Karma Koala Podcast

I came across Chris' latest findings via a report in the Independent this week in which he talks in the main about Spice related products but can also be applied to most "illegal" drugs synthetic or otherwise. TikTok returns 'no violation' decision on 95% of reports of UK-facing accounts advertising drugs, study finds Bath study finds that TikTok's in-app reporting system fails to act on most repo...

Karma Koala Podcast 340: Harold C. Smith, Ph. D. Founder and CEO Cannametrix , “The development of quantitative methods that determine full and broad spectrum cannabis products’ potencies relative to key cellular biomarkers”   Over the years i’ve had many discussions on the podcast and many of them end up with the conclusion that testing (driving, medical, safety etc) and education operate in this...

Having worked in the Maltese legislature and the for ARUC (The Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis)  Karen is more than well placed to explain both how the regulatory system works and the reasons that Malta decided to approach cannabis use in this fashion.  Rather than the US let's have "equity cannabis" as an afterthought to the always pressing question "How do we make lots of money"  t...

I thought it was time to have a quick chat with Rod as hemp races towards this latest deadline. If anybody has an insight it’s Rod. Have a close listen to what he says whatever side of the fence you fall. And yes we end up at One Plant as we should. Learn more at https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-338-rod-kight-the-hemp-train-is-getting-very-close-to-the-11-december-final-stop-whats-ne...

It’s time to catch up with Brett & Marleen to see how the Mpondoland Plug Project is going a year + since we last spoke on the podcast. They are connecting rural communities to the new South African cannabis club scene under the law as it now stands in South Africa. There aren’t many projects like this in Africa or around the world for that matter so the model they are working on should be of...

I speak to Chris about his book "The African Roots of Marijuana" and what he learnt from the research. The effects of colonialization and conservative Islam on attitudes towards cannabis from the 19th century through to mid 20th century and the subsequent internationalization of cannabis prohibition. As always with the cannabis plant there's layers of culture, complexity and diversity that we will...

Business, or for that matter life, in the US doesn’t operate without credit reports. Cannabis needs it desperately so it’s good to see somebody taking the issue seriously. Kraig Fox I am the Founder and CEO of REKLAIM Credit Solutions, a commercial credit rating and reporting agency built specifically for the regulated cannabis industry. Cannabis runs on trade credit, but companies throughout the...

As the Curaleaf hostile gets ever more heated I thought let's get Avis up in the tree with the Koalas as he has a better sense of feeling about these things than most of the rest of us. First up,  Avis alerted me to the fact that today Boris has invited all Aurora shareholders to this webcast to lay out his plans. Aurora shareholders can register for the live webcast hosted by Curaleaf Chairman an...

New titles about cannabis keep on coming and when i found out about.. Ganja Matters: Empire & the Pursuits of Cannabis in British India.  I knew i had to speak to Dr. Utathya Chattopadhyaya. Learn More https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-333-dr-utathya-chattopadhyaya-assistant-professor-of-history-at-uni-of-california-santa-barbara-author-of-ganja-matters-empire-the-pursuits-of-cann...

To paraphrase the Lizard King The west is the best The west is the best Get here and we’ll do the rest The blue bus is calling us The blue bus is calling us Driver, where you taking us? It’s time for Steve to move from DC and embrace California’s somewhat more accepting. (if slow) understanding of the future of medical cannabis. Although, as always, the politicians were a little behind the 8 ball....

I spoke to Same last year about the policy work he is doing with multiple jurisdictions in the Caribbean. He has now published the report "From the Code Noir to GACP/GMP: Cannabis and the New Colonial Economy" The Caribbean is dismantling prohibition. The harder task is ensuring that legal cannabis does not reproduce an older economic order in which the South grows the commodity while standards, c...

The koalas speak with Tia about the new organisation she is setting up with Linda Siboto (Cheeba) to take cannabis to the regions.   Cannabiz Africa have the background story   Cannabist ‘activist-entrepreneurs’ Tia Ramfate and Linda Siboto are behind the formation of a new grassroots cannabis organization, the TRCA. Their idea is to translate indigenous knowledge skills into entrepreneurship oppo...

The koalas speak to Lelehnia about the report she has been working on for the past six years   REPORT AT A GLANCE - ONE PRESERVED SELECTION. MANY ENVIRONMENTS. Ten completed Grow-Off samples documented differences in measured cannabinoid and terpene composition among samples from one preserved selection produced under independent cultivation conditions. MEASURABLE VARIATION. A RECURRING THC-DOMINA...

Anybody involved with keeping up to date with all things cannabis will have seen the recent plethora of media reports saying that cannabis poisonings are inundating ER departments. But what is the reality behind the headlines? What are the numbers? What are the numbers? Ruth analysed publicly available data for California since 2016 and unsurprisingly the results show a more nuanced, complex narra...

Kudos to Tim he’s just enabled one of the biggest changes to the Australian hemp landscape and globally we should all be paying attention. This could be a game changer for both Australia and the region. I talk to Tim about how he got the enquiry up and running and its findings and proposals including A) A Review of the advice of early 2025 from the United Nations International Narcotics Control Bo...

It’s not the sexiest of topics, I grant you that, but i thought it would be interesting to talk to an expert in the space. Jerry works in the worlds of Cannabis, Vapes & Tobacco and lays bare some of the complexity for small and medium sized US businiess working in the space. Multiple layers of taxation that fleece the consumer and the retailer and much of it, it seems, purposefully designed t...

Thankyou to Ryan for joining the Koalas to talk about the challenges of growing cannabis on a commercial basis both in the early days of legalisation in Canada when Canopy brought him in from the US where he was working with ornamentals to get their first facilities up and running and more recently as the US market consolidates and is trying to get the best opearting structures for profit that the...

The koalas are back with the latest instalment of Steve’s long and storied life in cannabis. The 80's see many changes in Steve's life. Time for law school! The university tours continue engaging with students rather than faculty and it's time to decamp to the west coast, Berkeley specifically as California develops an understanding of "medical" cannabis and cannabis in the community. Two prominen...

Great to chat with James who became somewhat more involved with changing attitudes to cannabis after an encounter with the NSW police whilst spending a year in Australia He's now trying to build an education network about cannabis and using the medium of film and documentary is part of his arsenal. We talk about his time engaging with growers in NW Pakistan and how things have changed in that part...

I came across Kwasi's paper i knew i had to speak to him about a hidden legal history and the changes in approaches to engendering change through the courts in common law countries We also get to talk about Mr Tosh and the changes in language since the 1970's and how legal language is struggling to keep up. Anokye's research draws heavily on African legal history, focusing on landmark decisions li...

I came across Neil’s report and his newly launched service. We discuss his first comparative report and how ai can help develop cannabis policy in jurisdictions around the world Cannavec ai A patient-governed, evidence-first organisation that stewards the cannabis industry’s most rigorous knowledge base. We exist to ensure that the science behind cannabis is accurate, transparent, independent and...

The Koalas speak with environmental lawyer Ricky Stone about the Monica Cromhout case and what they hope they can highlight and change with the case in regard to constitutional law in South Africa. There’s already some element of jurisprudence post the Dagga Couple case. As i say in the introduction South Africa may well start to lead on this issue in the courts and once again it’s their constitut...

Great conversation with Bart who worked for MJ Biz as a journalist when the floodgates opened and yes it was the wild west of cannabis for a while. Bart captures the essence of that time and the people involved in what was then, the nascent cannabis industry. We talk about why he wrote the book, what he and his characters learnt, what he thinks now looking back at that time. Of the book, reviewers...

The koalas are back with the latest instalment of Steve’s long and storied life in cannabis. The 1980’s wasn’t all just funny haircuts, Wall Street  and the arrival of Bill & Steve it was also the Reagan adminsitration and the so called “war on drugs” , “Just Say No”, “The Parents Movement” and silly ads like this.. See it all at https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-318-the-deangelo-...

First up apologies for some of the gremlins on the host tal;king. Not sure what happened there! In this episode i speak with Malaysia based Johan Mohamad, a pioneer in the hemp industry across ASEAN and we talk about what’s happening  across the region in terms of research, policy and government action. A lot more than you would imagine Thanks to Johan and enjoy Johan Mohamad is a pioneer in the h...