Richard Zwicky welcomes MariMed's cofounder and new CEO Jon Levine about the MSO which has a strong presence in Massachusetts, Ohio and Illinois, as well as emerging markets like Maryland and Missouri.

While most MSOs are scuttling for brand equity and sales in prominent, oversaturated markets, MariMed has strategically built out its operations in locations that have been traditionally underserved. Through careful market research and planning, the company has excelled in building its presence in promising emerging markets ahead of the curve and building out and aligning its vertical operations effectively.

While other MSOs are constantly shuffling their consumer brands and SKUs, MariMed's brands are time-tested and new products brought to market are intentional and innovative. Also, MariMed has avoided a lot of the price compression that has plagued the industry over the past year-plus. Of note, MariMed’s Nature’s Heritage  flower remains the #1 selling flower in Massachusetts and prices have not decreased.

Richard Zwicky discusses Decarbonization and Carbon Negative Production of Advanced Carbon Materials with Zachary Scott, the CEO of Green Carbon.

GreenCarbon is a breakthrough decarbonization company, specializing in the world’s first scalable and carbon negative production of Advanced Carbon Materials (ACM).

GreenCarbon provides an alternative and sustainable method of creating high-value, cost-effective, materials from various agricultural waste streams, rich in photosynthesized carbon, reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. 

GreenCarbon reduces industrial input costs and eliminates dependencies on transcontinental imports by sourcing waste domestically, enabling the continued reduction of emissions for millennia.

Andrew DeAngelo joins the Green Peak to follow-up after the Psychedelic Science Conference where scientists and activists convened at a massive conference in Denver back in June to declare a renaissance for drugs like psilocybin and MDMA.

We also discuss the predictions he penned in a Rolling Stone article that gave his 2023 Cannabis And Psychedelic Forecast.

Richard Zwicky and Stephen Murphy are discussing Cannabis Europa, the ninth edition of Prohibition Partners’ cannabis conference, which is held in the Barbecue venue in London. This year, the show has more North American audiences, including US companies, investors, producers, and ancillary companies. 

This year, Germany also announced its policy towards legalization for adult use, even though it is more of a decriminalization than actual legalization. The conference is a great opportunity for those interested in the cannabis industry to learn about the latest developments, as well as to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere the Barbecue venue offers.

They discussed two great shows coming up, and the 8th annual European Cannabis Report was recently published. This report explores the trends happening in each market, issues with the supply chain, and major regulatory reform for both medical and adult use. The report also highlights the growth of medical cannabis in Europe, as well as minor tweaks happening in mature markets that have a greater effect. Ultimately, the report shows that there is no one size fits all policy in cannabis, as each market has its own regulations and procedures.

NewLake Capital with CEOAnthony Coniglio today on The Green Peak with Richard Zwicky only on Cannabis Radio. Mr. Coniglio is CEO and a member of our board of directors. 

He co-founded NewLake in 2019 and continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer following the merger with GreenAcreage in March 2021. Prior to co-founding NewLake, Mr. Coniglio was the Chief Executive Officer of Primary Capital Mortgage (PCM), a residential mortgage company. 

Prior to PCM, he was a Managing Director at JPMorgan, leading various businesses, including a start-up platform, to leadership positions and helping grow business line profitability exponentially. 

During his 14 years at JPMorgan, Anthony was named by Dealmaker Magazine as “Top 40 under 40 on Wall Street” and led complex transactions, such as the financial-crisis restructurings for GMAC and Chrysler Financial, as well as AmeriCredit’s $3.5 billion sales to General Motors. Mr. Coniglio has led numerous initial public offerings for REITs and corporations, including MasterCard’s $5.3 billion initial public offerings.

More than 1.7 billion people around the world are unbanked and can’t access the financial services they need. Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive.

KIVA does this by crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.

They believe lending alongside thousands of others is one of the most powerful and sustainable ways to create economic and social good. Lending on Kiva creates a partnership of mutual dignity and makes it easy to touch more lives with the same dollar. Fund a loan, get repaid and fund another.

Purissima is revolutionizing the way companies source and use plant-based ingredients, through the development and production of commercially viable, microbial biotechnology. Purissima's mission is to provide the world access to high-quality, pure, safe, and sustainable ingredients for products that improve the quality of life for millions. 

Purissima has sustainably and effectively recreated 60+ natural ingredients, including those rare or hard to access, at a fraction of the cost and without adverse environmental, varietal, or supply chain impact. The brand's patented and proprietary biotechnology advances critical plant-derived health + wellness solutions while preserving Earth's biodiversity and natural resources.

The Association for Cannabis Health Equity & Medicine (ACHEM [ay-kem]) is a mutual benefit, professional medical association for BIPOC healthcare professionals and students active or interested in cannabis science, cannabinoid medicine, and health equity. The Association for Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine (ACHEM) is a professional medical association within the Cannabis Health Equity Movement (CHEM)™. It is a mutual-benefit nonprofit organization serving the needs of BIPOC healers and health and medical professionals in the advancement of health equity and was founded by Drs. Janice, Jessica, and Rachel Knox, and Dr. Ogadinma "Oga" Obie.​

Travis has over 13 years of experience in commercial real estate investing across the capital stack, including debt and equity investments. At Pelorus, he sits on the credit committee and is responsible for the origination of new loans and new equity/debt investments.

In the sometimes-choppy waters of real estate, Pelorus Equity Group provides financing to keep property owners on course for their investment objectives, when traditional providers are unable or unwilling to help. 

They are experts in the rapidly growing cannabis build-out sub-sector, where demand for financing capital far outstrips supply, and many traditional lenders are unable to act efficiently or lend the required amounts necessary to complete tenant improvements. Through their real estate loans, they are able to provide income to their investors through the Pelorus Fund, their tax-advantaged Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

Mark Sims is the President and Chief Executive Officer of RIV Capital. Prior to joining RIV Capital, Mark served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and M&A at The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, one of the world’s leading marketers of branded consumer lawn and garden as well as hydroponic and indoor growing products. In this role, he was responsible for leading the corporate strategy department which provides comprehensive strategy support for strategic intelligence, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, and internal consulting. 

He began his career with Scotts in 2007 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in strategy, M&A, enterprise risk management, process transformation, and IT; including serving as the CIO. Prior to joining Scotts Miracle-Gro, Mark spent 15 years in management consulting focused on business transformation to drive growth and productivity.

Mark serves on the Board of Directors of the regional health insurance company SummaCare and the Audit and Compliance Committee of their parent Summa Health. He completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School, has a master’s in Industrial Engineering from Cleveland State University, and a bachelor’s in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Allied Corp.'s mission is to help people around the world by creating and providing targeted cannabinoid health solutions. They use a scientific approach to make this mission possible, through cutting-edge pharmaceutical R&D, innovative plant-based production, and unique development of therapeutic products. Calum Hughes spent over a decade in hospital and clinical settings working as a clinician, teaching at the university level, and creating software that enabled legal cannabis producers in Canada to manage quality assurance audits.

Along the way, he got to know what was working and what wasn’t when it comes to high-quality premium cannabis production. Calum knew he needed to do something meaningful and helpful with all that experience and knowledge.

He also brings a deep passion to help people struggling with mental health issues. The same holds true for the rest of our team. They share that passion while representing the very best across a diverse range of sectors: medicine, pharmaceuticals, cannabis R&D, Post Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI), innovative production, product development, and sustainable business growth.

Camilo De Guzmán is General Counsel and VP of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs at Natuera. Cronos Group's joint venture in Latin America offers reliable, high-quality, and fully-traceable contract growing and manufacturing solutions to the hemp and cannabis industry worldwide. 

With the backing of The Cronos Group, they offer reliable, high-quality, and fully traceable contract growing, extraction, and manufacturing solutions to the hemp and cannabis industry worldwide.

Their state-of-the-art, GMP-designed cultivation and extraction facilities are located on the highlands of the Andes mountains, close to the equator, in one of the few places on earth where natural tropical conditions make year-round sun-grown cultivation possible.

The Rootwurks Learning Experience Platform, explained by our guest Chase Eastman, is a comprehensive education and compliance platform for the industry. No one gets into the cannabis industry because they love reading through compliance guidelines. Their combined education + compliance approach takes care of the myriad compliance needs of cannabis companies so they can focus on what they truly love about being in this business, while also teaching their team more about all of the things that make the cannabis plant and this industry so fascinating.

Rootwurks' mission is to help hemp and cannabis businesses of all sizes grow and thrive in the industry while instilling a culture of safety and compliance in their daily operations. They do this by way of the Rootwurks Learning Experience Platform (LXP), which combines world-class educational resources and a suite of sophisticated digital tools to go through your compliance needs with a fine-toothed comb.

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Michael Sassano is one of the original movers and shakers in the cannabis industry. He was an early investor in the space and today is celebrated prominently in both mainstream business and cannabis media as an international authority on large-scale cannabis cultivation and medical product development. Michael is also widely respected for consistently predicting long-term market trends.

In July 2020, Michael led a merger of the cannabis cultivation company he built called Solaris Farms, with The Sanctuary, a Las Vegas brand operating two dispensaries and an extraction facility. In the four years prior, Michael was able to build Solaris out from a bare lot of land with private equity into one of the largest and most well-respected cannabis cultivation operations in the state of Nevada. As a result of the merger, Solaris is now one of the top ten private vertically-integrated cannabis companies in the state.

Michael remains on the advisory board of Solaris and will help sell the new vertical to a larger company in the future. Otherwise, he has shifted focus to his role as CEO and Chairman of the Board for Somai Pharmaceuticals LTD, an Ireland-based company centered on the cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution of GMP-certified cannabinoid-containing pharmaceutical products throughout the European Union. Taking with him the cultivation and product development knowledge honed in the competitive American west coast market, Somai is one of the first American-run companies operating across legal European markets.

Since the inception of Colorado's state-regulated medical marijuana program in 2010, VS Founding Partner Christian Sederberg has been representing cannabis businesses and ancillary companies on a wide range of compliance, regulatory, corporate, and legislative issues. Christian is a widely recognized leader in the cannabis industry, and in addition to his client work, he also works closely with government officials, trade associations, members of the business community, and advocates to advance thoughtful cannabis policy at the local, state, and national levels.

Christian played an integral role in the passage and implementation of Colorado’s historic cannabis legalization initiative in 2012 and was nominated by Gov. John Hickenlooper to represent the campaign on the Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force. He also sat on the executive committee of the Committee for Responsible Regulation, which coordinated the campaign to establish statewide excise and sales taxes on the sale of adult-use marijuana in Colorado.

Christian currently serves on the board of Colorado Leads, and he previously served as a board member for the United States Cannabis Council, Cannabis Trade Federation, and National Cannabis Industry Association. He was included in the National Law Journal’s inaugural list of “Cannabis Law Trailblazers,” as well as the Cannabis Business Executive 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the global cannabis industry and policy reform movement. Since 2020, Christian has been recognized as one of the nation's top cannabis lawyers by the prestigious Chambers and Partners USA. He was named a top corporate lawyer in 2021-2023's The Best Lawyers in America© and has been included in 5280’s list of “Denver’s Top Lawyers” every year since 2015. 

In the lead-up to the event, which is one of the market's major cannabis conferences, Richard Zwicky of The Green Peak sits down with Chris Walsh, CEO of MJBiz, to discuss the process of setting up the event and what topics will be highlighted. Chris dives into how the conference will differ from previous editions, and how the pandemic has affected the way MJBizCon operates.

Chris served as the founding editor of Marijuana Business Daily during the company’s launch in 2011, becoming the first journalist in the United States to focus exclusively on covering the business of cannabis. He now oversees the company’s day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives. Chris has been quoted as one of America’s foremost cannabis industry analysts by dozens of media outlets, including Harvard Business Review, NPR, CNBC, and the New York Times. He earned an MBA in international business from Regis University.

Zoned Properties with Berekk Blackwell today on Plant Prophets with Vern Davis only on Cannabis Radio. Zoned Properties is a strategic real estate development firm whose primary mission is to provide real estate and sustainability services for clients in the regulated cannabis industry. They are an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Forbes Real Estate Council.

They do not grow, harvest, sell or distribute cannabis or any substances regulated under United States law such as the Controlled Substance. Even with the legalization of marijuana, many license holders have had extreme difficulty securing property and creating relationships with the surrounding community.

Tyson 2.0 is a legendary boxer, entrepreneur, and icon Mike Tyson’s first foray into the cannabis industry and is focused on bringing consumers high-quality premium cannabis products at affordable price points. Today we talk to the people behind this new venture with Chad Bronstein. Tyson 2.0 is a premier cannabis company formed by legendary boxer, entrepreneur, and icon Mike Tyson.

The company’s mission is to produce innovative, high-quality cannabis products known for purity, precision, and wide accessibility. Providing consumers with an outstanding selection of products, Tyson 2.0 is an extraordinary balance of premium and affordable, full-spectrum cannabis flower, concentrates, and consumables available at retailers nationwide. Mike Tyson is creating a completely different and authentic experience, and has positioned himself as a true ambassador for cannabis products.”

Safe Harbor Financial With founder Sundie Seefried today on The Green Peak with Richard Zwicky only on The Cannabis Radio. Safe Harbor Financial is the brainchild of Sundie Seefried. A 35-year veteran of the credit union industry, in 2014, she saw that CRBs needed financial services and that Colorado communities would be safer if the new industry had access to banking solutions.

A 39-year credit union industry veteran, Seefried was the former CEO of Partner Colorado Credit Union (PCCU). Established in 2015 by PCCU, Safe Harbor was formed to provide an unmet need – compliant banking and financial services to the rapidly growing U.S. cannabis industry.

Higher Yields Cannabis Consulting With founder Cory Waggoner today on The Green Peak with Richard Zwicky only on The Cannabis Radio. Cory Waggoner founded Higher Yields Cannabis Consulting in 2015 with the goal of bringing structure, stability, and quality assurance to the budding cannabis industry.

Built on his four pillars of healthy cannabis businesses – Strong Startup, System Design & Implementation, Brand Development & Deployment, Growth & Scaling – Waggoner designed Higher Yields Consulting to solve the most complex and problematic issues in the cannabis industry.