Five years into legalization, we wanted to see how to have fun as a stoner on Sunset Strip. Surprise—you totally can.

Ride along with Leafly senior editor David Downs as he picks the top stores, flowers, growers, eats, and activities on Sunset Blvd.

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Visitors, download the Leafly app to line up a delivery to your hotel when you land.

—Urbn Leaf runs deals on deliveries to tourists at their hotel.

—Pineapple Express is the first social equity retailer on Sunset Blvd.

—LAPCG is a 20 year-old dispensary and part of the soul of West Hollywood.

—Indispensible on any trip to Hollywood—a visit to the cavernous Amoeba Records, and a late-night drunken In-N-Out run.

We didn’t even get to the weed lounges, or do any decent bar-hopping and clubbing this trip. There’s always more to do in Hollywoo. See you out there!

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Legal marijuana is becoming more and more accessible. Still, in countries like the U.S. and Canada, where there are legal markets in place, black market marijuana sales remain consistent. According to a new survey, the #1 reason people are still buying black market weed is price. It is crushing California and other states should see it is a big warning.

The survey, conducted between 2019-2020 and published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, polled 12,000 cannabis users in Canada and the U.S. and found that price outranked convenience, which is the second main reason people continue to opt for illegal weed.

A 2016 referendum legalized recreational use in California. A goal to eliminate illegal sellers, regulate the substance for safety, and raise tax for the state. The first dispensaries opened in 2018. But the licensed stores have not dented the size of the black market, which has remained steady at around $8 billion a year, according to Tom Adams of Global Go Analytics. The legal business is struggling. In 2022, sanctioned cannabis sales fell 8.2 percent to $5.3 billion.

RELATED: California or New York, Which Has The Biggest Marijuana Mess?

According to the study:

In both years, the most commonly reported barriers to legal purchasing were price (Canada: 35%–36%; United States: 27%) and inconvenience (Canada: 17%–20%; U.S.: 16%–18%). In 2020 versus 2019, several factors were less commonly reported as barriers in Canada, including inconvenience and location of legal sources. Certain barriers increased in the United States, including slow delivery and requiring a credit card.

In the United States, black market cannabis sales are one of the principal wild cards in establishing a functioning legal cannabis market. States like California, which were the first to establish legal markets, have allowed the two markets to coexist, something that cannabis workers have called extremely unfair.

Alex Brough is the co-founder of Keneh Ventures, a private equity fund that invests in businesses ancillary to the legal marijuana trade. In an interview with Times Union, he compared a legal dispensary owner who ‘does everything above-book’ to a bootlegger selling cheap, untested weed.

“You don’t know any better, you’re not an industry expert, and you go to California, and you go to get an [eighth-ounce] of chronic at this place for $60, and at this place across the street, they’re selling it for $30,” he explained. “If you’re at all budget-minded, you’re going for the $30.”

RELATED: Illicit Vs. Legal: What Are The Real Benefits Of Buying Weed From A Licensed Dispensary?

States in the U.S. that are establishing new cannabis markets can use previous states as guideposts, allowing for more controlled transitions and accurate predictions of how their legal market would work. Still, cannabis black market sales have existed for decades, with businesses having built relationships with shoppers. Creating a new legal market will take time to build and to earn the trust of new shoppers.

California is set to legalize four different natural psychedelic drugs after a bill passed the legislature on Thursday. SB58, which was introduced back into 2022 and underwent a number of revisions, would remove criminal penalties for the possession of psilocybin, psilocin, DMT (dimethyltryptamine), and mescaline.  

The bill was authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D), who has been pushing for more progressive psychedelics legislation for a long time. He introduced another bill in 2021, SB519, that was nearly identical to this one but it died in committee. He made some changes and reintroduced the same bill in late 2022 as SB58.  

“California’s veterans, first responders, and others struggling with PTSD, depression, and addiction deserve access to these promising plant medicines,” Senator Scott Wiener (D) said in a press release. “SB58 has prudent safeguards in place after we incorporated feedback from three years of deep engagement with a broad array of stakeholders.” 

Last Wednesday, the bill passed through the California State Assembly, then the next day it got final approval from the State Senate. Now, SB58 is headed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for a final signature before it becomes law.  

“We know these substances are not addictive, and they show tremendous promise in treating many of the most intractable conditions driving our nation’s mental health crisis,” Wiener added. It’s time to stop criminalizing people who use psychedelics for healing or personal well-being.” 

The “allowable amount” section of the bill as amended allows for the following psychedelics possession limits:  

• Mescaline: 4 grams  
• DMT: One gram  
• Psilocybin: One gram, or up to one ounce of “a plant or fungi containing psilocybin”  
• Psilocyn: One gram, or up to one ounce of “a plant or fungi containing psilocyn.”  

Peyote is excluded from the bill’s list of legalized substances due to concerns raised by indigenous groups and advocates about the risk of over-harvesting these delicate cacti that are used ceremoniously in native cultures. Other mescaline-containing plants such as San Pedro cactus or Bolivian Torch cactus are fair game.  

It also says that adults could possess “an amount of spores or mycelium capable of producing an allowable amount of a plant or fungi which contain a controlled substance” that would be legalized under the bill. California is currently one of only 3 states that has a ban on psilocybin spores, they are otherwise federally legal because the spores themselves do not contain psilocybin, only the mushroom fruiting bodies do.  

If signed by Newsom, which honestly, seems like it could go either way because he has not yet indicated if he plans on doing so – the law would go into effect on January 1, 2025. Three cities in California have already decriminalized certain psychedelics: Santa Cruz, Oakland, and Arcata. But all hallucinogens still remain illegal statewide, and at the federal level.  

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