XPost: alt.politics.marijuana, alt.atheism, sac.politics
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Imelda Walavalkar can still remember what people said when she first
started selling packs of miniature joints shorter than her pinky finger.
The co-founder of the Pure Beauty cannabis brand believed in the idea,
but she kept getting a singular reaction from would-be customers: "What
the f-k is this?"

That was 2018, when the standard legal joint was filled with 1 gram of
cannabis and about as long as a middle finger. Walavalkar's "Babies" are comically small, weighing in at just 0.35 gram and featuring a cute pair
of googly eyes printed on the filter. But seven years later, customers
aren't scratching their heads at Walavalkar's tiny joints - they've
become her brand's top product with millions sold every year.

"Most of the stores we talk to now say we don't even have to sell them,
they kind of sell themselves," Walavalkar recently told SFGATE. "People
come looking for them."

Small joints have become big business in California. The state's biggest
pot brands have followed suit, recognizing the reality that many
customers don't actually want that much weed in one session. Micro
joints "have exploded" in popularity in the last few years according to
Eli Melrod, the CEO and co-founder of the dispensary chain Solful. He
said his company is now working on releasing its own version of the
bite-sized blunts under the house brand.

Micro joint fans say their benefits are plentiful. The smaller portion
allows them to easily be finished in one sitting, as opposed to a larger
joint that might require you to put it out and carry around a smelly half-smoked joint in your pocket. Modern pot is extremely potent, so
many cannabis users simply don't want to smoke a full gram joint.

Chad Heschong, the founder of Selfies, an Oakland brand that exclusively
sells tiny joints, compared his smaller portions to an evening drink.

"It's for someone who just wants to take the edge off after a long day
of work," Heschong said. "It's like having a glass of wine versus
drinking a full handle."

Heschong created his brand in 2017 with his wife Kristen, who noticed
that he kept leaving half-smoked joints around the house.

"We were smoking joints and we'd leave them on the coffee table and she
hated [them]," Heschong said. "She went, 'Why don't you just start
rolling smaller joints?'"

Heschong said the only small joint he had previously seen was a half
gram, but he took the concept even further by releasing a joint that's
just 0.25 gram. Selfies sells the joints in two-packs, 12-packs and even 28-packs, which he said have become very popular for weddings and other
parties where people want to share cannabis with a big group.

Marty Higgins, the CEO of the dispensary chain Urbana, said a brand
called Dogwalkers originally pioneered the mini joint around the idea of something you could smoke on a short walk with your dog. He said smaller
joints were rare at first, but now they've become their own subcategory
of products. He said mini joint customers "lean towards a more mature
audience who are looking for a little less" cannabis consumption.

The growth of tiny joints also points to a subtle way commercialization
of pot has shifted cannabis culture. During the scarce days of marijuana prohibition, passing a communal joint around a group of friends was a
cherished ritual for smokers. But legalization has made pot accessible
and affordable - Selfies' two-pack sells for $13 with tax - and the idea
of putting your lips on the same joint that someone else smoked is
becoming as socially acceptable as four friends collectively splitting a
pint of beer.

Heschong said he saw an increase in interest in mini joints during the pandemic, especially because multiple people can still smoke them
together and have a communal experience without sharing germs.

"Joints were created to share, so we wanted to create something that you
could share the experience without sharing the actual joint," Heschong
said.

Heschong, who produces his joints at a manufacturing facility in
Oakland, said his brand now produces over 325,000 mini joints a month,
or nearly 4 million tiny joints a year.

Kristen Heschong, who worked in marketing before transitioning to
cannabis, designed the loud and proud prismatic packaging for the brand.
She said the tiny joints are not only for convenience, but also for
appealing to a different type of stoner.

"I saw a need in the market to have a product that spoke to people like
me that weren't heavy, heavy smokers," Kristen said.

https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/california-tiny-joints-popular-20 034743.php

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