I went to the Traditional Wuanaland event in downtown Los Angeles yesterday and there were friendly women handing out large bags of free samples, hoodies, grinders, etc., and Creative Directors with long hair also from Chicago—well, technically a suburb, but you know what I mean. There were 3-D artists, muralists, and photographers. There was a grower named Dima (aka The Russian Assassin) who gave me a tour of this massive indoor facility, from the “Mother Room” to the packaging room, which had a dozen employees in it all wearing gloves and, for the most part, smiling. Thank you for the tour, Dima; you’re doing excellent work.
Aside from all of that stuff, there were drones, and influencers with a lot of style—a lot of style indeed. There were food trucks, snow cone and gummy vendors, churros by Hippie Churro; I wandered around the retail side of the facility and saw a chihuahua—which completely brightened up my day—and talked with one of the budtenders named José who was eager to answer any question I had, so I asked him what his favorite strain was and he listed off three, like any great salesman would.
I must have drank five bottles of water, so good thing there were portable toilets (nice ones). There was a VIP section and a VVIP section—a “WIP” section, perhaps?—both of which required specific wristbands. I went in each of them, and I will say, there was a lot more jewelry in the latter. The lights were dimmer; it was crowded; they had a bar and comfortable couches. DaBaby was there. As was Antonio Brown, who I FaceTimed with earlier in the day, and he said, “Traditional [is] the best ever. Listen, the Gelato—the orange pack—will change your life. It’s the best product, it’s the best vibe in Cali. You feel me?” Our in-person interactions were limited, but he seemed genuine and tired of being famous. I wish him luck.
Gunna performed, which was cool.
I spoke with the owner of the whole operation. He talked for thirty minutes about a bunch of things, including how he went from growing weed in his garage to building a 150,000 sq. ft warehouse in California City, and how “the government doesn’t want federal legalization because they want to control it state-by-state; and local governments … they don’t want legalization either, because they’re making so much money through their state with all these high taxes.” He also said, “We want to bring a stigma back about cannabis that it’s for everybody … Weed doesn’t discriminate, right? Just like us, we love everybody; there’s no race, there’s no religion, there’s no color. This is all about green.” And walking through the event, seeing all the different types of people—college kids, senior citizens, Asian, Latino, etc. etc. etc.—I kind of believed him.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Arthur Reyna, one of Traditional’s attorneys. He wore a suit, which made him stick out more than the celebrities, and he was by far, one of the most hospitable people that I’ve met in the cannabis industry and beyond. His wife Lauren was very nice too.
There was no smoking allowed, but of course, attendees did anyway, then were immediately told to stop by one of the many, muscular security guards. It was lighthearted and fun to watch, and I got the impression that both groups rather enjoyed this little game of cat-and-mouse. I saw people laughing, twerking, networking, and trying to exist in a world that often feels as if it doesn’t want us here. That’s weed, I suppose…
Overall, I had a wonderful time—if you’re ever in California wondering what to do, go check out Traditional. But, like any event, the best part was leaving and, soon thereafter, going to bed.
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