CROZ TALKS CANNABIS

David Crosby – Rock and Roll hall of famer, iconic founding member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young  and The Byrds, social activist and 50+ year cannabis connoisseur - answers a range of questions about cannabis. 

• On why he likes cannabis...

"I like it for a whole lot of reasons. I like it for writing music. I like it for going to the museum. I like it for sex. I like it for building a fire and playing with the dogs. I really do enjoy it."

• On Cannabis and creativity.

"Cannabis has been an important part of my creative process for years. I smoke and pick up the guitar and write songs. Many of the most iconic songs have been written by people who were herbally enhanced. All those songs you like, I wrote them all on cannabis. The creativity was always there, the cannabis just brought it out." 

• On how Cannabis helps him.

"Besides enjoying the feeling, It helps with my aches and pains. I have chronic pain in both shoulders. I smoke just about every night to help me sleep." 

• On the best cannabis he’s ever had…
  

“I was in Canada and a girl brought over some weed and she said now be careful, this is very strong. It was called "Kootenay thunderfuck" and it was so god-damned strong, it was way too strong - I wanted to hide under the piano and suck my thumb.”

“There was an amazing range of weed in the late 1960’s. When we started, we were buying weed in brick kilos that were mostly seeds – really crap weed, and not knowing any better, we thought it was terrific! You had to smoke a lot to get high from it. But then, through sheer luck, I was connected to some people who were connected to some smugglers and I was one of the first people to get any Sensimilla which of course means no seeds, and it was much more powerful pot – and I had a blast with it.”

“At the time, I had just brought my girlfriend Joni Mitchell back to California from Florida and I was about to produce her record and I’d get groups of friends together and give them a joint or two of this spectacularly strong pot they had never encountered before and then Joni would sing them a song or two.” 

“Maui Wowie was the name that the guys who grew in Kona used, and the guys in Maui called their pot Kona Gold. They mixed everything back in the beginning of the seventies. The guys in Hawaii were growing the best pot in the world at the time. They crossbred everything with everything, so I think most of the separations you see people talking about now are theoretical more than actual.”

• On why he thinks people like Cannabis...
  

“The human race has always liked to get high on something. That’s why we invented fermenting and distilling – and ate every different kind of fruit and berry in the jungle. I think cannabis is the best way for people to get high. It’s much better for people than the other available ways people get loaded.” 

“People are going to get high anyway and cannabis is a safer and better way than the other available methods. I don’t approve of hard drugs at all. Beer isn’t that bad, wine isn’t that bad, but hard booze definitely does real damage. And then there are all the other ones. The pharmaceuticals do horrible things to you, and the serious hard drugs do even worse stuff to you. So really the only thing I know that you can do that gets you high that doesn’t do harm to you is herb.”

• On his preferred method of enjoying cannabis…
  

“My preferred method is vaping flowers. I use a PAX 3. It’s better for me than smoking it because there’s no tar."

"My wife and I grow our own weed. It's legal to grow a few plants in California. We talk to our plants and we enjoy that. We also bake fantastic Ginger Snap cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies. We also make pot butter to make our pot brownies and cookies."

• On his feelings about legalization…

“I do believe marijuana should be legal everywhere. I knew people who were in jail for years over a couple of joints - and it’s just not right. I do feel a responsibility to stick up for people who have been stuck in jail for it unfairly. Bottom line is, it should be legal and people shouldn’t be going to jail for smoking a joint, and I want to reinforce that to the degree that I can.”

“It’s inevitable. Legalization is going to happen - all over the U.S. and around the world because of the money. All the posturing the politicians do, waving their hands in the air saying we have to regulate this and that is all BS. It’s going to come down to the money. Anyone that looks at the money flowing in where its legal knows what the truth is.”

“People are looking at the success in places like Colorado and Oregon. The numbers are unequivocal. The places that have done it are winning and they will have money for schools, roads and hospitals. Bottom line is I’d like cannabis to be legal everywhere."

"I'm passionate about legalization - which is why I agreed to be on the National Advisory Board of NORML. along with my pal Willie Nelson and others."

“I think Canadians should congratulate themselves for having a country that was smart enough to change their laws and wind up being where all the major marijuana companies are based." 

"The places that get in first, like Canada make all the money. The cannabis companies set up there because it’s legal on the federal level there so they can bank it. 

• On getting his name in the cannabis industry…
  

“I’m getting in it for several reasons. First, because people have been asking me to do this forever - Also, because it’s fun. Getting high is fun, people who get high are fun and marijuana is fun - and I like to have fun in my life." 

"I approve, so I have no problem with my name aiding a company in selling quality cannabis products."

"With legalization expanding around the world, now is the right time."

• On the audience for a cannabis brand with his name…
  

“It's the same people who've listened to and bought my music all these years – millions of Baby Boomers, the largest bump in the population curve. And the boomers just happen to be the ones buying it legal from the dispensaries. I've been associated with the boomer generation for over 50 years. There’s also a secondary audience of all of their offspring, the Gen-X'ers. That’s millions of people as well.”

“I’m going to position my brand at a super high quality level - for people who are intelligent and have sophisticated taste. Thinking people who care about quality is who my brand is for. 

• On why his brand will resonate...

“Other than music, cannabis is the thing I'm most known for. When the Beatles came to America, they looked to me to steer them to the best quality weed. People know I’ll steer them to the highest quality." 

"I’m not rushing to slap my name on just any cannabis product. I'm being very careful about picking the right company to partner up with. Everything about my brand will be top quality. I'm known as a serious connoisseur of quality cannabis for over half a century, so I have authenticity and credibility – and I have a lot of experience to draw upon."

"People know me as a cannabis advocate going back to the 1960's. Cannabis will always be a huge part of everyday culture around the world. I recall looking down from the stage at Woodstock in 1969 at a sea of people and everybody was smoking weed." 

• On whether his brand will be recreational, medical or both…

“It’s both. As much as people just want to get high on cannabis, I think you’re going to find that CBD (Cannabidiol), once it’s refined, concentrated, packaged and marketed is going to become a hugely successful painkiller – because the other main families of painkillers, the opioids, if you do them for a few weeks you’re hooked and that’s a real problem. And the NSAIDs (aspirin/ibuprofen) are not good for your kidneys and your liver, particular your kidneys. So a new family of painkillers coming on the market that doesn’t have the side effects of addiction or damage to your kidneys, that could be even bigger than getting high. Everybody at some point has some pain in their shoulder, their knee, their foot or their elbow.”

• On how his name and face benefits a cannabis brand…

“I’m so damned recognizable. My face, my mustache, my balding head and my white hair have been on all these records for 50 god-dammed years – so there’s this huge recognition factor around the world. I figure why not put that on the front of a cannabis package. If you’re walking into a dispensary and you see my face smiling up at you from a package, you’re likely to try it – and that’s a good thing. Then when you smell it and taste it and like how it makes you feel, you'll come back for more.” 

“For me and my fans, authenticity matters. They'll try it and they’ll come back for more - not just because my name and face is on it, but because they know I stand for quality cannabis.”

• On products he wants a licensee to produce....

“We'll leave that decision to the company licensing my name. They'll know what products people want. I’ll weigh in with opinions to the degree the licensee wants. I’d just require that anything with my name on it is top quality - from the packaging to the contents to the marketing.”

• On what kind of company he would license his name to...

“My first priority is partnering with a quality company.  We are going to approach this from the highest level. Anything that has my name on it is going to have to be the highest quality. We’ll only be licensing to a long-term player that won’t be swallowed up in the inevitable consolidation that will happen in the cannabis industry.” 

• On staying involved after licensing his name..

"I would stay involved because I like cannabis and I can give valuable input. I can tell if cannabis is quality or not from the smell and taste. I’m probably the most knowledgeable celebrity on the subject of cannabis. I’m surely the most vocal and opinionated when it comes to speaking about it. I’m also surrounded by good people who know, love and understand my music and my fans, and they would give valuable input too. When people fall in love with something, it stands on its own, like a great song.”

• On what name he wants for his cannabis brand…

“We'll leave that up to the company we pick to be our licensing partner. They'll  choose a brand name but I like the name "Mighty Croz" . People started calling me  "Croz" , and it sort of stuck among my friends as one of the ways to mock me. I’ve found that the best way to deal with a big ego is to make fun of it. That’s really the only healthy thing I can do with it, and so I try to make fun of myself whenever I can. Mighty Croz is me making fun of myself. 

• On who he's doing this with…

"I reached out to my longtime friend and entrepreneur - Steven Sponder to partner with me on this venture. He can answer any business questions."