“If you’ve eaten an apple, if you’ve gotten any kind of fresh produce at a cannabis event, it came from my team.”
I have never seen Lucas Thayer without him offering me an apple. A lot of people can say the same thing, but for me it’s slightly different since I am allergic to most fruit. Thayer is a longtime cannabis advocate and solid guy by any measure, so I always feel a little bad turning down the offer, but I no longer have to reject him. Because while I can’t bite an apple without itching all around my mouth, he finally has his own weed brand, and I can definitely smoke what he is offering.
After waiting in the wings and advocating for what seemed like an eternity, earlier this year Thayer finally put his own product on the market. He’s still a distance from having his own licensed grow, but his eighths and prerolls have arrived thanks to cultivator partners and determination—and it’s all under the most fitting name imaginable, Apple Guy Flowers.
“I’ve lived in Massachusetts for a total of 25 years,” Thayer wrote in his initial application to the Cannabis Control Commission in 2022. “For the past seven [years] I have been building a farm business in Harvard, Mass on a piece of land owned and farmed by my family for four generations.”
He continued: “I’ve grown fruits and vegetables and sold them at local farmers markets, the town’s general store, and countless outdoor and indoor music festivals and craft fairs. … Now that events have resumed and the worst of the pandemic is behind us, I have continued to work my farmers markets and music festivals with fresh produce. If licensed, I plan to carry on the business of farming, with the help of the added resources gained by cultivating cannabis as well.”
We spoke with Thayer about the genesis of his iconic Johnny Appleweed initiative, plus his plans to keep on pushing for good policy using the profits from his canna business.
CF: Alright, it’s a long time coming. You have been doing this forever, man …
LT: So the Apple origin story. I went to the Cannabis Control Commission meetings. I went to the state legislature [to testify] before they called it the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, asking for better policies on cannabis in Massachusetts, asking for sensible apple-esque policies on cannabis in Massachusetts for a long time. I’ve been going to the commission listening sessions when they’re asking for our opinions. I’ve also been going to the commission meetings where they’re not asking for our opinions, and I’ll still deliver my opinion anyway.
You were recently thanked for delivering your opinion more than anybody else …
I did get that honorary award for best attendance [at the] Cannabis Control Commission. I do appreciate [former] Commissioner [Nurys] Camargo for inventing that award for me. And so that’s the Apple origin story. I’ve taken that apple and turned it into a brand. I’ve taken the brand of fresh produce at cannabis events and showcased booths of sometimes 20 linear feet or more of fresh produce available for sale at every cannabis event you’ve been to in New England for the past decade. So if you’ve eaten an apple, if you’ve gotten any kind of fresh produce at a cannabis event, it came from my team.
And you’ve also been with MassCann forever, advocating, but now you finally have a product to market …
I do. I have eighths and prerolls finally available through the licensed marketplace. Look at the sticker, it says Apple Guy Flowers. And it is a biodegradable hemp plastic package. So if there’s a retailer that wants to feature some of these products, we’ve got one-gram prerolls and eighths and biodegradable hemp packaging.
For the past decade, I’ve been providing fruits and vegetables and meaningful testimony in legislative hearings and [CCC] listening sessions, and now I’m asking for [the public’s] support. I’m asking for folks to take my product, put it on their menu, and sell it in their dispensary so that I can continue doing advocacy work that people love to see.
What’s up with the product, and where can people get it?
The material is good quality buds, not shake or trim. I’m happy to provide a high-quality product for licensed Massachusetts dispensaries and delivery operators.
Right now I’m featured in the menu of Delivered Inc., a social equity-owned delivery operator based out of Clinton. I appreciate them believing in me, and I’m hoping to get some more dispensaries and delivery operators too.
