Josh Schmidt's journey connects California's early medical cannabis scene with modern international cannabis businesses. From buying flower in Golden Gate Park and operating a Van Nuys dispensary to cultivating in Thailand, building large-scale production facilities and expanding Cookies into Bangkok, Schmidt developed a career around recognizing opportunities and turning them into businesses. The original nuggnotes account follows that progression across California, Thailand, Oregon and Southeast Asia.
Burlingame to Haight Street: Before Legalization
Before California's medical cannabis market developed, Josh Schmidt (@khunjosh80) rode the train from:
Burlingame to Haight Street in San Francisco.
According to the original account, he bought cannabis in:
Golden Gate Park.
This period placed him within the early California medical cannabis scene before the industry became a regulated commercial market. By 1998, he had his Prop 215 card.
2004–2008: Trichome Healing Caregivers
The original account identifies the operation as the first shop in Van Nuys and the second in the San Fernando Valley — the contemporary LA CityBeat account instead called Trichome Healing Caregivers the first dispensary to open in the San Fernando Valley outright.
At the time, Los Angeles was heavily associated with OG Kush.
But Schmidt pushed a Northern California purple-flower movement.
The caption specifically names:
Granddaddy Purple (GDP).
God's Gift.
Cherry AK.
$100 OG Deals in an Expensive Market
Trichome Healing Caregivers offered:
$100 OG deals.
The original account contrasts those prices with competitors charging:
$30–$35 per gram.
The caption presents the pricing as part of Schmidt's approach to making cannabis accessible while building a distinctive product menu.
2006: A DEA Raid Shuts Down THC
The original account dates the raid to 2008; the contemporary LA CityBeat report documents the DEA raid on Trichome Healing Caregivers on August 30, 2006 — about 12 federal agents, no arrests and no charges filed.
According to the original account, the raid shut down the operation.
The closure marked the end of that chapter in Schmidt's California dispensary career.
Five Years in Thailand
Following the shutdown, Schmidt moved to:
Thailand.
The original account describes this period as lasting five years.
While living there, he secretly grew cannabis on his Bangkok balcony, despite the death-penalty laws referenced in the caption.
He also developed business activity involving:
Thai rice.
Colombian coffee.
The caption identifies alibaba.group as the platform associated with this trading activity.
Global Genetic Hunts: Spain, Morocco, Canada and Amsterdam
The original account identifies four destinations:
Spain.
Morocco.
Canada.
Amsterdam.
During these trips, he collected rare strains and learned traditional cultivation and processing techniques.
The caption specifically identifies his experience learning:
Charas-making in India.
Returning to the Emerald Triangle
Schmidt eventually returned to Northern California.
The original account describes his involvement in the Emerald Triangle's outdoor cultivation boom.
He built a:
40-acre farm in Oroville, California.
The operation used a 99-plant cultivation model.
According to the caption, he developed the ability to grow plants producing more than:
20 pounds per plant.
The Oroville operation focused on large outdoor plants and high-volume production.
Tahoe OG, Chem Valley Kush and Bulk Production
The original account identifies:
Tahoe OG.
Chem Valley Kush.
Other gas-heavy strains.
These cultivars supported the farm's bulk production model.
The caption describes the operation as part of the larger Northern California outdoor cultivation boom.
2014: Pistol Point and Oregon's Legal Market
The original account identifies the operation as building what it describes as Oregon's largest indoor grow.
The facility contained more than:
500 lights.
The operation represented Schmidt's transition into large-scale licensed cultivation.
Filling Pods for G Pen
Pistol Point also filled pods for:
G Pen (@gpen).
Bringing Cookies to Oregon
The original account also credits Schmidt with helping Berner (@berner415) bring:
Cookies (@cookiessf) into Oregon.
The partnership connected his production experience with one of the industry's most recognizable cannabis brands.
2018: Meeting Ori at Hall of Flowers
At the 2018 Hall of Flowers (@hall_of_flowers) event, Schmidt met:
Ori.
The original account describes the development of a Sacramento operation valued at more than:
$90 million.
Natura: Full-Scale Extraction in Sacramento
The Natura operation included:
More than 4,700 lights, by the original account — LA Weekly's October 2020 on-site tour of the campus documented 4,560 LED lights.
Full-scale extraction capabilities.
A large Sacramento production hub.
The original account identifies Natura as the launchpad for several brands and projects.
These included:
Sluggers Hit (@hitsluggers).
Worldwide Fidel (@worldwidefidel).
Highsman.
Jelly Wizard (@jellywizardhumboldts).
The caption also identifies additional projects emerging from the operation.
January 2023: Southeast Asia's First Cookies Store
In January 2023, Schmidt launched:
Cookies Thailand (@cookies.thailand.official).
The original account describes the Bangkok location as:
Southeast Asia's first Cookies store.
The launch represented another major international expansion of Cookies.
Its product offerings included:
Gary Payton (@gary.payton.20).
Cereal Milk.
Dee Thai Gummies: Cannabis Meets Thai Fruit Markets
The original account describes the products as:
High-potency.
Hash-rosin-based.
Vegan.
The inspiration came from Thai fruit markets.
The caption specifically names three flavors:
Mango Sticky Rice.
Lychee.
Pandan Coconut.
These products connected cannabis edibles with recognizable Thai culinary influences.
Sluggers Hit: Baseball Cards Meet Infused Pre-Rolls
Another project associated with Schmidt was:
Sluggers Hit (@hitsluggersmerch).
The brand combined retro baseball-card-style packaging with infused pre-rolls.
The collectible presentation helped create demand around individual product drops.
Sluggers Hit Collaborations
The original account identifies several collaborations:
Champelli (@champelli.co): Cassis.
Cam Supply Co. (@camsupplyco): Bubba's Girl.
Gashouse Brand: Pluto.
The caption also references additional collaborations.
The collectible drops combined cannabis products with baseball-inspired visual branding.
A Career Built Around Recognizing Opportunities
His work then expanded through Pistil Point's Oregon facility in 2014, which the account puts at 500-plus lights, and Natura's $90 million-plus Sacramento operation, which the account puts at more than 4,700 lights (LA Weekly's tour documented 4,560) with full-scale extraction.
The original account describes Schmidt's defining strength as recognizing trends, creating demand and pushing boundaries across different parts of cannabis culture.
Sources
Nugg Notes. "The Evolution of Josh Schmidt: From NorCal Smoker to Global Cannabis Pioneer." Instagram, April 25, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DI5JwhyNkF4/
The original Instagram post behind this article.
Honeysuckle Magazine. "Champelli & Natura's Josh Schmidt: The World Is Not Enough." Honeysuckle Magazine, January 21, 2024. https://honeysucklemag.com/champelli-josh-schmidt-natura-dee-thai-sluggers-cookies-thailand-cannabis-cozmo/
Verifies that Schmidt is Natura's VP of Business Development, that he launched the in-house brands Sluggers and Dee Thai, that Dee Thai debuted in January 2023 at the Cookies Thailand grand opening, that he was an early vendor/dispensary owner under California's medical era and a leader with THC Van Nuys and Pistil Point, that his handle is @khunjosh80, and that the Sluggers × Champelli "Cassis" preroll collaboration (Champelli flower, liquid diamonds, solventless hash) is real.
MyCannabis.com. "Josh Schmidt, Co-Founder of Sluggers Hit – Interview Series." MyCannabis.com, n.d. https://www.mycannabis.com/josh-schmidt-co-founder-of-sluggers-hit-interview-series/
Verifies that Schmidt created Trichome Healing Caregivers in Van Nuys in 2004, that his family operated restaurant businesses in Burlingame and he grew up around them, that he first tried cannabis in 1992 at age 12, that he studied business/communications at Boston University, that Pistil Point was his step into structured large-scale operations in Oregon, and that Sluggers Hit's named partners include Cookies, Fidels, Backpack Boyz, Champelli, Connected, Stiiizy, Gashouse, Viola and Ball Family Farms.
Justin Chapman. "Bad Buzz." LA CityBeat/ValleyBeat, September 14, 2006. http://www.saturnaliathebook.com/2006/09/bad-buzz-la-citybeatvalleybeat-article.html
Contradicts the caption's raid date: the DEA raid on Trichome Healing Caregivers in Van Nuys happened on August 30, 2006, not 2008 — about 12 federal agents, a 12-hour raid, no arrests and no charges filed — and the article describes THC as "the first to open in the San Fernando Valley," not first in Van Nuys and second in the Valley.
Jimi Devine. "We Toured California's Newest High-Tech Pot Greenhouse." LA Weekly, October 19, 2020. https://www.laweekly.com/we-toured-californias-newest-high-tech-pot-greenhouse/
Verifies Natura's Sacramento campus at 12 acres and 290,000 sq ft built out at a cost of $91 million, holding 21 licenses with 68,000 sq ft of manufacturing including distillation, solventless rosin, live resin and edibles, with Schmidt then titled Director of Business Development; the tour puts the facility's LED count at 4,560 lights, below the caption's 4,700+.
GlobeNewswire release via New Cannabis Ventures. "California Cannabis Company Natura Life Science Raises $91 Million." New Cannabis Ventures, May 14, 2019. https://www.newcannabisventures.com/california-cannabis-company-natura-life-science-raises-91-million/
Verifies that Natura raised $91 million in May 2019 to build California's largest vertically integrated cannabis campus in Sacramento (265,000 sq ft first facility; cultivation, manufacturing/extraction, distribution and a delivery-only dispensary) and that its founder/CEO is Ori Bytton — supporting the caption's "$90 million+ operation" and the Ori connection, though the Hall of Flowers 2018 meeting itself is not documented here.
Business Wire. "International Cannabis Brand Cookies Expands Global Footprint with its First Asia-Based Dispensary in Thailand." Business Wire, January 17, 2023. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230117006006/en/International-Cannabis-Brand-Cookies-Expands-Global-Footprint-with-its-First-Asia-Based-Dispensary-in-Thailand
Verifies that Cookies Thailand opened Saturday, January 21, 2023, in Bangkok — Cookies' first dispensary in Asia, its sixth country and 58th storefront — in partnership with Natura, Golden Triangle Health and Great Earth International, and quotes Schmidt as "Vice President of Natura and Co-Founder of California edibles brand Dee Thai."
Cannabis Now. "Cookies Thailand Opens Despite 'Legal Vacuum'." Cannabis Now, February 1, 2023. https://cannabisnow.com/cookies-thailand-opens/
Verifies that Cookies Thailand was the first US-brand cannabis dispensary in Thailand, that it partnered with Dee Thai, and that Schmidt, as a Dee Thai co-founder, describes a 20-plus-year relationship with Berner.
Honeysuckle Magazine. "Natura Life + Science Works Magic on Cookies Thailand Opening, Legacy Cannabis Brands & More." Honeysuckle Magazine, January 19, 2023. https://honeysucklemag.com/natura-life-science-cookies-thailand-berner-legacy-cannabis-brands/
Verifies that Schmidt conceptualized the Dee brand from his years organizing events in Thailand, that its products are based on Thai fruit-market flavors and launched January 21, 2023 with Cookies Thailand, "the company's first store in Asia," that Natura's campus is 12 acres with 175,000 sq ft of cultivation and 65,000 sq ft of manufacturing and about 300 staff, that Natura brought brands including Fidel's and Jelly Wizard to market for the first time, that Sluggers is Natura's original triple-infused preroll brand, and that a Sluggers × GasHouse project was planned (GasHouse being known for its signature Pluto strain) — partial support for the Gashouse/Pluto collaboration, as an in-the-works project as of January 2023.
Dee Thai (official brand site). "Dee Thai." deethaigummy.com, n.d. https://www.deethaigummy.com/
Verifies that Dee was founded by cannabis pioneer Josh Schmidt, inspired by his time in Bangkok, and that the brand's products carry Vegan & Gluten Free and Solventless Hash badges — supporting the caption's vegan and hash-based formulation claims in general terms, though the specific gummy flavor names do not appear on the opened pages.
Career.io. "Sales Executive, Sacramento — Natura." Career.io, n.d. https://career.io/job/sales-executive-sacramento-natura-1ce7abfd50d7ba7188d074d64243edae
Verifies that Natura Life + Science's house-brand portfolio includes Sluggers, Dee Thai, Lola Holistic, Fidels, Plasma and Jelly Wizard.
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