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.
The global oil benchmark surpassed $90 for the first time in more than seven years. This comes as growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine add to concerns about the already-tight market. Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, joined Cheddar to discuss what this benchmark means for the oil industry, and what might happen if Russia does invade its neighbor.
The EU relaxed its Covid travel restrictions for vaccinated individuals among the union's 27 member states, doing away with testing or quarantine requirements for travelers. This comes soon after the World Health Organization said the omicron variant could help make the pandemic more manageable. The new rules take effect February 1st. Bryce Conway, Founder, 10xTravel joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
General Motors will be releasing its earnings report on Tuesday. Paulina Likos, investing reporter for U.S. News & World Report, joined Cheddar News to discuss how investors will be eyeing the automaker's forecast as it expands its EV division and attempts to navigate a supply shortage."Investors, first and foremost, are going to want to understand how the company has been able to navigate the chip shortage and how they're going to be able to do that throughout the year to come," Likos noted.
If you're in China you may have noticed that the 1999 film "Fight Club" which features Brad Pitt has somehow got itself a new ending. In the new ending on the streaming service Tencent, the narrator is killed and the explosions are replaced with a black screen saying "the police arrested criminals".It's unclear as to exactly why the changes were made. However, it is the latest example of China playing by its own rules when it comes to entertainment and attempting to control everything its citizens watch. Media Reporter at Axios, Sarah Fisher, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Neil Young gave the streaming service Spotify an ultimatum demanding that his music be removed if the Joe Rogan experience remained on the platform. Joe Rogan's platform has been questioned a number of times as a result of some of his takes on covid treatment strategies and at times downright misinformation. Ultimately, Spotify decided to stick with Joe Rogan's podcast. The Director for the Business and Entertainment Program at American University, John Simson, joined Cheddar to discuss more.