They launched their own brands of cannabis products, including edibles, pre-rolls and vape cartridges. He hopes to graduate at the end of the summer.Īfter finding a rhythm with running their dispensaries, the Lasis began expanding their company and consolidating their supply chain. Lasi said a silver lining of the pandemic was being able to stay in Tulsa and take his classes remotely online. Monday, wake up, go to school… did that for about nine months,” Lasi said. “Sunday, I would fly out back to Houston. “In the beginning, it was pretty rough,” Lasi said. Lasi went to class Monday through Wednesday, took an evening flight to Tulsa, and helped his father open and close their dispensaries for the rest of the week. Arshad Lasi juggled going to school full time in another state with helping his father manage the shops, the first of which opened in January 2019. The Lasi family started with one dispensary that quickly became three. But as for state and local revenue from cannabis taxes, officials hesitate to characterize the industry as a silver bullet to the state’s economic woes. The economic impact of Oklahoma’s blossoming industry reaches far beyond cannabis business owners - from packaging and banking partners to storefront landlords and thousands of employees. One of the major themes that emerged was a focus on economic impact. Over 150 people responded in voicemails, texts, emails and social media posts to the callout for insights. StateImpact and KOSU asked listeners how the cannabis industry is affecting their communities. While the Lasis have found success, unprecedented low barriers to entry have saturated the industry, creating a “wild west of weed” where some sink and some swim. The Lasis, like many cannabis business owners in Oklahoma, have navigated the murky waters of Oklahoma’s early medical marijuana days. The Lasis run the state’s only cash-and-carry warehouse. And here we are, three and a half years later.”Ī variety of cannabis products line the shelves from floor to ceiling. And we immediately started applying for licenses. “The next month, 788 passed, and we were astonished. They’re not going to get enough signatures,” Lasi said. Once the question was passed, the Lasis went all in. The Michigan opportunity fell through, but about a month later, the Lasis started hearing about SQ 788 - the state question that would legalize medical cannabis in Oklahoma. Lasi, a marketing and management senior at the University of Houston, was interning for a private equity firm when his father, who owned and ran a smoke shop, got a cold email about getting into Michigan’s cannabis industry. It’s now a multi-level, vertically integrated company making a name for itself in the brave new frontier of Oklahoma’s cannabis industry.Īrshad Lasi is the 23-year-old CEO of The Nirvana Group, a cannabis company that employs about 150 people and features five dispensaries, two distribution facilities, three manufacturing facilities and a farm with 7,000 square feet of cultivation.
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