House Democrats and Republicans have co-published a ‘joint memo’ ahead of a congressional subcommittee meeting on cannabis this Tuesday. Here at the High Rise Cy and Emily dig into the details of what will be presenting at this meeting and why it’s taking so long to seize the day on cannabis reform ahead of the upcoming lame duck session in congress, the answers will simply amaze you. https://www.marijuanamoment.net/booker-says-marijuana-reform-can-pass-now-during-lame-duck-or-many-years-from-no...
Nov 15, 2022•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s a big week here in the US with the midterm elections wrapping up soon. So it makes sense that Cy and Emily would do a little state-by-state run though of the various cannabis legislation on the docket this election cycle. For industry veterans that’s seen many a cannabis legislation come through during past election seasons, expectations are definitely tempered. However there are a few states the can help tip the scales if cannabis gets a W, tune-in to find out more! https://mmcc.maryland.g...
Nov 08, 2022•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome back to another great episode of the High Rise! Today Cy and Emily got to catch up with longtime industry friend Kyle Sherman. Kyle started his cannabis retail platform back in 2015 and continues to innovate on solutions that help cannabis retailers elevate the shopping experience for their customers. Sit back and go with the flow as we get into the nitty gritty details of basket sizing, how payment vendors contribute to more sales, manual entry vs integration, staffing, optimizing aroun...
Nov 01, 2022•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Zee Germans have signaled that adults will soon be able to purchase and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis for recreational use. Just imagine what future Octoberfests will be like. It’s still early innings for bringing this program to life, but it looks like the nation has its sights set for 2024. As always Cy and Emily break down the details and explore how things might play out for this burgeoning world wide industry that is cannabis. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/26/germany-mar...
Oct 27, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast A couple recent headlines from Canopy Growth has the industry buzzing lately. Cy and Emily dig into what CGC’s recent move of closing all of their Canadian retail doors could mean to US cannabis markets. Too early to tell, but one thing seems clear, there will be more big moves coming soon in this fast moving industry! https://www.canopygrowth.com/investors/news-releases/canopy-growth-us-cannabis-market/ Headset...
Oct 26, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are very excited to bring a couple of special guests onto the podcast for you this week. Brian Vicente and Mason Tvert from the powerhouse law firm Vicente Sederberg will be taking all things cannabis reform with Cy and Emily on this episode. Vicente Sederberg has been at the leading edge of cannabis law and policy since the inception of the regulated cannabis industry. Brian took part in drafting Colorado’s groundbreaking Amendment 64 and Mason headed up the campaign to Regulate Marijuana Li...
Oct 21, 2022•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast MSO Verano Holdings Corp. terminated previously announced deal to acquire Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. last Friday. The acquisition was valued at $413 million when the deal was first announced last February, what went wrong? Tune in to hear Cy and Emily’s analysis of why M&A in this industry can be a major challenge. https://mjbizdaily.com/goodness-growth-vows-to-take-legal-action-after-verano-scraps-cannabis-acquisition/ https://www.newcannabisventures.com/verano-ditches-deal-to-buy-goodn...
Oct 17, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s kind of hard to believe, but the High Rise has made it to its 100th episode already! This industry is constantly on the move and always evolving, so it makes sense that our weekly coverage of each news cycle has brought us to this point already. Because the High Rise has hit this sweet little milestone, Cy and Emily thought it would be pertinent to reflect on how far the industry has come and how it’s affected their own personal journeys as well. But that’s not all though, we thought it wou...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last Thursday President Joe Biden pardoned thousands of individuals convicted of possessing marijuana, saying the current system “makes no sense” and sending pot stocks soaring on the news. This is a good step forward for criminal justice, but how much does this move the needle for federal decriminalization and legalization? Cy and Emily break this down a little further on this episode of the High Rise. Headset
Oct 11, 2022•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are delighted to bring you a special guest to this episode of the High Rise, Suzan Nickelson owner and CEO of Holistic Solutions in New Jersey. Suzan’s family come from the bloodline of escaped slaves who landed on the shores of Jamaica. The women in her family were herbalists and passed down generational knowledge of working with various herbs for healing and spirituality. Today she is using that valuable family knowledge to run her cannabis business in The Garden State. https://www.linkedin...
Oct 03, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 level the playing field for black and brown entrepreneurs via proposed legislation such as the CLIMB Ac...
Oct 03, 2022•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 far? Stream on to find out! https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2022/09/22/twin-cities-restaura...
Sep 29, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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-production.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/21143531/OptOutReport2022.pdf Headset...
Sep 27, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 history of cannabis, psychedelics, and his father’s (Dr. Lester Grinspoon) legacy of countering can...
Sep 22, 2022•39 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast 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/newsfront/poll-gop-cannabis/2022/09/14/id/1087401/ https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/09/legalize-weed...
Sep 20, 2022•19 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast 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 the ballot this November. https://www.marijuanamoment.net/democratic-congressional-candidate-deletes-...
Sep 08, 2022•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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://twitter.com/BCobblaw Headset...
Sep 01, 2022•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 https://www.auroramedical.com https://weedmaps.com/news/2022/02/weedmaps-broccoli-censorship/ Headset...
Aug 30, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 hazards—with just a hint of journalistic bait framing. As you would expect, our hosts provide a rational t...
Aug 25, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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’s Q2 earnings. Headset...
Aug 23, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 highlights from practically every major MSO in the game, and other bits & bips. Clear your mind and sche...
Aug 22, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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-million-bucks-in-ticket-debt/3733962/ https://pix11-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/pix11.com/news/local-news/po...
Aug 18, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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! https://www.headset.io/industry-reports/an-analysis-of-declining-growth-in-recent-us-cannabis-sales...
Aug 16, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 in the long run? Why is Delta also referred to as ‘diet weed’? Without lab testing on this hemp deri...
Aug 11, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 news though, give this episode a full stream and find out more. https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyako...
Aug 09, 2022•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-growers-destroyed-a-record-425-million-grams-of-cannabis-in-2021/?utm_me...
Aug 04, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 politicians are striving (at least in rhetoric) to make a positive shift towards remedying past wron...
Aug 02, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 creating live experiences that connects with culture (especially cannabis culture) in more meaningful ...
Aug 01, 2022•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 the lowlights and highlights around the state of affairs for cannabis decriminalization and eventuall...
Jul 28, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 doing this. Our hosts get into just about all of the juicy details of how this latest scam made its...
Jul 26, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
