Melanie Wentzel  author of Cannabis Queens suggested i get in touch with Heidi to talk about the organisation she’s created,EmpowHer, a global network of women working in the cannabis sector who are working together to counter the increasing suit led male domination of the sector.

Women are ignored in a great deal of decision making in the industry and as Heidi point out are now in the ascendancy as purchasers and consumers in the sector.

We cover a gamut of of topics and highlight just a few of the issues women are currently facing in the industry.

Thanks for your time Heidi.

More Info at
https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-248-heidi-whitman-founder-empowher/

As I do on the Karma Koala with all psychedelics lawyers I speak with  Victoria, initially, how she came to the world of psychedelics law.

She started as a narcotics prosecutor in Louisiana, so it’s been an interesting journey.

We then talk about the details about what’s happening in New Mexico with regard to psychedelics legislation for medical treatment.. It’s slow but it is happening. Expect to wait to 2028 before treatments start.

We also discuss how Victoria believes psychedelics will start affecting the law and the practice and law.

https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-246-victoria-cvitanovic-of-counsel-ruddick-law-group-psychedelics-treatments-in-new-mexico-slow-steady/

I have to admit it my favourite smoke on the planet is good old fashioned orstraya bush weed.

It's sweet it's earthy and it's soaked up that true blue aussie sunshine and always hits my sweetspot.

In this episode the Koalas speak with T a grower somewhere in Australia on the wrong side of the law but on the right side of cannabis.

He tells me why growing males and females together out there in the back and beyond is best for the plant and the best for the person using the plant.

Good old Aussie nature does its thing,

T gives away his seeds for free so that there's a healthy stock of simple Indicas and Sativas out there.

The "industry" will of course tell you that it's all about big greenhouses, climate control, white lab coats , testing and so on and so forth.

The politicians and regulators are in the main beyond clueless.

Australia could, if it wanted have the best cottage industry on the planet, enough to supply its own demand and some high quality left over to sell overseas

Think the best of Australian agricultural product produced with minimum harm to the environment and maximum benefit to the people.

We've got it all upside down at the moment

I won't be there for the Nimbin Mardigrass but let's hope this message doesn't get drowned by the men in chinos

Singularism are a psychedelic church using Psilocybin and based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

When they opened their doors they made local authorities aware of who they were and how they practiced their religion.

A year later there was a police raid.

Tanner had been working with them prior to the raid and discusses with us what’s happened since as the case goes through the legal system

We also also talk about Utah in general.

Here’s a detailed story I published on the case about a month ago.

Thanks to Tanner for getting in touch and explaining the case in detail.

Learn more at  https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-244-tanner-j-bean-lawyer-utah-singularism-psilocybin-church-freedom-of-religion/

They keep trying to knock it down but it won’t go away and just gets bigger and bigger.

Quite simply people in the US like a soda so it is somewhat of a no- brainer that cannabis and hemp beverages are going to sell like hot cakes.

I discuss with Zach who has over a decade of experience in the cannabis sector both in-house and in private practice about his chosen area of specialization.

We dig into what’s happening, what the challenges are and the inexorable rise of the cannabis beverage.

Soon hemp drinks will be as American as apple pie. .. I imagine you will probably soon be able to get a hemp drink in apple pie flavor!

https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-243-zack-kobrin-partner-at-saul-ewing-the-rise-rise-of-the-us-hemp-beverage-sector/

I’ve been paying a lot more attention to drugs, policy and politics in New Zealand recently as a number of medical cannabis issues have come to the fore over the last month.

The recent arrest of green fairy “Gandalf”, the failure of a couple of medical cannabis outfits amongst a number of recent events brought me to  Julian @ Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa New Zealand  to have a general chat about prohibition, drug policy and how to effect regulation and legalization.

Thanks again Julian for talking to the Karma Koala podcast

Learn more about Julian and the organization at

https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-242-julian-buchanan-founding-member-of-harm-reduction-coalition-aotearoa-new-zealand-policy-changes-on-drugs-can-only-come-from-a-grassroots-approach/

Welcome back to the Karma Koala podcast.

In our latest episode we speak to another Senate hopeful.

Miles Hunt is a lawyer with a background in drug law reform in Australia.

We cover all the usual topics including the current “medical” paradigm, building an Australian cannabis future not reliant on cheap imports from Canada, how to think about cannabis and education and a lot more besides

Learn more about Miles at
https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-241-miles-hunt-standing-for-the-australian-senate-for-the-cannabis-party-lets-think-about-non-corporate-models-too/

This podcast contains discussions and descriptions of sexual abuse, which may be distressing or triggering for some listeners. Please take care of yourself and consider skipping this episode if you feel it may be harmful to your well-being. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, there are resources available to support you. Please seek help from trusted sources or support services in your area.

A little different from the usual topics that we normally cover on the Karma Koala podcast but no less important.

Pennsylvania based Chuck Lovett got in touch after hearing one of our Karma Koala conversations with and about psychedelics lawyers that we’ve recently been having and asked if he could contribute to the conversation with his experience of what legal psilocybin treatment had done to help him after years of suffering from the result of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest in the early 1970’s. Chuck requested that licensed Oregon therapist, Nitai Aleksiewicz, also join us on the show. Chuck was referred to Nitai for discussion and eventual treatment.

Most of the conversation about legal psilocybin therapy still revolves around much needed therapy for veterans and is a favourite topic for politicians who want to try and get legislation up and running.

Lost in the conversation at a public level are many other issues such as childhood trauma, sexual abuse of children, domestic abuse, and end of life care.

Chuck talks about the issues and difficulties he had raising psilocybin therapy with the Catholic church, the medical profession and others.

Also, the lengths he had to go to in order to find out about the availability of psilocybin treatments and how he  eventually  managed to access the care he needed and how it has subsequently changed his life.

A huge thankyou to Chuck for coming on the podcast and speaking to us about the issues involved and to Nitai for providing some background as to how treatments are managed and arranged in Oregon.

Both have provided their contact details below and I’ve also listed some other resources.

Thankyou again to Chuck and thankyou for listening

https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-240-chuck-lovett-nitai-aleksiewicz-childhood-trauma-sexual-abuse-regulating-psilocybin-treatment/

Part 2 of my conversation with Evan where my learning curve gets even steeper than the first episode.

We cover a lot of topics in 30 minutes including..

The energy use applied to processing cannabis and hemp and especially so for human consumption products. At the moment, Evan believes, it’s almost impossible to define what that usage is.

The cost of industrialized cannabis production as the leading current model

The way companies are structured can hide the realities of energy use

Indoor vs outdoor, energy use vs land use and a 1000 other things to think about

Renewables

Cannabis industry greenwashing

What doe process change mean for cannabis production

The energy use applied to growing different cultivars

That’s just the start.

In a few months time we’ll talk again about possible policy options and realistically what they can achieve

As i said at the top a very steep learning curve for all of us.

Listen to the first podcast and read Evan's report here

https://cannabislaw.report/karma-koala-podcast-239-karma-koala-podcast-229-evan-mills-energy-use-in-the-north-american-cannabis-markets-regulated-illegal-an-inconvenient-truth-part-2/