Few people have spent more time in Washington advocating for hemp than Geoff Whaling. Over the past decade, the former Canopy Growth hemp executive has helped shape hemp policy through the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills and is now involved in the debate over the 2026 Farm Bill.

Rather than waiting for Congress to write the next hemp bill, Whaling and the National Hemp Association joined forces with industry leaders to draft one themselves. Called the Goodness of Hemp Act, the proposal would create a federal framework for hemp and cannabinoid products as an alternative to the November 2026 ban.

After ten drafts and months of industry collaboration, the National Hemp Association is now taking the proposal to Capitol Hill in search of congressional sponsors.

In this episode, Geoff explains how a bill makes its way through Congress, what lawmakers are saying about cannabinoids and dosage limits, and why he believes the industry's best path forward is to "go low and go slow."

https://www.thegoodnessofhemp.org/

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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Today's guest is Ryan Douglas, who brings more than 25 years of experience managing large-scale cultivation operations.

Ryan is also the author of Presence is a Strategy, a new book that explores what happens when cultivation teams rely too heavily on technology and lose the human oversight that keeps operations running smoothly.

Drawing from decades of experience, Ryan explains why leadership needs to be present on the cultivation floor, where small issues can be identified before they become expensive problems. He examines the hidden costs of deferred maintenance, disconnected HR decisions, an overreliance on dashboards, and management styles that push top performers out the door.

Ryan offers practical insights into balancing technology with the experience and judgment that only people can provide.

Ryan is the founder of Ryan Douglas Cultivation LLC and the host of Future Crop Files, a conversation series focused on real-world execution in controlled environment agriculture.

Link to Ryan's book, Presence is a Strategy, on Amazon

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancultivation

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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Alleh Lindquist is the CEO and co-founder of FloraWorks, a cannabinoid innovation company focused on bringing science-backed minor cannabinoids into the mainstream.

As a leading supplier of hemp-derived cannabinoids to manufacturers, FloraWorks has been at the forefront of CBN research and commercialization, including helping popularize CBN as an ingredient for sleep products.

Today, the company's biggest focus is charting a regulatory pathway for CBN as a dietary supplement. After spending four years developing the safety data needed for FDA review, FloraWorks recently published peer-reviewed research supporting CBN's safety and has self-affirmed it as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS), with plans to submit its GRAS notification to the FDA.

As cannabis rescheduling continues to evolve, so does the opportunity to develop cannabis-based supplements and medicines. In this episode,

Alleh explains why scientific validation is essential, what it takes to navigate the FDA pathway, and how CBN could become one of the first cannabinoids to bridge the gap between the cannabis industry and mainstream consumer health products.

https://flora-works.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allehlindquist

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.