Like many Southern states, Alabama developed a strong hemp market while access to legal marijuana remained extremely limited.

My guest, Jennifer Boozer Stewart, opened CannaBama, the state’s first CBD shop, in 2018. She hosts a radio show focused on the plant and the endocannabinoid system and has spent years advocating at the State House.

But Alabama allowed the hemp market to grow largely unchecked before imposing restrictions that put responsible, self-regulating businesses like Jennifer’s out of business.

At the same time, the state’s medical program has barely gotten off the ground. There are only a handful of dispensaries, and women of childbearing age are required to undergo monthly pregnancy testing to maintain their certification.

Jennifer and I talk about what happened in Alabama, what the state got wrong, and where the industry goes from here.

The Innovating Cannabis podcast is produced and hosted by Pam Chmiel, a freelance writer and editor for the Cannabis Industry Journal.

Get in touch with pam@InnovatingCannabisPodcast.com.

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In this episode, Kat Savoy and Teri LeBlanc, co-founders of Drop, explain why legal cannabis delivery is so hard to pull off and how they’re building a tech platform to fix it.

While consumer demand is there, operators get crushed by seed-to-sale tracking, strict state licensing, and scattered orders. Drop acts as the middle-layer software—connecting dispensaries, social-equity transporters, and customers to handle handoffs and strip out the extra admin work.

What we cover:

• Why small order volumes kill local delivery fleets.
• Automating Metrc manifests and ID checks in the field.
• How Drop links dispensaries with independent drivers.
• Key takeaways from their initial Denver rollout.

The Innovating Cannabis podcast is produced and hosted by Pam Chmiel, a freelance writer and editor for the Cannabis Industry Journal.

Get in touch with pam@InnovatingCannabisPodcast.com.

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Most medical cannabis programs operate through dispensaries. Utah took a different route, requiring cannabis to be sold through medical cannabis pharmacies with licensed pharmacists on staff.

My guest today is Narith Panh, Chief Growth Officer for Dragonfly Wellness, which operates in Utah’s medical-only cannabis market.

Narith believes Utah’s pharmacy model could offer a glimpse of how medical cannabis may operate under federal regulation. We talk about how other states might adopt the pharmacy model, what that could require of existing dispensaries, and whether DEA registration could eventually open the door to interstate commerce.

We also get into GMP manufacturing, 280E, the future of adult-use cannabis, insurance coverage, Big Pharma, and what could happen as cannabis moves closer to the traditional healthcare system.

ttps://dragonflywellness.com/

The Innovating Cannabis podcast is produced and hosted by Pam Chmiel, a freelance writer and editor for the Cannabis Industry Journal.

Get in touch with pam@InnovatingCannabisPodcast.com.

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Please like the show to help us reach more listeners🙏🏻

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