It’s a cozy year-end check-in—and a clear-eyed look at what’s next. Recorded Tuesday, December 30, 2025, Ben & AnnaRae close out the year by revisiting their 2025 predictions, unpacking what actually happened across regulated cannabis and hemp-derived THC, and setting the tone for 2026: faster, sharper, and more focused. From the surreal experience of finding cannabis policy debates in a 1969 Playboy issue to today’s rescheduling whiplash, this episode zooms out on the long arc of reform—...
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It’s a cozy year-end check-in—and a clear-eyed look at what’s next. Recorded Tuesday, December 30, 2025, Ben & AnnaRae close out the year by revisiting their 2025 predictions, unpacking what actually happened across regulated cannabis and hemp-derived THC, and setting the tone for 2026: faster, sharper, and more focused. From the surreal experience of finding cannabis policy debates in a 1969 Playboy issue to today’s rescheduling whiplash, this episode zooms out on the long arc of reform—...
#102 - The Exit Interview: 20 Years of Cannabis Advocacy w/ Aaron Smith of NCIA
High Spirits: The Cannabis Business Podcast
53 minutes
4 months ago
#102 - The Exit Interview: 20 Years of Cannabis Advocacy w/ Aaron Smith of NCIA
Send us a text Former NCIA CEO Aaron Smith shares his insights after 20 years leading cannabis policy reform, reflecting on the evolution from medical advocacy to today's complex marketplace and the challenges of federal reform. • The cannabis industry has seen remarkable progress over two decades, with support for reform growing from just two members of Congress to majorities in both chambers • Current regulatory structures represent a compromise, not the alcohol-style regulation originally...
High Spirits: The Cannabis Business Podcast
It’s a cozy year-end check-in—and a clear-eyed look at what’s next. Recorded Tuesday, December 30, 2025, Ben & AnnaRae close out the year by revisiting their 2025 predictions, unpacking what actually happened across regulated cannabis and hemp-derived THC, and setting the tone for 2026: faster, sharper, and more focused. From the surreal experience of finding cannabis policy debates in a 1969 Playboy issue to today’s rescheduling whiplash, this episode zooms out on the long arc of reform—...
