The Leafly Blog

Life, Art and the Boardwalk

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:31:00 -0800

In his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying, Oscar Wilde posited that “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” That strikes us as a “which came first, the chicken or the egg” argument, suitable for loftier and more erudite thinkers than me.

Without getting into which imitates the other more, it is certainly obvious to us that life and art often imitate each other. Moreover, art often reflects, parallels and illuminates life in ways that are informative, insightful and sometimes downright shocking.

We’ve had a profound experience of that aspect of art this week, while catching up on episodes of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

Boardwalk Empire is set in the days immediately following the onset of alcohol prohibition. The first stunning reality is that the criminals couldn’t be happier. Their bootlegging activities have begun in earnest and their profits are sky high.

The dominant character, Nucky Thompson, is a thoroughly corrupt city official who uses the power of his elected position to build, manage and expand his criminal enterprise. Primarily through violence — with some graft, blackmail and extortion thrown in for good measure — Nucky owns the boardwalk.

Beyond his own empire, Nucky is instrumental in extending the reach and expanding the power of organized crime syndicates in other major cities. Although generally likable as a character — at least to us — there is no doubt that Nucky is a dangerous, destructive individual who has been empowered in his criminal enterprise by prohibition.

The G-man antagonist of the drama, Nelson Van Alden, is a seriously flawed individual who exhibits more psychoses than I’m qualified to identify. Using the power of his government position, he vigorously pursues a righteous path to rid the world of evil drink. Seriously, folks, he is one very sick dude.

Both characters benefit immensely from prohibition. One because the otherwise non-violent, victimless commerce in — and consumption of — a popular intoxicant is turned into a violent, insanely profitable criminal enterprise. The other because he now has the legal power to pursue his righteousness. That both of them are government officials is especially significant, and downright disturbing.

Series director Martin Scorsese is obviously an extremely intelligent — even visionary — man. There can be no doubt that he is well aware of the timing of his series in the media. Just when a majority of Americans have declared that cannabis prohibition does more harm than good — and that cannabis should be legalized — Scorsese puts Boardwalk Empire on the screen.

Beyond the rich sets and robust story lines, Scorsese gives us two deeply flawed characters with very complex personalities. The salient characteristic in each is a crazy, mixed-up conundrum of right and wrong. One is a bad guy who’s good, the other is a good guy who’s bad. Such are the unintended consequences that arise with prohibitions: Drug dealers providing employment, and cops on the take.

It seems to us that Boardwalk Empire is indeed art imitating life. The reflections of — and parallels to — a profound current issue are obvious and compelling. If the series was simply a fictional story, we would applaud its allegory and strive to help people gain insight from it about the perils of prohibition.

However, Boardwalk Empire is far more fact than fiction. The characters may be made up, and the story lines may be creative, but the underlying events are purely historical. Alcohol prohibition in America was a devastating, destructive disaster for the country. Ultimately, it was repealed. Let’s hope proponents of cannabis prohibition will be informed by art like Boardwalk Empire and stop the madness!

Leafly Photo Don'ts (part 2)

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:25:00 -0700

In a continuation of our previous post. Every week, Leafly members upload hundreds of photos of cannabis strains. We have spent a lot of time making www.leafly.com a beautiful site; consequently, we’d like our strain photos to match the Leafly aesthetic. Here are some tips to ensure that you photos make it past our editors.

The Palm: 25% of the photos that patients upload include a palm. Please don’t take this as an insult, but most people do not have pretty palms. Seriously, you can’t find one clean surface to use instead of your palm?

Dirty fingers: Please don’t take this as an insult, but most people do not have pretty fingernails. We don’t want to see our medicine in grubby fingertips (left: White Russian, right: Afghan Kush)

Copyrighted images: Big companies love to sue. Leafly does not like to be sued. Please don’t submit photos like this (left: White Widow, right: Acapulco Gold)

Bathtubs: Until we started reviewing photos, we never realized just how much cannabis is grown in the bathtub. When we picture a man taking a shower with his plants before work on Monday morning, it does not seem appealing. This strain has an interesting flavor…it smells like Irish Spring®.

Toilets: Self-explanatory (even in the background of this otherwise nice photo of Banana Kush).

Random Background Guy: We understand that you have friends, but please keep them out your photos of medical cannabis (left: Blue Dream, right: Durban Poison):

Remotes, Gaming Devices and Laptops: These are some of the dirtiest items in any household. There is nothing appealing about the germs on these devices and medical cannabis (Maui Berry & Pineapple Express):

Pets: We get a daily odd assortment of pets (usually dogs, cats, and the occasional rabbit). Thank you for submitting them. We love to see your pets (especially the ones named after cannabis strains), but we never post them. However, this is a picture of a goat named Bubba Kush. It is the only photo of a goat ever submitted to Leafly:

A Great Photo

Finally, this are what good photos looks like. Check out the Purple Cream and Grape Ape:

Best,

The Leafly Team

Leafly Photos Don'ts (Part 1)

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:38:00 -0700

We love the photos uploaded by Leafly members. Every week, Leafly members upload hundreds of photos of cannabis strains. We have spent a lot of time making www.leafly.com a beautiful site; consequently, we want our strain photos to match the Leafly aesthetic. While we have automated most of the process, we still have to review and approve some photos with a live person. With this in mind, we thought that we would post some guidelines to help patients determine the right photos to upload.

Basic Photography Issues

Blurry: A blurry photo does not help patients identify strains by appearance. We are not sure why we get these photos, but we get dozens of them every day. They give us headaches and make us question our own vision.

Flash: Reflections on photos are not helpful.

Now that we have covered the need to focus and avoid flash reflections, let’s move on to backgrounds.

Backgrounds

Car interior: We know that you are excited to obtain your medicine, but please don’t submit a photo with the background being the inside of your car. Parking brakes, shift sticks, radios, glove boxes, and feet do not make for a pleasing background.

Crotch: Because nothing says medicine like someone’s crotch.

Currency: Personally, we don’t get this. Why would you put something that you are going to put into your body on one of the dirtiest items you can find?

Coins: We commend your effort to establish scale, but think about all of the pockets and purses this coin has been in since its minting in 1996. We spend a lot of time visiting dispensaries and we have never heard a patient ask, “Could I please have some pocket lint with my medication?” Check out this coin photo:

A Great Photo

Finally, this is what a great photo looks like. Check out this White Russian:

That is it for part 1. Next time, we are going to cover “The Palm” and “Dirty Fingers.” We are also going to have special appearances by “Pets” and “Random Background Guy.”

Best,

The Leafly Team

Updates updates updates

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:52:53 -0800

It’s been a while since anything has been posted here, we’ve neglected the blog but definitely not the site. I always get questioned on the street with “What has Leafly been up to?”. Outlined below is what we have kept ourselves busy with for the last month or two.

New dispensary menus

For a long time we have been unhappy with the lack of functionality included in our dispensary menu pages. They looked OK and served their simple purpose but perhaps a little boring. We are never satisfied simply matching “the other guys”, time to reach higher. The last two weeks have been spent redesigning menus from the ground up to make them more useful for everybody.

Search: Type in the box to find items on the menu quickly.
Sort: Sort menu items by donation amount, rating, or popularity on Leafly.
Filters!: The most powerful feature on Leafly is the ability to find the perfect strain. We’ve brought this awesomeness into the menus.
Photos: Now dispensaries can upload photos of their flowers, edibles, concentrates, etc.
Strain Details: Read all about strains without leaving the page.

“Safe for work” mode

Leafly has always been a safe site to browse while at work, at home with the kids, or at church. With photos becoming more prominent on the dispensary menu pages we felt it was time to protect our visitors a little more. By default images now are hidden until you opt-in to see them. You only have to do it once and can switch back at any time.

Look for the link in the footer of every page to toggle pics on and off.

Specials

Dispensaries can now post coupons and specials for you to use. Watch for offers from your favorite nearby collectives on their page, lots of great deals flowing through.

Android

We’ve been promising for a while and finally got our Android app launched! Check it out today in the Android Market.

iPhone Update

A small update has been uploaded and pending review with Apple. Added specials, speed enhancements, and other minor fixes. Look for it in the coming days.

Next?

Tons of new features will be coming down the line over the next few weeks and months. We will be improving the existing Leafly experience as well as adding new and useful features. Subscribe to the blog, we promise to update more frequently.

Photos Are Here!

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:41:00 -0700

Yes! You’ve read the headline correctly. After much waiting and requesting we have finally implemented user photos so you can see the strains people are rating.

For a long time, one of the most frequently requested features for Leafly has been the availability of strain photos. Now users can upload pictures at the time of a review or come back later to upload. Show us your meds, and don’t be afraid to get creative.

To start browsing images look for the new camera icon on the top right of a strain page that looks like:

So start taking those photos and uploading right away.

Happy Birthday!

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:24:00 -0700

Well, it’s hard to believe but Leafly has just celebrated its first birthday. What started so small a year ago has grown into something that we couldn’t be more proud of. Since the site has launched we’ve create a community of thousands of registered users writing thousands of cannabis strain reviews and that number is growing faster than ever.

A lot has happened since that first launch day. We’ve created some great new features within the site including a comprehensive dispensary finder, a faster strain explorer, an achievement system, lab testing data integration and so much more. Within the mobile space we’ve launched an iPad app for budtenders and our iOS app (currently running at a 4 star rating!) so our users can take those thousands of strains with them wherever they go. All of this is just the beginning too.

There are lots more to come as well. We really have an exciting roadmap lined up to make Leafly the absolute premier destination for cannabis information. Just a few things you can look forward to throughout the next year of Leafly:

Redesigned pages to make the user experience better than ever
Strain photos. You’ve been asking and we’ve been listening.
iOS App 2.0 with complete account, ability to rate strains, share images and receive notifications
Mobile app for Android devices
Better community controls and an improved reputation system
And a lot more that we don’t want to give away just yet (trust us, it’ll be good)

All of this wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support of our users. It’s because of you that Leafly has done so well and has become such an integral resource to medical marijuana patients throughout the world. We are so happy for your support and can’t thank you enough. Here’s to another year of Leafly!

New Medical Cannabis Legislation in Congress

Wed, 25 May 2011 22:39:17 -0700

Some great news coming out of the House of Representatives this week for the medical cannabis industry and its patients as three new bills were introduced to Congress today by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. One bill designed for patients will protect people acting in accordance with state cannabis laws from being prosecuted by the federal government. The other two bills support dispensaries and collectives, with one that will help ease the tax burden on many dispensaries enabling them to claim business expenses as tax deductions as well as one that pushes to prevent banks from discriminating against dispensaries.

For patients, the ‘States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act’ authored by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) aims to provide immunity from federal prosecution for individuals and entities acting within accordance of state laws regarding medical cannabis usage. In addition it will initiate the process of rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act moving it out of Schedule I and II, an effort with roots tracing back to the early 1970s. The bill is co-sponsored by Congressmen Jared Polis (D-CO), Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) and Congressman Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA).

For dispensaries and collectives the ‘Small Business Tax Equity Act’ authored by Stark allows medical marijuana dispensaries to claim federal tax deductions in the same ways other businesses are legally entitled to, putting a stop to the IRS audits that have been happening recently. The third bill introduced is the ‘Small Business Banking Improvement Act of 2011’ sponsored by Polis, Stark and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and will provide medical marijuana dispensaries full access to banking services through amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act.

All of this is great news for the industry as a whole as real legislation is finally moving forward at the federal level. Be sure to reach out to your representatives to show your support, and for those that may need a refresher, here’s how the three new bills will become laws.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and visit us at Leafly.com.

Show Us Your Stuff

Wed, 04 May 2011 13:43:12 -0700

One of the top requested features on our customer feedback forum has been to display pictures on our strain pages. Today we launched the first step in reaching that goal. Now registered users can upload their own photos after writing a strain review. These uploads will go through an approval process and show up on the site shortly after. With this, we hope to build a large collection of imagery and begin associating the photos back to individual dispensaries so you can have a good idea of medicine quality before making the trip.

Visit any journal page to get started.

http://www.leafly.com/me/journal

Our First App Update

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 22:44:30 -0700

Many of you may have noticed we’ve pushed our first app update for Leafly on iOS devices. It’s a pretty minor update, but we think we’ve made some big improvements and have cleaned up some issues found with the initial launch.

Strains Nearby

Probably the most significant change is the inclusion of filtering to show only those strains available nearby. Similar to the filters now available on the Leafly website, within the app you can now limit the results to just what’s available in your area — a super helpful feature when you are out and about using the mobile app.

Misc. Bug Fixes

We’ve cleaned up the dispensary pages now so each tab within should now load nicely with no more of those strange blank pages showing up. Also, we’ve worked on stability for those iPhone 3G devices and have tested with OS 4.0 without crashing, so if you are still having issues please let us know.

Coming Soon

We’re working on adding your accounts to the app so you can login, rate and review and keep favorites. Stay tuned and be sure to keep the feedback coming so we can help make your Leafly even better.

… and remember, if you are enjoying the app be sure to leave a rating within the AppStore so we can help get the word out!

Explore strains by availability

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:55:53 -0700

We’ve added a new feature to our strain explorer that lets you filter based on geographic area. Now you can drill down to the effects you want and only see strains that you can find nearby. Try some anti-anxiety meds near San Francisco, or maybe you want to giggle in Denver. Reducing clutter and making it easier to find the strains you want is our sole purpose in life.

Significant, but positive, changes

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:02:00 -0800

I’m sure if you spend any sort of time on the internet you have heard a story or two of frustrations and disappointments around Apple’s iPhone app review process. Today, exactly 1 month after submitting our app, we joined the ranks of the rejects.

After all that waiting, Apple had a problem with the content. ”But wait”, I can hear you all screaming at your monitors, “there are plenty of other cannabis-related apps already!” I know, I know. We had those same thoughts, between fits of rage, after having waited for so long only to be so let down. Once composure was regained, we took a deeper look at what the actual issue was.

You see, we fancy ourselves as a site to get legitimate information about a legitimate medicine. Overall we have been successful but there has always been one piece of data that didn’t quite gel with the rest; activities. We have known it was borderline sketchy but didn’t address it until we got this kick in the pants from Apple. No other pharmacological resource would show you what kind of activities you could be doing with various prescription drugs. Adderall: great for studying! Nyquil: it’s fun at parties!

This afternoon, we harnessed that rage and funneled it into some key changes on the site, geared to better representing our beloved herb. The strain activities data has been dropped and replaced by a section where users can tag negative effects for each strain. This has been a requested feature from users and took us all of about an hour to implement, a testament to the awesomeness of our dev team. The debut effects are: anxiety, headaches, dry eyes, dry mouth, paranoia, and dizziness. It may take some time for these to get seeded across all strains (pun intended) but eventually it will prove to be another piece of useful information.

We’ve revised the app to reflect these changes and resubmitted, keep your fingers crossed for a quick review. Remember, when life gives you lemons, you make lemon kush!

If you would like to see something added, as always, feel free to visit our feedback forum.

4,200 Reviews Later

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:15:01 -0800

Never in a million years did I think Leafly would get as big as it has when we earnestly laid down our first lines of code. This morning we passed a big milestone in our quest to be the biggest and best strain review site in all the land. 4,200 reviews submitted by people like you for their most favorite, and not so favorite strains. I took this opportunity to comb through the data and create some incredibly advanced infographics.

First up, top 42 most reviewed strains:

Blue Dream & Sour D are favorites by a pretty big margin. Not much surprise, both are readily available in California dispensaries.

Next, highest rated:

Master Kush gets the honor of being the highest rated strain in our database right now. I should note that I only took strains that have at least 10 distinct reviewers so as to weed out any of the smaller varieties.

Finally, average rating by category:

Here we can see that on average, indicas are given a higher rating than the others. Really the margins are so small I wouldn’t say there is any clear leader at this level. This mostly confirms my suspicion that people love all kinds of weed :).

Updated Strain Explore Page

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 07:59:17 -0800

Today while browsing Hacker News I came across an incredible jquery plugin called isotope. After viewing some demos it became immediately apparent that this would be a great fit for our strain explorer. When this page was originally built I took some shortcuts to get it done quicker and it worked OK most of the time. As the list of strains grew from 50 at launch to over 350, the number of user complaints grew as well. We had always planned to revamp it at some point and isotope seemed custom-made for us and a bargain at only $37!

I set aside a couple hours and rewrote all of the javascript on the page. It still chugs a bit in IE but there are no more script timeout messages. This was a first pass to get it in, optimizations will continue.

Dispensary Filters

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:11:13 -0800

In our long quest to help you find the best dispensary, we have added a few new filters to the map. Need a delivery service that accepts credit cards and posts their menu online? We’ve got you covered.

Following Dispensaries is Better than Ever

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 10:02:06 -0800

Leafly is happy to announce the latest and greatest method of keeping tabs on all the happenings at your local dispensary: the follow button. You may have noticed the new follow button on all dispensary pages under their logo on the top left. Now, with a single click, Leafly users can automatically follow the latest updates from their favorite dispensaries and collectives (think Twitter). Updates are now included on the account page so be sure to go there each time you start your Leafly experience to see what’s new.

Once you choose to follow a dispensary you may be prompted to sign up for mobile updates. These are highly recommended and a great way to keep up-to-date no matter where you are. By opting in for mobile updates, only dispensaries you choose to follow will send you messages. No more spammy, unsolicited text message blasts reaching your phone, only updates you care about. And not to worry! Your number is safe with Leafly in our system and is never shared or given out or sold for any reason whatsoever. All SMS text messaging goes through the Leafly system, so dispensaries never get access to your mobile number.

Keep your eyes peeled for for the Leafly Follower Scan Cards with the funny looking barcodes in your favorite dispensary. Those strange square, two-dimensional shapes are called a QR Code. Scanning one of these with your mobile phone will automatically enable you to follow that dispensary. No more running home, searching for your collective and following. We aim to please.

So sign up for an account if you haven’t already (remember, you can be anonymous) and start following away, never miss an update again.

Dispensary Reviews

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 21:36:46 -0800

Now you can leave reviews of your favorite local dispensaries on Leafly.com. Visit any dispensary page and check out the Reviews tab.

Rate the quality of medicine, service, atmosphere and leave any comments that other patients would find helpful. Hit up the dispensary finder to get started.

The Missing Link

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:18:35 -0800

Leafly is happy to announce the launch of our medical marijuana dispensary and cannabis collective pages! Now in addition to our great strain rating and review information we now have local medical marijuana dispensary informational pages so you can get the latest updates, check out menus, photos and more.

We think of our new dispensary section as the missing link between the strain ratings and you, our user. For a while now we’ve had nearby dispensaries in your area listed on the strain ratings pages, but for the first time you can search around your area with our custom map to see all the different locations near you. We support the latest Geolocation APIs so searching finding a local dispensary is easier than ever before, no need to manually enter addresses or ZIP codes.

With the dispensary info pages we’ve included some cool stuff. As a user on Leafly, you can follow your favorite dispensary to stay current with their latest updates and specials. An enhanced menu includes everything a collective has to offer including flowers, edibles, concentrates, clones and more. Photos will help give you a good idea of what to expect when walking in the door and an integrated map can provide you with driving directions — all without leaving Leafly.

This is just the start and we’ve got a lot planned for the future, so stay tuned!

1k Reviews!

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:23:00 -0700

We just crossed over our 1,000th review submitted to Leafly. ~~Ironically~~ Coincidentally it was for one of my faves, AK-47, which happens to be the very first strain we created in the database back in June. Currently there are 209 different strains listed with more being added every day. Keep the reviews and comments coming, we have lots of exciting new things to share soon.

Magic-Flight Launch Box

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 18:04:06 -0700

We are giving away a free Magic-Flight Launch Box herbal vaporizer to one lucky twitter follower. Hurry and sign up if you haven’t already, this contest only runs for a week. If you aren’t familiar with the Launch Box it is pretty much the Cadillac of coolness on the vaporizer circuit. This one is extra cool because it is engraved (by lasers!) with the Leafly logo. There are only five of these in the universe, we fully expect them to sell for big bucks on ebay in a couple years.

Here is one chilling on my desk

For more details and how to enter the most awesomest giveaway ever to be introduced on the interwebs, visit our contest page.

ps. Don’t call it a lunch box, you will be laughed out of your smoking circle, trust me, I know :(

Exhibitionists Rejoice!

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:38:00 -0700

At Leafly we take your privacy seriously. Some areas where this really stands out include letting people rate strains anonymously, not requiring email addresses for user accounts, defaulting all strain notes as private, keeping profiles private by default… the list goes on and on — in a good way! But we do recognize that some people are a little more open with their usage, and for these exhibitionists we’ve created a public profile page. How else are you going to show off all those achievements?

To activate the new public profile page, head over to the settings page and just select the new checkbox within the contact section that says ‘Make my profile public’ (some of you that are reviewing have already done this, and the public pages will be activated instantly). Once selected, users will be able to link to your profile through any comments or notes you’ve left for a particular strain.On the public profile page users can view your journal entries, achievements you’ve unlocked and favorites. This should help other users find out the best strains, follow their favorite reviewers (looking at you JackDaniel), and just generally see what others like/dislike from the wonderful world of strains. We’ve kept it really simple for the first pass, so that means no user profile pics, messaging or links (we aren’t Facebook quite yet). This is just a first pass, so stay tuned for more features to be available through the new public profiles page.

And remember exhibitionists, by activating your public profile and reviewing a strain you will unlock the Exhibitionist badge, you deserve it!