@CannabisCommunity: an Instagram handle, hashtag, and persona in the Los Angeles cannabis community scene. The man behind it all sat down with me this week to talk about his ‘round the clock dedication to patients, contribution to the MMJ community, and his other day job at The HeadRoom Gallery (@headroomgallery)—the most talked about, but seldom experienced marijuana medicating lounge in LA.
How did I find the address? I had to screen shot the bio of another IG profile which @CannabisCommunity (C.C.) provided; “meet me here,” his next message said, shortly after sending me a link and a detailed set of instructions. Oh, and there was mention of a secret code word I’d have to recite when the time came.
I set my GPS and headed north. There was no traffic; it was Sunday and where a sea of cars usually poured onto the highway was now only dampened with nothing more than sparse puddles.
“Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon. Can I help you?”
I proceeded to reply to the nice man behind the counter, relaying the phrase that I made a great effort to not forget. Even though it was simple (the best passwords are, right?), I was still nervous about a memory slip.
“Follow me.”
We set out on our mission to find the discreet location, and after successfully reciting the code word again there he was Mr. CC himself standing in one of LA’s most buzzing hangouts – The HeadRoom Gallery.
A good 10 minutes in and I’d become acclimated to the dimly lit, cloudy atmosphere. I listened as C.C. and his colleague, @headyseshdaily, critiqued the labeling and packaging on a product, quickly realizing that attention to detail is definitely a priority here.
What with the straight-grained dark-brown wood that drapes the bar and the polished cabinetry that cradles “The Honey Bear by Kurt B,” this patients-only exclusive glass gallery lounge is definitely… classy.
From nap rooms and VIP lounges, right down to the “way we fold our rig rags,” C.C. explains that at The HeadRoom Gallery they strive to provide their members/patients with “a safe, nice, clean place to medicate.”
“I’m stoked on it,” C.C. says with a smirk, “I have a little bit of a voice in the industry, and I work in the coolest place ever.”
Who can become a member of the coolest place ever?
“If you’re a patient, you can get access to this place.”
There is a pre-screening and a couple of hurdles you have to jump through first, of course, but “patients are allowed to bring up to 5 guests. Well, now.”
Since they are currently blowing up at a rapid rate, they are going to have to scale back the number of patients they accept.
What is cut off then?
“We don’t have those specifics yet. We’re working on that. Membership fees might go up a bit though.”
Deadline?
“Nothing official yet, just don’t slack!”
General Rules?
“We don’t dispense any medicine here, but we do rent out glass. We have some of the most expensive rigs here. We’re kind of known for having ‘The Honey Bear’ by Kurt B, it’s our thing.”
And did he mention the variety? Anyone with a short attention span could easily get lost in the hallway on the way in–they have glass inside glass everywhere!
So basically this is the place to be? Tell MMJ patients what they would be missing if they slack?
“We provide our patients with a new event every day. We have THE COOLEST event going on right now: every Monday is #GalleryGames.”
Walk us through it?
“Well, for the Cannabis Cup, judges only have 3-4 days to judge around 60 extract entries. Now I medicate on a regular basis, but there is no possible way I would be able to consume that much
AND still pass good judgment on the entries. So what we’ve done is made our members the judges and have two extract artist face-off 1 on 1.”
“The last #GalleryGames featured @westcoastcure vs. @imperialextracts. Next on the agenda is @vaderextracts vs. @treesaps, and on the Monday before the cup, we’ll have the biggest rival face-off yet @hghextractions vs. @bamf_extractions.”
“There are about 16 extract artist in brackets right now. All local L.A. companies, all the big names out here. So when you really think about it, it’s a local competition. Pretty dope.”
But the folks at The HeadRoom Gallery don’t just provide events for their patients on Mondays. The rest of the week’s lineup is as follows:
Tuesdays: #TokesNJokes
“It’s our Comedy night. We have had a tremendous line up. Vice wrote their article about us based on the comedy show. Weed Maps mentioned our comedy night as well.
There has always been a comedy show, since before I was a member myself.”
Wednesdays: #TheHighTv
“Now we are filming a T.V. show that I am co-hosting, The High T.V. All our hosts can be found on their IG accounts: @datniggagrows, @therealadamill, @cannabiscommunity,
@headyseshdaily, and @thehightv.”
“It’s like a marijuana version of The View. We don’t even really talk about weed; it’s more like the news told from the point of view of cannabis consumers.”
Thursdays: #DJnights
“We have a DJ who comes in and spins trap music.”
Fridays: #FridayNightFreakShow with #VeniceBeachFreakShow
“Usually there is live music, but now we will have the guys from the Venice Beach Freak Show come in on Friday nights. The son is member here and offered to bring the freak show, right here to The HeadRoom Gallery.”
That’s so cool!
“Yeah, I know. Did you know they have the largest collection of 2-headed animals?!”
Saturdays: #LiveMusic
Sundays: #GettingHighWith #Adamill
“We start our mornings off with yoga and then start our afternoons with Adam Ill and his show Getting High With Adam Ill.”
You must be slammed with requests for membership info!
“At least 50 messages a day to get access here.”
How do you select?
“We just ask for recommendations, we verify they are legitimate patients. Before we disclose location, fees, rules, etc., we like to talk to them first.”
Who was it that first called the The HeadRoom Gallery a speakeasy?
“I believe it was Vice, when they wrote their article on us.”
Because that’s how I pictured it, a medicating lounge hidden behind a moving wall that requires a password to get in. Is that how you guys first started spreading word, via word of mouth and invite only?
“Yeah. It’s very word of mouth. One of reasons I was brought on is because it was too exclusive. People were so used to it being exclusive they didn’t even know how to go about getting access. I bring a promotional aspect and that is what I provided. They wanted to further promote gallery, and I know a lot of MMJ patients in L.A.
How did you hear about it?
“I was invited and became a member 6 months before being brought on board as an employee.”
So Cannabis Cup related, where should we expect to find you?
“You guys will have to come visit the Four Fathers Farm booth. We will be entering something at the Cup, but it’s a secret so you guys will have to wait to find out.”
How long have you been in this industry?
“For 4 years now. But I started my Instagram 1yr and 3months ago.” (To-date C.C.’s account has over 90K followers).
Now, you are ALWAYS busy! How does your workload allow you to give back to this community?
“I’m here 4 days a week and at Green Spot in North Hollywood 3 days a week. I work 7 days a week and yes, they overlap, but I don’t consider it work. I get to see patients both days. I enjoy doing this and feel very much a part of this community. I go home genuinely happy after volunteering. I wish I had time to grow quality medicine, I have seen some mind blowing medicine people are growing. Currently though I’m focusing on person to person, patient to patient. I like helping patients directly.”
I remember a while back you helped feed the homeless at Venice Beach right?
“Yup. There’s always time to give back, that’s why I call my personal IG account @compassionking and I know it sounds corny, but I definitely like to be compassionate in this industry. I have helped patients however and whenever I could in the past and will continue to offer my assistance. Good karma. I love karma a lot.”
So would you say you could attribute your ability to help patients to your success on Instagram?
“Success? It gives me more of a voice. I own @cannabiscommunity. And this is my journey that you’ve been watching. But before this was created I was working at a dispensary that got raided.”
Saved by a nap, or karma, or both, C.C. wasn’t working during the raid. After the incident he was out of work for about a year.
“I was freaked out about it. That’s why I made an Instagram, to show people that you don’t necessarily need to be afraid. It sucked living in a bit of scare. Not doing what I wanted to. What I love to do.”
So you’re trying to show the world to not be afraid?
“Yeah, to not be afraid to support cannabis.”
And how are you going about doing that?
“Education. Most people are miseducated, but in order to educate, people have to be willing to receive knowledge. This is an industry I’ll work in for the rest of my life. This is something I wanted to do since I was a kid, and I’m doing it! I have learned a lot in 4 years, but I still consider myself a young kid, still learning. Every day.”
Between volunteering, co-hosting a T.V. show, and coordinating weekly events for patients at the coveted HeadRoom Gallery, I’d say this busy guy is most definitely doing his part for the community. Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule to talk to the Bounty Blog, and thank you to The HeadRoom Gallery for hosting.
Family
