The best way to understand how the strain widely known as Runtz got its name is simply to take a hit of it. A rare cross of Zkittlez and Gelato, this remarkably fruity sativa has been a perennial bestseller since it first hit the market.

Now a mainstay of the Glass House Farms strain portfolio, Runtz is both a feast for the eyes and a joy to smoke. Producing a high that many find uplifting and euphoric, it’s no surprise that Runtz was recognized by Leafly as the 2020 Strain of the Year. We’re huge fans ourselves, which is why we wanted to take a moment to explain the reason we’ll be renaming this strain on all of eighth jars, pre-rolls and smalls products that we produce.

While we promise that you’ll still be able to access the same strain that you’ve come to know and love, there are actually several compelling reasons behind our decision to slightly modify the name of this old favorite. Continue reading below for a brief overview of how trademark concerns and demographic priorities helped inspire us to tweak the name of this classic strain, and further disassociate it from the popular candy brand Runts.

In many ways, the situation with Runtz boils down to a matter of trademarks. To better understand these circumstances, it’s best to start with a brief refresher on how Runtz got its current name.

Simply put: the people who first cultivated it (in this case, members of the legendary Bay Area “Cookie Boyz” crew) picked a name they felt was fitting and that was that. Inspired by the strain’s overwhelmingly fruity terpene profile, they opted to name their new creation in honor of the popular Nestlé candy.

Naming a strain after any kind of copyright-protected intellectual property is all fine and well for as long as your flower is only being sold on the unregulated market. Since such activities are illegal to begin with, the added risk of incurring the legal wrath of a company like Nestlé is presumably of little concern. The same could be said for medical-only markets, which largely operated in a far more nebulous space than the state-legal recreational markets we have today.

With the advent of a true legal cannabis industry, however, large corporate interests are no longer willing to stand idly by as licensed dispensaries and cultivators sell products that directly reference products of their own. We’ve already seen these issues play out with strains like the aforementioned Zkittlez (formerly Skittles) and GG4 (formerly Gorilla Glue), with both strains taking on new names as a result of pressure from the concerned parties.

Such is also the case with Runtz. Though it may go by a slightly different spelling, it is nonetheless clearly a play on the fruit-shaped candy with an almost identical name. For that reason alone, we believe it is time to rechristen this strain, while still making it expressly obvious what strain you’re smoking. In addition, important consideration must also be given to what having a strain named for a popular brand of candy might inspire among the underaged.

When it comes to cannabis, safety is a must. In many ways, it’s actually legally required, from the child-proof packaging that all cannabis products must be encased within to the proof-of-age requirements built into the dispensary and delivery experience.

Even with these stout precautions in place, however, it’s still incumbent on each of us to ensure that all cannabis products always remain safely in the hands of adults. Part of this duty is practical, like being sure that any cannabis goods in your possession are always securely stored, while other facets of the equation require thinking a bit more broadly.

One example of a bigger picture effort to prevent underage access to cannabis are the current laws in place which prohibit cannabis products from being designed to appeal to children. Specifically, these measures hope to eliminate the appeal of cannabis to minors through specific provisions like banning the use of cartoon characters on cannabis product packaging.

By the same token, we believe it better suits our mission of delivering world-class cannabis to responsible adult consumers if we do not carry a strain that connotes a candy brand specifically tailored to appeal to children. While the Runtz that we sell takes no visual cues whatsoever from the similarly-titled Nestlé brand, the fact remains there is an inevitable association between the strain and the candy.

Thus, presented with an easy solution to a problem we’re all in favor of solving, the decision to modify the Runtz strain name became pretty obvious, and even though things might look a little different, you can rest assured that the most important parts will all be just as you remember them.