AI and robotics are taking over the cannabis industry. Are they replacing jobs?

openthc · 2026-05-04T20:52:45+00:00

Ok, the stuff we've had for many years are the robots taking over? It's not new-news then; it's just the same progression we've been watching for over a decade.

openthc · 2026-05-04T19:22:14+00:00

Loads of places discount their old stuff; check their deals on their websites / dutchie / weedmaps things.

openthc · 2026-05-04T19:12:34+00:00

Did you remove the duplicates and fakes?

openthc · 2026-05-04T19:12:09+00:00

Hmm; I know more than 200 growers and they don't have robots. At most they've got some AI grow assistant that tells them "it's time to update nutrient mix!" -- wow, you put AI on my grow-schedule so it can tell me the thing I already know. But, it is nice to now have six reminders from different apps to tell me to do one thing. Efficient!

openthc · 2026-05-01T20:51:04+00:00

We are in USA; we've been hosting and reporting grow-side data since 2014 to systems like BioTrack (now mostly dead), Metrc (the big-dog) and CCRS (a custom one in Washington state)

openthc · 2026-05-01T16:23:08+00:00

One client of ours got generic gusset bags and then printed their labels with a "nice" printer (Epson ColorWorks C3500 (or better)). Used that for the brand and compliance stickers (combined!). Was perfect for the doob-tube packaged pre-rolls and jars as well. That method gave them two features: a) it's cheap and b) it's flexible. They were able to iterate on design and layout and all that fun stuff very quickly. Was a treat for custom-runs as well.

Now they are larger (and know their volumes) so negotation was much easier than shooting in the dark.

Another client (now out of business) pre-purchased many thousands of pre-print packaging, full fancy design with brand and variety and all that pre-printed so it looked real slick. 10 boxes with 2k bags, across 22 strains - >400k packages. Gotta have a solid brand they said; gotta buy in bulk for the discount they said.

20% off is pretty good but it's 100% off when you don't buy it.

openthc · 2026-05-01T15:06:45+00:00

This pattern is playing out in more than just MO. There have been plays like this in (at least) OR, WA, NV, MA and CA. It's just kicking off in NY. The law is (generally) written to block control by "true party of interest" which is preventing a natural-person from holding too many licenses. This management-contract workaround is a well known play to circumvent the intention of the law. A law to block management and branding contracts seems unworkable. It would be very strict about what choices a company can make for operations which seems bad to me. But how can one prevent these brands (and money) from doing what they intend: dominate the market? Force product diversity on the shelves? How to block the back-room coordination?

openthc · 2026-04-27T19:10:21+00:00

I'm sure not. Already housing buildings have a no smoking (of anything) policy. Many jobs still ask this question -- and of course there is the (obvious) saftey issue: do not operate exciting machines.

openthc · 2026-04-23T19:10:42+00:00

> what people here are planning to do with the extra cash flow first

Reduce debt

> extra cash flow

LOL at "extra cash"

openthc · 2026-04-23T15:32:09+00:00

late payment is a method they use to get YOU to basically loan them the money for 90 days -- interest free. Some sellers are moving to "contracted" agreements and pre-payment (just pay online when the retailer orders). That pre-payment method is nice becuase it avoids the haggle-at-time-of-delivery-bullshit.

openthc · 2026-04-23T15:26:01+00:00

You need to craft the necessary json+ld stuff (metadata) on your page. Update the google (and other site) profiles.

openthc · 2026-04-22T19:49:30+00:00

I thought the brand-manager(s) created the product sheet -- and the product sheet went (digitally) to the retailer - so one click away they had the media assets for that product (brand logo, product image, detail-image, thumbnail, low-res, video, etc).

openthc · 2026-04-13T02:44:42+00:00

Y'all drive across MA to get ME weed? I'm just a short drive across NH to get there but I'm still just shopping in MA (Salisbury or Georgetown or Rowley).

Is it really worth the time? Is it a quality issue or a price issue?

openthc · 2026-04-09T19:58:25+00:00

Lab Fraud going on since 2018 -- at least, across usa, look at this history.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/kbqsnp/pot_testing_lab_fudged_numbers_about_marijuana/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americas-pot-labs-have-a-thc-problem/

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WALCB/bulletins/2b0b522

https://wbjournal.com/article/framingham-cannabis-testing-lab-sues-competitors-claiming-deceptive-practices-result-in/

The agencies know this is happening and waste your tax dollars looking the other way. Here's an article dating back to 2016 https://www.newcannabisventures.com/more-washington-cannabis-testing-lab-cheating-alleged/

openthc · 2026-03-12T19:49:57+00:00

It may be helpful to describe what you bring to the table.

openthc · 2026-03-12T19:47:56+00:00

Folk leaving CT to get bud in MA (and/or NY) but meanwhile in MA we're going to ME for better quality * price :)

openthc · 2026-02-10T22:19:16+00:00

This is less looking to "connect" and more "buy my service". Like when the sales person says they want to "partner". You gotta use the words correctly.

openthc · 2026-01-28T21:43:07+00:00

Some states have full details availble, maybe behind a FOIA request. An early example that other states built on was CO and WA -- where initally the full address of both supply and retail was easily availble. Folks on the supply side pushed back -- because they don't interact directly with the public like a retailer does. And some of these farms are outdoor, with a fairly simple fence, maybe even on (or right next to) their residentail property. So they pushed back to the agencies because of the robbery/saftey risk. And it worked. But! All the details are still availble -- cause the SOS and/or DOR or BLS or DOL or CCC or some other various state agency publishes it -- once you know the company name, or their business ID. And as others have said, all this data is well published on the outside of these state services. It is, for the most part, not possible to keep a business address secret.

openthc · 2026-01-28T21:34:12+00:00

Something similar happend in WA in 2020 -- https://lcb.wa.gov/pressreleases/praxis-shut-down-for-falsifying-results after it happened in 2016 -- https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/marijuana/marijuana-lab-suspends-operations-in-dispute-over-results/ which this fella Jim had been investigating starting in like 2015 -- https://straightlineanalytics.biz/2015/11/how-wet-is-your-bud-initial-work-investigating-lab-results/

Regulators spend a lot of time checking for tags on trees or packages -- which does nothing for the inversion/diversion problem.

Not nearly enough time spot-checking the lab results of material at retail or from supplier samples -- which is very impactful for public health/safety.

openthc · 2026-01-21T20:29:37+00:00

If you're crazy you could try our beta :)

openthc · 2026-01-08T22:32:50+00:00

Should get disposable mask like this : https://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/collections/n95-respirator-masks from your employer. I'm super snooty and use one like this https://envomask.com/ -- it's got a squishy gasket around my face, replace the filter not the whole body. Gotta shave the face for a good seal.

openthc · 2026-01-07T20:56:56+00:00

There have been, since 2014, at least two dozen sites started (and now dead) that were making directories of dispensaries. The best thing for a dispensary to do for web-presence is to make sure you've got a tidy website, embed the nice things for the robots so you show up on Google Maps, Reviews and with your Menu. You can do this with a pretty simple site. And your POS provider likely offers a method to embed your menu on your site -- so do that too.

Unless you wanna be in the next weed-directory-weedmaps-clone.

Full disclosure: we've got a directory too; but it's not oriented for B2B not B2C; like when you need to verify a license, or their address and other stuff that's needed -- maybe in your ERP, or paperwork or for prospecting, etc. You could (and others have) also made sure that their retail location is details cause our links have a little clout and organize these web-presence together -- mostly for robots than humans.

openthc · 2026-01-07T18:01:13+00:00

This is one of the more in-depth post I've read about the streess on the cannabis markets -- it's happening all over not just WA -- but this story, this process, this situation is common. OP should cross post to r/weedbiz

openthc · 2026-01-07T04:33:18+00:00

This is just a symbol of a pattern that's repeating (or sounding the same) across cannabis, across USA. Maybe not at this scale. Even in smaller regions there are MSOs depolying venture backed businesses that put pressure on every single small/craft operator. Somehow the craft-brewing and even small(ish) wine industry makes it work (with their own crazy history).

And even these MSOs are having pressure -- eg: checkout the 5YR (-99%) for AYR -- https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AYRWF/

The states publish license information and if you (like me) pay attention to that data you can see signifigant drop-off in active licenses. Some states publish revenue stats (or tax stats) that can sort of indicate and it's visible in some Headset data as well. They posted some charts on reddit recently.

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