Cheddar's CannaBiz explores the latest trends, and news in this expanding market of recreational, and medicinal marijuana. Cheddar's Hope King and Baker Machado speak with start-up founders about how they are capitalizing on cannabis.
Legal technology platform CannaRegs is on a mission to make sense of the legal landscape of marijuana for stakeholders in this growing space. The company's founder and CEO Amanda Ostrowitz explains the regulatory landscape for marijuana, and why she was inspired to launch this start-up.
"I realized the only solution to my problem was to build it," says Ostrowitz. "It's actually kind of influencing the way law is being made because we've been able to track it to such a level where the first time a city government even talks about cannabis--we've tracked it."
Colorado Marijuana sales hit $1.5 Billion in 2017, generating nearly $250 million in taxes and fees for the state. The Cannabist's Marijuana Policy and Business Reporter Alicia Wallace explains why the state sales could face a plateau, and lessons other states could learn from Colorado.
"In Colorado the slowing growth is more of an indicator of a mature market," says Wallace. "We're the guinea pig on this, and we've been able to learn a lot of lessons really quick as this industry came out of nowhere here."
Sensi Products recently underwent a complete redesign to make the transition to solely medical marijuana edibles to consumer products for recreational use. The company's co-founder Lisa Tollner explains how her company made this switch, and her outlook for this expanding market in California.
"For the most part it was a pretty straight forward maneuver for us," explains Tollner. "We saw this coming. I would say as early as five or six years ago we felt it was just a matter of time."
Cheddar's CannaBiz airs every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.
Dr. Jarrad Aguirre, Co-Founder and CEO of Miga Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says his company is looking to establish the future of heart health and points to how 80% of premature heart attacks and strokes are preventable.
DroneUp is partnering with Walmart in a program to expand its drone delivery service to reach 4 million households. CEO Tom Walker joined Cheddar News to discuss the state of drone delivery regulations and the acceptance of the service so far. "I think they're going into this, there was obviously, and appropriately, some concerns of noise and, and the drones flying over, and the safety, and would it become an annoyance. And then on the retail side, would the customers really adopt this and embrace it as a new method for delivery," he said. "So we've seen really significant and positive embrace of this new delivery model."
The average city in California has a 38% higher cost of living than the average American city, according to a cost of living index. For many, the general minimum wage of $15/hour just doesn't cut it. Anti-poverty activist Joe Sanberg wants to get the minimum wage changed to $18/hour. He joins Cheddar News to discuss the Living Wage Act of 2022.
Coming off of their face masks endeavor, Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City," and her daughter Ally Shapiro, CMO of JIll & Ally, join Cheddar News to discuss their latest product: crystal manifestation candles. "We have tigers eye, we have amethyst, we have lapis, and alone those could be almost the price of the candle," said Zarin. "We were really able to do it in an affordable way, and if you don't know how to manifest or what that even means, we do it for you on the candle." Zarin also dished on the new season of "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip."
One month after its launch, new streaming venture CNN+ announced it was shutting down. Seth Schachner, the managing director of StratAmericas and digital business executive, joined Cheddar News to talk about the high-profile media flop. "That's a really, really different beast than what HBO Max is, which is video streaming, entertainment features," he said. “It's a tough sell when you really look at these things in the cold light of day as to whether or not they actually fit together."