High Spirits: The Cannabis Business Podcast
Hosts Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein serve up unfiltered insights, reveal their insiders' perspectives, and illuminate transformative ideas about the cannabis industry for people who want to make sense of it all.
Episodes
The cannabis landscape is shifting at light speed, and navigating the turbulence requires more than just keeping up—it demands rigorous strategic alignment and radical organizational transparency.
In this one on one, business news roundup episode of High Spirits, hosts Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein sync up for a dynamic news and culture roundup, pulling back the curtain on the internal mechanics of building an agile c...
It was a massive week in cannabis policy — and we're breaking it all down live with the teams from Cultivated, High Spirits and Cannabis Musings, Friday at 12 PM ET.
On the docket:
🏛️ The DEA's rescheduling hearing wraps up — what did we learn, and what happens next?
📜 One day later, Senate Democrats reintroduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act — led by Sens. Booker, Schumer,...
Are you running your cannabis business on gut instinct or hard numbers? In a volatile, state-by-state landscape where headlines rarely tell the whole story, relying on assumptions is a fast track to getting left behind.
In this episode of High Spirits, hosts Ben Larson & AnnaRae Grabstein are joined by Leah Spokojny, Chief Revenue Officer of BDSA, the industry’s leading market research and analytics firm. Together, the...
The rules of the cannabis economy are being rewritten right now in a small, secure federal courtroom in Northern Virginia. While July usually signals a summer slowdown for the industry, the exact opposite is happening.
In this week's live episode breakdown, AnnaRae Grabstein (Co-Host of High Spirits) steps into the arena alongside Jay Rosenthal (Cultivated) and legal analyst Marc Hauser (Cannabis Musings). Together, they pull back t...
While most multi-state operators are racing to build massive houses of brands, one independent Ohio operator made the exact opposite bet—and won.
About This Episode: In this episode of High Spirits, hosts Ben Larson & AnnaRae Grabstein sit down with Zach Weprin, President of Certified Cultivators, to unpack how his family-owned, vertically integrated company captured an impressive 7% market share in Ohio. Zach shares the r...
What happens when a 115-year-old family farm bets its entire legacy on the future of cannabis? You get New York’s top-selling beverage and vape brand, bringing in over $75M in retail sales.
In this episode of High Spirits, host AnnaRae Grabstein holds down the fort while Ben Larson is away on paternity leave. She sits down with Eddie Brennan, CEO of ayrloom, to dissect their meteoric rise in the New York market and how they ut...
The cannabis industry is sprinting toward major U.S. stock exchanges, but a high-stakes showdown in Washington could completely rewrite the rules of the game.
On this episode of This Week in Cannabis Live, host Jay Rosenthal and the Cultivated Media team (Jeremy Berke) are joined by regular panel experts AnnaRae Grabstein (High Spirits) and Marc Hauser (Cannabis Musings) to break down a massive transparency battle unfolding at...
Live from the media stage at IgniteIt Chicago, High Spirits co-host AnnaRae Grabstein conducts five lightning-round interviews with the industry’s sharpest minds. From the realities of major M&A integration and enterprise AI deployment to a wild on-stage metaphor involving a literal caterpillar, this special bonus episode captures the exact energy, momentum, and anxiety of the current market.
Featuring insights from ...
The federal government has officially rewritten the history books by shifting medicinal cannabis to Schedule III—and Glass House Brands is making a massive, unprecedented chess move to capitalize on it.
About This Episode
In this episode of High Spirits, hosts Ben Larson & AnnaRae Grabstein sit down with Graham Farrar, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Cannabis Officer of Glass House Brands. Graham breaks down Gl...
Cannabis Business News Roundup w/ Ben & AnnaRae
The landscape of cannabis and hemp policy is shifting beneath our feet faster than ever, forcing operators to constantly adapt to changing regulatory enforcement and market expansions. In this rapid-fire roundup, hosts Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein dial in from across the country to break down the massive institutional shifts happening this week in public markets, state enforcem...
As the cannabis industry matures, the conversation is shifting from basic intoxication to precise, effect-based wellness. But how do we bridge the gap between consumer anecdotes and true scientific validation for minor cannabinoids?
About This Episode
In this episode of High Spirits, Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein sit down with Alleh Lindquist, CEO of FloraWorks, to explore the rapidly evolving landscape of minor cannab...
This week on This Week in Cannabis Live, Jay Rosenthal, Jeremy Berke (Cultivated), plus Ben Larson of High Spirits and Marc Hauser of Cannabis Musings, break down the biggest stories in cannabis business and policy.
- New York's fiscal 2027 state budget locks in roughly $10 million for the seed-to-sale track and trace system — a win Cultivated first reported after an interview with Assemblymember Landon Dais.
Nothing in the cannabis and hemp markets moves in a straight line, and lately, the operational whiplash has been more intense than ever. In this unpolished and deeply personal episode, hosts Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein step away from the usual guest format to unpack what it actually takes to lead when the industry forces you to slam on the brakes.
About This Episode
In Episode 139, Ben and AnnaRae pull back the curtain on th...
Join the teams from Cultivated, High Spirits, and Cannabis Musings for your weekly roundup of the biggest stories in cannabis.
The DEA just announced it's opening a new registration window for cannabis manufacturers, growers, labs, and distributors — and with nearly 400 dispensary applications already in the pipeline, the race is on. We break down what operators need to know before applying, including the disclosure qu...
In an industry squeezed tight by relentless global price compression, cannabis operators can no longer afford to pay a premium for operational inefficiency. Yet, an invisible enemy is quietly draining up to 40% of cultivation yields across the country.
About This Episode
In this episode of High Spirits, hosts Ben Larson & AnnaRae Grabstein go back to the roots of the industry to explore the critical, often misundersto...
Is the "Christmas of BevAl" about to change forever? While federal policy looms like a shadow, the world’s largest retailers and data giants are leaning into a category that is proving to be 100% incremental to the bottom line.
About This Episode: In this episode, Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein dive deep into the numbers with Jason Zelinski, VP of North American Retail at NielsenIQ. As one of the most prominent voices transl...
The DEA has finally spoken, but the path forward for cannabis operators is far from simple. As we move into a post-rescheduling world, the industry is bracing for a complex, bifurcated future that could redefine winners and losers overnight.
About This Episode:
On this episode of High Spirits, hosts Ben & AnnaRae go deep into the technical and human sides of the rescheduling order with two of the industry’s sharpest m...
It's been one week since cannabis rescheduling to Schedule III was announced — and the questions keep multiplying. Jay Rosenthal, Marc Hauser, and Ben Larson unpack the real-world implications for operators, lawyers, accountants, and states navigating this seismic shift.
In this episode:
- The DEA registration question: does it matter for 280E relief?
- The "Schrödinger's Cannabis" problem — how the same pr...
Is it time to get giddy or stay skeptical? The federal rescheduling of cannabis is the biggest regulatory shift in decades, but it comes with a complex web of DEA registrations and international treaty considerations. Join Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein as they sit down with top legal minds Alyssa Samuel (Husch Blackwell), Eric Berlin (Dentons), and Michael Cooper (Madison J Solutions) to unpack what happens when the DEA portal o...
What does rescheduling really change — in the next 90 days, the next year, and the next decade?
Jay Rosenthal and Jeremy Berke from Cultivated are joined by AnnaRae Grabstein and Ben Larson from the High Spirits podcast and Marc Hauser from Cannabis Musings for a live breakdown of the stories that defined this week in cannabis.
Rescheduling: We're bringing in a special guest to help cut through the ...
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