Apartment 113 Cannabis & Psychedelics Industry

Episode 240 is the 38th episode of Season 4. Today we're joined by Michou Olivera, a trauma-informed psychedelic guide and relational mycologist working out of western Massachusetts. Her history with psychedelics goes back to about 1985, when she was fifteen and following the Dead around Northern California, followed by roughly thirty years away from them. Mushrooms found their way back into her life in early 2018, what stayed with her was not the journey itself but the three weeks of unusual clarity that followed it. She taught herself mycology beginning in 2019, and she is now in her fifth year of cultivation and her seventh year of practice, having grown twenty-four varieties for patients. In this two-part conversation, Michou takes us through that arc, from working with a monthly macrodose during a stretch when very little was going right to what she describes as a clear instruction to grow the medicine herself for the people who would eventually find her. She explains how she treats mushroom varieties the way a cannabis connoisseur treats cultivars, matching a gentler one to someone fragile and a heavier one to someone with the resilience to go deep, and her stated aim throughout is to make herself unnecessary. We turn to integration, which she argues matters more than the medicine does and which she says looks less like a video group call and more like moving to music in the kitchen while you cook for family. We wrap up discussing moderation, where she reads heavy cannabis and vice use as a signal that someone is carrying too much rather than as the problem itself. Connect with Michou on LinkedIn or visit michouolivera.com. She also hosts a monthly in-personintegration group in Westfield, Massachusetts. Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 239 is the 37th episode of Season 4. We’re joined on this one by Dustin Hawksworth founder of Fat Nugs Magazine and Daniel Crawford COO, we’re running though the cannabis and psychedelic headlines once again. In this one we start with the DEA's closing brief in the rescheduling hearing and the strange position of watching that agency argue cannabis has accepted medical use, then set it against the FBI crime report showing more than 200,000 possession arrests last year. We go international for Germany, where imports have climbed sixfold in two years and a new government is already looking to tighten the medical route back down. From there we get into the New Mexico operators suing the state over a track and trace cutover that halts all legal product movement for six days, and a South African policy paper that put roughly 900,000 small cannabis farmers on the map while only about a thousand of them have made it into the legal program. We close on the research pile with a Colorado State study on cannabis and exercise, a look at how people run their own set and setting outside the clinic, and a paper on mind wandering that pulls cannabis, psychedelics and the default mode network into the same conversation. Connect with Dustin Hawksworth and Daniel Crawford on LinkedIn, Instagram or fatnugsmag.com Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 238 is the 36th episode of Season 4. Today we're joined by Jonny, the founder of BzzBox, a line of wooden cannabis stash boxes. The idea arrived about six years ago on a cottage weekend, when he and his friends emptied their shoeboxes and Tupperware containers onto a countertop he decided to make an alternative. He made the move right as Canada legalized, selling the first three hundred boxes quickly. The brand funds beehives kept by a professional beekeeper with proceeds from every purchase, based on the idea that one hive in a thousand spots does more good than a thousand hives in one. In this one, Jonny walks us through six years of iteration, from choosing bamboo because it absorbs odor to adding eight corner gussets. He gets into the magnets that lock the tray up into the lid and the click they make, the move away from combination locks and why he would rather the box sit out on a shelf than get hidden in a closet. We talk about the extra-large treasure chest available, the customers already asking for something twice that size and the jars with built-in hygrometers that let you watch your flower the way you would watch a humidor. He also gets honest about why ad spend became part of the job once the category filled in around him. Connect with Jonny and see the boxes at thebzzbox.com. Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 237 is the 35th episode of Season 4. Today we're joined by Lance Asher, the founder of Green Elevator Cannabis, a hemp-derived beverage brand out of Minnesota. He found the plant as a teenager and spent time in the legacy market. What followed was a long run in the corporate world, along with a car detailing business he ran. When Minnesota built a regulatory framework around hemp-derived beverages and edibles in August of 2022, he saw a way back in that did not carry the old risk, and he launched Green Elevator in October of 2023 under a tagline his daughter came up with, that an elevator takes you where you want to go. In this one, Lance makes the case that cannabis and hemp have been letting themselves off the hook on flavor, and that an edible tasting bad because the effect is coming is a standard none of us would accept from a plate of food that arrived at the table. He takes us inside building the first can, from pairing lemon with wedding cake terpenes to talking a soda-focused co-packer down from forty-six grams of sugar to the low twenties, with a tasting panel that ran from his teenagers to his partner to the neighbors. He gives a clear read on the federal hemp fight and why a beverage-only carve-out would leave gummies, chocolates and topicals behind, along with the people who prefer them. Connect with Lance on LinkedIn and order a drink at GreenElevatorCannabis.com Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 236 is the 34th episode of Season 4. We're joined today by Jeremy Ortiz, a cannabis insurance and risk management specialist and Ganjier Product Specialist based in Connecticut who works with license holders across 27 legal states. His focus is property and casualty, everything from the building itself to what's inside it, with a team behind him covering employee benefits and ancillary coverages. Jeremy came up through sales. He graduated from UConn in 2005 with degrees in economics and sociology, rode the mortgage boom and moved into financial services in 2009, then joined a Connecticut agency where he spent eleven years under a mentor who pushed him to think for himself instead of taking orders. When a larger brokerage acquired them in 2019 and asked him to pick a specialty, he looked down the list of verticals, saw cannabis and never looked back. The plant had been in his life long before the industry was. He grew his first crop at nineteen from seeds his friends brought back from Amsterdam in their socks, following an Ed Rosenthal book step by step and hauling five-gallon buckets out into the wetlands in waders. He is passionate to this day about glass and sun-grown flower. We discuss what risk management actually looks like for a cannabis operator, why he thinks the industry's hard-won knowledge stays trapped inside individual states and how a lunch in Vegas surrounded by attorneys and bankers with almost no license holders in the room turned into a run of events built the other way around. We also get into why he doesn't carry business cards and what he means when he says your network is your net worth. Find Jeremy on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/jeremyportiz Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 235 is the 33rd episode of Season 4. Today we're joined by Melanie King, a cannabis events producer and marketer whose career has run through some of the industry's most memorable events. She grew up in Massachusetts and followed an unlikely path into cannabis, working in mental health administration at UCSF and Berkeley's Wright Institute, spending time as one of the Internet Archive's earliest employees in late-90s San Francisco and later running her own successful events and wedding planning business in Sonoma. She entered the cannabis industry in 2016 with CannaCraft, helping grow its events program from the pre-regulation days into headline activations like the first on-site cannabis sales at Outside Lands, Emerald Cup and countless product launches. Today, she leads field marketing and events for a cannabis retail technology company. We discuss that journey from event planning to cannabis, what it took to build successful brand activations during the industry's early years and how cannabis events have evolved alongside legalization. Melanie also shares the story behind organizing a first-of-its-kind cannabis event at Fenway Park before opening up about a years-long health battle, the challenges of navigating a delayed diagnosis and the role cannabis and RSO played throughout her treatment and recovery. It's a conversation about resilience, creativity and building community through every stage of life. Read the article covering Melanie’s story in Fat Nugs Volume 29. Connect with Melanie on LinkedIn. Enjoy the show. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 234 is the 32nd episode of Season 4. Today we're joined by Jacob Tell, founder and self-described Chief Dreamer of District216, a psychedelic social club based in Santa Barbara, California. District216 was created to bring people together through education, community and integration, offering regular gatherings, special events and an online membership for those interested in exploring psychedelics in a thoughtful and supportive environment. Before launching the club, Jacob built a career in marketing, live events and branding through his agency Oniracom while producing festivals, cannabis symposiums and other community-focused experiences. We discuss how District216 grew from a single educational meetup into a thriving psychedelic community, the importance of integration and creating safe spaces for conversation, and Jacob's own experiences with ketamine-assisted therapy and ayahuasca. We also explore the changing public perception of psychedelics, the challenges of preparing enough qualified practitioners for a rapidly growing field and what's next for District216, including its return to the MAPS Psychedelic Science conference. Learn more about District216, join the community and sign up for the newsletter at district216.com. You can also learn more about Jacob and his work at jacobtell.com or connect with him on LinkedIn. Enjoy the show. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 233 is the 31st episode of Season 4. Today for the July special we travel to Panama to sit down with Fidel Muñoz, better known as El Tío, a legacy grower from Panama's Pearl Islands who witnessed firsthand the rise of what the world came to know as Panama Red. Born in 1948, El Tío shares a rare firsthand account of one of cannabis history's most iconic regions, reflecting on a lifetime shaped by the plant, the people who cultivated it and the dramatic changes brought by prohibition. The conversation is conducted through an interpreter, preserving an important piece of cannabis history in his own words. We explore how cannabis transformed the Pearl Islands from an agricultural community into one of the world's most recognized producing regions, the rise and fall of Panama Red, the foreign buyers who arrived by sailboat, the realities of growing during the boom years and the impact of the War on Drugs. Along the way, El Tío reflects on the pride, hardship and resilience of the families behind one of cannabis' most legendary names while considering what the future might hold as legalization continues to spread. El Tío does not maintain any public profiles, but if you enjoyed his story, be sure to read the feature article based on this interview in the Landrace Edition of Fat Nugs Magazine! You can catch the audio as always on iTunes, Spotify, Audible, YouTube or at apt113.com. Sit down, roll one up and enjoy the ride.

Episode 232 is the 30th episode of Season 4. Today we're joined by Scott Wright, president of Wise Rabbit Films and a documentary filmmaker who describes filmmaking as his fourth incarnation. Before film he spent 25 years as a radio DJ under the name Shadow Steele, worked as an executive in the record industry, and later became a winemaker and wine importer, before turning to documentaries and screenwriting later in life. His earlier films include the wine documentary Three Days of Glory and the John Waite music documentary The Hard Way, and he has written five feature screenplays. His newest project, and the heart of this conversation, is The Next Chapter, a documentary about older people turning to psychedelic-assisted therapy. In this one Scott opens up about taking his first real psilocybin journey at 68, guided by a facilitator in San Miguel de Allende, and how that experience reoriented his life and pulled him out of decades of introversion toward community and connection. He shares how that journey led directly to The Next Chapter, which follows a group of people in their 50s and 60s from the US, Canada and the UK through a guided retreat and then revisits them a year later. He gets into the craft of documentary making and learning to let a film become what it wants to be, along with using microdosing to unlock creativity and his screenwriting. Throughout he keeps returning to why he made it, to let a generation that feels underserved by conventional mental health care know this path is available to them. Find The Next Chapter and its screening schedule at thenextchapterfilm.com. Learn more about Scott's work at wise-rabbit.com, follow Wise Rabbit Films on Instagram @wiserabbitfilms, or reach him directly at scott@wise-rabbit.com. Enjoy the show. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

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Episode 230 is the 28th episode of Season 4. We're joined today by Talvin White, founder and CEO of canAFarm an Illinois social equity license holder working to open his first dispensary. Talvin comes from a long line of growers and grew up around family gardens He entered medical cannabis as a patient looking for an alternative to opioids, then won an Illinois license through the state's social equity lottery on a single application he wrote himself. Since then he has added licenses in Minnesota and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Today he owns a building in Kane County and holds permits for sites in Elburn and North Chicago. In this one, Talvin rewinds his road to a license. He walks through what actually happens once you hold a license, the chicken-or-egg fight for funding, the hunt for a good location and how to build a team you can trust. From there, we get into the brand he built with his son, his read on a tough 2026 Illinois market and the investors circling distressed operators, along with a look at the unhurried dispensary experience he wants to create. We close on the plant itself, landrace and old-school strains, the loose way the industry names its genetics and why tissue culture and terpene testing might finally keep it honest. Connect with Talvin on LinkedIn and learn more about canAFarm at thecanafarm.com. Enjoy the show. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 229 is the 27th episode of Season 4. We're joined today by Alex Eckman, a cannabis chemistry graduate, extraction technician and host of the Higher Thoughts Podcast. Alex has spent about a decade in Michigan cannabis, a path that began when he left the fire service and turned to the plant as a last-resort medicine for chronic health issues. He worked through the state's wild-west caregiver era, then doubled down on the science and earned a cannabis chemistry degree, serving as vice president of his student government and sitting on the curriculum committee along the way. Today he is focused on education, advocacy and content creation under the banner of "merging studies with strategy," while looking to dig back in on the processing and R&D side of the industry. We get into what his program was actually like, from an on-campus vape and hydrocarbon lab to the votes of no confidence he and his fellow students passed that flipped the school's stance on cannabis, and his case that the connections he made there mattered as much as the coursework. We dig into the surprising finding from his capstone research, evidence that some vape carts may leach a microplastic out of the hardware and into the oil, which he stumbled onto by accident after a sample caught fire inside the lab's electron microscope. Then we pull up a chair on the consumer side: the Michigan concentrate market with live resin at three or four dollars a gram, his hack for buying cheap extract and dialing the terpenes back in himself, how far is too far before a dab turns harsh, the wholesale tax squeezing operators and where a chemist thinks the market and his own career head next. Connect with Alex on LinkedIn and follow Higher Thoughts on Instagram. Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 228 is the 26th episode of Season 4. We're back with another monthly special featuring Dustin Hoxworth, Founder of Fat Nugs Magazine, joining me to break down another busy month in cannabis and psychedelics. With federal policy finally moving, research continuing to accelerate and no shortage of industry drama, there was plenty to unpack. We kick things off with the DEA's rescheduling hearing and what could become one of the biggest moments in modern cannabis policy, before shifting to renewed banking legislation, Illinois expanding possession limits and a handful of new studies challenging assumptions around cannabis, public health and cultivation. In the second half we turn to psychedelics, looking at new research on psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, emerging neuroscience and a few stories that remind us we're still only scratching the surface of what these compounds may be capable of. You can catch the audio as always on iTunes, Spotify, Audible, YouTube or at apt113.com. Sit down, roll one up and enjoy the ride. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 227 is the 25th episode of Season 4. Joshua Tims is Vice President of Brand Strategy and Vendor Relations at Haven, a California cannabis retailer with ten dispensary locations, cultivation, manufacturing and distribution operations. Over more than two decades in the industry, he's worked nearly every side of cannabis retail, from budtending and purchasing to retail operations, executive leadership and brand strategy. Along the way he's helped open more than 100 dispensaries, trained thousands of employees and built a reputation for connecting brands, retailers and consumers through education and purpose. At Haven, Joshua oversees marketing, vendor relations, private label development and Haven University, the company's in-house training program focused on cannabis education, customer experience and professional development. His work centers on helping retailers better understand their customers while giving employees and brand partners the tools to succeed in an increasingly competitive market. We discuss the evolution of California cannabis, what separates great retailers from average ones and why culture, education and clear brand identity matter just as much as the products on the shelf. We also explore vendor relationships, customer archetypes, leadership and the lessons Joshua has learned from spending more than twenty years on the front lines of legal cannabis. Find Joshua's newsletter, The Drop Sheet, on LinkedIn for practical insights into cannabis retail, sales and brand strategy and learn more about Haven at myhavenstores.com Enjoy the show. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 226 is the 24th episode of Season 4. This episode breaks the mold a little bit as we celebrate another 113 episodes of the Apartment 113 Podcast. Instead of focusing on the traditional 100 episode milestone, we've always preferred to celebrate 113. With another 113 episodes now in the books, I'm incredibly grateful for all of the guests, listeners, supporters and friends who have helped make this journey possible. Here's to the next 113. Our first guest is Scott Von Heldt, Founder of Higher Vibes Solutions and creator of CannaMatch.ai. After spending more than a decade building sales operations for some of the most recognized brands in cannabis including 22 Red, Dr. Greenthumb's and others, Scott saw the same challenge repeatedly: great products struggling to find the right buyers while buyers struggled to find the products they actually wanted. That experience led him to launch CannaMatch.ai, an AI-powered platform designed to connect cannabis brands and retail buyers through intent-based matching and product discovery. We discuss cannabis sales, distribution, brand building, the realities of California's highly competitive market and how technology may help solve some of the industry's biggest wholesale challenges. Scott also shares stories from his years working with celebrity-driven cannabis brands and his perspective on where cannabis retail and product discovery are headed next. In the second half of the episode, Matt Jerome returns to the show to talk about the launch of Issue 01 of the Connoisseurship Roadshow. After months of work, writing, photography and collaboration, the first issue is now live and available to read. Check it out at connoisseurship-roadshow.com. That's c o n n o i s s e u r s h i p dash roadshow dot com. We put a tremendous amount of effort into bringing this project to life and we're already hard at work on the next issue coming later this year. We hope you'll take some time to read it and enjoy what we've created. You can catch the audio as always on iTunes, Spotify, Audible, YouTube or at apt113.com. Enjoy the show. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 225 is the 23rd episode of Season 4. Jim Berry is the creator of Homegrown with Jim Berry and a longtime Michigan caregiver, cultivator and educator dedicated to helping people grow better cannabis at home. Through his writing with Fat Nugs Magazine and his work as a cultivation consultant, he has become a respected voice advocating for home grow rights and bringing practical, science-driven cultivation advice to growers of all experience levels. His path into cannabis cultivation began through Michigan's medical program while navigating chronic health issues and the realities of opioid dependence. What started as a small basement grow quickly evolved into a deep passion for the craft and eventually a successful caregiver operation. After experiencing both the promise and disappointments of the commercial cannabis industry, Jim returned to the thing he loved most: teaching others how to cultivate exceptional cannabis themselves. We discuss the importance of home grow, the lessons learned from decades of hands-on cultivation and why curiosity and critical thinking remain some of the most valuable tools a grower can have. From pests to soil to industry trends, it's a conversation rooted in experience and a genuine love for the plant. Find Jim through Homegrown with Jim Berry in Fat Nugs Magazine and connect with him on LinkedIn for cultivation insights, home grow education and an unapologetic appreciation for the craft. Enjoy the show. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 224 is the 22nd episode of Season 4. Vanessa Cuccurullo is the Founder and Principal of Mrs. C Botanicals, a New York State licensed cannabis company focused on intentional consumption and premium, low-dose products through its Leilala & Watson brand. Built around the promise of "Low Dose. High Trust," her work is aimed at consumers seeking a thoughtful, predictable approach to cannabis that fits into everyday life rather than around it. Her path into the industry was shaped by personal experience. Following cancer treatment, Vanessa found herself searching for cannabis products she could trust, clean ingredients, measured dosing, and experiences grounded in clarity rather than guesswork. That journey ultimately inspired the creation of Leilala & Watson and a mission centered on education, wellness, and expanding the conversation around women's health and cannabis. We discuss building a brand in New York's evolving legal market, adapting as the industry changes around you, and the realities of entrepreneurship in a highly regulated space. It's a conversation about resilience, pivoting when necessary, and staying true to your vision while creating products designed to meet consumers where they are. Find out more at leilala.com. Enjoy the show. Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 223 is the 21st episode of Season 4. Our guest for this episode is Kelly Riddle, Founder and CEO of The CannaJo!nt, a cannabis-focused branding, content and events agency dedicated to bringing together brands, creators, media and industry professionals in more meaningful and collaborative ways. Kelly spent several years helping shape the content and marketing strategy behind MJBiz and MJBizCon, where she launched initiatives including the Content Creator Program and State Takeovers while contributing to the continued growth of the industry's largest business media platform. Today she works with brands, entrepreneurs and event organizers through The CannaJo!nt, creating experiences designed to foster authentic relationships, visibility and long-term industry connections. In addition to her agency work, Kelly serves as Chairperson of the NC3 Chamber and is helping build new industry events including the Root & Rise Symposium. Throughout her career she has focused on storytelling, community building and creating spaces where cannabis professionals can connect beyond traditional trade show environments. We talk about her journey from mainstream media and marketing into cannabis, the evolution of MJBiz, building The CannaJo!nt from the ground up, the role of creators and influencers in the industry, event strategy, emerging markets and why relationships remain one of the most valuable currencies in cannabis. Find out more at thecannajoint.com and connect with Kelly on LinkedIn. Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 222 is the 20th episode of Season 4. We’re back with the May Special featuring Dustin Hoxworth, Founder of Fat Nugs Magazine, and Daniel Crawford, COO of Fat Nugs Magazine. This month we check in on what’s happening across cannabis policy, science, cultivation and the broader industry while catching up with Dustin after a busy stretch of travel and Daniel as he settles into Minnesota and his new role. We start with the House advancing language that could significantly tighten hemp regulations and reshape the future of intoxicating hemp products. From there we explore new research challenging long-held assumptions about cannabis and memory, ongoing debates around cannabis advertising and youth exposure, and what evolving science means for public perception of the plant. We dig into new cultivation research suggesting growers may be able to increase yields without sacrificing potency, along with an international study highlighting both the promise and risks of cannabis as a global agricultural crop. Like normal we take a few detours, including Dustin's visit to the Rebecca Finn House in New Jersey, a unique historic venue exploring cannabis-friendly events and community experiences, and some reflections from recent conferences and industry gatherings on both sides of the Atlantic. You can catch the audio as always on iTunes, Spotify, Audible, YouTube or at apt113.com. Connect with Dustin and Daniel and keep up with their latest coverage at fatnugsmag.com. Sit down, roll one up and enjoy the ride. IG: apt_113 apt113.com

Episode 221 is the 19th episode of Season 4. Our guest for this episode is Chris Kuilan, Co-Founder of Stoops NYC, a Latinx-owned cannabis dispensary in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. Chris joins the show to talk about building a cannabis business rooted in New York culture, community and long-term vision inside one of the toughest regulated markets in the country. Born and raised in New York, Chris saw legalization not just as an opportunity to open a dispensary, but as a chance to help build the foundation of a new industry from the ground up. Stoops NYC was created around the idea of bringing the spirit of the New York stoop into cannabis retail, a place where culture, conversation and community intersect. Rather than leaning entirely into hype or aesthetics, the company focuses on hospitality, operational discipline and building authentic neighborhood relationships while navigating the realities of taxes, regulation and social equity in New York cannabis. We also talk about the challenges facing early operators in the state, the importance of local and boutique brands, the role technology and data may play in the future of cannabis retail and what it means to build something designed for longevity rather than short-term momentum. This episode is a grounded conversation about modern cannabis retail, New York culture and building something real in a rapidly changing industry. Find out more at stoopsnyc.com Enjoy the show! IG: apt_113 apt113.com