In 1936, a low-budget propaganda film set out to warn the public about the dangers of cannabis. Instead, it became one of the most infamous examples of moral panic ever committed to screen.

In this episode, Paul O’Donoghue of Give & Toke is joined by Joel and Bash of Exotican to revisit Reefer Madness, the film that tried to terrify audiences with tales of insanity, violence, and social decay. What was intended as a cautionary tale has since evolved into a cult classic and a cultural case study in misinformation.

Together, they unpack the historical context behind the film, the forces that shaped early cannabis prohibition, and the unintended consequences of exaggerated drug messaging. More than just cinema, Reefer Madness reveals how fear-based narratives can influence public perception, policy, and stigma for generations.

Was it effective public education or one of the greatest propaganda misfires in modern history?

🔗 Give & Toke: https://giveandtoke.com.au

🔗 Exotican: https://exotican.com.au

Helping or Hurting? is a limited series from Give & Toke and Exotican examining how cannabis has been portrayed on screen, and whether those portrayals have shaped perception for better or worse.

Pharmacists don’t usually sit at the centre of conversations about plant medicine, but maybe they should.

Jen and Nick Ravenswood are a husband-and-wife team with deep roots in community pharmacy, and the founders of Rays Wellness, a medicinal cannabis dispensary built on patient care, education, and professional standards.

Their journey into cannabis didn’t start with hype. It started with a prescription and a system that didn’t work the way it should. What followed was a hands-on effort to improve access, raise the bar on patient care, and bring a pharmacist-led perspective into a space that often moves faster than its foundations.

With experience across prescribing, education, clinic support, and regulatory navigation, Jen and Nick offer a grounded view of where medicinal cannabis sits today and where it’s heading.

This is a conversation about partnership, progress, and what happens when healthcare professionals step forward to shape the future, rather than wait for it.

Visit www.rayswellness.com.au

Visit www.giveandtoke.com.au

Follow @giveandtoke on Instagram

Email [email protected]

Tanner Stewart is focused on one of the most challenging and consequential areas in health: how we understand and manage pain. Through Stewart Farms, he’s working to develop plant-powered alternatives that sit alongside conventional approaches, offering people more options in a space long dominated by pharmaceuticals.

At the centre of that work is Arctic Heat, a topical wellness line designed with restraint, intention, and respect for both science and lived experience. Rather than chasing hype, Tanner speaks candidly about responsibility in wellness, the limits of what products can promise, and the importance of trust when people are seeking relief.

In this episode:

Thousands of Canadians supported each month (0:30)

Prioritising integrity (4:20)

Maintaining medicinal integrity (7:40)

Cannabis, pain, PTSD and veterans (13:45)

The safety profile of cannabis and opioid addiction (18:30)

Taking on big pharma (24:15)

Topicals 101 (31:40)

Stewart Farms: From startup to scale (36:00)

Hotbox Quiz (44:00)

Pauls of Wisdom (49:00)

Follow @tannerstewart.life on Instagram

Visit www.giveandtoke.com.au

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Email [email protected]

Get $10 off accessories with the code ‘CATCHUP’ at giveandtoke.com.au

The Catch-Up is a collaboration between Give and Toke and AusCannaReviews with Paul and Christina coming together occasionally to explore what’s happening in Cannabis in Australia and around the world. 

In this episode:

• Unmissable talks: Gabriel Younes on aroma, and Chad Walkaden on Indigenous healthcare (2:30)

• The TGA Presentation: cautious optimism and takeaways (7:00)

• Community leading the way (12:00)

• Good vibes prevailing in a volatile time (14:30)

• Key takeaways - memories, challenged perspectives, finding common ground, breaking stigma (17:00)

• Improving UIC for patients (22:00)

• UIC is Cannabis School Camp (26:00)

  
  

@AusCannaReviews on SubStack, Instagram and Twitter/X

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Visit www.giveandtoke.com.au

Follow @giveandtoke on Instagram
Email [email protected]

Justin Lee is the founder of Ay Papi, a California-based craft cannabis company focused on solventless, single-origin products made in collaboration with regenerative legacy cultivators.

Before entering the cannabis industry, Justin worked in entertainment as an actor and producer, and competed as an MMA fighter. His path into cannabis was shaped by firsthand experience with injury, chronic pain, and recovery, which led him to explore cannabis not just recreationally, but as part of a broader, more intentional approach to health and wellbeing.

Ay Papi operates without outside capital and rejects volume-driven models, tier systems, and artificial flavouring. Instead, the brand centres genetics, farming practices, and flavour as expressions of place, people, and process. In 2024, Ay Papi’s Whitethorn Rose Single Origin Live Rosin Infused Gummies received Gold and the Golden Bear at the California State Fair, recognised for doing the opposite of most edibles: allowing the cannabis itself to define the experience.

Justin is also a certified Ganjier and a vocal advocate for solventless production, regenerative agriculture, and greater cannabis literacy. His work sits at the intersection of culture, craft, and responsibility, with a strong emphasis on honouring farmers, hashmakers, and the systems that make high-quality cannabis possible.

In this episode:

Justin Lee on being Annyong on Arrested Development (2:00)

Abbott Elementary cannabis activation (6:30)

Cannabis as medicine: overcoming concussion, ceasing opioids and bio-hacking (9:00)

Self-care to Ay Papi (19:00)

What does craft mean? (23:00)

What does organic and regenerative mean? (27:00)

Live Rosin (32:00)

Quiz: Hellos around the World (39:30)

Real time habit changes (41:30)

Regulatory and industry changes needed in California (43:00)

Will rescheduling happen? (45:00)

Pauls of Wisdom (48:00)

Follow @yoswaggylee on Instagram

Follow @aypapico on Instagram

Visit https://aypapi.co/

Visit www.giveandtoke.com.au

Follow @giveandtoke on Instagram

Email [email protected]

Julian Stefanou is the founding partner of West Coast Palms, an Australian medicinal cannabis producer and importer that sits at the intersection of cannabis culture and clinical medicine.

With a national footprint across Australia and a growing international outlook, West Coast Palms is now expanding product availability into key global markets including the Netherlands, Thailand and Barcelona, reflecting a belief that cannabis is moving toward a more unified, international future.

Julian operates in the space where “legalisation is inevitable” and culture must evolve alongside regulation. His work is grounded in building brands and supply chains that respect the plant’s history, while navigating the realities of modern medical frameworks, compliance and patient access.

At his core, Julian represents a new generation of cannabis leaders who see culture not as a risk to medicine, but as an essential part of its future.

In this episode:

Who are West Coast Palms? (1:30)

Improving the sentiment about Australian products (2:15)

From “weed nerd” to founder (5:15)

Improving the regulations (8:00)

Understanding, balancing clinic and culture (9:15)

Quiz: Around the Globe in Cannabis (13:00)

West Coast Palms around the world (26:30)

Mature cannabis industries - can medicinal and adult-use co-exist? (30:00)

Traveling with Cannabis (34:30)

West Coast Palms in the future (37:30)

Pauls of Wisdom (38:30)

Visit www.westcoastpalms.com

Visit www.giveandtoke.com.au

Follow @giveandtoke on Instagram

Email [email protected]

Rachel Payne returns to Give & Toke for a candid and wide-ranging review of cannabis policy in 2025.

Rachel reflects on the year’s most significant developments, including Victoria’s long-awaited drug driving reforms, the government’s continued refusal to legalise cannabis despite overwhelming evidence, and what this means for the thousands of Victorians still being arrested each year.

We also unpack the TGA consultation process, workplace drug testing, hemp reform, and the broader conservatism shaping Australian drug policy. Beyond cannabis, Rachel shares key non-cannabis legislative wins from 2025, including reforms to Working With Children Checks and progress on Treaty and First Peoples’ Assembly work.

In this episode:

A big driving win in 2025 (1:30)

The Victorian Government fail to legalise again… (10:30)

Do MPs use cannabis? (14:00) 

The TGA Consultation (22:00)

Conservatism in Australia (27:30)

The Hemp Industry Bill (30:45)

Workplace Drug Testing Inquiry (33:30)

How does cannabis influence romantic relationships (36:00)

Protecting the progressive crossbench (39:00)

Non-cannabis wins in 2025 - Vicarious Liability (45:30)

Reforming Working with Children Checks (48:00)

Victorian First People’s Treaty (51:30)

Let’s stop arresting our people in 2026 (35:45)

Pauls of Wisdom (56:30)

Visit www.rachelpayne.com.au

Follow Rachel on Instagram @rachelpayne_mp

Follow Rachel on Twitter @rachelpaynemp

Visit giveandtoke.com.au

Follow Give and Toke on Instagram @giveandtoke

Email Us [email protected]

In this episode, Paul is joined by the Interim CEO and Founder of SOMAÍ Pharmaceuticals, Michael Sassano - a man with a track record for global market predictions. Together they look back at 2025, and explore what's in store across the world in 2026.

In this episode:

Trump Reschedules Cannabis in the US (1:30)

Not All Pharmaceuticals are the same (4:30)

Regulatory Curveballs across the world - UK, Germany and Australia (7:45)

Australia in 2025 (14:00)

Collaboration is the key to success (15:30)

The rise of emerging markets - France, Spain, Slovenia, Poland, New Zealand (19:00)

Preserving medicinal frameworks whilst achieving better access (24:00)

Operational challenges in Portugal in 2025 (28:30)

Meeting patient needs (31:00)

What’s coming in 2026 (34:30) 

Patients need different formats (38:00)

Visit www.somaipharma.com.au

Visit www.giveandtoke.com.au

Follow @giveandtoke on Instagram
Email [email protected]

Mimi Sener is one of the most respected and quietly influential leaders in the Australian medicinal cannabis industry.

Mimi’s journey into cannabis was shaped by lived experience, supporting a partner through cancer and questioning the limits of traditional pharma. Since then, she’s built a career spanning early-stage industry growth, clinical education, consulting and senior leadership, including her current role as General Manager of Alma Cannabis Australia.

Together, Paul and Mimi unpack the real state of the Australian cannabis industry, the fallout from the TGA consultation, and what it actually takes to professionalise a sector still finding its feet. They explore leadership, standards, and the realities of operating in a volatile, politically charged market.

In this episode:

An affinity for cannabis in spite of stigma (2:00)

The TGA consultation forgot about patients (8:00)

Big Pharma contradictions (13:45)

A highly personal drive to cannabis (20:00)

Montu and the early years of the industry (26:00)

Declining excitement and increasing fear in Australia (36:00)

Fallout from the TGA consultation: limiting education, access, and reduced limits (43:00)

Questions from a Friend (61:00)

Alma in a nutshell (75:00)

The eyes on us have knives out (82:00)

Pauls of Wisdom (89:45)

Find Mimi Sener on LinkedIn

Visit www.giveandtoke.com.au

Follow @giveandtoke on Instagram

Email [email protected]

In this special episode of The Catch-Up, Christina and Paul reunite to unpack their recent trip to Thailand. They share insights from their visits to Iridescent Med and the facility cultivating Cookies California genetics, reflect on the world-class standards they witnessed, and express gratitude for the hospitality extended by the teams. Expect thoughtful reflections, genuine appreciation, and excitement about the innovation shaping Thailand’s cannabis landscape.

@AusCannaReviews on ⁠SubStack⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠Twitter/X⁠

Email ⁠[email protected]⁠

Visit ⁠www.giveandtoke.com.au⁠

Follow @giveandtoke on ⁠Instagram⁠

Email ⁠[email protected]