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Daisy and Astoria break down Gary Payton — the 22% THC hybrid Leafly tapped as a 2026 breakout — then hit the Schumer-Booker-Wyden federal legalization bill, the Pentagon's anti-weed memo, and state moves in Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, and California.
This week: the Gary Payton strain gets the Camry-of-weed treatment, and 2026 cannabis policy goes full split-screen — Senate legalization bill on Wednesday, Pentagon "stand down" memo on Thursday.
In this episode:
Sources:
Subscribe: mncannabishub.com
Daisy: —no but that's the thing, I walked into the dispensary already high, which is like showing up to the DMV drunk, it's just RUDE.
Astoria: Daisy. You did not.
Daisy: I did! And the budtender goes, "what are you looking for today," and I said, and I quote, "something that talks trash to my anxiety."
Astoria: Okay that's actually a solid brief.
Daisy: Right? And he goes, "Gary Payton." And I was like, sir, I know who Gary Payton is, I need a STRAIN.
Astoria: Oh no.
Daisy: And he just stared at me. Like, dead-eyed. And slowly turned the jar around.
Astoria: So the strain is named after—
Daisy: The Glove. Yeah. Hall of Fame point guard, trash-talked everybody into the ground, don't fact-check me on the specifics.
Astoria: Great, love that for our research standards.
Daisy: Astoria, it's a podcast, not a deposition.
Astoria: Okay so tell me about the actual weed.
Daisy: So it's a hybrid. Cross of Snowman and The Y, bred by Cookies with Powerzzzup Genetics, which sounds like a My Little Pony villain.
Astoria: Powerzzzup.
Daisy: Powerzzzup! Like she has a lightning bolt on her flank and a Soundcloud.
Astoria: Stop.
Daisy: Around twenty-two percent THC, basically no CBD, and Leafly is calling it one of the breakout strains to watch this year.
Astoria: Wait, this year meaning 2026?
Daisy: Twenty twenty-six, yeah. They did a whole "hot strains" piece and Gary Payton is on it. Caryophyllene-forward, which they described as, and this is where I got sold, "anxiety-slaying."
Astoria: Anxiety-slaying.
Daisy: Anxiety-SLAYING. Astoria. My anxiety needs to be slain. It needs a Viking funeral.
Astoria: Okay okay.
Daisy: Effects people report are giggly, relaxed, euphoric. Leafly literally calls it "middle-of-the-road."
Astoria: Middle-of-the-road weed.
Daisy: It's the Toyota Camry of weed.
Astoria: That is not a compliment—
Daisy: It IS a compliment! Everyone owns a Camry. Camrys never die. You want a Camry when you're anxious.
Astoria: I hate that I follow.
Daisy: You want the Camry, you don't want the... whatever the opposite of a Camry is.
Astoria: A Dodge Viper.
Daisy: You don't want a Dodge Viper edible before a work call, Astoria.
Astoria: Fair.
Daisy: The flavor though. Okay. Apricot, pepper, and lavender.
Astoria: Wait wait wait. Apricot, pepper, AND lavender?
Daisy: Yes.
Astoria: That is not a weed. That is a twenty-two dollar farmers-market jam.
Daisy: THAT'S WHAT I SAID.
Astoria: That's an artisan preserve from a woman named Meadow.
Daisy: From a woman named Meadow at a booth with a burlap sign.
Astoria: Handwritten. "Small batch."
Daisy: "Made with intention."
Astoria: "Pairs beautifully with goat cheese."
Daisy: Some people also pick up sweet fruit loops and citrus, which... those are different jams, but okay.
Astoria: Fruit Loops is not a flavor note, that's a childhood.
Daisy: It's a memory.
Astoria: Okay so did it work. Did the Glove slay your anxiety.
Daisy: So. Here's what happened.
Astoria: Uh oh.
Daisy: I get home. I take, like, two small hits. Because I respect the Glove.
Astoria: As one should.
Daisy: And for about forty minutes I am the calmest woman alive. I'm folding a fitted sheet, Astoria.
Astoria: The fitted sheet.
Daisy: I FOLDED it. Into a rectangle. Like a person.
Astoria: That's a spiritual event.
Daisy: And THEN I get a text from my mom that just says, quote, "call me when you can."
Astoria: Oh no. No punctuation, no context—
Daisy: No context! No emoji! Just... "call me when you can."
Astoria: The four horsemen.
Daisy: And giggly-relaxed-euphoric Daisy INSTANTLY becomes convinced my entire family is dead.
Astoria: Daisy.
Daisy: I'm spiraling. I'm googling "how to plan a funeral." I'm looking at flights.
Astoria: You did not book flights.
Daisy: I did not book flights, but I priced them. There's a difference.
Astoria: A crucial one.
Daisy: So I call her back, cotton mouth, full panic, and she goes, "hi honey, do you know where I put the good scissors."
Astoria: The GOOD SCISSORS.
Daisy: The good scissors! That was the emergency!
Astoria: Oh my god.
Daisy: So my hot take is: Gary Payton did NOT slay my anxiety. My mother did.
Astoria: Okay but hold on, that's not the weed's fault.
Daisy: I know—
Astoria: That is a pre-existing condition. That's a mom problem, not a strain problem.
Daisy: You're right.
Astoria: Because everything you described BEFORE the text — folded sheet, calm, giggly — that IS the strain working.
Daisy: Fine. Yes. Astoria's right.
Astoria: Say it louder for the podcast.
Daisy: Astoria is correct and Gary Payton is a fine hybrid.
Astoria: Thank you.
Daisy: I would recommend it. Middle-of-the-road, apricot jam, respect the Glove. That's the pull quote.
Astoria: Put it on a shirt.
Daisy: Okay. Pivot. Because while I was panicking about scissors, the SENATE—
Astoria: Oh right, this is wild.
Daisy: —filed a federal legalization bill. Like two days ago.
Astoria: On the seventeenth, right?
Daisy: July seventeenth. Schumer, Booker, Wyden. They re-filed the bill to federally legalize and tax cannabis, with restorative-justice programs for people harmed by criminalization.
Astoria: Which is the important part.
Daisy: Which is the ACTUAL important part, yeah. Not just "weed legal, party" but "hey, we locked a lot of people up for this, let's do something about it."
Astoria: Right.
Daisy: But then, and this is the split-screen, the day BEFORE...
Astoria: The Pentagon thing.
Daisy: The Pentagon thing! July sixteenth, the Department of War puts out a memo like, "hey troops, don't get any ideas, marijuana use and possession remain punishable for you."
Astoria: Department of War. That's a name.
Daisy: I know, I keep forgetting they renamed it. It sounds like a heavy metal album.
Astoria: "Department of War, live at the Fillmore."
Daisy: So the tension is: the feds are inching toward rescheduling, the Senate is filing legalization, and the brass is like, "not you, private, stand down."
Astoria: I mean, I get it though.
Daisy: Do you?
Astoria: Kind of? Like, they can't have a guy with a rifle who just hit a Gary Payton cart.
Daisy: Astoria—
Astoria: I'm just saying! The Camry of weed still gets you high.
Daisy: Okay that's fair. That's fair. But the vibe of "America is legalizing this while also telling a specific class of Americans they can't" is—
Astoria: It's weird.
Daisy: It's weird. It's very "you can, you can, you can, you can't."
Astoria: Wait, do you actually know how military weed policy has worked historically, or are you vibing.
Daisy: Astoria.
Astoria: Because you said "Department of War" like three times and I don't fully trust—
Daisy: I am vibing. I admit it. I do not know the deep history of military cannabis policy. I know what the memo said this month.
Astoria: Thank you for your honesty.
Daisy: I respect the audience too much to fake it.
Astoria: Wow.
Daisy: Okay, state roundup, rapid fire.
Astoria: Go.
Daisy: Michigan Supreme Court ruled that in a legal-weed state, trial judges can't just make "no marijuana" a blanket condition of probation anymore.
Astoria: Oh that's actually huge.
Daisy: Right? Because it was this weird thing where weed is legal for everyone... except you, because a judge said so.
Astoria: That's a real "the law is a vibe" situation.
Daisy: The law IS a vibe. Georgia expanded its medical program too.
Astoria: Georgia? Like, the state.
Daisy: The state. Traditionally pretty restrictive. New law took effect, added qualifying conditions, letting people vape flower, adjusting THC potency limits.
Astoria: Georgia let people vape flower.
Daisy: Georgia let people vape flower.
Astoria: I did not have that on my 2026 bingo.
Daisy: Nobody did. Meanwhile, Idaho...
Astoria: Idaho.
Daisy: Idaho medical activists tried to get a legalization initiative on the November ballot. The Secretary of State's office confirmed they did NOT get enough valid signatures.
Astoria: So Idaho stays Idaho.
Daisy: Idaho stays Idaho. Potato-forward. Weed-hostile.
Astoria: Potato-forward is a flavor note.
Daisy: Potato-forward, notes of hay, finishes dry.
Astoria: Stop.
Daisy: And then California pulled a bunch of marijuana products off shelves after pesticide contamination was found.
Astoria: Oh.
Daisy: Which is a bummer, but also, PSA time.
Astoria: Read the COA.
Daisy: READ THE COA. Certificate of Analysis. It's the receipt for what's actually in your weed.
Astoria: Every product in a legal state should have one.
Daisy: If your dispensary can't show you one, that is a red flag the size of Idaho.
Astoria: Callback.
Daisy: I care about callbacks.
Astoria: Okay so the through-line of all this—
Daisy: The through-line is: 2026 cannabis is MORE legal, more corporate, and still weirdly federally illegal if you happen to be a guy in fatigues.
Astoria: It's a patchwork.
Daisy: It's a patchwork! Michigan protects you, Georgia loosens up, Idaho pretends it's 1994, California is doing recalls, the Senate is filing bills, the Pentagon is saying no—
Astoria: And meanwhile a woman in her apartment is folding a fitted sheet.
Daisy: And panicking about scissors!
Astoria: The full American experience.
Daisy: The full American experience. Okay, pop culture hot take. Real quick.
Astoria: Go.
Daisy: I think we're in a weird era where every product wants to sound like weed and every weed wants to sound like a product.
Astoria: Say more.
Daisy: Like, my shampoo has terpene notes now. My kombucha says "calming." Everything is "hybrid." Everything is "uplifting."
Astoria: Everything is uplifting.
Daisy: My deodorant is uplifting, Astoria!
Astoria: Okay.
Daisy: And then meanwhile actual weed is out here going, "apricot, pepper, lavender, middle-of-the-road, giggly, relaxed, euphoric," like it's applying to be your therapist.
Astoria: Okay hold on though. Push back.
Daisy: Push back.
Astoria: I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's language catching up to the fact that people actually want to know how something will make them feel.
Daisy: Hmm.
Astoria: Like, "middle-of-the-road" tells me more than "indica" or "sativa" ever did.
Daisy: Okay. That's a good point. I hate it when you have good points.
Astoria: I know.
Daisy: Fine. The vocabulary is annoying but useful. Two things can be true.
Astoria: Two things can be true.
Daisy: Okay, one concrete takeaway before we get out.
Astoria: Do it.
Daisy: If you are anxious, if your brain won't sit down, if your mother texts "call me when you can" and you spiral — try a hybrid like Gary Payton. Around twenty-two percent, giggly, relaxed, euphoric, apricot-pepper-lavender.
Astoria: Start low.
Daisy: START LOW. Two hits. Respect the Glove.
Astoria: Respect the Glove.
Daisy: And read the COA. Because if California's pulling products, your state could too, and you deserve to know what's in your jar.
Astoria: That's actually solid advice.
Daisy: I have my moments.
Astoria: You have a moment. Singular.
Daisy: Rude.
Astoria: Where can people find more of us.
Daisy: mncannabishub.com. That's where the show lives, that's where our stuff is, that's where you go if you want more of me spiraling about scissors.
Astoria: Which is the whole product, really.
Daisy: I AM the product. I'm apricot, pepper, lavender.
Astoria: Middle-of-the-road.
Daisy: Middle-of-the-road. Giggly. Relaxed. Occasionally convinced my family is dead.
Astoria: Goodbye everyone.
Daisy: Go call your mom. She probably just wants the scissors.
Astoria: Bye.
Daisy: Bye.
A weekly Minneapolis lifestyle podcast for the 90s-baby mid-30s crowd. Concerts, restaurants, art fairs, Mystic Lake shows, what's actually good in MPLS this week — plus a strain review, a chaotic story, and a hot take you didn't ask for. Sponsored by mncannabishub.com, mplsveganhub.com, Dr. Bronson at Uptown Core (uptowncore.com), and Quiet Coyote (quietcoyotemn.com).