The Ganjapreneur.com Podcast

Marc Shepard is an active member of NORML, MassCann, and the Patient Advocacy Alliance. He is also co-founder of the New England Cannabis Convention: an extensive and affordable cannabis industry business conference that is returning to Boston this April. In the latest episode of our podcast, our podcast host TG Branfalt and Marc discuss the upcoming recreational markets in Massachusetts and Maine, what is likely to happen to the states' medical markets as recreational laws come online, how lawmakers and entrepreneurs are preparing for the changes, and more! For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/marc-shepard-preparing-legalization-new-england/

One of the most frequent and well-known labels applied to cannabis users is that of the "lazy stoner" -- the idea that cannabis use goes hand-in-hand with a sedentary lifestyle and lack of motivation. Patients, advocates, and cannabis entrepreneurs know that this is false (although of course anyone can get too high to function if they over-consume), yet this notion continues to appear in mainstream culture on a regular basis. Our latest podcast guest is involved in numerous business ventures that directly challenge this stereotype. Our podcast host TG Branfalt recently sat down for a conversation with Jim McAlpine, a serial cannabis entrepreneur best-known for his roles as founder and organizer of the New West Summit, 420 Games, and Powerplant Fitness. In the interview, Jim details his own personal experience with micro-dosing cannabis to help him get past the mental barrier to exercising and losing weight, how he set out to organize athletic events geared toward cannabis users with the 420 games, how cannab

It takes a lot of energy to grow cannabis indoors, and as the legal industry has gained momentum, much attention has been paid to the energy footprint of producers who run indoor grow facilities. While arguments between indoor & outdoor growers have existed for some time, a regulated market brings a new level of public scrutiny to the issue. But what if growers could have the best of both worlds? What if you could beam sunlight indoors to combine natural lighting with the benefits of a controlled environment? This is the question that Fleurish Farms, a cannabis cultivation firm based in Sonoma County, has set out to answer. In the latest episode of the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, our host TG Branfalt interviews Dr. Jonathan Cachet and Dr. Joshua Earlenbaugh about their unique DSS Supplemental Sunlight™ systems which employ Solatubes, a form of tubular skylight that has been around for decades, to harness sunlight and beam it into an indoor environment. This method of indoor growing is not a new kind of greenho

Danielle Keane is the Political Director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. She recently joined our podcast host TG Branfalt for a discussion about the upcoming election season and the unprecedented opportunity that it presents for the cannabis legalization movement. In the upcoming election season, nine states will be voting on a cannabis legalization measure. Recreational initiatives will be on the ballot in California, Nevada, Arizona, Maine, and Massachusetts. In Florida, Arkansas, Montana, and North Dakota, voters will have an opportunity to pass medical initiatives. In this interview, TG and Danielle discuss the specific details of many of the laws that will be determined by voters in November, including what NORML's position is on the parallel ballot initiatives in Arkansas. Danielle also discusses some potential reasons why pro-legalization forces have out-fundraised prohibitionists in many areas this year, the bittersweet but unavoidable process of passing flawed l

Kenny Morrison is the founder and CEO of VCC Brands (formerly known as the Venice Cookie Company), a California-based cannabis edibles producer. He also co-founded the sister company Evergreen Herbal, one of Washington’s licensed edibles and oils manufacturers. Kenny recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for a conversation about experience building an infused edibles company from the ground up, the different extraction techniques his companies use to produce their infused products, his hands-on experience in preparation against federal raids, and much more. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/kenny-morrison-firing-california/

Kirsten Nelson is co-founder of cannabis branding agency Blunt Branding, a Pacific Northwest marketing firm dedicated to the cannabis industry. Kirsten recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for a conversation about the unique situation that cannabis producers and retailers face now that the market has been normalized and regulated. Many entrepreneurs still believe the notion that cannabis just “sells itself,” but as the competition gets tougher, more and more companies are realizing that a strategic approach to messaging is necessary. In this interview, Kirsten talks about ways that retailers can change course to accommodate an expanding customer base, why cannabis companies should consider how they appeal to all of the Myers-Briggs personality types, and some unique strategies to engage customers that are currently underutilized in the cannabis market. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/kirsten-nelson-reaching-your-cannabis-customer/

Evan Carter is the co-founder and president of Dope Magazine, a cannabis and lifestyle monthly that is distributed across the United States. Recently, Evan sat down with our podcast host Shango Los for a conversation about his magazine's origins and journey. Founded in 2009, Evan takes us through Dope's evolution from a small, localized publication to an internationally recognized corporation that prints 135,000 magazines per month. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/evan-carter-dope-lifestyle-magazine/

Aeron Sullivan is the founder of Tradiv, an online marketplace for wholesale licensed cannabis in Colorado. Tradiv has been recognized as an innovator in the cannabis industry, changing the way that cannabis commerce happens at this pivotal moment where a traditionally opaque and informal market has been pushed into the realm of transparency and formality. Our host Shango Los recently met with Aeron to discuss the evolution of his company and business model. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/aeron-sullivan-wholesale-cannabis-marketplace/

In this week’s podcast episode, Dr. Ethan Russo — one of our earliest and most esteemed guests — returns to the show to discuss his latest article, “Beyond Cannabis: Plants and the Endocannabinoid System.” Dr. Russo is a neurologist and psychopharmacology researcher, and is the former Senior Medical Advisor for GW Pharmaceuticals. He worked as a clinical neurologist in Missoula, Montana for 20 years, where much of his practice focused on the treatment of chronic pain. Today, Dr. Russo is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of cannabis terpenes and the endocannabinoid system. He has authored several books about cannabis, cannabinoids, pharmacology, and rare botanicals, and he has published over 30 articles covering neurology, pain management, cannabis, and ethno-botany. In this interview, Dr. Russo and Ganjapreneur podcast host Shango Los discuss how various foods — including black pepper, kava, the common carrot, and more — can actually help balance the cannabinoid levels in your body. For

Cat Jeter is the founder of Deep Green, an award-winning full plant extracts manufacturer in Washington State. She recently joined our host Shango Los for a conversation about the Washington State medical marijuana market, which will soon be absorbed by the recreational market due to pending regulations. In the interview, she discusses the movement that led to the creation of the medical cannabis market in Washington, how it grew and changed over time, and how the passage of I-502--Washington's recreational cannabis ballot measure--affected the market and those who had dedicated their lives to serving patients. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/cat-jeter-washingtons-medical-marijuana-movement/

If cannabis normalization is a battle, budtenders are on the front lines. From seasoned stoners who are looking for nuanced recommendations to first-timers who have no idea what being high even feels like, a budtender should be able to offer helpful suggestions to match any customer with the right product to ensure they have an enjoyable cannabis experience. Our podcast host Shango Los recently met with Max Montrose, President of the Trichome Institute, a cannabis education and training company based in Colorado, to discuss the important role that budtenders play in the cannabis industry. In this episode, Max discusses how misinformation is spread via user-generated content and unscrupulous budtender education programs, why edibles should be understood as an entirely different experience than smoked flowers, how budtenders could be personally liable if they offer medical advice, as well as why certain methods of dabbing are likely unhealthy. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/max-montrose-b

Tad Hussey, founder of KIS Organics, recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for the third part of his three-part interview series on probiotic growing techniques. This week, Tad discusses how he uses aerated compost teas to supplement his organic grows. In the interview he discusses how to set up a compost brewer, how to extract nutrients from the compost into the water to use for growing, and what ingredients his personal recipe for a compost tea contains. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/tad-hussey-compost-tea/

Mitzi Vaughn is the managing attorney for Greenbridge Corporate Counsel, a business law firm that works exclusively with cannabis industry clients. She is a founding board member of the National Cannabis Bar Association and is active in both domestic and global drug policy movements. Mitzi recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for a discussion of what it takes to build an interstate brand in the cannabis industry, how cannabis brands should prepare to expand to new territories with different regulatory structures, what some of the inherent risks and complications are, and more. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/mitzi-vaughn-interstate-cannabis-brand-development/

Casey Hubbs is the extraction team leader and lab manager at Orgrow, a licensed cannabis producer and processor based out of Moxee, WA. Casey's story is one that illustrates exactly how the cannabis industry is made up of ordinary people who have made the extraordinary decision to jump head-first into an unstable industry. She recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for a discussion about how she got her job after majoring in herbal science, how she became the go-to source for advice about medical cannabis in her community, and what her average day in the lab consists of. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/casey-hubbs-extraction-lab-living/

Mowgli Holmes is the co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Phylos Bioscience, a cannabis genomics firm whose mission includes telling the evolutionary story of the cannabis plant. Mowgli recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for a discussion of what his research has uncovered to date, how long ago humans began to cultivate cannabis, how Phylos Bioscience is building a 3D map of cannabis genomics, and more. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/mowgli-holmes-cannabis-family-tree/

Jim MacRae is the founder of Straight Line Analytics, a cannabis industry consulting and advisory firm which gathers available data on the cannabis market from a variety of sources and uses it to help cannabis business owners make better decisions. He recently joined our host Shango Los for a conversation about how this data is gathered and how he uses it, why it’s important for regulators to release this data, and how it can ultimately be used. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/jim-macrae-cannabis-business-intelligence/

Michael Gordon is the co-founder of Kush Tourism, a national cannabis tour company. When Washington and Colorado voted to legalize cannabis in 2012, many knew there would be opportunities related to tourism, both in the sense that many people would want to visit a place where they could consume legally, and also in the sense that people would be curious to see behind-the-scenes at these new, legally-operating cannabis farms and retail shops. Michael recently joined our host Shango Los for a conversation about how Kush Tourism has found its niche, what a cannabis tour generally involves, and more. Michael Gordon of Kush Tourism recently joined our host Shango for a discussion of the booming cannabis tourism industry. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/michael-gordon-cannabis-tourism/

Dr. Greg Gerdeman is an assistant professor of biology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, whose research has focused on neurobiology and the human endocannabinoid system. He recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for a conversation about what the human endocannabinoid system is, why current medical students are not being taught about it, and how he thinks that medical cannabis may serve as a preventative measure against ailments brought on by endocannabinoid deficiency. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/dr-gerdeman-human-endocannabinoid-system/

Jeff Church is the Vice President of Research and Process Development at Thinc Pure, a leading extracts manufacturer in Washington State. He is a renowned hash expert and helped break the story of Rosin Tech when we reported on the now-ubiquitous extraction method last year. Jeff recently joined our host Shango Los for a conversation about a new cannabis trend: the idea of extracting pure terpenes to add flavors to cannabis products. In the interview, Jeff talks about the finer points of operating an extraction machine to isolate terpenes, why this process is becoming popular, and how people go about adding terps to their cannabis products. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/jeff-church-adding-terpenes-cannabis-products/

Tad Hussey of Keep It Simple Organics was recently a guest on the Ganjapreneur.com podcast where he and our host Shango Los had a discussion about wild-crafted probiotic nutrients. The response we got from our listeners was so enthusiastic that we invited him back for another two episodes! In our second interview with Tad, he gives us an overview of what his process is for creating custom soils, what some of his favorite ingredients to use are, and how to get your soil tested to know exactly what nutrients it has and what it needs. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/building-your-own-soil-ingredients/