High Rise: Cannabis MSOs, Products & Market Analysis

On this episode of the High Rise we are joined by Gerrel Olivier a senior analyst at Pura Vida Investments. Gerrel leads Pura Vida’s cannabis investment strategy where he has been able to help minority cannabis entrepreneurs partake in this unique value creation opportunity that the industry currently offers.  Mr. Olivier illustrates just how important it is that we get the timing right to help le...

On this episode of the High Rise Cy and Emily take a look into how the state of Minnesota has structured their laws around hemp derived cannabinoids including THC and CBD. Turns out, the Land of 10,000 lakes has been innovating on their cannabis laws to figure out what works best for operators and consumers while maintaining sensible state regulations all on the fly. How has it been working out so...

Leading cannabis information resource Leafly has just released their 2022 Opt-out report, which shines a spotlight on what happens when local municipalities that opt-out of local cannabis businesses in their towns. Cy and Emily discuss some of the details around this well written report which ultimately highlights that prohibition seems to be more trouble than it’s worth. https://leafly-cms-produc...

Here at the High Rise we are truly honored to have Dr. Peter Grinspoon join us for a very special discussion on cannabis. Peter Grinspoon, M.D. is a primary care doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital, an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, life coach, author, and cannabis specialist for over twenty-five years. Cy and Emily engage Dr. Grinspoon in a conversation that touches on the...

The High Rise is back after a short week off, Cy and Emily have a nice bit of industry items to catch you up on. First a little recap of the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago. Next a breakdown of the upcoming midterm elections where legalization is on the ballot in many a GOP states. Finally a brief bit on a new MK Ultra program…’it’s little strange’. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfron...

Last week in Ohio, a Democratic candidate Matt Kilboy attacked Republican congressional incumbent Dave Joyce on Twitter for his slated speaking engagement at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago next week.  Cy and Emily breakdown why this does not seem like very good optics for a potential congressional candidate where voters in 7 cities will decide on cannabis decriminalization at...

We have a very exciting episode of the High Rise with legendary investor Danny Moses and cannabis pioneer Brady Cobb to talk about their newest project in the state of Florida. Cy and Emily utilize every minute to make this a special laid back, data backed conversation you won’t want to sleep on. https://twitter.com/dmoses34 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-tape/id1545205930 https://tw...

Some interesting news sprang up this week with Aurora Cannabis acquiring Bevo Farms the largest supplier of propagated vegetables in North America. Cy and Emily take a deeper look into what this long term investment play in the vegetable agriculture space could mean for Aurora.  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aurora-cannabis-acquires-controlling-interest-in-bevo-farms-301612222.html http...

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere and that means its beverage time! On this episode Cy and Emily discuss the cannabis beverage category and how it’s relatively safe to say that this format is now part of the mainstream.  The New York Times recently put out an article about cannabis beverages which attempts to compare the effects of alcohol and cannabis beverage consumption and their associated safety hazar...

If you managed to get through our previous episode with super-analyst friend of the show Matt McGinley, then you may very well feel a little domed by all the rapid fire industry stats and projections that came though. For this reason, Cy and Emily wanted to take some time to decompress, be a little more laid back, and focus on some of the standout bits from Mr. McGinley’s treatise on the industry’...

We are very excited to have Needham & Company’s Matt McGinley once again on the High Rise to give all of us a well rounded breakdown on the state of the industry.    This episode is probably our longest one yet and for good reason, Matt helps Cy and Emily cover A LOT of ground from legacy market headwinds, emerging market tailwinds, taxes, margin progression, inflation impacts, financial highl...

New York New York, a city so nice they named it twice. On this episode Cy and Emily cover the latest MSO news from the Empire State and a couple of tidbits about licensing and parking tickets. We would love to hear from you, please leave us a review, rate the pod, and share it with everyone you know.  https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/weed-world-trucks-towed-over-nyc-parking-mayhem-half-millio...

On this episode of the High Rise, we take a look at Headset’s recent industry report that examines recent declining sales in US cannabis. Cy and Emily dive into many of the details around this topic including how the pandemic brought on a surprising boom in sales and how we seem to be seeing a softening effect today. What does this all mean for the business? Stream this entire episode to find out!...

Now that the state of Kentucky has ruled Delta-8 hemp products as legal, Cy and Emily thought now would be a good time to discuss what this could all mean for the industry going forward. This ruling is seen as a huge win for farmers and retailers in the Bluegrass State as it would halt law enforcement from shutting down operations for businesses. So are Delta-8 products going to help the industry...

You may have read an in-depth article on Forbes recently regarding how America has botched legal cannabis. If you didn’t then that’s okay, because we have Forbes journalist Will Yakowicz the writer of that article on this Episode of the High Rise. Cy and Emily chat with Will about this ‘boots on the ground’ story and how greed started the cannabis industry off on the wrong foot. It’s not all bad n...

On this episode Cy and Emily discuss an interesting story about how Canadian growers needed to destroy a crazy number of unpackaged cannabis in 2021—425 million to be exact. That’s pretty much 500 tons!  So what leads to this much product having to get destroyed? You’ll have to stream this episode to find out! Thanks for listening and give is a rating and share the High Rise with your friends. htt...

Is it us, or does it seem like there’s new cannabis legislation coming out every other week? On this episode, Cy and Emily follow up on all the latest cannabis reform news and discuss many of the finer details. More and more these days, our politicians are starting to speak out and write bills that are aimed at making cannabis legal, safer, sensibly regulated, and accessible. At the same time our...

If you love music, music festivals, entrepreneurship, and cannabis—then this High Rise is for you! On this episode Cy and Emily are excited to welcome Rick Farman who is co-founder of Superfly, a highly innovative live events company that has created some of the most iconic festivals on the planet. Mark gives us an in-depth look at how his company Superfly came to be, and how they specialize in cr...

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism held a hearing on decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level earlier this week. While it’s always great to see a discussion happening at this level, it’s also frustrating to see how there are challenges on the prohibition side for anything comprehensive to make its way into these discussions. On this episode Cy and Emily discuss some of t...

On this episode of the High Rise, Cy and Emily breakdown for us the story of Juicy Fields a cannabis “investment” platform that purports to connect micro investors with small cannabis farmers to fund crop cultivation via fiat and crypto currencies. Juicy Fields (not to be associated with Juicy Couture) as it turns out, ran a pretty lucrative ponzi scheme—and they aren’t the only platform out there...

It’s no secret that businesses in the cannabis space have to play their marketing game on hard mode with all of the various restrictions and regulations currently placed on the industry. This episode of the High Rise delves into marketing side of cannabis with a couple of special guests from Range Marketing. Cy and Emily welcome special guests Spencer Rubeck CEO and Mark Wallace Director of Partne...

While it would have been great to have Woody himself on the High Rise to chat with us about his new shop in West Hollywood, Cy and Emily take some time to talk about opening his unique cannabis retail experience and its counter positioning against practically all other models today. The Woods is a one of kind cannabis dispensary that opened up in May of this year by none other than actor and activ...

On this episode of the High Rise, our hosts dig into the jobs market as it relates to the leisure and hospitality sectors for entry level jobs. In the cannabis space this means budtenders and production staff.     These roles have gone down considerably since February 2020, even though full-time job openings in cannabis have been going way up—what is going on? Why has there been so much turnover i...

The mayor of Washington D.C.signed emergency legislation on Wednesday that will allow people to self-certify as medical cannabis patients and access dispensaries, without a doctor’s recommendation—interesting way to fast track legalization and help eliminate the grey market. In semi related news, Snoop Dog teases a new strain that appears to be aimed at a certain someone who occupies the highest o...

A spate of news articles have been circulating recently that throws some serious shade on high potency cannabis products. From linking fentanyl and gun violence to cannabis use, to teens in California ‘scromiting’ from consuming high THC products. Cy and Emily shine as much daylight and rational thinking around why these stories are attempting to use scare tactics instead of reliable data balanced...