Northern Helm has been acquired by J. Supply Co. Holdings (JSH), which operates J. Supply Co. retail stores in London, Windsor, and Thunder Bay, Ontario, with a Guelph location coming online next month.

With Ontario entering “Step 1”, Northern Helm got its first taste of the Danforth.