Recreational pot is legal, here's how one store is preparing. Why Angelenos turn to self-help texts (and why they shouldn't.) Wildfire lessons from down under.
High times: MedMen dispensary opens doors to recreational pot buyers
The new year brings new laws in California. One of the buzziest? Legalized recreational marijuana.
Retail sales began Monday at around 90 state-licensed shops. Others in the state planned to begin sales Tuesday — including MedMen in West Hollywood, which opened for business at 10 am.
Company spokesman Daniel Yi was there. He told Take Two that the energy level behind the scenes was "very high." No pun intended.
We've been preparing for this for months. So we've been stocking up on products. On [December] 31st, we had our staff working diligently to clear the sales floor of any products that are no longer compliant under the new guidelines.
There's a bagel food truck right in front of the store. People are milling around there. Everybody's waiting very anxiously for the doors to open at 10 am.
Later, a line formed outside.
#WestHollywood making #history as the cities 1st #RecreationalMarijuana shop @ShopMedMen opens to the public. Lines are across the street. #LosAngeles #California pic.twitter.com/PqhU2ViwsN
— Sean M. Byrd (@byrdyman) January 2, 2018
We had @TheTodayShow hanging out at our West Hollywood store this morning! #legalweed #mainstreamingmarijuana pic.twitter.com/l8fRNx7V6h
— MedMen (@medmen) January 2, 2018
People lining up outside @ShopMedMen in West Hollywood, to ring in a new era for recreational weed in California. pic.twitter.com/loKjQigKbd
— Fernando Hurtado (@fhurtado) January 2, 2018
How to navigate new recreational pot delivery laws
LA’s cannabis industry is a little complicated, even though recreational marijuana is now legal.
Walking into one of the new state-licensed shops isn't the only way to get legal weed. You can also have it delivered to your door -- in some areas.
Some California cities have blocked pot delivery services, but how can those rules be enforced?
Brooke Staggs covers the cannabis industry for Southern California News Group and The Cannifornian. She told A Martinez how pot shops are navigating delivery services.
Here are four things you need to know about new pot delivery laws:
1. Even though recreational pot is legal, that doesn't necessarily mean pot shops can make a delivery to a city that's not allowing legal dispensaries.
BROOKE STAGGS: There are still a lot of limits on how [recreational pot delivery] services can operate. Cities can block pot deliveries, [but] there's been some confusion about how that's going to work.
2. But there is a way around restrictions if pot delivery services aren't available in your neighborhood.
STAGGS: You can drive into a city allowing [the sale of recreational marijuana] and bring it back. The state allows people to have up to an ounce in their possession. Delivery is tough for cities to block. But, by state law, these vehicles have to be outfitted with GPS systems so their deliveries can be tracked.
3. You have to go to a physical address to pick up product.
STAGGS: Pot shops must have really good record keeping of where deliveries start and end up, so [routes] can't be improvised along the way.
4. And if you want to find out more, there's an app for that.
STAGGS: You can go onto weedmaps.com to [reference locations for] both licensed and unlicensed business. Eaze [is a company] that's getting millions of dollars of investments and essentially created an app that facilitates delivery.
*Interview has been edited for clarity
What new California workplace laws mean for you
As many Californians return to work in the new year, some changes are kicking in.
Starting January 1, more than a dozen new laws will take effect that could have big impacts on parents, former inmates and entry-level job seekers.
Take Two talked with Ben Adler, Capitol bureau chief at Capitol Public Radio, to go over what's new in the workplace.
Former inmates
New state law prohibits employers from inquiring about or even considering a job applicant's criminal record until a conditional job offer has been made. The employer ultimately could withdraw the job offer after a background check. The thinking is that this process gives the hiring manager a chance to get to know the job seeker instead of forming a quick impression based on criminal history. Advocates also say it paves the way for true rehabilitation and re-entry into society after serving time.
Pay history
Generally, women are paid less than men for doing similar jobs. If a woman's salary from a previous job is taken into account when she applies for a new job, the new employer may be perpetuating that pay imbalance, even if that's unintentional. By removing salary history from consideration, it gives men and women an equal shot at an open position.
Parental leave
Before 2018, only companies with 50 or more employees were required to give employees protected parental leave, meaning those employees don't risk losing their jobs while taking time off as a new parent. Now that applies to small- to mid-size companies, with 20 to 49 employees. Companies with fewer than 20 employees are not required to provide protected parental leave for workers.
Minimum wage
California's minimum wage is going up by 50 cents an hour ($11 per hour for businesses with more than 26 employees, $10.50 per hour for businesses with 25 employees or less). However, many cities, including Los Angeles, already have a higher minimum wage. The new law will impact those working in rural areas more.
Resolutions to the max: What to know before trusting a self-help book
Even outside of making New Year's resolutions, Angelenos are known for striving to better themselves, whether it's through exercise or mindfulness or diet. It's just part of the LA lifestyle.
But what if, taken to the extreme, trying to improve yourself through some self-anointed guru pushes you to the brink?
Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer cohost the podcast "By the Book," where they follow one self-help book to a T for two weeks.
They tried following the diet in French Women Don't Get Fat, which advises "resetting your palate" by eating only leeks and drinking leek water for two days.
"I was crying everyday. I was calling Jolenta up sobbing saying, I can't do this anymore," says Meinzer. "In the end, Jolenta and I decided for my mental health we would not, on the show, ever again do a diet book."
"I learned a rather hard truth," adds Greenberg. "For myself, at least, I think there is no such thing as a 'sane diet.'"
There may be merits in eating healthfully or being more mindful while eating, but they believe that a book is not worthwhile if it suggests you get skinny through restricted eating.
"I think diets are designed to catapult you into feeling successful in the beginning," says Greenberg, "and then you always fail and end up needing another diet."
Both of them also tried to declutter their homes by following the tenets of the wildly popular Marie Kondo, who has given sold-out talks in Los Angeles.
In her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Kondo suggests holding every household item and questioning whether it sparks joy. The stuff that does, stays. The stuff that doesn't is donated or discarded.
"I loved the purging and just really doing an inventory of all the stuff you've accumulated," says Greenberg.
But then there's step 2: Household items must be placed out of view when not in use.
"You weren't allowed to have soap next to a sink. It had to be in a drawer," says Meinzer. "It was joyless and it was time-consuming."
Kondo also said that dishes must not be drying on a rack next to a dish. They should be left to dry outside on a fire escape.
"Oh my God, it was insane! It made no sense at all," she says.
But they understand why Kondo's and other guru's self-help methods are popular.
"I think of Southern California as a dream-making place," says Meinzer, "and the idea of self-help being popular out there does not surprise me at all because that's so much of what Southern California is."
Subscribe to "By the Book" on Panoply, iTunes or Google Play.
LA streets brightened by more shared bicycles, but ridership lags
What California can learn from Australia about living with wildfires
In the last month of 2017, the Thomas Fire dominated the news not only here in Southern California but nationally.
It's for good reason.
The largest wildfire in California's recorded history burned more than 281,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and destroyed more than one thousand structures. Almost a month after it started, the Thomas Fire is still burning. It's 92 percent contained now.
As Governor Jerry Brown said recently, wildfires are the new normal for the state.
But they've long been the norm in Southern Australia.
In the land down under, they go about dealing with the bushfire threat by instilling a method they call "Stay and Defend or Leave Early." Leah Bertholini is a brushfire safety officer with the South Australian Country Fire Service. She spoke with A Martinez via Skype about the technique.
"They [South Australia residents] have an opportunity to stay and defend their property if they feel it's defendable or leave early. We have an alert system will which will alert them to a bushfire in their area and whether it's safe to leave early or too late to leave, or too late to leave and stay and defend."
In South Australia, where Bertholini is based, there are classes to help residents decide whether they should stay and defend or leave early. The different choices entail different prep. Bertholini says the choice often depends on how houses are built.
When a resident builds a new house in South Australia state, they have to comply with certain building regulations, depending on how high-risk the home is during a wildfire.
- Homeowners must maintain their property, and manage vegetation accordingly
- They have to have good access for fire trucks. They must be able to come and go easily during a bushfire.
- There must also be a water supply on site.
"So all of these factors," Bertholini explains, "if you've got all these in place and done well, then they might consider their home 'defendable' and a safe place for them to take refuge should a fire pass through there."
In California, fire officials don't recommend staying and defending a home; they recommend leaving early. Why does this method work in Australia, and not here?
"Well, we've had our construction level system for a little while now, so there's a lot of homes here that are constructed to the right standard. Our education program on having the house defendable has been around for awhile now. So we think our residents here have a good understanding of how their place should be maintained to make it a 'stay and defend' house or whether it isn't."
Tuesday Reviewsday: Luis Miguel, El Dasa
Tuesday Reviewsday is our weekly new music segment, and this week, music journalist Justino Aguila joins A Martinez to talk about the latest releases.
Artist: Luis Miguel
Album: Mexico Por Siempre! (Mexico Always)
"La Fiesta Del Mariachi"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12_eYjSP5G8
“Llamarada” (Flame)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnEkf5t0ghU
Justino says:
Luis Miguel’s Mexico Por Siempre album recently debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart. The WEA Latina album is the singer's first studio project in seven years and his 20th studio album. Known as El Sol de Mexico (The Sun of Mexico), the crooner has multiple Grammys and Latin Grammys to his name and continues to entice fans with a reimagining of classic Mexican songs.
This is his second mariachi-themed album, and the 14 tracks stand out for their musical homage to Mexico.
The Puerto Rican-born entertainer, who has called Mexico his home most of his life, has been performing most of his life to fans around the world. His tours have done exceptionally well through the years.
Artist: El Dasa
Album: El Hijo Del Desierto (Son of the Desert)
“El Hijo Del Desierto”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W6_IdcPjIc
"La Suavecita”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxFXffyqfFg
Justino says:
Ironically, modern banda singer El Dasa’s character on the Netflix show “El Vato” is that of a musician who is struggling to succeed in the Los Angeles music scene. But in real life, the young crooner is conquering regional Mexican music.
His new album introduces 16 tracks that show El Dasa’s talent and style, from performing some fast-paced romantic corridos to tender ballads.
El Dasa recently scored his second top 10 placement on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart from this third studio album released through Fonovisa and Universal Music Latino.