Podcast

The Berkeley Patients Group is the oldest continually operating dispensary in the country, and has historically been a model for how the industry should operate and what corporate social responsibility should look like. Sabrina Fendrick is the Director …

Being able to quantify, harness, and ultimately control the psychoactive effects of cannabis is key in making cannabis accessible to as many patients as possible, according to Perry Davidson, founder and CEO of Syqe. When Davidson was first founding Sy …

Jeff Chen, Director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative, has learned that “the average physician really is, in many ways, powerless to navigate the healthcare system.” Because of this, Chen decided that the best way to change the system was to lea …

Pavel Pachta joins us to discuss the history and current state of international drug control treaties. Pachta shares that these treaties were drafted in order to prevent drug abuse and addiction – because of that, Pachta believes that there is no sense …

Chris Call, of the Northbay Credit Union, begins by discussing public safety by way of safe banking; after all, Northbay Credit Union is one of the only financial institutions in the Bay Area that accepts cannabis money. Call is committed to offering s …

New York State Senator Diane Savino joins us to discuss legislative procedures in New York and how, unfortunately, New York was recently unable to pass adult use. Savino notes that, when drafting a bill, it is important that you don’t allow the perfect …

Based on her personal experiences, Mara Gordon, co-founder of Aunt Zelda’s, has become passionate about using cannabis to treat patients with illnesses and injuries. Gordon notes that, based on her data, THC is the most medically useful cannabinoid, al …

Jeff Rhoades, Senior Policy Advisor of the Oregon Governor’s Office, joins us to discuss the future of regulations in Oregon. Rhoades hopes that the cannabis industry will eventually be set up like the wine industry, and also anticipates that we will s …

As the chairwoman of the Small Business Committee, U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez is unsurprisingly passionate about cannabis business rights, such as safe banking. Because public opinion of cannabis is progressing, it is important to help business …

Tjalling Erkelens, CEO of Bedrocan, joins us in our July digital workshop to discuss clinical trials and global cannabis distribution. Erkelens believes that some type of harmonization among European regulations is necessary for the global cannabis eco …

Neill Franklin, of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), talks with us about policy and policing. Franklin believes that the criminal justice system is largely based on “creating evil so then we can have all these good guys to go fight it”, wh …

Shanita Penny, of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, shares with us that the MCBA is currently pushing for as much equitable cannabis legislation as possible. For Penny, equity means “ensuring that we address the social justice and criminal ju …

Steve Hawkins, Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), discusses his hopes and predictions for upcoming cannabis policy in the United States. In particular, Hawkins believes that states should have the right to legalize cannabis in th …

Grover Norquist, Founder and President of Americans for Tax Reform, describes the inconsistencies of taxes imposed by the federal government. For Norquist, this is more than just a cannabis issue; this is an issue of federalism and states’ rights: “You …

Dr. Ryan Vandrey, of Johns Hopkins University, joins us to discuss the best routes of administration for different conditions. For example, when treating chronic pain, oral administration is preferable, as it yields a more sustained drug effect. Howeve …

For U.S. Congressman Dwight Evans, cannabis reform is a matter of both medical justice and criminal justice. Evans realized not only that cannabis can save patients’ lives, but also that the war on drugs was undeniably a major reason for the massive pr …

Josh Hendrix, President of U.S. Hemp Roundtable, predicts that, in the next two to three years, hemp will finally begin to infiltrate the market. When that happens, there will be a race to efficiency on the agricultural side, which should lead to both …

For U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist, medical cannabis is personal: years ago, his older sister died of brain cancer, and unfortunately, medical cannabis was not available in Florida that time. That experience has informed Crist’s belief that everyone sh …

Dr. Ethan Russo, Research Director of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute (ICCI), discusses ways to create a better, safer cannabis. Russo points out the dissonance that exists between public opinion and regulators – while 80-90% of t …