Innovating Cannabis Podcast

Alleh Lindquist is the CEO and co-founder of FloraWorks, a cannabinoid innovation company focused on bringing science-backed minor cannabinoids into the mainstream.  As a leading supplier of hemp-derived cannabinoids to manufacturers, FloraWorks has been at the forefront of CBN research and commercialization, including helping popularize CBN as an ingredient for sleep products.  Today, the company...

Much of the complexity of the cannabis plant stems from its aromatic compounds beyond terpenes, such as sesquiterpenes, aldehydes, esters, and ketones, and sulfur compounds, which are difficult to preserve during cultivation and extraction. In this episode, I sit down with Daniel Cook, CEO of True Terpenes, to discuss the company's Headstash product line and its ability to preserve volatiles and r...

  Is Peru the Next Hot Market for US Cannabis Brands? If you work with hemp, the market is about to open for import/export operations. Peru's medical cannabis framework dates to 2017, when cannabis was legalized for medicinal use, scientific research, and pharmaceutical production. Patient associations gained cultivation rights in 2021, though the market remained limited — by mid-2025, official re...

New York retailers have been among the most vocal critics of METRC's required Retail ID tags — another layer in the state's track-and-trace system that adds real labor and cost burdens for operators. QRLogix , a labeling software company with roots in the medical industry, has adapted its technology to work within the METRC framework and eliminate that burden. Here to explain how it works is David...

District Cannabis was founded in 2015 as a cultivation company and has steadily expanded its footprint over the past decade, adding manufacturing capabilities and building one of the region's most sustainable cannabis brands. In 2024, the company completed a major expansion, launching a retail location in Washington, D.C., while also growing its cultivation, manufacturing, and retail operations in...

Episode 195_ Inside the Bellrock Turnaround with Joe Bayern Before entering cannabis in 2019, Joe Bayern spent more than 25 years in C-suite leadership across some of the biggest names in beverages, helping drive major turnarounds, global strategy, and brand-building at Snapple, Cadbury Schweppes, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and Voss Water. He entered cannabis after recognizing the potential of early...

Understanding the true cost of cultivating and manufacturing a cannabis product is incredibly difficult without the right tracking tools. Labor, yield loss, compliance, packaging, and processing inefficiencies can all quietly erode profitability without operators ever fully realizing it. That lack of visibility creates major challenges not only for manufacturers trying to scale efficiently, but al...

Georgia legalized medical cannabis in late 2015, but the market itself didn't officially launch until around 2020. As a highly restricted, limited-license state, Georgia allows only six vertically integrated operators. What makes Georgia especially unique is its distribution model: patients can access products not only through dispensaries, but also through pharmacies—an approach similar to the Eu...

India has one of the longest and most deeply rooted relationships with cannabis of any culture, and is home to some of the most prized landrace cultivars in the world. Vikramm Mitra, the co-founder of Delta Botanicals, is working to preserve that legacy and bring India into the global cannabis market. In January, Delta Botanicals received the first agricultural grant ever awarded by the Indian gov...

Jessie Kater, SVP of Innovation, R&D, and Technical Manufacturing at Curaleaf, brings a deeply technical background to the cannabis industry. Trained in chemical engineering and toxicology, he began his career in pharmaceuticals, went on to work in R&D for a defense contractor, and spent time in biotech before ultimately making the move into cannabis. He also founded his own R&D testing lab prior...

As the cannabis industry faces tighter margins and harder-to-find profits, many businesses are struggling not just to grow, but to survive. This year, operators are shifting focus. Instead of chasing expansion, they are being forced to rethink how they grow and, more importantly, how they operate efficiently. Today, our guest is Matt Morea, co-founder of PrizmGPS , a company focused on what happen...

Today, we're joined by Duane Boise, CEO of MMJ Holdings, a biopharmaceutical company advancing cannabis-derived medicines through the FDA's botanical Drug Development Pathway. MMJ has received Orphan drug designation for Huntington's disease and multiple sclerosis, and its cannabis-derived soft-gel formulations are now preparing to enter phase 2 clinical trials, helping pave the way for a new era...

Curio Wellness was founded by father-and-daughter team Michael and Wendy Bronfein. Michael built his career in the supermarket industry before launching his own chain of pharmacies, eventually bringing that experience into Maryland's medical cannabis market in 2015. Since then, Curio has grown into a vertically integrated company with GMP-certified operations in Maryland and Missouri, franchise pa...

Today's guest is Dr. Hemant Kumar Bid , a scientist, educator, and consultant at the forefront of biotechnology, medical cannabis, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Bid serves as Program Director for the Master of Science in Biotechnology with a concentration in Medical Cannabis at Morehouse School of Medicine — one of the only programs of its kind offered entirely online.   His academic foundation...

Trade show season for 2026 is officially underway.  I’ll be heading to MJ Unpacked , taking place May 5–7 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  I recently sat down with co-founder George Jage—someone many of you already know from his long track record in the trade show world, including his role in helping scale MJBizCon in the early days.  In this conversation, we go beyond the typical event preview and...

Allison Kirchhofer is the Director of the Cannabis Division at Sax Accounting , where she leads a team of CPAs serving operators across multiple states. She has also worked closely with businesses in New York.s turbulent adult-use rollout, helping them manage compliance, tax strategy, and financial infrastructure in one of the country's most closely watched markets.   Prior to joining Sax, Allison...

Kema Ogden was one of the early pioneers of Nevada’s legal cannabis industry. In 2015, she helped open one of the state’s first medical dispensaries, laying the foundation for what would become the Top Notch THC brand. Since then, she and her partners have expanded to multiple adult-use locations across Nevada, building a loyal customer base in one of the country’s most competitive cannabis market...

River Falls, Wisconsin, is home to Tattersall Distilling, a nationally recognized craft spirits producer whose portfolio is distributed across 25 states. Known for sourcing locally and crafting spirits infused with botanicals and functional ingredients, Tattersall has built a reputation on flavor innovation and ingredient integrity.  Co-founder Jon Kreidler joins the show to discuss the company's...

Jeff Rawson founded the nonprofit Institute of Cannabis Science while serving as a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry at Harvard University. He conducts scientific research, investigative reporting, and regulatory reviews, and provides subject-matter expertise in cannabis testing.  Jeff serves on the ASTM D37 Committee on Cannabis and is involved with ACIL, which honored him with the 2024 Presto...

Today, we examine the Ohio cannabis market with our guests, attorneys John Oberle and Greg May from Ice Miller. We discuss the latest referendum effort led by Ohioans for Cannabis Choice, which seeks to repeal key components of a bill the governor recently signed to scale back the state's voter-approved cannabis law and ban the sale of consumable hemp products outside of licensed cannabis dispensa...

Clint Kellum brings nearly 20 years of public service experience with the State of California, where he specialized in budget and policy work at the California Department of Finance. He joined the California Dept of Cannabis Control about five years ago as Chief Operating Officer, and was recently appointed Director, where he now leads the agency’s operations and helps shape the future of cannabis...

Josh Kaplan is the Associate Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at Western Washington University. His research focuses on optimizing CBD-based medicine for pediatric conditions (e.g., epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder, exposure to early life stress). They use mouse models to probe the effects of CBD and terpenes at the behavioral, molecular, and electrophysiological levels.   They can observe t...

Dr. Julian Wichmann is a board-certified radiologist and the co-founder and CEO of Bloomwell, the first cannabis telemedicine platform to launch in Germany—and a model the U.S. should pay close attention to.   We dive into the current state of Germany’s cannabis market, the challenges of building a telemedicine blueprint from the ground up, how medical cannabis is revitalizing German pharmacies, a...

Ernest Toney joins us today. He is the founder of BIPOCANN , a Colorado-based nonprofit that provides business guidance to social equity entrepreneurs looking to start and scale cannabis businesses. According to a survey released by economist Beau Whitney, only 27.3 percent of U.S. cannabis businesses are profitable. Another 40.6 percent are breaking even, while 32.2 percent are operating at a los...

Today, we are joined by Chris Emerson, who earned his PhD in small-molecule chemistry and completed his postdoctoral research at Stanford University before bringing his scientific rigor to the cannabis industry. He’s now the CEO and Chief Scientist of Level, and was one of the first to introduce cannabis in a precise, pill-based format. At Level, the team is laser-focused on developing effect-base...