Marijuana industry gets blunt: Stop using the word ‘pot’

He was dressed in a three-piece suit. But Chris Coggan nearly went unnoticed when he dropped by a San Diego city councilor’s office last year to do some lobbying on marijuana laws.

“An aide came to reception and asked, ‘Where’s the pot guy?,’ said Coggan, co-founder of Therapy Tonics & Provisions, a La Jolla cannabis drink company.

“He seemed to be looking for someone in a tie-dyed shirt with a joint stuck behind his ear.”

California voters overwhelming approved the use of recreational marijuana in 2016. And licensed stores in San Diego began selling it on January 1st, generating brisk business.

But marijuana still carries a stigma that surfaces with the use of old slang like pot and weed. For many, the words evoke an image of lazy, not-so-bright people who puff their lives away.

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