The Dime

When a regulator asks what the downside is of adding one more testing requirement, what is the downside? Just a little more safe. Just in case. Especially when adding one more item to an already exhaustive testing panel.

That logic is how licensed cannabis markets end up buried under compliance layers copied from other states, calibrated to someone else's problems.

It is also exactly how two adjacent markets with nearly identical consumer bases, Ohio and Michigan, ended up with completely different market structures.

 What they do not share is regulatory philosophy. When one state watches another add a rule and asks itself whether it should do the same, the answer it lands on shapes the entire cost structure of every licensed operator inside its borders. Ohio learned to ask the follow-up question. Most states never do.

Ohio closed the intoxicating hemp loophole on March 20th, ahead of the federal government, and those shops are starting to close. The next unlock may already be here: THC beverages reaching the customers who will never walk into a dispensary, sold at the restaurant down the street.

This week we sit down with Caroline Henry, VP of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Buckeye Relief.

The regulator FOMO problem

Ohio vs. Michigan: two markets, one lesson

THC beverages as the dispensary gateway

 

 

Chapters

00:00 The Disconnect in Cannabis Perception

03:12 Navigating Stigma and Misconceptions

05:48 Regulatory Challenges and Industry Standards

08:55 Building Relationships with Regulators

11:54 Small Wins in Regulatory Negotiations

15:02 The Impact of Over-Regulation

17:48 Child-Resistant Packaging and Its Irony

25:38 Navigating Regulatory Challenges in the Cannabis Industry

26:00 The Role of Beverages in Reducing Stigma

30:37 Learning from Michigan: Ohio's Cannabis Strategy

39:31 Focusing on Ohio: The Case for Local Expertise

44:00 The Realities of Working in the Cannabis Industry

 

Guest Links

www.buckeyerelief.com

www.amplifydispensary.com

Our Links:

Bryan Fields on Twitter

The Dime on Twitter

Extraction Teams: Want to cut costs and get more out of every run? Unlock hidden revenue by extracting more from the same input—with Newton Insights.

At Eighth Revolution (8th Rev), we provide services from capital to cannabinoid and everything in between in the cannabinoid industry.

The Dime is a top 5% most shared  global podcast

The Dime is a top 10 Cannabis Podcast 

The Dime has a New Website. Shhhh its not finished.

🎥 YouTube:  The Dime

📸 Instagram:  The Dime

https://www.newton-insights.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The cannabis industry convinced the world it had a medicine before the science caught up. Now the science is here, and almost no one is paying attention.

CBD is not a panacea. When Charlotte's Web opened hearts and minds, the messaging of what it could do ran years ahead of what the data could actually support. That gap created a backlash the legitimate medical thesis didn't deserve. What's left on the other side of the green rush is a near-complete forgetting of the reason this industry started in the first place. The medicine. Now the infrastructure to prove it is finally in place. Standardized genetics. Reproducible extraction. Full compound characterization. An FDA botanical drug pathway that has existed since 2016 that most investors have never heard of. Organic medicine versus synthetic single-molecule will be a real choice at the pharmacy counter sooner than most people expect. The foundational work is already here.

This week we sit down with Joel Stanley and Dr. Marcel Bonn-Miller:

Botanical drugs vs. supplements

6,000 compounds, one drug

Novel compounds nobody has named yet

Chapters

00:00 Why Medical Validation Remains a Challenge for Cannabis

00:12 The FDA Approval Process for Plant-Based Medicines

01:03 Historical Market Dynamics and Their Impact on Cannabis Perception

02:48 Removing the Veil: How Science Can Validate Cannabinoid Therapies

03:15 The Complexity of Plant Molecules and Real-World Evidence

06:20 Focus in Drug Development: The Case of Autism Spectrum Disorder

07:10 The Impact of Charlotte's Web and Media Hype

08:52 Balancing Hype and Reality in Cannabinoid Medicine

10:01 Legitimization of Cannabis Research in Academia

12:10 The Evolution of Cannabis Research and Acceptance

13:54 The Future of Botanical Medicine and Academic Research

16:15 The Long Road of Drug Development for Cannabis-Based Medicines

20:50 Introducing AJA-001: A Botanical Drug for Autism

22:44 Standardization and Characterization of Botanical Drugs

24:01 Partnerships and Funding in Botanical Drug Development

24:40 Challenges of Multi-Compound Botanical Drugs

27:28 Reproducibility and Quality Control in Botanical Manufacturing

29:06 FDA Pathways for Botanical Drugs and New Chemical Entities

34:29 Identifying and Characterizing Thousands of Plant Compounds

39:48 The Role of AI and Supercomputing in Drug Discovery

41:11 Balancing Exploration and Focus in Botanical Research

44:38 What the World Will Understand About Cannabinoids in 10 Years

47:24 The Promise of Botanical Medicine Over Single Molecule Drugs

Guest Links:

AJNA Biosciences Website
https://ajnabiosciences.com/

AJNA Biosciences LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ajna-biosciences/posts/?feedView=all

AJNA Biosciences Instagram

@ajnabiosciences

Charlotte’s Web Website
https://www.charlottesweb.com/

Charlotte’s Web LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/charlottesweb/posts/?feedView=all

Charlotte’s Web Instagram

@charlotteswebcbd

Joel Stanley LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-stanley-2885116b/

Joel Stanley Instagram

@joel.stanley

Dr. Marcel Bonn-Miller LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-bonn-miller-897a581/

Our Links:

Bryan Fields on Twitter

Kellan Finney on Twitter

The Dime on Twitter

Extraction Teams: Want to cut costs and get more out of every run? Unlock hidden revenue by extracting more from the same input—with Newton Insights.

At Eighth Revolution (8th Rev), we provide services from capital to cannabinoid and everything in between in the cannabinoid industry.

The Dime is a top 5% most shared  global podcast

The Dime is a top 10 Cannabis Podcast 

The Dime has a New Website. Shhhh its not finished.

🎥 YouTube:  The Dime

📸 Instagram:  The Dime

https://www.newton-insights.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The number in your head and the number you actually need are not the same number. That gap is where most cannabis businesses break.

Joe Lustberg has financed operators across the country for years and watched that gap swallow businesses that looked fine on paper. He has also spent over two years paying rent on a Hamptons dispensary he cannot open because a municipality tried to rezone his property out from under him. The person telling you to build in 1.5X as your burn capital cushion has been living inside exactly the scenario he warns everyone about.

When the lender financing your industry has lived the same nightmare, the advice changes.

This week we sit down with Joe Lustberg,  to discuss the following 

NY Regulatory Battlefield

280E Gone: What Changes

Lending Specifics

 

Chapters

00:00 Navigating the Cannabis Landscape: A Personal Journey

02:51 Understanding the Financial Risks in Cannabis Operations

06:01 The Importance of Burn Capital for Cannabis Startups

09:02 Lending Dynamics in the Cannabis Industry

11:55 Market Trends and the Future of Cannabis Financing

14:51 The Impact of Rescheduling on Cannabis Operators

18:01 Identifying Strong Operators in a Competitive Market

21:05 Evaluating Financial Health: Key Indicators for Success

26:01 Evaluating Limited Markets: The Ohio Perspective

28:24 Navigating Unique Financing Requests

29:12 Surprising Success Stories in Cannabis Financing

32:04 The Importance of Experience in New Ventures

35:46 Identifying Undervalued Markets in Cannabis

38:00 The Future of Cannabis Markets and Interstate Commerce

Guest Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-lustberg-23076722

Our Links:

Bryan Fields on Twitter

Kellan Finney on Twitter

The Dime on Twitter

Extraction Teams: Want to cut costs and get more out of every run? Unlock hidden revenue by extracting more from the same input—with Newton Insights.

At Eighth Revolution (8th Rev), we provide services from capital to cannabinoid and everything in between in the cannabinoid industry.

The Dime is a top 5% most shared  global podcast

The Dime is a top 10 Cannabis Podcast 

The Dime has a New Website. Shhhh its not finished.

🎥 YouTube:  The Dime

📸 Instagram:  The Dime

https://www.newton-insights.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cannabis operators aren't short on data. They're drowning in it. The real problem is what happens when that data gets handed to the wrong person, read at the wrong time, or used to justify the wrong decision. Overproduction cycles, steep discounting, margin pressure building back into manufacturing: most of that traces back to data being used reactively instead of as a decision guidance tool.

Layer on the reality of multi-state operations where every market runs a different system, tracks different items, and reports differently. Making sense of what the numbers are actually saying across that footprint isn't just a technology problem. It's an interpretation problem with real financial consequences.

Think of it like a compass that's slightly off calibrated. Over a short distance, no one notices. Across 15 facilities and hundreds of SKUs, you end up miles from where you intended.

This week we sit down with Braunz Muller, to discuss the following 

Margins in Cannabis Supply Chains

Hydrocarbon SOP Secrets

THC Efficiency as the Real KPI

Chapter

00:00 Data Problems in Cannabis Manufacturing

12:50 The Complexity of Decision-Making

20:31 Dynamic SOPs in Extraction

30:14 Balancing Flexibility and Control in Operations

32:08 Empowering Operators Within Structured Systems

35:03 The Importance of Data in Extraction

39:27 Understanding Yield and Efficiency

43:00 Closing the Loop in Extraction Processes

48:40 Optimizing Cultivation for Better Efficiency

54:04 Auditing for Efficiency in Manufacturing

56:51 The Future of Hydrocarbon Extraction Knowledge

 

Guest Links:

linkedin.com/in/braunz-muller-98382018b

 

Our Links:

Bryan Fields on Twitter

Kellan Finney on Twitter

The Dime on Twitter

Extraction Teams: Want to cut costs and get more out of every run? Unlock hidden revenue by extracting more from the same input—with Newton Insights.

At Eighth Revolution (8th Rev), we provide services from capital to cannabinoid and everything in between in the cannabinoid industry.

The Dime is a top 5% most shared  global podcast

The Dime is a top 10 Cannabis Podcast 

The Dime has a New Website. Shhhh its not finished.

🎥 YouTube:  The Dime

📸 Instagram:  The Dime

https://www.newton-insights.com/

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A customer walks into the dispensary and asks the budtender for a flower recommendation.

They end up with a degraded version of the once high-end flower that graced your cultivation floor. They do not know it. Your brand took the blame.

Ed Rosenthal, the most referenced name in cannabis cultivation history, says the cannabis supply chain has a freshness problem that starts in the dry room and compounds at every handoff. The smell of your drying room that everyone loves walking into? Those are your terpenes leaving the building.

This week we sit down with Ed Rosenthal and Greg Baughman to discuss:

How Canada already solved this

Why most are still cultivating wrong

Freeze drying vs. traditional drying

Chapters

00:00 The Freshness Debate: Cannabis vs. Produce

03:01 Consumer Awareness and Dispensary Practices

05:55 Post-Harvest Processing: Ensuring Quality and Consistency

08:59 Innovations in Freeze-Drying Cannabis

11:48 The Science Behind Freeze-Drying: A Deeper Dive

14:52 Testing and Refining the Freeze-Drying Process

17:54 The Future of Cannabis Processing: Quality and Efficiency

28:28 Post-Harvest Efficiency and Cost Reduction

30:26 Cultivation Methods and Labor Costs

35:09 Crisis Management and Industry Change

39:22 Market Maturity and Operational Efficiencies

43:00 Future of Cannabis Cultivation

47:04 Innovations in Drying and Curing Processes

52:46 Consumer Perception and Quality Assurance

Guest Links:

http://cryocure.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-baughman-2869b4218/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/edrosenthal-/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cryocurecannabis/

Our Links:

Bryan Fields on Twitter

Kellan Finney on Twitter

The Dime on Twitter

Extraction Teams: Want to cut costs and get more out of every run? Unlock hidden revenue by extracting more from the same input—with Newton Insights.

At Eighth Revolution (8th Rev), we provide services from capital to cannabinoid and everything in between in the cannabinoid industry.

The Dime is a top 5% most shared  global podcast

The Dime is a top 10 Cannabis Podcast 

The Dime has a New Website. Shhhh its not finished.

🎥 YouTube:  The Dime

📸 Instagram:  The Dime

https://www.newton-insights.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.