Grower Stories #74: Joe Musco

A Passion for Puffing: An Interview with Joe Musco of Top-Notch Cannagar Manufacturer PSS

Tired of boring old joints, blunts, and bong rips? Why not step your smoking game up a notch with some classy, tasty cannagars. That’s where a brand like PSS Cannagars comes in. AskGrowers sits down with Joe Musco about the origins of the cannagar brand, tier process to creating their unique products, and what’s next for the brand.

I’ve always had a love of cannabis. There’s no better way to relax and melt the stress of the day away than smoking with friends. For years I avoided cannabis due to my career and the risks of it being a controlled substance. With the progress made in legalization, however, more and more people will set aside the bottle and the day after hangovers for the pleasures of cannabis.

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Tia (AskGrowers) : How did you start the brand? Tell us your origin story!

Joe Musco : I love smoking pure cannabis. No papers, no tobacco, just cannabis. Cannagars were available at dispensaries mostly made in expensive metal molds with the finished product costing $150 - $250 per cannagar. I looked for one of the molds that sell for more than $100 and realized that there is no need for such a complicated mold for the average user. Utilizing my background as an aerospace engineer, I decided to make an easier-to-use product that can be sold for a fraction of the price.

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Tia : From taking a look at your website, your cannagars seem to be really popular! What do you think has made these cannabis cigars such a hit? What are the effects of those? (the effect lasts longer/it impacts your body in a different way etc?)

Joe : Oh that’s easy! Cannagars are amazing. They give you the smoothest, longest-lasting smoke possible. The biggest issue out there is the average user doesn’t know what a cannagar is but as soon as someone brings it around all their friends want one for themselves. The creativity we have seen from users has been awesome. Due to the slow steady burn of a cannagar, you can add any concentrate you want. Wax, shatter, crumble, butter, etc. Personally, I like to add some crumble to the mold and roll it in kief afterward.

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Tia : What’s your personal cannabis consumption routine? Can you share the best ways to consume cannabis in your opinion?

Joe : I smoke like some people drink, after hours and on weekends. I do like to take days off during the week to keep my tolerance lower and reduce the effects of the smoke on my body. Prior to cannagars, I was a big joint smoker but since switching to mostly cannagars and the occasional bong and dabs. I have found my lungs feel so much better without even the small amount of paper in a joint.

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Tia : What’s your best-case-scenario for the future of the cannabis industry? What's the ceiling for the industry?

Joe : The sky is the limit! Stop the prohibition, people need a break from reality. When people use cannabis responsibly (not while working, not while driving, or utilizing dangerous equipment, etc.) the consequences are so much better than alcohol. Cannabis doesn’t weaken your immune system, it doesn’t ruin your sleep or cause hangovers the way alcohol does. As the prohibition is ended I feel more and more people will turn to cannabis to relax, mentally heal, and socialize.

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Tia : What’s your current best-selling product? What’s the next big addition to your brand’s line-up?

Joe : Our best-selling product is the 28 Ring Gauge Single Mold. This mold holds about 4-6 grams and will burn for about an hour. I like this one for my personal use and for small groups of friends.

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Tia : Do you want to work with any other brands in the cannabis industry to share cannagars production?

Joe : I would love to see more custom sizes of hemp shells to fit over the cannagars. This is something we are beginning to work on with suppliers.

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Tia : If you could do two things that would impact the cannabis industry, what would that be? (if we don’t count the legalization part)

Joe : I think the big one is education. The media and government for years had focused so heavily on negatives (both truly and falsely) about cannabis that it’s going to take some time to reeducate everyone on the pros and cons of cannabis consumption. I expect due to the money involved with alcohol it’s going to take some time for the true comparisons to be made to the general public.

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Tia : What would be your advice to the start-ups? Any tips and tricks to start and handle the business? What’s the biggest stumbling block that new, upstart brands should try to avoid?

Joe : Don’t overextend yourself in any way financially or in production demands. The industry will be around for a long time. Start small and grow at the right pace. Early on we grew pretty fast and our quality did suffer some. We have since removed some products and focused on quality (Our molds are now made by injection molding and we use the same materials as Lego’s) and growing at our own speed.

Here are our priorities as a brand:

• Create a quality product at the best possible price.
• Customer service – If our product does break we offer a free replacement.

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Tia : If you could smoke with anyone in this world, who would that be and why?

Joe : [tooltip title="Michael Gerard Tyson" content="US former professional boxer."]Mike Tyson[/tooltip] – I’m a huge boxing fan, [tooltip title="Joseph James "Joe" Rogan" content="US stand-up comedian, podcast host and legal cannabis supporter."]Joe Rogan[/tooltip] – I love his views on the benefits and [tooltip title="Elon Reeve Musk" content="Billionaire entrepreneur, known as co-founder, investor and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink."]Elon Musk[/tooltip] – I could only imagine the mind-boggling conversations to be had.

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You can follow PSS Cannagars at:

Facebook

Thank you so much, PSS Cannagars team, for taking the time to do the interview. To learn more about them, head on over to their website.