What happens when you walk straight out of the grow room and hit record?

In this special On the Road episode, I visited Medcan Australia in Southeast Queensland for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the country’s earliest licensed cannabis producers. After the tour, I sat down with co-founder and CCO Gareth Ball for a raw, in-the-moment chat about cultivation, product development, market pressure, and why Australia needs to back its own industry.

From pheno-hunting wins (and fails) to research gaps, global comparisons, and the launch of Medcan’s new cultivar, Velvet Thunder.

Whether you’re a patient, producer, or just passionate about homegrown cannabis, this episode is packed with deep insights, bold ideas, and that signature AusCanna curiosity.

📍Recorded on-site in Southeast Queensland.

👉 Got a Rapid Fire question you want me to ask a guest? Email them to [email protected]. I love including questions from the community!

💚 Want to support the podcast? Tap the Buy Me a Coffee link in the show notes!

In this episode, we cover a lot of topics, including:

* Rapid Fire (2:42)

* Who is Gareth Ball? (10:49)

* The story behind Medcan Australia (12:02)

* From pheno-hunting to products in patients’ hands… What’s the process? (18:15)

* Do pheno hunts ever fail? (28:28)

* There’s more to cannabis than THC, will the education ever catch up? (30:16)

* The importance of gathering research (33:02)

* Canadian market vs Australian market (38:05)

* Buying weed from questionable sources (39:57)

* The price of cannabis around the world (43:20)

* Where is the global cannabis market going? (45:33)

* Supporting Australian-grown cannabis first (46:27)

* What’s next for Medcan? (50:16)

* Exciting times ahead for the local industry (53:50)

* Stigma, politics and legalisation (55:17)

* Life is better with a little bit of cannabis (58:37)

* Our reflections on swapping out pharmaceutical pills for cannabis (59:08)

* Cannabis a first option, not a last option (62:23)

* Gareth’s call to action (64:19)

Show Notes:

Where to Find Gareth Ball:

* Gareth on LinkedIn

* Medcan Australia LinkedIn

* Medcan Australia Website

* Email [email protected]

Where to find Christina Mc Mullan:

* @AusCannaReviews on SubStack

* @AusCannaReviews on Instagram

* @AusCannaReviews on Twitter/X

* Email [email protected]

* Buy Me A Coffee/AusCannaPodcast

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit auscannareviews.substack.com