Ricardo Baca
Ricardo Baca is a veteran journalist and thought leader in the legal cannabis space and founder of Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency, which handles public relations, content marketing, social media, events and thought leadership for brands and executives in legal cannabis and other industries.
The Brand Marketing Struggle Is Real
Every category of brand marketing has its challenges, but cannabis brands may have the most difficult path to success. Pharmaceutical ads in national print...
5 Iconic Brands with Staying Power
What will the most meaningful cannabis brands of the future look like? How will we consume them, and what will they taste like? What...
Cannabis Is Essential Medicine Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
American cities are suddenly darkened and quiet, with shuttered restaurants and cafes—and bars, theaters and arenas stripped of their patrons, their staffs, their purposes.
These...
Big Tobacco, Pharma, and Alcohol are All-in on Cannabis: What Now?
Until recently, the popular photoshopped carton of Marlboro cigarettes—with a serrated cannabis leaf in place of Philip Morris International’s gilded crest—was little more than...
Why Cannabis and Alcohol Sales Should Never, Ever be Co-located
A recent article in the Staten Island Advance newspaper started with a seemingly random Billy Joel reference: “A bottle of red. A baggie of...
Marijuana Is Legal! And With Legality Comes Great Responsibility
As you’ve likely realized, marijuana is legal! (For most Americans, at least.) California is beginning to settle into its first set of regulations, and...
The Bogeyman that Wasn’t
Cannabis regulators are hypocrites when it comes to social consumption.
Good journalism depends on solid relationships with sources who not only will return your calls...
Five Things Every Budtender Must Know
I still get excited in that otherwise-unremarkable moment when I’m about to walk through the front door of an unfamiliar cannabis shop. Maybe it’s...
Embracing the Next Generation of Cannabis Business Events
Standing in my Denver office in early June, it all seemed so very far away. In the weeks that followed, I would be heading...
The Cannabis Industry’s Future Depends on Its Media Literacy
Long before candidate Donald Trump deflected any and all criticism lobbed his way as “fake news”—hell, long before Trump was even a candidate for...
