Cannabis, Crypto And Karate Combat: Nashville Hits The Trifecta

By Todd Harrison via Cannabis Confidential (July 27)

History was made Thursday when Karate Combat 48 arrived in Nashville, Tennessee.

I had never been to an MMA event—or to Nashville, for that matter—but as a fight and music fan, I was eager to check those boxes off my bucket list.

I reached out to a buddy from high school who now lives in Florida to see if he would like to meet me there, which was exactly what happened late Wednesday; and after a few hours of acclimating to the Music City, Paul and I were ready for fight night.

Why this fight, and what sorta history, you ask? Our portfolio company Horticulture, which owns the Cure Brand and Tempters, was one of the top sponsors of the event, which was the first THC sponsorship of a professional sports league, the first time THC was sold at a Tennessee arena, and the first time that cannabis and crypto—the other top sponsors—have combined forces.

I'm not a crypto guy, but I've been watching the industry evolve as an emerging asset class. In fact, I remember sitting on a MarketWatch panel over ten years ago talking about the potential for Bitcoin as I dug into the cannabis space. I felt better about the latter, given my experiences; we know what happened next.

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The irony of these streams again crossing ten years later wasn't lost on me. We talk about the opportunity cost of the canna trade and there is no better example than crypto—and their community was out in force at the Nashville conference.

Security was tight. The Secret Service surveilled the area and TSA-on-steroids patted us down as we entered the arena. They were thorough too, (hypothetically) finding a (hypothetical) Big Dog in one pocket, a (hypothetical) Sunburn vape in another…

…which made it more surreal when, after entering the arena, we were encouraged to consume as many Tempter's THC-infused drinks as we could swallow.

I eschewed booze for canna drinks a year ago but this was different—it was in public and in a red state, no less. As I absorbed the dichotomy, Paul pulled at me and said, "hey, you wanna do this," so I did, not knowing what this was, which is when I met Hailey, better known as the "Hoch Tuah Girl," for reasons I'll let you research yourself.

Hoch Tuah Hailey Welch

We made our way to the pit, where I felt a bit like Luke Skywalker must have felt the first time he walked into the Cantina. I was fascinated by the personalities that surrounded me, many of them young and happy, all of them seemingly wealthy.

I chatted up a friendly fella named Nick who told me who the players that were seated around us were, from Brock Pierce in an orange fedora to Charlie Lee…

…to this guy, who reminded my old ass of Daft Punk and that guy wearing a $500K diamond necklace, which I was told would be auctioned over the weekend.

A bedazzled Johnny Dang

It was sensory overload, but I did pick up a few themes. For starters, I didn't hear one person mention hemp-based cannabinoid drinks. I did, however, hear everyone rave how much they loved the cannabis drinks—almost as if it were the same plant (it is).

We've talked about the Hemp Wars, and how interesting a case study it will be: one industry has ground through every impediment imaginable to reach $40B annual revs and the other slipped through a Farm Bill loophole and grew to the same size—with some states retrofitting regulations as others banning intoxicating hemp altogether.

All the while, cannabis remains a Schedule I narcotic, deemed worse than fentanyl.

The Tennessee crowd didn't seem to care either way, with the (hypothetical) exception of law enforcement, which demonstrates how f*cked up incongruent this construct is.

The U.S. government already told us that cannabis is healthier for us than alcohol—is it too much to ask to have Tempters and our (hypothetical) Big Dogs too?

UFC legends Ben Askren and Kenny Florian

16X MMA Grand Slam Champion (and nice person) Cris Cyborg

The reason for the Secret Service was revealed when RFK Jr. arrived. I'm pretty sure he would agree that canna is part of the societal solution but I didn't get a chance to ask.

I don't have the sea legs I used to so by the time the fights ended at 11:30 (12:30 ET), I was gassed—but Tempter's was hosting the after-party and we couldn't be rude.

"We'll show face, shake hands and then get some sleep," I said to Paul, who also had an early flight, as we made our way to Broadway after a pit-stop for pizza.

If I'm being honest, I doubt I woulda been at The Valentine if I were still drinking—but I dropped booze, thanks largely to Tempter's (true story). Still, it was good to step out of my comfort zone and connect with stakeholders and influencers outside my orbit.

Tempter's newest brand ambassador Ne-Yo was there, hydrating himself before he hits the road for his latest tour…

As was Young Buck, not to be confused with old money.

Young Buck

"These drinks aren't replacing cannabis," I said, more than once, "they replace alcohol—at 5 calories a can—and is an introduction to cannabinoids that opens the door to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the plant."

But don't take my (our) word for it, find out for yourself. "TODD24" will slice 25% off your first purchase and "TODD" is good for 20% after that, which is the same discount that I get, and the getting is good ($4/can when ordering a case).

We're gonna have a busy stretch through the election w a shit-ton of uncertainties along the way but one thing seems abundantly clear: as our democracy dithers, canna consumption continues to manifest as the political elders age out and now, even the cool kids are paying attention.

Have a safe journey and please enjoy responsibly.

If you'd like to help Mission [Green] change federal cannabis policies, please click here.

CB1 has positions in / advises some of the companies mentioned and nothing contained herein should be considered advice.

This article is from an external unpaid contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash