Xzibit: It’s the Lasagna Ganja Podcast with Mr. X to the Z, Xzibit.

Tammy: And I’m Tammy aka The Cannabis Cutie.

Xzibit: What do you know about the Bay Area? Because I have an opinion on northern California and southern California cannabis.

Tammy: As a person born in deep southern California, I love the Bay Area for their music. I also know that it’s cold, and I know that Sacramento is NOT part of the Bay, they’ve made that very clear.

Xzibit: The Bay is a different thing. First of all, Californian West Coast culture is embedded in tradition. The Bay wants to be NOTHING like southern California.

The gangs aren’t up there like that, they’re “loyal to the soil”, and if you diss Mac Dre something might happen to you!

When it comes to cannabis, it’s different as well. There are a lot of nature purists up there, so believe it or not southern California brands have a hard time surviving up north. It’s a whole different terrain.

Today we have somebody on the show who is not only navigating that terrain, he’s thriving in it. He’s a very humble guy, and I loved talking to him at MJBizCon. Guys say hello to Tucky.

Tucky: What’s going on you guys? Thanks for having me. I’m blessed.

Xzibit: Good! So tell our listeners what you’re doing for the Bay Area in terms of cannabis.

Tucky: I am the first ex-felon convicted for selling cannabis to have a retail store. The store is called Blunts and Moore. My last name is actually Blunt.

Xzibit: No way! Is it really?

Tucky: Yeah my legal name is Blunt. That’s why when I introduced my wife I called her Mrs. Blunt, I wasn’t joking!

Xzibit: That is fucking fire!

Tammy: Written in the stars!

Tucky: I’m a fifth generation Oaklander, husband, and father. I’ve been selling weed since ‘96 and got arrested for it in 2005. That’s when I learned about the Social Equity Program.

The program gives people with cannabis charges a chance to own equity in the legal space. So that makes me the first person convicted for selling cannabis who owns a cannabis store. We opened in the Bay in 2018.

I’m actually friends now with the officers who arrested me. They were just doing their jobs.

Xzibit: Wow, that’s dope. Last name is Blunt AND you’re cool with the arresting officers.

Tucky: It’s crazy because I sold weed for 9 years and never had a problem, until somebody snitched on me. I stayed off the radar by only selling to who I wanted to, which was mainly co-workers.

I found that it was a gold mine to have a 9-5 job and sell to your co-workers. I did it that way because if I sold it on the corner I knew I would get arrested. Which is what happened. As soon as I got on the corner, I got snitched on.

Xzibit: Where were you working?

Tucky: When I started I was just working at the grocery store. When I turned 25 I got a government job for Alameda County. I worked with people who did all kinds of drugs but were still functioning co-workers.

It was a wrap from there, I made more money selling drugs at my job then I did actually working. I’ve been telling people for years you don’t need to be on the corner to sell. Just find your customers.

Cannabis got all my kids through school, and that’s how I met my wife of 18 years. I’ve been selling since 1996 and up until a year ago I’ve really enjoyed it.

Xzibit: That’s a great story. What was the process like when you opened your store in 2018? Did you have to raise capital or bring in partners?

Tucky: In 2017 I was working for Tesla, until I got into an argument with my boss and got fired. I was at home crying when I got a phone call from a friend telling me about the Social Equity Program.

I did research and saw it was legit. He said that he knew some people in Atlanta who want the license, but they needed somebody in Oakland who fit the criteria to apply for the license.

I met with them and I thought we hit it off. We didn’t think we’d actually win, because it’s a lottery.

I had to pick a numbered ping pong ball and put it in a chamber with 36 more, they picked them out one by one and the last four remaining got the licenses. It was fair, which is what I liked about it.

After that, we found somebody who had a grow house and a dispensary space, but they only had a grow license.

So with my license, they let us rent it out. We also worked out a deal that included a loan for capital. That’s how it got started.

Xzibit: I love it when things line up like that.

Tucky: I was just walking the path that was already laid for me. Everything that has happened and is happening is meant for me. Even the headaches.

Tammy: Yeah everybody romanticizes the cannabis industry, but you know about all the headaches. I can really see your passion and I’m so happy that you stuck with it.

Xzibit: Tell us about the top things that you’re dealing with now that you weren’t expecting back then. What are your top headaches?

Tucky: Well first I’d have to say the crime around Oakland. Taxes are also huge, and lastly I’d have to say misinformation in the space.

Tammy: I agree, especially with the taxes and inflation. Businesses are pulling out of California, and I want to warn the rest of the country that it’s coming for them too.

Xzibit: With all the tech companies growing there, the Bay Area has become one of the most expensive places to live in the country. People who are forced out have been there forever.

Tucky: My shop is across the street from the Oakland Coliseum. When we first opened, the A’s were there, the Raiders were there, and the Warriors were there. Now, none of them are there.

Tammy: Those sports teams are big sources of revenues for cities. When you take them all away it damages their economy, similar to what happened in Detroit when all of the factories were moved overseas.

When it comes to crime, you can say people are just takers. But really, it’s survival mode.

Tucky: It’s unfortunate because all I want to do is have a prospering business in MY city. At the same time, I know my brand worth and I know how successful I’d be if I took it elsewhere.

I WANT to stay in my city but I don’t HAVE to. I’m here because I’m choosing to be there and I’m trying to do something for my community.

Xzibit: Out of 100 percent, how much would you say that not having the coliseum foot traffic has diminished the access to your store?

Tucky: 50%! We were doing about 200 customers a day in 2019. Now with all of the teams and businesses leaving, I only see between 85-125 people a day.

Xzibit: Are you making enough to cover your overhead?

Tucky: Yeah I’m covering overhead, but I wasn’t making money for a while. Now I’m making money, but it’s because I fired my partners.

Unfortunately I had to deal with them stealing from me, twice. Now that I’m not dealing with that, I have money coming in.

Xzibit: Wow people suck! As a business owner, do you see value in hiring friends and family?

Tucky: It all depends. I’ve only hired one, my brother Dre. I don’t want to say no, I’m going to say it depends on the person. Typically I don’t really want family working at my store though.

I think it’s funny how everybody I meet wants to own a store and own a strain, because they think it’s all sweet and they don’t know about all of the negatives.

Xzibit: It’s very hard. I’ve worked in every aspect of the cannabis industry, it was hell to pay but I’ve learned from all of the land mines that I stepped on.

I don’t hire friends and family, I go for people who are qualified for the position.

Tucky: It doesn’t help with all of the time limits that come with these deals.

A lot of times, if you wait too long to do something you’ll lose your license. So I’ve found myself having to choose the best snake to work with due to timing concerns.

Xzibit: Yeah, it’s not easy. Would you ever think about opening up stores in southern California, or even a different state?

Tucky: I tell people all the time, if you have a license and want to make your store a “Blunts and Moore”, then I have a franchise package for you! I just need a one-time franchise fee of $125,000 and then 3% of gross.

Tammy: Me personally, I have no interests playing in the legal game. I’d rather collaborate with somebody who already has licensing in place. There’s just so much red tape.

Xzibit: I HAVE to stay legal, they can’t wait for me to fuck up!

Tucky: Same for me. With my past, they’re just waiting for me to even think about doing something outside the lines.

But I try to stay positive: I own a legal cannabis store in the same city that I was arrested for selling cannabis in. I don’t want people to see my store and think I’m new to this, I’ve been around cannabis since I was 16.

I hate that I haven’t been enjoying it as much lately, because I’ve always truly loved working with cannabis. There’s definitely some positives, but they make it very hard to enjoy them.

Tammy: The good news is, even when you close the curtains you don’t have to leave the cannabis industry. You’re a consultant now! You can go anywhere and open up stores now that you’ve dealt with your city.

Xzibit: With the franchising model, do you have quality control? Do you sell them packaging?

Tucky: I bring all of my SOP’s with me to their story. The difference is, every state and city has different rules. So I might have to modify the product I’m bringing from California depending on the state.

Everything I do in my stores, from the security all the way to the courses that I teach, is included in the franchise package.

Xzibit: You teach courses? Tell me about that.

Tucky: It all started with Tammy. I met her 3 years ago and saw that she was involved in cannabis education. One day I just called her up and asked her to help me get started, and she started helping right away.

I give people 6 week courses for $1,000. Each course is tailored to what the customer wants to achieve. I’m very hands on and involved with my customers. I’ve had 6 students total, and I used the money to buy podcasting equipment.

Tammy: We need so many more people trying to educate. Just like I speak to a specific audience, so does Tucky. We need more people who can collaborate to reach different types of demographics and teach them about this plant.

Tucky: I’m also the kind of person who wants to help out other people who look like me. For instance, I called Tammy one time when I heard that somebody was looking for a cannabis instructor. It might not always pan out, but I’m going to at least try.

We really need more cannabis educators.

Xzibit: I like to think of the cannabis industry as the wild west. Because it’s so new, we are learning and picking up things as we go.

Tammy: I’m so glad you are talking about all of the problems that come with the cannabis industry. Especially the licensing and banking problems. Getting cannabis rescheduled will change a lot of that.

Tucky: I don’t understand, just DESCHEDULE it. I know at the end of the day it’s all about big pharma making money, but don’t they realize they can make their money off of weed?

Do people even realize that we have an Endocannabinoid System in our own bodies? It’s specifically dedicated to receiving the plant.

Tammy: We’ve talked about it on this show before, Jesus’ anointing oil contained cannabis.

Xzibit: I firmly believe that if Jesus walked this earth, he DEFINITELY used cannabis. Do you think he liked indica or sativa?

Tammy: For spiritual purposes, I’m going to have to say indica.

Xzibit: I know we’re drifting off, but I have another question. We hear about all these crazy parables and healing that Jesus did, do you think that we take the Bible too literally.

Tammy: I do. But I also think that things weren’t translated or passed down correctly. There are just so many interpretations and people seem to take some parts of the Bible too seriously compared to other parts.

Before modern religions we actually used polytheism, and the female deity was associated with cannabis. When polytheism fell, things like female religious leaders and cannabis were considered Pagan.

Xzibit: This conversation should be for a completely different show!

Back to your store, Tucky. Even with all the challenges, you’re still thriving. What is something that you’d want your future franchisee to know about, when it comes to what you’ve built?

Tucky: I’d want them to know that because I am somebody who genuinely loves cannabis and also selling cannabis, I’m going to hold them accountable for having that same love and passion.

I don’t want anybody to just try and put bullshit in the store. I want them to take the same pride as I do and strive to bring people together through cannabis.

I also want them to know how strongly I feel about supporting black business owners. I’m not saying that I don’t deal with white people, but I’m saying I want to see black men and women succeeding too.

Xzibit: It’s all about camaraderie, and the Bay Area has a different kind of camaraderie. I talk to people like Mr Fab, and seeing how passionate he is about his people is really inspiring.

Tucky: Shoutout to him, it’s his birthday today. It’s also my grandmother's birthday who passed away, and I’ve never done an interview on her birthday. Happy birthday, Grandma. She used to grow weed and everything!

I’ve always been around weed. In my childhood, weed wasn’t bad to us. The D.A.R.E. program was a joke to us!

Both my parents were trappers. My daddy would sell five dollar joints when he was in high school, and my mama was his helper.

Xzibit: So it’s the family business. Your last name is Blunt and everything!

Tucky: It’s crazy, because with my store “Blunts and Moore”, I’m recreating the same lifestyle I was living back when I got arrested in 2005.

Xzibit: You speak a lot about black-owned businesses. Do you seek out black-owned cannabis strains to put into your store?

Tucky: Yes I do. It’s very hard for the black-owned brands.

Xzibit: Why is that?

Tucky: Because of funding. Other brands have enough funding to go buy more weed, but the black brands will be good one week and then not good for 6-8 months.

The black-owned brands still want me to pick them up, and I do. But the problem is, if their brand isn’t selling they don’t have the funding to buy new product.

Tammy: There’s also a marketing issue.

Tucky: That too. A lot of them won’t send anybody to come physically sell the product, leaving it up to us to sell their stuff.

As much as I love black people I’d love to have more black brands in the store, but the brands just have to do better and they also need to work collaboratively to lift each other up.

Tammy: A lot of it comes down to them not understanding business. I wouldn’t call it laziness, but I would call it an overwhelming lack of education.

Tucky: That’s why I do everything I can do to help black-owned businesses. I have no problem helping them get started so that they can build up and branch out. We have to support each other.

It could be so easy, but people just don’t want to help each other. Ten millionaires could invest $100,000 each into one black-owned business with a 3% return, and then they could take their returns to invest into another one. They just don’t want to help each other.

Tammy: Unfortunately that’s not how capitalism works.

Xzibit: It’s the same way in the music business.

It’s sad because the black community spends trillions of dollars a year as consumers, but when it comes to financially supporting each other there’s a hesitation.

Tammy: There was a time where black Americans DID have that business sense. There were multiple black Wallstreet’s that were ended by white rage.

It’s just that systemically we’ve been divided, and we accepted that. Because of that, even today black people aren’t all heading in the direction of unity.

We CAN do it. We can defend ourselves now, we have more rights.

Xzibit: It should be easier now more than ever, because we have more access to each other.

I think that the most dangerous thing right now is that even though we are all connected with our phones, nobody is fact-checking anything any more. There’s so much misinformation out there these days and we just believe all of it.

Tammy: And the misinformation is intentional. The media is radicalizing people and turning them into machines. It is so sinister.

Xzibit: I think that’s the most dangerous part. I feel so bad for kids these days, especially when it comes to dating.

Tammy: I know! My plan is just to keep loving my friends and sharing my life with them. It’s hard out here in the dating world.

Xzibit: I’m usually not one to get all interested about the end of the world, but with how crazy things have been I had the idea to go get 5 acres of land.

Tucky: Are you building a bunker?

Xzibit: I’m not doing all that! I don’t want to be underground. If it’s all ending, I’m going to fight!

But things like this makes me think, “maybe we should disconnect the internet for about 5 years just to bring everybody back down to reality”. I think people are over-sensitive and super tight.

Which brings us back to cannabis, which is a stress reliever for people like me. I think if people would just calm down and take the time to learn it would be very helpful. But tensions are staying high and people are still stirring up.

Tammy: This isn’t who we should be, nobody’s polite to anybody any more. Weed brings people together, which is why everybody should just get high together!

Xzibit: Like a mandatory 4/20! Well Tucky, we thank you for coming in and talking with us today. You have such a cool story and we love what you strive to do for black business owners.

If people want to learn more, where can they get in touch with you?

Tucky: @tuckyblunt is my name on all social media platforms. But I’d rather people support the store rather than follow me. You can follow and support the store at @bluntsandmoore510 on all social media platforms.

Xzibit: And if people want to reach out about a franchise package, how can they reach out to you?

Tucky: I’ll have to give you my email address off the air, I don’t want that information out everywhere.

You can hit my IG and if you’re serious, I’ll give you the information. Serious inquiries only!

Also I want to give one more piece of advice, and that’s trademark. In order to prevent your stuff from getting stolen, trademark your creations.

Also, patience is important in this game. It’s a long plan. Think about it, legalization only started 8 years ago. It’s important to build a brand with the long-term in mind.

There’s so much good that can come from this plant. Look at all the cool people I’ve met and interacted with, all because of cannabis. I just want people to know that, I want my kids to know that.

Xzibit: How old are your kids?

Tucky: The oldest will be 25 in May, we have two that are turning 24 this year, one that is turning 19 this year, and our baby just turned 16.

Xzibit: So what’s the age that you’ll let them all smoke?

Tucky: All of them smoke, except for the 16 year old. They all started when they were about 13 or 14. I started when I was 13.

Like I said, it's just how we grew up. Weed wasn't bad to us when we were growing up. I just tell them to make sure they buy from good sources. In most cases, I’m their weed man.

Tammy: My daughter asked if she could smoke, and I was so shook up. I don’t know what to do, because if I say no she’s just going to go do it anyways. She’s 13.

Tucky: I will say that we didn’t smoke with any of our kids until they were 18.

When it comes to your daughter, at least you’re in the education space so you can correctly teach them the truth.

Tammy: I personally don’t think that she’s ready because she’s not emotionally regulated yet. She’s a great kid, gets straight A’s. Once she’s more emotionally regulated, I’ll know she's ready.

It’s crazy being a teenager these days. X, you said that you don’t really think about the end of the world? Well, all of the teenagers do! They don’t see a future on this planet.

Xzibit: Well speaking of ending shit, this has been the Lasagna Ganja Podcast with Mr X to the Z Xzibit.

Tammy: And I’m Tammy aka The Cannabis Cutie.

Xzibit: Thank you again for coming in, Tucky. I hope we can talk 6-8 months from now so you can tell us how things are going.

Hopefully you’ll be telling me how you’ve opened a second store.

Tucky: We’ll definitely be talking. Say less!