Interview with Forest Williams

LV Reviews: Can you tell us a little bit about your professional background? What were you doing before LV Cannabis Reviews?

FW: I was in internet marketing from 1999 until 2015. We marketed everything from Amazon products to dating websites.

LV Reviews: How did you become involved in the cannabis industry?

FW: I got involved with the review site by accident actually. I’m a partner in a grow operation in Michigan and I came up with the concept of launching a review site for Michigan so that we can market our product.

I was spending the winter in Las Vegas in my RV and I bumped into a guy who worked at a dispensary and told him about my Michigan idea. And he said to me, you know, what about Las Vegas? So that’s how we got to LV Cannabis Reviews. It’s one of the largest markets in the country. Las Vegas needs what we’re offering.

LV Reviews: The Las Vegas cannabis scene seems to be changing rapidly. Where do you think legalization efforts are going to go next? Do you see federal legalization happening anytime soon?

FW: No, I don’t see federal legalization anytime soon, but I do see federal decriminalization and allowing the states to make their own decisions.

The attorney general has already commented that he’s going to continue the status quo and not go after legal operations in states where it’s legal. So, it will be interesting to see if he holds true to that.

65% of the country believes that marijuana should be legalized. So, there really is a national movement, but there’s still a lot of opposition. But there’s going to be a lot of lobbying money coming in now that the big players are getting interested. Marlboro’s getting involved. Local coal is getting involved. It’s good for us because they spend the money and we reap the benefits.

LV Reviews: Are the big guys focused on CBD?

FW: Actually, no, Marlboro and a few pharmaceutical companies are starting to look at trying to get a national cannabis brand here in the states. The market is going to be so massive in the next five years. It requires a large organization to deal with it.

LV Reviews: What do you think is going to happen in the CBD industry? It seems to be taking over.

FW: The CBD industry needs to be regulated in my opinion because there are too many products out there where you don’t know what the true sources are or where it comes from. You don’t know how the claims are being abused. You’ve got a lot of players coming in and spamming the Internet all over the place. I mean, I get 20 CBD spam emails a day.

However, it’s a great product. It absolutely does wonderful things. I use a canna rub for muscle strains and other ailments. I use CBD every day. You know, it’s funny, I read a memo on Facebook the other day about CBD oil that basically said if you try CBD oil, one of two things are going to happen. One- nothing. Two- you’re going to feel great. But again, it’s the source that’s the concern.

LV Reviews: Will LV Cannabis Reviews feature CBD products?

FW: Yeah. We’ll have a full store. We’re not going to allow anything to be sold through our stores that hasn’t been fully approved by our board.

LV Reviews: Is it going to be a branded product?

FW: We’re looking to do a white label product and a branded product for ourselves. Everything in business is about branding. The nice thing about us branding products is that you’ll be able to know that it’s the best quality CBD products we can find.

LV Reviews: So what kind of products are you looking at?

FW: Edibles, canna cream. The canna rub that I use is made by a woman in Florida who is a very close friend of mine. We’re going to sell her rub, which is, in my opinion, the best rub I’ve ever found. We’re going to sell gummies. We’ll sell oils, we’ll sell tinctures.

I’m a businessman; I was a stoner for 30 years and I’ve smoked bud all over the world. I saw a need in the industry.

LV Reviews: Who is LV Cannabis Reviews for? The casual user, stoners, tourists, etc.

FW: Everybody. Anybody can utilize the site no matter what area of the cannabis industry they’re in. We’re going to have segments and directions for travelers, vacationers coming to Las Vegas. Anybody who’s spent any time in Las Vegas knows there’s a dispensary on every corner. And they just passed the legislation to allow lounges in Las Vegas. So, the industry is growing by leaps and bounds. It’s incredible to watch the trajectory of it.

For locals, LV Cannabis Reviews gives them the opportunity to research dispensaries outside of their norm. They can look up new products before going to buy them. You know, that’s the thing. A lot of times when you go into a dispensary, you’re relying on the budtender. If you go in there with information before you buy it, you’re in a much better situation when selecting products.

When you start drinking wine, you don’t go out and buy a $250 bottle of wine. You go out and buy a $10 bottle of wine. Cannabis is no different. You’re not going to go out and buy the highest quality candidates and truly appreciate it until you work your way up to that level of enjoyment or knowledge.

LV Reviews: What’s your vision for LV Cannabis Reviews?

FW: For me, it’s about building a community more than anything. We’re a local review site. That’s what separates us from everybody else. We’re going to be donating 10% of all pre-tax profits to local charities. So, we’re going to be involved in the community as a whole.

LA Cannabis Reviews is going up this summer. Los Angeles Cannabis Reviews will be next. By next June, we hope to have sites in 10 major markets.

LV Reviews: Wow, you’re expanding fast.

FW: My team can roll out websites as long as we get the content. That’s the hard part.

LV Reviews: Thanks Forest!