THE CHALLENGES OF CANNABUSINESS

elissa Etheridge is proud of the 47 acres of land in the Santa Cruz Mountains that she uses as the base for her, she pushes back against any rumors that her companies are having an easy time of it just because of her celebrity status. “It’s hard for little guys like us in Santa Cruz,” Etheridge said. “We need banking and loans. The U.S. cannabis industry has been crippled by big companies coming in and buying everything up. It’s sad. There’s not a lot of brand recognition in California other than MedMen and we know how that turned out. But we’re hanging in there.” She also noted the struggles she’s encountered due to Canadian companies “who started buying all the American companies back in 2017,” which has made it tough on smaller brands. Etheridge’s brand sells THC flower under the names Morning, Noon and Night for different strains, as well as a newer CBD product through Etheridge Organics. In addition to her cannabis brands, she is still working on music, touring in support of her album, which was released in May 2021.